♬⋆.˚

💿

おくのほそみち

Solista japonesa | Vocaloid, electronic, dark ambient (2019) ❗

flawed mangoes

Solista estadounidense | Alternative, indietronica, ambient, chill pop (2020) ❗

Sound waves from me to you

The Killers

Banda estadounidense | Rock alternativo, post-punk revival, new wave, heartland rock (2001)

Kidchen

Banda colombiana | Alternative rock, emo, midwest emo, post‑punk, shoegaze (2021) ❗

Diva Destruction

Grupo musical estadounidense | Darkwave, rock gótico, rock alternativo (1998)

Reno Black

Banda estadounidense | Shoegaze, alternative rock (2023) ❗

exist before

Lyn Lapid

Cantante, vocalista y compositora estadounidense de ascendencia filipina | Pop (2019)

to love in the 21st century...

Gerard Way

Cantante y escritor de cómics estadounidense | Rock alternativo, pop punk, post-hardcore, emo (2001)

Gotye

Cantante, compositor y multinstrumentista belga-australiano | Rock alternativo, trip hop (2001)

A songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Gotye (real name Wouter De Backer) earned a global audience in 2011 when his single "Someone I Used to Know" became a major international success. Wouter De Backer was born in Bruges, Belgium on May 21, 1980. The De Backer family left Belgium for Australia when Wouter was two years old, finding a home in Sydney before relocating to the Melbourne suburb of Montmorency. When he began attending school, Wouter started using an Anglicized variation of his name, Walter, and before long he revealed he had a talent for music. Becoming proficient on keyboards and drums, De Backer was a teenager when he formed his first band, Downstares, with three of his high-school friends. Once De Backer graduated from high school, Downstares broke up, and after inheriting a large collection of old LPs while attending the University of Melbourne, he began experimenting with sample-based music. In 2001, De Backer released a limited-edition EP, Out Here in the Cold, which he credited to Gotye; the name was a simple phonetic spelling of Gaultier, the French equivalent of Wouter. The EP earned some airplay on Triple J, a noted Australian radio outlet, and De Backer was encouraged to continue making music as Gotye. Around the same time, De Backer became acquainted with singer and songwriter Kris Schroeder, and together they formed a band called <a href="spotify:artist:1jKmSnJU1nki6a6uHUSaPe">the Basics</a>, who released their first album, Get Back, in 2003. While <a href="spotify:artist:1jKmSnJU1nki6a6uHUSaPe">the Basics</a> quickly attracted an audience, De Backer continued to make music as Gotye, and released his first full-length album, Boardface, within months of <a href="spotify:artist:1jKmSnJU1nki6a6uHUSaPe">the Basics</a>' debut LP. After moving out of his family's home, De Backer found himself moving frequently over the next several years, while also dividing his time between solo work and <a href="spotify:artist:1jKmSnJU1nki6a6uHUSaPe">the Basics</a>. The nomadic lifestyle was reflected in the sound of the second Gotye album, 2006's Like Drawing Blood, which was a critical and commercial success in Australia, voted the best album of the year in a Triple J listeners' poll and earning platinum certification. After establishing a permanent home for his home studio in a barn on his family's property and finding some downtime from <a href="spotify:artist:1jKmSnJU1nki6a6uHUSaPe">the Basics</a> (who released albums in 2007 and 2009), De Backer began the work of creating a third Gotye album, and in 2011 he issued Making Mirrors. The album's first single, "Eyes Wide Open," was a major hit in Australia, but the follow-up, a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:6hk7Yq1DU9QcCCrz9uc0Ti">Kimbra</a> titled "Someone That I Used to Know," became an international smash, with the single topping the charts in the United States, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and of course Australia, and winning a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The success of "Someone I Used to Know" helped Making Mirrors achieve gold or platinum status in 11 countries, and it won the Grammy Award in 2013 for Best Alternative Album. After the success of Making Mirrors, De Backer returned to <a href="spotify:artist:1jKmSnJU1nki6a6uHUSaPe">the Basics</a> for their 2015 album, The Age of Entitlement, and he launched a personal project, the Ondioline Orchestra, in which he paid tribute to pioneering electronic musician <a href="spotify:artist:09x9KmiHgFJgWySzkMRNGx">Jean-Jacques Perrey</a>, who was a virtuoso of the Ondioline, a keyboard that could emulate the sound of strings, woodwinds, and other instruments. In 2017, De Backer announced he had founded a new record label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Forgotten+Futures%22">Forgotten Futures</a>, whose first release would be an archival collection of rare <a href="spotify:artist:09x9KmiHgFJgWySzkMRNGx">Jean-Jacques Perrey</a> recordings. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Alice Phoebe Lou

Cantante y compositora sudafricana | Indie rock, indie pop, folk, jazz (2010)

singer songwriter from cape town, based in berlin.

Artie Shaw

Clarinetista, compositor y director de orquesta estadounidense | Jazz (1925 - 1954)

One of jazz's finest clarinetists, Artie Shaw never seemed fully satisfied with his musical life, constantly breaking up successful bands and running away from success. While Count Basie and Duke Ellington were satisfied to lead just one orchestra during the swing era, and Benny Goodman (due to illness) had two, Shaw led five, all of them distinctive and memorable. Born in New York City and growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, where he played clarinet and alto locally, Shaw spent part of 1925 with Johnny Cavallaro's dance band and then played off and on with Austin Wylie's band in Cleveland from 1927-1929 before joining Irving Aaronson's Commanders. After returning to New York, Shaw became a close associate of Willie "The Lion" Smith at jam sessions, and by 1931 was a busy studio musician. He retired from music for the first time in 1934 in hopes of writing a book, but when his money started running out, Shaw returned to New York. A major turning point occurred when he performed at an all-star big-band concert at the Imperial Theatre in May 1936, surprising the audience by performing with a string quartet and a rhythm section. He used a similar concept in putting together his first orchestra, adding a Dixieland-type front line and a vocalist while retaining the strings. Despite some fine recordings, that particular band disbanded in early 1937 and then Shaw put together a more conventional big band. The surprise success of his 1938 recording of "Begin the Beguine" made the clarinetist into a superstar and his orchestra (who featured the tenor of Georgie Auld, vocals by Helen Forrest and Tony Pastor, and, by 1939, Buddy Rich's drumming) into one of the most popular in the world. Billie Holiday was with the band for a few months, although only one recording ("Any Old Time") resulted. Shaw found the pressure of the band business difficult to deal with and in November 1939 suddenly left the bandstand and moved to Mexico for two months. When Shaw returned, his first session, utilizing a large string section, resulted in another major hit, "Frenesi"; it seemed that he could not escape success. Shaw's third regular orchestra, who had a string section and such star soloists as trumpeter Billy Butterfield and pianist Johnny Guarnieri, was one of his finest, waxing perhaps the greatest version of "Stardust" along with the memorable "Concerto for Clarinet." The Gramercy Five, a small group formed out of the band (using Guarnieri on harpsichord), also scored with the million-selling "Summit Ridge Drive." Despite all this, Shaw broke up the orchestra in 1941, only to re-form an even larger one later in the year. The latter group featured Hot Lips Page along with Auld and Guarnieri. After Pearl Harbor, Shaw enlisted and led a Navy band (unfortunately unrecorded) before getting a medical discharge in February 1944. Later in the year, his new orchestra featured Roy Eldridge, Dodo Marmarosa, and Barney Kessel, and found Shaw's own style becoming quite modern, almost boppish. But, with the end of the swing era, Shaw again broke up his band in early 1946 and was semi-retired for several years, playing classical music as much as jazz. His last attempt at a big band was a short-lived one, a boppish unit who lasted for a few months in 1949 and included Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Don Fagerquist; their modern music was a commercial flop. After a few years of limited musical activity, Shaw returned one last time, recording extensively with a version of the Gramercy Five that featured Tal Farlow or Joe Puma on guitar along with Hank Jones. Then, in 1955, Artie Shaw permanently gave up the clarinet to pursue his dreams of being a writer. Although he served as the frontman (with Dick Johnson playing the clarinet solos) for a reorganized Artie Shaw Orchestra in 1983, Shaw never played again. He received plenty of publicity for his eight marriages (including to actresses Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, and Evelyn Keyes) and for his odd autobiography, The Trouble with Cinderella (which barely touches on the music business or his wives), but the outspoken Artie Shaw deserves to be best remembered as one of the truly great clarinetists. ~ Scott Yanow

La Hermanastra Más Fea

Banda colombiana | Alternative rock, post‑punk, screamo, emo, punk rock (2015) ❗

K.Flay

Cantante, compositora, rapera y música estadounidense | Hip hop, hip hop alternativo, indie, pop rock (2004)

MONO IS OUT NOW

落日飛車 Sunset Rollercoaster

Banda taiwanesa | Jazz, funk, disco, synth-pop (2009)

Psychonaut 4

Banda georgiana | Depressive suicidal black metal (2010)

The Skallywags

Banda inglesa | Punk, indie rock, garage rock, post-punk, ska (2005)

Miss Construction

Banda alemana | Electronic music, industrial music, EBM (2008 – 2015)

Miss Construction

Cleveland Francis

Cantante, compositor y cardiólogo estadounidense | Country, folk (1970)

Penelope Scott

Cantautora y productora estadounidense | Indie folk, chiptune, electroclash (2018)

In a world of unrelenting extremes, where a person can speedrun the full range of human emotion just scrolling through their feed in bed, it’s easy to feel adrift. Amid the swirling storm of overwhelming questions about who we are, what we want, and what the future is going to look like, our personal relationships with other people quietly carry on, themselves a source of uncertainty and overwhelm. Standing beside you in the parasocial realm of abstract ideas and concrete comforts, sipping on a tropical beverage as you stare at the dumpster fire together, is Penelope Scott. The singer, songwriter, and producer absorbs the mania and magnificence of Gen Z life in her expansive, entrancing, and extreme musical vision equally steeped in tender acoustic balladry and hyperpop paroxysms. Gathering hundreds of millions of streams and receiving widespread acclaim from Billboard and more, she showcases both sides of her sound on the 2023 double-EP, Girl’s Night and Mysteries for Rats. “When I was making the project, I realized there was a split down the middle,” she reveals. “Half of the songs are in the more acoustic folky style, and the other half are computerized synth sounds. So, I decided to do multiple EPs. It gives people different options and flavors already sorted out for them.” She hopes you enjoy the tunes.

Faith And The Muse

Banda estadounidense | Dark wave, pagan rock (1994)

dosii

Dúo surcoreano | Korean city pop, R&B, soul, indie (2019) ❗

Sarah Cothran

Cantautora estadounidense | Pop (2017)

Sarah Cothran is ready to project her voice as an artist like never before. She balances catchy pop moments with edgier waves reflective of her raw emotions. Originally from a small town in Mississippi, she first delved into the world of music by learning piano from Youtube and guitar from her dad. She then began to write and produce her own music, gaining traction on social media where she reached critical mass. With her traffic-stopping vocals and deft production talents, she’s primed for a major breakthrough now.

Bee Blackwell

Cantautora estadounidense | Indie folk, indie pop, alternativa (2020)

Citizen

Banda estadounidense | Emo pop, pop punk, indie rock, post-hardcore, grunge (2009)

With the ability to excel in both quiet ballads and distorted rock anthems, Citizen (which recently expanded to a full quintet with the addition of former touring members drummer Ben Russin and guitarist Mason Mercer) has an incredible knack for channeling raw emotion and energy into singalong songs. On Calling The Dogs, the band exemplifies that passionate songwriting and styling while stripping back to what they do best: guitar-driven rock ‘n roll. Picking up labels ranging from post-hardcore to shoegaze over the years, it’s reductive to try to categorize Citizen as anything other than one of the best rock bands around today. Evolving from teenagers playing local dives to a vibrant band capable of selling out theaters and hitting major festivals around the world, vocalist Mat Kerekes, guitarist Nick Hamm and bassist Eric Hamm have earned their reputation as both tremendous songwriters and a must-see live act — and they do both better than ever on their new album, Calling The Dogs.

Winter Severity Index

Dúo musical italiano | Post-punk, darkwave, coldwave (2010) ❗

4) Cuarta generación (2018 - 2022)

Énfasis en identidad digital, tecnología y performance visual. Grupos con fuerte enfoque en estética virtual, presencia masiva en plataformas como TikTok y evolución de conceptos narrativos. Mayor producción internacional.

My life is waiting for you, yes you 거울 속 날 보고 웃는 그녀

2) Segunda generación (2003 - 2011)

Consolidación del sistema idol. Mayor profesionalización, expansión del Hallyu (ola coreana) a Asia. Uso de conceptos visuales más elaborados y presencia creciente en televisión y mercados internacionales.

1) Primera generación (1990 - 2002)

Nacimiento del K-pop moderno. Mezcla de pop coreano, rap y R&B, con fuerte influencia del hip hop y pop occidental. Grupos pioneros introducen coreografías sincronizadas, moda urbana y fandoms. Se forma la base de la industria idol.

5) Quinta generación (2023 - Presente)

Grupos nacidos y formados en plena era post-pandemia. Integración de inteligencia artificial, realidad aumentada y fandoms hiperconectados. Conceptos metaverso, globalización extrema desde el debut y estética ultramoderna.

Julie

Banda estadounidense | Nu gaze, shoegaze, noise pop, slacker rock (2019)

macy’s gingerbread cookies ingredients: 3 ¼ cup flour 1 tbsp. cinnamon 1 tbsp. ginger ¾ tsp. baking soda ¾ tsp. ground cloves ½ tsp. nutmeg ½ tsp. salt ¾ cup room temp. unsalted butter ½ cup brown sugar (packed!) 1 large egg ½ cup unsulfured molasses 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract directions: whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, salt, and nutmeg in a big bowl. beat together butter and sugar in separate bowl (abt. 2 mins w/ electric mixer); add in egg, molasses, & vanilla and beat until combined add flour mixture slowly & beat on low until combined divide dough into two equal portions and form them into balls. flatten the balls until they are 1 in. thick in a disk shape, wrap in plastic, and chill for two hours/ the whole night. cooking: preheat oven to 350 degrees & line baking sheet w parchment paper for cutting out cookies, roll dough abt ⅛ in thick on board w flour and cut bake for 8-10 minutes and let cool decorate w/ icing, sprinkles, etc :-)

Cold Hart

Rapero y productor estadounidense | Hip-hop/rap, emo rap, alternative rock, trap (2013) ❗

ִ ࣪ 𖤐

Wisp

Artista estadounidense | Shoegaze, nu gaze (2023)

🎼music is life🎶

1) Indie rock (ca. 1980 – presente)

Rock alternativo producido de forma independiente, con sonido crudo, experimental y lírico. Diversidad estilística y enfoque artístico más que comercial.

4) Dream pop (ca. 1980 – presente)

Sonido etéreo, texturas envolventes y voces suaves. Uso de reverberación, guitarras ambientales y atmósferas melancólicas.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Expanded Edition)

Banda sonora original | Rock, alternative rock, indie rock, noise rock, garage rock revival, post-punk revival, soundtrack (2010)

3) Indie pop rock

Fusión de elementos del indie rock y el pop melódico.

2) Indie pop (ca. 1980 – presente)

Pop alternativo y melódico con enfoque DIY (hazlo tú mismo), letras introspectivas y producción suave. Influencias del post-punk y el jangle pop.

DJ Snake

DJ, remezclador y productor discográfico francés | EDM, trap, moombahton, dubstep (2009)

Compared to many of his chart-topping EDM peers, DJ Snake keeps a relatively low profile: He doesn’t do many interviews, and he’s rarely photographed without a pair of oversized black sunglasses. Instead, the French-Algerian producer (born William Grigahcine in 1986) lets his music do the talking. With a range that extends from earthshaking trap to lilting tropical house, DJ Snake doesn’t have an obvious stylistic signature; instead, his fingerprints are audible in details like precision-tooled snares, vividly tweaked vocal samples, and an almost three-dimensional approach to sound design. Raised in Paris, the former graffiti artist and hip-hop DJ first broke through by working on Lady Gaga’s “Government Hooker,” but it was his 2013 song “Turn Down for What”—a battering ram of a trap anthem made all the more antic by Lil Jon’s ranted, titular refrain—that kicked open the doors to the world stage. Two years later, teaming up with Major Lazer and MØ, he showed a more sensitive side on “Lean On,” which paired slo-mo house with crystalline finger-snaps and one of the year’s most infectious choruses. Since then, on his 2016 debut album, <I>Encore</I>, and elsewhere, he’s continued to expand the limits of his sound—giving Justin Bieber the world’s most opulent air mattress to fall into on the buoyant “Let Me Love You,” or unspooling slinky, acoustically tinged Afrobeats for Nigerian singer Niniola on “Maradona Riddim.” It’s an ironic title: Diego Maradona is one of the world’s most flamboyant figures in soccer, while DJ Snake, true to his namesake, is as stealthy as they come—you never know where he’s going to strike next.

Avicii

DJ, remezclador, compositor y productor discográfico sueco | EDM, house progresivo, electro house (2006 - 2018)

As one of the most popular DJs of the late-2000s EDM boom, Grammy-nominated Swedish producer Avicii went on to top the charts in multiple countries and tour the world with his uplifting house anthems. Born Tim Bergling in Stockholm in 1989, he began making music at the age of 18, writing and remixing tracks in his bedroom and uploading them onto the Internet. Influenced by Daft Punk and Steve Angello, his melodic house sound gained a huge following, which led to support from both Tiësto, who invited him to perform a weekly residency at Privilege in Ibiza, and Pete Tong, who released first single "Manman" through his Bedroom Bedlam label. In addition to remixing tracks for Little Boots, Robyn, and Dizzee Rascal, Bergling issued a handful of his own singles, like "Bromance" and "My Feelings for You" in 2010. "Seek Bromance" -- which added the vocals of Amanda Wilson atop his earlier track -- became a modest hit across Europe. However, it wasn't until his next single, 2011's "Levels," that his international popularity exploded. Featuring a sample of Etta James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me," the track topped dance charts across the globe and reached platinum status in at least ten countries, launching Avicii into the mainstream. Toward the end of 2012, Bergling issued "I Could Be the One," a collaborative single with Nicky Romero. The song became another hit for the producer and was featured heavily on reality TV shows and European radio. The following year, he released the single "Wake Me Up." Featuring the vocals of Aloe Blacc, the pastoral soul track peaked at the top of the charts in over 20 countries, making it his biggest hit to date. That "folktronica" sound would feature heavily on his debut album, True, which arrived in late 2013. The multi-platinum LP featured guests like Adam Lambert, MØ, and Nile Rodgers, and produced four additional hit singles like "Hey Brother" and "Addicted to You." A version of the album featuring Bergling's own club remixes -- the aptly titled True: Avicii by Avicii -- arrived in 2014. That same year, Bergling scored another mainstream hit with "A Sky Full of Stars," a collaboration with Coldplay. In late 2015, his sophomore album, Stories, arrived. Continuing his cross-genre exploration of EDM and pop, Bergling recruited guests like Zac Brown, Wyclef Jean, Matisyahu, and Martin Garrix for the effort, which topped the Billboard dance chart upon release. While he continued to perform and release new music, Bergling announced in early 2016 that he would retire from the live scene due to persistent health concerns. That summer, he performed his final live set in Ibiza. New music in the form of the Avici (01) EP arrived in summer 2017 while Bergling continued to produce material for an expected second and third installment of the EP series. However, on April 20, 2018, he suddenly passed away in Muscat, Oman at the age of 28. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Jon O'Brien

Pitbull

Cantante, compositor y productor musical estadounidense de origen cubano | Pop rap, electro house reguetón, pop latino, hip house, pop, dance pop (2000)

With his trademark shout of "Dale!" and reggaeton-infused party pop, bilingual rapper and producer Pitbull made a steady ascent through the Miami hip-hop scene before dominating the mainstream charts in the late 2000s and 2010s with dancefloor-filling hits, including U.S. Top Ten singles "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)," "Give Me Everything," "Timber," "Feel This Moment," and "Time of Our Lives." In 2016, he won his first Grammy Award for his Spanish-language LP, Dale. Born Armando Christian Perez, the future "Mr. 305" was raised by first-generation Cuban immigrant parents who didn't let their son forget about his culture. They required him to memorize the works of Cuban poet José Martí, and Pitbull understood the power of words right away. Southern acts like Poison Clan and Luther Campbell were early influences, but as he grew, the young rapper got turned on to the G-funk sound of the West Coast and the New York City point of view Nas brought to the game. When the Southern-flavored party rap called crunk took over urban radio, he decided it was time to seek stardom and began appearing on Miami mixtapes. A meeting with Irv Gotti resulted in nothing, but soon Luther Campbell called on the rapper to appear on his "Lollipop" single. It brought Pitbull to the attention of the Diaz Brothers management team, who introduced the rapper to the king of crunk, Lil Jon. A Pitbull freestyle landed on Lil Jon's platinum-selling Kings of Crunk album in 2002, and the rapper's "Oye" track appeared on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack in 2003. Ready to take it all the way to the top, Pitbull unleashed his debut full-length, M.I.A.M.I., in 2004 on the TVT label, with the Lil Jon-produced single "Culo" leading the way. Soon Pitbull was making guest appearances on tracks by everyone from the Ying Yang Twins to Elephant Man. The 2005 compilation Money Is Still a Major Issue collected the best of these collaborations along with some remixes and unreleased tracks. In 2006, the single "Bojangles" prepared fans for his next album, El Mariel. As the album landed on the shelves it was announced that his next effort would be entirely in Spanish and titled The Boatlift. When the end product arrived in 2007, it was an album mostly in English, introduced by the single "Go Girl." Two years later he released Rebelution, an album filled with slick club cuts including the hits "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" and "Hotel Room Service." Featuring the hit single "Bon Bon," his all-Spanish-language album Armando followed in 2010. In 2011, his Planet Pit album arrived, featuring the singles "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)" and "Give Me Everything." Both the singles collection Original Hits and I Am Armando -- a "reloaded" version of Armando -- arrived in 2012 along with his seventh studio effort, Global Warming. The latter album featured the hits "Back in Time" and "Feel This Moment," and when a deluxe reissue appeared in 2013, the single "Timber," with special guest Kesha, was added to the track list. In early 2014, Pitbull released the single "Wild Wild Love," which featured vocals from the girl group G.R.L. and debuted at number 30 on the Billboard pop chart. A few months later, he announced the release of an eighth studio album, Globalization, which appeared near the end of 2014 and featured Chris Brown, Sean Paul, Dr. Luke, and other guests. No less than four singles reached the Top 40, including "Wild Wild Love," "Fireball," "Time of Our Lives," and "Fun." Dale, his second Spanish-language album, followed in 2015, the same year that he launched his satellite radio station, Pitbull's Globalization, on the Sirius XM network. The album was extremely successful, scooping up the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. It was Pitbull's first Grammy Award win, and the album unsurprisingly reached number one on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart. The following year saw a return to the English language for the rapper with his tenth studio album, Climate Change. It featured high-profile collaborators like Robin Thicke, Joe Perry, Flo Rida, Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez, Jason Derulo, Stephen Marley, Leona Lewis, and R. Kelly, among others. The single "Messin' Around," featuring Iglesias, hit the pop charts leading up to the album's release in March 2017. Later that year, Pitbull issued his second compilation of solo hits from 2009's Rebelution to 2014's Globalization on the aptly titled Greatest Hits. The collection featured two new songs: "Jungle" with Stereotypes, E-40, and Abraham Mateo and "Locas" with longtime collaborator Lil Jon. In 2018, Pitbull contributed a pair of tracks to the Gotti soundtrack: "So Sorry" and "Amore" with Leona Lewis. That year, he also recruited Theron Theron for "Free Free Free" and appeared on Claudia Leitte's "Carnaval," Enrique Iglesias' "Move to Miami," and Arash's "Goalie Goalie." In 2019, the Papayo and Ky-Mani Marley collaboration "Yayo" appeared, along with "No Lo Trates" with Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha. ~ David Jeffries & Neil Z. Yeung

Calvin Harris

DJ, cantante, remezclador y productor discográfico escocés | EDM, electro house, electro pop, dance-pop, nu-disco (2002)

Calvin Harris feat. Ne-Yo

Son Lux

Banda estadounidense | Electrónica, experimental, post-rock (2008)

From the start, Son Lux has operated as something akin to a sonic test kitchen. The Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated band strives to question deeply held assumptions about how music is made and reconstruct it from a molecular level. What began as a solo project for founder <a href="spotify:artist:0rLLyTr5rx0qYKb63MdVW9" data-name="Ryan Lott">Ryan Lott</a> expanded in 2014, thanks to a kinship with <a href="spotify:artist:4nxKL1oZc0tYGkELxf2e1u" data-name="Ian Chang">Ian Chang</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:29uBPqNiTiQxmLadKstqWP" data-name="Rafiq Bhatia">Rafiq Bhatia</a> too strong to ignore. The trio strengthened their chemistry and honed their collective intuition while creating, releasing, and touring six recordings, including <a href="spotify:album:6fbI3F22B27FExsRlIYqtw" data-name="Brighter Wounds">Brighter Wounds</a> (2018) and triple album Tomorrows (2021). The result is a carefully cultivated musical language rooted in curiosity and balancing opposites that largely eschews genre and structural conventions. And yet, the band remains audibly indebted to iconoclastic artists in soul, hip-hop, and experimental improvisation who themselves carved new paths forward. Distilling these varied influences, Son Lux searches for equilibrium of raw emotional intimacy and meticulous electronic constructions. Son Lux scored A24’s Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once for which they were nominated for two Academy Awards and a BAFTA. The full score album features new collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:2uYWxilOVlUdk4oV9DvwqK" data-name="Mitski">Mitski</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:20vuBdFblWUo2FCOvUzusB" data-name="David Byrne">David Byrne</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3HQyFCFFfJO3KKBlUfZsyW" data-name="Randy Newman">Randy Newman</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5W10uJRsbt9bROJDKoI1Wn" data-name="Moses Sumney">Moses Sumney</a>, among others. Their latest film venture is for Marvel Studios, scoring 2025’s highly anticipated Thunderbolts*.

PASTEL GHOST

Música, cantante, compositora y productora estadounidense | Dreamwave, synth pop, dream pop, electronica (2012)

𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢 파스텔 유령

Mortal Love

Banda noruega | Metal gótico (2000 - 2011)

Mortal Love

Lacrimosa

Banda alemana | Metal gótico, metal sinfónico, metal progresivo, darkwave neoclásico, wave etéreo, coldwave (1990)

Taking their name from the Latin word for weeping, Switzerland-based duo Lacrimosa employ an icy blend of darkwave, gothic rock, and symphonic metal that invokes names like <a href="spotify:artist:2EOmvmVtYMTgn45w9mWUTV">Tristania</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4OAddazJM576euUnFSvXSL">Lacuna Coil</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:31eXqCx5cAlItdGdoHMEOu">Theater of Tragedy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4HxBVyHaUa60eCSsJWxwWR">Sisters of Mercy</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5HA5aLY3jJV7eimXWkRBBp">Epica</a>. Formed in the early 1990s by German multi-instrumentalist and composer Tilo Wolff and Finnish vocalist, keyboard player, and composer Anne Marjanna Nurmi, the project was initially a Wolff-centric venture, with Nurmi joining in 1994 and making her first appearance on the group's fourth album, Inferno. 1997's powerful Stille found success on the German charts on the strength of the single "Stolzes Herz," while 1999's ambitious Elodia saw the group deliver their first rock opera, which was divided into three acts and featured the <a href="spotify:artist:5yxyJsFanEAuwSM5kOuZKc">London Symphony Orchestra</a>, Rosenberg Ensemble, and Hamburg State Opera. The band continued to move further away from the heavy goth-metal style that dominated earlier outings with the likes of 2001's Fassade and 2003's Echoes, but struck a balance between the two dispositions on 2005's symphonic metal-driven Lichtgestalt. The band's tenth studio long-player, Sehnsucht, arrived in 2009, and offered up a more varied, non-conceptual set of material that drew comparisons to <a href="spotify:artist:6wWVKhxIU2cEi0K81v7HvP">Rammstein</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2NPduAUeLVsfIauhRwuft1">Nightwish</a>, as did subsequent offerings such as Revolution (2012), Hoffnung (2015), and Testimonium (2017). ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Type O Negative

Banda estadounidense | Doom metal, metal gótico, metal progresivo, metal alternativo, crossover thrash (1989 - 2010)

New York goth metal quartet Type O Negative were led by vocalist/bassist/songwriter Peter Steele and featured guitarist Ken Hickey, keyboardist Josh Silver, and drummer Johnny Kelly. Steele formed Type O Negative in 1990 out of the remnants of thrash band <a href="spotify:artist:0yL1k21OjFpQtWsHz9fxTN">Carnivore</a>, along with his friend Sal Abruscato (drums). Type O's music slowed down the tempos of thrash metal, alternately satirizing and wallowing in a glum mixture of misanthropy, misogyny, depression, and vampiric vocals, as well as loads of cheap-sounding guitar distortion. The band's debut album, Slow, Deep and Hard, was released in 1991, featuring long, mopey dirges with titles like "Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity." Not everyone appreciated Steele's dark sense of humor, though, and he was roasted by some critics who charged him with being a homicidal misogynist and Nazi sympathizer. A fake live album, The Origin of the Feces, appeared the following year, its notorious cover depicting a pair of spread buttocks (the album was eventually reissued with less graphic artwork). Released in 1993, Bloody Kisses added surprisingly skilled <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatlesque</a> melodies, and Steele's often ironic treatments of his depressing subject matter and the emotional and musical excesses of goth (particularly Type O Negative's brand) were deadly accurate and often very funny. Abruscato departed following its release to join <a href="spotify:artist:4gyzQpfG5YQZJt2jj0IkEl">Life of Agony</a>, at which point Kelly joined the band. Bloody Kisses slowly won the band a cult following, thanks in part to the video for "Black No. 1" and the band's constant touring, and the album cracked <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Billboard%22">Billboard</a>'s Top 200 well over a year after its release. The more upbeat follow-up, October Rust, appeared in 1996, building on the more pop-oriented tracks of its predecessor; in the meantime, Steele achieved notoriety by appearing as a Playgirl magazine centerfold. World Coming Down finally appeared in 1999 after a three-year hiatus, a considerably darker affair than October Rust but proof that -- in spite of Steele's pronouncements to the contrary -- its predecessors were no fluke. In 2000, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a> compiled The Least Worst of Type O Negative, which featured European single edits and alternate mixes of the band's most popular songs, plus several unreleased tracks. Life Is Killing Me arrived in 2003 with a cover of "Angry Inch" from the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Four years passed before the band returned with Dead Again. On April 14, 2010, Steele died from apparent heart failure at the age of 48, which brought Type O Negative to a close as a performing and recording unit. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

The Kentucky Vampires

Banda estadounidense | Deathrock (2017) ❗

Los Carniceros del Norte

Banda española | Deathrock, post-punk, horror punk (2006) ❗

Metallica

Banda estadounidense | Heavy metal, metal progresivo, speed metal, thrash metal (1981)

Metallica formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and has become one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 15 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. They have scored several multi-platinum albums, including 1991’s Metallica (commonly referred to as The Black Album), with sales of nearly 18 million copies in the United States alone, making it the best-selling album in the history of Soundscan. Metallica has also garnered numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009. In December 2013, Metallica made history when they performed a rare concert in Antarctica, becoming the first act to ever play all seven continents all within a year, and earning themselves a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Metallica’s twelfth studio album <a href="spotify:album:70uejEPPRPSLBrTRdfghP5" data-name="72 Seasons">72 Seasons</a> was released on April 14, 2023 on Metallica’s own Blackened Recordings record label, and the band is currently on the M72 Tour—a 2-year, continent spanning tour with two nights in each market and no repeat sets.

Rob Zombie

Músico, director de cine y escritor estadounidense | Heavy metal, groove metal, nu metal (1985)

The longtime frontman for '90s industrial superstars <a href="spotify:artist:0CF71zaDOJWCynIkW9bSK8">White Zombie</a>, New England-bred multi-hyphenate Rob Zombie went on to forge a highly successful solo career and later branched off into the world of film. A lover of B-movie camp, horror nostalgia, and psychedelic imagery, his enduring 1998 debut Hellbilly Deluxe set him apart from contemporaries by balancing brutal metal power with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and sexiness that never took itself too seriously. Over the decades, he remained a fixture in the U.S. Top Ten, scoring additional hits with 2001's The Sinister Urge and 2006's Educated Horses. As his film career took off, he released cult favorites such as 2003's House of 1000 Corpses, 2005's The Devil's Rejects, and a pair of big-budget reboots for the Halloween series. In 2021, he issued his seventh set, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, and in 2022 he appeared on the soundtrack for the film The Munsters, which he also wrote and directed. Born Robert Bartleh Cummings on January 12, 1966, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, his eclectic style was solidified early on: not only was he raised by parents who had worked in a carnival, but he was fascinated with horror movies from a young age. In addition to fostering his creative abilities in art school, he worked as a bike messenger, porn magazine art director, and production assistant for the classic children's TV series Pee Wee's Playhouse. Around this time, he founded the band <a href="spotify:artist:0CF71zaDOJWCynIkW9bSK8">White Zombie</a> with bassist Sean Yseult. They remained an underground act for much of the late '80s through a series of cult-favorite indie releases. It wasn't until the success of their 1992 major-label debut, La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1, that Zombie was launched to new prominence within the music industry, allowing him to try his hand at animation (most notably a hallucinatory sequence of the feature film Beavis & Butt-Head Do America) and directing (he was slated to helm a third chapter of The Crow franchise, working from his own screenplay, but the studio eventually pulled out of the deal). In 1998, three years after the release of <a href="spotify:artist:0CF71zaDOJWCynIkW9bSK8">White Zombie</a>'s final studio album Astro-Creep: 2000, Zombie made his solo debut with the album Hellbilly Deluxe. When it sold more copies in its first week of release than any <a href="spotify:artist:0CF71zaDOJWCynIkW9bSK8">White Zombie</a> record before it, he disbanded the group to move on as a full-time solo act, quickly issuing Hellbilly remix album American Made Music to Strip By in the fall of 1999. Starting his own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Zombie-a-Go-Go+Records%22">Zombie-a-Go-Go Records</a>, he gave bands like <a href="spotify:artist:2dOGUGTTR0vKcexJaOOLMy">the Ghastly Ones</a> a home while creating demented mix CDs like Halloween Hootenanny. He delivered remixes to a number of soundtracks while recording a new song for the Mission Impossible: 2 soundtrack, and rounded out his first major solo run with a Rob Zombie toy produced by Todd McFarlane. He began to work on a feature film in April of 2000, funded by Universal Studios after he designed a horror display for their amusement parks. The film, House of 1000 Corpses, was produced and edited, but the studio backed out due to its own corporate standards. Zombie wrangled the rights to the film from the studio while taking out his frustrations on his next solo record, The Sinister Urge. Again working with collaborator Scott Humphrey (who had produced his first record), he drafted in a metal superstar cast including <a href="spotify:artist:6ZLTlhejhndI4Rh53vYhrY">Ozzy Osbourne</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1IQ2e1buppatiN1bxUVkrk">Slayer</a> guitarist Kerry King, <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">Mötley Crüe</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:0AnjaOjAt53Ej9223SQv2p">Methods of Mayhem</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4b9L0p4cMof32XvjwT9YrX">Tommy Lee</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:165ZgPlLkK7bf5bDoFc6Sb">Limp Bizkit</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:2ajHgsmpiyhXrx3JoigTO2">DJ Lethal</a>. The record was another success, leading to a huge Christmas tour with <a href="spotify:artist:6ZLTlhejhndI4Rh53vYhrY">Osbourne</a> at the end of 2001 and another solo tour in the spring of 2002. Zombie sold House of 1000 Corpses to MGM for a Halloween release, although offers from several smaller studios had to be refused because of the financial loss he would have taken. The film was a cult hit, prompting Zombie to begin work on his next piece of celluloid, 2005's Devil's Rejects. He returned to the recording studio in 2006 for Educated Horses, which veered down a more experimental path that included blues guitar, acoustic tracks, and even a sitar. Despite debuting in the Top Ten of the Billboard album charts and receiving a Grammy nomination for "The Lords of Salem," it was his first album not to receive certification from the RIAA. A pair of best-of collections -- including hits from both <a href="spotify:artist:0CF71zaDOJWCynIkW9bSK8">White Zombie</a> and his solo discography -- were released that year. After a stint as director and co-writer of the 2007 remake of Halloween, Zombie Live, his first live album, was released in October 2007, the same month that he began an arena tour with <a href="spotify:artist:6ZLTlhejhndI4Rh53vYhrY">Ozzy Osbourne</a>. The release of his next studio album was pushed back due to Zombie's involvement with Halloween II and in 2010, Zombie released Hellbilly Deluxe 2, his first solo album written with the help of his band (which featured <a href="spotify:artist:7mAqCk75DUBWgcC0sqhzwX">John 5</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:77qohgrDf7G6hqpgV0kBK8">Piggy D.</a>). Intended as a sequel to his breakout solo debut, it was supported by Zombie's first world tour in a decade. Another remix album, Mondo Sex Head, arrived in 2012 and included reworkings from his back catalog by producers like <a href="spotify:artist:3hXDMlrPegHRO0zUvBsRSI">Photek</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0QJKELJZZuLAjqLOOixJm5">the Bloody Beetroots</a>. In early 2013, Zombie returned with his fifth studio album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, which would be Zombie's lowest-selling album to date, despite its Top Ten Billboard debut. Months later, his film The Lords of Salem was released in theaters, accompanied by a soundtrack featuring songs by Zombie, <a href="spotify:artist:2Hkut4rAAyrQxRdof7FVJq">Rush</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a>. In the years that followed, he returned his focus to his horror empire, creating the Great American Nightmare haunted house attraction, which incorporated characters from his cult films. He also began work on another movie, the crowd-funded killer clown flick 31 (which premiered at Sundance in 2016). He also released his first concert film, The Zombie Horror Picture Show, in 2014, followed by his second live album, Spookshow International Live, in 2015. Zombie's sixth studio LP, The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, was released in April 2016. Featuring an abrasive, industrial edge that hadn't been heard since Sinister Urge, Electric Warlock was produced by Zeuss and recorded at Goathouse Studios by Zombie and his band, which included former <a href="spotify:artist:2VYQTNDsvvKN9wmU5W7xpj">Marilyn Manson</a> bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:7mAqCk75DUBWgcC0sqhzwX">John 5</a> and Ginger Fish, as well as bassist <a href="spotify:artist:77qohgrDf7G6hqpgV0kBK8">Piggy D</a>. That year, he also released the film 31 and recorded his band's set from Riot Fest for Astro Creep: 2000 Live, which arrived in 2018. Months later, he reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:2VYQTNDsvvKN9wmU5W7xpj">Marilyn Manson</a> for a joint headlining summer tour, which was kicked off by their collaborative cover of "Helter Skelter." Zombie closed the decade with the final installment of his Firefly family film trilogy, 3 from Hell, which was released in late 2019. On Halloween weekend 2020, the next album era was launched with "The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)," the Grammy-nominated single from 2021's The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. Issued in March, the album became Zombie's seventh consecutive Top Ten on the Billboard 200. In 2022, he produced, wrote, and directed the horror comedy film The Munsters and appeared on the soundtrack. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Doro

Cantante alemana | Heavy metal (1982)

German heavy metal/hard rock vocalist Doro is best known for her years with the power metal band <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a>, but she has had a long solo career and continues to command a loyal following (especially in Europe) long after the group's demise. After releasing four albums with <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a> in the 1980s, Doro set out on her own, touring and recording under her first name. She released Force Majeure in 1989, dialing back the gothic fantasy metal of <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a>, Doro adopted a more pop-metal/hard rock sound, which she would continue to hone well into the next century. Shifting musical tastes in the early '90s resulted in her finding most of her success in the European market, where metal still reigned supreme, but as the 2000s progressed, Doro once again found favor abroad with standouts like 2006's Warrior Soul, 2012's Raise Your Fist, and 2018's Forever Warriors, Forever United. Doro Pesch, who only uses her first name professionally, was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, on June 3, 1964. Although she grew up in a country where German is the primary language, Pesch speaks fluent English and has done most of her singing in English, something she has in common with <a href="spotify:artist:27T030eWyCQRmDyuvr1kxY">the Scorpions</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3JDIAtVrJdQ7GFOX26LYpv">Accept</a>, and other German headbangers. Pesch was in her late teens when, in the early '80s, she started singing lead for an obscure Dusseldorf-based metal band called Snakebite. In 1983, she left Snakebite and became the lead singer for <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a>, a forceful yet melodic fantasy metal outfit along the lines of <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Black Sabbath</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6mdiAmATAx73kdxrNrnlao">Iron Maiden</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2tRsMl4eGxwoNabM08Dm4I">Judas Priest</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4M3c7tg4BzLQ5pIOupZL65">Ronnie James Dio</a>. At the time, heavy metal and hard rock were very male-dominated, but thanks to artists including Joan Jett, <a href="spotify:artist:43mhFhQ4JAknA7Ik1bOZuV">Pat Benatar</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:34jw2BbxjoYalTp8cJFCPv">Heart</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2TRtXTjjmyzK5oUGec1Gv8">Girlschool</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Lita Ford</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5eTq3PxbOh5vgeRXKNqPyV">the Runaways</a>, headbangers had grown more comfortable with the idea of women singing aggressive rock. But there weren't that many women singing gothic fantasy metal about witches, demons, ghosts, or sorcerers. So when Pesch belted out <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a>'s fantasy-oriented lyrics and did so with as much aggression as <a href="spotify:artist:6ZLTlhejhndI4Rh53vYhrY">Ozzy Osbourne</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:4M3c7tg4BzLQ5pIOupZL65">Ronnie James Dio</a>, she stood out. After playing the Dusseldorf club scene for several months and acquiring a small local following, <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a> recorded a demo and was signed by the independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mausoleum%22">Mausoleum</a> label; after that, the band ended up recording for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mercury%22">Mercury</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Polygram%22">Polygram</a> (where Pesch remained for 11 years). <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a>'s debut album, Burning the Witches, was released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mercury%22">Mercury</a> in 1984 and was followed by Hellbound in 1985, True as Steel in 1986, and Triumph & Agony in 1987. That year, <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a> toured Europe as an opening act for <a href="spotify:artist:4CYeVo5iZbtYGBN4Isc3n6">Dio</a> but didn't tour the United States until 1988 (when the band opened for <a href="spotify:artist:1Yox196W7bzVNZI7RBaPnf">Megadeth</a> on an extensive North American tour). Although <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a> had an enthusiastic cult following, it wasn't as large as the headbangers was hoping for, so in 1989, the name <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a> was put to rest and Pesch started billing herself as a solo artist. She didn't inundate listeners with the sort of gothic fantasy themes that <a href="spotify:artist:5XDeFQDarnwpR5WAfD6S0d">Warlock</a> was known for. Released in 1989, Pesch's debut solo album, Force Majeure, is more pop-metal/hard rock than gothic fantasy -- the album is closer to Crimes of Passion-era <a href="spotify:artist:43mhFhQ4JAknA7Ik1bOZuV">Pat Benatar</a> than <a href="spotify:artist:6mdiAmATAx73kdxrNrnlao">Iron Maiden</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2OgUPVlWYgGBGMefZgGvCO">Queensrÿche</a>, or <a href="spotify:artist:5i0ph60TnwTlIGrOZAmcZa">King Diamond</a>. The singer's second album, Doro (which contains her cover of <a href="spotify:artist:1kkpNi8Ii5MhBMxmUhN5g9">the Electric Prunes</a>' psychedelic hit "I Had Too Much to Dream") was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mercury%22">Mercury</a> in 1990 and was followed by True at Heart (a European release), in 1991. A few years later, Pesch and similar artists suffered a major setback. When grunge icons <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a> exploded commercially in 1992 and 1993, alternative rock became rock's primary direction, and all of a sudden the styles of metal and hard rock that had been huge in the '80s were out of vogue. There were still plenty of metal bands getting signed to major labels, but they were alternative metal bands -- not hair metal pop bands and not gothic fantasy metallers in the <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Sabbath</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:2tRsMl4eGxwoNabM08Dm4I">Priest</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:6mdiAmATAx73kdxrNrnlao">Maiden</a> tradition. In this brave new rock world, the women who defined heavy rock were folks like <a href="spotify:artist:3Xdna5z74yNICNKqdaNX9z">Babes in Toyland</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2zMQOJ4Cyl4BYbw6WqaO3h">L7</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:535KSdsDbNGj6w6eCBkRP5">7 Year Bitch</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5SHQUMAmEK5KmuSb0aDvsn">Hole</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4vI0xGbQl2cMnMiagUEBOj">Courtney Love</a>; Pesch, like <a href="spotify:artist:43mhFhQ4JAknA7Ik1bOZuV">Benatar</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4lPDIYPFDs5gpcToUczJDs">Wilson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Ford</a>, was considered part of metal/hard rock's old school. Nonetheless, Pesch continued to command a small but loyal following -- especially in Europe -- and kept touring and recording as a solo artist. In 1993, two Pesch albums were released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Polygram%22">Polygram</a> in Europe: Angels Never Die (her fourth solo album) and Doro Live (her first live album and fifth album overall). In 1995, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Polygram%22">Polygram</a> released Machine II Machine in Europe; that year, her contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Polygram%22">Polygram</a> ended and she signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22WEA%22">WEA</a> in Europe. It was also in 1995 that Pesch made her acting debut with a role on the German television series Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love). The headbanger's next album, Love Me in Black, came out on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> in Europe in 1998; that year, she parted company with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22WEA%22">WEA</a> and signed two deals -- one with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Koch%22">Koch</a> in the U.S., the other with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SPV+Steamhammer%22">SPV Steamhammer</a> in Europe. In 1999, Pesch recorded Calling the Wild, which was released in both Europe and the U.S. in 2000. Calling the Wild was her first North American release since 1990's Doro; True at Heart, Angels Never Die, Doro Live, Machine II Machine, and Love Me in Black had only been released in Europe, although the LPs were sold in U.S. stores as imports. Pesch remained prolific throughout the 2000s, issuing a flurry of well-received solo releases, including Fight (2002), Classic Diamonds (2004), Warrior Soul (2006), Fear No Evil (2009), and Raise Your Fist (2012), the latter three of which helped to re-establish her in the American market. In 2017, she released her first German-language LP, Für Immer, via <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rare+Diamonds+Productions%22">Rare Diamonds Productions</a>, and in 2018 she released the ambitious and anthemic double album Forever Warriors, Forever United. 2020 saw the release of the career retrospective Magic Diamonds: Best of Rock, Ballads & Rare Treasures, and the following year she issued the concert LP Warlock: Triumph & Agony Live. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi

Disturbed

Banda estadounidense | Heavy metal, metal alternativo, hard rock, nü metal (1994)

Emerging out of Chicago at the turn of the century with an insidious, infectious, and inimitable vision without comparison, Disturbed have quietly dominated hard rock on their own terms. They make the kind of music that pushes you to hold on tighter, fight harder, and persevere forever. It’s why they’ve quietly claimed a place at the forefront of 21st century rock with record-breaking success, sales of over 17 million-plus units, nearly 8 billion streams, and sold out shows around the globe. The two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated quartet have notched five consecutive #1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, occupying rarified air alongside Metallica—the only other hard rock group to accomplish this feat. Since their influential 5x-platinum debut The Sickness in 2000, they have built a bulletproof catalog highlighted by a procession of smashes, including the platinum “Stupify,” “Inside The Fire,” and “Land of Confusion,” 2x-platinum “Stricken,” 6x-platinum “Down With The Sickness,” and 7x-platinum “The Sound of Silence,” to name a few. The latter notably received a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of “Best Rock Performance” as the band earned “Best Rock Artist” at the 2017 iHeartRadioMusic Awards. Still, Disturbed never stop, igniting their next chapter with their 2022 album Divisive featuring their 15th #1 at Rock Radio “Hey You,”“Unstoppable,” and more.

System of a Down

Banda armenio-estadounidense | Heavy metal, metal alternativo, nu metal, metal progresivo, hard rock (1994)

Striking a balance between '80s underground thrash metal and metallic early-'90s alternative rock, Armenian-American quartet System of a Down effectively pushed their socially conscious, politically charged messages into the mosh pits during the turn of the century's nu-metal wave. Their dark and wild style led them from a cult following to a full-blown movement with breakout hit Toxicity, which debuted at number one in 2001 and planted them at the top of the charts through the early 2000s with a pair of related albums, Mezmerize and Hypnotize. Soon afterward, the band took an extended hiatus, branching off into various solo projects while maintaining a cultural presence with sporadic concerts and continued efforts to spread awareness of the Armenian genocide. They would not return until 2020 when they released their first fresh material in 15 years, "Protect the Land" b/w "Genocidal Humanoidz," the proceeds of which went to the humanitarian needs of families displaced by the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0BEI7i5sgUuivcfwXLzFmM">Serj Tankian</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2MqLs2L4iNhAUNwJQwjmdm">Daron Malakian</a>, bassist Shavo Odadjian, and drummer John Dolmayan formed System of a Down in Southern California in the mid-'90s. They quickly earned a strong following in Los Angeles, largely based on strong word of mouth. A three-song demo began circulating through metal collectors, and their fan base soon spread throughout not only America, but Europe and New Zealand. By the end of 1997 the group had signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22American%22">American</a>, distributed by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a>. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22American%22">American</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> released the group's eponymous debut in the summer of 1998, securing the band opening spots on the <a href="spotify:artist:1IQ2e1buppatiN1bxUVkrk">Slayer</a> and Ozzfest tours. Carried by alternative radio hits "Sugar" and "Spiders," System eventually went platinum, leading to the September 2001 release of the even more ambitious Toxicity. Their first chart-topper, System's second effort was another heavy music triumph, shaming the majority of their nu-metal competition and running away with multi-platinum honors around the world. Featuring the singles "Chop Suey!" and "Aerials," the album would become a landmark release for the period and their defining statement. Without losing momentum, <a href="spotify:artist:2MqLs2L4iNhAUNwJQwjmdm">Malakian</a> started the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22eatURmusic%22">eatURmusic</a> imprint, and <a href="spotify:artist:0BEI7i5sgUuivcfwXLzFmM">Tankian</a> founded a label called <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Serjical+Strike%22">Serjical Strike</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:0BEI7i5sgUuivcfwXLzFmM">Tankian</a> also collaborated with Armenian avant-garde folk musician <a href="spotify:artist:13TxYlQsBj3sUlIuyqMz6g">Arto Tuncboyaciyan</a> in a project called <a href="spotify:artist:5KcAXbeH3b692beV9FSWzy">Serart</a>. In November 2002 System issued the bare-bones but no less powerful odds-n-ends set Steal This Album!, culled from the Toxicity sessions. By 2004, System of a Down was back in the studio with <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a>. The bold result of those sessions was a single epic album released in two parts. Mezmerize/Hypnotize kept System's furious creativity alive, incorporating the wild vocal melodies, lyrical passion, and rabid structural shifts that had become their trademark. Mezmerize (Pt. 1) appeared in May 2005, while Hypnotize (Pt. 2) appeared later in the year, and both hit the top of the album charts. The following year, the group went on hiatus, with <a href="spotify:artist:2MqLs2L4iNhAUNwJQwjmdm">Malakian</a> forming <a href="spotify:artist:2BUrLolMFK48vn3scYOSMf">Scars on Broadway</a>; Dolmayan opening an online comic book store and forming the group Indicator (he also briefly played with <a href="spotify:artist:2BUrLolMFK48vn3scYOSMf">Scars on Broadway</a>); Odadjian working with <a href="spotify:artist:4iCwCMnqsNZ6atvRiADgtn">RZA</a>, AcHoZeN, and <a href="spotify:artist:2GVBp7QyHckoOg7rYkLvrA">George Clinton</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0BEI7i5sgUuivcfwXLzFmM">Tankian</a> embarking on a solo career. While they toured off-and-on throughout the 2010s, the foursome remained split, working on their personal musical projects while continuing to raise awareness for Armenian causes. One of those -- the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war -- prompted System to reunite for the charity single "Protect the Land" b/w "Genocidal Humanoidz," which raised over half-a-million dollars for families displaced by the fighting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

Avenged Sevenfold

Banda estadounidense | Heavy metal, metal alternativo, rock alternativo, hard rock, post-hardcore, sleaze rock, metalcore (1999)

For a legion of devoted adherents, the Avenged Sevenfold catalog is part of the DNA of modern hard rock and a constantly evolving soundtrack documenting the band’s creative twists and turns. Driven by a muscular melodicism, urgent intensity, and adventurous spirit, A7X anthems account for over two billion streams, over ten million records sold worldwide, two consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 Top Albums chart, and multiple No. 1 rock singles. Since its formation in Huntington Beach, California, in 1999, the band combined a passion for extreme music and subculture with a determination to blaze its own path. Their newest record Life Is But A Dream… is designed to provoke and inspire, courageously broadening the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal sound pioneered by the band with confidence, attitude, and intention. Upending predictable conventions without sacrificing hooks, the band’s eighth album champions discomfort, tension, rage, and groove with esoteric abandon, exploring the absurdity of life and death. At the forefront of rapidly changing technology, cultural mile markers, and new ways for communities to engage, Avenged Sevenfold is steadily constructing its own ecosystem in real time, existing in a symbiotic relationship with its audience based on complete trust and mutual respect. Life Is But A Dream… is the natural creative anchor and sonically immersive environment for this mission.

Sepultura

Banda brasileña | Thrash metal, groove metal (1984)

From their humble beginnings in Belo Horizonte, Sepultura became the most successful Brazilian heavy metal band in history. Over a ten-year period, the group grew from strength to strength, transforming themselves from a primitive death metal ensemble with early recordings such as 1987's Schizophrenia into one of the leading creative trendsetters of the international aggressive music scene by the time of 1989's Beneath the Remains. Their reputation was cemented in 1991 with the release of Arise. Sepultura's musical palette began to expand with 1993's Chaos A.D., where they experimented with old-school heavy metal and groove metal. After a long tour following the release of 1996's Roots, a bitter internal crisis ensued, and guitarist/vocalist Max Cavalera left; it split the band and Sepultura struggled to recover their momentum. In 1998, with American singer Derrick Greene replacing Cavalera, they issued Against and began to find their groove again. They issued six more albums before drummer Igor Cavalera left the group to reunite with his brother and form the <a href="spotify:artist:7F1K4WlMshx23V2TTz4KwV">Cavalera Conspiracy</a>. After hiring drummer Jean Dolabella to tour in 2006, Sepultura again found their way, as evidenced by late-career triumphs like Kairos (2011), Machine Messiah (2017), and Quadra (2020). Hailing from Brazil's third largest city, Belo Horizonte, Sepultura (which means "grave" in Portuguese) were formed in the mid-'80s, a period during which that country was beginning to emerge from a 20-year military dictatorship. Max Cavalera (vocals/guitar), Igor Cavalera (drums), Paulo Jr. (bass), and Jairo T. (lead guitar) had a hard time even finding rock & roll albums, especially those "socially unacceptable" genres such as heavy metal and punk. Their early influences were <a href="spotify:artist:6mdiAmATAx73kdxrNrnlao">Iron Maiden</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ye2Wgw4gimLv2eAKyk1NB">Metallica</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1IQ2e1buppatiN1bxUVkrk">Slayer</a> (literally the first three records purchased by <a href="spotify:artist:6Facuws0NvGn0UFKmGkRn2">Max</a> on a visit to the "big city," São Paulo), but the band soon progressed toward a death metal sound, inspired by emerging groups such as <a href="spotify:artist:0ZEpcKtaM4ItvzHJCg5udc">Possessed</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4f5V3PQ66nIrBCqugJtaGn">Death</a>. Their drive and determination (they sang in English from day one) more than made up for their geographic isolation and inexperience, and though they were only in their teens and still learning how to play their instruments, the band quickly evolved into an underground contender. After landing a deal with independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cogumelo+Records%22">Cogumelo Records</a>, Sepultura recorded four songs for a split LP with fellow Brazilians <a href="spotify:artist:4UNuvB2ShLpocVWVO30vZH">Overdose</a>. Reissued on CD and named for its first track, 1985's Bestial Devastation was self-produced and recorded in just two days, and it shows. Recorded with minimal time and money in August 1986, their first full-length album, Morbid Visions, showed little improvement but contained their first hit, "Troops of Doom," which attracted some media attention and convinced the group to relocate to São Paulo (Brazil's largest city and financial capital) in order to further their career. They also replaced guitarist Jairo T. with São Paulo native <a href="spotify:artist:3yNa9mGfJRUql6JAHVUEo0">Andreas Kisser</a>, whose greater musical ability would help take the entire band to the next level. In 1987, Sepultura's technical proficiency finally caught up with their creative vision, and their second full-length album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cogumelo%22">Cogumelo</a>, Schizophrenia, displayed an incredible evolution in terms of production and performance. It also became a minor critical sensation across Europe and America, drawing the attention of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner+Records%22">Roadrunner Records</a>, which promptly released the album worldwide and signed the band to a long-term contract. No longer restrained within Brazilian borders, the group set about composing 1989's Beneath the Remains, the first of four albums that would solidify Sepultura's position as perhaps the most important heavy metal band of the '90s. Recorded in Rio de Janeiro for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a> under the guidance of leading death metal producer Scott Burns, 1989's Beneath the Remains was an immediate critical and commercial success, and the band's ferocious performances on the subsequent European tour further cemented Sepultura's reputation. The group also filmed their first video, for the single "Inner Self," and finished that year's tour with a triumphant set of shows in their homeland. After obtaining new management and relocating to Phoenix, Arizona, Sepultura entered Tampa's Morrisound Studios with producer Burns to record 1991's highly acclaimed Arise album. First single "Dead Embryonic Cells" proved to be another resounding hit, and the title track would gain even more attention when its video was banned by MTV America due to its apocalyptic religious imagery. The world tour that followed elevated the album to platinum sales worldwide (a figure rarely achieved by bands of such an extreme nature) and, in a strange twist, found singer Max Cavalera marrying band manager Gloria Bujnowski, who was almost twice his age. Such was the group's success that their label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a>, obtained a co-distribution deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic+Records%22">Epic Records</a> for their next recording, 1993's Chaos A.D. By incorporating social issues (especially relating to Brazil) into their lyrics, as well as displaying some of their punk and hardcore influences for the first time, the record was another worldwide smash thanks to singles like "Territory" and "Refuse/Resist." After touring for over a year, the members of Sepultura took a well-deserved break before starting work on their most ambitious album yet, 1996's Roots. The introduction of native Brazilian percussion and musical styles into their trademark downtuned guitars and increasingly sociopolitical themes resulted in a highly unique record that could loosely be described as heavy metal/world music. Roots marked Sepultura's creative peak, and the group's continual rise to ever-greater fame seemed guaranteed until a family tragedy set off a series of events that would break up the band. Just hours before taking the stage at England's Monsters of Rock festival, the group discovered that the teenage son of manager (and singer <a href="spotify:artist:6Facuws0NvGn0UFKmGkRn2">Max</a>'s wife) Gloria had been killed in a car accident. A shocked Sepultura took the stage as a trio while <a href="spotify:artist:6Facuws0NvGn0UFKmGkRn2">Max</a> and Gloria boarded the first plane back to America. Only a few months later, the band confronted <a href="spotify:artist:6Facuws0NvGn0UFKmGkRn2">Max</a> about severing ties with Gloria and finding new management. Still recovering from the recent trauma of a death in his extended family, <a href="spotify:artist:6Facuws0NvGn0UFKmGkRn2">Max</a> viewed this as a huge betrayal and left the band amid much bad blood and acrimony. As the group's creative leader, many expected his departure to spell the end of Sepultura, but the band announced that they would carry on and soon began looking for a replacement. After a long search, Sepultura recruited Cleveland native Derrick Green as their new singer and began laying down tracks for 1998's Against. Though it retained much of the intensity and diversity of its predecessor (including a collaboration with Japan's <a href="spotify:artist:3nmREzlLOE9LEtFUHVIloD">Kodo</a> percussion ensemble on the track "Kamaitachi"), the album lacked the unique spark that had characterized the group's prior work. It also sold only half as many copies as Cavalera's first album with his new band, <a href="spotify:artist:6159IBm5gLPwG4BcJXseXc">Soulfly</a>, clearly showing with whom fan loyalty remained. Undaunted, Sepultura returned in early 2001 with Nation. The album followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, despite better reviews and a more seasoned Green on vocals. In order to reach out to their slowly shrinking fan base, the group released one of their last live shows with <a href="spotify:artist:6Facuws0NvGn0UFKmGkRn2">Max</a>, Under a Pale Grey Sky, in the fall of 2002. An EP of covers, Revolusongs, was issued in 2003, followed by the full-length Roorback, 2005's Live in São Paulo, 2006's Dante XXI, and 2009's Clockwork Orange-inspired A-Lex. The following year, Sepultura announced they had signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nuclear+Blast%22">Nuclear Blast</a>, where they would release 2011's Kairos (after which their drummer left) and their 13th studio album, The Mediator Between the Head and Hands Must Be the Heart, in 2013. This latter effort, inspired by the sci-fi classic Metropolis, brought an injection of fresh blood with the introduction of 20-year-old drummer Eloy Casagrande. It was produced by Ross Robinson, who had helmed their seminal album Roots. After a major tour, the reenergized band went back into the studio with Jens Bogren to record 2017's Machine Messiah. They remained on the road in support of the effort until 2019, when they barreled straight into another album cycle. The band's 15th effort, Quadra, was issued in February 2020 and produced by Jens Bogren. The set was a four-part concept offering centered around the quadrivium of mathematics. With its entertaining intersections of prog metal, thrash, and death metal -- sometimes within the same song -- it marked a turning point in the evolution of Sepultura's sound. The following year saw the release of SepulQuarta, a collection of collaborations that featured contemporaries like <a href="spotify:artist:6uejjWIOshliv2Ho0OJAQN">Devin Townsend</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1BYa5XlAsWCj5ACqGDnLHT">Scott Ian</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:3JysSUOyfVs1UQ0UaESheP">Anthrax</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:7CGoviGsNXYmGOBkXk8dtW">Danko Jones</a>, and Matt Heafy (<a href="spotify:artist:278ZYwGhdK6QTzE3MFePnP">Trivium</a>) helping to re-interpret some of Sepultura's best-known tracks. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi

Slayer

Banda estadounidense | Thrash metal (1981)

Slayer were one of the most distinctive, influential, and extreme thrash metal bands of the 1980s. Their graphic lyrics dealt with everything from death and dismemberment to war and the horrors of hell. Their full-throttle velocity, wildly chaotic guitar solos, and powerful musical chops painted an effectively chilling sonic background for their obsessive chronicling of the dark side; this correspondence helped Slayer's music hold up arguably better than the remaining Big Three '80s thrash outfits (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax). Naturally, Slayer stirred up quite a bit of controversy over the years, with rumors flying about Satanism and Nazism that only added to their mystique. Over the years, Slayer put out some high-quality albums, including one undisputed classic (Reign in Blood), and saw the numbers of naysayers and detractors shrinking as their impact on the growing death metal movement was gradually and respectfully acknowledged. Slayer survived with arguably the most vitality and the least compromise of any pre-Nirvana metal band, and their intensity inspired similar responses from their devoted fans. Slayer were formed in 1982 in Huntington Park, California, by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman; also recruited were bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo. They started out playing covers of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden songs, but quickly discovered that they could get attention (and fans) by exploiting threatening, Satanic imagery. The band was invited by Metal Blade's Brian Slagel to contribute a track to the Metal Massacre, Vol. 3 compilation (a series that also saw the vinyl debuts of Metallica and Voivod); a contract and debut album, Show No Mercy, followed shortly thereafter. While Slayer's early approach was rather cartoonish, their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess were still highly evident. Two EPs, Haunting the Chapel and Live Undead, were released in 1984, but 1985's Hell Awaits refined their lyrical obsessions into a sort of concept album about damnation and torture and made an immediate sensation in heavy metal circles, winning Slayer a rabid cult following. Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin took a liking to the band, signed them to his label, and contributed the first clear-sounding production heard on any Slayer album for the stripped-down Reign in Blood. Due to the graphic nature of the material, CBS refused to distribute the album, which garnered a great deal of publicity for the band; eventually, Geffen Records stepped in. Combining Slayer's trademark speed metal with the tempos and song lengths (if not structures) of hardcore, along with the band's most disturbing lyrics yet, Reign in Blood was an instant classic, breaking the band through to a wider audience, and was hailed by some as the greatest speed metal album of all time (some give the nod to Metallica's Master of Puppets). South of Heaven disappointed some of the band's hardcore followers, as Slayer successfully broke out of the potential stylistic straitjacket of their reputation as the world's fastest, most extreme band. Drummer Lombardo took some time off and was briefly replaced by Whiplash drummer Tony Scaglione, but soon returned to the fold. Released in 1990, Seasons in the Abyss was well-received in all respects, incorporating more of the classic Slayer intensity into a more commercial -- but no less uncompromising -- sound. "War Ensemble" and the title track became favorites on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and Slayer consolidated their position at the forefront of thrash, along with Metallica. Following the release of the double-live album Decade of Aggression, Lombardo left the band again and formed Grip Inc. Slayer remained quiet for a few years; the only new material released after 1990 was a duet with Ice-T recorded for the Judgment Night soundtrack on a medley of songs by the Exploited. After leaving the Forbidden, Paul Bostaph signed on as the new drummer for 1994's Divine Intervention, which was released to glowing reviews; thanks to the new death metal movement, which drew upon Slayer and particularly Reign in Blood for its inspiration, Slayer were hailed as metal innovators. The album was a massive success, debuting at number eight on the Billboard album charts. Bostaph left the band to concentrate on a side project, the Truth About Seafood, and was replaced by ex-Testament drummer Jon Dette for Undisputed Attitude, an album consisting mostly of punk and hardcore covers. Bostaph rejoined Slayer in time to record 1998's Diabolus in Musica. The band reunited with Def Jam for 2001's God Hates Us All and in 2002, Lombardo rejoined the band once more. In 2004, they unleashed the four-disc anthology Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, followed by an album of all-new material, Christ Illusion, in 2006. After a relentless tour and festival schedule in 2007 and 2008, Slayer emerged from the studio with World Painted Blood in 2009. In 2010, Slayer appeared with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax on Big 4: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria. On May 2, 2013, Slayer guitarist and co-founder Jeff Hanneman died of liver failure at a Los Angeles hospital; he was 49 years old. King and Araya refused to let their friend's death deter them from carrying on with Slayer, and set to work writing a new album. Lombardo was kicked out of the band for the third time; Bostaph came back on board, and Exodus' Gary Holt, who had filled in for Hanneman when he was seriously ill with necrotizing fasciitis in 2011, joined as his permanent replacement. The album was eventually finished in 2015 and titled Repentless. Three tracks, "When the Stillness Comes," "Implode," and the title cut -- which King dubbed a "HannemAnthem" in tribute -- were released as digital singles throughout the spring and summer. Repentless appeared on September 11 through Nuclear Blast. ~ Steve Huey

Lorna Shore

Banda estadounidense | Deathcore, blackened death metal, metal sinfónico, metalcore (2010)

Cerebral Slaughter

Banda chilena | Deathcore (2013) ❗

Cerebral Slaughter is a Chilean Deathcore / Death Metal band formed in Talca, Maule in 2012. The group currently consists of guitarists Alejandro Aravena and Ricardo López, drummer Cristo García, bassist Nicolas Martinez and vocalist Alex Ortega. Since its formation in 2012 the band has released an EP "Cadenas De Miseria" under the record label Ahrairah Records, a Single "Disorders Of Memory" released through Beheading The Traitors and with an LP on the way. Disorders Of Memory: "The crow man" hanging in a cold, isolated and eternal landscape. It represents the internal and inert entity that inhabits people. The entity that keeps every memory of us and rots with them, no matter how much we forget, no matter how much time has passed in our lives. Every memory, every life, every person that went out of our hands, every friend, every forgotten love, he keeps them in an infinite time. The song is simply about someone (person X) who loves and misses, then hates, because the raven man is part of him, where the only solution to forget is death.

Behemoth

Banda polaca | Blackened death metal (1990)

Alex Terrible

Alex Terrible

All enquires: ilya&#64;full-time.ninja Alex Terrible, the frontman of iconic modern metal band, Slaughter To Prevail and creator of the Kid Of Darkness character. First ever original song “DOOM SLAYER” is out now.

Afterlife

Banda estadounidense | Metal alternativo, metalcore, nu metal revival, rap metal (2015) ❗

Linkin Park

Banda estadounidense | Nu metal, rock alternativo, rap metal, metal alternativo, heavy metal, rock electrónico, pop (1996)

LINKIN PARK emerged as an innovative musical force and are one of the best-selling artists of the last twenty years. Their RIAA Diamond-certified full-length debut, <a href="spotify:album:2pKw6GERJVAD61449B1EEM" data-name="Hybrid Theory">Hybrid Theory</a>, stands out as the “best selling debut of the 21st century,” while landmark sophomore album Meteora bowed at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 before going 8X-Platinum in the U.S. The band’s worldwide sales across the entire catalog eclipses 100 million, and among numerous accolades and honors, they have garnered 2 GRAMMY® Awards, 5 American Music Awards, 4 MTV VMA Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards and 3 World Music Awards. Selling out stadiums worldwide, they’ve headlined the largest festivals globally and also remain the first and only Western rock band to play a five-stadium tour in China. 2017’s <a href="spotify:album:5Eevxp2BCbWq25ZdiXRwYd" data-name="One More Light">One More Light</a> marked their fifth #1 debut on the Billboard 200. In 2020, the band celebrated their groundbreaking debut album, <a href="spotify:album:2pKw6GERJVAD61449B1EEM" data-name="Hybrid Theory">Hybrid Theory</a>, by releasing a comprehensive 20th anniversary edition super deluxe box set which features their RIAA Diamond-certified single “In The End.” In 2023, the band released <a href="spotify:album:3Q9wXhEAX7NYCPP0hxIuDz" data-name="Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition">Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition</a>, which topped the charts and featured the newly-uncovered song “Lost.” 2024 marked the release of their first greatest hits package <a href="spotify:album:1X472EvsSqH09RyrqbtyXU" data-name="Papercuts">Papercuts</a>, featuring vault track “Friendly Fire” that similarly topped both the Alternative and Rock charts. Today, LINKIN PARK’s imprint on music and culture continues to expand and magnify.

Fleshwater

Banda estadounidense | Nu metal, post-hardcore, shoegaze, post-grunge (2007)

Fleshwater

Snot

Banda estadounidense | Nü metal, metal alternativo, hardcore punk, funk metal, rap metal (1995)

Snot was formed in Santa Barbara sometime in 1995 by singer Lynn Strait (who had formerly played bass in local punk act Lethal Dose) and guitarist Mike Doling (formerly of Kronix). In 1996, Snot signed with Geffen Records after building a strong following with their powerful L.A. area performances, and shortly the group began work on their first full-length recording. The resulting disc, Get Some, was released in 1997 and immediately began receiving favorable notices. Get Some is a dynamic, hardcore metal offering that exhibits the punk and metal roots of Snot members Strait, Doling, bassist John Fahnestock, drummer Jamie Miller, and guitarist Sonny Mayo. Snot began touring in support of their new record and partly due to the fact that they were so very well received within the community of rock musicians, they were given a slot on the 1998 Ozzfest tour where Strait (among other dubious accomplishments no doubt) was arrested in Mansfield, MA, for indecent exposure after an onstage encounter with a member of Limp Bizkit's touring entourage. While Snot was running amok all over America, their debut wasn't getting quite as warm a reception as the band and their label would have liked, and after the Universal-Polygram merger, their future with the new company seemed to be in jeopardy as many lesser and new artists were being cut free from their contracts. Undaunted, the group continued to work on new music while pursuing whatever business and recording opportunities they found available to them. It was during this tough time for the band that Strait was killed in a car accident. On December 11, 1998 a truck struck the singer's car on the 101 freeway near Santa Barbara. Strait was 30 years old. Also killed in the accident was Strait's dog Dobbs, a boxer that appeared on the cover of Get Some. Fahnestock and Doling took the tracks that they had been working on with Strait at the time of his death and had friends of the singer come by (Korn's Jonathan Davis, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, and Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, among others) and lay down their own vocals as a tribute to the deceased. The subsequent Immortal Records release was called Straight Up. This record is a symbol of the tremendous outpouring of grief and sympathy -- especially within the L.A. new metal and alternative music community -- that was indeed massive and sustained. The vigilance of fans and concerted effort to sustain his legacy by other artists affirmed what many close to Strait had known for a longtime: that the singer had incredible magnetism and spirit, and that while he wasn't always an angel, he managed to inspire and entertain people. These were certainly among the man's goals, which he obviously accomplished during his lifetime. After the release of Strait Up, Fahnestock joined Amen and Doling signed on with Soulfly. ~ Vincent Jeffries, Rovi

Motionless in White

Banda estadounidense | Metal Industrial, metalcore, nu metal, metal gótico, metal alternativo (2005)

In 2006, Motionless In White materialized out of Scranton, PA with an inimitable conjuration of sharp metallic rock, industrial, magnetic melodies, and larger-than-life visual imagery. The quintet—Chris Motionless [Vocals], Ricky Olson [Guitar], Ryan Sitkowski [guitar], Vinny Mauro [drums], and Justin Morrow [bass]—quietly clawed their way to the forefront of hard rock, gathering nearly half-a-billion cumulative streams and views to date. Following the success of <a href="spotify:album:1maoGHiRtjxbzNxZuNpPVP" data-name="Creatures">Creatures</a> [2010] and <a href="spotify:album:2koeql9xhHIxUSOAld7KQ7" data-name="Infamous">Infamous</a> [2012], <a href="spotify:album:7gF74deMBvX9Bqyn5RCn8r" data-name="Reincarnate">Reincarnate</a> [2014] sunk its teeth into the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200, bowing at #9 and capturing #1 on the Top Rock Albums Chart. Both <a href="spotify:album:5ucBd1GYFRg0uVhP4a4AY6" data-name="Graveyard Shift">Graveyard Shift</a> [2017] and <a href="spotify:album:4JECM4NZhtpjDX4JbYkh00" data-name="Disguise">Disguise</a> [2019] cracked the Top 5 of the Top Hard Rock Albums Chart and Top Rock Albums Chart. Along the way, they sold out headline tours and supported everyone from Slipknot and Korn to Breaking Benjamin. Not to mention, <a href="spotify:artist:6MwPCCR936cYfM1dLsGVnl" data-name="Motionless In White">Motionless In White</a> have collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:1VW5tZ9pmSb2rG0GmSELwW" data-name="Jonathan Davis">Jonathan Davis</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD" data-name="Korn">Korn</a>, Maria Brink of <a href="spotify:artist:6tbLPxj1uQ6vsRQZI2YFCT" data-name="In This Moment">In This Moment</a>, Dani Filth of <a href="spotify:artist:0NTSMFFapnyZfvmCwzcYPd" data-name="Cradle Of Filth">Cradle Of Filth</a>, Tim Sköld of <a href="spotify:artist:3V4IvzRQYP5mzuVtkcHgVa" data-name="KMFDM">KMFDM</a>, Caleb Shomo of <a href="spotify:artist:6vwjIs0tbIiseJMR3pqwiL" data-name="Beartooth">Beartooth</a>, and more. The five-piece kept busy throughout 2020 with the Deadstream event performance of Creatures for its decade-anniversary, a cover of The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me,” and the standalone single “Creatures X: To The Grave.” Now in 2022, <a href="spotify:artist:6MwPCCR936cYfM1dLsGVnl" data-name="Motionless In White">Motionless In White</a> are set to return with their new album Scoring The End of the World which sees them perfecting the poetically pummeling sound they patented.

Sleep Token

Banda británica | Djent, indie pop, indie rock, metal alternativo, metal progresivo, post-metal, R&B (2016)

‘Even In Arcadia’ - May 9th 2025 https://www.sleep-token.com/

Loathe

Banda inglesa | Metalcore, nu metal, post-hardcore, shoegaze (2014)

I Let It In And It Took Everything www.loatheasone.co.uk

Dance of the Seventh Crow

Banda estadounidense | Metalcore (2020) ❗

Liv Kristine

Cantante noruega | Metal sinfónico, metal gótico, folk metal, pop rock (1993)

"Deus ex Machina", LIV KRISTINE&#39;s fantastic solo debut from 1998, will be released on 1 March 2024 with unreleased bonus tracks! 27 October 1997 was to become a very special date in LIV KRISTINE&#39;s career. On this day she met Nick Holmes (Host, Paradise Lost). The chemistry between the two exceptional artists was right from the start, and so the jointly composed, beautiful gothic ballad "3 a. m." was the first song for the solo album "Deus ex Machina", released in 1998.Although both Nick and LIV have a metal background, the fusion of their two voices created something very special. But the other songs on "Deus ex Machina" also unfold a great deal of subtlety, magic and the power of LIV KRISTINE&#39;s personal charisma. With "Portrait: Ei tulle med øyne blå", based on a children&#39;s song from 1905, there is even a song in LIV&#39;s native Norwegian on the album. In June 2023, a new interpretation of the song was created together with Geir "Gerlioz" Bratland (Dimmu Borgir, God Seed, The Kovenant, Satyricon), which can now be found on this new release of "Deus ex Machina" as an LP bonus track. For LIV KRISTINE, both as a person and as an artist, authenticity and heart always come first. With the release of "Deus Ex Machina", she has already proven what a great, independent artist she is and has been inspiring and enchanting people all over the world for over three decades now.

Xandria

Grupo alemán | Metal sinfónico, folk metal, metal progresivo, metal gótico (1994)

Xandria is the vanguard of Symphonic Metal from Germany for many years already with a legendary status of its own - and after a long hiatus they are back now! All new and stronger than ever with the fantastic new vocal sensation Ambre Vourvahis who has an astonishing range from rock over operatic vocals to even screams and growls. This is giving the epic comeback masterpiece "The Wonders Still Awaiting" an unheard dimension which catapults it right into the top league of this fascinating music genre - and its fresh sound and arrangement sets new standarts for the state of the art of modern Symphonic Metal. The success of the album only confirmes this: Top 10 in their home country Germany´s album charts and #4 in the UK rock&metal charts, along other chart successes all over the world that clearly mark the band´s highest achievements so far, after becoming one of the flagships of their genre with classics like "Ravenheart", "Valentine" and "Nightfall" already. And now Xandria are bringing their magic to the stages of the world - epic, bombastic Symphonic Metal as big and enthralling as it can ever become! Xandria let the listener be part of an imaginary movie with their filmscore-like orchestrations and atmosphere - stories brought to life by this fantastic band with their amazing singer Ambre Vourvahis who will set the stages on fire with her impressive vocal range and stilistic diversity that you must have experienced on your own.

Imperia

Banda multinacional | Symphonic metal, gothic metal, progressive metal (2004)

29 Ağustos 2006 Doğumlu Mehmet Karayılan,Müziğe 2024ün Ocak Ayında Başladı,ilk ilhamını aldığı kişi Tyler,The Creator kendisine en çok ilham ve devam etmesi için motivasyon veren kişi Sevgilisidir.Imperia Mahlasını bir şarkı sözünden almıştır ve bundan önce “Siyah” Ve “Haiza” Mahlaslarını da kullanmıştır Bir Adet Youtube Müzik Kanalı Ve Bir Müzik Grubuda Vardır Imperia.333=www.youtube.com/@imperia333 Sonsuz Melodi=www.youtube.com/@SonsuzMelodi

ReVamp

Banda neerlandesa | Metal sinfónico, metal progresivo (2009 - 2016)

ReVamp

The Sins of Thy Beloved

Grupo noruego | Doom metal, metal gótico (1996 - 2008)

The Sins of Thy Beloved was a death-doom/gothic metal band from Bryne, Norway, founded in 1996.

heaven in her arms

Banda japonesa | Post-hardcore, post-metal, screamo (2001)

Falling in Reverse

Banda estadounidense | Post-hardcore, metalcore, pop punk, rock alternativo, rapcore, rap metal, rock electrónico (2008)

FALLING IN REVERSE return with 2024’s Popular Monster, the postmodern trailblazer’s first full-length in seven years. The album arrives armed with no less than three RIAA-certified gold singles (“ZOMBIFIED,” “Voices in My Head,” “Watch the World Burn”), the double-platinum title track, a reimagined nü-metal classic, and six brand new anthems of furious metal, melody, and hip-hop.  Popular Monster is a defiant statement and triumphant victory for singer, songwriter, bandleader, and provocateur Ronnie Radke, who invented Falling In Reverse inside a prison cell.  Radke fills the fifth full-length from Falling In Reverse with invincible and irresistible songs that resonate across generations and genres. Co-produced with longtime collaborator Tyler Smyth (I Prevail, Skillet, Lights), Popular Monster is full of confessional angst, bravado, and clever wordplay.  Ronnie formed a series of pop-punk bands in Las Vegas as a teenager, culminating in the creation of Escape The Fate. The metalcore group’s meteoric rise coincided with the singer’s spiral into addiction. By the time he was sentenced to two years in prison, the band he started had moved on without him. Some fans, critics, and industry types figured his story would end there.

K93

Banda colombiana | Punk rock, hardcore, metal (1995) ❗

Comeback Kid

Banda canadiense | Hardcore punk, hardcore melódico (2002)

A blue-collar punk band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Comeback Kid (otherwise known as CBK) combine declamatory vocals with a hyper-speed rhythm section and two riff-happy guitarists. Originally signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Victory%22">Victory</a>, the group issued a string of Billboard-charting efforts, including the acclaimed Broadcasting (2007) and Die Knowing (2014), before inking a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nuclear+Blast%22">Nuclear Blast</a> in 2017. They released their seventh long-player, Heavy Steps, in 2022, with Trouble appearing two years later. The Canadian band formed in 2002 when lead singer Scott Wade joined forces with lead guitarist Andrew Neufeld (also the lead singer in the Winnipeg-based Christian hardcore act <a href="spotify:artist:0uVzwB328QnUrEoPKOcM2F">Figure Four</a>) and added rhythm guitarist Jeremy Hiebert (also a member of <a href="spotify:artist:0uVzwB328QnUrEoPKOcM2F">Figure Four</a>), bassist Cliff Heide, and drummer Kyle Profetta. While Neufeld and Hiebert continued touring and recording with <a href="spotify:artist:0uVzwB328QnUrEoPKOcM2F">Figure Four</a>, Comeback Kid managed to put together a self-released six-song demo that earned them a deal with California's hardcore label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Face+Down+Records%22">Face Down Records</a>, which released their debut album, Turn It Around, in the spring of 2003. By now, Comeback Kid (having already gone through several transient bassists) had settled down with new bass player <a href="spotify:artist:0YfpMHfdZ1QZ9yG7nyZP0c">Kevin Call</a>. After extensive touring throughout Canada, Europe, and the United States in support of the record, Comeback Kid signed with the influential punk and emo label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Victory+Records%22">Victory Records</a> in 2004. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Victory%22">Victory</a> released the band's second album (produced by pop-punk legend Bill Stevenson of <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1FGH4Bh7g9W6V4fUcKZWp5">Descendents</a> fame), Wake the Dead, in February 2005. Following another bout of extensive touring, including dates supporting <a href="spotify:artist:1qh6ppVtiFTKMyta0NXsjf">Madball</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Px6nQCyIRM4Gj0tyvZ1TU">Sick of It All</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4dJX4iJ0qbB4gjkeenbK2N">Gorilla Biscuits</a>, Wade announced his departure from the band in early 2006. His last show with Comeback Kid was that summer, after which the group moved on as a quartet with Neufeld taking over lead vocal duties. The slimmed-down band then issued Broadcasting... in February 2007 and hit the road again. Released the following year, the concert recording Through the Noise captured a live show in CD/DVD format. A fourth album, Symptoms + Cures, was released in 2010, and marked the debut of guitarist Casey Hjelmberg. Hjelmberg left the fold in 2012 and was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:5JK81kITAokseiL9aGtZkS">Stu Ross</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:0OSABE1yGiZK2ALQDJ0SeO">Misery Signals</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0tciILgvdhgN2K0LK9fdcS">Living with Lions</a>), who made his studio debut on 2014's acclaimed Die Knowing; drummer and founding member Kyle Profeta departed shortly after the album's release. In June 2017, the band dropped the single "Absolute" in advance of their sixth studio long-player, the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nuclear+Blast%22">Nuclear Blast</a>-issued Outsider, which arrived later that August. 2021 saw the release of the hardcore anthem "Heavy Steps," which appeared on the LP of the same name in early 2022. The group inked a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sharptone%22">Sharptone</a> before the release of 2024's Trouble, which featured the anthemic single "Trouble in the Winner’s Circle." ~ Stewart Mason

LADYBABY

Banda musical japonesa | kawaii metal, kawaiicore, electronicore (2015)

The Cardigans

Banda sueca | Indie pop, pop rock, indie rock, rock alternativo, chamber pop, twee popb (1992)

One of the most pleasing pop groups of the alternative era, the Cardigans specialized in sugary confections that would grow annoying very quickly if they weren't backed by solid musicianship and clever arrangements. The band's 1995 breakout album, Life, reflected the Cardigans at their most saccharine -- the sunny disposition of vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:4nHhXbMpzESguKp9QHap0c">Nina Persson</a> being the major argument in favor -- and critics inserted the group into the space age pop revivalist camp. The Cardigans later proved that they were more difficult to pigeonhole, however. Even the band's origins showed that their later appearance was quite misleading; two heavy metal fanatics formed the group in October 1992 in Jonkoping, Sweden. Guitarist Peter Svensson met bassist Magnus Sveningsson in a hardcore group, though he had previously trained in music theory and jazz arranging. The two later grew tired of metal and decided to form a pop band with vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:4nHhXbMpzESguKp9QHap0c">Nina Persson</a> -- an art-school friend who had never sung professionally -- plus keyboard player Lars-Olof Johansson and drummer Bengt Lagerberg. All five Cardigans moved into a small apartment in 1993 and began recording a demo tape that entered the hands of producer Tore Johansson later that year. He liked what he heard and invited the group to record at his Malmö studio. Signed to the dance-oriented <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stockholm%22">Stockholm</a> label, the Cardigans released Emmerdale in May 1994. The single "Rise & Shine" became a hit on Swedish radio soon after the release of the LP, and a readers' poll in Sweden's Slitz magazine voted Emmerdale the best album of 1994. The Cardigans spent the last half of 1994 touring Europe and recording their second album. A satirical response to their moody debut, Life showed the band at their most upbeat, including an angelic picture of <a href="spotify:artist:4nHhXbMpzESguKp9QHap0c">Persson</a> in an ice-skating outfit for the cover. Released in March 1995 -- with several re-recordings of songs from Emmerdale -- the album eventually sold one and a half million copies worldwide and became especially popular in Japan, where it achieved platinum status. A deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Minty+Fresh%22">Minty Fresh</a> gave the Cardigans an American release of Life in spring 1996, and the group played eight sold-out shows in the U.S. that summer. The American major labels began to notice the attention, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mercury%22">Mercury</a> signed them soon after. First Band on the Moon, released in September 1996, de-emphasized the pure pop in favor of abstract arrangements and some rather violent themes. Nevertheless, the infectious single "Lovefool" became a radio hit by early 1997, and First Band on the Moon eventually reached gold status in America, as well as platinum certification in Japan (just three weeks after its release). Gran Turismo followed in 1998, though it lacked an obvious hit and led to a long hiatus for the band. Finally, the Cardigans returned in 2003 with Long Gone Before Daylight, marking a clear transition with confessional material closer to the singer/songwriter tradition. Super Extra Gravity followed in 2005, which hit number one in Sweden. By 2006, the band had gone on hiatus. <a href="spotify:artist:4nHhXbMpzESguKp9QHap0c">Persson</a> worked on solo material, releasing songs as A Camp and under her own name, while Svensson and Lagerberg issued music as <a href="spotify:artist:4N4Ba1nGCKlwYQpDqxDYHh">Paus</a>. (Lagerberg also worked with Johansson under the name <a href="spotify:artist:3v8VmPZclJ34Mrohd3oyjz">Brothers of End</a>.) The group reunited for occasional live shows during the 2010s, although without Svensson, who by this time was spending more time on pop music, writing and playing for an array of pop stars produced by <a href="spotify:artist:1rjeVTt9Ra1ldvN7SpeK0G">Max Martin</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:4AK6F7OLvEQ5QYCBNiQWHq">One Direction</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0p4nmQO2msCgU4IF37Wi3j">Avril Lavigne</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0X2BH1fck6amBIoJhDVmmJ">Ellie Goulding</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:66CXWjxzNUsdJxJ2JdwvnR">Ariana Grande</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6JL8zeS1NmiOftqZTRgdTz">Meghan Trainor</a>). ~ John Bush, Rovi

The Strokes

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, garage rock revival (1998)

By bringing style, fun, and catchy songwriting back to rock music, the Strokes became one of the most influential bands of the early 21st century. Their direct, hooky sound -- equally inspired by classic tunesmiths like <a href="spotify:artist:3wYyutjgII8LJVVOLrGI0D">Buddy Holly</a> and the brash attitude of fellow New Yorkers <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1co4F2pPNH8JjTutZkmgSm">Ramones</a> -- set trends even as it looked back on rock history. With their acclaimed 2001 debut, Is This It, the Strokes reinvigorated a rock scene that had spent years focused on post-grunge and nu-metal. Along with <a href="spotify:artist:4F84IBURUo98rz4r61KF70">the White Stripes</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3TNt4aUIxgfy9aoaft5Jj2">Yeah Yeah Yeahs</a>, they helped shape the sound and look of alternative rock in the 2000s, with <a href="spotify:artist:2qk9voo8llSGYcZ6xrBzKx">Kings of Leon</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0C0XlULifJtAgn6ZNCW2eu">the Killers</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4fSPtBgFPZzygkY6MehwQ7">the Libertines</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0XNa1vTidXlvJ2gHSsRi4A">Franz Ferdinand</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">Arctic Monkeys</a> reflecting their impact in the U.S. and the U.K., respectively. As the decade unfolded, the Strokes embellished on their back-to-basics style, adding new wave and synth pop elements to 2003's Room on Fire and 2006's ambitious First Impressions of Earth, a trend they continued with later releases like 2013's Comedown Machine. Though they spent much of the 2010s working on individual projects, they returned with some of their most passionate-sounding music on 2020's The New Abnormal. The Strokes' roots go back to the late '90s. Singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Julian Casablancas</a> (the son of Elite Model Agency Group kingpin John Casablancas), drummer Fabrizio Moretti (who began playing drums at age five), and guitarist Nick Valensi started playing together in 1997 while they attended the Dwight School, a private prep school in Manhattan. Soon thereafter, they met bassist Nikolai Fraiture, who attended the Upper East Side's Lycée Français, and added him to their ranks. At the time, the then-unnamed band's musical influences included <a href="spotify:artist:22WZ7M8sxp5THdruNY3gXt">the Doors</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2QsynagSdAqZj3U9HgDzjD">Bob Marley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:02NfyD6AlLA12crYzw5YcR">Jane's Addiction</a>. In 1998, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1Li0eIWeMeWcOOWpImcG9H">Albert Hammond, Jr.</a> (the son of singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:34E3csCxpXunPGEkOVVX2g">Albert Hammond</a>, whose songs include "It Never Rains in Southern California," "When I Need You," and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before") came from Los Angeles to attend film school at NYU and was invited into the band by <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a>; the two had met at L'Institut le Rosey in Switzerland when they were kids. With the addition of <a href="spotify:artist:1Li0eIWeMeWcOOWpImcG9H">Hammond, Jr.</a>, the band's style coalesced into a punk-, new wave-, and garage-inspired sound, and <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a> officially christened the quintet the Strokes in 1999. The group spent most of that year writing and rehearsing material in New York City's Music Building. They played their first gig at the Spiral, and word of mouth about the Strokes' incendiary live show propelled them to gigs at venues like Under the Acme and Lower East Side clubs such as Arlene Grocery, Baby Jupiter, and Luna. The Strokes' December 2000 dates at the Mercury Lounge and the Bowery Ballroom not only gained them a manager (Ryan Gentles, who booked them at those clubs) but also helped Strokes mania reach critical mass in New York. To record their three-song demo, the Strokes enlisted <a href="spotify:artist:09LiOtBPJw0anSdJcpG4y1">Gordon Raphael</a>, starting a long-running creative partnership. <a href="spotify:artist:4fd8mrtRK863BrE37LgITd">Rough Trade</a> released the group's three-song demo as The Modern Age EP in January 2001, which sparked a bidding war from which <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a> emerged as the victor. Meanwhile, the Strokes' acclaim reached the U.K. and grew to massive proportions over the course of the year, with singles like "Hard to Explain" (which debuted at number 16 in the U.K. charts) winning them a rabid British following. A side-stage slot at the NME Carling Weekender was changed to a main-stage performance for fear of people trampling each other to see the band. When the Strokes began work on their debut album, the initial sessions included Gil Norton, but creative differences with the <a href="spotify:artist:6zvul52xwTWzilBZl6BUbT">Pixies</a> producer led the band to reunite with <a href="spotify:artist:09LiOtBPJw0anSdJcpG4y1">Raphael</a>. Working in the East Village's Transporterraum studio, <a href="spotify:artist:09LiOtBPJw0anSdJcpG4y1">Raphael</a> and the Strokes recorded Is This It over the course of March and April 2001, adopting a compressed, back-to-basics sound that borrowed production techniques used by <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1co4F2pPNH8JjTutZkmgSm">Ramones</a>. Released in Australia in July 2001 and in the U.K. that August, Is This It originally featured a Helmut Newton-esque photo of a woman's nude behind and hip with a leather-gloved hand resting on it; the U.K. chains Woolworths and HMV objected to its controversial nature, but continued to sell the album. The North American version of Is This It appeared in October 2001 with a few changes: The Strokes opted for a picture of particle collisions in the Big European Bubble Chamber on the cover and removed the track "New York City Cops," feeling the song was inappropriate in the wake of the terrorist attacks that struck New York prior to the album's release; the planned B-side, "When It Started," took its place. Is This It earned widespread critical acclaim and strong sales, reaching number two on the U.K. Albums Chart and number 33 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart in the U.S. Over time, it achieved platinum status in countries including the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Canada, and Australia. The album also spawned the hit singles "Last Nite" and "Someday." The Strokes' profile continued to rise for the remainder of 2001 and into 2002. Is This It and the band were lauded in many ways, ranging from This Isn't It, an EP of instrumental versions of some of the album's songs performed by a mystery band called the Diff'rent Strokes to 2001 NME Carling Awards for Best New Act, Band of the Year, and Album of the Year. The band also won a Brit Award for Best International Newcomer and were nominated for the Best International Group Award. They toured extensively throughout 2002, including a series of dates that summer in New York and Detroit with <a href="spotify:artist:4F84IBURUo98rz4r61KF70">the White Stripes</a> and summer festivals at Reading and Leeds. During these shows and their dates opening for <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>, the Strokes debuted songs they'd been writing, including "Meet Me in the Bathroom," "You Talk Way Too Much," and "The Way It Is." After finishing their touring commitments in 2002, the Strokes started work on their second album. At first, they worked with renowned producer <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Nigel Godrich</a> before reuniting with <a href="spotify:artist:09LiOtBPJw0anSdJcpG4y1">Raphael</a> in May 2003. Recorded in three months, Room on Fire arrived in October 2003 with a slightly smoother sound that brought out the new wave elements of the Strokes' music. The album built on Is This It's success, reaching number four on the Billboard 200 and number two on the U.K. Album Charts. In the U.S., it achieved gold status and went platinum in the U.K. and Australia. The Strokes toured for much of 2004 and returned to the studio for album number three in early 2005. They began the sessions with <a href="spotify:artist:09LiOtBPJw0anSdJcpG4y1">Raphael</a>, but eventually completed the album with Grammy-winning producer David Kahne. Preceded by the grunge-influenced single "Juicebox," which became a Top Ten hit in the U.S. and U.K., First Impressions of Earth appeared in January 2006. A more experimental and eclectic effort than the Strokes' first two albums, it became the band's first chart-topping album in the U.K. and made the Top Five of the album charts in Canada and the U.S. Once the First Impressions of Earth tour was finished, the Strokes went on hiatus, with each member working on other projects. <a href="spotify:artist:1Li0eIWeMeWcOOWpImcG9H">Albert Hammond, Jr.</a> was the first to venture into the solo fray with Yours to Keep, which was released in late 2006 in the U.K. and in early 2007 in the U.S.; he followed it with 2008's Como Te Llama? Fabrizio Moretti played with the indie pop band <a href="spotify:artist:0aLsJXIaJ6MMCZIzaGpMaX">Little Joy</a>, whose self-titled album arrived in late 2008. Nikolai Fraiture embarked on the folky solo project <a href="spotify:artist:5G1qgnKxOcNoFvJtQMvl87">Nickel Eye</a>, and released the debut Time of the Assassins in early 2009. During this time, <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a> collaborated with other artists, playing Casio guitar on "Sick, Sick, Sick" from <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a>'s 2007 album Era Vulgaris and collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:6Jrxnp0JgqmeUX1veU591p">Santigold</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell</a> on the song "My Drive Thru" for a 2008 Converse Shoes ad campaign. He also recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:1f5GqyOPo0CkotzzRwviBu">the Lonely Island</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2dBj3prW7gP9bCCOIQeDUf">Danger Mouse</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:64tVHZVSAZhDEiOJxnb6hE">Sparklehorse</a>. At the beginning of 2009, <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a> and Valensi began work on the Strokes' fourth album. Progress was slow, however, and <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a> released his debut solo album, Phrazes for the Young, in October of that year. In 2010, the band collaborated with producer Joe Chiccarelli on some tracks, but they ultimately worked with producer and engineer Gus Oberg at <a href="spotify:artist:1Li0eIWeMeWcOOWpImcG9H">Hammond, Jr.</a>'s home studio on the majority of what would become Angles. Arriving in March 2011, the album took cues from <a href="spotify:artist:0SwO7SWeDHJijQ3XNS7xEE">MGMT</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7K3zpFXBvPcvzhj7zlGJdO">Crystal Castles</a>, and other synth-heavy bands, and, for the first time on a Strokes album, featured backing vocals. Angles was a Top Five hit in the U.S. and U.K., and became the band's first album to hit number one in Australia. The record's lead single "Under Cover of Darkness" reached number 12 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. In contrast to Angles' lengthy creative process, the Strokes started making their fifth album in 2012. Working once again with Oberg, this time at Manhattan's Electric Lady studio, the group also continued Angles' collaborative songwriting on March 2013's Comedown Machine, a more streamlined, subdued affair that reunited the band with Angles producer Gus Oberg. The members of the Strokes then spent a couple of years pursuing individual projects: <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:4nUBBtLtzqZGpdiynTJbYJ">the Voidz</a>, whose politically minded debut album, Tyranny, arrived in 2014. That year, Valensi contributed to <a href="spotify:artist:2mGlvfts36oW5O7KKPzfLk">Brody Dalle</a>'s album Diploid Love, and <a href="spotify:artist:1Li0eIWeMeWcOOWpImcG9H">Hammond, Jr.</a> released his third solo album, Momentary Masters, in 2015. The group reunited in 2016 for a string of shows and Future Present Past, their first EP in 15 years and their first on <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a>' <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cult+Records%22">Cult Records</a>. New Skin, the debut album from Valensi's band <a href="spotify:artist:4NfVXEoTZVX7rpJSZEVGLg">CRX</a>, also appeared that year. Along with playing several festivals, the Strokes started mapping out their sixth album with producer <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a> in 2017. As they worked on material for it, <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Casablancas</a> and his other band <a href="spotify:artist:4nUBBtLtzqZGpdiynTJbYJ">the Voidz</a> issued the album Virtue in 2018, while <a href="spotify:artist:1Li0eIWeMeWcOOWpImcG9H">Hammond, Jr.</a> released the Oberg-produced Francis Trouble. Preceded by shows including a 2019 New Year's Eve concert in Brooklyn and a February 2020 rally for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, The New Abnormal arrived in 2020 and introduced a more thoughtful and confessional level to the Strokes' sound and songwriting. Recorded in California and Hawaii, the album was a critical and commercial success, becoming a Top Ten hit in several countries including the U.S. and the U.K. In 2021, The New Abnormal won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. In February 2023, the Strokes issued The Singles, Vol. 1, a collection of singles and B-sides from the band's first three albums. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Panchiko

Banda británica | Indie rock, trip-hop, lo-fi, soft rock (1998)

On July 21st, 2016, a user on 4chan’s /mu/ board posted a photo of a mysterious CD they’d found at a record store in Nottingham, UK: a rough-worn demo titled D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, purportedly released in 2000 by four musicians: Owain, Andy, Shaun, and John. The listener uploaded the ripped audio—the recordings sounded like they were plagued with disc rot—to file-sharing sites, and later YouTube, where they began circulating among internet music circles. The record’s sensationalist appeal was multifold. Was this an honest-to-God ’90s curio? A prank hatched by internet-savvy teens? An internet experiment in nostalgia, in the spirit of vaporwave? Nobody knew. So the Panchiko hive mobilized, gathering on subreddits and discord servers, examining every square inch of the packaging for potential clues, and even calling the Nottingham record store where D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L had allegedly sprung up in the first place. “I woke up one day,” recounts Owain, “and ping—there’s a message on a defunct Facebook page of mine, ‘Hello, you’ll probably never read this, but are you the lead singer of Panchiko?’” The query took Owain by shock; to his and Andy’s knowledge, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L> had never been uploaded to the internet. The Panchiko fandom finally made contact the following day, when they received their reply from Owain, a simple “Yeah.” At last, the world had confirmation: not only were Panchiko not 14-year-old kids, they were the real deal, right down to the disk rot.

Young the Giant

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, rock alternativo (2004)

American Bollywood, Young the Giant’s fifth studio album and first since 2018’s Mirror Master, is structured after the ancient Sanskrit Hindu text of The Mahabharata (part of the Bhagavad Gita). The band’s front man and creative force Sameer Gadhia learned about those tales by way of the Mumbai-based Amar Chitra Katha comic books/graphic novels with their serialized depiction of religious legends, folklore and epic poems. That nexus of the ancient/classical and modern/art-pop culture is at the heart of American Bollywood’s various threads and subtexts. Separated into four acts of four songs apiece (I. Origins, II. Exile, III. Battle, IV. Denouement), American Bollywood is a musical meditation, a song suite, a cinematic blend of modern indie-rock and ancient Indian instrumentation, including sitar and tablas. The album recounts the true-life journey of Young the Giant’s front man Sameer Gadhia’s parents, who emigrated in 1984 from India to America, where he was born, tracing his own internal struggle to preserve a cultural identity while assimilating into the melting pot of Southern California’s Orange County. Continuing to live up to his band’s unique name, Gadhia says, “We still believe in the power of being young, naive, innocent and optimistic. We always try to find the beauty in things.” American Bollywood does just that, turning his family history and memories into a work of exquisite high art and popular appeal.

Mother Mother

Banda canadiense | Indie rock, alternative rock (2005)

Mother Mother’s forthcoming album, Nostalgia, is a standout entry in a discography filled with standout entries. It fosters both the spirit of creativity and total originality fans of the band have come to know and love, while also pushing their musicality, lyricism, and aesthetics to new peaks. The record, their tenth, which arrives at the same time the band celebrates its 20th anniversary, delivers a creative palette as simultaneously expansive and cohesive as they’ve ever offered. In Nostalgia, Mother Mother have achieved something few acts get the chance to: freedom in creativity, resulting in a record that feels both true to their legacy and gesturing towards the next two decades ahead.

Alex Turner

Cantante, músico, compositor y productor discográfico británico | Indie rock, garage rock, rock psicodélico, pop barroco, post-punk revival (2002)

Alex Turner became one of Europe’s most popular frontmen in early 2006, when the first Arctic Monkeys album became the fastest-selling U.K. record of all time. Turner had formed the indie rock band several years earlier, while attending Stocksbridge High School with fellow musicians Andy Nicholson, Glyn Jones, and Matt Helders. Looking for a fifth member, the classmates added guitarist Jamie Cook, one of Turner’s neighbors in the High Green suburb of Sheffield, England. When Glyn Jones left the lineup in 2002, Turner became the band’s default frontman and lyricist. Arctic Monkeys launched their own label, Bang Bang Recordings, and released a popular single in May 2005. Things progressed quickly from there, with Domino Records offering the guys a recording contract in June. Recording sessions for their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, were finished in September, and the album officially appeared in January 2006, selling over 118,000 copies during its first day. Nearly 375,000 copies were sold by the end of the week, laying the groundwork for a busy year that also included the release of a five-track EP, the departure of Andy Nicholson, the arrival of replacement bassist Nick O'Malley, and the receipt of the 2006 Mercury Prize. Although the entire band received much attention, Turner was singled out for his strong songwriting and erudite lyrics, which often focused on the ups and downs of nightlife in Northern England. The band released a second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, in April 2007. Later that year, Turner announced plans to form a side project with Miles Kane, who’d previously toured with Arctic Monkeys as the frontman of supporting act the Rascals. Dubbing themselves the Last Shadow Puppets, Turner and Kane released a lushly orchestrated debut album, The Age of the Understatement, in April 2008. Like Turner’s two albums with Arctic Monkeys, the record topped the charts during its first week. Turner continued collaborating with other artists -- including Dizzee Rascal, Reverend and the Makers, and Tony Christie -- while keeping his focus on Arctic Monkeys, whose third album, Humbug, appeared in 2009. A worldwide tour followed, after which the bandmates began laying the groundwork for a fourth record. Meanwhile, Turner penned six songs for a Richard Ayoade film, Submarine, whose 2011 soundtrack doubled as the frontman’s first solo release. ~ Andrew Leahey

Lord Huron

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, indie folk (2010)

In search of the eternal tune.

The Neighbourhood

Banda estadounidense | Rock alternativo, indie rock, pop rock, R&B, indie pop (2011 - 2022)

Since 2011, California quintet The Neighbourhood, with <a href="spotify:artist:4as3khXWaPjfkFdCA0JWMo" data-name="Jesse">Jesse</a> Rutherford (vocals), Zach Abels (guitar), Jeremy Freedman (guitar), Mikey Margott (bass), and Brandon Fried (drums), have zigged and zagged past conventions and expectations. Following the success of their platinum-selling debut <a href="spotify:album:4xkM0BwLM9H2IUcbYzpcBI" data-name="I Love You.">I Love You.</a> and lead single "<a href="spotify:track:2QjOHCTQ1Jl3zawyYOpxh6" data-name="Sweater Weather">Sweater Weather</a>," they worked with everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:0A0FS04o6zMoto8OKPsDwY" data-name="YG">YG</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:6fxyWrfmjcbj5d12gXeiNV" data-name="Denzel Curry">Denzel Curry</a>, graced top festivals like Coachella, and appeared on late-night television. With 2018&#39;s third album, <a href="spotify:album:0ODLCdHBFVvKwJGeSfd1jy" data-name="Hard To Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing">Hard To Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing</a>, the band pushed past mere commercial success with over 1 billion streams and views, and earned critical acclaim. So, what’s next? Instead of stealing away to a remote locale or exotic hideaway, Jesse Rutherford has retreated inward. Under silver paint and grills, Chip Chrome introduces himself on the band&#39;s fourth full-length, <a href="spotify:album:4uNgt1uQs6wZRm4giB3shX" data-name="Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones">Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones</a>. Big questions remain. Is this still The Neighbourhood? Are Chip and Jesse the same person? In fact, Chip has always been behind-the-scenes. He stepped into the spotlight on the 2019 single "<a href="spotify:track:4e8zIDjctZ1DtUPZTraGzS" data-name="Middle of Somewhere">Middle of Somewhere</a>." "I wanted to do something totally new,” Jesse revealed. “We had a plan to do a music video for &#39;Middle of Somewhere,&#39; and I showed up in spandex and paint! Chip was a way for me to say, &#39;I&#39;m going to do me. You&#39;re not going to stop me.&#39;" “Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones helped define my voice,” Jesse added. “The more I hear it, the more I think &#39;This is totally a Neighbourhood record.&#39;”

Mitski

Cantante y compositora japonesa-estadounidense | Indie rock, punk, folk rock, folk punk, art pop, j-pop (2012)

Sometimes Mitski feels life would be easier without hope or a soul or love. But when she closes her eyes and thinks about what’s truly hers, what can’t be repossessed or demolished, she sees love. “The best thing I ever did in my life was to love people,” she says. “I wish I could leave behind all the love I have after I die, so I can shine all this goodness, all this love that I’ve created onto other people.” She hopes her newest album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, will shine love long after she’s gone. That’s precisely how it feels: like a love that’s haunting the land. “This is my most American album,” she says. The music feels like a profound act of witnessing this country, in all its private sorrows and contradictions. Sonically Mitski’s most epic and wise album, it introduces wounds and then actively heals them. Here, love is time-traveling to bless our tender days, like light from a distant star. It&#39;s full of the ache of the grown-up, seemingly mundane heartbreaks and joys that are often unsung but feel enormous. It’s a tiny epic. From the bottom of a glass, to a driveway slushy with memory and snow, to a freight train barreling through the Midwest, all the way to the moon, it feels like everything and everyone is crying out in pain, arching towards love. Love is that inhospitable land, beckoning and then rejecting us. To love this place, this earth, this America, this body takes work. It might be impossible. The best things are. Written by Will Arbery

Joy Again

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock (2014)

Philadelphia rock band

Delights

Solista británico | Indie rock, dream pop, psychedelic funk, library music (2016) ❗

“The finely-crafted next-gen indie of Manchester’s Delights transcends their city’s rich musical legacy.” - The Line of Best Fit With their debut album ‘If Heaven Looks A Little Like This’ set for release in January 2025, Manchester’s Delights are stepping into an electrifying new world of sound. Their first full-length record introduces a wide sonic palette that reflects their collective tastes through appreciation of legacy and their hometown forebears. Lead single ‘Two Times Over’, is driven forward by lurching, buzzsaw riffs and “party percussion”, tapping into indie sleaze masters like The Rapture, Hot Chip, and CSS, while the rest of the album sees vibrant nods to funk, soul, disco, psychedelia, classic rock, and stadium-sized indie-pop which the 5-piece have become known for. Faced with the news that their former practice space was being turned into flats, the band loaded up the van with as much equipment as they could and ventured across the channel and into the French countryside. They rented a house in the small town of Flavacourt for 10 days, pressing record each morning when they woke up and not hitting stop until they went to sleep. These sessions formed the core of the album. With their biggest headline tour to date in the wake of sold out shows at Manchester’s Canvas 1 and London’s Moth Club, the dizzying trajectory of this in-demand five-piece serves to etch their name in the scene as one of the country’s most essential up-and-comers.

Wallows

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, post-punk, power pop, bedroom pop, alternative rock, surf punk (2017)

Wallows are Braeden Lemasters, Cole Preston, and Dylan Minnette. The new album, <a href="spotify:album:64SX9Efb2JGW3rJFE1ZddJ" data-name="Model">Model</a>, featuring <a href="spotify:album:0nwCSeTiLqsDU07k4MopnW" data-name="Calling After Me">Calling After Me</a> & <a href="spotify:album:4bchmgK2VJWV9fHapF5nms" data-name="Your Apartment">Your Apartment</a> was released on May 24, 2024. Their sophomore album, <a href="spotify:album:5L6fAzbz2x5oF8l0qluSKm" data-name="Tell Me That It’s Over">Tell Me That It’s Over</a>, featuring <a href="spotify:track:5wkEdciZkVGiasumRPReSV" data-name="Marvelous">Marvelous</a>, <a href="spotify:track:1prCMVGhgKF805LZJhFIHe" data-name="Especially You">Especially You</a> & <a href="spotify:track:1KO4aiGkvF1eMTBrzL4vAd" data-name="I Don&#39;t Want to Talk">I Don&#39;t Want to Talk</a> was released on March 25, 2022. Listen to Wallows&#39; debut album <a href="spotify:album:7eed9MBclFPjjjvotfR2e9" data-name="Nothing Happens">Nothing Happens</a>, <a href="spotify:album:6tjwdDsjnG6RNFdt0qXHmd" data-name="Remote">Remote</a> & <a href="spotify:album:0P2kTQ7mJ3z7CFjII7GWkw" data-name="Spring EP">Spring EP</a>.

The Poles

Banda surcoreana | Rock (2017) ❗

The Poles

late night drive home

Banda estadounidense | Emo, alt rock, indie rock, garage rock revival (2019)

late night drive home have never known a world without internet — without access to the endless stream of joy, sorrow, and titillation that we all tune in and tune out to on the daily. In many ways, the guys can’t extricate themselves from that reality, but they’re trying to grapple with it. The culmination of that, then, is the buoyant yet ominous as I watch my life online, the band’s debut album on Epitaph. “The record is a critique and a meta representation of the current online landscape: a whole new world or giant united country that connects us between cities, forcing us to be online. Instant gratification is at our fingertips — likes, follows, and entertainment a click away,” says guitarist Juan “Ockz” Vargas. “It shows the listener how we grew up in the early days of peak internet — how we saw it all unfold. We want to give our perspective on the internet while creating art alongside it.”

Ricky Montgomery

Cantautor estadounidense | Pop alternativo, indie folk, rock suave (2014)

Music always lures Ricky Montgomery back. He blames the internet. First a devotee of the Vine underground, and now—nearly a decade and several jobs later—an unexpected hitmaker, the Los Angeles native has spent the last few years trying to reconcile with his artist self. He recently surpassed 1 billion global streams thanks to Platinum indie-pop hits “Mr. Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook.” But those songs, written when he was a teen, have come to feel like they were by a whole other person—at least to Ricky. In 2023, we get to meet Rick, a sophomore set that comes seven years later, rich with electro-laced, emo-tinged alt-pop that spins stories about life in all its messy and mundane glory. Ricky&#39;s journey fits the bill: a childhood in L.A. interrupted by divorce, an adolescence playing in the basement bands of suburban Missouri, a viral explosion on a soon-to-implode platform, and a brief music career back on the West Coast that sent his songs up the Rock and Alternative charts. That was in 2014, before life intervened and he quit music for good… until the world discovered his sunny, sardonic songs. With millions of social  followers and a string of sold-out tours under his belt, Ricky now sets out to document "my long, awkward path toward remembering myself as an artist," he says. "It’s been embarrassing and difficult, but also thrilling. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted to do but was too scared to try.”

Conan Gray

Cantante, compositor y celebridad de internet estadounidense | Pop, indie pop (2013)

Conan Gray has quickly cemented himself as one of the most acclaimed pop stars and songwriters of his generation. The kid from central Texas— known for writing all his songs from his bedroom—has become one of the biggest artists in the world. Known for his authenticity and originality, Gray emerged with multi-platinum selling hits like “Heather” and “Maniac.” In 2020, his debut album Kid Krow reached #5 on the Billboard Top 200, #1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and became the biggest new artist debut of the year. In 2022, his sophomore album Superache became his second Top 10 album on the US Billboard 200 Chart. With over 15 billion total streams to date, Gray has been recognized by the who’s who of tastemakers including The New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, NME, Vogue, and GQ. Along the way, he has delivered memorable performances on television shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and many more. Gray has packed venues around the world, including selling out Radio City Music Hall in NY, the Greek Theatre in LA, and the Eventim Apollo in London. In 2023, Conan performed to almost 300,000 people at Lollapaloozas across Latin America and in 2024, he toured the globe with Found Heaven On Tour, which included sold out shows at Madison Square Garden in NY, Kia Forum in LA, and Wembley Arena in London. His highly anticipated third studio album, Found Heaven, is out now.

Men I Trust

Banda canadiense | Indie pop, indie rock, dream pop (2014)

Men I Trust, a Canadian indie band formed in 2014, has quietly but profoundly left its mark on the music scene. Comprising Emma Proulx (guitar and vocals), Jessy Caron (guitar and bass), and Dragos Chiriac (keyboards), the trio’s enchanting sound, blending dream pop and indie elements, resonates with a global audience. Renowned for their hypnotic melodies and captivating vocals, the band has earned acclaim for their distinct approach to music. Self-producing their tracks, they showcase a maturity beyond their years in the industry. Men I Trust’s influence extends from their evocative compositions to their understated yet compelling live performances, offering audiences a genuine and intimate musical experience. In an era where music defies easy categorization, Men I Trust stands out for their ability to create a sound that transcends genres, shaping the indie music landscape with grace and authenticity.

Beach Bunny

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop, surf pop, indie rock, power pop, bedroom pop (2015)

On 2025&#39;s Tunnel Vision, Beach Bunny is getting back to basics: urgent, guitar-based indie rock with pop melodies. Woven through the album, “Just Around the Corner” echoes dynamic &#39;90s indie rock courtesy of fuzzed-out guitars and crashing drums, while slashing riffs and precise rhythms propel the melodic “Big Pink Bubble.” “Violence,” meanwhile, veers between a chorus propelled by buzzing guitars and Trifilio’s pleading vocals and a buoyant chorus hook; “Chasm” is driving punk-pop; and the vivacious title track is a pogo-worthy rock anthem. “On Tunnel Vision, we wanted to get back to our guitar roots and some of that original sound we had,” says vocalist/guitarist songwriter Lili Trifilio. “This one was more like a classic Beach Bunny record.”

Oscar Lang

Solista británico | Alternative/indie pop, bedroom pop, indie rock (2016) ❗

new album ‘LOOK NOW’ out July 21st 💛

Sub Urban

Cantante, productor y compositor estadounidense | Música pop, pop indie, electrónica (2016)

.

Strawberry Guy

Músico gales | Indie pop, bedroom pop, dream pop, psychedelic pop (2018)

Tiptoe between the toadstools of Liverpool’s city parks, and amongst the foliage you might find a Strawberry Guy, contemplating his next chord-progression. Composing hi-fi symphonies from within his humble abode, the Welsh-born songwriter is ready to share the fruits of his labour. A one-man impressionist, painting majestic soundscapes, Strawberry Guy blends truthful lyrics with lush arrangements to conjure new emotive worlds. Inspired by composers of the Romantic period, or Debussy, Ravel, and other classical artists of the 1800s, his wonderland moves like a Monet painting where arpeggios dance between meadows of dazzling dynamics and dramatic key changes. His innocent uploads of &#39;Without You’ and ‘F-Song’ comfort 2 million Spotify listeners a month. ‘Mrs Magic’ has received 30 million streams, landing at #13 in its chart and countless fan-created videos have appeared on YouTube. Imitating nature’s effect on emotion, like 70s songwriters, or the fantastical soundtracks accompanying vibrant scenes in the Japanese animated Studio Ghibli films and video games, landscape is brought to the fore. Monet’s picturesque Meadow at Giverny features as the album’s accompanying artwork – perhaps a reminder of the rural Welsh countryside views through his childhood home’s window. Take it slow, be at one with the wilderness and remember, when life gives you lemons, swap them for Strawberries.

MAYE

Cantautora estadounidense nacida en Venezuela | Indie-pop, latin pop (2019)

💬📝💌

Elliott Smith

Cantante y músico estadounidense | Indie rock, indie pop, indie folk, música lo-fi (1991 - 2003)

An acclaimed singer/songwriter with a distinctively melancholic sound, Elliott Smith was a member of the thriving music scene of Portland, Oregon in the mid-'90s when he began releasing a series of highly influential solo albums. His musical palette expanded over time, from the hushed acoustic guitar demos of his 1994 solo debut, Roman Candle, to the orchestrated studio craftsmanship of his fifth album, 2000's Figure 8. Still, all were distinguished by a vulnerable demeanor conveyed by intense but wispy vocals (often double-tracked) and personal lyrics that referred candidly to subjects like addiction, depression, and alienation. His music's character was also shaped by artful chord transitions, which he called his favorite part of songs. He moved abruptly from indie cult status to mainstream success in 1997 when his contributions to the Good Will Hunting soundtrack resulted in an Academy Award nomination ("Miss Misery"). He recorded only six solo albums, releasing five before his untimely death at the age of 34 in 2003. Born Stephen Paul Smith in Omaha, Nebraska but raised mostly in Texas, Elliott Smith's musical influences included such figures as <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Bob Dylan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1SQRv42e4PjEYfPhS0Tk9E">the Kinks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2BGRfQgtzikz1pzAD0kaEn">Elvis Costello</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>; he said he was inspired to become a musician after hearing The White Album. He began writing and recording his first songs around the time he moved to Portland, Oregon at the age of 14. After high school, Smith headed to Amherst, Massachusetts to study philosophy and political science at Hampshire College. It was there that he met future bandmate Neil Gust. After graduating in 1991, Smith moved back to Portland with Gust, and the co-singer/songwriter/guitarists formed the indie rock band <a href="spotify:artist:59IPo3F7aZifhZtHnoGHbo">Heatmiser</a> with bass player Brandt Peterson and drummer Tony Lash. Mixing Smith's melancholy-pop sensibilities with Gust's more aggressive style and a notable grunge influence, they signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Frontier+Records%22">Frontier Records</a>, which released 1993's Dead Air and 1994's Cop and Speeder. Peterson then left the group and was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:15yETfkJIkKOIpL482Acd7">Sam Coomes</a>. In the meantime, Smith's then-girlfriend convinced him to send some of his solo demos to Portland-based <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cavity+Search+Records%22">Cavity Search Records</a>. The label immediately expressed interest in releasing a full album. A set of spare acoustic guitar ruminations with just a few other instruments used as accents, Roman Candle was home-recorded on a four-track tape recorder. Four of the songs didn't even have titles. It stood in sharp contrast to the scene's alternative rock that was popular upon its release in 1994. He signed with noted indie label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kill+Rock+Stars%22">Kill Rock Stars</a> for the next year's Elliott Smith. It was recorded partly at his bandmate Lash's house and featured Gust on additional guitar. The attention the records received soon overshadowed <a href="spotify:artist:59IPo3F7aZifhZtHnoGHbo">Heatmiser</a>, though they helped draw the interest of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Virgin+Records%22">Virgin Records</a>, which signed the band for their final LP, Mic City Sons. It arrived via subsidiary <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Caroline+Recordings%22">Caroline Recordings</a> in 1996. <a href="spotify:artist:59IPo3F7aZifhZtHnoGHbo">Heatmiser</a> officially disbanded prior to its release. As Smith continued to develop as a songwriter, his more ambitious but entirely self-recorded third solo LP, Either/Or, arrived in early 1997. With its title taken from a Søren Kierkegaard book of the same name, the album's expanded instrumentation included several songs with full-band arrangements and even keyboards. The results were still intimate, however, marked by his whispery, often despondent delivery and lyrics, even among a few livelier, uptempo tracks. The album was mixed by Smith and <a href="spotify:artist:59IPo3F7aZifhZtHnoGHbo">Heatmiser</a> producers <a href="spotify:artist:1oiDxi3lcwX7GS4dldq1GW">Tom Rothrock</a> and Rob Schnapf. By then, Smith had made a fan of film director <a href="spotify:artist:1iokknnSrYMMhGHYgZDUMB">Gus Van Sant</a>, who asked for permission to use his music in an upcoming film. Counting an orchestral version of "Between the Bars" recorded with score composer <a href="spotify:artist:5qBZETtyzfYnXOobDXbmcD">Danny Elfman</a>, four of his existing songs could be heard in the critical and box office hit Good Will Hunting later in 1997. The soundtrack also included Smith's original song for the film, "Miss Misery." When the Academy Award nominations were announced the following February, the track was a surprise entry in the Best Original Song category. Although it didn't win, Smith performed an acoustic guitar rendition live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien a few days before the Oscars, marking his network television debut. He followed it with a live performance of "Miss Misery" on the Oscars telecast accompanied by the Broadcast Orchestra. The newfound exposure led to a record deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks%22">DreamWorks</a>, resulting in Smith's first album in professional studios. Though he had relocated to Brooklyn following touring for Either/Or, he headed to Los Angeles to work with musicians including <a href="spotify:artist:57YJQe0ayvIaRZJ3PW5nFP">Jon Brion</a> and Joey Waronker on the notably more elaborate XO. Released in 1998, the <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatleseque</a> production was again mixed by Smith, Rothrock, and Schnapf. His first album to appear on the Billboard 200, it reached number 104 in the U.S., also charting among the Top 50 in Australia and Sweden. Smith performed on TV's Saturday Night Live in October 1998, backed by Schnapf, <a href="spotify:artist:57YJQe0ayvIaRZJ3PW5nFP">Brion</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:15yETfkJIkKOIpL482Acd7">Coomes</a>, and John Moen. In 1999, he contributed a cover of the <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatles</a>' "Because" to the soundtrack of Best Picture winner American Beauty and moved to Los Angeles, where he began work on his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks%22">DreamWorks</a> follow-up. Recorded partly at Abbey Road Studios in London, his fifth solo album, 2000's Figure 8, was co-produced by Smith, Rothrock, and Schnapf. Its more textured, orchestral arrangements drew further comparisons to the <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatles</a>' later recordings. Figure 8 charted in several European countries and hit number 99 in the U.S. For the next couple of years, Smith labored over what was to be his next album. He parted ways with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks%22">DreamWorks</a>, and after a falling out with <a href="spotify:artist:57YJQe0ayvIaRZJ3PW5nFP">Brion</a>, he scrapped an album they had begun together. In the meantime, "Needle in the Hay" from his eponymous LP was used by Wes Anderson to accompany a suicide-attempt scene in his film The Royal Tenenbaums. Smith eventually made a fresh start at his sixth LP, combining home recordings and material from sessions with <a href="spotify:artist:0WXqKaGjgU7xVNDmvTxOj0">Goldenboy</a>'s Dave McConnell. Musicians including <a href="spotify:artist:15yETfkJIkKOIpL482Acd7">Coomes</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:16eRpMNXSQ15wuJoeqguaB">the Flaming Lips</a>' Steven Drodz contributed performances to parts of a planned double album. However, Smith would not live to see its completion. Elliott Smith died on October 21, 2003, after he was found in his home with two stab wounds in his chest. The coroner was unable to determine whether he killed himself or was murdered, and the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation remains open. Smith's estate asked Schnapf and former girlfriend Joanna Bolme to complete the album in progress. After mixing -- or in some cases remixing -- 15 tracks from over 30 he left behind, they completed From a Basement on the Hill. It was released as a single album by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Anti-%22">Anti-</a> just two days shy of the first anniversary of Smith's death, to a warm critical reception. It became his only Billboard Top 20 album, reaching number 19. In 2007, his former label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kill+Rock+Stars%22">Kill Rock Stars</a> issued a two-disc set of Smith's earlier unreleased work, all of which had been recorded between 1994 and 1997. Entitled New Moon, the 24-track collection contained three songs that had been previously released on hard-to-find compilations or soundtracks, including an early version of "Miss Misery" and a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a>'s "Thirteen." It, too, charted in several countries, peaking at number 24 in the U.S. The career compilation An Introduction to Elliott Smith appeared in 2010, and in 2015 Smith was the subject of a documentary called Heaven Adores You. The first such documentary to receive permission to use his music, its soundtrack album followed in 2016 and landed on the Billboard soundtracks chart. A 20th anniversary expanded reissue of Either/Or returned Smith to the Billboard 200 in 2017. Three years later, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kill+Rock+Stars%22">Kill Rock Stars</a> reissued his self-titled second album with the addition of Live at Umbra Penumbra, a 1994 recording of Smith's first performance as a solo artist. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

Tally Hall

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop, indie rock, power pop (2002)

Ann Arbor, MI's Tally Hall feature vocalist/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1NtYiv70buGwaMspHuD49I">Rob Cantor</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:1NtYiv70buGwaMspHuD49I">Yellow</a>), guitarist Joe Hawley (Red), bassist Zubin Sedghi (Blue), keyboardist Andrew Horowitz (Green), and drummer Ross Federman (Silver). Most will know them by the color of their ties; however, their infectious blend of '60s pop harmonies, garage rock work ethic, playful sense of humor, and indie rock sensibilities make Tally Hall a standout among followers. The group was formed in late 2002 while attending the University of Michigan, and each member hails from suburban Detroit except Horowitz, who calls Tewksbury, NJ, home. Balancing their rock & roll dreams with their goals in education was a challenge for the members of Tally Hall. Horowitz had won the 2004 <a href="spotify:artist:4x1nvY2FN8jxqAFA0DA02H">John Lennon</a> Scholarship Competition and $10,000 for his song "Good Day," which also appears on Tally Hall's debut album, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. A year later, with bachelor's degrees in hand, the bandmembers convinced themselves to give it a serious go. Federman and Sedghi opted to wait on furthering their education, and <a href="spotify:artist:1NtYiv70buGwaMspHuD49I">Cantor</a> even put his plans to attend the University of Michigan Medical School (with a full-ride scholarship) on hold so that Tally Hall could make things happen. Such a decision seemed to pay off in the meantime. They played to sold-out audiences in and around the Midwest, and issued Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum to rave reviews in 2005. Two performances at the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, TX, allowed Tally Hall to spread the word about their self-defined "wonky rock." The band also appeared on an episode of VH1's Best Week Ever, and "Good Day" appeared in an episode of The O.C. in April. Dates with <a href="spotify:artist:3hozsZ9hqNq7CoBGYNlFTz">OK Go</a> followed into May. The band inked a deal with Atlantic Records, and after some sonic revisitation, re-released a slightly more polished version of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum with the label in spring of 2008. In this phase of their existence, the band also worked on Tally Hall Internet Show, a web series involving sketch comedy and musical performances that ran for eleven episodes. The group stayed busy with touring in this time, including a spot on 2008's Lollapalooza festival. Work on the group's second full length had begun at this point, though it would be years before the record saw proper release. In 2011, Good & Evil was finally released. Though it was funded in part by Atlantic, the band had parted ways with the label and returned to their original home of Ann Arbor imprint Quack! Media. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi

Public

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop, rock (2008) ❗

For pop-rock three-piece PUBLIC, the global explosion of their single “Make You Mine” seemingly came out of nowhere. Formed in Cincinnati, Ohio by John Vaughn (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Matthew Carter Alvarado (Bass/Synth/Vocals) and Ben Lapps (Percussion), the trio met in their high school jazz orchestra. Their eclectic interests from disco and funk to punk and classic rock brought and kept them together. Their success playing in their hometown led them to open for Twenty One Pilots and then land their first U.S. tour with fellow Ohio natives Walk the Moon. Self-released by PUBLIC in 2015, “Make You Mine,” which was both written and produced by the group, really began to gain traction at the start of 2019 after going viral on TikTok. The band accumulated over 2.5 million TikTok videos featuring the track. The success of MYM and working with Jonas Group Entertainment with Kevin Jonas Sr. helped the band garner attention from major labels, ultimately deciding to join Island Records in July 2019. PUBLIC released a new version of “Make You Mine” (mixed by Grammy Award winners Chris Lord-Alge and mastered by Emily Lazar), becoming the #4 trending track on TikTok, spiking to over 7 million streams each week. It’s since reached over 260 million streams to date. On May 8th, the group released their new single “Honey In The Summer” Co-written and produced by John Fields, this breezy laid-back love song is guaranteed to put you in a good mood. Text PUBLIC! +1 (513) 494-8804

Alexander 23

Cantautor y productor discográfico estadounidense | Pop, indie pop, indie rock (2009)

good luck

beabadoobee

Cantante y compositora filipino-británica | Alternative, indie, indie rock, rock espacial, rock alternativo, samba, slacker rock, indie pop, folk-pop (2017)

This Is How Tomorrow Moves, my 3rd album <3 out now !!

The Sundays

Banda británica | Indie pop, dream pop, rock alternativo (1988 - 1997)

Building on the jangly guitar pop of <a href="spotify:artist:3yY2gUcIsjMr8hjo51PoJ8">the Smiths</a> and the trance-like dream pop of bands like <a href="spotify:artist:5Wabl1lPdNOeIn0SQ5A1mp">the Cocteau Twins</a>, the Sundays cultivated a dedicated following in indie rock circles, both in their native England and in America, in the early '90s. Although the sales of their first two albums were strong, the band never crossed over into the mainstream, as so many observers and critics predicted they would. The Sundays formed in the summer of 1987 in London, England. Originally, the group consisted of vocalist Harriet Wheeler, who had previously sung with a band called Jim Jiminee, and guitarist David Gavurin. After the duo had written several songs, they added a rhythm section, featuring bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan. In August of 1988, the Sundays performed their first concert, playing at the Falcoln "Vertigo Club" in Camden, London. The concert generated good word-of-mouth within the industry, and the group became the target of a record label bidding war. By the end of the year, the band had signed to Rough Trade; they would sign a deal with DGC Records for American distribution within a year. "Can't Be Sure," the Sundays' first single, appeared in January of 1989 and entered the U.K. charts at number 45. The group took a year to record its first album, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. The debut was released in early 1990 to very positive critical notices and unexpectedly entered the U.K. charts at number four. Upon its American release later in the year, the album became a modern rock hit, peaking at number 39. Its success in the U.S. was largely due to heavy radio and MTV airplay for the single "Here's Where the Story Ends." The single wound up topping the modern rock charts in America. The Sundays spent the rest of 1990 successfully touring America, Europe, and Japan. During 1991, Rough Trade collapsed due to financial mismanagement. After the label went out of business, the Sundays signed a deal with Parlophone Records in the U.K.; Reading, Writing and Arithmetic went out of print in England and would not go back in print until 1996. Even considering the setback of Rough Trade's implosion, the Sundays took a long time to write and record their second album. They finally delivered the follow-up to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic in the fall of 1992. The resulting album, entitled Blind, was greeted with mixed reviews but was an immediate hit in the U.S. and U.K. In America, "Love" became a number two modern rock hit and "Goodbye" peaked at number 11. Although Blind was initially successful, it didn't have they staying power of the debut and dropped out of the charts by the summer of 1993. The Sundays supported the album with an international tour. After the release of Blind, the Sundays were quiet for the next several years. The only sign of the band was the use of their cover of <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>' "Wild Horses" in an American television commercial in 1994. It would be five years until The Sundays would release another album. Wheeler and Gavurin got married, had a baby girl named Billie, and yearned for a normal life during this time. This obviously explained their absence from the music world, but it was well worth the wait. The Sundays again achieved mainstream success with their third album, Static & Silence (1997), thanks to the popular hit single "Summertime." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Cocteau Twins

Banda inglesa | Dream pop, wave etéreo, post-punk, rock gótico (1979 – 1997)

A group whose distinctly ethereal and gossamer sound virtually defined the enigmatic image of the record label 4AD, Cocteau Twins were founded in Grangemouth, Scotland, in 1979. Taking their name from an obscure song from fellow Scots <a href="spotify:artist:6hN9F0iuULZYWXppob22Aj">Simple Minds</a>, the Cocteaus were originally formed by guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3ZqRIzadY4WYQEg4Hj2vGC">Robin Guthrie</a> and bassist Will Heggie and later rounded out by <a href="spotify:artist:3ZqRIzadY4WYQEg4Hj2vGC">Guthrie</a>'s girlfriend <a href="spotify:artist:791Z3924aa619hZ3xsOJEx">Elizabeth Fraser</a>, an utterly unique performer whose swooping, operatic vocals relied less on any recognizable language than on the subjective sounds and textures of verbalized emotions. In 1982, the trio signed to 4AD, the arty British label then best known as the home of <a href="spotify:artist:5I2hMUcztc6QbzkyLskdt4">the Birthday Party</a>, whose members helped the Cocteaus win a contract. The group debuted with Garlands, which offered an embryonic taste of their rapidly developing, atmospheric sound, crafted around <a href="spotify:artist:3ZqRIzadY4WYQEg4Hj2vGC">Guthrie</a>'s creative use of distorted guitars, tape loops, and echo boxes and anchored in Heggie's rhythmic bass as well as an omnipresent Roland 808 drum machine. Shortly after the release of the Peppermint Pig EP, Heggie left the group, and <a href="spotify:artist:3ZqRIzadY4WYQEg4Hj2vGC">Guthrie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:791Z3924aa619hZ3xsOJEx">Fraser</a> cut 1983's Head Over Heels as a duo; nonetheless, the album largely perfected the Cocteaus' gauzy formula, and established the foundation from which the group would continue to work for the duration of its career. In late 1983, ex-<a href="spotify:artist:5WnZfSHMxcc6KlLerz1mHb">Drowning Craze</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:31eiHDLnkVg1fEezZihdfQ">Simon Raymonde</a> joined the band to record the EP The Spangle Maker; as time wore on, <a href="spotify:artist:31eiHDLnkVg1fEezZihdfQ">Raymonde</a> became an increasingly essential component of Cocteau Twins, gradually assuming an active role as a writer, arranger, and producer. With their lineup firmly solidified, they issued The Spangle Maker, followed by the LP Treasure, their most mature and consistent work yet. A burst of creativity followed, as the Twins issued three separate EPs -- Aikea-Guinea, Tiny Dynamine, and Echoes in a Shallow Bay -- in 1985, trailed a year later by the acoustic Victorialand album, the Love's Easy Tears EP, and The Moon and the Melodies, a collaborative effort with minimalist composer <a href="spotify:artist:3uOCouLFR4bVx0XeiQJSbl">Harold Budd</a>. With 1988's sophisticated Blue Bell Knoll, the trio signed an international contract with Capitol Records, which greatly elevated their commercial visibility. After 1990's Heaven or Las Vegas, the Cocteaus severed their long-standing relationship with 4AD; notably, the album also found <a href="spotify:artist:791Z3924aa619hZ3xsOJEx">Fraser</a>'s vocals offering the occasional comprehensible turn of phrase, a trend continued on 1993's Four-Calendar Cafe. In 1995, they explored a pair of differing musical approaches on simultaneously released EPs: while Twinlights offered subtle acoustic sounds, Otherness tackled ambient grooves, remixed by <a href="spotify:artist:0jyH4jtanxaysaxwDVhR6f">Seefeel</a>'s Mark Clifford. On the other hand, 1996's Milk & Kisses LP marked a return to the band's archetypal style. Cocteau Twins quietly disbanded while working on an uncompleted follow-up. Posthumous releases followed, such as 1999's BBC Sessions, 2000's Stars and Topsoil, and 2005's Lullabies to Violaine. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Beach House

Dúo estadounidense | Dream pop, indie rock, neopsicodelia, shoegazing (2004)

Beach House is Victoria Legrand, Alex Scally, and James Barone. We live and work in Baltimore, Maryland.

Mazzy Star

Banda estadounidense | Rock Alternativo, dream pop, alt-country, neo-psicodelia, acid folk, shoegaze (1998)

Dark and mysterious but always carrying a melancholy sweetness, Mazzy Star's dreamy blend of shadowy psychedelia and spare, fragile folk made them one of the best-loved treasures of '90s alternative rock. Rising from the ashes of the similarly drifty <a href="spotify:artist:6lIG1zTkXBGdfJObLHFdhm">Opal</a> and the paisley guitar rock of <a href="spotify:artist:1e9cOgMYTLJ0KFOjmTx13F">the Rain Parade</a>, the band was essentially the partnership of guitarist David Roback and vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Hope Sandoval</a>. Their best-known song, 1993's "Fade into You" catapulted the duo to ubiquity, <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a>'s beautifully sleepy vocals and Roback's layers of restless guitars capturing a soft sadness that would lay the blueprint for generations of dream pop to follow. The band went in and out of hiatus after 1997, delivering their fourth full-length, Seasons of Your Day, in 2013, 17 years after its predecessor. Roback came from a long history in the paisley underground, playing first with the jangly <a href="spotify:artist:1e9cOgMYTLJ0KFOjmTx13F">Rain Parade</a> before moving on to the more sinister tones of <a href="spotify:artist:6lIG1zTkXBGdfJObLHFdhm">Opal</a>. He came across <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a> after hearing a tape she had made as part of a folky duo called Going Home. (The Going Home album that Roback subsequently produced remains unissued.) <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a> ended up replacing <a href="spotify:artist:4baSCyV2xPPhakoOEOltou">Kendra Smith</a> on <a href="spotify:artist:6lIG1zTkXBGdfJObLHFdhm">Opal</a>'s final tours. Roback and <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a> lived out the last few years of <a href="spotify:artist:6lIG1zTkXBGdfJObLHFdhm">Opal</a> in a cloudy state of existence, working on songs for a second album and playing shows throughout 1988 and 1989. In 1990, they took on the name Mazzy Star and released the songs they'd been working on as She Hangs Brightly, the debut album from their new project. The record came out on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rough+Trade%22">Rough Trade</a>, the same label that had released <a href="spotify:artist:6lIG1zTkXBGdfJObLHFdhm">Opal</a>'s sole record. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rough+Trade%22">Rough Trade</a>'s U.S. branch went under shortly afterwards, but luckily Mazzy Star were picked up by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a>, which kept the debut in print and issued their follow-up, 1993's So Tonight That I Might See. The album continued the style that Mazzy Star had begun with She Hangs Brightly, a more accessible take on <a href="spotify:artist:6lIG1zTkXBGdfJObLHFdhm">Opal</a>'s droning druggy blues with moments of subdued pop coming from <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a>'s breathy, melodic vocals. The album had been around for about a year before it suddenly got hot, reaching the Top 40 and spinning off the hit single "Fade into You" in 1994. The song would be Mazzy Star's only charting single, but it cemented them as indie royalty. In 1996, they released their third album, Among My Swan, which presented a far more acoustic approach than the overdriven tones of their first two records. The album also proved to be their last with major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a>, and they parted ways. A year later, the band went on hiatus and started work on alternative projects. Roback worked with <a href="spotify:artist:6cLEWhEKQl6nAvgr60M7zC">Beth Orton</a> on her album Central Reservation, while <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a> appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:4rjlerN21ygkIhmUv55irs">the Jesus and Mary Chain</a>'s 1998 record Munki and went on to create <a href="spotify:artist:38u18VoGaIwVeSyVoA0eU5">Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:3G3Gdm0ZRAOxLrbyjfhii5">My Bloody Valentine</a> drummer Colm O'Ciosoig. They returned briefly in 2000 for a mini-tour of Europe, and in 2003 the duo performed together as part of <a href="spotify:artist:1FqG6mhiJbhbMg43ohCT6D">Bert Jansch</a>'s 60th birthday celebrations in London. A flurry of activity in the late 2000s saw Mazzy Star's song "Into Dust" used in an ad for Virgin Media and then on a trailer for the popular video game Gears of War 3, which propelled the song into the U.K. singles chart. This was shortly followed by the confirmation that <a href="spotify:artist:7zS53Xa6sVgfoh00kckgyV">Sandoval</a> and Roback had been working on new material for a fourth album, and they released their first new efforts in 15 years when the double-A-sided single "Common Burn/Lay Myself Down" arrived in 2011. This was swiftly followed by a North American and European tour in 2012. The following year, details were announced for their fourth full-length record, titled Seasons of Your Day, which was released in 2013. Mazzy Star returned in 2018 with the Still EP, which included the single "Quiet, the Winter Harbour." David Roback died on February 25, 2020, at the age of 61. ~ Richie Unterberger & Scott Kerr, Rovi

Rob Grant

Papá de Lana Del Rey

An accidental recording artist, Rob Grant has never had a lesson on any instrument in his life. No kind of formal musical training at all. He can&#39;t read sheet music. But when he sits down at a piano, notes flow from him. Melodies come unbidden. He can play for hours. Emotion overwhelms thought, and out pours composition after composition, piece after piece.

Vansire

Banda estadounidense | Dream pop, bedroom poplo-fi (2015)

Hey, we are Vansire. We are from Minnesota. All of the songs are written and recorded by us, <a href="spotify:artist:2dYrni0Ip1lY2KYPzwCCVW" data-name="Josh Augustin">Josh Augustin</a> and Sam Winemiller in our basements, living rooms, and bedrooms. We&#39;ve been making music together since high school, and Vansire started after we met on drumline. We kept making music through college and now we&#39;ve graduated. Sam&#39;s brother, <a href="spotify:artist:2o3Ce1WxVQUKyQcMSgvJfh" data-name="Isaac Winemiller">Isaac Winemiller</a>, also helps on tracks, he plays the bass and goes to MSU. We&#39;ve got plenty of new tunes on the way so stay tuned! Photos by Kate Ali

VANISHING GIRL

Solista canadiense | Dream pop, indie pop, shoegaze (2020) ❗

Daniel 다니엘

Cantante-compositor neozelandés | Korean dream pop, indie folk, soul, indie pop (2017) ❗

Soap&Skin

Proyecto musical austriaco | Experimental, neoclassical dark wave, dark ambient, sadcore, martial industrial (2006)

Austrian artist Anja Plaschg made her critically acclaimed album debut as Soap & Skin in 2009 as a teenager and experienced Top Five commercial success in her homeland. Born on April 5, 1990, in Gnas, Austria, and raised on a pig farm, Plaschg began writing and performing music on piano as a teenager and ultimately went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. She made her commercial recording debut as Soap & Skin in 2008 with an eponymous four-track EP. The following year, at age 18, she released her debut album, Lovetune for Vacuum, on the Pias Recordings label. Comprised of songs written between 2005 and 2008, Lovetune for Vacuum spawned a pair of hit singles ("Spiracle," "Mr. Gaunt Pt. 1000") and reached the Top Five of the albums chart in Austria. Released internationally, the album also charted in France and Belgium. In general, reviews of Lovetune for Vacuum were favorable, often drawing comparisons between Plaschg and celebrated female singer/songwriters such as Cat Power, Nico, Kate Bush, and Björk. 2010 saw her win the European Breaker Borders Award for international success. The following year saw a quiet period for the artist as she focused on writing further material and other creative endeavors. In 2012 she made her debut as an actress in the German movie Stilleben. She then retreated from the industry for a number of years to focus on her personal life before returning with her third album -- From Gas to Solid/You Are My Friend -- in mid-2018.

The Tulips

Banda estadounidense | Indie dream pop, dream pop, indie pop (2023) ❗

The Tulips are an LA-based Latina/Filipina indie dream pop duo formed by best friends, Jewlz & Andrea. They formed in the Fall of 2023 and have been making music and performing ever since. Truly encompassing the term, “bedroom dream pop”, the duo create all their music in the comfort of their rooms. Using music as an outlet, they enjoy writing & producing songs about the ups and downs of womanhood. Tulips to the moon! [email protected]

park bird

Solista surcoreano | Korean electropop, folk (2017) ❗

from seoul

Memo Boy

Solista británico | Electronic, IDM, lofi electronic (2015) ❗

Memo Boy is the high school-era pseudonym of Brooklyn musician <a href="spotify:artist:7idebBFVTiHclz7stsvsSw" data-name="Otto Benson">Otto Benson</a>. The project consists of casually released demos and collaborations with internet friends facilitated over Facebook Messenger. Memo Boy’s retirement coincided with Otto&#39;s graduation from high school and the 2017 mass-layoffs at SoundCloud, Memo Boy’s fictional place of work. otto-b.info

Rocco

Solista filipino‑estadounidense | Bedroom pop, indie pop, lo-fi (2018) ❗

Thanks for stopping by <3 Ig: @roccoyellow

Harmless

Solista mexicano-estadounidense | Bedroom pop, dream pop, indie pop, shoegaze (2012) ❗

fka twin cabins 
 I hope you like. Thank you for stopping by.

Cuco

Cantante, compositor y productor discográfico estadounidense de origen mexicano | Bedroom pop (2015)

Omar Banos, known professionally as Cuco, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Hawthorne, California. Teaching himself music production, he self-released his first EP, Wannabewithu in 2016, which featured his viral hits "Lover is a Day" and "Amor de Siempre", followed by his second EP, Songs4u, the next year. His breakthrough came with the 2017 single "Lo Que Siento," allowing him to leave college to pursue music full-time. After signing with Interscope Records in 2019, he released his debut studio album, Para Mi. His sophomore album, Fantasy Gateway, produced by Manuel Lara, arrived in 2022, earning praise from Pitchfork for its "newfound shine." In November 2023, he released the Hitchhiker EP. In early 2025, Cuco released "ICNBYH" ("I can never break your heart"), a dreamy, romantic single drawing from Southern California&#39;s Chicano Soul scene. The track, produced by Tom Brenneck (known for work with Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars), features Alex Garcia, Sal Samano of Thee Sacred Souls, and The Roots&#39; Dave Guy and Ian Hendrickson-Smith. Brenneck, whose credits include Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley, The Budos Band, and Amy Winehouse&#39;s "Back to Black," brings his signature vintage-meets-contemporary production style to the song. Cuco&#39;s artistry bridges cultures and generations, exploring various musical eras while addressing universal themes of love and heartache.

Jordana

Cantante estadounidense | Bedroom pop (2019)

:)

PinkPantheress

Cantautora y productora británica | Pop, bedroom pop, dance, alt-pop, drum and bass, 2-step, jungle, hyperpop (2020)

mwah! x

yungatita

Solista estadounidense | Bedroom pop, indie rock, indie folk, dream pop (2020) ❗

1-800-★˚✧₊⁎

Surf Curse

Banda estadounidense | Indie surf, surf punk, indie rock, post-punk, garage rock (2012)

Drummer/vocalist Nick Rattigan and guitarist/vocalist Jacob Rubeck first met at the age of 13 in a Las Vegas middle school, making their inauspicious start as Buffalo 66. As to be expected from a couple of kids who name their first band after a Vincent Gallo film, they didn’t find many peers growing up. Inspired by a Brady Bunch episode and the beachy, lo-fi rock that was then sweeping indie culture, the duo eventually changed their name to Surf Curse after moving to Reno, where Rattigan attended college at the University of Nevada and Rubeck washed dishes in senior citizen facilities. Traveling back and forth to LA for gigs, the band built their reputation on hooky songs that lived by the adage of “write what you know” — heartbreak, disillusionment and movies. Over the next decade, Rattigan and Rubeck expanded their artistic reach — Rattigan’s long-running Current Joys project released Voyager on indie rock powerhouse Secretly Canadian earlier this year, while Rubeck has explored his muse in Gap Girls and Casino Hearts. Meanwhile, Surf Curse continued to build their following over the span of three albums, most recently 2019’s Heaven Surrounds You, a lush and confident record produced by Jarvis Taveniere of Woods.

Tipling Rock

Banda estadounidense | Beach pop, indie rock, surf pop (2016) ❗

hey hey it&#39;s ben, tom, and dillon. we make tunes in our band called tipling rock. our friend liam joins us on guitar live. stay awhile

Zach Templar

Cantante y compositor británico‑colombiano | Lo‑fi pop, indie pop, R&B (2025) ❗

to be alive

Concorde

Banda francesa | Post-punk, dream wave, indie (2003) ❗

Concorde is a french indie four pieces post punk dream wave band, they released one LP "Summer House" in 2012 and one mini LP "Floating There" in 2013. It&#39;s composed by Clement Froissart (Lead singer, guitar), Max Zippel (Keys, back vocals), Roger Zippel (Bass) and Louis Delorme (Drums, prog). Clement has a new solo project now under his own name "Clement Froissart" and Max as well under "Max Future".

Los Cafres

Banda argentina | Roots reggae, reggae, lovers rock, reggae rock (1987)

Sister Nancy

DJ y cantante jamaicana | Dancehall (1977)

Guttural Disgorge

Banda danesa | Slamming brutal death metal (2023) ❗

Formed in 2023, Guttural Disgorge emerged from the depths of Aarhus, Denmark. Spearheaded by guitarist Ludvig van Norde and vocalist Anton Theilade, the duo quickly established themselves in the extreme metal scene. Before assembling a full lineup, Ludvig and Anton unleashed their fury in the form of two EPs in 2024; "Enthralled By Mutilation" and "The Slamputation Tapes" as well as their last work as a two-man project in 2025: “First Degree Murder”. From that point, Guttural Disgorge solidified their lineup, bringing on board Asger Højgaard (Guitars) , Christian Schneider (Bass) and Anton Hansen (Drums) to slam the stage with them.

Rachael MacFarlane

Cantante y actriz estadounidense | Jazz (2012)

Suicide Silence

Banda estadounidense | Deathcore, groove metal, slam death metal, brutal death metal (2002)

An American deathcore group that draws on elements of black metal, grindcore, mathcore, and groove metal, Suicide Silence emerged in 2007 with the punishing full-length debut The Cleansing. Subsequent albums continued to look to artists like <a href="spotify:artist:6JW8wliOEwaDZ231ZY7cf4">Sepultura</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0yLwGBQiBqhXOvmTfH2A7n">Cannibal Corpse</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4f5V3PQ66nIrBCqugJtaGn">Death</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0ZEpcKtaM4ItvzHJCg5udc">Possessed</a> for inspiration, while their eponymous fifth studio long-player, released in 2017, incorporated clean, nu-metal style vocals into the mix. 2020's Become the Hunter and 2023's Remember... You Must Die saw Suicide Silence return to the uncompromising deathcore sound of their earlier outings. Formed in Riverside, California in 2002, the band managed to get things rolling quickly, save for a few lineup changes, and went from formation to a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Century+Media%22">Century Media</a> in a mere two years. In the meantime, Suicide Silence issued one pre-deal EP -- the simply titled Suicide Silence -- which saw the light of day on indie labels <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22At+the+Deep+End%22">At the Deep End</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SOS+Records%22">SOS Records</a>. The band's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Century+Media%22">Century Media</a> debut album, The Cleansing, was released in September of 2007, and was produced by John Travis. The album was a bit of a mover and shaker in the genre, breaking through to the Top 100 on the Billboard charts, and became one of the label's biggest-ever sellers. Following the release of the album, the band toured steadily in the U.S. and Europe with <a href="spotify:artist:159qqlGwzE04xyqpfAwRLo">Parkway Drive</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2cGTjGiqVo9E2NQIz3lP9D">Bury Your Dead</a>. Members Mitch Lucker (vocals), Chris Garza (guitar), Mark Heylmun (guitar), Mike Bodkins (bass, but later replaced by Dan Kenny), and Alex Lopez (drums) had more reason to celebrate in 2008, as the band was added to the Mayhem Metal Festival, which hit stages that summer. No Time to Bleed, released in 2009, found the band in the Top 40 of the album charts for the first time, accompanied by positive reviews. Third album The Black Crown switched from anti-religious topics to personal themes from lyricist Mitch Lucker, and it became the highest-charting album of their career. Lucker, however, died in November 2012 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. A memorial tribute show later that year featured Suicide Silence backed by different vocalists for each song, and by the fall of 2013, the band had found their new lead vocalist, Hernan "Eddie" Hermida from <a href="spotify:artist:7GkGdNLPzWw4e6ctwKvI2x">All Shall Perish</a>. The Lucker memorial show was released early in 2014 as Ending Is the Beginning: The Mitch Lucker Memorial Show 12.21.12. 2017 saw the release of the band's eponymous fifth studio long-player, which featured a shift in tone from their deathcore roots into a more melodic, nu-metal-driven direction. For their sixth full-length effort, 2020's Become the Hunter, the band enlisted producer Steve Evetts (<a href="spotify:artist:7IGcjaMGAtsvKBLQX26W4i">The Dillinger Escape Plan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6JW8wliOEwaDZ231ZY7cf4">Sepultura</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:17Mb968quDHpjCkIyq30QV">Hatebreed</a>), and dialed down the clean singing in a return to their extreme metal roots. The band continued to embrace the brutality of modern deathcore on 2023's unrelenting Remember… You Must Die, which featured cover art by Necrosurrealist artist David Van Gough. ~ Chris True, Rovi

IC3PEAK

Dúo ruso | Hip-hoppunk, electrónica, witch house, experimental, hip-hop alternativo, punk, punk experimental, hip-hop experimental (2013)

"A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance."

Crystal Castles

Dúo canadiense | Witch house, chiptune, noise pop, electroclash, electropop, electrónica, indietrónica, synth punk, synth pop (2006 - 2017)

Fusing lo-res electronic noise and pop hooks so effortlessly that it can seem accidental, Crystal Castles began as producer/multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath's solo project in late 2003. Kath got the moniker from the name of She-Ra's dwelling in the He-Man and Masters of the Universe cartoon series; it's also the name of a 1983 Atari video game, which is oddly appropriate, considering that one component of the band's distinctive sound comes from a keyboard modified with an Atari 5200 sound chip. When Kath collaborated with singer <a href="spotify:artist:4ukk0IyB7vL97QirpOcNr3">Alice Glass</a> on some songs in 2006, Crystal Castles' lineup was complete. One of the songs the pair recorded, "Alice Practice," was something of an accident: it was intended to be a demo of <a href="spotify:artist:4ukk0IyB7vL97QirpOcNr3">Glass</a> testing out a microphone, but its presence on MySpace piqued record labels' interest. "Alice Practice" was released as a limited-edition 7" on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Merok+Records%22">Merok Records</a>, also home to <a href="spotify:artist:2qlAMLpUyBjZgnzuFXXZXI">Klaxons</a>; its 500-copy run sold out in three days. Kath and <a href="spotify:artist:4ukk0IyB7vL97QirpOcNr3">Glass</a> worked on their own songs and also honed their remixing skills, tweaking songs for <a href="spotify:artist:2qlAMLpUyBjZgnzuFXXZXI">Klaxons</a> as well as <a href="spotify:artist:0pwItbAKmeSTovWzxzkkbg">GoodBooks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2s6lxOYvvCvzpHtd3VyuMj">Uffie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6FfjnGXMhxSsJTuGLWBDth">Health</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3MM8mtgFzaEJsqbjZBSsHJ">Bloc Party</a>. Tours with <a href="spotify:artist:1zTAQ6zkGz2L2i6lfR30EX">the Presets</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1rCIEwPp5OnXW0ornlSsRl">Metric</a> in 2007 set the stage for the release of Crystal Castles' self-titled debut album, which <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Last+Gang%22">Last Gang</a> released early in 2008. The duo returned in 2010 with another self-titled album; when it leaked onto the Internet in late April of that year, the band released it digitally soon after, with a physical release following that May. For 2012's more streamlined III, the duo decamped to Warsaw, where they recorded direct to tape, eschewing any computer-assisted recording. <a href="spotify:artist:4ukk0IyB7vL97QirpOcNr3">Glass</a> left the project in October 2014 to pursue a solo career; in April 2015, Kath resurfaced with a new Crystal Castles track, "Frail," which featured new vocalist Edith Frances. Another new song, "Deicide," surfaced that July, a few months before the new lineup's live debut at the Soundswild Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa that November. The duo debuted more new material in early 2016, and Crystal Castles' fourth album Amnesty appeared that August. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Anna Tsuchiya

Anna Tsuchiya

Anna Tsuchiya has packed much into her short career since she first started modeling in her teens in the late '90s. She has appeared in fashion shows and television commercials and performed as a stage actress, while also finding time for a recording career. She did much to confound her image as a pop idol by starring as a foul-mouthed, leather-clad yakuza biker girl in the hit movie Kamikaze Girls. Tsuchiya scored her first Top Ten hit with her third single, "Rose," the opening theme song to the anime television series Nana, in 2006. Born in Tokyo on March 11, 1984, to a Japanese mother and American father, Anna Tsuchiya did not have to wait long for her introduction to the showbiz world, getting her first break at age 14 modeling for the Japanese teen fashion magazine Seventeen in 1998. This break led to appearances on television and her becoming the first Japanese model to model for the jeans brand Edwin. Her profile was raised when she starred in Tetsuya Nakashima's award-winning 2004 movie Kamikaze Girls, alongside another idol, Kyoko Fukada. Tsuchiya's music career began in 2002 as half of the rock duo Spin Aqua. The group earned a record deal with P-Vine, but quickly disbanded without making an impact, allowing Tsuchiya to pursue a solo career. The six-track mini-album Taste My Beat, released in 2005 on the Avex Trax "indie" imprint Mad Pray, featured Tsuchiya on the cover in her characteristic panda-eye black mascara, but her look was more sweet-sucking gothic vamp than <a href="spotify:artist:5zaXYwewAXedKNCff45U5l">Dusty Springfield</a>'s girl next door. Musically, the album was all polished pop-metal riffing and power ballads with obligatory soaring string arrangements. An album of remixes was released in early 2006, featuring reworkings by respected house producers <a href="spotify:artist:0s9KIyjWtFcsRdKtMECxFp">Shinichi Osawa</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:4d2zOuYJHBPJTpVblHEKJb">Mondo Grosso</a>) and <a href="spotify:artist:5729XQBBJgLz7FnqTNmLXw">Yukihiro Fukutomi</a>, among others. On her debut full-length, Strip Me? (2006), Tsuchiya continued to cultivate the edgy image that had first begun with her appearance in Kamikaze Girls. The album peaked at number 11 in the Oricon charts and featured guest turns from <a href="spotify:artist:4DFhHyjvGYa9wxdHUjtDkc">A Perfect Circle</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7EMrFlPVSDGQKOgtHKH28L">Josh Freese</a> and session players who had previously worked with <a href="spotify:artist:6S0GHTqz5sxK5f9HtLXn9q">Garbage</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0p4nmQO2msCgU4IF37Wi3j">Avril Lavigne</a>. Most of the lyrics were in English and penned by Tsuchiya. The album also brought on board the hard rockin' rhythm section of <a href="spotify:artist:3KEe5d2p5jKihMMvuXVhr1">Duff McKagan</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1icjlI6iYtR1JjXTJLf4gG">Matt Sorum</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:3qm84nBOXUEQ2vnTfUTTFC">Guns N' Roses</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7CHilrn81OdYjkh4uSVnYM">Velvet Revolver</a>) on "Rose," which was used as the opening theme to Nana, based on a popular manga series of the same name. "Rose" reached number six on the Oricon chart, and Tsuchiya capitalized on its success by performing a sold-out tour of Japan's club venues and appearing at one of Japan's biggest summer rock festivals, Summer Sonic. The album was not without its brighter, poppier moments, though, encapsulated by the sprightly reworking of <a href="spotify:artist:2BTZIqw0ntH9MvilQ3ewNY">Cyndi Lauper</a>'s adult pop hit "True Colors." Also in summer 2006, Tsuchiya performed nine songs (and modeled) as part of the Japanese fashion, music, and anime showcase Tokyo Summer Collection in Paris, leading some excited sections of the French media to dub Tsuchiya "the Japanese <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a>." Despite a rise in her musical profile, Tsuchiya kept her hand in acting when she took on the voice of <a href="spotify:artist:4vRSocKbGh7PsQrYRDVMEF">Lindsay Lohan</a>'s character in the Japanese-language version of the Disney film Herbie Fully Loaded. ~ David Hickey, Rovi

Invadable Harmony

Invadable Harmony

Photos by Carla Valongo.

syh

syh

高橋玲子

高橋玲子

戸川純

戸川純

Jun Togawa

Perfume

Perfume

Japanese all-girl pop idol trio Perfume's roots go back to 2001, when Kashiyuka (Kashino Yuka), Nocchi (Omoto Ayano), and A~chan (Nishiwaki Ayaka) were brought together in their hometown of Hiroshima. The trio members were only 11 and 12 years old at the time, and their activity was at first limited to their local area; however, their unusual route to pop stardom really began in 2003 when they were introduced to producer Nakata Yasutaka, until then best known as the creative force behind Shibuya-kei-style indie pop unit Capsule. A trio of singles on indie label Bee-Hive Records followed, combining a cute, fan-friendly image with a sound that drew on elements of anime music, lounge-pop, and 1980s Japanese techno-pop. Despite the limited chart impact of the group's indie singles, the buzz around Perfume was enough to land them a major-label contract with Tokuma Japan Communications in 2005. Accompanying the change in label was a shift to a slicker, more sci-fi-oriented image and a change in musical style, with Nakata adopting a vocoder-heavy production style strongly influenced by European electro and house, particularly Daft Punk. The 2006 singles and B-sides collection Complete Best was a respectable chart hit and in many ways can be considered the group's debut album, confirming Perfume as both a viable pop group and unlikely darlings among indie scenesters. Perfume chalked up their first Top Ten hit, "Polyrhythm," in September 2007, which confirmed them as major stars and celebrities. The group's sold-out national tour in 2008 culminated in two shows at Tokyo's famous Budokan concert hall/martial arts venue. When their actual debut album, Game, came out in April 2008, it entered the charts at number one, revealing a further refined version of the template of cute idol pop coupled with the more sophisticated dance music influences that had made them so successful. A sophomore LP quickly followed in 2009. Packed with '80s-tinged techno-pop, Triangle again topped the Oricon chart. JPN arrived in 2011, just as their exposure began to hit the international market. The trio signed with Universal Music Japan and combined a global release of JPN with their first international tour. A compilation album, Perfume Global Compilation: Love the World, was issued as a back-catalog primer for new fans. Their debut for Universal was released in 2013. Level3 was another hit for the band and received the deluxe treatment when it was re-released by Astralwerks in 2014. They made their first steps into the North American live scene in 2015, performing at SXSW that spring. They celebrated their 15th anniversary later that year with a series of concerts and a documentary before releasing their fifth album, Cosmic Explorer, in 2016. Explorer peaked in the Top 20 on the Billboard Electronic chart and was followed by their first American tour. Months after Explorer arrived, Perfume released a single with the indie band OK Go. "I Don't Understand You" was the trio's third collaboration with the group, previously starring in music videos "I Won't Let You Down" and "Pick Me Up." ~ Ian Martin & Neil Z. Yeung

Sheena Ringo

Sheena Ringo

キタニタツヤ

キタニタツヤ

1996年生まれ。 2014年頃からネット上に楽曲を公開し始める。 2017年、高い楽曲センスが買われ作家として楽曲提供をしながらソロ活動も行う。 2018年にはバンド『sajou no hana』を結成。 同年9月にはソロ作品「I DO(NOT)LOVE YOU.」を発表。 同作はギター、ベース、プログラミングなど、マスタリング以外のすべての作業を一人で完結させた作品で、高い評価を得る。 2019年2月Village VanguardとコラボしてグッズとワンコインCD「Sad Girl」を発売。同年9月1st MiniAlbum「Seven Girls&#39; H(e)avens」を発売。 2020年8月にはアルバム「DEMAGOG」を発売。 Tatsuya Kitani is a singer-songwriter from Japan.　He has been actively involved not only in his own artist activities but also as a supporting member of @<a href="spotify:artist:4UK2Lzi6fBfUi9rpDt6cik" data-name="ヨルシカ">ヨルシカ</a>. He has also contributed to music production for @<a href="spotify:artist:6mEQK9m2krja6X1cfsAjfl" data-name="Ado">Ado</a>, Mafumafu, @<a href="spotify:artist:3B9O5mYYw89fFXkwKh7jCS" data-name="TK from Ling tosite sigure">TK from Ling tosite sigure</a>, and provided songs to various artists. He has performed theme songs for popular anime such as the opening theme song for "BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War," and "Where Our Blue Is", the opening theme song of anime "Jujutsu Kaisen" season 2.

Mrs.GREEN APPLE

Mrs.GREEN APPLE

Singer/composer Motoki Omori found an outlet for his sympathetic lyrics and happy, breakneck pop-punk while he was still roaming the halls of his Tokyo high school in the early 2010s. There, he assembled Hiroto Wakal (guitar), Ryoka Fujisawa (keyboards), Kiyokatsu Takano (bass), and Ayaka Yamanaka (drums). Omori and company recorded their first mini album, <I>Introduction</I>, in 2014 and were already packing clubs, but they exploded the following year, when their rambunctious single "Speaking" (which cathartically urges, "Try shouting out loud without hiding your pain") was used as the closing theme for the anime smash <I>Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V</I>. Like slightly older J-pop acts such as sumika, Mrs. Green Apple blend romantic compassion, sung in Omori's almost operatically high voice, with careening J-pop precision, a combination that proved irresistible to the Japanese charts. The quintet's debut album, <I>Progressive</I>, reached both Japan's Oricon and Billboard Top 10s, as did its three successors. Released in 2019, <I>Attitude</I> celebrated Omori's aesthetic romanticism in both its sophisticated rock-symphonic title track ("You’re an artistry addict," he sings, probably to himself) and, fittingly, "Romanticism," a pop-prog declaration of humanity. In July 2020, the band announced on their Facebook page "the end of Phase 1,” which included a split with their management, and the launch of "Project-MGA,” a collaborative project with creators who demonstrate a strong passion for Mrs. Green Apple.

안예은

안예은

Ahn Ye-eun, Double X Entertainment and Localhigh Records’s representative singer-songwriter in Korea who can write lyrics, compose, arrange and produce all songs. With her unique voice tone and various musical spectrum, she has established herself as the only artist with the modifier “Name of Genre is Ahn Ye-eun” After releasing her EP album in April 2021, the series EP album was released with a worldview that continues in November. In addition, her horror song project ‘CHANGGWI’ and the collaboration with kids pop star ‘Pororo’ captivated the people with her sincere and steady musical output.

NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE

NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE

Plastic Tree

Banda japonesa | Rock alternativo, J-Rock (1993)

UVERworld

UVERworld

滋賀県出身の6人組バンド。バンド名のUVERworldは、「自分たちの世界を超えて広がる」ということからドイツ語を変形させたUVER（ウーバー）とworldから名づけられた。 その独自のサウンドとTAKUYA∞の紡ぐ歌詞だけでなく、彼らの生き様、人間力が今を生きる若者に届いており、絶大な支持を得続けている。 2005年のデビュー以来、31枚のシングルと9枚のアルバムをリリースし、いずれもオリコン上位にランクイン。 2008年11月に発売された12thシングル「儚くも永久のカナシ」では、初のシングルウィークリーランキング1位を獲得。 2008年12月には日本武道館、大阪城ホールでの単独公演を即日完売のもと成功。 2009年12月9日、初のベストアルバムである「-Neo SOUND BEST-」をリリース。 2010年11月27日には、初の東京ドームライブを大成功を納める。 2014年には京セラドーム大阪でのワンマンライブを敢行、約40,000人を即日完売 2017年2月さいたまスーパーアリーナでの約23,000人の男祭りを成功に収め、前人未到の記録を打ち立てる。 他にも2012年8月に自身のドキュメンタリー映画「UVERworld DOCUMENTARY THE SONG」を公開し翌年DVD/BD盤にてリリース、 日本人アーティストのドキュメンタリー映画では初の快挙となるオリコン週間DVDランキング1位を獲得するなど、活動の幅も広い。 UVERworld is a Japanese rock band which was formed in 2000. This band currently consists six band members, with stage names of TAKUYA∞ (Lead vocal), Katsuya (Guitar), Akira (Guitar), Nobuto (Bass), Shintaro (Drums), and Seika (Sax & Manipulator). Having debuted under Sony Music Records with “D-tecnoLife” in 2005, they have released twelve studio albums and over forty singles, almost all of them being in the top 5 of the Japanese Oricon Charts. They have sold over 3 million records worldwide, coming from their many anime tie-ins such as "BLEACH", "Blue Exorcist", "GUNDAM", "My Hero Academia" ,“The Promised Neverland” etc. In 2023, they performed at Nissan Stadium in Japan, which holds the capacity of 72k, for two consecutive days, both being sold out. In July 2024, they are having their first ever Asian show in Korea, growing their efforts over the world.

TK from Ling tosite sigure

TK from Ling tosite sigure

凛として時雨のフロントマンでボーカル&ギターであり、全作曲、作詞、エンジニアを担当し鋭く独創的な視点で自らの音楽を表現している。 2012年にリリースした「abnormalize」は、アニメ「PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス」OPとしても話題を呼んだ。 ソロプロジェクトである「TK from 凛として時雨」では、ピアノ、ヴァイオリンを入れたバンドスタイルから、単身でのアコースティックまで幅広い表現の形態をとっている。 2014年リリースのシングル「unravel」は、アニメ「東京喰種トーキョーグール」のOPとして、大ヒットを記録。spotify では累計２億回再生を突破し、2020年の海外で最も再生された国内楽曲第2位に選出された。 2019年には、映画「スパイダーマン：スパイダーバース」の日本語吹替版の主題歌に起用されるなど、日本だけでなく海外からの高い評価も獲得している。 2022年、稲葉浩志（B&#39;z）をfeaturing Vo.に招いた2曲を制作しシングルとして発表。「Scratch」は全世界に熱狂的なファンを抱えるトレーディングカードゲーム「マジック：ザ・ギャザリング」のトレーラーに起用された。 最新曲「誰我為」が話題のアニメ「僕のヒーローアカデミア」のOPテーマとしてオンエア中。 -------- He is the frontman, vocalist, and guitarist of Rin to Shigure. He writes all the music, lyrics, and engineers his own music from a sharp and creative point of view. In 2012, he released "abnormalize", which became a hot topic as the opening theme song for the anime "PSYCHO-PASS Psycho-Pass". In his solo project, "TK from Rin to Shigure," he has taken a wide range of forms of expression, from a band style with piano and violin to acoustic music on his own. His single "unravel," released in 2014, was a huge hit as the OP for the anime "Tokyo Ghoul: Tokyo Ghoul"; it received over 200 million views on spotify and was voted the #2 most played domestic song overseas in 2020. The latest song "first death" has been chosen as the ED theme for the most talked-about anime of the moment, "Chainsaw Man".

KANA-BOON

KANA-BOON

大阪・堺出身のロックバンド。 2013年「<a href="spotify:track:4Ab6lPmaFrnM6GwEwojQki" data-name="盛者必衰の理、お断り">盛者必衰の理、お断り</a>」でメジャーデビューし、瞬く間にトップバンドの仲間入りを果たす。 今年メジャーデビュー10周年を迎え、春にリリースした「<a href="spotify:album:7vlOaFIqHnABear9d51MNf" data-name="サクラノウタ">サクラノウタ</a>」がSpotifyとTikTokのPUSHプログラム「Buzz Tracker」に選出され、6月にはTVアニメ「山田くんとLv999の恋をする」OPテーマ「<a href="spotify:album:1YF3kyuNc1dpRorHlxqRu1" data-name="ぐらでーしょん">ぐらでーしょん</a>」を含む、初のラブソング集「<a href="spotify:album:3wd2Js2vgvDwTRgDVWtrgr" data-name="恋愛至上主義">恋愛至上主義</a>」をリリース。 また9月にはTVアニメ「ゾン100～ゾンビになるまでにしたい100のこと～」OPテーマ「<a href="spotify:album:1djd2IEnvJiVpcaP4d9Xsk" data-name="ソングオブザデッド">ソングオブザデッド</a>」をリリース。 KANA-BOON, rock band formed in Osaka, Japan. They made their major debut with "<a href="spotify:track:4Ab6lPmaFrnM6GwEwojQki" data-name="盛者必衰の理、お断り">盛者必衰の理、お断り</a>" in 2013. Since then they have highly been sought-after by 30K ranged mega rock festivals as SUMMER SONIC, ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL, COUNTDOWN JAPAN and more. They are known for performing numerous anime theme songs including “<a href="spotify:album:4xs2LYR6cIXU47QLmXJlFU" data-name="シルエット">シルエット</a>” the OP theme of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, “<a href="spotify:album:4WJOWRFnD2n2pd9Ybh17Ve" data-name="バトンロード">バトンロード</a>” the OP theme of BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS and “<a href="spotify:album:0nBbRK7fBrxBaWMLTFg9MS" data-name="Fighter">Fighter</a>” the OP theme of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, “<a href="spotify:album:3i5qvSK7NKmpeLT0a76qXN" data-name="スターマーカー">スターマーカー</a>” the OP theme of My Hero Academia, “<a href="spotify:album:1YB7gnBdAqwScgneTSUG9j" data-name="Torch of Liberty">Torch of Liberty</a>” the OP theme of Fire Force 2, have helped them appear on the Spotify Viral chart appearances in 9 countries/regions (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Nicaragua, Singapore, Chile, Bolivia, Honduras, Peru, Japan) plus 400 million Spotify plays and 929k dedicated followers. Their latest song “<a href="spotify:album:1djd2IEnvJiVpcaP4d9Xsk" data-name="ソングオブザデッド">ソングオブザデッド</a>” was chosen to be the OP theme of “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” and has attracted anime fans from all over the world.

Eve

Eve

Eve Birthday 5/23 Japan Tokyo Like Sushi!! chocolate Label TOY&#39;S FACTORY ◆Album 2017/12 「文化」 2019/02 「おとぎ」 2020/02「Smile」 2020/12 「廻廻奇譚 / 蒼のワルツ」ep 2022/03「廻人」 2023/03「ぼくらの」ep ◆Next Live Eve Asia Tour 2024「Culture」 [SCHEDULE] 5.12(Sun) - Seoul 5.22(Wed) - Singapore 5.24(Fri) - kuala lumpur 5.26(Sun) - jakarta 6.5(Wed) - Taipei 6.9(Sun) - Yokohama ▷MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED...！ Asia Tour HP http://eveofficial-culture.com/

indigo la End

indigo la End

Cö shu Nie

Cö shu Nie

声の表情で魅せる切ない女性ボーカルと、繊細でカオスなバンドサウンド。 シーケンスで華やかに彩る独創的な世界観で、ロックもポップも越えて、軽やかに行進するバンド・Cö shu Nie(コシュニエ)。 Cö shu Nie are an experimental rock band from Japan. Members Miku Nakamura (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Manipulator) and Shunsuke Matsumoto (Bass), combine crisp vocals and chaotic sounds. They draw from varied influences - <a href="spotify:artist:5WUlDfRSoLAfcVSX1WnrxN" data-name="Sia">Sia</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:29XOeO6KIWxGthejQqn793" data-name="Flying Lotus">Flying Lotus</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:75U40yZLLPglFgXbDVnmVs" data-name="The Mars Volta">The Mars Volta</a> - to create a unique blend of jazz, R&B and electro pop inspired experimental rock. The band were known on the indie scene but found global success in 2018, when their song &#39;asphyxia&#39; was selected by renowned manga artist, Sui Ishida, for the opening theme song to his series &#39;Tokyo Ghoul : re.&#39; They have had 4 further anime TV syncs including PSYCHO-PASS and The Promised Neverland, which have helped drive over 55 million views of their artistic videos, 118 million Spotify plays, and Spotify Viral chart appearances in 10 countries (Chile, France, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Lichtenstein, Hong Kong, Thailand). Latest single ‘Give It Back’ is the end song to popular anime comic book adaptation Jujutsu Kaisen exceeding 10M streams. Vocalist and lead songwriter, Miku Nakamura, featured on the first Japanese release of rising American producer/artist <a href="spotify:artist:41rVuRHYAiH7ltBTHVR9We" data-name="Slushii">Slushii</a>, ‘Calling Out To You’, joining an impressive list of recently featured artists by Slushii, including Marshmello and Maroon 5. Their music is a cathartic explosion of sound, both delicate and fast, progressive and full of color.

アイスクリームネバーグラウンド

アイスクリームネバーグラウンド

ライブハウスフロアの運動会化を目論む（自称）暴レンターテイメントバンド。 2017年大阪にて結成。 激しいラウドロックに対し、時にはピコピコデジタル、時には管楽器といった、曲毎に違ったアプローチを混ぜ込む多様なサウンドスタイルを武器に、らんご、じろ～、みきの男女混合のトリプルボーカルから嵐のごとく飛び交うリリック＆シャウトと、休まる間を与えないダンサブルなリズムによって生み出される空間は、まさに発汗必至の運動場そのもの。 ステージとフロア、そして全人類を繋げるグラウンド＝遊び場を拡げるべく、今日もINGは走り続ける！

高橋　洋子

高橋　洋子

LiSA

LiSA

岐阜県出身。 TV アニメ「Fate/Zero」「ソードアート・オンライン」「魔法科高校の劣等生」「鬼滅の刃」シリーズなど数々の人気アニメ主題歌を担当し、国内外でヒットを記録。’18年には初のベストアルバム「LiSA BEST -Day-」「LiSA BEST -Way-」を2タイトル同時リリース、オリコンウィークリー1位・2位を独占。Spotifyにおいては、2020年「海外で最も再生された国内アーティスト」１位、2020年、「紅蓮華」が「海外で最も再生された国内アーティストの楽曲」１位にランクイン。(2020.12.04) 日本人初、月間リスナー300万人を記録（2020.08)といった偉業を達成。2023年現在「紅蓮華」6億回、「炎」3億回、「crossing field」2億回再生を突破。 2021年9月、LiSAの全楽曲の総ダウンロード数は国内で約640万ダウンロード、全世界で約1,350万ダウンロードとなり、総ストリーミング数は国内で約18億回再生、全世界で約30億回再生といった記録に到達。2022年にはSpotifyで日本のアーティスト史上4組目となる、ストリーミング10億回再生を突破。今もなお様々な記録を更新し続けいている。 圧倒的な熱量を持つパフォーマンスとポジティブなメッセージを軸としたライブが人気を博し、アニソンシーンだけでなく数多くのロックフェスでも活躍するライブアーティストとして、その存在感を示している。 Dubbed as J-Pop&#39;s "rock heroine," LiSA is a singer from Gifu, Japan who is breaking down genre and language barriers with her powerful live performances and catchy melodies. Having gained both domestic and global prominence through a string of hit anime theme songs for fan-favorite anime titles such as "Fate/Zero," the "Sword Art Online" series, "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba," etc., she also proved to be a hit on the live circuit, drawing in fans from all genres thanks to her voice and stage persona. As the only singer of her kind to headline both anime and rock festivals, she constantly tops the charts and sells out arena venues in Japan, and has also performed in numerous countries around the world, including two solo tours in Asia.

Linked Horizon

Linked Horizon

作詞・作曲・編曲の全てを手がけるサウンドクリエーターRevoが、他作品とのコラボレーションで音楽活動をする際のプロジェクト名。 Revo自らが作り出すオリジナルストーリーを組曲形式で表現する従来の Sound Horizonとは異なり、他作品とコラボ（リンク）することによりRevoがその世界を音楽で描いていく。

Kaede

Kaede

Negicco メンバー。愛称「かえぽ」。サッカー好き。生誕記念ソロシングルとして2017年「あの娘が暮らす街（まであとどれくらい？）」、2018年「ただいまの魔法」をリリース。2019年4月正式にソロ活動スタートとなる「クラウドナイン」をCD-Rでリリース後は、活発なソロ活動を行なっている。 ■Negicco Official Site　http://negicco.net/ ■Kaede X　https://twitter.com/kaede_ngc ■Kaede instagram　https://www.instagram.com/kaede_ngc/

桜島麻衣(CV:瀬戸麻沙美)

桜島麻衣(CV:瀬戸麻沙美)

Lê An Thái Telegram: @leanthaii

CyYu

CyYu

CyYu aka Alejandro Saab, has been doing song covers since late 2017 under the band named We.B and has now rebranded! So if you&#39;re a fan of CyYuVtuber, the voice of Cyno from Genshin Impact, the voice of Jing Yuan in Honkai Star Rail and MANY other things Alejandro has done, you&#39;re in the right place.

MAISONdes

MAISONdes

Tatsuro Yamashita

Tatsuro Yamashita

JUNKO OHASHI

JUNKO OHASHI

http://junko-ohashi.com/profile.html

浜田金吾

浜田金吾

Kingo Hamada

Junko Yagami

Junko Yagami

Junko Yagami

Anri

Anri

The world renowned Artist, Composer, Lyricist, and Producer ANRI debuted in 1978 with the top hit song “Olivia wo Kikinagara” (Listening to Olivia) from her debut album "Apricot Jam". This was the start of her becoming one of Japan&#39;s most popular and influential songwriters, performers, and musical icon. Since then she has released 40 albums and 40 singles in the span of over 40 years. ANRI has hit the top of the Japanese music scene multiple times including with the song, “CAT’S EYE”, “Kanashimiga Tomaranai” (I CAN’T STOP THE LONLINESS) and “SUMMER CANDLES”. In 1998, she released the official Winter Nagano Olympic song, “SHARE ~Hitomi no Naka no Hero~" and performed “Furusato” live on International broadcasts throughout the world. Japan Airlines featured ANRI on their promotional theme song, "I Will Be There with You ~Afureru Omoi" (composed by David Foster). In 2019, ANRI recorded an historic EP with The Steve Gadd Band at the famous East/West Studios in LA. featuring the classic song "Duke&#39;s Anthem ~ Hoshizora No Dokokade~". ANRI has recorded at the most acclaimed recording studios throughout the world and her album&#39;s musicians are some of the best and well known session players in the music industry. Recently, ANRI created a buzz in the music world when she sang “Watching Over You” with Mariya Takeuchi in the duet “Peach & Apricot” in 2021. Currently ANRI actively Produces, Composes, writes lyrics for herself and other Artists, both in Japan and overseas.

Spectrum

Spectrum

Ichiro Nitta (tp, vo) and Junichi Kanezaki (tp) were menber of Japan&#39;s first horn section unit “Horn Spectrum”, which participated in recordings and live performances of Southern All Stars and many other artists from the 1970s to the 80s.They and Naoki Watanabe (b,vo), Shinji Nishi (g,vo), Toshiyuki Yoshida (tb), Atsuo Okamoto (ds), Keiichi Oku (key),formed SPECTRUM. Later, Takuro Konno (perc) joined.From their debut in 1979, when they released first album recorded in LA, to dissolution concert at Budokan in 1981, the band played a tight and crisp brass sound with three horns .They were among the first to introduce black music styles to the Japanese music scene, including their distinctive falsetto vocals and 16-beat rhythms.The band&#39;s emphasis on visual elements such as live performances while in flashy armored costume has earned them a reputation.The band has had a tremendous influence on many artists and they contributed to raising the level of the Japanese music scene are indelible. 1970〜80年代にかけ、サザンオールスターズをはじめ数多くのロック・ポップス系アーティストのレコーディング/ライブに引っ張りだこだった日本初のホーン・ユニット「ホーン・スペクトラム」のリーダー新田一郎（tp、vo）と、兼崎順一(tp)を中心に、渡辺直樹(b,vo)、西 慎嗣(g,vo)、吉田俊之(tb)、岡本郭男(ds)、奥 慶一(key)らでスペクトラムを結成。後に今野多久郎(perc)が加入。様々な音楽シーンで活動する精鋭揃いで、1979年LA録音による1stアルバム発表から、1981年日本武道館での解散コンサートまでの約2年間、3管のホーンをフロントに、タイトで歯切れの良いブラス・サウンドを打ち出し、独特のファルセット中心のヴォーカル、16ビートのリズムなど、ブラック・ミュージックのスタイルを日本にいち早く導入した。派手な甲冑の衣装でのライブ・パフォーマンスなど、ヴィジュアル要素を重視したエンターテイメント性は類のない特異的な存在として高く評価されている。現在も活躍する多くのアーティストに影響を与え、日本の音楽シーンのレベル・アップに貢献したその功績は不滅である。

山口美央子

山口美央子

1980年にデビュー・アルバム『夢飛行』をリリース。翌年にはセカンド・アルバム『NIRVANA』、そして1983年にサード・アルバム『月姫』と、3枚のオリジナル・アルバムを発表。コケティッシュで艶やかながらも気品のある歌声とその存在感が先鋭的なサウンドを際立たせ、耳に残る独特な口語を多用する不思議な言語感覚と抜群のリズム感が彼女の作品のオリジナリティを決定的なものにした。 ジャパネスクな世界観を表現し、オリエンタルな要素と和のテイストを落とし込んだエレクトロニック・サウンドは今なお新鮮に響き、海外での評価も非常に高まっている。 今井美樹、稲垣潤一、奥菜恵、CoCo、斉藤由貴、郷ひろみ、ともさかりえ、原田知世、光GENJI、渡辺満里奈、鈴木雅之、John-Hoon、田村ゆかりなど数々のアーティストに楽曲提供し、デビュー・アルバムから全曲作詞・作曲を手掛けたソング・ライティング力、類まれな楽曲センスがいくつもの名曲を生み出した。 2019年、『月姫』以来となるオリジナル・アルバム『トキサカシマ』をリリース。『月姫』の続編と位置付けたこの新たな物語が序章となり、更なるファンタジーを追い求めて本格的に活動を再開。イベントやライブなども各地で精力的に展開する。 自身の楽曲や提供曲を自らリアレンジした2枚のセルフ・カバー集『FLOMA』（2019年）、『FLOMA mini』（2020年）を経て、2022年初めに通算5枚目となるオリジナル・アルバム『フェアリズム』の完成を発表。光と闇のダーク・ファンタジーが圧倒的なスケールで描かれる今作において、山口美央子は大胆な変化と劇的な進化を遂げた。

泰葉

泰葉

Tomoko Aran

Tomoko Aran

Tomoko Aran

Yurie Kokubu

Yurie Kokubu

Yurie Kokubu

Cindy

Cindy

Cindy é atriz, cantora e instrumentista do Rio de Janeiro. Relançou em 2024 seu single "Quem Eu Sou", uma música de empoderamento e resistência feminina, que foi trilha de um documentário interno da TV Globo em 2022. Já participou como atriz, cantora e bailarina em diversos espetáculos de Teatro Musical e nas séries: Reis (Record TV) e Cine Holliúdy (TV Globo). Acompanhe o canal do YouTube @cindyoficial para acompanhar os covers e outros conteúdos musicais da artista.

Tupperwave

Productor australiano | Vaporwave, chillwave, synthwave, lo-fi (2016) ❗

Macross 82-99

Macross 82-99

Future Funk producer 💕

Meiko N Fantasy

Meiko N Fantasy

ヴィジュアル系 👹

Malace Mizer

Banda japonesa de visual kei | Rock gótico, neoclásico, darkwave, música barroca (1992–2001)

GACKT

Cantautor y actor japonés | Rock, pop rock, visual kei (1993)

SHAZNA

Banda japonesa | Pop rock, new wave, post-punk, visual kei (1993)

JILUKA

Banda japonesa de visual kei | Visual kei metal, electro gothic metal, avant-garde metal, djent, metal progresivo, metalcore, electronicore (2013)

kaneto-juusei

kaneto-juusei

kaneto-juusei

Ashmaze.

Banda japonesa de visual kei | Rock, metal alternativo, hard rock, J-rock (2020) ❗

Teniwoha

Teniwoha

Maretu

Maretu

Maretu, also known as Maretu-P, is a highly acclaimed Japanese Vocaloid producer and composer. Known for his dark, intense, and sometimes controversial themes, Maretu&#39;s music often delves into psychological and societal issues, resonating deeply with his audience. He gained prominence in the mid-2010s with hits like "Mind Brand" and "Coin Locker Baby," which showcased his unique style and lyrical depth. Maretu&#39;s ability to blend haunting melodies with powerful Vocaloid performances has earned him a dedicated fanbase and millions of streams on platforms like Spotify. His recent album reached over 10 million streams within the first month of release, demonstrating his continued relevance and popularity in the Vocaloid community. Maretu is currently working with a notable music label, furthering his reach and influence in the industry.

Kairiki Bear

Kairiki Bear

Siinamota

Siinamota

siinamota is a Japanese songwriter and Vocaloid Producer. Born on March 9, 1995 in Ishikawa Prefecture, siinamota started playing instruments such as guitar, drums, and electronic organ at an early age. At the age of 14, he began producing music using DTM. He quickly gained popularity by posting VOCALOID songs on video-sharing sites, especially with the Strobe series, including the hit "Strobe Last". In March 2012, he released his debut album "Yume no Manimani" under the GINGA imprint. As a creator who was born from the VOCALOID scene and descended into the electronic music scene, he possessed a unique sound-making ability and innate groovy feeling, and a somewhat friendly poetic world that could slip into the gaps of people&#39;s hearts. He passed away at the age of 20 in July 2015. Even now, siinamota&#39;s works are loved by listeners all over the world. 日本のソングライター、ボカロP。 石川県出身1995年3月9日生まれ、うお座AB型。 幼少の頃よりギター、ドラム、エレクトーンなどの楽器を嗜み、中学2年(14歳)からDTMによる楽曲制作を開始。 VOCALOIDを使用した楽曲を動画共有サイトに投稿し、代表曲「ストロボラスト」をはじめとしたストロボシリーズにより、瞬く間に人気を博した。 2012年3月、所属音楽レーベルよりデビューアルバム「夢のまにまに」を発表。 VOCALOIDシーンから生まれ、電子音楽シーンに舞い降りた、類まれなるサウンドメイキングと天性のグルーヴ感、心の隙間にスルッと入り込む、どこか人懐っこい詩世界を合わせ持つクリエイター。 2015年7月、20歳で逝去。 今なお椎名もたの作品は世界中のリスナーから愛されている。

ぐちり

ぐちり

ぐちり

SAWTOWNE

SAWTOWNE

高橋あず美

高橋あず美

Ryokuoushoku Shakai

Ryokuoushoku Shakai

愛知県出身4人組バンド。愛称は”リョクシャカ”。 高校の同級生(長屋晴子・小林壱誓・peppe)と、小林の幼馴染・穴見真吾によって2012年結成。 「<a href="spotify:track:0MOJxVHxgtpiyOzf0CLEUS" data-name="Mela!">Mela!</a> 」(2020)がストリーミング再生数4億回、「<a href="spotify:track:6SwATVDZUy3jha72jDyxe2" data-name="サマータイムシンデレラ">サマータイムシンデレラ</a> 」(2023)・「<a href="spotify:track:2EmkTBTh964LQen4Vz0svg" data-name="花になって - Be a flower">花になって - Be a flower</a> 」(2023)が同1億回を突破するなど話題曲をコンスタントに発表。2022年には初の日本武道館公演、2023年～2024年にかけてアリーナツアーを成功させるなど躍進を続けている。 「NHK紅白歌合戦」2年連続出場(2022・2023)、第65回日本レコード大賞優秀作品賞受賞(2023／サマータイムシンデレラ)。 長屋晴子の透明かつ力強い歌声と、個性・ルーツの異なるメンバー全員が作曲に携わることにより生まれる楽曲のカラーバリエーション、ポップセンスにより、同世代の支持を多く集める。 4-piece band from Japan, known as “Ryokushaka”. The band was formed in 2012 by Nagaya, Kobayashi, peppe, who were on the same high school, and Anami, a childhood friend of Kobayashi. Their song “Mela!” which smashed on digital platforms, streamed over 400,000,000 times, and “Summer Time Cinderella” and “Be a flower” also streamed over 100,000,000 times. In 2022, they make a success of the first solo-live in Nippon Budokan. And then they made their first appearance on “The 73rd NHK Red & White Year-end Song Festival”. In 2023, "Summer Time Cinderella" won Excellent Work Award at the Japan Record Awards, made second consecutive appearance on NHK Red & White Year-end Song Festival. They continued their successful career with the " RYOKUSHAKA KEIKAKU 2023-2024" arena tour in Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka from December to January 2024. Their various music style and pop sound created by each member who has different roots and personality with a clear and powerful vocal of Nagaya is taking young people by storm.

Azari

Azari

snake cage

Childish Gambino

Ccantautor, actor, guionista, director, productor, cómico y empresario estadounidense | R&B, hip-hop, funk, soul (2005)

nobody gives a fu*k

Cosmic Boy

Productor y músico surcoreano | R&B, soul, rap, hip-hop, electrónica (2018) ❗

Perry Como

Cantante estadounidense | Adult contemporary, easy listening (1932–1997)

Henry Purcell

Compositor inglés del Barroco | Ópera, música vocal sacra y profana, música instrumental (c. 1679–1695)

Jacques Offenbach

Compositor y violonchelista francés de origen judeoalemán | Ópera, opéra bouffe, opereta, música clásica romántica (1849–1880)

Giacomo Puccini

Compositor italiano | Ópera, música clásica, verismo (1876–1924)

Léo Delibes

Compositor francés | Música clásica, ópera, ballet romántico (1850 - 1891)

Antonio Vivaldi

Compositor y violinista italiano | Música barroca, concierto, ópera, música sacra, música de cámara (1685–1741)

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Compositor alemán | Barroco, sinfonía, música clásica (1725–1788)

Sebastian Comberti

Violonchelista británico | Música clásica, música de cámara, interpretación históricamente informada, repertorio clásico y temprano (1976) ❗

Ludwig van Beethoven

Compositor y pianista alemán | Música clásica, clasicismo, romanticismo, música sinfónica, música de cámara, ópera (1782 - 1827)

Johann Strauss II

Compositor y director de orquesta austriaco | Música clásica (vals vienés), opereta, música instrumental, música de baile (1844–1899)

Neil Black

Oboísta clásico británico | Música clásica, música de cámara, música contemporánea (1978) ❗

Niccolò Paganini

Compositor y violinista italiano | Música clásica, Romanticismo (1790–1840)

Johannes Brahms

Compositor y pianista alemán | Música clásica, romanticismo, sinfonía, música de cámara, música coral (1843–1897)

Franz Liszt

Compositor y pianista Austrohúngaro | Música clásica, sinfonía, música folclórica húngara, poema sinfónico (1830)

Camille Saint-Saëns

Compositor, organista y director de orquesta francés | Música clásica, romanticismo, ópera, sinfonía, concierto (1853–1921)

Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel | Compositor francés | Música clásica, impresionismo, neoclasicismo, expresionismo, música orquestal, ópera (1888–1937)

Erik Satie

Compositor y pianista francés | Música para piano, impresionismo, vanguardismo, precursor del minimalismo (1886–1925¿)

Claude Debussy

Compositor y pianista francés | Música clásica, impresionismo, ópera (1884–1918)

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Compositor británico | Ópera rock, teatro musical, música clásica, bandas sonoras (1965)

Dmitri Shostakovich

Compositor soviético | Música clásica (1906–1975)

Eric Christian

Músico y compositor estadounidense | Música instrumental, classical crossover, neoclásico, ambient emotivo (2018) ❗

Cihat Aşkın

Compositor y académico turco | Música clásica, música clásica occidental, música tradicional turca (1998)

Ferdinand Lang & The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Orquesta / Alemania | Música clásica, repertorio pianístico y sinfónico (2010) ❗

David Garrett

Violinista alemán | Música clásica, classical crossover, rock (1988)

La Vid Violin

Dúo instrumental ecuatoriano | Música instrumental, ambient, easy listening, violín contemporáneo, covers instrumentales (2019) ❗

Belarusian Radio and Television Orchestra

Orquesta sinfónica estatal de Bielorrusia | Música clásica, música orquestal, música para medios (radio y televisión), música institucional (2024)❗

Colectivo Colombia

Ensamble colombiano de jazz contemporáneo | Jazz contemporáneo, jazz latino, músicas tradicionales colombianas, música contemporánea (2003)❗

Eugen Doga

Compositor moldavo | Música clásica y bandas sonoras cinematográficas (1937–2025)

Aphex Twin

DJ y productor irlandés-británico | Intelligent dance music (IDM), techno, acid techno, ambient, jungle, drum and bass, glitch, electrónica experimental (1983–presente)

Castlevania Sound Team

Crédito colectivo editorial de videojuegos (Konami, Japón) | Video game music, soundtrack, música gótica, rock, música clásica, electrónica (1986) ❗

Christopher Lennertz

Compositor de cine, televisión y videojuegos estadounidense | Banda sonora cinematográfica, música para videojuegos, jazz rock, rock electrónico (1998)

Abel Korzeniowski

Compositor polaco | Música cinematográfica, música clásica contemporánea (2000)

Justin Hurwitz

Compositor | Música cinematográfica, banda sonora, jazz, música orquestal, música clásica contemporánea (2009)

Hiroshi Takaki

Compositor japonés | Música para televisión y cine, tokusatsu, anime, bandas sonoras orquestales y cinematográficas (2000) ❗

Geek Music

Proyecto / productora musical británica | Música cinematográfica, música orquestal, soundtracks, covers de cine, TV, videojuegos y anime, música para sincronización (2016) ❗

BlooBamboo

Violinista y creador musical instrumental singapurense | Música instrumental, video game music, anime OST, classical crossover, música cinematográfica (2020)❗

Ozzy Osbourne

Músico y compositor británico | Heavy metal, hard rock (1966)

If you need to read a bio to learn about who Ozzy Osbourne is, what rock have you been living under?

Joy Vision

Proyecto musical independiente contemporáneo | Electrónica, ambient, downtempo, electrónica experimental, música instrumental ❗

Zeruel

Solista estadounidense | Dark‑gaze, ambient metal, shoegaze, metalcore, música clásica (2023) ❗

for inquiries: [email protected] [email protected] N.A. Booking Contact: [email protected]

sign crushes motorist

Grupo musical irlandés | Indie rock, lo-fi, slowcore (2022)

boyhood

cherry pick

Proyecto musical independiente canadiense (solista con banda en vivo) | Shoegaze, noise rock, indie rock alternativo, lo-fi noise (2023) ❗

Split Chain

Banda inglesa | Nu metal, shoegaze, nu gaze, post-hardcore (2023)

There’s a phrase you’ll hear repeatedly when in the company of Split Chain: “The Chain does what it wants”. As mantras go, it’s used by the Bristol, UK quintet as a means of encapsulating the broad-minded, unconstrained creative freedom with which they approach their art, as well as a means through which to try to make sense of the sky-rocketing trajectory the band have found themselves on. Call it instinct, fate, divine intervention, whatever – the whims of ‘The Chain’ have led to a moment where one thing is abundantly clear: Split Chain are one of the hottest, zeitgeist-capturing new bands in the world. “Split Chain is something that none of us feel like we have any control of,” says frontman Bert Martinez-Cowles. “Split Chain simply does what it wants and what it needs.” It is at this juncture in Split Chain’s journey that debut album motionblur arrives. Described by Bert as “a coming of age story”, the album channels the conflicting and contradictory angst, excitement, joy and pain of growing up and discovering your true sense of self. motionblur presents a story that speaks to both Split Chain’s members’ personal experiences and those shared together in the past few dizzying years; a visceral, kaleidoscopic wall of sound where unsettling, disorientating confusion meets a fevered adrenaline-rush. motionblur is an album to experience, to feel, to engulf; it’s the blissful sense of euphoria that comes with drowning in its waves.

Scarlet House

Solista estadounidense | Shoegaze, grunge, alt‑rock, rap alternativo (2023) ❗

<3

Midrift

Banda estadounidense | Shoegaze, alternative rock (2022) ❗

reaching for you

xójira

Proyecto solista británico | Shoegaze, slowcore, experimental (2019) ❗

haunting experimental

Glare

Banda estadounidense | Shoegaze (2017)

sonically swole ™ Deathwish Inc. Sunday Drive Records

Kraus

Músico estadounidense | Noise rock, noise pop, dream pop, shoegaze (2016)

i already wrote these words im just being brought to them again

Novulent

Músico estadounidense | Shoegaze, nu gaze, dream pop, texasgaze, zoomergaze (2013)

your new favorite comfort artist i hope u find something that soothes you:)

Whirr

Banda estadounidense | Shoegaze, rock alternativo, noise rock, post-rock (2010)

Whirr is a punk band from Modesto, CA.

Slowdive

Banda británica | Dream pop, shoegaze (1989)

The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—Rachel Goswell, Neil Halstead, Christian Savill, Nick Chaplin, and Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound. The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.

My Bloody Valentine

Banda irlandesa | Shoegaze, noise pop, dream pop, rock experimental, neopsicodelia, post-punk (1983)

Like <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4rjlerN21ygkIhmUv55irs">the Jesus and Mary Chain</a>, My Bloody Valentine redefine what noise means within the context of pop music. Led by guitarist Kevin Shields, the group started out as a doomy post-punk outfit but gradually added more melody to their sound by the time of 1988’s Isn't Anything, an album that merged the ethereal approach of <a href="spotify:artist:5Wabl1lPdNOeIn0SQ5A1mp">Cocteau Twins</a> with crushingly loud, shimmering distortion. Though My Bloody Valentine ’s notorious lack of movement onstage was branded "shoegazing" by the British music press, soon legions of other shoegazers -- <a href="spotify:artist:0WPY9nnBy01s5QOt4o4oQX">Ride</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3ysp8GwsheDcBxP9q65lBg">Lush</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6UYwzZChuolxsylHcZcBBP">the Boo Radleys</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3r94PF71LWRI5K6wqclNjQ">Chapterhouse</a>, Slowdive -- dominated late '80s and early '90s British indie along with the rolling dance-influenced Madchester scene. As shoegazing reached its peak in 1991, My Bloody Valentine released Loveless, which broke new sonic ground and was hailed as a masterpiece. Loveless was such a towering achievement that following it proved difficult for the band, but even in their decades-long absence, they were profoundly influential. My Bloody Valentine’s dreamy sensuality seeped into the music of acts like <a href="spotify:artist:40Yq4vzPs9VNUrIBG5Jr2i">Smashing Pumpkins</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5SHQUMAmEK5KmuSb0aDvsn">Hole</a> later in the ‘90s, and provided the foundation for the subsequent generations of shoegazers that sprung up in the 2000s and beyond. When they returned with 2013’s mbv, it reaffirmed that no matter how many bands they influenced, My Bloody Valentine’s beauty and mystique was theirs alone. Born in Queens, New York, Kevin Shields' family moved to Dublin, Ireland, when he was six years old. In his teens, he became obsessed with pop music, eventually playing in the punk rock band the Complex with his childhood friend Colm O'Ciosoig, whom he met in 1978 at a karate match. The group, whose repertoire consisted of <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">Sex Pistols</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1co4F2pPNH8JjTutZkmgSm">Ramones</a> covers, broke up when another of the band’s members, <a href="spotify:artist:1gyHRSaTY6UtNgY4Bh4EAc">Liam Ó Maonlaí</a>, left to form <a href="spotify:artist:2szQRWh2F0RUs9bkbepwok">Hothouse Flowers</a>. Shields and O'Ciosoig then formed the short-lived post-punk trio A Life in the Day. The pair formed My Bloody Valentine in 1983 with lead vocalist David Conway, taking the name from a 1981 Canadian horror film. With guitarist Stephen Ivers, in March 1983 Shields and <a href="spotify:artist:39q2YaoQu0lk4wARiey40R">Conway</a> recorded the band’s first demo in Shields’ parents’ home on a four-track recorder, with Shields and O'Ciosoig overdubbing rhythm tracks at Litton Lane Studios. On the strength of the demo, My Bloody Valentine signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tycoon+Records%22">Tycoon Records</a>. Ivers left the band soon after recording the demo, with <a href="spotify:artist:39q2YaoQu0lk4wARiey40R">Conway</a>’s girlfriend Tina Durkin joining as keyboardist. Finding Ireland’s music scene unreceptive to their style, My Bloody Valentine moved to the Netherlands after playing a show there, then headed to Berlin, where they released 1985's <a href="spotify:artist:5I2hMUcztc6QbzkyLskdt4">Birthday Party</a>-influenced EP This Is Your Bloody Valentine. In mid-1985, My Bloody Valentine moved to London. Not long after that, Durkin left the band, and the rest of the band started searching for a bassist. They found Debbie Googe through one of Shields’ contacts, and the band rehearsed at Salem Studios, which was owned by Fever Records. The label’s owners were impressed by the band, and that December, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fever%22">Fever</a> released Geek!, another EP that went largely ignored. In October 1986, The New Record by My Bloody Valentine EP appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kaleidoscope+Sound%22">Kaleidoscope Sound</a>, the label of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Creation+Records%22">Creation Records</a> co-founder Joe Foster. Foster also produced the EP, which bore a <a href="spotify:artist:4rjlerN21ygkIhmUv55irs">Jesus & Mary Chain</a> influence and reached number 22 on the U.K. Indie Chart. The EP’s success led to more frequent gigs for the band and a following outside of London. Early in 1986, My Bloody Valentine signed to <a href="spotify:artist:4FPmAi3p4T3p0AsthfqHMA">the Primitives</a>' label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Lazy+Records%22">Lazy Records</a> and issued the single Sunny Sundae Smile. The first of the band’s releases to mesh airy melodies with grinding guitars, it was a Top Ten hit on the U.K. Indie Singles Chart. During the tour supporting the single’s release, <a href="spotify:artist:39q2YaoQu0lk4wARiey40R">Conway</a> left the group to become a writer. Lacking a lead vocalist, My Bloody Valentine auditioned several singers before finding Bilinda Butcher, who had played classical guitar as a child and sang mostly for fun, in April 1987. Butcher’s breathy vocals fit the group's evolving sound and featured prominently on that November’s Strawberry Wine EP, which reached number 13 on the U.K. Indie Singles chart. Released at the end of that month, the mini-album Ecstasy was quickly recorded, but provided the band its first opportunity to record in a studio properly and capture some of the innovative guitar techniques Shields had developed. Folding in elements of <a href="spotify:artist:1PCZpxHJz7WAMF8EEq8bfc">the Byrds</a> and Love as well as <a href="spotify:artist:4rjlerN21ygkIhmUv55irs">the Jesus and Mary Chain</a> into My Bloody Valentine’s sound, Ecstasy reached number 12 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart. After My Bloody Valentine played a January 1988 show with <a href="spotify:artist:5fR6txzrEnBtoAw61jSIsN">Biff Bang Pow!</a>, the band of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Creation+Records%22">Creation Records</a> founder Alan McGee, he offered the band the chance to release a single on the label. Recorded in less than a week in an East London studio, that August’s You Made Me Realise EP reflected the changes in the group’s approach: Along with borrowing some of the noisy, feedback-laden sounds of American indie rockers such as <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:267VY6GX5LyU5c9M85ECZQ">Dinosaur Jr.</a>, Shields’ use of reverse reverb, alternate tunings, tremolo arm manipulations, and copious effects helped define the band’s style. Peaking at number two on the U.K. Indie Chart, You Made Me Realise was soon followed by October’s Feed Me with Your Kiss EP, another harbinger of the mix of ear-splitting noise and seductive melodies My Bloody Valentine presented on their debut album, November 1988’s Isn’t Anything. The band holed up in rural Wales to record the album, which topped the U.K. Indie Chart and was greeted with enthusiastic reviews in the U.K. music press. My Bloody Valentine's reputation had become large enough to attract the attention of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sire%22">Sire</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> in the U.S., who became the group's American label. By the beginning of 1989, bands that based their sound on My Bloody Valentine's droning swirl began to appear. That February, the group retreated to the studio to record Isn’t Anything’s follow-up. Shields’ exacting standards and experimental recording techniques, technical difficulties, and ailments the band struggled with (Shields and Butcher developed tinnitus, while O'Ciosoig was only able to perform a few drum patterns that were sampled to create rhythm tracks) resulted in a creative process that lasted over two years, involved 19 studios, and counted <a href="spotify:artist:7cXiglYPsrmgecDTDTVFQC">Alan Moulder</a>, Anjali Dutt, and <a href="spotify:artist:1ktqCH9OrzelCu4cpUT1oR">Laika</a>’s Guy Fixsen among the engineers who worked on it. Around the time the lengthy sessions started, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Lazy+Records%22">Lazy Records</a> issued Ecstasy and Wine, a compilation of Strawberry Wine and Ecstasy, without My Bloody Valentine’s consent. In April 1990, the band resurfaced with Glider, an EP that hinted at the innovative sounds the band was creating, such as digital sampling and “glide guitar,” Shields’ term for his tremolo technique. Featuring the track “Soon,” Glider reached number two on the U.K. Indie Chart, and the band took a break from recording to tour in support of the EP in the middle of 1990. The following February, My Bloody Valentine emerged again with the Tremolo EP, a number one hit on the U.K. Indie Chart. When My Bloody Valentine's second album, Loveless, finally appeared in November 1991, it was greeted with uniformly excellent reviews and became a hit within the U.K., reaching number 24 on the charts. In America, the group made significant inroads, particularly by supporting <a href="spotify:artist:267VY6GX5LyU5c9M85ECZQ">Dinosaur Jr</a>.; the band’s European dates became known for their intense volume. Though it was soon regarded as a classic,Loveless didn't sell in numbers to recoup its reported 500,000 dollar recording cost and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Creation%22">Creation</a> dropped the band from their roster (the label wouldn't fully recover until the 1994 signing of <a href="spotify:artist:2DaxqgrOhkeH0fpeiQq2f4">Oasis</a>). In October 1992, My Bloody Valentine signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island+Records%22">Island Records</a>, and Shields built a home studio with the advance that was completed in April 1993. That year, the band contributed a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a>’s “We Have All the Time in the World” to Peace Together, a charity compilation that benefitted an organization working for peace in Northern Ireland. However, technical difficulties and creative blocks hampered the group. Though Shields reportedly completed two separate albums, including pieces inspired by the U.K.’s thriving electronic music scene, My Bloody Valentine’s only other output during the ‘90s was a 1996 cover of <a href="spotify:artist:2i8ynmFv4qgRksyDlBgi6d">Wire</a>’s "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" for Whore: Various Artists Play Wire. O'Ciosoig and Googe departed in 1995, with the former moving to America and joining <a href="spotify:artist:38u18VoGaIwVeSyVoA0eU5">Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions</a> and the latter forming <a href="spotify:artist:6zeIzXom65EtpRZJgGLHZj">Snowpony</a> with Katharine Gifford after spending a year driving a cab. In 1997, Butcher left following another attempt to record My Bloody Valentine’s third album. Shields spent several years collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:267VY6GX5LyU5c9M85ECZQ">Dinosaur Jr.</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5hAhrnb0Ch4ODwWu4tsbpi">Yo La Tengo</a> among others, became a touring member of <a href="spotify:artist:3wury2nd8idV4GecUg5xze">Primal Scream</a>, and contributed songs to the soundtrack for Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film Lost in Translation. In the late 2000s, My Bloody Valentine reunited to play their first live shows in over 15 years. These dates included a five-night residency at London's Roundhouse venue in June 2008; later that year, they played the European festival circuit as well as major North American cities and the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22All+Tomorrow%27s+Parties%22">All Tomorrow's Parties</a> festival they curated in Monticello, New York. In 2009 they embarked on a smaller round of dates, with dates in the Netherlands as well as the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22All+Tomorrow%27s+Parties%22">All Tomorrow's Parties</a> "Nightmare Before Christmas" festival that December. May 2012 saw the release of the compilation EPs 1988 - 1991, which gathered all of the band’s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Creation%22">Creation</a> short-form releases as well as previously unreleased material, as well as remastered editions of Isn’t Anything and Loveless. In Februarly 2013 -- the same year Loveless was certified silver in the U.K. -- My Bloody Valentine released their third album, mbv. A surprise release initially available on the band’s website (which crashed due to the demand for the album), mbv incorporated recordings from the ‘90s, 2000s, and 2010s and blended a more electronic approach, as well as more melody, into My Bloody Valentine’s signature style. The album was widely acclaimed and reached number six on the U.K. Independent Albums Chart and number 29 on the U.K. Albums Chart. Following a 2020 collaboration with the clothing brand Supreme, My Bloody Valentine signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino+Records%22">Domino Records</a>, which made the band’s entire body of work available on streaming services for the first time and reissued their albums and EPs 1988 - 1991 on CD and vinyl. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Heather Phares, Rovi

Twin Tribes

Banda estadounidense | Dark wave, post-punk, gothic rock, cold wave (2017)

Dark melodic sounds, synthesizers, lyrics about the undead, the occult and parallel universes.

London After Midnight

Banda estadounidense | Dark wave, rock gótico (1990)

London After Midnight (LAM) was formed in the 1990s by singer/instrumentalist/songwriter Sean Brennan and has gained a large following all over the world, from the USA, Europe, Latin America, Russia, Japan, China and elsewhere (appearing in major press and securing distribution deals with record labels). London After Midnight has headlined and co-headlined concerts and major festivals with bands like The Cure, Green Day, HIM, and countless other artists. LAM has performed to crowds of over 30,000 people as headliner or co-headliner on major music festivals around the world and remains a top seller (charting in the top 10 European DAC charts with each CD released) and a major draw at music festivals year after year. Sean Brennan is known for his strong progressive stances in favor of animal rights, environmental and human rights issues. Whatever the approach or subject matter, the music of London After Midnight is deeply touching, powerful, socially aware, romantic, emotional, haunting, and often exhibits a morbid wit. There really is no classification that fits London After Midnight (despite LAM&#39;s "dark" image) because the music is so varied and the lyrical content (and even LAM&#39;s personality and causes) are uncommon in today&#39;s music scene, often breaking boundaries- much to the outrage of people who live and die by genre labels. New music is coming from LAM very soon.

Decalius

Banda estadounidense | Depressive suicidal black metal (2019) ❗

Blade and Bath

Banda ucraniana | Depressive suicidal black metal, shoegaze atmosférico (2021 – 2024) ❗

One-man project formed in Ukraine by Denis. For more music by Denis, check out his DSBM side-project <a href="spotify:artist:3mWXXMXQ90dBLwQX74nWA8" data-name="Last Cuts">Last Cuts</a>

Alcest

Proyecto musical francés | Post-black metal, post-metal, blackgaze, shoegaze (2000)

Autumn, Leaves, Scars

Banda rumana | Post‑black metal, post‑rock, depressive black metal (2012) ❗

autumn, leaves, scars

An Autumn for Crippled Children

Banda neerlandesa | Blackgaze, post-black metal, shoegaze, depressive black metal (2008) ❗

Frankie Avalon

Actor y cantante estadounidense | Pop (1951)

Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sinatra

Best known for the empowering 1966 chart-topper "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," Nancy Sinatra managed to create a sound and style all her own, fully separate from that of her famous father. She returned to the singles chart with her fusion of rock, country, and pop over a dozen more times, mostly with further <a href="spotify:artist:2aVHDjRHRM7dcFkGwahXLG">Lee Hazlewood</a>-penned tunes recorded with arranger/conductor <a href="spotify:artist:4q3t7t2bWgFdiYgfXyj0It">Billy Strange</a>. Though Sinatra last reached the U.S. Hot 100 in 1969, her strong-willed, go-go boots-wearing persona endured through acting roles alongside <a href="spotify:artist:43ZHCT0cAZBISjO8DG9PnE">Elvis Presley</a> and Peter Fonda, a 1981 country album with <a href="spotify:artist:5DWq2OARZMu64IqyWZ2xpb">Mel Tillis</a> (Mel and Nancy), a memoir (1985's Frank Sinatra, My Father), and a 1995 Playboy shoot just a month shy of her 55th birthday. That year, she released One More Time, her first solo album in more than 20 years, marking a resumption of recording activity that stretched into the 2010s. Following the archival 2013 release Shifting Gears, she charted in Europe with the retrospective Start Walkin' 1965–1976. Nancy Sandra Sinatra was born in June 1940 while her father, <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank</a>, was singing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. As the daughter of show business royalty, Nancy grew up in the spotlight and made her first appearance on television with her father in 1957. It wasn't long before she developed aspirations of her own as a performer -- she had studied music, dancing, and voice for most of her youth -- and in 1960, she made her debut as a professional performer on a television special hosted by her father and featuring guest star <a href="spotify:artist:43ZHCT0cAZBISjO8DG9PnE">Elvis Presley</a>, then fresh out of the Army. After appearing in a number of movies and guest starring on various television episodes, Nancy was eager to break into music, and she signed a deal with her father's record label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a>. However, the second single from her 1966 debut album, Boots, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," made it clear she had the talent and the moxie to make it without her father's help. Belting out a definitive tough-as-nails lyric over a brassy arrangement by <a href="spotify:artist:4q3t7t2bWgFdiYgfXyj0It">Bill Strange</a> (and with the cream of L.A.'s session players behind her), "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" took the "tough girl" posturing of <a href="spotify:artist:1WvziZcLLYLoMMdmQx7qcN">the Shangri-Las</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7CyeXFnOrfC1N6z4naIpgo">the Ronettes</a> to a whole new level on its way to number one in places including the U.S., U.K., Australia, and South Africa. A number of hits followed, including "How Does That Grab You," "Sugar Town," and the theme song to the James Bond picture You Only Live Twice. Nancy also teamed up with her father for the single "Somethin' Stupid," which raced to the top of the charts in 1967. Most of her hits were produced by <a href="spotify:artist:2aVHDjRHRM7dcFkGwahXLG">Lee Hazlewood</a>, who went on to become a cult hero in his own right and recorded a number of memorable duets with her, including "Sand," "Summer Wine," and the one-of-a-kind epic "Some Velvet Morning." Nancy reinforced her "tough girl" persona in 1966, co-starring in a role opposite Peter Fonda in The Wild Angels, the Roger Corman film that helped kick off the biker flick cycle of the 1960s and early '70s. She also teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:43ZHCT0cAZBISjO8DG9PnE">Elvis Presley</a> in the 1968 movie Speedway. Sinatra continued to record into the early '70s, but in 1970, she married dancer Hugh Lambert (a brief marriage to British singer and actor <a href="spotify:artist:651IBnnG9nIIXO4N40bR6c">Tommy Sands</a> ended in 1965), and devoted most of her time to her new life as a wife and mother, as well as working with a number of charitable causes. In 1981, she teamed up with country star <a href="spotify:artist:5DWq2OARZMu64IqyWZ2xpb">Mel Tillis</a> for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a> album Mel and Nancy, which spawned a pair of minor country hits, and in 1985, she published the book Frank Sinatra: My Father, and became increasingly active in looking after her family's affairs. She published a second book on her father in 1998 and later oversaw the Sinatra Family website. In 1995, Nancy returned to the recording studio with a country-flavored album called One More Time, and she helped publicize it by posing for a photo spread in Playboy magazine. She launched a concert tour in support of the album, and in 2003 teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:2aVHDjRHRM7dcFkGwahXLG">Hazlewood</a> to record an album, Nancy & Lee 3, which saw a U.S. release in 2004. Nancy soon returned to the recording studio at the urging of longtime fan <a href="spotify:artist:3iTsJGG39nMg9YiolUgLMQ">Morrissey</a>, and in September 2004, she issued a full-length simply titled Nancy Sinatra, an ambitious set which included contributions from members of <a href="spotify:artist:51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ">U2</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:36E7oYfz3LLRto6l2WmDcD">Pulp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1OmdWpAh1pucAuZPzJaxIJ">Calexico</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2NOhotupwYbKRNJF7LMDPG">Jon Spencer Blues Explosion</a>, and other contemporary rock performers. The album's release was followed by more live work, including a memorable appearance at <a href="spotify:artist:4Pmlf0hZYXcoDSuaNrw23E">Little Steven</a>'s International Underground Garage Rock Festival 2004, at which she performed songs from her new album and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" backed by an all-star band (including a horn section) and flanked by dozens of frugging go-go dancers. Over the next two decades, Sinatra would continue to make appearances on-stage and onscreen while turning her attention to archival recording projects. She released Shifting Gears, a collection of 15 unreleased <a href="spotify:artist:4q3t7t2bWgFdiYgfXyj0It">Billy Strange</a>-produced recordings of show tunes, all excavated from her personal vaults, on her Boots Enterprises imprint in 2013. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Light+in+the+Attic%22">Light in the Attic</a> released the compilation Start Walkin' 1965-1976 in 2021; it was the first in the label's reissue campaign called the Nancy Sinatra Archival Series. Later that same year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22LITA%22">LITA</a> brought out a reissue of her 1966 debut LP Boots, enhanced with a pair of bonus tracks. ~ Mark Deming & Marcy Donelson, Rovi

Elton John

Elton John

Elton John is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time with 1 diamond, 40 platinum/multi-platinum and 23 gold albums, over 50 Top 40 hits and more than 300m records sold worldwide. Candle in the Wind 1997 the biggest-selling single of all time, sold over 33m copies. Diamonds the Ultimate Greatest Hits has spent over 175 consecutive weeks in the UK album charts to date. Celebrating 50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin, it was his 40th Top 40 album. Aug 2018 saw Elton named as the most successful male solo artist in Billboard Hot 100 chart history with 67 entries, including nine #1s and 27 Top 10s. Elton embarked upon the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Sept 2018. Encompassing 5 continents over 350 dates, the 3-year-long tour marks his retirement from touring after over 50 years on the road. He has delivered more than 4000 performances in over 80 countries since 1970. 2019 saw the release of Rocketman an Oscar and Golden Globe winning motion picture of his life, and his bestselling autobiography Me’ The Elton John AIDS Foundation is one of the top non-profit HIV/AIDS organisations, raising over $450m. Elton&#39;s awards and honours include six GRAMMYs including GRAMMY Legend, a Tony, two Oscars, Best British Male Artist BRIT, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, 13 Ivor Novellos, a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Companion of Honour in the 2020 New Year Honours list - one of only 64 people to hold the honour.

Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson

Grounded in hip-hop yet never averse to pop, Mark Ronson has applied his voracious musical obsessions to become one of the most commercially successful producers from the mid-2000s onward. The DJ-turned-recording artist made his true solo debut with "Ooh Wee" (2003), a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1Oa0bMld0A3u5OTYfMzp5h">Nate Dogg</a> that went Top 20 in his native U.K., but he truly set himself apart as the co-producer of <a href="spotify:artist:6Q192DXotxtaysaqNPy5yR">Amy Winehouse</a>'s throwback-styled Back to Black (2006), a global smash that earned him his first three Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year. Ronson's subsequent solo albums, all stocked with high-profile guest appearances, have either crowned or nearly topped the U.K. charts. Uptown Special (2015) was particularly fruitful -- and a Top Five pop, Grammy-winning LP in the U.S. -- driven by the <a href="spotify:artist:0du5cEVh5yTK9QJze8zA0C">Bruno Mars</a>-fronted "Uptown Funk," another international hit that earned multiple Recording Academy nods itself. Ronson has since produced material for <a href="spotify:artist:1HY2Jd0NmPuamShAr6KMms">Lady Gaga</a> (Joanne and the Grammy-winning "Shallow") and <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a> (Villains), teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:5fMUXHkw8R8eOP2RNVYEZX">Diplo</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:2X97ZAqRKRMYFIDqtvGgGc">Silk City</a> (the Grammy-winning "Electricity"), and returned as a solo headliner with Late Night Feelings (2019). Ever collaborative, he paired with Raissa Khan-Panni for "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" (2020) and <a href="spotify:artist:5fMUXHkw8R8eOP2RNVYEZX">Diplo</a> for "New Love" (2021). He also served as executive producer on the Grammy-winning soundtrack to the hit Barbie movie in 2023. The son of Laurence Ronson, who managed <a href="spotify:artist:5ZfzzHE7rxONfoksJsLXrX">Bucks Fizz</a>, and the stepson of <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:7zQmORVNaWz1cW1KJB2cTX">Mick Jones</a>, Mark Ronson spent the first eight years of his life in England. He started playing guitar and drums at an early age and fell particularly hard for hip-hop, including <a href="spotify:artist:3CQIn7N5CuRDP8wEI7FiDA">Run-D.M.C.</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:03r4iKL2g2442PT9n2UKsx">the Beastie Boys</a>. Around his mid-teens, after he and mother had relocated to New York, Ronson began listening to DJ mixtapes and was inspired enough to seize his father's record collection and try his hand at mixing. A quick study with a level of eclecticism that belied his age, Ronson soon caught the ears and eyes of various socialites and New York celebrities, including fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who featured Ronson, along with other sons and daughters of celebrities, in a 1997 fashion campaign. A year later, hip-hop mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs hired Ronson to spin records at his 29th birthday bash. These and other high-profile gigs boosted Ronson's profile and helped advance his fledgling music career, which continued modestly with some underground beatmaking, a role in the Flip Squad All-Star DJs (a collective that released a self-titled album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a> in 1998), and sessions with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6vUjpCAR58MB3Jq2TsKUmK">Nikka Costa</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3Isy6kedDrgPYoTS1dazA9">Sean Paul</a>. Combining his various talents, budding songwriting ability, and growing list of contacts, Ronson embarked on his first solo album project with support from major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a>. He enlisted artists ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:3Isy6kedDrgPYoTS1dazA9">Sean Paul</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Mz5XE0kb1GBnbLQm2VbcO">Mos Def</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:4FZ3j1oH43e7cukCALsCwf">Jack White</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4LAz9VRX8Nat9kvIzgkg2v">Rivers Cuomo</a>, and made his debut in 2003 with Here Comes the Fuzz. The album fared best in the U.K., where the single "Ooh Wee," assisted by <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Oa0bMld0A3u5OTYfMzp5h">Nate Dogg</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0mTfntDCCWRozUnyxpGf6E">Saigon</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2WP6obWWFMbDECHzRBvrsz">Trife</a>, became a number 15 hit. The LP was eventually certified silver by the BPI. Ronson kept busy behind the scenes and was in full stride during 2006 and 2007. He scored with <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>'s "Hurt" (number 11 U.K., number 19 U.S.) and <a href="spotify:artist:13saZpZnCDWOI9D4IJhp1f">Lily Allen</a>'s "Littlest Things" (number 21 U.K.), and had a hand in <a href="spotify:artist:1SUFqa4aXxvMrGdOnqiMmR">Rhymefest</a>'s Blue Collar (number ten U.S. R&B/hip-hop), which he released through his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22J+Records%22">J Records</a>-affiliated <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Allido%22">Allido</a> label. These significant achievements paled in comparison to where he went during the same period with <a href="spotify:artist:6Q192DXotxtaysaqNPy5yR">Amy Winehouse</a>. Though the production load of Back to Black, <a href="spotify:artist:6Q192DXotxtaysaqNPy5yR">Winehouse</a>'s 2006 blockbuster, was almost evenly divided between Ronson and <a href="spotify:artist:0rlS0SzVFk8BoiAW0fGBbN">Salaam Remi</a>, the former was responsible for most of the singles, including "Rehab" (number seven U.K., number nine U.S.) and "Back to Black" (number eight U.K.). At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, Back to Black won Best Pop Vocal Album, "Rehab" took Record of the Year, and Ronson was hailed as Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Capitalizing upon the momentum, Ronson followed up in 2007 with his second album, Version, on which the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6Q192DXotxtaysaqNPy5yR">Winehouse</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:13saZpZnCDWOI9D4IJhp1f">Allen</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2HcwFjNelS49kFbfvMxQYw">Robbie Williams</a> helped him reimagine mostly contemporary British material. It narrowly missed the top of the U.K. album chart (and later achieved double-platinum status), with the <a href="spotify:artist:6HD2mo0Gz8wd8IbOXYwUfN">Daniel Merriweather</a> collaboration "Stop Me," a melding of classics by <a href="spotify:artist:3yY2gUcIsjMr8hjo51PoJ8">the Smiths</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:57bUPid8xztkieZfS7OlEV">the Supremes</a>, as its biggest single (number two U.K.). Between solo releases, Ronson added to his list of hit productions with <a href="spotify:artist:4dpARuHxo51G3z768sgnrY">Adele</a>'s "Cold Shoulder" (number 18 U.K.) and <a href="spotify:artist:6HD2mo0Gz8wd8IbOXYwUfN">Merriweather</a>'s "Change" (number eight U.K.), and continued to cross genres and bridge generations as he aided <a href="spotify:artist:2auiVi8sUZo17dLy1HwrTU">Solange</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6gk4ierjjSVPoZep27VfZz">Bebel Gilberto</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:67nwj3Y5sZQLl72VNUHEYE">Wale</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Ft4Az62nVeFfBoeefcw89">the Like</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3rxIQc9kWT6Ueg4BhnOwRK">Quincy Jones</a>. Ronson himself entered the U.K. album chart a second time at number two with Record Collection, a 2010 set credited to Mark Ronson & the Business Intl. The producer's third LP -- and the first on which he sang -- led off with the number six U.K. hit "Bang Bang Bang," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:7gQNLR8mykA1KjGClbPYHe">MNDR</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3ZotbHeyVQKxQCPDJuQ4SU">Q-Tip</a>, and boasted a previously unthinkable pairing, <a href="spotify:artist:4GNaWOK6CLMQOVajyjTJfj">Simon LeBon</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7k9T7lZlHjRAM1bb0r9Rm3">Wiley</a>, on the title song. Ronson deepened his association with <a href="spotify:artist:4GNaWOK6CLMQOVajyjTJfj">LeBon</a> as the producer of <a href="spotify:artist:0lZoBs4Pzo7R89JM9lxwoT">Duran Duran</a>'s All You Need Is Now, provided music for the film Arthur, and then produced the majority of <a href="spotify:artist:35C0NSLogAwImm8HAMqEmG">Black Lips</a>' Arabia Mountain. Ronson's longest between-albums phase yet was then highlighted by the co-production of <a href="spotify:artist:0du5cEVh5yTK9QJze8zA0C">Bruno Mars</a>' 2012 hit "Locked Out of Heaven" (number two U.K., number one U.S.), a Grammy nominee for Record of the Year. Additional studio time with <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5xGf0vferh9W3smWe3txU3">the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger</a> preceded Ronson's November 2014 return with another <a href="spotify:artist:0du5cEVh5yTK9QJze8zA0C">Mars</a> meeting, "Uptown Funk," which topped charts across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and elsewhere. Eventually certified diamond platinum in the States, "Uptown Funk" anchored Uptown Special, Ronson's fourth album, issued in January 2015. Featuring lyrics written by novelist Michael Chabon and additional featured performances from Kevin Parker (<a href="spotify:artist:5INjqkS1o8h1imAzPqGZBb">Tame Impala</a>), James Ford (<a href="spotify:artist:31DXlldabwPHwu6dYevuzK">Simian Mobile Disco</a>), and <a href="spotify:artist:3LIJJJkO7R5RasRwt7xIn5">Mystikal</a>, Uptown Special topped the U.K. chart and entered the Billboard 200 at number five. The 2015 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to "Uptown Funk." The wait for Ronson's fifth album exceeded four years, but the producer remained occupied during this intermediary phase. Throughout the remainder of 2015 alone, he placed credits on albums from <a href="spotify:artist:3bhu7P5PfngueRHiB9hjcx">Elle King</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7BMccF0hQFBpP6417k1OtQ">Action Bronson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:13ubrt8QOOCPljQ2FL1Kca">A$AP Rocky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0lZoBs4Pzo7R89JM9lxwoT">Duran Duran</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5nLYd9ST4Cnwy6NHaCxbj8">Cee Lo Green</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4dpARuHxo51G3z768sgnrY">Adele</a>. He was also involved in the making of the documentary Amy, the music of which was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. During 2016 and 2017, his primary projects were <a href="spotify:artist:1HY2Jd0NmPuamShAr6KMms">Lady Gaga</a>'s Joanne and <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a>'s Villains. He co-produced the entirety of the <a href="spotify:artist:1HY2Jd0NmPuamShAr6KMms">Gaga</a> LP, which topped the Billboard 200, and carried out the principal production duties for Villains. In 2018, Ronson partnered with fellow production superstar <a href="spotify:artist:5fMUXHkw8R8eOP2RNVYEZX">Diplo</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:2X97ZAqRKRMYFIDqtvGgGc">Silk City</a> and released the track "Electricity" featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6M2wZ9GZgrQXHCFfjv46we">Dua Lipa</a>. The song went to number four in the U.K. and topped the dance chart in the U.S. That same year, he also co-wrote "Shallow," the lead single from the <a href="spotify:artist:1HY2Jd0NmPuamShAr6KMms">Lady Gaga</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4VIvfOurcf0vuLRxLkGnIG">Bradley Cooper</a> vehicle A Star Is Born. Both songs were cross-continental hits, and by the end of the year "Electricity" had won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording while "Shallow" had taken home both the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. On the heels of his awards-season success, Ronson released the single "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5YGY8feqx7naU7z4HrwZM6">Miley Cyrus</a>. A number two hit in the U.K., it recalled <a href="spotify:artist:32vWCbZh0xZ4o9gkz4PsEU">Dolly Parton</a>'s disco crossover bids and previewed the "sad bangers" approach of his fifth studio album, Late Night Feelings. Released in June 2019, the set also included collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:6oBm8HB0yfrIc9IHbxs6in">Lykke Li</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4nDoRrQiYLoBzwC5BhVJzF">Camila Cabello</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6beUvFUlKliUYJdLOXNj9C">King Princess</a>, and others. It reached number four in the U.K. and 61 on the Billboard 200. A non-album single, "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" featuring Raissa Khan-Panni, arrived in 2020 before Ronson rejoined <a href="spotify:artist:5fMUXHkw8R8eOP2RNVYEZX">Diplo</a> for the 2021 <a href="spotify:artist:2X97ZAqRKRMYFIDqtvGgGc">Silk City</a> track "New Love" featuring <a href="spotify:artist:0X2BH1fck6amBIoJhDVmmJ">Ellie Goulding</a>. Also in 2021, he hosted the Apple TV+ documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson. A non-album track, "Too Much" (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5Vuvs6Py2JRU7WiFDVsI7J">Lucky Daye</a>), arrived the following year. In 2023, Ronson served as the executive producer of Barbie: The Album and contributed both production and songwriting to several of the film's songs, including "Dance the Night" and "I'm Just Ken," among others. The set took home the prize for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 66th Grammy Awards. Another Grammy came his way in early 2025, when he shared the award for Best Remixed Recording with Australia's FNZ for their "Working Late Remix" of <a href="spotify:artist:74KM79TiuVKeVCqs8QtB0B">Sabrina Carpenter</a>'s hit "Espresso." ~ Andy Kellman

Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake is one of the most recognizable pop stars of his generation, jumping from platform to platform on his way to establishing himself as something bigger than a star: he is a self-sustained empire. Timberlake began his rise on television, performing on The New Mickey Mouse Club as a child in the '90s, but he earned his superstardom as one of the frontmen for <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a>, one of the most popular boy bands at the turn of the millennium. Stepping away from the band just as its popularity crested, he released the sleek Justified in 2002. Its hit singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body" established him as a force outside the group and he consolidated that success in 2006 with FutureSex/LoveSounds, the album that generated his biggest hit to date, "SexyBack." After reaching this peak, he decided to pursue other ventures, choosing to concentrate on acting and entrepreneurship. Recurring appearances on Saturday Night Live proved to be among the show's most popular spots and he received acclaim for his performance in the 2010 Oscar-winning film The Social Network. After juggling numerous ventures outside the music industry, Timberlake returned to the top of the charts with help from <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>, releasing 2013's two-part 20/20 Experience and 2018's Man of the Woods. He also scored an enduring crossover hit with "Can't Stop the Feeling!" off the soundtrack to the Trolls movie in which he also starred. Along with the Trolls franchise, Timberlake garnered more critical acclaim for his roles in 2021's Palmer and 2023's Reptile, before returning to music with 2023's "Keep Going," a reunion with <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2jw70GZXlAI8QzWeY2bgRc">Nelly Furtado</a>. That same year, he reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a>, releasing the song "Better Place" for the Trolls Band Together soundrack, and made his own solo comeback in 2024 with Everything I Thought It Was. Timberlake's journey to stardom began in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was born on January 31, 1981. He began performing early, appearing on the televised talent competition Star Search at the age of 11, singing under the name of Justin Randall. This was his first step into the big leagues, leading to him securing a spot on The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993. This cast would prove to be filled with future stars; in addition to Timberlake there were the pop singers <a href="spotify:artist:26dSoYclwsYLMAKD3tpOr4">Britney Spears</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>, actor <a href="spotify:artist:6kXm2YCtdUOpRYNKeKhfue">Ryan Gosling</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">JC Chasez</a>, who'd later join Justin in <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a>, the group manager Lou Pearlman assembled in the late '90s. Pearlman formed <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a> after the cancellation of The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1994, taking Timberlake and <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">Chasez</a> as his anchors and adding Joey Fatone, <a href="spotify:artist:77rp6J3oOIV6J68tFgVU7Q">Lance Bass</a>, and Chris Kirkpatrick. <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a> began their march toward stardom in 1996 when their first album appeared in Europe. Two years later, their eponymous debut was released in the U.S. and the group scored hits with "Tearin' Up My Heart," "I Want You Back," and "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You." The latter reached the Top Ten, paving the way for the smash success of No Strings Attached in 2000. Within one week of its March 2000 release, the album sold an astonishing 2.4 million copies and set a record that stood for 15 years. After generating the singles "It's Gonna Be Me" and "Bye Bye Bye," the group set to work on its next album, 2001's Celebrity. It was another massive hit, launching the Top Ten singles "Pop," "Gone," and "Girlfriend, but it proved to be the group's last album, as Timberlake's popularity was quickly eclipsing that of the rest of the group. It didn't take long for Justin to release his first solo album. Justified appeared a little over a year after Celebrity and its gleaming, stylish surfaces -- partially produced by <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">the Neptunes</a> and partially produced by <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a> -- suggested a new, mature, adventurous musician who was as much an R&B vocalist as he was a pop singer. Timberlake supported the album with a co-headlining tour with <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a> in 2003 and he ruled the airwaves with the singles "Like I Love You," "Cry Me a River," Señorita," and "Rock Your Body," not to mention the "I'm Lovin' It" jingle for McDonalds. He weathered a scandal in early 2004 when he tore off part of <a href="spotify:artist:4qwGe91Bz9K2T8jXTZ815W">Janet Jackson</a>'s costume during their half-time duet at Super Bowl XXXVIII, but he bounced back nicely, winning Grammys that year for Justified and "Cry Me a River." He also launched William Rast, a clothing line. As he worked on his second album with producer <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>, Timberlake found time to resume his acting career, taking on key roles in Southland Tales, Black Snake Moan, and Alpha Dog. Before any of these films appeared, his second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, was released, preceded by the single "SexyBack," a cool synthesized groove in the vein of <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a> that established the tone for the album. "SexyBack" stayed at number one for seven weeks and its two sequels, "My Love" and "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude," also reached number one over the following year, a year that also saw Justin launch an international tour in support of the album. Following the completion of the FutureSex/LoveSounds tour, Timberlake slowly stepped away from music, though he was featured on three major 2007-2008 pop hits: <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>'s "Give It to Me" (number one), <a href="spotify:artist:3q7HBObVc0L8jNeTe5Gofh">50 Cent</a>'s "Ayo Technology" (number five), and <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a>'s "4 Minutes" (number three). He had other musical endeavors over the next few years, but his main focus was acting. In 2007 he had a voice role in Shrek 3, and in 2008 had a lead part in Mike Myers' The Love Guru. Two years later, Timberlake had his greatest acting success as Sean Parker in David Fincher's The Social Network; he quickly followed this with roles in Bad Teacher and Friends with Benefits. During this period, he also appeared several times on Saturday Night Live. In January 2013, after investing in three Los Angeles and New York restaurants, he released a new single, "Suit & Tie," co-produced with <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>. Along with a glitzy performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards and another SNL appearance, it set the stage for The 20/20 Experience, released that March. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and eventually went double platinum, driven by Top Five showings for its singles, "Suit & Tie" and "Mirrors." Two months later, the Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis, in which he co-starred, premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix. Part two of The 20/20 Experience, recorded during the same session that resulted in the first, was released that September. It followed the first to the top of the charts, and produced three Top 40 singles, "Take Back the Night," "TKO," and "Not a Bad Thing." In 2014, Timberlake returned to the Top Ten as a featured guest on "Love Never Felt So Good," a track from <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>'s posthumous album Xscape. "Can't Stop the Feeling!," recorded for the soundtrack of Trolls (a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks%22">DreamWorks</a> production in which Timberlake provided one of the lead voices), topped the pop chart months ahead of the film's 2016 theatrical release. It also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and took home the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Timberlake also co-composed the soundtrack for The Book of Love, a film co-produced and co-starring his wife, Jessica Biel, released later that year. In 2018, Timberlake returned with the <a href="spotify:artist:1fd551o6PU3gncK84bcEqu">Danja</a>- and <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>-produced "Filthy." "Supplies" and the <a href="spotify:artist:4YLtscXsxbVgi031ovDDdh">Chris Stapleton</a> collaboration "Say Something" followed shortly thereafter as the second and third previews of Man of the Woods. Released in February 2018, the album coincided with the singer's halftime performance at Super Bowl LII. It topped the Billboard 200, while "Say Something" garnered a Grammy-nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The following year, Timberlake was bestowed an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. In 2020, he reprised his voice role in the animated sequel film Trolls World Tour, for which he also produced much of the soundtrack, contributing the singles "The Other Side" (with <a href="spotify:artist:7tYKF4w9nC0nq9CsPZTHyP">SZA</a>) and "Don't Slack" (with <a href="spotify:artist:3jK9MiCrA42lLAdMGUZpwa">Anderson .Paak</a>). He then paired with <a href="spotify:artist:028lPW2NdWHdSPCkRkcyhd">Ant Clemons</a> for the single "Better Days" and peformed the song at President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021. He later returned to acting, starring in the drama Palmer, followed by the 2023 crime thriller Reptile. That September, Timberlake reunited with his <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a> bandmates and released the song "Better Place" as part of the Trolls Band Together soundtrack. It was the group's first recording together in over 20 years. That same month, he also reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2jw70GZXlAI8QzWeY2bgRc">Nelly Furtado</a> for the single "Keep Going Up." He closed the year by hopping on a remix of <a href="spotify:artist:6HaGTQPmzraVmaVxvz6EUc">Jung Kook</a>'s "3D." Timberlake kicked off 2024 by announcing his fifth solo full-length, Everything I Thought It Was, which included his comeback single "Selfish." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rihanna

Rihanna

Among the most popular and acclaimed artists in postmillennial contemporary music, Rihanna is also uncommonly dynamic, having mixed and matched pure pop, dancehall, R&B, EDM, and adult contemporary material throughout her career. She went supernova in 2005 with her boisterous debut single, "Pon de Replay," a worldwide hit, and was a near-constant presence in the upper reaches of global pop charts until she took a break from releasing music in the late 2010s. Through 2017, the native Barbadian headlined 11 number one hits, including "Umbrella" and "Only Girl (In the World)," singles that earned her two of her nine Grammy Awards. More than just a singles artist, Rihanna continually pushed ahead stylistically with her LPs, highlighted by the bold Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), the steely Rated R (2009), and the composed Anti (2016), all of which confounded expectations and placed within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with eventual multi-platinum certifications. Rihanna studded her secondary discography as a featured artist during this period with major crossover pop hits headlined by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a> ("Run This Town"), <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a> ("Love the Way You Lie"), and <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a> ("LOYALTY."). She returned to the Top Ten in 2022 with the understated ballad "Lift Me Up," her first solo release in six years, recorded for the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna exhibited star quality as a child, often winning beauty and talent contests. Because she lived on a fairly remote island in the West Indies, however, she didn't foresee the global stardom she later attained. Her break came courtesy of a fateful meeting with <a href="spotify:artist:0kbIz7wAczMyXXs9tfdDNE">Evan Rogers</a>, writer and producer of pop hits for such big names as <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2tFN9ubMXEhdAQvdQxcsma">Jessica Simpson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2y8Jo9CKhJvtfeKOsYzRdT">Rod Stewart</a>. The New Yorker was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, an island native, when he was introduced to an aspiring singing group that featured Rihanna. The trio performed for <a href="spotify:artist:0kbIz7wAczMyXXs9tfdDNE">Rogers</a>, who was then eager to work with Rihanna as a solo artist. After the fledgling singer recorded material with <a href="spotify:artist:0kbIz7wAczMyXXs9tfdDNE">Rogers</a> in the U.S. and signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SRP%22">SRP</a> (Syndicated Rhythm Productions), operated by <a href="spotify:artist:0kbIz7wAczMyXXs9tfdDNE">Rogers</a> and partner Carl Sturken, she sparked the interest of the Carter Administration -- that is, the newly appointed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Def+Jam%22">Def Jam</a> president <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter</a>. Following an audition, Rihanna accepted an on-the-spot offer to sign with the major label. Come May 2005, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Def+Jam%22">Def Jam</a> rolled out "Pon de Replay," Rihanna's first single and the lively introduction to the full-length Music of the Sun. Produced almost entirely by <a href="spotify:artist:0kbIz7wAczMyXXs9tfdDNE">Rogers</a> and Sturken, the song synthesized Caribbean rhythms with pop-R&B songwriting. "Pon de Replay" caught fire almost immediately and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, denied the top spot by <a href="spotify:artist:4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ">Mariah Carey</a>'s "We Belong Together." Music of the Sun, released that August, spawned a Top 40 placement with "If It's Lovin' That You Want" and ranged stylistically from a remake of <a href="spotify:artist:6mLXvSt7Xxy2r9uBba1O6Z">Dawn Penn</a>'s rocksteady-styled crossover hit "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" (featuring dancehall star <a href="spotify:artist:2NUz5P42WqkxilbI8ocN76">Vybz Kartel</a>) to the <a href="spotify:artist:6vWDO969PvNqNYHIOW5v0m">Beyoncé</a>-like "Let Me" (co-produced by emergent duo <a href="spotify:artist:7KUri7klyLaIFXLcuuOMCd">Stargate</a>). Music of the Sun was only eight months old when Rihanna followed up in April 2006 with A Girl Like Me. It showed that the singer wasn't a fluke success and could also stretch out, laced with three dissimilar hits. "SOS," high-gloss dance-pop with a sample of <a href="spotify:artist:6aq8T2RcspxVOGgMrTzjWc">Soft Cell</a>'s version of "Tainted Love," topped the Hot 100. "Unfaithful," her first big ballad, and "Break It Off," an electro-dancehall hybrid (with <a href="spotify:artist:3Isy6kedDrgPYoTS1dazA9">Sean Paul</a>), became her third and fourth Top Ten pop singles. Superstar status was attained with Good Girl Gone Bad, an album that built on Rihanna's commercial momentum and developed into a blockbuster. Released in May 2007 and "reloaded" with additional material the following June, its lengthy promotional campaign yielded several chart-topping singles and boasted collaborations with A-listers such as <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:21E3waRsmPlU7jZsS13rcj">Ne-Yo</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Justin Timberlake</a>. Lead single "Umbrella," co-written by <a href="spotify:artist:1W3FSF1BLpY3hlVIgvenLz">the-Dream</a> and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, sounded like nothing else on the airwaves and shot to number one, as did "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia," while "Hate That I Love You" and "Don't Stop the Music" added to the tally of Top Ten entries. "Umbrella" gave Rihanna her first Grammy win for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The album was on its way to triple-platinum status by October 2009, when Rihanna set the dark and provocative tone for fourth album Rated R with "Russian Roulette," another <a href="spotify:artist:21E3waRsmPlU7jZsS13rcj">Ne-Yo</a> collaboration and Top Ten single. Abused lover, dominatrix, and murderer were among the perspectives Rihanna offered throughout the album, released that November. Even the additional Top Ten hits "Hard" and "Rude Boy" -- the latter her fifth number one -- were stern in demeanor, making the early hits sound like the work of a significantly more complex artist. While Rated R was riding high, <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a>'s "Run This Town," with Rihanna on the intro and hook, won Grammys for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Annual studio albums, each one with a November release date and a broad range of light and dark material covering EDM, contemporary R&B, adult contemporary, dancehall, and straight-up pop, continued well into the following decade. In 2010, just after <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a> featured her on the diamond platinum "Love the Way You Lie," there was Loud. Led by the <a href="spotify:artist:7KUri7klyLaIFXLcuuOMCd">Stargate</a>-produced "Only Girl (In the World)," eventually a Grammy winner for Best Dance Recording, it was sustained with additional Hot 100 toppers "What's My Name?" (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4">Drake</a>) and "S&M." Talk That Talk was heralded in 2011 with Rihanna's most triumphant single, "We Found Love," on which she collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:7CajNmpbOovFoOoasH2HaY">Calvin Harris</a>. After she nabbed yet another Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Grammy, this time for her role on <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a>'s "All of the Lights," the streak concluded, and culminated, with the 2012 set Unapologetic. Her first LP to top the Billboard 200 (after all of the previous six had gone Top Ten), it also became her first to win a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album. "Diamonds," the anthemic and inspirational standout among some of Rihanna's brashest moments, became her tenth number one pop hit and 18th to peak within the Top Ten. Within a span of three years, Rihanna had released her fourth through seventh albums. An equal amount of time passed prior to the release of her eighth full-length. In 2013, she lengthened her list of chart accolades as a featured artist with an assist on <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a>'s "The Monster," which became her 25th Top Ten hit as a lead or featured artist, went to number one, and led to her fourth Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Grammy. No longer with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Def+Jam%22">Def Jam</a> -- a deal had been signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roc+Nation%22">Roc Nation</a> via <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a>, who left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Def+Jam%22">Def Jam</a> several years earlier -- Rihanna released non-album singles throughout 2015, beginning with the unembellished "FourFiveSeconds," an unlikely matchup with <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a> that reached number four. "American Oxygen" didn't flourish as much from a commercial standpoint but upon release became one of her most remarkable recordings, a dignified ballad with a personal, pro-immigration theme. Album eight, the strikingly composed Anti, became Rihanna's second consecutive number one album following its January 2016 arrival. She partnered again with <a href="spotify:artist:3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4">Drake</a>, resulting in another number one hit with "Work." "Needed Me," a buzzing slow jam cooked up with a production team including <a href="spotify:artist:0YinUQ50QDB7ZxSCLyQ40k">DJ Mustard</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6cKkRS7JwVT2K3rCCnOHyk">Kuk Harrell</a>, and "Love on the Brain," a throwback soul belter involving <a href="spotify:artist:6cKkRS7JwVT2K3rCCnOHyk">Harrell</a> and Fred Ball, entered the Top Ten as well. Those who missed the comparative lack of high-spirited exuberance in Anti were placated across 2016 and 2017 with Rihanna's guest appearances on <a href="spotify:artist:7CajNmpbOovFoOoasH2HaY">Calvin Harris</a>' "This Is What You Came For" and <a href="spotify:artist:5wPoxI5si3eJsYYwyXV4Wi">N.E.R.D.</a>'s "Lemon." Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4">Drake</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1RyvyyTE3xzB2ZywiAwp0i">Future</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0QHgL1lAIqAw0HtD7YldmP">DJ Khaled</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a> likewise profited from Rihanna's featured spots. <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Lamar</a>'s "LOYALTY." made Rihanna a five-time winner of the Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, setting a record for women artists in that category. Apart from a featured appearance on <a href="spotify:artist:2HPaUgqeutzr3jx5a9WyDV">PartyNextDoor</a>'s 2020 single "Believe It," Rihanna wasn't behind any new music for several years, as she focused her efforts on her Fenty cosmetics and fashion empire and started a family. She returned in October 2022 with "Lift Me Up" from the soundtrack of Ryan Coogler's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The ballad, written by Rihanna with producer <a href="spotify:artist:24eDfi2MSYo3A87hCcgpIL">Ludwig Göransson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:687cZJR45JO7jhk1LHIbgq">Tems</a>, and Coogler, entered the Hot 100 at number two. ~ Andy Kellman & Jason Birchmeier, Rovi

Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning pop icon Britney Spears is one of the most successful and celebrated entertainers in pop history with nearly 150 million records worldwide. In the U.S. alone, she has sold more than 70 million albums, singles and songs, according to Nielsen Music. Born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, Spears became a household name as a teenager when she released her first single “…Baby One More Time,” a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash and international hit that broke sales records with more than 20 million copies sold worldwide and is currently 14x Platinum in the U.S. Her musical career boasts countless awards and accolades, including six Billboard Music Awards and Billboard’s Millennium Award, which recognizes outstanding career achievements and influence in the music industry as well as an American Music Award and the 2011 MTV Video Vanguard Award. So far, Spears has earned a total of six No.1-debuting albums on the Billboard 200 chart and 22 top 40 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 — four of which went to No. 1. Spears has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards and won for Best Dance Recording in 2005. Her cutting-edge pop concert Las Vegas residency, “Britney: Piece of Me,” at Planet Hollywood Resort &amp; Casino has been voted “Best Show in Las Vegas” and “Best Bachelorette Show in Las Vegas.” Spears also has been creating fragrances for over ten years, and currently has over 20 fragrances available in over 85 countries around the world.

Sia

Sia

Gimme ❤️

Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani has parlayed her breakout stardom as the effervescent lead singer of the SoCal ska-punk outfit <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> into an enduring career as a multifaceted pop star. Before going solo, Stefani reached the top of the charts many times during <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a>'s peak. "Spiderwebs," "Just a Girl," and the ballad "Don't Speak" -- all pulled from their 1995 album Tragic Kingdom -- were iconic alternative rock hits. The early-2000s smashes "Hey Baby," "Hella Good," and "Underneath It All" found the group dabbling in pop, dance, and R&B, a musical expansion that coincided with Stefani stepping outside of the band as a featured vocalist on the hits "South Side" by techno superstar <a href="spotify:artist:3OsRAKCvk37zwYcnzRf5XF">Moby</a> and "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" by the rapper <a href="spotify:artist:4d3yvTptO48nOYTPBcPFZC">Eve</a>. All this extracurricular activity helped set up the launch of Stefani's solo career in 2004 with the album Love.Angel.Music.Baby., a platinum blockbuster that gave her a number one single with the thumping <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">Neptunes</a> collaboration "Hollaback Girl," plus the hits "Cool," "What You Waiting For?," and "Rich Girl," the latter a reunion with <a href="spotify:artist:4d3yvTptO48nOYTPBcPFZC">Eve</a>. The 2006 record The Sweet Escape consolidated her pop success thanks to the Top Tens "Wind It Up" and "The Sweet Escape," but by that point, Stefani began to venture outside of music. She launched her fashion line L.A.M.B. in 2004, a pursuit she'd develop over the coming decade. She started to dabble in film, an interest that eventually led her to joining the televised singing competition The Voice in 2014 (where she met husband <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Blake Shelton</a>). Music remained essential to Stefani's appeal -- she reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> and returned to her solo career with 2016's Billboard 200-topping This Is What the Truth Feels Like. Later singles, such as the contemporary country-influenced "Purple Irises" with <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Shelton</a>, off 2024's Bouquet, along with her position on The Voice, reinforced her crossover pop legacy as a star who shines upon every aspect of the entertainment industry. Born and raised in Fullerton, California, Stefani had a musical epiphany at the age of 17. She had fallen in love with the <a href="spotify:artist:4AYkFtEBnNnGuoo8HaHErd">Madness</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3wRksusBxJ6npu0PryYheF">Selecter</a> records her brother Eric was constantly spinning. Seeing <a href="spotify:artist:2X3pNc13eRGofTO9Yt3sMi">Fishbone</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4PeH0LM0QG4jFfzSmU0SuB">the Untouchables</a>, and other bands involved in Los Angeles' ska revival scene only reinforced her interest, so she was more than ready when her brother asked her to join a ska band he was forming with a friend named John Spence. Gwen originally shared lead vocals with Spence, but in December of 1987 he committed suicide, leaving the band -- now called <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> -- with an uncertain future. According to many interviews with the bandmembers after their breakthrough, Gwen was the glue that held <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> together during these hard times, pushing the group to keep trying. She was also romantically involved with the band's bass player, Tony Kanal, by this time. After playing numerous gigs and parties, <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> were signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a> in 1991. The label considered their 1992 debut album a flop and refused to financially support a tour or further recordings, but the band refused to give up. The self-financed Beacon Street Collection appeared in 1994 and did well enough to make nice with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>, but the band was once again going through a traumatic period behind the scenes. Eric Stefani left to become an animator for The Simpsons and Gwen and Tony's relationship had ended. Gwen wrote a collection of songs focused on heartbreak and rebirth that would become <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a>'s third album, Tragic Kingdom, and the rest, as they say, is history. With the smash singles "Just a Girl," "Spiderwebs," and "Don't Speak," the album reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 and garnered two Grammy nominations. The press began to focus on Stefani's role in the band. Voted one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People," video and photo shoots focused on her and rumors spread that the other three members of the band were unhappy with the lack of attention they received. This topic of discussion continued as the band released Return of Saturn in 2000 and the heavily reggae-influenced hit album Rock Steady a year later. During this time, Stefani's romantic relationship with <a href="spotify:artist:78SHxLdtysAXgywQ4vE0Oa">Bush</a> frontman <a href="spotify:artist:6lBam1B1t8wpnH7pJHWnj6">Gavin Rossdale</a> became a frequent topic of <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a>'s songs. The pair married on September 14, 2002. She also started doing some work outside the band, lending her vocals to the remix of <a href="spotify:artist:3OsRAKCvk37zwYcnzRf5XF">Moby</a>'s "Southside" and rapper <a href="spotify:artist:4d3yvTptO48nOYTPBcPFZC">Eve</a>'s "Let Me Blow Your Mind." After Rock Steady, <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> took a break. Stefani approached Kanal about producing an off-the-cuff solo project that would be influenced by her non-ska favorites. <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1EgGVV9cmmlLEsFlunjmvv">the Time</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4kEAjV4pCBOkoowYYQydvO">Club Nouveau</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a> were the names thrown around and the idea was to make the project "fast and easy." Over time, the "fast and easy" record morphed into something much bigger. Old friend, former labelmate, and hit songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:5tfiJ40SRxluWNgA6ruvSo">Linda Perry</a> became involved and the project became much more polished, slick, and dance-oriented. A pile of high-profile collaborators -- <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">the Neptunes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ZnP7Vw0Rkz8KksxReWfji">Dallas Austin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:74V3dE1a51skRkdII8y2C6">Andre 3000</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1l7aiSjBGkQiyTuQYTigAP">Nellee Hooper</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4ZaXj4ZrqscgpfqJolMfib">Jimmy Jam</a>, and Terry Lewis -- became involved. In September of 2004, the infectious and hyper dance single "What You Waiting For?" appeared, with its accompanying video dominating MTV. The album, Love.Angel.Music.Baby., hit the shelves in November with surreal artwork that introduced Stefani's four-woman "posse," the Harajuku Girls. The all-Asian Harajuku Girls were inspired by Stefani's fascination with the Harajuku girls of Japan, young club kids with a flippant and fun attitude toward fashion. Appearing with Stefani live, in videos, and in photos, the Girls quickly drew criticism from the Asian community, angry about the rumor that they had to sign a contract to never speak English even though they could, and that Stefani's Girls looked nothing like the "real" Harajuku girls. Nonetheless, the album was a hit and continued to roll out singles. Based on a dancehall cover of Fiddler on the Roof's "If I Were a Rich Man," "Rich Girl" became the next smash, reuniting Stefani with <a href="spotify:artist:4d3yvTptO48nOYTPBcPFZC">Eve</a>. The cheerleader kiss-off anthem "Hollaback Girl" was the third success. While the singles were dominating pop and dance radio, Stefani appeared as Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. With music and movies checked off, Stefani moved into the world of fashion and introduced her clothing line, L.A.M.B. Taking her influence to the world of tech, she designed the Harajuku Lovers' 4.1 MP Digital Camera for Hewlett-Packard. The camera was released in a limited edition with a Stefani-designed case and a biographical DVD. Late in 2005, Stefani discovered she was pregnant with her first child, but her schedule remained busy in 2006: along with working on L.A.M.B., she released a line of limited-edition fashion dolls complete with outfits from her videos and tours, and worked on her second solo album with producers including <a href="spotify:artist:0z4gvV4rjIZ9wHck67ucSV">Akon</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2cADQgiLMjNhbsfeN52Bf3">Swizz Beatz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2QEAWYu9UBkgIvlysVWSNW">Tim Rice-Oxley</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:53A0W3U0s8diEn9RhXQhVz">Keane</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1l7aiSjBGkQiyTuQYTigAP">Nellee Hooper</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">the Neptunes</a>, and Tony Kanal. That spring, Stefani gave birth to a boy. The <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">Neptunes</a>-produced, Sound of Music-sampling "Wind It Up" arrived later that fall and heralded the full-length The Sweet Escape, which was released on the same day as the live DVD Harajuku Lovers Live. <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> announced a return to the studio in 2008, but progress slowed to a crawl as the band experienced a bout of writer's block and the <a href="spotify:artist:6lBam1B1t8wpnH7pJHWnj6">Rossdale</a>-Stefani family continued to grow with their second child, Zuma Nesta Rock. The band maintained their momentum by touring through 2009. <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a> eventually released Push and Shove in 2012, featuring a mix of Rock Steady-esque dancehall bangers and new wave ballads similar to Stefani's solo material. In February 2014, Stefani and <a href="spotify:artist:6lBam1B1t8wpnH7pJHWnj6">Rossdale</a> had their third boy, Apollo Bowie Flynn. Later that year, Stefani joined the judges panel on The Voice with her friend <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell</a>, opening the pair to a number of subsequent collaborations. Stefani lent her vocals to fellow Voice coach <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Adam Levine</a> for <a href="spotify:artist:04gDigrS5kc9YWfZHwBETP">Maroon 5</a>'s "My Heart Is Open." She also appeared on tracks with <a href="spotify:artist:7CajNmpbOovFoOoasH2HaY">Calvin Harris</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a>. By late 2014, Stefani was in the midst of a full-scale comeback, releasing a pair of singles: the <a href="spotify:artist:4we5S2VLjgY9KzIzApL1KI">Ryan Tedder</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:5CiGnKThu5ctn9pBxv7DGa">Benny Blanco</a>-penned "Baby Don't Lie" and another <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell</a> production, "Spark the Fire." The following year, she contributed the song "Shine" to the Paddington Bear movie soundtrack and a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a> on "Kings Never Die" from Southpaw. In August 2015, Stefani and <a href="spotify:artist:6lBam1B1t8wpnH7pJHWnj6">Rossdale</a> filed for divorce. A third song -- "Used to Love You" -- was released months later. It gained moderate airplay and was the only comeback single to be included on her third project, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, which was released in March 2016 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The second official single from the album, "Make Me Like You," was accompanied by a video that Stefani recorded live during the 2016 Grammy Awards. Later that year, she provided the voice for the DJ Suki character in the animated movie Trolls and, along with <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Justin Timberlake</a>, appeared on several songs from the film's soundtrack. In September 2017, she released the seasonal album You Make It Feel Like Christmas, which featured a duet with her Voice co-star -- and new romantic partner -- <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Blake Shelton</a>. Stefani duetted with <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Shelton</a> on his 2020 single "Nobody But You," a song featured on the compilation Fully Loaded: God's Country, and added "Here This Christmas" to a reissue of You Make It Feel Like Christmas. At the end of the year, she returned to pop music with "Let Me Reintroduce Myself," a single that built upon the effervescent sounds of <a href="spotify:artist:0cQbJU1aAzvbEmTuljWLlF">No Doubt</a>. Another single, the reggae-injected "Slow Clap," followed in in March 2021, with a <a href="spotify:artist:6cK3NBO6uP7hh0oyuVELFl">Saweetie</a>-accompanied edition arriving a month later. That July, Stefani and <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Shelton</a> married . The ska-inflected single "True Babe" appeared in June 2023. In July 2024, Stefani paired with <a href="spotify:artist:3jK9MiCrA42lLAdMGUZpwa">Anderson.Paak</a> for the <a href="spotify:artist:4we5S2VLjgY9KzIzApL1KI">Ryan Tedder</a>-produced single "Hello World," released in support of the Paris Olympic Games. However, it was her second <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Shelton</a> duet, the romantic, adult contemporary-sounding "Purple Irises," released that February, that marked the beginning of her next era. That song, as well as September's "Somebody Else's," heralded the singer's fifth solo album, the <a href="spotify:artist:2wGqbrJQyoV5riYTCvxvVC">Scott Hendricks</a>-produced Bouquet. Released in November 2024, the album found the Stefani further embracing a contemporary country-inspired sound. ~ David Jeffries & Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

The Mamas & the Papas

The Mamas & the Papas

One of the most important pop groups of the '60s, the Mamas & the Papas' sound was built around radiant vocal harmonies and a solid electric folk foundation, and a major part of their appeal lay in the easygoing southern California lifestyle the foursome seemingly embodied and endorsed. Their first two singles, "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'," were gentle pop statements that sounded like the opening salvos in a cultural revolution, while also being calm and sweet enough to appeal to those who never thought about wearing a flower in their hair. The group's moment in the spotlight was brief, only four albums were issued during their three-year prime, but their sound was influential and lasting enough that it became emblematic of the era. The group's founder and de facto leader, <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a>, got his start musically in the early '60s as a member of folk music groups such as the Smoothies and <a href="spotify:artist:4uYxUVyDnN7DiEoRQnEoKN">the Journeymen</a>. The latter group, a trio with <a href="spotify:artist:5pWZfN4xVYpHheWqD8Zk5X">Dick Weissman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7d7AZ3CQC457bFhK0wHpSO">Scott McKenzie</a>, was one of the most promising small ensembles of the early-'60s folk music boom, but it never connected with the public despite being signed to Capitol Records. When <a href="spotify:artist:4uYxUVyDnN7DiEoRQnEoKN">the Journeymen</a> folded, <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">Phillips</a> formed the New Journeymen with future screenwriter Marshall Brickman and a young model and singer named <a href="spotify:artist:6EYoen5yE52xzGz4FB20pY">Michelle Gilliam</a>; they didn't succeed any better, but <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">Phillips</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6EYoen5yE52xzGz4FB20pY">Gilliam</a> married and they also started to write songs. One that they composed jointly during this period was a catchy tune with some potential that expressed an idealized vision of California. Meanwhile, working in a different realm of the musical spectrum was a Baltimore-born singer named Cassandra Elliot, who was successful as part of New York's off-Broadway theater scene, and had made some noise in touring productions of The Music Man. She moved into folk music in partnership with <a href="spotify:artist:49lxTCrNkfwRU19p3tMHER">Tim Rose</a> -- himself an ex-associate of the Smoothies. They worked as two-thirds of a trio called the Triumverate, whose third spot was subsequently filled by Nebraska-born folksinger <a href="spotify:artist:6TPEYUCBrpWYF74YZsJyDu">James Hendricks</a>. This group eventually became the Big 3 and hit it big at New York's Bitter End, and from there went on to a brief flurry of recording activity that yielded two LPs, a handful of singles, and a brace of television commercials. Eventually, the Big 3 evolved into <a href="spotify:artist:3IpzgXQFzsMPjSW7d8okVK">the Mugwumps</a>, whose ranks included Elliot, <a href="spotify:artist:6TPEYUCBrpWYF74YZsJyDu">Hendricks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1EbFQk4CBE8i0v69zGPX5R">Zal Yanovsky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3FPF6tyBTP79pCCAJDcPft">John Sebastian</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7AwBBl8PDdRS8UiXZnzaQd">Denny Doherty</a>, a veteran of the Colonials in the early '60s, who later rechristened themselves <a href="spotify:artist:6dbe2att97AwGj0AL2X6F4">the Halifax Three</a> -- <a href="spotify:artist:7AwBBl8PDdRS8UiXZnzaQd">Doherty</a> and Elliot, who were pretty impressive on their own, made a dazzling pair of voices together. <a href="spotify:artist:3IpzgXQFzsMPjSW7d8okVK">The Mugwumps</a> seemed to be on the edge of a new sound, mixing electric instruments played with ever more emphasis on folk-based material -- this was concurrent with the West Coast activities of <a href="spotify:artist:3ExrAwcOqgGjt9kFRwdM76">Roger McGuinn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:040Bv6cZTRh30LyyYVXgJX">Gene Clark</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:59zdhVoWxSoHMc74n098Re">David Crosby</a> in <a href="spotify:artist:1PCZpxHJz7WAMF8EEq8bfc">the Byrds</a> -- but could never quite put together a sound that worked completely. They were foundering when <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">Phillips</a> decided to reactivate his trio as the New Journeymen and, with Brickman gone, recruited <a href="spotify:artist:7AwBBl8PDdRS8UiXZnzaQd">Doherty</a> to sing some shows down in Washington, D.C. All of the pieces were beginning to fit together in the closing days of 1964. Meanwhile, Cass Elliot was paying her bills by singing jazz in Washington, D.C. The New Journeymen might have gone it alone, except that <a href="spotify:artist:7AwBBl8PDdRS8UiXZnzaQd">Doherty</a> brought his fellow members to see her perform. The quartet fell into place despite some resistance from <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a> over Elliot's sheer size as well as her strong personality and (supposedly) her voice. After getting to know each other musically and personally, they took a trip to the Caribbean (as immortalized later by the song "Creeque Alley") and hit on a sound they felt good about. The group headed to California late in 1965 and at the suggestion of <a href="spotify:artist:6xdkfNRMtBzeu7t4wyum2X">Barry McGuire</a>, late of <a href="spotify:artist:77OdfWXrYy6DcYPzmUOr6a">the New Christy Minstrels</a> and an old friend of Elliot's, who was just coming off of his biggest hit, "Eve of Destruction" on Dunhill Records, the quartet auditioned for Lou Adler, the head of the label -- they played "California Dreamin'," "Monday, Monday," and many of the other songs that ended up comprising their debut album. Adler signed them on the spot and their debut single, "California Dreamin'," was out by the start of 1966 and shooting up the charts, with their album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears coming up behind it. Produced by Adler, played by the cream of the Los Angeles session crews, and with luminous vocals arranged by <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a>, it reached the top of the album charts and was one of the top-selling albums in the country for months. Though the group was at the pinnacle of the music world, behind the scenes there were troubles brewing, and a variety of causes led to <a href="spotify:artist:6EYoen5yE52xzGz4FB20pY">Michelle Phillips</a> leaving the band for a few months. She was replaced by singer/songwriter Jill Gibson during sessions for the group's second album. It's unclear if she appeared on 1966's self-titled album; by the time it was released, <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">Phillips</a> was back in the band. Recorded with a tightly knit group of musicians who included guitarist Eric Hord and the established Los Angeles session players Larry Knechtel on keyboards, <a href="spotify:artist:5OGnIiN0VDdkwDTSXF0b56">Joe Osborne</a> on bass, and <a href="spotify:artist:5W6Vbf1DmTUOpvsXq4lQFJ">Hal Blaine</a> on drums, the album was again produced by Adler with songs written and arranged by <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a>. It spawned two hits "I Saw Her Again and "Words of Love," and peaked at number four on the Billboard album chart. The same crew worked on the band's third album, Deliver, which was released in 1967 and spawned three hit singles: "Dedicated to the One I Love," "Creeque Alley," and "Look Through My Window." That same year, <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a>' influence on popular culture reached its zenith when he and Lou Adler, with <a href="spotify:artist:6EYoen5yE52xzGz4FB20pY">Michelle Phillips</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:49JvZ17o0VaAmXaJv5kZlv">Al Kooper</a>, and a lot of others assisting, organized the Monterey International Pop Festival. The first of all the rock festivals of the '60s, the event launched the careers of dozens of mostly San Francisco-based acts nationally and beyond, including those of <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4NgfOZCL9Ml67xzM0xzIvC">Janis Joplin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6qyfxCyE6JsPkcGVIOPpyl">the Electric Flag</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">Phillips</a>' old friend and <a href="spotify:artist:4uYxUVyDnN7DiEoRQnEoKN">Journeymen</a> bandmate <a href="spotify:artist:7d7AZ3CQC457bFhK0wHpSO">Scott McKenzie</a>. In honor of the festival, <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">Phillips</a> had written a song called "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)," which he gave to <a href="spotify:artist:7d7AZ3CQC457bFhK0wHpSO">McKenzie</a> to record as his solo debut on Adler's new Ode Records label. The Mamas & the Papas closed out the festival with an exuberant set, although it was overshadowed by some of the more dynamic performances of the weekend. By the time the band were ready to record their fourth album, 1969's The Papas & the Mamas, <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6EYoen5yE52xzGz4FB20pY">Michelle Phillips</a> had built a studio of their own. The band worked there on a more downcast set of songs that reflected the end of the psychedelic era. While it did have a hit single -- "Twelve-Thirty" -- and reached the top 20, it marked the end of the band's era as hitmakers and influencers. The second single from the album, a rollicking version of the old musical number "Dream a Little Dream of Me," was issued under Cass Elliot's name instead of the band's. By the end of the year, the Mamas & the Papas had run out of steam and the group went their separate ways. Cass Elliot was the first to emerge in her own right, her larger-than-life image lending itself to pop stardom and her musical ability made her a natural, whether recording solo or in tandem with <a href="spotify:artist:2DWQX92uew7DlsgN0yD775">Dave Mason</a>. Her first venture into performing solo, in Las Vegas, wasn't a success, but by the early '70s she was on an even keel, hosting and performing on music-oriented television shows such as The Ray Stevens Show and Get It Together as well as her own specials, and also appearing in the movie H.R. Pufnstuf. <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a> did a solo album, The Wolf King of L.A., that was well-received critically, and <a href="spotify:artist:7AwBBl8PDdRS8UiXZnzaQd">Denny Doherty</a> undertook a solo career as well. <a href="spotify:artist:6EYoen5yE52xzGz4FB20pY">Michelle Phillips</a> concentrated on raising her and <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John</a>'s daughter, <a href="spotify:artist:4G4wyL5fut6xdMUPZzDpyJ">Chynna Phillips</a>, and saw some brief activity as a recording artist, but it was acting that kept her busy. She distinguished herself dramatically in John Milius' excellent period film Dillinger (1973). The group did reunite in the studio early in the decade to record one album, People Like Us, to help fulfill its contract; conversely, there were also lawsuits by <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a> against his former label over unpaid royalties, which dragged on for years. The most notable event surrounding the group, however, was the tragic death of Cass Elliot on July 29, 1974. From that day forward, the group never officially reunited, though <a href="spotify:artist:4O8NcI06slOnzcloI95qfe">John Phillips</a> occasionally organized groups (most notably in 1982 with <a href="spotify:artist:7AwBBl8PDdRS8UiXZnzaQd">Doherty</a>, while his actress/singer daughter MacKenzie and Elaine McFarlane, formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:12V5Y0dEdRroUCBr95IXO9">Spanky & Our Gang</a>, filled the women's spots) to play the oldies circuit and recycle the vintage repertory. The group's appeal, however, has lingered, as reflected in its induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. There have been multiple reissues of their original four LPs culminating in 2001 with the release of All the Leaves Are Brown, a compilation of their complete '60s studio recordings, and their hit singles can be heard over the airwaves, in movies and on TV shows on a regular basis. Their music continued to be reissued as well, with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Real+Gone%22">Real Gone</a> releasing Complete Singles: 50th Anniversary Collection in 2016 and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sundazed%22">Sundazed</a> putting out the band's second album with its original mono mix in 2023. ~ Bruce Eder & Tim Sendra, Rovi

Ann Lee

Ann Lee

Ann Lee landed in Italy in the early 90s on holiday, ran into talent scouts of Italian dance music labels, and ended up staying and building her life and career there. She started doing Eurobeat stuff on the Japanese music market (with her first concert in Japan in front of 60,000 people). In 1993 Annerley co-wrote The Rhythm Of The Night by Corona which became a massive hit and recently sampled by Black Eyed Peas in Ritmo. Thanks to her contribution to Ritmo, in 2021 Annerley received two ASCAP awards and got a nomination at SIAE Music Awards 2023. In 1993 she also started working for Mauro Farina (SAIFAM) and she has begun her collaboration with Larry at Off Limits. In 1998 Ann Lee debuted with the unforgettable song 2 Times one of the most extraordinarily tracks to come out of the international dance scene in a long while. 2 Times went to #1 in DK, #2 in UK and Belgium, Top 10 in FR, DE, AT, Australia, NZ, IT, NL, Norway and East Europe, collecting Gold and Platinum discs. The second single Voices reached TOP 10 positions in ES, DK and CZ. It was released in the UK in February 2000 and went straight into the Top 30. The third single, an irresistible cover version of RING MY BELL, came out in Europe, while 2 Times began exploding in Canada. In 2005 Annerley took a break to take care of her son, and then spent time as a fulltime mum. In recent years she has been on the road again touring as Ann Lee, as well as being back in the studio.

The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas

Over 25 years, Los Angeles trio Black Eyed Peas —will.i.am, Apl.de.Ap, and Taboo—have earned six GRAMMY® Awards and achieved sales of 35 million albums & 120 million singles. One of the era’s biggest acts, they emerged as “the second best-selling artist/group of all-time for downloaded tracks,” (Nielsen), landing on Billboard’s “Hot 100 Artists of the Decade.” Their 8th studio album, 2020’s TRANSLATION achieved staggering success, featuring collaborations with J Balvin, Ozuna, Maluma, Shakira, Nicky Jam, & Tyga. The album scored 8 nominations at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, including ‘Crossover Artist of the Year” & “Hot Latin Song of the Year” for “RITMO” and a nomination at the 2021 Latin Music Awards for ‘“Favorite Artists - Crossover”. Singles “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)” [feat. J Balvin] & “MAMACITA” [feat. Ozuna and J.Rey Soul] achieved #1 status on three Billboard Charts, numerous award nominations, & gold, platinum, & diamond certifications globally. “GIRL LIKE ME” [feat. Shakira] continued this streak, scooping “Best Latin” award at the MTV VMAs; ‘HIT IT’ with Saweetie & Lele Pons racked up 5.8M global audio streams, 1.1M US audio streams & almost 10M YouTube views in its first week alone. In 2022 the band reunited with Shakira & David Guetta for DON’T YOU WORRY, the first single from 9th studio album ELEVATION, swiftly followed by Anitta & El Alfa collab SIMPLY THE BEST, opening up yet another brilliant chapter in the continuing story of the Black Eyed Peas.

Doja Cat

Doja Cat

Los Angeles' Doja Cat rose from viral novelty track buzz to mainstream superstar with her smooth, hypnotic, R&B-flecked pop songs of sexuality, friendship, and personal power. She gained some significant attention with her early releases, but it was her 2019 sophomore effort, Hot Pink, that took her to the top of the Hot 100. Subsequent charting singles and collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:7tYKF4w9nC0nq9CsPZTHyP">SZA</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6cK3NBO6uP7hh0oyuVELFl">Saweetie</a> further solidified her star power, and made the arrival of her 2021 album Planet Her all the more hotly anticipated. A number two Billboard 200 hit, Planet Her also earned several Grammy nominations. Singles followed, including her savvy 2022 cover of <a href="spotify:artist:5SHQUMAmEK5KmuSb0aDvsn">Hole</a>'s "Celebrity Skin," 2022's "Vegas" off the Elvis soundtrack, and 2023's trip-hop-inflected "Attention," all of which spotlighted Doja's adventurous, genre-crossing sensibilities. The latter track and "Paint the Town Red" appeared on her fourth album, 2023's Scarlet, which found her digging deep into her rap and hip-hop roots and became her third consecutive album to hit the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. Doja Cat was born Amala Zandile Dlamini in 1995 in Tarzana, California, the daughter of South African actor Dumisani Dlamini and painter Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer. After moving to New York for a few years, she returned to California with her mother. As a child, she studied piano and took tap, ballet, and jazz dance lessons. She also discovered surfing and breakdancing. By her teens, she was teaching herself to sing and listening to an eclectic mix of hip-hop, indie rock, R&B, and electronic music. Doja also began recording songs on her computer and in 2014 released her debut EP, Purrr! She quickly found herself with a viral hit with the track "So High." More singles followed, including the languid "Nunchucks" and "No Police," each one grabbing attention online. Another single, "Mooo!," arrived in 2018 and quickly went viral. On the heels of that success, Doja Cat issued her full-length debut album, Amala, which found her expanding upon her dreamy, meme-friendly sound with more hip-hop-, pop-, and R&B-infused tracks, including "Candy" and "Roll with Us." In 2019, she issued an expanded version of Amala that added the singles "Juicy" and "Tia Tamara," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:2OaHYHb2XcFPvqL3VsyPzU">Rico Nasty</a>. Her sophomore album, Hot Pink, was quick to follow; with features from <a href="spotify:artist:1ybINI1qPiFbwDXamRtwxD">Smino</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:13y7CgLHjMVRMDqxdx0Xdo">Gucci Mane</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5LHRHt1k9lMyONurDHEdrp">Tyga</a>, the 2019 LP leaned more into the sexually wry aspects of her ever-shifting persona. A Top Ten hit on the Billboard 200, the album's fifth single, "Say So," pushed her even further up the charts. After making a steady rise in the Hot 100 at the start of 2020, the multi-platinum track finally hit number one in May, boosted by a <a href="spotify:artist:0hCNtLu0JehylgoiP8L4Gh">Nicki Minaj</a> remix. After picking up a couple of American Music Awards, Doja carried the momentum from her breakout year into 2021. She began appearing alongside established celebrities more frequently, adding a guest feature to <a href="spotify:artist:6cK3NBO6uP7hh0oyuVELFl">Saweetie</a>'s single "Best Friend," contributing to an <a href="spotify:artist:66CXWjxzNUsdJxJ2JdwvnR">Ariana Grande</a> remix with <a href="spotify:artist:181bsRPaVXVlUKXrxwZfHK">Megan Thee Stallion</a>, and releasing the <a href="spotify:artist:7tYKF4w9nC0nq9CsPZTHyP">SZA</a>-assisted single "Kiss Me More." All of this led up to the June 2021 release of her third full-length studio album, Planet Her. It featured guest spots from <a href="spotify:artist:50co4Is1HCEo8bhOyUWKpn">Young Thug</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6U3ybJ9UHNKEdsH7ktGBZ7">JID</a>, and others, and its cover art was shot by photographer David LaChapelle. The album, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 and topped the R&B albums chart, also garnered Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. In February 2022, Doja hit number 18 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart with a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:5SHQUMAmEK5KmuSb0aDvsn">Hole</a>'s "Celebrity Skin," which featured lyrics reworked by her and <a href="spotify:artist:4vI0xGbQl2cMnMiagUEBOj">Courtney Love</a>. That same year, she reached the Top Ten of the Hot 100 with "Vegas," her contribution to the soundtrack to director <a href="spotify:artist:7HhTERkBV4Ot14KphgBfSh">Baz Luhrmann</a>'s Elvis biopic. In June 2023, she debuted the '90s trip-hop-inspired "Attention" as the first track released off her fourth studio album, Scarlet. Another song, "Paint the Town Red," followed that August as the official first single. Arriving that September, the album found Doja balancing her pop-R&B style with tracks that embraced her rap and hip-hop roots. It featured production by a handful of artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:7CMiGl0n1pZ9D3PXg6uww7">Earl on the Beat</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2WQGobWliVRQ38PSa42BSy">D.A. Got That Dope</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:18EIYewhtDyX8JII7u6LM2">Y2K</a>, among others. A Top Five album on both the Billboard 200 and Rap Albums charts, Scarlet also earned several Grammy nominations, including Best Pop Solo Performance for "Paint the Town Red" and Best Rap Song for "Attention." ~ Matt Collar

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service conducted a nationwide vote on a crucial subject: Should their upcoming stamp feature Young Elvis or Older Elvis? More than 75 percent of the million-plus ballots voted for Young Elvis, but the fact that the question was asked at all speaks to the difficulty of pinning down just who the man was and how he should be remembered: Boundary-breaking R&B singer or Hollywood crooner? Rock pioneer or Vegas showman? An artist who legitimized blues for white audiences or appropriated it from black performers?<br> In truth, Elvis Presley was all these things and more, a prism through which just about every myth we have about race, pop culture, and the American dream can be refracted. Born in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a two-room shotgun house built by his father, Presley moved to Memphis as a teenager, recording his first sides for Sun Records a couple of months after he finished high school. He liked country, but also blues; he liked ballads, but played with an irrepressible energy that helped shape the feel of rock and roll. (His breakthrough, an uptempo cover of the blues singer Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right,” reportedly started as a goof Presley was killing time with between takes of something more subdued.)<br> In addition to becoming one of the first artists to successfully make R&B for white audiences, Presley was also one of the first performers whose fame (good and bad) came in large part from television—you can’t see hips move in the newspaper. (The <i>New York Times</i>, reporting on Presley’s <i>Milton Berle Show</i> performance in June 1956: “His one specialty is an accented movement of the body that heretofore has been primarily identified with the repertoire of the blonde bombshells of the burlesque runway.”)<br> Presley parlayed his screen appeal into a successful movie career, spending most of the '60s in Hollywood. (A handful of his most indelible songs—including “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Return to Sender”—started life on soundtracks to movies in which he also starred.) In 1968, he ventured to recapture the jolt of his early years, staging a television special (<i>Elvis</i>, a.k.a. the ’68 Comeback Special) that constituted his first live performance since 1961. The following year, he released <i>From Elvis in Memphis</i>, an album that found him suddenly, effortlessly, in step with contemporary pop and soul.<br> Though Presley toured almost relentlessly until his death from a heart attack in 1977, he became increasingly cloistered, at one point giving up recording studios in favor of using a mobile studio RCA Records sent to his Memphis mansion, Graceland. A car aficionado with no shortage of spending money, he was known to occasionally approach strangers outside Cadillac showrooms and ask which model and color they liked best before offering—out of the blue—to pick up the bill. Nearly 80,000 people were estimated to have attended the procession for his funeral, where he was buried next to his mother.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Mick Jagger</a> became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith Richards</a> and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Bill Wyman</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5e50biMeBYtqgeMAAMPi9k">Charlie Watts</a>, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene, eclipsing such contemporaries as <a href="spotify:artist:3ICflSq6ZgYAIrm2CTkfVP">the Animals</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>. Over the course of their career, the Stones never really abandoned blues, but as soon as they gained popularity in the U.K., they began experimenting musically, incorporating the British pop of contemporaries like <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1SQRv42e4PjEYfPhS0Tk9E">the Kinks</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:67ea9eGLXYMsO2eYQRui3w">the Who</a> into their sound. After a brief dalliance with psychedelia, the Stones re-emerged in the late '60s as a jaded, blues-soaked hard rock quintet. They had always flirted with the seedy side of rock & roll, but as the hippie dream began to break apart, they exposed and reveled in the new rock culture. It wasn't without difficulty, of course. Shortly after he was fired from the group, Jones was found dead in a swimming pool, while at a 1969 free concert at Altamont, a concertgoer was brutally killed during a Stones show. But the Stones never stopped going. For the next 50-plus years, they continued to record and perform, and while their albums weren't always blockbusters, they were never less than the most visible band of their era; certainly, none of their British peers continued to be as popular or productive as the Stones. No band since has proven to have such a broad fan base or such far-reaching popularity, and it is impossible to hear any of the groups that followed them without detecting some sort of influence, whether it was musical or aesthetic. Throughout their career, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Mick Jagger</a> (vocals) and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith Richards</a> (guitar, vocals) remained at the core of the Rolling Stones. The pair initially met as children at Dartford Maypole County Primary School. They drifted apart over the next ten years, eventually making each other's acquaintance again in 1960, when they met through a mutual friend, Dick Taylor, who was attending Sidcup Art School with <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>. At the time, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> was studying at the London School of Economics and playing with Taylor in the blues band Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys. Shortly afterward, <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> joined the band. Within a year, they had met Brian Jones (guitar, vocals), a Cheltenham native who had dropped out of school to play saxophone and clarinet. By the time he became a fixture on the British blues scene, Jones already had a wild life. He ran away to Scandinavia when he was 16 and had already fathered two children. He returned to Cheltenham after a few months, where he began playing with <a href="spotify:artist:2QjZJgbOdNOYLnMLhuQsg2">the Ramrods</a>. Shortly afterward, he moved to London, where he played in <a href="spotify:artist:385tW2q0gMaQTkswc9lMSe">Alexis Korner</a>'s group, Blues Inc. Jones quickly decided he wanted to form his own group and advertised for members; among those he recruited was blues pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0VqVMPh99YLcMyJSNuhMZ9">Ian Stewart</a>. As he played with his group, Jones also moonlighted under the name Elmo Jones at the Ealing Blues Club. At the pub, he became reacquainted with Blues, Inc., which now featured drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5e50biMeBYtqgeMAAMPi9k">Charlie Watts</a>, and, on occasion, cameos by <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>. Jones became friends with <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>, and they soon began playing together with Taylor and <a href="spotify:artist:0VqVMPh99YLcMyJSNuhMZ9">Stewart</a>; during this time, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> was elevated to the status of Blues, Inc.'s lead singer. With the assistance of drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5AnIOBsnbRrmFIfaovZHMd">Tony Chapman</a>, the fledgling band recorded a demo tape. After it was rejected by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>, Taylor left the band to attend the Royal College of Art; he would later form <a href="spotify:artist:5U16QlMnlSAhkQxBZpLyLO">the Pretty Things</a>. Before Taylor's departure, the group named itself the Rolling Stones, borrowing the moniker from a <a href="spotify:artist:4y6J8jwRAwO4dssiSmN91R">Muddy Waters</a> song. The Rolling Stones gave their first performance at the Marquee Club in London on July 12, 1962. At the time, the group consisted of <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>, Jones, pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0VqVMPh99YLcMyJSNuhMZ9">Ian Stewart</a>, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:15wnTd7xDnWW5YLlY4YjEc">Mick Avory</a>, and Dick Taylor, who had briefly returned to the fold. Weeks after the concert, Taylor left again and was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Bill Wyman</a>, formerly of the Cliftons. <a href="spotify:artist:15wnTd7xDnWW5YLlY4YjEc">Avory</a> also left the group -- he would later join <a href="spotify:artist:1SQRv42e4PjEYfPhS0Tk9E">the Kinks</a> -- and the Stones hired <a href="spotify:artist:5AnIOBsnbRrmFIfaovZHMd">Tony Chapman</a>, who proved to be unsatisfactory. After a few months of persuasion, the band recruited <a href="spotify:artist:5e50biMeBYtqgeMAAMPi9k">Charlie Watts</a>, who had quit Blues, Inc. to work at an advertising agency once that group's schedule became too hectic. By 1963, the band's lineup was set, and the Stones began an eight-month residency at the Crawdaddy Club, which proved to substantially increase their fan base. It also attracted the attention of <a href="spotify:artist:7osQlIEugmCDo8AXAyzlqq">Andrew Loog Oldham</a>, who became the Stones' manager, signing them from underneath the Crawdaddy Club's Giorgio Gomelsky. Although <a href="spotify:artist:7osQlIEugmCDo8AXAyzlqq">Oldham</a> didn't know much about music, he was gifted at promotion, and he latched upon the idea of fashioning the Stones as the bad-boy opposition to the clean-cut <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatles</a>. At his insistence, the heavyset yet meek <a href="spotify:artist:0VqVMPh99YLcMyJSNuhMZ9">Stewart</a> was forced out of the group, since his appearance contrasted with the rest of the bandmembers'. <a href="spotify:artist:0VqVMPh99YLcMyJSNuhMZ9">Stewart</a> didn't disappear from the Stones, though; he became one of their key roadies and played on their albums and tours until his death in 1985. With <a href="spotify:artist:7osQlIEugmCDo8AXAyzlqq">Oldham</a>'s help, the Rolling Stones signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca+Records%22">Decca Records</a>, and that June released their debut single, a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:293zczrfYafIItmnmM3coR">Chuck Berry</a>'s "Come On." The single became a minor hit, reaching number 21, and the group supported it with appearances on festivals and package tours. At the end of the year, they released a version of <a href="spotify:artist:4x1nvY2FN8jxqAFA0DA02H">Lennon</a>-McCartney's "I Wanna Be Your Man" that soared into the Top 15. Early in 1964, they released a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:3wYyutjgII8LJVVOLrGI0D">Buddy Holly</a>'s "Not Fade Away," which shot to number three. "Not Fade Away" became their first American hit, reaching number 48 that spring. By that time, the Stones were notorious in their homeland. Considerably rougher and sexier than <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>, the Stones were the subject of numerous sensationalized articles in the British press, culminating in a story about them urinating in public. All of these stories cemented the group as a dangerous, rebellious band in the minds of the public, and had the effect of beginning a manufactured rivalry between them and <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>, which helped the group rocket to popularity in the U.S. In the spring of 1964, the Stones released their eponymous debut album, which was followed by "It's All Over Now," their first U.K. number one. That summer, they toured America to riotous crowds, recording the Five by Five EP at <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chess+Records%22">Chess Records</a> in Chicago in the midst of the tour. By the time it was over, they had another number one U.K. single with <a href="spotify:artist:0Wxy5Qka8BN9crcFkiAxSR">Howlin' Wolf</a>'s "Little Red Rooster." Although the Stones had achieved massive popularity, <a href="spotify:artist:7osQlIEugmCDo8AXAyzlqq">Oldham</a> decided to push <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> into composing their own songs, since they -- and his publishing company -- would receive more money that away. In June of 1964, the group released their first original single, "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)," which became their first American Top 40 hit. Shortly afterward, a version of <a href="spotify:artist:01Z8Z9K54zewyP04ZfGLSv">Irma Thomas</a>' "Time Is on My Side" became their first U.S. Top Ten. It was followed by "The Last Time" in early 1965, a number one U.K. and Top Ten U.S. hit that began a virtually uninterrupted string of <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a>-<a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> hit singles. Still, it wasn't until the group released "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in the summer of 1965 that they were elevated to superstars. Driven by a fuzz-guitar riff designed to replicate the sound of a horn section, "Satisfaction" signaled that <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> had come into their own as songwriters, breaking away from their blues roots and developing a signature style of big, bluesy riffs and wry, sardonic lyrics. It stayed at number one for four weeks and began a string of Top Ten singles that ran for the next two years, including such classics as "Get Off My Cloud," "19th Nervous Breakdown," "As Tears Go By," and "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" By 1966, the Stones had decided to respond to <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>' increasingly complex albums with their first album of all-original material, Aftermath. Due to Brian Jones' increasingly exotic musical tastes, the record boasted a wide range of influences, from the sitar-drenched "Paint It, Black" to the Eastern drones of "I'm Going Home." These eclectic influences continued to blossom on Between the Buttons (1967), the most pop-oriented album the group ever made. Ironically, the album's release was bookended by two of the most notorious incidents in the band's history. Before the record was released, the Stones performed the suggestive "Let's Spend the Night Together," the B-side to the medieval ballad "Ruby Tuesday," on The Ed Sullivan Show, which forced <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> to alter the song's title to an incomprehensible mumble, or else face being banned. In February of 1967, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> were arrested for drug possession, and within three months, Jones was arrested on the same charge. All three were given suspended jail sentences, and the group backed away from the spotlight as the summer of love kicked into gear in 1967. <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a>, along with his then-girlfriend <a href="spotify:artist:7mlge4peaoNgzTsY6M32RB">Marianne Faithfull</a>, went with <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; they were also prominent in the international broadcast of <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>' "All You Need Is Love." Appropriately, the Stones' next single, "Dandelion"/"We Love You," was a psychedelic pop effort, and it was followed by their response to Sgt. Pepper's, Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was greeted with lukewarm reviews. The Stones' infatuation with psychedelia was brief. By early 1968, they had fired <a href="spotify:artist:7osQlIEugmCDo8AXAyzlqq">Andrew Loog Oldham</a> and hired Allen Klein as their manager. The move coincided with their return to driving rock & roll, which happened to coincide with <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>' discovery of open tunings, a move that gave the Stones their distinctively fat, powerful sound. The revitalized Stones were showcased on the malevolent single "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which climbed to number three in May 1968. Their next album, Beggar's Banquet, was finally released in the fall, after being delayed for five months due its controversial cover art of a dirty, graffiti-laden restroom. An edgy record filled with detours into straight blues and campy country, Beggar's Banquet was hailed as a masterpiece among the fledgling rock press. Although it was seen as a return to form, few realized that while it opened a new chapter of the Stones' history, it was also the end of their time with Brian Jones. Throughout the recording of Beggar's Banquet, Jones was on the sidelines due to his deepening drug addiction and his resentment of the dominance of <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>. Jones left the band on June 9, 1969, claiming to be suffering from artistic differences between himself and his bandmembers. On July 3, 1969 -- less than a month after his departure -- Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. The coroner ruled that it was "death by misadventure," yet his passing was the subject of countless rumors over the next two years. By the time of his death, the Stones had already replaced Jones with <a href="spotify:artist:4tkgLX1wdWoOu2lyeQNYAi">Mick Taylor</a>, a former guitarist for <a href="spotify:artist:2ScuQMRWThcifBRIvNDFDC">John Mayall's Bluesbreakers</a>. He wasn't featured on "Honky Tonk Women," a number one single released days after Jones' funeral, and he contributed only a handful of leads on their next album, Let It Bleed. Released in the fall of 1969, Let It Bleed comprised sessions with Jones and Taylor, yet it continued the direction of Beggar's Banquet, signaling that a new era in the Stones' career had begun, one marked by ragged music and an increasingly wasted sensibility. Following <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a>'s filming of Ned Kelly in Australia during the first part of 1969, the group launched its first American tour in three years. Throughout the tour -- the first where they were billed as the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band -- the group broke attendance records, but it was given a sour note when they staged a free concert at Altamont Speedway. On the advice of <a href="spotify:artist:4TMHGUX5WI7OOm53PqSDAT">the Grateful Dead</a>, the Stones hired Hell's Angels as security, but that plan backfired tragically. The entire show was unorganized and in shambles, and it turned tragic when the Angels killed a young Black man, <a href="spotify:artist:4bE2H74WOY1CAAzliJUBys">Meredith Hunter</a>, during the Stones' performance. In the wake of the public outcry, the Stones again retreated from the spotlight and dropped "Sympathy for the Devil," which some critics ignorantly claimed incited the violence, from their set. As the group entered a hiatus, they released the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! in the fall of 1970. It was their last album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca%2FLondon%22">Decca/London</a>, and they formed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rolling+Stones+Records%22">Rolling Stones Records</a>, which became a subsidiary of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a>. During 1970, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> starred in Nicolas Roeg's cult film Performance and married Nicaragua model Bianca Perez Morena de Macias; the couple quickly entered high society. As <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> was jet-setting, <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> was slumming, hanging out with country-rock pioneer <a href="spotify:artist:1KA3WXYMPLxomNuoE22LYd">Gram Parsons</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith</a> wound up having more musical influence on 1971's Sticky Fingers, the first album the Stones released through their new label. Following its release, the band retreated to France in tax exile, where they shared a house and recorded a double album, Exile on Main St. Upon its May 1972 release, Exile on Main St. was widely panned, but over time it came to be considered one of the group's defining moments. Following Exile, the Stones began to splinter in two, as <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> concentrated on being a celebrity and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> sank into drug addiction. The band remained popular throughout the '70s, but their critical support waned. Goats Head Soup, released in 1973, reached number one, as did 1974's It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, but neither record was particularly well-received. Taylor left the band after It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, and the group recorded their next album as they auditioned new lead guitarists, including <a href="spotify:artist:0AD4odMWVQ2wUSlgxOB5Rl">Jeff Beck</a>. They finally settled on <a href="spotify:artist:5HFtQOrPHOFptM1WF9xPuK">Ron Wood</a>, former lead guitarist for <a href="spotify:artist:3v4feUQnU3VEUqFrjmtekL">the Faces</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2y8Jo9CKhJvtfeKOsYzRdT">Rod Stewart</a>, in 1976, the same year they released Black n' Blue, which only featured <a href="spotify:artist:5HFtQOrPHOFptM1WF9xPuK">Wood</a> on a handful of cuts. During the mid- and late '70s, all the Stones pursued side projects, with both <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Wyman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5HFtQOrPHOFptM1WF9xPuK">Wood</a> releasing solo albums with regularity. <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> was arrested in Canada in 1977 with his common-law wife Anita Pallenberg for heroin possession. After his arrest, he cleaned up and was given a suspended sentence the following year. The band reconvened in 1978 to record Some Girls, an energetic response to punk, new wave, and disco. The record and its first single, the thumping disco-rocker "Miss You," both reached number one, and the album restored the group's image. However, the band squandered that goodwill with the follow-up, Emotional Rescue, a number one record that nevertheless received lukewarm reviews upon its 1980 release. Tattoo You, released the following year, fared better both critically and commercially, as the singles "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend" helped the album spend nine weeks at number one. The Stones supported Tattoo You with an extensive stadium tour captured in Hal Ashby's movie Let's Spend the Night Together and the 1982 live album Still Life. Tattoo You proved to be the last time the Stones completely dominated the charts and the stadiums. Although they continued to sell out concerts in the '80s and '90s, their records didn't sell as well as previous efforts, partially because the albums suffered due to <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a>' notorious mid-'80s feud. Starting with 1983's Undercover, the duo were conflicted about which way the band should go, with <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> wanting the Stones to follow contemporary trends and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> wanting them to stay true to their rock roots. As a result, Undercover was a mean-spirited, unfocused record that had relatively weak sales and mixed reviews. Released in 1986, Dirty Work suffered a worse fate, since <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> was preoccupied with his fledgling solo career. Once <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> decided that the Stones would not support Dirty Work with a tour, <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> decided to make his own solo record with 1988's Talk Is Cheap. Appearing a year after <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a>'s failed second solo album, Talk Is Cheap received good reviews and went gold, prompting <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Richards</a> to reunite late in 1988. The following year, the Stones released Steel Wheels, which was received with good reviews, but the record was overshadowed by its supporting tour, which grossed over 140 million dollars and broke many box office records. In 1991, the live album Flashpoint, which was culled from the Steel Wheels shows, was released. Following the release, <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Bill Wyman</a> left the band; he published a memoir, Stone Alone, within a few years of leaving. The Stones didn't immediately replace <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Wyman</a>, since they were all working on solo projects; this time, there was none of the animosity surrounding their mid-'80s projects. The group reconvened in 1994 with bassist Darryl Jones, who had previously played with <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Ty63ceoRnnJKVEYP0VQpk">Sting</a>, to record and release the Don Was-produced Voodoo Lounge. The album received the band's strongest reviews in years, and its accompanying tour was even more successful than the Steel Wheels tour. On top of being more successful than its predecessor, Voodoo Lounge also won the Stones their first Grammy for Best Rock Album. Upon the completion of the Voodoo Lounge tour, the Stones released the live "unplugged" album Stripped in the fall of 1995. Similarly, after wrapping up their tour in support of 1997's Bridges to Babylon, the group issued yet another live set, No Security, the following year. A high-profile greatest-hits tour in 2002 was launched despite the lack of a studio album to support, and its album document, Live Licks, appeared in 2004. A year later, the group issued A Bigger Bang, their third effort with producer Don Was. In 2006, Martin Scorsese filmed two of the group's performances at New York City's Beacon Theatre. The resulting Shine a Light, which included guest appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:2gCsNOpiBaMNh20jQ5prf0">Buddy Guy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4FZ3j1oH43e7cukCALsCwf">Jack White</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>, was released in theaters in 2008. The accompanying soundtrack reached the number two spot on the U.K. charts. Following Shine a Light, the Stones turned their attention toward their legacy. For <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith Richards</a>, this meant delving into writing his autobiography, Life -- the memoir was published to acclaim in the fall of 2010 and generated some controversy due to comments <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith</a> made about <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Mick</a> -- but the Stones in general spent time mining their archives, something they'd previously avoided. In 2010, they released a super-deluxe edition of Exile on Main St. that contained a bonus disc of rarities and outtakes, including a few newly finished songs like "Plundered My Soul." This was followed in 2011 by a super-deluxe edition of Some Girls that also contained unheard songs and outtakes. That same year, the Stones opened up their Rolling Stones Archive, which offered official digital releases of classic live bootlegs like 1973's The Brussels Affair. All this was a prelude to their 50th anniversary in 2012, which the group celebrated with a hardcover book, a documentary called Crossfire Hurricane, and a new compilation called GRRR! The Stones also played a handful of star-studded concerts at the end of the year and in the first half of 2013, several of which featured guest spots from the long-departed <a href="spotify:artist:4tkgLX1wdWoOu2lyeQNYAi">Mick Taylor</a>. These live shows culminated with a headlining spot at Glastonbury and two July 2013 concerts at Hyde Park; highlights from the Hyde Park shows were released that July and, later in the year, there was a home video/CD release of the concert called Sweet Summer Sun: Live in Hyde Park. Over the next few years, the Stones played concerts regularly -- a highlight was a March 2016 concert in Havana, Cuba -- and slowly worked on an album that was teased in September 2016, the same week their <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca%2FLondon%22">Decca/London</a> works were released as the box set The Rolling Stones in Mono. On December 2, 2016, the Stones released Blue & Lonesome, a collection of Chicago blues covers that was their first studio album in 11 years. The band had two major archival projects released in the last quarter of 2017: a 50th anniversary edition of Their Satanic Majesties Request and On Air, the first official release of their '60s BBC recordings. The band's 2018 No Filter tour of Europe spilled over into 2019 when they announced it would include a massive stadium tour of the U.S. The tour was delayed due to <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Jagger</a>'s need for emergency heart surgery -- he recovered successfully, and the band returned to the road -- but the release of the new compilation Honk was undisturbed. Concentrating on music made since 1971, Honk appeared in April 2019. Later that year came the arrival of the live LP/concert film Bridges to Bremen, which captured the group performing in the German city on September 2, 1998, in support of the Bridges to Babylon album. A 50th anniversary edition of Let It Bleed also appeared in 2019. In April 2020, the Stones released the single "Living in a Ghost Town." It was their first new material since 2012, taken from sessions for a studio album that the band had been working toward since 2015. Later that year, they released a deluxe reissue of Goats Head Soup. On August 5, 2021, the Rolling Stones announced that <a href="spotify:artist:5e50biMeBYtqgeMAAMPi9k">Watts</a> would be unable to appear with the band on an upcoming United States tour (already postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic) due to health concerns, and that <a href="spotify:artist:53XJ4BIv6iblv2Osdpp5ls">Steve Jordan</a> (who had worked with <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith Richards</a> on a number of projects) would be taking his place. Less than three weeks later, <a href="spotify:artist:5e50biMeBYtqgeMAAMPi9k">Charlie Watts</a> died in a London hospital on August 24, 2021; he was 80 years old. The Rolling Stones resumed their No Filter tour in September 2021, staying on the road through the end of the year. <a href="spotify:artist:53XJ4BIv6iblv2Osdpp5ls">Jordan</a> remained in the drummer's seat for the celebratory Sixty Tour in 2022. During that year, the Stones also dug into their archive for Live at the El Mocambo, presenting the first official release of a heavily bootlegged pair of small club dates from 1977. After many years of work, <a href="spotify:artist:3d2pb1dHTm8b61zAGVUVvO">Mick Jagger</a> pushed the band to complete the recordings for their first album of original material since 2005 and they finally finished work in early 2023. Largely produced by <a href="spotify:artist:4olE3I5QU0dvSR7LIpqTXc">Andrew Watt</a>, the resulting Hackney Diamonds was released in October and contained two songs from <a href="spotify:artist:5e50biMeBYtqgeMAAMPi9k">Charlie Watts</a>' last sessions with the band, as well as cameos by <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1HY2Jd0NmPuamShAr6KMms">Lady Gaga</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a>, and, in his first contribution to a Stones album since 1989, the band's original bassist, <a href="spotify:artist:5TKEKLhk0wTKM5m61BtKQC">Bill Wyman</a>. Along with reaching number three on the Billboard 200 and number one in the U.K., Hackney Diamonds took home the award for Best Rock Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards ceremony. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak fashioned himself as a throwback to the early days of rock & roll, devising a fusion between <a href="spotify:artist:43ZHCT0cAZBISjO8DG9PnE">Elvis Presley</a>'s rockabilly croon and <a href="spotify:artist:0JDkhL4rjiPNEp92jAgJnS">Roy Orbison</a>'s moody, melancholy balladeering. Unlike his roots rock peers of the 1980s, Isaak didn't care for the earthier elements of rock & roll. He offered a stylized, picturesque spin on the spare, echoey sound of pre-<a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatles</a> rock, creating an atmosphere that was equally sweet and sensuous. Certainly, "Wicked Game," the sultry single that became a career-defining hit in 1989, captured his seductive side, a trait that would re-surface on the subsequent "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing," a darkly lit rockabilly tune from 1995 that was later included in Stanley Kubrick's 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut. Those two songs crystallize the shadowy sexiness lurking within Isaak's music, but much of his body of work found him exploring the lighter side of the first wave of rock & roll with a knowing yet loving playfulness. This sense of understated showmanship helped Isaak ease into side careers as an actor and television host, plus it was central to the live shows that kept him on the road in between a steady stream of records that included such genre exercises as the 1950s covers album Beyond the Sun and the 2022 holiday set Everybody Knows It's Christmas, as well as collections of originals like First Comes the Night, a 2015 album partially produced by Dave Cobb. Isaak began performing after he graduated from college, forming the rockabilly band Silvertone. The group, which featured guitarist James Calvin Wilsey, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4xNHL3jrBgeuntwsTUM8rz">Rowland Salley</a>, and drummer Kenney Dale Johnson, would become the singer/guitarist's permanent supporting band. Isaak released his first album, Silvertone, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> in 1985. It was critically well received yet failed to sell well. Two years later, he released the self-titled Chris Isaak, which managed to scrape into the Top 200 album charts. After its release, the singer began an acting career with a bit part in Jonathan Demme's 1988 film Married to the Mob; he would later have parts in Wild at Heart, The Silence of the Lambs, and A Dirty Shame, as well as starring in his own situation comedy series for the Showtime cable network. Released in 1989, Heart Shaped World initially sold more than Chris Isaak, yet it didn't manage to break big until late 1990, when the single "Wicked Game" was featured in <a href="spotify:artist:2Gu6Q05ExIGwHTF43kqLBI">David Lynch</a>'s Wild at Heart. Soon, the single became a Top Ten hit; the album also made it into the Top Ten and sold over a million copies. Both 1993's San Francisco Days and 1995's Forever Blue mined essentially the same vein as Heart Shaped World, yet both went gold and spawned a handful of hits. In 1996, Isaak released The Baja Sessions; Speak of the Devil followed two years later. Isaak's busy touring schedule and growing visibility as an actor kept him out of the recording studio until 2002, when he released Always Got Tonight, though in 2004 he did find time to cut his first seasonal album, Chris Isaak Christmas, which featured five new Yuletide tunes along with a batch of holiday favorites. The musician once again flexed his TV muscles in 2009 with The Chris Isaak Hour, whose debut on the Biography Channel was promoted in part by Mr. Lucky, his first album of original material in seven years. A year later he released the concert album Live at the Fillmore. In 2011, Isaak paid tribute to the classic '50s rockabilly and country music produced by the legendary Sam Phillips at Memphis' <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sun+Records%22">Sun Records</a> with his album Beyond the Sun. Recorded at Sun Studios, Isaak delivered cuts originally recorded by such artists as <a href="spotify:artist:43ZHCT0cAZBISjO8DG9PnE">Elvis Presley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6kACVPfCOnqzgfEF5ryl0x">Johnny Cash</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2zyz0VJqrDXeFDIyrfVXSo">Jerry Lee Lewis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5hIClg6noTaCzMu2s5wp4f">Carl Perkins</a>, and others. In 2015, Isaak signed on as a judge on the seventh season of The X Factor Australia. Also that year, he returned with his 13th full-length album, First Comes the Night. Recorded in Nashville with longtime producer Mark Needham, the album also included production from Paul Worley (<a href="spotify:artist:25IG9fa7cbdmCIy3OnuH57">Dixie Chicks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:32WkQRZEVKSzVAAYqukAEA">Lady Antebellum</a>) and Dave Cobb (<a href="spotify:artist:3Q8wgwyVVv0z4UEh1HB0KY">Jason Isbell</a>). After a few years off, Chris Isaak appeared on the soundtrack for <a href="spotify:artist:7HhTERkBV4Ot14KphgBfSh">Baz Luhrmann</a>'s 2022 film Elvis--he duetted with <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Stevie Nicks</a> on "Cotton Candy Land"-- then released Everybody Knows It's Christmas on a revived Sun Records at the end of the year. Fittingly, this album, his second seasonal set, was an unapologetic revival of the lean, reverb-laden sound of the seminal imprint. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Gary Moore

Guitarrista y cantante británico | Blues rock, hard rock, blues, heavy metal, jazz fusión (1968–2011)

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

While most bands undergo a number of changes over the course of their careers, few of them experienced a more radical stylistic evolution than Fleetwood Mac. Initially conceived as a hard-edged British blues combo in the late '60s, the band gradually evolved into an incredibly popular and influential pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Originally, guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Peter Green</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3GrqVz7V3Hd8gvfvUcR9wk">Jeremy Spencer</a> provided the group with their gutsy psychedelic blues-rock sound, then the band moved toward pop/rock with the addition of keyboardist/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a>. By the mid-'70s, Fleetwood Mac relocated to California, where they added the duo of <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Lindsey Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Stevie Nicks</a> to their lineup; the latter pair's writing and vocals helped the band become one of the most popular groups of the late '70s. Combining melodic soft rock with the confessional introspection of singer/songwriters, 1977's Rumours become one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. The band retained their popularity through the early '80s, when <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a> all began pursuing solo careers. The group reunited for 1987's Tango in the Night, but after more lineup changes and instability, they split after 1995's Time. The band quickly reunited, though, assembling for The Dance, a 1997 live album, then stabilizing without <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> for their 2000s incarnation, a lineup that produced 2003's Say You Will. <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a> returned to the fold for a series of successful tours starting in 2014, but the group harmony was short-lived. <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> was ousted prior to an anniversary tour in 2018, his departure proof that the one constant in Fleetwood Mac through the years was change. The roots of Fleetwood Mac lie in <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">John Mayall</a>'s legendary British blues outfit, <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">the Bluesbreakers</a>. Bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">John McVie</a> was one of the charter members of <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">the Bluesbreakers</a>, joining the group in 1963. In 1966 <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Peter Green</a> replaced <a href="spotify:artist:6PAt558ZEZl0DmdXlnjMgD">Eric Clapton</a>, and a year later drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Mick Fleetwood</a> joined. Inspired by the success of <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2lxX1ivRYp26soIavdG9bX">the Yardbirds</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>, the trio decided to break away from <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a> in 1967. At their debut at the British Jazz and Blues Festival in August, Bob Brunning was playing bass in the group, since <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a> was still under contract to <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a>. He joined the band a few weeks after their debut; by that time, slide guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3GrqVz7V3Hd8gvfvUcR9wk">Jeremy Spencer</a> had joined the band. Fleetwood Mac soon signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Horizon%22">Blue Horizon</a>, releasing their eponymous debut the following year. Fleetwood Mac was an enormous hit in the U.K., spending over a year in the Top Ten. Despite its British success, the album was virtually ignored in America. During 1968, the band added guitarist Danny Kirwan. The following year, they recorded Fleetwood Mac in Chicago with a variety of bluesmen, including <a href="spotify:artist:5v8WPpMk60cqZbuZLdXjKY">Willie Dixon</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0xeI9Z0Uhs8bYGBRpqq88X">Otis Spann</a>. The set was released later that year, after the band had left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Horizon%22">Blue Horizon</a> for a one-album deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Immediate+Records%22">Immediate Records</a>; in the U.S., they signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%2FWarner+Bros.%22">Reprise/Warner Bros.</a>, and by 1970, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> began releasing the band's British records as well. Fleetwood Mac released English Rose and Then Play On during 1969, which both indicated that the band was expanding its music, moving away from its blues purist roots. That year, <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Peter Green</a>'s "Man of the World" and "Oh Well" were number two hits. Though his music was providing the backbone of the group, <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Green</a> was growing increasingly disturbed due to his large ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. After announcing that he was planning to give all of his earnings away, <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Green</a> suddenly left the band in the spring of 1970; he released two solo albums over the course of the '70s, but he rarely performed after leaving Fleetwood Mac. The band replaced him with <a href="spotify:artist:1YTLOHyyXnaj7W1g1oSS56">Christine Perfect</a>, a vocalist/pianist who had earned a small but loyal following in the U.K. by singing with <a href="spotify:artist:0XoAXg2HRKXMpm5MS1BBRW">Spencer Davis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7aUVQRiWaOqZU0JwOlGfWi">the Chicken Shack</a>. She had already performed uncredited on Then Play On. Contractual difficulties prevented her from becoming a full-fledged member of Fleetwood Mac until 1971; by that time she had married <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">John McVie</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> didn't appear on 1970's Kiln House, the first album the band recorded without <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Peter Green</a>. For that album, <a href="spotify:artist:3GrqVz7V3Hd8gvfvUcR9wk">Jeremy Spencer</a> dominated the band's musical direction, but he had also been undergoing mental problems due to heavy drug use. During the band's American tour in early 1971, <a href="spotify:artist:3GrqVz7V3Hd8gvfvUcR9wk">Spencer</a> disappeared; it was later discovered that he left the band to join the religious cult the Children of God. Fleetwood Mac had already been trying to determine the direction of their music, but <a href="spotify:artist:3GrqVz7V3Hd8gvfvUcR9wk">Spencer</a>'s departure sent the band into disarray. <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> and Danny Kirwan began to move the band toward mainstream rock on 1971's Future Games, but new guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0reZZVbAPxgX1Rqj6XbWj3">Bob Welch</a> exerted a heavy influence on 1972's Bare Trees. Kirwan was fired after Bare Trees and was replaced by guitarists Bob Weston and <a href="spotify:artist:739a9VeGbv0lMBRIkRInJT">Dave Walker</a>, who appeared on 1973's Penguin. <a href="spotify:artist:739a9VeGbv0lMBRIkRInJT">Walker</a> left after that album, and Weston departed after making its follow-up, Mystery to Me (1973). In 1974, the group's manager, Clifford Davis, formed a bogus Fleetwood Mac and had the band tour the U.S. The real Fleetwood Mac filed and won a lawsuit against the imposters who, after losing, began performing under the name <a href="spotify:artist:61oNrjLV0SUliHTOXUgCXg">Stretch</a> -- but the lawsuit kept the band off the road for most of the year. In the interim, they released Heroes Are Hard to Find. Late in 1974, Fleetwood Mac moved to California, with hopes of restarting their career. <a href="spotify:artist:0reZZVbAPxgX1Rqj6XbWj3">Welch</a> left the band shortly after the move to form <a href="spotify:artist:5OgPxDOpkLH64knclKGTlU">Paris</a>. Early in 1975, <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Fleetwood</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a> were auditioning engineers for the band's new album when they heard Buckingham-Nicks, an album recorded by the soft rock duo <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Lindsey Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Stevie Nicks</a>. The pair were asked to join the group and their addition revived the band's musical and commercial fortunes. Not only did <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> write songs, but they brought distinctive talents the band had been lacking. <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> was a skilled pop craftsman, capable of arranging a commercial song while keeping it musically adventurous. <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> had a husky voice and a sexy, hippie gypsy stage persona that gave the band a charismatic frontwoman. The new lineup of Fleetwood Mac released their eponymous debut in 1975 and it slowly became a huge hit, reaching number one in 1976 on the strength of the singles "Over My Head," "Rhiannon," and "Say You Love Me." The album would eventually sell over five million copies in the U.S. alone. While Fleetwood Mac had finally attained their long-desired commercial success, the band was fraying behind the scenes. The McVies divorced in 1976, and <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a>' romance ended shortly afterward. The internal tensions formed the basis for the songs on their next album, Rumours. Released in the spring of 1977, Rumours became a blockbuster success, topping the American and British charts and generating the Top Ten singles "Go Your Own Way," "Dreams," "Don't Stop," and "You Make Loving Fun." It would eventually sell over 17 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it the second biggest-selling album of all time. Fleetwood Mac supported the album with an exhaustive, lucrative tour and then retired to the studio to record their follow-up to Rumours. A wildly experimental double album conceived largely by <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, 1979's Tusk didn't duplicate the enormous success of Rumours, yet it did go multi-platinum and featured the Top Ten singles "Sara" and "Tusk." In 1980, they released the double album Live. Following the Tusk tour, <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Fleetwood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> all recorded solo albums. Of the solo projects, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Stevie Nicks</a>' Bella Donna (1981) was the most successful, peaking at number one and featuring the hit singles "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Leather and Lace," and "Edge of Seventeen." <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>'s Law and Order (1981) was a moderate success, spawning the Top Ten "Trouble." <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Fleetwood</a>, for his part, made a world music album called The Visitor. Fleetwood Mac reconvened in 1982 for Mirage. More conventional and accessible than Tusk, Mirage reached number one and featured the hit singles "Hold Me" and "Gypsy." After Mirage, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> all worked on solo albums. The hiatus was due to a variety of reasons. Each member had his or her own manager, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> was becoming the group's breakaway star, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> was obsessive in the studio, and each member was suffering from various substance addictions. <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> was able to maintain her popularity, with The Wild Heart (1983) and Rock a Little (1985) both reaching the Top 15. <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> also had a Top Ten hit with "Got a Hold on Me" in 1984. <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> received the strongest reviews of all, but his 1984 album Go Insane failed to generate a hit. Fleetwood Mac reunited to record a new album in 1985. <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, who had grown increasingly frustrated with the musical limitations of the band, decided to make it his last Fleetwood Mac project. When the resulting album, Tango in the Night, was finally released in 1987, it was greeted with mixed reviews but strong sales, reaching the Top Ten and generating the Top 20 hits "Little Lies," "Seven Wonders," and "Everywhere." <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> decided to leave Fleetwood Mac after completing Tango in the Night, and the group replaced him with guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:596pF0tYoKyJCgI4WLTLs4">Billy Burnette</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0yC7EvUceCEZm3ZeawauQA">Rick Vito</a>. The new lineup of the band recorded their first album, Behind the Mask, in 1990. It became the band's first album since 1975 to not go gold. Following its supporting tour, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> announced they would continue to record with the group, but not tour. <a href="spotify:artist:0yC7EvUceCEZm3ZeawauQA">Vito</a> left the band in 1991, and the group released the box set 25 Years -- The Chain the following year. The classic Fleetwood Mac lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Fleetwood</a>, the McVies, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> reunited to play President <a href="spotify:artist:4qTVFolSrwkoy428bmP7u8">Bill Clinton</a>'s inauguration in early 1993, but the concert did not lead to a full-fledged reunion. Later that year, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a> left the band and was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:49vXMn0pGqgPk6DYnOmohd">Bekka Bramlett</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2DWQX92uew7DlsgN0yD775">Dave Mason</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> left the group shortly afterward. The new lineup of Fleetwood Mac began touring in 1994, releasing Time the following year to little attention. While the new version of Fleetwood Mac wasn't commercially successful, neither were the solo careers of <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a>, prompting speculation of a full-fledged reunion in 1997. Soon these whispers proved to be true, as the classic Rumours quintet reunited for a live performance that became the 1997 album The Dance. The album performed well, debuting at number one on Billboard and generating an adult contemporary hit in the new version of "Landslide." Fleetwood Mac supported The Dance with a tour that lasted throughout the year and, early in 1998, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Not long afterward, <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> announced she was leaving the band. Her departure may have slowed the speed of Fleetwood Mac's reunion, but the remaining quartet set to work writing and recording a new album. The resulting Say You Will appeared in April of 2003; it was their first studio album in eight years and the first in 16 to feature <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Nicks</a>. Say You Will performed well -- it went gold in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, with the singles "Peacekeeper" and "Say You Will" reaching the U.S. Adult Contemporary Top 20 -- and the accompanying international tour was a success. After a few quiet years when <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> resumed his solo career and the group unsuccessfully courted <a href="spotify:artist:4TKTii6gnOnUXQHyuo9JaD">Sheryl Crow</a> as a replacement for <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a>, they reconvened for a tour in 2009. Four years later, the group celebrated the 35th anniversary of Rumours with a new deluxe box reissue accompanied by a tour. As the tour got underway in April, the band unexpectedly released a four-track Extended Play of new material; it received good notices and entered the U.S. charts at 48. During a three-night stint at London's O2 in September 2013, <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> appeared with Fleetwood Mac for the first time in 15 years. In January 2014, the band announced that <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine</a> was rejoining the group and they started recording a new album. The progress on the album was slow and steady, partially due to individual solo projects, partially due to interruptions caused by the band's ongoing world tour; they played international dates in both 2014 and 2015. As the group continued to chip away at their new record, they released a Super Deluxe reissue of Tusk in time for the holidays of 2015, which was followed the subsequent fall by a Deluxe reissue of Mirage. Further catalog reissues followed in the next few years -- Tango in the Night received a Super Deluxe treatment in 2017, while their eponymous 1975 album got an upgrade in early 2018 -- but the bigger news in Fleetwood Mac circles was <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a> recording a duet album together in 2017. Initially planned as a new Fleetwood Mac album, the 2017 set -- entitled Buckingham McVie, echoing 1973's Buckingham Nicks -- turned into a <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Lindsey</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine</a> project once <a href="spotify:artist:7crPfGd2k81ekOoSqQKWWz">Stevie Nicks</a> decided to concentrate on her solo career. Retaining <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Mick Fleetwood</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">John McVie</a> as their main rhythm section, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">McVie</a> finished the album with the assistance of producers <a href="spotify:artist:6nEsI2S68MX6T0dVdLtido">Mitchell Froom</a> and Mark Needham, releasing the record in June 2017. Early in 2018, Fleetwood Mac reunited to play a gig celebrating their award as MusiCares Person of the Year. This turned out to be the last concert <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> would play with Fleetwood Mac. In April, <a href="spotify:artist:3Dzj993UEz8Z5ovxuirzFO">Buckingham</a> was fired from the band; he would later file a lawsuit against the group regarding his dismissal. Fleetwood Mac hired <a href="spotify:artist:183DuT2WcaEO2tclTJW1tU">Neil Finn</a> and Mike Campbell to replace him and launched an international tour in September 2018, releasing a compilation album titled 50 Years: Don't Stop as a companion to the tour. The record debuted at 12 on the U.K. charts and 65 on Billboard's Top 200. The concert album Before the Beginning: Rare Live & Demo Sessions 1968-1970 arrived in November 2019 and featured previously unreleased live performances captured during <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Peter Green</a>'s time with the band. This reminder of <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Green</a>'s glory days came only months before he died in his sleep on July 25, 2020, at the age of 73. Two months after <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Green</a>'s passing, the box set Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1974 appeared; it had expanded and remastered versions of all the albums the group released during those six years. <a href="spotify:artist:6RCsx4p5smZHYz2P5HLcL2">Christine McVie</a> died on November 30, 2022, after a brief illness; she was 79 years of age. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Eagles

Eagles

With five number one singles, 14 Top 40 hits, and four number one albums, the Eagles were among the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of those albums -- Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) and Hotel California -- ranked among the ten best-selling albums ever, and the popularity of 2007's Long Road Out of Eden proved the Eagles' staying power in the new millennium. Though most of its members came from outside California, the group was closely identified with a country- and folk-tinged sound that initially found favor in Los Angeles during the late '60s, as championed by such bands as the Flying Burrito Brothers and Poco (both of which contributed members to the Eagles). But the band also drew upon traditional rock & roll styles and, in its later work, helped define the broadly popular rock sound that became known as classic rock. As a result, the Eagles achieved a perennial appeal among generations of music fans who continued to buy their records many years after they had split up and helped inspire the first of the Eagles' reunions in the mid-'90s. The band was formed by four Los Angeles-based musicians who had migrated to the West Coast from other parts of the country. Singer/bassist Randy Meisner (born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on March 8, 1946) moved to L.A. in 1964 as part of a band originally called the Soul Survivors (not to be confused with the East Coast-based Soul Survivors, who scored a Top Five hit with "Expressway to Your Heart" in 1967) and later renamed the Poor. He became a founding member of Poco in 1968, but left the band prior to the release of its debut album in order to join the Stone Canyon Band, the backup group for Rick Nelson. Meanwhile, singer/guitarist/banjoist/mandolinist Bernie Leadon (born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 19, 1947) arrived in L.A. in 1967 as a member of Hearts and Flowers, later joining Dillard & Clark and then the Flying Burrito Brothers. Singer/drummer Don Henley (born in Gilmer, Texas, on July 22, 1947) moved to L.A. in June 1970 with his band Shiloh, which made one self-titled album for Amos Records before breaking up. Finally, Glenn Frey (born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 6, 1948) performed in his hometown and served as a backup musician for Bob Seger before moving to L.A. in the summer of 1968. He formed the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle with J.D. Souther, and the two musicians signed to Amos Records, which released their self-titled album in 1969. In the spring of 1971, Frey and Henley were hired to play in Linda Ronstadt's backup band. Meisner and Leadon also played backup for Ronstadt during her summer tour, though the four only did one gig together: a July show at Disneyland. They did, however, all appear on Ronstadt's next album, Linda Ronstadt. In September 1971, Frey, Henley, Leadon, and Meisner signed with manager David Geffen, agreeing to record for his soon-to-be-launched label, Asylum Records; soon after, they adopted the name the Eagles. In February 1972, they flew to England and spent two weeks recording their debut album, Eagles, with producer Glyn Johns. It was released in June, reaching the Top 20 and going gold in a little over a year and a half on the strength of two Top Ten hits -- "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Woman" -- and one Top 20 hit, "Peaceful Easy Feeling." The Eagles toured as an opening act throughout 1972 and into early 1973, when they returned to England to record their second LP, Desperado, a concept album about outlaws. Produced by Glyn Johns and released in April 1973, it reached the Top 40 and went gold in a little less than a year and a half, spawning the Top 40 single "Tequila Sunrise" in the process. The title track, though never released as a single, became one of the band's better-known songs and was included on the Eagles' first hits collection. After touring to support Desperado's release, the Eagles again convened a recording session with Glyn Johns for their third album. Their desire to make harder rock music clashed with Johns' sense of them as a country-rock band, however, and they split from the producer after recording two tracks, "You Never Cry Like a Lover" and "The Best of My Love." After an early 1974 tour opened by singer/guitarist Joe Walsh, the band decided to hire Walsh's producer, Bill Szymczyk, who handled the rest of the sessions for On the Border. Szymczyk brought in a session guitarist, Don Felder (born in Gainesville, Florida, on September 21, 1947), an old friend of Bernie Leadon's who so impressed the rest of the band that he was recruited to join the group. On the Border was released in March 1974. It went gold and reached the Top Ten in June, the Eagles' fastest-selling album yet. The first single, "Already Gone," reached the Top 20 the same month. But the most successful song on the LP -- the one that broke them through to a much larger audience -- was "The Best of My Love," which was released as a single in November. It hit number one on the easy listening charts in February 1975 and topped the pop charts a month later. The Eagles' fourth album, One of These Nights, was an out-of-the-box smash. Released in June 1975, it went gold the same month and hit number one in July. Moreover, it featured three singles that hit the Top Five: the chart-topping title song, "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take It to the Limit." "Lyin' Eyes" won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus, and the Eagles also earned Grammy nominations for Album of the Year (One of These Nights) and Record of the Year ("Lyin' Eyes"). The group went on a headlining world tour, beginning with the U.S. and expanding into Europe. But on December 20, 1975, it was announced that Bernie Leadon had quit the band, and Joe Walsh (born in Wichita, Kansas, on November 20, 1947) was brought in as his replacement. He immediately joined the tour, which continued to the Far East in early 1976. The Eagles' extensive touring kept them out of the studio, and with no immediate plans for a new album; they agreed to release a compilation, Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), in February 1976. The album's success proved to be surprisingly meteoric. It topped the charts and became a phenomenal success, eventually selling upwards of 25,000,000 copies and dueling with Michael Jackson's Thriller for the title of the best-selling album of all time in the U.S. It took the Eagles 18 months to follow One of These Nights with their fifth album, Hotel California. Released in December 1976, the record was certified platinum in one week, hit number one in January 1977, and eventually sold over 10,000,000 copies. The singles "New Kid in Town" and "Hotel California" hit number one, and "Life in the Fast Lane" made the Top 20. Meanwhile, "Hotel California" won the 1977 Grammy for Record of the Year and was nominated for Song of the Year; the album itself was nominated for Album of the Year and for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus. The Eagles embarked on a world tour in March 1977 that began with a month in the U.S., followed by a month in Europe and the Far East, then returned to the U.S. in May for stadium dates. At the end of the tour in September, Randy Meisner left the band; he was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit (born in Sacramento, California, November 20, 1947), formerly of Poco, in which he had also replaced Meisner. The Eagles began working on a new album in March 1978 and took nearly a year and a half to complete it. The Long Run was released in September 1979. It hit number one and was certified platinum after four months, eventually earning multi-platinum certifications. "Heartache Tonight," its leadoff single, hit number one, and "I Can't Tell You Why" and "The Long Run" became Top Ten hits. "Heartache Tonight" won the 1979 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The Eagles toured the U.S. in 1980, and at a weeklong series of shows at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, they recorded Eagles Live. (Also included were some tracks recorded in 1976.) Released in November 1980, the double LP (since reissued as a single CD) reached the Top Five and went multi-platinum, with the single "Seven Bridges Road" reaching the Top 40. The Eagles were inactive after the end of their 1980 tour, but their breakup was not officially announced until May 1982. All five released solo recordings. (Walsh, of course, maintained a solo career before, during, and after the Eagles.) During the rest of the '80s, the bandmembers received several lucrative offers to reunite, but they declined. In 1990, Frey and Henley began writing together again, and they performed along with Schmit and Walsh at benefit concerts that spring. A full-scale reunion was rumored, but did not take place. Four years later, however, the Eagles did reunite. In the spring of 1994, they taped an MTV concert special and then launched a tour that ended up running through August 1996. The MTV show aired in October, followed in November by an audio version of it, the album Hell Freezes Over, which topped the charts and became a multi-million seller, spawning the Top 40 pop hit "Get Over It" and the number one adult contemporary hit "Love Will Keep Us Alive." The Eagles next appeared together in January 1998 for their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, when the five present members performed alongside past members Leadon and Meisner. On December 31, 1999, they played a millennium concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles that was recorded and included on the box set retrospective Selected Works: 1972-1999 in November 2000. All was not well within the band, however, and Felder was expelled from the lineup in February 2001. A protracted legal battle ensued as the Eagles soldiered on as a quartet, releasing The Very Best of the Eagles in 2003 and achieving minor success with the single "Hole in the World." Felder's case was settled out of court in 2007; that same year, the Eagles returned with the band's seventh studio album, Long Road Out of Eden, a double-disc album that quickly went multi-platinum. In 2013, the band made the documentary History of the Eagles, and toured behind it until mid-2015. Six months later, Glenn Frey became ill and passed away on January 18, 2016. He was 67. Just over a year after Frey's death, the Eagles were revived with Glenn's son Deacon taking his place; Vince Gill also joined on guitars and vocals. The group played the Classic West and Classic East festivals in July of 2017, then set out on the road in 2018. At the end of the year, the group's entire discography was boxed up as the Legacy set. ~ William Ruhlmann

The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles recorded together for a little over seven years. Between October 1962 and May 1970, they released thirteen albums and a number of tracks issued on standalone singles. The catalogue created in that short period has sold more than that of any other group in history and its commercial success continues - the world’s best selling album during the first decade of the 21st century was a collection of The Beatles’ chart-topping singles called 1. But the group’s significance stems not just from huge sales figures. Their music has inspired generation upon generation of musicians, songwriters and producers. As Mark Ronson put it: ‘Everything we take for granted - they absolutely invented it.’ Tom Petty was a teenager during the years The Beatles’ records appeared in quick succession: ‘They were just out in front. There was The Beatles …and then there was everyone else. And everyone else could be great, but The Beatles were leading the way and that’s just irrefutably true.’ The Beatles’ story began in Liverpool in March 1957, when <a href="spotify:artist:4x1nvY2FN8jxqAFA0DA02H">John Lennon</a> (born 9 October 1940) formed a group named The Quarry Men. His life was changed by the excitement of rock ’n’ roll music - heralded by Bill Haley and His Comets, but taken to another level when Elvis Presley stormed the charts during 1956. The next year saw the arrival in the UK of hits by Little Richard, Buddy Holly and The Crickets, the Everly Brothers and, in movie theatres, the exciting rock film The Girl Can’t Help It!, featuring Eddie Cochran singing ‘Twenty Flight Rock’. Introduced to John on 6 July 1957 at a church fete in Woolton, Liverpool, <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a> (born 18 June 1942) sang Eddie’s song word perfect. Impressed, John invited the fifteen-year old to join his group. In February 1958, Paul’s younger school pal <a href="spotify:artist:7FIoB5PHdrMZVC3q2HE5MS">George Harrison</a> (born 25 February 1943) won his place in The Quarry Men when he impressed the others with his guitar skills, especially on the current hit instrumental ‘Raunchy’ by Bill Justis. With a constant nucleus of John, Paul and George, the group underwent a series of line-up changes and names. Having gained a dependable drummer - Pete Best - in August 1960, The Beatles made their first visit to West Germany to perform in the clubs of Hamburg. Playing long sets through the night, they spent hundreds of hours onstage during five visits to the city. Back home in Liverpool, their regular stomping ground was The Cavern Club, where they played nearly 300 times. The experience gained in Hamburg and at The Cavern helped to make The Beatles the most proficient and popular group on Merseyside. At this time, a group from Liverpool had the odds stacked against them when trying to gain a foothold in a record business focused on London. In early 1962, they had acquired an ambitious and rather refined manager, record shop boss Brian Epstein. He faced regular rejection from music companies until George Martin signed the group to EMI’s Parlophone label. By fate, The Beatles had found both the ideal manager and perfect producer. The last piece of the picture slotted into place just three weeks before recording their first single on 4 September 1962. <a href="spotify:artist:6DbJi8AcN5ANdtvJcwBSw8">Ringo Starr</a> (born 7 July 1940) was asked to take over as drummer. He had been playing with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes - another Liverpool group who played long stints in the clubs of Hamburg. Ringo’s personality, sense of humour and rock solid, inventive drumming proved to be just right for The Beatles. Their first Parlophone single was released on 5 October 1962. Both sides of the disc were original compositions - a remarkable statement of intent from a group making their first steps in the music business. In fact, George Martin had urged them to record Mitch Murray’s ‘How Do You Do It?’, which he felt was a sure-fire hit. They had reluctantly agreed, but were able to persuade George to shelve the recording in favour of their own songs ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘P.S. I Love You’. Just one example of how The Beatles’ story might have been very different with a less open-minded record producer. George Martin’s faith in The Beatles, and in John and Paul as songwriters, was soon vindicated by the release of ‘Please Please Me’ in January 1963. The single reached the top of all but one of the UK charts. It was followed by the number one ‘From Me To You’ and their first album Please Please Me, which topped the chart for 30 weeks until their next LP replaced it at number one. The debut album featured eight Lennon/McCartney compositions and six cover versions of recent American Rhythm and Blues records. The selection, a result of The Beatles’ constant search for the unusual, showed their impeccable taste. Compared to the sophisticated arrangement of an R&B original like ‘Twist And Shout’, their versions were stripped down reinventions for a four-piece beat group. George Martin has confirmed that ‘it was primarily the American Rhythm and Blues sound that was their inspiration. It’s probably what the so-called Beatles sound was, because all the black music was a tremendous influence on them.’ However, that source was unknown to the majority of their British fans. The super-confident second album With The Beatles was issued in November 1963 when the single ‘She Loves You’ was at number one. Once more, it featured eight original compositions - including ‘All My Loving’ and George Harrison’s first recorded song ‘Don’t Bother Me’ - and six cover versions. A week later, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was released and also reached number one. The group had become the biggest musical phenomenon in British show business - ever. Among the key factors that led to this success were the chemistry between the four personalities in the group, their immense charm and a daring image - nobody had worn their hair that long. Their interviews were funny and articulate, they had a charismatic presence when performing, and girls screamed and swooned over them. The term ‘Beatlemania’ was coined by the press to describe the hysteria aroused by the group but, as an appearance on The Royal Variety Show demonstrated, their popularity stretched way beyond the teenage market. What The Beatles did next was extraordinary for a British act. In February 1964, they arrived in the USA to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. They performed to 73 million viewers, the biggest television audience to date, and with ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ at the top of the charts, America was suddenly held spellbound by The Beatles. As their success spread across the world, almost everything the group did from then on was unprecedented. In addition to unparalleled success on record - they held all top five positions in the American chart in the first week of April - their first movie A Hard Day’s Night was a box office hit and acclaimed for its wit, invention and unbeatable self-composed songs. Premiered in July 1964, it was perfectly timed to capitalise on their international breakthrough. They rounded off the year with Beatles For Sale and the massive hit single ‘I Feel Fine’. In 1965, they starred in the film Help!. Like their first movie, it was directed by Richard Lester and featured a brilliant batch of songs on its accompanying album. Tucked away towards the end of the LP was a performance by Paul McCartney of his composition ‘Yesterday’. Not even released as a single in the UK, it was a number one in America. It quickly became - and remains - the most covered song of all time. ‘Yesterday’ is an example of how The Beatles and their producer did not compromise; whatever best served the song was always pursued. In the case of ‘Yesterday’, the bold choice was a classical arrangement for string quartet. For the next album Rubber Soul, more studio time was made available to try out unusual instrumentation and adventurous recording techniques. The words of the songs were more mature and the vocal blend, heard on tracks such as ‘Nowhere Man’ and ‘Michelle’, is one of the album’s most distinctive qualities. The Beatles’ sound is, of course, distinguished by the character of their voices. Few groups were blessed with two powerful lead singers as versatile as John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Furthermore, George Harrison not only contributed at least one lead vocal to every album, his voice was integral to the intricate harmony vocals on many Beatles tracks. Ringo Starr usually sang a solo on albums, making such Lennon/McCartney songs as ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ unimaginable without his voice. Released on the same day as Rubber Soul, 5 December 1965, ‘We Can Work It Out’/‘Day Tripper’ was the first of The Beatles’ double A-Sides. They ended another frantically busy year with their final British tour. There was a deadline to complete their next album, because concerts had been scheduled for the summer of 1966 all over the world. But this did not affect their approach to recording at all. The Revolver sessions saw the group reach a new peak of creativity in performance, songwriting and innovative studio techniques. In addition to the songwriting mastery displayed by John and Paul, the LP contained the biggest contribution to date from George with three songs. His caustic ‘Taxman’ was given the status of the album’s opening track. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is now regarded as a fully realised masterpiece, but when released in August 1966 on Revolver and as a single coupled with ‘Yellow Submarine’, its solemn subject matter and stark arrangement were radically different. A year before, in August 1965, their appearance in front of 55,600 fans at Shea Stadium in New York had broken the record for concert attendance and box-office revenue. But live performance had become an unsatisfying charade ...and dangerous too. Who cares how lucrative it was? That had to stop. The Beatles’ final concert for a paying audience took place at Candlestick Park, San Francisco on 29 August 1966. At the end of 1966, The Beatles started work on ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. Its long evolution showed the musical imagination and technical experimentation heard on Revolver would be continued. To stop the long wait for new material, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ were released in February 1967. Although songs were always credited to Lennon and McCartney, it soon became clear that whoever sang the lead vocal was usually the main composer. The double A-sided single shows how their different stylistic approaches established a perfect counterbalance. Having set themselves a task of writing about their Liverpool childhoods, John’s song is dreamy and steeped in melancholy, while Paul’s is uplifting and brimming with brilliantly observed vignettes. Many were shocked when the unconventional promotional films for both songs were broadcast. Even their moustaches and John’s spectacles were considered to be evidence of how weird The Beatles had become. The square world worried. Everyone else listened over and over until they ‘got it’. Released on 1 June 1967, the immediate artistic and commercial success of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band vindicated the new approach taken by The Beatles. It was the album that provided the soundtrack to the so-called ‘summer of love’, but its appeal is ageless. The Beatles performed their next single ‘All You Need Is Love’ for the first time on the TV programme Our World - broadcast live to an audience of 350 million around the globe. Their place at the top of contemporary pop music was indisputable. Sadly, soon afterwards, The Beatles were shaken by the sudden death of their manager Brian Epstein in August 1967. They rallied to write and direct Magical Mystery Tour - a film shown on television in the UK at Christmas. Some of the millions who saw it, did not like it. As Paul McCartney remembered: ‘They were looking for the plum-pudding special. That’s what they were expecting, and they very much didn’t get it! We were giving it to the young kids. Why shouldn’t they see something far out?’ The music was as successful as ever. The six new songs in the film and the number one ‘Hello, Goodbye’ completed a momentous year of recording. Three more tracks from 1967 remained unreleased until they were heard in the movie Yellow Submarine premiered in 1968. The film’s imaginative animation evoked the ‘psychedelic’ spirit of Sgt. Pepper to reveal the triumph of Love over Evil. Nowadays, following a year as busy as The Beatles had in 1967, an artist would take an extended break. In fact, the group did allow themselves a little time off. The first music of 1968 came in March on their seventeenth single ‘Lady Madonna’. Soon after it was recorded, The Beatles flew to Rishikesh, India for several weeks of meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At this remote and peaceful location, they enjoyed a prolific period of songwriting. As George Harrison explained: ‘When we came back, it became apparent that there were more songs than would make up a single album.’ Recorded in five months, the double LP The Beatles was soon known as ‘The White Album’ because of its plain white cover. ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Revolution’ were the first songs to be heard from the sessions when they were released as a single on 30 August 1968 - the first Beatles record to be pressed with the Apple label. Never interested in repeating themselves, The Beatles took a different approach in the studio in 1968. Ringo Starr remembered: ‘On “The White Album” we ended up being a band again and that’s what I always love. I love being in a band.’ Discussing his songwriting, John Lennon reflected: ‘It was a complete reversal from Sgt. Pepper. My songs on the double album were fairly simple and basic.’ It is still astonishing to hear The Beatles moving through every style of popular music imaginable, including a pastiche of a Hollywood musical number (‘Honey Pie’), an intense blues (‘Yer Blues’) and heavy rock (‘Helter Skelter’). As with Sgt. Pepper, no singles were released from ‘The White Album’ in the UK and USA during the 1960s. But it is full of tracks that could have been huge hits, such as ‘Back In The USSR’, ‘Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. In January 1969, while ‘The White Album’ was still at number one, The Beatles assembled to write and rehearse brand new songs for a televised live concert. The plan changed so that, in the end, their work was documented in a movie released over a year later. Its final scene showed The Beatles performing on the roof of their Apple office building in Savile Row, London with most of the audience gathered in the street below. ‘Get Back’, a number one single from the sessions at Apple, was swiftly followed by ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’ - a chronicle of John’s marriage to Yoko Ono and their honeymoon/‘Bed-In’ for peace in Amsterdam. Recorded mostly during the summer of 1969, the last album The Beatles made together was named after the street where EMI’s studios are located. It was a fitting tribute to the place where the majority of their songs had been recorded. The Beatles’ collaboration with producer George Martin and the engineers at Abbey Road had challenged the way that popular music was created. On many occasions this team re-wrote the rule book and set a new standard to which their contemporaries had to aspire. In contrast to the January recordings at Apple, which were ‘as live’ with no overdubs, their return to Abbey Road studios with George Martin resulted in carefully crafted tracks with ambitious musical arrangements. The album’s varied highlights include ‘Come Together’ and two songs that showed George Harrison’s songwriting had hit a peak - ‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’. However, the character of Abbey Road is dominated by the sophisticated medley the group called ‘The Long One’. It brought the album, and The Beatles’ recording career, to an impressive conclusion. What a farewell. Measured in terms of its enormous popularity and musical ingenuity, Abbey Road now challenges the status of Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band as The Beatles’ greatest achievement. When the earlier set of recordings from 1969 was finally released as Let It Be in May 1970, news had already broken that the group had split up. The album’s title track and ‘The Long And Winding Road’ took the total of American number ones by The Beatles to twenty in six years - a feat unequalled by any other artist. When The Beatles began making records, no one anticipated that they would be listened to far into the future. Pop music was regarded as disposable. But the timeless appeal of The Beatles’ catalogue ensured it was built to last and highly valued. In 1979, the distinguished conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein wrote: ‘Three bars of “A Day In The Life” still sustain me, rejuvenate me, inflame my senses and sensibilities.’ There is also another dimension to the seductive power of The Beatles’ music. Filled with the spirit of the era in which it was born, it is joyous and generous. ‘All You Need Is Love’. ‘With our love - we could save the world.’ ‘The love you take is equal to the love you make.’ Tom Petty felt it: ‘We grew up with The Beatles and grew up trusting them. They could have chosen to do anything and they chose to do good, which is a great example for the rest of us.’ Kevin Howlett

Queen

Queen

Queen epitomize all the glittery excess of album-oriented rock in the 1970s, marrying the crunch of heavy metal to the pomp of prog rock then leavening the heady mixture with camp humor. It's an eccentric blend that proves to be surprisingly versatile, allowing for the mock-operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody," soaring arena rock like "Somebody to Love," thumping rockers like "Fat Bottomed Girls," the neo-rockabilly "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," and the disco excursion "Another One Bites the Dust." Queen's range proves that they were a deceptively egalitarian band: they're the only classic rock group where each member wrote at least one of the group's signature songs. Despite this division of labor, frontman <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Freddie Mercury</a> commanded attention both during his life and after his death. A powerful singer with a penchant for drama, <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a> possessed an exaggerated charisma and a devilish sense of humor, qualities that made him one of the great rock stars of his generation. Queen's reign began in earnest with 1975's A Night at the Opera and lasted through The Game in 1980, a half-decade filled with big hits that turned into enduring standards. Although the hits weren't as big in the '80s, the group retained its international popularity through <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a>'s death in 1991. After his passing, Queen's original LPs found a new audience, partially cultivated by surviving members <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">Brian May</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Roger Taylor</a> tending to archival releases and staying on the road, either with <a href="spotify:artist:2gaWNB3YrlTc0KRlHNqhol">Paul Rodgers</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:6prmLEyn4LfHlD9NnXWlf7">Adam Lambert</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a>'s replacement. Queen's legacy also was assisted by the 2018 release of Bohemian Rhapsody, a biopic of the band featuring Rami Malek in an Oscar-winning turn as <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Freddie Mercury</a>. The origins of Queen lay in the hard rock psychedelic group Smile, which guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">Brian May</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Roger Taylor</a> joined in 1967. Following the departure of Smile's lead vocalist, <a href="spotify:artist:6EtRaGeodP9stdGz92vPtB">Tim Staffell</a>, in 1971, <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">May</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Taylor</a> formed a group with <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Freddie Mercury</a>, the former lead singer for Wreckage. Within a few months, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6KrRVxAW7yvCYrO1ALqPG5">John Deacon</a> joined them, and they began rehearsing. Over the next two years, as all four members completed college, they simply rehearsed, playing just a handful of gigs. By 1973, they had begun to concentrate on their career, releasing their debut album, Queen, that year and setting out on their first tour. Produced by the band, along with <a href="spotify:artist:5UnZl2Izl86NC6yfVwG0CT">Roy Thomas Baker</a> and John Anthony, Queen was more or less a straight metal album and drew favorable comparisons to <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a>. However, it was with their sophomore album, Queen II, that the band unexpectedly broke through in Britain in early 1974. Before its release, the band played Top of the Pops, performing "Seven Seas of Rhye." Both the song and the performance were smash successes, and the single rocketed into the Top Ten, setting the stage for Queen II to reach number five. Following its release, the group embarked on its first American tour, supporting <a href="spotify:artist:6ysQi6NI88X627t2srsWz6">Mott the Hoople</a>. On the strength of their campily dramatic performances, the album climbed to number 43 in the States. Queen released their third album, Sheer Heart Attack, before the end of 1974. The music hall-meets-<a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Zeppelin</a> "Killer Queen" climbed to number two on the U.K. charts, taking the album to number two as well. Sheer Heart Attack made some inroads in America, setting the stage for the breakthrough of 1975's A Night at the Opera. Queen labored long and hard over the record; according to many reports, it was the most expensive rock record ever made at the time of its release. The first single, "Bohemian Rhapsody," became Queen's signature song, and with its bombastic, mock-operatic structure punctuated by heavy metal riffing, encapsulated their ambitious, genre-bending musical vision. To support "Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen shot one of the first conceptual music videos, and the gamble paid off as the single spent nine weeks at number one in England, breaking the record for the longest run at number one. The song and A Night at the Opera were equally successful in America, as the album climbed into the Top Ten and quickly went platinum. Following A Night at the Opera, Queen were established as superstars, yet they continued to work at a rapid rate. In the summer of 1976, they performed a free concert at London's Hyde Park that broke attendance records, and they released the hit single "Somebody to Love" a few months later. It was followed by A Day at the Races, which was essentially a scaled-down version of A Night at the Opera that reached number one in the U.K. and number five in the U.S. They continued to pile up hit singles in both Britain and America over the next five years, as each of their albums went into the Top Ten, always going gold and usually platinum in the process. Featuring the Top Five double-A-sided single "We Are the Champions"/"We Will Rock You," News of the World became a Top Ten hit in 1977. The following year, Jazz nearly replicated that success, with the single "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" becoming an international hit. Queen were at the height of their popularity as they entered the '80s, releasing The Game, their most diverse album to date, in 1980. On the strength of two number one singles -- the rockabilly-inspired "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and the disco-fied "Another One Bites the Dust" -- The Game became the group's first American number one album. Their largely instrumental soundtrack to Flash Gordon arrived later that same year. With the help of <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a>, Queen were able to successfully compete with new wave with the 1981 hit single "Under Pressure" -- their first U.K. number one since "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- which was included both on 1981's Greatest Hits and 1982's Hot Space. Hot Space proved a moderate hit and paved the way for the more rock-oriented The Works, which arrived in 1984. Also a minor hit, it was buoyed the singles "Radio Ga Ga," "Hammer to Fall," and "I Want to Break Free." Shortly afterward, Queen left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a> and signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a>. During this period, Queen began touring foreign markets, cultivating a large, dedicated fan base in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. In 1985, they returned to renewed popularity in Britain in the wake of their show-stopping performance at Live Aid. The following year, they released A Kind of Magic to strong European sales. It debuted at number one in the U.K. and remained there for over 60 weeks, spawning the singles "A Kind of Magic," "One Vision," "Friends Will Be Friends," and "Who Wants to Live Forever." The Miracle followed in 1989 and proved similarly successful, debuting at number one in the U.K. and cracking the Top 30 of the Billboard 200. The group's 14th studio album, 1991's Innuendo, was greeted even more favorably, going gold and peaking at number 30 in the U.S. It was a far bigger success in Europe, entering the U.K. charts at number one. However, by 1991, Queen had drastically scaled back their activity, causing rumors to circulate about <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Freddie Mercury</a>'s health. On November 23, the singer issued a statement confirming that he had AIDS. <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a> died the next day from bronchial pneumonia resulting from his illness. The following spring, the remaining members of Queen held a memorial concert at Wembley Stadium that was broadcast to an international audience of more than one billion. Featuring such guest artists as <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5MspMQqdVbdwP6ax3GXqum">Annie Lennox</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6H1RjVyNruCmrBEWRbD0VZ">Def Leppard</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3qm84nBOXUEQ2vnTfUTTFC">Guns N' Roses</a>, the concert raised millions for the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was established for AIDS awareness. The concert coincided with a revival of interest in "Bohemian Rhapsody," which climbed to number two in the U.S. and number one in the U.K. in the wake of its appearance in the Mike Myers comedy Wayne's World. Following <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a>'s death, the remaining members of Queen were fairly quiet. <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">Brian May</a> released his second solo album, Back to the Light, in 1993, ten years after the release of his first record. <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Roger Taylor</a> cut a few albums with the Cross, which he had been playing with since 1987, while <a href="spotify:artist:6KrRVxAW7yvCYrO1ALqPG5">Deacon</a> essentially retired. The three reunited in 1994 to record backing tapes for vocal tracks <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a> recorded on his deathbed. The resulting album, Made in Heaven, was released in 1995 to strong sales, particularly in Europe. Crown Jewels, a box set repackaging their first eight LPs, followed in 1998. Archival live recordings, DVDs, and compilations continued to appear into the new millennium. The Queen name was revived in 2005, but this time with "+ <a href="spotify:artist:2gaWNB3YrlTc0KRlHNqhol">Paul Rodgers</a>" appended to it. <a href="spotify:artist:2gaWNB3YrlTc0KRlHNqhol">Rodgers</a>, the former lead singer of <a href="spotify:artist:2e53aHBQdCMKWqHDuyJsjC">Free</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5AEG63ajney2BoDXi0Vb84">Bad Company</a>, joined <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">Brian May</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Roger Taylor</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:6KrRVxAW7yvCYrO1ALqPG5">John Deacon</a> remained retired) for several live shows, one of which was documented on 2005's Return of the Champions, a double-disc release issued by the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood%22">Hollywood</a> label. International touring continued, as did a new studio album featuring <a href="spotify:artist:2gaWNB3YrlTc0KRlHNqhol">Rodgers</a>' vocals. Released under the "Queen + <a href="spotify:artist:2gaWNB3YrlTc0KRlHNqhol">Paul Rodgers</a>" tag, The Cosmos Rocks appeared in September 2008, followed by an American release one month later. Reception was decidedly mixed. <a href="spotify:artist:2gaWNB3YrlTc0KRlHNqhol">Rodgers</a> departed Queen in 2009 and in his wake came a new compilation called Absolute Greatest. TV appearances followed over the next two years, including a spot on the 2009 American Idol finale where they performed with <a href="spotify:artist:6prmLEyn4LfHlD9NnXWlf7">Adam Lambert</a>, and in 2010 Queen wound up leaving their home of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island%22">Island</a>, which brought all of the group's recordings to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Universal+Records%22">Universal Records</a>. A new round of reissues followed in 2011, along with a performance with <a href="spotify:artist:6prmLEyn4LfHlD9NnXWlf7">Lambert</a> at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and the vocalist soon became a fixture with the band, as Queen performed several big concerts and television performances in 2012 and 2013, followed by a full tour in 2014. Also that year, Queen released another compilation, Queen Forever, which was anchored by reworked versions of three old songs, including a solo number by <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a> where he duetted with <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>. The archival live album, A Night at the Odeon, featuring the band's 1975 Christmas Eve performance at London's Hammersmith Odeon, appeared in 2015. Over the next two years, the band stayed active, appearing live with <a href="spotify:artist:6prmLEyn4LfHlD9NnXWlf7">Lambert</a>. In 2018, Queen was the subject of the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which starred Rami Malek as <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Freddie Mercury</a>. The band contributed to the soundtrack, which featured classic tracks as well as live recordings and several songs reworked for the film. Bohemian Rhapsody became an international hit and took home four Academy Awards, including Malek's award for Best Actor. A concert collection featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6prmLEyn4LfHlD9NnXWlf7">Lambert</a>, Live Around the World, arrived in October 2020 but the next major Queen project was an elaborate Collector's Edition reissue of The Miracle. The 1989 album was expanded into a five-CD set containing additional Blu-Rays, DVDs and LPs, all featuring previously unheard material, such as the <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Mercury</a>-sung "Face It Alone," which was released as a single prior to the box's October 2022 release. The band continued to tour semi-regularly with <a href="spotify:artist:6prmLEyn4LfHlD9NnXWlf7">Lambert</a> as vocalist, hitting North America in 2023 and Japan in early 2024.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Runaways

The Runaways

Often dismissed during their existence as a crass marketing gimmick, the Runaways have grown in stature over the years as the first all-female band to make an impression playing loud, straight-up, guitar-driven rock & roll. Since all of the members were teenagers (some were still learning to play when they debuted), the band's music was frequently raw and amateurish, but it neatly combined heavy metal and junkshop glam with the newly emerging sound of punk rock. Promoter and manager <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Kim Fowley</a>'s insistence on a sleazy jailbait image for the group made it easy for the press to dismiss them as nothing but a tasteless adolescent fantasy. But in the end, the Runaways' sound and attitude paved the way for female artists to crank up the volume on their guitars and rock as hard as the boys with the rebel-girl manifesto "Cherry Bomb" and the albums The Runaways and Queens of Noise. The genesis of the Runaways can be traced to a 1975 <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a> party, where <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a> met teenage lyricist Kari Krome. <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a> was impressed with Krome's streetwise perspective and set about putting together a female band. Krome's friend, guitarist Joan Jett (born Joan Larkin), had been forming a band of her own with drummer Sandy West (born Sandy Pesavento), and <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a> quickly had a trio on his hands. However, it soon became apparent that Krome was not much of a singer, and she was replaced by vocalist Michael "Micki" Steele (born Sue Thomas), who also began learning the bass. As a trio, this lineup recorded a demo titled Born to Be Bad in late 1975; shortly thereafter, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Lita Ford</a> successfully auditioned through a trade-paper ad, and <a href="spotify:artist:2JDUkLsElw2Khm1BVvZ6tf">Steele</a> left the group (she would later join <a href="spotify:artist:51l0uqRxGaczYr4271pVIC">the Bangles</a>). <a href="spotify:artist:1RJ1RgHAo7OI5mnbF1tZ9p">Cherie Currie</a> became the new lead vocalist, and after an extremely brief stint with a bass player known only as <a href="spotify:artist:775Y5PMPCBrv5LcG4XFK1B">Peggy</a> (which lasted just a few weeks), the band settled on Jackie Fox (born Jacqueline Fuchs), who switched to bass from guitar in order to join the band. Thus constituted as an entirely teenaged quintet, it didn't take long for the Runaways to score a record deal; Currie's stage wardrobe (lingerie) and <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a>'s well-established contacts made sure of that. After signing with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mercury%22">Mercury</a> in February 1976, the band began recording their self-titled debut album, which was released just a few months later. However, it was not greeted well. <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a> was preceded by his reputation for overhyping gimmicky acts, and the sheer number of roles he played in guiding the Runaways' career made him appear a manipulative, Svengali-like figure. Moreover, regardless of whether or not the Runaways were simply a cheap exploitation act (an endlessly debatable question), the entire concept of the band -- teenage girls playing their own instruments and singing frankly and enthusiastically about sex, booze, and life on the streets -- was simply too discomforting for much of America. <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a>'s extensive involvement (some called it near-total control) made it easy for journalists and radio programmers to dismiss the group out of hand as a male-concocted sham; it was also a convenient way to ignore the myriad cultural buttons the Runaways were pushing. Despite a wave of publicity on <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a>'s part, The Runaways just barely scraped the bottom of the charts in the early fall of 1976, around the same time the band played their first gig at the legendary New York punk club CBGB's. The second Runaways album, Queens of Noise, was released in early 1977 and fared little better on the charts than its predecessor, thanks to radio's continued reluctance to program the group's music. However, when the Runaways mounted a tour of Japan in June of that year, they were greeted with sold-out arena gigs and rabidly enthusiastic audiences who didn't consider them a joke ("Cherry Bomb" had, in fact, topped the Japanese charts). A concert record, Live in Japan, was culled from the tour, but wasn't released in the U.S. Despite this taste of success, relationships between some of the group members had begun to fray, thanks partly to substance abuse problems and partly to unconcerned negligence on the management's part. Upon their return to Los Angeles in July 1977, Jackie Fox departed the group; a story circulated that she had attempted suicide on the Japanese tour, though it was later discredited. Before the year was out, Currie too had left, spurred in part by consistent disagreements with <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a>. Jett took over as lead vocalist, and new bassist Vicki Blue was hired for the group's third album. Waitin' for the Night was released at the end of the year, and failed to even hit the U.S. charts. By this point, <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Fowley</a> had lost interest in the band, and quit as manager early the next year. Jett's unofficial leadership role within the group became more serious, but unfortunately, musical differences were beginning to arise (Jett's punk and glam rock influences clashed with West and <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Ford</a>'s love of straight-up hard rock and heavy metal). One more album, And Now...The Runaways, appeared toward the end of 1978, but it was released only in the group's core markets of Europe and Japan (it later appeared in America with a different running order under the title Little Lost Girls). <a href="spotify:artist:3VmoM9hUoCr5rQtbrVcZ8X">Blue</a> quit the band after their New Year's gig and was replaced by Laurie McAllister, but to no avail; Jett left the group in April 1979, and the Runaways officially disbanded not long after. Currie released a solo album in 1978 titled Beauty's Only Skin Deep, and then teamed up with her twin sister <a href="spotify:artist:61UT1Zj9dFgPAjZfwnsqsb">Marie</a> for 1980's Messin' with the Boys. Jackie Fox went to law school and became an attorney. Meanwhile, West and <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Ford</a> formed a short-lived outfit of their own, after which <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Ford</a> went solo and scored several hits as a pop-metal artist during the '80s. An even better indicator that there was more to the Runaways' music than met the eye was the success of Joan Jett's solo career. Jett formed her own band and record label, landed an enormous number one smash with 1982's "I Love Rock n' Roll," and continued to produce albums of tough hard rock into the 21st century. The heavily feminist riot grrrl punk movement claimed Jett as a major inspiration, prompting a re-examination of the Runaways' output divorced from <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Kim Fowley</a>'s marketing tactics. Rumors of a full-band reunion surfaced periodically but never resulted in an actual gig, although the release of a summertime biopic in 2010 -- one that starred Kristen Stewart as Jett and Dakota Fanning as Currie -- helped rejuvenate interest in the band. In 2023, the British label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cherry+Red%22">Cherry Red</a> issued Neon Angels on the Road to Ruin 1976-1978, a five-disc box set that combined all four Runaways studio albums and the Live in Japan set, along with an extensively illustrated booklet. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses

Guns N' Roses are the bridge separating 1980s and 1990s hard rock, the band responsible for ushering in an era of grim, gritty rock & roll. Where such peers as <a href="spotify:artist:0cc6vw3VN8YlIcvr1v7tBL">Mötley Crüe</a> reveled in the decadence of Sunset Strip sleaze, Guns N' Roses focused on the grimy underbelly of the urban jungle, with guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6EZFa5zhajrKobEc3uePtM">Izzy Stradlin</a> cranking out mean riffs that matched the dark fantasies of <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Axl Rose</a>, the vocalist who led GNR with a serpentine charm. <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> countered his nasty tendencies with a romantic side, one that flourished on "Sweet Child O' Mine," the soaring ballad that went to number one in 1988, turning the band into superstars in the process. Over the next few years, GNR's 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, sold in monstrous numbers, with "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" both reaching Billboard's Top Ten and "Patience," from the 1989 EP GNR Lies, also reaching that exalted position. During this peak, Guns N' Roses were lightning rods for controversy, so they avoided trouble by whiling away in the studio crafting their sequel to Appetite for Destruction, the sprawling twin albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. Released simultaneously in September 1991, the Illusions still were rooted in hard rock, but <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> also pursued majestic, melodramatic balladry, a trait that reached its apotheosis in "November Rain," a ballad that became their last Top Ten hit in 1992. By that point, Guns N' Roses were no longer the paragons of grubby hard rock, not after <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> ushered in the grunge revolution of the early '90s. The rise of alternative rock coincided with the erosion of the original GNR lineup, a slow attrition that left <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Axl Rose</a> as the lone remaining founding member by the end of the '90s. He spent much of the 2000s working on his magnum opus Chinese Democracy, which he delivered in 2008, by which point the group were so out of the mainstream that they weren't even considered retro-hip. The situation would eventually change. By 2015, <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3KEe5d2p5jKihMMvuXVhr1">Duff McKagan</a> rejoined Guns N Roses, providing the band with a core of original members that would help this be a stable lineup into the 2020s, when the group showed signs of returning to active recording status via the 2022 EP Hard Skool. Guns N' Roses released their first EP in 1986, which led to a contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen%22">Geffen</a>; the following year, the band released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction. They started to build a following with their numerous live shows, but the album didn't start selling until almost a year later, when MTV began playing "Sweet Child O' Mine." Soon, both the album and single shot to number one, and Guns N' Roses became one of the biggest bands in the world. Their debut single, "Welcome to the Jungle," was re-released and shot into the Top Ten, and "Paradise City" followed in its footsteps. By the end of 1988, they released G N' R Lies, which paired four new, acoustic-based songs (including the Top Five hit "Patience") with their first EP. G N' R Lies' inflammatory closer, "One in a Million," sparked intense controversy, as <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> slipped into misogyny, bigotry, and pure violence; essentially, he somehow managed to distill every form of prejudice and hatred into one five-minute tune. Guns N' Roses began work on the long-awaited follow-up to Appetite for Destruction at the end of 1990. In October of that year, the band fired <a href="spotify:artist:1bqTpELuDurfcMOGKvJXzl">Adler</a>, claiming that his drug dependency caused him to play poorly; he was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:1icjlI6iYtR1JjXTJLf4gG">Matt Sorum</a> from <a href="spotify:artist:49DW3KvkyjHO35mK1JnSyS">the Cult</a>. During recording, the band added Dizzy Reed on keyboards. By the time the sessions were finished, the new album had become two new albums. After being delayed for nearly a year, the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were released in September 1991. Messy but fascinating, the records showcased a more ambitious band; while there were still a fair number of full-throttle guitar rockers, there were stabs at <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>-style balladry, acoustic blues, horn sections, female backup singers, ten-minute art rock epics with several different sections, and a good number of introspective, soul-searching lyrics. In short, Guns N' Roses were now making art; amazingly, they were successful at it. The albums sold very well initially, but while they had seemed destined to set the pace for the decade to come, that turned out not to be the case at all. <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>'s Nevermind hit number one in early 1992, suddenly making Guns N' Roses -- with all of their pretensions, impressionistic videos, models, and rock star excesses -- seem very uncool. <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> handled the change by becoming a dictator, or at least a petty tyrant; his in-concert temper tantrums became legendary, even going so far as to incite a riot in Montreal. <a href="spotify:artist:6EZFa5zhajrKobEc3uePtM">Stradlin</a> left by the end of 1991, and with his departure the band lost their best songwriter; he was replaced by ex-<a href="spotify:artist:2kKd8kwqemHlbIWZ3eTgf5">Kills for Thrills</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:6Ya7kAthUWvVuSQBX0oIMx">Gilby Clarke</a>. GNR didn't fully grasp the shift in hard rock until 1993, when they released an album of punk covers, The Spaghetti Incident?; it received some good reviews, but the band failed to capture the reckless spirit of not only the original versions but their own Appetite for Destruction. By the middle of 1994, there were rumors flying that GNR were about to break up, since <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> wanted to pursue a new, more industrial direction and <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a> wanted to stick with their blues-inflected hard rock. The band remained in limbo for several more years, and <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a> resurfaced in 1995 with the side project <a href="spotify:artist:4Ros83hWMCi68biw25Xyxg">Slash's Snakepit</a> and an LP, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere. <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> remained out of the spotlight, becoming a virtual recluse and doing nothing but tinkering in the studio; he also recruited various musicians -- including <a href="spotify:artist:3JTMBiL0Bmrxv41WJ8V8cu">Dave Navarro</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0o1eC2L6gOIyKwkAtxVAWH">Tommy Stinson</a>, and ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a> guitarist Robin Finck -- for informal jam sessions. Remaining members were infuriated by <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a>'s inclusion of childhood friend Paul Huge in the new sessions when both <a href="spotify:artist:6EZFa5zhajrKobEc3uePtM">Stradlin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6Ya7kAthUWvVuSQBX0oIMx">Clarke</a> were excluded from rejoining the band. And a remake of <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>' "Sympathy for the Devil" was essentially the straw that broke the camel's back, as <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> cut out some of the other members' contributions and pasted Huge over the song without consulting anyone else. By 1996, <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a> was officially out of Guns N' Roses, leaving <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> the lone remaining survivor from the group's heyday; rumors continued to swirl, and still no new material was forthcoming, though <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> did re-record Appetite for Destruction with a new lineup for rehearsal purposes. The first new original GNR song in eight years, the industrial metal track "Oh My God" finally appeared on the soundtrack to the 1999 Arnold Schwarzenegger film End of Days. Soon after, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen%22">Geffen</a> issued the two-disc Live Era: '87-'93. The year 2000 brought the addition of guitarists Robin Finck (of <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a>) and <a href="spotify:artist:0fDF0jjmdouCIeWhNnblwV">Buckethead</a>, and 2001 was greeted with Guns N' Roses' first live dates in nearly seven years, as the band (which consisted of <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> plus guitarists Finck and <a href="spotify:artist:0fDF0jjmdouCIeWhNnblwV">Buckethead</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:0o1eC2L6gOIyKwkAtxVAWH">Stinson</a>, former <a href="spotify:artist:64mPnRMMeudAet0E62ypkx">Primus</a> drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia, childhood friend and guitarist Paul Huge, and longtime GNR keyboardist Dizzy Reed) played a show on New Year's Eve 2000 in Las Vegas; they also performed at the mammoth Rock in Rio festival the following month. On New Year's Eve 2001, the band played almost the exact same set as the year before. An appearance at MTV's 2002 Video Music Awards helped garner interest in the new lineup, but a rusty performance from <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> and an interview where he said his new album wasn't coming out anytime soon didn't do much to further their cause. That summer, GNR started on their first tour in almost eight years, and they managed to fulfill all of their commitments in Europe and Asia. Sadly, they caused a violent and destructive riot in Vancouver when <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> failed to show up for the first date of their North American tour. While he was up to his old shenanigans with the retooled lineup, former <a href="spotify:artist:2UazAtjfzqBF0Nho2awK4z">Stone Temple Pilots</a> vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0RMOWaq3zw0fdgvaGRMcdA">Scott Weiland</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1icjlI6iYtR1JjXTJLf4gG">Sorum</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3KEe5d2p5jKihMMvuXVhr1">McKagan</a> formed the successful <a href="spotify:artist:7CHilrn81OdYjkh4uSVnYM">Velvet Revolver</a> in spring 2002. And so years passed and still no new GNR album, to the point where it became one joke too many. The album was long billed as Chinese Democracy, and occasionally session recordings would leak and make their way onto Internet file-sharing networks. A fascinating article written by Jeff Leeds for The New York Times, published in March 2005, revealed how tangled and costly the making of the album had become. According to the article, titled "The Most Expensive Album Never Released," <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> began work on the album in 1994 and racked up production costs of at least 13 million dollars. Producers involved with the album at one time or another included <a href="spotify:artist:71qdlkRTIt3NCSzshqqL4W">Mike Clink</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1zf3mY5ZJ69hlt5W24EvYq">Youth</a>, Sean Beavan, and even <a href="spotify:artist:5UnZl2Izl86NC6yfVwG0CT">Roy Thomas Baker</a>. (Curiously, <a href="spotify:artist:3OsRAKCvk37zwYcnzRf5XF">Moby</a> claimed to have been offered the job as well.) <a href="spotify:artist:7yAPsqNhqqsTGsuOSZJg0i">Marco Beltrami</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3SwPvWceyvNGebkPe2yPKD">Paul Buckmaster</a> were allegedly brought in for orchestral arrangements, and there was a revolving door of guitarists; <a href="spotify:artist:0fDF0jjmdouCIeWhNnblwV">Buckethead</a> left the band in 2004, and <a href="spotify:artist:1pfObbpsH1DmojbIUv2qfs">Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal</a> eventually took his place. In 2006, the record seemed closer to release, as <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> began surfacing in public and even took his band on the road for some shows. The music industry's biggest boondoggle finally bore fruit in 2008, when <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Axl</a> unveiled an album that was well over a decade in the making. While Chinese Democracy received many rave reviews, and the critical response was positive overall, the record underperformed (its almost impossible) expectations, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 when it came out in November. A worldwide tour followed. Guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0eJ47F21cSoOL7T8yieuHh">DJ Ashba</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:3886aFez2HDLkio5tUzmP6">Sixx:A.M.</a> joined Guns N' Roses in 2009, and the band continued working on new material and playing shows, with some of the group's former members occasionally dropping in for guest appearances. In 2012, GNR's classic lineup was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3KEe5d2p5jKihMMvuXVhr1">McKagan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6Ya7kAthUWvVuSQBX0oIMx">Clarke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1bqTpELuDurfcMOGKvJXzl">Adler</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1icjlI6iYtR1JjXTJLf4gG">Sorum</a> reunited and performed a few Appetite-era songs with vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:2YZOQlBE1v44RxPEAVSdVR">Myles Kennedy</a> replacing <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a>, who had declined to participate. <a href="spotify:artist:1KGFAcP7ovMYuoQuloDhOj">Bumblefoot</a> left the group in 2014, and in July 2015, <a href="spotify:artist:0eJ47F21cSoOL7T8yieuHh">Ashba</a> announced that he had departed from the band as well. In 2016, GNR embarked on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour, which featured <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> alongside a reunited lineup with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4Cqia9vrAbm7ANXbJGXsTE">Slash</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3KEe5d2p5jKihMMvuXVhr1">Duff McKagan</a>, and several longtime touring members. The tour, whose title was a reference to a quote <a href="spotify:artist:6lig3yUbu7r6VhnB8YGSlF">Rose</a> gave in 2012, also found original drummer <a href="spotify:artist:1bqTpELuDurfcMOGKvJXzl">Steven Adler</a> joining the band for several stops. A remastered version of Appetite for Destruction arrived in 2018 and included a previously unreleased single, "Shadow of Your Love," recorded by the original lineup. The group continued to tour throughout 2020 and 2021, debuting several songs, including "Absurd" and "Hard Skool," the latter of which worked as the title track to the 2022 EP Hard Skool. Another GNR single, "Perhaps," appeared a year later in August 2023. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Voice Coils

Voice Coils

Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are a touchstone for all that is fearless and adventurous in rock, evolving from self-loathing anthems to moody prog rock suites to weathered, if shimmering ballads. Inheritors of a throne previously occupied by <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9">Pink Floyd</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2x9SpqnPi8rlE9pjHBwmSC">Talking Heads</a> (from whom they took their name), the British band spliced <a href="spotify:artist:0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9">Floyd</a>'s spaciness with <a href="spotify:artist:51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ">U2</a>'s messianic arena rock heft and bridged the gap with guitar skronk borrowed from the '80s American underground. The jagged interjections on "Creep," the band's Top Ten U.K., Top 40 U.S. breakthrough from their debut album Pablo Honey (1993), recalled <a href="spotify:artist:6zvul52xwTWzilBZl6BUbT">Pixies</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, but in the throes of the alternative rock explosion, Radiohead were the odd band out, seen as dour art-rock students at home and as one-hit wonders in the States. During the peak of Brit-pop, Radiohead released The Bends (1995), a leap forward that gained them some traction, but it was OK Computer (1997), a bold set fueled by film music, Krautrock, and electronica, that broke down doors for the band upon its entry at the top of the U.K. and U.S. charts. Soon, whenever rock bands dabbled in electronics, it was derived not from tightly sequenced rhythms, but rather, from glassy textures and introspection, a sensibility pioneered by the quintet. Radiohead doubled down on this aesthetic with Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), favoring minimal arrangements and elements of avant-garde jazz over concise hooks. From that point on, Radiohead have occasionally worked with conventional song structures but have been drawn toward unusual paths heard on Hail to the Thief (2003) and In Rainbows (a surprise, pay-what-you-want 2007 release), followed the next decade by The King of Limbs (2011) and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016). Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, Radiohead have focused primarily on catalog releases, side projects, and solo pursuits during the 2020s. Every member of Radiohead was a pupil at Oxfordshire's Abingdon School. <a href="spotify:artist:3E7aH1Yv84NoaP9JWcrMpE">Ed O'Brien</a> (guitar) and <a href="spotify:artist:2A59wav3PGiJij2rK7HQYH">Phil Selway</a> (drums) were the eldest, followed by a year by <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Thom Yorke</a> (vocals, guitar, piano) and <a href="spotify:artist:6bdotkIeFswBydfQqzHnKS">Colin Greenwood</a> (bass). These four musicians began playing in 1985, dubbing themselves On a Friday, and before long they added <a href="spotify:artist:6bdotkIeFswBydfQqzHnKS">Colin</a>'s younger brother <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Jonny</a>, who'd previously played in Illiterate Hands with <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a>'s brother <a href="spotify:artist:6CbjCavKWLrR6J3FzUwwJI">Andy</a> and Nigel Powell. <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Jonny</a> started on keyboards but moved to guitar, yet this incarnation proved short-lived. By 1987, everyone but <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Jonny</a> left for university, where many members pursued music, but it wasn't until 1991 that the quintet regrouped and started gigging regularly in Oxford. Eventually, they came to the attention of Chris Hufford -- then best-known as the producer of shoegaze stars <a href="spotify:artist:72X6FHxaShda0XeQw3vbeF">Slowdive</a> -- who offered the group the chance to record a demo along with his partner Bryce Edge; the two soon became the band's managers. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> bit at the group's demo, signing them in 1991 and suggesting they change their name. On a Friday became Radiohead and they recorded their debut EP, Drill, with Hufford and Edge, releasing the record in May 1992. Next, the group entered the studio with producers Paul Kolderie and <a href="spotify:artist:1pYe8ZSmmg4LJDdLDlVh9b">Sean Slade</a> to record their full-length debut. The first fruit from these sessions was "Creep," a single released in the U.K. in September of 1992. "Creep" didn't go anywhere at first. The British music weeklies slagged it, radio didn't play it, and it limped to number 78 on the charts. Pablo Honey, the band's full-length debut, appeared in February 1993, supported by the single "Anyone Can Play Guitar," but neither release gained much traction in their native U.K. and that May's non-LP single, "Pop Is Dead," didn't help matters much, either. By that point, however, "Creep" started to gain attention in other territories. First, the song became a hit in Israel, but the bigger waves came from the United States, which was in the throes of the alternative rock revolution. Influential San Francisco radio station KITS added "Creep" to their playlist and it spread along the west coast and onto MTV as it became a genuine hit, nearly topping Billboard's Modern Rock chart and reaching 34 on the Hot 100, a big achievement for a British guitar band. A re-released "Creep" turned into a British Top Ten hit, peaking at number seven in the autumn of 1993. The band who'd had no success suddenly had more than it could handle. Radiohead kept touring Pablo Honey into 1994, but no subsequent hits were forthcoming, raising the specter of the band as a possible one-hit wonder -- a criticism that weighed heavily on the group, who were anxious to record their new songs. They received the opportunity early in 1994, entering the studio to work with producer John Leckie -- then best-known for his work with <a href="spotify:artist:1lYT0A0LV5DUfxr6doRP3d">the Stone Roses</a> -- with My Iron Lung, an EP released in late 1994, being the first music released from the sessions. Muscular and ambitious, the EP provided a good indication of what would come on 1995's The Bends. Released in March 1995, The Bends not only found Radiohead growing musically -- it was dense and expansive, without skimping on songs -- but also in reputation, as critics in the U.K. embraced the band with the audience eventually following: none of the first three singles ("High and Dry," "Fake Plastic Trees," "Just") rose above 17 on the U.K. charts but the final single, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," wound up reaching five in early 1996. Radiohead's rise may have been assisted by the mania cultivated by Brit-pop, a term that didn't quite suit the band -- they were far artier and rock-oriented -- but nevertheless stoked interest in indie guitar bands, which the quintet certainly was. Over in the U.S., The Bends stalled out at 88 on the Billboard charts but the record gained a cult following among listeners and the band never stopped touring, taking North American opening slots for <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a> in 1995 and <a href="spotify:artist:6ogn9necmbUdCppmNnGOdi">Alanis Morissette</a> in 1996. During 1995 and 1996, the group recorded new material with <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Nigel Godrich</a> -- an engineer on The Bends sessions who was now the band's producer -- with songs slowly creeping out during the course of the year. "Lucky" showed up on War Child's 1995 charity LP The Help Album, "Talk Show Host" appeared on a B-side, and "Exit Music (For a Film)" showed up on the soundtrack to <a href="spotify:artist:7HhTERkBV4Ot14KphgBfSh">Baz Luhrmann</a>'s Romeo & Juliet. The latter showed up on OK Computer, the June 1997 album that proved pivotal in Radiohead's career. "Paranoid Android," a twitchy suite released as a single in May of that year, suggested the ambition of OK Computer -- and by reaching number three, it was the band's biggest hit to date in the U.K., placing them on the cusp of a breakthrough. A breakthrough is precisely what OK Computer turned out to be, a record that proved pivotal not just for Radiohead but for the direction of '90s rock. Greeted with enthusiastic reviews and corresponding strong sales, OK Computer closed the doors on the hedonism of Brit-pop and the dour after-effects of grunge while opening a new path to sober, adventurous art-rock where electronics co-existed with guitars. Over the next few years, the band's influence would become readily apparent, but the album made a sizable impact upon its release, too, debuting at number one in the U.K. and earning a Grammy for Best Alternative Album. Radiohead supported it with an international tour, documented in Meeting People Is Easy. By the time Meeting People Is Easy showed up in theaters, the group began work on their fourth album, once again reuniting with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a>. The resulting Kid A doubled down on the experimentalism of OK Computer, embracing electronics and threading in jazz. Appearing in October in 2000, Kid A was one of the first major albums to be pirated through file-sharing services, but this bootlegging had no apparent effect on the sales of the record: it debuted at number one in the U.K. and the U.S., becoming their first American chart-topper. Once again, the album took home the prize for Best Alternative Album at the Grammys and although it didn't produce any hit singles -- indeed, no singles were released from the record -- it was certified platinum in several territories. Amnesiac, a collection of new material initiated during the Kid A sessions, appeared in June of 2001, topping the U.K. charts and reaching two in the U.S. Two singles were pulled from the album -- "Pyramid Song" and "Knives Out" -- a signal that the album was more commercially accessible than its predecessor. At the end of the year, the band issued I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, and by the summer of 2002, they turned their attention to recording a new album with <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a>. The resulting Hail to the Thief appeared in June of 2003, once again debuting in the upper reaches of the international charts -- number one in the U.K. and number three in the U.S. -- and the group supported the album with live dates culminating in a headlining appearance at the 2004 Coachella Festival that coincided with the release of the B-sides and remix collection COM LAG, a record that helped close out their contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>. Over the next couple of years, Radiohead entered a hiatus as individual members pursued solo projects. <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a> released the heavily electronic solo collection The Eraser in 2006, and <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Jonny Greenwood</a> embarked on a side career as a composer, beginning with 2004's Bodysong and then striking a fruitful collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson for 2007's There Will Be Blood; <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Greenwood</a> would also work on Anderson's subsequent films The Master and Inherent Vice. During all this, the group tentatively chipped away at their first post-<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> album. Some unsuccessful sessions with Spike Stent led the band back to <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a> by the end of 2006, and the group completed recording in June of 2007. Still without a record label, they decided to release the album digitally through their official website, letting users pay whatever they wanted for a download of the album. This novel strategy acted as the album's own promotion -- most of the articles about the release claimed it was revolutionary -- and In Rainbows allegedly moved over a million downloads on the first day of its release in October 2007. In December, the album received a physical release in the U.K., followed by a January 2008 physical release in the U.S.; the record sold well, debuting at number one in the U.K., and it earned Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Radiohead toured in support of In Rainbows into 2009, during which time <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> released Radiohead: The Best Of in June of 2008. The band took time off in 2010, which allowed <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a> to form a band called <a href="spotify:artist:7tA9Eeeb68kkiG9Nrvuzmi">Atoms for Peace</a> with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Xl5J6iOgiQHFqgri7TF8j">Flea</a> from the <a href="spotify:artist:0L8ExT028jH3ddEcZwqJJ5">Red Hot Chili Peppers</a>. During this time, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2A59wav3PGiJij2rK7HQYH">Phil Selway</a> released his debut solo album, Familial. By early 2011, the group finished a new album and, like In Rainbows before it, Radiohead initially released The King of Limbs digitally through their website. The downloads appeared in February, with the physical copies appearing in March; the album reportedly shifted upwards of 400,000 digital copies upon its release. That autumn brought the release of the remix album TKOL RMX 1234567, and the band continued to tour The King of Limbs material into 2012. Once the tour wrapped up, the group took some quiet time as a new round of solo projects appeared. <a href="spotify:artist:7tA9Eeeb68kkiG9Nrvuzmi">Atoms for Peace</a> released Amok in February 2013 and <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a> put out Tomorrow's Modern Boxes in September 2014, just a month before <a href="spotify:artist:2A59wav3PGiJij2rK7HQYH">Selway</a> issued his second album, Weatherhouse. In the autumn of 2014, the band began work on a new album and continued to record throughout 2015, releasing only "Spectre" -- a proposed James Bond theme rejected by the filmmakers -- that year. The ninth Radiohead album, A Moon Shaped Pool, appeared on May 8, 2016, preceded earlier in the week by the singles "Burn the Witch" and "Daydreaming." Radiohead supported A Moon Shaped Pool with an international tour, and in June 2017 they celebrated the 20th anniversary of OK Computer with a double-disc reissue dubbed OK Computer: OKNOTOK 1997 2017. Featuring a host of bonus cuts and previously unreleased material, its number two showing on the U.K. chart was bolstered by a major televised live performance at Glastonbury. Over the next year, <a href="spotify:artist:2A59wav3PGiJij2rK7HQYH">Selway</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Greenwood</a> each issued film soundtracks with the latter earning an Oscar nomination for his score to Phantom Thread. Radiohead were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, honored with a speech from <a href="spotify:artist:2x9SpqnPi8rlE9pjHBwmSC">Talking Heads</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:20vuBdFblWUo2FCOvUzusB">David Byrne</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a> released his third solo album, Anima, that June. Two years later, Radiohead issued Kid A Mnesia, a collection of previously unreleased material from the Kid A and Amnesiac sessions. It was promoted with the singles "If You Say the Word" and "Follow Me Around." All bandmembers were active during the first half the 2020s. <a href="spotify:artist:3E7aH1Yv84NoaP9JWcrMpE">Ed O'Brien</a> released Earth under the alias <a href="spotify:artist:4CX6yOoTFQeiwL5yxuFuIG">EOB</a> in 2020. <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Yorke</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Jonny Greenwood</a> performed and recorded (with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6U9Bsog9PLNE5hrw45ecDm">Tom Skinner</a>) as <a href="spotify:artist:6styCzc1Ej4NxISL0LiigM">the Smile</a> and continued separate soundtrack work. <a href="spotify:artist:6bdotkIeFswBydfQqzHnKS">Colin Greenwood</a> toured with <a href="spotify:artist:1RM5gp0RFfjpJhCYFPB30p">Nick Cave</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0A8tch4LePxVn1Cn60wGXu">Warren Ellis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2A59wav3PGiJij2rK7HQYH">Phil Selway</a> released Strange Dance, his third solo album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

The Nightblooms

The Nightblooms

The Nightblooms

Counting Crows

Counting Crows

After nearly seven years, GRAMMY and Academy Award-nominated rock band Counting Crows announce their highly anticipated new project, BUTTER MIRACLE, SUITE ONE. Produced by Brian Deck, the four-track, nineteen-minute suite is set for worldwide release on May 21 via BMG and is available for pre-order now. Counting Crows have enchanted listeners worldwide for more than two decades with their intensely soulful and intricate take on timeless rock & roll. Exploding onto the music scene in 1993 with their multi-platinum breakout album, August and Everything After, the band has gone on to release seven studio albums, selling more than 20 million records worldwide, and is revered as one of the world&#39;s most pre-eminent live touring rock bands. In 2004, Counting Crows recorded the chart-topping "Accidently in Love" for the animated motion picture Shrek 2. The instant success of the track earned them an Academy Award nomination for "Best Original Song" at the 2005 Academy Awards, a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Original Song," and a GRAMMY Award nomination for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media." Over the last 30 years, the masterful songwriting from frontman Adam Duritz put the band at No.8 on Billboard Magazine&#39;s 2021 "Greatest Of All Time: Adult Alternative 25th Anniversary Chart."

The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins are one of the most iconic, and influential bands of all time, shaping alternative music and culture. Since forming in Chicago in 1988, the group have sold over 30 million albums worldwide and garnered two GRAMMY® Awards, two MTV VMAs, and an American Music Award. Their catalog includes seminal offerings such as the platinum Gish [1991], the quadruple-platinum Siamese Dream [1993], the diamond-certified Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness [1995], the platinum Adore [1998], and the gold Machina/The Machines of God [2000]. Rolling Stone cited both Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness among its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” 2018 saw The Smashing Pumpkins unveil SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN. and launch the immensely successful Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour, which packed arenas. Maintaining this momentum, the band released their eleventh full-length double album CYR [2020], representing yet another evolution, and more recently, ATUM[2023], the sequel to 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina/Machine of God. The band’s forthcoming 2024 album, AGHORI MHORI MEI, in the immediate aftermath of ATUM, sees a return to form for original members Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and James Iha, and harkens back to the band’s early 90’s canon; where guitars, bass, drums, and spiking vocals ruled.

The Cranberries

The Cranberries

Combining the melodic jangle of post-<a href="spotify:artist:3yY2gUcIsjMr8hjo51PoJ8">Smiths</a> indie guitar pop with the lilting, trance-inducing sonic textures of late-'80s dream pop and adding a slight Celtic tint, the Cranberries became one of the more successful groups to emerge from the pre-Brit-pop indie scene of the early '90s. Led by vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">Dolores O'Riordan</a>, whose keening, powerful voice was the most distinctive element of the group's sound, they initially had little impact in the United Kingdom. It wasn't until the lush ballad "Linger" became a worldwide hit in 1993 that the band achieved mass success. Following "Linger," the Cranberries quickly became international stars, as both their 1993 debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, and its 1994 follow-up, No Need to Argue, sold millions of copies and produced a string of hit singles. By the time of their third album, 1996's To the Faithful Departed, they had added distorted guitars to their sonic palette and began crafting more socially conscious music. They continued down this path into the 21st century before taking an extended hiatus in 2003 to pursue solo efforts. After nearly a decade, the quartet returned with 2012's Roses and 2017's Something Else. However, in early 2018, <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> died from an accidental drowning in London. Her last vocal recordings were used to construct the Cranberries' final work, 2019's Grammy-nominated In the End, a goodbye to <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a>, fans, and the band itself. Originally, the Cranberries were a band called the Cranberry Saw Us. Brothers Noel and <a href="spotify:artist:467JmWxc2Gap3uh2d7qTgx">Mike Hogan</a> (guitar and bass, respectively) formed the band in Limerick, Ireland, with drummer Fergal Lawler in 1990. Following the departure of the group's original singer, Niall Quinn, the trio placed an advertisement for a female singer. <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">Dolores O'Riordan</a> responded to the advertisement and auditioned by writing lyrics and melodies to some of the band's existing demos. When she returned with a rough version of "Linger," the group hired her on the spot. Shortly after she joined, the band recorded a demo tape and sold it in record stores throughout Ireland. After the original run of 300 copies sold out, the group truncated its name to the Cranberries and sent another demo tape, which featured early versions of both "Linger" and "Dreams," to record companies throughout the U.K. The tape was made at Xeric Studios, which was run by Pearse Gilmore, who would later become their manager. At the time the tape was made, all of the members were still in their late teens. The demo tape earned the attention of both the U.K. press and record industry, and there was soon a bidding war between major British record labels. Eventually, the group signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island%22">Island</a>. The Cranberries headed into the studio with Gilmore as their producer to record their first single, "Uncertain." The title proved to be prophetic, as the band did indeed sound ill at ease on the single, leading to poor reviews in the press in addition to tensions between the group and Gilmore. Before they were scheduled to record their debut in 1992, the Cranberries discovered that Gilmore had signed a secret deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island%22">Island</a> to improve his studios. The tensions within the band became so great they nearly broke up. Instead, the Cranberries severed all relations with Gilmore, hired Geoff Travis of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rough+Trade%22">Rough Trade</a> as their new manager, and hired Stephen Street, who had previously worked with <a href="spotify:artist:3yY2gUcIsjMr8hjo51PoJ8">the Smiths</a>, as their new producer. The band's debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, was released in the spring of 1993, followed by a single of "Dreams." Neither the album nor the single gained much attention, nor did the second single, "Linger." In the summer and fall of 1993, the band toured the United States, opening for <a href="spotify:artist:7cKtqv9cYVlOwnuCFH95ce">The The</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6PHIK3kjWggLtVygsOtpqS">Suede</a>, respectively; frequently, the Cranberries were given a friendlier reception than either of the headliners. Their strong live shows led MTV to put "Linger" into heavy rotation. By the end of the year, the single was on its way to becoming a crossover hit. Eventually, the single reached number eight on the U.S. charts, while the album went double platinum. Everybody Else and "Linger" began to take off in Britain in early 1994; the album eventually peaked at number one during the summer. <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> married the band's tour manager, Don Burton, in a much-publicized ceremony in July 1994. The marriage, as well as the group's videos, emphasized the singer as the focal point of the band. <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a>'s position in the group continued to rise with the fall release of the group's second album, No Need to Argue. Boasting a slightly harder, more streamlined sound, yet still produced by Stephen Street, the record debuted at number six on the U.S. charts and eventually outsold its predecessor; within a year it went triple platinum, spawning the enduring modern rock hit "Zombie" and "Ode to My Family." During the tour for No Need to Argue, rumors began to circulate that <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> was going to leave the band to pursue a solo career, all of which the band vehemently denied. Nevertheless, the rumors persisted until the Cranberries began recording their next album with producer Bruce Fairbairn, who had previously worked with <a href="spotify:artist:7Ey4PD4MYsKc5I2dolUwbH">Aerosmith</a>. The resulting effort, To the Faithful Departed, was a tougher, more rock-oriented affair that centered upon loss and the pitfalls of fame. Released in April 1996, it rose to number 4 in the U.S., a chart peak, and shot to number one in Australasia. Lead single "Salvation" became their second U.S. Alternative chart-topper, with "Free to Decide" and "When You're Gone" charting across the globe. During the fall of 1996, the group canceled its Australian and European tours, sparking another round of rumors about <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> launching a solo career. Yet, in 1999, the group released Bury the Hatchet, their last album to top multiple charts. The platinum-certified set featured more pop-oriented fare than its predecessor, spawning modest hits "Promises," "Animal Instinct," and the MTV favorite "Just My Imagination." The band quickly followed with 2001's Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, home to "Analyse" and "Time Is Ticking Out." Shortly after the release of a greatest-hits compilation in 2003, Stars: The Best of 1992-2002, the Cranberries officially declared that they were taking a break. This finally gave <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> the time she needed to work on her long-teased solo album, Are You Listening?, which hit shelves in 2007. In 2009, <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> released her second solo album, No Baggage. Around the same time, the Cranberries reunited for a North American tour that continued throughout Europe in 2010. Several live sets also appeared at the turn of the decade, including Bualadh Bos - The Cranberries Live, which charted in Europe and North America. In 2011, the band began work on a new album in Toronto with longtime producer Street. Released nearly a decade after the start of their extended hiatus, the resulting album, Roses, arrived in March 2012. A supporting tour followed, recorded for posterity on London 2012: Live at The Hammersmith Apollo. At the end of 2013, <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> performed a New Year's Eve concert in Limerick with a string quartet from <a href="spotify:artist:5BEsC9s9MiyK1GKlef4TMN">the Irish Chamber Orchestra</a>. Inspired by the classical interpretation of the Cranberries sound, she approached the band with an idea to celebrate their silver anniversary. The result was a full album comprising string quartet renditions of the band's biggest hits. Something Else arrived in the spring of 2017, featuring their ten most successful singles culled from their first four albums, as well as three new songs. The band kicked off a tour in support of the album, but it was cut short due to <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a>'s ongoing back problems. On January 15, 2018, <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a> died of an accidental drowning at the age of 46 in London. At the time of her death, the Cranberries were in the middle of recording a new effort. After taking some time to process the tragedy, the remaining bandmembers decided to finish the project. Along with Stephen Street, they completed the LP using <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a>'s demo vocals. Released in April 2019, In the End featured the single "All Over Now" and served as the Cranberries' final album. Peaking in the Top Ten across Europe and in the U.S. side charts, the farewell set was later nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album. In the years that followed her passing, the band continued efforts to honor <a href="spotify:artist:55s643XPig11NyYM8do64C">O'Riordan</a>, issuing Remembering Dolores, a 2021 compilation of favorites that was released on what would have been her 50th birthday, and a 2023 deluxe reissue of To the Faithful Departed, which included the original album-era B-sides, outtakes, and demos recorded in Paris, as well as live recordings from 1996 shows at Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto and Pine Knob in Clarkston, Michigan. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance

Formed in NJ, My Chemical Romance made its debut in 2002 with the independently released album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The band signed to Reprise Records the following year and made its major label debut with 2004’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, now 3x certified Platinum. The album contained the Platinum hit "I&#39;m Not Okay (I Promise)," the Gold-certified "Helena," and "The Ghost of You." Rolling Stone hailed the 3x Platinum The Black Parade as one of the top albums of 2006. Lead single “Welcome to the Black Parade” topped both Billboard’s Alternative Songs tally and the UK Official Singles chart and is now 3x Platinum. The band toured extensively behind the album – appearing as characters from The Black Parade – and released the live album The Black Parade is Dead! in 2008. Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys was released in 2010 and topped Billboard’s Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. It was followed by a series of singles later released as Conventional Weapons in 2013. My Chemical Romance’s songs continue to rack up half a billion cumulative global streams each year. The band’s top three music videos have amassed more than 100 million views each on VEVO. My Chemical Romance will be touring in Europe and North America in 2022, and in Australia and Japan in 2023.

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age emerged from the stoner rock underground of the 1990s to become one of the leading heavy rock bands of the 21st century, a transition sparked by the release of their major-label debut, Rated R, in 2000. A murky immersion in chemical excess, the album showcased QOTSA's skill in wedding thick, grimy guitars with shape-shifting psychedelia, a blend suited for the desert that frontman <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Josh Homme</a> called home. Over the years, <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> remained the lone constant in QOTSA's mercurial lineup, anchoring the group as members and guests cycled through the studio and stage. <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a>'s presence on the drumkit on 2002's Songs for the Deaf helped break the band to a wider audience in America, placing them at the vanguard of hard rock music. QOTSA's membership stabilized around the release of …Like Clockwork, the 2013 record that returned them to indie status while giving them their first number one album on the Billboard charts. <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> maintained the same quintet through the <a href="spotify:artist:3hv9jJF3adDNsBSIQDqcjp">Mark Ronson</a>-produced Villains and In Times New Roman..., a 2023 album that found them discovering new shades and textures within their palette. Queens of the Stone Age has its roots in <a href="spotify:artist:3HCpwNmFp2rvjkdjTs4uxs">Kyuss</a>, the stoner rock band <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Josh Homme</a> led during the early '90s. After <a href="spotify:artist:3HCpwNmFp2rvjkdjTs4uxs">Kyuss</a> split in 1995, <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> served as a supporting guitarist on a <a href="spotify:artist:3Ukr3Ufjg8ygRJv7Ww887f">Screaming Trees</a> tour, then decided to launch a new band called Gamma Ray. An eponymous EP appeared in 1996 before a German metal band named Gamma Ray threatened legal action over the appellation. Taking a cue from a nickname bestowed on the group by producer <a href="spotify:artist:4c3K7AJQrxT3y25XHyPI04">Chris Goss</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> decided to rename his fledgling unit Queens of the Stone Age, unveiling this moniker on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a> various-artists compilation Burn One Up! Music for Stoners in 1997. Later that year, the split EP Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age -- comprised of old tunes from the latter and new material from the former -- confirmed the transition between <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a>'s two groups. <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> co-produced Queens of the Stone Age's eponymous 1998 debut with Joe Barresi, which was released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Loosegroove%22">Loosegroove</a>, the indie imprint from <a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6AaWik9LKRViQFnIK2PSI9">Stone Gossard</a> and Regan Hagar. With Alfredo Hernandez on drums, <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> played all the guitars and most of the bass and keyboards on the record, but he soon expanded QOTSA into a touring outfit featuring former <a href="spotify:artist:3HCpwNmFp2rvjkdjTs4uxs">Kyuss</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5WCFj64gXT7nJwOEEzc0Wf">Nick Oliveri</a> along with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7aHsSodiIdzKLkwCZfY352">Dave Catching</a>; the latter played on the first volume of <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a>'s shape-shifting collaborative project <a href="spotify:artist:62cvIQKyg3aHsHNgPxzGPT">the Desert Sessions</a>, which appeared in 1997. This group was by no means secure. By the time QOTSA entered the studio to record their major-label debut Rated R, Hernandez was no longer with the band; Nick Lucero and Gene Trautmann split drumming duties on the record. Co-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4c3K7AJQrxT3y25XHyPI04">Goss</a> and released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>, Rated R built QOTSA's audience exponentially. "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" gave the band a Top 40 hit in the U.K. Live spots at Ozzfest and with <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">Foo Fighters</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5SHQUMAmEK5KmuSb0aDvsn">Hole</a> helped broaden their following, while events like <a href="spotify:artist:5WCFj64gXT7nJwOEEzc0Wf">Oliveri</a> getting arrested after performing nude at the 2001 Rock in Rio Festival helped generate headlines. All this buzz culminated in <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">Foo Fighters</a> leader -- and former <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> drummer -- <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a> becoming a temporary member of QOTSA for 2002's Songs for the Deaf and its 2022 supporting tour, which featured <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5WCFj64gXT7nJwOEEzc0Wf">Oliveri</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>, ex-<a href="spotify:artist:3Ukr3Ufjg8ygRJv7Ww887f">Screaming Trees</a> vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:1fpXM23IoNckJ7NDAm8YJQ">Mark Lanegan</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4DFhHyjvGYa9wxdHUjtDkc">A Perfect Circle</a> guitarist/keyboardist Troy Van Leeuwen. With its singles "No One Knows" and "Go with the Flow," Songs for the Deaf elevated Queens of the Stone Age into the upper ranks of modern rock acts, acting as a heavy, trippy counterpart to the prevailing neo-garage rock of the early 2000s. <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> decamped at the conclusion of the Songs for the Deaf tour, returning to his regular gig in <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">Foo Fighters</a>; he was replaced by Joey Castillo, who previously drummed with <a href="spotify:artist:34c4iQ5tkaZKu6Sv28BTde">Danzig</a>. In the wake of QOTSA's success, <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> embraced a variety of outside gigs, including playing on a pair of <a href="spotify:artist:1fpXM23IoNckJ7NDAm8YJQ">Mark Lanegan</a> albums and collaborating with Jesse Hughes on Peace, Love, Death Metal, the first album by their band <a href="spotify:artist:02uYdhMhCgdB49hZlYRm9o">Eagles of Death Metal</a>. When it came time to reconvene QOTSA for a sequel to Songs for the Deaf, the band no longer featured <a href="spotify:artist:5WCFj64gXT7nJwOEEzc0Wf">Nick Oliveri</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> fired him due to issues in the bassist's personal life. With <a href="spotify:artist:57vhIhkzqXdrZnLoD0yl9C">Alain Johannes</a> taking over for <a href="spotify:artist:5WCFj64gXT7nJwOEEzc0Wf">Oliveri</a>, the group finished recording Lullabies to Paralyze, making space for guest appearances by <a href="spotify:artist:2AM4ilv6UzW0uMRuqKtDgN">ZZ Top</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:69Iibc3uQ7x2vDeZxTwKCw">Billy Gibbons</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6ou8CS7utk8O82lxmyJW4D">Shirley Manson</a>. Preceded by the single "Little Sister," Lullabies to Paralyze appeared in March 2005, followed by a supporting tour that occasionally featured <a href="spotify:artist:1fpXM23IoNckJ7NDAm8YJQ">Lanegan</a> in his last live outings with the band. <a href="spotify:artist:4c3K7AJQrxT3y25XHyPI04">Chris Goss</a> returned to co-produce 2007's Era Vulgaris alongside <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a>. Featuring fewer guests than usual -- <a href="spotify:artist:1rAv1GhTQ2rmG94p9lU3rB">Julian Casablancas</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:0epOFNiUfyON9EYx7Tpr6V">the Strokes</a> appeared on the single "Sick, Sick Sick," <a href="spotify:artist:1fpXM23IoNckJ7NDAm8YJQ">Lanegan</a> provided vocals on one track -- Era Vulgaris appeared in June 2007, wrapping up the band's contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>. After a supporting tour featuring bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist Dean Fertita -- the pair would become steady members of QOTSA from this point forward -- the band went into a period of inactivity as <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> pursued other projects over the next few years. Chief among these was <a href="spotify:artist:4zYQWYmtimAEmI6WWEzGfO">Them Crooked Vultures</a>, a power trio also featuring <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6RhcZuUOb20IZvR8BbdnJX">John Paul Jones</a>, who released an eponymous album in 2009. The next year saw a deluxe reissue of Rated R and in 2011, the band reissued their hard-to-find debut and did a small supporting tour behind this deluxe edition. Queens of the Stone Age began recording a new album in 2012, transitioning from drummer Joey Castillo to his replacement Jon Theodore during the sessions. The record found QOTSA bringing <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> back into the fold while also finding spots for <a href="spotify:artist:1fpXM23IoNckJ7NDAm8YJQ">Mark Lanegan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0hRijdwO8UsJMudc3476ma">Trent Reznor</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Alex Turner</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6prqlx3RqGdTYsXANXDCR1">Jake Shears</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:5WCFj64gXT7nJwOEEzc0Wf">Nick Oliveri</a> for his first spot on a QOTSA album in a decade. With the finished album in hand, Queens of the Stone Age signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Matador%22">Matador</a> in 2013 and the ensuing ...Like Clockwork album was released in June of that year. Supported by the singles "My God Is the Sun" and "I Sat by the Ocean," ...Like Clockwork topped the Billboard 200, as well as the Alternative, Digital, Hard Rock, Independent, and Top Rock charts. Following the success of ...Like Clockwork, <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Homme</a> and various Queens' members participated in the Sound City documentary project and <a href="spotify:artist:33EUXrFKGjpUSGacqEHhU4">Iggy Pop</a>'s 2016 Post Pop Depression album and tour. For Villains, the band's seventh album, QOTSA worked with <a href="spotify:artist:3hv9jJF3adDNsBSIQDqcjp">Mark Ronson</a> and invited <a href="spotify:artist:6vUjpCAR58MB3Jq2TsKUmK">Nikka Costa</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6IpGCPfdHtfNZwSGihxXSj">Matt Sweeney</a> into the studio as guests. Featuring the singles "The Way You Used to Do" and "The Evil Has Landed," Villains debuted at three on the Billboard charts upon its August 2017 release. After the Villains tour, Queens of the Stone Age took an extended hiatus, reemerging in June 2023 with In Times New Roman…, their third album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Matador%22">Matador</a>. It was the first QOTSA album to be produced by the band and not to feature any guests. It earned the group a pair of Grammy nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song for "Emotion Sickness." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Missing Peace

The Missing Peace

the chillest band on earth | dc

The Jins

Banda canadiense | Rock alternativo, grunge, punk rock (2014)

Cost Quântico

Solista brasileño | Americana, folk rock, versiones cómicas (2024) ❗

yung kai

Cantautor y músico chino-canadiense | Bedroom pop, indie pop (2022)

she cute like flowers

Mac DeMarco

Cantautor, multinstrumentista y productor discográfico canadiense | Bedroom pop, indie rock, indie pop, pop psicodélico, jangle pop, lo-fi (2008)

Mac DeMarco is a Canadian self-produced multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and recording artist. Raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and currently residing in Los Angeles, California.

Eyedress

Músico filipino | Bedroom pop, post-punk, indie pop, witch house, hip hop (2008)

eyedress is a 5x platinum recording artist signed to rca currently living in los angeles

Soap

Banda franco-costarricense | Bedroom pop, lo-fi, indie pop, dream pop (2019)

We produce music online from our bedrooms in Paris, Moscow and Costa Rica. Side projects: <a href="spotify:artist:3xnbseIdYReUqp5kY4vbXE" data-name="Adélie Beaume">Adélie Beaume</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ZewUqmpRpjodRL86qEtHI" data-name="Marble">Marble</a>

BØRNS

Cantante, compositor y multiinstrumentista estadounidense | Indie pop, pop psicodélico, rock alternativo, synthpop, electropop (2010)

borns.com

Suki Waterhouse

Actriz, cantante y modelo británica | Indie rock, dream pop (2016)

Suki Waterhouse’s music sounds like a collage of her inspirations, experiences, and emotions stitched together by hooved vocal delivery, bright-eyed melodies, and evocative storytelling. It doubles as a mirror image of her life as a consummate creative, artist, actress, and model, yet it also breaks the glass to unveil raw truth. She leans on an ever-evolving sonic palette to convey what she’s feeling—whether it be folky Americana, nineties alternative, turn-of-the-century indie, or handcrafted otherworldly pop. You’ll hear Suki’s longing in a swooning chorus, fearlessness in a crunchy chord, elation in a danceable waltz, and wonder in a soft coo befitting of a lullaby. She faithfully followed a lifelong passion for music to her 2022 full-length debut, I Can’t Let Go. Adorned by “Moves” and “Melrose Meltdown,” it incited widespread critical applause from Variety, Nylon, NME, and more. Between headlining shows and touring with Father John Misty, “Good Looking” surged online, generating nearly a billion streams, going RIAA platinum, and paving the way for the Milk Teeth EP. Simultaneously, she absorbed inspiration from a season of change earmarked by unforgettable moments, gracing the stage of Lollapalooza 2023, performing on multiple continents, and closing out the Gobi Tent at Coachella in 2024. Everything just set the stage for the gold-certified songstress to assert herself as a versatile, vibrant, and vital presence on her 2024 double-LP, Memoir of a sparkle.

Cigarettes After Sex

Banda estadounidense | Dream pop, shoegaze, ambient pop, slowcore, indie rock (2008)

Ten years ago Greg Gonzalez was having a really rough Valentine’s Day. Freshly heartbroken with no hope of reconciliation, he spent two hours driving from his hometown El Paso to play a show, and he listened to Sade’s “By Your Side” on repeat both ways. “The experience that day stuck in my bones—it was an idea that I couldn’t forget,” says Gonzalez, the frontman of Cigarettes After Sex. “I thought, how do I make a record that feels like that?” With each record—the initial 2012 EP, 2017’s eponymous debut album, and 2019’s Cry— Gonzalez has been faithful to his muse: love. In raw, imagistic vignettes set to entrancing, slow-burn pop songs, Gonzalez captures every emotion a romantic arc inspires. But where previous albums have drawn from an amalgam of relationships, for the most part, their third, eagerly anticipated LP, X’s, centralises on just one relationship that spanned four years.

Lana Del Rey

Cantante, compositora, modelo, actriz, escritora, productora y poetisa estadounidense | Indie pop, pop barroco, trip hop, Sadcore, dream pop, indie rock, Slowcore, pop psicodélico, rock, rhythm and blues (2003)

.

SunKissed Lola

Banda filipina | Indie pop, alternative rock, pop rock (2021)

For bookings & inquiries, email [email protected] or contact 09155422480. 🍭 “Nene” out now! 🌺

Rio Romeo

Banda estadounidense | Cabaret punk, alternative indie-pop, pop/rock (2010) ❗

pomona, ca

PARIS The Prince

Solista mexicano‑guatemalteco‑estadounidense | Hip‑hop, rap (2018) ❗

Octavio A. Gomez, better known as PARIS The Prince (PTP), is a twenty-year-old Mexican-Guatemalan Seattle singer. PTP uses his art to embrace and help people get through their hardships. He writes about his own experiences and those of his friends and family to help relate to and connect with his fans. Growing up in Tualatin, Oregon, he started playing the piano and drums at age six. At age ten, he sang in the choir of his local church every other week. His journey began in eighth grade when his close friend released a song on SoundCloud which inspired him to start making his own music. His versatile sound is heavily influenced by d4vd, The Kid LAROI, Omar Apollo, The Weeknd, and Rauw Alejandro, to name a few. PTP can go as far as making songs in Hip-Hop/Rap, Pop, R&B, Reggaetón, Dancehall, and many more. His songs give off vibes that range from energetic/euphoric to chill/miserable, to love/blissful to heartbreak/depressed, etc. PARIS The Prince is no ordinary singer, nor just a producer or songwriter. The emotion that he brings into each and every song is unique and relatable which will make you want to stay for more. Lastly, PARIS The Prince’s fans are not just fans to him...but family. Welcome to the family 💙 (it’s me I wrote this lol)

Los Retros

Banda estadounidense | Pop independiente, rock independiente, dormitorio pop (2017)

Once upon a time in Oxnard, when Los Retros used to be known as Retrospect, there were 2 young fellows know as Chai and Mauri. Both these young chaps had come up with a variety of tunes in Mauri&#39;s living room shortly after high school. Both being from the same school, chemistry between each other was first developed through jesting on campus and cracking jokes which lacked so much context. But it kept the rooms filled with nonsensical laughter for how ridiculous and relevant their jokes were. After departing from teenage prison at a highschool we cannot name, the band had adopted a couple members over the course of the band&#39;s history. Now those that still stand are Chai, Brayan, Lupe, and Mauri. This project contains a few of the many tracks that were once on Soundcloud, but then deleted by an online burglar as soon as the band had gained more reknown. Retrospect later became Los Retros to seal a more unique name in the music field, and also to avoid a traffic of people with the same name. The project Retrospect, is a throwback which once served as a spark plug for what is to come in the band&#39;s next releases. We hope you enjoy your ride back to 2017 with this one.

Cowboy Malfoy

Solista australiana | Indie pop, alternative dance, jazz-folk, grunge, EDM (2023) ❗

I think the world is inundated with a certain narrative in popular media: “Be yourself”, “be proud of who you are”, what if I don&#39;t know who or what I am? I&#39;m a trans non-binary individual living with ADHD and OCD. So what’s there for us people who have trouble identifying, let alone understanding our own thoughts and feelings? I go about my life unintuitively, and for folks like me, we’re searching for a validation for our uncertain, anxious existence. There are so many feelings of shame associated with not knowing who we are, and I’m fighting against that. I want people to be comfortable being wrong about themselves, and dissolve this idea in culture that we are unchanging. This part of my identity feeds into my art, a sort of frantic indecision that has led me to pursue mathematics, coding, design, architecture, and ultimately, music. I draw from a lot of inspirations, transforming and reinterpreting things that already exist. Rather than believing I’m unique - I try to remain conscious that creativity is an amalgamation of various existing things, experiences, and cultures. I am a reflection of the world as much as my music is a reflection of me, and Cowboy Malfoy is a testament to that <3

Steven Universe

Banda sonora estadounidense | Pop, hip-hop, rock, electrónica (2021) ❗

Cartoon Network&#39;s Emmy-nominated Steven Universe revolves around Steven, the "little brother" to a team of magical aliens - the Crystal Gems - who defend the planet Earth. Steven is the son of the Crystal Gems&#39; late leader Rose Quartz and aging aspiring rockstar Mr. Universe. Steven belongs everywhere and nowhere: he has inherited his mother&#39;s Gem and her magical powers, but also his father&#39;s humanity and charm. The show is a slice-of-life action comedy that follows Steven as he attempts to bridge the gap between the sci-fi fantasy world of Gems and the cozy, funny, simple-yet-extraordinarily-complicated world of human beings. Steven Universe is created by Emmy and Annie Award-nominated writer and New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Sugar, and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Watch Steven Universe on Cartoon Network.

Rex Orange County

Cantante, compositor y multinstrumentista inglés | Indie pop, neo soul, bedroom pop, hip-hop, R&B contemporáneo (2016)

Alex O'Connor, also known as Rex Orange County, is a singer/songwriter known for his literate, quirky brand of bedroom pop that combines jazz, hip-hop, and soul influences. O'Connor was still a teenager when he first gained attention online in 2015 for his self-produced album bcos u will never b free. He built upon his viral buzz with 2017's Apricot Princess, which found him further expanding his sound. The set cracked the Top Ten of Billboard's Independent Albums chart and paved the way for his even more ambitious, jazz-inflected 2019 effort PONY. A commercial breakthrough, PONY catapulted him into the Top Five of the main album charts in several countries, including the U.K. and U.S. In 2022, Rex Orange County's fourth full-length, the <a href="spotify:artist:4V8LLVI7PbaPR0K2TGSxFF">Tyler, The Creator</a>-featuring Who Cares?, went all the way to number one in the U.K. and New Zealand. He followed it with the more stripped-back and personal The Alexander Technique in 2024. Its lead-single title track addressed near life-long struggles with mental health and chronic pain. Born in 1998 and raised in the village of Grayshott along the border of Hampshire and Surrey, O'Connor grew up singing in the school choir and developed a love of pop, listening to a mix of classic and contemporary artists including <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7oPftvlwr6VrsViSDV7fJY">Green Day</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3jOstUTkEu2JkjvRdBA5Gu">Weezer</a>. A self-taught drummer, he gained entrance to the BRIT School in London as a teenager. While studying there, he also sang and played guitar, and picked up piano and production software skills while working on his first album. At 17, with the "O.C." derived from O'Connor, he used the Rex Orange County moniker to self-release bcos u will never b free for streaming in 2015. As word of his distinctive style spread, he followed it up with songs like 2016's "Uno" and early 2017's "Best Friend" and "Sunflower" before releasing his second self-made LP, Apricot Princess, that April. <a href="spotify:artist:4V8LLVI7PbaPR0K2TGSxFF">Tyler, The Creator</a> was a fan by that time, and featured Rex Orange County on two tracks from his Flower Boy album, released in July 2017. The following year, O'Connor finished second in the BBC Sound of 2018 poll behind Norwegian singer <a href="spotify:artist:4TrraAsitQKl821DQY42cZ">Sigrid</a>. February 2019 saw the arrival of the bittersweet Valentine's Day-themed single "New House," which was followed in September by "10/10." Rex Orange County's third album, PONY, arrived in October that year and found him digging even deeper into his '70s singer/songwriter and jazz influences. It also landed him at number one on both the Billboard Top Rock and Alternative Albums charts. In 2020, O'Connor celebrated the five-year anniversary of his debut, bcos u will never b free, with a special vinyl release. He also issued the concert LP Live at Radio City Music Hall. The single "Keep It Up" appeared in early 2022 ahead of the release of his fourth long-player, Who Cares?, which arrived later that March. Recorded in Amsterdam with longtime associate <a href="spotify:artist:4gHcu2JoaXJ0mV4aNPCd7N">Benny Sings</a>, the album also featured a reunion with rapper <a href="spotify:artist:4V8LLVI7PbaPR0K2TGSxFF">Tyler, The Creator</a> on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs-charting "Open a Window." Who Cares? became a pop-chart breakthrough, hitting number three in the U.S. and Canada, four in Australia, and number five in the United Kingdom. O'Connor followed that success with what he claimed was the album he'd always wanted to release. More stripped-down and autobiographical, September 2024's self-produced The Alexander Technique delved into personal experiences with things like chronic pain and mental health, as indicated by the piano-based lead single of the same name. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

Matt Maltese

Cantautor y productor discográfico británico-canadiense | Indie rock, indie pop, alternative pop, chamber pop (2015)

Paino music

girl in red

Cantante, productora musical y compositora noruega | Indie pop, bedroom pop, indie rock (2016)

i’m marie and i’m a one girl band making tunes ;)

TV Girl

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop (2016)

TV Girl makes hypnotic pop.

The Marías

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop, indie rock, rock psicodélico, soul psicodélico (2016)

The Marías are the psychedelic-soul lovechild of Puerto Rican-bred, Atlanta-raised María Zardoya and Los Angeles native Josh Conway. The two are joined by their closest friends, Jesse Perlman on guitar and Edward James on keys. Their undeniably intuitive musical chemistry can be heard in the band’s smooth rendezvous of jazz percussion, hypnotic guitar riffs, smoke-velvet vocals and nostalgic horn solos. There’s something undeniably sensual in their dreamlike fusion of jazz, psychedelia, funk and lounge. Since the release of their debut album, <a href="spotify:album:5TkaDC4mYSLBvdG6UrIB0v" data-name="CINEMA">CINEMA</a>, The Marías have earned the reputation behind their impressive upward trajectory, including two Grammy nominations, a Billboard chart-topper and collaborations with some of the biggest names in Latin music, including <a href="spotify:artist:4q3ewBCX7sLwd24euuV69X" data-name="Bad Bunny">Bad Bunny</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0GM7qgcRCORpGnfcN2tCiB" data-name="Tainy">Tainy</a>. Now comes the next phase of their journey, the release of their sophomore album: Submarine. Stepping back into the psychedelic indie rock roots that defined their breakout EP, <a href="spotify:album:5XX1xVOP61GDQCGaZMLjhO" data-name="Superclean, Vol. I">Superclean, Vol. I</a>, Submarine delivers on a feeling of nostalgia, a sense that you’ve been here before but the geography has evolved. The cinematic swells of their debut record have been traded for a sonically matured return to form. María’s trance-inducing vocals transporting you to a place of solitude and exploration.

Yot Club

Cantautor y productor estadounidense | Indie pop, lo-fi, bedroom pop, post-punk, synth pop, surf pop (2014)

trying my best

CAFUNÉ

Dúo estadounidense | Alt-pop, indie pop, dream pop, indie rock, electropop, synth-pop, deep house (2014)

Alexandra Savior

Cantautora estadounidense | Dream pop, desert rock, indie pop, rock psicodélico, ambient pop (2013)

Alexandra Savior McDermott is a singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon.

Faye Webster

Cantautora estadounidense | Indie pop (2013)

The title of Faye Webster&#39;s new album is inspired by her occasional compulsion to lose herself among concertgoers at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Craving company and distraction but also leaning into the anonymity of a crowd, Webster often bought a ticket to a performance at the last second. “Going to the symphony was almost like therapy for me,” she says. “I was quite literally underdressed at the symphony because I would just decide at the last moment that&#39;s what I wanted to do.” Webster has never been more comfortable in her own skin than right now, which makes her ascent into the vanguard of young, independent artists even sweeter. At any given moment, Webster might be making country-tinged indie rock flecked simultaneously by pedal steel guitar and modern R&B production – a bespoke sound which has won her ardent fans and turned her into something of a stealth superstar. The world around Webster may be moving faster and faster, but despite an influx of new fans, she’s still singing about it in an almost impossibly low-key way on her fifth album. Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios with her longtime band, Underdressed at the Symphony revels in experimentation and playfulness. Webster isn’t providing answers here, nor is she on a journey of healing and self-care. Instead, she’s choosing to just live, to document heartbreak and ridiculous moments right next to each other until they start to blur, becoming real enough for us all to feel.

Coyote Theory

Banda estadounidense | Alternative/indie pop, indie rock, jazz‑infused pop (2010) ❗

Coyote Theory is a jazz-pop band from Orlando, Florida. The members are Colby Carpinelli (Lead Vocals/Piano), Grayson Hendren (Bass/Guitar) and Jayson Lynn (Drums/Percussion). Their song, "This Side of Paradise" became a viral-hit in 2020. The band is releasing new music in 2022, with an album planned for 2023.

ROAR

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop (2010)

I’m just a person trying to make melodies and songs that I find interesting. I’ve been making music since I got my first cassette, 4-track in high school. 
 IG: @roartheband Twitter: @roartheband

Sunset Rollercoaster

Banda taiwanesa | Jazz, funk, disco, synth-pop (2009)

Sunset Rollercoaster are a romantic pop band from Taipei, made up of Tseng Kuo-Heng (vocals/guitar), Chen Hung-Li (bass), Lo Tsun-Lung (drums), Wang Shao-Hsuan (keyboard), and Huang Hao-Ting (Saxophone). Their music immediately announces that the band comes from a humid, extremely relaxed island, synthesizing influences that have lapped up against Taiwan’s sub-tropical shores: soul, R&B, and rock from America, the neon-lit textures and jazz funk musicianship of Japanese city pop, and the earworm melodies and eternal melancholy of Chinese-language pop. Added to this is a DIY spirit and garage-punk energy that could only come from years spent playing together in their hometown’s fertile underground scene. From these humble beginnings, Sunset Rollercoaster have risen to become bona-fide stars, topping festival bills from China to Japan, and headlining tours in North America and Europe.

The Drums

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop, indie rock, synthpop, neo-psicodelia (2008)

Somewhere inside of all of us, there&#39;s a place where our deepest hurts forever cry out to be soothed. The way people failed us as children, the jagged cliffs we stumbled down when we went looking for fertile fields -- they stay with us, singing through the body long after the initial shock. It can feel easier to sideline that hurt, to wrap it up and set it aside and try to get on with life. But life only reveals itself through healing, and healing only comes when we pore over the heaviest loads we carry. It takes courage to dive in, and patience and gentleness and tenderness, but it&#39;s lifesaving. It opens the world. On his latest album as The Drums, New York-based indie pop artist Jonny Pierce plunges into the work of healing from childhood trauma and the long shadow it casts over adulthood. The sparkling, eponymous Jonny unfurls a love letter to a galaxy of younger selves, all hungry to be nourished, all rejoicing now that they finally get to belong. The songs on Jonny emerged out of a radically new way of writing for Pierce. On past Drums albums, he&#39;d prided himself on his stark efficiency. "I could just get in front of my computer for two minutes with a guitar and bang out a track," he says. "A lot of my self-worth was built into that." But as he began exploring a different way of relating to himself in therapy, his relationship to his art shifted, too. Everything slowed, letting new and delicate shapes come to light.

LP

Cantante y compositora estadounidense | Indie pop, pop rock, rock alternativo (1998)

Genre-bucking Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter LP emerged in the early 2000s with a vibrant blend of vulnerability, swagger, and steely hooks. Known for their elastic and expressive voice, which evokes names like <a href="spotify:artist:5tfiJ40SRxluWNgA6ruvSo">Linda Perry</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4yiQZ8tQPux8cPriYMWUFP">Gwen Stefani</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2ozLlEZTdSV3pjHgWwZMsi">Chrissie Hynde</a>, LP has issued a string of acclaimed albums such as Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol (2004), the Billboard 200-charting Forever for Now (2014), platinum-selling European breakthrough Lost on You (2016), and Churches (2021). In the meantime, they wrote for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0K1q0nXQ8is36PzOKAMbNe">Spoon</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5CCwRZC6euC8Odo6y9X8jr">Rita Ora</a>, among others. Their seventh studio album, Love Lines, landed in 2023. Raised in New York on a steady diet of <a href="spotify:artist:5hW4L92KnC6dX9t7tYM4Ve">Joni Mitchell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:22WZ7M8sxp5THdruNY3gXt">the Doors</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0GByy3DcfbQwDvXGCWmzv9">the Pretenders</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3nnQpaTvKb5jCQabZefACI">Jeff Buckley</a>, LP spent their formative years honing their craft in other bands before relocating to California and releasing their 2001 debut solo album, Heart-Shaped Scar. It was produced by <a href="spotify:artist:5V8GA6aqsyZizChn4Zj6st">David Lowery</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:1JXB7XQ9hjLB5pnr1eowKR">Camper Van Beethoven</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ODQJS4mk7rVBJXjdqByX6">Cracker</a>). LP began to hit their stride in 2004 with their second outing, Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol, which featured the track "Wasted," used as the theme song for seasons two and three of the Nickelodeon teen drama South of Nowhere. Their 2006 appearance at the South by Southwest Music Conference prompted a bidding war, resulting in a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island+Records%22">Island Records</a>. With <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island%22">Island</a>, LP began writing songs for other artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:72OaDtakiy6yFqkt4TsiFt">Cher</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5lKZWd6HiSCLfnDGrq9RAm">Leona Lewis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>. A 2011 bank television commercial that featured excerpts from LP's "Into the Wild" gained them a huge fan base as viewers eagerly looked to the Internet to discover the identity of the artist singing "Somebody left the gate open" -- the track earned enough attention to warrant a CNN news piece. Their <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> debut EP, Into the Wild: Live at Eastwest Studios, appeared in April 2012, but it was another two years until a full-length <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> release, the <a href="spotify:artist:2aFERtOBsfwfE2GVsZUpzo">Rob Cavallo</a>-produced Forever for Now, was issued. It entered the Billboard 200, peaking at number 132. In 2016, LP issued their fourth studio long-player, Lost on You, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Vagrant+Records%22">Vagrant Records</a>. The album's opening track, "Muddy Waters," appeared during the taut closing scene of the season four finale of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black. Meanwhile, the album's title track topped the singles charts in at least half a dozen European countries, and the Lost on You LP charted broadly outside the U.S., achieving Top Ten placements and platinum status in countries including France, Italy, and Poland. Marking a move to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BMG%22">BMG</a>, LP returned two years later with their fifth studio long-player, Heart to Mouth, which became another international success, spawning the hit single "Girls Go Wild." In 2021, they delivered the emotionally charged singles "The One That You Love" and "How Low Can You Go," which charted in multiple countries ahead of their sixth album, Churches. Like their two previous albums, it found chart success throughout Europe, particularly in the Czech Republic, where it became their third straight record to reach the Top Ten. Mid-2023's "Golden" marked the first taste of LP's seventh album, that September's Love Lines. It also included the singles "One Like You" and a driving "Love Song." ~ James Christopher Monger

MGMT

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, neo-psicodelia, synthpop, pop psicodélico, indietronica, indie pop (2004)

Finding an unlikely middle point between Suicide's hostile, proto-electro punk art noise and the sardonic, pop-friendly sound of the Flaming Lips, MGMT started as electroclash musical terrorists but quickly grew into an eclectic, brainy pop group with psychedelic overtones. MGMT first formed in 2002, during Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden's freshman year as art students at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The band was initially known as the Management, and its shows consisted mostly of backing tapes, synthesizers, and pre-recorded vocals playing as Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden engaged the audience in a manner somewhere between performance art and good old-fashioned punk hostility. By their senior year, they had toned down considerably on-stage, and began augmenting their live sound with backing musicians. After graduating, MGMT released an electro-rock EP, 2005's Time to Pretend, on the tiny indie label Cantora Records. For their full-length debut, the duo partnered with producer Dave Fridmann and recorded Oracular Spectacular, a far more musically expansive album that was released digitally in late 2007. A traditional CD release followed in January 2008, and Oracular Spectacular ultimately enjoyed both critical approval and commercial success, with the album selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. and going platinum in Australia, the U.K., and Ireland. The album's third single, "Kids," was a hit, eventually being nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 52 Annual Grammy Awards. In 2009, MGMT began working with producer Sonic Boom, formerly of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum, on their second album, Congratulations. Released in 2010, the record found them growing more ambitious and quirkily psychedelic, with a song dedicated to two of their heroes: Dan Treacy of Television Personalities and Brian Eno. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard chart and the band toured much of the year, while also appearing on TV and playing many festivals. The following year, the bandmembers dug deep into their record collections to curate an installment of the Late Night Tales mixtape series and began work on their third album with Dave Fridmann. The self-titled effort was something of a return to the expansive sound of their debut, but with the same amount of weirdness that permeated Congratulations. The record received mixed reviews, but still broke the Top 20 of the Billboard album chart. After the band finished touring behind the album, they decided to take a break from making music together. After roughly a year of inaction, Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden began trading song ideas back and forth via computer, then decided to write and work on arrangements together. They brought Fridmann back and added producer Patrick Wimberly of Chairlift to the team. Inspired by pop music of the '80s and heavy on synths, Little Dark Age is MGMT's most accessible since their debut, despite featuring cameos from dedicated weirdos Ariel Pink and Connan Mockasin. Though the record was finished and turned in to their label Columbia in April of 2017, it wasn't released until February of 2018. The album debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and hit number two on the Top Rock Albums chart. ~ Stewart Mason & Andrew Leahey

wave to earth

Banda surcoreana | Indie pop (2019)

Based in Seoul, South Korea, &#39;wave to earth&#39; is a three-member band consisting of singer-songwriter Daniel Kim, drummer Dong Kyu Shin, and bassist John Cha. &#39;wave to earth&#39; creates indie pop with a lo-fi sound rooted in jazz drumming. Under the motto "All Self-made," they handle all recording, mixing, and mastering themselves, as well as overseeing the artistic direction, including album art, videos, and fashion. After joining the &#39;Wavy Seoul&#39; label, &#39;wave to earth&#39; released their first full-length album, "0.1 flaws and all," in April 2023. This album showcases the band&#39;s evolving artistry through 14 captivating tracks. Notably, the track &#39;bad&#39; reached #1 on Spotify&#39;s "Viral 50 - Global" chart, highlighting their growing global popularity. In an exciting development, &#39;wave to earth&#39; embarked on their first world tour, "flaws and all," selling out shows across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In September 2024, &#39;wave to earth&#39; released their new album, "play with earth! 0.03," which received widespread acclaim from listeners, debuting at #5 on Spotify&#39;s Global Top Debut Album chart. Following the album release, they began the "0.03 world tour," selling out all shows in North America. The tour will continue in Europe, Asia, and Southeast Asia, solidifying the band’s global influence. Their live performances continue to resonate deeply with fans. The name &#39;wave to earth&#39; reflects the band&#39;s aspiration to "become the new wave" and expand their universe across the world.

d4vd

Cantante y compositor estadounidense | Alternative, indie, rock, R&B (2021)

WITHERED

Odd Sweetheart

Banda estadounidense | Indie emo, indie rock, emo (2019) ❗

I&#39;m inspired by a lot of mid-west emo bands, but at the end of the day the truth is I can&#39;t help from sounding exactly like Akon.

The Rose

Banda coreana | Rock, pop rock, indie rock, rock alternativo, dream pop, new wave, pop (2017)

The Rose is a Korean alt-pop band comprised of four talented members: vocalist and guitarist Woosung, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Dojoon, bassist Jaehyeong, and drummer Hajoon. Renowned since their inception for electrifying performances, The Rose quickly became one of Korea&#39;s most sought-after groups, delivering a series of critically acclaimed albums that resonated with fans worldwide. The Rose&#39;s first full-length album HEAL was inspired by the transformative power of music and the stories shared by both their fans and themselves. HEAL soared to #4 on Billboard&#39;s Heatseekers Chart, while their accompanying HEAL Together World Tour drew an overwhelming crowd of over 100,000 attendees. Now, with their highly anticipated second full-length album DUAL, The Rose takes their music to new heights. Building upon the emotional honesty and vulnerability showcased in HEAL, this latest offering explores the profound concept of &#39;balance.&#39; Seamlessly merging light and dark elements, The Rose masterfully weaves emotions and sounds, capturing the dualistic essence that defines their music. Driven by unwavering dedication to their fans and the unbreakable bond of their friendship, The Rose continues to push their artistic boundaries, captivating audiences worldwide with their soul-stirring music and unforgettable performances.

Sportdad

Banda costarricense | Indie rock, garage rock, surf‑rock, psychedelic (2017) ❗

Sportdad is now <a href="spotify:artist:2e8gf6BOQ9GOm7nqsLoi3n" data-name="The Saint Cecilia">The Saint Cecilia</a> insta: @saintceciliatheband _______ Influenced by the straight up NY rock n roll and indie surf-rock from the west coast, the old 60’s and 70’s psychedelic, hard rock, folk and much more, Sportdad begins early 2018 when 20 year old Costa Rican songwriter Stewart Heigold meets Romain Garriot, French musician and DJ, at different bars and venues of San José, Costa Rica. After several encounters and conversations about music and previous experiences, they began to record the first glimpse of &#39;Sportdad’. A couple of months into recording demos, Stewart and Romain published their first song, &#39;Octopus’. The song was recorded at Infinite Recordz studio in the suburbs of San José and then mixed by American producer Gordon Raphael in Berlin. Inspired by indie DIY spirit, the Octopus video, available on the band’s Youtube and Facebook pages, was directed by Berni Razquin. With the arrival of Guillaume Devigne (bass) and Daniel Solorzano (drums) joining the cast in June 2018, Sportdad starts to hit the stage.

Sir Chloe

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, alternative rock (2017)

What is a dog to a shepherd; what is a dog to a sheep?

Tamino

Cantante, músico y modelo belga-egipcio | Indie rock, alternative rock (2016)

Every Dawn&#39;s a Mountain, coming 21 March 2025

VACATIONS

Banda australiana | Rock independiente, pop independiente, pop tintineante, baja fidelidad (2015)

australia&#39;s greatest boyband

Current Joys

Músico, multiinstrumentista, periodista y director de videos musicales estadounidense | New wave, indie rock, experimental, bedroom pop (2011)

Current Joys is Nick Rattigan

The Voidz

Banda estadounidense | Chillwave, vaporwave, indie rock, rock experimental, rock psicodélico, pop hipnagógico (2013)

As the frontman and sole songwriter of The Strokes, Julian Casablancas helped ignite a depth charge that helped reinvigorate modern music. In 2013, Casablancas morphed into the next stage in his artistic development: The Voidz. Over the course of two albums—the daring 2014 debut Tyranny and its 2018 follow-up Virtue — the Voidz’ wild genre-splicing were embraced by fans of all genres and critics alike, developing an underground cult following. In addition to Casablancas, the Voidz are bolstered by the remarkable talents of outsized personalities of the visionistic guitarist Beardo, virtuosic guitarist Amir Yaghami, greatest drummer you never heard of - Alex Carapetis, composer Jeff Kite on synths & spiritual anchor/man behind the wordz bassist/keyboardist Jake Bercovici. From experimental and heavy metal, to new wave and underground world music, all the way to old school hip-hop beats, indie rock, secret jazz, and classical leanings, the Voidz simply refer to their style (semi-jokingly) as "prison jazz." In 2023, the Voidz’ forward-in-all-directions mindset continues to run rich. Their two singles, “Prophecy Of The Dragon,” and "Flexorcist" (along with the accompanying double-header music video) felt like characters from various timelines of different musical multi-verses. Today they offer the new single “All The Same”, which as always the case with the Voidz, is not the same at all.

Saint Motel

Banda estadounidense | Indie pop, indie rock, funk rock (2007)

Symphony in the Sky, is like nothing the band has ever made. A 12-track strut through orchestral pop, it doesn’t forsake the instant tunefulness that launched Saint Motel into attention but imbues it with newfound subtlety and maturity. They took the chance to follow their changing interests and perspectives, to let literally new lives and sounds guide where they were going as a band. Saint Motel couldn’t have made this record only three years ago. But then the lights went out, and they found their own brilliant and new way into the future.

Grouplove

Banda estadounidense | Synthpop, indie pop, indie rock, rock alternativo, dance alternativo (2009)

On their new album I Want It All Right Now, GROUPLOVE offer up a body of work built on a raw but incandescent sound that vocalist/keyboardist Hannah Hooper refers to as “resistance pop.” As Hooper reveals, the Atlanta-based band’s sixth full-length emerged from a period of intense transformation for herself and her husband/bandmate, vocalist/guitarist Christian Zucconi. “For me this whole journey started with wanting or asking for certain things from the world around me, then slowly turning inward and realizing I needed to pay more attention to what was going on internally,” says Hooper. Over the course of 11 shapeshifting songs, GROUPLOVE’s debut release for Glassnote Records documents that progression from external searching to radical self-discovery, infusing each track with the wildly unbridled spirit the band has always embodied. Produced by John Congleton (a Grammy Award-winner known for his work with St. Vincent, Regina Spektor, and Sharon Van Etten), I Want It All Right Now fully harnesses the ecstatic energy GROUPLOVE have brought to the stage on multiple international headline tours and at leading festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. In a major leap forward for the band—whose lineup also includes bassist Daniel Gleason, guitarist Andrew Wessen, and drummer Ben Homola—the album explores the deepest tensions of the human psyche with equal parts tenderness, curiosity, and exacting self-revelation.

Foster the People

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, indie pop, indietronica, rock alternativo, neo-psicodelia (2009)

RIAA Diamond-certified, multi-platinum group Foster the People has become a global sensation with their vibrant dance-fueled pop music, boasting nearly 8 billion streams & 2.5 billion YouTube views. Formed in LA in 2009 by multi-instrumentalist Mark Foster, they exploded onto the scene with their 2010 debut single, “Pumped Up Kicks,” which topped Billboard’s “Alternative Songs” chart & spent 8 weeks at #3 on the Hot 100. The RIAA Diamond-certified song, with 14x Platinum sales in the US, earned a GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” & a 2012 Billboard Music Award. The song’s video also entered YouTube&#39;s Billion Views Club. Their 2011 3x Platinum debut album, Torches topped Billboard’s “Top Rock Albums” & “Top Alternative Albums” charts, and earned a GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Alternative Album.” The follow-up, Supermodel (2014), debuted at #1 on the same charts & reached #3 on the Billboard 200, featuring the Gold-certified “Coming of Age.” In 2017, they released Sacred Hearts Club, featuring 4x Platinum hit “Sit Next to Me,” which spent 20 weeks on the Billboard “Hot 100.” Their 2020 EP In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing included the single “Lamb’s Wool.” In 2021, they celebrated Torches&#39; 10th anniversary with Torches X & special live streamed shows. In 2024, Foster the People return with fourth studio album Paradise State of Mind, set to release on August 16. They released new single “Lost in Space,” promising more exciting projects to come.

Arctic Monkeys

Banda británica | Indie rock, garage rock revival, rock psicodélico, post-punk revival, rock alternativo (2002)

With their nervy and literate indie rock sound, Arctic Monkeys are a respected, adventurous, and successful group that could easily be called Britain's biggest band of the early 21st century. The band arrived with a blast in 2005, assisted by rave reviews and online word of mouth (they were one of the first bands to benefit from social media). They quickly became a sensation in the United Kingdom, where they were seen as the heir apparent to the throne left vacant by <a href="spotify:artist:2DaxqgrOhkeH0fpeiQq2f4">Oasis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4fSPtBgFPZzygkY6MehwQ7">the Libertines</a>. Buoyed by the single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor," their 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not briefly grabbed the title of fastest-selling album in British history. It landed on top of both the U.K. and U.S. rock album charts and took home the Mercury Prize. What set the group apart was <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Alex Turner</a>, a singer/songwriter with a biting wit and grasp of English vernacular (not dissimilar to <a href="spotify:artist:7Lf3LOZp3U3u2f6cWMd3AH">Paul Weller</a>, the godfather of modern British rock). However, driven by their maverick creative spirit, Arctic Monkeys have proven highly unpredictable, reworking classic rock traditions on 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare and beefing up their guitars with the assistance of <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Josh Homme</a> on 2009's Humbug. Eventually, they also laced in some of the louche lounge aspects of <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Turner</a>'s swinging side project <a href="spotify:artist:2Z7UcsdweVlRbAk5wH5fsf">the Last Shadow Puppets</a>, an evolution that began on 2018's arty Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino and deepened on its 2022 follow-up The Car. By that point, the band was a staple throughout the world. <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Alex Turner</a> and guitarist Jamie Cook began their music careers in 2001, when the friends both received guitars for Christmas. Two years later, they began performing shows around their native Sheffield with drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson, two fellow students at Stocksbridge High School. A series of demo recordings followed, and Arctic Monkeys' audience swelled as fans circulated those recordings via the Internet. The musicians soon found themselves at the center of a growing media circus, with such outlets as BBC Radio examining the band's music and mounting hype. By distributing their homemade material on the Internet, Arctic Monkeys were able to build a sizable fan base without the help of a record label, effectively circumventing the usual road to superstardom. They continued to buck tradition by signing with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino+Records%22">Domino Records</a> in 2005, eschewing a major-label's budget for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino%22">Domino</a>'s D.I.Y. cred and hip roster (which also included <a href="spotify:artist:0XNa1vTidXlvJ2gHSsRi4A">Franz Ferdinand</a>, a touchstone for the band's sound). The smart moves paid off as Arctic Monkeys' first two singles -- "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down" -- both topped the U.K. charts. Critical reception was similarly favorable, but few could have predicted the whirlwind success of the band's debut album, which ousted <a href="spotify:artist:2DaxqgrOhkeH0fpeiQq2f4">Oasis</a>' Definitely Maybe as the fastest-selling debut in British history (a record that was broken one year later by <a href="spotify:artist:5lKZWd6HiSCLfnDGrq9RAm">Leona Lewis</a>' Spirit). Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not sold 363,735 copies during its first week alone, transforming Arctic Monkeys from underground stars into mainstream figures. Arctic Monkeys' debut sold approximately 300,000 total copies in America -- enough to warrant more media coverage. Their success continued as they released a spring EP, Who the F**k Are Arctic Monkeys, and prepared for a stateside tour. Temporary bassist Nick O'Malley was brought aboard for the band's American shows, while a fatigued Nicholson stayed at home. Nicholson then announced his official departure when the band returned home in June 2006, and O'Malley remained with Arctic Monkeys as a permanent member. That fall, the guys received the 2006 Mercury Prize and donated the accompanying money to an undisclosed charity. Additional accolades included Best British Breakthrough Act at the BRIT Awards and Best New Band at the NME Awards. NME also made a bold assertion by deeming the group's debut one of the Top Five British albums ever released. Released in April 2007, Favourite Worst Nightmare updated Arctic Monkeys' sound with louder instruments and faster tempos. The bandmates had recorded the sophomore album quickly, wishing to return to the road as soon as possible, and the speedy turnaround between records helped maintain the group's popularity at home. Favourite Worst Nightmare sold 85,000 copies during its first day of release, and all 12 tracks entered the Top 200 of the U.K. singles charts. As <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Alex Turner</a> briefly turned his attention to a side project, <a href="spotify:artist:2Z7UcsdweVlRbAk5wH5fsf">the Last Shadow Puppets</a>, Arctic Monkeys received another Mercury Prize nomination and took home two titles at the 2008 BRIT Awards. Recording sessions for a third album commenced in early 2008 and lasted throughout the year, with producers James Ford (who previously worked with <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Turner</a> on <a href="spotify:artist:2Z7UcsdweVlRbAk5wH5fsf">the Last Shadow Puppets</a>' album) and <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Josh Homme</a> (frontman of <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a>) adding some newfound heft to the band's sound. Meanwhile, Arctic Monkeys released a concert album entitled At the Apollo -- with accompanying video footage captured on 35mm film -- before unveiling Humbug in August 2009. Humbug went platinum in the U.K. with the singles "Crying Lightning" peaking at number 12 and "Cornerstone" topping out at 94. The band hit the road that February, kicking off a multi-leg tour that ran through the rest of the year. After playing another handful of shows in early 2010, the guys took a short hiatus before reconvening with James Ford for their fourth album. Sessions began that fall, and the resulting Suck It and See arrived in spring 2011, topping the U.K. album chart and landing at number 14 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Turner</a> also wrote music for a Richard Ayoade film, Submarine, whose soundtrack doubled as the frontman's first solo release. In February 2012, Arctic Monkeys released a song entitled "R U Mine?" on their YouTube channel, which indicated that an album was on the way. A few months later, the band played at the London Summer Olympics opening ceremony, performing "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>' "Come Together," but it wasn't until the summer of 2013 that the group's fifth album was to be revealed. Entitled AM, the record was released in September, a few months after a triumphant headlining performance at Glastonbury 2013, which was opened with the new song "Do I Wanna Know?" Both a critical and commercial success, AM topped the British charts and reached number six on the Billboard 200. It also earned the group a Mercury Prize nomination and won British Album of the Year at the BRIT Awards. Following the end of their tour in 2014, the band entered an extended hiatus, during which time the individual members pursued solo projects. In 2016, <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Turner</a> released his second album with <a href="spotify:artist:2Z7UcsdweVlRbAk5wH5fsf">the Last Shadow Puppets</a> and toured. Arctic Monkeys resurfaced in April 2018 with the loungey Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, a softer affair than their previous albums. Along with topping the U.K. album chart and Billboard Top Rock Albums chart, the LP became the group's fourth to earn a Mercury Prize nomination. Later that year, the band issued the TBH&C B-side "Anyways" as a single. A concert album, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded during the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino tour arrived in November 2020, with all proceeds going to benefit the War Child U.K. charity organization. Arctic Monkeys began their seventh album cycle by releasing the single "There’d Better Be a Mirrorball" in August 2022, delivering the full-length The Car in October. Continuing the slow, stylish vibe of Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, the album was cut in a monastery on the coast of Suffolk. It hit number six on the Billboard 200, number two in the U.K., and picked up three Grammy nominations, including for Best Alternative Music Album. ~ Andrew Leahey & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Cat Power

Cantante y compositora estadounidense | Indie rock, soul, blues, funk, folk, sadcore, rock alternativo (1995)

An artist unafraid to bare her soul and follow her muse anywhere, Cat Power's Chan Marshall pens emotionally unflinching songs and performs them with strength and vulnerability. Her earliest albums, such as 1996's What Would the Community Think, reflected the influence of New York's experimental rock scene. As time went on, the folk, blues, and soul music she was raised on made themselves known on 1998's Moon Pix and 2006's The Greatest, which featured performances by Memphis soul legends. Though Marshall's respect for her roots made her a gifted interpreter on albums like 2008's Jukebox and 2023's Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert, her music never felt stuck in the past. As she added electronics on 2012's Sun and released one of her starkest albums yet with 2018's Wanderer, she established herself as one of the 21st century's most acclaimed singer/songwriters and paved the way for like-minded artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:2uYWxilOVlUdk4oV9DvwqK">Mitski</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4QkSD9TRUnMtI8Fq1jXJJe">Snail Mail</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6mKqFxGMS5TGDZI3XkT5Rt">Angel Olsen</a>. Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall was born Charlyn Marie Marshall in Atlanta, Georgia on January 21, 1972. Marshall's father was a blues musician, but her parents divorced when she was young, and she spent much of her nomadic childhood moving back and forth between her father, her mother, and her grandfather. She grew up singing hymns while attending church with her grandmother, and wrote her first song when she was in fourth grade. Meanwhile, she immersed herself in the <a href="spotify:artist:60df5JBRRPcnSpsIMxxwQm">Otis Redding</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">Rolling Stones</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3IYUhFvPQItj6xySrBmZkd">Credence Clearwater Revival</a> albums in her stepfather's collection; in her teens, she listened to <a href="spotify:artist:1n65zfwYIj5kKEtNgxUlWb">Siouxsie and the Banshees</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s">the Cure</a>. When Marshall was 16, she moved in with her father in Atlanta, and by 18 she had dropped out of high school and settled on her own. She became a part of the city's indie rock scene and played with several bands before forming a group called Cat Power. The name came from a trucker's cap emblazoned with "Cat Diesel Power" that Marshall spotted while working at a pizza joint. She later took Cat Power as her solo performing moniker. In 1992, Marshall moved to New York City with a former member of her band, who also introduced her to the city's experimental music community. She began playing semi-improvised shows, and in 1993 befriended the band <a href="spotify:artist:595cF94SwW4pjAaXVzrRYp">God Is My Co-Pilot</a>, who released Cat Power's debut single "Headlights" b/w "Darling Said Sir" that year on their Making of Americans label. A gig opening for <a href="spotify:artist:2LXeJdQVcFkhkWydphLI74">Liz Phair</a> made fans out of <a href="spotify:artist:334Qy1s3xPYdv0esSmWgfw">Two Dollar Guitar</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:5yrn5xvbnSDlOJZ6rZe5pe">Tim Foljahn</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>'s Steve Shelley, both of whom volunteered to help her make an album. In December 1994, they recorded 20 songs in a single day at a New York basement studio. The recordings were split into two releases: October 1995's mini-album Dear Sir, a raw outing that balanced cathartic original songs with covers of songs by <a href="spotify:artist:7x83XhcMbOTl1UdYsPTuZM">Tom Waits</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3Fb4mIjoGs89YPeaK5loP4">This Kind of Punishment</a>, and March 1996's Myra Lee, which appeared on Shelley's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Smells+Like+Records%22">Smells Like Records</a> label and featured some gentler songs alongside Marshall's outbursts. Strong reviews led to Marshall signing with Matador Records, and her third album, What Would the Community Think, appeared in September 1996. Recorded at Memphis, Tennessee's Easley Studios and produced by Shelley, the album boasted more polished and wide-ranging performances and more focused songwriting, all of which were on display on the single "Nude as the News." Following the album's release, Marshall took a break from music and left New York City, relocating to Portland, Oregon and eventually a farmhouse in South Carolina. It was there that she experienced an intense nightmare that led her to write the songs that became the heart of her next album. Working with <a href="spotify:artist:1QUsHFoDqNsC0W9AlNyHWF">the Dirty Three</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:359UWXqr5lah78ffWrQz8f">Mick Turner</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2e5Czu1HGML44EmIuNsA4o">Jim White</a> at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, Australia, September 1998's Moon Pix featured a warmer, more full-bodied sound than Cat Power's early work. The following year, Marshall embarked on a tour where she provided live accompaniment to the 1929 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc, and her setlist of original songs and covers inspired her to record some of these renditions. Appearing in March 2000, The Covers Record included a new recording of "In This Hole" from What Would the Community Think, along with interpretations of classic songs by <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Bob Dylan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0NHSh9S0VQiFfsEFbvhRXN">Moby Grape</a>, and others. The album's simple, intimate approach struck a chord with enough listeners that it reached number 44 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in the U.S. In February 2003, Marshall returned with You Are Free. Offering a more poised and cohesive sound than her previous albums, it featured guest appearances from fans <a href="spotify:artist:0mXTJETA4XUa12MmmXxZJh">Eddie Vedder</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a> as well as <a href="spotify:artist:0A8tch4LePxVn1Cn60wGXu">Ellis</a>. The album marked Cat Power's debut on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, peaking at number 105. The following October saw the release of Speaking for Trees, a DVD/CD set capturing a two-hour Cat Power performance of original and cover songs set in a woodland. During 2005, Marshall recorded The Greatest, a soul-influenced album featuring Memphis R&B legends Mabon "Teenie" Hodges and Leroy "Flick" Hodges from the <a href="spotify:artist:7JtJWZNin62Hh3cDyoPekk">Hi Records Rhythm Section</a>. Marshall's first album without cover songs, The Greatest came out in February 2006 to widespread acclaim: it debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200 and won that year's Shortlist Music Prize. She toured later that year with a group she called the Dirty Delta Blues Band, featuring <a href="spotify:artist:2e5Czu1HGML44EmIuNsA4o">White</a>, Judah Bauer of <a href="spotify:artist:2NOhotupwYbKRNJF7LMDPG">the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion</a>, and Gregg Foreman of <a href="spotify:artist:6We37VK6F8nGRS06GoCfga">the Delta 72</a>. Marshall worked on several other projects around this time, ranging from a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:0XKPHX4BZDrtSEr3Pd1Q4k">Karen Elson</a> on the <a href="spotify:artist:01C9OoXDvCKkGcf735Tcfo">Serge Gainsbourg</a> tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg: Revisited and an appearance on <a href="spotify:artist:2s4tjL6W3qrblOe0raIzwJ">Yoko Ono</a>'s album Yes, I'm a Witch to a role in the film My Blueberry Nights. The Dirty Delta Blues Band formed the core of Marshall's studio band for her next album, January 2008's Jukebox. Another set of interpretations of songs originally by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:1YzCsTRb22dQkh9lghPIrp">Billie Holiday</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7GaxyUddsPok8BuhxN6OUW">James Brown</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5hW4L92KnC6dX9t7tYM4Ve">Joni Mitchell</a>, the album built on The Greatest's success, reaching number 12 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the U.S. and selling over 100,000 copies in Europe. Marshall expanded on the album with that December's Dark End of the Street EP, which collected more songs recorded while making Jukebox. Also in 2008, she appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:3vbKDsSS70ZX9D2OcvbZmS">Beck</a>'s album Modern Guilt. The following year, Marshall contributed to the charity album Dark Was the Night and to <a href="spotify:artist:4Cedjq5BQL3MhapRvDpFED">Neko Case</a>'s album Easy Come Easy Go. After collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:0mXTJETA4XUa12MmmXxZJh">Eddie Vedder</a> on his album Ukulele Songs and releasing a version of her song "King Rides By" that benefitted The Festival of Children Foundation and The Ali Forney Center in 2011, Marshall released Sun in September 2012. Five years in the making, the album incorporated electronics into her signature style and was recorded in several locations, including her home studio in Malibu and in Paris with <a href="spotify:artist:4sf3QZW8a3xZ14IGsOAzoy">Cassius</a>' Philippe Zdar. Upon its release, it debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 album chart. Shortly after its arrival, Marshall was diagnosed with hereditary angioedema, an immune disorder that causes swelling in the body. Due to ongoing problems with the disorder, Marshall delayed her European tour until 2013. In 2015, she narrated the <a href="spotify:artist:4NgfOZCL9Ml67xzM0xzIvC">Janis Joplin</a> documentary Janis: Little Girl Blue. While continuing to tour, Marshall began work on her next album, recording in Miami and Los Angeles with engineer Jeff Dominguez and mixer Rob Schnapf. Marshall made her <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino+Records%22">Domino Records</a> debut with 2018's Wanderer, a set of stripped-down, folk and blues-inspired songs that included "Woman," a collaboration with former tourmate <a href="spotify:artist:00FQb4jTyendYWaN8pK0wa">Lana Del Rey</a>, and a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a>'s "Stay." Wanderer peaked at number 96 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and reached number four on the Independent Albums chart. Several new songs from Marshall appeared on the soundtrack to the 2021 film Flag Day, and that year she toured with <a href="spotify:artist:6ogn9necmbUdCppmNnGOdi">Alanis Morissette</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6S0GHTqz5sxK5f9HtLXn9q">Garbage</a>. In January 2022, Marshall released Covers, her third collection of interpretations of some of her favorite songs; these included works originally performed by artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:00FQb4jTyendYWaN8pK0wa">Del Rey</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2h93pZq0e7k5yf4dywlkpM">Frank Ocean</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2wzMOQwNT6ZvVB4amvhFAH">the Pogues</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4fxdqujwhb2NIQyr7qnnPX">Kitty Wells</a>. That November, Cat Power ventured to London's Royal Albert Hall to perform a song-for-song re-creation of <a href="spotify:artist:74ASZWbe4lXaubB36ztrGX">Bob Dylan</a>'s famed May 1966 concert, where he switched from acoustic to electric mid-show (though the show was actually held the Manchester Free Trade Hall, a mislabeled bootleg made it forever known as the "Royal Albert Hall Concert"). A year later, the reverential set was released as Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert. ~ Heather Phares & Mark Deming, Rovi

Duster

Banda estadounidense | Indie rock, rock espacial, slowcore, lo-fi (1996)

Duster began working together in a makeshift home studio space they called Low Earth Orbit, tracking on cheap analog equipment.

BABYMETAL

Grupo Idol japones | Heavy metal, kawaii metal, idol, trance metal, power metal, thrash metal, metalcore, j-pop, metal alternativo (2010)

BABYMETAL SU-METAL（Vocal・Dance） MOAMETAL（Scream・Dance） MOMOMETAL（Scream・Dance）

Pierce the Veil

Banda estadounidense | Post-hardcore, pop punk, rock experimental, rock alternativo, emo, screamo (2006)

Right now, Pierce the Veil are at their most raw, crackling with urgency and immediacy. Never predictable, always engaging, Pierce the Veil continue to soar on the strength of highly potent energy, rich musicality, and a scrappy sense of authentic exuberant ambition that&#39;s frankly unrivaled. Frontman Vic Fuentes, guitarist Tony Perry, and bassist Jaime Preciado put volatile, angsty, confessional emotions into the music, which is why their songs resonate with so many. "No matter where the band performs, fans will show up," wrote Loudwire. "When you see Pierce The Veil live, you&#39;ll understand why." PTV&#39;s evolution from album to album is nothing less than stunning. The early buzz generated by A Flair for the Dramatic (2007) made its follow-up one of the most anticipated albums of 2010. Selfish Machines shot to No.1 on Billboard&#39;s Heatseekers chart. The Chicago Tribune saluted Collide with the Sky for its "post-hardcore punk with more than a few nods to Queen." They became a true arena act on Misadventures, selling out huge venues without losing the intimate connection with their fans. Pierce the Veil have long cemented their status as one of the most exciting and relevant acts in their genre — by constantly evolving.

Late 9

Banda estadounidense | Post‑hardcore, metalcore (2019) ❗

Formed in late 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. Comprised of members Kyle Farrar (vocals), Dennis Burt (guitar), Vinnie Bellows (guitar), and Shaye Pagel (bass) the band quickly gained attention on social media platforms, especially with their viral and charting single "Repeated Apology." Combining a modern edge with classic post hardcore and metalcore influences, Late 9 delivers a fresh sound along with authentic lyrics and a strong sense of community. Each song showcases their talents and growth as a band. Since their formation, Late 9 has been steadily making a name for themselves in the rock/metal scene and are cementing a name and on their way to becoming a household act of their generation.

Get Scared

Banda estadounidense | Post-hardcore, emo, rock alternativo, metalcore (2008)

As much a call to arms as it is a moniker, Layton, Utah&#39;s Get Scared put a gothic spin on post-hardcore. Formed in 2008 by singer Nicholas Matthews, guitarists Johnny Braddock <a href="spotify:artist:5sXeAfuBStpZnoH8FzQD6f" data-name="Victims Aren't We All">Victims Aren't We All</a> and guitarist Adam Virostko, Bassist Bradley "Lloyd" Iverson, and drummer Dan Juarez, the band progressed with the intention of pushing themselves out of their musical comfort zones, expanding their songwriting to new places in an effort to grow artistically. The result is a mix of gothic/horror imagery and driving post-hardcore/metalcore, adding a dark touch to the their driving, emotional sound. Get Scared signed to Universal Motown and in 2011 made their full-length debut with Best Kind of Mess. An EP, Built For Blame, Laced With Shame, arrived in 2012, followed in 2013 by the band&#39;s sophomore long player Everyone&#39;s Out to Get Me, their first outing for Fearless Records. In 2012 the band issued their third full-length LP, Demons, again via Fearless. ~ Gregory Heaney, Rovi

Static Dress

Banda inglesa | Post-hardcore, metalcore, emo, screamo (2018)

www.staticdress.com

Kublai Khan

Banda estadounidense | Hardcore / metallic hardcore, metallic hardcore, hardcore punk, metal (2014) ❗

Not to be confused with the '80s speed metal band of the same name, Kublai Khan are a metalcore quartet from North Texas who formed in the summer of 2009. The group's aggressive, punishing sound combines monstrous riffs and thrashing blastbeats with thoughtful lyrics that address issues such as racism, depression, and addiction. The group consists of guitarist/vocalist Nolan Ashley, vocalist/lyricist Matt Honeycutt, bassist Eric English, and drummer Isaac Lamb. After forming in 2009, they self-released their debut EP, Youth War, in January of 2011. The group built up a fan base through solid regional and national touring, and eventually opened for bands such as the Acacia Strain, Fit for a King, and Texas in July. The group signed to Artery Recordings in early 2014, releasing their debut full-length, Balancing Survival and Happiness, that spring. Kublai Khan toured Europe with Obey the Brave in the spring of 2014, and appeared at the Impericon Festival in Germany. The group's second album, New Strength, appeared on Artery the following year. In 2017, the band inked a deal with Rise Records and issued their third studio long-player, Nomad. ~ Paul Simpson

Avatarium

Banda sueca | Doom metal, progressive rock, occult rock (2013)

AVATARIUM was founded in 2012 by Leif Edling, CANDLEMASS. The project soon saw the arrival of Marcus Jidell (Grammy nominee producer) and Jennie-Ann Smith who brought an air of charisma with her soulful grace. Their eclectic approach resulted in the widely celebrated EP »Moonhorse« (2013), but the real impact came when the band released their eponymous debut album in the very same year. Their first live appearance outside Sweden happened at the legendary Roadburn festival in 2014 – resulting in another EP called »All I Want«. Since then they have expanded their touring to all over the world thanks to subsequent full lengths »The Girl With The Raven Mask« (2015) and »Hurricanes And Halos« (2017). In the meantime, AVATARIUM has become an entity on its own. While Leif Edling still contributed three songs for the new album, the band’s current nucleus consists of Marcus Jidell and Jennie-Ann Smith, who are accompanied by Rickard Nilsson keyboards, Mats Rydström bass and new drummer Andreas ‘Habo’ Johansson. This open-minded, yet doom-laden collective draws elements of folk, jazz and psychedelic brilliance into a grandiose amalgamation that manages to maintain an almost pop-like elegance.In the end of 2019 they released the album "The Fire I Long For". The band is a superior vessel with which the individuals can express emotions and thoughts – about life and afterlife, about relationships and the essential themes in life.The result is a heavy, dark gospel of emotional bliss.

Draconian

Banda sueca | Death/doom, metal gótico (1994)

In 2003, DRACONIAN released their debut album and since then, the Swedish Doom/Goth sextet&#39;s sound has always remained steadfast to its origins. In particular, the powerful vocal growls of Anders Jacobsson, one of the band&#39;s defining and most unique features, along with Heike Langhans&#39;s melodic and atmospheric female vocals. The band delivered six studio albums so far, with which they immediately convince the listener with Beauty and the Beast-esque vocal contrasts, striking accents, and threatening moods. Anno 2020, once again bringing agony to an end, “Under a Godless Veil” is set to be released in October 2020. By far the most diverse album they have created. From traditional Doom to scaled-down, Gothic rock-inspired pieces and more, some will perhaps describe the songs as more refined and meditative. Some ambient elements have been added to the mix without overshadowing the traditional characteristics that are DRACONIAN. Resonating with the compositions, Anders’s lyrical direction is ambiguous and a progression of the first two-three albums, yet more subtle while embracing the Gnostic philosophy more directly. One could say DRACONIAN’s “Under a Godless Veil” is an act of contemplation; About living and dying and remembering who we are in a strange, abrasive world far from home.

Eleine

Banda sueca | Metal sinfónico (2014)

ELEINE is a multifaceted, intense, epically empowering metal band from Sweden, founded 2014 and led by vocalist Madeleine Liljestam and guitarist/growler Rikard Ekberg. ELEINE have released four successful albums (<a href="spotify:album:3ojV20I08KyUC25ujCLbG6" data-name="Eleine">Eleine</a>, <a href="spotify:album:70rnktoLuLfWqt0IC3np6R" data-name="Until the End">Until the End</a>, <a href="spotify:album:0T4ce8P9dnNoA1Nud6Krbq" data-name="Dancing in Hell">Dancing in Hell</a>, We Shall Remain) since 2015, all of which beautifully illuminate the remarkably sorted and exquisitely balanced dark mixture this enticing collective is capable of producing. Indeed, the authors push their high-class, theatrical and cinematic flair to the extreme, manifesting an atmospheric world where dark metal collide with their influences from thrash-, black- and death-metal in a fantastically captivating fashion. The persistently fascinating originality of these passionate thoroughbred artists reveals itself quite effortlessly in every single moment of listening. ELEINE released their 3rd full-length album <a href="spotify:album:0T4ce8P9dnNoA1Nud6Krbq" data-name="Dancing in Hell">Dancing in Hell</a> in the middle of the pandemic, November 2020. <a href="spotify:album:0T4ce8P9dnNoA1Nud6Krbq" data-name="Dancing in Hell">Dancing in Hell</a> instantly placed high on the sales charts and the album took the band to the next level. January 2022 the band announced they signed a deal with the new mighty record label Reigning Phoenix Music and while working on new material for the next album. In July 2023 they released their latest album “We Shall Remain” and went on their first headliner tour in Europe + UK October 2024 that became such a success, so Pt. 2 in Europe 2025 is announced!

Myrath

Banda tunecina | Folk metal progresivo, maqam, power metal, metal progresivo, thrash metal, groove metal, power metal sinfónico, power metal neoclásico (2001)

Blazing.Desert.Metal from Tunisia. Myrath honor their regional heritage by incorporating middle eastern instrumentation into their heady mix of power metal and cinematic prog rock. Based out of the coastal city of Ezzahra, the group was originally formed in 2001 as a covers band by guitarist Malek Ben Arbia, who at the time was only 13 years old. As the band continued to improve and develop some progressive muscle, they began writing originals and making festival appearances. In 2007, after issuing a Tunisia-only demo called Double Face two years prior, Myrath released their official debut album, Hope. Desert Call arrived in 2010, followed by Tales of the Sands (2011), and Legacy (2016)

Varials

Banda estadounidense | Nu metalcore, metalcore, beatdown hardcor (2013)

Balance occurs in the midst of extremes. Varials seamlessly alternate between moments of crushing power and melodic poise, unlocking harmony in the middle of opposite poles. The Philadelphia quintet—Mitchell Rogers [vocals], Mike Foley [bass], James Hohenwarter [guitar], Shane Lyons [guitar],and Sean Rauchut [drums]—continue to sharpen this signature style with searing intensity, uncontainable energy, and uncompromising creativity. They’ve carefully cultivated this sound over the years. The guys attracted a devout fanbase with Pain Again [2017] and In Darkness [2019]. The latter yielded “Romance,” which amassed 3 million Spotify streams and counting. Of the title track, Decibel raved, “Varials have their own modern spin on hybridizing metal and hardcore into a powerful new amalgam.” Meanwhile, they hit the road with the likes of All That Remains, Wage War, Oceans Ate Alaska, Kublai Khan, and more. During 2021, Mitchell assumed full vocal duties for the band. After amassing tens of millions of streams and earning acclaim from Decibel, Revolver, and Alternative Press to name a few, the band deliver controlled chaos like never before on their third full-length album for Fearless Records Scars For You To Remember.

Heart of a Coward

Banda inglesa | Metalcore, djent, metal progresivo (2007)

Heart of a Coward is a British metalcore band that was formed in 2009. The band consists of vocalist Kaan Tasan, guitarists Carl Ayers and Dan Thornton, bassist Vishal "V" Khetia, and drummer Christopher "Noddy" Mansbridge. The band&#39;s music is known for its heavy and aggressive sound, which combines elements of metalcore, deathcore, and djent. They are also known for incorporating melodic elements into their music, creating a balance between heaviness and melody. Heart of a Coward released their debut album, "Hope and Hindrance," in 2012, which received critical acclaim and helped establish the band&#39;s sound and style. They have since released several other albums, including "Severance" (2013), "Deliverance" (2015), and "The Disconnect" (2019). Throughout their career, Heart of a Coward has toured extensively, performing at various festivals and sharing stages with other popular metal bands. Their music has gained a significant following, particularly in the UK metal scene, and they continue to be a prominent force in the genre.

God Complex

Banda británica | Metalcore, hardcore punk (2017) ❗

Created sick to decay in a deathless world.

Ice Nine Kills

Banda estadounidense | Metalcore, post hardcore, metal alternativo, metal sinfónico (2002)

Ice Nine Kills spread cavalier carnage with a knowing smile, as evidenced by the densely catchy songs on their pair of breakthrough albums, The Silver Scream and The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood. The INKverse boasts a series of high-concept, cinematic videos; the Psychos Only club; a mock “true crime” book; the Inked in Blood graphic novels; monthly “Nightmare on the 9th” merch drops; and the annual INK-curated Silver Scream Convention weekends. In 2024, Silver Scream Con moved into the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts – not far from the North Shore birthplace of Ice Nine Kills. Led by Spencer Charnas, the internationally acclaimed band (who mix extreme metal with melody) toured with Slipknot in 2022 and was handpicked by Metallica for the M72 World Tour in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The horror community Spencer grew up loving has embraced his band in return. INK’s “A Work of Art” plays in 2024’s Terrifier 3, now the highest-grossing unrated film ever.

Pantera

Banda estadounidense | Groove metal, thrash metal, glam metal (1981)

The preeminent metal band of the early to mid-'90s, Pantera put to rest any and all remnants of the '80s metal scene, almost single-handedly demolishing any notion that hair metal, speed metal, power metal, et al., were anything but passé. Loathe to admit it, the Texas band had in fact been one of those '80s metal bands, releasing fairly unsuccessful (and later disowned) glam-inspired music throughout much of the decade. The about-face came with the addition of vocalist Phil Anselmo, and the key turning point was the band's major-label debut, Cowboys from Hell (1990). Pantera's mainstream breakthrough came next with Vulgar Display of Power (1992), their second major-label album, which thrust the band to the forefront of the metal scene, alongside such veteran bands as <a href="spotify:artist:2ye2Wgw4gimLv2eAKyk1NB">Metallica</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Yox196W7bzVNZI7RBaPnf">Megadeth</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1IQ2e1buppatiN1bxUVkrk">Slayer</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3JysSUOyfVs1UQ0UaESheP">Anthrax</a>, as well as fellow up-and-comers <a href="spotify:artist:6JW8wliOEwaDZ231ZY7cf4">Sepultura</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0CF71zaDOJWCynIkW9bSK8">White Zombie</a>. By the time Pantera unleashed Far Beyond Driven (1994), after two long years of touring, they were the most popular metal band in the land: the new album debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 as its lead single, "I'm Broken," was getting massive airplay. At the height of their popularity and influence, Pantera began to self-destruct. Less than two months after the release of The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) -- an album ridden with allusions to drug abuse and personal destruction -- Anselmo overdosed on heroin after a homecoming concert in Texas, and as tensions rose between him and his fellow bandmembers, he began engaging with a growing list of side projects that kept him away from Pantera. A live album, Official Live: 101 Proof (1997), was compiled for release when it became evident that no new studio album was forthcoming any time soon. One final studio album did result, Reinventing the Steel (2000), but that was more or less it for the briefly reunited Pantera. The bandmembers once again went their separate ways, forming such bands as <a href="spotify:artist:4fE4Bf0MM6lMJpHiHniPuW">Damageplan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1m0B9ak05G0jqDY4ACLhQu">Down</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2K5ouPQEC1lbHfUTbbjh0a">Superjoint Ritual</a>. The end of Pantera then became official on December 8, 2004, when guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7ozkOJRZcDU9B3DlmZKS9s">Dimebag Darrell</a> was murdered on-stage by a deranged fan. This much-publicized murder shone the spotlight back on Pantera for an extended moment, and amid all of the emotional outpouring and tributes, a consensus arose: in retrospect, there was no greater metal band during the early to mid-'90s than Pantera, who inspired a legion of rabid fans and whose oft-termed "groove metal" style bucked all prevailing trends of the day -- from hair metal and grunge to nu-metal and rap-metal -- and remains singular to this day, as defined by the vocals of Anselmo as it is by the guitar of <a href="spotify:artist:7ozkOJRZcDU9B3DlmZKS9s">Dimebag</a>. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi

Rammstein

Banda alemana | Neue Deutsche Härte, metal industrial, metal alternativo (1994)

Rammstein are one of rock’s most individual and successful names, a multiple award-winning outfit with a vision that continues to evolve. Since forming in 1994, the six East Berliners have headlined the world’s major festivals and stadiums, selling millions of albums, and topping charts worldwide. For the Rammstein kollektiv, and it’s the same line-up now as at the start, it’s always been a case of marching to their own beat; they sing in German, side-step those visuals typical of the metal world, and present an incendiary live experience that touches all of the senses – an experience underpinned by cultural and artistic weight. To date, there are seven studio albums under the Rammstein banner, the most recent being 2019’s untitled release – a body of work that headed the charts in 14 countries and went Top 10 in the US, breaking new ground. Produced by the band with Olsen Involtini, this 11-tracker (double platinum in Germany) was preceded by lead single ‘Deutschland’, a domestic No. 1 supported by a nine-minute movie – an epic, unflinching look at German history directed by Specter Berlin. Not only was this album a decade in the making, it also saw the musicians taking their legendary live show into Stadiums, selling 800,000 tickets immediately and eventually playing to over 1.2 million fans across 17 countries. The next leg of the European Stadium Tour takes place in spring / summer 2021, with most venues sold out. Dante Bonutto, 2020

Slipknot

Banda estadounidense | Metal alternativo, heavy metal, nu metal, rap metal, groove meta (1995)

There was never a band like SLIPKNOT, and there will never be another. Like a spore out of the Midwest, they’ve quietly bloomed into the most uncompromising, undeniable, and unique presence on the planet whose influence transcends genres and generations. Since sowing the seeds for revolution in Iowa during 1999, these musical outliers have captured a GRAMMY Award alongside 10 nominations, scored 12 Platinum / 41 Gold album certifications around the world, and logged over 8.5 billion global streams and 3.5 billion video views to date - unprecedented for a rock act in this generation or any other. Rolling Stone cited the seminal platinum-selling 2001 album Iowa among “The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time,” while The Ringer attested, “They’re the most important heavy band of their era.” In addition to marking the group’s third consecutive #1 debut on the Billboard Top 200, their sixth full-length album, WE ARE NOT YOUR KIND, bowed at #1 in twelve countries worldwide in 2019. Selling out shows on multiple continents, they deliver an irreplicable multi-sensory experience on tour and through their own festival KNOTFEST. With their seventh album THE END, SO FAR, SLIPKNOT are back, and nothing will be the same again.

Korn

Banda estadounidense | Nu metal, metal alternativo (1993)

KORN changed the world with the release of their self-titled debut album. It was a record that would pioneer a genre, while the band’s enduring success points to a larger cultural moment. The FADER notes, “There was an unexpected opening in the pop landscape and KORN articulated a generational coming-of-angst for a claustrophobic, self-surveilled consciousness. KORN became the soundtrack for a generation’s arrival as a snarling, thrashing, systemically-restrained freak show.” Since forming, KORN has sold 40 million albums worldwide, collected two GRAMMYS, toured the world countless times, and set many records in the process that will likely never be surpassed. Vocalist Jonathan Davis, guitarists James “Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch, bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, and drummer Ray Luzier, have continued to push the limits of the rock, alternative and metal genres, while remaining a pillar of influence for legions of fans and generations of artists around the globe. The level of KORN’s reach transcends accolades and platinum certifications. They are “a genuine movement in a way bands cannot be now,” attests The Ringer. They represent a new archetype and radical innovation, their ability to transcend genre makes barriers seem irrelevant.

Papa Roach

Banda estadounidense | Nu metal, metal alternativo, hard rock, heavy metal, rap metal, rock alternativo (1993)

Papa Roach, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated, Platinum-selling pioneers of Alternative Hard Rock, is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of their groundbreaking album INFEST in 2025. Known for their candid approach to mental health, the band has long used their platform to raise awareness for the topic and the cause of suicide prevention, initially with their iconic hit "Last Resort” and through their recent collaboration with Carrie Underwood on "Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark)" which continues to climb the charts almost full year after its release. The ever-evolving band has released eleven studio albums to date, with their latest, Ego Trip, on their own label, New Noize Records. The band’s music has racked up over 850 million streams globally, with Ego Trip producing four #1 singles and adding to their impressive tally of 26 Top-10 hits and 12 #1s across Rock, Alternative, and Hot AC charts. Now, Papa Roach is kicking off a new chapter with the release of "Even If It Kills Me." Following sold-out arenas in the UK and Europe, their Rise of the Roach tour will continue across North American arenas and amphitheaters in 2025.

Deftones

Banda estadounidense | Metal alternativo, nu metal, rock alternativo, post-hardcore, shoegaze, dream pop, post-metal (1988)

Formed in Sacramento, CA, in 1988, the multiplatinum GRAMMY® Award-winning Deftones are an influential alternative presence with 10 million records sold worldwide as of 2020. The quintet’s career spans three platinum albums—Adrenaline [1995], Around The Fur [1997], and White Pony [2000]—as well as a 2001 GRAMMY® Award, a gold album Deftones [2003], and countless critical plaudits. Following the success of Diamond Eyes [2010] and Koi No Yokan [2012], Gore landed at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2016, moving over 71K units first week and marking their highest chart position in 13 years. Not to mention, they curated, launched, presented, and headlined their own festival, Dia De Los Deftones, in 2018. Selling out both installments to date, the eclectic lineups hosted everyone from Future and CHVRCHES to Gojira and Megan Thee Stallion. In 2020, Deftones continued their trailblazing arc as an alternative leader with their ninth full-length album, Ohms, and a thrilling full-album remix of White Pony.

10 Years

Banda estadounidense | Metal alternativo, rock alternativo, nu metal, hard rock, post-grunge (1999)

For nearly two decades, 10 Years have quietly pushed themselves and modern rock towards evolution. Building a formidable catalog, the group’s gold-selling 2005 breakthrough The Autumn Effect yielded the hit “Wasteland,” which went gold, infiltrated the Billboard Hot 100, and clinched #1 at Active Rock Radio and #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart. They landed three Top 30 entries on the Billboard Top 200 with Division [2008], Feeding the Wolves [2010], and Minus the Machine [2012]. Most recently, 2017’s (How to Live) As Ghosts marked a reunion between Jesse, Brian, and Matt and achieved marked success. Not only did the album bow in the Top 5 of the US Top Hard Rock Albums Chart, but it also yielded the hit “Novacaine.” The single ascended to the Top 5 of the Billboard US Mainstream Rock Songs Chart and tallied 16 million Spotify streams, alongside 29 million streams across all dsp’s. The cumulative total for all track streams from repertoire on How To Live (As Ghosts) exceeds 51 million plays. Along the way, they sold out countless headline shows and toured with everyone from Korn, Deftones, and Stone Sour to Chris Cornell and Linkin Park. The new album, Violent Allies, is a collaboration with GRAMMY® Award-winning producer and Feeding the Wolves collaborator Howard Benson [My Chemical Romance, Halestorm, Papa Roach, Three Days Grace].

Chevelle

Banda estadounidense | Metal alternativo, hard rock, nu metal, rock alternativo, post-grunge (1995)

the GazettE

Banda japonesa | Metal alternativo, hard rock, nü metal, metalcore, industrial metal, rock alternativo, j-rock (2002)

the GazettE is a Japanese rock band formed by Vo. RUKI, Gt.麗(URUHA), Gt.葵 (AOI), Ba. REITA and Dr.戒 (KAI). With their aggressive sounds and fascinating looks, the band&#39;s popularity has grown steadily since their formation in 2002. They have 9 albums released, all of their releases have ranked within the TOP 10 in the Japanese charts since 2005. Apart from their sound, their overwhelming live performances have gained them great praise from in- and outside Japan, making them the No.1 in Visual-kei - a unique culture phenomenon of Japan. the GazettE 2002年03月10日結成 都内を中心に精力的にライブ活動を続け、破竹の勢いで規模を拡大させていく。 2006年に初の日本武道館公演、更にアリーナ公演を経て2010年には東京ドーム公演を敢行。 2011年以降は多ジャンル参加の大型フェスにも積極的に参加し、 2013年には自身初のワールドツアー行う。 2016年、2019年と規模を拡大し、世界13ヶ国22都市で成功を収めている。 その後も現在に至るまで活動のフィールドをさらに広げ、独自の世界観は国内外で高く評価されている。

Anhedonia

Banda estadounidense | Deathcore, metal (2019) ❗

Formed mid 2017 by front-man, Rudy Vargas, Anhedonia began its inception in-studio at Rapture Recordings located in Hayward, CA USA. The concept of the band and sound came to life when recording the single titled, "So Far Below" produced by Cody Fuentes of Spite (also featuring a guest bass performance). Cody then introduced Josh Miller of Emmure/Darko to be featured on drums, helping skyrocket the project off the ground. In September of 2018, the band released its first lyric video single "So Far Below" (ft. Cody Fuentes & Josh Miller), thus setting the punishing and unforgiving tone of the upcoming album. The release of singles “Make Them Bleed” and “Eternity of Flesh” soon followed, paving the way for the official premiere of the band&#39;s first music video/title track “Virulence” via Slam Worldwide in July of 2019. December 2019, Anhedonia released the album “Virulence” in full, featuring guest performances from members of Spite, Emmure/Darko, Drag The Lake, and even Slaughter to Prevail’s “Alex Terrible.” The band has shared the stage with numerous national and international acts, and have released its newest dark chapter in the form of an EP by the title "Ora Tenebris".

Belphegor

Banda austraca | Blackened death metal (1991)

Mortician

Banda estadounidense | Brutal death metal/Deathgrind (1989)

A grindcore-influenced death-metal duo from Yonkers, NY, Mortician is made up of vocalist/bassist Will Rahmer and guitarist/drum machine programmer Roger Beaujard. Although the group's sound is extreme and inaccessible to many ears, their song intros and use of slasher-film samples demonstrate a sense of humor (albeit a morbid one), overall a rare commodity in a genre that usually thrives on a dark, threatening posture. Mortician signed with the Relapse label and debuted in 1993 with Mortal Massacre, following it with 1996's The House by the Cemetery EP and 1997's full-length, evocatively titled Hacked Up for Barbecue. Further releases included 1998's Zombie Apocalypse and 1999's Chainsaw Dismemberment, which saw producer Desmond Tolhurst beginning to contribute guitar work as well. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

Vulvodynia

Banda sudafricana | Deathcore, brutal death metal, technical death metal (2014) ❗

Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming Africa’s most eviscerating export: Slamming Brutal Death Metal. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors.

Paleface

Banda suiza | Deathcore, metalcore, nu deathcore (2017)

The neutrality Switzerland is known for globally does not apply to PALEFACE SWISS. They came to destroy.

Cannibal Corpse

Banda estadounidense | Death metal, brutal death metal (1988)

Violence Unimagined. The title tells you everything you need to know about Cannibal Corpse&#39;s fifteenth hellish opus. Comprised of eleven tracks, it is state of the art death metal played with passion and breathless precision, making for another flawless addition to what is inarguably one of the premier catalogues the genre has thrown up. While they continue to do what they do with aplomb, the one substantial change to Cannibal Corpse in 2020 is the addition of guitarist Erik Rutan to their ranks, joining Webster, founding drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Rob Barrett and vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Known for his roles in Morbid Angel, Ripping Corpse and most notably fronting the mighty Hate Eternal, Rutan has long established himself as one of the most dynamic forces in contemporary death metal. Simultaneously, he has built up a reputation as one of the most in demand producers in metal, having previously produced four Cannibal Corpse albums, alongside the likes of Goatwhore, Soilent Green and Belphegor. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process. And it would not be a Cannibal Corpse album without striking artwork from Vince Locke, and Violence Unimagined is no different - this time, the cover featuring a mother eating her own baby, though Webster concedes that for censorship reasons, they have had Locke do a complimentary piece that will be more widely released.

Brutality

Banda estadounidense | Death metal (1986)

One of the most popular acts to emerge out of Florida, USA’s burgeoning death metal scene, Brutality had actually developed over several years following their formation in 1988. The original line-up featured Scott Reigel (vocals), Don Gates (guitar), Jay Fernandez (guitar), Jeff Acres (bass/vocals) and Jim Coker (drums). Typically for the genre, they subsisted in the early days through the demo network, although there were also two singles (‘Hell On Earth’ and ‘Sadistic’) for the European label Nuclear Blast. These introduced Brutality’s trademark sound, aggressive rhythms topped by Reigel’s distinctive vocals. The violence of the sound, more fully visited on the 1993 debut album Screams Of Anguish and the subsequent When The Sky Turns Black (1994) was all-encompassing. The second album featured new guitarist Bryan Hipp (b. USA, d. 21 October 2006), and further personnel change was to follow with the introduction of guitarists Dana Walsh and Pete Sykes alongside Reigel, Acres and Coker on 1996’s In Mourning. Brutality broke up in the late 90s but have re-formed on several occasions in the new millennium, with Reigel, Acres and Coker joined by a number of different guitarists.

Obituary

Banda estadounidense | Death metal, thrash metal (1984)

Possessed and Death may have brought death metal to life, but Obituary brought it to fruition. After releasing some demos as Xecutioner as far back as 1986, the five-man band debuted as Obituary in 1989 with Slowly We Rot, and in a word, the album was a landmark. The previous forays into what would quickly become tagged as death metal -- primarily by the above-mentioned bands, Possessed and Death, along with grindcore innovators Repulsion and Napalm Death -- were exercises in relentlessness. These bands took the breakneck abandon of Slayer's Reign in Blood one step further, to the point of sheer, sometimes even ridiculous musical abandon. Obituary, on the other hand, varied their tempo considerably -- and did so at the absolute height of speed metal nonetheless. Yes, the band could play at breakneck speed, but within the same song, guitarists Allen West and Trevor Peres could slow the tempo down to dirge-like levels at a moment's notice, all the while keeping the music heavy as hell thanks to downtuned guitars and the snarling vocals of John Tardy. As a result, Slowly We Rot made quite a splash back in 1989, influencing an entire legion of death metal bands in Florida: Morbid Angel, Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse, and numerous others now forgotten among the thousands of international bands that followed. In a way, Slowly We Rot was the prototypical death metal album, establishing a template that would come to define the style (one that is distinct from grindcore or black metal, it should be pointed out). A few albums followed -- Cause of Death (1990) and The End Complete (1992), both also very influential -- but by the mid-'90s, Obituary had run their course and the band splintered, reuniting now and then. Yet even as the bandmembers went their separate ways (most notably West going on to much success as the guitarist in Six Feet Under), Obituary continued to stand tall as one of the definitive death metal bands, if not the definitive (a distinction that probably goes to Death, whose James Murphy was actually a bandmember for a while). A long period without recording ended in 2005 when the band released Frozen in Time. Although Xecutioners Return followed just two years later, it appeared on a different label (Candlelight instead of the band's perennial Roadrunner) and it was recorded without guitarist West (whose alcohol and drug problems led to his being replaced by Ralph Santolla of Millenium and Deicide fame). Darkest Day followed in 2009, also on Candlelight. Both Santolla and longtime bassist Frank Watkins (the latter of whom passed away in 2015 after battling cancer) left not long after, and in 2014 the band released its crowdfunded ninth album, Inked in Blood. It was the first Obituary album to feature Kenny Andrews on lead guitar and Terry Butler on bass. The album performed surprisingly well on the charts, resulting in Obituary's first appearance on the U.S. album charts. Two years later, the band issued Ten Thousand Ways to Die, which featured a pair of brand-new studio singles along with 12 live tracks. In 2017, Obituary released what would be their tenth studio album. The self-titled record drew widespread acclaim, with many critics noting a sense of renewed life in the band. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Megadeth

Banda estadounidense | Thrash metal, heavy metal (1983)

To be released by UMe on September 2, 2022, The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! further establishes MEGADETH as a band that has both defined and repeatedly redefined heavy metal since formation, and which follows up 2016’s Grammy®-winning Dystopia, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 (MEGADETH’s highest chart position since its 1992 classic Countdown to Extinction). MEGADETH has crafted a record with a visceral energy, heaviness, and sometimes paranormal pace that few would expect from such a seasoned band with so little to prove. The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! melds the ultra-frenetic riffing, fiercely intricate guitar solos, and adventurous spirit of the quartet’s groundbreaking early output with the musicality and melodicism of its ‘90s songwriting, all laced with signature virtuosity and precision – plus, of course, Mustaine’s singular vocal snarl and wry, take-no-shit lyrical vitriol. “I don’t think we’re nearing the end, not even remotely,” Mustaine concludes. “I feel more energized now that I have in decades.” Appropriately, the album closes with “We’ll Be Back” ...

Mötley Crüe

Banda estadounidense | Glam metal, hard rock, heavy metal (1981)

MÖTLEY CRÜE is The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band. Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, the quartet—Vince Neil (vocals), Mick Mars (guitars), Nikki Sixx (bass), and Tommy Lee (drums)— has commandeered the rock pantheon for 40 years. They&#39;ve accumulated worldwide album sales exceeding 100m, 7 platinum and multi-platinum albums, 22 Top 40 mainstream rock hits, 6 Top 20 pop singles, 3 GRAMMY nominations, 4 New York Times best-sellers and even landed a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With utmost success from their Netflix biopic, The Dirt and its soundtrack, the band landed another #1 album on iTunes and Top 10 worldwide with 22 chart-topping singles and 7 albums on the charts. Its massive global success saw Mötley Crüe&#39;s popularity soar to new highs, catapulting the band&#39;s music back to the top of the worldwide charts with the younger 18-44 demographic now representing 64% of the band&#39;s fanbase. In the six months following the release of THE DIRT, Mötley Crüe has celebrated a meteoric rise of almost 350% increase in streams of their music across all streaming platforms. Known for their iconic live performances, they&#39;ve sold-out countless tours across the globe in front of millions of fans with groundbreaking production highlights such as Tommy Lee&#39;s, Crüecifly-Drum-Rollercoaster and Nikki Sixx&#39;s Flame-Throwing-Bass.

Lovelorn Dolls

Banda belga | Gothic rock, dark wave (2010)

SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: www.lovelorndolls.info In the heart of Belgium&#39;s thriving music scene lies a band that encapsulates the dark allure of Gothic music while infusing it with the vibrant energy of synth-rock—LOVELORN DOLLS. This enigmatic musical entity has carved its niche, captivating audiences with their unique fusion, often compared to the haunting melodicism of Theatre of Tragedy, the ethereal aura of Lacuna Coil, and the pulsating rhythms akin to The Birthday Massacre. The band&#39;s sonic journey finds its roots in the illustrious catalog of ALFA MATRIX, the label that became the home to their artistic endeavors. ALFA MATRIX, renowned for nurturing avant-garde and innovative musical acts, recognized LOVELORN DOLLS&#39; potential, providing them with a platform to unleash their creativity and connect with a global audience. The influence of Theatre of Tragedy is palpable in LOVELORN DOLLS&#39; music, reflected in the evocative storytelling and atmospheric depth that ensnares the senses. At the same time, echoes of Lacuna Coil resonate through the haunting yet emotive vocal deliveries that define the band&#39;s signature sound. Meanwhile, akin to The Birthday Massacre, their compositions exude an infectious energy, blending melancholic tones with a vibrant, almost otherworldly ambiance.

The Cemetary Girlz

Banda francesa | Gothic rock, darkwave (2015) ❗

🦇 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔊𝔦𝔯𝔩𝔷 🦇 𝔊𝔬𝔱𝔥 music band influenced by Gothic 80&#39;s Deathrock ColdwavePost-Punk and more since 2006 Tour all over Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Russia. Release their new album "L&#39;envol du corbeau" out CD/VINYL/DIGITAL. https://linktr.ee/thecemetarygirlz #GOTH

Scary Bitches

Banda británica | Deathrock, gothic punk (1998) ❗

Scary Bitches

Male Tears

Banda alemana | Coldwave, post-punk, minimal wave (2021) ❗

100% AUTHENTIC SYNTH-POP MUSIC

Fevr

Solista estadounidense | Darkwave, dream pop, synth‑pop, electropop, futurepop, industrial pop, indie pop, experimental (2018) ❗

L.A. based Darkwave / Post-punk Merch available at Fevr.store

妖精帝國

Banda japonesa | Rock gótico, metal gótico, heavy metal, dark ambient, neoclassical (Dark wave) (1997)

バンド 妖精帝國 第参軍楽隊Vo.担当及び國家妖精帝國の終身独裁官ゆいである。【妖精帝國とは】https://t.co/edfHZmmKUa 【MV】https://t.co/7E8OoJWXT5 【 Whip!Channel 】 https://t.co/EQX3AMW2G7

Mandragora Scream

Banda italiana | Vampyric gothic metal (1997)

Mandragora Scream

Sirenia

Banda noruega | Metal gótico, metal sinfónico (2001)

SIRENIA was formed by Morten Veland in January 2001. Up to date SIRENIA has released 11 albums, 1 EP and several singles. Their albums have made it to the charts in multiple countries, receiving great reviews worldwide. Meanwhile their singles have topped radio charts in several countries as well. Their latest album &#39;1977&#39; was released on the 26th of Mayy 2023 via Napalm Records. SIRENIA has also toured extensively in Europe, Latin America, North America, Asia and Australia for 20 years and counting and performed at the biggest festivals in Europe on the same billing as huge acts like; Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith and Korn, to mention a few. SIRENIA sounds like a mixture of gothic metal and rock with classical orchestrations, in addition to some elements from more extreme metal genres. Their sound have a solid base in the powerful drums and bass supported by massive rhythm guitars, dressed with atmospheric keyboards and spiced with melancholic violins and 12-string guitars. The music is at all times melodic and groovy. The vocal styles are diverse and consist of female vocals, choirs, growls, screams, clean male vocals, whispers and samples. The songs are very intense and dynamic. The lyrics are based on reflections on life, death, love, hate, paranoia, anxiety and mental decline in general. Morten Veland - guitars & vocals, Emmanuelle Zoldan - vocals, Nils Courbaron - guitar, Michael Brush - drums

Elis

Banda de Liechtenstein | Gothic metal, symphonic metal (2003 – 2012) ❗

Elysion

Banda griega | Metal gótico, metal alternativo (2006)

The official home of Elysion on Instagram

Ministry

Banda estadounidense | Synthpop, New wave, EBM, Electro-industrial (Inicios) Metal industrial, heavy metal, thrash metal, rock industrial (1981)

Sidewalks and Skeletons

Proyecto solista británico | Witch house, darkwave, electrónica experimental (2011) ❗

Music for you to listen to while you walk through cemeteries alone at 3am. Sidewalks and Skeletons is the solo-project of UK artist Jake Lee, who grew up in Bradford England playing in many different bands as a deathcore guitarist, as well as gravitating towards creating dark electronic music starting in 2006 and making S&S his main solo project by 2011. Jake created the name "Sidewalks and Skeletons" as a metaphor for the things that remain after death. "The earth you walked, and your bones: They are all that are left behind". Recently featured in the Devolver Digital video game <a href="spotify:playlist:3svXMZlhYdZbMIM9caFIqm" data-name="RUINER GAME SOUNDTRACK OST - SIDEWALKS AND SKELETONS">RUINER GAME SOUNDTRACK OST - SIDEWALKS AND SKELETONS</a> - S&S has worked with & played shows with bands such as <a href="spotify:artist:7K3zpFXBvPcvzhj7zlGJdO" data-name="Crystal Castles">Crystal Castles</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6FfjnGXMhxSsJTuGLWBDth" data-name="HEALTH">HEALTH</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3uL4UpqShC4p2x1dJutoRW" data-name="Ghostemane">Ghostemane</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3xYvvJ6tjXyJJdEXBs8qf0" data-name="Brothel">Brothel</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3gPZCcrc8KG2RuVl3rtbQ2" data-name="✝✝✝ (Crosses)">✝✝✝ (Crosses)</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4FzthA7DjutA71z91I1DKX" data-name="CASHFORGOLD">CASHFORGOLD</a> and many others. Even being credited as producer for the Crystal Castles track <a href="spotify:track:0F4ebHLK8e9rBnHcTDq1Ei" data-name="Their Kindness Is Charade">Their Kindness Is Charade</a>. S&S has played shows all across Europe including Russia, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, UK, Hungary, Greece, and many others. Sidewalks and Skeletons&#39; new album "EXORCISM" dropped worldwide on 2/2/22. Some singles from this album include <a href="spotify:track:2BQnMOXvfNzUIahjrTE9Jd" data-name="Cybercrimes">Cybercrimes</a>, <a href="spotify:track:58JCjtpkCkhmCMhAUMcDgc" data-name="Nowhere">Nowhere</a>, and <a href="spotify:track:3XyeundadT747VKeW7lYVb" data-name="Eternal Rest">Eternal Rest</a>. In 2023, <a href="spotify:artist:48nHO1cuTbpx4ELhChsxX1" data-name="Sidewalks and Skeletons">Sidewalks and Skeletons</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4FzthA7DjutA71z91I1DKX" data-name="CASHFORGOLD">CASHFORGOLD</a> started their new shoegaze band <a href="spotify:artist:2231C2oqgdZQmJ0vh6bNX2" data-name="soft siren">soft siren</a>, who debuted their first song "<a href="spotify:track:1F2guay5Aj7XNNvbuCx9p5" data-name="4am">4am</a>" in May, to critical acclaim. Sidewalks and Skeletons top song <a href="spotify:track:0uMZbmAAgOhdMrv25iPEH6" data-name="Goth">Goth</a> currently has over 80 million streams and continues to grow. You won&#39;t want to miss what comes next.

Daft Punk

Dúo francés | French house, electrónica, dance, disco (1993 - 2021)

As they evolved from '90s French house pioneers to 2000s dance tastemakers to mainstream heroes in the 2010s, Daft Punk remained one of dance music's most iconic acts. With their early singles and 1997's instant-classic debut album Homework, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Thomas Bangalter</a> quickly won acclaim for their skill at blending their beloved Chicago house and Detroit techno with pop, funk, indie rock, and hip-hop into nostalgic yet futuristic forms. Not content to just widen electronic music's popularity, on 2001's Discovery they reinvented the then-unfashionable sounds of mid-'80s soft rock and R&B into stylish tracks that also had a childlike wonder. Despite their sizable popularity, Daft Punk were never afraid to challenge their listeners, which they did with 2005's cold and dystopic Human After All. Even when they polarized their audience, there was never any doubt that they staged groundbreaking concerts, and the tour captured on Alive 2007 helped pave the way for arena-sized EDM, particularly in the U.S. With 2013's Random Access Memories, the duo once again looked to the past to create the future, borrowing from prog, disco, and a laid-back West Coast vibe that bucked the predominant trends in electronic music but still resonated with a wide audience. Daft Punk's influence reached further into the mainstream through collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a>, and the duo's music was sampled by artists ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:2wIVse2owClT7go1WT98tk">Missy Elliott</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:6WoTvA9qinpHtSRJuldYh6">the Fall</a>. Though they reinvented themselves continually, wherever Daft Punk went, the rest of pop music followed. After meeting in 1987 as students at Paris' Lycée Carnot secondary school, <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> and de Homem-Christo became friends and soon started making music together. In 1992, they formed the band Darlin'. Named after a <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">Beach Boys</a> song, the group featured <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> on bass, de Homem-Christo on guitar, and additional guitarist Laurent Brancowitz. Darlin's career was brief: The trio recorded a cover of their namesake song that appeared, along with an original song, on a various artists EP released by <a href="spotify:artist:3Rj0tDHoX7C5NFq5DKIpHt">Stereolab</a>'s label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Duophonic%22">Duophonic</a> (the band also invited Darlin' to play some U.K. shows with them). Following a Melody Maker review that described Darlin's music as "a daft punky thrash," the band broke up. <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> and de Homem-Christo began experimenting with electronic music, taking their new project's name from that review and drawing inspiration from pioneers such as <a href="spotify:artist:6MFopqejpmTUUZlcRmGzgg">Todd Edwards</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:208EQzx7RmoE2Ng9gF2edh">Juan Atkins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0dmPX6ovclgOy8WWJaFEUU">Kraftwerk</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:63yl9nDNrHpiAYGlNJxxjc">Frankie Knuckles</a>, and many more. By September 1993, Daft Punk had readied a demo tape, which they gave to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Soma%22">Soma</a> co-founder Stuart MacMillan at a rave at EuroDisney. The label released the duo's debut single, "The New Wave," in April 1994. Instantly hailed by the dance music press as the work of a new breed of house innovators, it was followed by May 1995's "Da Funk," the band's first true hit (the record sold 30,000 copies worldwide and saw thorough rinsings by everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Kris Needs</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:1GhPHrq36VKCY3ucVaZCfo">the Chemical Brothers</a>). In 1996, the buzz around Daft Punk led them to sign with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Virgin%22">Virgin</a>, and the label released the single "Da Funk"/"Musique" that year. Recorded and mixed at the duo's Paris studio Daft House, January 1997's debut album Homework -- named for Daft Punk's D.I.Y. aesthetic -- was a critical and commercial success. The album reached number three in France and stayed on the chart for over a year, while the singles "Da Funk," "Around the World," "Burnin'," and "Revolution 909" charted in France, the U.K., the U.S., and Australia. The duo supported the record with the Daftendirekt tour, while the Homework video collection D.A.F.T.: A Story about Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes followed in 1999 and featured clips directed by Roman Coppola, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze. To follow their breakthrough debut album, de Homem-Christo and <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> reached back to their childhoods in the '70s and '80s and sought to fuse technology with humanity. Once again recorded at Daft House, March 2001's Discovery incorporated disco and synth pop as well as house, garage, and R&B into a sleek, retro-futuristic sound that matched the robotic helmets and gloves the duo introduced with the release of the album. Featuring contributions from heroes such as <a href="spotify:artist:1xKryNto8SDKl2E6lBs23J">Romanthony</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6MFopqejpmTUUZlcRmGzgg">Edwards</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5He9yPmPv0Du9hASUlTUjr">DJ Sneak</a>, Discovery was an even bigger hit than its predecessor. The album peaked at number two in France and the U.K., while the singles "One More Time," "Digital Love," "Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger," and "Face to Face" also charted in the U.K. and the U.S. That November saw the release of Alive 1997, an edit of the duo's Birmingham, England stop on the Daftendirekt tour. Daft Punk capped the Discovery era in 2003 with Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, an animated film they produced with anime and manga creator Leiji Matsumoto that used the album as its soundtrack. For Daft Punk's third album, the duo took a drastically different approach. Created in six weeks -- as opposed to the two years they spent making Discovery -- with a handful of gear that included an eight-track machine, March 2005's Human After All was a deliberately raw, stark set of songs inspired by George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Though its cold, repetitive feel drew polarized reactions, the album fared well commercially: Human After All reached number three in France, was a Top Ten hit in the U.K., and hit number one on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the U.S. The set was also nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Shortly after its release, Human After All [Remixes] collected reworkings by <a href="spotify:artist:43mWhBXSflupNLuNjM5vff">Soulwax</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2fBURuq7FrlH6z5F92mpOl">Digitalism</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3jQ8hpdQo3TCEnb5gmOtH5">Erol Alkan</a> among others. April 2006 saw the arrival of Musique, Vol. 1: 1993-2005, a compilation of the duo's best-known songs and remixes accompanied by the videos for Human After All's singles. That May, Daft Punk premiered their film Electroma at the Director's Fortnight at that year's Cannes Film Festival. An experimental sci-fi film about a pair of robots seeking to become human, it began as the video for Human After All's title track before expanding into a feature film (unlike Interstella 5555, the movie did not feature any of Daft Punk's music). Initially earning mixed reviews, over time Electroma won a cult audience. That year, the duo embarked on the Alive tour, which lasted through 2007 and featured some of Daft Punk's most ambitiously staged live sets. Appearing in November 2007, Alive 2007 documented the tour. Early in 2009, the album and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" won Grammy Awards. Daft Punk returned with new music in November 2010 in the form of the score to Joseph Kosinski's feature film Tron: Legacy. A collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:566MlWaCa63jvMZV9YMj3V">Joseph Trapanese</a>, who arranged and orchestrated the pair's compositions, it featured an 85-piece orchestra as well as Daft Punk's signature electronics. <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> and de Homem-Christo also appeared in the film in a brief cameo. The soundtrack eventually reached number four on the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the U.S. and was nominated for a Best Score Soundtrack Album for Visual Media Grammy Award. Also in 2010, the duo were admitted into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, with de Homem-Christo and <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> each receiving the rank of Chevalier. The following year saw the April release of the remix album Tron: Legacy Reconfigured, while that September's compilation Soma Records: 20 Years featured the track "Drive," an early recording that was believed to be lost. For their fourth album, Daft Punk once again took a different creative tack. Seeking a breezy feel informed by <a href="spotify:artist:08GQAI4eElDnROBrJRGE0X">Fleetwood Mac</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ECwFtbIWEVNwjlrfc6xoL">the Eagles</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5MhLmv7GgyjbxGqiIGasvT">Jean Michel Jarre</a>, the duo emphasized live instrumentation and collaborated with artists including <a href="spotify:artist:3yDIp0kaq9EFKe07X1X2rz">Nile Rodgers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3f626JSVauIhTQgatsFcs4">Paul Williams</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6jU2Tt13MmXYk0ZBv1KmfO">Giorgio Moroder</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1R84VlXnFFULOsWWV8IrCQ">Panda Bear</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell Williams</a> appeared on the single "Get Lucky," which preceded the release of the full-length Random Access Memories in May 2013. Recorded in California, New York City, and Paris and spanning disco, prog, and indie influences, the album became one of Daft Punk's biggest successes. It topped the charts in over 20 countries including the U.S., where it became the duo's first number one album and was eventually certified platinum. It also won Grammy Awards for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Album of the Year, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. "Get Lucky" hit number one in over 30 countries and earned Grammys for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Record of the Year. That year, Daft Punk also co-produced <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a>'s critically acclaimed album Yeezus, and worked on tracks including the single "Black Skinhead." In 2014, the duo appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell</a>'s album G I R L and collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a> on the song "Computerized." A 2015 documentary titled Daft Punk Unchained charted their history from the '90s into the 2010s, featuring interviews with <a href="spotify:artist:3yDIp0kaq9EFKe07X1X2rz">Rodgers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">West</a>, among others. In turn, the duo appeared in that year's <a href="spotify:artist:3yDIp0kaq9EFKe07X1X2rz">Rodgers</a> documentary Nile Rodgers: From Disco to Daft Punk. During the latter half of the 2010s, Daft Punk remained active. They teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:56pImxBsOQTCASzJNLNEKN">Abel Tesfaye</a> on a pair of songs from his 2016 album Starboy, including the chart-topping title track. The following year, the duo performed with <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a> at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards; later in 2017, they co-wrote and produced <a href="spotify:artist:3oKRxpszQKUjjaHz388fVA">Parcels</a>' "Overnight." During this time, Daft Punk's members also worked on separate projects. <a href="spotify:artist:41vv2Tj1knysv6MuFUmdwi">Bangalter</a> co-produced <a href="spotify:artist:3kjuyTCjPG1WMFCiyc5IuB">Arcade Fire</a>'s 2017 album Everything Now and contributed pieces to the soundtrack to Gaspar Noé's 2018 film Climax, while de Homem-Christo co-wrote and produced tracks for <a href="spotify:artist:2rBcvLKWCZs9w1qIWv560v">Charlotte Gainsbourg</a>'s 2017 album Rest and <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a>'s 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy,. In 2019, Daft Punk were featured in the Philharmonie de Paris' exhibition Electro, which traced the history of electronic music and its influence on visual arts. In February 2021, the duo disbanded, spreading the news with a YouTube video that featured scenes from the end of Electroma. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Random Access Memories in 2023, Daft Punk issued a pair of re-releases of the album. In May, a deluxe edition of the album featuring unreleased demos (including "Infinity Repeating," which featured Julian Casablancas & the Voidz), outtakes and the version of "Touch" that soundtracked the duo's breakup announcement appeared. The reissue topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums Chart and reached the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. That November saw the release of a drumless version of the album. ~ Heather Phares & Sean Cooper, Rovi

I Monster

Dúo ingles | Electrónica, trip hop, pop psicodélico, electropop (1997)

“It was never the plan to do a hit single,” says Jarrod Gosling, one half of I Monster along with Dean Honer. “We were just mucking about in the studio.” Experimenting, innovating and having fun in the studio with the results unexpectedly taking off has become the blueprint story for this Sheffield duo. From their 2001 track ‘Daydream in Blue’ going top 20 and featuring on endless films, TV shows and adverts, to twenty years later their song ‘Who is She?’ becoming a global TikTok sensation and racking up hundreds of millions of plays, the pair have consistently managed to create wonky electronic pop that feels simultaneously fresh and timeless. 2001’s ‘Daydream in Blue’, a beautifully woozy, unfurling and dreamy piece of pop music that samples The Gunter Kallmann Choir&#39;s version of The Wallace Collection&#39;s ‘Daydream’ was a re-worked track from their debut album, These Are Our Children, that laid the foundations for their 2003 acclaimed breakthrough album Neveroddoreven. A 20th anniversary reissue of the record is set for March 2024. Such has been the spike of interest in the band, gaining a whole new generation of fans and listeners, that in 2024 they will embark on a UK and EU tour – the pair&#39;s first live dates in 18 years.

Nesssix

Banda española | Ambient electrónico, IDM, industrial, cyberpunk (2022) ❗

Machinegaze. [email protected]

David Guetta

DJ, remezclador y productor discográfico francés | EDM, house, dance-pop, future rave (1984)

Musical trailblazer David Guetta is an international icon. Receiving his 10th GRAMMY nomination in 2021, Guetta was also nominated for 3 Brit Awards, voted the world’s best DJ by DJ Mag ‘Top 100’ for the third time and won the best electronic artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards. He showcased his epic talent by live streaming shows during the lockdown with his iconic United At Home series from Paris’ Louvre Museum, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Icon Brickell in Miami, and a top the Rockefeller Center, raising $2 million for various charities. These last few months he&#39;s appeared at many of the biggest festivals, and has been the only DJ in Ibiza to play 2 residencies a week. So far in 2022, he&#39;s released a variety of collaborations such as ‘Don’t You Worry’ with Black Eyed Peas and Shakira and celebrated pop anthem ‘Crazy What Love Can Do’. To round off an impressive summer he released his new smash hit &#39;I&#39;m Good&#39; with Bebe Rexha which is charting everywhere around the globe. He will finish out his year touring across Latin America. A master creative across genres, Guetta has gone from strength to strength with his underground-focused Future Rave project alongside Morten and his uncompromising Jack Back. With over 14 billion global streams, 50 million records sold worldwide and two Grammy awards to his name, David Guetta demonstrates time and time again why he is the most cherished electronic artist of our generation.

Boulevard Depo

Rapero ruso | Hip hop, cloud rap, trap (2009)

Boulevard Depo

The Living Tombstone

Dúo israelí | Rock electrónico, rock alternativo, pop rock, EDM (2011)

The Living Tombstone is a musical project which takes elements from the electronic dance genres of today and combines it with rock genre influences. Founded by music producer and vocalist Yoav Landau, and partnered with songwriter and vocalist Sam Haft, TLT has grown a cross-platform following of over 10 million fans and over 3 billion streams. 
 The characters of TLT, titled "the Tombsonas" are: 🧡zero_one 💚Rust ❤️Armstrong 💜Tesla 💙Doc 
 On TLT&#39;s "zero_one" record, our drummer is Maxime Cholley, bassist is Guy Berenfeld, and guitarist is Or "Orko" Cohen. You may reach us at [email protected]

Alan Walker

DJ, remezclador y productor discográfico noruego de origen británico | Electro house, house progresivo, EDM, dance pop (2012)

Music has been my passion since I was young, and it still amazes me how far it’s taken me. Honestly, the fact that "<a href="spotify:album:5HMjpBO0v78ayq5lreAyDd" data-name="Faded">Faded</a>" has over 2 billion streams is something I never could have imagined. What truly drives me is the connection I share with my fans, <a href="spotify:artist:3o6ANFc1elhbAeqRYphStE" data-name="The Walkers">The Walkers</a>. It’s been incredible to see so many of you creating and sharing content inspired by my music. Since 2015, we’ve built the World of Walker together, forming one of the most incredible creative communities in the planet. In November last year I released the first part of my album, <a href="spotify:album:2pElzwHGoJr3zPA05onhr0" data-name="Walkerworld">Walkerworld</a>, giving you a multi-layered themepark experience, a world tour, Fortnite map, and a new song every month for all of 2024. This year I’ll release the complete version of the album, with lots of new songs. I’m calling it Walkerworld 2.0, and I can’t wait for you guys to hear it. Thank you for being a part of my journey. While waiting, check out some of my tracks here <a href="spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DZ06evO4rvWRa" data-name="This Is Alan Walker">This Is Alan Walker</a>!

Martin Garrix

DJ, remezclador y productor discográfico | House progresivo, big room, electro house, deep house (2012)

Few DJs have risen faster than Martin Garrix. In 2013, when he was just 16, the Dutch dance-music fan (born Martijn Garritsen in May 1996) paid for his ticket to Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, along with 330,000 other attendees; the following year, he performed there—and also at Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Tomorrowland. The catalyst was his breakout hit, “Animals,” an electro-house anthem that sent shockwaves through EDM, setting the tone for several years’ worth of big-room bangers. (It also got the attention of Justin Bieber manager Scooter Braun, who scooped up the teenaged producer for his roster.) By the time Garrix was 20, <I>DJ Magazine</I> named him the world’s No. 1 DJ. Since then, he has straddled dance cred and pop crossover, collaborating with fellow DJs Dillon Francis, Hardwell, and Tiësto (Garrix's mentor and early champion) as well as Usher, Ed Sheeran, and Dua Lipa. He’s come a long way from the savagery of “Animals”: One of his signature moves, in songs like “In the Name of Love,” with Bebe Rexha, or “Ocean,” with Khalid, is something like the EDM equivalent of the power ballad: taking a silky, sensitive mood and building up the synths and drums until they sound all but indestructible.

Timmy Trumpet

DJ, remezclador y productor discográfico australiano | Trap, trap latino, reguetón, detroit, electro house, big room house, bounce, psytrance, hardstyle (2005)

DJ, producer and live instrumentalist Timmy Trumpet is undoubtedly one of the most prolific performers in the DJ Mag Top 100. An award-winning, multi- platinum selling recording artist, Timmy has forged his way to the top of the industry alongside the influential artists taking the world by storm. His breakthrough release Freaks has reigned in over half a Billion streams, reached six times platinum status in Australia and dominated the charts in ten countries becoming the highest selling track of all time on Ministry of Sound Australia.

Dynoro

DJ y productor lituano | Future house, deep house (2013)

Diamond and Multi-Platinum certified Lithuanian DJ and Producer DYNORO began his phenomenal career in the music industry back in 2018, releasing his biggest hit "In My Mind" - a mashup of the Tomorrowland song of the same name by Ivan Gough, Feenixpawl and Georgi Kay and Gigi D&#39;Agostino&#39;s single "L&#39;amour Toujours". The single reached #1 on Spotify, Apple Music and Shazam in 13 countries and was on top of the charts for weeks. The song was on heavy rotation on the US dance radio, entered the official US single charts at number 5 and sold more than 3.7 million copies worldwide and over 1 billion Spotify streams, a diamond status in Germany and France as well as platinum and double platinum in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and many other countries. After the tremendous start with “In My Mind”, DYNORO secured the follow-up coup with “Obsessed”, the dance-pop collab with Norwegian artist Ina Wroldsen, Brazilian producer Alok with “On & On” and EDM ‘heavyweight’ Ilkay Sencan with their single “Rockstar”. After a break, DYNORO returns with a bang, presenting his new single “Monsters” together with the famous American rapper, songwriter and singer 24kGoldn.

NOWHERE2RUN

Dúo estadounidense | Dark electronic, industrial techno, trap, house (2024) ❗

Lost In This Maze

Cradle of Filth

Banda británica | Black metal, metal sinfónico, metal gótico, metal extremo (1991)

A British extreme metal institution, Cradle of Filth emerged in 1991 with a style that leaned heavily toward black metal. As the years progressed, their sound evolved as well, with elements of gothic and symphonic metal taking over, resulting in a more commercial approach that yielded internationally charting efforts like Damnation and a Day (2003), Thornography (2006), Hammer of the Witches (2015), and Existence Is Futile (2021). Cradle of Filth formed in 1991, originally comprised of vocalist Dani Filth (born Daniel Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, his keyboardist brother Benjamin, bassist John Richard, and drummer Darren. After recording a demo dubbed Invoking the Unclean a year later, the group recruited guitarist Robin Eaglestone, who quit soon after recording a second demo, Orgiastic Pleasures; however, when Richard exited the band a short time later, Eaglestone stepped back in to assume bass duties, opening the door for guitarist Paul Allender. Following a third demo, Total Fucking Darkness, Cradle of Filth -- with new drummer Nicholas Barker -- signed with the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cacophonous%22">Cacophonous</a> label, issuing their proper debut, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, in mid-1994. The lineup changes continued when the Ryan brothers both departed to form <a href="spotify:artist:0zI52YW7OafxGUsZkVgRHL">the Blood Divine</a> (and Allender left as well), making room for guitarists Stuart Antsis and Jared Demeter and keyboardist Damien Gregori to debut on the 1996 mini-LP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein. For the full-length Dusk and Her Embrace later that same year, Gian Pyres took Demeter's spot, and afterward, Gregori was replaced by keyboardist Les Smith; at any rate, the album substantially expanded the group's growing cult following. COF's next effort, Cruelty and the Beast, appeared in 1998, amid the band's steadily growing reputation for elaborate <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:2VYQTNDsvvKN9wmU5W7xpj">Marilyn Manson</a>-style concert theatrics. Two years later, they returned with From the Cradle to Enslave, an EP that featured new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (formerly of Sweden's <a href="spotify:artist:6YXarbjg36ODFPez0PnOlD">At the Gates</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1w8a74Em15kdhV7UEC2Lj8">the Haunted</a>), as Barker had departed to join <a href="spotify:artist:6e8ISIsI7UQZPyEorefAhK">Dimmu Borgir</a>. The band's dizzying lineup changes continued apace as Paul Allender rejoined the group and Martin Powell (ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0ZXKT0FCsLWkSLCjoBJgBX">Anathema</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7iMWWdRNiCJwGOGEIYr02z">My Dying Bride</a>) replaced Smith on keyboards for the full-length Midian, which was appropriately released on Halloween in 2000. Bitter Suites to Succubi was issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Spitfire%22">Spitfire</a> in summer 2001. The group added a choir and orchestra to the lineup for 2003's Damnation and a Day on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+Ink%22">Red Ink</a>, and moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a> for 2004's Nymphetamine. Thornography followed on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a> in 2006, a year that also saw the release of The Cradle of Filth Box Set. Eleven Burial Masses, a collection of live material, arrived in 2007, followed by the concept album Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder in 2008, which saw Erlandsson replaced by new drummer Martin "Marthus" Škaroupka. In 2010, the band left <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roadrunner%22">Roadrunner</a>, signing to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Peaceville%22">Peaceville</a> in Europe and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nuclear+Blast%22">Nuclear Blast</a> in the U.S. for the release of their ninth studio LP, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, a concept album that focused on the myth of the demon Lilith, the alleged first wife of the biblical Adam. It was the first Cradle record not to contain any instrumental tracks, and also featured the sole appearance with the band of keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon, formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:4VkWISgUF5AccCSs92mauh">Abigail Williams</a>. In 2012, reduced to the trio of Filth, Allender, and Škaroupka, the group released The Manticore and Other Horrors, on which they did a bit of a turnabout, returning female vocals and hardcore punk riffs to the fore. A deluxe remastered and expanded edition of their early demo, Total Fucking Darkness, was released in May 2014; featuring additional, previously unreleased tracks, it proved a stopgap. Cradle of Filth's Hammer of the Witches was announced in May 2015, marking the first new music from the group in three years -- the longest gap in their career. It featured a new lineup that included guitarists Marek Ashok Šmerda and Richard Shaw (marking a return to twin-guitar harmonies) and new keyboardist/female vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:6ZLcdPSxw1fTYJlz3DLrSZ">Lindsay Schoolcraft</a>. The video for "Right Wing of the Garden Triptych" was released in May, followed by online streams of "Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess," and "Enshrined in Crematoria" in late June. The album arrived in mid-July. Cradle of Filth announced their 12th album, Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay, in June 2017. Produced by longtime collaborator Scott Atkins in Suffolk, the set was inspired by the Victorian obsession with death and the supernatural, and was issued in September while the band were already promoting it on tour. It would be five more years before fans saw another record from the group. Entitled Existence Is Futile and concerned with existential dread, their 13th album was released in October 2021. The preceding year's COVID-19 lockdown postponed its release, allowing them longer to work on it, rewriting and restructuring their demos to produce the best work possible. Recorded once again with Atkins, it was their first to feature new keyboardist/backing vocalist Anabelle Iratni. Guitarist Stuart Antsis, who played with Cradle of Filth from 1995 to 1999, died on August 21, 2022, at the age of 48. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Horna

Banda finlandesa | Black metal (1994)

Formerly called Shadowed, Horna has been a Finnish black metal institution since 1993. The band, whose name means "abyss," hews to black metal's old school -- blastbeats, blasphemy, and buzzsaw guitars. Horna is about as underground as black metal gets, fully utilizing the genre's predilection for limited-edition split albums and vinyl releases. Thus, the band's discography is staggeringly long, exceeding 30 releases on assorted labels with no imminent letdown in productivity. Its fluid lineups have been likewise numerous, with members drifting in and out on various instruments. Quantity generally hasn't trumped quality, though. Though Horna pushes no boundaries, the band is a reliable source of raw, cold black metal. Horna's charter members were guitarists Shatraug and Moredhel. The addition of drummer Gorthaur led to a self-produced demo, Varjoissa. Vocalist Nazgul (of Satanic Warmaster and Gestapo 666 notoriety) joined up for a second demo, 1997's Hiidentorni. Nazgul's tenure yielded a string of vinyl and CD releases, including full-lengths Haudankylmyyden Mailla and Sudentaival. During this time, his bandmates embarked on a formidable array of side projects, including <a href="spotify:artist:3Re6UNx8ZU50sDzt6ZHfPV">Battle</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6vDPwpGZIflBoW6Gy3FWFw">Battlelore</a>, Mirkhall, <a href="spotify:artist:6zl5IXVgj1nG1fqjUh68xe">Sargeist</a>, Ravening, and Khert-Neter. <a href="spotify:artist:1c82cBQyjxoj80GXw7BS3g">Corvus</a> replaced Nazgul in 2001; guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7HY8HFHBM9zrY5R9rlY3Id">Saturnus</a>' enlistment in 2003 established the band's current core of Shatraug, <a href="spotify:artist:1c82cBQyjxoj80GXw7BS3g">Corvus</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7HY8HFHBM9zrY5R9rlY3Id">Saturnus</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:1c82cBQyjxoj80GXw7BS3g">Corvus</a>' regime has produced several full-lengths, a live album (Black Metal Warfare), a handful of EPs, and splits with <a href="spotify:artist:0gA3aqwYpjZcgxnZZahNbg">Musta Surma</a>, Desolation Triumphalis, <a href="spotify:artist:5OLkqq9vAQNtH64vncVnfE">Ouroboros</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6J8km5cv59kGePK8SGQtgq">Woods of Infinity</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2A56suoU3YFYLIp7wHde6c">Behexen</a>, Blackdeath, Kerberos, Tenebrae in Perpetuum, Sacrificia Mortuorum, and Peste Noire. For those intimidated by this onslaught of wax, a good starting point would be 2006's well-received (and umlaut-ridden) Ääniä Yössä full-length. In 2007, Horna issued Sotahuuto, a stylistic tribute to Bathory, on Grievantee, as well as the Pimeyden Hehku MMCD, sold on the band's "Pest Pandemic Contamination Over Europe" Tour. ~ Cosmo Lee, Rovi

SATANIC WARMASTER

Banda finlandesa | Black metal (1998)

Sargeist

Banda finlandesa | Black metal (1999)

White Death

Banda finlandesa | Black metal (2013) ❗

Fester Witch

Banda estadounidense | Black metal, dungeon synth, keller synth (2021) ❗

F.O.A.D

Lifelover

Banda sueca | Black metal atmosférico, black metal depresivo suicida, post-punk, metal industrial, metal progresivo (2005)

Cited as one of the driving forces behind the ultra-bleak, black metal subgenre depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM), Sweden's Lifelover was formed in 2005 in Stockholm by Jonas Bergqvist and <a href="spotify:artist:2EeSQVyCLcqNOFb6lNyQUD">Kim Carlsson</a>. Bergqvist chose the deliberately ironic name Lifelover after being having the phrase hurled at him by an acquaintance he particularly loathed. Combining elements of post-punk, goth rock, dark ambient, and doom metal, Lifelover issued their debut album, Pulver, via Goatowarex in 2006, followed by Erotik (2007), Konkurs (2008), and Sjukdom (2011), the latter of which proved to be the band's last studio album as a result of the accidental overdose death of guitarist/co-founder Bergqvist. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

None

Banda estadounidense | Atmospheric depressive/suicidal black metal (2015) ❗

Since their inception in the Spring of 2017, the enigmatic and anonymous NONE from the Pacific Northwest have crafted disturbing and emotionally devastating Atmospheric/Depressive Black Metal that pierces your soul like an icy dagger. The self-titled debut album was released in April 2017, a thick shroud of piercing guitar interwoven with haunting synth and tortured vocals marching in despair towards an empty void. Exactly one year later in April 2018, "Life has gone on long enough", NONE&#39;s second full-length was released, developing its tortured personality further. A single track, "Where Life Should Be" was released in November 2018 as a bridge between full-lengths. In the Spring of 2019, like clockwork, NONE returned to destroy your seasonal optimism with their oppressively bleak atmosphere and released perhaps their most acclaimed work to date - “Damp Chill of Life” Now, after a lengthy break, the reclusive NONE return in 2023 with their fourth chapter, their longest and darkest work. “Inevitable” is the culmination of their musical legacy, evoking the signature depressive atmosphere that has struck listeners across the globe. Like the last stage of grief, “Inevitable” is a black, nihilistic acceptance… Surrendering to existential loss and failure, only to whisper a sigh of contempt before an apathetic march toward the inevitable end. Inevitable will be released on Friday June 30, 2023.

Dreams of Nature

Banda colombiana | Atmospheric ambient black metal (2014) ❗

Atmospheric Ambient Black Metal from Bogotá, Colombia.

Nahtrunar

Banda suiza | Atmospheric black metal, depressive black metal (2017) ❗

Висельник

Banda rusa | Depressive black metal, ambient black metal (2009) ❗

минута агонии

Banda rusa | Depressive black metal, ambient black metal (2021) ❗

Мой Dungeon/keller synth проект, подпишись / My Dungeon/keller synth project, please subscribe: <a href="spotify:artist:1Bt9AsVCC0GLmnnSJvV2s2" data-name="lebendig verrotten">lebendig verrotten</a> Мой поп проект, пожалуйста, подпишись / My pop project, please subscribe: <a href="spotify:artist:3LvSWFtbJ15QIOgIKmLUje" data-name="серые дни">серые дни</a> Мой проект классической музыки, пожалуйста, подпишись / My classical music project, please, subscribe: <a href="spotify:artist:6AMuoLFXwMCbX04HDYbCaY" data-name="Light in Dreams">Light in Dreams</a> Мой проект электронной музыки, пожалуйста, подпишись / My electronic music project, please, subscribe: <a href="spotify:artist:1p5NvavB7q61OcUEByYOB8" data-name="TechnoGonia">TechnoGonia</a> one-man-band, 20 y. o., Moscow. DSBM, ABM, Dark Ambient, Folk, Classical

My Useless Life

Proyecto estadounidense unipersonal | Depressive black metal, ambient, blackgaze (2011) ❗

HIM

Banda finlandesa | Rock gótico, metal gótico, rock alternativo (1991 – 2017)

After Finnish goth-rock band HIM began their career as His Infernal Majesty in 1991, they played one show, broke up in 1993, and then re-formed in 1995. ∙ The group has been nominated for 17 Emma Awards (the Finnish equivalent of the Grammy Awards) and won 8 times—beginning with 1997’s Newcomer of the Year honors. ∙ “Join Me in Death,” their Platinum-certified power ballad from 1999’s <i>Razorblade Romance</i>, topped the charts in both Finland and Germany. ∙ In 2004, their tuneful cover of Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man” was a Top 10 hit in both the UK and Finland. ∙ The band has notched 18 Finnish Top 10 hits, with 7 of them reaching No. 1. ∙ <i>Dark Light</i>, released in 2006, was the first Finnish album ever to earn a Gold record in the US. ∙ In 2017, they headlined Finland’s largest metal festival, Tuska, for the first time and announced that they would be breaking up amicably after one final tour.

Radio Werewolf

Banda estadounidense | Death rock, gothic rock, dream pop, post-punk (1984 - 1993)

The Sisters of Mercy

Banda británica | Rock gótico, post-punk (1980)

The Sisters of Mercy are a dark, English rock institution with a vision sustained by frontman <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Andrew Eldritch</a> and his beloved drum machine, Doktor Avalanche, for over four decades. Emerging from the underground in the early '80s, the group found mainstream success with a trio of influential releases (First and Last and Always [1985], Floodland [1987], and Vision Thing [1990]) that combined brooding industrial metal and art rock with opulent dance-pop and darkwave-influenced post-punk. Sisters of Mercy ceased being a recording entity in the early '90s but have continued as a live act into the 2020s with <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> at the helm. Founded by <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> in Leeds in 1980 with guitarist Gary Marx, the Sisters of Mercy released their debut single, "Damage Done," independently. Guitarist Ben Gunn and bassist Craig Adams were added to make live gigs feasible, and the Sisters built a reputation through a strong string of EPs and post-punk-leaning singles like "Alice," The Body Electric," and "Adrenochrome." After releasing 1983's Reptile House EP, the band inked a major-label deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22WEA%22">WEA</a>. Citing creative differences, Gunn left the fold and was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:0RllFQZGANG86xbYXHfiWh">Wayne Hussey</a>, who made his studio debut on the band's first full-length effort, 1985's First and Last and Always. Two years later, internal dissent had split the band apart; Marx left to form <a href="spotify:artist:0LZtBVbX5gxfaoSWfOBWoZ">Ghost Dance</a>, and Adams and <a href="spotify:artist:0RllFQZGANG86xbYXHfiWh">Hussey</a> departed shortly after that. A legal dispute ensued over the rights to the name Sisters of Mercy; Adams and <a href="spotify:artist:0RllFQZGANG86xbYXHfiWh">Hussey</a> attempted to use the name Sisterhood, but <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> released an EP under the moniker to prevent its usage, and the two finally settled on <a href="spotify:artist:4SAdMucvHyws4QTeAUsPtE">the Mission</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> chiefly utilized a corps of temporary players from this point on (although former <a href="spotify:artist:3Un18X4NF1bpjgUk44lUzn">Gun Club</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:0YQ9SpljEVoAVMD8V9aVsA">Patricia Morrison</a> was an official group member for a short time) and rebounded with his two biggest-selling LPs. 1987's <a href="spotify:artist:2V3UNup4XHyqdCOGcQai1d">Jim Steinman</a>-co-produced Floodland was built from a bolder sonic blueprint than its predecessor, with <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a>'s deep baritone bolstered by choral arrangements, expansive guitars, and lush keyboard vistas. It reached number nine on the U.K. Albums Chart and spent six weeks on the Billboard 200. <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> recruited bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7qLiVFiF7qR2cYynxyv7pv">Tony James</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:6GKVXdXGEOPzpilArcqBun">Sigue Sigue Sputnik</a>) and guitarists Tim Bricheno and Andreas Bruhn for the group's third long-player. Released in 1990, Vision Thing adopted a heavier, more industrial metal approach, pairing brooding hard rock with lyrics that railed against the policies of the George H. W. Bush administration. A 1992 re-recording of the early cut "Temple of Love" soared to number three in the U.K., while the compilation LP Some Girls Wander by Mistake reached number five. A series of personnel changes preceded the release of 1993's "Under the Gun," which would be the band's last commercial recording. It was followed later that year by the greatest-hits collection A Slight Case of Overbombing. Since then, <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> has assembled multiple versions of the band for touring purposes. As the decades progressed, new songs such as "Eyes of Caligula" and "Don't Drive on Ice" began appearing in the band's set lists, though <a href="spotify:artist:5w1Xum9R3Mulvuvor5zDNV">Eldritch</a> has stated that no new studio album is in the works. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Bauhaus

Banda inglesa | Rock gótico, post-punk, art punk, psicodelia, neofolk, funk rock (1978)

Bauhaus are the founding fathers of goth rock, creating a minimalistic, overbearingly gloomy style of post-punk rock driven by jagged guitar chords and cold, distant synthesizers. Throughout their brief career, the band explored all the variations on their bleak musical ideas, adding elements of glam rock, experimental electronic rock, funk, and heavy metal. While their following has never expanded beyond a cult, they kept their cult alive well into the '90s, a full decade after they disbanded. The group formed in 1978 in Northampton, England. Guitarist/vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0L4nRBwqdugqIWCpAzjB9g">Daniel Ash</a>, bassist/vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:2EftfRcBC3whzGDBGOwIVG">David J</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:2EftfRcBC3whzGDBGOwIVG">David Jay Haskins</a>), and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3iEq4H8y3Xk5lGAqVLePw1">Kevin Haskins</a> had played together as a trio called <a href="spotify:artist:40WVkG2uC7KGLhXdaKQLx2">the Craze</a> before forming Bauhaus with vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:7zeHJIIfNStVfxlbT72UwY">Peter Murphy</a>. Originally, the band was called Bauhaus 1919 after the German art movement; by 1979, they had dropped the 1919 from their name. In August of 1979, the group released their debut single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead," on the independent record label Small Wonder Records. Although it did not make the pop charts, it became the de facto goth rock anthem, staying in the U.K. independent charts for years. Three months later, the group signed with Beggars Banquet's subsidiary label, 4AD. The group's second single, "Dark Entries," was released in January 1980. Following their first European tour, Bauhaus released their third single, "Terror Couple Kill Colonel," in the summer of that year, which became a hit on the indie charts. After touring America for the first time in September, the group released a version of <a href="spotify:artist:3dBVyJ7JuOMt4GE9607Qin">T. Rex</a>'s "Telegram Sam." In October, they released their debut album, In the Flat Field, which reached number one on the independent charts and number 72 on the pop charts. The success of the album led to their first hits on the pop charts; both "Kick in the Eye" and "The Passion of Lovers" made the U.K. Top 60 in 1981. In October, they released their second album, Mask, which revealed a more ambitious musical direction; the new direction, which featured elements of metal and electronic sonic textures, made the music more accessible without abandoning the dark, foreboding core of their music. Mask was a commercial success, peaking at number 30 on the U.K. charts. In March of 1982, Bauhaus released the EP Searching for Satori, which reached number 45 on the U.K. charts; another successful single, "Spirit," followed in the summer. That fall, the group had a number 15 hit with their version of <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a>'s "Ziggy Stardust." The success of the single propelled their third album, The Sky's Gone Out, to number four on the album charts. <a href="spotify:artist:7zeHJIIfNStVfxlbT72UwY">Murphy</a> contracted pneumonia at the beginning of 1983, which prevented him from participating in the recording sessions for Bauhaus' fourth album, Burning From the Inside. Consequently, the record featured substantial contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:0L4nRBwqdugqIWCpAzjB9g">Ash</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2EftfRcBC3whzGDBGOwIVG">J</a>, who both pursued more personal and atmospheric directions. After <a href="spotify:artist:7zeHJIIfNStVfxlbT72UwY">Murphy</a> recovered, the band toured Japan and then returned to the U.K. to promote the summer release of Burning From the Inside. The album was another hit, peaking at number 13. In July, Bauhaus split up. After Bauhaus' breakup, <a href="spotify:artist:7zeHJIIfNStVfxlbT72UwY">Murphy</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:26K835MEHI621LFChKL16Z">Dali's Car</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:7vPXrGlSGukcwpaPxUfKKR">Japan</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3Un3HwgAkcv3McRBMnwytr">Mick Karn</a> and then pursued a solo career. <a href="spotify:artist:0L4nRBwqdugqIWCpAzjB9g">Ash</a> continued with <a href="spotify:artist:5aBEGOeWQCJfptic9xyaAb">Tones on Tail</a>, a project he began in 1981; <a href="spotify:artist:3iEq4H8y3Xk5lGAqVLePw1">Kevin Haskins</a> also joined the band after Bauhaus' split. <a href="spotify:artist:2EftfRcBC3whzGDBGOwIVG">J</a> made some solo records and joined <a href="spotify:artist:7zi9v3F5KzAuS3MkJtm5dc">the Jazz Butcher</a> briefly. <a href="spotify:artist:0L4nRBwqdugqIWCpAzjB9g">Ash</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3iEq4H8y3Xk5lGAqVLePw1">Haskins</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2EftfRcBC3whzGDBGOwIVG">J</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:09mvgMBvJkxarNIDGdwPWg">Love and Rockets</a> in 1985 after a proposed Bauhaus reunion fell apart because <a href="spotify:artist:7zeHJIIfNStVfxlbT72UwY">Peter Murphy</a> wasn't interested in the project. More than a decade later, however, with the careers of both <a href="spotify:artist:09mvgMBvJkxarNIDGdwPWg">Love and Rockets</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7zeHJIIfNStVfxlbT72UwY">Peter Murphy</a> at a standstill, Bauhaus re-formed for several live dates in Los Angeles, mounting a full-blown tour in 1998; the two-disc Gotham documented the reunited group's performance at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. In 2008, the band resurfaced again with Go Away White, a studio album they promised as their last statement. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

hinfort

Proyecto solista alemán | Post-punk, darkwave (2024) ❗

past self

Banda estadounidense | Gothic post-punk, darkwave, shoegaze (2021) ❗

She Past Away

Banda turquesa | Rock gótico, dark wave, post-punk (2006)

She Past Away is dark-wave with a reworked 80’s sound. Signature guitar sound of the post-punk era, combined with minimalist poetry in Turkish. Often an outburst of sentimental anxiety through the nihilistic mind-frame, it is personal. Yet it is broad, a wondering mind brave enough to question taboo and existence. She Past Away is driving, it is mesmerizing. It is a haunt.

Parálisis Permanente

Banda española | Post-punk, deathrock, rock gótico (1981 - 1983)

Paralisis Permanente

Alien Sex Fiend

Banda británica | Post-punk, death rock, rock gótico, rock industrial (1982)

One of the earliest groups to be labeled goth rock, Alien Sex Fiend are among the genre's most theatrical acts. They're also one of its most humorous, preferring a campy B-movie aesthetic to the dourness or morbidity of many of their peers. Heavily influenced by <a href="spotify:artist:4lYtGx5NZQJHsMyhHc5iz3">the Cramps</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a>, glam rock, punk, and psychedelia, the group's performances are ghoulish spectacles, and their boundlessly creative music combines heavy electronic beats and noisy guitars with warped, dubby effects and samples. Alternately referred to as goth, deathrock, post-punk, or industrial, ASF are ultimately a category unto themselves. The group was highly prolific throughout the '80s, releasing fan-favorite full-lengths such as Acid Bath (1984) and "It" the Album (1986), in addition to numerous remix-filled singles and EPs, showcasing the group's penchant for experimentation. ASF incorporated several electronic dance music styles into their sound before other goth and industrial acts did; the 1989 single "Haunted House" lived up to its name, while the group embraced techno and trance on '90s releases such as Inferno (The Odyssey Continues) (1994). In the 21st century, albums such as Information Overload (2004) and Possessed (2018) have even worked in traces of dancehall and drum'n'bass. Alien Sex Fiend's origins lie in the Batcave, an influential London club acknowledged as the birthplace of goth culture. Nick Wade, who worked at the Batcave, dubbed himself Nik Fiend and founded the band in 1982, along with his wife Christine Wade (aka Mrs. Fiend), who played synth, as well as guitarist Yaxi Highrizer (born David James) and drummer Johnny "Ha Ha" Freshwater. Prior to forming ASF, Wade had previously been a member of the punk band Demon Preacher as well as <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a>-inspired groups the Earwigs and Mr. & Mrs. Demeanour. Following some obscure early cassettes, Alien Sex Fiend made their proper debut with the 1983 single "Ignore the Machine," a favorite among goth club denizens; this preceded the full-length Who's Been Sleeping in My Brain? A series of indie chart hits followed in 1984, including "R.I.P.," "Dead and Buried," and "E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)" (the world's first 11" single). The success of the album Acid Bath further increased the group's visibility, and Alien Sex Fiend became major stars in Japan, resulting in the 1985 live release Liquid Head in Tokyo. Following the departure of Johnny Ha Ha, the group continued as a trio to record 1985's bleak Maximum Security. After the following year's "It" the Album, released to coincide with Alien Sex Fiend's opening slot on <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a>'s Nightmare Returns tour, they recorded 1987's Here Cum Germs, the final offer to feature Yaxi Highrizer. Now essentially a duo, <a href="spotify:artist:0SsujjRDVoFMPqoxnewr1x">the Fiends</a> explored more synth- and sample-oriented territory on 1988's Another Planet, a trend continued on 1990's Curse, which featured the minor hit "Now I'm Feeling Zombified." With a revitalized lineup including new guitarist Rat Fink Jr. and keyboardist Doc Milton, Alien Sex Fiend resurfaced in 1992 with Open Head Surgery. After a 1993 live album, Altered States of America, ASF (back to being the duo of Nik and Mrs. Fiend) composed the music for the CD-ROM game Inferno. Released as Inferno (The Odyssey Continues), the album was a venture into instrumental electronic music. With the release of the compilation The Singles 1983-1995, the band's affiliation with longtime label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Anagram%22">Anagram</a> ended, and <a href="spotify:artist:0SsujjRDVoFMPqoxnewr1x">the Fiends</a> soon established their own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%2213th+Moon+Records%22">13th Moon Records</a> imprint. The trance-influenced 1996 EP Evolution found Alien Sex Fiend traveling even further away from their goth beginnings into the realm of electronica, a move continued on 1997's Nocturnal Emissions. Following numerous compilations and live releases, including the 1999 retrospective Fiend at the Controls, Vols. 1-2, ASF returned with 2004's Information Overload, an adventurous update of the group's sound. Para-Abnormal, a CD of remixes and rarities, followed in 2006. The group's next full-length was delayed due to deaths in the family and other personal issues, but ASF re-emerged with Death Trip in 2010. In 2015, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cherry+Red%22">Cherry Red</a> released Classic Albums and BBC Sessions Collection, the first of two comprehensive box sets of the band's early material. These were followed by the generous triple-CD package Fiendology in 2017. Possessed, Alien Sex Fiend's first studio album in eight years, appeared in 2018. ~ Jason Ankeny & Paul Simpson, Rovi

Psh Psh

Banda venezolana | Post-punk, new wave (1980 – 1988) ❗

Joy Division

Banda inglesa | Post-punk (1976 – 1980)

Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s. Though the group's raw initial sides fit the bill for any punk band, Joy Division later incorporated synthesizers (taboo in the low-tech world of '70s punk) and more haunting melodies, emphasized by the isolated, tortured lyrics of its lead vocalist, Ian Curtis. While the British punk movement shocked the world during the late '70s, Joy Division's quiet storm of musical restraint and emotive power proved to be just as important to independent music in the 1980s. The band was founded in 1976, soon after <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> had made their first appearance in Manchester. Guitarist Bernard Albrecht (b. Bernard Dicken, January 4, 1956) and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7yE0pgnhHPnPk4GZVuEpZM">Peter Hook</a> (b. February 13, 1956) had met while at the show and later formed a band called the Stiff Kittens; after placing an ad through a Manchester record store, they added vocalist Ian Curtis (b. July 15, 1956) and drummer Steve Brotherdale. Renamed <a href="spotify:artist:71fREgcpSGwfeKqPitTf3t">Warsaw</a> (from David Bowie's "Warszawa"), the band made its live debut the following May, supporting <a href="spotify:artist:2DxlS3lTLFIq70S7ap5H3y">the Buzzcocks</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0XLpzWw7BLdlsf32qlMXKV">Penetration</a> at Manchester's Electric Circus. After the recording of several demos, Brotherdale quit the group in August 1977, prompting the hire of Stephen Morris (b. October 28, 1957). A name change to Joy Division in late 1977 -- necessitated by the punk band <a href="spotify:artist:7FYWZx1rlDCaE5FNJqNC0E">Warsaw Pakt</a> -- was inspired by Karol Cetinsky's World War II novel The House of Dolls. (In the book, the term "joy division" was used as slang for concentration camp units wherein female inmates were forced to prostitute themselves for the enjoyment of Nazi soldiers.) Playing frequently in the north country during early 1978, the quartet gained the respect of several influential figures: Rob Gretton, a Manchester club DJ who became the group's manager; Tony Wilson, a TV/print journalist and owner of the Factory Records label; and Derek Branwood, a record executive with RCA Northwest, who recorded sessions in May 1978, for what was planned to be Joy Division's self-titled debut LP. Though several songs bounded with punk energy, the rest of the album showed at an early age the band's later trademarks: Curtis' themes of post-industrial restlessness and emotional despair, <a href="spotify:artist:5WQy6bD9vgxC50XWhnqIy8">Hook</a>'s droning bass lines, and the jagged guitar riffs of <a href="spotify:artist:0JLWCJW5fXlpK5FujWv1N3">Albrecht</a>. The album should have been hailed as a punk classic, but when a studio engineer added synthesizers to several tracks -- believing that the punk movement had to move on and embrace new sounds -- Joy Division scrapped the entire LP. (Titled Warsaw for a 1982 bootleg, the album was finally given wide issue ten years later.) The first actual Joy Division release came in June 1978, when the initial mid-1977 demos were released as the EP An Ideal for Living, on the band's own Enigma label. Early in 1979, the buzz surrounding Joy Division increased with a session recorded for John Peel's BBC radio show. The group began recording with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0K0Cb0h8kpL0AsoxRGTcNb">Martin Hannett</a> and released Unknown Pleasures on old friend Tony Wilson's Factory label in July 1979. The album enjoyed immense critical acclaim and a long stay on the U.K.'s independent charts. Encouraged by the punk buzz, the American Warner Bros. label offered a large distribution contract that fall. The band ignored it but did record another radio session for John Peel on November 26th. (Both sessions were later collected on the Peel Sessions album.) During late 1979, Joy Division's manic live show gained many converts, partly due to rumors of Curtis' ill health. An epilepsy sufferer, he was prone to breakdowns and seizures while on stage -- it soon grew difficult to distinguish the fits from his usual on-stage jerkiness and manic behavior. As the live dates continued and the new decade approached, Curtis grew weaker and more prone to seizures. After a short rest over the Christmas holiday, Joy Division embarked on a European tour during January, though several dates were cancelled because of Curtis. The group began recording its second LP after the tour ended (again with <a href="spotify:artist:0K0Cb0h8kpL0AsoxRGTcNb">Hannett</a>), and released "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in April. The single was again praised but failed to move beyond the independent charts. After one gig in early May, the members of Joy Division were given two weeks of rest before beginning the group's first U.S. tour. Two days before the scheduled flight, however, Curtis was found dead in his home, the victim of a self-inflicted hanging. Before Curtis' death, the band had agreed that Joy Division would cease to exist if any member left, for any reason. Ironically though, the summer of 1980 proved to be the blooming of the band's commercial status, when a re-release of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" rose to number 13 on the British singles chart. In August, the release of Closer finally united critics' positivity with glowing sales, as the album peaked at number six. Before the end of the summer, Unknown Pleasures was charting as well. By January of the following year, <a href="spotify:artist:5WQy6bD9vgxC50XWhnqIy8">Hook</a>, Morris, and <a href="spotify:artist:0JLWCJW5fXlpK5FujWv1N3">Albrecht</a> (now <a href="spotify:artist:0JLWCJW5fXlpK5FujWv1N3">Bernard Sumner</a>) had formed <a href="spotify:artist:0yNLKJebCb8Aueb54LYya3">New Order</a>, with <a href="spotify:artist:0JLWCJW5fXlpK5FujWv1N3">Sumner</a> taking over vocal duties. Also in 1981, the posthumous release of Still -- including two sides of rare tracks and two of live songs -- rose to number five on the British charts. As <a href="spotify:artist:0yNLKJebCb8Aueb54LYya3">New Order</a>'s star began to shine during the '80s, the group had trouble escaping the long shadow of Curtis and Joy Division. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" charted for the third time in 1983, and 1988 also proved a big year for the defunct band: the reissued single "Atmosphere" hit number 34 and a double-album compilation entitled Substance reached number seven in the album charts. Seven years later, the 15th anniversary of Curtis' death was memorialized with a new JD compilation (Permanent: Joy Division 1995), a tribute album (A Means to an End), and a biography of his life (Touching From a Distance) written by his widow, Deborah Curtis. In 1999, the Factory label began a program of concert-performance reissues -- all overseen by the remainder of the original lineup -- with Preston Warehouse 28 February 1980. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Corpse

Cantante y compositor estadounidense | Dark trap, trap metal, hip‑hop (2018) ❗

who cares

Lil Peep

Rapero estadounidense | Emo rap, lo-fi, trap, pop punk, rap rock, rap alternativo (2014 - 2017)

An icon of the SoundCloud rap era that dominated the mid- to late 2010s, Lil Peep connected with his fans through both his genre-bending style and his lyrics, which vulnerably and transparently addressed issues of depression, addiction, and anxiety. A run of strong mixtapes and guest appearances generated media buzz around the rapper, his approach to life, and his music, which polarized both listeners and the press. Those who championed Lil Peep did so passionately, and his followers quickly grew into the millions. Peep would only live to see the release of one fully realized studio album, his brief 2017 debut Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1. The eight-song album was released shortly before the artist's untimely death just after his 21st birthday. Fans mourned the loss, and Peep's estate began posthumously releasing music the rapper had finished before his death, beginning with several singles and eventually leading to full-lengths like 2019’s Everybody’s Everything. His early mixtapes were commerically re-released as well, with 2016's Crybaby still in the charts six years after the rapper's untimely death. Lil Peep was born Gustav Elijah Åhr in 1996 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and moved to Long Beach, New York with his family when he was four. He began making music as a teenager, eventually adopting the name Lil Peep after a nickname his mother had given him. He began releasing his self-recorded music on SoundCloud in May of 2015, beginning with the Feelz EP and continuing with mixtapes like Lil Peep, Pt. 1 and Live Forever, both released that same year. His sound stood out in part because of his gloomy and expressive lyrics, and also for its inclusion of unlikely samples and other atypical musical elements. His breakthrough mixtapes, Crybaby and Hellboy, were released in 2016, and moved even further into a unique stylistic direction, including punk- and emo-inspired guitar lines and melodies. The following year, he collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:5g63iWaMJ2UrkZMkCC8dMi">Lil Tracy</a> on a pair of Castles EPs. <a href="spotify:artist:5g63iWaMJ2UrkZMkCC8dMi">Tracy</a> would return the favor on Peep's official debut LP, Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1, which featured the singles "The Brightside" and "Awful Things." Months after the album's release, Peep was discovered dead in his tour bus on November 15, 2017. In the wake of his passing, previously unreleased material began to emerge. Singles like "Spotlight," the <a href="spotify:artist:5vSQUyT33qxr1xAX2Tkf3A">Clams Casino</a>-produced "4 Gold Chains," and the <a href="spotify:artist:15UsOTVnJzReFVN1VCnxy4">XXXtentacion</a> collaboration "Falling Down" all materialized before the second Lil Peep album, Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2, came out in November of 2018. Various unreleased tracks leaked out over the course of 2019, and a feature-length documentary focused on the life of the departed rapper. Everybody's Everything was announced for release in November of that year. Preceding the film's premiere, an unreleased three-song project, GOTH ANGEL SINNER, appeared, and a longer soundtrack was planned for release in conjunction with the film. That album, also titled Everybody's Everything, was the second posthumous collection of Lil Peep's music and contained all three tracks from GOTH ANGEL SINNER. In addition to previously unreleased material, commercial re-releases of his early mixtapes and extended-plays were included, and eventually accumulated over 15 billion streams across various platforms. Peep's 2016 mixtape Crybaby was still performing well enough in June of 2023 to enter the Top 100 reaches of the Billboard charts. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Fred Thomas, Rovi

Fondo Blanco

Grupo musical colombiano | Rap colombiano, hip-hop hardcore, rap underground, hip-hop callejero / gangsta rap latino (1997) ❗

Noiseferatu

Rapero colombiano | Hip-hop, rap introspectivo, rap conceptual, hip-hop alternativo (2018) ❗

Tazzy

Rapero y productor estadounidense | Hip hop (2017) ❗

Tazzy is a renowned artist with a significant following on Spotify, boasting over 10,000,000 monthly listeners. Known for their unique covers of popular songs, Tazzy has carved out a niche in the music industry that resonates with a wide audience. Despite their success, Tazzy remains dedicated to their craft, continually exploring new sounds and pushing the boundaries of their musical expression. With each release, they offer their fans a unique musical experience that continues to captivate and inspire. Join Tazzy on social media: IG - @iamtazzymusic

Hard Crew

Dúo colombiano | Rap hardcore, hip hop urbano (2017) ❗

Kendrick Lamar

Rapero estadounidense | West coast rap, rap progresivo, rap alternativo, jazz rap, Rap conciencia, hip hop hardcore, rap político, gangsta rap, jazz y pop (2004)

One of the most acclaimed artists of his generation, hip-hop or otherwise, Kendrick Lamar is known for his top-tier lyricism, virtuosic microphone command, and sharp conceptual vision. His talents have translated to a rare combination of continuous chart feats and critical acclaim, plus respect and support from the rappers who paved the way for his advancement. The Compton native started in his teens and hit his creative and commercial stride in the 2010s, during which he authored the multi-platinum good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), followed up with the Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and scaled another new height with the Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. (2017). All three displayed an unmatched mix of inventive wordplay and riveting narratives with an assertion of artistic dominance, examination of internal conflict, and upliftment of community all centered. Those qualities were also exemplified in seven concurrent Top 40 singles that included "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "i," and the Hot 100-topping "HUMBLE." Lamar's screenplay-level detail on those recordings was enriched by a shifting collective of associates, many of whom -- from inspirations <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4XqfpACObRB5AsBcUYjL8X">MC Eiht</a> to peers such as Sounwave, <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Terrace Martin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4frXpPxQQZwbCu3eTGnZEw">Thundercat</a> -- likewise represent Los Angeles. The rapper's cinematic and collaborative inclinations inevitably attracted the mainstream film industry, leading to an executive-production role on Black Panther: The Album (2018), the source of three additional Top 40 hits. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), fueled by intense self-analysis, became Lamar's sixth number one on the Billboard 200 despite containing his most challenging and confrontational work. The lean surprise release GNX (2024) capped a year in which Lamar topped the Hot 100 again with "Like That" (a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:1RyvyyTE3xzB2ZywiAwp0i">Future</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0iEtIxbK0KxaSlF7G42ZOp">Metro Boomin</a>) and the Grammy-sweeping "Not Like Us" (the peak of a public feud with <a href="spotify:artist:3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4">Drake</a>). Compton, California native Kendrick Lamar Duckworth grew up immersed in hip-hop culture and surrounded by gang activity. As a youngster, he gradually discovered an aptitude for writing stories, poems, and lyrics, which naturally led to rapping. He made a name for himself as K. Dot. At the age of 16 in 2003, he issued his debut mixtape, The Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year. While it merely hinted at the potential of the then-teenager, it was impressive enough to catch the attention of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Top+Dawg+Entertainment%22">Top Dawg Entertainment</a> and led to a long-term association with the label that steadily propelled his career. Training Day, the <a href="spotify:artist:28ExwzUQsvgJooOI0X1mr3">Jay Rock</a> collaboration No Sleep 'til NYC, and C4, issued from 2005 through 2009, likewise preceded Lamar's decision to go by his first and middle names. The last of the three was issued the same year he became part of <a href="spotify:artist:7a9KRWdaSZktpGGnWndzbC">Black Hippy</a>, a group whose members -- including fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22TDE%22">TDE</a> artists <a href="spotify:artist:0g9vAlRPK9Gt3FKCekk4TW">Ab-Soul</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:28ExwzUQsvgJooOI0X1mr3">Jay Rock</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5IcR3N7QB1j6KBL8eImZ8m">ScHoolboy Q</a> -- frequently appeared on one another's mixtapes and albums. The first tape credited to Kendrick Lamar was Overly Dedicated, released in September 2010. Also the rapper's first commercial release, it reached enough listeners to enter Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. After XXL magazine selected him for the 2011 Freshman Class feature, Lamar released his first official album, Section.80, that July, and crossed into the Billboard 200, reaching number 113. With deeper conceptual narratives and sharpened melodic hooks, as well as comparative multidimensional development from primary producer Sounwave, the set acted as a kind of warning flare for Lamar's mainstream rap dominance. In addition to the dozens of tracks he had appeared on by then, Lamar had the support of veteran West Coast stars as well. During a concert later in 2011, <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0NbfKEOTQCcwd6o7wSDOHI">Game</a> dubbed him "The New King of the West Coast," a notion <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a> endorsed more significantly by signing Lamar to his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>-affiliated <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Aftermath%22">Aftermath</a> label. Lamar's major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released in October 2012 and entered the Billboard 200 at number two. Three of its singles -- "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "Poetic Justice," and "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" -- reached the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and went Top 40 pop. More significantly, the album showcased Lamar as an exceptional storyteller capable of making compelling concept albums. It led to Grammy nominations in four categories: Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Now or Never," a deluxe edition bonus cut featuring <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a>). <a href="spotify:artist:360IAlyVv4PCEVjgyMZrxK">Miguel</a>'s "How Many Drinks?" and <a href="spotify:artist:13ubrt8QOOCPljQ2FL1Kca">A$AP Rocky</a>'s "Fuckin' Problems," two tracks on which Lamar made guest appearances, were nominated as well. Rather than rest, Lamar remained active during 2013-2014, touring as well as appearing on tracks by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5INjqkS1o8h1imAzPqGZBb">Tame Impala</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0A0FS04o6zMoto8OKPsDwY">YG</a>, and fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Top+Dawg%22">Top Dawg</a> affiliate <a href="spotify:artist:7tYKF4w9nC0nq9CsPZTHyP">SZA</a>. The proud single "i" was released in September of the latter year, became Lamar's fourth Top 40 single, and won Grammys for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Still rolling, he announced in early 2015 that his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, would be out in March with tracks featuring <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4jCbgl5Dmt3uOh8WRQfpPs">Bilal</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4frXpPxQQZwbCu3eTGnZEw">Thundercat</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2GVBp7QyHckoOg7rYkLvrA">George Clinton</a>. A technical error caused the digital version to be released eight days early, but the LP nonetheless topped the Billboard 200 with sales of 325,000 copies within its first week. It made numerous best-of lists at the end of the year and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album. The defiant and life-affirming "Alright," which was quickly adopted by the Black Lives Matter activist movement, along with another single, "These Walls," took awards for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Riding high on his wins and a striking Grammy ceremony performance, Lamar followed up in March 2016 with untitled unmastered., consisting of demos recorded during the previous three years. Like the preceding release, it debuted at number one, and seamlessly synthesized beatmaking and traditional musicianship from the likes of Sounwave, <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Terrace Martin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4frXpPxQQZwbCu3eTGnZEw">Thundercat</a>. Within a month, Lamar added to his ever-lengthening discography of featured appearances with his contribution to <a href="spotify:artist:6vWDO969PvNqNYHIOW5v0m">Beyoncé</a>'s "Freedom." Led by "HUMBLE.," his first number one pop hit, DAMN. arrived in April 2017 and likewise entered the Billboard 200 at the top. Remarkably, all 14 of the album's songs entered the Hot 100, and it was certified multi-platinum within three months. Among the contributors were <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ">U2</a>, but at this point, the supporting roles were beneficial more for the guest artists than they were for Lamar, whose artistic clout was unrivaled. He snagged five more Grammys: DAMN. won Best Rap Album; "HUMBLE." took Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Video; and Best Rap/Sung Performance went to "LOYALTY.," the <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a> collaboration. Another number one hit followed in February 2018. The soundtrack Black Panther: The Album featured Lamar on every track. Its three singles -- "All the Stars" (with <a href="spotify:artist:7tYKF4w9nC0nq9CsPZTHyP">SZA</a>), "King's Dead" (with <a href="spotify:artist:28ExwzUQsvgJooOI0X1mr3">Jay Rock</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1RyvyyTE3xzB2ZywiAwp0i">Future</a>), and "Pray for Me" (with <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a>) -- eventually hit the Top 40. That April, DAMN. won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. It was the first time the judges recognized a work outside the genres of classical and jazz. Months later, "King's Dead" made Lamar a 13-time Grammy winner when it took the award for Best Rap Performance. "All the Stars" alone was nominated in four categories, while Black Panther was up for Album of the Year. The film itself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. After some time away from music that included an acting role in the fifth season of the Starz network series Power, Lamar resurfaced in August 2021 on cousin <a href="spotify:artist:5SXuuuRpukkTvsLuUknva1">Baby Keem</a>'s "Family Ties." The single, a highlight of The Melodic Blue, <a href="spotify:artist:5SXuuuRpukkTvsLuUknva1">Keem</a>'s album debut for Lamar and Dave Free's new <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22pgLang%22">pgLang</a> label, won Best Rap Performance at the following Grammys. Lamar then performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside hip-hop royalty that included <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7dGJo4pcD2V6oG8kP0tJRR">Eminem</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a>. In May 2022, Lamar issued "The Heart, Pt. 5" as a ruminative prelude to his fifth full-length. An emotionally complex and raw double album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers landed later that month and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. In addition to <a href="spotify:artist:5SXuuuRpukkTvsLuUknva1">Keem</a>, the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:2WoVwexZuODvclzULjPQtm">Sampha</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:46SHBwWsqBkxI7EeeBEQG7">Kodak Black</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6liAMWkVf5LH7YR9yfFy1Y">Portishead</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6Lt6KFXX3P0v6vfrynQAMo">Beth Gibbons</a> made featured appearances. It was named Best Rap Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, where "The Heart, Pt. 5" took the awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Also in 2023, he was featured on <a href="spotify:artist:6vWDO969PvNqNYHIOW5v0m">Beyoncé</a>'s single "America Has a Problem." In 2024, Lamar was part of a well-publicized feud with <a href="spotify:artist:3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4">Drake</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6l3HvQ5sa6mXTsMTB19rO5">J. Cole</a>. After <a href="spotify:artist:6l3HvQ5sa6mXTsMTB19rO5">Cole</a> had named the three as the "big three" greatest rappers in modern hip-hop, Lamar asserted that he was the only one during his guest verse on <a href="spotify:artist:1RyvyyTE3xzB2ZywiAwp0i">Future</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0iEtIxbK0KxaSlF7G42ZOp">Metro Boomin</a>'s song "Like That," which topped the Billboard Hot 100. <a href="spotify:artist:6l3HvQ5sa6mXTsMTB19rO5">Cole</a> then criticized Lamar on his song "7 Minute Drill," which was met with a poor reception; <a href="spotify:artist:6l3HvQ5sa6mXTsMTB19rO5">Cole</a> apologized for the song and removed it from streaming services. In April, <a href="spotify:artist:3TVXtAsR1Inumwj472S9r4">Drake</a> released two diss tracks against Lamar, who responded with the vitriolic "Euphoria" and "6:16 in L.A." After another exchange of diss tracks, Lamar again returned fire with "Not Like Us," a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:0YinUQ50QDB7ZxSCLyQ40k">Mustard</a> that broke single-day streaming records, topped the Hot 100, and earned Grammy nominations in five categories. That November, with no advance notice, Lamar released his sixth album, GNX. Sounwave and <a href="spotify:artist:414TS3VqZf1XPCBixdmX9n">Jack Antonoff</a> co-produced each track with variable assistance from the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6HQYnRM4OzToCYPpVBInuU">Kamasi Washington</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Terrace Martin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0YinUQ50QDB7ZxSCLyQ40k">Mustard</a>. At the 2025 Grammy Awards, he swept his five nominated categories, taking home Record of the Year and Song of the Year. A week after that ceremony, he headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

K’naan

Poeta y cantante somalí-canadiense | Hip hop, pop (2001)

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, just as the civil unrest that rocked the country was beginning, rapper K'NAAN spent the early years of his life trying to avoid death and listening to the hip-hop records sent to him from America by his father, who had left Somalia earlier. When K'NAAN (whose name means "traveler" in Somali) was 13, he, his mother, and his two siblings were able to leave their homeland and join relatives in Harlem, where they stayed briefly before moving to Rexdale, Ontario, where there was a large Somali community. As soon as his English started improving he began rapping, and in tenth grade he dropped out of school and traveled around North America for two years, performing occasionally. Through his friendship with Sol Guy, part of promotion team Direct Current Media, K'NAAN was able to perform at the United Nations' 50th anniversary concert in 1999, held in Geneva, where he used his platform to publicly criticize the United Nations' handling of the Somali crisis in the 1990s. One of the audience members, Senegalese singer <a href="spotify:artist:77zlytAFjPFjUKda8TNIDY">Youssou N'Dour</a>, was so impressed by the young MC's performance and courage that he invited him to contribute to his 2001 album Building Bridges, a project through which K'NAAN was able to tour the world. In 2002, he met <a href="spotify:artist:1lIIWrsAsr4qeAVbiiR4Oy">Jarvis Church</a>, part of the Track and Field Productions team that helped propel <a href="spotify:artist:2jw70GZXlAI8QzWeY2bgRc">Nelly Furtado</a> to fame, a connection that eventually led to a record. The Dusty Foot Philosopher came out in Canada in 2005, and was followed with tour spots with <a href="spotify:artist:0Mz5XE0kb1GBnbLQm2VbcO">Mos Def</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0lEssBAxQl2In4RpaB1C2Y">Talib Kweli</a>, as well as a performance at Live 8. In 2007, the live album On the Road appeared and then, two years later, the album Troubadour became K'NAAN's first for the major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a>. After his track "Wavin' Flag" became the anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, his More Beautiful Than Silence EP arrived in 2012. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi

Killa Kyleon

Rapero estadounidense | Hip hop, rap sureño (2001) ❗

One of the most underappreciated Southern rappers, Killa Kyleon became active in the Houston underground during the early 2000s. He evolved into a major force as a prolific solo artist and long-term member of <a href="spotify:artist:0st5vgzw9XkH5ALJiUM1lE">Slim Thug</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:5wv1hX9cr8S324nYzHuVs7">Boss Hogg Outlawz</a>, and remains a sought-after collaborator. Born Kyle Jeroderrick Riley, Kyleon was among his region's most adept MCs within a matter of a few years, as heard on early mixtape releases such as 2004's Having Thangs (with <a href="spotify:artist:0st5vgzw9XkH5ALJiUM1lE">Slim Thug</a>) and 2007's Purple Punch. By the time <a href="spotify:artist:5wv1hX9cr8S324nYzHuVs7">Boss Hogg Outlawz</a> released their third Serve & Collect set in 2011, Kyleon was out the group, but he continued to issue mixtapes and provide guest verses at a steady rate. Among his most notable tapes during the next several years were the Mouse collaboration Welcome to the Fish Fry and the C-Fyre collaboration H-Town Heroes, both of which arrived in 2012. During 2017 alone, Kyleon's output included Mr. & Mrs. Smith (an EP-length release with Nessacary), Lorraine Motel, and a new edition of Having Thangs (titled Havin Thangs 2K17). The following year, Kyleon released an unnumbered volume of the Candy Paint N Texas Plates series. Houston giants <a href="spotify:artist:19KwjzvIL92r29IINtlPNP">Scarface</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7ipr4gJAFLoygvGdGs667W">Willie D</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0OMJR0LjjKv21qNvICTgbi">Devin the Dude</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6MrdwyCIKbpXmTKQBlG3uq">Z-Ro</a> contributed verses to its "Money All the Time," an affirmation of Kyleon's hard-won stature. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

Immortal Technique

Rapero, cantante y activista peruano nacionalizado estadounidense | Hip hop, rap conciencia, jazz rap (2000)

Born Felipe Coronel in a military hospital in Lima, Peru in 1978, Immortal Technique moved to Harlem with his parents when he was two years old. At age nine he started rapping, though he didn't take it seriously until he was in high school. Despite the fact he was in and out of trouble throughout his teen years, Tech was accepted at Penn State University, but before he could get through much of college, he was arrested and eventually ended up spending a year in prison. It was there that he began to study the lives and teachings of Black and Latino revolutionaries like Che Guevara and <a href="spotify:artist:2IsulP0BplLNJn8BGsvUQo">Malcolm X</a>, as well as to devote himself to writing songs. Out in 1999 and on parole, he moved back to New York, where he spent his days working various jobs and his nights battling other rappers, a forum that allowed him the opportunity to show off his aggressive, vituperative style. Concerned that he was being pigeonholed as a one-trick pony, Tech set about writing complete tracks, finding beats to accompany them, and eventually releasing his debut, Revolutionary, Vol. 1, in 2001 (an album that was later re-released by his own company, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Viper+Records%22">Viper Records</a>, in 2004 and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Babygrande%22">Babygrande</a> in 2005). The record, plus his indefatigable work ethic, earned him local recognition and a spot as The Source's "unsigned hype" in November 2002; the following year he issued his second album, Revolutionary, Vol. 2. Although he promised his third release would see the light of day in 2005, it wasn't until the summer of 2007 that -- besides a few singles and mixtapes -- fans got any new material from Immortal Technique, coming in the form of the full-length The Middle Passage. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi

Kanye West

Rapero, cantante y empresario estadounidense | Hip hop, rap alternativo, pop, art pop, góspel (1996)

Few artists have had as deep an impact on pop culture as Kanye West. Raised in Chicago by his mother, an English professor, West initially studied to be a painter while making beats on the side—a multidisciplinary drive that came to mark his career. After contributing production to a series of increasingly high-profile projects (including work with Foxy Brown and the Mase-fronted Harlem World), West broke through in 2001 with his work on JAY-Z’s <i>The Blueprint</i>, producing and cowriting some of the album’s biggest songs (“Izzo [H.O.V.A.],” “Takeover”). His chopped-and-pitched, sample-heavy “chipmunk soul” sound would define rap for years after.<br> He launched his MC career with 2004’s <i>The College Dropout</i> and hasn’t looked back, releasing a string of groundbreaking—and often self-contradicting—albums, each of them a pacesetter for the culture around it. From the baroque grandeur of <i>My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy</i> to the punk fragments of <i>Yeezus</i>, from the social commentary of <i>The College Dropout</i> to the confessional summits of <i>808s & Heartbreak</i>, West has always been at the leading edge, tirelessly expanding his scope and sound—and shifting everyone else’s playing field in the process. Much of that comes from his gift for listening, for orchestrating: Over the course of his career, he has absorbed sounds and styles from the underground—whether Chicago drill, UK bass music, or Bon Iver’s postmodern folk—and reimagined them, changing the course of the mainstream along the way. An outspoken figure (to say the least), West has shattered countless stereotypes about who rappers are and what they do, taking stances against homophobia and gangster posturing, offering multidimensional portraits of women and some bracingly reductive ones, advancing social causes one minute and declaring himself a god the next, controversially getting the attention of not one but <i>three</i> sitting presidents, and playing both the face and the heel.<br> His vision hasn’t stopped at music. Always interested in fashion, West has designed for Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Adidas, as well as his own Yeezy Season line, reconciling the utility of streetwear with the playful tangents of haute couture. He’s also dabbled in sculpture (the infamous silicone figures from 2016’s “Famous” video), as well as announced his intention to move into architecture and prefabricated home design (Yeezy Home). Even when his experiments don’t quite land (in 2018, he claimed he was writing a philosophy book in real time on Twitter), there’s an ambition—and audacity—in West’s work that feels hard to deny. What we’re left with isn’t just a strong back catalog, but a seismic shift: the evolution of hip-hop into high art.

Nujabes

DJ y productor japones | Hip hop, trip hop, cool jazz, nu jazz, jazz rap, acid jazz, lo-fi (1996 - 2010)

Nujabes had a major impact on the hip-hop community in his native Tokyo. A record store owner, label founder, DJ, and producer, Nujabes -- born Seba Jun, or "Nujabes" backward -- released nearly two dozen singles and a handful of albums that displayed his knack for nuanced, sample-laced beats. His debut album, Metaphorical Music, was released in 2003. Other highlights included his soundtrack work for the anime show Samurai Champloo, spread across a pair of 2004 releases, and 2005's Modal Soul, on which he was joined by Terry Callier for an update of "Ordinary Joe." In 2010, at the age of 36, Nujabes died in a traffic accident. The compilation Modal Soul Classics II, as well as productions by Funky DL, Abstrakt Idea, and Ta-Ku, among many other artists, were made in tribute to him. The posthumous Nujabes album Spiritual State was issued in 2011. ~ Andy Kellman

Eminem

Rapero, compositor, productor y actor estadounidense | Hip hop (1986)

Apart from being one of the best-selling artists in music history, Eminem is one of the greatest rappers of his generation. He's effortlessly fast, fluid, dexterous, and unpredictable, capable of pulling off long-form narratives or withering asides. And thanks to his mentor <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, he's had music to match with thick, muscular loops evoking the terror and paranoia conjured by his lyrics. To be certain, a great deal of the controversy Eminem courted came through in how his violent fantasias, often directed at his mother or his wife, intertwined with flights of absurdity that appealed to listeners too young to absorb the psychodramas explored on his breakthrough albums The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem's commercial peak came around the time of his 2002 album The Eminem Show (which went platinum 27 times over) and with his crossover onto the big screen that same year with 8 Mile, a film that earned him acclaim for his performance and an Oscar for the film's anthem, "Lose Yourself." Eminem's journey as a living rap legend included struggles with addiction, near-constant feuding with other artists, and a celebrity status that shifted as the years went on. Through all his various changes, however, he continued growing as an artist as well as consistently hitting high commercial marks. Though critics could be unkind to efforts like 2009's Relapse or 2017's Revival, fans made sure that each new album sold at least platinum numbers and topped the charts. Instead of recycling old ideas, the rapper experimented with new production approaches, faster flows, and increasingly complex multisyllabic wordplay on projects like 2020's Music to Be Murdered By and the 2024 concept album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), in which he confronted and killed his alter ego. Born Marshall Mathers in the Kansas City, Missouri suburb of St. Joseph, Eminem spent his childhood between Missouri and Michigan, settling in Detroit in his teens. At the age of 14, he began rapping with a high school friend, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem. Under this name, Mathers entered battle rapping, a struggle dramatized in the fictionalized 8 Mile. Initially, the predominantly Black audience didn't embrace him, but soon his skills earned him a reputation, and he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. This track also featured <a href="spotify:artist:1W7G3vXPeISR3Oi9ggVfyE">Proof</a>, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form <a href="spotify:artist:5Qi4Bb7a8C0a00NZcA77L0">D-12</a>, a six-member crew that functioned more as a <a href="spotify:artist:34EP7KEpOjXcM2TCat1ISk">Wu-Tang</a>-styled collective than a regularly performing group. As he was struggling to establish his career, Eminem and his girlfriend Kim had a daughter, Hailey, forcing him to spend less time rapping and more time providing for his family. He assembled his first album, Infinite, which received some underground attention in 1996, not all of it positive. After its release, Eminem developed his Slim Shady alter ego, a persona that freed him to dig deep into his dark id, something he needed as he faced a number of personal upheavals, beginning with a bad split with Kim, which led him to move in with his mother and increase his use of drugs and alcohol, capped off by an unsuccessful suicide attempt. All this sturm und drang was channeled into The Slim Shady EP, which is where he first demonstrated many of the quirks that became his trademark, including his twitchy, nasal rhyming and disturbingly violent imagery. The Slim Shady EP opened many doors, the most notable being a contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope+Records%22">Interscope Records</a>. After Eminem came in second at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a> head Jimmy Iovine sought him out, giving the EP to <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, who proved eager to work with Eminem. They quickly cut Em's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a> debut in the fall of 1998 -- during which time Marshall reconciled with Kim and married her -- and The Slim Shady LP appeared early in 1999, preceded by the single "My Name Is." Both were instant blockbusters and Eminem became a lightning rod for attention, earning praise and disdain for his violent, satirical fantasias. He quickly followed The Slim Shady LP with The Marshall Mathers LP in the summer of 2000. By this point, there was little doubt that Eminem was one of the biggest stars in pop music: the album sold almost two million copies within the first two weeks of release, but Mathers felt compelled to tweak other celebrities, provoking pop stars in his lyrics, and <a href="spotify:artist:4xtWjIlVuZwTCeqVAsgEXy">Insane Clown Posse</a>'s entourage in person, providing endless fodder for the tabloids. This gossip blended with growing criticism about his violent and homophobic lyrics, and under this fire, he reunited his old crew, <a href="spotify:artist:5Qi4Bb7a8C0a00NZcA77L0">D-12</a>, releasing an album in 2001, then touring with the group. During this furor, he had his biggest hit in the form of the moody ballad "Stan." Performed at the Grammys as a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>, thereby undercutting some accusations of homophobia, the song helped Eminem cross over to a middlebrow audience, setting the stage for the ultimate crossover of 2001's 8 Mile. Directed by Curtis Hanson, best known as the Oscar-nominated director of L.A. Confidential, the gritty drama fictionalized Eminem's pre-fame Detroit days and earned considerable praise, culminating in one of his biggest hits with the theme "Lose Yourself," which won Mathers an Oscar. After all this, he retreated from the spotlight to record his third album, The Eminem Show. Preceded by the single "Without Me," it turned into another huge hit, albeit not quite as strong as its predecessor, and there were some criticisms suggesting that Eminem wasn't expanding his horizons much. Encore, released late in 2004, did reach into more mature territory, notably on the anti-<a href="spotify:artist:2JZbcOAw67koOHlFTjMeGX">George W. Bush</a> "Mosh," but most of the controversy generated by the album was for behind-the-scenes events: a bus crash followed by canceled dates and a stint in rehab. Rumors of retirement flew, and the 2005 appearance of Curtain Call: The Hits did nothing to dampen them, nor did the turmoil of 2006, a year that saw Mathers remarrying and divorcing Kim within a matter of four months, as well as the shooting death of <a href="spotify:artist:1W7G3vXPeISR3Oi9ggVfyE">Proof</a> at a Detroit club. During all this, Em did some minor studio work, but he soon dropped off the radar completely, retreating to his Detroit home. He popped up here and there, most notably debuting the hip-hop channel Shade 45 for Sirius Satellite Radio in September 2008, but it wasn't until early 2009 that he mounted a comeback with Relapse, an album whose very title alluded to some of Mathers' struggles with prescription drugs, but it also announced that after an extended absence, Slim Shady was back. While not quite a blockbuster, the album went platinum, and Eminem followed it at the end of the year with an expanded version of Relapse (dubbed Relapse: Refill) that added outtakes and new recordings. Recovery, initially titled Relapse 2, was issued in June 2010. The album debuted on top of the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for five consecutive weeks, while its leadoff single, "Not Afraid," debuted on top of the magazine's Hot 100 singles chart. The year 2010 also brought Eminem back together with <a href="spotify:artist:6DVipHzYsPlIoA0DW8Gmns">Royce da 5'9"</a> under the <a href="spotify:artist:77IURH5NC56Jn09QHi76is">Bad Meets Evil</a> moniker. In turn, June 2011's Hell: The Sequel marked the release of their first EP as a duo (barring the previous month's release of key EP track "Fastlane" as a single) and was their first batch of new material since a 1999 double A-side. After an intense period of recording, Eminem announced in August 2013 that his next solo album would be a nostalgically themed set of new material entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which landed in early November. The album featured the singles "Berzerk," "Rap God," and "Survival," plus the chart-topping hit "The Monster" with <a href="spotify:artist:5pKCCKE2ajJHZ9KAiaK11H">Rihanna</a>. In 2014, new tracks landed on the double-disc set Shady XV, which celebrated the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Shady%22">Shady</a> label's 15th birthday. The singles "Phenomenal" and "Kings Never Die" featuring <a href="spotify:artist:4yiQZ8tQPux8cPriYMWUFP">Gwen Stefani</a> arrived a year later, both taken from the Southpaw soundtrack. Eminem resurfaced in October 2017 with a freestyle anti-Trump rap, which didn't appear on Revival, the December 2017 album that was filled with cameos, including appearances by <a href="spotify:artist:6vWDO969PvNqNYHIOW5v0m">Beyoncé</a> ("Walk on Water"), <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Ed Sheeran</a> ("River"), and <a href="spotify:artist:1KCSPY1glIKqW2TotWuXOR">P!nk</a> ("Need Me"). His seventh straight chart-topper, it ultimately failed to match the sales heights of past efforts, despite the international success of the "River" single. The next year, without warning, Eminem issued his surprise tenth album, Kamikaze. The set featured appearances by <a href="spotify:artist:6C1ohJrd5VydigQtaGy5Wa">Joyner Lucas</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6DVipHzYsPlIoA0DW8Gmns">Royce da 5'9"</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3KedxarmBCyFBevnqQHy3P">Jessie Reyez</a>, as well as "Venom," from the film of the same name. In January 2020, he repeated this surprise-release approach with 11th studio album Music to Be Murdered By. The album featured production from <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and cameos from the now-usual host of special guests, this time featuring <a href="spotify:artist:3ZotbHeyVQKxQCPDJuQ4SU">Q-Tip</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Ed Sheeran</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3jK9MiCrA42lLAdMGUZpwa">Anderson .Paak</a>, and the late <a href="spotify:artist:4MCBfE4596Uoi2O4DtmEMz">Juice Wrld</a>, among many others. The set debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and was re-released in expanded form in December under the title Music to Be Murdered By: Side B. In 2021, Eminem appeared on the <a href="spotify:artist:4utLUGcTvOJFr6aqIJtYWV">Skylar Grey</a> song "Last One Standing" along with <a href="spotify:artist:6AgTAQt8XS6jRWi4sX7w49">Polo G</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4AA474G2hRfrHyGrfyDseO">Mozzy</a>. The track was featured on the soundtrack for the film Venom: Let There Be Carnage and cracked the Top 100 of the Billboard charts. 2021 also saw Eminem opening a spaghetti restaurant in Detroit, named Mom's Spaghetti after a line from "Lose Yourself." In February 2022, he performed alongside <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>, and others at the half-time show of Super Bowl LVI. That June, Eminem released "The King and I," a track he recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:5nLYd9ST4Cnwy6NHaCxbj8">CeeLo Green</a> for the soundtrack of <a href="spotify:artist:7HhTERkBV4Ot14KphgBfSh">Baz Luhrmann</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:43ZHCT0cAZBISjO8DG9PnE">Elvis Presley</a> biopic, Elvis. "The King and I" was one of three new songs on Curtain Call 2, a 2022 compilation covering the singles Eminem had released since Curtain Call: The Hits. "From the D to the LBC," a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:7hJcb9fa4alzcOq3EaNPoG">Snoop Dogg</a>, was also featured on Curtain Call 2. In June of 2024, Eminem released his 12th studio LP The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). The album largely centered around the concept of Marshall Mathers being kidnapped by his alter ego Slim Shady and fighting internally between these two sides of his personality. The album included production work from <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6GEykX11lQqp92UVOQQCC7">DJ Premier</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5CiGnKThu5ctn9pBxv7DGa">Benny Blanco</a>, as well as rap cameos from <a href="spotify:artist:0c173mlxpT3dSFRgMO8XPh">Big Sean</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0sKsReKseslDlhxmbN6wLk">BabyTron</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6U3ybJ9UHNKEdsH7ktGBZ7">JID</a>, and others. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Ice Cube

Rapero y actor estadounidense | West Coast rap, Gangsta rap, rap político, hip hop hardcore, old school rap, g-funk (1984)

Ice Cube is one of the most crucial artists in rap history. A razor-sharp lyricist, an alternately furious and humorous MC, and an accomplished producer, Cube laid the foundation for the legacy of pioneering gangsta rap group <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a> by writing "Boyz-N-the-Hood" for partner <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy-E</a> and making his first big splash as an MC with the subsequent "Dope Man." After <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a>'s Straight Outta Compton (1988) infiltrated suburban America and attracted the scrutiny of the FBI with "Fuck tha Police," Ice Cube launched a solo career that has entailed five platinum albums and one platinum EP, including AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992). A month before Cube released the first LP in that series, he appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:6Mo9PoU6svvhgEum7wh2Nd">Public Enemy</a>'s critical "Burn Hollywood Burn" and within a year aided in the disruption of the track's target with a co-starring role in John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood. While Cube added to his filmography with projects such as the Friday franchise, his directorial debut The Players Club, and Barbershop, he devoted less time to music. He continued to record occasionally as a solo artist and as a member of <a href="spotify:artist:3zNM2tRfTX6LI1lN2PlrTt">Westside Connection</a>, and extended a streak of RIAA-certified releases that lasted through Laugh Now, Cry Later (2006). The next decade, Cube and <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> co-produced the acclaimed Straight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film about <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A.</a>, whose resurgence culminated with an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Cube soon returned with his first solo album in eight years, Everythangs Corrupt (2018) and formed the supergroup Mount Westmore. The typically vehement Man Down (2024) was his first solo album of the 2020s. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, California by working class parents, Ice Cube, born O'Shea Jackson, became involved with b-boy culture in his early teens and in high school began writing rhymes. Cube rapped at parties hosted by <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, who soon produced his first recordings: Stereo Crew's "She's a Skag," released on major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> in 1986, and an EP by C.I.A., issued in 1987 on the small independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kru-Cut%22">Kru-Cut</a>. Stereo Crew and C.I.A. also featured <a href="spotify:artist:30QkXUegh8bIFOIwbbMDbR">K-Dee</a>, while the latter added <a href="spotify:artist:4KcnQIX5zh89gMe2Lc2O4h">Sir Jinx</a>. Along the line, Cube met <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy-E</a> through <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dre</a>, and that trio, along with <a href="spotify:artist:3rxeJq1HHYMfIOCMTn1MYO">Arabian Prince</a>, formed the first lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A.</a>, bolstered soon thereafter by <a href="spotify:artist:4fbyGOEjViyE97W58eGEgU">MC Ren</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3EjdfGVvtZMsY8KwdS6SaK">DJ Yella</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy</a> and music industry veteran Jerry Heller set up <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ruthless+Records%22">Ruthless Records</a>, launched later in 1987 with a pair of 12" releases: <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy</a>'s "Boyz-N-the-Hood," and an EP from <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A.</a> containing "8 Ball" and "Dope Man." Cube was the MC only on "Dope Man," but he was credited as sole lyricist on the three tracks, all of which demonstrated the writer's flair for pointed narratives illustrated with irreverent humor. By the time the Macola label expanded the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ruthless%22">Ruthless</a> tracks for the compilation N.W.A. and the Posse, Cube had headed to Arizona to study architectural drafting at Phoenix Institute of Technology. After he obtained a one-year degree, he returned to work on <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a>'s Straight Outta Compton and <a href="spotify:artist:7B4hKK0S9QYnaoqa9OuwgX">Eazy-E</a>'s Eazy-Duz-It. Released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ruthless%22">Ruthless</a> in August and September, respectively, 1988, the albums gradually crept into the mainstream, thanks in significant part to word of mouth and eventual support from Yo! MTV Raps. Nine months after its release, Straight Outta Compton peaked at number nine on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart (trumping Eazy-Duz-It, which in March topped out at number 12). The extreme lyrical content of "Fuck Tha Police," courtesy of Cube and <a href="spotify:artist:4fbyGOEjViyE97W58eGEgU">MC Ren</a>, attracted scrutiny from the Los Angeles Police Department and eventually the assistant director of the FBI office of public affairs, who sent the group a strongly worded letter. Deep conflicts with Jerry Heller prompted Cube to leave <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a> in late 1989. He went to New York with fellow producer <a href="spotify:artist:4KcnQIX5zh89gMe2Lc2O4h">Sir Jinx</a> and recorded his first solo album, heralded by an appearance on <a href="spotify:artist:6Mo9PoU6svvhgEum7wh2Nd">Public Enemy</a>'s "Burn Hollywood Burn," with the Bomb Squad. Released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Priority%22">Priority</a> in May 1990, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was an instant Top 20 Billboard 200 hit and went gold within four months. While the album's production and Cube's mike skills were praised, the often violent, homophobic, and misogynist lyrics were criticized, particularly by the rock press and moral watchdogs. Even amid such controversy, the album was hailed as a groundbreaking classic -- led by the title track, a number one hit on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart -- and established Cube as a recognized individual force. He began his own corporation, which was run by a woman, and by the end of 1990 co-produced a 12" for <a href="spotify:artist:6kL8ioxe4mWK945hvcHLkS">Yo-Yo</a> and released the platinum Kill at Will EP. <a href="spotify:artist:6kL8ioxe4mWK945hvcHLkS">Yo-Yo</a>'s Make Way for the Motherlode, produced entirely by Ice Cube and <a href="spotify:artist:4KcnQIX5zh89gMe2Lc2O4h">Sir Jinx</a>, arrived the following year, as did another Cube-related project, I Wish My Brother George Was Here, the debut from cousin <a href="spotify:artist:0YsLR3SQd5QTXAhGIGX7cl">Del the Funky Homosapien</a>. Moreover, Cube made his widely praised acting debut in John Singleton's groundbreaking urban drama Boyz N the Hood, titled after the song he wrote, filmed in his native South Central Los Angeles. Cube's first album may have been controversial, but its reception paled compared to that of his follow-up, Death Certificate. Released in October 1991, just after the debut went platinum, Death Certificate was more political, antagonistic, and vulgar than its predecessor, causing more scrutiny and outrage. In particular, "No Vaseline," a vicious attack on <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a> and Jerry Heller, was perceived as anti-Semitic, and "Black Korea" was taken as an instruction to burn down Korean-owned grocery stores. The songs provoked a condemnation from the trade publication Billboard -- the first time an artist had been singled out by the magazine. None of this prevented the album from reaching number two and going platinum with momentum maintained well into 1992 by "Steady Mobbin'," a Top Ten rap hit. During 1992, Cube also performed in the second Lollapalooza tour to consolidate his white rock audience, executive-produced <a href="spotify:artist:7JjJcNso0ZqXL0zC6DOWKh">Da Lench Mob</a>'s radical Guerillas in tha Mist, and that December appeared in Trespass and released The Predator. Cube's third album, The Predator, became the first to debut at number one on both the pop and R&B/hip-hop charts. Promoted with three Top Ten rap singles -- the ferocious Los Angeles riots response "Wicked," the steady-rolling "It Was a Good Day," and the <a href="spotify:artist:0auu2itHTxEdAMRHvx7CyG">Das EFX</a> collaboration "Check Yo Self" -- the album eventually went double platinum. Lethal Injection, Cube's fourth album, was released in December 1993 and became the rapper's third straight LP to debut within the Top Ten of the pop and R&B/hip-hop charts. Its biggest single, "Bop Gun (One Nation)," paid tribute to the enduring influence of Parliament-<a href="spotify:artist:450o9jw6AtiQlQkHCdH6Ru">Funkadelic</a> and featured leader <a href="spotify:artist:2GVBp7QyHckoOg7rYkLvrA">George Clinton</a>. By the end of that year, Cube's production discography included more material from <a href="spotify:artist:6kL8ioxe4mWK945hvcHLkS">Yo-Yo</a>, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:3e5kNXgo0caXvCFrPKsvff">Kam</a>'s Neva Again. Having released four albums in four years, Cube took a break from making solo LPs, but during 1994 reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> for "Natural Born Killaz," recorded for the Murder Was the Case soundtrack. Also that year, the November release Bootlegs & B-Sides bundled stray cuts. Cube was visible as ever throughout 1995. He acted in Singleton's film Higher Learning, wrote and starred in the cult classic stoner comedy Friday, and appeared on tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:3zNM2tRfTX6LI1lN2PlrTt">Westside Connection</a> partners <a href="spotify:artist:3USpNaxpX1iNqNnQWqg9ob">Mack 10</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3NgwMzys77S7sgfh2W5k0V">WC</a>. Bow Down, <a href="spotify:artist:3zNM2tRfTX6LI1lN2PlrTt">Westside Connection</a>'s first album, followed in 1996, narrowly missed the top of the pop chart, and went platinum on the strength of the hits "Bow Down" and "Gangstas Make the World Go Round." In 1997, Cube starred in the action thriller Dangerous Ground and in the surprise hit horror film Anaconda, and contributed music to the soundtrack of the former, including "The World Is Mine," joined by <a href="spotify:artist:30QkXUegh8bIFOIwbbMDbR">K-Dee</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3USpNaxpX1iNqNnQWqg9ob">Mack 10</a>. Another anthology, Featuring...Ice Cube, was out that December. The Players Club, Cube's directorial debut -- which he also wrote -- premiered in 1998, promoted with a Top Ten soundtrack featuring his own "We Be Clubbin'." That November, just after he made a featured appearance on nu metal leaders <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a>'s "Children of the Korn," Cube's solo LP dry spell was broken with War & Peace, Vol. 1, the source of another rap number one, "Pushin' Weight," and an additional <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a> collaboration, "Fuck Dying." Like all his previous LPs, it went platinum. Film work resumed with Next Friday, written and produced by Cube, who also reprised his starring role from the original and was present on the soundtrack. War & Peace, Vol. 2, containing a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4fbyGOEjViyE97W58eGEgU">MC Ren</a> on "Hello," followed in March 2000 and completed his prosperous phase with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Priority+Records%22">Priority Records</a>, swiftly summarized with Greatest Hits in 2001. Between studio albums, Cube devoted most of his creative energy to films. David O'Russell's Three Kings, <a href="spotify:artist:0hxQtmgWiPtEsDPeIuKxXq">John Carpenter</a>'s Ghosts of Mars, and Tim Story's Barbershop, as well as a third Cube-written Friday film, Friday After Next -- among several other titles -- all appeared in theaters before he returned to music with <a href="spotify:artist:3zNM2tRfTX6LI1lN2PlrTt">Westside Connection</a>'s second album, Terrorist Threats, in December 2003. Signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>, Cube lengthened his solo discography in June 2006 with Laugh Now, Cry Later. In the Movies, a compilation of soundtrack cuts, was put together by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Priority%22">Priority</a> for a 2007 release. The following August, Cube returned with Raw Footage, his seventh consecutive solo studio album to enter the Billboard 200 and R&B/hip-hop charts within the Top Ten. Yet another catalog title from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Priority%22">Priority</a>, The Essentials, appeared in 2008. Cube's September 2010 effort I Am the West was a family affair, with sons Darrell Jackson (aka Doughboy, named after Cube's Boyz N the Hood character) and O'Shea Jackson, Jr. (aka <a href="spotify:artist:2gSIgsQWEHbWvOiFvhvx3g">OMG</a>) among the guests, who also included longtime associate <a href="spotify:artist:3NgwMzys77S7sgfh2W5k0V">WC</a>. By the end of 2011, Cube had also acted in and/or produced a multitude of projects for the large and small screens, including Are We There Yet?, Beauty Shop, Friday: The Animated Series, and The Longshots. In 2012, Cube announced the imminence of a tenth solo album, Everythangs Corrupt. Despite several singles issued across 2013 and 2014, its release was delayed as Cube focused on film and television pursuits, as well as the legacy of <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a>. Along with <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>, Cube worked on a biopic about the origin and rise of the trailblazing group, with son O'Shea Jackson, Jr. cast to portray him. Named after their breakthrough album, Straight Outta Compton was released in 2015 to critical acclaim. The film made over $200 million worldwide, and was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Screenplay. The film inspired <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>'s solo album Compton, which included Cube on the track "Issues." A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction followed for <a href="spotify:artist:4EnEZVjo3w1cwcQYePccay">N.W.A</a> in 2016. A 25th anniversary reissue of Death Certificate was released the next year by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>, Cube's new home. The week of the 2018 midterm elections, Cube issued the single "Arrest the President," a prelude to the characteristically scathing, humorous, and funky Everythangs Corrupt, which finally arrived the next month. He then teamed with Snoop Dogg, E-40, and Too $hort under the name Mount Westmore. The quartet released an album in 2020. Over the next few years, Cube continued with a handful of singles on which he teamed with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:4fbyGOEjViyE97W58eGEgU">MC Ren</a>, Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs and B-Real, and Above the Law's Cold 187um. "It's My Ego" heralded the November 2024 arrival of Man Down. ~ Andy Kellman & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Cypress Hill

Grupo estadounidense | Hip hop, rapcore, rap rock, nu metal, rap metal, hip hop latino, hip hop hardcore, west coast hip hop (1988)

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment (SME), and SME&#39;s Certified invite fans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Cypress Hill, the self-titled studio debut album that shaped the course of hip-hop history while putting Cypress Hill (vocalists B-Real and Sen Dog, producer/turntable master DJ Muggs) and their game-changing sound on the map for future generations to follow. SME/Legacy/Certified is releasing an expanded 30th anniversary digital edition of Cypress Hill (featuring three bonus tracks) today, Friday, August 13. Additional tracks on the expanded digital edition of Cypress Hill (30th Anniversary) include "The Phuncky Feel One" (Extended Version), "Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk" (Reprise), and "Puerco (Pigs)" (Spanish Edit). In addition to the expanded edition of Cypress Hill (30th Anniversary), two newly-created 30th anniversary remixes of songs from the album will be available as stand-alone singles: "How I Could Just Kill A Man (The Alchemist x Beat Butcha Remix)" is being released today, Friday, August 13 with a new remix of "Hand On The Pump" by DJ Muggs coming soon.

Styles Of Beyond

Grupo musical estadounidense | Hip hop alternativo, underground hip hop, rap rock (1994)

The Notorious B.I.G.

Rapero, compositor, productor discográfico y actor estadounidense | Hip hop, boom bap, gangsta rap, east coast hip hop (1992 - 1997)

In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the culture of violence he depicted so realistically on his records. His all-too-brief odyssey almost immediately took on mythic proportions, especially since his murder followed the shooting of rival <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Tupac Shakur</a> by only six months. In death, the man also known as Biggie Smalls became a symbol of the senseless violence that plagued inner-city America in the waning years of the 20th century. Whether or not his death was really the result of a much-publicized feud between the East and West Coast hip-hop scenes, it did mark the point where both sides stepped back from a rivalry that had gone too far. Hip-hop's self-image would never quite be the same, and neither would public perception. The aura of martyrdom that surrounds the Notorious B.I.G. sometimes threatens to overshadow his musical legacy, which was actually quite significant. Aided by Sean "Puffy" Combs' radio-friendly sensibility, Biggie reestablished East Coast rap's viability by leading it into the post-<a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a> gangsta age. Where fellow East Coasters <a href="spotify:artist:34EP7KEpOjXcM2TCat1ISk">the Wu-Tang Clan</a> slowly built an underground following, Biggie crashed onto the charts and became a star right out of the box. In the process, he helped Combs' <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bad+Boy%22">Bad Boy</a> label supplant <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a> as the biggest hip-hop imprint in America, and also paved the way to popular success for other East Coast talents like <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:20qISvAhX20dpIbOOzGK3q">Nas</a>. Biggie was a gifted storyteller with a sense of humor and an eye for detail, and his narratives about the often-violent life of the streets were rarely romanticized; instead, they were told with a gritty, objective realism that won him enormous respect and credibility. The general consensus in the rap community was that when his life was cut short, Biggie was just getting started. The Notorious B.I.G. was born Christopher Wallace on May 21, 1972, and grew up in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. He was interested in rap from a young age, performing with local groups like the Old Gold Brothers and the Techniques, the latter of whom brought the teenaged Wallace his first trip to a recording studio. He had already adopted the name Biggie Smalls at this point, a reference to his ample frame: he would grow to be over six feet tall and nearly 400 pounds. Although he was a good student, he dropped out of high school at age 17 to live life on the streets. Attracted by the money and flashy style of local drug dealers, he started selling crack for a living. He got busted on a trip to North Carolina and spent nine months in jail, and upon his release, he made some demo recordings on a friend's four-track. The resulting tape fell into the hands of Mister Cee, a DJ working with <a href="spotify:artist:6futYSDVulYR2PktBjTB5W">Big Daddy Kane</a>; Cee in turn passed the tape on to hip-hop magazine The Source, which gave Biggie a positive write-up in a regular feature on unsigned artists. Thanks to the publicity, Biggie caught the attention of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Uptown+Records%22">Uptown Records</a> producer Sean "Puffy" Combs, who signed him immediately. With his new daughter in need of immediate financial support, Biggie kept dealing drugs for a short time until Combs found out and laid down the law. Not long after Biggie's signing, Combs split from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Uptown%22">Uptown</a> to form his own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bad+Boy%22">Bad Boy</a>, and took Biggie with him. Changing his primary stage name from Biggie Smalls to the Notorious B.I.G., the newly committed rapper made his recording debut on a 1993 remix of <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a>'s single "Real Love." He soon guested on another <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Blige</a> remix, "What's the 411?," and contributed his first solo cut, "Party and Bullshit," to the soundtrack of the film Who's the Man? Now with a considerable underground buzz behind him, the Notorious B.I.G. delivered his debut album, Ready to Die, in September 1994. Its lead single, "Juicy," went gold, and the follow-up smash, "Big Poppa," achieved platinum sales and went Top Ten on the pop and R&B charts. Biggie's third single, "One More Chance," tied <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>'s "Scream" for the highest debut ever on the pop charts; it entered at number five en route to an eventual peak at number two, and went all the way to number one on the R&B side. By the time the dust settled, Ready to Die had sold over four million copies and turned the Notorious B.I.G. into a hip-hop sensation -- the first major star the East Coast had produced since the rise of <a href="spotify:artist:6DPYiyq5kWVQS4RGwxzPC7">Dr. Dre</a>'s West Coast G-funk. Not long after Ready to Die was released, Biggie married R&B singer and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bad+Boy%22">Bad Boy</a> labelmate <a href="spotify:artist:5NDMothbpdpq2xHqSjrrWn">Faith Evans</a>. In November 1994, West Coast gangsta star <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Tupac Shakur</a> was shot several times in the lobby of a New York recording studio and robbed of thousands of dollars in jewelry. <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Shakur</a> survived and accused Combs and his onetime friend Biggie of planning the attack, a charge both of them fervently denied. The ill will gradually snowballed into a heated rivalry between West and East Coast camps, with upstart <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bad+Boy%22">Bad Boy</a> now challenging Suge Knight's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row%22">Death Row</a> empire for hip-hop supremacy. Meanwhile, Biggie turned his energies elsewhere. He shepherded the career of <a href="spotify:artist:3r0OeTcOw37N9juMYyyw39">Junior M.A.F.I.A.</a>, a group consisting of some of his childhood rap partners, and guested on their singles "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money." He also boosted several singles by his labelmates, such as <a href="spotify:artist:1urjDGTd4iBze91Z1W1gu7">Total</a>'s "Can't You See" and <a href="spotify:artist:7urq0VfqxEYEEiZUkebXT4">112</a>'s "Only You," and worked with superstars like <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a> (HIStory) and <a href="spotify:artist:2mxe0TnaNL039ysAj51xPQ">R. Kelly</a> ("[You to Be] Happy," from R. Kelly). With the singles from Ready to Die still burning up the airwaves as well, Biggie ended 1995 as not only the top-selling rap artist, but also the biggest solo male act on both the pop and R&B charts. He also ran into trouble with the law on more than one occasion. A concert promoter accused him and members of his entourage of assaulting him when he refused to pay the promised fee after a concert cancellation. Later in the year, Biggie pled guilty to criminal mischief after attacking two harassing autograph seekers with a baseball bat. The year 1996 was even more tumultuous. More legal problems ensued after police found marijuana and weapons in a raid on Biggie's home in Teaneck, New Jersey. Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:3r0OeTcOw37N9juMYyyw39">Junior M.A.F.I.A.</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:5tth2a3v0sWwV1C7bApBdX">Lil' Kim</a> released her first solo album under Biggie's direction, and the two made little effort to disguise their concurrent love affair. <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">2Pac</a>, still nursing a grudge against Biggie and Combs, recorded a vicious slam on the East Coast scene called "Hit 'Em Up," in which he taunted Biggie about having slept with <a href="spotify:artist:5NDMothbpdpq2xHqSjrrWn">Faith Evans</a> (who was by now estranged from her husband). What was more, during the recording sessions for Biggie's second album, he suffered rather serious injuries in a car accident and was confined to a wheelchair for a time. Finally, in September 1996, <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Tupac Shakur</a> was murdered in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Given their very public feud, it didn't take long for rumors of Biggie's involvement to start swirling, although none were substantiated. Biggie was also criticized for not attending an anti-violence hip-hop summit held in Harlem in the wake of <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Shakur</a>'s death. Observers hoped that <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Shakur</a>'s murder would serve as a wake-up call for gangsta rap in general, that on-record boasting had gotten out of hand and spilled into reality. Sadly, it would take another tragedy to drive that point home. In the early morning hours of March 9, 1997, the Notorious B.I.G. was leaving a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles thrown by Vibe magazine in celebration of the Soul Train Music Awards. He sat in the passenger side of his SUV, with his bodyguard in the driver's seat and <a href="spotify:artist:3r0OeTcOw37N9juMYyyw39">Junior M.A.F.I.A.</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:6V4zyNV40Zyu5MGlhD0i8g">Lil' Cease</a> in the back. According to most witnesses, another vehicle pulled up on the right side of the SUV while it was stopped at a red light, and six to ten shots were fired. Biggie's bodyguard rushed him to the nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but it was already too late. As much as <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Shakur</a> was mourned, Biggie's death was perhaps even more shocking; it meant that <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Shakur</a>'s death was not an isolated incident, and that hip-hop's highest-profile talents might be caught in the middle of an escalating war. Naturally, speculation ran rampant that Biggie's killers were retaliating for <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">Shakur</a>'s death, and since the case remains unsolved, the world may never know. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the release of the Notorious B.I.G.'s second album went ahead as planned at the end of March. The eerily titled Life After Death was a sprawling, guest-laden double-disc set that seemed designed to compete with <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">2Pac</a>'s All Eyez on Me in terms of ambition and epic scope. Unsurprisingly, it entered the charts at number one, selling nearly 700,000 copies in its first week of release and spending a total of four weeks on top. The first single, "Hypnotize," went platinum and hit number one on the pop chart, and its follow-up, "Mo Money Mo Problems," duplicated both feats, making the Notorious B.I.G. the first artist ever to score two posthumous number one hits. A third single, "Sky's the Limit," went gold, and Life After Death was certified ten-times platinum approximately two years after its release. Plus, Combs -- now rechristened <a href="spotify:artist:59wfkuBoNyhDMQGCljbUbA">Puff Daddy</a> -- and <a href="spotify:artist:5NDMothbpdpq2xHqSjrrWn">Faith Evans</a> scored one of 1997's biggest singles with their tribute "I'll Be Missing You." In 1999, an album of previously unreleased B.I.G. material, Born Again, was released and entered the charts at number one. It eventually went double platinum. Six years later, Duets: The Final Chapter (studio scraps paired with new verses from several MCs and vocalists) surfaced and reached number three on the album chart. In the years following Christopher Wallace's death, little official progress was made in the LAPD's murder investigation, and it began to look as if the responsible parties would never be brought to justice. The <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">2Pac</a> retaliation theory still holds sway in many quarters, and it has also been speculated that members of the Crips gang murdered Wallace in a dispute over money owed for security services. In an article for Rolling Stone, and later a full-length book titled Labyrinth, journalist Randall Sullivan argued that Suge Knight hired onetime LAPD officer David Mack -- a convicted bank robber with ties to the Bloods -- to arrange a hit on Wallace, and that the gunman was a hitman and mortgage broker named Amir Muhammad. Sullivan further argued that when it became clear how many corrupt LAPD officers were involved with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Death+Row+Records%22">Death Row Records</a>, the department hushed up as much as it could and all but abandoned detective Russell Poole's investigation recommendations. Documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield used Labyrinth as a basis for 2002's Biggie and Tupac, which featured interviews with Poole and Knight, among others. In April 2002, <a href="spotify:artist:5NDMothbpdpq2xHqSjrrWn">Faith Evans</a> and Voletta Wallace (Biggie's mother) filed a civil suit against the LAPD alleging wrongful death, among other charges. In September of that year, the Los Angeles Times published a report alleging that the Notorious B.I.G. had paid members of the Crips one million dollars to murder <a href="spotify:artist:1ZwdS5xdxEREPySFridCfh">2Pac</a>, and even supplied the gun used. Several of Biggie's relatives and friends stepped forward to say that the rapper had been recording in New Jersey, not masterminding a hit in Las Vegas; the report was also roundly criticized in the hip-hop community, which was anxious to avoid reopening old wounds. Outside legal matters, the B.I.G. legacy continued to be burnished with the 2007 compilation Greatest Hits, the 2009 biopic Notorious, and 2017's The King & I. The third posthumous duets album, The King & I was co-credited to <a href="spotify:artist:5NDMothbpdpq2xHqSjrrWn">Evans</a>, whose new vocals were combined with a mix of familiar and previously unreleased verses from Biggie. In 2019, to mark the 25th anniversary of his landmark Ready to Die, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rhino%22">Rhino</a> reissued the set as a deluxe box set that included photos and stories from the era. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

Shing02

Músico, productor y activista japonés | Hip hop (1996)

Born in Tokyo, raised in Tanzania and England, Shing02 came up in the independent SF Bay Area scene in the early '90s. Over the course of his independent career starting in 1995, he has collaborated with various DJs and musicians, most notably with the late Japanese producer Nujabes. New album "S8102" with sauce81 and "246911" with SPIN MASTER A-1, "Triumphant" with Jack The Rip out now!

F.HERO

Rapero, compositor y actor tailandés | Hip-hop, rap (2003)

High Cloud Entertainment : Founder & Executive Director ติดต่องาน คุณแพน 081-372-6768 คุณเก๋ 064-694-5453 คุณอุ๊ 064-269-1429

Bardero$

Dúo argentino | Hip hop latino, rap latino, boom bap (2016)

Fugees

Grupo estadounidense | Rap, reggae, rhythm and blues, soul (1989 - 2007)

The Fugees translated a seamless blend of jazz-rap, R&B, and reggae into huge success during the mid-'90s, when the New Jersey-area trio's seminal sophomore album The Score hit number one on the pop charts and sold over five million copies before winning a pair of Grammy Awards in 1997. Featuring the songs "Killing Me Softly" and "Ready or Not," the effort became a '90s classic, while each member went on to pursue solo careers that extended into the 2000s. The trio formed in the late '80s in South Orange, New Jersey, where high school friends <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Lauryn Hill</a> and Prakazrel Michel ("<a href="spotify:artist:0kJMPTXq7h3ztpDukSx5iD">Pras</a>") began working together. Michel's cousin <a href="spotify:artist:7aBzpmFXB4WWpPl2F7RjBe">Wyclef Jean</a> joined the group, dubbed the Tranzlator Crew, and they signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ruffhouse%22">Ruffhouse</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> in 1993. After renaming themselves the Fugees (a term of derision, short for refugees, which was usually used to describe Haitian immigrants), they entered the studio to record their first official full-length, Blunted on Reality. Issued in early 1994, the album showcased a beat-driven, hip-hop crew vibe, with <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Hill</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7aBzpmFXB4WWpPl2F7RjBe">Jean</a>, and Michel trading verses in a fashion similar to <a href="spotify:artist:09hVIj6vWgoCDtT03h8ZCa">A Tribe Called Quest</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1j6sK1bUYK36UNfLjdOfFy">Poor Righteous Teachers</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0gqIrDRL7CEPBWMmkuZPdQ">Digable Planets</a>. While an underground favorite, the album didn't make much of a dent on the charts and they veered in a different, but ultimately more successful, direction on their follow-up. The Score arrived in 1996 and was an instant hit. Retaining some of their earlier jazz-rap spirit, while incorporating traditional R&B that showcased <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Hill</a>'s singing abilities, the album topped charts across the globe and was certified multi-platinum around Europe and in the U.S. Featuring the soulful, chart-topping single "Killing Me Softly" and a top 40 cover of <a href="spotify:artist:2QsynagSdAqZj3U9HgDzjD">Bob Marley</a>'s "No Woman No Cry," The Score made significant dents in the commercial mainstream while retaining their existing fan base, becoming one of the surprise hits of 1996. At the 1997 Grammy Awards, the Fugees won Best Rap Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Killing Me Softly." Following the success of The Score, the Fugees took a break, pursuing solo endeavors that eventually made the hiatus permanent. <a href="spotify:artist:7aBzpmFXB4WWpPl2F7RjBe">Jean</a> issued his first solo album, 1997's The Carnival Featuring the Refugee Allstars, while Michel joined <a href="spotify:artist:6lHL3ubAMgSasKjNqKb8HF">Mya</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:50NoVNy9GU1lCrDV8iGpyu">Ol' Dirty Bastard</a> for the hit single "Ghetto Superstar (That Is What You Are)." In 1998, <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Hill</a> released her chart-topping, neo-soul opus The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which went on to outsell The Score and win five Grammy Awards in 1999. While <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Hill</a> bowed out while on top of her game, <a href="spotify:artist:0kJMPTXq7h3ztpDukSx5iD">Pras</a> continued rapping and also pursued acting and film production. Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:7aBzpmFXB4WWpPl2F7RjBe">Jean</a> continued to release solo material -- issuing over a dozen albums -- and produced for artists, working with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:1Y8cdNmUJH7yBTd9yOvr5i">Destiny's Child</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6GI52t8N5F02MxU0g5U69P">Santana</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0EmeFodog0BfCgMzAIvKQp">Shakira</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:50co4Is1HCEo8bhOyUWKpn">Young Thug</a>, and many more. Almost a decade after peaking with The Score, they reconvened in 2005, performing together on a European tour and releasing the single "Take It Easy." However, the reunion was brief, and the trio disbanded once again. While their overall time together was short, The Score endures as one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time and each Fugee remained active -- both musically and politically -- for decades to come. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & John Bush, Rovi

Solitario Soldado

Rapero colombiano | Rap, hip hop, spoken word (2017) ❗

SOLITARIO SOLDADO Luis Carlos Sáenz García conocido en la industria del Hip Hop como Solitario Soldado, uno del os representantes m á s importantes hoy por hoy del R a p Underground Colombiano que viene impactando y transformando con su arte, lírica y un mensaje de esperanza a los oyentes de hoy en día. Déjate llevar por la experiencia del Rap Garuya y entiende el por qué de cada letra.. tal vez en ellas te encuentres.

XXXTENTACION

Rapero estadounidense | Rap emo, SoundCloud rap, trap, hip-hop, R&B contemporáneo (2013–2018)

Rojuu

Cantautor español | Emo trap, pop alternativo, hyperpop, cloud rap (2016) ❗

abrazame

Pisse

Banda alemana | Punk, post-punk, garage punk (2012)

Corpus Delicti

Banda francesa | Post-punk (1993)

Formed in Nice in 1992 around Sébastien (vocals), Franck (guitar), Chrys (bass) and Roma (drums), Corpus Delicti immediately made their mark with a rock style rarely heard in France, with their debut album ‘Twilight’ (1993) becoming a benchmark for the genre. Fusing the best of post-punk with remarkable ener- gy, creativity and melody, the band won acclaim abroad with a 10-date US tour and concerts in Europe. After two more perfect albums, the band broke up in 1997. 23 years later, with their popularity having grown steadily over the years, the original quartet was reunited when they signed with the American label Cleopatra, who were preparing to reissue the band’s catalogue. Roma, no longer able to play for health reasons, will be replaced by Laurent Tamagno, drummer for M83 among others. At the end of 2022, Corpus Delicti finally came back to life live, with a series of concerts and sell-outs all over the world: Paris (La Maroquinerie), London, Madrid, Athens, Rome .... and a Mexican tour culminating in a sold-out concert in front of 1,200 people in Mexico City. This was followed by major summer festivals in Germany, Portugal and Belgium, in front of thousands of people. This popularity earned Corpus Delicti a contract with the American artistic agency Rocky Road Touring, which now looks after the group worldwide.

Molchat Doma

Banda rusa | Post-punk, synth-pop, coldwave, new wave, dark wave (2017)

Molchat Doma (translated as “Houses Are Silent”), founded in 2017 in Minsk, Belarus, stands at the intersection of post-punk, new-wave and synth-pop. Dark yet danceable, and with a heavy dose of goth ethos, their music is reminiscent of the masters that predate them, but make no mistake: Molchat Doma creates a sound and meaning that is immediately recognizable as all their own. The Belarusian post-punk / synth pop group have always exuded the kind of brutalist aesthetic of the architecture that adorns their album art. It’s cold, gray, imposing, industrial—and yet there are human hearts beating within those foundations. In the wake of their breakthrough success in 2020, the trio endured a polarity of experiences, from the nadir of an uprooted life and forced relocation away from their native Minsk to the apex of headlining massive shows across the world. It was in this headspace that the band settled into their new home of Los Angeles to finish writing their fourth album &#39;Belaya Polosa&#39;, a testament to change in difficult times, a love letter to the digital pulse of the ‘90s, and a technicolor reinvention of the band’s somber dancefloor anthems.

Ben Hanna

Solista estadounidense | Post‑punk, alt‑country, psych‑rock, singer‑songwriter (2013) ❗

just trying to make something i want to listen to 🏴‍☠️

French Police

Banda estadounidense | Post‑punk, darkwave (2018) ❗

Chicago

Prismatic Shapes

Banda mexicana | Post‑punk, darkwave, new wave (2018) ❗

Art Punk & Gothic Rock para corazones salvajes. Anacronía, simbolismo, atemporalidad y psicogeografía son los puntos de partida de Prismatic Shapes para llevar a cabo su narrativa preciosista de la vida contemporánea. Una narrativa cargada de realismo mágico que supone un ejercicio para conjuntar lo local con lo universal y lo cotidiano con lo atemporal. Prismatic Shapes son: Pedro Gopar - Voz Guillermo Torres - Guitarras Andy Slaughter - Bajo

This Cold Night

Banda estadounidense | Post-punk, coldwave, darkwave (2020) ❗

Independent artist currently operating out of Vancouver, WA. I don&#39;t exist on social media and neither should you. My only contact is [email protected] -- I try to respond to every message. -- EXQUISITE SHIRTS https://graveshiftpress.com/collections/this-cold-night -- NEW(ish) ALBUM NOW https://thiscoldnight.bandcamp.com/album/restrospective-xxiii -- WEBSITE https://www.thiscoldnight.com -- A VIDEO I MADE https://youtu.be/w728x2Qh6Ww

Leonora Post Punk

Banda mexicana | Post‑punk, darkwave, new wave (2019) ❗

Leonora Post Punk es el proyecto musical de Frano Verdugo, músico y compositor mexicano. El proyecto se fundó en el año 2019. Hasta el momento Leonora Post Punk ha publicado dos EPs (Eternos y Polvo), los sencillos El Man Más Feliz y No Quepo En Mí. Actualmente, Leonora Post Punk trabaja en lo que será su tercer material discográfico.

Píldora Letal

Banda colombiana | Post‑punk, darkwave, new wave (2021) ❗

Píldora Letal (2021) en su corto tiempo de existencia se ha posicionado como uno de los músicos oscuros más representativos de Colombia, ha desarrollado en pocos años una de las trayectorias más impresionantes a nivel nacional, únicas para ser un proyecto alternativo e independiente. Además de recorrer el país, tiene dos giras internacionales, en países como México, Chile, Perú y Costa Rica, con participación en festivales icónicos como el Open Blondie de Chile (2024) y El Magia Negra en CDMX (2024). En este 2025 lanzará su cuarto álbum de estudio. Sus composiciones toman elementos del punk, el darkwave, el indie rock y de ritmos como la cumbia, contando con un sonido muy característico. La energía y la emotividad de sus presentaciones, al igual que sus letras que intentan traducir las tormentas del alma, las pasiones y la búsqueda de la esperanza, le han permitido ganarse un espacio especial dentro del panorama musical y de los corazones que bailan en la noche.

The Cure

Banda británica | Rock gótico, post-punk, rock alternativo, new wave (1976)

THE CURE - FEELS LIKE A HUNDRED WORDS BIOGRAPHY >FORMED IN CRAWLEY, SUSSEX, ENGLAND. PLAYED IT&#39;S FIRST SHOW IN 1978. HAS PERFORMED AROUND 1,500 CONCERTS TO DATE >HAS RELEASED 13 STUDIO ALBUMS. SEVERAL CONCERT FILMS. A FEW LIVE ALBUMS. SOME SOUNDTRACK SONGS. MORE THAN 40 SINGLES. A COUPLE OF BOX SETS. A COUPLE OF BOOKS. A GREATEST HITS THING. A HANDFUL OF COVERS. AND VARIOUS OTHER STUFF >2019 ROCK’N’ROLL HALL OF FAMER HAS HAD 13 MEMBERS IN 42 YEARS. 2020 FEATURES 5 OF THEM: ROBERT SMITH (VOICE & GUITARS) / SIMON GALLUP (BASS) / JASON COOPER (DRUMS) / ROGER O&#39;DONNELL (KEYBOARDS) / REEVES GABRELS (GUITARS) >PLEASE SEE THIS BIOGRAPHY FOR A LONGER STORY http://www.thecure.com/bio/

Christian Death

Banda estadounidense | Ambient, punk rock, post-punk, death rock, rock gótico, horror punk (1979)

The founding fathers of American goth rock, Christian Death emerged in 1979 and, for over four decades, have taken a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality, with a massive appetite for provocation. Regardless of who was leading or performing in the group, Christian Death set themselves up to shock, both in their cover art and their lyrics, which wallowed in blasphemy, morbidity, drug use, and sexual perversity. Their self-consciously controversial tactics set them apart from the British goth scene, having more to do with L.A. punk and heavy metal, and thus the band dubbed its sound "death rock" instead; however, their sensibility was ultimately similar enough that the "goth" designation stuck in the end. Their music also relied on slow, doomy, effects-laden guitar riffs and ambient horror-soundtrack synths, and their theatrical performances were strongly influenced by British glam rockers like <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a>, as well as industrial provocateurs <a href="spotify:artist:1UYhxPY1oqFUg1HfF8nV3k">Throbbing Gristle</a>. The latter was especially true of the band's first incarnation, led by vocalist and founder <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz Williams</a>, who masterminded much of what many critics consider their best work. When <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> left in 1985, guitarist Valor Kand took over leadership and sent the group in a more intellectual, political, and metal-oriented direction. A subsequent dispute over ownership of the Christian Death name led to a bitter feud between the two, not to mention competing versions of the group, leading many of their fans to take sides. The unconverted tended to dismiss Christian Death no matter who was involved; critics often found their poetry florid and overwrought, their subject matter self-important, and their shock tactics ham-handed. Nevertheless, Christian Death had an enormous influence on the American goth scene, shaping the sensibility of countless goth, metal, and even industrial acts that followed. Sadly, the Kand-<a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> dispute ended in tragedy in 1998, when a heroin-addicted <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> took his own life. <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz Williams</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Roger Alan Painter</a>, November 6, 1963) founded Christian Death in Los Angeles in 1979, having grown up in the eastern suburb of Pomona in a Christian family. Originally, the 16-year-old <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> called his group the Upsetters, which also included guitarist Jay, bassist James McGearty, and drummer George Belanger. The band didn't really take off until it changed its name to Christian Death (reportedly inspired by a goof on designer Christian Dior's name) and added onetime <a href="spotify:artist:2sSmGd0x45FGBtjJwNBSFr">Adolescents</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0G8bGUx84CkQb35X0Z5TS6">Rikk Agnew</a>. In 1981, they made their recorded debut with several tracks on the L.A. scene compilation Hell Comes to Your House, which also featured the more tongue-in-cheek death rock compatriots <a href="spotify:artist:7swtUG7Md62y3wP2huMeab">.45 Grave</a>. Hooking up with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Frontier+Records%22">Frontier Records</a>, Christian Death issued their debut album, the goth landmark Only Theatre of Pain, in 1982. Featuring genre touchstones like "Romeo's Distress" and "Spiritual Cramp," the record also included guest vocals from <a href="spotify:artist:1T6IybsbRk98kw5xNjEHMM">Superheroines</a> leader <a href="spotify:artist:3VwFsZ8fTvVrjUZlhdPEQq">Eva O.</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:3VwFsZ8fTvVrjUZlhdPEQq">Eva Oritz</a>), who would become <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' wife and semiregular collaborator in 1987. Having already booked a European tour, the original lineup of Christian Death splintered amid infighting and drug abuse. <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> quickly assembled a new version of the band in 1983 by merging with their scheduled opening act, another L.A. death rock band called Pompeii 99, and eventually settled on retaining the more evocative Christian Death name. Australian-born guitarist Valor Kand, keyboardist/vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:7KEJuMEVdCsk1lH5nFT2ff">Gitane Demone</a>, and drummer David Glass joined with <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> to create the best-known Christian Death lineup (bassist Constance Smith was also onboard, but was soon replaced on the tour by <a href="spotify:artist:3tiiwyBskzJAqYXZev7OjF">the Sex Gang Children</a>'s Dave Roberts). While overseas, the group recorded the second Christian Death album, Catastrophe Ballet, another much-revered goth rock record that appeared on the French label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22L%27Invitation+au+Suicide%22">L'Invitation au Suicide</a> in 1984. Returning to the U.S., the band formed its own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nostradamus%22">Nostradamus</a>, and the <a href="spotify:artist:7EauyDURwutf7NxehIX4HQ">Valor</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz</a> lineup issued its second album together, Ashes, in 1985, once again to an enthusiastic reception from goth fans. A live album, The Decomposition of Violets, was culled from the supporting tour (with second guitarist Barry Galvin now in tow) and released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ROIR%22">ROIR</a>. By this time, Christian Death were drawing predictable fire from religious groups in the U.S. over their lyrics, artwork, and concert performances, and were finding it easier to mount tours for their growing European fan base. In mid-1985, <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz Williams</a> left the band he'd founded, partly due to his increasing interest in experimental music and surrealist performance art. Valor Kand took over leadership of Christian Death, now serving as lead vocalist and songwriter. Reportedly, Kand and <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> had agreed to rename the existing band Sin and Sacrifice; however, on the ensuing tour of Italy, fans assumed they were still watching Christian Death. Defrauded and left penniless by the tour promoter, the band recorded a quick EP for the Italian label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Supporti+Fonografici%22">Supporti Fonografici</a> called The Wind Kissed Pictures, which was credited to the Sin and Sacrifice of Christian Death in order for fans to know whom they were buying. The band raised enough money to return to England, which they made their permanent base; meanwhile, The Wind Kissed Pictures was issued in the English-speaking world under the Christian Death name, as once again few people comprehended the change. <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>, meanwhile, all but dropped out of sight for several years, eventually resurfacing in side ventures like <a href="spotify:artist:5VZnsYKdNzwaDfrVzESWlr">Premature Ejaculation</a>, Heltir, and <a href="spotify:artist:0zja5FcUKwopDgQ0RsO9R7">Shadow Project</a> (the latter with his wife <a href="spotify:artist:3VwFsZ8fTvVrjUZlhdPEQq">Eva O.</a>). Now settled in England, Christian Death added bassist Johann Schumann and returned to the Welsh studio where they'd cut Catastrophe Ballet. Their first post-<a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> effort was 1986's Atrocities, a concept album about the aftereffects of World War II on the European psyche. Their next project was Jesus Christ Proudly Presents Christian Death, a box set of concert EPs from 1986 and early 1987. The proper follow-up to Atrocities was even more conceptually ambitious; 1987's The Scriptures was Kand's musical treatise on comparative religion, and surrounded him with a revamped lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:7KEJuMEVdCsk1lH5nFT2ff">Demone</a>, Glass, guitarist James Beam, and bassist Kota. The Scriptures marked the beginning of Christian Death's evolution into a mouthpiece for Kand's one-man crusade against political corruption and organized religion (the Catholic Church in particular). His liner notes explained his elaborate intellectual concepts in painstaking detail, and he increasingly used interviews as a platform to launch vitriolic attacks on his favorite targets. Longtime drummer David Glass left the group following the release of The Scriptures, and returned to California, where he eventually worked with several of <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz Williams</a>' side projects. That whittled Christian Death down to a quartet for the 1988 single "Church of No Return," one of their more accessible efforts. Despite the group's more intellectual bent, they weren't above resorting to the calculated offensiveness of old; the cover of their 1988 LP Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ depicted Jesus shooting heroin. The ensuing furor helped make the album the group's biggest seller; it also saw them evolving into a more basic, straightforward goth metal band. In 1989, with new second guitarist Nick the Bastard onboard, the group issued the concert document The Heretics Alive. <a href="spotify:artist:7KEJuMEVdCsk1lH5nFT2ff">Gitane Demone</a> subsequently left the band, not to mention her longtime lover Valor Kand, citing dissatisfaction with his new direction; she relocated to Amsterdam and pursued a jazz singing career. With <a href="spotify:artist:7KEJuMEVdCsk1lH5nFT2ff">Demone</a>'s departure, the always unstable Christian Death lineup splintered completely, leaving Kand essentially a solo auteur despite continued instrumental assistance from Nick the Bastard. In 1989, Kand completed another far-reaching concept opus, All the Love All the Hate, which was released in two separate full-length LP installments that covered "love" and "hate" themes respectively. The latter featured one of the band's more notorious latter-day cuts in "I Hate You," a profane tirade by <a href="spotify:artist:7EauyDURwutf7NxehIX4HQ">Valor</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7KEJuMEVdCsk1lH5nFT2ff">Demone</a>'s five-year-old son Sevan Kand; its artwork also utilized Nazi imagery to a somewhat ill-defined end. Nick the Bastard subsequently departed, and bereft of any backup, Kand turned his attention to archival material; 1990 saw the release of the demos/outtakes compilation Insanus, Ultio, Proditio, Misericordiaque, and 1992 brought the Valor Kand-era singles retrospective Jesus Points the Bone at You? Meanwhile, a penniless <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz Williams</a> had resurrected his own version of Christian Death during the late '80s, with his wife <a href="spotify:artist:3VwFsZ8fTvVrjUZlhdPEQq">Eva O.</a> contributing guitar as well as the band's signature female vocals. Billing themselves as the original Christian Death, they were rejoined by first-album guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0G8bGUx84CkQb35X0Z5TS6">Rikk Agnew</a> for a 1989 tour of Canada. Despite the dubious legality of <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' use of the Christian Death name, his efforts attracted the interest of the goth-oriented <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cleopatra+Records%22">Cleopatra Records</a> label. In 1992, with <a href="spotify:artist:7EauyDURwutf7NxehIX4HQ">Valor</a>'s version of the band in recording hibernation, <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> issued The Iron Mask as Christian Death, its title a pointed reference to the Alexandre Dumas novel about a usurper who imprisons the rightful heir to the throne. He and <a href="spotify:artist:3VwFsZ8fTvVrjUZlhdPEQq">Eva O.</a> were joined by bassist Listo and drummer David Melford, and most of the repertoire dated from <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' first three albums with the original band. The similarly conceived Skeleton Kiss EP appeared on its heels. An all-new studio effort, The Path of Sorrows, followed in 1993, with a new lineup behind <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3VwFsZ8fTvVrjUZlhdPEQq">O.</a>: keyboardist Paris, multi-instrumentalist William Faith, and drummer Stevyn Grey. In June that year, <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> re-formed most of the early Christian Death lineup -- bringing back <a href="spotify:artist:0G8bGUx84CkQb35X0Z5TS6">Rikk Agnew</a> (once again) and George Belanger, with support from guitarist Frank Agnew and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5wsxybkQyjLVX5bhDhCp8s">Casey Chaos</a> -- for a one-off show in Los Angeles. The result was released in 1994 by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Triple+X%22">Triple X</a> as the live album Iconologia. <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' reclamation of the Christian Death name sparked a fierce court battle with Valor Kand, who eventually won trademark rights and forced <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> to bill his version of the band as "Christian Death Featuring Rozz Williams." In part to keep his rival from stealing his thunder, Kand assembled a new Christian Death of his own, centered around himself and new wife Maitri on bass and vocals. He returned with 1994's Sexy Death God, which many longtime fans greeted as his best and tightest effort in quite some time. Confusingly, <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' Christian Death also issued a new album that year, The Rage of Angels, which found its leader dabbling in spoken word at times. A steady stream of archival reissues -- live material, outtakes, remixes, etc. -- from throughout the band's history also began to appear on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cleopatra%22">Cleopatra</a>. Adding guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1teuX1qrnlrq9BHjL6PDn4">Flick</a> and drummer Steve Wright, <a href="spotify:artist:7EauyDURwutf7NxehIX4HQ">Valor</a>'s Christian Death picked up their recording pace, offering the double live set Amen in 1995, and returning to the ambitious concept works of old with 1996's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Nostradamus%22">Nostradamus</a>-themed Prophecies. As it turned out, <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' version would not release another full album of original material. He pursued several other projects, including a duo album with <a href="spotify:artist:7KEJuMEVdCsk1lH5nFT2ff">Gitane Demone</a> (1995's Dream Home Heartache) and a spoken word examination of his heroin addiction (1996's The Whorse's Mouth). That addiction would help claim his life on April 1, 1998, when the 34-year-old <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a> hanged himself in his West Hollywood apartment. He was mourned by a still-devoted cult of fans, and even Valor Kand put aside his previous animosity to dedicate that year's Pornographic Messiah album to <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>, going so far as to draw from some of <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Williams</a>' more experimental influences. Kand's Christian Death soldiered on, issuing the two-disc singles/outtakes compilation The Bible in 1999. In 2000, they added drummer Will "Was" Sarginson (ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0NTSMFFapnyZfvmCwzcYPd">Cradle of Filth</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0zI52YW7OafxGUsZkVgRHL">Blood Divine</a>) and toured Europe alongside Britain's <a href="spotify:artist:0NTSMFFapnyZfvmCwzcYPd">Cradle of Filth</a>, one of the more popular black metal bands of their time. The two groups got along well enough for several <a href="spotify:artist:0NTSMFFapnyZfvmCwzcYPd">Cradle</a> members to guest on Christian Death's 2001 album Born Again Anti Christian, helping it become one of the most metallic records in their catalog. The following year, bassist Maitri issued the black metal-influenced solo album Lover of Sin (confusingly labeled on the cover as "Christian Death Presents..."). In 2003, <a href="spotify:artist:0NTSMFFapnyZfvmCwzcYPd">Cradle of Filth</a> guitarist Gian Pyres officially joined Christian Death for their European tour. Following a four-year silent period, Christian Death returned in 2007 with a new drummer (Nate Hassan) and the politically minded American Inquisition, released by metal label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Season+of+Mist%22">Season of Mist</a>. The group spent the following year performing extensively, completing four European tours and one American tour by the year's end. In 2009, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Season+of+Mist%22">Season of Mist</a> reissued ten Christian Death albums and the band continued touring. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cleopatra%22">Cleopatra</a> compiled much of <a href="spotify:artist:04vJ0cMkHiIBFXRHovp0ug">Rozz Williams</a>' '90s incarnation of Christian Death onto massive box set titled Death Box in 2012. The following year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Knife+Fight+Media%22">Knife Fight Media</a> initiated a digital reissue campaign of the Christian Death back catalog, which continued in 2014. The group also spent the year celebrating the 30th anniversary of Catastrophe Ballet by touring throughout Europe as well as North, Central, and South America. Christian Death began 2015 by announcing that they would be recording a new album with the support of their fans. After a successful crowd-sourced campaign, The Root of All Evilution was released digitally by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Knife+Fight+Media%22">Knife Fight Media</a>, on vinyl by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Season+of+Mist%22">Season of Mist</a>, and digitally by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22the+End%22">the End</a>. The group embarked on another lengthy European tour, followed by a U.S. stint in 2016. Kand, Maitri, and drummer Ryan Paolilli's return to the studio culminated in the release of 2022's Evil Becomes Rule, a passionate and evocative set of songs that stood at the nexus of goth-rock, post-punk, and dark pop. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

Skeletal Family

Banda inglesa | Post punk, rock gótico, deathrock (1982)

In 2021, following the aftermath of Covid and a successful month long USA nationwide tour, the band reconvened with Roger Nowell, Stan Greenwood, keyboard player Karl Heinz, drummer Adrian Ozadzenko. Recruiting Exoterik vocalist Anneka Latta, February 2022 saw work on 15 tracks at Paul Weller&#39;s Back Barn Studio completed. The sixth Skeletal Family album "Light From The Dark" was released April 2023.

Witching Hour

Banda británica | Gothic rock, darkwave, post-punk (1991) ❗

Witching Hour

Strange Boutique

Banda estadounidense | Gothic rock, ethereal wave, post-punk, dream pop, shoegaze (1987)

Do we have to be crazy to feel our wings? Strange Boutique rose out of the ashes of the 80&#39;s Washington DC punk scene. Singer Monica Richards, drummer Daniel Ingram and guitarist Fred "Freak" Smith were looking to spread their wings beyond the harDCcore scene they had helped nurture. A classified ad in the weekly CityPaper caught the eye of Steve Willett, who promptly joined the group; the chemistry was instant and within a short time a set of material that surged with the energy of the burgeoning DC post-punk scene while embracing an unexpected sense of melody and texture was in hand. Fast forward through 3 albums, 2 drummers, countless shows and miles, a multitude of personal chaos, an extended hiatus, a senseless murder, a warm embrace and a determination to rise again. In June of 2019, a filled-to-capacity DC9 night club in Washington DC, welcomed Strange Boutique home for an evening of music and toasts as a celebration of the life of original guitarist Fred Smith. The warm reception for the new lineup (with Rand Blackwell back on drums and Dennis Kane joining on guitar) playing the old songs and the joy of playing together made the decision to write new material an easy one. In 2024, Strange Boutique is Monica Richards, Steve Willett and Dennis Kane. https://strangeboutiquedc.com/ https://strangeboutique.bandcamp.com/

Paralysed Age

Banda alemana | Gothic rock, darkwave (1998)

The darkwave outfit Paralysed Age matches the likes of the Cruxshadows and <a href="spotify:artist:4KlYg0F5KG9QNDFKaeTNAy">VNV Nation</a> and made themselves a name in new millennium goth rock. Paralysed Age, which is comprised of Marco Neumann, Stefan Kirsch, and Michael Knust, captured common goth music with their themed vampire compositions that hum to the wickedness of Bram Stoker and Edgar Allen Poe. Their U.S. debut Empire of the Vampire was released in 2000, combining material found on the band's previous two albums from their native Germany. Their club hit "Bloodsucker" was also found on the enigmatic soundtrack to Vampire: the Masquerade, the compilation entitled Music From the Succubus Club, which was released in fall 2000. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi

Tears for the Dying

Banda estadounidense | Gothic rock, deathrock (2004) ❗

Tears for the Dying is an Athens, GA post-punk/goth band for fans of Bauhaus, 45 Grave, Drab Majesty, and Selofan. With keen attention to atmosphere and ambiance, Tears for the Dying delivers a cold, pallid take on post-punk and goth rock music. Their live experience is rich and diverse, blending ethereal grooves with raw, angry deathrock. Leading the group, Adria’s unique songwriting and lyrical style is born of her experience growing up trans and autistic in a small, Southeastern town when being trans was a societal death sentence; neurodivergence was unacceptable, much less valued. Decades of religious trauma and bullying drove her to darker elements of art, and in a larger sense, society. When she was 19, she had her first epileptic seizure - the first of many to come. Today, she is a proud queer and asexual woman, and joins many others in the ongoing global fight against injustice, discrimination, and fascism. Tears for the Dying is found on most popular social media platforms such as Instagram (@tearsforthedyingband).

Make a Change... Kill Yourself

Banda danesa | Depressive suicidal black metal, ambient black metal (2004) ❗

Started in 2003 in Denmark by Ynleborgaz and Nattetale.

Hurt

Banda indonesa | Depressive, black Metal, Black metal, dark ambient (2020) ❗

Goatmoon

Banda finlandesa | Black metal, folk black metal (2002) ❗

Dimmu Borgir

Banda noruega | Black metal sinfónico, black metal (1993)

Wounded Masquerade

Banda estadounidense | Black metal, dungeon synth (2021) ❗

a corpse, shambling forward under inertia. RIVER OF CRIMSON TEARS OUT NOW

Këkht Aräkh

Músico ucraniano | Black metal, dungeon synth, black metal atmosférico (2018)

Këkht Aräkh is a one-man black metal project by Ukrainian artist Crying Orc (Dmitry Marchenko). The project blends second-wave black metal with dark folk, ambient, and other non-metal influences, creating a unique mix of raw aggression and haunting melancholy. Evolving from an earlier project, Yokai (2014), Këkht Aräkh gained acclaim with albums like Night & Love (2019) and Pale Swordsman (2021). Now signed with Sacred Bones Records, the project continues to redefine black metal with its emotional depth and atmospheric soundscapes. Këkht Aräkh&#39;s new single "Dröm Sång" is now available to stream and on limited 7-inch in two color variants, white and black, alongside the 2023 single "Wanderer."

Svart

Banda | Black metal (2007) ❗

Watain

Banda sueca | Black metal (1998)

Behexen

Banda finlandesa | Black metal (1994)

BEHEXEN was born under a black banner in 1994 when Torog (vocals), Horns (drums) and Reaper (guitars) joined forces. Black Metal has been the keyword since inception. The first demo "Reality Is In Evil..." briefly saw the moonlight in ’95; the second demo "Eternal Realm" surfaced in ’97; and the third demo "Blessed Be The Darkness" followed in ‘98. At this point, Reaper left the band and BEHEXEN recruited Gargantum on guitar and Lunatic on bass in order to perform live rituals. "Blessed Be The Darkness" brought forth an ill-fated deal from Sinister Figure and the debut album "Rituale Satanum" was recorded in the summer of 1999. Due to countless problems, the band drifted away from this rip-off label and waited three years for that deal to expire. During this period, Veilroth joined as second guitarist. In May 2003, BEHEXEN signed with Finnish label Woodcut Records and recorded their second full-length album "By The Blessing Of Satan" which was unleashed the following year. In 2008, fresh from the Tour Of The Blackmoon with ARCHGOAT and HELL MILITIA, the band unleashed its third album, “My Soul For His Glory” on Hammer Of Hate. BEHEXEN has now inked a deal in blood with Debemur Morti Productions to deliver the fourth full-length, the two parties having conspired previously on a reissue of the BEHEXEN / HORNA split. BEHEXEN, with original members Torog and Horns, is and always will be Black Metal in its blackest and rawest form.

Satyricon

Dúo noruego | Black metal (1990)

Mayhem

Banda noruega | Black metal, black metal disonante, black metal progresivo, black metal noruego (1984)

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Joan Jett grew up during a time when rock ‘n’ roll was off limits to girls, but promptly blew the boys’ club door off its hinges. She formed Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has had 8 platinum and gold albums and 9 Top 40 singles, including "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock &#39;N&#39; Roll," "I Hate Myself For Loving You," and "Crimson and Clover." With a career spanning music, film, TV, Broadway, and humanitarianism, Jett remains a potent force and inspiration to generations. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts continue to tour the world and release new music. Their first-ever acoustic album Changeup, their latest EP Mindsets, and documentary &#39;Bad Reputation,&#39; are all available to stream now.

Specimen

Banda inglesa | New wave, post-punk, glam rock, death rock, rock gótico (1980)

Billy Idol

Cantante y compositor británico | New wave, hard rock, pop rock, punk rock (1976)

Flyleaf

Banda estadounidense | Alternative metal, alternative, rock, hard rock, post-grunge, rock cristiano (2002)

Texas-bred outfit Flyleaf broke onto the hard rock circuit in the late 2000s with potent anthems that grappled with the struggle between despair and hope. Though their lyrics sometimes hinted at their faith-based backgrounds, the messages were universal, delivered with howls, screams, and the soaring vocals of <a href="spotify:artist:09LCTrVGnMsGbxexUFJoap">Lacey Sturm</a>. Into the 2010s, their albums dominated the U.S. alternative, hard rock, and Christian charts, with their 2005 debut Flyleaf earning platinum certification. After the release of their third set, 2012's New Horizons, <a href="spotify:artist:09LCTrVGnMsGbxexUFJoap">Sturm</a> left the group to focus on family and a brief solo career, with Kristen May taking vocal duties for just one album, 2014's Between the Stars. In 2022, after an extended hiatus, Flyleaf returned with <a href="spotify:artist:09LCTrVGnMsGbxexUFJoap">Sturm</a> in tow, issuing a deluxe edition of their hit debut and charting a series of reunion shows. The band formed in 2000 in Belton, Texas when <a href="spotify:artist:09LCTrVGnMsGbxexUFJoap">Sturm</a> (née Mosley) played a string of the dark, hard-edged songs she wrote as a teen for drummer James Culpepper. After a brief period of playing together, they recruited guitarists Sameer Bhattacharya and Jared Hartmann, members of a local outfit that had recently called it quits. In 2002, bassist Pat Seals joined, and the band, initially known as Passerby, was born. The road to Flyleaf's 2005 self-titled debut on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Octone+Records%22">Octone Records</a> was dotted with more green lights than red: the band played wherever they were invited around their home state at first, gradually building the kind of fan base that allowed them to open for acts such as <a href="spotify:artist:5ND0mGcL9SKSjWIjPd0xIb">Bowling for Soup</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2X3pNc13eRGofTO9Yt3sMi">Fishbone</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2Z0ymoDrNlXkQsTmMapYk7">Riddlin' Kids</a>. By 2003, with word of Mosley's arsenic-laced lyrics and blowtorch-style delivery spreading through Texas and beyond, Flyleaf earned a spot at the annual South by Southwest Music Conference. A contract from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Octone%22">Octone</a> was rushed into the signing stages by 2004. An EP, issued in early 2005 and also called Flyleaf, benefited from the production team of Rick Parashar (<a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5sD1ZLf2dGQ9gQ3YJl1eAd">Blind Melon</a>) and Brad Cook (<a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">Foo Fighters</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a>). Key tracks such as the roiling "Cassie" and the emo-tinged "Breathe Today," both of which appear on the full-length, furthered Flyleaf's reputation, as did raging live shows alongside <a href="spotify:artist:5S6hjAxgxjsLylsTtMIimO">Saliva</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5BtHciL0e0zOP7prIHn3pP">Breaking Benjamin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2RTUTCvo6onsAnheUk3aL9">3 Doors Down</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5KDIH2gF0VpelTqyQS7udb">Staind</a>. For the late 2005 full-length release, producer Howard Benson (<a href="spotify:artist:7FBcuc1gsnv6Y1nwFtNRCb">My Chemical Romance</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4RddZ3iHvSpGV4dvATac9X">Papa Roach</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3vAaWhdBR38Q02ohXqaNHT">the All-American Rejects</a>) joined Flyleaf in Los Angeles. A batch of 20 songs was winnowed down to 12, with Mosley's searing vocals and Bhattacharya's and Hartmann's storming guitars offsetting each other to affect a sound by turns morose, compassionate, hopeful, and bitter. Following the release of Flyleaf, the band toured heavily on the festival circuit. They hit the main stage on <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a>'s 2006 and 2007 Family Values Tour, as well as the Soundwave Festival and <a href="spotify:artist:3TOqt5oJwL9BE2NG9MEwDa">Disturbed</a>'s Music as a Weapon III tour. They also made a jump to the world of video games when their breakthrough single "I'm So Sick" -- also a hit on MTV -- was put in the first installment of the Rock Band series and their single, "Tina," debuted in Guitar Hero 3. Meanwhile, "All Around Me" was certified platinum and remains their lone song to chart on the Hot 100 to date. After taking some time out of their hectic touring schedule to record, Flyleaf released their sophomore album, Memento Mori, in 2009. The LP topped the Alternative, Hard Rock, and Christian charts in the U.S. and entered the Top Ten on the Billboard 200; singles "Again," "Chasm," and "Arise" all topped the Christian singles chart. The following year, Flyleaf delivered the EP Remember to Live, featuring stripped-down, reworked versions of some of the group's early songs. In 2012 the band released its third studio album, the Howard Benson-produced New Horizons, after which <a href="spotify:artist:09LCTrVGnMsGbxexUFJoap">Sturm</a> and the band amicably parted ways. Kristen May, former lead singer for the band Vedora, was recruited as vocalist, and the May-fronted version of Flyleaf recorded a single, "Something Better," for their 2013 EP Who We Are. Between the Stars, the band's fourth long-player and first outing for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Loud+%26+Proud+Records%22">Loud & Proud Records</a>, arrived the following year. It would be May's lone full-length with the group; after four years with the band, she announced her departure in August 2016. Without a vocalist, Flyleaf went on an extended hiatus, with the individual bandmembers pursuing other musical ventures. Five years passed before anything was heard from the crew, but the wait was worth it for longtime fans. Hinting at the return of <a href="spotify:artist:09LCTrVGnMsGbxexUFJoap">Sturm</a>, Flyleaf officially announced their reunion in 2022. In addition to the release of a deluxe version of their debut -- which included B-sides and acoustic versions of their big singles -- they also revealed plans for a return to the live circuit, billed as "Flyleaf with Lacey Sturm." ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Tammy La Gorce

Breaking Benjamin

Breaking Benjamin

🚨AWAKEN🚨 is out NOW. First studio single from Breaking Benjamin in five years.

Team Sleep

Team Sleep

After the success of the Deftones' third album, The White Pony, singer Chino Moreno announced his intentions to tackle a new project and take time off from his band. This project ended up becoming Team Sleep, a band made up of vocalist Moreno, turntablist DJ Crook, and guitarist Todd Wilkinson. Wilkinson was a childhood friend of Moreno's, and in fact had never played on an album before. The group tried to blend the moody heaviness of Moreno's other group with the heady beats of Massive Attack. They entered the studio toward the tail-end of 2001, working with producer Terry Date on their debut. Guest musicians such as ex-Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur, Helium singer Mary Timony, Mr. Bungle/Faith No More frontman Mike Patton, and several Deftones members also contributed to the album. The band took the music to the road during the recording, attempting to flesh out their sound and gain some road experience with each other. Their self-titled debut finally arrived in spring 2005. In 2014, after an extended hiatus, Moreno announced that Team Sleep had reunited to work on a follow-up to their debut. Recorded at Applehead Recording studio in Woodstock, New York, Team Sleep's as-yet-untitled sophomore album was tentatively slated for release in 2015. ~ Bradley Torreano, Rovi

Keane

Keane

Keane's piano-driven pop/rock is created by vocalist Tom Chaplin, drummer Richard Hughes, and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, three childhood friends from the small town of Battle in East Sussex, England. Formed in 1997, the group started out as a college-aged cover band. Guitarist Dominic Scott was also part of this early incarnation, having previously played cover songs with Hughes and Rice-Oxley in a band named the Lotus Eaters. Keane toured the East Sussex circuit for several years while internalizing the epic sounds of their set list, which included songs by Oasis, U2, and the Beatles. The quartet began performing original material in 1998, although Chaplin left for Edinburgh University shortly thereafter to study art history. The move proved to be brief, as he returned to London in 1999 and doubled his efforts with Keane. Buoyed by Chaplin's tenor vocals and Rice-Oxley's inventive keyboard effects, the group made its studio debut in 2000 with a self-released single, "Call Me What You Like." Wolf at the Door followed one year later, but the band still struggled to find its momentum as Scott left the lineup in July, leaving the band without a guitarist. Keane continued performing as a trio and happened upon their big break in December 2002, when Fierce Panda Records representative Simon Williams (who had helped discover Coldplay several years prior) was summoned by a friend to attend a Keane gig in London. Williams was impressed with the band's performance and offered to issue Keane's next single, Everybody's Changing, on the spot. The limited-edition release became a success on U.K. radio and attracted attention from major record labels, several of whom began to swarm around the group. Keane signed with Island Records in 2003 and released This Is the Last Time, the band's final single for the Fierce Panda label, before the year was up. They made their major-label debut one year later with Hopes and Fears, which hit the top of the U.K. album charts during its first week of release and beat out Morrissey's You Are the Quarry. The ballad "Somewhere Only We Know" became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and Keane received two Brit Awards (for Best Breakthrough Act and Best Album 2005) while earning a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. The album went on to become the second highest-selling record of the year in the U.K., barely losing out to the Scissor Sisters' debut. Keane opened several shows during U2's 2005 tour in support of their debut, which was followed several months later by the Live Recordings 2004 EP. When it came time to return to the recording studio, the band once again enlisted producer Andy Green and fashioned a darker album titled Under the Iron Sea. Arriving in 2006, it debuted at number four on the Billboard Top 200, topped the U.K. charts, and spun off the band's most successful single to date with Is It Any Wonder? Keane chose to pursue a different agenda for their next project, however, returning in 2008 with a slightly retooled sound -- including the presence of electric guitar -- and a new album, Perfect Symmetry. Two years later, they changed directions yet again with the release of Night Train, an eight-song EP featuring collaborations with the Somali rapper K'NAAN. Released in 2012, Strangeland, the full-length follow-up to Perfect Symmetry, married that albums use of guitars and über-pop sensibility with the anthemic, piano-led sound prevalent on the bands first two albums, particularly Under the Iron Sea. ~ Andrew Leahey

Hoobastank

Hoobastank

Sometimes even a multi-platinum band with three GRAMMY nominations under their belt needs the kind of pop talk which helped inspire Hoobastank’s 6th studio album. PUSH PULL finds Hoobastank exploring both rock and pop songwriting with a renewed vigor. The band partnered with producer Matt Wallace (Faith No More, Maroon 5). As a result, PUSH PULL nails the group’s underappreciated sweet spot - large-scale, muscular ‘80s-‘90s alternative rock of U2, Duran Duran and even Tears for Fears, whose “Heads Over Heels” gets a brawny, Bowiesque take on the album. Hoobastank approached PUSH PULL with the swagger and confidence of a band whose first three albums all went either gold, platinum or multi-platinum. “The Reason” garnered GRAMMY nominations for “Song of the Year,” “Best Rock Album” and “Best Pop Performance” for a Duo or Group. Album highlights include the title track “Push Pull,” and focus track “More Beautiful,” while the funky R&amp;B feel is a tribute to DAN’s early, late--‘90s penchant for Chic and “groove-based” dance music. Songs like “True Believer” and “Buzzkill (Before You Say Goodbye)” show Hoobastank maturing from adolescent to adult relationships. “We stopped attempting to recreate any formula,” DOUG says. “We did what made us happy and played to our strengths. Take it or leave it.” On PUSH PULL, Hoobastank find themselves looking back to the future, combining the best of what brought them here and establishing their presence in the current pop-rock spectrum.

Muse

Muse

— Will of the People —

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters

With alt-rock anthems heavy on melody and personality, Foo Fighters have grown from <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a>'s humble solo project into one of the biggest -- and most enduring -- acts in modern rock. Once his self-recorded debut became a hit in 1995, the former <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> drummer turned Foo Fighters into a full-fledged band whose lineup coalesced after the 1997 release of The Colour and the Shape. With 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose, the group's sound gelled into a recognizable signature built upon the hooky loud-quiet-loud dynamics of <a href="spotify:artist:6zvul52xwTWzilBZl6BUbT">Pixies</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, a modern rock sound anchored by <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>'s love of classic guitar rock. Alone among their peers, Foo Fighters displayed a rigorous work ethic, recording and touring relentlessly into the 2020s, racking up hit albums, multiple Grammy wins and, eventually, a 2021 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. All this activity allowed the Foos to experiment, whether it was on 2005's double-album In Your Honor, the travelogue of 2014's Sonic Highways, or the danceable, feel-good anthems on 2021's Medicine at Midnight. The dedication to work also carried Foo Fighters through tragedy when their drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6bI8H2TnlKYGJSo52wcTP4">Taylor Hawkins</a> unexpectedly died in 2022. <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> rallied the group to deliver the Grammy-nominated But Here We Are, a cathartic tribute to their colleague, the following year. All of this industriousness stems from <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a>, who had been playing guitar and writing songs long before he began drumming. Throughout his early teens he performed in a variety of hardcore punk bands and in the late '80s he joined the Washington, D.C.-area hardcore band <a href="spotify:artist:0wIhCBrT02x0GG5bKqcSAh">Scream</a> as their drummer. During <a href="spotify:artist:0wIhCBrT02x0GG5bKqcSAh">Scream</a>'s final days, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> began recording his own material in the basement studio of his friend Barrett Jones. Some of <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>'s songs appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:0wIhCBrT02x0GG5bKqcSAh">Scream</a>'s final album, Fumble. After the band's 1990 summer tour, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> joined <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> and moved cross-country to Seattle. After <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> recorded Nevermind, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> went back to the D.C. area and recorded a handful of tracks that would appear on Pocketwatch, a cassette released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Simple+Machines%22">Simple Machines</a>. For most of 1992, he was busy with <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, but when the band was off the road, he recorded solo material with Jones, who had also moved to Seattle. The pair kept recording throughout early 1993, when <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> returned to <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> to record In Utero. He had toyed with the idea of releasing another independent cassette in the summer of 1993, but the plans never reached fruition. Following <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Kurt Cobain</a>'s suicide in 1994, the drummer kept quiet for several months. In the fall of 1994, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> and Jones decamped to a professional studio, where in the space of a week, they recorded the songs that comprised Foo Fighters' debut album. Boiling down his backlog of songs to about 15 tracks, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> played all the instruments on the album. He made 100 copies of the tape, passing it out to friends and associates. In no time, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>'s solo project became the object of a fierce record company bidding war. Instead of embarking on a full-fledged solo career, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> decided to form a band. Through his wife he met Nate Mendel, the bassist for <a href="spotify:artist:2lZkXWxkZsZzBocxMjN1or">Sunny Day Real Estate</a>. Shortly before the pair met, <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Jeremy Enigk</a>, the leader of <a href="spotify:artist:2lZkXWxkZsZzBocxMjN1or">Sunny Day Real Estate</a>, had converted to Christianity and quit the band, effectively ending the group's career. Not only did Mendel join <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>'s band, but so did <a href="spotify:artist:2lZkXWxkZsZzBocxMjN1or">Sunny Day</a>'s drummer, William Goldsmith. Former <a href="spotify:artist:39zgKjGWsiZzJ9h6gbrPFY">Germs</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:36AOO7vOYRSjm2nVgvu63E">Pat Smear</a> rounded out the lineup. The band, named Foo Fighters after a World War II secret force that allegedly researched UFOs, signed a contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol+Records%22">Capitol Records</a>. The band's self-titled debut, consisting solely of <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a>'s solo recordings, was released in July of 1995. It became an instant success in America, as "This Is a Call" garnered heavy alternative and album rock airplay. By early 1996, the album was certified platinum in the U.S. Throughout 1996, Foo Fighters supported the album with an extensive tour, enjoying a crossover hit with "Big Me." Late in the year, the group began recording its second album with producer Gil Norton. During the sessions, William Goldsmith left the band due to creative tensions, leaving <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> to drum on the majority of the album. Before the record's release, Goldsmith was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:6bI8H2TnlKYGJSo52wcTP4">Taylor Hawkins</a>, who had previously drummed with <a href="spotify:artist:6ogn9necmbUdCppmNnGOdi">Alanis Morissette</a>. The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters' second album and the first they recorded as a band, was issued in May of 1997. <a href="spotify:artist:36AOO7vOYRSjm2nVgvu63E">Smear</a> left the group in the wake of the album's completion and was replaced by guitarist Franz Stahl, whose stay proved short-lived; 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded as a three-piece, with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:5p3WimI9yquAF6Lqhlm4Ol">No Use for a Name</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:5tv5SsSRqR7uLtpKZgcRrg">Chris Shiflett</a> signing on soon after. One by One, the group's most polished production, appeared in late 2002, followed by 2005's In Your Honor, which narrowly missed the top of Billboard's album chart. After releasing a live album titled Skin and Bones in 2006, the band returned to Norton's studio and started constructing a dozen fractured, eclectic rock songs to be released in 2007 under the name Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace. Two years later, the group released its first compilation, Greatest Hits, as <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> launched his new supergroup <a href="spotify:artist:4zYQWYmtimAEmI6WWEzGfO">Them Crooked Vultures</a>, which also featured <a href="spotify:artist:03xb2BUdIFzuRQ6o88yfCB">Josh Homme</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6RhcZuUOb20IZvR8BbdnJX">John Paul Jones</a>. Foo Fighters reconvened for 2011's Wasting Light, a <a href="spotify:artist:0gTi2zsOHn6wtlkx66uxXM">Butch Vig</a> production that doubled as the official return of <a href="spotify:artist:36AOO7vOYRSjm2nVgvu63E">Pat Smear</a>, who hadn't played on any of the band's albums since 1997. Wasting Light wound up as a smash success for the Foos, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, going gold in the U.S. and garnering the band another four Grammy Awards. In the wake of Wasting Light, several other Foo projects emerged -- a limited-edition compilation of covers called Medium Rare released for Record Store Day 2011; a documentary of the band called Back and Forth -- and the group toured the album into 2012. In 2012, Foo Fighters announced they were taking a hiatus and <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a> immediately returned to the confines of <a href="spotify:artist:4pejUc4iciQfgdX6OKulQn">Queens of the Stone Age</a>, drumming on their 2013 album, ...Like Clockwork. He also threw himself into directing a documentary about the legendary Los Angeles recording studio Sound City. The film appeared early in 2013 to positive reviews, and it was accompanied by a soundtrack called Sound City: Reel to Real, which featured <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>-directed jams including a variety of Sound City veterans, plus <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a>. Not long after its release, Foo Fighters announced that their hiatus had ended and they were working on a new album. Sonic Highways, released late in 2014, was their most ambitious project yet; each track was recorded in a different city, some with special featured guests, a process documented on an eight-episode documentary series for HBO. Sonic Highways saw international release in early November 2014. During the Sonic Highways world tour, the Foos had the honor of being the final band to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 24, 2015. Soon after, as touring resumed, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> fell from the stage during a stop in Sweden, breaking his leg. He performed from a throne for the remainder of the tour, which was rechristened the "Broken Leg Tour." In late 2015, both as a gesture of appreciation to fans and a tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks, Foo Fighters released the Saint Cecilia EP, a five-song blast that featured <a href="spotify:artist:01aC2ikO4Xgb2LUpf9JfKp">Gary Clark, Jr.</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7bhMBjjQhgPX0q9S4Ajncn">Ben Kweller</a>. It returned the band to the Billboard charts, peaking in the Top 20 on the Hard Rock, Alternative, Tastemaker, and Vinyl charts. Soon after, the band announced an indefinite hiatus and would not release new music until two years later, when they returned with the single "Run." This was the first taste of their ninth album, Concrete and Gold, which appeared in September 2017. Produced by <a href="spotify:artist:2sWf9Tj6EsTxURcgil3NTG">Greg Kurstin</a>, the album found <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> incorporating some prog rock influences into the group's sound. It also featured a handful of unexpected guest performers, including <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a>, who played drums on a track, saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0ZcJXldoq09BRIMl0Qh1Vm">Dave Koz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6O74knDqdv3XaWtkII7Xjp">Boyz II Men</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:19dyJWLCu4CSuTgZN1l9Zn">Shawn Stockman</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5BYuBzqmTXwUDw2rYkwExr">the Kills</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:5rexG906fVLfq8H9m8J9P9">Alison Mosshart</a>; the latter two both added backing vocals. Along with topping the rock charts, the album was also the group's second to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Foo Fighters toured extensively throughout 2017 and 2018, including making an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival. By 2019, they were back at work in the studio, recording in an historic house in Encino, California, and again working with producer <a href="spotify:artist:2sWf9Tj6EsTxURcgil3NTG">Kurstin</a>. Initially scheduled for release in 2020, Medicine at Midnight was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a lead single, "Shame Shame," did appear in November 2020, topping the mainstream rock chart. Two more songs followed, "No Son of Mine" and "Waiting on a War," paving the way for the album, which ultimately arrived in February 2021. In March 2022, the Foo Fighters traveled to South America to play a handful of concerts, headlining the Lollapalooza festival in Argentina on March 20. On the morning of March 25, 2022, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6bI8H2TnlKYGJSo52wcTP4">Taylor Hawkins</a> was found dead in his hotel room in Bogotá, Colombia, where the group was scheduled to perform that evening; he was 50 years old. At the end of 2022, Foo Fighters announced they planned to continue as a band following the death of <a href="spotify:artist:6bI8H2TnlKYGJSo52wcTP4">Hawkins</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> and his bandmates processed the loss of their colleague on But Here We Are, an album that occasionally echoed the spirit of the first Foo Fighters album while also featuring the assured, precise execution of <a href="spotify:artist:2sWf9Tj6EsTxURcgil3NTG">Greg Kurstin</a>, who returned for his third record with the Foos. The LP earned nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance at the 66th Grammy Awards. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

bôa

bôa

bôa is a British alt-rock band originally formed in London in 1992 by Ed Herten (drums), Paul Turrell (keyboard/strings), Steve Rodgers (guitar/vocals), Alex Caird (bass guitar), <a href="spotify:artist:1npod25ImfTYkFpelxT760" data-name="Jasmine Rodgers">Jasmine Rodgers</a> (guitar/vocals), and Ben Henderson (guitar/saxophone). When Ed left the band in 1994 Lee Sullivan joined. Over the course of their career, they have released two studio albums, Twilight (2001) and Get There (2005). After a period of inactivity, bôa recently reformed following an incredible renaissance for their classic track “Duvet”, with the line-up of Jasmine Rodgers (vocals/guitar), Alex Caird (bass/guitar) and Lee Sullivan (drums). Originally released in 1998 and featured as the soundtrack to cult-classic Japanese anime series Serial Experiments Lain, the track “Duvet” became a viral hit on social media towards the end of 2021 – sparking enormous and ongoing interest in the group amongst a whole new generation of fans which has led to millions of streams across their entire catalogue. Inspired by the growing interest and resonance of their past releases, and calls from fans for new material, the band have recently signed a deal with Nettwerk Music Group and are currently working in the studio on new songs.

Weezer

Weezer

When Weezer producer (and former Cars frontman) Ric Ocasek first heard Weezer’s demo tape in late 1993, he couldn’t quite figure out where the band was coming from. Musing to <i>Rolling Stone</i> years later, he said it felt a little like metal, but the lyrics were smart and nerdy. The songs were catchy, but the sound was powerful and super loud. He found himself wondering about their hair: Would it be short and studious, or long and rock ’n’ roll?<br> More than 25 years later, Weezer remains something of an enigma, a blend of big, joyful arena rock with shy-guy reticence, goofy humor with obsessively precise pop craft. Where some bands gave it to you live and direct from the heart, Weezer was methodical: One of the band’s early T-shirt designs memorably read, “If it’s too loud, turn it down,” while frontman Rivers Cuomo has proudly described organizing his songs using that most un-rock-'n'-roll of tools: spreadsheets.<br> Formed in California in 1992, the band debuted with 1994’s <i>Weezer</i> (a.k.a. “The Blue Album”), an album whose big hooks (“Say It Ain't So,” “Undone — The Sweater Song”) and sweet disposition (“Buddy Holly”) made it an instant antidote to the angst of grunge. Following a rocky adjustment, they returned in 1996 with <i>Pinkerton</i>, a moody, noisy, self-loathing record that came to be embraced as a cult classic.<br> After a nearly five-year break, during which they slid quietly off the radar (and bassist Matt Sharp left to form The Rentals), the band released 2001’s <i>Weezer</i> (a.k.a. “The Green Album”), igniting a period of factory-like productivity that saw them frequently turning out albums of charming, polished, and slightly eccentric power pop. In 2018, after a six-month Twitter campaign launched by a 14-year-old fan, Weezer released a cover of Toto’s 1982 smash “Africa”—a perfect expression of both their commitment to and their utterly carefree attitude toward their place in the culture. “The lyrics seem like he’s just rambling off the top of his head and they don’t really make sense but nobody seems to mind,” Cuomo told Apple Music. “I’ll spend weeks working on lyrics and it’s like, ‘Maybe people don’t really care.’” It sparked their first covers album, <i>Weezer</i> (a.k.a. “The Teal Album”), which was followed a month later by <i>Weezer</i> (a.k.a. “The Black Album”).

Three Days Grace

Three Days Grace

Since 2003, Three Days Grace has staked a spot amongst the hard rock vanguard, breaking records, toppling charts, and moving millions of units worldwide. Overall the band has eighteen #1 records at Mediabase Active Rock and seventeen #1s at Billboard/BDS Active Rock. The band has been nominated multiple times for “Best Rock Album” at the Juno Awards in addition to multiple nominations for “Rock Song of the Year” and “Rock Artist of the Year” at iHeartRadio Music Awards. Moreover, the band consistently averaged a staggering 13 million monthly listeners on Spotify—remaining one of the most listened to rock bands in the world. With over 5 Billion combined streams, top tracks include hard rock anthems “I Hate Everything About You”, “Riot”, “Time of Dying”, among others. To date, their veritable arsenal of number one includes “Home”, “Just Like You”, “Pain”, “Animal I Have Become”, “Never Too Late”, “Break”, “Good Life”, “World So Cold”, “Misery Loves My Company”, “The High Road”, “Chalk Outline”, “I am Machine, “Painkiller”, “The Mountain”, “Infra-Red”, “Right Left Wrong”, “So Called Life”, and “Lifetime”. Three Days Grace is Adam Gontier (vocals), Matt Walst (vocals), Barry Stock (guitar), Brad Walst (bass, backing vocals), and Neil Sanderson (drums, keyboards, backing vocals).

The Gathering

The Gathering

A creative, classy, and highly refined "symphonic metal" outfit from Holland, the Gathering debuted with 1993's Always, a fairly straightforward death metal album with vocals by Marike Groot, although heavy use of keyboards made it stand out a bit from other such albums at the time. The follow-up, 1994's Almost a Dance, saw the departure of singer Groot as well as "growling" vocalist Bart Smits, replaced primarily by Niels Duffhues, whose punkish tone was decidedly out of step with the music. The album also featured occasional vocals by Martine van Loon, a low-key singer with a pretty tone but one who seldom took to the forefront of a composition. It would appear that the seed had been planted in the bandmembers' heads to pair their uniquely compelling songwriting style with a passionate female vocalist; the result was the addition of the incomparable Anneke van Giersbergen, an incredible singer capable of stretching miles of emotion out of each and every syllable. The next album, 1995's Mandylion, remains one of the very best Dutch heavy metal albums ever recorded. Van Giersbergen's poetic and haunting lyrics, together with the band's orchestral ruminations, resulted in darkly important songs that seamlessly blended from one to the next. The follow-up, 1997's Nighttime Birds, acted as a companion piece to Mandylion: similar in tone and delivery, Birds was filled with the melodic and adventurous play that became the trademark of the band. Superheat and If_Then_Else followed in early 2000. After a break with Century Media following the release of If_Then_Else, the band took time off before going into the studio to work on the 2003 follow-up, Souvenirs. The next three years saw the group release a semi-acoustic live album called Sleepy Buildings (2004), along with a pair of concert DVDs. In 2007 van Giersbergen left the Gathering to pursue a solo career, and in 2008 they returned to the studio to begin work on their ninth full-length outing. The resulting West Pole, released the following year, would mark the debut of new vocalist Silje Wergeland, formerly of the Norwegian goth metal outfit Octavia Sperati. Disclosure arrived in 2012, followed in 2014 by the companion piece Afterwords. That same year saw the Gathering perform a series of sold-out shows with four of the group's previous vocalists (Bart Smits, Marike Groot, Anneke van Giersbergen, and Silje Wergeland) in celebration of their 25th anniversary, after which they announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. Blueprints, a double album of outtakes, demos, and unreleased songs from the recordings of Souvenirs and Home, arrived in 2016. ~ James Bickers

The Goo Goo Dolls

The Goo Goo Dolls

Four decades into their storied career, alt-rock legends Goo Goo Dolls are still discovering new and invigorating ways to make the most exciting music they’ve ever recorded. With more accolades than can fit an industrial size trophy case and global No.1s celebrated across the globe, it’d make sense for a band of such proportions to phone things in, take a step back, or merely retreat from the spotlight. Almost paradoxically, though, Goo Goo Dolls have remained at the top of their game and increasingly daring over the years precisely because the music has always been put on a pedestal that remains untainted by all of the outside laurels the band has earned. On their new album, Chaos in Bloom, Goo Goo Dolls sound like a band more confident than ever in their sound, yet constantly looking for fresh ways to get their story across. Marking their first record ever to be produced by lead singer John Rzeznik, it’s an album of biting sarcasm, stadium-ready choruses, and spear-sharp songwriting. In short, it’s a quintessential Goo Goo Dolls album.

Pixies

Pixies

Pixies have been acclaimed as the most influential, pioneering band of the late 80s alt/rock movement, having served as a major influence for artists like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, the Strokes, Weezer, and many more. And today, a whole new generation of music fans has been discovering and embracing the band’s “loudquietloud” signature sound. Quirky, catchy melodies have always been Pixies’ calling card; seven genre-defining studio albums, including the Gold-certified Surfer Rosa, and the iconic Platinum Doolittle, considered one of the all-time, quintessential alt/rock albums. Sell-out crowds all over the globe, Pixies’ live shows are unadulterated magic, simultaneously electrifying and lo-fi. Seventy-five minutes of the band playing anything they want, in whatever order they want, the classics and the new gems. And no two Pixies shows are ever the same. 2024 is a momentous year for Pixies. 35 years since Doolittle catapulted the band into the UK Top Ten, and 20 years since their celebrated reformation at Coachella, Pixies are deep into their second act. Bigger than ever, playing to fans spanning multiple generations, and in the midst of their most creative purple patch. Black Francis, Joey Santiago, David Lovering and British bassist Emma Richardson are as busy as ever.

Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke

As the frontman for <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a>, Thom Yorke provides the band with a humanistic focus: his keening, emphatic vocals balance even the group's chilliest moments. However, other than duets with similarly inclined artists (<a href="spotify:artist:12VaqyEhgwDRuFfEqbnrpz">PJ Harvey</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7w29UYBi0qsHi5RTcv3lmA">Björk</a>), Yorke resisted venturing into solo recordings until 2006's The Eraser, which further plumbed the depths of <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a>'s most experimental electronic efforts. He has continued to maintain that focus in his work outside the band, whether it's through subsequent solo albums, soundtrack contributions, original scores such as 2018's Suspiria, or his <a href="spotify:artist:7tA9Eeeb68kkiG9Nrvuzmi">Atoms for Peace</a> project co-starring <a href="spotify:artist:0Xl5J6iOgiQHFqgri7TF8j">Flea</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Nigel Godrich</a>. Yorke was born on October 7, 1968, in Wellingborough, England. His left eye was paralyzed from birth and remained shut until the age of six. He underwent a total of five operations; the last operation was botched and he almost lost all sight in that eye. Only after wearing an eye patch for a year was he able to see, albeit slightly. His family moved often since his father worked as a chemical-engineering instruments salesman, and by his teens, he had turned to music as an inspiration, namely <a href="spotify:artist:2BGRfQgtzikz1pzAD0kaEn">Elvis Costello</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>. After his family finally settled down in Oxford, Yorke was sent to an all-boys school, where he met future <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3E7aH1Yv84NoaP9JWcrMpE">Ed O'Brien</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6bdotkIeFswBydfQqzHnKS">Colin Greenwood</a>, soon after discovering such '80s alternative bands as <a href="spotify:artist:3yY2gUcIsjMr8hjo51PoJ8">the Smiths</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s">the Cure</a>. The seeds of what became <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> were planted at this point, as the trio jammed with a drum machine before replacing it with another friend, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2A59wav3PGiJij2rK7HQYH">Phil Selway</a>, and inviting <a href="spotify:artist:6bdotkIeFswBydfQqzHnKS">Greenwood</a>'s younger multi-instrument-playing brother <a href="spotify:artist:0z9s3P5vCzKcUBSxgBDyLU">Jonny</a> to join up, too. The group's original name was On a Friday before being changed to <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a>, which they'd swiped from the title of a song on <a href="spotify:artist:2x9SpqnPi8rlE9pjHBwmSC">Talking Heads</a>' True Stories. By late 1991, the band was signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Parlophone%22">Parlophone</a> in the U.K. and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a> in the U.S., as an EP, Drill, came and went without much fanfare. Released in 1993, the group's full-length debut, Pablo Honey, appeared to be suffering the same fate until American radio/MTV made a surprise hit out of the <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>-esque alternative anthem "Creep." <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a>'s fan base grew considerably over the course of their next two releases, 1995's The Bends and 1997's OK Computer, the latter being voted Greatest Album of All Time in the British magazine Q shortly after its release. One of the world's top rock bands by this time, <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> attempted to alienate their newly found Top 40 audience with their next release, 2000's abstract Kid A, but instead found it debuting at the top of the U.S. charts (despite the absence of a video or single being released from the album). While <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> remained his top priority during the '90s, Yorke also found the time to guest on other bands' recordings. Some of these cameo appearances included the songs "El President" by <a href="spotify:artist:7CKG3Kl5ssnyXkHzTHudKN">Drugstore</a> (off the album White Magic for Lovers), a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9">Pink Floyd</a>'s "Wish You Were Here" with <a href="spotify:artist:64tVHZVSAZhDEiOJxnb6hE">Sparklehorse</a>, "Rabbit in Your Headlights" by <a href="spotify:artist:2nszamLjZFgu3Yx77mKxuC">UNKLE</a> (Psyence Fiction), <a href="spotify:artist:7w29UYBi0qsHi5RTcv3lmA">Björk</a>'s "I've Seen It All" (Selmasongs), and <a href="spotify:artist:12VaqyEhgwDRuFfEqbnrpz">PJ Harvey</a>'s "This Mess We're In" (Stories from the Cities). Yorke also appeared as part of the ad hoc alternative supergroup <a href="spotify:artist:0iSXucp0g0a2MU6UdGr7Rw">Venus in Furs</a> for the soundtrack to the 1998 glam rock film Velvet Goldmine, lending his vocals to the tracks "2HB," "Ladytron," and "Bitter-Sweet." In May 2006, Yorke announced an imminent solo album on <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a>'s blog. The Eraser, made with extensive assistance from <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> producer <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Nigel Godrich</a>, was released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22XL%22">XL</a> in July. It debuted inside the Top Ten in the U.K. and U.S. and was also nominated for Britain's Mercury Prize and a Grammy Award in the category of Best Alternative Music Album. <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> also surprised fans with a new album when they announced the making of In Rainbows roughly a week before it was released in 2007. A few years later, Yorke formed the band <a href="spotify:artist:7tA9Eeeb68kkiG9Nrvuzmi">Atoms for Peace</a>, recruiting <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a> on keyboards and production, <a href="spotify:artist:0Xl5J6iOgiQHFqgri7TF8j">Flea</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:0L8ExT028jH3ddEcZwqJJ5">Red Hot Chili Peppers</a> on bass, Joey Waronker on drums, and Mauro Refosco on percussion. The group played several live dates around the U.S. during 2009 and 2010, and began recording for an album, Amok, that eventually appeared in 2013 (but not before another surprise <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> album, 2011's King of Limbs). Upon release, Amok performed well on charts across the world, although the members' more pressing commitments meant that a successor was not immediately forthcoming. Yorke also provided vocals for tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:29XOeO6KIWxGthejQqn793">Flying Lotus</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2jYMYP2SVifgmzNRQJx3SJ">Modeselektor</a>, and collaborated on recordings with <a href="spotify:artist:0uCCBpmg6MrPb1KY2msceF">Burial</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7Eu1txygG6nJttLHbZdQOh">Four Tet</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1O10apSOoAPjOu6UhUNmeI">SBTRKT</a>. Yorke's second solo album arrived as a surprise, much like the first. Following a series of cryptic clues dispersed through social media, Yorke released Tomorrow's Modern Boxes in September 2014. Initially, it was distributed through the torrent service BitTorrent, and then it was made available on vinyl. The eight-song set was another concise, subdued, yet tense set from the <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> frontman. In 2015, Yorke performed with audiovisual artist Tarik Barri and <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a> at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan and the Latitude Festival in the U.K. 2016 saw Yorke and <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a> surprise fans with their ninth LP, A Moon Shaped Pool, after dropping cryptic hints across social media tied into elements featured in lead singles "Burn the Witch" and "Daydreaming." The band promoted the record with an international tour throughout 2016 and 2017. During the latter year, it was announced that the songwriter would be composing his first film score for Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento's 1977 horror classic Suspiria. Yorke revealed that during the writing process he had been inspired by various aspects of Krautrock as well as <a href="spotify:artist:4P70aqttdpJ9vuYFDmf7f6">Vangelis</a>' score for Blade Runner. The movie and its soundtrack arrived in late 2018, with the Suspiria album led by the track "Suspirium." Yorke returned with ANIMA, his third solo album, in June 2019. Produced by <a href="spotify:artist:0g7gHEXKEHU4snTwOZSxNO">Godrich</a>, ANIMA was also accompanied by a short film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs. A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way. Once we found that slip stream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waist band of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream. When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with. Well we figured it out. 2 double albums released back to back. The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed. &#39;Return of the Dream Canteen&#39; is everything we are and ever dreamed of being. It’s packed. Made with the blood of our hearts, yours truly, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. marked the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. While there were a number of hardcore and punk bands in the U.S. during the early '80s, R.E.M. brought guitar pop back into the underground lexicon. Combining ringing guitar hooks with mumbled, cryptic lyrics and a D.I.Y. aesthetic borrowed from post-punk, the band simultaneously sounded traditional and modern. Though there were no overt innovations in their music, R.E.M. had an identity and sense of purpose that transformed the American underground. Throughout the '80s, they worked relentlessly, releasing records every year and touring constantly, playing both theaters and backwoods dives. Along the way, they inspired countless bands, from the legions of jangle pop groups in the mid-'80s to scores of alternative pop groups in the '90s, who admired their slow climb to stardom. It did take R.E.M. several years to break into the top of the charts, but they gained a cult following after the release of their debut EP, Chronic Town, in 1982. Chronic Town established the haunting folk and garage rock that became the band's signature sound, and over the next five years, they continued to expand their music with a series of critically acclaimed albums. By the late '80s, the group's fan base had grown large enough to guarantee strong sales, but the Top Ten success in 1987 of Document and "The One I Love" was unexpected, especially since R.E.M. had only altered their sound slightly. Following Document, R.E.M. slowly became one of the world's most popular bands. After an exhaustive international tour supporting 1988's Green, the band retired from touring for six years and retreated into the studio to produce their most popular records, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992). By the time they returned to performing with the Monster tour in 1995, the band had been acknowledged by critics and musicians as one of the forefathers of the thriving alternative rock movement, and they were rewarded with the most lucrative tour of their career. Toward the late '90s, R.E.M. were an institution, as their influence was felt in new generations of bands. Though R.E.M. formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980, Mike Mills (born December 17, 1958) and Bill Berry (born July 31, 1958) were the only Southerners in the group. Both had attended high school together in Macon, playing in a number of bands during their teens. Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) was a military brat, moving throughout the country during his childhood. By his teens, he had discovered punk rock through Patti Smith, Television, and Wire, and began playing in cover bands in St. Louis. By 1978, he had begun studying art at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he began frequenting the Wuxtry record store. Peter Buck (born December 6, 1956), a native of California, was a clerk at Wuxtry. Buck had been a fanatical record collector, consuming everything from classic rock to punk and free jazz, and was just beginning to learn how to play guitar. Discovering they had similar tastes, Buck and Stipe began working together, eventually meeting Berry and Mills through a mutual friend. In April of 1980, the band formed to play a party for their friend, rehearsing a number of garage, psychedelic bubblegum, and punk covers in an converted Episcopalian church. At the time, the group played under the name the Twisted Kites. By the summer, the band had settled on the name R.E.M. after flipping randomly through the dictionary, and had met Jefferson Holt, who became their manager after witnessing the group's first out-of-state concert in North Carolina. Over the next year and a half, R.E.M. toured throughout the South, playing a variety of garage rock covers and folk-rock originals. At the time, the bandmembers were still learning how to play, as Buck began to develop his distinctive, arpeggiated jangle and Stipe ironed out his cryptic lyrics. During the summer of 1981, R.E.M. recorded their first single, "Radio Free Europe," at Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios. Released on the local indie label Hib-Tone, "Radio Free Europe" was pressed in a run of only 1,000 copies, but most of the those singles fell into the right hands. Due to strong word of mouth, the single became a hit on college radio and topped The Village Voice's year-end poll of Best Independent Singles. The single also earned the attention of larger independent labels, and by the beginning of 1982, the band had signed to I.R.S. Records, releasing the EP Chronic Town in the spring. Like the single, Chronic Town was well received, paving the way for the group's full-length debut album, 1983's Murmur. With its subdued, haunting atmosphere and understated production, Murmur was noticeably different than Chronic Town and was welcomed with enthusiastic reviews upon its spring release; Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1983, beating out Michael Jackson's Thriller and the Police's Synchronicity. Murmur also expanded the group's cult significantly, breaking into the American Top 40. The band returned to a rougher-edged sound on 1984's Reckoning, which featured the college hit "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)." By the time R.E.M. hit the road to support Reckoning, they had become well known in the American underground for their constant touring, aversion to videos, support of college radio, Stipe's mumbled vocals and detached stage presence, Buck's ringing guitar, and their purposely enigmatic artwork. Bands that imitated these very things ran rampant throughout the American underground, and R.E.M. threw their support toward these bands, having them open at shows and mentioning them in interviews. By 1985, the American underground was awash with R.E.M.sound-alikes and bands like Game Theory and the Rain Parade, which shared similar aesthetics and sounds. Just as the signature R.E.M. sound dominated the underground, the band entered darker territory with its third album, 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction. Recorded in London with producer Joe Boyd (Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake), Fables of the Reconstruction was made at a difficult period in R.E.M.'s history, as the band was fraught with tension produced by endless touring. The album reflected the group's dark moods, as well as its obsession with the rural South, and both of these fascinations popped up on the supporting tour. Stipe, whose on-stage behavior was always slightly strange, entered his most bizarre phase, as he put on weight, dyed his hair bleached blonde, and wore countless layers of clothing. None of the new quirks in R.E.M.'s persona prevented Fables of the Reconstruction from becoming their most successful album to date, selling nearly 300,000 copies in the U.S. R.E.M. decided to record their next album with Don Gehman, who had previously worked with John Mellencamp. Gehman had the band clean up its sound and Stipe enunciate his vocals, making Lifes Rich Pageant their most accessible record to date. Upon its late summer release in 1986, Lifes Rich Pageant was greeted with the positive reviews that had become customary with each new R.E.M. album, and it outstripped the sales of its predecessor. Several months after Lifes Rich Pageant, the group released the B-sides and rarities collection Dead Letter Office in the spring of 1987. R.E.M. had laid the groundwork for mainstream success, but they had never explicitly courted widespread fame. Nevertheless, their audience had grown quite large, and it wasn't that surprising that the group's fifth album, Document, became a hit shortly after its fall 1987 release. Produced by Scott Litt -- who would produce all of their records over the course of the next decade -- Document climbed into the U.S. Top Ten and went platinum on the strength of the single "The One I Love," which also went into the Top Ten; it also became their biggest U.K. hit to date, reaching the British Top 40. The following year, the band left I.R.S. Records, signing with Warner Bros. for a reported six million dollars. The first album under the new contract was Green, which was released on U.S. Election Day 1988. Green continued the success of Document, going double platinum and generating the Top Ten single "Stand." R.E.M. supported Green with an exhaustive international tour, in which they played their first stadium dates in the U.S. Though they had graduated to stadiums in America, they continued to play clubs throughout Europe. The Green tour proved to be draining for the group, and they took an extended rest upon its completion in 1989. During the break, each member pursued side projects, and Hindu Love Gods, an album Buck, Berry, and Mills recorded with Warren Zevon in 1986, was released. R.E.M. reconvened during 1990 to record their seventh album, Out of Time, which was released in the spring of 1991. Entering the U.S. and U.K. charts at number one, Out of Time was a lush pop and folk album, boasting a wider array of sounds than the group's previous efforts; its lead single, "Losing My Religion," became the group's biggest single, reaching number four in the U.S. Since the bandmembers were exhausted from the Green tour, they chose to stay off the road. Nevertheless, Out of Time became the group's biggest album, selling over four million copies in the U.S. and spending two weeks at the top of the charts. R.E.M. released the dark, meditative Automatic for the People in the fall of 1992. Though the band had promised a rock album after the softer textures of Out of Time, Automatic for the People was slow, quiet, and reflective, with many songs being graced by string arrangements by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Like its predecessor, Automatic for the People was a quadruple platinum success, generating the Top 40 hit singles "Drive," "Man on the Moon," and "Everybody Hurts." After piecing together two albums in the studio, R.E.M. decided to return to being a rock band with 1994's Monster. Though the record was conceived as a back-to-basics album, the recording of Monster was difficult and plagued with tension. Nevertheless, the album was a huge hit upon its fall release, entering the U.S. and U.K. charts at number one; furthermore, the album received accolades from a number of old-school critics who had been reluctant to praise the band, since they didn't "rock" in conventional terms. Experiencing some of the strongest sales and reviews of their career, R.E.M. began their first tour since Green early in 1995. Two months into the tour, Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm while performing; he had surgery immediately and had fully recovered within a month. R.E.M. resumed their tour two months after Berry's aneurysm, but his illness was only the beginning of a series of problems that plagued the Monster tour. Mills had to undergo abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal tumor in July; a month later, Stipe had to have an emergency surgery for a hernia. Despite all the problems, the tour was an enormous financial success, and the group recorded the bulk of a new album. Before the record was released in the fall of 1996, R.E.M. parted ways with their longtime manager Jefferson Holt, allegedly due to sexual harassment charges levied against him; the group's lawyer, Bertis Downs, assumed managerial duties. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was released in September 1996, just before it was announced that the band had re-signed with Warner Bros., reportedly for a record-breaking sum of 80 million dollars. In light of such a huge figure, the commercial failure of New Adventures in Hi-Fi was ironic. Though it received strong reviews and debuted at number two in the U.S. and number one in the U.K., the album failed to generate a hit single, and it only went platinum where its three predecessors went quadruple platinum. By early 1997, the album had already begun its descent down the charts. However, the members of R.E.M. were already pursuing new projects, as Stipe worked with his film company, Single Cell Pictures, and Buck co-wrote songs with Mark Eitzel and worked with a free jazz group, Tuatara. In October of 1997, R.E.M. shocked fans and the media with the announcement that Berry was amicably exiting the group to retire to life on his farm; the remaining members continued on as a three-piece, soon convening in Hawaii to begin preliminary work on their next LP. Replacing Berry with a drum machine, the sessions resulted in 1998's Up, widely touted as the band's most experimental recording in years. It was only a brief change of direction, since R.E.M.'s next album, 2001's Reveal, marked a return to their classic sound. Around the Sun followed in 2004. A worldwide tour convened in 2005, which included an appearance at the London branch of Live 8. In 2007, R.E.M. were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and began work on their next album, Accelerate, which was released in 2008. The album sported a faster, more guitar-driven sound than Around the Sun, which had received lukewarm reviews and sold poorly, particularly in America. It earned rave reviews and topped charts around the world (although it halted at number two in America). For 2011's Collapse into Now, the band favored a more expansive sound, one that combined Accelerate's rock songs with slower ballads and moody atmospherics. Reviews were mostly positive, and it debuted in the Top Five in America. Unexpectedly, in September 2011, R.E.M. announced their amicable breakup after 31 years together. Immediately after the split, the band issued a double-disc compilation entitled Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage: 1982-2011, covering their years at both I.R.S. and Warner. In 2015 the band signed a deal with Concord Bicycle to distribute their Warner recordings, and the first fruits of this partnership surfaced in 2016, when a 25th Anniversary Edition of Out of Time appeared in November of that year. The next installment in this reissue campaign was a 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Automatic for the People in November 2017. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Have A Nice Life

Dúo estadounidense | Rock experimental, post-punk, shoegaze, post-rock, ambient (2000)

Tame Impala

Tame Impala

Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) has officially released his fourth studio album, The Slow Rush. Featuring the tracks Lost In Yesterday, Borderline & It Might Be Time. The Slow Rush was recorded between Los Angeles and Parker’s studio in his hometown of Fremantle, Australia. The twelve tracks were written, recorded, produced and mixed by Parker. The Slow Rush is Parker’s deep dive into the oceans of time, conjuring the feeling of a lifetime in a lightning bolt, of major milestones whizzing by while you’re looking at your phone, it’s a paean to creation and destruction and the unending cycle of life. In support of The Slow Rush, Tame Impala will tour across North America, Australia & New Zealand, and the UK in the coming months. Thanks to the ravenous demand of fans for a transcendent live performance, Tame Impala has headlined festivals and theatres around the world and released three full length albums - Innerspeaker, Lonerism and Currents. As a writer and producer Parker has collaborated with Travis Scott, SZA, Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Kali Uchis, Theophilus London, Miguel, A$AP Rocky and more.

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd are one of the most successful and influential rock groups in history. The members of the group to become known as Pink Floyd came together in London, but the band’s roots were in Cambridge, in the East of England, in the early 1960s. Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett, Roger Waters and David Gilmour all grew up in Cambridge, (Roger Waters having moved there from Surrey at the age of 2), and got into music as part of the folk and beat boom of the time. Young Roger Barrett was actively encouraged in his music and art by his parents, and was successful at both while in school. He knew Roger Waters from school and met David Gilmour as a teenager, so their friendships were established long before the formation of Pink Floyd. Roger Barrett acquired the nickname 'Syd' around the ageof 14, in a reference to local bass player Sid Barrett, hence the ‘Syd’ spelling for differentiation. The Barrett family home had hosted musical collaborations from 1962 onwards, the first fruits of which became Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, including Syd on rhythm guitar. In September 1962, Roger Waters left Cambridge for London to study architecture. Syd meanwhile had won a 2-year scholarship to Cambridge School of Art, where he re-established contact with David Gilmour, swapping guitar chords at lunchtime sessions. London’s Regent Street Polytechnic had by now welcomed not only Roger Waters but Richard Wright, a Londoner, and Nick Mason, who was born in Birmingham but relocated to Hampstead at age 2. Roger and Nick responded to a college advert recruiting band members, and duly formed Sigma 6, playing guitar and drums respectively. Richard Wright also joined, playing guitar, various brass instruments and keyboards, depending on whether a piano was available. As well as Polytechnic studies, Richard was taking private lessons in musical theory and composition at the Eric Gilder School of Music, and in fact left architectural studies (and the band, now called The Abdabs) at the end of his first year, to go travelling. In Autumn 1964 Syd Barrett moved to London to attend Camberwell Art College, hooking up with Roger Waters and the Abdabs. Two of the band had just left, which left space for two guitarists: Syd, and fellow Cambridge friend Rado (‘Bob’) Klose, Roger Waters having switched to bass guitar. Originally Leonard’s Lodgers, The Spectrum Five, and latterly The Tea Set, the band finally became Pink Floyd when Richard Wright rejoined, having returned to the UK to enroll in the Royal College of Music. The new name was suggested by Syd, and was derived from two US bluesmen: Pink (born Pinkney) Anderson and Floyd Council. The 5-piece played intermittently in early 1965 as both The Tea Set and The Pink Floyd (or The Pink Floyd Sound), with the departure of Rado ‘Bob’ Klose creating the first 4-man (Barrett / Mason / Waters / Wright) lineup at live shows from May onwards, although the band continued to alternate the use of the Tea Set / Pink Floyd designation right up until March 1966. They were still a part-time band, allowing Syd to take off to France in August with David Gilmour, the pair being briefly detained by the St. Tropez police for busking (performing in the street). Pink Floyd / Tea Set’s original style was based on American blues and r’n’b, but the birth of a UK psychedelic music scene allowed them to develop Syd’s performance-based ideas into something unique. Throughout 1966 they honed their live performance skills, often developing songs into long jamming sequences, and by the end of the year Pink Floyd had become the pre-eminent ‘underground’ band. They picked up management too, and their first recordings were songs by Syd, who had established himself as the band’s creative innovator. Pink Floyd signed to EMI Records in 1967, releasing the singles Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, both written by Syd, and the album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, again mostly composed by Syd and considered to be one of the greatest British psychedelic albums. Arnold Layne reached No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart, and See Emily Play reached No. 6, while The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn also entered the album charts at No. 6, the first of a long line of Pink Floyd album chart successes. However, as the band began to attract a large fanbase, it became clear that Syd's fluid approach to writing, performing and recording - spontaneous, one take only, nothing repeated - was increasingly at odds with the expectations of a musical scene that was still very conservative, especially outside London. Possibly exacerbated by Syd’s frequent experimentation with psychedelic drugs, his behaviour became more erratic, to the point that the band decided to add a second guitarist for live performances. They hoped to call on Syd’s compositional abilities for studio work, similar to Brian Wilson’s role in the Beach Boys, while David Gilmour would bolster the band in live shows. David Gilmour had gigged regularly around Cambridge with various outfits, including The Ramblers, Chris Ian & The Newcomers and Jokers Wild, his first professional outfit. David moved to London in Summer 1966, and the band, now a trio, played extensively around Europe. Renamed Bullitt, they then re-invented themselves as Flowers in 1967. Already known as the best guitarist on the Cambridge scene, David had been very impressed with seeing Jimi Hendrix in a small club, and had been inspired to work even harder on his technique. The new 5-man Floyd experiment didn’t really work, and in January 1968, after a handful of shows, the band elected not to pick Syd up on the way to a Southampton University gig. Syd and Floyd officially parted company in March 1968, with the band’s management Blackhill Enterprises deciding to stick with Syd as a solo artist. The band appointed Steve O'Rourke as manager, and he remained with Pink Floyd until his death in 2003. Whilst Syd Barrett had written the bulk of the first album, only one composition by him, Jugband Blues, appeared on the second Floyd album. A Saucerful Of Secrets was released in June 1968, reaching Number 9 in the UK. Point Me At The Sky, a Waters/Gilmour composition released in December 1968, was to be the band’s last single release until Money from The Dark Side Of The Moon. The soundtrack to the film More, another UK Top 10 album in July 1969, was the band’s first collaboration with film director Barbet Schroeder. The next record, the double album Ummagumma in November 1969, was a mix of live recordings and studio experimentation by the band members, with each member recording half a side of a vinyl record as a solo project. Meanwhile, over the course of a year, Syd Barrett had recorded The Madcap Laughs, released in January 1970, with some production help from David and Roger. Atom Heart Mother, in October 1970, was Pink Floyd's first recording with an orchestra, the title track suite taking up a full vinyl LP side. Their first UK No. 1 album, staying on the charts for 18 weeks, the title was taken from a London Evening Standard headline. Roger Waters’ first work outside the band appeared in November 1970. A collaboration with Ron Geesin, (with whom Floyd had worked on Atom Heart Mother), The Body formed the soundtrack to the film of the same name. Pink Floyd appear anonymously on the track Give Birth To A Smile. November 1970 also saw the release of Barrett, the second and last album of all-original Syd Barrett songs. It was produced by David Gilmour and included Richard Wright on keyboards. Before the next album of original material, a Pink Floyd compilation album, Relics, was released in May 1971, containing several early singles and B-sides, plus one previously unreleased song Biding My Time. The band also contributed three tracks to the soundtrack of Michelangelo Antonioni’s film, Zabriskie Point. In October 1971 the band allowed director Adrian Maben to film them performing live in the amphitheatre at Pompeii. After more filming, including interviews and more performances in a Paris studio, the Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii film was finally premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in September 1972. Meddle was Pink Floyd’s longest UK chart performer to date, maintaining 82 weeks on the chart from its No. 3 debut in November 1971. It contained the LP side-long Echoes, to many the perfect encapsulation of all Floyd’s disparate elements. Nick Mason considered it "the first real Pink Floyd album. It introduced the idea of a theme that can be returned to". Developing the idea of thematic pieces, the band began to work on what would become The Dark Side of The Moon, presenting the songs from the album in concert throughout 1972. However, even though they were yet to enter the studio to record Dark Side as an album, the band took a detour to make another soundtrack album in just two weeks for Barbet Schroeder – Obscured By Clouds, to accompany the film La Vallee. The release of Pink Floyd's massively successful 1973 album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, was a watershed moment in the band's popularity. Pink Floyd had stopped issuing singles after 1968's Point Me At The Sky and was never a hit single-driven group, but Money was released as a single from The Dark Side Of The Moon, going Top 20 in the U.S. The album became the band's first No. 1 on the U.S. Charts and is one of the biggest-selling ever, worldwide. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and A Saucerful Of Secrets were re-presented to the public in December 1973 as a 2-LP set, A Nice Pair, repackaged in a gatefold sleeve. 1975’s Wish You Were Here is well-known for its popular title track, but also the largely instrumental song suite Shine On You Crazy Diamond, an overt tribute to Syd Barrett. It bookends the album, the recording of which was made poignant for the band by Syd’s surprise appearance in the studio. He turned up unannounced at Abbey Road studios while the group were working on Shine On, leaving his former bandmates bemused. For most of the band, it was their last meeting with Syd; Roger Waters subsequently viewed him in Harrods department store, but the two didn’t speak. The years between 1976 and 1985 saw Roger Waters asserting more control over Pink Floyd's output, concentrating on thematic albums like Animals, released in January 1977. One of the many iconic Pink Floyd images is that of an inflatable pig flying over Battersea Power Station; the pig, 'Algie', escaped during the cover shoot, subsequently coming to earth in the Kent countryside. As a side project, David released his first solo album, David Gilmour, in May 1978. Featuring Rick Wills on bass and Willie Wilson on drums and percussion, the album charted in the UK at No. 17 and the U.S. at No. 29. Using material that was extraneous to the Animals album, Richard released his first solo project, Wet Dream, in September 1978. The next Floyd release was the hugely successful The Wall. Preceded by the surprise UK & US No. 1 hit Another Brick In The Wall Part 2, the double album chronicling a rock star’s increasing alienation from the world of stardom was an instant hit. Roger Waters’ album concept extended to the stage presentation and the short run of live shows in the US and UK in 1980 (repeated in 1981 in the UK and Germany) remains in many peoples’ minds as the quintessential melding of music and theatrics in the rock idiom. Roger had written almost all of the songs, although one of them, destined to be a future Floyd classic, was a Waters / Gilmour collaboration: Comfortably Numb. The music was based on an outtake from David’s first solo album, which he tailored to fit Roger’s lyrics. Richard Wright’s relationship with Roger Waters had become increasingly rocky, and he left Pink Floyd during the Wall sessions. However, he was keen to complete the album’s live shows, so was retained as a salaried session musician during the subsequent live concerts in 1980 and 1981. The Wall became a feature film, directed by Alan Parker and starring Bob Geldof. Some of the material was re-recorded or remixed, and the movie was premiered in May 1982 at Cannes, becoming a steady seller on VHS and subsequently DVD. Pink Floyd The Wall won two BAFTA Awards in 1983 – Best Sound and Best Original Song (Another Brick In The Wall). Nick Mason’s first album under his own name was Fictitious Sports, released in 1981. A mixture of jazz and rock, the compositions were by Carla Bley, who also played keyboards. Other contributors included Robert Wyatt, Mike Mantler and Chris Spedding. In March 1983, Pink Floyd released the only album on which Richard does not appear - The Final Cut, once more a Roger Waters conceptual piece, and the band’s third UK No. 1. David's second solo album, About Face, was released in March 1984, hitting No. 21 in the UK and No. 32 in the US, going Gold. In April 1984, Richard formed a new musical duo with Dave Harris (from the band Fashion) called Zee. They signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and released one album, Identity. Roger went on to work on a further concept album, this time as a solo artist: The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking. Released in May 1984, the album was followed by a 9-date solo tour of the UK and Continental Europe. One year after his bandmates' projects, Nick Mason released the album Profiles, a collaboration with Rick Fenn of 10CC. David Gilmour contributes vocals to one track. In December 1985 Roger Waters wrote to EMI and CBS (now Sony) Records, resigning from Pink Floyd. Nevertheless, when in 1986 David Gilmour and Nick Mason began recording a new Pink Floyd album, a legal dispute ensued, eventually settled out of court. After considering and rejecting many other titles, the new Pink Floyd album was released as A Momentary Lapse Of Reason in September 1987. Richard Wright contributed to the album, rejoining the band after the subsequent tour. A year later, the band released a double live album and a concert video taken from its 1988 Long Island shows, entitled Delicate Sound Of Thunder, and later recorded some instrumentals for a classic-car racing film, La Carrera Panamericana, set in Mexico and featuring David andNick as participating drivers. During the race, David and manager Steve O'Rourke (acting as his map-reader) crashed. Steve suffered a broken leg; David walked away with a few bruises. 1992 saw the box set release of Shine On. The 9-disc set included re-releases of the studio albums A Saucerful Of Secrets, Meddle, The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. A bonus disc entitled The Early Singles was also included. The band's 1994 next album, The Division Bell, the title suggested by David's friend Douglas Adams, returned Pink Floyd to the No. 1 position in the UK & US, remaining on the charts in each country for 51 weeks. The album contained Marooned, composed by David and Richard, for which the band received their first and only Grammy Award in 1995 (Best Rock Instrumental Performance). The lengthy Division Bell tour, playing to more than 5 million people, engendered the live album P*U*L*S*E in 1995, featuring songs from concerts in London, Rome, Hanover, and Modena. On January 17, 1996, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. Roger Waters did not attend. Richard Wright released his second solo album, Broken China, in September 1996. Richard sings throughout, with Momentary Lapse collaborator Anthony Moore providing some lyrics, and Sinead O’Connor guesting on vocals for two tracks. A live recording of The Wall appeared in 2000, compiled from the 1980-1981 London concerts, entitled Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81. In 2001, a remastered two-disc set of the band's best-known tracks entitled Echoes was released. In 2003, The Dark Side Of The Moon was issued as an SACD, featuring new cover artwork. The album was also re-released as a 180-gram, virgin vinyl pressing, including all the original album art from the original release of the album, plus a new poster. Nick Mason's book, Inside Out: A Personal History Of Pink Floyd was published in 2004 in Europe and 2005 in the U.S. Nick made public promotional appearances in a few European and American cities, giving interviews and meeting fans at book signings. Longtime Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke died on October 30, 2003. David, Nick, and Richard joined together at his funeral service in Chichester Cathedral to perform Fat Old Sun and The Great Gig In The Sky. Two years later, on July 2, 2005, the Gilmour / Mason / Waters / Wright lineup took to the stage for the first time in 24 years in a one-off performance at the London Live 8 concert. Their four-song set included Breathe (plus reprise), Money, Wish You Were Here, and Comfortably Numb, with David and Roger sharing lead vocals. At the end of the band’s performance, their group hug became one of the most famous images of Live 8. Subsequent to the post-Live 8 sales boom for the participating artists, David Gilmour declared that he would donate his share of profits to charity, urging other artists and record companies to do the same. On November 16, 2005, Pink Floyd were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pete Townshend. David and Nick attended in person; Richard was in hospital following eye surgery and Roger appeared on a video screen, from Rome. On March 6, 2006, David Gilmour released his third solo album, On An Island, which entered the charts at No. 1 in the UK and No. 6 in the US. A 3-month sold-out tour of concert venues in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. followed, performed with a band that included Richard Wright, plus Floyd regulars Dick Parry, Jon Carin, and Guy Pratt. Nick Mason joined the band for encores of Arnold Layne and Comfortably Numb at one of the Royal Albert Hall shows, which were filmed for the subsequent DVD / Blu-ray release Remember That Night. Roger ‘Syd’ Barrett died of pancreatic cancer on July 7, 2006 at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, having suffered from diabetes for some time. His funeral was a private family affair, but his enduring influence was marked by the many heartfelt tributes recorded by fans and stars, touched by his idiosyncratic genius. On July 10, 2006, the P*U*L*S*E DVD was released, launched with a media showing and Q&A session with David, Nick and Richard. A tribute concert for Syd was held at the Barbican Centre in London on May 10, 2007. Madcap’s Last Laugh featured entertaining performances from Barrett fans such as Chrissie Hynde, Mike Heron and Nick Laird-Clowes, while an unbilled Roger Waters played an acoustic Flickering Flame. Roger had to leave before the end of the show, so was unavailable for a further surprise performance - David, Richard and Nick performing Arnold Layne to rapturous applause and a standing ovation. September 2007 saw the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's signing to EMI, marked by the release of a 2-CD set containing mono and stereo mixes of The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, and a 3-CD version including the related singles, B sides and other rare recordings. On December 10 (UK) and 11 (U.S.), 2007, Pink Floyd released a new CD box set, OH BY THE WAY, containing all fourteen studio albums with original vinyl artwork plus new artwork from Storm Thorgerson. Two albums (The Dark Side Of The Moon and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason) boast remastered versions. In 2008, Sweden’s Polar Music Prize was awarded to Pink Floyd for “their monumental contribution over the decades to the fusion of art and music in the development of popular culture. Through extensive sonic experimentation, they captured the mood and spirit of a whole generation in their reflections and attitudes. When rock'n'roll developed, Pink Floyd was foremost in shaping the sounds that would influence artists for ever." Richard Wright died on September 15th had been in September 2007 with David Gilmour, at the premiere of David’s concert DVD, Remember That Night. In January 2010 the artwork for The Division Bell was used in a series of Royal Mail stamps. In March Royal Mail created a unique page of Division Bell-only stamps on their own dedicated gummed sheet, including artwork from the album. On 10th July, 2010, David Gilmour and Roger Waters played some songs together in aid of the Hoping Foundation charity, at a private concert in Kiddington, Oxfordshire, UK. Backed by a band that included Guy Pratt, Harry Waters and Andy Newmark, David and Roger performed To Know Him Is To Love Him, Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, and Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2. In September 2010, Roger Waters started an 11-month long live world tour of The Wall, with a high-tech stage production that received rapturous reviews. In 2011, under the banner Why Pink Floyd?, the Pink Floyd catalogue was re-released, packaged in gatefold digipaks including new Storm Thorgerson artwork and completely remastered by James Guthrie. Three expanded versions were released, with The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall receiving bonus tracks including previously unissued live recordings or demo tracks. Three multi-disc box sets were also released, again with one each dedicated to The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall, all containing bonus material, surround sound mixes, new booklets and art pieces produced by Storm Thorgerson’s StormStudios. A new single-CD compilation album A Foot In The Door - The Best Of Pink Floyd –was also released. Storm Thorgerson, Pink Floyd’s longtime visual collaborator and co-founder of the Hipgnosis art studio (with Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell) died on 18th April, 2013. His visual legacy lives on in the continuing popularity of many iconic Pink Floyd images. In 2013, Roger Waters continued to present The Wall live around the world, having expanded the production to include stadiums. It played to sold-out audiences and universal acclaim.

The Doors

The Doors

The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals; with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger. The group never added a bass player, and their sound was dominated by Manzarek's electric organ work and Morrison's deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang and intoned his highly poetic lyrics. The group signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released its first album, The Doors, featuring the hit "Light My Fire," in 1967. Like "Light My Fire," the debut album was a massive hit, and endures as one of the most exciting, groundbreaking recordings of the psychedelic era. Blending blues, classical, Eastern music, and pop into sinister but beguiling melodies, the band sounded like no other. With his rich, chilling vocals and somber poetic visions, Morrison explored the depths of the darkest and most thrilling aspects of the psychedelic experience. Their first effort was so stellar, in fact, that the Doors were hard-pressed to match it, and although their next few albums contained a wealth of first-rate material, the group also began running up against the limitations of their recklessly disturbing visions. By their third album, they had exhausted their initial reservoir of compositions, and some of the tracks they hurriedly devised to meet public demand were clearly inferior to, and imitative of, their best early work. On The Soft Parade, the group experimented with brass sections, with mixed results. Accused (without much merit) by much of the rock underground as pop sellouts, the group charged back hard with the final two albums they recorded with Morrison, on which they drew upon stone-cold blues for much of their inspiration, especially on 1971's L.A. Woman. From the start, the Doors' focus was the charismatic Morrison, who proved increasingly unstable over the group's brief career. In 1969, Morrison was arrested for indecent exposure during a concert in Miami, an incident that nearly derailed the band. Nevertheless, the Doors managed to turn out a series of successful albums and singles through 1971, when, upon the completion of L.A. Woman, Morrison decamped for Paris. He died there, apparently of a drug overdose. The three surviving Doors tried to carry on without him, but ultimately disbanded. Yet the Doors' music and Morrison's legend continued to fascinate succeeding generations of rock fans: in the mid-'80s, Morrison was as big a star as he'd been in the mid-'60s, and Elektra has sold numerous quantities of the Doors' original albums plus reissues and releases of live material over the years, while publishers have flooded bookstores with Doors and Morrison biographies. In 1991, director Oliver Stone made The Doors, a feature film about the group starring Val Kilmer as Morrison. The remaining three members of the Doors -- Manzarek, Densmore, and Krieger -- were involved in various musical activities in the decades following Morrison's death but never saw successes approaching the levels of the original Doors. After the turn of the millennium, Manzarek and Krieger performed live under the name Doors of the 21st Century with singer Ian Astbury of the Cult handling vocals; a legal battle ensued when Densmore filed suit against his former bandmates over use of the Doors name. Ray Manzarek died in May 2013 in Rosenheim, Germany after battling bile duct cancer; he was 74 years old. On February 12, 2016, Krieger and Densmore reunited as a tribute to Manzarek at the benefit concert Stand Up to Cancer. Later that year, the earliest known live tapes of the Doors were released as London Fog 1966, and early in 2017 the Doors celebrated their 50th anniversary with deluxe reissues of their debut album and Strange Days, along with a new compilation called Singles. ~ William Ruhlmann & Richie Unterberger

Gilbert O’Sullivan

Gilbert O’Sullivan

It’s 50 years since Gilbert O’Sullivan found himself at the top of the Billboard chart with Alone Again Naturally (6 weeks). Neil Diamond said he wished he had written it and swiftly featured it in his live set, as have several more singers over the years, from Nina Simone to Pet Shop Boys and Elton John. Paul Weller, Squeeze and The Lemon Twigs – proudly count themselves as Gilbert fans. Other notable admirers include Tim Burgess and the late John Peel, who wrote, “if we&#39;ve got to live by the charts alone, then let&#39;s have Gilbert O&#39;Sullivan in them". On his new album Driven we see it’s chemistry into which we’re parachuted as soon as the needle drops onto Driven. Gilbert explains his part on Love Casualty as “something akin to “a Keith Richards riff”– although other ears might hear something closer to JJ Cale in the interplay between O’Sullivan and Pat Murdoch’s supple guitar ornamentations. A similar synergy characterises Take Love which sees Gilbert and guest vocalist, KT Tunstall trading lines over a sizzlingly energetic R&B arrangement. The sublimely soulful Hucknall timbre you can hear on Let Bygones Be Bygones, a song which offers a timely corrective to the increasingly polarised thinking that characterises discourse in a social media age. As with so many Gilbert O’Sullivan songs, stretching back to his very first hit Nothing Rhymed, it’s a gentle call to humanity that favours plaintive persuasion over preachiness – and on Driven, it’s by no means alone in doing that.

The Warning

The Warning

The Warning draw strength and power from a lifetime of sisterhood and music. The Mexico-born sister trio—Daniela “Dany” [guitar, lead vocals, piano], Paulina “Pau” [drums, vocals, piano], and Alejandra “Ale” Villarreal [bass, piano, backing vocals]—have logged thousands of miles on the road, generated hundreds of millions of streams, and left countless fans in awe. All of this tireless work and dedication has shaped and sharpened their sound with knifepoint precision, arming alternative anthems with universally catchy hooks and an uncompromising hard rock kick. They initially made waves with a string of independent releases, paving the way for their acclaimed 2022 full-length offering <a href="spotify:album:0el7KHRPZwYXPwXNeSNdJB" data-name="ERROR">ERROR</a>. Between performing alongside <a href="spotify:artist:12Chz98pHFMPJEknJQMWvI" data-name="Muse">Muse</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD" data-name="Foo Fighters">Foo Fighters</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3qm84nBOXUEQ2vnTfUTTFC" data-name="Guns N&#39; Roses">Guns N&#39; Roses</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2S5hlvw4CMtMGswFtfdK15" data-name="Royal Blood">Royal Blood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2R57sY41L9XvGPiIgHOaYq" data-name="The Pretty Reckless">The Pretty Reckless</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2xiIXseIJcq3nG7C8fHeBj" data-name="Three Days Grace">Three Days Grace</a>, the band ignited MTV’s Extended Play Stage at the 2023 MTV VMAs. Representative of their cultural impact, Pepsi even notably chose them as the face of Pepsi Black in Mexico. Moreover, they emerged as the rare force who could comfortably appear in features by Vanity Fair, People, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour as well as on <a href="spotify:artist:2ye2Wgw4gimLv2eAKyk1NB" data-name="Metallica">Metallica</a>’s star-studded Blacklist compilation—placing their cover of “Enter Sandman” [with <a href="spotify:artist:2wUjUUtkb5lvLKcGKsKqsR" data-name="Alessia Cara">Alessia Cara</a>] shoulder-to-shoulder with contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:1Qp56T7n950O3EGMsSl81D" data-name="Ghost">Ghost</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7bcbShaqKdcyjnmv4Ix8j6" data-name="St. Vincent">St. Vincent</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YLtscXsxbVgi031ovDDdh" data-name="Chris Stapleton">Chris Stapleton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:75mafsNqNE1WSEVxIKuY5C" data-name="IDLES">IDLES</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3jOstUTkEu2JkjvRdBA5Gu" data-name="Weezer">Weezer</a>. Now, The Warning embrace their destiny on their 2024 full-length album, Keep Me Fed [LAVA/Republic Records] out on June 28th.

Ghost

Ghost

GHOST continues to elevate & reaffirm its status as one of the world&#39;s most esteemed & celebrated creative forces. Accumulating well over a billion streams, the GRAMMY-winning Swedish theatrical rock band continues to bring the “euphoric spectacle” (ROLLING STONE) of its live shows to ever-growing & increasingly impassioned crowds, headlining arena tours including sold out shows from the New York&#39;s Barclays Center to London’s O2 Arena. In March 2022, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES reported that Ghost had "conquered metal & the charts” when its 5th album IMPERA debuted at #1 in a sweep of the US album charts, entering the BILLBOARD 200 at #2 & bowing at #1 in the band&#39;s native Sweden as well as Germany & Finland, while cracking the top 5 in the UK (#2), Netherlands (#2), Belgium (#2) & more. Produced by Klas Åhlund & mixed by Andy Wallace — & feat. “Spillways”—hailed as a “sweetly constructed rock tune” by THE NEW YORK TIMES, the #7 YouTube trending “Call Me Little Sunshine,” & Active Rock #1 radio single “Hunter’s Moon” — IMPERA finds Ghost transported centuries forward from the Black Plague era of its previous album, 2018 Best Rock Album GRAMMY nominee Prequelle—or as ROLLING STONE put it, “Ghost predicted the pandemic, Now the metal band is foretelling the fall of empires." All in all, the most current & topical Ghost subject matter to date is set against a hypnotic & darkly colorful melodic backdrop making IMPERA a listen like no other, yet unmistakably, quintessentially Ghost.

The Pretty Reckless

The Pretty Reckless

Formed in New York City during 2008, The Pretty Reckless and late producer Kato Khandwala initially made waves with their 2010 debut, Light Me Up. After countless gigs, the band returned with Going To Hell in 2014. Not only did the record crash the Top 5 of the Billboard Top 200, but it also ignited three #1 hits—the gold-certified “Heaven Knows” (the biggest rock song of 2014), “Fucked Up World,” and “Follow Me Down”—a feat that had not been accomplished by a female-fronted group since The Pretenders in 1984. Meanwhile, their third offering, Who You Selling For, saw them return to #1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs Chart with “Take Me Down,” which cemented them as “the first band to send its first four singles to #1 on the chart,” according to Billboard. Praise followed from Vogue, Nylon, and more as the quartet lit up television shows such as Letterman and Conan. With over half-a-billion streams, they headlined countless sold out shows and toured with Guns N’ Roses and many other heavy hitters.

We Are the Fallen

We Are the Fallen

Formed in 2008 by former members of the popular goth metal/pop outfit <a href="spotify:artist:5nGIFgo0shDenQYSE0Sn7c">Evanescence</a>, We Are the Fallen (a name derived from <a href="spotify:artist:5nGIFgo0shDenQYSE0Sn7c">Evanescence</a>'s 2003 album, Fallen) employed their predecessor's penchant for melodrama and brooding theatricality with a newfound emphasis on the band as a whole. Rocky Gray, John LeCompt, and <a href="spotify:artist:2TpF4YCzKyTMfU05atRy18">Ben Moody</a> -- the latter of whom left <a href="spotify:artist:5nGIFgo0shDenQYSE0Sn7c">Evanescence</a> in 2003 -- had experienced significant tensions within their group as it rose to international fame behind talented singer/pianist <a href="spotify:artist:01KcXSuKrwTNkkx7OqUIu4">Amy Lee</a>, so when the opportunity for a new project arose, they looked to former American Idol contestant <a href="spotify:artist:41ahmM1RyY2rTFy9LU32Vr">Carly Smithson</a> to provide the pipes. We Are the Fallen released their first single, "Bury Me Alive," on June 22, 2009, and the debut album Tear the World Down followed in May 2010. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Europe

Europe

Originally a progressive rock group, Europe didn't achieve success until they reworked their sound into bombastic yet melodic pop-metal. In their first incarnation, the Swedish band was called Force. Featuring core members Joey Tempest (vocals), John Norum (guitar), Tony Reno (drums), and John Leven (bass) -- the band won a national talent contest in the early '80s, which led to a record contract. After changing their name to Europe and releasing two albums in Sweden (Europe and Wings of Tomorrow), the band landed an international deal with Epic Records. By this time, Reno had left the group and been replaced by Ian Haugland. Keyboardist Mic Michaeli had also joined the lineup. In 1986, Europe released The Final Countdown. On the album, Michaeli's keyboards take a prominent role (they provide the main riff in the hit title track), which nicely complemented the band's smoother pop melodies. The change in style proved successful, as the record became a Top Ten hit in the U.S. and U.K.; both "The Final Countdown" and "Carrie" became Top Ten singles as well. Norum left the band by the end of the year and was replaced by Kee Marcello. Released in 1988, Out of This World continued the formula of the previous record. It was also a success, although its numbers didn't match those of The Final Countdown. Three years later, Europe released their fifth studio album, Prisoners in Paradise, which featured the hit title track as well as the midtempo ballad "I'll Cry for You," before calling it quits the following year. The band, including Norum, reunited for a New Year's Eve performance in Stockholm in 1999, resulting in the announcement of an official reunion three years later. The band subsequently recorded and released their sixth album, Start from the Dark (2004), then followed it with Secret Society (2006) and Last Look at Eden (2009), the latter of which debuted at number one on the Swedish album chart. Bag of Bones (2012) had a blues-rock feel, while War of Kings (2015) was a heavy, doomy, faintly psychedelic affair strongly inspired by their childhood heroes Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. After embarking on a 30th anniversary tour, dubbed The Final Countdown, the Swedish rockers returned in 2017 with a brand new album. Walk the Earth was produced by Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Dolly Parton) and recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

AC/DC

AC/DC

With a limitless supply of dirty riffs, snarling vocals, and timelessly catchy, anthemic choruses, AC/DC is one of the most important and most lasting forces in hard rock. Founded in the early '70s by Scottish-born brothers <a href="spotify:artist:635QWlHZJK2tyDEadZc6TF">Malcolm</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6pGWDT5CTFv5uhYFPGhjmy">Angus Young</a>, the Aussie band exploded onto the international stage in 1979 with the release of their multi-platinum-selling sixth album, Highway to Hell. The death of charismatic frontman <a href="spotify:artist:62OSqVRTfWPbv9EovmbH4l">Bon Scott</a> in 1980 threatened to derail the group, but AC/DC powered through. They recruited <a href="spotify:artist:0IzJYdxaNLwrC7diSCu0iY">Geordie</a> vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0TJOVQKoS7sbGVn8RkkvPI">Brian Johnson</a> and unleashed their most successful effort to date, Back in Black, which has become the second best-selling album in history. The band continued to help define the sound of hard rock and metal throughout the '80s, '90s, and beyond, spawning countless imitators and enjoying steady, consistent commercial success. They also became one of the best examples of arena rock, playing to enormous crowds as the years went on, and rocking as hard as ever on studio albums like 1990's pop-glinted The Razor's Edge and 2020's Power Up, both of which reached the upper tiers of multiple charts. AC/DC were formed in 1973 in Australia by guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:635QWlHZJK2tyDEadZc6TF">Malcolm Young</a> after his previous band, the Velvet Underground, collapsed (no relation to the seminal American group). With his younger brother Angus serving as lead guitarist, the band played some gigs around Sydney. Angus was only 18 at the time, and his sister suggested that he wear his school uniform on-stage; the look became the band's visual trademark. While still in Sydney, the original lineup featuring singer Dave Evans cut a single called "Can I Sit Next to You," with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:1pJEZXU2hJApJW3rM7LmMu">Easybeats</a> Harry Vanda and George Young (<a href="spotify:artist:635QWlHZJK2tyDEadZc6TF">Malcolm</a> and Angus' older brother) producing. The band moved to Melbourne the following year, where drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5XcpgxdFA6sz6lvUvzmygg">Phil Rudd</a> (formerly of <a href="spotify:artist:6MtPZrbhMjrrvDqlgPVBPU">the Coloured Balls</a>) and bassist Mark Evans joined the lineup. The band's chauffeur, <a href="spotify:artist:62OSqVRTfWPbv9EovmbH4l">Bon Scott</a>, became the lead vocalist when singer Dave Evans refused to go on-stage. Previously, <a href="spotify:artist:62OSqVRTfWPbv9EovmbH4l">Scott</a> had been vocalist for the Australian prog rock bands <a href="spotify:artist:5ni5xInnnn7IRxv2rjM91W">Fraternity</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6gO9O0Iss2ipZuskVnmA9a">the Valentines</a>. More importantly, he helped cement the group's image as brutes -- he had several convictions for minor criminal offenses and was rejected by the Australian Army for being "socially maladjusted." AC/DC were socially maladjusted. Throughout their career they favored crude double entendres and violent imagery, all spiked with a mischievous sense of fun. The group released two albums -- High Voltage and T.N.T. -- in Australia in 1974 and 1975. Material from the two records comprised the 1976 release High Voltage in the U.S. and U.K.; the group also toured both countries. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap followed at the end of the year. In the fall of 1977, AC/DC released Let There Be Rock, which became their first album to chart in the U.S. Mark Evans left the band soon after, with <a href="spotify:artist:6DdTBSwbXwaEFZxDBXFhoO">Cliff Williams</a> taking his place. Powerage, released in spring of 1978, expanded their audience even further, thanks in no small part to their dynamic live shows (which were captured on 1978's live If You Want Blood You've Got It). What really broke the doors down for the band was the following year's Highway to Hell, which hit number 17 in the U.S. and number eight in the U.K., becoming the group's first million-seller. AC/DC's train was derailed when <a href="spotify:artist:62OSqVRTfWPbv9EovmbH4l">Bon Scott</a> died on February 19, 1980. The official coroner's report stated he had "drunk himself to death." In March, the band replaced <a href="spotify:artist:62OSqVRTfWPbv9EovmbH4l">Scott</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:0TJOVQKoS7sbGVn8RkkvPI">Brian Johnson</a>. The following month, they recorded Back in Black, which would prove to be their biggest album, selling over ten million copies in the U.S. alone. For the next few years, they were one of the largest rock bands in the world, with For Those About to Rock We Salute You topping the charts in the U.S. In 1983, <a href="spotify:artist:5XcpgxdFA6sz6lvUvzmygg">Rudd</a> left after the recording of Flick of the Switch; he was replaced by Simon Wright. With Flick of the Switch, AC/DC's commercial standing began to slip, and they weren't able to reverse their slide until 1990's The Razor's Edge, which spawned the hit "Thunderstruck." While not the commercial powerhouse they were during the late '70s and early '80s, the '90s saw AC/DC maintain their status as a top international concert draw. In the fall of 1995, their 16th album, Ballbreaker, was released. Produced by <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a>, the album received some of the most positive reviews of AC/DC's career; it also entered the American charts at number four and sold over a million copies in its first six months of release. Stiff Upper Lip followed in early 2000 with similar results. AC/DC signed a multi-album deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sony%22">Sony</a> in 2001 that resulted in a slew of reissues and DVDs, and they returned to the studio in 2008 for Black Ice, an all-new collection of songs that topped charts in numerous countries (including Australia, the U.S., and the U.K.) and was followed by the group's first world tour since 2001. Two years later, the band's music was featured heavily in the action movie Iron Man 2, and a compilation was released in conjunction with the film under the title Iron Man 2. As AC/DC began work on a new album with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0BG5aq4J5LuJV8kQcGJ336">Brendan O'Brien</a> in 2014, they announced that <a href="spotify:artist:635QWlHZJK2tyDEadZc6TF">Malcolm Young</a> was suffering from dementia and had left the band; his nephew <a href="spotify:artist:6IGnhji6bgknxTTpyGzK1v">Stevie Young</a> took his place at recording sessions and the accompanying 40th anniversary tour, and subsequently joined the group full-time. Just prior to the December release of Rock or Bust, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5XcpgxdFA6sz6lvUvzmygg">Phil Rudd</a> was arrested under charges of attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill, and possession of cannabis and methamphetamine. Although the arranged murder charges were dropped, the others remained and the drummer's future with the band was uncertain. Nevertheless, AC/DC marched forward with the release of Rock or Bust and plans for a tour in 2015. In 2017, <a href="spotify:artist:635QWlHZJK2tyDEadZc6TF">Malcolm Young</a> died in November at the age of 64. Following a two-year hiatus, the band reunited with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0BG5aq4J5LuJV8kQcGJ336">Brendan O'Brien</a> for their 17th studio album, Power Up, which became their third consecutive number one album in Australia and their third chart-topper in the U.S. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Quiet Riot

Quiet Riot

QUIET RIOT is a rock n roll phenomenon. Famously described as the first heavy metal band to top the pop chart at #1 on Billboard magazine, the Los Angeles quartet became an overnight sensation thanks to their monster 1983 smash album Metal Health. The story of QUIET RIOT begins in 1980 when Kevin DuBrow formed a new band under his own name, working with Frankie Banali and a variety of musicians over the next few years before signing with Pasha/CBS Records, reverting back to the QUIET RIOT moniker, and entering the studio with new guitarist Carlos Cavazo and bassist Chuck Wright. Chuck left the band mid-recording and was replaced by Rudy Sarzo. Driven by the irresistible double whammy of the title track and a raucous rendition of the old Slade song "Cum on Feel the Noize," the album stormed up the U.S. charts, reaching the number one spot and going platinum five times over. Frankie Banali&#39;s history with QUIET RIOT began in 1982 and he has the distinction of being the only member of QUIET RIOT to have recorded on every QUIET RIOT release from 1983&#39;s Metal Health through 2006&#39;s Rehab. After nearly three years since the loss of his friend and bandmate Kevin DuBrow, and with the blessings and support of Kevin DuBrow&#39;s family, Frankie has decided to continue his journey and the musical legacy of QUIET RIOT along with bassist Chuck Wright, guitarist Alex Grossi. They are currently promoting their latest album, Hollywood Cowboys which they recorded with vocalist James Durbin.

KISS

KISS

Rooted in the campy theatrics of <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a> and the sleazy hard rock of glam rockers <a href="spotify:artist:0WhGV9lzljq2QKJ8ipw6jx">the New York Dolls</a>, Kiss became a favorite of American teenagers in the '70s. Most kids were infatuated with the look of Kiss, not their music. Decked out in outrageously flamboyant costumes and makeup, the band fashioned a captivating stage show featuring dry ice, smoke bombs, elaborate lighting, blood spitting, and fire breathing that captured the imaginations of thousands of kids. But Kiss' music shouldn't be dismissed -- it is a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, earworm melodies, and sweeping strings. It's a sound that laid the groundwork for both arena rock and the pop-metal that dominated rock in the late '80s. In 1983 the band went unmasked, resulting in the platinum-selling LP of the same name, but re-applied the makeup ten years later. Since then, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have remained a potent live draw and have sold over 75 million records worldwide, with highlights arriving via influential efforts like Alive!, Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Dynasty, and Lick It Up. Kiss was the brainchild of <a href="spotify:artist:5gAbCaW9OmfIqqZGLpKb3f">Gene Simmons</a> (bass, vocals) and <a href="spotify:artist:5W0GCoUUwU3SF6qpJanlug">Paul Stanley</a> (rhythm guitar, vocals), former members of the New York-based hard rock band <a href="spotify:artist:4mnC6BVhObGZnXtQm4hjzH">Wicked Lester</a>; the duo brought in drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Peter Criss</a> through his ad in Rolling Stone, while guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Ace Frehley</a> responded to an advertisement in The Village Voice. Even at their first Manhattan concert in 1973, the group's approach was theatrical, and Flipside producer Bill Aucoin offered the band a management deal after the show. Two weeks later, they were signed to Neil Bogart's fledgling record label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Casablanca%22">Casablanca</a>. Kiss released their self-titled debut in February of 1974; it peaked at number 87 on the U.S. charts. By April of 1975, the group had released three albums and had been touring America constantly, building up a sizable fan base. Culled from those numerous concerts, Alive! (released in the fall of 1975) made the band rock & roll superstars; it climbed into the Top Ten and its accompanying single, "Rock 'N' Roll All Nite," made it to number 12. Their follow-up, Destroyer, was released in March of 1976 and became the group's first platinum album; it also featured their first Top Ten single, <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Peter Criss</a>' power ballad "Beth." Kiss mania was in full swing; thousands of pieces of merchandise hit the marketplace (including pinball machines, makeup and masks, and board games), and the group had two comic books released by Marvel as well as a live-action TV movie, Kiss Meet the Phantom of the Park. A 1977 Gallup poll named Kiss the most popular band in America. They were never seen in public without their makeup, and their popularity was growing by leaps and bounds; the membership of the Kiss Army, the band's fan club, was in the six figures. Even such enormous popularity had its limits, though, and the band reached them in 1978, when all four members released solo albums on the same day in October. <a href="spotify:artist:5gAbCaW9OmfIqqZGLpKb3f">Simmons</a>' record was the most successful, reaching number 22 on the charts, yet all of them made it into the Top 50. Dynasty, released in 1979, continued their streak of platinum albums, yet it was their last record with the original lineup -- <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Criss</a> left in 1980. Kiss Unmasked, released in the summer of 1980, was recorded with session drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5xeqgtq9Fkg7XBHuPEm9pf">Anton Fig</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Criss</a>' true replacement, <a href="spotify:artist:7vwL5Cm5W4dhdH7lswEfSx">Eric Carr</a>, joined the band in time for their 1980 world tour. Kiss Unmasked was their first record since Destroyer to fail to go platinum, and 1981's Music from the Elder, their first album recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:7vwL5Cm5W4dhdH7lswEfSx">Carr</a>, didn't even go gold -- it couldn't climb past number 75 on the charts. <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Ace Frehley</a> left the band after its release; he was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:3uBH6ZCj6xlrjHG41YepTn">Vinnie Vincent</a> in 1982. <a href="spotify:artist:3uBH6ZCj6xlrjHG41YepTn">Vincent</a>'s first album with the group, 1982's Creatures of the Night, fared better than Music from the Elder, yet it couldn't make it past number 45 on the charts. Sensing it was time for a change, Kiss dispensed with their makeup for 1983's Lick It Up. The publicity worked, as the album became their first platinum record in four years. Animalize, released the following year, was just as successful, and the group essentially recaptured their niche. <a href="spotify:artist:3uBH6ZCj6xlrjHG41YepTn">Vincent</a> left after Animalize and was replaced by Mark St. John, although St. John was soon taken ill with Reiter's Syndrome and left the band. <a href="spotify:artist:30TJoJIn79ZTDn7J93ymi8">Bruce Kulick</a> became Kiss' new lead guitarist in 1984. For the rest of the decade, Kiss turned out a series of best-selling albums, culminating in the early 1990 hit ballad "Forever," which was their biggest single since "Beth." Kiss was scheduled to record a new album with their old producer, Bob Ezrin, in 1990 when <a href="spotify:artist:7vwL5Cm5W4dhdH7lswEfSx">Eric Carr</a> became severely ill with cancer; he died in November of 1991 at the age of 41. Kiss replaced him with <a href="spotify:artist:7zEEexBlaAamW68arysqIZ">Eric Singer</a> and recorded Revenge (1992), their first album since 1989; it was a Top Ten hit and went gold. Kiss followed it with the release of Alive III the following year; it performed respectably but wasn't up to the standards of their two previous live records. In 1996, the original lineup of Kiss -- featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5gAbCaW9OmfIqqZGLpKb3f">Simmons</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5W0GCoUUwU3SF6qpJanlug">Stanley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Frehley</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Criss</a> -- reunited to perform an international tour, complete with their notorious makeup and special effects. The tour was one of the most successful of 1996, and in 1998 the reunited group issued Psycho Circus. While the ensuing tour in support of Psycho Circus was a success, sales of Kiss' reunion album weren't as stellar as anticipated. Reminiscent of the band's unfocused late-'70s period, few tracks on Psycho Circus featured all four members playing together (most tracks were supplemented with session musicians), as the band seemed more interested in flooding the marketplace with merchandise yet again instead of making the music their top priority. With rumors running rampant that the Psycho Circus Tour would be their last, the quartet announced in the spring of 2000 that they would be launching a U.S. farewell tour in the summer, which became one of the year's top concert draws. But on the eve of a Japanese and Australian tour in early 2001, <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Peter Criss</a> suddenly left the band once again, supposedly discontent with his salary. Taking his place was previous Kiss drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7zEEexBlaAamW68arysqIZ">Eric Singer</a>, who in a controversial move for some longtime fans, donned <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Criss</a>' cat-man makeup (since <a href="spotify:artist:5gAbCaW9OmfIqqZGLpKb3f">Simmons</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5W0GCoUUwU3SF6qpJanlug">Stanley</a> own both <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Frehley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5DWj9QLyCN9dyQydd1P9QG">Criss</a>' makeup designs, there was no threat of a lawsuit) as the farewell tour continued. With the band scheduled to call it a day (supposedly) by late 2001, a mammoth career-encompassing box set was set for release later in the year, while the summer saw perhaps the most over-the-top piece of Kiss merchandise yet: the "Kiss Kasket," a real coffin fans could buy for $4,000. The group was relatively quiet throughout the rest of the year, but 2002 started with a bang as <a href="spotify:artist:5gAbCaW9OmfIqqZGLpKb3f">Gene Simmons</a> turned in an entertaining and controversial interview on NPR where he criticized the organization and berated host Terry Gross with sexual comments and condescending answers. He was promoting his autobiography at the time, which also caused dissent in the Kiss camp because of inflammatory remarks made about <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Ace Frehley</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:62olK5zZHSgFUXGDykgBL8">Frehley</a> subsequently declined to appear at an American Bandstand anniversary show; his place was taken by a wig-wearing Tommy Thayer, and <a href="spotify:artist:5gAbCaW9OmfIqqZGLpKb3f">Simmons</a> was quick to dismiss the performance as another in a long series of money-oriented decisions. The band kept touring the globe with no new album in stores, but in 2008 they returned to the studio, re-recorded their hits, and released Jigoku-Retsuden aka KISSology or Kiss Klassics (the release was initially exclusive to Japan). In spring of 2009, the band began recording their first studio album in 11 years and released Sonic Boom in October. Produced by <a href="spotify:artist:5W0GCoUUwU3SF6qpJanlug">Paul Stanley</a> and Greg Collins, the album was exclusively distributed in North America by Wal-Mart. In 2012, the band's 20th studio album, Monster, surfaced, rewriting the cowbell-heavy party rock of their '70s heyday and adding some nods to the sinister metal of 1992's Revenge. In 2014, after 15 years of eligibility, Kiss was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The following year they released a collaborative single with the Japanese idol group <a href="spotify:artist:3Zl0EsuYV23OgNw6WqGelN">Momoiro Clover Z</a>. In 2017, a career-spanning single-disc best-of, Kissworld, was released to coincide with a massive world tour of the same name. The tour, which the band announced would be their final jaunt, was eventually renamed the "End of the Road" tour, and in true Kiss fashion, it was still going strong in 2021. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Greg Prato, Rovi

Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Specializing in raunchy, sleazy boogie and melodramatic ballads, Aerosmith were one of the biggest hard rock bands to emerge in the 1970s, shaping the sound and style of hard rock and metal in the decades to come. The Boston-based quintet found the middle ground between the menace of <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> and the campy, sleazy flamboyance of <a href="spotify:artist:0WhGV9lzljq2QKJ8ipw6jx">the New York Dolls</a>, developing a lean, dirty riff-oriented boogie that was loose and swinging and as hard as a diamond. In the meantime, they developed a prototype for power ballads with "Dream On" using a piano orchestrated with strings and distorted guitars. Aerosmith's ability to pull off both ballads and rock & roll made them extremely popular during the mid-'70s, when they had a string of gold and platinum albums. By the early '80s, the group's audience had declined as the band fell prey to drug and alcohol abuse, setting the stage for one of the most remarkable comebacks in rock history. A cleaned-up Aerosmith happily adapted to an era of MTV and corporate rock without losing their cheerfully trashy essence, giving them a series of smashes in the late '80s and '90s that helped sustain their popularity into the 2020s, when they launched a farewell tour on their 50th anniversary. In 1970, the first incarnation of Aerosmith formed when vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Steven Tyler</a> met guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Joe Perry</a> while working at a Sunapee, New Hampshire, ice cream parlor. <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a>, who was originally a drummer, and <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Perry</a> decided to form a power trio with bassist Tom Hamilton. The group soon expanded to a quartet, adding a second guitarist called Ray Tabano; he was quickly replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:3D52QQEgeo7m4YrnXXbJZY">Brad Whitford</a>, a former member of <a href="spotify:artist:4KU5GJthVXOLAZMzGxcv0l">Earth Inc.</a> With the addition of drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2ZOHHd0I9t0RkbwKp2j4lX">Joey Kramer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> became the full-time lead singer by the end of year. Aerosmith relocated to Boston at the end of 1970. After playing clubs in the Massachusetts and New York areas for two years, the group landed a record contract with Columbia in 1972. Aerosmith's self-titled debut album was released in the fall of 1973, climbing to number 166. "Dream On" was released as the first single and it was a minor hit, reaching number 59. The next year, the band built a fan base by touring America, supporting groups as diverse as <a href="spotify:artist:1SQRv42e4PjEYfPhS0Tk9E">the Kinks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3Ao7NH7lRyQAeKQg2mlTcO">Mahavishnu Orchestra</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2SmjZ060s1uBMud6afmImP">Sha Na Na</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6ysQi6NI88X627t2srsWz6">Mott the Hoople</a>. The performance of Get Your Wings (1974), the group's second album and the first produced by Jack Douglas, benefited from their constant touring, spending a total of 86 weeks on the chart. Aerosmith's third effort, 1975's Toys in the Attic, was their breakthrough album both commercially and artistically. By the time it was recorded, the band's sound had developed into sleek, driving hard rock powered by simple, almost brutal, blues-based riffs. Many critics at the time labeled the group punk rockers, and it's easy to see why -- instead of adhering to the world music pretensions of <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a> or the prolonged gloomy mysticism of <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Black Sabbath</a>, Aerosmith stripped heavy metal to its basic core, spitting out spare riffs that not only rocked, but rolled. <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Steven Tyler</a>'s lyrics were filled with double entendres and clever jokes, and the entire band had a streetwise charisma that separated them from the heavy, lumbering arena rockers of the era. Toys in the Attic captured the essence of the newly invigorated Aerosmith. "Sweet Emotion," the first single from Toys in the Attic, broke into the Top 40 in the summer of 1975, with the album reaching number 11 shortly afterward. Its success prompted the re-release of the power ballad "Dream On," which shot into the Top Ten in early 1976. Both Aerosmith and Get Your Wings climbed back up the charts in the wake of Toys in the Attic. "Walk This Way," the final single from Toys in the Attic, was released around the time of the group's new 1976 album, Rocks. Although it didn't feature a Top Ten hit like "Walk This Way," Rocks went platinum quickly, peaking at number three. In early 1977, Aerosmith took a break and prepared material for their fifth album. Released late in 1977, Draw the Line was another hit, climbing to number 11 on the U.S. charts, but it showed signs of exhaustion. In addition to another tour in 1978, the band appeared in the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, performing "Come Together," which eventually became a number 23 hit. Live! Bootleg appeared late in 1978 and became another success, reaching number 13. Aerosmith recorded Night in the Ruts in 1979, releasing the record at the end of the year. By the time of its release, <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Joe Perry</a> had left the band to form <a href="spotify:artist:2y3IS9koZz1AsxC1GfCcoO">the Joe Perry Project</a>. Night in the Ruts performed respectably, climbing to number 14 and going gold, yet it was the least successful Aerosmith record to date. <a href="spotify:artist:3D52QQEgeo7m4YrnXXbJZY">Brad Whitford</a> left the group in early 1980, forming <a href="spotify:artist:5A7giSLT4liBCjDWIf12am">the Whitsford-St. Holmes Band</a> with former <a href="spotify:artist:21ysNsPzHdqYN2fQ75ZswG">Ted Nugent</a> guitarist Derek St. Holmes. As Aerosmith regrouped with new guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:5LzC1THkCOLoOrrKPdHMQm">Jimmy Crespo</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5r0KIIH77OmJodjzJaGxXt">Rick Dufay</a>, the band released Aerosmith's Greatest Hits in late 1980; the record would eventually sell over six million copies. The new lineup of Aerosmith released Rock in a Hard Place in 1982. Peaking at number 32, it failed to match the performance of Night in the Ruts. <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Perry</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3D52QQEgeo7m4YrnXXbJZY">Whitford</a> returned to the band in 1984 and the group began a reunion tour dubbed Back in the Saddle. Early in the tour, <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> collapsed on-stage, offering proof that the bandmembers hadn't conquered their notorious drug and alcohol addictions. The following year, Aerosmith released Done with Mirrors, the original lineup's first record since 1979 and their first for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen+Records%22">Geffen Records</a>. Although it didn't perform as well as Rock in a Hard Place, the album showed that the band was revitalized. After the release of Done with Mirrors, <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Perry</a> completed rehabilitation programs. In 1986, the pair appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:3CQIn7N5CuRDP8wEI7FiDA">Run-D.M.C.</a>'s cover of "Walk This Way," along with appearing in the video. "Walk This Way" became a hit, reaching number four and receiving saturation airplay on MTV. "Walk This Way" set the stage for the band's full-scale comeback effort, the Bruce Fairbairn-produced Permanent Vacation (1987). <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Perry</a> collaborated with professional hard rock songwriters like <a href="spotify:artist:1fgwMawRD6uZOERzG2SQto">Holly Knight</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7KgW65389e5w4xWzaVOuCg">Desmond Child</a>, resulting in the hits "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," "Rag Doll," and "Angel." Permanent Vacation peaked at number 11 and sold over three million copies. Pump, released in 1989, continued the band's winning streak, reaching number five, selling over four million copies, and spawning the Top Ten singles "Love in an Elevator," "Janie's Got a Gun," and "What It Takes." Aerosmith released Get a Grip in 1993. Like Permanent Vacation and Pump, Get a Grip was produced by Bruce Fairbairn and featured significant contributions by professional songwriters. The album was as successful as the band's previous two records, featuring the hit singles "Livin' on the Edge," "Cryin'," and "Amazing." In 1994, Aerosmith released Big Ones, a compilation of hits from their <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen%22">Geffen</a> years that fulfilled their contract with the label; it went double platinum shortly after its release. While Aerosmith was at the height of their revitalized popularity in the early '90s, the group signed a lucrative multi-million-dollar contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a>, even though they still owed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen%22">Geffen</a> two albums. It wasn't until 1995 that the band was able to begin working on their first record under the new contract -- nearly five years after the contract was signed. The making of Aerosmith albums usually had been difficult affairs, but the recording of Nine Lives was plagued with bad luck. The band went through a number of producers and songwriters before settling on Kevin Shirley in 1996. More damaging, however, was the dismissal of the band's manager, Tim Collins, who'd been responsible for bringing the band back from the brink of addiction. Upon his firing, Collins insinuated that <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Steven Tyler</a> was using hard drugs again, an allegation that Aerosmith adamantly denied. Under such circumstances, recording became quite difficult, and when Nine Lives finally appeared in the spring of 1997, it was greeted with great anticipation, yet the initial reviews were mixed and even though album debuted at number one, it quickly fell down the charts. The live A Little South of Sanity followed in 1998. Three years later, Aerosmith strutted their stuff on the Super Bowl halftime special on CBS with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2gBjLmx6zQnFGQJCAQpRgw">Nelly</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6Ff53KvcvAj5U7Z1vojB5o">*NSYNC</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:26dSoYclwsYLMAKD3tpOr4">Britney Spears</a>, just prior to issuing their heart-stomping Just Push Play in March 2001. Next up for the band was a blues album, Honkin' on Bobo, released in 2004, along with two live albums/DVDs, You Gotta Move and Rockin' the Joint. Another greatest-hits collection, Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith arrived in 2006. From there, Aerosmith entered a period of volatility. A world tour followed in 2007 and the group attempted to record a new studio album with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0BG5aq4J5LuJV8kQcGJ336">Brendan O'Brien</a> but the sessions were never finalized. Instead, another tour followed in 2009, this time a supporting jaunt for Aerosmith's own special edition of the Guitar Hero video game. This tour proved to be ill-fated, with <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Steven Tyler</a> suffering a leg injury in June, then falling off the stage in August, leading to the cancellation of the subsequent dates. As 2009 came to a close, <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Joe Perry</a> released a solo album called Have Guitar, Will Travel as <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> announced that he was planning on "working on the brand of myself," which included working on an autobiography and a solo album, along with a stint in rehab to wean himself off painkillers prescribed due to his stage injuries. Before <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> embarked on solo projects, he returned to the band for a series of concerts in 2010, in the midst of which it was announced that the singer would be a new judge on the televised singing competition American Idol. <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Perry</a> voiced his dissatisfaction in the press but <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a>'s time on American Idol helped raise the band's profile, while providing a platform for <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a>'s memoir, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? The book performed better than his two solo singles -- 2010's "Love Lives" and 2011's "(It) Feels So Good" -- singles that did not wind up signaling his departure from Aerosmith. <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> continued to tour with the band and in 2011 they recorded a new album with producer Jack Douglas, the man who helmed their classic '70s LPs. Originally scheduled for release in summer of 2012, Music from Another Dimension! wound up being pushed back to that year's holiday season, by which time <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> had departed his judgeship on American Idol. Aerosmith stayed on the road through 2013 and 2014, releasing such live souvenirs as Rock for the Rising Sun and Aerosmith Rocks Donington during this period. Solo projects kept the various members of the band busy: <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Joe Perry</a> published his memoir Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith in 2014 then turned his attention to <a href="spotify:artist:3k4YA0uPsWc2PuOQlJNpdH">Hollywood Vampires</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Steven Tyler</a> released his country-tinged solo album We're All Somebody from Somewhere in 2016, while <a href="spotify:artist:2ZOHHd0I9t0RkbwKp2j4lX">Joey Kramer</a> concentrated on his coffee company, Rockin' & Roastin'. In 2015, several members floated the idea of a farewell tour, but those plans remained in an embryonic stage for a good spell while <a href="spotify:artist:1SDxIHIJ3wvYiG22xckLKL">Perry</a> continued to work in <a href="spotify:artist:3k4YA0uPsWc2PuOQlJNpdH">Hollywood Vampires</a> and released another solo album, Sweetzerland Manifesto, in 2018. That year, the band staged Aerosmith: Deuces are Wild, a Las Vegas residency that ran through 2019; it was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, <a href="spotify:artist:2ZOHHd0I9t0RkbwKp2j4lX">Joey Kramer</a> injured his shoulder. He managed to play the final dates in the Vegas residency but by the time the band returned to the road in 2022, it was announced that <a href="spotify:artist:2ZOHHd0I9t0RkbwKp2j4lX">Kramer</a> would not participate and wanted to focus on his family. After wrapping up their Vegas commitments and holding a long-delayed 50th anniversary concert at Fenway Park in 2022, Aerosmith launched Peace Out: The Farewell Tour in September 2023. After three dates, <a href="spotify:artist:32zks9ovi0IExzUd1C7W6o">Tyler</a> suffered bleeding vocal cords, leading the band to postpone several concert dates until 2024. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

For more than forty years, Led Zeppelin have continued to inspire generations with their groundbreaking blues-infused, guitar-driven rock ’n’ roll. The biggest rock band in the world throughout their 12-year reign, they remain one of the most influential and innovative groups in music history. With well over 200 million albums sold worldwide, their catalogue is one of the most enduring bodies of musical composition to come out of the 20th century, and it has influenced countless bands along the way. They had the biggest tours; the biggest sound; the biggest record sales; the biggest reputation. Quite simply Led Zeppelin was the ultimate rock band.

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury

Combining an outrageously flamboyant stage persona with an immense talent for writing catchy and complex songs -- in addition to possessing one of the greatest voices in modern music -- vocalist Freddie Mercury remains one of rock’s all-time greatest entertainers. Alongside <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> bandmates guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">Brian May</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6KrRVxAW7yvCYrO1ALqPG5">John Deacon</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Roger Taylor</a>, Mercury initially emerged as one of the most indelible rock artists of the 1970s. Working at first largely within the hard rock genre, Mercury embraced a wide array of sounds with <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> ranging from classical to music hall, from glitter to prog rock, eventually even making influential forays into funk and disco as the band progressed into the '80s. Mercury's albums with <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> are considered classics and spawned a large number of hits including "Killer Queen," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You," and "Another One Bites the Dust." He continued this artistic exploration away from <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, working with <a href="spotify:artist:6jU2Tt13MmXYk0ZBv1KmfO">Giorgio Moroder</a> on the 1979 single "Love Kills" and further delving into synth-based pop on his only proper solo album, 1985's Mr. Bad Guy. He also paired with opera diva <a href="spotify:artist:6oGu0NZWy8gJ18wggybFqH">Montserrat Caballe</a> for their 1988 orchestral album Barcelona. Whether on his own or with <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, Mercury's immense talent, unmistakable passion, and outsized persona continues to endure long after his death from AIDS in 1991. Born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946, in Zanzibar to parents from the Parsi community in India (his father worked as a high court cashier for the British government), young Mercury was nicknamed Freddie by fellow classmates while attending an English boarding school, and embraced the moniker. He soon discovered his love for art and music, both subjects that he explored voraciously (he began taking piano lessons around this time), putting his newly found piano talent to use as he played in rock & roll bands with friends. Due to political upheaval in Zanzibar, Mercury and his family fled Zanzibar for England in 1964. There, he enrolled in the Ealing College of Art and fell under the spell of guitar wizard <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>. It was while attending Ealing that he befriended a fellow aspiring musician, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6EtRaGeodP9stdGz92vPtB">Tim Staffell</a>, who was a member of a local band called Smile. Mercury soon began attending Smile's rehearsals and struck up a friendship with the group's other members, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2NcbLU1bW55eahD0UgD7U3">Brian May</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2PZEd7yktruWruOqORRChA">Roger Taylor</a>. Inspired by his new friends, he began playing in bands himself (such as Ibex, Wreckage, and Sour Milk Sea, among others), but instead of just playing piano as he did back in Zanzibar, he began singing. To pay the bills, he opened up a stall on Piccadilly Circus with <a href="spotify:artist:4X3dUbGsTpVH6EbxtWnj6T">Taylor</a>, selling clothing geared toward fellow rock musicians. By 1970, he had become frustrated that his music career had yet to blossom, and when he heard that <a href="spotify:artist:6EtRaGeodP9stdGz92vPtB">Staffell</a> had left Smile, he promptly took his place, finally uniting musically with <a href="spotify:artist:45Z2ShPqr2p9ZgfkYhZUgq">May</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4X3dUbGsTpVH6EbxtWnj6T">Taylor</a>. Inspired by the heavy rock of <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Hendrix</a> as well as the vocal harmonies of <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> and the over the top look of the burgeoning glam rock movement (<a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3dBVyJ7JuOMt4GE9607Qin">T. Rex</a>), the new group decided to mix up all these influences in one big melting pot, resulting in the formation of <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>. Sensing that it was only natural that a soon-to-be rock star should have an equally grand name, Bulsara adopted a new last name, becoming Freddie Mercury. The new band honed their sound throughout the early '70s (ultimately signing with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> in England and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a> in the U.S.), and after going through a succession of bassists, finally found a permanent member, <a href="spotify:artist:6KrRVxAW7yvCYrO1ALqPG5">John Deacon</a>, just prior to the recording of their first album. But just before the release of <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>'s self-titled debut in 1973, Mercury issued the solo single "I Can Hear Music"/"Going Back" (with his <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> bandmates backing him) under the pseudonym Larry Lurex. The single sank from view shortly after release, while <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>'s debut fared little better. It was during an early <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> show that Mercury's microphone stand accidentally snapped in half, and instead of replacing it, he carried on with the damaged stand, which ultimately became an on-stage trademark for the singer. Dressed in outrageous Zandra Rhodes-designed threads, dolled up in makeup and eyeliner, and wearing black nail polish on his right hand, he instantly stood out from the rest of the then-current rock pack. Although there was speculation about his sexuality throughout his career, Mercury refused to confirm or deny that he was bisexual during his lifetime. Slowly but surely, <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> built up an enormous and dedicated worldwide following due to their bombastic stage show and such hit releases as 1974's Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, but it was the Mercury-penned "Bohemian Rhapsody" off 1975's breakthrough A Night at the Opera that solidified <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> as one of rock's top bands. Further hit albums followed: 1976's A Day at the Races, 1977's News of the World, 1978's Jazz, and 1979's Live Killers, during which Mercury penned such hit songs (and eventual rock radio staples) as "Killer Queen," "Somebody to Love," "We Are the Champions," "Don't Stop Me Now," and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." By the late '70s, he had become one of rock's leading frontmen as his image changed from his early glam rock look to one that was met with some consternation from fans: he cut his hair short and grew a mustache. In addition to his work with <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, Mercury fulfilled a longtime dream by performing with the Royal Ballet in October of 1979. The '80s would prove to be puzzling time for <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, as they kicked off the new decade with their biggest album yet, The Game -- scoring one of 1980's biggest hits, the dancefloor anthem "Another One Bites the Dust" -- and most successful tour. But instead of treating the successful musical experiment as a brief detour, <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> decided to explore dance music more thoroughly on their follow-up, Hot Space, resulting in their worst-selling release since Queen II. While <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> were quickly able to recapture their following everywhere in the world on the strength of such solid releases as 1984's The Works and 1986's A Kind of Magic (and a show-stopping performance at the mammoth Live Aid benefit concert in 1985), the band's popularity in the U.S. dwindled considerably. It was while on hiatus from <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> that Mercury issued his first solo album in 1985, Mr. Bad Guy, a more pop-oriented album than his previous work, it featured the driving synth anthem "I Was Born to Love You" and the ballad "Made in Heaven;" both of which were later reworked by <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>. By the late '80s, Mercury had also been diagnosed with AIDS, but decided to keep his condition under wraps as he focused on recording further albums with <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> (1989's The Miracle and 1991's Innuendo), as well as issuing sporadic solo singles ("The Great Pretender," "Time") and an opera-meets-pop album with <a href="spotify:artist:6oGu0NZWy8gJ18wggybFqH">Montserrat Caballé</a> entitled Barcelona. But by 1991, Mercury's battle with AIDS had taken a turn for the worse, and on November 24, 1991 (just one day after deciding to go public with his ailment), Mercury died at his home in London. On April 20, 1992, the surviving members of <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> organized a star-studded tribute concert for Mercury at Wembley Stadium (with all proceeds going to the newly founded AIDS benefit group The Mercury Phoenix Trust) featuring such <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>/Mercury admirers as <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3qm84nBOXUEQ2vnTfUTTFC">Guns N' Roses</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5GtMEZEeFFsuHY8ad4kOxv">Seal</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ye2Wgw4gimLv2eAKyk1NB">Metallica</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1OwarW4LEHnoep20ixRA0y">Robert Plant</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5odf7hjI7hyvAw66tmxhGF">Roger Daltrey</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">George Michael</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3lQpSzdPxoF1FYk7ilbe37">Liza Minnelli</a>, among others. Shortly thereafter, <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> regained their footing in the U.S. when <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood+Records%22">Hollywood Records</a> reissued their entire catalog and "Bohemian Rhapsody" (and two compilations: Classic Queen and Greatest Hits) rocketed up the charts due to the song's inclusion in the movie Wayne's World. Up until his death, Mercury continued to write music with <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, and surviving bandmembers completed several unfinished tracks for the 1995 posthumous release Made in Heaven. The '90s also saw the arrival of a few Mercury solo compilations: in 1992 the U.K. received The Freddie Mercury Album while the U.S. got The Great Pretender (both included mostly similar track listings) and a year later, the six-track Remixes was issued in Europe only. In 2000, a mammoth ten-CD/two-DVD box set was unveiled, titled The Solo Collection, collecting all of his solo tracks and promotional videos as well as rarities. Also released at the same time was the three-CD box set Freddie Mercury Solo and the DVD Video Collection, which included highlights from the bigger set. The more economical single-disc collection Very Best of Freddie Mercury Solo: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs appeared in 2006. In 2016, the double-disc collection Messenger of the Gods: The Singles brought together all of Mercury's solo A- and B-side singles. In 2018, actor Rami Malek portrayed Mercury in the <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. In the wake of the film's success (it took home four Academy Awards), <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Virgin%2FEMI%22">Virgin/EMI</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood+Records%22">Hollywood Records</a> compiled the singer's solo work on the 2019 box set Never Boring. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi

John Lennon

John Lennon

If John Lennon had only been one of the four members of the Beatles, his artistic immortality would already have been assured. The so-called &#39;smart Beatle,&#39; he brought a penetrating intelligence and a stinging wit both to the band’s music and its self-presentation. But in such songs as &#39;Strawberry Fields Forever&#39;, &#39;Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)&#39;, &#39;Rain&#39; and &#39;In My Life&#39;, he also marshaled gorgeous melodies to evoke a sophisticated, dreamlike world-weariness well beyond his years. Such work suggested not merely a profound musical and literary sensibility – a genius, in short — but a vision of life that was simultaneously reflective, utopian and poignantly realistic. But it was only after his marriage to artist Yoko Ono in 1969 that the figure the world now recognizes as &#39;John Lennon&#39; truly came into being. Whether he was engaging in social activism - giving long, passionate interviews that once again broadened the nature of public discourse for artists, defining a new life as a self-described &#39;househusband&#39; or writing and recording songs, Lennon came to view his life as a work of art in which every act shimmered with potential meaning for the world at large. ★ 7 GRAMMYs ★ 21 NME Awards ★ 15 Ivor Novello Awards ★ 5 Brit Awards ★ 1 Oscar ★ ★ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ★ Songwriters Hall of Fame ★ Hollywood Walk of Fame ★

Redbone

Redbone

Redbone was a Los Angeles-based band led by Native American <a href="spotify:artist:5MY5GHNXnmP9iIzLXVHAT9">Pat</a> and Lolly Vegas, both lead singers who had previously worked under their own names, appearing in the 1965 film It's a Bikini World prior to forming Redbone, an all-Native band, at the encouragement of <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>. Their first success with Redbone came in 1970 with "Maggie" on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a>. "The Witch Queen of New Orleans" did somewhat better the next year, and "Come and Get Your Love" -- a single that peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum -- gave them their greatest exposure. It would also be the band's last hit, though they continued to record and perform on an intermittent basis. In 2008, Redbone entered the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame. Six years later, "Come and Get Your Love" was introduced to a new generation when it was featured in the superhero film Guardians of the Galaxy. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi

Jim Croce

Jim Croce

In the music industry, arguably the worst tragedy that can befall an artist is to die in his or her prime, when just beginning to break through to the mainstream and reach people on a national or international level. One such artist was Jim Croce, a songwriter with a knack for both upbeat, catchy singles and empathetic, melancholy ballads. Though Croce only recorded a few studio albums before an untimely plane crash, he continues to be remembered posthumously. Croce appealed to fans as a common man, and it was not a gimmick -- he was a father and husband who went through a series of blue-collar jobs. And whether he used dry wit, gentle emotions, or sorrow, Croce sang with a rare form of honesty and power. Few artists have ever been able to pull off such down-to-earth storytelling as convincingly as he did. James Joseph Croce was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 10, 1943. Raised on ragtime and country, Croce played the accordion as a child and would eventually teach himself the guitar. It wasn't until his freshman year of college that he began to take music seriously, forming several bands over the next few years. After graduation, he continued to play various gigs at local bars and parties, working as both a teacher and construction worker to support himself and his wife, Ingrid. In 1969, the Croces and an old friend from college, <a href="spotify:artist:3s0krB7kVIw0i6eozqdQus">Tommy West</a>, moved to New York and record an album. When the Jim and Ingrid record failed to sell, they moved to a farm in Lyndell, Pennsylvania, where Jim juggled several jobs, including singing for radio commercials. Eventually he was noticed and signed by the ABC/Dunhill label and released his second album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, in 1972. The record spawned three hits: "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)," and "Time in a Bottle," the latter ultimately shooting all the way to number one on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Billboard%22">Billboard</a> charts. Croce quickly followed with Life and Times in early 1973 and gained his first number one hit with "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." After four years of grueling tour schedules, Croce grew homesick. Wishing to spend more time with Ingrid and his infant son Adrian James, he planned to take a break after the Life and Times tour was completed. Tragically, the tour would never finish; just two months after "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" topped the charts, Croce's plane crashed in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Croce and the four other passengers (including bandmember Maury Muehleisen) were killed instantly. Croce's career peaked after his death. In December of 1973, the album I Got a Name surfaced, but it was "Time in a Bottle," from 1972's You Don't Mess Around with Jim, that would become his second number one single. Shortly afterwards, "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" reached the Top Ten. Several albums were released posthumously, most notably the greatest hits collection Photographs & Memories, which became a best-seller. Several other compilations were later issued, such as the 1992 release The 50th Anniversary Collection and the 2000 compilation Time in a Bottle: The Definitive Collection. Listening to the songs Croce recorded, one cannot help but wonder how far his extraordinary talents could have taken him if he would have lived longer. Unfortunately, such a question may only be looked at rhetorically, but Jim Croce continues to live on in the impressive catalog of songs he left behind. ~ Barry Weber, Rovi

Cardi B

Cardi B

Cardi B’s come-up reads like a 2010s Cinderella story. In just a handful of years, the sharp-tongued New Yorker went from viral Instagram phenom to one of hip-hop’s most exciting voices, establishing herself as a bossed-up feminist icon along the way. Born Belcalis Almanzar in the South Bronx in 1992, Cardi got a job as a stripper at 19, quickly building a social media following—in addition to her devotees at the club—for her viral videos and hilarious catchphrases. In 2015, she scored a spot on VH1’s drama-filled reality show <i>Love & Hip Hop: New York</i>, where her brash personality turned her into an immediate fan favorite among her more established costars. That same over-the-top charisma made Cardi a natural fit for rap dominance; witty, unfiltered, and totally fearless, her early tracks doubled as mantras for self-made women who put themselves first. But it was “Bodak Yellow” that launched Cardi into superstardom; a trap anthem that rang out from cars and clubs throughout 2017, it begging you to shout along. Her 2018 debut album, <i>Invasion of Privacy</i>, fused the Latin music of her childhood with hardcore New York hustlers' anthems, and squashed any doubts as to whether Cardi was here to stay. Meanwhile, her scene-stealing guest verses span the pop charts, from Bruno Mars (“Finesse [Remix]”) to Ozuna (“La Modelo”) to Maroon 5 (“Girls Like You”). Not bad for a self-proclaimed regular girl from The Bronx.

Tommy Richman

Tommy Richman

EVERYTHING IS PUNK ! virginia

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus has captivated generations, from shaping childhoods as Hannah Montana to smashing walls with “Wrecking Ball.” Miley’s music career is unique, constantly experimenting with new sounds and known as a chameleon across genres. At the 2024 GRAMMYs, she performed "Flowers," 2023’s top-selling single, winning Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year. In 2025, her collaboration with Beyoncé won the Grammy for Best Country Duo Performance. Miley has earned numerous platinum and diamond songs and albums throughout her career. Her eighth album, Endless Summer Vacation, dominated the charts, and she has now moved onto her ninth studio album, Something Beautiful, set for May 2025. Miley has fronted campaigns for Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana as well as countless magazine covers globally including British Vogue. She co-hosted “Miley&#39;s New Year’s Eve Party” with godmother Dolly Parton, drawing millions of viewers and expanded her multimedia presence by starring in a popular Black Mirror episode. Miley has expressed a desire to act again, saying the role must be either an extension of herself or a character “with a personality that can conquer [her] own”. Through her Happy Hippie Foundation, Miley has raised millions for homeless youth, especially those identifying as LGBTQ+. In 2024, she launched the Miley Cyrus Foundation, supporting mothers in all their diversity. Miley’s continuous impact in music and culture will resonate for years to come.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream. Others have performed similar moves -- notably, <a href="spotify:artist:32vWCbZh0xZ4o9gkz4PsEU">Dolly Parton</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5W5bDNCqJ1jbCgTxDD0Cb3">Willie Nelson</a> both became enduring pop culture icons based on their 1970s work -- but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist, make it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse. These skills were evident on her earliest hits, especially the neo-tribute "Tim McGraw," but her second album, 2008's Fearless, showcased a songwriter discovering who she was and, in the process, finding a mass audience. Fearless wound up having considerable legs not only in the U.S., where it racked up six platinum singles on the strength of the Top Ten hits "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," but throughout the world, performing particularly well in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Speak Now, delivered almost two years later, consolidated that success and moved Swift into the stratosphere of superstardom. Her popularity only increased over her next three albums -- Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) -- and found her moving assuredly into a pop realm where she already belonged. Even when she scaled back her approach with 2020's stripped-down sibling releases folklore and Evermore, she remained atop the pop world, a position she maintained with re-recordings of her back catalog along with Midnights, a moody album released in 2022. This sense of confidence had been apparent in Taylor Swift since the beginning. The daughter of two bankers -- her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, worked at Merrill Lynch; her mother, Andrea, spent time as a mutual fund marketing executive -- Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and raised in suburban Wyomissing. She began to show interest in music at the age of nine, and <a href="spotify:artist:5e4Dhzv426EvQe3aDb64jL">Shania Twain</a> wound up as her biggest formative influence. Swift started to work regularly at local talent contests, eventually winning a chance to open for <a href="spotify:artist:6UpFUXmXvDV7Qj1SPymamh">Charlie Daniels</a>. Soon, she learned how to play guitar and began writing songs, signing a music management deal with Dan Dymtrow; her family relocated to Nashville with the intent of furthering her music career. She was just 14 years old but on the radar of the music industry, signing a development deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA+Records%22">RCA Records</a> in 2004. Swift sharpened her skills with a variety of professional songwriters, forming the strongest connections with <a href="spotify:artist:7pcKyVIatvXoHdZRr4Q3vT">Liz Rose</a>. Taylor's original songs earned her a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, but not long after that 2004 deal she parted ways with Dymtrow and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a>, all with the intent of launching her recording career now, not later. Things started moving swiftly once Swift came to the attention of Scott Borchetta, a former <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DreamWorks+Records%22">DreamWorks Records</a> exec about to launch <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine+Records%22">Big Machine Records</a>. Borchetta saw Swift perform at a songwriters showcase at the Bluebird Cafe and he signed her to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine%22">Big Machine</a> in 2005; shortly afterward, she started work on her debut with producer Nathan Chapman, who'd previously helmed demos for Taylor. Boasting original song credits on every one of the record's 11 songs (she penned three on her own), Taylor Swift appeared in October 2006 to strong reviews and Swift made sure to work the album hard, appearing at every radio or television event offered and marshaling a burgeoning fan base through the use of MySpace. "Tim McGraw," the first song from the album, did well, but "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song" did better on both the pop and country charts, where she racked up five consecutive Top Ten singles. Other successes followed in the wake of the debut -- a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist (she lost to <a href="spotify:artist:6Q192DXotxtaysaqNPy5yR">Amy Winehouse</a>), stopgap EPs of Christmas songs -- but Swift concentrated on delivering her sophomore set, Fearless. Appearing in November 2008, Fearless was certified gold by the RIAA in its first week of release, and the record gained momentum throughout 2009, earning several platinum certifications as "Love Story," "White Horse," "You Belong with Me," "Fifteen," and "Fearless" all scaled the upper reaches of the country charts while "You Belong with Me" nearly topped Billboard's Hot 100. Along with the success came some headlines, first in the form of an infamous appearance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards where her acceptance speech was interrupted by <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a>, who burst on-stage to declare that Swift's rival <a href="spotify:artist:6vWDO969PvNqNYHIOW5v0m">Beyoncé</a> deserved the award more, but her romances also started gaining attention, notably a liaison with Twilight star Taylor Lautner, who appeared with the singer in the 2009 film Valentine's Day. Her flirtation with the silver screen proved brief, as she then poured herself into her third album, Speak Now. Released in October 2010, Speak Now was another massive first-week smash that refused to lose momentum. Hit singles like "Mine" and "Mean," which won two Grammy Awards, played a big factor in its success not just on the country charts but on pop radio as well. Following a 2011 live album called World Tour Live: Speak Now, Swift turned toward following a pop path on her fourth album, hiring such mainstream musicians as <a href="spotify:artist:045EiHd7X7cCjlamF0LV2M">Dan Wilson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7qKoy46vPnmIxKCN6ewBG4">Butch Walker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:26dSoYclwsYLMAKD3tpOr4">Britney Spears</a> producer <a href="spotify:artist:4e1KgW8FCqVytLFSzEYEKo">Max Martin</a>. This mainstream pulse was evident on "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," the first single from Red. Upon its October 2012 release, Red shattered expectations by selling over a million copies in its first week, a notable achievement that was doubly impressive in an era of declining sales. Once again, Swift's album had legs: it was certified platinum four times in the U.S. and its international sales outstripped those of Speak Now. She supported Red with an international tour in 2013 and more hits came, including "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "22." As Swift geared up for the release of her fifth album in 2014, she made it clear that 1989 was designed as her first "documented, official" pop album and that there would be no country marketing push for the record. "Shake It Off," an ebullient dance-pop throwback, hit number one upon its August 2014 release. When 1989 appeared in late October 2014, it once again shot to number one and became her third straight album to sell one million copies in its first week (a new record for any artist). Swift gathered many awards during the subsequent year, including Billboard's Woman of the Year, the Award for Excellence at the American Music Awards, and a special 50th Anniversary Milestone Award from the CMAs. Her 1989 World Tour crossed Asia, North America, and Europe during the last half of 2015, and she won three Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremonies, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Music Video for "Bad Blood." At the end of 2016, she released "I Don't Wanna Live Forever," a duet with ZAYN from the soundtrack for Fifty Shades Darker. The single reached the Top Five across the world. Swift returned with her sixth album, Reputation, in November 2017. Preceded by the number one hit single "Look What You Made Me Do," Reputation debuted at number one, and while it didn't replicate the success of 1989, the album did help underscore her popularity while also pushing her toward mature musicality. Reputation was Swift's final record for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine%22">Big Machine</a>. In November 2018, she signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Universal+Music+Group%22">Universal Music Group</a>, which distributed her new albums under its <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Republic+Records%22">Republic Records</a> banner. The first album in this contract was Lover. Released in August 2019, Lover was preceded by two singles, "Me!" and "You Need to Calm Down," which both reached number two on the Hot 100 and helped push the album to number one. The acclaimed LP and two of its singles received a total of three nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards. Swift's plans to support Lover with a tour in 2020 were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With some unexpected time on her hands, she wrote and recorded a new set of songs, many in collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:2hSyEBc9TBb9j38FOCdkIf">Aaron Dessner</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2cCUtGK9sDU2EoElnk0GNB">the National</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:4LEiUm1SRbFMgfqnQTwUbQ">Bon Iver</a> and longtime Swift associate <a href="spotify:artist:414TS3VqZf1XPCBixdmX9n">Jack Antonoff</a> also contributed. The resulting album, folklore, was released on July 24, 2020, and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. Less than five months later, Swift released a companion album to folklore called Evermore. Featuring many of the same collaborators as its predecessor, the Grammy-nominated Evermore debuted at number one upon its December 11, 2020 release. Altogether, the sibling LPs planted Swift atop the U.S. charts for a combined 11 weeks, and folklore became the best-selling album of 2020. In 2021, she began the process of re-recording her back catalog after her <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Big+Machine%22">Big Machine</a> masters were sold off in 2019, starting with 2008's Fearless. The first of these tracks -- "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" -- arrived that February, with Fearless [Taylor's Version] arriving in April. The new version of Fearless contained cameos from <a href="spotify:artist:6aZyMrc4doVtZyKNilOmwu">Colbie Caillat</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0u2FHSq3ln94y5Q57xazwf">Keith Urban</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6WY7D3jk8zTrHtmkqqo5GI">Maren Morris</a>, along with several previously unheard tunes originally written during the same time period; it debuted at number one on Billboard upon its release. Swift next revisited Red, releasing Red [Taylor's Version] in November 2021. This revamp of the 2012 album featured new duets with <a href="spotify:artist:1r1uxoy19fzMxunt3ONAkG">Phoebe Bridgers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YLtscXsxbVgi031ovDDdh">Chris Stapleton</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Ed Sheeran</a>, along with a ten-minute version of the ballad "All Too Well." Another re-recording, "This Love (Taylor's Version)" (originally off 1989), arrived in May 2022 and was included in the soundtrack to the coming-of-age drama The Summer I Turned Pretty. Swift opened up another chapter in her career with the October 2022 release of Midnights, an album co-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:414TS3VqZf1XPCBixdmX9n">Jack Antonoff</a> and featuring a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:00FQb4jTyendYWaN8pK0wa">Lana Del Rey</a> on "Snow on the Beach." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Liz Gillies

Cantante y actriz estadounidense | Pop, teen pop, dance pop, pop rock, synth pop (2005)

Sam Smith

Sam Smith

Multi-Platinum,  GRAMMY®, BRIT, Golden Globe  and  Academy Award winning artist Sam Smith is one of the most celebrated musical artists to emerge in recent history. Their most recent album, <a href="spotify:album:3Uq1jNGnD412ZvCb6j2DKV" data-name="Gloria">Gloria</a> is Sam’s 4th studio and 3rd #1 album, building on the success of critically acclaimed 2020 predecessor, <a href="spotify:album:5XCBX16KNYsAe7V5hQV9mC" data-name="Love Goes">Love Goes</a>. Their multi-platinum debut <a href="spotify:album:08jWgM4vSkTose4blKBWov" data-name="In The Lonely Hour">In The Lonely Hour</a> became the biggest selling debut album of the decade, holding the most number of weeks in the top spot during 2010s. Three years later and following the success of their James Bond theme <a href="spotify:album:50bQvrNAFsAaIbqCcfD7FT" data-name="Writing&#39;s On The Wall">Writing&#39;s On The Wall</a>, Sam released their second project <a href="spotify:album:3y4eXWur67Kae82MkTynXp" data-name="The Thrill Of It All">The Thrill Of It All</a>, debuting at #1 on the UK Charts and US Billboard 200, marked a milestone as Sam’s first US #1 album. Most recently Sam gained global virality for the GRAMMY award winning single <a href="spotify:track:3nqQXoyQOWXiESFLlDF1hG" data-name="Unholy (feat. Kim Petras)">Unholy (feat. Kim Petras)</a>, their 8th UK #1 single and 1st Billboard Hot 100 #1, making history with collaborator Kim Petras as the first non-binary and transgender artists to land on the top spot. Furthering the song&#39;s legendary status, Unholy became one of a handful of British singles to achieve a BRIT Billion streaming status. Sam has enjoyed over 47 million album sales, 374 million single sales and 78 billion career streams. They have achieved 5 Grammys, 3 Brits, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, 3 UK #1 Albums, 8 UK #1 Singles, 21 Billboard 100 Hits.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson wasn't merely the biggest pop star of his era, shaping the sound and style of the '70s and '80s; he was one of the defining stars of the 20th century, a musician who changed the contours of American culture. A preternaturally gifted singer and dancer, Jackson first rose to stardom in 1969 as the 11-year-old frontman for his family's band, the Jackson 5. As remarkable a run as the Jackson 5 had -- at the dawn of the '70s, each of their first four singles went to number one and they stayed near the top of the charts for the next five years -- it all served as a preamble to Jackson's solo career. Off the Wall, the dazzling 1979 album co-produced by Quincy Jones, announced Jackson as a mature talent, and the singles "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You" turned it into a blockbuster. Despite its success, Jackson believed Off the Wall was pigeonholed as an R&B record. Determined to break through this glass ceiling, he reunited with Jones to create Thriller, the 1982 album that shattered every music record on the books. Thriller was designed to appeal to every audience and its diversity was evident by its guests: he enlisted Eddie Van Halen to play guitar on the hard rock of "Beat It" while inviting Paul McCartney to duet on the chipper soft pop tune "The Girl Is Mine." Jackson also expanded the horizons of soul and dance music, producing pioneering masterpieces like "Billie Jean." This single provided Thriller with its 1983 breakthrough, thanks in part to its groundbreaking music video, which became the first clip from a black artist to enter steady rotation on the fledgling MTV. Jackson's smashing of the network's racial barriers was only one aspect of Thriller's unprecedented crossover. Seven of its nine songs were Top 10 hits, it earned eight Grammy awards, and topped the Billboard charts for 37 weeks, matching its American success internationally to become the biggest-selling album of all time, earning 32 platinum certifications in the US and moving over 100 million albums worldwide. Such a phenomenal triumph pushed Jackson into the stratosphere and Bad -- the eagerly-anticipated 1987 sequel to Thriller, co-produced once again with Quincy Jones -- kept him there, generating five number one singles on the Billboard charts and selling 30 million copies internationally, two thirds of which were outside of the US. Jackson parted ways with Jones for 1991's Dangerous, another global blockbuster. HIStory, a 1995 double-disc set that paired a disc of hits with a new album, produced a couple of international number one singles. Invincible, his 2001 album, turned out to be his last. Health problems culminated in his untimely death in the summer of 2009, but at that point Jackson's legend was safe: he stood alongside Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Miles Davis, and Bob Dylan as one of the musicians that created the sound of America in the 20th century. Such heights came from modest beginnings. Michael was born in Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958, the fifth son of Katherine and Joe Jackson. His mother was a Jehovah's Witness and his father a former boxer-turned-steelworker who played guitar on the side. Harboring aspirations of musical stardom, Joe shepherded his sons into a musical act around 1962. At that point, it was just the three eldest children -- Tito, Jackie, and Jermaine -- but Michael joined them in 1964 and soon dominated the group. Stealing moves from James Brown and Jackie Wilson, Michael became the epicenter of the Jackson 5 as they earned accolades at local talent shows and went on to play soul clubs throughout the Midwest, working their way toward the east coast in 1967 where they won an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater. Returning to Gary, the group cut a pair of singles for the local imprint Steeltown in 1968 -- "(I'm A) Big Boy," "We Don't Have to Be Over 21" -- but their big break arrived when they opened for Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers at Chicago's Regal Theater. Impressed, Taylor brought them to the attention of Berry Gordy, Jr., who signed the group to Motown in March of 1969 and then sent them out to Los Angeles, where he helped mastermind their national launch. "I Want You Back," a song written and produced by Motown's new crew the Corporation, saw release in October 1968 when Michael Jackson was just 11 years old. By January 1970, "I Want You Back" rocketed to number one on both the pop and R&B charts, and the Jackson 5 became a sensation, crossing over from R&B to AM pop radio with ease. Two more hits followed --" ABC" and "The Love You Save," both exuberant bubblegum soul -- before "I'll Be There" revealed Michael's facility with ballads. All three of these sequels went to number one and, striking while the iron was hot, Motown spun Michael off into a solo act. His first solo single, "Got to Be There," arrived at the end of 1971, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and then a cover of Bobby Day's chestnut "Rockin' Robin" peaked at two in early 1972. Later that year, "Ben," the title theme ballad to an exploitation movie about a killer rat, earned Jackson his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (he would lose). Not long afterward, the careers of both Michael and the Jackson 5 slowed, victims of shifting tastes, adolescence, and creative battles with their label. One last hit for Motown arrived in 1974 -- "Dancing Machine," a single that brought the group in line with the disco explosion -- before the group departed Motown for Epic in 1975. With the new label came a new name, along with a slight lineup change: Jermaine stayed at Motown to pursue a solo career and younger brother Randy took his place. Following a pair of albums produced by Philly soul mainstays Gamble & Huff, Michael emerged as the group's creative director on 1978's Destiny, co-writing their 1979 smash "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" with Randy. By that point, Michael had already made a considerable solo impression by starring as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, Sidney Lumet's 1978 musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Working on the soundtrack -- a record highlighted by his duet with Diana Ross on "Ease on Down the Road" -- he met producer Quincy Jones, a titan of jazz and pop in the '50s and '60s who had yet to score a smash in the '70s. The pair hit it off and decided to work on Jackson's next solo endeavor, but first the Jackson 5 released Destiny, which raised the profile of both the band and Michael himself. All this was preamble to Off the Wall, the 1979 album that definitively established Michael Jackson as a force of his own. Collaborating with producer Jones and songwriter Rod Temperton, Jackson consciously attempted to appeal to multiple audiences with Off the Wall, turning the album into a dazzling showcase of all his different sounds and skills. Anchored by a pair of number one hits -- the incandescent "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You" -- the record turned into a smash, peaking at four on the Billboard 200, selling millions of copies as it raked in awards, but losing the grand prize of Album of the Year at the Grammys, leaving Jackson with the lingering impression that he needed to cross over into the pop mainstream with greater force. Before he could do that, he had to complete one more Jackson 5 album: 1980's Triumph, a record with three hit singles ("Lovely One," "This Place Hotel," "Can You Feel It") whose title seemed to allude to Michael's solo success and certainly benefitted from his heightened stardom. After Triumph, Jackson reunited with producer Jones and songwriter Temperton to create the sequel to Off the Wall, crafting a record that deliberately hit every mark in the musical mainstream. Paul McCartney was brought in to underscore Michael's soft rock leanings, Eddie Van Halen pushed Jackson into metallic hard rock, and the remainder of the album glided from disco to pop to soul in an effortless display of his range. "The Girl Is Mine," the first single from Thriller, didn't suggest its adventure -- Jackson played it safe by releasing the McCartney duet as the album's lead -- but the second single, "Billie Jean," forged ahead into new, unnamable territory. "Billie Jean" was a pop explosion, topping the charts in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada. Some of its success can no doubt be credited to its striking music video, the first to break the fledgling MTV's then-unspoken racial barrier; after Jackson, the network began playing more black acts. Some of the single's success is due to his sensational performance on Motown's 25th Anniversary Special in 1983, a performance aired on May 16, 1983 where Jackson unveiled his signature moonwalk dance -- a move that made it appear as if he was gliding backward -- and announced himself to the world as a mature talent. "Beat It," accompanied by an equally cinematic video, turned into an equally huge smash on MTV and helped push Thriller into the stratosphere. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Human Nature," and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" kept Thriller at number one and its last single was an extravaganza, with Jackson letting director John Landis turn the song into a short musical horror film. By the time the album wrapped up its two-year run on the charts, it had racked up 37 weeks at number one and sold 29 million copies, becoming the biggest-selling album ever. Even as Thriller was something of a pop perpetual motion machine, selling records of its own accord, Jackson worked hard. He once again teamed with Paul McCartney, singing "Say Say Say" for McCartney's 1983 album Pipes of Peace, and he reunited with the Jackson 5 for 1984's Victory, supporting the album with an international tour. Prior to its launch, Jackson suffered a serious accident while filming a Pepsi commercial designed to accompany the tour. During the shoot, pyrotechnics burned Jackson's head, sending him to the hospital with second degree burns to his scalp; as he recovered, he started using pain killers for the first time. Jackson earned accolades for his philanthropic work, especially his collaboration with Lionel Richie on the 1985 charity single "We Are the World," but along with these positive notes, wild stories began to circulate in the tabloids. Some further bad press accompanied his acquisition of the Lennon and McCartney songwriting catalog in 1985, a move that severed his partnership with Paul McCartney. Jackson also flirted with becoming a movie star, working with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 3D film Captain Eo, shown only at Disney's IMAX theaters starting in 1986. Once this appeared, he started work on the task of following up Thriller. Working once again with Quincy Jones, Jackson refined the Thriller template for 1987's Bad. Like Thriller, the first single was an adult contemporary number -- "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," a duet with then unknown Siedah Garrett -- before it cranked out hits: "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana" all reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1987 and 1988, with "Another Part of Me" just missing the Top 10 and "Smooth Criminal" peaking at seven. Bad didn't dominate the charts in other countries but its singles reached the Top 10 internationally with some regularity, aided in part with a globe-spanning tour -- the first solo tour of Michael Jackson's career. The Bad World Tour broke records across the globe and in its wake, he started calling himself "The King of Pop," a nickname that was something of a retort to Elvis Presley being known as "The King of Rock & Roll." Once the tour wrapped up, Jackson returned to his new home -- a Santa Ynez ranch that he purchased in March of 1988 and renamed Neverland, playing up his Peter Pan fixation Jackson renewed his deal with Sony -- the corporation that purchased Epic/CBS -- in 1991 and then set to work on his next album. This time, he decided to part ways with Quincy Jones, choosing to work with a variety of collaborators, chief among them Teddy Riley, who helped usher Michael into the realm of New Jack Swing. "Black or White," the album's first video, caused some controversy, which helped generate initial press and sales and sent the single to number one. "Remember the Time" and "In the Closet" also made it into the Billboard Top 10 in early 1992, but subsequent singles "Jam" and "Heal the World" stalled in the low 20s, while "Who Is It" made it to 14. Jackson's period of massive success was starting to end and, as it did, Jackson entered a rough personal period. In 1993, a 13-year-old boy accused Jackson of molestation. Over the next two years, the case played out in public and in the justice system, eventually settling out of court for undisclosed terms in 1995; no charges were ever filed. During all this, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in May of 1994; their marriage lasted just 19 months. Jackson rebooted his career in 1995 with HIStory: Past, Present & Future, Book 1, a double-disc set divided into an album of hits and an album of new material. Preceded by a double-A-sided single containing the ballad "Childhood" and "Scream," a duet with his sister Janet, the album underperformed compared to its predecessors but still generated big hits, highlighted by "You Are Not Alone," the first single to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The subsequent singles "They Don't Care About Us" and "Stranger in Moscow" underperformed in the U.S. but were Top 10 singles in the U.K., and HIStory also did well in other global international markets, aided in part by the lengthy accompanying global tour. In 1997, Jackson followed HIStory with Blood on the Dance Floor, an album that topped the U.K. charts but only reached 24 in the U.S. By that point, Jackson had married his nurse, Debbie Rowe, who would soon become to the mother of two children: Prince Michael Jackson, Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. Over the next couple of years, Jackson raised his family and performed at charitable events, starting work on a comeback planned for 2001. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo act that year (the Jackson 5 had previously been inducted) and he staged two major 30th Anniversary concerts in September 2001 to kick off the promo campaign for his new album, Invincible. Produced in large part by Rodney Jerkins, Invincible consciously evoked Off the Wall with its single "You Rock My World," which reached 10 prior to the album's October release. Invincible entered the charts at number one in the U.S. and U.K., but it didn't have staying power and never generated another hit single. Soon, music took a backseat to Jackson's personal life. He had a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II in 2002, but the birth was overshadowed by erratic public appearances and legal problems, including an arrest in November 2003 for child molestation; in June of 2005 he was acquitted on all counts. As the case played out, Sony released the first-ever single-disc collection of Jackson's peak, Number Ones, in 2003; it had a new song, "One More Chance." Over the next few years, many catalog releases materialized: the 2004 box set The Ultimate Collection, the 2006 double-disc set The Essential Michael Jackson, a collectors box called Visionary in 2006, and his catalog saw deluxe reissues in 2008. Jackson planned a major comeback for 2009 with a major tour called This Is It featuring a long run of shows at London's O2 Arena. As he was in the midst of rehearsals in Los Angeles, he collapsed at home on the afternoon of June 25, 2009. Rushed to the UCLA Medical Center, Jackson was pronounced dead of a cardiac arrest at the age of 50. An extensive investigation later named his death a homicide due to prescription drugs; Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. It didn't take long for posthumous releases to begin to hit the shelves. Motown released The Remix Suite in October of 2009, and then a film documenting the 2009 concert rehearsals was released as This Is It, along with a soundtrack. Next came a DVD set called Vision, and 2010 brought Michael, a collection of outtakes, most dating from Invincible. In 2012, the 25th anniversary of Bad brought an expanded reissue of the 1987 album. Epic released Xscape in 2014, a record where L.A. Reid and Timbaland reworked demos recorded between Thriller and Invincible. Preceded by the single "Love Never Felt So Good" -- an electronic duet with Justin Timberlake that went to The Top 10 -- Xscape earned Gold certification. In 2016, Off the Wall received a deluxe reissue highlighted by an accompanying documentary directed by Spike Lee. Scream, a loosely Halloween-themed compilation, followed in 2017. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter renowned for her powerful voice and hit songs. Throughout her career, she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Aguilera has achieved five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the third female artist, and fourth overall, to top the chart over three consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, and 2010s). She has won seven Grammy Awards, including two Latin Grammy Awards, with the most recent being the 2022 Latin Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album on behalf of AGUILERA, her second Spanish-language album. She has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and holds the prestigious honor of being the only artist under the age of 30 included in Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 greatest vocalists of all time. Additionally, in 2021 she received the inaugural Music Icon Award at the People’s Choice Awards, followed by the Spirit of Hope Award at the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards and the Advocate for Change Award at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards. Aguilera continues to use her voice for good, having served as a global spokesperson for Yum! Brands’ World Hunger Relief effort since 2009 and has helped raise over $150 million for the World Food Program and other hunger relief agencies, in addition to raising awareness for various social causes around domestic violence and LGBTQ+ equality. She continues to be represented by Roc Nation, UTA, and imPRint.

ABBA

ABBA

ABBA, whose name is made up of the initials of the four members’ first names – Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad – was one of the biggest pop groups of the 1970s. Forming in 1972, the Swedish band burst onto the world stage two years later with their mega-hit ‘Waterloo’. With Björn and Benny as ambitious and ingenious writers/producers – their forceful manager Stig Anderson sometimes helping out with the lyrics – and Agnetha and Frida providing their compelling and emotionally charged vocals, the group was a powerful presence on the pop scene, conquering the world with hits such as ‘SOS’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Fernando’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘Chiquitita’, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and ‘Super Trouper’. Disbanding in 1982, the extraordinary success of the 1992 compilation ABBA Gold brought them back in the public consciousness, where they have remained ever since.

Happy Days

Banda estadounidense | Black metal, doom metal, depressive suicidal black metal (2006)

Forgotten Tomb

Banda italiana | Black metal, doom metal, metal gótico (1999)

Starting in the beginning of the millennium with bona fide classics such as "Songs to Leave" (2002), "Springtime Depression" (2003) and "Love&#39;s Burial Ground" (2004) - widely considered among the true originators of the so-called "Depressive Black Metal" sub-genre - the band explored increasingly heavier and broader territories with all the albums that followed, from the genre-shattering avant-garde of "Negative Megalomania" (2007) through the pitch-black rocking-vehicle "Under Saturn Retrograde" (2011), then perfecting the band&#39;s own black/doom formula with the harsher tones of "...And Don&#39;t Deliver Us From Evil" (2012) and "Hurt Yourself and The Ones You Love" (2015). In the meantime, they found the time to release a mid-career live in studio anniversary album ("Vol 5: 1999-2009", 2010) and a live DVD ("Darkness In Stereo: Eine Symphonie Des Todes", 2012). 2017 saw the release of the controversial "We Owe You Nothing", which showcased a hard-to-narrow style including increasingly Sludge and Punk overtones, making it the band&#39;s heaviest album to date. The 10th full-lenght album "Nihilistic Estrangement" has been released in May 2020 to enthusiastic reactions from fans and critics alike, marking the most successful album of the band in years. The band will return in July 2024 with a new album titled "Nightfloating" and an autumn tour in Europe and beyond.

Nocturnal Depression

Banda francesa | Ambient, black metal, ambient black metal, depressive suicidal black metal (2004)

Nocturnal Depression

Blod Besvimelse

Banda alemana | Black metal, ambient black metal (1999–2000) ❗

Ellende

Proyecto solista austriaco | Post‑black metal (2011) ❗

Ellende, referring to the middle high german word for “being out of one’s country” portrays the vision of Austrian multi-instrumentalist L.G. with an oeuvre of five fulllength albums and eight releases in total since 2011. His ambitions in atmospheric and ambient black metal have expressed human failure, pure emotion and beauty for over a decade. Through a subtle incorporation of classic instrumentation such as strings, brass and piano Ellende often exceeds boundaries of what is considered black metal. This project played more than 100 shows in over 20 countries as a live formation with session musicians. They were invited to prestigious festivals like Ragnarök Festival, Brutal Assault or Party San Open Air etc. Ellende reached official chartpositions in Austria (21) and Germany (31, 94) with the last two albums. Ellende is now releasing their fifth full length album "Todbringerin", recorded, mixed and mastered at Klangschmiede Studio E in 2023-2024 and will tour Europe in October through the "Scherben Tour". Discography: Todbringerin (2024), Ellenbogengesellschaft (2022), Triebe (2021), Lebensnehmer (2019), Todbringer (2016), Weltennacht (2014), Ellende (2013), Rückzug in die Innerlichkeit (2012), Merchandise: https://ellende.bandcamp.com - Homepage: www.ellende.at

Made Of Pain

Solista estadounidense | Depressive suicidal black metal, black metal atmosférico (2019) ❗

Sorry...

Banda griega | Depressive suicidal black metal (2017) ❗

"We are a protest against all forms of life voiced through works of pain and isolation." Sorry... is a depressive black metal band (DSBM), formed by Dimitris and Deplorable in 2019. After releasing their debut EP, <a href="spotify:album:3WX5CuaQ7HRYXHrXWynJpG" data-name="Failure Years of Neglect Apathy">Failure Years of Neglect Apathy</a> (2019), Dimitris began leading the band, inviting various musicians as collaborators. The following year, they released two EPs: <a href="spotify:album:4Zx5BkDRV14s7b8rAHBDw6" data-name="Bereavement of Existence">Bereavement of Existence</a> (2020) and <a href="spotify:album:1vDRPoUvqRoSfwNlut2vBf" data-name="Saudade">Saudade</a> (2020). All three EPs explore themes such as depression, anxiety, and distress. Over the next few years, the band released three full-length albums. <a href="spotify:album:6KuqXwNYccTAUK5UUEB2sC" data-name="All That Died Was My Innocence">All That Died Was My Innocence</a> (2021) and <a href="spotify:album:4fQhSKpiOv4RCbnMnbg6vk" data-name="Self Inflicted Razor Cutting">Self Inflicted Razor Cutting</a> (2023) developed a more refined sound without losing their emotionally anguished atmosphere, while the exceptional <a href="spotify:album:4PnNka6WyEDIsOyxvQxTCe" data-name="Innocence . Love . Sadness">Innocence . Love . Sadness</a> (2022) saw the band diverge into happier melodies, offering an ironic twist to the genre. Their 2024 EP, <a href="spotify:album:6OFe0lvAkEyGXV8Ze7N9fh" data-name="Never Fail to Disappoint">Never Fail to Disappoint</a>, delivers a suffocating feeling of isolation — a reminder that you&#39;re always alone. With their latest full-length album, <a href="spotify:album:7kqwd4GgpVnz0SWteU3QZV" data-name="Drowned in Misery">Drowned in Misery</a> (2024), Sorry… offers anxious guitar riffs and desperate vocals recorded in moments of heightened despair and distress. "To this day, we continue to share our feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and misery through our music."

Gateway to Selfdestruction

Banda alemana | Depressive suicidal black metal, atmospheric black metal (2013) ❗

Pink Turns Blue

Banda alemana | Darkwave, post-punk, new wave, rock gótico, rock alternativo (1985)

Pink Turns Blue are an influential post punk band from Berlin, Germany. Formed in 1985, they were part of the first generation of gothic rock in Germany and released 1987 their first LP, If Two Worlds Kiss with a sound reminiscent of new wave with very dark undertones and use of synthesizers, and went to become part of the developing sub-genre of dark wave. Musically they orient towards post-punk bands like early <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s" data-name="The Cure">The Cure</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4HLWX9kzfraiCsTvrxJEXm" data-name="The Chameleons">The Chameleons</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:4hzCcF4Leos2sKnz79nwhz" data-name="The Sound">The Sound</a>. In 1988, their second album Meta was released which carried the keyboard heavy <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s" data-name="The Cure">The Cure</a> sound to extremes and their second single, Your Master Is Calling, got them TV appearance in Tele 5, was on rotation of many radio stations. In 1992, Pink Turns Blue recorded their sixth album, Perfect Sex, with <a href="spotify:artist:3KPbOeJNTdNFUOiBaXuuZg" data-name="David M. Allen">David M. Allen</a>, the producer of <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s" data-name="The Cure">The Cure</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4HxBVyHaUa60eCSsJWxwWR" data-name="Sisters of Mercy">Sisters of Mercy</a>. In 2021, the band released their eleventh album TAINTED which received overwhelmingly positive responses, including ‘album of the year 2021’ by Byte FM (Hamburg), top album of the year 2021 by Post Punk Com (New York) and 4 songs from the album entering the German Indie Disko Top 40 for more than 20 weeks with @There Must Be So Much More on chart position 1. Also, three tracks ended up in the top 200 Indie Disko 2021 Annual Charts. For fans of: <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s" data-name="The Cure">The Cure</a> , <a href="spotify:artist:4HxBVyHaUa60eCSsJWxwWR" data-name="Sisters of Mercy">Sisters of Mercy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Zy4ncr8h1jd7Nzr9946fD" data-name="Killing Joke">Killing Joke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:762310PdDnwsDxAQxzQkfX" data-name="Depeche Mode">Depeche Mode</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4HLWX9kzfraiCsTvrxJEXm" data-name="The Chameleons">The Chameleons</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4hzCcF4Leos2sKnz79nwhz" data-name="The Sound">The Sound</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1n65zfwYIj5kKEtNgxUlWb" data-name="Siouxsie and the Banshees">Siouxsie and the Banshees</a>

Ghosting

Ghosting | Darkwave, dark electro (1989) ❗

Ghosting&#39;s music stands out in the Gothic Electro scene due to its unique blend of styles. Unlike many Gothic bands that focus solely on darkwave or gothic rock, Ghosting incorporates a wide range of influences, including ambient, classical, and techno elements. This eclectic approach sets them apart from other goth bands, which tend to maintain a more consistent darkwave or synth-pop sound. Ghosting&#39;s use of synthesizers and classical composition techniques, combined with their later adoption of techno rhythms, creates a distinctive sound that is both nostalgic and innovative. Their music often features atmospheric soundscapes and haunting melodies, which are typical of the Gothic genre but are executed with a unique flair.

She Wants Revenge

Banda estadounidense | Darkwave, indie rock, electrónica, rock gótico, rock alternativo, post-punk revival (2005)

Los Angeles DJs <a href="spotify:artist:7FsYhkJR8zX4NeEqifNqDA">Justin Warfield</a> and Adam "Adam 12" Bravin formed the moody, <a href="spotify:artist:432R46LaYsJZV2Gmc4jUV5">Joy Division</a>-inspired She Wants Revenge in 2004. A fortuitous combination of word of mouth, industry connections, and airplay on Sirius Satellite Radio and West Coast airwave giant KCRW provided the duo with enough exposure to snag a record deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Geffen%22">Geffen</a>, resulting in a 2006 self-titled release that drew comparisons to <a href="spotify:artist:3WaJSfKnzc65VDgmj2zU8B">Interpol</a>, early <a href="spotify:artist:762310PdDnwsDxAQxzQkfX">Depeche Mode</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2bcrMsFlF632EQ6VZERWFu">the Bravery</a>, as well as their aforementioned eternally depressed post-punk heroes from England. After touring with <a href="spotify:artist:762310PdDnwsDxAQxzQkfX">Depeche Mode</a>, they returned with 2007's This Is Forever. She Wants Revenge then issued two EPs, 2008's Save Your Soul and the following year's Up & Down. A tour with <a href="spotify:artist:0O0lrN34wrcuBenkqlEDZe">the Psychedelic Furs</a> led the way for the band's third album, Valleyheart, in 2011. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

La Scaltra

Banda alemana | Darkwave, gothic rock, post‑punk (2011) ❗

La Scaltra

†††

Proyecto musical estadounidense | Dark wave, dream pop, witch house, electronic rock, industrial rock, gothic rock, post-punk (2011)

††† Chino Moreno † Shaun Lopez †††

Swallow

Dúo británico | Shoegazing, dream pop (1990 – 1994)

Antigua's undisputed party master who pleases everyone from the Caribbean to NYC to Toronto with cowbell- and horn-driven soca. Talented beyond compare, able year after year to compose infectious hooks with catchy lyrics. There's not a bad release by Swallow throughout his long career. ~ Gene Scaramuzzo

Superheaven

Banda estadounidense | Alternative rock, grunge, post-grunge, shoegaze, post-hardcore (2008)

Originally formed as <a href="spotify:artist:2YBfAy7PwhFaLNqIo99uTv">Daylight</a> in 2007, the grunge revivalists changed their name to Superheaven in 2014. Although their name changed, their sound, which drew upon the driving and sludgy melodies of the '90s for inspiration, remained, with nods to bands like <a href="spotify:artist:2UazAtjfzqBF0Nho2awK4z">Stone Temple Pilots</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> still intact. Looking to reintroduce themselves to the world, they reissued their full-length debut, Jar, under their new name in 2014. The following year saw them ink a deal with Los Angeles-based indie <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Side+One+Dummy%22">Side One Dummy</a> and release Ours Is Chrome. ~ Gregory Heaney, Rovi

東京酒吐座(Tokyo Shoegazer)

Banda japonesa | Shoegaze, alternative rock (2010)

OFFICIAL account of the Japanese shoegaze band. Contact → [email protected] #東京酒吐座 #tokyoshoegazer

Nothing

Banda estadounidense | Shoegaze, indie rock, dream pop, noise rock, slowcore, post-rock, post-hardcore (2010)

Nothing is an American Post-Shoegaze band that formed by Domenic Palermo in 2010 in Philadelphia. The band released two EPs(Suns And Lovers on Tokyo boutique label Big Love Records and Downward Years To Come on Baltimore punk label A389) before signing with Relapse Records. They released their debut studio album, Guilty of Everything in 2014, the follow-up album Tired of Tomorrow in 2016, Dance on the Blacktop in 2018, and their fourth studio album, The Great Dismal, was released in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Now they’re just fucking chilling.

Narrow Head

Banda estadounidense | Alternative metal, shoegaze, post-hardcore, grunge (2013)

Narrow Head

溶けない名前

Banda japonesa | Shoegaze japonés, kayō shoegaze, dream pop, indie pop japonés (2012) ❗

Blanket

Banda británica | Shoegaze, post‑rock, grunge (2017) ❗

Shoegaze / Post Rock / Grunge band from North West UK. blanketofficial.com

deer death

Solista estadounidense | Shoegaze, alternative rock, slowcore, doomy rock (2023) ❗

ig: deerdth

Doused

Solista estadounidense | Shoegaze, dream pop, slowcore, grunge, darkwave (2022) ❗

Wannabe shoegazers from Philadelphia.

Iron Maiden

Banda británica | Heavy metal (1975)

Iron Maiden are an institution. Over 50 years they’ve come to embody a spirit of fearless creative independence, spectacular live shows, ferocious dedication to their fans, and a cheerful indifference to their critics that’s won them a colossal worldwide following. Their epic discography includes the studio albums ‘Iron Maiden, ‘Killers’, ‘The Number Of The Beast’, ‘Piece Of Mind’, ‘Powerslave, ‘Somewhere In Time’, and ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’ right up to their 17th outing – ‘Senjutsu.’ That celebrated catalogue has inspired many classic such as ‘The Trooper’, ‘Wasted Years’, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’, ‘The Number Of The Beast’, ‘Wasting Love’, ‘Run To The Hills’, ‘Aces High’, ‘Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’ and ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’. 2024 sees the conclusion of their The Future Past world tour ahead of their newly announced Run For Your Lives tour in 2025/26, celebrating the group’s 50th anniversary. It will include some of the largest venues the band has ever played.

Animuz Anime Piano

Proyecto musical independiente vietnamita | Piano instrumental, música de anime, game music, OST de videojuegos, música educativa (2019) ❗

Michael Giacchino

Compositor estadounidense | Música cinematográfica, bandas sonoras, música orquestal, música para cine y televisión (1994)

Joe Hisaishi

Compositor y director de orquesta japonés | Música cinematográfica, banda sonora, música clásica contemporánea, minimalismo, música orquestal (1974)

Henry Mancini

Compositor, director de orquesta, arreglista, pianista y flautista estadounidense | Música de cine, jazz, pop orquestal, lounge, música ligera, teatro musical (1946–1994)

Frédéric Chopin

Pianista y compositor Polaco | Música clásica, Romanticismo, nocturno, balada, estudio, mazurca, vals, polonesa, impromptu, preludio (1821-1849)

Nike Hutchisson

Pianista clásica británica | Música clásica, piano clásico, música de cámara (1980)

Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Compositor y violinista francés | Música clásica, clasicismo, música instrumental, concierto para violín (1770–1799)

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Compositor alemán | Ópera, música clásica, ballet (1741–1787)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Compositor y músico alemán | Música barroca, música sacra, contrapunto, música coral, música instrumental (1710–1750)

Chezile

Chezile

Alejandro Sanchez, known professionally as Chezile, is an American singer-songwriter and producer from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Chezile is celebrated for his unique fusion of jazz, soul, and indie, crafting a melancholic and ethereal sonic experience that resonates deeply with listeners. He rose to prominence in 2024 with his breakout single, “Beanie,” which topped Spotify charts worldwide. Shortly after, he released his debut project, &#39;47,&#39; a deeply personal body of work created during a turbulent period when he was moving from Albuquerque to Los Angeles and living out of his car, motels, and Airbnbs. Despite these challenges, Chezile recorded wherever he could, capturing the raw, unfiltered emotions of his journey.

wotaku

wotaku

Wotaku is a Japanese VOCALOID music producer renowned for his distinctive fusion of pop rock, electro swing, and trap genres. He began his musical journey in May 2017 as part of the production unit Jimmy&#39;z alongside fellow producer _yuragi. Following _yuragi&#39;s retirement, Wotaku pursued a solo career, primarily utilizing the virtual singer Hatsune Miku in his compositions. His innovative tracks, including "Holon," "SHANTI," and "Gehenna," have garnered over a million views on YouTube, reflecting his significant impact on the electronic music scene. In addition to his popular tracks, Wotaku has released several albums, including "November" (2022), "Desukutotsupuaidoru2" (2022), and "Ye Bing" (2022). His recent singles, such as "Desukutotsupuaidoru3" (2023) and "Manhatsutan" (2022), showcase his versatility and commitment to evolving his sound within the electronic music landscape. Wotaku&#39;s contributions continue to influence the electronic and VOCALOID music communities, solidifying his status as a prominent figure in the genre.

jon-YAKITORY

jon-YAKITORY

HIPHOPをルーツに持つ、ビート感とボカロミュージックの融合に挑戦するボカロP。 邦楽だけでなく様々なジャンルの洋楽に触れて過ごした青春期を経て 2013年の初投稿から８年間の下積み時代の経験と、そこで得た技術を生かし「音楽家になる！」夢を実現。 2020年投稿のシニカルでネガティブな歌詞の代表作である“シカバネーゼ feat.Ado”はYouTubeで総再生数1000万再生を越え、Spotifyのバイラルチャートでは過去最高1位を獲得。 2020年12月に投稿した”フェイキング・オブ・コメディ(feat. Ado)”も200万再生を越えており、次世代を担うボカロPの1人。 2021年７月28日にボカロベストアルバム「Y」リリース予定 Vocaloid Producer who has roots in HIPHOP music and challenges combining the Vocaloid music with the beat. He spent time listening to various genres of Japanese and Western music on his youth and from the first post of his music since 2013, 8 years of dues paying, he achived his dream of “becoming a musician!" "Shikabanese feat. Ado", a masterpiece of cynical and negative lyrics posted in 2020, has exceeded 10 million views on YouTube and reached the highest number ever on Spotify&#39;s viral chart. "Faking of Comedy (feat. Ado)" posted in December 2020 also exceeds 2 million views. One of Vocaloid Producers who will lead the next generation.

Nagumoyuuki

Nagumoyuuki

Lebanon Hanover

Dúo británico-aleman | Cold wave, post-punk (2010)

An ice cold reply to the alienated world coming from two warm beating hearts. The duo of Larissa Iceglass and William Maybelline appear as true romantics of the modern age, admiring William Wordsworth, fascinated by the beauty of art nouveau aesthetics, exploring British seashores and forests at night as well as inspired by the urbanism of Berlin. official page www.lebanonhanover.com https://lebanonhanover.bandcamp.com/ https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lebanon-hanover/639573641 http://fabrikarecords.com/

PEPOYO

PEPOYO

柊キライ

柊キライ

Chinozo

Chinozo

趣味はChinozo

北沢強兵

北沢強兵

北沢強兵 Starting out in 2019 Kitazawa Kyouhei is a Music Producer and Song Writer from Bucharest, Romania who is breaking through the scene of the Japanese VOCALOID Music with a very unique style. His works tend to cover dark themes and topics along with catchy dark-trap instrumentals. Flaunting his own new tones throughout the VOCALOID sphere, Kitazawa Kyouhei is a producer and songwriter with a talent for forging dark themes and mood-rich atmospheres. Each of Kitazawa Kyouhei&#39;s works features masterfully tuned vocals and progressive instrumentals, often delving into modern pop and trap-inspired choices.

すりぃ

すりぃ

SLAVE.V-V-R

SLAVE.V-V-R

Mikito P

Mikito P

WADATAKEAKI KurageP

WADATAKEAKI KurageP

DECO*27

DECO*27

DECO*27 作詞、作曲を手掛けるアーティスト/プロデューサー ロックやエレクロニックをベースにジャンルレスなミクスチャーサウンドとポップ＆キャッチーなメロディー。「愛」や「恋」といった万人が持つ感情を独特な言葉遊びで表現し、一聴しただけで思わず口ずさんでしまう歌詞が10代~20代の若い世代に圧倒的な支持を得ている。 2008年10月よりVOCALOIDを使用した作品を動画共有サイトに投稿開始。これまで公開されたDECO*27の楽曲の関連動画を含む総再生回数は10億を超える。様々なアーティストへの楽曲提供、作詞、タイアップ・ソングなどを手がけるのと並行して、活動の原点であるVOCALOID楽曲を自身の最新作へ向けた布石として発表し続ける。

Anamanaguchi

Anamanaguchi

Anamanaguchi is a four-piece band from New York and L.A. that programs and performs intensely emotional digital music, and also once sent a slice of pizza into space. After the release of [USA] in 2019 the band has returned for a series of summer singles that includes a remix of Porter Robinson&#39;s "Get Your Wish," the POCHI collaboration track, "Kei," "Everyday, Everynight" with Planet 1999, "Jaime" with Jaime Brooks and more.

Hatsune Miku

Hatsune Miku

クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア株式会社が開発した、歌詞とメロディーを入力して誰でも歌を歌わせることができる「ソフトウェア」です。 大勢のクリエイターが「初音ミク」で音楽を作り、インターネット上に投稿したことで一躍ムーブメントとなりました。 「キャラクター」としても注目を集め、今ではバーチャル・シンガーとしてグッズ展開やライブを行うなど多方面で活躍するようになり、人気は世界に拡がっています。 The trademarks of Hatsune Miku are her two blue-green ponytails, and her futuristic outfit resembling a school uniform. The Hatsune Miku voice synthesizer software was developed based on the voice of Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita, and first released on August 31st, 2007. Since her release, Hatsune Miku has evolved into a phenomenon of highly participatory cyber culture, with Miku-related content created and shared everyday around the globe. At present, Hatsune Miku is not only the icon of this ever expanding creative community, but she is also the main performer of sold-out 3D concerts worldwide, even appearing in TV commercials such as for Toyota USA and Google, and on US national TV’s Late Show with David Letterman.

Kikuo

Kikuo

Music Producer (JP) http://kikuo.jp

GIRLS BE

GIRLS BE

★豊嶋真千子 茨城県出身。‘90年代から声優としてアニメ『それいけ！アンパンマン』などで活躍、’97年に桑島法子とGIRLS BEを結成、ビクターエンタテインメントよりCDシングル1作品、CDアルバム2作品を発表。GIRLS BE活動停止後、ソロとして日本コロムビア、キングレコードからソロ作品をリリース、その後もテレビ、ラジオ、舞台と広く活動をしている。現在、NHK『ダーウィンが来た！』のダーウィンNEWSコーナーのナレーションや、アニメ『ちびまる子ちゃん』の２代目お姉ちゃん役として活躍中。 ★桑島法子 岩手県出身。‘96年に声優として『機動戦艦ナデシコ』のヒロイン、ミスマル・ユリカに抜擢され注目を浴びる。’97年に豊嶋真千子とGIRLS BEを結成。‘05年にソロアルバム『純色brilliant』を、‘15年には『20周年記念ベストアルバム　HouKo ChroniCle』をフライング・ドッグから発表。また、同郷の宮沢賢治の作品を朗読する催し『朗読夜』をライフワークとして開催している。2025年3月15日には「桑島法子 朗読夜『銀河鉄道の夜～ihatov guitar edition～』」をIMAホール（東京都練馬区）で開催する。

Lamp

Lamp

Rapero compositor. Nacido el 22 de diciembre de 2001 en Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Kahimi Karie

Kahimi Karie

Though she now resides in Paris, Japanese singer/songwriter Kahimi Karie is still linked with the stylish, ultra-hip look and sound of Tokyo's Shibuya district, which also inspired like-minded artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:1JutKskRO6oaNx1vLwhKM7">Fantastic Plastic Machine, </a><a href="spotify:artist:0IQalWuw5NBk1xXG5GK0Bv">Pizzicato Five</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2vJObElaIZWYDLpiXiJMo9">Cornelius</a>. In particular, <a href="spotify:artist:2vJObElaIZWYDLpiXiJMo9">Cornelius</a> (aka Keigo Oyamada) had a lot to do with jump-starting Karie's career in music; during the early '90s, she was a music photographer and he was her boyfriend at the time. Oyamada asked her to sing with a band on his friend's label, and her sweet, sensual, yet innocent vocal style was discovered. Almost immediately after the release of her first EP, Karie became a superstar in Japan, releasing several gold-status singles, hosting a radio program, and recording the theme song to one of the nation's most popular animated shows. She also collaborated with members of <a href="spotify:artist:0IQalWuw5NBk1xXG5GK0Bv">Pizzicato Five</a>, French indie pop vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:1mgMUiCLotueW9uU9ZZjk3">Katerine</a>, and, most significantly, Scottish singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:0Uuw1MHNH56xL76bTOVJE8">Momus</a>, who wrote and produced songs on several of her later singles and albums, including her 1998 self-titled U.S. debut, which was released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Minty+Fresh+Records%22">Minty Fresh Records</a>. That year also saw her live debut in the States as the opening act for <a href="spotify:artist:0Uuw1MHNH56xL76bTOVJE8">Momus</a>' U.S. tour; the following year they toured together again, and Karie released K.K.K.K.K. domestically on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Le+Grand+Magistery%22">Le Grand Magistery</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Uuw1MHNH56xL76bTOVJE8">Momus</a>' U.S. label. Journey to the Centre of Me appeared in mid-2000. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Serani Poji

Serani Poji

ALI PROJECT

ALI PROJECT

作詞ボーカル・宝野アリカと、作曲編曲・片倉三起也によるユニット。 独創的なメロディとアレンジ、文学的な歌詞、先鋭的なビジュアルで、幅広いファン層を魅了するALI PROJECT。 多数のアニメ主題歌を手掛け、毎年オリジナル・アルバムをリリース、全国TOURを行っている。2013年2月には活動を総覧する“20年に一度の総合芸術展“と称される豪華なシングルコレクションをリリースした。 音楽、映像、美術、デザイン、ポスターから衣裳、舞台アートにいたるまでの独特で多様な視聴覚芸術をつめ込んだALI PROJECTのすべてが手に取れる貴重なアイテムとなっている。そして2017年には活動25周年を迎え25周年記念シングル「卑弥呼外伝」、「25周年記念ベストアルバム「血と蜜～Anthology of Gothic Lolita & Horror」(Lantis)と、「愛と誠～YAMATO & LOVE×××」（FlyingDog）をリリース。次なる展開に向けて常に飛躍する、飽くことなき探究心を携えたアーティストユニットである。

gulu gulu

Banda japonesa de visual kei | Rock alternativo, punk, experimental, J-rock (2022) ❗

LAREINE

Banda japonesa | Visual kei, rock sinfónico, rock progresivo, rock experimental, pop barroco, pop rock, synthpop (1994–2015)

Momoko Kikuchi

Momoko Kikuchi

She made her debut in 1984.She successfully performed at the Nippon Budokan in 1985 at the age of 17, the youngest age ever recorded at the time.The song "Graduation," released in the same year, became her first No. 1 hit on Japan&#39;s weekly charts, and since her debut as a singer, she has won numerous awards and become a representative artist of 80s idols in Japan. In recent years, her songs released at the time have been reevaluated not only in Japan but also overseas as a new genre of "Japanese City Pop" and have gained much popularity. The lovely melody lines of J-Pop and her soothing voice are creating a new music culture that transcends national borders. ーーーー 1984年に『青春のいじわる』でデビュー。アイドルとして人気を博し、1985年に当時の最年少公演記録となる17歳で日本武道館公演を成功。同年リリース「卒業-GRADUATION-」は自身初のオリコンウィークリーチャート1位を記録し、以降7作品連続でオリコン週間1位を獲得。歌手としてデビュー以来、第26回日本レコード大賞新人賞、日本レコードセールス大賞など数々の賞を受賞。 当時の楽曲ほとんど全てを作曲家・林哲司が担当しており、80年代アイドルソングとしての人気を集め、 近年では海外中心としたジャパニーズ・シティ・ポップのブームにより再評価がなされている。

S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe

S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe

“Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe”, a Japanese band, who were active and very popular around the 80s, will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2023. Special website https://www.vap.co.jp/sugiyamaomega_40th_anniversary/ Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe made their major debut in April 1983 with the single, ‘SUMMER SUSPICION&#39;, from the record label VAP. Summer, sea and resorts are main themes of the band and their hit songs are well known inside and outside of Japan as ‘summer songs’ and in the genre ‘Japanese city pop’.

Masayuki Suzuki

Masayuki Suzuki

<p>Masayuki Suzuki is a Japanese pop vocalist who began releasing platinum-selling records during the early 1980s as a member of Rats & Star, then launched a popular solo career during the latter half of the decade. He was born on September 22, 1956, in Ōta City, Tokyo. Suzuki formed the band Chanels with musicians Masashi Tashiro and Nobuyoshi Kuwano in 1975, and the group released its first single, "Runaway," in 1980. Chanels changed its name to Rats & Star three years later and continued releasing music until 1996. Meanwhile, Suzuki also enjoyed a long run of hits as a solo artist, beginning with his debut single "Glass Goshi ni Kieta Natsu" in 1986. The song reached Number 15 on the Oricon Singles Charts and appeared on Suzuki's first full-length album, Mother of Pearl, which reached Number 20 in Japan. After releasing several additional records, he climbed to Number 1 on the Oricon Albums Chart with 1992's platinum-certified Fair Affair and remained in the Top 10 with 1993's Perfume, 1994's She See Sea, 1995's chart-topping Martini II, 1997's Carnival, 2000's Medium Slow, and 2001's Tokyo Junction. As the 2000s progressed, he also released a series of tribute albums, with 2011's Discover Japan, 2014's Discover Japan II, and 2017's Discover Japan III all becoming Top 20 successes in his homeland. He then returned to the Top 10 with another solo album, Funky Flag, in 2019.</p>

Mariya Takeuchi

Mariya Takeuchi

A Keio University student with a penchant for singing, Mariya Takeuchi took it upon herself to jump-start her career, releasing a single in 1978 without a label. The single garnered moderate success, ultimately launching Takeuchi into wide recognition. She released a total of five albums between 1978 and 1982, with a series of singles scratching the Top 100 or Top 40 of the Oricon charts, but never gaining a number one hit (though "Mysterious Peach Pie" did become a strong player, peaking at a number three position). The albums fared similarly, each hitting the weekly Top 20, but only 1980's Love Songs hit number one on the charts and became a strong seller. After marrying fellow musician and sometimes collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:41hQ0PoEyj9xEBhwt73aWC">Tatsuro Yamashita</a> in 1981, Takeuchi took a leave from the industry to raise their young child. Upon her return in 1984, fame was awaiting in a grander fashion. Since 1984, Takeuchi has released seven studio albums, each holding the Oricon number one slot, and a 1994 compilation (Impressions) became one of the higher-selling Japanese albums with three million copies sold. Along with her success as a solo artist, however, Takeuchi has become something of a go-to songwriter for Japan's pop industry, penning songs for a series of top artists. After a brief hiatus following 2004's Longtime Favorites album, Takeuchi returned to the scene in 2007 with the number one album Denim, and repeated the number one feat with 2008's Expressions. ~ Adam Greenberg, Rovi

Miki Matsubara

Miki Matsubara

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz2w1NbLL_hUphhsZRAFljg

Sadistics

Sadistics

Masayoshi Takanaka

Masayoshi Takanaka

Masayoshi Takanaka, born in Tokyo in 1953, began his professional career in 1971 by playing guitar and bass guitar in the prog rock band “Flied Egg” with Hiro Tsunoda and the late Shigeru Narumo. In 1972, he joined “the Sadistic Mika Band” as a guitarist. The band fragmented before too long but he stayed as an active member of “the Sadistics” later formed band by the remaining members. In 1976, he released his first solo album, “Seychelles”. From then, he released “Ready To Fly”, “Blue Lagoon” and many other hit classics in rapid-fire way. The album “Rainbow Goblins” released in 1981 became his magnum-opus, shining brilliantly amongst all instrumental albums released in the Japanese music scene. He has collaborated with several other musical giants, notably Lee Ritenour Santana, Narada Michael Walden, Sheila E. and the other musicians from LA in both live acts and albums. Throughout the &#39;70s, &#39;80s and ‘90s, he continued his solo output, releasing song under Kitty Records until 1984 and EMI from 1985 to 2000. In 2000, he formed his own personal record label, Lagoon Records. Since then, he has energetically been carrying out nationwide tours every year. He held golden anniversary live “Rainbow Goblins Final” at the Nippon Budokan on 20, November, 2021. Official Website: www.takanaka.com

Taeko Ohnuki

大貫妙子, FEBIAN REZA PANE, 坂本龍一 & 小倉博和

Taeko Onuki 
 Born in Tokyo, Japan. Formed Sugar Babe with Tatsuro Yamashita and others in 1973, and released Japan&#39;s first urban pop masterpiece "Songs" in 1975, but broke up in 1976. In the same year, she made her solo debut with "Gray Skies ". She is one of the pioneers of female singers and songwriters in Japanese pop music. Her delicate musical world based on her unique sense of beauty and her clear, unpretentious voice have attracted many people.

AKUGETSU

AKUGETSU

結束バンド

結束バンド

アニメ「ぼっち・ざ・ろっく！」公式アカウント 結束バンド Zeppツアー「We will」開催中！ 追加公演「We will B」開催決定！ 推奨ハッシュタグ⇒ #ぼっち・ざ・ろっく #結束バンド

Nakimushi

Nakimushi

本名・素顔・年齢全て非公表のソロアーティスト。 特徴的なハスキーボイスに乗せて自在に紡がれるメロディと、巧みな言葉選びの歌詞で唯一無二な表現の楽曲を生み出しリスナーを急速に獲得中。 作詞・作曲はもちろん、時に編曲やトラック制作に加え、MUSIC VIDEOディレクションやアートワークデザインも自ら行う。人気シンガー・yamaやAdoとのコラボや楽曲提供も行い、2021年11月5日にはyamaとの3度目のタッグとなる新曲「アブノーマリティー。(feat. yama)」を配信リリース。同年7月に配信リリースしたTVアニメ「東京リベンジャーズ」のED主題歌「トーキョーワンダー。」は国内外を問わずに人気を集めている。 2022年11月18日にキタニタツヤとのコラボレーション曲「どーだって。(feat. キタニタツヤ)」をリリース。 A solo artist whose true name, face, and age are unknown. His distinctive husky voice and his melodic prowess combine with his bold lyricism to create unique songs that have captured the attention of younger listeners. In addition to writing, composing, arranging, and producing his tracks, Nakimushi also does music video direction and artwork design. He has collaborated with and written tracks for many popular artists like yama and Ado, and on November 5th, 2021, he released his third work in collaboration with yama, “Abnormality. (feat. yama)”. His July release, “Tokyo Wonder.”, has been featured as the ending theme of the hit anime “Tokyo Revengers” , The song&#39;s growing popularity in Japan and overseas. New Single “Do-datte.(feat. Tatsuya Kitani)” was released on November 18th.

Romix

Romix

Japanese Music Anime style. https://helloromix.com/

Kenshi Yonezu

Kenshi Yonezu

音楽家 イラストレーター。 2009年よりハチ名義でニコニコ動画にボーカロイド楽曲を投稿し「マトリョシカ」「パンダヒーロー」などの作品を発表し、群を抜いた実績を残す。2012年より米津玄師として活動を開始。2018年ドラマ「アンナチュラル」主題歌として発表した「Lemon」は、年間ランキングを2年連続で獲得するなど、日本の音楽史に残る記録を出す。2020年8月にリリースした5thアルバム「STRAY SHEEP」は、200万セールスを突破。同年の年間ランキングでは46冠を達成し、2年連続で年間首位を記録。2022年に発表したテレビアニメ「チェンソーマン」のオープニングテーマ「KICK BACK」は、日本語楽曲としては史上初となる、アメリカレコード協会(RIAA)のゴールド認定を獲得。2023年には、米アカデミー賞の長編アニメーション賞を受賞したスタジオジブリ宮﨑駿監督作「君たちはどう生きるか」の主題歌「地球儀」、「FINAL FANTASY XVI」のテーマソング「月を見ていた」を発表。2024年には、NHK連続テレビ小説「虎に翼」の主題歌「さよーならまたいつか！」、映画「ラストマイル」の主題歌「がらくた」、SpotifyのブランドCMソング「RED OUT」などが収録された6thアルバム「LOST CORNER」をリリース。2025年1月より「米津玄師 2025 TOUR / JUNK」を開催。国内公演の後にワールドツアーとして、上海、台北、ロンドン、パリ、NY、LA公演と自身最大規模のツアーを予定している。 Kenshi Yonezu, musician and illustrator, has been posting original songs on Niconico under the name "Hachi" since 2009. In 2012, he started his career under his real name, Kenshi Yonezu. In 2018, he released "Lemon", topped major charts for two consecutive years. In 2020, his 5th album, "STRAY SHEEP", sold over 2 million copies, topped the annual rankings for two consecutive years, winning 46 titles. In 2022, he released "KICK BACK", became the first Japanese-language song certified gold by the RIAA®. In 2023, he released "Chikyugi - Spinning Globe", the theme song for the Academy Award-winning Best Animated Feature Film The Boy and the Heron. In 2024, his 6th album "LOST CORNER" was released. In 2025, he will kick off his largest-scale tour to date, "KENSHI YONEZU 2025 TOUR / JUNK", with performances worldwide.

Cécile Corbel

Cécile Corbel

This artist with a captivating universe was born in 1980 in Finistère, Brittany. She forges a unique and inspired path as a composer, author, Celtic harpist, and singer. She has released a dozen studio albums with Simon Caby, her partner both in life and on stage. Her passion for legends, fantasy, and cultures of the Imaginary has naturally led her to compose music for visual media. She has created several film scores, including the soundtrack for the movie "Arrietty, the Borrower" by the iconic Studio Ghibli, Japan&#39;s film of the year in 2010. This achievement earned her the title of Best Original Soundtrack of the Year at the Japan Golden Disc Awards, as well as two gold records. With over 1000 concerts in more than 20 countries over the past 15 years, she has graced prestigious stages both in France and abroad. From Tokyo Opera City Hall to the Stravinski Auditorium in Montreux, passing through the Interceltic Festival of Lorient where she regularly performs, and the Xi&#39;an Concert Hall, her music has won the hearts of thousands of fans worldwide. She performs regularly in Asia, especially in China. She is currently working on various original music projects for films, including the animated feature "Les Légendaires."

Azumi Inoue

Azumi Inoue

Azumi Inoue (井上 あずみ or 井上杏美, Inoue Azumi, born February 10, 1965, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese singer. She graduated from Yugakkan High School in Kanazawa. She is best known for singing the opening and ending theme songs for the Hayao Miyazaki film My Neighbor Totoro: "Sanpo" and "My Neighbor Totoro". She is known for having a clear, light voice. Inoue is managed by the talent management firm Doremi. She is married and has one child. In 2011, she appeared in 7 out of 19 performances of "Sound Horizon Live Tour 2011 First Territorial Reconstruction Expedition". On November 11 of the same year, she performed with Kumiko and actress Chieko Baisho at the "38th Japan Singers Association Song Festival" held at Yu-Port in Gotanda, Tokyo. On November 26, she held a mini concert at Takaodai Junior High School in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, at the 30th Anniversary Ceremony Lecture.

Zutto Mayonaka de Iinoni.

Zutto Mayonaka de Iinoni.

sumika

sumika

sumika（スミカ）は、日本のバンド。所属事務所はmurffin discs。所属レーベルはソニー・ミュージックレーベルズ内のソニー・ミュージックレコーズ。 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumika を https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode に基づき二次利用しています。

Official HIGE DANdism

Official HIGE DANdism

2012年結成、愛称は「ヒゲダン」。 このバンド名には髭の似合う歳になっても、誰もがワクワクするような音楽を このメンバーでずっと続けて行きたいという意思が込められている。 2015年4月1stミニアルバム「ラブとピースは君の中」をリリースし、デビュー。 2018年4月Major 1st Single「ノーダウト」でメジャーデビューを果たした。 ブラックミュージックをはじめ、様々なジャンルをルーツとした音楽で全世代から支持を集め続けている。 Official Hige Dandism was formed in 2012, and the band is nicknamed “Hige Dan”. The band&#39;s name reflects its members’ desire to continue making music that everyone will be excited about, even when they are old enough to wear beards. In April 2015, they debuted with the release of their first mini-album “Love To Peace Ha Kimi No Naka”. They made their major debut in April 2018 with their first major single “No Doubt”. With its roots in various genres of music, the band continues to attract fans from all generations.

THE ORAL CIGARETTES

THE ORAL CIGARETTES

The Band formed in 2010 in Nara, Japan. In their music, we face and feel the dark side of the human beings with twisted words and music. Vocal&Guitar Takuya Yamanaka Bass&Chorus Akirakani Akira Guitar Shigenobu Suzuki Drums Masaya Nakanishi OFFICIAL HP：http://theoralcigarettes.com/ ーーー 2010年奈良にて結成。 人間の闇の部分に目を背けずに音と言葉を巧みに操る唯一無二のロックバンド。 Vocal&Guitar 山中拓也 Bass&Chorus あきらかにあきら Guitar 鈴木重伸 Drums 中西雅哉 オフィシャルHP：http://theoralcigarettes.com/

BURNOUT SYNDROMES

BURNOUT SYNDROMES

大阪発、青春文學ロックバンド。2005 年結成。 日本語の響き、美しさを大切にした文學的な歌詞やヴォーカル、その世界を彩る緻密に計算されたアレンジ。 スリーピースの限界に常に挑戦しているバンド。 2010年、TOKYO FM 「SCHOOL OF LOCK!」 主催イベント「閃光ライオット」に出演し準グランプリを獲得。結成10周年となる2016年3月、シングル「FLY HIGH!!」でメジャーデビュー。その後「ハイキュー‼」「Dr.STONE」「銀魂」など数々の人気アニメOP・EDを担当し、7月にはTVアニメ「ド級編隊エグゼロス」OPタイアップでVirtual Artist「VIRTUALOUT SYNDROMES」をプロデュース。 2021年にはTVアニメ「ましろのおと」では同クール2曲もOPを担当する、異例のタイアップ。 2022年にはTVスペシャル「Dr.STONE 龍水」のOPを担当。 海外からの支持も厚く、2022年・2023年にはワールドツアーを開催。アメリカ・中南米・アジア・中東など世界各地のファンを熱狂させ、日本のサブカルチャーを音楽で率いる唯一無二のアーティストとして活動中。 BURNOUT SYNDROMES is a Japanese Rock Band from Osaka, formed in 2005. They always challenge the limit of a 3 piece band with their poetic lyrics, emphasizing the beauty of the Japanese sound and original sound, which colorizes the worldview of songs. In 2010, they won the 2nd Grand Prix at "Senkou Rionette" the band audition for teens held by TOKYO FM. In March 2016, they debuted with single "FLY HIGH!!", which was used as the OP theme for the anime "Haikyu!! Second Season". After debuting, their song "Hikariare(ヒカリアレ)" and "PHOENIX" was chosen as the opening theme for the anime "Haikyu!!" three times in a row for the first time. Until now they made OP/ED songs for popular anime such as "Gintama“, "Dr.STONE“, and “Those Snow White Notes”. In 2023, they released best album “The WORLD is Mine”, and ventured out on a world tour across US, Europe and Asia. Their new project is the OP theme song "Maou” for anime "The Misfit of Demon King Academy II" featuring Nao Toyama.

cinema staff

cinema staff

飯田瑞規（Vo/Gt）、辻友貴（Gt）、三島想平（Ba）、久野洋平（Dr）からなる激しくも繊細なサウンドとリズムのバンドアンサンブルに、Vo飯田の印象的な声とメロディが掛け合わされた楽曲が特徴的な4人組ロックバンド。進撃の巨人OP、EDなどアニメからの知名度はもちろん、その確かな演奏力とパフォーマンスはライブバンドとして国内海外問わず影響を持ち続けている。 Four piece rock band featuring violently delicate pop melodies multiplied by the impressive voice of vocalist Mizuki Iida and influenced by alternative, emo and post rock without losing a aggressive impulsivity and passion. Band members are; Mizuki IIda on vocals and guitar, Tomotaka Tsuji on guitar, Sohei Mishima on bass and Yohei Kuno on drums. Iida, Tsuji and Mishima started the band which would later become Cinema Staff in high school with Kuno joining the band in 2006 for the current line up. “Great Escape” and "Name of Love" which becomes the theme song for the TV series "Attack on Titan”

RADWIMPS

RADWIMPS

Formed in 2001, much acclaimed Japanese rock band Radwimps made their major label debut in 2005. Soon after, they garnered a broad fan base, with the younger generation at the core. The band has released ten studio albums thus far. The band&#39;s creation of music for Makoto Shinkai’s record-breaking animated feature films "Your Name." (2016), "Weathering with You" (2019) and “Suzume” (2022) led to recognitions at the Japanese Academy Award for Best Original Score. In Nov. 2021, the band released their latest studio album “FOREVER DAZE” and went on the road for a nationwide Japanese tour to support the album. “FOREVER DAZE” was written and recorded throughout the pandemic and speaks to the musical challenges the guys faced, their hopes moving forward and features a diverse group of collaborators and experimental elements. Their musical activities go far beyond Japan, including touring extensively around the world. The band embarked on their biggest world tour in 2023, first international tour in 5 years, with all SOLD OUT North America, Europe, Asia and Australia dates. Due to further demand from the fans, the band went out on the road once again in 2024 to the first ever LATAM tour and another Asia tour for “The way you yawn, and the outcry of Peace.”

Haruomi Hosono

Haruomi Hosono

細野晴臣（ほその・はるおみ） 1947年東京生まれ。音楽家。1969年「エイプリル・フール」でデビュー。1970年「はっぴいえんど」結成。73年ソロ活動を開始、同時に「ティン・パン・アレー」としても活動。78年「イエロー・マジック・オーケストラ(YMO)」を結成、歌謡界での楽曲提供を手掛けプロデューサー、レーベル主宰者としても活動。YMO散開後は、ワールドミュージック、アンビエント、エレクトロニカを探求、作曲・プロデュース・映画音楽など多岐にわたり活動。 Haruomi Hosono Born 1947 in Tokyo Japan, a founding member of both the influential folk rock act Happy End and the pioneering electronic trio, Yellow Magic Orchestra. Haruomi, or Harry Hosono has also released a number of solo albums in his five decade career. His work spans many styles that effortlessly fuse exotica, funk, country, electronic, ambient, and everything in-between, with projects also including film soundtracks and production duties for other artists. His latest work is Hochono House, a reimagining of his debut solo album, and the Academy Award-nominated film “Shoplifters” soundtrack.

imase

imase

岐阜出身、24歳の新世代男性アーティスト。音楽活動開始わずか1年でTikTokで楽曲をバイラルさせ2021年12月にメジャーデビュー。 「NIGHT DANCER」は韓国配信サイト“Melon”でJ-POP初のTOP20入りを果たし、SpotifyバイラルチャートTOP50に31カ国ランクインするなど世界各国でもバイラル。「第65回 輝く！日本レコード大賞」にて優秀作品賞を受賞し、韓国で開催されたMMA 2023、CCMA 2023に日本人アーティストとして初出演、初受賞を果たすなど国内外で活躍の場を広げ続けている。 2024年5月には待望の初アルバム『凡才』をリリースし、初のアジアツアー『imase 1st Asia Tour "Shiki"』とホールツアー『imase Hall Tour 2024 “Shiki-Sai”』を完遂。 2025年4月からは初の全国ホールツアー、そして7月には初の日本武道館公演『imase LIVE “Have a nice day” in NIPPON BUDOKAN』の開催が決定している。

YOASOBI

YOASOBI

Fujii Kaze

Fujii Kaze

Fujii Kaze is a Japanese vegetarian singer songwriter🥕😊 He is spreading love and freedom to the world thru his music and life 🎶 He’s released two albums so far, “HELP EVER HURT NEVER”(2020) and “LOVE ALL SERVE ALL”(2022). Both reached No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s Hot Albums chart. 👼✨ 2020年5月、1st Album『HELP EVER HURT NEVER』(ー常に助け、決して傷つけないー)リリース。 2022年3月、2nd Album『LOVE ALL SERVE ALL』(ー全てを愛し、全てに仕えよー)リリース。 藤井 風が大切にしているコアメッセージを掲げた2作品は、共にBillboard JAPAN総合アルバムチャート”HOT ALBUMS”にて1位を獲得した。

ツユ

ツユ

A music unit consisting of Pusu on guitar and in charge of composing the songs, Rei as vocals, and miro on piano. The group was formed on June 12, 2019. Its name comes from the Japanese word for “rainy season” during which it was formed. Currently has over 1,000,000 YouTube subscribers. In addition to its showpiece titled “Compared Child” (tr. the girl who gets compared) that has had over 37 million views, every music video that they’ve uploaded have been played over a million times. They’re constantly ranked in both Japanese and foreign music distribution sites and appear in their popular playlists. A group of artists to keep an eye on with many fans around the world. 作詞作曲・ギター担当のぷす、ボーカル担当の礼衣、ピアノ担当のmiroからなる音楽ユニット。 2019年6月12日結成。ユニット名は、梅雨の季節に結成したことから名付けられた。 現在のYouTube登録者数は100万人を超え、3800万回再生を超える代表曲「くらべられっ子」をはじめ、これまで投稿した全てのMVがミリオン再生を突破している。各音楽配信サイトでは常に国内外でランクインを記録し、人気プレイリストへの選出が続いているなど、全世界に多数のファンを抱える要注目アーティスト。

Ado

Ado

Ado is an Utaite born on October 24th, 2002, in Tokyo, Japan. She gives voice to the new era, capturing the angst and cautious optimism of Japan’s younger generations with her mesmerizing voice and powerful performances. Her major debut single, "Usseewa", released in 2020, became a social phenomenon, and her first album, "Kyougen", released in 2022, also became a long-running hit. In 2022, Ado lent her voice to the world-renowned anime film “ONE PIECE FILM RED”, singing a total of seven songs, including the theme song “New Genesis”. “New Genesis” peaked at #1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, holding that spot for six consecutive weeks. This hit song also became the first-ever Japanese song to reach the #1 position on Apple Music’s Top 100: Global Chart. Amidst the massive success of her song “Show”, released in September 2023, Ado&#39;s new song, "Kura Kura", an opening theme song for the popular anime series “SPY X FAMILY”, has also become a viral sensation. The song was written by meiyo, a Japanese pop wizard behind numerous hits, and is arranged by Yoko Kanno, known for composing music for the anime series “Cowboy Bebop,” “Ghost in the Shell”, and “Genesis of Aquarion”. With her extraordinary and powerful vocals, Ado is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. As she continues to develop her talent and release new music, there is no doubt that Ado’s artistry will continue to captivate audiences around the world.

Atarashii Gakkou No Leaders

Atarashii Gakkou No Leaders

ディス　イズ　 ジャパニーズ　イッショウケンメイ 「歌い踊るセーラー服、青春日本代表。」 ライブや音楽、ダンス、前衛的動画など378度くらいの全方位で、もっと自由にもっと個性を出していける社会になる事を望み、ざわつきを生み出し続ける四人組。 楽曲の振付、および演出などは全てメンバー自身が考案・構成している。 Whirlwind group ATARASHII GAKKO! represent a new generation of Japanese youth (seishun in their native language), one embracing personal expression and pushing against traditional boundaries a little at a time. The outlandish quartet — comprised of kawaii-but-fierce Mizyu, wildcard Suzuka, graceful Kanon, and funky Rin — break genre walls to create music mixing elements of pop, jazz, hip-hop, rock, and more, delivered with punk energy and featuring frantic dance moves, choreographed by the four members themselves.

Yoh kamiyama

Yoh kamiyama

2018年11月に神山羊として初めてYouTubeに投稿した楽曲「YELLOW」がTikTokをはじめとするSNSで拡散、流行を巻き起こし1億を越える再生数を記録。 叙情的なリリックと様々なジャンルを自在に行き来する卓越した音楽センス、アニメーション・実写を横断する映像表現で、ネットシーン、音楽界のみならずファッションやアート界からも注目を集める新時代の音楽家。 Starting off as a vocaloid producer in 2014, he made his name as creating a song “Taikou Train” for Miku Hatsune. In 2018, started his artist career as “Yoh Kamiyama” and his song "<a href="spotify:track:73wJWOtr5sh2FfJS6XoHnn" data-name="YELLOW">YELLOW</a>" had over 100 million plays on YouTube. Signed with Sony Music making "<a href="spotify:album:6fl27Vqi08IJ1DyQeFgKUE" data-name="群青">群青</a> (Gunjo) " his debut single, tie-in with tv animation “Drifting Dragons” as the opening theme song. His song "<a href="spotify:track:7FpABRyv5TaZz0llkhjPgc" data-name="色香水">色香水</a> （Iro kousui)" has a tie-in with tv animation ”Horimiya".

Hanae

Hanae

Hanae (written: 英恵, 華英, 華絵 or 花絵) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: Hanae Aoyama (青山 華依, born 2002), Japanese athlete Hanae Ito (伊藤 華英, born 1985), Japanese swimmer Hanae Kan (韓 英恵, born 1990), Japanese actress Hanae Kubo (久保 英恵, born 1982), Japanese ice hockey player Hanae Mori (森 英恵, 1926–2022), Japanese fashion designer Hanae Shibata (柴田 華絵, born 1992), Japanese women's footballer Hanae Yokoya (横谷 花絵, born 1978), Japanese figure skater Hanae (singer) (born 1994), Japanese singer Hanae (written: 花江) is also a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: Natsuki Hanae (花江 夏樹, born 1991), Japanese voice actor

Ikimonogakari

Ikimonogakari

いきものがかり　IKIMONOGAKARI 吉岡聖恵（KIYOE YOSHIOKA）1984.2.29 水野良樹（YOSHIKI MIZUNO）1982.12.17 Since1999 JAPAN Official Website https://ikimonogakari.com

Tomohisa Yamashita

Tomohisa Yamashita

1985年4月9日、千葉県出身。1996年より芸能活動をスタート。 最近は活動の場を日本以外、海外にも広げている。 2023年 9月~「神の雫(Drops of God)」配信 スタート。 2023年6月~「SEE HEAR LOVE 見えなくても聞こえなくても愛してる」公開中。 また、その主題歌「I See You」を収録したニューアルバムを7月19日にリリースし、 アリーナツアーも開催する。

早見優

早見優

From a teenage pop star, an actress, to pop singer, Yu Hayami began her music career as a Japanese idol in 1982, releasing pop song hits such as NATSUIRO NO NANCY and YUWAKU KOSEN KURA! Yu then included rock influenced songs in her genre of music such as PASSION, and dance music, such as “Heart wa Modoranai” Yu has worked in numerous areas of entertainment, including principal roles in musicals, such as “Grease” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Les Miserables” to name a few. Yu celebrated her 40th Anniversary as a J-Pop singer in 2022, and continues to strive for the best in her music and in her live performances. Yu has recently collaborated with DJ Night Tempo, and continually releases new songs.

ギヴン

ギヴン

OLIVIA inspi' REIRA(TRAPNEST)

OLIVIA inspi' REIRA(TRAPNEST)

Tommy heavenly6

Tommy heavenly6

centimillimental

centimillimental

Centimillimental is a solo project by Atsushi who is a multiplayer that creates not only music and lyrics but does all vocals, piano, guitar and programming. He first gained attention when he wrote all the songs for tv anime "GIVEN" and also did the opening theme song "Kizuato<a href="spotify:track:3qDYvLPzxGqZl960j823Wo" data-name="キヅアト">キヅアト</a>" in 2019, which was his major label debut release. <a href="spotify:artist:6LQYtKNp3ZsJ9xOzVVUj5j" data-name="ギヴン">ギヴン</a> &#39;s monthly listeners on Spotify went over 1M and his debut single "Kizuato" now has over 37M streams, the songs he wrote for the band <a href="spotify:artist:6LQYtKNp3ZsJ9xOzVVUj5j" data-name="ギヴン">ギヴン</a> has over 200M streams on Spotify. While writing the score and all songs for this anime franchise, he also writes songs for Japanese idol groups <a href="spotify:artist:0Ti7MfCiVVQAK8zLSiqlto" data-name="櫻坂46">櫻坂46</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0eQSoTI7sQENREQM8Klp2j" data-name="Hinatazaka46">Hinatazaka46</a>. The new movie for Given has been released and a new band <a href="spotify:artist:3bKQgwripMGjcjH3hTjRkW" data-name="syh">syh</a> has been introduced as well as the theme song "Super Ultra ILOVEYOU<a href="spotify:album:7qsmQEEvqQljIIgPVP1JOJ" data-name="スーパーウルトラ I LOVE YOU">スーパーウルトラ I LOVE YOU</a>“ released by him.

White Noise

White Noise

HOWANOI is a JAPANESE ROCK BAND from Spain. It was formed in 2008 in Barcelona by Nadia (Vocals), Yuta (Guitar), Raúl (Bass) and Kiku (Drums), and it’s based in Tokyo since 2017. Their music mixes NADIA’s female vocals, both in Japanese and English, along with the band’s rock sound. 
 HOWANOI has participated in more than 150 events and festivals. Along with their original songs, they also have a repertory of japanese song covers, so they also performed in a lot of anime festivals. 
 On 2010, they won "Japan Fever Awards" as best spanish band with japanese influence and on 2014, together with the release of their first album "High Risk, no return", they went on their first Japan Tour. During this 11 concert’s tour, they started preparing the beginning of a new musical career in Japan. This is how, in 2016, they released a new album called "B-side Stories" as well as their first two music videos "Kachimushi Gambler" and "Fifty Seven". 
 In April 2017 they decided to leave their families and jobs and moved to Tokyo to fight for their dreams. They continue their musical career, doing more than 50 concerts in Japan since then, and releasing two new singles and music videos in 2019 and 2020; “Night Beats” and “Shabondama wa izuko e”. 
 On 2021 they released two “Cover Collection” albums. Discover the new sounds and melodies HOWANOI wanna give to you and be a part of this story of dreams, music, work and friendship.

Nana

Cantautora japonesa | J-pop, pop alternativo, anison, electrónica experimental (2005) ❗

長谷川智樹

長谷川智樹

Tomoki Hasegawa III (長谷川 智樹, Hasegawa Tomoki, born July 19, 1957) is a Japanese composer and arranger of music from Osaka Prefecture, Japan, best known for his work on anime soundtracks. He has also done sound production work on albums for Mayumi Iizuka.

👎🏻

Sonidos (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

Skrillex

DJ, cantante, remezclador y productor discográfico estadounidense | Dubstep, brostep, EDM, electro house, pop, post-hardcore, emo (2004)

Sonny Moore aka Skrillex is a record producer, DJ, musician, singer & songwriter from Los Angeles who has won 8 Grammy Awards, been named MTV’s Electronic Dance Music Artist of the Year & holds the record for most Grammys won by an electronic artist. The creative giant began his career as a skateboarding teen who joined iconic post-hardcore band From First To Last in 2004 as lead singer, making two albums with the group before he left to embark on his solo career by age 19. In 2009 he began to distribute his own EP under the name Skrillex for free on Myspace. In 2010 the seminal Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP began the explosion of Skrillex into the scene on a worldwide level with Grammys & sold out venues following soon after. His collaborations include Justin Bieber, FKA Twigs, Kanye West, MIA, Ty Dolla $ign, Kid Cudi, Boys Noize, Camila Cabello, A$AP Rocky & countless others. Jack Ü, his project with Diplo, had their eponymous album reach #1 on the US Dance charts with the track “Where Are Ü Now” ft Justin Bieber going 4x platinum. Skrillex linked with Bieber again for the 8x platinum “Sorry”, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His label, OWSLA, has launched the careers of some of the most powerful names in electronic music including Marshmello, Zedd, Porter Robinson & Mija. Skrillex changed music and has been hard at work with a body of music made in Los Angeles and Japan over the past 3 years that will continue to shift the landscape of music.

Benny Benassi

DJ italiano | Pop, electro house, house progresivo, electroclash, tech house (1981)

There is no better place to start delving into the rich history of the Benassi career than with his international blockbuster, “Satisfaction” and its game-changing music video became his launch pad into stardom. Created with his cousin and producer, Alle Benassi, and inspired by the car horns outside an open street facing window, this single catapulted into the charts with a #1 in France, #2 in the UK and Germany. The next few years for Benny were a culmination of successes, whether it be the major festivals he went on the play (Coachella, EDC, Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland to name a few). The same year he won a Grammy Award for his ground breaking remix of Public Enemy “Bring The Noise” further catapulting the Benassi name into stardom. In 2011, Benny teamed up with a star-studded album cast for his album Electroman which featured T-Pain, Kelis, Jean-Baptsiste and Apl.de.ap amongst others and most famously Gary Go with his chart-topping single “Cinema”. The Skrillex remix of “Cinema” not only went Gold in the US and platinum in Australia and Canada but won the Benassi’s another Grammy whilst holding firm in the iTunes top 10 dance chart for over 6 months. Benny Benassi combined talents with Chris Brown to create one of the biggest cross-over dance records of its time with “Beautiful People”. 2016 saw Benny released his first album in five years Danceaholic, led by the hit summer anthem “Paradise”, once again with Chris Brown.

Xavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffx

Banda sudáfrica | Death metal brutal , death metal slam (2016)

As it clearly states in our logo we are &#39;Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated By Mass Amounts Of Filthy Fecal Fisting And Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside The Infected Maggot Infested Womb Of A Molested Nun Dying Under The Roof Of A Burning Church While A Priest Watches And Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus&#39; AKA xAxVxLxExGxBxMxAxOxFxFxFxAxSxSxSxSxIxTxIxMxIxWxOxAxMxNxDxUxTxRxOxAxBxCxWxAxPxWxAxExIxIxPxPxOxHxFxFxFx

Steel Pulse

Banda británica | Reggae, dub, roots reggae, ska (1975)

Dawn Penn

Cantante jamaicana | Reggae, rocksteady, dancehall (1966)

The Last Shadow Puppets

The Last Shadow Puppets

A <a href="spotify:artist:04tBaW21jyUfeP5iqiKBVq">Scott Walker</a>- and <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a>-inspired collaboration between <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">the Arctic Monkeys</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Alex Turner</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3YCv4gjxuYPyOhb60K8zuH">the Rascals</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:3M0H4efyA5YcijrKlaKbYn">Miles Kane</a>, the Last Shadow Puppets began when <a href="spotify:artist:3M0H4efyA5YcijrKlaKbYn">Kane</a>'s previous band, <a href="spotify:artist:5Jpg9VFcgxoMbgrfPRAZQ8">the Little Flames</a>, toured with <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">the Arctic Monkeys</a> in 2007. Already friends from prior gigs together, the pair started writing songs that spring, and headed into a French studio late that summer with producer/drummer James Ford. Additional recording, including strings courtesy of <a href="spotify:artist:3fYr24qYhJejxewFrckFE4">the London Metropolitan Orchestra</a> and arranger <a href="spotify:artist:77Rj6PHmQJFb8nbSH62y68">Owen Pallett</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:45N14sUTt6bDRSZy7GpiH8">Final Fantasy</a>), was completed that December. Early in 2008, the Last Shadow Puppets played a pair of shows in New York and announced that their debut single and album, both titled The Age of the Understatement, would arrive that spring on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Domino+Records%22">Domino Records</a>. The album was generally well-received and even garnered a Mercury Prize nomination. While there was talk of making another album, the duo would ultimately take their time returning to the studio. During the next several years, <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Turner</a> continued his work with <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">Arctic Monkeys</a>, releasing 2009's Humbug, 2011's Suck It and See, and 2013's AM. <a href="spotify:artist:3M0H4efyA5YcijrKlaKbYn">Kane</a> also kept busy releasing two solo albums with 2011's Colour of the Trap and 2013's Don't Forget Who You Are. The duo did reconvene for several live shows, including a performance during <a href="spotify:artist:3M0H4efyA5YcijrKlaKbYn">Kane</a>'s supporting slot for <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">the Arctic Monkeys</a> in Paris in 2012 and again at <a href="spotify:artist:3M0H4efyA5YcijrKlaKbYn">Kane</a>'s Glastonbury set in 2013. It was only after <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">the Arctic Monkeys</a> went on hiatus in 2014 that <a href="spotify:artist:1ctkBmvz80MGyi72Ix055S">Turner</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3M0H4efyA5YcijrKlaKbYn">Kane</a> reunited in Los Angeles to begin work on new material. Working with producer James Ford and longtime collaborator arranger <a href="spotify:artist:77Rj6PHmQJFb8nbSH62y68">Owen Pallett</a>, the Last Shadow Puppets recorded their sophomore full-length album, 2016's Everything You've Come to Expect. The album, which peaked at number one on the U.K. albums chart, showcased more of the duo's orchestral-steeped sound, and included the singles "Bad Habits" and "Aviation." Also in 2016, they delivered the six-song EP, The Dream Synopsis. Included on the EP were re-recordings of two songs off Everything You've Come to Expect, as well as a handful of covers including songs by <a href="spotify:artist:3ayds6VIVBx3CU5NSNCDbq">Jacques Dutronc</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3XtD4pF69355s7xcR6RPXA">Glaxo Babies</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5l8VQNuIg0turYE1VtM9zV">Leonard Cohen</a>. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

twenty one pilots

Dúo musical estadounidense | Electropop, rock alternativo, hip hop alternativo, rap rock, indie pop, pop rock (2009)

Jeremy Zucker

Jeremy Zucker

Jeremy Zucker’s music unfolds like the kinds of stories you share with your best friends. It’s that intimate, detailed, personal, and meaningful. This approach has cemented the New Jersey-born singer, songwriter, and producer as a quietly impactful voice in mainstream music. Since emerging in 2015, he has amassed a staggering 9.5 billion global streams and sold 4 million albums. His catalog consists of definitive anthems, such as the Gold-Certified records “talk is overrated” feat. blackbear and “better off” and Platinum-Certified records “you were good to me” with Chelsea Cutler, “all the kids are depressed”, and the breakout “comethru,” which The FADER hailed as “the intoxicating crush anthem that’s become his calling card.” His full-length debut, love is not dying, bowed in the Top 25 of the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart and garnered widespread praise. Not to mention, he’s received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, PAPER Magazine, and more. Along the way, he graced the stages of festivals such as Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, Reading & Leeds, Firefly, and more in addition to making appearances on television shows, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Show with James Corden, and TODAY Show, to name a few. His second full-length album, CRUSHER, arrived in 2021 to widespread acclaim and paved the way for his biggest world tour thus far, selling out dates across North America, Europe, UK, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Awdella

Awdella

Awdella

Teethe

Banda estadounidense | Slowcore, indie rock, bedroom rock, lo-fi (2020) ❗

Teethe is a band from Texas.

Lycus

Banda estadounidense | Funeral doom, death metal (2008) ❗

Katie Gavin

Katie Gavin

Katie Gavin&#39;s debut album What A Relief taps into the unguarded self-possession and homespun pop sensibility of singers like Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple and Ani DiFranco, and uses their tenacity as a north star for Gavin’s own trek towards self-discovery. “This record spans a lot of my life – it’s about having a really deep desire for connection, but also encountering all the obstacles that stood in my way to be able to achieve that, patterns of isolation or even boredom with the real work of love” they say.   Written over the course of seven years, What A Relief comprises a set of songs that Gavin always loved but which “had something in them” that she and her bandmates felt didn’t quite fit within the universe they were trying to cultivate with MUNA. Many of them were written on acoustic guitar, and are rooted in “a style of music that’s very much in my blood, and natural for me,” as typified by the Women & Songs CDs that Gavin loves, which compiled music by artists like Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan.   That openness of spirit is the overwhelming character of What A Relief, an album that’s refreshing in its willingness to accept people as they come, even as it remains in dogged pursuit of a life that’s kinder, wiser and more loving. Gavin’s explorations of desire and intimacy feel time-worn and necessary – songs that might teach a generation if not how to live, exactly, then at least how to look within oneself for guidance about how to move forward.

The Rare Occasions

The Rare Occasions

The Rare Occasions are an LA-based, New England-bred indie rock band known for their explosive garage rock anthems with catchy vocal harmonies. Brian McLaughlin (singer) and Luke Imbusch (drummer) have been making music together since their early teenage years. They formed The Rare Occasions while attending college in Boston where they met Jeremy Cohen (bassist). Since then, the band have toured nationally, won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and released a vast catalog of music online. In 2021 the band released their first album as a trio, Big Whoop, which received significant press and radio play. Around the same time, their 2016 track “Notion” went viral on TikTok and continues to make waves, topping Spotify’s viral chart in the US and several other countries, and later landing on Billboard’s alternative charts and top 100 singles charts in the UK, Ireland, and Canada. They&#39;ve recently released their 3rd LP, Through Moonshot Eyes, which had 4 singles leading up to it. They’ve garnered radio play across the states, and even in the UK for the new album and have just completed a national headlining tour this fall to support it.

Smiler

Smiler

It’s been an action-packed, 10+ year adventure for South London rapper Smiler. From being the only rapper to have collaborated with Lana Del Rey to starting his own record & publishing label to facilitate local talent, Smiler has always gone above and beyond to do things big. Raised in the gritty council estates of Woolwich, Smiler spent his teenage years running around the streets before picking up the mic and going on to become one of London’s most intricate rappers. His lyrical dexterity led to a deal with Warner Brother Records where he found himself releasing singles featuring the likes of Ed Sheeran and touring with a host of rappers including Nas & Professor Green. Consistent support throughout his career from DJs such as Charlie Sloth, Zane Lowe, Tim Westwood and MistaJam give you an example of the high esteem in which Smiler is held by the UK rap community. He’s worked with or featured alongside the inner core of UK street sounds including Wretch 32, Giggs, Tinie Blade Brown and Sneakbo.

Bathory

Proyecto solista sueco | Black metal, pagan metal, epic doom, viking metal, thrash metal (1983 - 2004)

Bathory was an extreme metal band from Vällingby, Sweden founded on 16th March 1983, and named after the serial killer Countess Báthory from the Hungarian noble family. Fronted by Quorthon with a string of session players in the 1980s who usually only lasted one album. Bathory is often cited as the pioneer of black metal based on the first four albums, and later viking metal in the end of the 1980s. All original songs were written by Quorthon, and only some of the later albums were recorded as a one-man band, namely Twilight Of The Gods, Destroyer Of Worlds, Nordland I and Nordland II. Quorthon stated that he used Satanic imagery for entertainment in the music, and he was known to criticize Christianity or other religions as hocus-pocus. Many prominent bands in black metal and viking metal mention Bathory as a big influence.

Thorr's Hammer

Banda estadounidense-noruega | Death/doom (1994 - 1995)

The product of a six-week, two-concert collaboration, Ballard, WA-based doom metal/death metal group Thorr's Hammer was conceived by guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:3Crb5koIMOvMsYv3eDcDIx">Greg Anderson</a> (later of <a href="spotify:artist:5Ij5H3Ck98GRZoWSeyu4vz">Goatsnake</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2e7hYqRjL82c1nIoREHc4J">Sunn 0]]]</a>, among other groups) and <a href="spotify:artist:6JOZsxwBJZm4bhcEy7gLIU">Stephen O'Malley</a> (future <a href="spotify:artist:0jPA74DtdgWqMU2x4cAFsb">Burning Witch</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ZNCNiBDVNRNMXC6Bp3gOi">Khanate</a>, and also <a href="spotify:artist:2e7hYqRjL82c1nIoREHc4J">Sunn 0]]]</a> member) in the winter of 1994-1995. After calling upon bassist James Hale and drummer Jamie Sykes, the duo recruited 17-year-old Norwegian singer and lyricist Runhild Gammelsaeter (aka <a href="spotify:artist:5OBmG7IuJhugloUxhtSAlw">Ozma</a>) to serve as the wild card in their typically crawling, crushing doom metal/death metal sound. A record of their dark but brief association, the three-song Dommedagsnatt was originally released only on cassette by Moribund Records, but was later given a CD reissue by Southern Lord, first in 1998, then again in 2004 with an ultra-rare video of Thorr's Hammer performing live as an added multimedia element. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi

Estatic Fear

Banda austraca | Metal neoclásico, Doom metal, metal gótico, black metal sinfónico (1994 - 1999)

Estatic Fear

Doris Day

Doris Day

Doris Day has packed four careers into one lifetime, two each in music and movies. The pity is that all most people remember are her movies, from Teacher's Pet (1957) onward, as the quintessential all-American girl, the perpetually virginal screen heroine, cast opposite such icons of masculinity as Clark Gable and Rock Hudson. She also transposed this following to television at the end of the '60s with a situation comedy that lasted into the early '70s. If most people remember her as a singer, it's usually for such pop hits as "Secret Love" and her Oscar-winning "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," which became her signature tune. But before all of that, from 1939 until the end of the '40s, Doris Day was one of the hottest, sultriest swing band vocalists in music. That body of work -- which contains at least one unabashed, classic early-'40s recording, "Sentimental Journey" -- is one of the most impressive in the fields of swing and popular jazz, and deserves to be heard far more than it is. Moreover, before those late-'50s comedies, Day had a film career that included adaptations of Broadway musicals (The Pajama Game), classic thrillers (The Man Who Knew Too Much), and searing social drama (Storm Warning). She was born Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff on April 3, 1924, in Evanston, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. Her father was a music teacher, choir master, and church organist. Her mother loved popular music, especially (surprisingly) country music. Her parents divorced when she was 12, and Day lived with her mother and older brother in College Hill, Ohio. From age six, she had taken dancing lessons, and that was the career she ultimately intended to pursue. In 1937, when she was 13, she and a young male partner won a $500 dollar prize in an amateur dance contest. The family decided to pursue stardom in Hollywood for their young child. Her hopes for a career in dance were shattered on the trip out West in an automobile accident that severely injured her right leg. Her recuperation, living above the Cincinnati tavern owned by an uncle, gave the young teenager access to a jukebox that played the hits of the day; and by the time she was 14, she had developed a taste for swing stars such as Benny Goodman and the Dorsey Brothers, among numerous other bands. She also started singing along with Ella Fitzgerald's records and tried to develop her own style. Music became a new aspiration, and the timely intervention of voice coach Grace Raine helped her develop the approach to song that was to characterize her career. Raine arranged for Doris to appear on the Cincinnati radio station WLW on an amateur showcase; the song that she sang was Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz's "Day After Day," from 1932, which earned her a featured spot on the station. She was still known as Doris Kappelhoff when she got a job singing at a local club, but when a chance for radio broadcasts from the club was brought up. She ultimately took the name Doris Day, owing to the popularity of "Day After Day," and while the gig didn't last, the name did. In 1939, however, she was told of an opening for a vocalist in the band of Bob Crosby, Bing's brother and a star bandleader in his own right. Day auditioned and got the job at age 17. She stayed with Crosby's band for three months before she was approached by bandleader Les Brown. This was 1940, and the musical world was dominated by the big bands, jazz-influenced swing outfits that gave singers like Sinatra (who was just getting rolling himself as a star vocalist) extraordinary opportunities to interpret the songs of the day. Tin Pan Alley still ruled the airwaves (though country and, to a lesser degree, blues were making inroads), and there was no shortage of great songs. In the middle of all that was this little 17-year-old girl, who could impart a feeling of world-weary sensuality or sensual innocence to a song, shading her voice in textures almost too delicate to analyze. And Doris Day became a budding star, in an era in which Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra -- not to mention Ella Fitzgerald -- were just a few of the vocalists competing for public attention. While singing with Bob Crosby's band, she first worked with many of the sidemen -- Bob Haggart, William Stegmeyer, Billy Butterfield, and Zeke Zarchy -- who would later work on her own recording sessions. It was with Les Brown's band, however, that the public first got to hear her voice and know her name, initially on the radio and then on Brown's recordings. From 1940 until 1946, with a two-year break for an unhappy marriage, Day was a star vocalist, most notably on hits like "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time," both of which were monster hits for the band. "Sentimental Journey" also became especially popular among American soldiers stationed overseas during World War II. By the end of the war and her time with Les Brown, when she was barely into her twenties, Day was considered one of the top band vocalists in the world. Apart from having a beautiful voice and command of its every shading, Day's success was based on her approach to songs and audiences. When she sang, she sounded as though she were singing not to a crowd or a mass "audience," but to each individual listener. Her records and her performances resonated for listeners personally, and coupled with the considerable merits of her voice and the quality of Brown's band, it made her a huge favorite with almost anyone who heard her. Her tenure with the band was interrupted by another unsuccessful marriage, and when it ended, Day -- with a young son named Terry from her first marriage to provide for -- was ready to return to Cincinnati and forget about music. So the story goes, her agent persuaded her to attend a party in Hollywood where she impressed songwriters Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn with an impromptu performance of "Embraceable You." They were writing the score for a Warner Bros. movie called Romance on the High Seas, which had been planned for several leading ladies, all of whom fell out of the running for one reason or another. Sammy Cahn got Day and her agent down to the studio, and she auditioned before director Michael Curtiz, who ordered a screen test for her. Day's screen test was run for the studio executives alongside two actresses whom they'd previously asked to audition, and she won the role. The movie was a hit, and Day became a star, not in the perky, virginal persona that people remember today, but as a top-flight singer and actress. After that, Day's two careers went along in tandem, as she starred in movies and often turned their songs into hits. She also appeared in non-musical films, and revealed herself a superb dramatic actress in the groundbreaking topical dramatic thriller Storm Warning (1950), in which she played the victimized wife of a boorish, murderous Ku Klux Klan member (Steve Cochran), but she could also play perky tomboyish parts in movies like On Moonlight Bay (1951). Day resumed her recording career in 1947, and even amid the growing number of ballads in her output, her early solo sides remained very jazzy, and are among her best recordings. Her music softened somewhat as the '40s wore on, although she did record some superb jazz-style sides for the 1950 movie Young Man with a Horn. But her most visible sides from the '50s onward were pop songs. She had huge hits with "Secret Love," a song derived from the movie Calamity Jane (1953), and "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," which she'd sung in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), in which she co-starred with James Stewart. During the '50s, Day was the most popular and one of the highest paid singers in America, and the sudden burst of popularity of her movies, beginning with Teacher's Pet (1958), only added to her overall impact on the country's popular culture, though the movies ultimately eclipsed her music career. In the midst of her pop music/movie career, Day recorded an entire album of jazz with André Previn as her accompanist, entitled Duet. Its impact was muted by the popularity of her movies, which by the early '60s had turned her into a cultural icon, her wholesome innocence the perfect non-threatening match for Marilyn Monroe's innocent sexuality. The growth of rock music as the dominant force in popular music in the mid-'60s left Day on the musical sidelines; ironically, her son Terry Melcher became one of the most successful rock producers of the period, most notably in association with the Byrds' early work and Paul Revere & the Raiders. Day's personal and professional life took a bad turn in the wake of the death of her third husband, Marty Melcher, in 1968. Melcher had managed her business affairs for 17 years, and she learned after his death that he had lost or embezzled her entire career's earnings. Day was left broke, and the ensuing stresses led her to a nervous breakdown. Her recovery came in 1968, when she began work on her CBS network situation comedy. Melcher had committed her to doing the show immediately prior to his death, without her consent, but the program was a success and Day was restored to solvency during the series' five-year run. A year after the program ended, she was awarded a $22 million judgment against her former attorney for his role in Melcher's handling of her finances. Since the cancellation of the CBS series in 1973, she has been less visible, although she did a cable television series, Doris Day and Friends, in the mid-'80s, and released a new album, The Love Album, in 1994, following it 17 years later with My Heart, which gathered nine previously unreleased tracks from sessions she did in the '80s, including four co-written by her late son Terry Melcher with Bruce Johnston, and added in four vintage tracks she released previously in 1951, 1960, 1962, and 1994. ~ Bruce Eder

1) Pop tradicional / Pop mainstream (1950s) Música popular de fácil acceso, enfocada en melodías pegajosas y estructuras sencillas, centrada en el mercado masivo.

🎙️ Géneros principales del pop

😿

2) Pop rock (1960s) Fusión entre la instrumentación del rock y las melodías accesibles del pop.

a‐ha

a‐ha

Norwegian pop trio a-ha took the world by storm with the upbeat video for their 1985 single "Take on Me" off their debut long-player Hunting High and Low. The song and album charted at or near the top across the globe -- its iconic animated video single has been viewed over two billion times. At home, a-ha placed eight consecutive albums at number one and another pair at two. Both 1986's Scoundrel Days and 1988's Stay on These Roads -- which contained "The Living Daylights," the title theme for a James Bond film -- won platinum certification in Europe. Following 1993's Memorial Beach, they went on hiatus then returned with a string of successful albums including 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, 2005's Analogue, and 2009's Foot of the Mountain, which marked a return to synth pop. They disbanded again in 2010 but reunited for a Brazilian tour in 2015 and went back into the recording studio, issuing Cast in Steel in September. The trio continued working together and issued True North in 2022. Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and <a href="spotify:artist:5fCrGWlcIIwdCf2TeCQZjc">Magne Furuholmen</a>, formerly of Bridges, formed Norwegian synth pop group a-ha in 1982. Nimble vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:08t5VdmH6cpxHXUmb9bFeP">Morten Harket</a> joined the duo, and they left for the now "legendary London flat" (so called because of its state of disrepair) to make their way in a then-burgeoning music industry filled with new wave pop and synth sounds. By late 1983, based on the strength of a demo version of "Take on Me," they signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22WEA%22">WEA</a>. Their debut single of "Take on Me" went through three versions before becoming a hit in the U.K., eventually reaching number two in November 1985. It went one better in the U.S., mainly due to the wide exposure of its stunning video on MTV, which fused animation with real-life action. They returned to the charts with "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.," which became a U.K. number one in early 1986, helping take the album Hunting High and Low to the Top Ten. The song hit the Top 20 in the U.S., where the album reached number 15. With a-ha's debut album mainly consisting of romantic synth pop, the press was quick to dismiss them as a teeny bop sensation; however, there was more than met the ear on first impression in the trio's writing, and a more mature effort, Scoundrel Days, was released in October 1986. More focused and rock-oriented, it had a stronger band feel thanks to its live drumming evident on "The Swing of Things" and lead single "I've Been Losing You," which surprised critics at the time. Further striking imagery accompanied "Cry Wolf." The album landed in the Top 30 in Norway and cracked the top half of the Billboard 200 in the U.S. After a world tour, a-ha provided the theme to the James Bond film The Living Daylights. A remix appeared on their third album, Stay on These Roads, in 1988. In 1990, a-ha were commended by <a href="spotify:artist:4ACplpEqD6JIVgKrafauzs">the Everly Brothers</a> for their rendition of "Crying in the Rain" from their fourth album, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which was largely ignored in the U.K. due to a shift in interest toward dance music and the Manchester scene. The year 1993 heralded some much-needed new blood in the <a href="spotify:artist:51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ">U2</a> terrain of "Dark Is the Night" from the Memorial Beach album. Following the unfortunate lack of success of Memorial Beach, <a href="spotify:artist:5fCrGWlcIIwdCf2TeCQZjc">Furuholmen</a> retreated into the art world while Waaktaar released the album Mary Is Coming with his new band Savoy. Seven years after the release of Memorial Beach, a-ha issued Minor Earth Major Sky in summer 2000. Released in 2002, Lifelines sold well in Europe and was followed by a lengthy tour, documented on the live album How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head, issued in 2003. A year later, a-ha celebrated their 20th anniversary by releasing Singles 1984-2004, a collection that would put them back in the U.K. Top 20. In July of 2005, the band performed in Berlin as part of the massive worldwide event Live8, and in November they released the album Analogue. It was supported by a worldwide tour that included gigs in Russia and a festival in Chile. In 2009, upon issuing their ninth studio album, Foot of the Mountain, a-ha announced that they would be retiring. However, they returned in 2015 with Cast in Steel, which was followed by a world tour. Coinciding with the 2017 summer solstice, the group headed to the remote island of Giske off of Norway's west coast to record their first-ever acoustic concert for MTV Unplugged. With arrangements by producer <a href="spotify:artist:6WcPbOPB1rM2iXrJCboMFV">Lars Horntveth</a>, the by-then-perennial arena band played a career-spanning set with guests <a href="spotify:artist:5KGqHVetCqZiKRRgjrUBdq">Ian McCulloch</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:0fgYKF9Avljex0L9Wt5b8Z">Echo & the Bunnymen</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:0s0rOb0gT2S9N0SDcjtPC4">Alison Moyet</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3j4FHbC5zwmYGJ7r0ZgaMt">Lissie</a>, and Ingrid Helene Håvik (<a href="spotify:artist:5awQWdBpLqN2KFVRN8w56T">Highasakite</a>) for an audience of only 250. That October, the show was released in seven different versions under the title MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice, along with an abbreviated, single-disc Acoustic Hits: MTV Unplugged. Summer Solstice debuted at number three on the album chart in Germany, number six in the U.K., and number 11 in their home country, and was followed by another world tour in 2018. In 2022, a-ha returned with their 11th studio album, True North. Half of its 12 songs were composed and produced by Waaktaar-Savoy, with the remainder by <a href="spotify:artist:5fCrGWlcIIwdCf2TeCQZjc">Furuholmen</a>. The trio worked in a Norwegian recording studio in Bodø, some 90 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. They were joined by a full cast of studio musicians as well as the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra. The video for single "I'm In" was excerpted from a long-form Stian Andersen-directed documentary of the same title. It documented the recording process from the remote location in their Norwegian homeland. ~ Kelvin Hayes & Thom Jurek, Rovi

Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears

Tears for Fears were always more ambitious than the average synth pop group. From the beginning, the duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were tackling big subjects -- their very name derived from Arthur Janov's primal scream therapy, and his theories were evident throughout their debut, The Hurting. Driven by catchy, infectious synth pop, The Hurting became a big hit in their native England, setting the stage for international stardom with their second album, 1985's Songs from the Big Chair. On the strength of the singles "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout," the record became a major hit, establishing the duo as one of the leading acts of the second generation of MTV stars. Instead of quickly recording a follow-up, Tears for Fears labored over their third album, the psychedelic and jazz-rock-tinged The Seeds of Love. While the album was a big hit, it was the end of an era instead of a new beginning. Smith left the group early in the '90s, and Orzabal continued with Tears for Fears, pursuing more sophisticated and pretentious directions to a smaller audience. Orzabal and Smith met as children in Bath, England. Both boys came from broken homes, and Smith was leaning toward juvenile delinquency. Orzabal, however, turned toward books, eventually discovering Arthur Janov's primal scream therapy, a way of confronting childhood fears that John Lennon embraced after the Beatles disbanded. Orzabal turned Smith on to Janov, but before the duo explored this theory further, they formed the ska revival band Graduate in the late '70s. After releasing a handful of singles, including "Elvis Should Play Ska," Graduate dissolved in the early '80s, and the duo went on to form Tears for Fears, a synth pop outfit directly inspired by Janov's writings. Riding in on the tail end of new wave and new romantic, Tears for Fears -- which featured musical contributions from former Graduate keyboardist Ian Stanley on early albums -- landed a record contract with Polygram in 1982. The following year, the band released its debut, The Hurting, which became a major hit in Britain, generating no less than three Top Five hit singles. Two years later, the group released Songs from the Big Chair, which demonstrated a more streamlined and soul-influenced sound. Songs from the Big Chair became a huge hit in America, rocketing to the top of the charts on the strength of the singles "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout," which both hit number one, and the number three "Head Over Heels," which were all supported by clever, stylish videos that received heavy MTV airplay. Instead of quickly following Songs from the Big Chair with a new record, Tears for Fears labored over their new record, eventually delivering the layered, Beatlesque The Seeds of Love in 1989. Featuring soulful vocals from Oleta Adams, who dominated the hit "Woman in Chains," the album became a hit, reaching number eight, while the single "Sowing the Seeds of Love" reached number two in the U.S. Again, Tears for Fears spent several years working on the follow-up to Seeds of Love, during which time they released the collection Tears Roll Down: Greatest Hits 82-92. Smith and Orzabal began to quarrel heavily, and Smith left the group in 1992, making Tears for Fears' 1993 comeback Elemental essentially a solo record from Orzabal. On the strength of the adult contemporary hit "Break It Down Again," Elemental became a modest hit, reaching gold status in the U.S., yet was hardly up to the group's previous levels. Smith, meanwhile, released a solo album in 1993, Soul on Board, which went ignored. Orzabal returned with another Tears for Fears album, Raoul and the Kings of Spain, in 1995, which failed to make much of an impact. In late 1996, the group released a rarities collection. In 2004, Orzabal reunited with Smith for the colorful and Beatlesque Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, their first collaboration in over a decade. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Turtles

The Turtles

Though many remember only their 1967 hit, "Happy Together," the Turtles were one of the more enjoyable American pop groups of the '60s, moving from folk-rock inspired by the Byrds to a sparkling fusion of Zombies-inspired chamber pop and straight-ahead, good-time pop reminiscent of the Lovin' Spoonful, the whole infused with beautiful vocal harmonies courtesy of dual frontmen Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. Though they hit number one in 1967 with the infectious "Happy Together," the Turtles scored only three more Top Ten hits and broke up by the end of the '60s. Kaylan and Volman later joined Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention during the early '70s and also recorded themselves as Flo & Eddie, but were on the oldies circuit with a revamped Turtles by the mid-'80s. Born within two months of each other in 1947 (though on opposite coasts), Howard Kaylan (b. Howard Kaplan) and Mark Volman attended the same school, Westchester High in Los Angeles (Kaylan had moved from New York as a child). The two sang in the school's a cappella choir, where Volman soon heard about Kaylan's instrumental surf group, the Nightriders (which also included choir members Al Nichol on lead guitar, Don Murray on drums and Chuck Portz on bass). Volman joined the group just before they became the Crossfires in 1963. After high school graduation, the Crossfires continued on while its members attended area colleges (picking up rhythm guitarist Jim Tucker along the way). The group finally got its big break in 1965 after local disc jockey and club owner Reb Foster heard them. Foster liked the Crossfires so much, he became their manager and found the group a contract with White Whale Records. The sextet changed their name to the Tyrtles (an unveiled homage to the Byrds, soon amended to the correct spelling) and recorded a Bob Dylan cover as their first single. The song's fusion of folk with glittering rock & roll was also lifted from the Byrds, and "It Ain't Me Babe" reached the Top Ten in August 1965, just three months after "Mr. Tambourine Man" had hit number one. Moving from the songwriting talents of Dylan to the new "king of protest," producer P.F. Sloan, the Turtles hit the Top 40 twice more during 1965-1966 with "Let Me Be" and "You Baby," after which Murray and Portz left (to be replaced by John Barbata and, for a short time, bassist/producer Chip Douglas). Though the Turtles had appeared to run out of steam by the beginning of 1967, the group stormed back with a song they'd heard in a batch of demos, a surefire hit written by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon. "Happy Together" spent three weeks at number one on the American charts, and proved to be one of the biggest hits of the year. The Turtles' next three singles were written by Bonner-Gordon, and each hit the Top 20: the number three hit "She'd Rather Be with Me" (which eclipsed even "Happy Together" in terms of international success), plus "You Know What I Mean" and "She's My Girl." Chip Douglas, who had arranged the horns on "Happy Together," left the group to work with the Monkees, and was replaced by Jim Pons (formerly with the Leaves). Original member Jim Tucker left the group as well, after a tour of dingy pubs in England caused more than a bit of disillusionment with the group's lack of success. Like so many other pop groups in the late '60s, the Turtles felt they had to stretch artistically to keep pace with their more critically respected rivals, and beginning with "You Know What I Mean," the Turtles' revolving-door cast of producers and arrangers made their sound progressively more psychedelic, though they were still much closer to the pop/rock mainstream than to the era's premier psychedelic groups. The group asserted their rights in late 1967, and self-produced the disappointing "Sound Asleep," which was the band's first single after "Happy Together" to miss the Top 40. White Whale Records demanded an outside hand be brought to the studio, so the Turtles compromised by going back to Chip Douglas. The result, "The Story of Rock and Roll," was shut out of the Top 40 as well, prompting the career-saving "Elenore" in September 1968, which hit number six (the best placing by a single actually written by the Turtles). The inevitable concept LP came in November 1968: The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, on which the group attempted to sound like (and even dress up as) 11 distinct bands -- one for each song on the LP. It was an interesting concept, and a measured success, with "Elenore" to its credit as well as another number six hit, "You Showed Me" (originally written and recorded by the Byrds). Drummer John Seiter joined the Turtles after the recording of Battle of the Bands, replacing Barbata (who had left to work with Crosby, Stills & Nash). After White Whale attempted to record Monkees-style, with the vocals of Kaylan and Volman added to a generic studio backing track, the duo rebelled and attempted to get back to the band aesthetic. Inspired by the Kinks' then-recent Village Green Preservation Society LP, the Turtles recruited frontman Ray Davies to serve as producer for their 1969 LP, Turtle Soup. Two singles from the album, "You Don't Have to Walk in the Rain" and "Love in the City," both failed to reach the Top 40. Kaylan and Volman formed their own label, Blimp Records, and signed a few acts, including folksinger Judee Sill, who wrote the Turtles' last recording, "Lady-O." More wrangles with White Whale, on top of the lack of chart success, had destroyed the Turtles by 1970, though. White Whale continued to raid the vaults during the year, releasing old singles, a second hits compilation, and an album of rarities (Wooden Head). Before the end of 1970, though, Kaylan, Volman, and Pons had joined Frank Zappa's early-'70s edition of the Mothers of Invention. (The use of the Turtles' name or even their own names in a musical context was illegal according to an earlier contract, so Kaylan and Volman appeared as the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie.) Besides touring with Zappa, the trio appeared on four of his albums from 1970 to 1972: Chunga's Revenge, 200 Motels, Live at the Fillmore, and Just Another Band from L.A. After Zappa was injured in an on-stage altercation, though, the re-christened Flo & Eddie toured with several of the Mothers for awhile, and recorded five LPs for themselves between 1975 and 1981. The duo also did session work, composed music for children's' movies (The Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake) and broadcast their own radio show on L.A.'s KROQ and later New York's WXRK. By 1984, the Turtles' name had reverted back to the group, and Volman and Kaylan began touring with a new lineup as the Turtles...Featuring Flo & Eddie. Volman and Kaylan also won back the rights to the group's master recordings and publishing, leading to numerous reissues of their catalog. Rhino Records returned the group's albums to print in the '80s, Sundazed brought out new editions in the '90s, and in 2016 Manifesto Records kicked off their Turtles reissue program with two ambitious collections. All The Singles was a two-disc set that collected all the group's seven-inches, including some unreleased sides, while The Complete Original Albums Collection brought together remastered versions of the Turtles' six LP's. ~ John Bush

IV Of Spades

IV Of Spades

IV Of Spades

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo

After shattering records with her chart-topping, 4x Platinum debut album SOUR – the fastest album in history to have all of its songs certified RIAA Platinum or higher – Olivia Rodrigo makes a monumental return with her new album GUTS, revealing newly heightened sophistication as a vocalist and lyricist. Produced by and co-written with Daniel Nigro (her main creative partner on SOUR), each song intensifies the emotional honesty that’s always imbued her storytelling. Rodrigo expands her expressive palette, uncovering entirely new dimensions of her artistry, as exemplified by lead single “vampire.” Hailed by Pitchfork as the “Best New Track” upon release, “vampire” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – as did SOUR hits “drivers license” and “good 4 u,” making Rodrigo the first artist ever to debut the lead singles from two career-opening albums atop the prestigious chart. The 20-year-old is the youngest artist in Hot 100 history to debut three hits at No. 1. Named the #1 Album of 2021 by Rolling Stone and hailed as one of the Best Albums of 2021 by The New York Times, among others, SOUR is now triple Platinum in the U.S. and has sold over 16.8 million global album adjusted units with over 66 billion streams worldwide. She received seven GRAMMY® Award nominations—including nods in each of the Big Four categories—and took home awards for Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 64th GRAMMY® Awards.

Stephen Sanchez

Stephen Sanchez

“Now, listen here folks…our story begins 59 long years ago at a club called “The Angel”…and that club was owned by a no good, rotten Mob Boss by the name of “Hunter”. And it was there that a young buck Troubadour would meet Hunter’s angel-faced gal…Evangeline. Drawn by forbidden love, the pair would spark up a secret romance that would land the two souls in…well…hot water. But, before the hot water folks, <a href="spotify:album:6CczqhUdYOH4qLSDnN3zkg" data-name="Angel Face">Angel Face</a> is out now for your listening pleasure.” The Troubadour Sanchez will return… Photos by Luke Rogers

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande

Armed with a mesmerizing, nimble soprano—and a vocal register often likened to Mariah Carey’s and Christina Aguilera’s—Ariana Grande began her career as a child star on Broadway and Nickelodeon before transforming into a pop and R&B powerhouse. Instantly recognizable thanks to her signature ponytail, cat ears, babydoll dresses, and breezy self-confidence, her slyly sexual personal brand has, like that of the Spice Girls before her, become an iconic image of young female power. But Grande is more than a symbol: Over the course of several albums and scores of hit singles—beginning with 2013’s “The Way” (featuring Mac Miler) through The Weeknd-assisted “Love Me Harder” and “Break Free” (featuring Zedd)—she has consistently outshined her male collaborators and deftly parlayed her stardom into activism. An LGBTQ advocate and outspoken feminist (“I’m tired of living in a world where women are mostly referred to as a man’s past, present, or future PROPERTY,” she tweeted in 2016), she uses her platform to confront issues like misogyny, sexism, homophobia, and bullying, spreading a message of love over all. Nowhere was this more clear than in May 2017: After terrorists attacked her concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 and injuring hundreds, Grande continued her tour. "Perspective changes your life,” she told Beats 1’s Ebro Darden. "You want to stay in the moment and try not to give into fear, because obviously the whole point of finishing the tour was being there for my fans. You want to set the same example and keep going.” And that she did: Her Max Martin-produced smash “No Tears Left to Cry,” an escapist dance-floor triumph released a year after the attack, sends a message of hope and healing, with a dose of hear-me-roar attitude.

Madonna

Madonna

Madonna changed the trajectory of popular music not long after "Borderline" became her first Top Ten hit in 1984. Fusing post-disco dance with effervescent pop, the song was unexpected and fresh, a trick that soon became her signature. Over a career that lasted for decades, Madonna ushered underground sounds into the mainstream, specializing in trends percolating in dance clubs. As she arrived at the dawn of the MTV era, she seized the possibilities of music videos, creating a series of sexy, stylish clips that earned her the reputation of a provocateur while also establishing the network as the bastion for hip culture in the 1980s. Madonna recorded many of the pop anthems that defined that decade -- "Like a Virgin," "Material Girl," "Live to Tell," "Papa Don't Preach," "Open Your Heart," "Like a Prayer," "Express Yourself" -- and in the process she created the archetype of a modern pop star: one whose music was inextricably tied with its visual representation, and one who was loathe to trade upon past glories. As Madonna entered her second decade of stardom, she continued to take artistic risks; she delved into modern R&B for 1994's Bedtime Stories and electronica for 1998's Ray of Light. During the 2000s and 2010s, Madonna continued to be driven by that restless artistic spirit, a move helped put the entirety of her body of work into perspective, emphasizing the common threads and consistency that run throughout her music -- connections that were as evident on albums such as 2019's Madame X as they were on retrospectives like Finally Enough Love, a 2022 chronicle of her dance club hits. She moved from her native Michigan to New York in 1977 with dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. She studied with choreographer <a href="spotify:artist:45X1TddJM8P59KzH65Dea8">Alvin Ailey</a> and modeled. In 1979, she became part of <a href="spotify:artist:1CcEgi464SWZsKY5579u7z">the Patrick Hernandez Revue</a>, a disco outfit that had the hit "Born to Be Alive." She traveled to Paris with <a href="spotify:artist:1CcEgi464SWZsKY5579u7z">Hernandez</a>, and it was there that she met Dan Gilroy, who would soon become her boyfriend. Upon returning to New York, the pair formed <a href="spotify:artist:4nsuck0htFQjVl6OCKVzRb">the Breakfast Club</a>, a pop/dance group. Madonna originally played drums for the band, but she soon became the lead singer. In 1980, she left the band and formed <a href="spotify:artist:0dRCnsC8CE0tKq4f7TNBpp">Emmy</a> with her former boyfriend, drummer Stephen Bray. Soon, Bray and Madonna broke off from the group and began working on some dance/disco-oriented tracks. A demo tape of these worked its way to Mark Kamins, a New York-based DJ/producer. Kamins directed the tape to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sire+Records%22">Sire Records</a>, which signed the singer in 1982. Kamins produced Madonna's first single, "Everybody," which became a club and dance hit at the end of 1982; her second single, 1983's "Physical Attraction," was another club hit. In June of 1983, she had her third club hit with the bubbly "Holiday," which was produced by <a href="spotify:artist:6JjTnHt1P7gQXlcFDoI4IC">Jellybean Benitez</a>. Madonna's self-titled debut album was released in September of 1983; "Holiday" became her first Top 40 hit the following month. "Borderline" became her first Top Ten hit in March of 1984, beginning a remarkable string of 17 consecutive Top Ten hits. While "Lucky Star" was climbing to number four, she began working on her first starring role in a feature film, Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna's second album, the <a href="spotify:artist:3yDIp0kaq9EFKe07X1X2rz">Nile Rodgers</a>-produced Like a Virgin, was released at the end of 1984. The title track hit number one in December, staying at the top of the charts for six weeks; it was the start of a whirlwind year for the singer. During 1985, Madonna became an international celebrity, selling millions of records on the strength of her stylish, sexy videos and forceful personality. After "Material Girl" became a number two hit in March, Madonna began her first tour, supported by <a href="spotify:artist:03r4iKL2g2442PT9n2UKsx">the Beastie Boys</a>. "Crazy for You" became her second number one single in May. Desperately Seeking Susan was released in July, becoming a box office hit; it also prompted a planned video release of A Certain Sacrifice, a low-budget erotic drama she filmed in 1979. A Certain Sacrifice wasn't the only embarrassing skeleton in the closet dragged into the light during the summer of 1985 -- both Playboy and Penthouse published nude photos of Madonna that she'd posed for in 1977. Nevertheless, her popularity continued unabated, with thousands of teenage girls adopting her sexy appearance, being dubbed "Madonna wannabes." In August, she married actor Sean Penn. Madonna began collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:0sZa9vWsMzMfgEjnLqWCdI">Patrick Leonard</a> at the beginning of 1986; <a href="spotify:artist:0sZa9vWsMzMfgEjnLqWCdI">Leonard</a> would co-write most of her biggest hits in the '80s, including "Live to Tell," which hit number one in June of 1986. A more ambitious and accomplished record than her two previous albums, True Blue was released the following month, to both more massive commercial success (it was a number one in both the U.S. and the U.K., selling over five million copies in America alone) and critical acclaim. "Papa Don't Preach" became her fourth number one hit in the U.S. While her musical career was thriving, her film career took a savage hit with the November release of Shanghai Surprise. Starring Madonna and Penn, the comedy received terrible reviews, which translated into disastrous box office returns. At the beginning of 1987, she had her fifth number one single with "Open Your Heart," the third number one from True Blue alone. The title cut from the soundtrack of her third feature film, Who's That Girl?, was another chart-topping hit, although the film itself was another box office bomb. The year 1988 was relatively quiet for Madonna as she spent the first half of the year acting in David Mamet's Speed the Plow on Broadway. In the meantime, she released the remix album You Can Dance. After withdrawing the divorce papers she filed at the beginning of 1988, she divorced Penn at the beginning of 1989. Like a Prayer, released in the spring of 1989, was her most ambitious and far-reaching album, incorporating elements of pop, rock, and dance. It was another number one hit and launched the number one title track as well as "Express Yourself," "Cherish," and "Keep It Together," three more Top Ten hits. In April 1990, she began her massive Blonde Ambition tour, which ran throughout the entire year. "Vogue" became a number one hit in May, setting the stage for her co-starring role in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy; it was her most successful film appearance since Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna released a greatest-hits album, The Immaculate Collection, at the end of the year. It featured two new songs, including the number one single "Justify My Love," which sparked another controversy with its sexy video; the second new song, "Rescue Me," became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in U.S. chart history, entering the charts at number 15. Truth or Dare, a documentary of the Blonde Ambition tour, was released to positive reviews and strong ticket sales in the spring of 1991. Madonna returned to the charts in the summer of 1992 with the number one "This Used to Be My Playground," a single featured in the film A League of Their Own, which featured the singer in a small part. Later that year, Madonna released Sex, an expensive, steel-bound soft-core pornographic book that featured hundreds of erotic photographs of herself, several models, and other celebrities -- including Isabella Rossellini, <a href="spotify:artist:6futYSDVulYR2PktBjTB5W">Big Daddy Kane</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4IKQKM9T5OIshijgLD8ZyK">Naomi Campbell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7GXXMm3DB1VswVcuGyInUd">Vanilla Ice</a> -- as well as selected prose. Sex received scathing reviews and enormous negative publicity, but that didn't stop the accompanying album, Erotica, from selling over two million copies. Bedtime Stories, released two years later, was a more subdued affair than Erotica. Initially, it didn't chart as impressively, prompting some critics to label her a has-been, yet the album spawned her biggest hit, "Take a Bow," which spent seven weeks at number one. It also featured the <a href="spotify:artist:7w29UYBi0qsHi5RTcv3lmA">Björk</a>-penned "Bedtime Stories," which became her first single not to make the Top 40; its follow-up, "Human Nature," also failed to crack the Top 40. Nevertheless, Bedtime Stories marked her seventh album to go multi-platinum. Beginning in 1995, Madonna began one of her most subtle image makeovers as she lobbied for the title role in the film adaptation of <a href="spotify:artist:4aP1lp10BRYZO658B2NwkG">Andrew Lloyd Webber</a>'s Evita. Backing away from the overt sexuality of Erotica and Bedtime Stories, Madonna recast herself as an upscale sophisticate, and the compilation Something to Remember fit into the plan nicely. Released in the fall of 1995, around the same time she won the coveted role of Evita Peron, the album was comprised entirely of ballads, designed to appeal to the mature audience that would also be the target of Evita. As the filming was completed, Madonna announced she was pregnant and her daughter, Lourdes, was born late in 1996, just as Evita was scheduled for release. The movie was greeted with generally positive reviews and Madonna began a campaign for an Oscar nomination that resulted in her winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy), but not the coveted Academy Award nomination. The soundtrack for Evita, however, was a modest hit, with a dance remix of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and the newly written "You Must Love Me" both becoming hits. In 1997, she worked with producer <a href="spotify:artist:2AHGrNDMKFi8rHqQ8kJqfl">William Orbit</a> on her first album of new material since 1994's Bedtime Stories. The resulting release, Ray of Light, was heavily influenced by electronica, techno, and trip-hop, thereby updating her classic dance-pop sound for the late '90s. Ray of Light received uniformly excellent reviews upon its March 1998 release and debuted at number two on the charts. Within a month, the record was shaping up to be her biggest album since Like a Prayer. Two years later she returned with Music, which reunited her with <a href="spotify:artist:2AHGrNDMKFi8rHqQ8kJqfl">Orbit</a> and also featured production work from <a href="spotify:artist:27lxMew0VdF2G8vaCjaQXn">Mark "Spike" Stent</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Ohm3LvFp7wzkvMeiTDPKQ">Mirwais</a>, a French electropop producer/musician in the vein of <a href="spotify:artist:4tZwfgrHOc3mvqYlEYSvVi">Daft Punk</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1P6U1dCeHxPui5pIrGmndZ">Air</a>. The year 2000 also saw the birth of Madonna's second child, Rocco, whom she had with filmmaker Guy Ritchie; the two married at the very end of the year. With Ritchie as director and Madonna as star, the pair released a remake of the film Swept Away in 2002; the movie didn't fare well with critics or at the box office. Her sober 2003 album, American Life, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts but it didn't generate any hit singles in America, but it did produce two hit singles in the U.K., "Nothing Fails" and "Love Profusion." That same year also saw the release of Madonna's successful children's book, The English Roses, which was followed by several more novels in future years. Confessions on a Dance Floor marked her return to music, specifically to the dance-oriented material that had made her a star. Released in late 2005, the album topped the Billboard 200 chart and was accompanied by a worldwide tour in 2006, the same year that I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, a CD/DVD made during her Re-Invention Tour, came out. In 2007, Madonna released another CD/DVD set, The Confessions Tour, this time chronicling her tour of the same name. She inched closer to the completion of her <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> contract with 2008's Hard Candy, featuring collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">the Neptunes</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>. As poorly received as it was, the bold album boasted a Top Five hit in "4 Minutes," and it was supported with the Sticky & Sweet Tour, which concluded in September 2009 (a month prior to her filing for divorce from Ritchie) and produced yet another CD/DVD package, released in 2010. It was her final <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> release and set the stage for her long-term recording deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Live+Nation%22">Live Nation</a>. Madonna began work on her 12th album midway through 2011, with the goal of releasing it early in 2012. The subsequent full-length, MDNA, featured production from French electronic musician and DJ <a href="spotify:artist:1bj5GrcLom5gZFF5t949Xl">Martin Solveig</a>, as well as longtime collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:2AHGrNDMKFi8rHqQ8kJqfl">Orbit</a>. The album's title, an abbreviation of Madonna's name, appeared on the heels of her performance at the 2012 Super Bowl. Preceded by the Top Ten single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:0hCNtLu0JehylgoiP8L4Gh">Nicki Minaj</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0QJIPDAEDILuo8AIq3pMuU">M.I.A.</a>), MDNA debuted at number one across the world, including the U.S. and U.K. Her MDNA Tour took up the rest of the year, as she performed in Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America. She filmed a concert special, and also released the live album MDNA World Tour in September 2013. At the beginning of 2014, Madonna announced that she was starting work on her 13th studio album. Taking to social media to capture the process, she revealed that recording sessions with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:1vCWHaC5f2uS3yhpwWbIA6">Avicii</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5fMUXHkw8R8eOP2RNVYEZX">Diplo</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a> had taken place. Excerpts from the sessions leaked toward the end of 2014, forcing Madonna to release a digital teaser EP by the end of the year. The full release of Rebel Heart came in March 2015; the album peaked at number two in the U.S. and U.K. She toured from the fall of 2015 to the spring of 2016, playing more than 75 dates in North America, Europe, and Asia. In April 2019, Madonna began to issue singles leading up to the June release of her 14th album, Madame X, starting with "Medellín," a collaboration with Colombian reggaeton singer <a href="spotify:artist:1r4hJ1h58CWwUQe3MxPuau">Maluma</a>. The album featured co-production by <a href="spotify:artist:0Ohm3LvFp7wzkvMeiTDPKQ">Mirwais</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5TAipisjquAkq2o7lzMJyc">Mike Dean</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5fMUXHkw8R8eOP2RNVYEZX">Diplo</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1aZENDSuD4XXPlue0RJwSj">Jason Evigan</a>, as well as collaborations with guest artists including Brazilian singer <a href="spotify:artist:7FNnA9vBm6EKceENgCGRMb">Anitta</a> and rappers <a href="spotify:artist:1zNqQNIdeOUZHb8zbZRFMX">Swae Lee</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0VRj0yCOv2FXJNP47XQnx5">Quavo</a>. Upon its June 14, 2019 release, Madame X debuted at number one in the U.S. and number two in the U.K., generating four number one Billboard Dance Club hits: "Medellin," "Crave," "I Rise," and "I Don't Search I Find." Madonna's remarkable four-decade run at the top of the Dance Club charts was chronicled on Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones, a 2022 compilation that featured nearly all of her chart-topping dance singles. Finally Enough Love was the first release in a prospective reissue program by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a>, launched in 2022 to celebrate her 40th anniversary as a recording artist. This catalog series coincided with Madonna developing a biopic chronicling her own career, a film she planned to direct herself. In June 2023, she joined <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:699OTQXzgjhIYAHMy9RyPD">Playboi Carti</a> for the song "Popular" as part of the soundtrack to the Netflix drama The Idol. A month later, she embarked on The Celebration Tour, her first greatest-hits-themed live show. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

6) Pop bailable / Dance pop (finales 1970s - 1980s) Mezcla pop con ritmos de música disco, electrónica y house, orientado a las pistas de baile.

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is a multi-talented performer with featured roles on the screen both small and large, and a musical career that reached the summit of the charts from its very beginning and stayed planted there for many years. Her group, <a href="spotify:artist:6dJeKm76NjfXBNTpHmOhfO">Selena Gomez & the Scene</a>, issued a trio of breezy modern pop albums from 2009 to 2011 that each hit the Top Ten. After going solo, she scored a pair of number ones with the more adult-oriented Stars Dance (2013) and Revival (2015), then branched out into new sounds on collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:23fqKkggKUBHNkbKtXEls4">Kygo</a> ("It Ain't Me") and <a href="spotify:artist:64KEffDW9EtZ1y2vBYgq8T">Marshmello</a> ("Wolves"). Gomez reached the top of the singles chart for the first time with "Lose You to Love Me" (2019), a soul-searching ballad that delved into her real-life relationships and marked a new openness in her lyrical approach. In 2021, she took on Latin pop for the first time with the Revelación EP. Along with her starring role in Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, she was also the subject of the candid 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, for which she also released the title track, followed by 2023's electronic-tinged "Single Soon" and 2024's "Love On." Born in 1992, Gomez grew up in Texas and got her first break as a cast member on the kids' TV show Barney and Friends. She landed minor roles in several other TV programs, but it was her affiliation with the Disney Channel -- which discovered her during a nationwide talent search in 2004 -- that officially jump-started her acting career. Guest appearances on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Hannah Montana paved the way for Gomez's own show, The Wizards of Waverly Place, which premiered in October 2007 and quickly became one of the network's most popular programs. Gomez began juggling her commitment to The Wizards of Waverly Place with additional projects, including movie roles and a burgeoning singing career. She began branching out into pop music by recording songs for her own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Disney%22">Disney</a> projects. She sang the theme song for The Wizards of Waverly Place, recorded several other tunes for the show's soundtrack, and performed on the soundtrack of the family film Another Cinderella Story. By 2009, she'd also assembled her own teen pop band, <a href="spotify:artist:6dJeKm76NjfXBNTpHmOhfO">Selena Gomez & the Scene</a>, and signed a contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood+Records%22">Hollywood Records</a>. The band's full-length debut, Kiss & Tell, was released that year and went gold, as did its 2010 follow-up, A Year Without Rain. Gomez continued filming The Wizards of Waverly Place and made her theatrical debut in the 2010 film adaptation of Ramona and Beezus, but her music garnered just as much attention. When The Wizards of Waverly Place started airing its final season in November 2010, Gomez shifted her attention back to her band, whose third album, When the Sun Goes Down, was recorded in early 2011 and released later that year. She then took a break from music to focus more on acting, with her first role in a decidedly adult movie in 2013's Spring Breakers showing she could stretch beyond teen stardom. Her return to music in 2013 with her fourth album -- but the first credited to her as a solo artist -- also showed some stretching as she added dubstep, R&B, and EDM to her sound. Stars Dance was released in July 2013 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The rest of that year was a bit challenging for her, as she fired her management team and parted ways with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood+Records%22">Hollywood Records</a>. She soon bounced back and scored a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>. One last <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hollywood%22">Hollywood</a> album, a contract-fulfilling hits collection titled For You, was released in late 2014 and featured the self-penned platinum single "The Heart Wants What It Wants." In early 2015, Gomez guested on <a href="spotify:artist:2qxJFvFYMEDqd7ui6kSAcq">Zedd</a>'s hit EDM single "I Want You to Know." On the heels of that success, she released her own single, the Sir Nolan- and Nick Monson-produced "Good for You," which featured a guest appearance by the song's co-writer, rapper <a href="spotify:artist:13ubrt8QOOCPljQ2FL1Kca">A$AP Rocky</a>. The song was featured on the 2015 album Revival, her first on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>. With production from Mattman & Robin, Hit-Boy, and Benny Blanco, among others, and songwriting credits for <a href="spotify:artist:25uiPmTg16RbhZWAqwLBy5">Charli XCX</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ZED1XzwlLHW4ZaG4lOT6m">Julia Michaels</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:79A4RmgwxYGIDkqQDUHLXK">Chloe Angelides</a>, the album had many collaborators. Gomez executive produced and shared writing credits on six songs, making it her most personal effort to date. It entered the Billboard 200 at the top and spawned three singles that reached the Top Ten on the Top 40 chart. While touring in support of Revival, Gomez cut the trek short to address personal health problems stemming from her lupus, later revealing that during her time away from the spotlight she underwent a kidney transplant. Re-emerging at the end of 2016, she collaborated on singles with <a href="spotify:artist:23fqKkggKUBHNkbKtXEls4">Kygo</a> ("It Ain't Me") and <a href="spotify:artist:64KEffDW9EtZ1y2vBYgq8T">Marshmello</a> ("Wolves"), both charting in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017. The next year was a busy one for Gomez as she acted in the movie A Rainy Day in New York, served as executive producer of the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why, and worked with <a href="spotify:artist:64KEffDW9EtZ1y2vBYgq8T">Marshmello</a> on the Top 20 single "Wolves." She also issued the solo singles "Bad Liar" and "Fetish," which featured rapper <a href="spotify:artist:13y7CgLHjMVRMDqxdx0Xdo">Gucci Mane</a>. In 2018, she contributed the song "Back to You" to the 13 Reasons Why: Season 2 soundtrack, joined with <a href="spotify:artist:540vIaP2JwjQb9dm3aArA4">DJ Snake</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4kYSro6naA4h99UJvo89HB">Cardi B</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1i8SpTcr7yvPOmcqrbnVXY">Ozuna</a> on "Taki Taki," and sang the hook on Benny Blanco's single "I Can't Get Enough." While working on an album in 2019, she also executive-produced the HBO series Living Undocumented and appeared in the <a href="spotify:artist:7uwCnAgRDUzftIAkJDFfdy">Jim Jarmusch</a> zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die. Near the end of the year, she released the confessional ballad "Lose You to Love Me," and it became her first single to reach the top of the Billboard charts. The song set the tone for her sixth album, Rare, a collection of tracks that explored aspects of Gomez's life in ways her previous work hadn't. It featured the usual crop of heavy hitters behind the scenes, including Mattman & Robin, Justin Tranter, and <a href="spotify:artist:0ZED1XzwlLHW4ZaG4lOT6m">Julia Michaels</a>, and entered the Billboard 200 at number one in January 2020. The following year saw Gomez issue her first full-length Spanish-language project, the Grammy-nominated Revelación EP, which featured contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:540vIaP2JwjQb9dm3aArA4">DJ Snake</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7iK8PXO48WeuP03g8YR51W">Myke Towers</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1mcTU81TzQhprhouKaTkpq">Rauw Alejandro</a>. In 2021, she began starring in the Hulu mystery-comedy show Only Murders in the Building with <a href="spotify:artist:1Bd4UVlqlaKEXYRG3wgrCK">Steve Martin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0dV9xcjrW5YwkxG3gEBhRx">Martin Short</a>. She was also the subject of director Alek Keshishian's 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. The film followed Gomez over a six-year period and detailed her struggles with fame, as well as her physical and mental health issues in the wake of being diagnosed with lupus bipolar disorder. As part of the documentary, she released the single "My Mind & Me." The Benny Blanco and <a href="spotify:artist:2LZDXcxJWgsJfKXZv9a5eG">Cashmere Cat</a>-produced non-album track, "Single Soon," arrived in August 2023, followed in February 2024 by <a href="spotify:artist:2ra0AEgPRsClYf0zyk8RpK">the Monsters & Strangerz</a> and Isaiah Tejada-produced standalone track, "Love On." Both singles charted in the Hot 100. ~ Matt Collar & Andrew Leahey, Rovi

Ava Max

Ava Max

.

Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa

Inspired by Dua’s own self-discovery, Radical Optimism (out May 3) is the third album from 3x GRAMMY and 7x BRIT Award-winning pop powerhouse Dua Lipa. Radical Optimism taps into the pure joy and happiness of having clarity in situations that once seemed impossible to face. The hard goodbyes and vulnerable beginnings that previously threatened to crush your soul, become milestones as you choose optimism and start to move with grace through the chaos. Rolling Stone has called the album “pop bliss,” while noting it is “uniquely and utterly Dua Lipa: confident dance pop full of witty Instagram-caption-ready one-liners.” Radical Optimism follows Dua&#39; sophomore album Future Nostalgia, which solidified her position as both a critical and commercial success. The GRAMMY-winning record was the longest running top 10 album by a female artist on the Billboard 200 in 2021 and spawned multiple worldwide hit singles, with “Levitating” earning certified diamond status and the title of Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 Song of 2021. Dua’s eponymous 2017 debut album is certified platinum, spawned six platinum tracks, and made her the first female artist in BRIT Awards history to pick up five nominations in a single year. Dua has 10 GRAMMY nominations with three wins. Globally, she has amassed over 40 billion streams across platforms and has the top two most streamed albums by a female artist of all time on Spotify.

Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan

Currently rhinestoning a cowgirl hat or something *✲☆⋆(˘ᴗ˘)

Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun

Best known for their hit single "Walking on a Dream," Australia's larger-than-life electro-glam-pop duo Empire of the Sun feature the Sleepy Jackson's Luke Steele and Pnau's Nick Littlemore. Steele had previously worked with Pnau on "With You Forever," a track from the band's 2007 self-titled third album, and the pair enjoyed collaborating so much that they started their own project, drawing inspiration from the likes of Phoenix and Daft Punk. In fall 2008, Empire of the Sun released their debut album, Walking on a Dream, which the musicians described as "a spiritual road movie." Featuring songs co-written by Pnau's other half, Peter Mayes, the album went platinum in Australia and the title track became a hit single across the globe (even topping the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart nearly a decade after release when it was used in an American car advertisement). After time spent touring -- and a period when Littlemore took a short hiatus from the group to write music for Cirque du Soleil -- the duo regrouped in the studio to work on their second album. The disco-pop Ice on the Dune was released in early summer of 2013, after which the band toured the world. In late 2014, two new songs, "Tonight" and "Wandering Star," appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Dumb and Dumber To. They spent a large chunk of the next year writing and recording their third album in Los Angeles and Hawaii, welcoming guests like Lindsey Buckingham, members of David Bowie's band from the Blackstar sessions, and Wendy Melvoin from Prince & the Revolution. Two Vines was issued in October 2016, climbing into the Australian Top Ten and peaking just outside the Billboard Top 50. A year later, they released the On Our Way Home EP, which featured the title track plus additional B-sides and remixes. In 2019, the duo marked the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough debut with a special edition reissue that was packaged with a new song, "Chrysalis." ~ Heather Phares

Labrinth

Labrinth

Labrinth is a multiplatinum-selling singer, songwriter, producer, and composer of one of 2019’s biggest shows, HBO’s Euphoria. In addition to lending his singular, genre-blending sound to the series, Labrinth wrote and performed the show&#39;s finale-capping song “All For Us,” featuring Zendaya, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for. His score has also recently garnered an Ivor Novello win for “Best Television Soundtrack” and a further Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Composition for a series (original dramatic score). The score soundtrack has so far generated over 600 million streams worldwide. As a solo artist, Labrinth is best known for global hits including "Jealous", which to date has garnered over 415 million streams on Spotify alone. Labrinth is one third of supergroup LSD, alongside Sia and Diplo, whose titular debut album has garnered over 1 billion streams worldwide in the year since its release. He has collaborated with Beyoncé, co-writing and co-producing the Golden Globe and Grammy nominated song “Spirit”, the lead single in Disney&#39;s 2019 live-action The Lion King. Other artists he has collaborated with include Nicki Minaj, Eminem, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, and Kanye West on the album Jesus is King. Labrinth&#39;s most recent album Imagination & The Misfit Kid includes the singles “Miracle", "Mount Everest" and the aforementioned "All For Us".

Eurotripp

Artista y productor musical | Electronic, synthwave, electropop, indie electronic (2021) ❗

Charli XCX

Charli XCX

it&#39;s charli baby ;)

The Romantics

The Romantics

Such power pop founders as <a href="spotify:artist:7Kkx4dACo6kFSeT9wjfVA5">the Raspberries</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a> may have been woefully underappreciated during their initial run in the early '70s, but by the end of the decade, several of their offspring had taken the style to the upper reaches of the charts -- including <a href="spotify:artist:1LB8qB5BPb3MHQrfkvifXU">Cheap Trick</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Nn9YwJzcaeuU1jJL06e3r">the Knack</a>, and the Romantics. But what set the group apart from their similarly styled peers was their inheritance of the high-energy attack of their Detroit forefathers, as well as their affinity for bouffant hairstyles and matching retro outfits. Formed on the east side of Detroit during 1977, the Romantics' original lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Wally Palmar, singer/drummer Jimmy Marinos, guitarist Mike Skill, and bassist Richie Cole. Building a local following with their live show, the Romantics issued a single on their own (via Spider Records) -- "Little White Lies" b/w "I Can't Tell You Anything" -- while a spirited performance in Toronto led to a brief union with the renowned punk/power pop indie label Bomp!, which issued another single shortly thereafter with "Tell It to Carrie" b/w "First in Line." Both singles helped bring the quartet to the attention of several other labels and the Romantics inked a deal with the Nemperor/Epic label in 1979. The band's self-titled full-length debut surfaced a year later (recorded in just three weeks) and is often considered to be the quartet's best due to the inclusion of such gems as "When I Look in Your Eyes," a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:6spXkXEP6teMn2cu9sWbBR">Ray Davies</a>' "She's Got Everything," and one of the Romantics' best-known tracks: the power pop gem "That's What I Like About You." Although the latter track peaked at only number 49 when originally released as a single, it later became an early MTV favorite and classic rock radio standard and in the '90s, was used in several commercials. A sophomore effort was issued the same year, National Breakout, which saw the band expand their sound to include such other styles as surf and classic Motown and was supported by an extensive world tour (including the Romantics' inaugural visits to both Europe and Australia). Also issued around this time via the Quark label (a subsidiary of Bomp!) was a compilation credited to Romantics & Friends, entitled Midwest Pop Explosion!, which featured several early tracks. Strictly Personal in 1981 signaled the Romantics' first lineup change with Coz Canler replacing Skill, and while the group's audience continued to grow, the album failed to break the band commercially, something that would be corrected on their next release. In Heat (1983) would become the Romantics' best-selling album (going gold shortly after its release) on the strength of such Top Ten hit singles as "Talking in Your Sleep" and "One in a Million" and the quartet shed its early raw energy in favor of more streamlined songwriting. Although they had finally obtained breakthrough success, problems between the band and their management became an issue, leading to Marinos' departure. The Romantics decided to soldier on with a new drummer, Dave Petratos, resulting in 1985's Rhythm Romance, an album that saw the group move even further away from their power pop roots and embrace more mainstream rock (both musically and, judging from the album's cover, visually). Rhythm Romance would also prove to be the Romantics' last studio album issued via Nemperor/Epic as a complete falling out between the band and its management led to a lawsuit that prevented the group from touring or recording on a regular basis, leading many to assume that the group had split up. During this period of downtime, a ten-track best-of set was issued, 1990's What I Like About You (& Other Romantic Hits). By 1990, the Romantics welcomed former <a href="spotify:artist:4tpUmLEVLCGFr93o8hFFIB">Blondie</a> drummer Clem Burke into the fold and the lineup was featured on a five-track EP three years later, Made in Detroit, which featured originals mixed with a few classic <a href="spotify:artist:450o9jw6AtiQlQkHCdH6Ru">Funkadelic</a> covers (additionally, the group played at the memorial service for the <a href="spotify:artist:4WquJweZPIK9qcfVFhTKvf">MC5</a>'s late singer Rob Tyner). In 1995, the Romantics finally settled their lawsuit against their former management and were granted control of both their publishing rights and music catalog once more. A year later, Marinos briefly rejoined the group, but by 1997, their original drummer was out once more and Burke was back in. During the late '90s, several additional best-of collections were issued (1996's Breakout and 1998's Super Hits), as well as several in-concert sets (1996's King Biscuit Flower Hour and 2000's Live, the latter of which was reissued a year later as Hits You Remember: Live). Despite not having issued a full-length studio album in two decades, the Romantics continue to tour. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi

blink-182

blink-182

Pop-punk godfathers blink-182 embody why the genre appeals to millions. The San Diego band, which coalesced in the early '90s around co-frontmen Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus, blend upbeat tempos, catchy hooks, and bawdy humor with lyrics that understand the pain of adolescence—and life in general. The trio's 1995 debut, <I>Cheshire Cat</I>, and 1997 commercial breakthrough <I>Dude Ranch</I> illustrate a fondness for breakneck-speed punk and sharply honed melodies, but blink-182 connected with bigger audiences in the later '90s because their rebellion offered both comic relief—see the nudity-heavy video for "What's My Age Again?," from 1999's <I>Enema of the State</I>—and seriousness, tackling the trauma of suicide ("Adam's Song") and divorce ("Stay Together for the Kids"). Their sound matured considerably into the '00s, becoming more indebted to moody, muscular alternative rock, thanks in no small part to the crack-shot drumming and arrangements of Travis Barker, who joined in 1998. A massive lineup change—DeLonge left the band in 2015 and was replaced by Alkaline Trio singer/guitarist Matt Skiba—didn’t slow them down, even as they and their fans grew up. It's no surprise, then, that 2019's <I>NINE</I>, with its electronic instrumentation and more downcast, introspective themes, still resonated with their diehard followers—blink-182’s energetic, superbly crafted tunes and deeply emotional lyrics know no age limit.

Hayley Williams

Hayley Williams

Hayley Williams is the singer of the American genre-neutral band Paramore, and founder of haircare and color company Good Dye Young. “Simmer” marks the first single from the Grammy award-winning Paramore singer’s hugely anticipated debut solo album. “I’m so ready and so incredibly humbled to get to share this project with the public. Making it was a scary, empowering experience. The songs just keep getting more personal.” says Williams. “Simmer” marks Williams’ first new music release since Paramore’s chart-topping 2017 album, “After Laughter”. Highlighted by singles “Hard Times,” “Told You So,” “Fake Happy,” and “Rose-Colored Boy,” the LP debuted at #1 on Billboard’s “Top Alternative Albums” chart upon its May 2017 release while also arriving on the overall SoundScan/Billboard 200 at #6. Long regarded as an exhilarating live act, Paramore has spent much of the past decade-plus on the road, including countless sold out world tours and show-stealing festival sets around the globe. Williams has also enjoyed a wide range of extracurricular success, including collaborations with such diverse artists as Zedd, American Football, and Chvrches. As for the upcoming album, Petals For Armor, Williams says, “Now that it’s time to put it all out there, I can finally exhale. I’m excited to let people in to experience a different side of myself that I’ve only very recently become familiar with.”

Mayday Parade

Mayday Parade

As one of the most enduring acts to rise from the underground in the mid-aughts, Mayday Parade has soundtracked both adolescence and adulthood for millions of listeners. Their music stands synonymous with the emo and pop-punk genres: 2007’s <a href="spotify:album:0UtenXp3qVbWedKEaNRAp9" data-name="A Lesson In Romantics">A Lesson In Romantics</a>, their debut LP has been hailed as one of the best – and most influential – emo albums of all time by Alternative Press. <a href="spotify:album:0z4nD6xjZlQEq4BDF8GRFu" data-name="Monsters In The Closet">Monsters In The Closet</a>, their 2013 release, debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and tracks like the Platinum-selling “Jamie All Over,” Gold-certified “Miserable At Best” and “Oh Well, Oh Well” represent not only widespread commercial acclaim, but the sort of artist-audience relationship that’s fortified them across changing musical landscapes and the ebb and flow of an unforgiving industry. Now, as they celebrate a remarkable 20 years as a band in 2025, the Tallahassee, Florida, five-piece are set to release perhaps their most aspirational effort yet: a three-part album showcasing their prolific, emotionally resonant songwriting. The first entry, Sweet, arrives April 18, 2025, led by the effervescent bounce of “By The Way,” a pitch-perfect blend of what’s made Mayday Parade a genre mainstay for decades: a tender, piano-led groove ultimately giving way to a crush of stereo guitars, ascendent melodies, and heart-on-sleeve lyricism. “As we got closer to our 20th anniversary, it felt right to do something big and unexpected,” vocalist Derek Sanders says.

Kate Bush

Kate Bush

Throughout the entirety of a one-of-a-kind creative journey, Kate Bush has achieved the rare feat of making innovative, fearlessly experimental work that's also wildly successful. From the start, Bush's music was ambitious and strange, and her mélange of art rock, pop hooks, theatrical twists, fantastical vocal performances, and complex musicianship resulted in hits. She became an immediate star in the U.K. in 1978 with the release of her debut single, "Wuthering Heights," and the subsequent album The Kick Inside, when she was just 19. While the crystal-clear high notes and lush instrumentation of "Wuthering Heights" set the scene for her star to rise, Bush expanded her vision rapidly with the subsequent self-produced albums The Dreaming (1982) and Hounds of Love (1985), both of which saw her embracing rudimentary electronic music production along with more personal lyrical themes and an unflinching commitment to conceptual presentation that put her at high risk for commercial failure. Quite the opposite played out, however, as these visionary albums broke through worldwide. Always working at a deliberate pace, Bush took a hiatus between 1993's The Red Shoes and 2005's Aerial, and from there sporadically released new material like 2011's 50 Words for Snow. The impact of Bush's music, aesthetic, and approach to art cannot be understated. Along with the impression her sound made on peers like <a href="spotify:artist:7C4sUpWGlTy7IANjruj02I">Peter Gabriel</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0NKDgy9j66h3DLnN8qu1bB">Eurythmics</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0z5DFXmhT4ZNzWElsM7V89">Erasure</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a>, and others, echoes of Bush's reality-bending vocal style and imaginative sound sculpting have appeared perennially in every generation of new artists that followed her. While a direct resemblance can be heard to stars like <a href="spotify:artist:1KsASRNugxU85T0u6zSg32">Tori Amos</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7w29UYBi0qsHi5RTcv3lmA">Björk</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4fxp616ALtFWnXfwxnjLzW">Antony and the Johnsons</a>, or <a href="spotify:artist:6nB0iY1cjSY1KyhYyuIIKH">FKA Twigs</a>, the totality of her influence is much deeper, with everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:3qeZ2Y7fOYRAVJzOJxp1e2">John Lydon</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:053q0ukIDRgzwTr4vNSwab">Grimes</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:1G9G7WwrXka3Z1r7aIDjI7">OutKast</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:2ht3wxeT69CzyKFChNnNAB">Big Boi</a> citing Bush as a guiding force for their music. Kate Bush was born Catherine Bush in 1958. She studied piano and violin while attending the St. Joseph's Convent Grammar School in Abbey Wood in South London. By the time she was a teenager, she was writing songs of her own. A family friend brought her to the attention of <a href="spotify:artist:0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9">Pink Floyd</a> lead guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2FcC4sDMXme2ziI7tGKMK8">David Gilmour</a>, who arranged for the 15-year-old to record her first demo. With <a href="spotify:artist:2FcC4sDMXme2ziI7tGKMK8">Gilmour</a>'s help, Bush was signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI+Records%22">EMI Records</a> at age 16, though the company made the decision to break her in slowly. She studied dance, mime, and voice, and continued writing. She also began thinking in terms of which of the 200 or so songs she'd written would be on her first recording, and by 1977, she was ready to begin her formal career, which she did with an original song, "Wuthering Heights," based on material from Emily Bronte's novel (and more directly inspired by Bush's seeing the 1970 film directed by Robert Fuest and starring Timothy Dalton and Anna Caulder Marshall). "Wuthering Heights" hit number one on the British charts when it was released in 1978, and Bush immediately arrived. Her debut album, The Kick Inside, a collection of material that she had written from the age of 15 and onward -- some of it displaying extremely provocative and sophisticated sexual references and images -- reached number three and sold over a million copies in the U.K. Bush's second album, Lionheart, reached number six but didn't achieve anything like the sales totals or critical acclaim of its predecessor, and in later years, Bush regretted the rush in planning and recording that album to capitalize on the success of her debut. In England during the spring of 1979, she embarked on what proved to be the only concert tour of the first 37 years of her career, playing a series of shows highlighted by 17 costume changes, lots of dancing, and complex lighting. Bush was also one of the first rock performers to use a wireless microphone, which freed her up to move around the stage as few singers before her had been capable of doing. The tour proved both exhausting and financially disastrous, and she limited her live performances for many years afterward. By the start of the '80s, Bush was established as one of the most challenging and eccentric artists ever to have achieved success in rock music, with a range of sounds and thematic content that constantly challenged her audiences. "Babooshka" (1980) became her first Top Five single since "Wuthering Heights," and her subsequent album, Never for Ever, entered the British charts at number one in September of 1980. During this period, Bush began co-producing her own work, a decisive step toward refining her sound and also establishing her independence from her record company. Her 1982 album The Dreaming was her first completely self-produced LP, and included some of her most experimental and adventurous work up to that point. Bush had been inspired by seeing a <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a> concert where <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Wonder</a> used a Fairlight CMI synthesizer (an early digital synth), and she experimented heavily with the Fairlight throughout The Dreaming, with its cold and futuristic sounds blending around Bush's unorthodox songwriting. The Dreaming peaked at number three in the U.K. From that point forward, Bush produced all of her albums herself. In August of 1985, Bush released "Running Up That Hill," which became her second biggest-selling single. The accompanying album, Hounds of Love, the first record made in her home studio, debuted on the British charts at the number one position in September of 1985 and remained there for a full month, and soon after "Running Up That Hill" broke through in the U.S., it reached number 30 on Billboard's charts. By this time in England, Bush ranked alongside <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a> in terms of her musical impact, "Running Up That Hill" having bumped "Like a Virgin" out of the number one chart position. The changes in her sound and her development as a writer/performer were showcased in the January 1987 best-of collection The Whole Story, for which she also re-recorded the lead vocal for "Wuthering Heights" to bring the song more in line with her sound at the time. The album also featured her latest single, "Experiment IV," whose lyrics were built on a science fiction story line that was echoed in the video, which Bush directed with a cast of familiar movie performers, and which came out like a miniaturized musical version of a <a href="spotify:artist:6ypM98YOKaS2MFL4JLkb6b">Quatermass</a>-like chiller. That same year, Bush won the Best British Female Artist award at the sixth annual BRIT Awards in London. In October of 1989, Bush's sixth album, The Sensual World, reached the British number two spot and received an unprecedented promotional push in America, where she signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a> for her future releases. Bush's next album, The Red Shoes (1993), inspired by the 1948 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, debuted in the American Top 30, the first time one of her albums had ever charted that high -- Bush made a rare personal appearance in New York that December for an autograph signing at Tower Records on the Lower East Side, and the line of admirers stretched almost six blocks and required her to extend her appearance by several hours. It would be another 12 years before Bush would resume her recording career. Rumors of a new album began circulating in the late '90s. During this time, Bush became a mother and quietly retreated to her countryside home in Berkshire, Reading, England. In 2005, Bush finally released her follow-up to The Red Shoes, the double-disc set Aerial. After another six-year silence, Bush released The Director's Cut in 2011. It was a collection of 11 redone songs taken from 1989's The Sensual World and 1993's The Red Shoes. Bush claimed she was never quite satisfied with what was released, and therefore decided to rework elements in the chosen songs -- she recut all of her vocals and drums, and left virtually everything else unchanged. That said, the title of the song "The Sensual World" was renamed "Flower of the Mountain," because she also changed the words. Bush proved somewhat prolific in 2011 when she released 50 Words for Snow on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Anti-%22">Anti-</a> in November, an all-new concept recording containing seven long tracks. Jazz drummer <a href="spotify:artist:42zoEf7IcpDSvdQjcrSpHl">Steve Gadd</a> played throughout, with Bush's son Bertie guesting on one track and <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Sir Elton John</a> duetting with Bush on "Snowed in at Wheeler Street." In March 2014, Bush shocked her fans by announcing she would be returning to the stage for the first time in 35 years. She revealed she would perform a series of concerts at London's Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in August and September of that year. Bush initially booked 15 shows, all of which sold out after just 15 minutes of the tickets going on sale. Another seven nights were soon added, which were also immediate sellouts. Bush's concerts, featuring an ambitious blend of music, dance, and drama, received enthusiastic reviews, and the show received the Editor's Award at the London Theatre Awards. In late 2016, Bush released an album drawn from the London performances. Titled Before the Dawn, the live album was released by Bush's own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fish+People%22">Fish People</a> label, distributed by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rhino+Records%22">Rhino Records</a> in Europe and the U.K. and by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Concord+Music%22">Concord Music</a> in the United States. In November 2018, Bush released a series of box sets -- two on CD and four on vinyl -- that featured remastered versions of her entire back catalog, with the new mastering overseen by Bush and James Guthrie. The second CD set included four bonus discs that featured rare and unreleased material, including demos, 12" mixes, alternate versions, and interpretations of other artists' songs. The four rarities discs were given a stand-alone release in March 2019 as a box set titled Other Sides. Around the same time, Bush published her first book, How to Be Invisible, a collection of lyrics. In 2022, she was nominated for a third time as a potential inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. While she was not included in that year's class, Bush experienced a surprising cultural revival that May thanks to the inclusion of "Running Up That Hill" on the fourth season of the series Stranger Things. The viral popularity of the track introduced her to a new generation of fans and pushed the song (and Hounds of Love) back onto multiple international charts. ~ Bruce Eder & Fred Thomas, Rovi

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne has made history, smashed records, and consistently blazed a trail of her own as an uncompromising force in music and culture. Beyond selling over 50 million albums worldwide, she has notched eight GRAMMY® Award nominations in categories such as “Best New Artist” and “Song of the Year.” In addition, she has received eight Juno Awards, including “Artist of the Year.” Her catalog comprises the septuple platinum Let Go [2002], triple-platinum Under My Skin [2004], double-platinum The Best Damn Thing [2007], gold-selling Goodbye Lullaby [2011], gold-selling Avril Lavigne [2013], Head Above Water [2019]. As such, she remains of “one of the Soundscan-era’s top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S." and “the third bestselling Canadian female artist of all-time.” She holds a Guinness World Record as “the youngest female solo artist to top the UK chart,” while “Girlfriend” emerged as “first music video to reach 100 million views on YouTube.” She has earned multiple #1&#39;s around the globe and her social media following notably exceeds 95 million fans worldwide. In February 2022, Avril released her seventh studio album Love Sux that debuted in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart, amassed over 12 million streams in its first week. In 2025, Avril Lavigne has officially been ranked the #19 biggest female artist of the 21st century by Billboard. Now embarking on the 2025 leg of her Greatest Hits Tour, Avril is poised once again to prove she&#39;s 100% Rock N Roll!

The Greatest Showman Ensemble

The Greatest Showman Ensemble

The Greatest Showman Ensemble

Björk

Björk

A visionary artist who effortlessly blends avant-garde and pop elements, Björk makes music that is as innovative as it is emotional. When the Icelandic singer, songwriter, producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist launched her solo career, she traded the arty guitar rock of her former group <a href="spotify:artist:1G0Xwj8mza6b03iYkVdzDP">the Sugarcubes</a> for dance music and worked with some of the genre's biggest names, including <a href="spotify:artist:1l7aiSjBGkQiyTuQYTigAP">Nellee Hooper</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1PXHzxRDiLnjqNrRn2Xbsa">Underworld</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6hhA8TKRNryM8FNzqCqdDO">Tricky</a>. She established her new artistic direction with 1993's Debut, an international, multi-platinum hit that she followed with two equally groundbreaking albums: 1995's Post, another wildly successful work that reflected her style at its poppiest even as it fused jazz, industrial, and different flavors of electronic music, and 1997's Homogenic, an uncompromising fusion of strings and fractured beats that foreshadowed her increasingly experimental direction in the years to come. She swung from the daring softness of 2001's Vespertine to the primal vocal textures of 2004's Medúlla, and found new ways to connect humanity, technology, and music on 2011's Biophilia. Later in the 2010s and into the next decade, Björk delivered powerful expressions of loss and renewal with albums including 2015's Vulnicura and 2022's Fossora, both of which reaffirmed her as one of the most influential and distinctively creative talents of her times. Born in Reykjavik in 1965 to activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, Björk spent her early years living in a commune with her mother and stepfather Sævar Árnason, who was a guitarist in the band Pops. She studied piano and flute at the Reykjavik school Barnamúsíkskóli; when she sang <a href="spotify:artist:7Jbs4wPCLaKXPxrTxZ2zaa">Tina Charles</a>' "I Love to Love" at a recital, her teachers sent a recording to Iceland's Radio One that was then broadcast across the nation. A contract with the Fálkinn record label followed, and Björk recorded her self-titled debut album when she was 11. Released in Iceland in December 1977, Björk became a hit within Iceland and contained covers of several pop songs, including <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>' "Fool on the Hill." As the '70s came to a close, the punk revolution changed Björk's musical tastes. She formed the post-punk group <a href="spotify:artist:76S65NHJHrNy4JTrXHP2BH">Exodus</a> in 1979 and sang in Jam 80 the following year. In 1981, Björk and <a href="spotify:artist:76S65NHJHrNy4JTrXHP2BH">Exodus</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7pQYUlV0pHGolqqTepsuxu">Jakob Magnusson</a> formed Tappi Tikarrass, which released an EP, Bitid Fast I Vitid, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Spor%22">Spor</a> later that year; it was followed by the full-length Miranda in 1983. Following Tappi Tikarrass, she formed the goth-tinged post-punk group <a href="spotify:artist:1Kuzl5TprdfmyLnBlZiYVn">KUKL</a> with Einar Orn Benediktsson. <a href="spotify:artist:1Kuzl5TprdfmyLnBlZiYVn">KUKL</a> released two albums, The Eye (1984) and Holidays in Europe (1986), on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Crass+Records%22">Crass Records</a>. During this time, Björk published a book of poetry, 1984's Um Úrnat frá Björk and appeared in her first film, The Juniper Tree (which was released in 1990). When Kukl dissolved in mid-1986, Björk, Benediktsson, and other former members founded the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Smekkleysa%22">Smekkleysa</a> ("Bad Taste") arts collective, which included <a href="spotify:artist:1G0Xwj8mza6b03iYkVdzDP">the Sugarcubes</a> among its projects. <a href="spotify:artist:1G0Xwj8mza6b03iYkVdzDP">The Sugarcubes</a> quickly became stars within their homeland and were also one of the rare Icelandic bands to achieve international success when their debut album, Life's Too Good, became a British and American hit in 1988. While the band was on hiatus following the Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! tour, Björk pursued other projects, including Gling-Gló, a 1990 set of jazz standards and originals with an Icelandic bebop group called Trio Gudmundar Ingolfssonar, and a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:7vF3DcPluq6lZI36VniagW">Current 93</a>. She also wrote her own songs and appeared on two songs on <a href="spotify:artist:7hFdUW64G4iU1tz46ITRfN">808 State</a>'s 1991 album ex:el, an experience that sparked her love of house music. After recording and touring in support of <a href="spotify:artist:1G0Xwj8mza6b03iYkVdzDP">the Sugarcubes</a>' final album, 1992's Stick Around for Joy, Björk moved to London and embarked on her solo career. Working with <a href="spotify:artist:6FXMGgJwohJLUSr5nVlf9X">Massive Attack</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:1l7aiSjBGkQiyTuQYTigAP">Nellee Hooper</a> as her co-producer, she combined new compositions with songs she had written as a teenager and drew from influences such as Bollywood, exotica, and jazz as well as electronic music. Featuring contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:30Y7JOpiNgAGEhnkYPdI1P">Talvin Singh</a>, jazz harpist <a href="spotify:artist:7B20tHBVKVg3b6K3W1OKwo">Corky Hale</a> and reedist <a href="spotify:artist:3y58dknRdBENZ8oVErWu9B">Oliver Lake</a>, Debut -- so named by Björk to underscore its musical fresh start -- appeared in June 1993. It quickly became her most successful project to date: the album earned widespread critical acclaim and reached number two on the charts in Iceland and number three on the U.K. Album Charts. Debut went double platinum in the U.K. and platinum in four other countries, including the U.S., and was certified gold in five other countries. Boosted by an eye-catching Michel Gondry video, the single "Human Behaviour" became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., followed by "Venus as a Boy," "Big Time Sensuality," and "Violently Happy." At the end of the year, NME magazine named Debut the album of the year, while she won International Female Solo Artist and Newcomer at the BRIT Awards; at the 1994 Grammy Awards, Gondry's video was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video. Björk followed Debut's success with a number of collaborations. "Play Dead," a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:6xpxzGS2J2tijVVWp2RY0j">David Arnold</a> recorded for the film The Young Americans, appeared shortly after the album's release and was included as a bonus track on a rerelease. In 1994, she lent her vocals to <a href="spotify:artist:5akVqMzdZOdbMYbE4vNZWD">Plaid</a>'s album Not for Threes, co-wrote <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a>'s "Bedtime Stories," and appeared in an uncredited role in Robert Altman's film Prêt-à-Porter. She also worked on her second album with <a href="spotify:artist:1l7aiSjBGkQiyTuQYTigAP">Hooper</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6hhA8TKRNryM8FNzqCqdDO">Tricky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7hFdUW64G4iU1tz46ITRfN">808 State</a>'s Graham Massey, and <a href="spotify:artist:1DAJPl1Q9bNwPGUqL08nzG">Howie B</a> of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mo%27+Wax+Records%22">Mo' Wax Records</a>; as her co-producers; her other collaborators included <a href="spotify:artist:30Y7JOpiNgAGEhnkYPdI1P">Talvin Singh</a> and Brazilian composer and conductor <a href="spotify:artist:0hE3uA2w3guHeKvuc7BpRr">Eumir Deodato</a>. Recorded in Nassau and London, June 1995's Post further broadened Björk's musical horizons, incorporating industrial, ambient, IDM, trip-hop, and jazz into its bustling portrait of her life after moving to London. Hailed for its fusion of pop and experimental music, the album was another critical success as well as on the charts. Post was a Top Ten hit in over 20 countries (including the U.K., where it reached number two) and peaked at number 32 in the U.S. It was certified platinum in four countries, including the U.K. and the U.S., and was certified gold in four more. Post yielded the singles "Army of Me," "Isobel," "Hyperballad" and "It's Oh So Quiet," the latter of which topped the Icelandic charts and was a Top Ten hit in four other countries. The album's accolades included the Icelandic Music Award for Album of the Year and the Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album, while Björk won the Icelandic Music Awards for Artist of the Year, Female Singer of the Year, and Composer of the Year, and won her second Brit Award for Best International Female Solo artist. Additionally, Spike Jonze's vivid music video for "It's Oh So Quiet," which took inspiration from vintage Hollywood musicals, was nominated for the Best Music Video Grammy award. To support the album, Björk embarked on her first official tour of North America with <a href="spotify:artist:6kBDZFXuLrZgHnvmPu9NsG">Aphex Twin</a>, and chronicled the European leg of the tour as well as the making of the album in the book Post. November 1996 saw the release of Telegram, a collection of remixes featuring contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:2M0T4a1pkOC5nifN9W6e9e">LFO</a>, Massey, Deodato, <a href="spotify:artist:5CDTMeaU6dnv24n6e4uAtk">Dillinja</a>, and percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:6MYiQGy8MIcBps6Ez0IQA8">Evelyn Glennie</a>. The album reached number 66 on the U.S. charts and peaked at 59 in the U.K. After the lengthy Post tour and an attempt on her life by an obsessed fan, Björk decamped to Málaga, Spain to work on her next album. Seeking a more cohesive approach inspired by Iceland's landscapes, she combined crunchy beats with sweeping strings and worked with co-producers Mark Bell, <a href="spotify:artist:0uQWT7X0I9Y7zM7WWexpAj">Guy Sigsworth</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1DAJPl1Q9bNwPGUqL08nzG">Howie B</a>, and Markus Dravs, the Icelandic String Octet, and Deodato, who contributed additional string arrangements. Arriving in September 1997, the moody, forceful Homogenic was another triumph: Reaching the Top Ten in 15 countries, it was also certified gold in six countries, including the U.S. Along with earning Björk her third Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist, Homogenic was nominated for the Best Alternative Music Performance Grammy Award, while Gondry's video for the single "Bachelorette" and Chris Cunningham's video for "All Is Full of Love" were nominated for the Best Short Form Music Video Grammy Award in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Early in 1999, Björk started work on Lars von Trier's film Dancer in the Dark, in which she played the main character Selma and wrote and produced the score. At the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, Dancer in the Dark won the Palme d'Or, while Björk was named Best Actress. Later that year, her score for the film appeared as Selmasongs, which included contributions from Homogenic collaborator Bell and "I've Seen It All," a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb">Radiohead</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4CvTDPKA6W06DRfBnZKrau">Thom Yorke</a> that earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. During the challenging Dancer in the Dark shoot, Björk composed quiet, intricate songs that provided a respite as well as a way to celebrate her relationship with artist Matthew Barney. Written and recorded in Spain, Denmark, Iceland, and New York, Vespertine appeared in August 2001 and included contributions from Barney, Jake Davies, <a href="spotify:artist:4MEZhJCV2uLCrhZoCzfjVs">Marius de Vries</a>, Thomas Knak, <a href="spotify:artist:0xBkYJzwFzcIYev4fOkvk0">Matmos</a>, and harpist <a href="spotify:artist:3KI6JsmaN8xyYUq8Tf9Lle">Zeena Parkins</a>. Winning critical acclaim for its delicate sonics and sensual, vulnerable songwriting, the album topped the charts in five countries including Iceland and was certified gold in six countries; in the U.S., it reached number one on the Top Electronic Albums chart. Vespertine was nominated for the Best Alternative Album Grammy Award and the Icelandic Music Award for Album of the Year, while Björk was nominated for the Best International Female Solo Artist Brit Award. She brought <a href="spotify:artist:3KI6JsmaN8xyYUq8Tf9Lle">Parkins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0xBkYJzwFzcIYev4fOkvk0">Matmos</a>, and a choir of Inuit women with her on the Vespertine tour, chronicling its smaller-scale performances with the 2002 DVD Live at Royal Opera House and the following year's Miniscule. During this time, she also released Family Tree, a box set gathering rarities and previously unreleased material; Greatest Hits, which collected songs chosen by Björk's fans on her website; and Live Box, a set of live recordings and videos from each of her albums. For her next album, Björk moved away from Vespertine's detailed electronics to focus on the primal power of the human voice. Collaborating with <a href="spotify:artist:5iksmHDN2qZQcgFfXqIXtT">Robert Wyatt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:34Ai24gPz5YJ8NbksiNFef">Mike Patton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6vunRaBya0Sx6CMJZAlHTZ">Rahzel</a>, Japanese beatboxer <a href="spotify:artist:3dsLTMrREVSyX9PRuDibeS">Dokaka</a>, Inuit throat singer <a href="spotify:artist:2WIb75pwIt78VCAhAtPObY">Tanya Tagaq</a> (who also performed on the Vespertine tour) the Icelandic and London Choirs, <a href="spotify:artist:2vObsQCPsbVfkqHlQOu2zc">Nico Muhly</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0xBkYJzwFzcIYev4fOkvk0">Matmos</a> among many others, she released Medúlla in August 2004. With a title based on the Latin word for "marrow," the largely acapella album earned praise for its experimental approach to the essential qualities of music and vocals. Its global success included placing in the Top Ten of the charts in 19 countries; gold certifications in France and Russia, and silver certification in the U.K.; hitting number one on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the U.S.; and an Icelandic Music Award nomination for Pop Album of the Year. Björk also received Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the track "Oceania," which she performed at the opening ceremony for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The following year, she worked with Barney on his film Drawing Restraint 9, acting in it as well as composing its soundtrack. She also appeared in Screaming Masterpiece, a 2005 documentary about Iceland's musical community. Late in 2006, she and the rest of <a href="spotify:artist:1G0Xwj8mza6b03iYkVdzDP">the Sugarcubes</a> reunited for a performance benefitting the band's former label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Smekkleysa%22">Smekkleysa</a>. In 2007, Björk's cover of <a href="spotify:artist:5hW4L92KnC6dX9t7tYM4Ve">Joni Mitchell</a>'s "The Boho Dance," which appeared on A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, preceded the May release of her sixth album Volta. A percussive, playful work, its contributors included <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nCACYdIndYchzX4bxLcTW">Toumani Diabaté</a>, Antony Hegarty, <a href="spotify:artist:6Sr77iisVrcSg7bQfqqRHk">Konono No. 1</a>, and an all-female Icelandic brass section. Reaching the Top Ten in 18 countries (including the U.S., making it her highest-placing album there), it was certified silver in the U.K. Like its predecessor, the album was nominated for Grammy and Icelandic Music Awards. Björk toured in support of Volta for a year and a half, with the 2009 set Voltaic, which was released in sets ranging from a CD/DVD to limited multi-disc and vinyl editions, capturing select performances. During the Volta tour, Björk continued to work on music, releasing the single "Náttúra" in October 2008. In 2010, she worked with <a href="spotify:artist:5VF0YkVLeVD4ytyiyVSIiF">Dirty Projectors</a> on the Mount Wittenberg Orca EP, appeared on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:4S3XJRZ2bToEYIH1slOdl5">Ólöf Arnalds</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6VJZYivuYJGCrPuOAnI7Qo">Anohni</a>, and paid tribute to her late collaborator and friend Alexander McQueen by performing at the designer's funeral and contributing the previously unreleased song "Trance" to the short film To Lee, With Love. That year, she also received the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music along with <a href="spotify:artist:1nIUhcKHnK6iyumRyoV68C">Ennio Morricone</a>. Björk's next project, Biophilia, was one of her most ambitious. An interactive exploration of humanity's relationships to sound and the universe that educated its audience about music theory and science, it took shape with the help of engineers, scientists, custom-built instruments, and video game designers. Released as a suite of apps for the iPad and iPhone and on CD, Biophilia arrived in October 2011. A Top Ten hit in six countries, the album once again topped the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the U.S. and was nominated for the Best Alternative Album Grammy Award and several Icelandic Music Awards. Bastards, a collection of Biophilia remixes featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5RADpgYLOuS2ZxDq7ggYYH">Death Grips</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:11dMqVZY4PHgVL80tejvHK">Omar Souleyman</a>, was released in Europe in late 2012 and in the U.S. in early 2013. The Biophilia apps were translated to Android in July 2013, the same month that When Björk Met Attenborough, a BBC Channel 4 documentary with <a href="spotify:artist:4QJpMVEZA1B0MkdW0jDMX4">Sir David Attenborough</a> and scientist Oliver Sacks that related Biophilia to humanity's relationship with music, premiered. In 2014, Björk contributed vocals to <a href="spotify:artist:5RADpgYLOuS2ZxDq7ggYYH">Death Grips</a>' album Niggas on the Moon. She also continued the Biophilia project with a live concert film, Biophilia Live. Filmed at London's Alexandra Palace and featuring spectacular visuals, it was released theatrically and in DVD and Blu-ray sets that included the live audio on CD. That year, the Biophilia apps were added to the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. By late 2014, Björk was putting the finishing touches on her next album. Featuring collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:4SQdUpG4f7UbkJG3cJ2Iyj">Arca</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:543jOiqi5zLNZIOv7rA6rg">the Haxan Cloak</a>, Vulnicura was released in January 2015 after it leaked ahead of its scheduled March release date. Tracing the aftermath of Björk's relationship with Barney and harking back to the string and beat-heavy sounds of Vespertine and Homogenic, the album earned rave reviews for its powerful emotional impact. Topping the Icelandic charts and reaching number 11 in the U.K., Vulnicura also charted throughout Europe and was a Top 20 hit in the U.S. It won Best Album at the Icelandic Music Awards, and Björk won the awards for Best Female Artist, Best Songwriter, and Best Producer. At that year's Brit Awards, she was named International Female Solo Artist (marking her fifth Brit Award), and Vulnicura was nominated for the Best Alternative Music Grammy Award, her seventh nomination in that category. In March 2015, the Museum of Modern Art launched a multimedia exhibit documenting Björk's career from Debut through Vulnicura. It presented her notebooks, costumes, the instruments created for Biophilia, and videos, including a film for the Vulnicura song "Black Lake" by director Andrew Thomas Huang commissioned by the museum. The book Björk: Archives chronicled the exhibition. That March, Björk also embarked on the Vulnicura world tour, backed by <a href="spotify:artist:3FivPgIIWpeGTnTx5PrpCX">Alarm Will Sound</a> and percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:08LrhaMKwKuGbB9XHBEjXF">Manu Delago</a>, with <a href="spotify:artist:4SQdUpG4f7UbkJG3cJ2Iyj">Arca</a> joining on theater dates and <a href="spotify:artist:543jOiqi5zLNZIOv7rA6rg">the Haxan Cloak</a> on festival shows. A series of Vulnicura remixes kicked off in July, with <a href="spotify:artist:7o2Y6TQr9B0ynZGhUDAkyj">Lotic</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6FP6ynzSPeBFX46vkI1OsW">Katie Gately</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:29LOCR81IrdEJjCAeCEOU3">Mica Levi</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2X3e2rDdxibDfJGv0CwS7A">Rabit</a>, Juliana Huxtable, and Björk herself among the artists reworking the album's tracks. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22One+Little+Indian%22">One Little Indian</a> gathered all 12 remixes in a limited edition vinyl set that December, the same month that "Stonemilker" was released as a VR app including a 360-degree video and a string-based mix of the song. An acoustic version of Vulnicura, Vulnicura Strings, arrived at the end of 2015 and featured the viola organista, a keyboard-driven string instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Vulnicura Live, which featured Björk's favorite performances of the album's songs as well as some chosen from her other albums, was given a limited release; wider distribution followed in 2016. That June saw the premiere of Björk Digital, a touring exhibit collecting the VR videos created for Vulnicura (one of the videos, "Notget VR," won the Cannes Lions Grand Prix Award for Real Time Virtual Reality Experience). At the exhibit's Tokyo date, Björk performed "Quicksand" during YouTube's first ever virtual reality live stream broadcast. Starting in September, she performed a small acoustic tour with stops including London's Royal Albert Hall and Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall. In 2017, Björk reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:4SQdUpG4f7UbkJG3cJ2Iyj">Arca</a> for the follow-up to Vulnicura. The lighter but still complex Utopia, which featured Icelandic and Venezuelan birdsong, an all-female flute section, and lyrics inspired by science fiction and folklore, arrived in November 2017. Charting globally, the album reached number 25 on the U.K. Albums Chart and number 75 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Utopia was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, becoming her eighth consecutive nomination in that category and her 15th nomination overall. The album spawned several singles and EPs: 2017's Blissing Me EP featured a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:1O9iHQjrVuiAYOJFCBeFSl">serpentwithfeet</a>; 2018's Arisen My Senses EP included remixes by <a href="spotify:artist:02fDf7HEPtBZLtPzCyxSR2">Lanark Artefax</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:23QKqAkKwti9zBiac6RFBA">Jlin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5eitAUlYmlha3LLWg7aBn5">Kelly Lee Owens</a>; and the following year's Country Creatures EP collected remixes of "Creatures Features" by <a href="spotify:artist:5hE6NCoobhyEu6TRSbjOJY">Fever Ray</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7eQZTqEMozBcuSubfu52i4">the Knife</a> along with Björk's remix of the <a href="spotify:artist:5hE6NCoobhyEu6TRSbjOJY">Fever Ray</a> song "This Country." Following the initial run of dates in support of the album, in 2019 Björk launched the Cornucopia tour, an ambitious live experience that combined imagery and projections by director Tobias Gremmler and the choir that performed on the album with other musical and visual artists. That year, Björk also shared the stage with <a href="spotify:artist:4SQdUpG4f7UbkJG3cJ2Iyj">Arca</a>, performing "Afterwards," a song that appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:4SQdUpG4f7UbkJG3cJ2Iyj">Arca</a>'s 2020 album KiCk 1. She then appeared in Robert Eggers' 2022 film The Northman, marking her first film appearance since Drawing Restraint 9. That September saw the release of her tenth album Fossora. Named for a Latin word meaning "digging" and informed by the 2018 death of her mother, the album combined clarinets, flutes, and strings with choral vocals as well as performances by <a href="spotify:artist:1O9iHQjrVuiAYOJFCBeFSl">serpentwithfeet</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4cXE1g28uYrIaUisUx5cJt">Emilie Nicolas</a>. The album reached number four on the Icelandic charts and number 11 in the U.K.; in the U.S., it peaked at 100 on the 200 Albums chart and number two on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Another nominee for the Best Alternative Music Album Grammy Award, Fossora took home the Alternative Album of the Year and Recording Direction of the Year prizes at the Icelandic Music Awards. ~ Heather Phares & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

AURORA

AURORA

🫀“Though its precise function and anatomy were not clearly understood, the heart was believed to be the centre of the soul. Of intuition. Of emotion and intention. Until we decided these were qualifications of the mind. Emotion overpowered by logic. And with the world being so corrupted by money, power and selfishness you cannot help but ask yourself - What Happened To The Heart?” 🫀 07.06.24

Don Tetto

Banda colombiana | Pop punk, rock alternativo (2003)

Paramore

Paramore

When Paramore revealed they were recording together in January 2022 the response from music fans around the world was immediate and celebratory. In the time since the Grammy-winning, RIAA-certified multi-Platinum band released their last album, After Laughter - and Hayley Williams unveiled two lauded solo albums - Paramore have become more popular than ever. Over the last few years Paramore’s influence and popularity has snowballed, as the age of streaming organically propelled them into a position as one of the world’s biggest, most culturally compelling rock bands. For the band, who formed as teenagers in Tennessee, their 20 year trajectory has seen them grow from youthful outsiders to bonafide pop culture icons, permeating the musical landscape by inspiring a new generation of musical talent.

Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy

720S bumpin&#39; Fall Out Boy

Army of Lovers

Army of Lovers

The flamboyant multicultural Swedish dance-pop group Army of Lovers formed in 1987, the brainchild of composer and producer Alexander Bard. Five years earlier Bard first emerged as a member of the short-lived trio Baard, best known for the single "Life in a Goldfish Bowl." In 1985 -- in drag, no less -- he led Barbie, a band also comprised of hairdresser Jean-Pierre Barda (alias Farouk), Yazmina Chantal, and model Camilla Henemark (aka Katanga); two years later, Bard, Barda, and Henemark (now performing under the name La Camilla) founded Army of Lovers, taking the name in honor of the 1970s cult movie Armee der Liebenden. With the aid of designer and stylist Camilla Thulin, the group created an outrageously campy image, the bandmembers' wardrobe drawing heavily on religious imagery while also referencing history and folklore. Army of Lovers debuted in 1988 with the single "When the Night Is Cold," followed by the more dance-minded "Love Me Like a Loaded Gun." After scoring a 1989 hit with "Supernatural," the following year they issued their debut LP, Disco Extravaganza (issued in the U.S. as Army of Lovers). Released in 1991, Massive Luxury Overdose, recorded with producer Anders Wollbeck, was their breakthrough; in tandem with a pair of lurid videos, the singles "Crucified" and "Obsession" became club hits, and Army of Lovers became major stars in their native Scandinavia and throughout Eastern Europe. In the wake of the record's success, however, La Camilla was fired and replaced by model and school teacher Michaela Dornonville de la Cour, who debuted on the single "Judgment Day." After recording music for the soundtrack to the film Ha Ett Underbart Liv, Army of Lovers recruited former phone-sex operator Dominika Peczynski and released 1993's The Gods of Earth and Heaven; the single "Israelism" became the subject of considerable controversy when it was accused of mocking Jewish culture, but ironically rose to the number one spot on the Israeli pop charts. After 1994's Glory Glamour and Gold, de la Cour exited, paving the way for the return of La Camilla prior to the release of 1996's Les Greatest Hits. With Army of Lovers on hiatus, Bard formed a new group, Vacuum, and issued 1997's The Plutonium Cathedral; La Camilla, meanwhile, mounted a solo career. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Superfruit

Superfruit

Formed by Pentatonix's Mitch Grassi and <a href="spotify:artist:3IIbBLDy4r6X6sX0OXQtuY">Scott Hoying</a>, Superfruit began as the duo's YouTube channel before becoming another outlet for their music. Initially, <a href="spotify:artist:3IIbBLDy4r6X6sX0OXQtuY">Hoying</a> and Grassi wanted to start individual channels on the site, but decided to join forces. They launched Superfruit in August 2013, and the channel's mix of gay-friendly vlogs, sketches, and music earned hundreds of millions of views. Superfruit began releasing original music in 2016 with that October's single "Bad 4 Us"; another song, "Sweet Life," appeared in November. Along with collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:0t3QQl52F463sxGXb1ckhB">Betty Who</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:26AHtbjWKiwYzsoGoUZq53">Pentatonix</a> member Kirstin Maldonado, in 2017 the duo released its debut album as a pair of EPs. Future Friends: Part One, which featured contributions from PC Music's <a href="spotify:artist:1PNvaesh1mkKZucGhBuqgD">Danny L. Harle</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7hAolICGSgXJuM6DUpK5rp">Chairlift</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4Ge8xMJNwt6EEXOzVXju9a">Caroline Polachek</a>, arrived that June; Future Friends: Part Two appeared that September. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Halsey

Halsey

Halsey has amassed more than 31 billion combined global streams to date, including more than 12.5 billion U.S. streams, and sold nearly 17 million adjusted album units worldwide. 
Their most recent album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Current Album Sales and Top Alternative Albums charts in 2021. It follows 2020’s Manic, which also entered the Top Current Album Sales chart at No. 1. Manic was the first album of 2020 to be certified Platinum in the U.S. and is now 2x Platinum. 2017’s hopeless fountain kingdom was recently certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. 
Halsey continues to push creative boundaries, exerting an influence and impact beyond music. Her first book, I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry, debuted on The New York Times Best Sellers list in 2020. Named as one of TIME&#39;s 100 Most Influential People of 2020, they have won over 20 awards, including an AMA, MTV VMA, GLAAD Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award and a CMT Music Award. Halsey recently introduced about-face, a multi-dimensional makeup line for made for everyone. Halsey continues to speak up for important causes such as disenfranchised youth, women’s rights, mental health and the LGBTQ community.

Melanie Martinez

Melanie Martinez

Melanie Martinez is a multi-Platinum, 12 billion-streaming alt-pop phenomenon. PORTALS marks the 27-year-old NYC-born singer-songwriter-filmmaker’s first full-length release in nearly four years following her 2 billion-streaming, RIAA Gold-certified second album, K-12, which proved a sensation upon its September 2019 release, entering the Billboard 200 at #3 – Martinez’s highest chart placement thus far – with further debuts at #1 on the Alternative album chart, and #1 on the Soundtrack album chart. Hailed by Forbes as “a perfect conceptual album in the streaming age,” K-12 also serves as a soundtrack companion to an eerily enchanting musical film written, directed, and starring Martinez. K-12 the film debuted as the 6th highest grossing film in the US on the day of its September 3, 2019 theatrical release, with one-night-only screenings in over 425 cinemas in 32 countries. Martinez truly set forth on what has proven a remarkable creative journey with her 2015 debut album, CRY BABY. CRY BABY took on a stunning second life in 2020 when the longtime fan-favorite “Play Date“ exploded into a true alt-pop sensation with millions of user-generated videos across TikTok. Now boasting over 1B worldwide streams along with 2x RIAA Platinum certification, “Play Date” propelled CRY BABY back onto the upper half of the Billboard 200 more than five years after its initial release.

Ladytron

Ladytron

When they first appeared in the early 2000s, Ladytron were wrongly included in the era's electroclash trend, but their body of work proved much more enduring and influential than that movement. Instead, Ladytron combined the fundamentals of classic synth pop -- crystalline melodies enveloped in icy textures and rippling arpeggios -- with touches of indie pop, shoegaze, disco, and industrial music. While they never deviated much from this sound, they still conjured distinctly different moods on each album, spanning the hook-laden simplicity of 2000's 604 to the darker feel of 2005's landmark Witching Hour to 2011's meditative Gravity the Seducer. Just how well they bridged the gap between synth pop's original '80s heyday and its renaissance in the 2010s was proven by 2019's Ladytron, which fit in perfectly with their previous albums as well as the work of artists like Chvrches, Robyn, and Austra. Ladytron formed in 1999 when producers/DJs Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu -- a pair of friends who met in the mid-'90s -- settled in Liverpool after traveling and spinning records in Japan. Taking their name from the Roxy Music song, they recorded their first single, "He Took Her to a Movie," for 50 pounds. Inspired by Kraftwerk's "The Model" and featuring vocals by Lisa Eriksson (also of the band Techno Squirrels), the single introduced Ladytron's bittersweet yet edgy electronic pop and earned critical acclaim when it was released that July. Soon after, Wu and Hunt met vocalists/keyboardists Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo. Originally from Scotland, Marnie was working towards her Bachelor of Arts in pop music at the University of Liverpool; Aroyo was a Bulgarian postgraduate research geneticist at the University of Oxford's Department of Biochemistry. Ladytron's first release as a quartet was December 1999's Japanese release Miss Black and Her Friends, which they followed with the Commodore Rock EP in June 2000 and that October's Mu-Tron EP. Written largely by Hunt and co-produced by him and Lance Thomas, the band's debut album, 604 -- which was named after an area code for British Columbia -- appeared in early 2001 on Hunt's own Invicta Hi-Fi label in the U.K. and on Emperor Norton in the U.S. The album's singles found some success in Ladytron's homeland, with "Playgirl" reaching number 89 on the U.K. Singles Chart and its follow-up, "The Way That I Found You," peaking at 88. In October 2001, Ladytron contributed a version of "Open Your Heart" to the Carrot Top Records tribute album Reproductions: Songs of the Human League. The band began work on their second album, recording in Los Angeles and Liverpool. Light & Magic, a darker, more streamlined set of songs, was released in the U.S. in September 2002 and reached number seven on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. It was released in the U.K. that December. Along with earning strong reviews, the album's singles continued to chart: "Seventeen" reached 68 on the U.K. Singles Chart; "Blue Jeans" hit 43; and "Evil" peaked at 44. In 2003, Ladytron issued Softcore Jukebox, a mix album featuring songs by artists ranging from Wire to Lee Hazlewood as well as the band's cover of Tweet's "Oops (Oh My)." When the Light & Magic tour ended in September 2003, Ladytron started writing and recording songs for their third album. However, as the band were recording in Liverpool with co-producer Jim Abbiss, their U.S. and U.K. labels encountered financial troubles. Late in 2004, Ladytron signed to Island Records, which released Witching Hour in October 2005. Mixing the band's trademark synth pop with elements of shoegaze and industrial music, the album was another critical success for Ladytron. It reached 81 on the U.K. Albums Chart and number seven on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart; meanwhile, the singles "Sugar" and "Destroy Everything You Touch" -- arguably the band's signature song -- reached 45 and 42, respectively, on the U.K. Singles Chart. The following year, Ladytron released Extended Play, an EP of B-sides and remixes that included a DVD documentary of the band's 2004 Chinese tour. Late in 2007, Ladytron signed to Nettwerk Records. The band recorded in Paris with co-producers Alessandro Cortini and Vicarious Bliss, whose work for Ed Banger Records was in keeping with the harder-edged sound Ladytron wanted for their fourth album. The results were May 2008's Velocifero, which reached number 75 on the U.K. Albums Chart, number three on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and also marked the band's debut on Billboard's 200 Albums chart, where it peaked at number 131. The following year, Ladytron released Velocifero (Remixed & Rare) and performed with Brian Eno at the Sydney Opera House. They also produced and co-wrote a pair of songs that appeared on the deluxe edition of Christina Aguilera's 2010 album Bionic. In March 2011, the band released the compilation Best of 00-10, which included "Ace of Hz," the first taste of the band's fifth album. Recorded in Kent, England, with co-producer Barny Barnicott, that September's Gravity the Seducer featured a softer, more atmospheric sound than Ladytron's previous albums. It peaked at number 72 on the U.K. Album Chart -- a career best for the band -- and hit number six on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and number 112 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Late that year, Nettwerk issued collections of remixes and rare tracks from 604, Light & Magic, and Witching Hour. Following the Gravity the Seducer tour, Ladytron went on hiatus. The band's members went their separate ways: Hunt moved to São Paulo, Brazil, and turned his attention to film scores including 2013's Would You Rather, a collaboration with Bang Gang's Barði Jóhannsson. His other projects included playing with the reunited post-punk band Pink Industry and producing Lush's 2016 EP Blind Spot. Wu made Chicago his home base and concentrated on his work as a photographer, with clients including Google and Apple and credits such as the artwork for Zedd's singles "Stay" and "Get Low." After relocating to Glasgow, Marnie embarked on a solo career under her surname and released 2013's Crystal World (which was produced by Hunt) and 2017's Strange Words and Weird Wars. Aroyo remained in London and became a documentary producer, occasionally collaborating with artists such as John Foxx and the Projects. While the band released a collection of Gravity the Seducer remixes in 2013, no sign of new music from Ladytron appeared until 2016, when they began work on their sixth album. A reunion with Witching Hour producer Abbiss that featured Sepultura's Igor Cavalera on drums, Ladytron appeared in February 2019. The album reached number ten on Billboard's Independent Albums Chart and number 13 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. ~ Heather Phares

Allie X

Allie X

With over a quarter billion streams globally, <a href="spotify:artist:0wnYgCeP013HkKoOyC5V32" data-name="Allie X">Allie X</a> has amassed a cult following for her glassine goth-pop style. Allie has played sold out shows across North America, Latin America, and Europe and toured the world with pop-star counterparts like <a href="spotify:artist:6M2wZ9GZgrQXHCFfjv46we" data-name="Dua Lipa">Dua Lipa</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:25uiPmTg16RbhZWAqwLBy5" data-name="Charli xcx">Charli xcx</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6CwfuxIqcltXDGjfZsMd9A" data-name="MARINA">MARINA</a>. Known for her bold visual style and her gaudy-goth-pop sound, Allie X is a master curator, creative directing every aspect of her project from hand picking her photographers, directors, fashion and glam teams, to editing her own videos. Allie continues to be an outspoken ally for the LGBTQ+ community, sponsoring and spearheading charity events, playing pride festivals across the globe, and continuing to speak out and use her platform to fight injustices and empower LGBT youth.

Grimes

Grimes

Grimes started producing music when she had to learn the program Logic for her neuroscience class. Shortly thereafter she had a viral myspace page, which allowed her to start booking shows and focus full-time on music. She lived in a crack den In Montreal with no heat (where she got frostbite twice and her neighbor was bludgeoned to death in the hallway), playing raves until her 2012 breakout, Visions, which was recorded during a 2 week speed binge wherein she did not leave her bedroom. Upon the success of this album, Grimes attempted to enter society as a regular human, which has clearly not gone super well but has nonetheless been entertaining. She’s since become an award winning music video director as well as music composer, producer, engineer and singer-songwriter. She’s toured globally to sold out crowds, headlined festivals, and is now moving into the space of corporate surrealism. She recently had experimental eye surgery only available to the upper class. She put out her final earth album in 2020.

MARINA

MARINA

MARINA returns transformed on PRINCESS OF POWER — a euphoric, high-energy exploration of healing, empowerment, and self-reclamation. Written during a period of deep personal reflection, the album marks a turning point for the platinum-selling artist. Where 2021’s Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land looked outward at a fractured world, PRINCESS OF POWER turns inward, embracing vulnerability as strength, turning pain into power and the radical optimism of love. Now releasing independently through her own label, Queenie Records, in partnership with BMG, MARINA sheds old expectations and fully steps into her own. The album pulses with disco-lit electro pop and lyrical declarations of freedom, feminine energy, and love. Tracks like “BUTTERFLY,” “CUPID’S GIRL,” and “CUNTISSIMO” reflect a woman reborn and thriving on her own terms. MARINA burst on to the scene in 2009, and has since released five acclaimed albums including Electra Heart (2012), which debuted at Number 1 on the UK’s Official Charts, FROOT (2015), Love + Fear (2019), which debuted Top 5 in the UK and Top 10 on the U.S. Albums chart, and most recently Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land (2021), which featured the Ivor Novello nominated hit “Man&#39;s World.” With PRINCESS OF POWER, MARINA isn’t just making music - she’s building a future rooted in authenticity, creativity, and courage. It’s MARINA as you’ve never seen her, yet never more herself.

New Order

New Order

Rising from the ashes of the legendary British post-punk unit Joy Division, New Order triumphed over tragedy to emerge as one of the most acclaimed bands of the 1980s; embracing the electronic textures and disco rhythms of the underground club culture many years in advance of its contemporaries, the group's pioneering fusion of new wave aesthetics and dance music successfully bridged the gap between the two worlds, creating a distinctively thoughtful and oblique brand of synth pop appealing equally to the mind, body, and soul. The band's first releases were cold and sometimes abrasive as they struggled to come to grips with Ian Curtis' death. As their confidence and willingness to explore new sounds grew, their records became poppier and more accessible. Singles like 1983's "Blue Monday" and 1985's "The Perfect Kiss" established them as hitmakers, while albums like 1985's Low-Life often showed off a more melancholy, song-based sound. 1989's Technique was the band's high point commercially, and many would say artistically, as they seamlessly fused club culture and songcraft. After this, the band's attention began to split as members pursued other projects and only occasionally reconvened for New Order recordings, including for 1993's Republic. As the group continued to work sporadically, they were set on a different course when founding bassist Peter Hook quit in 2006. After shuffling the lineup a little the band continued to perform as a live act that occasionally released albums like 2015's Music Complete. Through it all, their influence never waned, and bands as diverse as Galaxie 500, the Chemical Brothers, and the Killers looked to their sound and songs for inspiration. New Order's origins officially date back to mid-1976, when guitarist Bernard Sumner (formerly Albrecht) and bassist Peter Hook -- inspired by a recent Sex Pistols performance -- announced their intentions to form a band of their own. Recruiting singer Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris, they eventually settled on the name Joy Division, and in 1979 issued their landmark debut LP, Unknown Pleasures. After completing sessions for Joy Division's sophomore effort, Closer, Curtis hanged himself on May 18, 1980; devastated, the remaining trio immediately disbanded, only to re-form soon after as New Order with the addition of keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. With Sumner assuming vocal duties, the new group debuted in March 1981 with the single "Ceremony," a darkly melodic effort originally composed for use by Joy Division. The LP Movement followed a few months later, and when it too mined territory similar to New Order's previous incarnation, many observers were quick to dismiss the band for reliving former glories. However, with its next single, "Everything's Gone Green," the quartet first began adorning its sound with synthesizers and sequencers, inspired by the music of Kraftwerk as well as the electro beats coming up from the New York underground; 1982's "Temptation" continued the trend, and like its predecessor was a major favorite among clubgoers. After a year-long hiatus, New Order resurfaced in 1983 with their breakthrough hit "Blue Monday"; packaged in a provocative sleeve designed to recall a computer disc, with virtually no information about the band itself -- a hallmark of their mysterious, distant image -- it perfectly married Sumner's plaintive yet cold vocals and abstract lyrics with cutting-edge drum-machine rhythms ideal for club consumption. "Blue Monday" went on to become the best-selling 12" release of all time, moving over three million copies worldwide. After releasing their brilliant 1983 sophomore album, Power, Corruption and Lies, New Order teamed with the then-unknown producer Arthur Baker to record "Confusion," another state-of-the-art dance classic, which even scraped into the American R&B charts. The group's success soon won them a stateside contract with Quincy Jones' Qwest label; however, apart from a pair of singles, "Thieves Like Us" and "Murder," they remained out of the spotlight throughout 1984. Heralded by the superb single "The Perfect Kiss," New Order resurfaced in 1985 with Low-life, their most fully realized effort to date; breaking with long-standing tradition, it actually included photos of the individual members, suggesting an increasing proximity with their growing audience. Brotherhood followed in 1986, with the single "Bizarre Love Triangle" making significant inroads among mainstream pop audiences. A year later the group issued Substance, a much-needed collection of singles and remixes; it was New Order's American breakthrough, cracking the Top 40 on the strength of the newly recorded single "True Faith," which itself reached number 32 on the U.S. pop charts. The remixed "Blue Monday 1988" followed, and in 1989 -- inspired by the ecstasy-fueled house music that their work had clearly pre-dated and influenced -- New Order issued Technique; their most club-focused outing to date, it launched the hits "Fine Time" and "Round and Round." After recording the 1990 English World Cup Soccer anthem "World in Motion," New Order went on an extended hiatus to pursue solo projects; Hook formed the band Revenge, longtime companions Morris and Gilbert recorded as the Other Two, and, most notably, Sumner teamed with ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant in Electronic, which scored a Top 40 hit with the single "Getting Away with It." New Order reconvened in 1993 for their biggest hit to date, Republic, which earned the band its highest-charting American single ("Regret."). A major tour followed, although rumors of escalating creative conflicts plagued the group; refusing to either confirm or deny word of a breakup, New Order simply spent the mid-'90s in a state of limbo, with Sumner eventually recording a long-awaited second Electronic LP and Hook mounting another new project, Monaco. "Brutal," the first new effort from New Order in a number of years, was featured on the soundtrack of the 2000 film The Beach, and the full-length Get Ready followed one year later. By this time, Gillian Gilbert had left the band to care for her and Stephen Morris' children, and Marion guitarist Phil Cunningham had been added to bolster the lineup. Dedicated touring followed the release of Get Ready, and New Order recorded a follow-up for release in 2005, Waiting for the Sirens' Call. In 2006, after a succession of one-off dates, New Order decided to call it quits for a second time after bassist Hook suggested that they should quit touring for good. With Sumner announcing that they wouldn't record as New Order anymore, he started Bad Lieutenant with Cunningham in 2009. After a two-year break, New Order announced they would play a handful of live dates, with Gilbert now back in the band after a ten-year time-out. Also, Peter Hook was out of the lineup for the first time since New Order's founding, replaced by Bad Lieutenant bassist Tom Chapman. Hook stayed busy, however, recording and touring with his band the Light and writing a book of his time in Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division. The album Live at the London Troxy, released at the end of 2011, documented the band's successful return to the live arena. Continuing to tour throughout 2012, the band joined Blur and the Specials at London's Hyde Park to help close out the London 2012 Summer Olympics, and at the end of the year announced the release of Lost Sirens. The album, which featured songs that were recorded at the time of 2005's Waiting for the Sirens' Call, was released in January 2013. One year later, the group signed with Mute Records, and 2015 saw them release Music Complete on the label. Produced by the band, along with Tom Rowlands (of the Chemical Brothers) and Stuart Price on a handful of cuts, the album featured guest appearances from Brandon Flowers, La Roux, and Iggy Pop. The album was released in a variety of formats, including a deluxe vinyl box set that featured extended versions of all the songs. These versions were released separately in May of the next year under the title Music Complete. The band continued as a live act and documented their shows with 2017's NOMC15, a career-spanning set recorded live in 2015 at the Brixton Academy, and 2019's ∑(No,12k,Lg,17Mif) New Order + Liam Gillick: So it goes..., a document of their five-night stand at 2017's Manchester International Festival. The show was recorded in the same studio where Joy Division made their television debut and featured a 12-member synthesizer orchestra playing with the group as they ran through a set of deep cuts from different stages of their career. ~ Jason Ankeny

Berlin

Berlin

This Los Angeles-based synth pop group, founded by bassist John Crawford, singer Terri Nunn, and keyboard player David Diamond, made its first national impression with the provocative single "Sex (I'm A...)" from the gold-selling debut EP Pleasure Victim in 1982. The group was filled out by guitarist Rick Olsen, keyboard player Matt Reid, and drummer Rob Brill. Berlin's first full-length LP was the gold Love Life in 1984. In 1985, the group was pared down to a trio of Crawford, Nunn, and Brill. Berlin topped the charts in 1986 with the single "Take My Breath Away," the love theme from the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. Nunn left for a solo career in 1987, and Crawford and Brill teamed up in the Big F. In 1999, the band reunited to record some new studio material and also performed a concert, which, along with the new songs, was released as 2000's Berlin Live: Sacred and Profane. This was followed a year later by a flurry of recording sessions that included co-writing tracks with Billy Corgan, among others. The end result, Voyeur, was their first full-length studio release in over 15 years. ~ William Ruhlmann

Isabel LaRosa

Isabel LaRosa

go watch my tik toks they’re the only thing driving my streams right now (and some lovely spotify curators)

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish remains one of the biggest stars to emerge in the 21st century. Her third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT features 10 tracks written and recorded in her hometown of Los Angeles, with her brother and producer FINNEAS. In 2019, her debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? debuted at No. 1 in 18 countries, and was the most streamed album of that year. In 2021, her sophomore album &#39;Happier Than Ever’ debuted at #1 in 20 countries. Both albums were critically acclaimed worldwide and were written, produced, and recorded entirely by Billie Eilish and FINNEAS. 9-time GRAMMY® Award-winning Billie Eilish has made history as the youngest artist to receive nominations and win in all the major GRAMMY® categories, receiving an award for Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album, and is the youngest artist to write and record an official James Bond theme song, ‘No Time To Die,’ which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2022. In 2023, Eilish also wrote and released the critically acclaimed song “What Was I Made For?” for the Greta Gerwig-directed motion picture Barbie, which also won Academy and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, two GRAMMY® Awards for Song of the Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media, and has solidified Billie Eilish yet again in the history books as the youngest person ever to win two Academy Awards.

Ashnikko

Ashnikko

itty bitty teeny tiny <3

Finneas O'Connell

Finneas O'Connell

A behind-the-stars songwriter, music producer, and actor as well as a singer/songwriter in his own right, Los Angeles native Finneas O'Connell -- aka <a href="spotify:artist:37M5pPGs6V1fchFJSgCguX">Finneas</a> -- is recognized for his sleek and intimate alternative pop style. Emerging on the international stage first as an actor -- he appeared in the film Bad Teacher (2011) and on TV's Glee (2015), among other roles -- in his teens, he drew accolades in the late 2010s for his Grammy-nominated contributions to the outcast anthems of his sister, <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Billie Eilish</a>. Following the March 2019 release of her first full-length, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and related touring as a member of her live band, he stepped forward with his own debut album, Blood Harmony, in October 2019. Two years later, he provided the score for the high school drama film The Fallout. Born in Los Angeles in 1997, Finneas Baird O'Connell grew up in a creative family; his parents are actress/screenwriter Maggie Baird and actor Patrick O'Connell. His sister, <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Billie Eilish</a> (full name <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell</a>), is four-and-a-half-years younger. A child actor, he started writing and recording his own music around age 12. Meanwhile, he made his film debut alongside Cameron Diaz in 2011's Bad Teacher, and in 2013, he appeared on the soundtrack of the music-themed film drama Life Inside Out, in which he starred alongside his mother. Parts on Modern Family and Aquarius followed, and in 2015, he appeared as the recurring character Alistair on the sixth season of Glee. Early the next year, his guitar pop group the Slightlys issued their debut single, "Desperate Measures." Later in 2016, <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Eilish</a> had her big breakthrough with the <a href="spotify:artist:37M5pPGs6V1fchFJSgCguX">Finneas</a>-produced "Ocean Eyes," a song that he had originally written for his band. After garnering tens of millions of streams, it eventually reached number 84 on the U.S. Hot 100. The siblings continued their successful professional partnership, with <a href="spotify:artist:37M5pPGs6V1fchFJSgCguX">Finneas</a> co-writing and producing <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Eilish</a>'s debut EP, Don't Smile at Me, which arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a> in 2017. That year, their stand-alone single "Bored" was included on the soundtrack to the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. By then a bona fide pop superstar, <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Eilish</a>'s 2019 full-length debut, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, topped the Billboard 200. It was produced and co-written by <a href="spotify:artist:37M5pPGs6V1fchFJSgCguX">Finneas</a>. By the end of the year, he had also found work producing songs for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:0C8ZW7ezQVs4URX5aX7Kqx">Selena Gomez</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4nDoRrQiYLoBzwC5BhVJzF">Camila Cabello</a>. In October of 2019, <a href="spotify:artist:37M5pPGs6V1fchFJSgCguX">Finneas</a> presented his full-length solo debut, Blood Harmony. A set of intimate relationship songs released on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22OYOY%22">OYOY</a> label, it led to an appearance in the Top Five of Billboard's Next Big Sound chart. That November, he collected five Grammy Award nominations for his work on <a href="spotify:artist:6qqNVTkY8uBg9cP3Jd7DAH">Eilish</a>'s debut album, including Record, Album, Song, and Producer of the Year (in addition to Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical). In 2022, O'Connell composed the score for the Megan Park-directed school shooting drama The Fallout. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

Little Mix

Little Mix

Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall have established themselves as the world’s biggest girl band - they have sold over 50 million records worldwide, collected over 17 million Spotify listeners, received over 3 billion Youtube views, and collated 12 billion streams worldwide. 2019 witnessed Little Mix win their second Brit Award – this time for Best British Video for ‘Woman Like Me’, and perform the same song live at the Brits. They also won two Global Awards for Best Group and Best Song, followed by their 4th EMA Award for Best UK & Ireland Act. This year Little Mix launch a brand new TV series for BBC One, Little Mix The Search. The series, made by ModestTV, will see the band creating bands and becoming mentors to a new wave of talent. The singers who make it into new bands will live together and gain access to Little Mix’s inner circle who have contributed to their phenomenal success, including vocal coaches, song writers, producers and stylists.

*NSYNC

*NSYNC

One of the top boy bands of its era, *NSYNC helped to define the sound of danceable, R&B-influenced Y2K pop and launched the career of singers and former Mickey Mouse Club stars <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Justin Timberlake</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">JC Chasez</a>. Working closely with producers like <a href="spotify:artist:1rjeVTt9Ra1ldvN7SpeK0G">Max Martin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:28imn3YWSbanafF6glFoyx">Denniz Pop</a>, *NSYNC enjoyed almost immediate success, hitting the Top Five in the United States and Europe with their eponymous debut and spawning the hits "I Want You Back" and "Tearin' Up My Heart." 2000's No Strings Attached and 2001's Celebrity fared even better, both topping the Billboard 200. Soon after that release, however, they disbanded. While the group did reunite for a performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, the individual members of *NSYNC had all gone on to pursue their own varied opportunities, with <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a> emerging as the biggest star, enjoying a highly successful, Grammy-winning music and acting career. A decade passed before the group reunited once again at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, launching a comeback with the newly recorded single "Better Place." Although *NSYNC emerged in 1995 in Orlando, Florida, singers <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">JC Chasez</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Justin Timberlake</a> had previously co-starred on The Mickey Mouse Club before relocating to Nashville, where they worked on solo projects with the same vocal coach and songwriters. <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a> soon returned to Orlando, where he befriended Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone. Along with <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">Chasez</a>, the four agreed to form a boy band, and *NSYNC officially launched after the addition of bass singer <a href="spotify:artist:77rp6J3oOIV6J68tFgVU7Q">Lance Bass</a>. The group recorded its eponymous debut LP with help from a series of producers, including <a href="spotify:artist:28imn3YWSbanafF6glFoyx">Denniz Pop</a> (whose protégé, <a href="spotify:artist:1rjeVTt9Ra1ldvN7SpeK0G">Max Martin</a>, would later work with the band after <a href="spotify:artist:28imn3YWSbanafF6glFoyx">Pop</a>'s death in 1998). The album was initially released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BMG+Ariola+Munich%22">BMG Ariola Munich</a>, and *NSYNC became an overnight success throughout much of Europe, where the singles "I Want You Back" and "Tearing Up My Heart" were sizable hits. The album was then released in America during the spring of 1998. Accompanied by a tour of the nation's roller rinks, it became immensely popular and eventually sold more than ten million copies, thus establishing the singers as teen pop titans. Home for Christmas followed later that same year and went double-platinum, while a similar version was released in Europe under the title The Winter Album. Although already celebrated as one of pop music's biggest acts, *NSYNC rose to greater heights with the release of No Strings Attached in 2000. The album was originally slated to appear in 1999, but a series of legal battles with former manager Lou Pearlman delayed its arrival by several months. After successfully escaping from Pearlman's contract and signing with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Jive+Entertainment%22">Jive Entertainment</a>, *NSYNC happily watched as sales of No Strings Attached topped one million during its first day of release. Nearly two-and-a-half million copies were sold by the end of the week, and three singles soon cracked the Top Five in America: "Bye Bye Bye" (which many viewed as a sendoff to the band's old management), "It's Gonna Be Me," and the ballad "This I Promise You." Supported by a 76-date American tour that grossed over $75 million, No Strings Attached proved to be the most popular album of 2000, selling nearly ten million copies. *NSYNC returned to the road in early 2001, this time to promote the impending release of Celebrity. The album appeared that summer to continued fanfare, with first-week sales reaching nearly two million -- a feat that made Celebrity the second fastest-selling album of all time, bested only by No Strings Attached. The album featured a stronger debt to hip-hop and electronic dance genres, with production provided by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:64MoFdq8ORI3V98AR5SPWL">BT</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4Q9g9l3NqzvllaYFTmSYYv">Darkchild</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0KuF7reCTOZwV7YJnHQqgr">the Neptunes</a>, and more. Celebrity also included several songs written by <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">Chasez</a>, an opportunity that may have whetted their desire to pursue respective solo careers. Following an elaborate stadium tour, the group went on hiatus in mid-2002. <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a> released his solo debut that same year, successfully making the jump from boy band vocalist to critically acclaimed solo artist, while <a href="spotify:artist:3p3U04w2DaiBzuYMZnYr00">Chasez</a> also made his own solo bid with 2004's Schizophrenic. Meanwhile, Joey Fatone launched a movie career and later performed on Broadway, Chris Kirkpatrick starred in the reality TV series Mission: Man Band, and <a href="spotify:artist:77rp6J3oOIV6J68tFgVU7Q">Lance Bass</a> became a certified cosmonaut in the hopes of making it to outer space before moving into TV and radio hosting work, as well as LGBTQ+ advocacy. A compilation, Greatest Hits, appeared in 2005 and the group's website shut down in 2006, however, prompting increased speculation about *NSYNC's future. Responding to such rumors in 2007, <a href="spotify:artist:77rp6J3oOIV6J68tFgVU7Q">Bass</a> informed the Orlando Sentinel that the group had "definitely broken up" in light of <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a>'s desire to continue his solo career. In 2013, the group briefly reunited at the MTV Video Music Awards, performing a medley of their hits "Girlfriend" and "Bye Bye Bye," just prior to <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a> receiving the <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a> Video Vanguard Award. All four members of *NSYNC (except for <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Timberlake</a>) also appeared together at Coachella in 2019 where they joined <a href="spotify:artist:66CXWjxzNUsdJxJ2JdwvnR">Ariana Grande</a> on-stage for a series of songs, including "Tearing Up My Heart." The official comeback wouldn't happen until 2023, when all five members reunited on the Video Music Awards stage, where they presented an award to <a href="spotify:artist:06HL4z0CvFAxyc27GXpf02">Taylor Swift</a>. This public return coincided with the release of "Better Place," which was featured on the soundtrack to Trolls Band Together. Produced with Shellback, the track was the first new material from the beloved boy band in over 15 years. ~ Matt Collar & Andrew Leahey, Rovi

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

Academy Award and 14-time GRAMMY-winner Lady Gaga is a one-of-a-kind artist and performer. She has amassed an outstanding 110 million global album sales, 175 billion streams, and 758 million song consumption units, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her most recent pop album, Chromatica, became her sixth consecutive #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making her the first female artist to achieve this over a ten-year period (2011-2020). Gaga&#39;s collaboration with Ariana Grande on “Rain On Me” had the biggest Spotify debut of 2020, reaching #1 on the Global and US Spotify Charts. In 2023, her debut single “Just Dance” became her third diamond-certified single by the RIAA, joining "Bad Romance" and "Poker Face." In 2018, she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Shallow,” featured on the soundtrack of Best Picture nominee A Star is Born (2018), in addition to claiming a Golden Globe, a Critics’ Choice Award, and four GRAMMYs for both “Shallow” and “I’ll Never Love Again,” also from the same soundtrack. Lady Gaga knows no bounds, from producing her classic pop hits to exploring the classic American Songbook with her albums Cheek to Cheek and Love For Sale with Tony Bennett, both #1 albums. Beyond music, she excels in business as the founder of Haus Labs and thrives as an actress (A Star Is Born, House of Gucci, Joker: Folie à Deux), as well as a passionate activist for mental health and LGBTQ+ rights through her Born This Way Foundation.

Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter has enchanted an audience of millions as a singer, songwriter, actress and style icon. With her music, she has delivered one anthem after another on stage and in the studio, earning multiple gold and platinum certifications, and performing to sold out crowds around the world. On-screen, she has generated mega-fandom through starring roles on television and film. She is signed to Island Records, where she debuted her acclaimed Gold-certified fifth studio album, emails i can’t send, which appeared on many “Best Of 2022” lists including Rolling Stone and Billboard. In April 2024, Sabrina debuted at Coachella and released her single “Espresso,” which swiftly climbed to #1 on the UK and Australian charts, reached the Top 5 in the US, and hit #1 globally on Spotify, amassing over 200M streams in its first month. Following this, her second single, “Please Please Please,” released in June, soared to #1 on Spotify’s Global and US charts, Apple Music, and eventually the Billboard Hot 100, where it debuted at #2 before reaching #1. In August, she released her highly anticipated sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, which instantly received critical acclaim from the likes of the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Variety. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making it the 3rd biggest first week debut in the US in 2024. Short n&#39; Sweet also topped the charts around the world, reaching #1 in UK, Canada, Australia, Spain, and France.

JVKE

Cantautor, productor y celebridad de internet estadounidense | Pop (2020)

hi i’m jake

Charlie Puth

Charlie Puth

Charlie Puth has proven to be one of the industry’s most consistent hitmakers and sought-after collaborators. Puth has amassed eight multi-platinum singles, four GRAMMY nominations, three Billboard Music Awards, a Critic’s Choice Award, and a Golden Globe nomination. His 2018 GRAMMY-nominated LP, Voicenotes, was RIAA Certified Gold only four days after its release and has logged over 6.7 billion streams worldwide. Recently, Puth released his highly anticipated third studio album CHARLIE via Atlantic Records. Featuring hit singles “Left and Right [feat. Jung Kook of BTS], “That’s Hilarious” and “Light Switch,” the “expertly crafted collection” (ROLLING STONE) has surpassed 2 billion global streams. Following the release of his CHARLIE, Puth set out for his ‘One Night Only’ tour, welcoming fans around the world up close and personal as he shares his latest album and his greatest hits. In 2020, Puth’s collaboration with Gabby Barrett on their “I Hope” Remix earned him his fourth top 10 track on the Billboard Hot 100, hit number one on the Billboard “Adult Pop Songs” chart, and won a 2021 Billboard Music Award for “Top Collaboration.” Puth also co-wrote and produced The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s record-breaking single, “Stay,” which quickly become one of the biggest songs of 2021 and holds the title for the longest-reigning No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and the first to lead it for double-digits - spending a total of eleven weeks at the top of the chart.

Willow

Willow

WILLOW is at the forefront of redefining musical boundaries and setting new standards of innovation and authenticity. WILLOW has established herself as this generation’s eclectic musical trailblazer. Her unique blend of introspective lyrics, ethereal melodies, and powerful collaborations cements her as a boundary-pushing artist, resonating with audiences and leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary music landscape. At just 23-years-old, WILLOW has built a critically acclaimed discography traversing a breadth of sounds, from neo-soul (2015’s Ardipithecus) and psychedelic folk (2019’s WILLOW), to pop-punk (2021’s lately I feel EVERYTHING) and experimental hard rock (2022’s ). Her upcoming sixth album, empathogen, pushes the envelope even further. Produced by WILLOW, Eddie Benjamin and Chris Greatti, empathogen is a genre-bending album. Inspired by a meditative mix of jazz, classical and indigenous tribal music, with features from Jon Batiste and St. Vincent, it sees WILLOW tapping into “ancestral energy” to evoke a sense of mystery, playfulness and depth. Coming off the back of two heavy guitar albums and countless achievements, including 1B streams on sleeper hit “Wait A Minute,” empathogen brings things back down to earth. With soul searching lyrics and her vocals taking centre stage, WILLOW has created something truer to herself than ever before.

Cody Fry

Cody Fry

A lyrical and emotive performer, Nashville-based Cody Fry is a gifted singer/songwriter whose music touches upon soulful pop, jazz, electronics, and orchestral balladry. A native of Northfield, Illinois, Fry grew up in a creative family with a father who wrote commercial jingles for a living. By his teens, he was writing and recording his own songs, and ultimately went on to study music at Nashville's Belmont University. Graduating in 2012, he released his debut album, Audio:Cinema, and spent several years as a backing musician for other artists. A second album, Keswick, followed in 2014, after which he made it into the early audition rounds on the 14th season of American Idol. Although he received positive feedback from the judges, he failed to make the Top 20 finalists. Nonetheless, the exposure helped build his fan base, and in 2017 he returned with his third solo album, Flying, featuring the single "Nobody But You." The album found Fry drawing upon his love of film scoring and coloring his songs with full orchestration. ~ Matt Collar

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

In her 12 years with Capitol, Katy has racked up a cumulative 50 billion streams alongside worldwide sales of over 47.5 million adjusted albums and 135 million tracks. With the singles “Roar," “Firework,” and “Dark Horse” each surpassing the 10 million threshold including song sales and streams, Katy became the first artist to earn three RIAA Digital Single Diamond Awards. Katy is one of only five artists in history to have topped 100 million certified units with their digital singles – and the first-ever Capitol Records recording artist to join the elite RIAA 100 Million Certified Songs club. She was the first to reach 100 million followers on Twitter. Katy’s 2015 Super Bowl performance is the highest-rated in the event’s history. Katy was the first female artist to have four videos surpass a billion views each. Her videos for “Firework”, “Last Friday Night” and “Bon Appetit” have over one billion views, while “Dark Horse” has surpassed the two billion mark. “Roar” now has over three billion views. Her summer 2019 single, “Never Really Over,” off her latest album SMILE, is certified PLATINUM and was the biggest streaming launch of Katy’s musical career. 2020’s SMILE release has sold over 1.25 million adjusted albums, with nearly 2 Billion combined streams to date.

3) Pop soul (1960s) Combina elementos del soul afroamericano con estructuras del pop comercial.

Taron Egerton

Taron Egerton

Taron Egerton shot to stardom with his portrayal of <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a> in Dexter Fletcher's 2019 film Rocketman. Unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, the <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a> biopic where star Rami Malek lip-synched to <a href="spotify:artist:4M1FpEWs2PeYfJe7xxJfhH">Freddie Mercury</a>'s original vocal tracks, Egerton sang his own parts, a decision showcased on the <a href="spotify:artist:4hK0ooiv65lIu69xScJe2A">Giles Martin</a>-directed soundtrack for Rocketman. The <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a> film was the first time Egerton was identified as a singer. Prior to its release, he was an actor, earning a reputation in England for his roles in Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman films. Born on November 10, 1989, in Birkenhead, Merseyside, Taron Egerton was raised on Anglesey, an island in Wales. He spent his adolescence in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth. Egerton studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, earning a BA in Acting in 2012. Following his graduation, he appeared in the Sky1 television series The Smoke. By the time The Smoke aired in early 2014, Egerton had been cast in Kingsman: The Secret Service, an updated spin on James Bond action capers directed by Matthew Vaughn. Kingsman and its 2017 sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, didn't merely elevate Taron Egerton in the public eye, it developed a connection with Vaughn, which would pay off in Rocketman. Prior to that, Egerton had landed several plum roles. In 2015, he co-starred with Tom Hardy in Legend, Brian Helgeland's cinematic adaptation of the story of the notorious London crime lords the Krays. He graduated to leading roles by depicting the titular Eddie the Eagle in Dexter Fletcher's 2016 film telling the story of British skier Michael Edwards. Also in 2016, Egerton voiced Johnny, the gorilla in the animated musical Sing who stole the show singing <a href="spotify:artist:2wY79sveU1sp5g7SokKOiI">Sam Smith</a>'s "Stay with Me" and <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>'s "I'm Still Standing." This wasn't Egerton's only connection to <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton</a>; the two also appeared in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Taron's ties to <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">John</a> were solidified when he was cast as <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a> in Rocketman, a film that had been in various stages of development since 2001. Tom Hardy was once attached to the project, but after he passed on it, Vaughn decided to produce the film, bringing aboard Egerton as his star and Fletcher as his director. <a href="spotify:artist:4hK0ooiv65lIu69xScJe2A">Giles Martin</a> was hired as the musical director, and he set about creating new versions of key portions of <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">John</a>'s catalog, pushing Egerton front and center. Rocketman and its accompanying soundtrack, Rocketman: Music from the Motion Picture appeared in May 2019, helping to make Taron Egerton something of a household name. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Shawn Mendes

Shawn Mendes

A Juno-winning and Grammy-nominated pop singer/songwriter who broke records with his debut single, Canada's Shawn Mendes became known to international audiences when he was just 15. His mix of <a href="spotify:artist:6eUKZXaKkcviH0Ku9w2n3V">Ed Sheeran</a>'s and <a href="spotify:artist:1uNFoZAHBGtllmzznpCI3s">Justin Bieber</a>'s styles was a hit from his first single, 2014's "Life of the Party," which made him the youngest artist to land a debut single in the Top 25 in the U.S. His full-length debut, 2015's Handwritten, went to number one in the U.S. and Canada, a feat repeated by releases including 2018's Shawn Mendes and 2020's Wonder. Mendes also found success with stand-alone singles like 2021's <a href="spotify:artist:0GM7qgcRCORpGnfcN2tCiB">Tainy</a> collaboration "Summer of Love" and his solo cut "It'll Be Okay." In 2022, he voiced the lead character and sang on the soundtrack to the musical film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. A year later, he offered the climate change-inspired single "What the Hell Are We Dying For?" Born and raised in Pickering, Ontario, in Greater Toronto, Shawn Peter Raul Mendes taught himself guitar at the age of 14. He also sang in his school's glee club and took acting lessons as a teen. After posting a series of cover songs to various video-sharing sites beginning in 2013, he earned a dedicated following. His version of <a href="spotify:artist:5xKp3UyavIBUsGy3DQdXeF">A Great Big World</a>'s "Say Something" won Ryan Seacrest's cover-song contest in April 2014, and Mendes signed to <a href="spotify:artist:1UqvcbBmsHw8rjIZe1WiZl">Island Records</a> a month later. That June, they released the then-15-year-old's debut single "Life of the Party." American radio initially ignored it, but the track entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 24, making Mendes the youngest artist to land their first single in the Top 25. The song was also included on his four-track <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island%22">Island</a> debut, The Shawn Mendes EP, which performed well, reaching number five on the Billboard charts and setting the stage for his full-length debut, 2015's Handwritten. Handwritten debuted at number one in the U.S., Canada, and Norway, also reaching the Top Ten in several other European countries. Meanwhile, Mendes had his first U.S. Top Ten hit with third single "Stitches," reaching number four while topping the singles chart in the U.K. In addition, his song "Believe" appeared on the soundtrack for the Disney Channel fantasy musical Descendants. While opening for <a href="spotify:artist:06HL4z0CvFAxyc27GXpf02">Taylor Swift</a> on the North American dates of her 1989 World Tour, Mendes and <a href="spotify:artist:1l8Fu6IkuTP0U5QetQJ5Xt">Fifth Harmony</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4nDoRrQiYLoBzwC5BhVJzF">Camila Cabello</a> collaborated on the song "I Know What You Did Last Summer," which was included on a deluxe version of Handwritten that arrived in November 2015. The song reached the Top 20 of the American and Canadian singles charts. Recorded in upstate New York and issued in September 2016, Mendes' second long-player, Illuminate, offered the Top Ten tracks "Treat You Better" and "There's Nothin' Holdin' Me Back." Featuring co-songwriting contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:1YIpZOfyHXMUgUaxxxgbaC">Teddy Geiger</a> and Scott Harris, the album debuted at number one in the U.S. and Canada, and "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" went on to win a Juno Award for Single of the Year. Illuminate was followed in December by the digital-only Live at Madison Square Garden. Mendes launched a massive world tour in April 2017, which included a live acoustic session for MTV Unplugged that was released in November. In April 2018, Mendes performed his song "In My Blood" at a concert for Queen Elizabeth II's 92nd birthday at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The track's lyrics explored the songwriter's struggles with anxiety disorder and was later released as the lead single for his third full-length, Shawn Mendes, which arrived in May of that year. Featuring collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:1YIpZOfyHXMUgUaxxxgbaC">Geiger</a>, it debuted at number one in the U.S., Canada, and Australia and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album alongside the lead single's nomination for Song of the Year. In Canada, the eponymous LP collected Juno Awards for Pop Album and Album of the Year, and Mendes won Artist and Songwriter of the Year. "In My Blood" earned him yet another Juno, his second for Single of the Year. A deluxe version of Shawn Mendes followed later in 2019 containing the hit singles "If I Can't Have You" and "Señorita." Again featuring <a href="spotify:artist:4nDoRrQiYLoBzwC5BhVJzF">Camila Cabello</a>, "Señorita" became a global chart-topper that picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. "Wonder," the title track and first single from Mendes' fourth album, went to number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its October 2020 release, while its sequel "Monster" -- a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:1uNFoZAHBGtllmzznpCI3s">Justin Bieber</a> -- peaked at eight. Wonder appeared on December 4, 2020, reaching number one in both the U.S. and Canada. A non-album collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:0GM7qgcRCORpGnfcN2tCiB">Tainy</a>, "Summer of Love," arrived in August 2021, followed a few months later by the solo track "It'll Be Okay." The singles continued the following year with "When You're Gone." Mendes voiced the titular anthropomorphic saltwater crocodile in the family musical film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022), for which he also contributed the songs "Carried Away" and "Heartbeat," among others. In June 2023, Mendes issued the track "What the Hell Are We Dying For?" Written and recorded only days before its release, the song was centered around the effects of climate change, and its cover depicted the New York skyline through the orange haze smoke from devastating Canadian wildfires. ~ Marcy Donelson & David Jeffries, Rovi

Harry Styles

Harry Styles

Harry Styles’ third solo album, Harry&#39;s House, is breaking new ground for one of the most creative forces in pop music, a star who keeps refusing to stand still. It’s a deeply personal statement from an artist who has never sounded this joyous, this confident, this fearless in facing the future. Harry’s House debuted at Number One on the Billboard Charts and moved 521,00 equivalent album units in its first week. Harry&#39;s House is currently the best-selling album of 2022. “As It Was,” the critically acclaimed lead single, dropped on April 1st and became an instant record-breaking hit, debuting at Number One in both the U.S. and the U.K. “As It Was” became the most-streamed song in the U.S. in a single day in Spotify history and the most-streamed song globally in a single day of 2022. The British singer-songwriter dropped his blockbuster sophomore album Fine Line on Columbia Records in December 2019. It combined critical acclaim with record-setting commercial success, debuting at Number One on the Billboard charts. “Watermelon Sugar” became his first Number One single, winning Styles his first Grammy, for Best Pop Solo Performance and a 2021 BRIT Award for Best British Single. When Rolling Stone released its comprehensive list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Fine Line was the most recent album honored, taking its place in history. Harry is taking Love on Tour worldwide through 2022, in the aftermath of his historic Coachella set, in support of Harry’s House.

Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons

Rising from the Nevada desert in the late 2000s, Imagine Dragons perform with an energetic blend of arena rock energy and catchy pop choruses that has led them to global success. Winning their first Grammy Award in 2014 for the diamond-certified smash "Radioactive" from their debut album Night Visions, Imagine Dragons remained near the top of the charts for much of the 2010s, topping the Billboard 200 with 2015's Smoke + Mirrors. As their percussion-heavy sound shifted more toward radio-friendly, stadium-ready anthems, they secured worldwide favor with 2017's Grammy-nominated Evolve, which delivered a trio of multi-platinum singles in "Believer," "Thunder," and "Whatever It Takes." Heading into the next decade, the band continued to mature with the <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a>-produced Mercury: Act 1 and its sibling set Mercury: Act 2. Their seventh album Loom pushed them into fresh new genres in 2024. The Las Vegas-based group had its genesis in Provo, Utah, where vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:3k3gbUT7bF0jYmFmAKBQtU">Dan Reynolds</a> met drummer Andrew Tolman while the two attended Brigham Young University. In 2009, the group -- which by this time included guitarist Daniel Wayne Sermon, bass player Ben McKee, and Tolman's wife, Brittany Tolman, on keys and backing vocals -- had made a name for themselves regionally and relocated to <a href="spotify:artist:3k3gbUT7bF0jYmFmAKBQtU">Reynolds</a>' hometown of Las Vegas to record a pair of well-received EPs (Imagine Dragons and Hell and Silence) at <a href="spotify:artist:0C0XlULifJtAgn6ZNCW2eu">the Killers</a>' Battle Born Studios. A third EP, It's Time, arrived the following year and helped land the group a record deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>. The Tolmans parted ways with the band prior to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a> deal, and Daniel Platzman took over on drums. In 2012, Imagine Dragons hit it big with the Continued Silence EP and their first long-player, Night Visions, the latter of which debuted at the number two spot on the Billboard 200 and landed the group multiple awards -- it later went double platinum in the U.S., largely on the smash success of the Grammy-winning hit "Radioactive," which became the biggest-ever digital rock track in America. During 2013, two other hits followed: "Demons" in the U.S. and "On Top of the World" elsewhere. The group spent the bulk of 2014 finishing their second album. Co-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:0vjlH9sbJOZyhDjhvajQpY">Alex da Kid</a>, Smoke + Mirrors arrived in February 2015 and debuted at number one, buoyed by the singles "I Bet My Life" and "Shots." The band toured often between June 2015 and February 2016, eventually releasing the concert set Smoke + Mirrors Live, recorded in 2015 at a sold-out Air Canada Centre in Toronto. They took a well-deserved break in 2016, making only a few sporadic forays into the studio to record three songs for soundtracks: "Not Today" for Me Before You, "Sucker for Pain" for Suicide Squad, and "Levitate" for Passengers. Imagine Dragons also recorded songs for their third proper album, releasing the lead single "Believer" in January 2017. The set, entitled Evolve, was released that June. As the name suggested, it saw the band continuing to change, emphasizing EDM-flavored pop and positive attitudes that translated to the hit singles "Whatever It Takes" and "Thunder." In early 2018, the band teamed up with R&B singer <a href="spotify:artist:6LuN9FCkKOj5PcnpouEgny">Khalid</a> for a mashup of their respective hits "Thunder" and "Young Dumb & Broke." That summer, they released "Natural," which was the first single from their fourth album, Origins. Arriving in November 2018, Origins found the band working again with Jayson DeZuzio and <a href="spotify:artist:0vjlH9sbJOZyhDjhvajQpY">Alex Da Kid</a>, along with a host of newer producers. While the set did not fare as well as its three predecessors, it nonetheless spawned additional international hit singles such as "Bad Liar" and the <a href="spotify:artist:23fqKkggKUBHNkbKtXEls4">Kygo</a> collaboration "Born to Be Yours." In March 2021, the group issued a pair of singles, "Follow You" b/w "Cutthroat," from their fifth album, Mercury: Act 1. Produced by <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a> and Joel Little, the set revealed more maturity and vulnerability from <a href="spotify:artist:3k3gbUT7bF0jYmFmAKBQtU">Reynolds</a>, and tackled mental health, death, loss, and relationship struggles. Released in September, it was another success for the band, giving them their fifth consecutive Top Ten. Before the release of the planned Act 2, the band scored another radio hit with "Enemy," a collaboration with rapper <a href="spotify:artist:6U3ybJ9UHNKEdsH7ktGBZ7">JID</a> from the soundtrack to the animated series Arcane. In early 2022, Imagine Dragons issued "Bones," the lead single from Mercury: Act 2, which landed that July. Packaged with Act 1 under the official title Mercury: Acts 1 & 2, the sequel album also included the single "Sharks" and a collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:21SOnTj5ECwVXeBUTRcP3s">Cory Henry</a>, "Continual." Enjoying much needed rest, the band took a break in 2023, only releasing Live in Vegas and the song "Children of the Sky" as part of the roll-out for the video game Starfield. The group's next album cycle kicked off in April 2024 with the single, "Eyes Closed," which landed on their seventh full-length studio album, Loom. While the single pushed their trademark anthemic, percussion-heavy sound, "Nice to Meet You" revealed a new side of the band with its pop-funk dancefloor energy. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

5 Seconds of Summer

5 Seconds of Summer

Hailing from Sydney, Australia, 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) have brought pure rock energy to pop music over the past 10 years and toured the world several times over. While rooted in pop punk DNA, 5SOS have pushed the boundaries of traditional alternative pop music, taking influencers from wide-spanning genres throughout their career which is reflected sonically in the unique music they make. 5SOS continue to bring a new wave of depth and dimension to their industrial and harmony-driven sound and are always evolving their music with every album they release. Their latest album 5SOS5, embarked on a new phase of their career. Written primarily in Joshua Tree, California, much of the record focuses on the magic that happens when just the four band members come together as one.

Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay formed in London in late 1997. The band have gone on to become one of the most popular acts in the world, selling more than 100 million albums and releasing a long line of hits such as Yellow, Clocks, Fix You, Paradise, Viva La Vida, A Sky Full Of Stars, Hymn For The Weekend, Something Just Like This and Higher Power. The band’s acclaimed Music Of The Spheres World Tour, which began in 2022, is taking them to stadiums around the globe, with more than 9 million tickets already sold. The tour is accompanied by a comprehensive set of sustainability initiatives which include a show powered by 100% renewable energy in almost all locations; the world’s first tourable battery system; kinetic dancefloors allowing fans to help power the show; solar panels and wind turbines at every venue; incentives to encourage fans to travel by green transport; and one tree planted for every ticket sold. The band recently gave an update on the sustainability initiatives, revealing that their current tour has so far produced 59% less CO2e emissions than their previous stadium tour in 2016/17, and that 7 million trees have already been planted (one for each concert goer). Their tenth album, Moon Music, lands on October 4, 2024. Moon Music is Coldplay’s first album since 2021’s Music Of The Spheres, which spawned the US Number One single with BTS, My Universe, and was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. Music Of The Spheres has accumulated over 4 billion streams.

Maroon 5

Maroon 5

Maroon 5--and, specifically, its frontman <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Adam Levine</a>--became the face of blue-eyed soul in the 21st Century, managing to navigate shifting trends in music and fashion to be one of the biggest pop bands of their generation. The band took the long way to the top, evolving from the straight-ahead 1990s rock band <a href="spotify:artist:75qhTKV9Lo4yobMuQgSFse">Kara's Flowers</a> into the sleek, soulful Maroon 5 with 2002's Songs About Jane, an album that languished for two years until "This Love" climbed to number five on Billboard's Hot 100 in 2004. From that point forward, the group was a fixture at the top of the charts, their popularity receiving a considerable and enduring boost when <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Levine</a> was cast as a judge on NBC's televised talent competition The Voice in 2011. That year, their <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a> duet "Moves Like Jagger" gave Maroon 5 their second number one--"Makes Me Wonder" went to the top in 2007--and kicked off a string of Top Ten hits highlighted by the number ones "One More Night" and "Girls Like You," a run that helped secure the band a headlining Super Bowl gig in 2019. "Girls Like You" featured an appearance by <a href="spotify:artist:4kYSro6naA4h99UJvo89HB">Cardi B</a>, a sign of how Maroon 5 kept current by embracing modern R&B and hip-hop. The band followed this blueprint by enlisting <a href="spotify:artist:181bsRPaVXVlUKXrxwZfHK">Megan Thee Stallion</a> for "Beautiful Mistakes," a lead single from 2021's Jordi. Prior to Maroon 5, bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Adam Levine</a> (vocals/guitar), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards), Mickey Madden (bass), and Ryan Dusick (drums) had spent the latter half of the '90s playing in <a href="spotify:artist:75qhTKV9Lo4yobMuQgSFse">Kara's Flowers</a>, even releasing a debut album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise+Records%22">Reprise Records</a> while still attending high school. The record tanked, however, and <a href="spotify:artist:75qhTKV9Lo4yobMuQgSFse">Kara's Flowers</a> found themselves dropped from <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a>'s roster. After briefly attending college, the bandmates regrouped as Maroon 5, adding former <a href="spotify:artist:3goqO5kpcQyDlzI1yaRlnV">Square</a> guitarist James Valentine to the lineup and embracing a more R&B-influenced sound. Several years later, the quintet had officially risen to the forefront of pop music with Songs About Jane and It Won't Be Soon Before Long, both of which went multi-platinum. Songs About Jane propelled the band into the mainstream, but the album was not an immediate hit. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Octone+Records%22">Octone Records</a> had signed the newly christened Maroon 5 in 2001, and the debut album Jane received a lukewarm response upon its release in June 2002. "Harder to Breathe" became a radio staple 17 months later and was soon followed by the omnipresent "This Love," whose steamy video (featuring frontman <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Levine</a> and a barely clothed girlfriend) wooed the TV-watching crowds at MTV. Songs About Jane finally entered the Billboard Top Ten in August 2004, more than two years after the album's release, and follow-up singles like "She Will Be Loved" and "Sunday Morning" helped the album move over 2.7 million copies by year's end. Maroon 5 toured exhaustively in support of Jane's slow-burning success, issuing two stopgap recordings -- 2004's 1.22.03.Acoustic and 2005's Live Friday the 13th -- while traveling the world alongside the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0hEurMDQu99nJRq8pTxO14">John Mayer</a>. Their schedule was especially trying on percussionist Dusick, who sustained wrist and shoulder injuries and was often unable to play. By fall 2006, Dusick had been officially replaced by Matt Flynn (the former drummer for <a href="spotify:artist:5DYAABs8rkY9VhwtENoQCz">Gavin DeGraw</a>), and the revised band released its sophomore effort in May 2007. It Won't Be Soon Before Long proved to be less popular than its predecessor (which had sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone), but it still enjoyed double-platinum certification while spinning off the chart-topping single "Makes Me Wonder." Maroon 5 had cemented their status as pop/rock heavyweights, and they now had the connections to prove it. Released in late 2008, Call and Response: The Remix Album reinterpreted the band's catalog with remixes by influential producers like <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3hv9jJF3adDNsBSIQDqcjp">Mark Ronson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2RdwBSPQiwcmiDo9kixcl8">Pharrell Williams</a>. Between 2008 and 2010, the band worked with a different producer -- veteran rock/country architect <a href="spotify:artist:52nLyltGxLUNmtyL5cY707">Robert John "Mutt" Lange</a> -- on a third studio album, Hands All Over, which was released in September 2010. Although it was kept from the top of the album charts, it went platinum. Also, the following year, it received a big boost when <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Levine</a> began appearing as a judge on the NBC reality television talent competition The Voice. That same year, Hands All Over was re-released with the single "Moves Like Jagger," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Levine</a>'s The Voice co-judge <a href="spotify:artist:1l7ZsJRRS8wlW3WfJfPfNS">Christina Aguilera</a>; the single promptly hit the top of the charts. In 2012, Carmichael revealed that he was taking time off from performing with Maroon 5 and would be replaced by touring keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:2FMOHE79X98yptp4RpPrt7">PJ Morton</a>. In April 2012, the band teased the release of its fourth studio album with "Payphone," a single featuring <a href="spotify:artist:137W8MRPWKqSmrBGDBFSop">Wiz Khalifa</a> that hit number two. The resulting album, Overexposed, also reached number two, featuring production from a bevy of name producers including <a href="spotify:artist:4we5S2VLjgY9KzIzApL1KI">Ryan Tedder</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4e1KgW8FCqVytLFSzEYEKo">Max Martin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5CiGnKThu5ctn9pBxv7DGa">Benny Blanco</a>, and more. A second single from the album, the reggae-tinged "One More Night," topped the charts not long after its release in June, and stayed at the top long enough to become the band's most successful showing to date. Two further singles also reached the Top Ten, "Daylight" and "Love Somebody." During 2013, <a href="spotify:artist:4bYPcJP5jwMhSivRcqie2n">Levine</a> continued to appear on The Voice, and also made appearances in the television drama American Horror Story, as well as the music-based dramatic film Begin Again. The band also hit the studio to record songs for a fifth studio album, aptly titled V, which saw keyboardist Jesse Carmichael return to the fold after a brief hiatus. Released in September 2014, V debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and produced several Top Ten singles including "Maps," "Animals," and "Sugar." Two more singles followed in 2015 with "This Summer's Gonna Hurt Like a Motherf*****" and "Feelings." Also in 2015, Maroon 5 released their first hits collection, The Singles. The single "Don't Wanna Know," featuring rapper <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>, appeared in 2016 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was later revealed to be the first single from their forthcoming sixth LP. A second collaborative single, "Cold," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:1RyvyyTE3xzB2ZywiAwp0i">Future</a>, was released in early 2017, with "What Lovers Do" appearing before the November release of Red Pill Blues. In 2018, the band issued a remix of Red Pill Blues' "Girls You Like," featuring an appearance by <a href="spotify:artist:4kYSro6naA4h99UJvo89HB">Cardi B</a>, which wound up being their first single to reach number one on the Billboard charts since 2012's "One More Night." On February 3, 2019, Maroon 5 headlined the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in Atlanta, Georgia, supported by rappers <a href="spotify:artist:2ht3wxeT69CzyKFChNnNAB">Big Boi</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Y5tJX1MQlPlqiwlOH1tJY">Travis Scott</a>. A year later, bassist Mickey Madden announced he was retiring from the group following an arrest for domestic violence allegations. The band carried on with the topical single "Nobody's Love," which was partly inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial protests following the murder of George Floyd. In 2021, they teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:181bsRPaVXVlUKXrxwZfHK">Megan Thee Stallion</a> for the single "Beautiful Mistakes," which appeared just prior to the June release of Jordi, their seventh album. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi

Sting

Sting

Sting rode the new wave expansion to superstardom. Once he topped the charts around the world, he returned to the progressive fusion roots he left behind so he could play a nervy blend of reggae, punk, and pop with <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a>. He went solo after the trio's 1983 album Synchronicity and its accompanying hit "Every Breath You Take" turned the group into household names. The Dream of the Blue Turtles, his 1985 solo debut, expanded upon that success and its 1987 sequel Nothing Like the Sun consolidated it, the two albums laying the groundwork for an adventurous career that encompassed jazz, classical music, worldbeat, and stage musicals. Awards were plentiful even when the hit singles were few -- his last big hit was "Desert Rose," a 2000 single featuring Algerian singer <a href="spotify:artist:6vZXamchcIOKzC1c3Elp4J">Cheb Mami</a> -- because Sting regularly collaborated with musicians from around the globe. His duets with <a href="spotify:artist:2y8Jo9CKhJvtfeKOsYzRdT">Rod Stewart</a>, Bryan Adams, <a href="spotify:artist:6PAt558ZEZl0DmdXlnjMgD">Eric Clapton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2bA6fzP0lMAQ4kz6CF61w8">Toby Keith</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:55LyOQNIa9J8wX6y6eJfc0">Aswad</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2JyWXPbkqI5ZJa3gwqVa0c">Craig David</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0e04xgVBPU6mE2QkSHlufD">Mylene Farmer</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a> signaled not only his omnivorous taste -- many featured on the aptly titled 2021 compilation Duets -- but also his wide reach. Sting didn't abandon the mainstream -- he devoted his 2016 album 57th & 9th to snappy, well-crafted pop tunes, he cut a full record with the reggae singer <a href="spotify:artist:5EvFsr3kj42KNv97ZEnqij">Shaggy</a> in 2018, then returned to pop on 2021's The Bridge -- but it was merely one facet in a career that was difficult to pigeonhole. Born Gordon Sumner, Sting grew up near the shipyards of Wallsend, Northumberland, England, the eldest son of a milkman and a hairdresser. As a child, Sumner fell in love with music, but it took him a while to pursue it as a career. He worked odd jobs before earning an education degree. As he taught at Cramlington's St. Paul's First School, he moonlighted as a jazz musician in Newcastle, playing bass with the Newcastle Big Band and the Phoenix Jazzmen. While playing with the latter outfit, he became known for wearing yellow and black sweaters, which earned him the nickname "Sting" from fellow musician and bandleader Gordon Solomon. Sting became Sumner's stage name around the time he began playing in the jazz fusion outfit Last Exit in 1975. Last Exit is where he started sharpening his skills as a songwriter and branching out into rock. The band released the "Whispering Voices" single in 1975 -- the song wasn't written by Sting but by keyboardist Gerry Richardson -- on the small label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Wudwink%22">Wudwink</a> and it caught the ear of Carol Wilson, who was working for the publishing division of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Virgin+Records%22">Virgin Records</a>' Richard Branson. Buoyed by this attention, the group moved to London but they fell apart shortly after this relocation. While some of his bandmates headed back to Newcastle, Sting stayed in London, seeking out <a href="spotify:artist:3UtSTTCQ0EMUQxmsfZ3Px1">Curved Air</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart Copeland</a> in hopes of a collaboration. As it happened, <a href="spotify:artist:3UtSTTCQ0EMUQxmsfZ3Px1">Curved Air</a> had just split, so the pair joined forces with the intent of breaking into London's thriving punk scene. Adding guitarist Henri Padovani, Sting and <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a> formed a nascent version of <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a>. By March 1, 1977, they played their first gig and by May, they released the "Fall Out"/"Nothing Achieving" single on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Illegal+Records%22">Illegal Records</a>, an imprint co-founded by <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a>'s brother Miles; both sides of the 45 were written by <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a>. Around the time the "Fall Out" single hit the stores, Mike Howlett -- a bassist who had just left the prog rock outfit <a href="spotify:artist:47yvARr7dCOKqvjDVwfbf3">Gong</a> -- invited Sting to join him and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3rHBApuFwaJy65f7vWQJLr">Andy Summers</a> to play in a group called Strontium 90. Howlett planned to bring drummer Chris Cutler, a veteran of the challenging <a href="spotify:artist:6P3Zlv61YNe6DHVZhFj8oL">Henry Cow</a>, into the fold but he had other commitments, so Sting drafted <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a> as the group's drummer. During the early summer of 1977, Strontium 90 recorded a demo and played a pair of concerts, including a debut at a <a href="spotify:artist:47yvARr7dCOKqvjDVwfbf3">Gong</a> reunion show in Paris. Despite this activity, Strontium 90 dissolved quickly and Sting asked <a href="spotify:artist:3rHBApuFwaJy65f7vWQJLr">Summers</a> to join <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">The Police</a> briefly existed as a quartet with both <a href="spotify:artist:3rHBApuFwaJy65f7vWQJLr">Summers</a> and Padovani, but by August the new recruit insisted that he be the group's only guitarist. Shortly afterward, Padovani was dismissed and <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> became a trio. <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">The Police</a> began gigging in earnest late in 1977, but the group found it difficult to build an audience. Strapped for cash, they agreed to play in a commercial for Wrigley's gum, dying their hair blond as part of the agreement. Although the spot never aired, the commercial wound up giving the group their distinctive bleached-blond look. Not long afterward, <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a>'s brother Miles underwrote the recording of the band's debut, Outlandos d'Amour. Seeing potential in "Roxanne," Miles became <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a>'s manager and secured the group a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M+Records%22">A&M Records</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a> managed to stir up some controversy regarding the single release of "Roxanne" and its successor "Can't Stand Losing You." Upon its April 1978 release, "Roxanne" never made it onto the BBC's playlists, which <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a> spun into the single being "Banned from the BBC" -- a label that stretched the truth but was slapped onto the initial singles of "Roxanne." Despite this commotion, the single didn't chart. "Can't Stand Losing You" wound up getting banned from the BBC due to the single's cover art -- a tongue-in-cheek depiction of suicide by hanging -- and <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> parlayed that into a modest 42 placement on the U.K. charts in late summer 1978. "So Lonely," the group's third single, didn't chart at all. Britain may not have been paying attention to the band but where <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> were gaining traction was in North America. "Roxanne" wound up cracking the Top 40 in both the U.S. and Canada in early 1979, which at that time was a rarity for punk bands. The stateside success was enough to get "Roxanne" re-released in the U.K., where it went to 12, followed by a number two placement for the re-release of "Can't Stand Losing You." With some chart momentum on their side -- they were popular enough to have a re-release of "Fall Out" scrape the U.K. singles chart -- <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> embarked on an extensive American tour, completing a new album in the meantime. Entitled Reggatta de Blanc, their second album went to number one upon its October 1979 release, partially on the strength of the number one singles "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon." Neither single charted in the U.S. Top 40 -- the latter made it all the way to 74 -- but Regatta de Blanc still climbed to number 25 on the Billboard Top 200, while its title track snagged the group their first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">The Police</a> scored another U.K. hit in February 1980 when "So Lonely" reached six upon its re-release, but the year is better remembered as the group's international breakthrough thanks to Zenyatta Mondatta. Delivered in October 1980, the record reached number one in the U.K. and number five in the U.S., with its first single, "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da Da," becoming the group's first American Top 10 hit; in the U.K., it was the record's second single, reaching number five. "Don't Stand So Close to Me," released as Zenyatta Mondatta's first single in the U.K. and as its second in the US, eclipsed its companion, reaching number one in the U.K. and a Duo or Group With Vocal. "Behind My Camel," an album track from Zenyatta Mondatta, also earned the trio the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance that year. High on their chart success, <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> headed to Montserrat to record their fourth album with producer <a href="spotify:artist:2tFojFgpu9xoQ04HsTZMDl">Hugh Padgham</a>. The resulting Ghost in the Machine appeared in the fall of 1981, topping the U.K. charts and scaling its way to number two in the U.S. The rise of Ghost in the Machine was fueled by "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," a Top Ten hit throughout the world which was also a staple on MTV. "Spirits in the Material World" was another international hit, reaching 11 in the U.S. and 12 in the U.K., while "Invisible Sun" reached number two in the U.K. Ghost in the Machine also increased <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a>'s presence on album rock radio, as evidenced by "Secret Journey" reaching 46 in the U.S. During the reign of Ghost in the Machine, the individual members of <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> seized the opportunities brought by success. Sting resumed the acting career he attempted to launch in 1979, when he appeared in Franc Roddam's silver screen adaptation of <a href="spotify:artist:67ea9eGLXYMsO2eYQRui3w">the Who</a>'s rock opera Quadrophenia. He appeared in the film Brimstone and Treacle -- its soundtrack featured three new <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">Police</a> songs, including a "I Burn for You" -- and had a key role in <a href="spotify:artist:2Gu6Q05ExIGwHTF43kqLBI">David Lynch</a>'s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a> was also drawn to Hollywood, composing the score for Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish. Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:3rHBApuFwaJy65f7vWQJLr">Summers</a> collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:5HKpBHDxIDNdtmEAGXGntl">Robert Fripp</a> for the 1982 LP I Advance Masked. All this success was dwarfed by Synchronicity, the 1983 album that turned into a multi-million blockbuster. Much of that success was due to "Every Breath You Take," an ominous ballad that topped the charts in both the U.S. and U.K. "Every Breath You Take" became an instant standard, winning the Grammy for Song of the Year along with Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BMI%22">BMI</a> would later name "Every Breath You Take" its most performed song, as it racked up over 15 million radio plays. The ballad wasn't the only hit on Synchronicity. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "King of Pain" both reached the Top 10 in the U.S. -- the former only went to 17 in the U.K. -- and "Synchronicity II" turned into a hit on MTV and the radio, peaking at 16 on the Top 40; "Synchronicity II" also took home the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. Synchronicity dominated 1983, spending 17 weeks on the top of the U.S. charts, vying for the position with <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>'s Thriller. <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">The Police</a> supported the album with a stadium tour that spilled into 1984, but Sting started to grow restless with the trio. Following the tour's completion in March 1984, the group went on hiatus. Sting turned his attention to recording his debut, The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Working with a group featuring <a href="spotify:artist:1gPY6jETlC02stpXOUmSBH">Branford Marsalis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3fvBGGCTOjiCsIqL3MFU6l">Kenny Kirkland</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6jJcdCcI6czvcCnM1D1lWg">Omar Hakim</a> represented something of a return to roots for Sting, but its jazz inclinations illustrated his range. In America, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Fortress Around Your Heart" gave Sting two Top Ten hits, while "Love Is the Seventh Wave" and "Russians" charted at 17 and 16 on Billboard's Top 40, respectively. The record didn't fare quite as well in the U.K.: "Russians," the last single pulled from the album, was its biggest hit, reaching 12, while "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" peaked at 26 and the other two singles didn't crack the Top 40. Despite this underperformance on the charts, Sting was inescapable throughout 1985. He sang the "I want my MTV" refrain on <a href="spotify:artist:0WwSkZ7LtFUFjGjMZBMt6T">Dire Straits</a>' smash hit "Money for Nothing," he cameoed on records by <a href="spotify:artist:4lxfqrEsLX6N1N4OCSkILp">Phil Collins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2HMuzFmTtwL4ur1zJNCU7f">Arcadia</a> alike, he appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:3VRX2RB0mQ1vFBro0qibnZ">Hal Willner</a>'s Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill tribute album and he took his Dream of the Blue Turtles out on the road on a tour that was captured on Michael Apted's documentary Bring on the Night, which was released toward the end of the year. The soundtrack to the film was released in 1986 and the video release took home the Grammy for Best Music Video, Long Form at the 1987 ceremony. <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">The Police</a> reconvened in June 1986 to play three concerts on the Amnesty International: A Conspiracy of Hope tour, which led to the group attempting to record a new album that July. Prior to heading into the studio, <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Copeland</a> broke his collarbone in a horse riding accident. The injury exacerbated simmering tensions within the group and the trio wound up completing just one track: a new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me." Attached as a new track on the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles, and the song was a modest hit. Following its release, the band separated, this time for good. Sting wasted no time in returning to his solo career, completing his second solo album, Nothing Like the Sun. A double album that ran the length of a full CD -- a rarity at the time -- Nothing Like the Sun found Sting expanding his horizons, collaborating with the legendary jazz arranger <a href="spotify:artist:7g9DeYASD3RzlT4kDchsQZ">Gil Evans</a> and deepening his interests in worldbeat. None of this could be heard on its funky first single "We'll Be Together," which wound up climbing to seven in the U.S. The "Be Still My Beating Heart" made it to 15 in the U.S. but in the U.K., none of the album's singles entered the Top 40; a <a href="spotify:artist:00bFgWuCaaFrjC9xylIcMf">Ben Liebrand</a> remix of "Englishman in New York" belatedly went to 15 in 1990. Despite the lack of big hits, Nothing Like the Sun won the award for Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards, and it was a multi-platinum hit throughout Europe and in the U.S. Sting reinterpreted five songs from Nothing Like the Sun for his 1988 EP Nada Como el Sol, which was sung entirely in Spanish and Portuguese. Once again, Sting seized opportunities to collaborate with seemingly every musician who came his way. <a href="spotify:artist:7g9DeYASD3RzlT4kDchsQZ">Gil Evans</a> decided to record a collection of Sting's songs for a big-album and the songwriter joined the proceedings. Sting cameoed on <a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Frank Zappa</a>'s 1988 LP Broadway the Hard Way, singing "Murder by Numbers," and he participated in a 1988 recording of <a href="spotify:artist:7ie36YytMoKtPiL7tUvmoE">Stravinsky</a>'s The Soldier's Tale, which also featured Ian McKellen. His theatrical ambitions continued to flourish in 1989, when he appeared in a Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera. Sting returned in 1991 with The Soul Cages, a meditative album dedicated to his deceased father (Nothing Like the Sun was, in part, a tribute to his departed mother). "All This Time" went to five on Billboard's Hot 100, but none of the subsequent singles charted in the Top 40; in the U.K., "All This Time" went to 15. In 1992, "It's Probably Me" -- a slow-burner from the Lethal Weapon 3 soundtrack featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6PAt558ZEZl0DmdXlnjMgD">Eric Clapton</a> on guitar -- wound up as a solid hit, peaking at 20 in the U.S. and 30 in the U.K., but it was somewhat overshadowed by Sting's marriage to actress and film producer Trudie Styler; the couple would have four children. Bearing a punning title, Ten Summoner's Tales arrived in 1993 and proved to be a solid success on both sides of the Atlantic. It had two big hits pop hits -- "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" was 14 in the U.K., 17 in the U.S., "Fields of Gold" went to 16 and 23 -- but the album saw Sting's audience shift to adult contemporary; on that chart, the album's two singles went Top Ten, with "Fields of Gold" spending five weeks at number two. This transition was highlighted by the smash success of "All for Love," a song recorded with Bryan Adams and <a href="spotify:artist:2y8Jo9CKhJvtfeKOsYzRdT">Rod Stewart</a> for the Three Musketeers soundtrack. It swept across the globe at the end of 1993, reaching number one in the U.S., Australia, and many European countries; in the U.K. it reached two. The success of Ten Summoner's Tales set up the 1994 release of the greatest-hits compilation Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994. "When We Dance," a new track added to the collection, reached nine in the U.K., his best solo placing ever in the country; in the U.S., it went to 38 and number 12 on the Adult Contemporary charts. "This Cowboy Song" gave him another U.K. hit in 1995, reaching 15. In 1996, Mercury Falling didn't do great business in the U.S. -- none of its singles went higher than 60 -- but in the U.K., "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" went to 15, with "You Still Touch Me" and "I Was Brought to My Senses" reaching the Top 20. In 1997, "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying," the record's final single, was released in two variations: one containing the album version, one as a duet with rising country star <a href="spotify:artist:2bA6fzP0lMAQ4kz6CF61w8">Toby Keith</a>. While neither cracked Billboard's Top 40, the original version was a number 28 Adult Contemporary hit and the <a href="spotify:artist:2bA6fzP0lMAQ4kz6CF61w8">Keith</a> duet reached number two on the Country charts. Sting had another notable duet in 1996, when he sang on "On Silent Wings," a number 13 U.K. hit for <a href="spotify:artist:1zuJe6b1roixEKMOtyrEak">Tina Turner</a>. "Roxanne 97," which was a Puff Daddy remix of the original <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">Police</a> hit, went to 17 in the U.K. in 1997 and was featured on that year's compilation The Very Best of Sting & The Police. In 1998, he made a cameo in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the first film from Guy Ritchie; it was executive produced by Trudie Styler. In 1999, Brand New Day's title track went to 13 in the U.K., but it was "Desert Rose," a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:6vZXamchcIOKzC1c3Elp4J">Cheb Mami</a>, that was the international smash: it reached the Top 10 in many European countries in 2000, 15 in the U.K. and 17 in the U.S. Brand New Day wound up winning Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in the 2000 Grammy ceremony. Overall, Brand New Day sold eight million copies around the world, making it his biggest album. "My Funny Friend and Me," a song included on The Emperor's New Groove soundtrack in 2000, earned Sting his first Oscar nomination for Best Song; he didn't win. The song kicked off a decade where Sting didn't have as many hits, but he worked constantly, collaborating with everybody from <a href="spotify:artist:5Dl3HXZjG6ZOWT5cV375lk">Yo-Yo Ma</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:1yxSLGMDHlW21z4YXirZDS">Black Eyed Peas</a>, while dedicating himself to lower-profile solo work. Among the latter was All This Time, a 2001 live album recorded on the day of September 11; it was released that November, reaching three in the U.K. and 32 in the U.S. A memoir called Broken Music arrived in 2003 as did a new studio album, Sacred Love; it peaked at three in both the U.S. and U.K. Its lead single "Send Your Love" went to 30 in the U.K. and reached 29 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart, but it was eclipsed by two collaborations with R&B singers. First was <a href="spotify:artist:2JyWXPbkqI5ZJa3gwqVa0c">Craig David</a>'s "Rise & Fall," which went to number two in the U.K., then <a href="spotify:artist:1XkoF8ryArs86LZvFOkbyr">Mary J. Blige</a> duetted with Sting on "Whenever I Saw Your Name," which was added to a re-released version of Sacred Love; the recording won the pair Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals Grammy in 2004. In 2007, <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> reunited for an extensive tour that ran into 2008. On the tour's final show, the group brought out original guitarist Henry Padovani to play "Next to You." Sting chose to wind down from <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> reunion with the 2009 holiday album If on a Winter's Night…, which concentrated on old folk tunes, hymns, and madrigals. He devoted his 2010 to performing highlights from his catalog with London's <a href="spotify:artist:0MvSBMGRQJY3mRwIbJsqF1">Royal Philharmonic Orchestra</a>, unveiling the new arrangements on the July 2010 album Symphonicities, then heading out on the road with the orchestra; the tour was documented on the Live in Berlin album, which arrived in November 2010. 25 Years, a career-spanning box set, arrived in 2011, along with a single-disc sampler of highlights. Sting completed his musical The Last Ship in 2013. Initially, he introduced the piece as a solo album released in September of 2013, with the musical -- set in a struggling shipyard in the '80s -- making its Broadway debut in 2014. Sting spent the next two years touring, sometimes co-headlining with <a href="spotify:artist:2CvCyf1gEVhI0mX6aFXmVI">Paul Simon</a>, and then in late 2016, he released 57th & 9th, his first album of pop songs in 13 years. The album was recorded in a few weeks with contributions from a pair of long-time collaborators, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:32AFNkich94JXfGvIFqpkL">Dominic Miller</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3JE0rhvpwUB5mK2OgUnWlO">Vinnie Colaiuta</a>, plus drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7EMrFlPVSDGQKOgtHKH28L">Josh Freese</a> and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2nNBTVuxOW6ZpFtxf4vRT5">Lyle Workman</a>. In 2017, Sting was honored, alongside <a href="spotify:artist:0ZqhrTXYPA9DZR527ZnFdO">Wayne Shorter</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2ye2Wgw4gimLv2eAKyk1NB">Metallica</a>, with the Polar Music Prize, an annual award originating in Sweden recognizing greatness in the world of music. 2018 brought an unlikely pairing as Sting issued a joint reggae album with Jamaican singer <a href="spotify:artist:5EvFsr3kj42KNv97ZEnqij">Shaggy</a>. Obliquely titled 44/876 after the two musicians' country calling codes, it marked Sting's first-ever collaborative duo album as well as his return to the U.K. Top Ten chart; the album also went Gold in France. It won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2019. Sting reworked several standards from his past on 2019's My Songs. He supported the album with a tour. Early in 2021, he released a compilation of previously released collaborations called Duets and by the end of the year he delivered The Bridge, a record inspired by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé

With his supple vocal chops and nonchalant charisma, Michael Bublé became the preeminent neo-crooner of his generation. Influenced by classic singers such as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett as well as more modern artists (most notably Harry Connick, Jr.), the Canadian-born Bublé emerged in the early 2000s, believably selling old-school jazz standards and adult contemporary pop songs alike. With his third album and major-label debut, 2003's Michael Bublé, he topped the charts in Canada and won New Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards. His follow-up releases fared even better, with 2005's It's Time and 2007's Call Me Irresponsible both cracking the Top Ten on the Billboard 200. The latter also won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and spawned the number one adult contemporary hit "Home," which also marked the singer's move into recording more original songs. More Grammy wins followed for 2009's Crazy Love, 2009's Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden, and 2013's To Be Loved, all of which featured Bublé's distinctive mix of standards and warmly delivered contemporary pop songs. Born in British Columbia, Canada in 1975, Bublé was introduced to the music of the swing era by his grandfather, who filled his ears with the sounds of the Mills Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and others. As Bublé eagerly absorbed the recordings, he began to realize that he wanted to be a singer and that this style of music, virtually foreign to his own generation, was what he wanted to perform. With his grandfather's assistance, Bublé soon learned a whole catalog of tunes and gained experience and exposure by singing as a guest with several local bands. While still in his teen years, he won the Canadian Youth Talent Search, released several independent albums, and performed in a musical revue titled Swing that traveled across the U.S. It wasn't long before Bublé was introduced to Grammy-winning producer David Foster and signed his first major recording contract with Reprise Records. The two Canadians began work on a major debut album that would incorporate Bublé's aptitude for pop standards into songs that spanned several decades. His self-titled debut was released in early 2003 and featured jazzy takes on old standards like "Fever" and "The Way You Look Tonight," as well as newer classics like Van Morrison's "Moondance" and the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart." Further exposure ensued with a world tour and appearances on several television programs like NBC's Today Show, in which he sang a duet with host Katie Couric. He finished off 2003 with an EP of holiday material, Let It Snow, and began 2004 with the live CD/DVD set Come Fly with Me. In 2005, It's Time was a number one hit in Canada, Japan, Italy, and Australia, and made the Top Ten of both the U.K. and U.S. charts. Later that year he released the live album Caught in the Act. The holiday-themed album Christmas followed in 2006, with the studio effort Call Me Irresponsible dropping in 2007. Bublé returned in 2009 with the live concert album/DVD Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden, which documented the singer's first-ever performance at the storied New York City venue. The studio effort Crazy Love, featuring duets with Sharon Jones and Ron Sexsmith, followed in October 2009, becoming his third multi-platinum album in the U.S. In 2010, Bublé released the six-song EP Special Delivery, as well as the expanded Crazy Love: Hollywood Edition. The holiday album Christmas appeared in late 2011, featuring duets with Shania Twain, the Puppini Sisters, and Thalía. Within a few weeks of release, the album topped Billboard's Top 200. In 2013, Bublé released the Bob Rock-produced To Be Loved, which featured a mix of standards, most contemporary, along with three Bublé originals. Guest vocalists including Reese Witherspoon and Naturally 7 appeared on the album, which became his fourth consecutive chart-topper in the U.S. and also his fourth Grammy winner. Buoyed by the album's success, he set out on a massive tour, debuting in June of 2013 with ten shows at London's O2 Arena, and playing North America, Europe, Australia, South America, Asia, and Africa over the next two years. In 2015, he began working on new studio material; the resulting album, Nobody But Me, was released the following year. Co-produced by Bublé himself, the album featured the usual smattering of jazz standards as well as a cover of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." It also included three new songs co-written by Bublé and a duet with Meghan Trainor, "Someday," written by Trainor and One Direction's Harry Styles. Following the album's release, Bublé's eldest son, Noah, was diagnosed with liver cancer. In the wake of the news, the singer canceled his tour to spend time with his family while his son underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Despite rumors of retirement, Bublé eventually returned in 2018 with his tenth studio album, Love, which featured the single "When I Fall in Love." ~ Aaron Latham

The Ink Spots

The Ink Spots

The Ink Spots played a large role in pioneering the Black vocal group-harmony genre, helping to pave the way for the doo wop explosion of the '50s. The quavering high tenor of Bill Kenny presaged hundreds of street-corner leads to come, and the sweet harmonies of Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, and bass Hoppy Jones (who died in 1944) backed him flawlessly. Kenny's impeccable diction and Jones's deep drawl were both prominent on the Ink Spots' first smash on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca%22">Decca</a> in 1939, the sentimental "If I Didn't Care." From then through 1951, the group was seldom absent from the pop charts, topping the lists with "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)" (1940), "I'm Making Believe" and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" (both in 1944), and "The Gypsy" and "To Each His Own" (both in 1946). Watson eventually split to form his own group, the Brown Dots, and appeared in numerous low-budget film musicals, while Kenny attempted a solo career, notching a solo hit in 1951 with the uplifting "It Is No Secret." Countless groups masquerading as the Ink Spots have thrived across the nation since the '50s. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi

Seth MacFarlane

Seth MacFarlane

Best known as the creative force behind the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show, Seth MacFarlane is also a talented singer in the jazz crooner tradition. While music often played a comedic role on his animated shows, MacFarlane parlayed his love of classic American pop into a parallel career as a non-comedic singer. Fashioning himself after his idol <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a>, he recorded his debut Music Is Better Than Words with producer/conductor <a href="spotify:artist:59UCaDN9qLklKVTxSiEyMV">Joel McNeely</a>, working in the same studio where <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Sinatra</a> cut his classic sessions for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a>. Music Is Better Than Words earned a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Album, a recognition that provided a stable foundation for MacFarlane the singer. In the years after his debut, he released a new album of selections from the Great American Songbook, along with holiday albums like 2023's We Wish You the Merriest with Liz Gillies, regularly hitting the Top Ten of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and receiving nods from the Grammys. Born in 1973 in Kent, Connecticut, MacFarlane became interested in animation at a young age; a career he would pursue to much acclaim as the creator of Family Guy. At the same time, however, he was exposed to classical music growing up while regularly attending concerts at the Boston Pops with his family. As a teenager, he also performed in musical theater and eventually developed a passion for jazz and traditional pop standards via the recordings of <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a> and the Rat Pack. He debuted his singing with Family Guy: Live in Vegas, a 2005 collection of songs from the show along with some original numbers. In 2009, he sang at the BBC Proms in London during their Celebration of Classic MGM Film Musicals, while 2010 saw him returning for three more shows, including a Christmas-themed concert. In 2011, he released an album filled with standards, Music Is Better Than Words. Far from being received as a novelty, Music Is Better Than Words was an actual hit, peaking at two on the Billboard jazz charts (it reached 111 on the Billboard 200) and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. It was enough of a success to warrant a sequel, which came in the form of Holiday for Swing!, a Christmas record that arrived in September 2014. Holiday for Swing! charted higher than Music Is Better Than Words -- it reached 51 on the Billboard 200 -- and he quickly followed it in October 2015 with No One Ever Tells You, another collection of standards in the <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Sinatra</a> style. In Full Swing, a sunnier counterpart to No One Ever Tells You, arrived in September 2017. MacFarlane returned in 2019 with the ballads-oriented set Once in a While, which landed at number six on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. The next year, he released Great Songs from Stage & Screen, a collection of show tunes recorded at Abbey Road Studio with his regular collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:59UCaDN9qLklKVTxSiEyMV">Joel McNeely</a>. MacFarlane teamed up with actress/vocalist Liz Gillies for the 2021 EP Songs from Home, then entered into a new collaboration with arranger/conductor Andrew Cottee for Blue Skies, a 2022 album recorded at Abbey Road studios. A second collaboration with Gillies, the holiday-themed We Wish You the Merriest, arrived in November 2023 and hit the Top 20 of the Jazz Albums chart. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby was, without doubt, the most popular and influential media star of the first half of the 20th century. The undisputed best-selling artist until well into the rock era (with over half a billion records in circulation), the most popular radio star of all time, and the biggest box-office draw of the 1940s, Crosby dominated the entertainment world from the Depression until the mid-'50s, and proved just as influential as he was popular. Unlike the many vocal artists before him, Crosby grew up with radio, and his intimate bedside manner was a style perfectly suited to emphasize the strengths of a medium transmitted directly into the home. He was also helped by the emerging microphone technology: scientists had perfected the electrically amplified recording process scant months before Crosby debuted on record, and in contrast to earlier vocalists, who were forced to strain their voices into the upper register to make an impression on mechanically recorded tracks, Crosby's warm, manly baritone crooned contentedly without a thought of excess. Not to be forgotten in charting Bing Crosby's influence is the music itself. His song knowledge and sense of laid-back swing was learned from early jazz music, far less formal than the European-influenced classical and popular music used for inspiration by the vocalists of the 1910s and '20s. Jazz was by no means his main concentration, though, especially after the 1930s; Crosby instead blended contemporary pop hits with the best songs from a wide range of material (occasionally recording theme-oriented songs written by non-specialists as well, such as Cole Porter's notoriously un-Western "Don't Fence Me In"). His wide repertoire covered show tunes, film music, country & western songs, patriotic standards, religious hymns, holiday favorites, and ethnic ballads (most notably Irish and Hawaiian). The breadth of material wasn't threatening to audiences because Crosby put his own indelible stamp on each song he recorded, appealing to many different audiences while still not endangering his own fan base. Bing Crosby was among the first to actually read songs, making them his own by interpreting the lyrics and emphasizing words or phrases to emphasize what he thought best. His influence and importance in terms of vocal ability and knowledge of American popular music are immense, but what made Bing Crosby more than anything else was his persona -- whether it was an artificial creation or something utterly natural to his own personality. Crosby represented the American everyman -- strong and stern to a point yet easygoing and affable, tolerant of other viewpoints but quick to defend God and the American way -- during the hard times of the Depression and World War II, when Americans most needed a symbol of what their country was all about. Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, WA, on May 3, 1903. (Bingo was a childhood nickname from one of his favorite comic strips.) The fourth of seven children in a poverty-level family who loved to sing, he was briefly sent to vocal lessons early on by his mother, until he grew tired of the training. An early admirer of Al Jolson, Crosby saw his hero perform in 1917. Crosby sang in a high-school jazz band, and when he began attending nearby Gonzaga College (he had grown up practically in the middle of the campus), he ordered a drum set through the mail and practiced on the set. Introduced to a local bandleader named Al Rinker, he was invited to join Rinker's group, the Musicaladers, singing and playing drums with the group throughout college. Though the Musicaladers broke up soon after his graduation in 1925, Bing Crosby was ready to stick with the music business. Crosby had made quite a bit of money during the band's career, and he and Rinker -- who was the brother of Mildred Bailey -- were confident they could make it in California. They packed up their belongings and headed out for Los Angeles, finding good money working in vaudeville until they were hired by Paul Whiteman, leader of the most popular jazz band in the country (and known as the "King of Jazz" in an era when black pioneers were mostly ignored since they were unmarketable). For a few songs during Whiteman's shows, Rinker and Crosby sang as the Rhythm Boys with Harry Barris (a pianist, arranger, vocal effects artist, and songwriter later renowned for "I Surrender Dear" and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams"). With their clever songwriting and stage routines, the trio soon became one of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra's most popular attractions, and Crosby took a vocal on one of Whiteman's biggest hits of 1927-1928, "Ol' Man River." Besides appearing on record with Whiteman's orchestra, the Rhythm Boys also recorded on their own, though an opportunity for Crosby to enlarge his part in the 1930 film King of Jazz with a solo song went unrealized, as he sat in the clink for a drunk-driving altercation. When Whiteman again hit the road in 1930, the Rhythm Boys stayed behind on the West Coast. After Crosby hired his big brother Everett as a manager, he began recording consistently as a solo act with Brunswick Records in early 1931, and by year's end had chalked up several of the year's biggest hits, including "Out of Nowhere," "Just One More Chance," "I Found a Million-Dollar Baby," and "At Your Command." He appeared in three films that year, and in September began a popular CBS radio series. Its success was similarly unprecedented; in less than a year, the show was among the nation's most popular and earned Crosby a starring role in 1932's The Big Broadcast, which brought radio stars like Burns & Allen to the screen. By the midpoint of the decade, Crosby was among the top ten most popular film stars. His musical success had, if anything, gained momentum during the same time, producing some of the biggest hits of 1932-1934: "Please," "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me," "Little Dutch Mill," "Love in Bloom," and "June in January." "June in January," itself the biggest hit at that point in Crosby's young career, signaled a turn in his career. Brunswick executive Jack Kapp had just struck out on his own with an American subsidiary of the British Decca Records, and Crosby was lured over with the promise of higher royalty rates. Though his initial releases on Decca were recordings from his films of the year -- "June in January" was taken from Here Is My Heart -- Crosby began stretching out with religious material (such as "Silent Night, Holy Night," which became one of his biggest sellers, estimated at up to ten million). Late in 1935, he signed a contract for a radio show with NBC called Kraft Music Hall, an association that lasted into the mid-'40s. After his first musical director, Jimmy Dorsey, left, Crosby's songwriter friend Johnny Burke recommended John Scott Trotter (previously with the Hal Kemp Orchestra) as a replacement. Trotter quickly cinched the job when his arrangements for the 1936 film Pennies from Heaven produced the biggest hit of the year in its title song. (He would continue as Bing's orchestra arranger and bandleader into the mid-'50s.) After the biggest hit of 1936, Bing Crosby followed up with -- what else? -- the biggest of 1937, just months later. "Sweet Leilani," from the similarly Hawaiian film Waikiki Wedding, showed Bing the direction his career could take over the course of the 1940s and '50s. Though he had recorded several cowboy songs earlier in the 1930s as well as the occasional song of inspiration, Crosby began covering everything under the sun, the popular hits of every genre of contemporary music. These weren't castoffs, either; many of his 1940s country & western covers were hits, such as "New San Antonio Rose," "You Are My Sunshine," "Deep in the Heart of Texas," "Pistol-Packin' Mama," "San Fernando Valley," and "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy." With the advent of American involvement in World War II, Bing Crosby entered the peak of his career. Arriving in 1940 was the first of his popular "Road" movies with old friend Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, along with three of the biggest hits of the year ("Sierra Sue," "Trade Winds," "Only Forever"). Crosby and Hope had first met in 1932, when the two both performed at the Capitol Theater in New York. They reunited later in the '30s to open a racetrack, and after reprising some old vaudeville routines, a Paramount Pictures producer decided to find a vehicle for the pair and came up with The Road to Singapore. More popular success followed in 1941 with the introduction of the biggest hit of Papa Bing's career, "White Christmas." Written by Irving Berlin for 1942's Holiday Inn (a film that featured a Berlin song for each major holiday of the year), the single was debuted on Bing's radio show on Christmas Day, 1941. Recorded the following May and released in October, "White Christmas" stayed at number one for the rest of 1942. Reissued near Christmas for each of the next 20 years, it became the best-selling single of all time, with totals of over 30 million copies. It was a favorite for soldiers on the various USO tours Crosby attended during the war years, as was another holiday song, "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Crosby's popular success continued after the end of the war, and he remained the top box-office draw until 1948 (his fifth consecutive year at number one). As with all the jazz-oriented stars of the first half of the 20th century, Crosby's chart popularity was obviously affected by the rise of rock & roll in the mid-'50s. Though 1948's "Now Is the Hour" proved his last number one hit, the lack of chart success proved to be a boon: Crosby now had the time to concentrate on album-oriented projects and collaborations with other vocalists and name bands, definitely a more enjoyable venture than singing pop hits of the day on his radio show, ad nauseam. Inspired by the '50s adult-oriented album concepts of Frank Sinatra (who had no doubt been inspired by Bing in no small way), Crosby began to record his most well-received records in ages, as Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings (1956) and Bing With a Beat (1957) returned him to the hot jazz he had loved and performed back in the 1930s. His recording and film schedule began to slow in the 1960s, though he recorded several LPs for United Artists during the mid-'70s (one with Fred Astaire) and returned to active performance during 1976-1977. While golfing in Spain on October 14, 1977, Bing Crosby collapsed and died of a heart attack. ~ John Bush

KnuckleSandwich

Banda estadounidense | Hardcore punk, beatdown hardcore, crossover thrash (2020) ❗

Thy Art Is Murder

Banda australiana | Deathcore (2006)

Bring Me the Horizon

Banda británica | Metalcore, metal alternativo, rock alternativo, post-hardcore, deathcore, heavy metal, pop rock (2003)

ʙʀɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʀɪᴢᴏɴ https://www.bmthofficial.com

Ill Niño

Banda estadounidense | Nu metal, metal alternativo, heavy metal, thrash metal, metal latino, metalcore (1998)

ILL NIÑO are an American Latin Metal sextet. Formed in 1999 by drummer Dave Chavarri. Best known for their musically bending niche “Latin Metal”, the group have released 7 studio albums, 2 EPs, and 1 greatest hits album, selling over 2 million albums worldwide. Ill Niño’s broad and dedicated fan base spreads across .5 million followers on Spotify / Apple Music, .5 million followers across social platforms, and across millions of plays on Youtube. The debut album "Revolution, Revolución" is a Roadrunner Records classic. The album&#39;s single, "What Comes Around," received significant airplay on MTV and enjoyed many weeks in the top 20 Active Rock radio charts,. The song topped at #1 on the Mediabase Active Rock radio charts. The second album "Confession” sold 40,000 copies the first week. The lead single "How Can I Live" was featured in the film “Freddy vs. Jason” and featured as the soundtrack single. The song broke into the mainstream rock Billboard charts and the band went on to release two more albums under Roadrunner Records. Ill Niño are known as one of the best live acts in their genre, having performed highly successful headlining tours throughout Europe, U.S.A., Russia, and Australia, South America, Japan, U.K., Mexico, and Eastern Europe. ILL NINO is: Dave Chavarri - Drums Laz Pina - Bass Marcos Leal - Lead Vocals Daniel Couto - Percussion Jes DeHoyos - Lead Guitar Sal Dominguez - Rhythm Guitars

8) Metal alternativo y de fusión (ca. 1980 – 1990)

Mezcla de metal con otros estilos y sonidos experimentales. Incluye:

Sacramentum

Banda sueca | Melodic black metal (1992)

Enthroned

Banda belga | Black metal (1993)

Sunami

Banda estadounidense | Hardcore punk, beatdown hardcore, metalcore (2019)

Epica

Banda neerlandesa | Metal sinfónico, metal gótico, metal progresivo (2002)

Originally calling themselves Sahara Dust, Holland's Epica formed in early 2003 when After Forever guitarist Mark Jansen decided to break away from the group he had helped found in order to start an operatic metal project all his own. After drafting teenage mezzo-soprano Simone Simons, guitarist Ad Sluijter, keyboardist Coen Janssen, bassist Yves Huts, and drummer Jeroen Simons, Epica entered Wolfsburg, Germany's Gate Studio with a classically trained choir and string section to lay down their ambitious debut, The Phantom Agony. Released by Transmission Records in late 2003, the album spawned a number of singles. The band's early success paved the way for 2005's sophomore LP, Consign to Oblivion, which also charted well in the Netherlands. A move to metal powerhouse Nuclear Blast and the addition of Ariën van Weesenbeek on drums was followed by Epica's first conceptual album, The Divine Conspiracy, released in 2007. It charted across Europe, as did 2009's Design Your Universe, which equaled their best Dutch chart showing at number eight; Design Your Universe also featured a new member, with Isaac Delahaye taking over guitar duties. Epica's fifth studio album, Requiem for the Indifferent, appeared in 2012. It was the first to chart in the U.K. and U.S., after which another lineup shift found Huts giving way to Rob van der Loo on bass. The band celebrated its tenth anniversary in March 2013 with a special show in Eindhoven, titled and later released as Retrospect, which even featured former members Sluijter, Simons, and Huts. Just a year later, the band issued The Quantum Enigma, its first studio album with Rob van der Loo. Epica's next full-length outing, 2016's Holographic Principle, was described by Simons in an interview with Spark TV as their "most ambitious offering to date." A year later, the band issued its first EP, The Solace System, which coincided with a North American trek with Lacuna Coil. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia

Immortal

Banda noruega | Black metal (1990)

Mutiilation

Abanda francesa | Black metal (1991)

11) Otros subgéneros y fusiones (1990 en adelante)

Windir

Banda noruega | Black metal, folk metal, viking metal (1994 - 2004)

Limp Bizkit

Banda estadounidense | Nü metal, rap metal, rap rock ,metal alternativo , rock alternativo, post-grunge, rapcore (1994)

Limp Bizkit is an infectious spirit. Any other details are merely salad dressing.

Slaughter to Prevail

Banda rusa | Deathcore, nu metal (2014)

For all enquires: [email protected] 
 Kostolom is the epic second LP from the duo Alex Terrible and Jack Simmons’ band Slaughter to Prevail. The album expands on the dynamic extremes of their 2017 debut, Misery Sermon — pairing Alex’s dark, cathartic lyrics with Simmons’ pummeling riffs and tense, cinematic solos. “We wanted to make each song for us stand out in a different way,” the guitarist says. “On some of the songs, we focused on wanting to keep it uptempo, building to a breakdown as the focal point. Other songs it was about groove or the chorus — ‘how can we make this melodic?’ The albums we love the most have those dynamics, and we want to use them to make each part hit harder.” 
 The songs evolved over several years, the first demos constructed shortly before the release of Misery Sermon. And they finally finished the material in late 2020, with everyone (Alex, Simmons, bassist Mikhail Petrov, guitarist Dmitry Mamedov) having tracked their respective parts at home. (Evgeny Novikov recorded his drums at a nearby studio in Moscow.) 
 Alex’s words — largely sung in Russian, with occasional bursts of English — are also more balanced than the bleak song titles may suggest. “The lyrics,” Simmons says, “are quite personal to anyone who listens, I think — of personal struggle, keeping a positive mental attitude and going through the shit to have a better life and achieve your goals.”

9) Metal progresivo (ca. 1980)

Metal con estructuras complejas y experimentación. Subgéneros:

Skálmöld

Grupo islandés | Folk metal, viking metal, heavy metal (2009)

So, answer this question: which head of state needs a dose of metal to get him ready for Parliament every morning – and which band’s music does he play to give him the necessary adrenaline surge? It’s Iceland’s President Guðni Jóhannesson, of course, whose love of his country’s biggest metal band Skálmöld led him to say in 2018: “I admire them because they’re much more than just a metal band. For me, the most admirable aspects of Skálmöld’s songs are their lyrical themes. Here in Iceland, we want to maintain our literary and cultural heritage, and to do that we need to make it accessible to new generations. Skálmöld are a link between our old heritage and today’s culture!” Can you imagine Donald Trump saying the same thing about Metallica, or Angela Merkel laying similar praise at Rammstein’s feet? Of course not – which says a lot about the appeal of this band of Vikings. You don’t need to take the word of the President, though; the facts speak for themselves. Skálmöld – which translates as ‘Age Of Swords’ – formed in the summer of 2009 and comprise Björgvin Sigurðsson (vocals, guitar), Þráinn Árni Baldvinsson (guitar), Baldur Ragnarsson (guitar), Snæbjörn Ragnarsson (bass), Gunnar Ben (keyboards) and Jón Geir Jóhannsson (drums).[...] Skálmöld are one of a kind. Miss them at your peril! Joel McIver, 2018

7) Grindcore (ca. mediados 1980)

Metal extremo y punk, con canciones muy cortas y rápidas. Subgéneros:

Evanescence

Banda estadounidense | Metal alternativo, metal gótico, nu metal, rock alternativo, post-grunge, rock oscuro, rock gotico (1994)

Evanescence will release the 20th anniversary edition of their multi-platinum debut album Fallen on November 17th. The anniversary will see remastered tracks from the original album, previously unheard demos, and alternate versions of some of their most iconic songs. In Amy’s words, “20 years later, this album has never meant more. Fallen has been the soundtrack to first loves, epic heartbreak, self-realization, wedding days, last goodbyes, friendships, and countless other moments in so many lives…not to mention my own. I am forever humbled and grateful to be a part of it.”

花冷え。

Banda japonesa | Nu metal , electronicore, hardcore punk, metalcore (2015)

New sensational hybrid girls band “Hanabie” is a “Harajuku-Core” rock band which has roots in metal, hardcore, and also Japanese idol culture. Vo. Yukina’s growling which people can’ t imagine by her cute and girly face. Pop, and genreless music as well as “kawaii” neo Japanese style fashion are their weapons. Now it’s time to go into battle to the world from Harajuku!! 
 メタルコア、ハードコアを昇華させたオリジナルジャンル「原宿コア」を核に、秋葉原アイドルカルチャーをも内包した、完全新感覚ハイブリッドガールズバンド、花冷え。 小柄で可愛らしい姿からは想像できないVo ユキナのデスボイスと、オールジャンルでポップな音楽性、和テイストをアレンジしたkawaiiファッションセンスを武器に、原宿コアから日本武道館へ、そして世界へと、いざ出陣！！

Bloodywood

Banda india | Nu metal, folk metal, rap metal (2016)

Bloodywood is a metal band from India known for pioneering a sound that seamlessly fuses Indian folk instruments with metal to devastating effect. Expect to hear the percussive power of the mighty Dhol, the melancholic flute, the single stringed Tumbi and several other uncommon, yet distinctly characteristic sounds from India. A combination of thunderous Hindi/Punjabi choruses and meaningful yet unforgiving rap verses along with the ethnic instrumentation makes Bloodywood a truly unique experience.

Bad Omens

Banda estadounidense | Nu metal, metal alternativo, metal industrial, metal sinfónico, metalcore (2015)

goodbye, friend.

10) Metal sinfónico y épico (ca. 1990)

Metal que incorpora elementos orquestales y líricos grandiosos. Subgéneros:

🧂sa

🇨🇺 CUBA

1) Bolero (ca. siglo XIX – presente)

Balada lenta y sentimental, con guitarra y voz expresiva. De Cuba y España.

4) Salsa (ca. 1960 – presente)

Fusión de son cubano, jazz y ritmos caribeños, fuerte presencia de metales y percusión. De Nueva York con raíces caribeñas.

1) Cumbia (ca. siglo XIX – presente)

Ritmo bailable con percusión africana, gaitas indígenas y influencias españolas. De la costa Caribe colombiana.

Puerto Candelaria

Puerto Candelaria

PUERTO CANDELARIA (Ganador de Latin Grammy 2019 Mejor Álbum Cumbia y nominado nuevamente en 2022 y 2024) es una gran explosión sonora colombiana que ha traspasado las fronteras, ha burlado los esquemas y ha trazado un camino por el que no sólo transita la música: el teatro, la danza y el humor son los efectivos recursos de los que se valen sus integrantes para exponer ácida y burlonamente el absurdo que es Colombia. Puerto Candelaria es una atrevida, controversial e innovadora agrupación colombiana, que ha sido pieza fundamental en el movimiento que redefinió la industria musical de los últimos tiempos de su país y Latinoamérica. Fundada en el año 2000 por el genio y 2 veces ganador del Latin Grammy Juancho Valencia, propone un audaz viaje sonoro por la Cumbia, los sonidos tropicales, el Jazz y la World Music en canciones que invitan por igual al baile loco o la reflexión profunda, convirtiéndose en abanderados de las causas invisibles con un talento excepcional y haciendo resistencia desde la música. Su puesta en escena cargada de humor, baile, teatro y diversión, contagia de inmediato hasta al espectador desprevenido, convirtiéndose en una experiencia inolvidable. Más de 35 países y 180 ciudades alrededor del mundo, han sido conquistados con su sonido único.

🇩🇴 REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA

3) Champeta (ca. 1980 – presente)

Música urbana afrocaribeña con ritmos africanos y caribeños modernos. De la costa Caribe colombiana.

1) Merengue (ca. siglo XIX – presente)

Ritmo rápido, baile en pareja, con instrumentos de viento y percusión.

1) Tango (ca. 1880 – presente)

Melodías melancólicas con bandoneón, ritmo marcado para baile en pareja.

🇧🇷 BRASIL

1) Samba (ca. finales siglo XIX – presente)

Ritmo alegre y sincopado, con percusión característica y baile.

fazathecat

fazathecat

3) MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) (ca. 1960 – presente)

Fusión ecléctica de samba, bossa nova, rock y folk brasileño.

2) Bossa Nova (ca. 1958 – presente)

Fusión suave de samba y jazz, melodías relajadas y armonías sofisticadas.

Antônio Carlos Jobim

Antônio Carlos Jobim

It has been said that Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim was the <a href="spotify:artist:1YuknfkSYTTbolRpwZBOv4">George Gershwin</a> of Brazil, and there is a solid ring of truth in that, for both contributed large bodies of songs to the jazz repertoire, both expanded their reach into the concert hall, and both tend to symbolize their countries in the eyes of the rest of the world. With their gracefully urbane, sensuously aching melodies and harmonies, Jobim's songs gave jazz musicians in the 1960s a quiet, strikingly original alternative to their traditional Tin Pan Alley source. Jobim's roots were always planted firmly in jazz; the records of <a href="spotify:artist:6l40OFJhuTbHQ9V12evc9K">Gerry Mulligan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3rxeQlsv0Sc2nyYaZ5W71T">Chet Baker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6pVkGhtBvjj1P52yn0tNLG">Barney Kessel</a>, and other West Coast jazz musicians made an enormous impact upon him in the 1950s. But he also claimed that the French impressionist composer <a href="spotify:artist:1Uff91EOsvd99rtAupatMP">Claude Debussy</a> had a decisive influence upon his harmonies, and the Brazilian samba gave his music a uniquely exotic rhythmic underpinning. As a pianist, he usually kept things simple and melodically to the point with a touch that reminds some of <a href="spotify:artist:6ThTN0WCRCAtG00Htf7CUW">Claude Thornhill</a>, but some of his records show that he could also stretch out when given room. His guitar was limited mostly to gentle strumming of the syncopated rhythms, and he sang in a modest, slightly hoarse yet often hauntingly emotional manner. Born in the Tijuca neighborhood of Rio, Jobim originally was headed for a career as an architect. Yet by the time he turned 20, the lure of music was too powerful, and so he started playing piano in nightclubs and working in recording studios. He made his first record in 1954 backing singer Bill Farr as the leader of "Tom and His Band" (Tom was Jobim's lifelong nickname), and he first found fame in 1956 when he teamed up with poet <a href="spotify:artist:5HlnN6xF2MD87KhGRmCRTd">Vinícius de Moraes</a> to provide part of the score for a play called Orfeo do Carnaval (later made into the famous film Black Orpheus). In 1958, the then-unknown Brazilian singer <a href="spotify:artist:77ZUbcdoU5KCPHNUl8bgQy">João Gilberto</a> recorded some of Jobim's songs, which had the effect of launching the phenomenon known as bossa nova. Jobim's breakthrough outside Brazil occurred in 1962 when <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0i5yrKtlP4URcRBXQQwnik">Charlie Byrd</a> scored a surprise hit with his tune "Desafinado" -- and later that year, he and several other Brazilian musicians were invited to participate in a Carnegie Hall showcase. Fueled by Jobim's songs, the bossa nova became an international fad, and jazz musicians jumped on the bandwagon, recording album after album of bossa novas until the trend ran out of commercial steam in the late '60s. Jobim himself preferred the recording studios to touring, making several lovely albums of his music as a pianist, guitarist, and singer for Verve, Warner Bros., Discovery, A&M, CTI, and MCA in the '60s and '70s, and Verve again in the last decade of his life. Early on, he started collaborating with arranger/conductor <a href="spotify:artist:3lZyF2ZG6fZLQvxgJU0y5r">Claus Ogerman</a>, whose subtle, caressing, occasionally moody charts gave his records a haunting ambience. When Brazilian music was in its American eclipse after the '60s, a victim of overexposure and the burgeoning rock revolution, Jobim retreated more into the background, concentrating much energy upon film and TV scores in Brazil. But by 1985, as the idea of world music and a second Brazilian wave gathered steam, Jobim started touring again with a group containing his second wife Ana Lontra, his son <a href="spotify:artist:6lq7wtjRyBIwR2aJj57kuf">Paulo</a>, daughter Elizabeth, and various musician friends. At the time of his final concerts in Brazil in September 1993 and at Carnegie Hall in April 1994 (both available on Verve), Jobim at last was receiving the universal recognition he deserved, and a plethora of tribute albums and concerts followed in the wake of his sudden death in New York City of heart failure. Jobim's reputation as one of the great songwriters of the century is now secure, nowhere more so than on the jazz scene, where every other set seems to contain at least one bossa nova. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi

🌍 CARIBE INTERNACIONAL / FUSIÓN

1) Folk (ca. siglo XIX – presente)

Género que recoge tradiciones musicales populares y rurales, con letras narrativas, instrumentos acústicos.

Hi-Fi Set

Hi-Fi Set

Routnote

Priscilla Ahn

Priscilla Ahn

When Priscilla Ahn had her first child in 2015, motherhood became the main focus—even in her flourishing music career. She decided to briefly detour from the path she’d been traveling on as a singer/songwriter to make something that her newborn could enjoy: 2016’s La La La, a sweet, gentle album for children. And after that she decided to take some time off to enjoy just being a parent. These days, Ahn swirls around all these thoughts and more, going back to her upbringing by an American father and a Korean mother—and her whirlwind career to date, which has found her in a range of various roles and projects. In the span of 13 years, she’s gone from landing a record contract with Blue Note Records in her early twenties to writing original music for a Studio Ghibli film (When Marnie Was There), as well as collaborating with acts like Sia and Tiesto, and touring with legends like Willie Nelson. Just this past year, she contributed backing vocals to a Nelson duet with Karen O of the David Bowie/Queen song “Under Pressure.” A regular presence in the soundtrack world, including with a spot providing backing vocals for the Oscar-winning La La Land, Ahn is constantly being tapped for new ways to use her talents; this past year she even contributed remixes of her music to the meditation app Calm. In short, Ahn is open to whatever the world has to offer her as she starts this second wind of her life.

전진희

전진희

Ichiko Aoba

Ichiko Aoba

青葉市子 ／ Ichiko Aoba 音楽家。自主レーベル "hermine" 代表。2010年デビュー以降、これまでに7枚のオリジナル・アルバムをリリース。クラシックギターと歌を携え、世界中を旅する。"架空の映画のためのサウンドトラック" 『アダンの風』はアメリカ最大の音楽アーカイブ "Rate Your Music" にて2020年の年間アルバム・チャート第1位に選出されるなど、世界中で絶賛される。2021年から本格的に海外公演を行い、これまで、Reeperbahn Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival 等の海外フェスにも出演する。今年6月にはフランスの音楽家 "Pomme" と2020年にリリースされた「Seabed Eden」のフランス語カヴァーをリリース。FM京都 "FLAG RADIO" で奇数月水曜日のDJを務め、文芸誌「群像」での連載執筆、TVナレーション、CM・映画音楽制作、芸術祭でのパフォーマンス等、様々な分野で活動する。 2025年2月28日に新作『Luminescent Creatures』がリリースされた。 https://ichikoaoba.com Ichiko Aoba Musician. Born January 28th, 1990. Since her debut in 2010, she has released seven studio albums. In 2020, she founded the independent label hermine, where she continues to depict fictional worlds full of warmth. That same year saw the release of “Windswept Adan”, an album conceived as the soundtrack to a fictional film. When she’s not busy touring across the globe, she’s active in a variety of fields, including narration, radio host, commercial and stage music production, and art festivals. In 2023 she received the prestigious ANCHOR Award at the Reeperbahn Festival. Her eighth album, Luminescent Creatures was released on February 28th, 2025. www.ichikoaoba.com https://hermine.jp/

Porch Light

Porch Light

welcome to the show

Marie Laveau

Marie Laveau

Warsaw based pirate goth punk🏴‍☠️Shivering timbers since 2023 Warsaw After Midnight compilation available now!

2) Ska (ca. 1959 – presente)

Ritmo rápido y bailable, mezcla de jazz, R&B y reggae, con sección de vientos prominente.

3) Reggae (ca. 1968 – presente)

Ritmo relajado y sincopado, letras sociales y espirituales, influencia del ska y rocksteady.

Magic

Magic

Drawing heavy influences from artists such as The Police, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Marley, MAGIC! was formed in 2012 by Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer Nasri (lead vocals), Mark Pelli (guitar), Ben Spivak (bass), and Alex Tanas (drums). MAGIC!’s meteoric rise came shortly after the release of their debut single, “Rude” in 2013. Co-written and produced by Grammy Award-winner Adam Messinger, “Rude” held the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for six weeks, while dominating charts globally, hitting #1 in 41 countries. Recently, the track surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. MAGIC! has released three studio albums, toured with Maroon 5 and headlined shows worldwide. They have received two JUNO Awards and nominations for American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards and more. Following the release of their third studio album, Expectations in 2018 and five years of continuous touring, the members of MAGIC! decided to take a break and focus on solo projects. Nasri and longtime collaborator Adam Messinger have since written and produced for some of music’s biggest names including Justin Bieber, Shakira, Pitbull, Lana Del Ray, Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown, and more. During a band dinner in 2021, MAGIC! (now Nasri, Spivak and Pelli) came to a realization; that the world was in need of some happy music. Set to release in Fall 2022, MAGIC!’s new music is an anthemic soundtrack to living life in the moment and embracing good vibes.

Lion Reggae

Banda colombiana | Roots reggae (2009) ❗

Temple Sour

Banda peruana | Reggae, reggae fusión (2014–2023) ❗

Dancehall (ca. finales de 1970 – presente)

Género jamaicano derivado del reggae, caracterizado por ritmos más rápidos, bases digitales (riddims), énfasis en el DJ/toasting y letras centradas en la vida urbana, el baile y la cultura callejera.

🇨🇴 COLOMBIA

2) Guaracha (ca. siglo XIX – presente)

Canción rápida, humorística y popular, con ritmo alegre. De Cuba.

Raices y Cultura

Banda panameña | Roots reggae (1998) ❗

La Muza

Banda puertorriqueña | Reggae, R&B, soul gospel, rock, jazz, lounge (1998) ❗

Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Given the image of him as a smiling, joint-smoking peacenik that has proliferated since his death in 1981, it’s easy to forget just how angry Bob Marley was. His music spoke to colonialism (“Small Axe”), poverty (“Them Belly Full [But We Hungry]”), the necessity of achieving political agency (“Get Up, Stand Up”), and the challenge of exercising it (“Burnin’ and Lootin’”) with a righteousness and frustration that made him as much a figurehead to punk rock as to the reggae he helped export to the world. He may have been ambivalent about politics (he once said it was pretty much the same thing as church—a way to keep people ignorant), but it wasn’t because of their underlying possibilities; it was the way the political system had been twisted by the tyranny and greed of people in power that troubled him. And if his music sounded sweet and made you want to dance, it’s because, as his sometime publicist Vivien Goldman once put it, he knew that if he hooked you with the melody, you’d have to listen to what he had to say.<br> Born in 1945 in Nine Mile, a rural village about an hour and a half outside Kingston, Marley formed The Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in his late teens, thickening from cheerful R&B-based ska to the more rhythmically substantive sound of reggae. As firm as his association is with Jamaica, the music he made had a dialogic relationship with a variety of Black styles, including funk (“I Shot the Sheriff,” “No More Trouble”), soul (“No Woman, No Cry,” “Redemption Song”), and even disco (“Could You Be Loved,” “Exodus”)—reggae, you could say, was just his concentration.<br> Even as he settled into smoother, pop-oriented sounds (1978's <I>Kaya</I>, 1980's <I>Uprising</I>), he retained an urgency and sense of struggle that inspired generations of artists to recognize that music, while great for entertainment, can also be the delivery system for something bigger.

Liana Flores

Liana Flores

Was bestowed human form in exchange for these songs (previously was a tree)

Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens is a singer-songwriter currently living in New York City. A preoccupation with epic concepts has motivated two state records (<a href="spotify:album:4mIfqTE8DOnFRFWUQH02Og" data-name="Michigan">Michigan</a> & <a href="spotify:album:7j8lfKDdL7vE8OAM4cA3W3" data-name="Illinois">Illinois</a>), a collection of sacred and biblical songs (<a href="spotify:album:71M94qZwSYHxlae0EFxpsy" data-name="Seven Swans">Seven Swans</a>), an electronic album for the animals of the Chinese zodiac (<a href="spotify:album:69OklUVsiAYKeFiY93Qe8m" data-name="Enjoy Your Rabbit">Enjoy Your Rabbit</a>), two Christmas box sets (<a href="spotify:album:6ZCbYO3B5eslkY3zHdss4A" data-name="Songs For Christmas">Songs For Christmas</a> and <a href="spotify:album:0AVvBrOZ4Hy3yCW8SguJLy" data-name="Silver & Gold">Silver & Gold</a>), and a programmatic tone poem for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (<a href="spotify:album:0uckcHnIdodDv7qO0brWLY" data-name="The BQE">The BQE</a>). In 2010 Sufjan released an expansive EP (<a href="spotify:album:79aBySIboEq6ZcQ7bcq5me" data-name="All Delighted People">All Delighted People</a>) and the full length <a href="spotify:album:5U7GN7wM8nZKYeeOoYhPjC" data-name="The Age of Adz">The Age of Adz</a>, a collection of songs partly inspired by the outsider artist Royal Robertson. In March 2015, Sufjan released <a href="spotify:album:0U8DeqqKDgIhIiWOdqiQXE" data-name="Carrie & Lowell">Carrie & Lowell</a>. His most recent releases include <a href="spotify:album:0msgMFYRkWX6HixjvGOQHJ" data-name="Planetarium">Planetarium</a>, an Oscar-nominated song for the film <a href="spotify:album:531pUFZ1BbEhfXDxitF8TU" data-name="Call Me by Your Name (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)">Call Me by Your Name (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)</a>, <a href="spotify:album:2Bd6trS7kIZOXujYdVP8Xd" data-name="The Ascension">The Ascension</a> (2020) and a collaboration with with Angelo De Augustine, <a href="spotify:album:7AS9VaIdnYSR13T3vkVtu9" data-name="A Beginner&#39;s Mind">A Beginner&#39;s Mind</a> (2021). In Oct 2023, Stevens tenth solo studio project, <a href="spotify:album:2KqSL3vLfyVO7rrZJL9tUs" data-name="Javelin">Javelin</a> , will be released.

Luiz Bonfá

Luiz Bonfá

Although overshadowed by the towering figure of Antonio Carlos Jobim and to a lesser extent by João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá was right there at the birth of bossa nova as well. In fact, at least two of his songs, the haunting "Manha de Carnaval" and equally evocative "Samba de Orpheus" swept the world at least three years before Jobim's songs began to make a global impact, paving the way for the first Brazilian wave. In addition, Bonfá cultivated a delicate, precise classical guitar style, though more attuned to the traditional samba rhythm than the Gilberto/Jobim bossa nova lilt. Born near the bay of Guanabara in Rio -- his father was an Italian immigrant -- Bonfá took up the guitar at eleven and studied classical guitar with the Uruguayan master Isaias Savio. He began to work Rio's clubs as a singer with the Quitandinha Serenaders, and by 1946, he was appearing on Brazil's Radio Nacional. By 1957, Bonfa was beginning to split his time between New York City and Rio, touring the U.S. with singer Mary Martin, as well as writing and recording Brazilian film scores. The turning point in his career came in 1959 when film director Marcel Camus asked Bonfá to contribute some songs to his film version of the play Orfeo do Carnaval (to be renamed Black Orpheus on the screen). The director originally rejected "Manha de Carnaval" as the film's main theme, but after coming up with what he felt was an inferior second effort, Bonfá fought for his first tune and got his way, and "Manha de Carnaval" became a global pop/jazz/folk standard. In the late '50s and '60s, Bonfá began recording several albums for the American market on EMI Odeon (Capitol), Dot, Atlantic, Cook, Philips, Epic, and Verve, and he and his songs appeared prominently on the Jazz Samba Encore album with Jobim and Stan Getz. His songwriting skills were in demand in the most unpredictable places; for example, he wrote the schmaltzy "Almost in Love" for Elvis Presley (included in the forgettable 1968 film Live a Little, Love a Little). Bonfá's profile in America virtually disappeared after the '60s, although he continued to tour and write, eventually cutting over 50 albums. But he resurfaced in U.S. CD shops after a 15-year gap in 1989 with Non-Stop to Brazil for Chesky, followed by the ravishing The Bonfá Magic in 1991 (released domestically on Milestone) and 1993's Moods on GSP. Also, the original soundtrack for Black Orpheus is available on a Verve CD, a firsthand snapshot of Bonfá and Jobim lighting the fuse for the world-wide Brazilian music explosion. On January 12, 2001, Luiz Bonfá died of cancer in Rio de Janeiro. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Elis Regina

Elis Regina

Elis Regina was one of the most ferociously talented singers to emerge from Brazil. A perfectionist who was frequently dissatisfied, Regina drove herself and members of her band relentlessly, leading to her being dubbed "Hurricane" and "Little Pepper" by musicians and journalists. Her tempestuous nature aside, she commanded the respect of Brazil's leading songwriters, who lined up for the chance to have her record one of their songs, and for much of her short life was the country's most popular female vocalist. Born Elis Regina Carvalho Costa in Porto Alegre in 1945 to a working-class family, Regina began singing professionally at age 12 on a children's television show called Clube de Guri. For the next two years she was a regular performer on the program and became a local celebrity. It was during this period that she signed her first recording contract at the age of 13. At 15 she relocated to Rio de Janeiro, where she recorded the first of three records, returning to Porto Alegre between each. Her initial recordings sold well and she was soon a teenage star, as well as the family's principal breadwinner. In 1963, at the age of 18, Regina and her father, in a move designed to further her career, relocated to Rio. Unfortunately, it was around this time that a military junta took over control of the country. Not long after her move to Rio, Regina became a fixture on Brazilian variety shows. Although the cool, supple, jazzy bossa nova sound was in vogue at the time, Regina preferred more raucous rhythms and full-throated singing. Adding to this was her dynamic, unsophisticated stage presence (which belied a career-long battle against near-paralytic stage fright) that, in American terms, might be best understood if one thinks of the tornado-like force that <a href="spotify:artist:4NgfOZCL9Ml67xzM0xzIvC">Janis Joplin</a> could unleash. In 1965, Regina sang the controversial (and nearly censored) song "Arrastao" at Rio's first big popular music festival. In a performance that may well have been the defining moment of her career, she posed in Christ-like crucifixion, tears streaming down her face at the song's conclusion. From that moment on, her popularity rocketed; she went from being one of many successful Brazilian singers to the most popular and highest-paid singer in the country -- at the age of 21. Although not as overtly political as other singer/songwriters of her generation (e.g., <a href="spotify:artist:7HGNYPmbDrMkylWqeFCOIQ">Caetano Veloso</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7oEkUINVIj1Nr3Wnj8tzqr">Gilberto Gil</a>), Regina was not shy about criticizing Brazil's military rule. While touring Europe in 1969 she told a journalist that her country was "being run by guerrillas." Normally this sentiment would lead to either jail or exile (or both in the case of <a href="spotify:artist:7oEkUINVIj1Nr3Wnj8tzqr">Gil</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7HGNYPmbDrMkylWqeFCOIQ">Veloso</a>), but Regina's enormous popularity protected her somewhat from any public government retaliation. However, the military junta used more insidious strong-arm tactics, such as forcing her to sing the Brazilian national anthem at a ceremony to celebrate the anniversary of the country's "independence." She was roundly attacked by leftist performers for such a public display of pro-government sentiment, and it was years later that her husband revealed that she was threatened with jail if she did not comply with the government's wishes. As the mother of a young child at the time, Regina could not afford to become a martyr. Regina's career showed no signs of slowing as the 1970s came to a close; some of her best records were recorded during this time, and one album simply called Elis & Tom (recorded in Los Angeles with <a href="spotify:artist:3pO5VjZ4wOHCMBXOvbMISG">Antonio Carlos Jobim</a>) has been called by many journalists and musicians one of the greatest Brazilian pop records ever made. However, while her career was in full swing, her personal life was in disarray -- two marriages ended in divorce, and she was raising three children as well as providing for her parents. In the late '70s, after the end of her second marriage, she began using cocaine regularly, but managed to keep her increasing dependence on the drug well hidden from her friends and family. Regina began 1982 by marrying for a third time, signing a new recording contract, and in general, planning for the future. All of this came to a halt on January 19, 1982, when she was found dead of alcohol and cocaine intoxication at age 36. Initially, her death was rumored to be a suicide, but there is no evidence indicating that it was anything more than a tragic accident. A few days after her death, a memorial concert was held in São Paulo featuring many of Brazil's most famous singers. Over 100,000 grieving Brazilians came to pay their final respects to this gifted, mercurial singer who remains as popular after death as she was in life. ~ John Dougan, Rovi

Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto

Best known as the vocalist with the honey-toned, lamb-like delivery on the surprise Brazilian crossover hit "The Girl from Ipanema," Astrud Gilberto parlayed her previously unscheduled appearance (and professional singing debut) on the song into a lengthy career. While in attendance at the 1963 Getz/Gilberto (<a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:77ZUbcdoU5KCPHNUl8bgQy">João Gilberto</a>) album sessions, Astrud's knowledge of English and singular vocal tone won her the guest spot and ultimately propelled "The Girl from Ipanema" onto the international charts, including a Top Five placement in the U.S., and influenced a variety of sources in worldwide pop and jazz music. She went on to record over a dozen albums of her own -- over half of them on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Verve%22">Verve</a> -- as part of a successful performing career that lasted into the 2000s. Over the years, she put her seductively airy spin on collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:3pO5VjZ4wOHCMBXOvbMISG">Antônio Carlos Jobim</a>, covers of <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:35y7CZMg7jbG8Q96JY7dyC">Bacharach</a>, self-penned originals, and more, even incorporating disco into 1977's That Girl from Ipanema. She was the primary songwriter on her final album, the stylistically varied Jungle, which saw release in 2002. By then, "The Girl from Ipanema" had become one of the most recorded pop songs in history, and Gilberto's role as an ambassador of bossa nova was enshrined. She received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Born in Bahia, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age. She'd had no professional musical experience of any kind until 1963, the year of her visit to New York with her husband, <a href="spotify:artist:77ZUbcdoU5KCPHNUl8bgQy">João Gilberto</a>, in a recording session headed by <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Getz</a> had already recorded several albums influenced by Brazilian rhythms, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Verve%22">Verve</a> had him play with the cream of Brazilian music, <a href="spotify:artist:3pO5VjZ4wOHCMBXOvbMISG">Antonio Carlos Jobim</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:77ZUbcdoU5KCPHNUl8bgQy">João Gilberto</a>, for his next album. Producer <a href="spotify:artist:26wgGfiLU6HFdl5ZPo10ev">Creed Taylor</a> wanted a few English vocals for maximum crossover potential, and as it turned out, Astrud was the only Brazilian present with any grasp of the language. After her husband laid down his Portuguese vocals for the first verse of his and <a href="spotify:artist:3pO5VjZ4wOHCMBXOvbMISG">Jobim</a>'s composition, "The Girl from Ipanema," Astrud provided a hesitant, heavily accented second verse in English. Uncredited on the resulting LP, Getz/Gilberto, Gilberto finally became famous over a year later, when "The Girl from Ipanema" became a number five Hot 100 hit in the middle of 1964. Its parent album became the best-selling LP up to that point and made Gilberto a star across America. Before the end of the year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Verve%22">Verve</a> capitalized on the smash with the release of Getz Au Go Go, featuring a <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Getz</a> live date with Gilberto's vocals added later. Her first actual solo album, The Astrud Gilberto Album, was released in May 1965. Though it barely missed the Top 40, the LP's blend of Brazilian classics and ballad standards proved quite infectious with easy listening audiences. Released later that year, the follow-up, The Shadow of Your Smile, whose crew included <a href="spotify:artist:3lZyF2ZG6fZLQvxgJU0y5r">Claus Ogerman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:17wDxPR2GcU3r1dpCoCiUi">João Donato</a>, peaked at number 66 on the Billboard 200. Though she never returned to the pop charts in America, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Verve%22">Verve</a> proved to be quite astute in its guidance of Gilberto's early career, pairing her with ace arranger <a href="spotify:artist:7g9DeYASD3RzlT4kDchsQZ">Gil Evans</a> for 1966's Look to the Rainbow, with <a href="spotify:artist:0hE3uA2w3guHeKvuc7BpRr">Eumir Deodato</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4yr0fHJhSr7ZWlsoZIbg44">Don Sebesky</a> for the next year's more pop-oriented Beach Samba, and with Brazilian organist/arranger <a href="spotify:artist:1FKfMww5N8dkbyo2sp9nBA">Walter Wanderley</a> for the dreamy A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, also from 1967. In 1968, Windy reunited her with <a href="spotify:artist:0hE3uA2w3guHeKvuc7BpRr">Deodato</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4yr0fHJhSr7ZWlsoZIbg44">Sebesky</a> and featured a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>' "In My Life." The more intimate I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do, which included interpretations of material by songwriters like <a href="spotify:artist:35y7CZMg7jbG8Q96JY7dyC">Burt Bacharach</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3RTzAwFprBqiskp550eSJX">Harry Nilsson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1EtE0iSY6iFlN9L9c53ETy">Michel Legrand</a>, appeared in 1969. While she remained a huge pop star in Brazil throughout the '70s, she gradually fell off the radar in the States after her final album on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Verve%22">Verve</a>, 1970's September 17, 1969 (aka Holiday), which found her covering rock acts like <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> ("Here, There and Everywhere"), <a href="spotify:artist:22WZ7M8sxp5THdruNY3gXt">the Doors</a> ("Light My Fire"), and Chicago Transit Authority (Beginnings"), among others. n 1971, she released a lone album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22CTI%22">CTI</a> (with <a href="spotify:artist:2dRsXWVnkku2cMDtV1h6NP">Stanley Turrentine</a>) but was mostly forgotten in the U.S. until 1984, when "The Girl from Ipanema" recharted in Britain riding on the coat tails of a neo-bossa craze. In the interim, she released only two more albums, Now (1972) and the disco-oriented That Girl from Ipanema (1977). With "Ipanema" introduced to a new generation, Gilberto gained worldwide distribution for 1987's Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra. Although a slew of compilations kept the singer in distribution throughout the '90s and 2000s, she didn't release another original studio album until 15 years later. Issued in 2002, the self-produced (with Mark Lambert) Jungle was notable for its variety of original material (alongside covers Ernesto Duarte's "Como Fué" and <a href="spotify:artist:35y7CZMg7jbG8Q96JY7dyC">Bacharach</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4SneDShROaEhPgKm12KZ3W">David</a>'s "The Look of Love"). It would prove to be her final album. She was awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Still recognized as the woman who made bossa nova a sensation in North America, Gilberto died at her home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 5, 2023; she was 83. ~ John Bush & Marcy Donelson, Rovi

Lisa Ono

Lisa Ono

Lisa Ono is one of the best Japanese interpreters of contemporary bossa nova. A singer, violonista (acoustic guitar player), and songwriter, she has had her albums released internationally. To date, she has recorded 12 albums (Catupiry, 1989; Nanã, 1990; Menina, 1991; Serenata Carioca, 1992; Namorada, 1993; Esperança, 1994; Minha Saudade, 1995; Rio Bossa, 1996; Essência, 1997; Bossa Carioca, 1998; Dream, 1999; and Pretty World, 2000) with special appearances by top artists like Tom Jobim, Sivuca, <a href="spotify:artist:6DTCQ6CgzF698jZZtA5xPG">Paulo Moura</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6FNc1pq9apWBGVjGUEd9tK">Danilo Caymmi</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0KyolDFb1RjJQb4qXZKCqo">Toots Thielemans</a>. Having lived in Brazil until she was ten, she took advantage of her father's connections -- he was a nightclub owner in the city of São Paulo and was <a href="spotify:artist:0VSgciOd32tP2Yna1w4vDr">Baden Powell</a>'s manager. Moving back to Japan, he opened the Saci Pererê nightclub, where Lisa Ono began to perform the Brazilian repertory, especially samba and bossa nova. She also founded the label Nanã, which promotes Brazilian music in Japan. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi

🇦🇷 / 🇺🇾 ARGENTINA / URUGUAY

2) Bachata (ca. 1960 – presente)

Balada romántica con guitarra y ritmos de bolero y son, baile sensual.

Oh no ✳️

2) Vallenato (ca. 1900 – presente)

Narrativa popular con acordeón, caja y guacharaca, ritmo alegre y cadencioso. De la región Caribe colombiana.

🎷🐛 So, while there''s moonlight And music and love and romance

💢 1) Gospel (ca. siglo XIX – presente)

Música espiritual afroamericana; base del soul, R&B y vocal jazz.

💢 I came home this evening And nothing felt like how it should be

Fats Waller

Fats Waller

Not only was Fats Waller one of the greatest pianists jazz has ever known, he was also one of its most exuberantly funny entertainers -- and as so often happens, one facet tends to obscure the other. His extraordinarily light and flexible touch belied his ample physical girth; he could swing as hard as any pianist alive or dead in his classic James P. Johnson-derived stride manner, with a powerful left hand delivering the octaves and tenths in a tireless, rapid, seamless stream. Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ and Hammond organ in jazz -- he called the pipe organ the "God box" -- adapting his irresistible sense of swing to the pedals and a staccato right hand while making imaginative changes of the registration. As a composer and improviser, his melodic invention rarely flagged, and he contributed fistfuls of joyous yet paradoxically winsome songs like "Honeysuckle Rose," "Ain't Misbehavin,'" "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now," "Blue Turning Grey Over You" and the extraordinary "Jitterbug Waltz" to the jazz repertoire. During his lifetime and afterwards, though, Fats Waller was best known to the world for his outsized comic personality and sly vocals, where he would send up trashy tunes that Victor Records made him record with his nifty combo, Fats Waller & His Rhythm. Yet on virtually any of his records, whether the song is an evergreen standard or the most trite bit of doggerel that a Tin Pan Alley hack could serve up, you will hear a winning combination of good knockabout humor, foot-tapping rhythm and fantastic piano playing. Today, almost all of Fats Waller's studio recordings can be found on RCA's on-again-off-again series The Complete Fats Waller, which commenced on LPs in 1975 and was still in progress during the 1990s. Thomas "Fats" Waller came from a Harlem household where his father was a Baptist lay preacher and his mother played piano and organ. Waller took up the piano at age six, playing in a school orchestra led by Edgar Sampson (of Chick Webb fame). After his mother died when he was 14, Waller moved into the home of pianist Russell Brooks, where he met and studied with James P. Johnson. Later, Waller also received classical lessons from Carl Bohm and the famous pianist Leopold Godowsky. After making his first record at age 18 for Okeh in 1922, "Birmingham Blues"/"'Muscle Shoals Blues,"" he backed various blues singers and worked as house pianist and organist at rent parties and in movie theaters and clubs. He began to attract attention as a composer during the early- and mid-'20s, forming a most fruitful alliance with lyricist Andy Razaf that resulted in three Broadway shows in the late '20s, Keep Shufflin', Load of Coal, and Hot Chocolates. Waller started making records for Victor in 1926; his most significant early records for that label were a series of brilliant 1929 solo piano sides of his own compositions like "Handful of Keys" and "Smashing Thirds." After finally signing an exclusive Victor contract in 1934, he began the long-running, prolific series of records with His Rhythm, which won him great fame and produced several hits, including "Your Feet's Too Big," "The Joint Is Jumpin'" and "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter." He began to appear in films like Hooray for Love and King of Burlesque in 1935 while continuing regular appearances on radio that dated back to 1923. He toured Europe in 1938, made organ recordings in London for HMV, and appeared on one of the first television broadcasts. He returned to London the following spring to record his most extensive composition, "London Suite" for piano and percussion, and embark on an extensive continental tour (which, alas, was canceled by fears of impending war with Germany). Well aware of the popularity of big bands in the '30s, Waller tried to form his own, but they were short-lived. Into the 1940s, Waller's touring schedule of the U.S. escalated, he contributed music to another musical, Early to Bed, the film appearances kept coming (including a memorable stretch of Stormy Weather where he led an all-star band that included Benny Carter, Slam Stewart and Zutty Singleton), the recordings continued to flow, and he continued to eat and drink in extremely heavy quantities. Years of draining alimony squabbles, plus overindulgence and, no doubt, frustration over not being taken more seriously as an artist, began to wear the pianist down. Finally, after becoming ill during a gig at the Zanzibar Room in Hollywood in December, 1943, Waller boarded the Santa Fe Chief train for the long trip back to New York. He never made it, dying of pneumonia aboard the train during a stop at Union Station in Kansas City. While every clown longs to play Hamlet as per the cliche -- and Waller did have so-called serious musical pretensions, longing to follow in George Gershwin's footsteps and compose concert music -- it probably was not in the cards anyway due to the racial barriers of the first half of the 20th century. Besides, given the fact that Waller influenced a long line of pianists of and after his time, including Count Basie (who studied with Fats), Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck and countless others, his impact has been truly profound. ~ Richard S. Ginell

The Mills Brothers

The Mills Brothers

An astonishing vocal group that grew into one of the longest-lasting oldies acts in American popular music, the Mills Brothers quickly moved from novelty wonders to pop successes and continued amazing audiences for decades. Originally billed as "Four Boys and a Guitar," the group's early records came complete with a note assuring listeners that the only musical instrument they were hearing was a guitar. The caution was understandable, since the Mills Brothers were so proficient at re-creating trumpets, trombones, and saxophones with only their voices that early singles like "Tiger Rag" and "St. Louis Blues" sounded closer to a hot Dixieland combo than a vocal group. And even after the novelty wore off, the group's intricate harmonies continued charming audiences for decades. The four brothers were all born in Piqua, OH -- John, Jr. in 1910, Herbert in 1912, Harry in 1913, and Donald in 1915. Their father owned a barber shop and founded a barbershop quartet as well, called the Four Kings of Harmony. His sons obviously learned their close harmonies first-hand, and began performing around the area. At one show, Harry Mills forgot his kazoo -- the group's usual accompaniment -- and ended up trying to emulate the instrument by cupping his hand over his mouth. The brothers were surprised to hear the sound of a trumpet proceeding from Harry's mouth, so they began to work the novelty into their act, with John taking tuba, Donald trombone, and Herbert a second trumpet. The act was perfect for vaudeville, and the Mills Brothers also began broadcasting over a Cincinnati radio station during the late '20s. After moving to New York, the group became a sensation and hit it big during 1931 and early 1932 with the singles "Tiger Rag" and "Dinah" (the latter a duet with Bing Crosby). Dumbfounded listeners hardly believed the notice accompanying the records: "No musical instruments or mechanical devices used on this recording other than one guitar." Though the primitive audio of the era lent them a bit of latitude, the Mills Brothers indeed sounded exactly like they'd been backed by a small studio band. (It was, in essence, the flipside of early material by Duke Ellington's Orchestra, on which the plunger mutes of Bubber Miley and Tricky Sam Nanton resulted in horns sounding exactly like voices.) The exposure continued during 1932, with appearances in the film The Big Broadcast and more hits including "St. Louis Blues" and "Bugle Call Rag." John, Jr.'s sudden death in 1936 was a huge blow to the group, but father John, Sr. took over as bass singer and Bernard Addison became the group's guitarist. Still, the novelty appeared to wear off by the late '30s; despite duets with Ella Fitzgerald ("Dedicated to You") and Louis Armstrong ("Darling Nelly Gray"), the Mills Brothers' records weren't performing as well as they had earlier in the decade. All that changed in 1943 with the release of "Paper Doll," a sweet, intimate ballad that became one of the biggest hits of the decade -- 12 weeks on the top of the charts, and six million records sold (plus sheet music). The group made appearances in several movies during the early '40s, and hit number one again in 1944 with "You'll Always Hurt the One You Love." The influence of middle of the road pop slowly crept into their material from the '40s; by the end of the decade, the Mills Brothers began recording with traditional orchestras (usually conducted by Sy Oliver, Hal McIntyre, or Sonny Burke). In 1952, "The Glow Worm" became their last number one hit. The group soldiered on during the '50s, though John, Sr. semi-permanently retired from the group in 1956. A move from Decca to Dot brought a moderate 1958 hit, a cover of the Silhouettes' "Get a Job" that made explicit the considerable influence on doo wop exerted by early Mills Brothers records. As a trio, Herbert, Harry and Donald continued performing on the oldies circuit until Harry's death in 1982, and Herbert's in 1988. The last surviving sibling, Donald, began performing with the third generation of the family -- his son, John II -- until his own death in 1999. ~ John Bush

Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman was the first celebrated bandleader of the Swing Era, dubbed "The King of Swing," his popular emergence marking the beginning of the era. He was an accomplished clarinetist whose distinctive playing gave an identity both to his big band and to the smaller units he led simultaneously. The most popular figure of the first few years of the Swing Era, he continued to perform until his death 50 years later. Goodman was the son of Russian immigrants David Goodman, a tailor, and Dora Rezinsky Goodman. He first began taking clarinet lessons at ten at a synagogue, after which he joined the band at Hull House, a settlement home. He made his professional debut at 12 and dropped out of high school at 14 to become a musician. At 16, in August 1925, he joined the Ben Pollack band, with which he made his first released band recordings in December 1926. His first recordings under his own name were made in January 1928. At 20, in September 1929, he left Pollack to settle in New York and work as a freelance musician, working at recording sessions, radio dates, and in the pit bands of Broadway musicals. He also made recordings under his own name with pickup bands, first reaching the charts with "He's Not Worth Your Tears" (vocal by Scrappy Lambert) on Melotone Records in January 1931. He signed to Columbia Records in the fall of 1934 and reached the Top Ten in early 1934 with "Ain't Cha Glad?" (vocal by Jack Teagarden), "Riffin' the Scotch" (vocal by Billie Holiday), and "Ol' Pappy" (vocal by Mildred Bailey), and in the spring with "I Ain't Lazy, I'm Just Dreamin'" (vocal by Jack Teagarden). These record successes and an offer to perform at Billy Rose's Music Hall inspired Goodman to organize a permanent performing orchestra, which gave its first performance on June 1, 1934. His instrumental recording of "Moon Glow" hit number one in July, and he scored two more Top Ten hits in the fall with the instrumentals "Take My Word" and "Bugle Call Rag." After a four-and-a-half-month stay at the Music Hall, he was signed for the Saturday night Let's Dance program on NBC radio, playing the last hour of the three-hour show. During the six months he spent on the show, he scored another six Top Ten hits on Columbia, then switched to RCA Victor, for which he recorded five more Top Ten hits by the end of the year. After leaving Let's Dance, Goodman undertook a national tour in the summer of 1935. It was not particularly successful until he reached the West Coast, where his segment of Let's Dance had been heard three hours earlier than on the East Coast. His performance at the Palomar Ballroom near Los Angeles on August 21, 1935, was a spectacular success, remembered as the date on which the Swing Era began. He moved on to a six-month residency at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, beginning in November. He scored 15 Top Ten hits in 1936, including the chart-toppers "It's Been So Long," "Goody-Goody," "The Glory of Love," "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You," and "You Turned the Tables on Me" (all vocals by Helen Ward). He became the host of the radio series The Camel Caravan, which ran until the end of 1939, and in October 1936, the orchestra made its film debut in The Big Broadcast of 1937. The same month, Goodman began a residency at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York. Goodman's next number one hit, in February 1937, featured Ella Fitzgerald on vocals and was the band's first hit with new trumpeter Harry James. It was also the first of six Top Ten hits during the year, including the chart-topping "This Year's Kisses" (vocal by Margaret McCrae). In December, the band appeared in another film, Hollywood Hotel. The peak of Goodman's renown in the 1930s came on January 16, 1938, when he performed a concert at Carnegie Hall, but he went on to score 14 Top Ten hits during the year, among them the number ones "Don't Be That Way" (an instrumental) and "I Let a Song Go out of My Heart" (vocal by Martha Tilton), as well as the thrilling instrumental "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)," which later was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. By 1939, Goodman had lost such major instrumentalists as Gene Krupa and Harry James, who left to found their own bands, and he faced significant competition from newly emerged bandleaders such as Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller. But he still managed to score eight Top Ten hits during the year, including the chart-topper "And the Angels Sing" (vocal by Martha Tilton), another inductee to the Grammy Hall of Fame. He returned to Columbia Records in the fall. In November, he appeared in the Broadway musical Swingin' the Dream, leading a sextet. The show was short-lived, but it provided him with the song "Darn That Dream" (vocal by Mildred Bailey), which hit number one for him in March 1940. It was the first of only three Top Ten hits he scored in 1940, his progress slowed by illness; in July he disbanded temporarily and underwent surgery for a slipped disk, not reorganizing until October. He scored two Top Ten hits in 1941, one of which was the chart-topper "There'll Be Some Changes Made" (vocal by Louise Tobin), and he returned to radio with his own show. Among his three Top Ten hits in 1942 were the number ones "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" (vocal by Peggy Lee) and the instrumental "Jersey Bounce." He also appeared in the film Syncopation, released in May. American entry into World War II and the onset of the recording ban called by the American Federation of Musicians in August 1942 made things difficult for all performers. Goodman managed to score a couple of Top Ten hits, including the number one "Taking a Chance on Love" (vocal by Helen Forrest), in 1943, drawn from material recorded before the start of the ban. And he used his free time to work in films, appearing in three during the year: The Powers Girl (January), Stage Door Canteen (July), and The Gang's All Here (December). Goodman disbanded in March 1944. He appeared in the film Sweet and Low-Down in September and played with a quintet in the Broadway revue Seven Lively Arts, which opened December 7 and ran 182 performances. Meanwhile, the musicians union strike was settled, freeing him to go back into the recording studio. In April 1945, his compilation album Hot Jazz reached the Top Ten on the newly instituted album charts. He reorganized his big band and scored three Top Ten hits during the year, among them "Gotta Be This or That" (vocal by Benny Goodman), which just missed hitting number one. "Symphony" (vocal by Liza Morrow) also came close to hitting number one in early 1946, and Benny Goodman Sextet Session did hit number one on the album charts in May 1946. Goodman hosted a radio series with Victor Borge in 1946-1947, and he continued to record, switching to Capitol Records. He appeared in the film A Song Is Born in October 1948 and meanwhile experimented with bebop in his big band. But in December 1949, he disbanded, though he continued to organize groups on a temporary basis for tours and recording sessions. If popular music had largely passed Goodman by as of 1950, his audience was not tired of listening to his vintage music. He discovered a recording that had been made of his 1938 Carnegie Hall concert and Columbia Records released it on LP in November 1950 as Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert, Vol. 1 & 2. It spent a year in the charts, becoming the best-selling jazz album ever up to that time, and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. A follow-up album of airchecks, Benny Goodman 1937-1938: Jazz Concert No. 2, hit number one in December 1952. The rise of the high fidelity 12" LP led Goodman to re-record his hits for the Capitol album B.G. in Hi-Fi, which reached the Top Ten in March 1955. A year later, he had another Top Ten album of re-recordings with the soundtrack album for his film biography, The Benny Goodman Story, in which he was portrayed by Steve Allen but dubbed in his own playing. After a tour of the Far East in 1956-1957, Goodman increasingly performed overseas. His 1962 tour of the U.S.S.R. resulted in the chart album Benny Goodman in Moscow. In 1963, RCA Victor staged a studio reunion of the Benny Goodman Quartet of the 1930s, featuring Goodman, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, and Lionel Hampton. The result was the 1964 chart album Together Again! Goodman recorded less frequently in his later years, though he reached the charts in 1971 with Benny Goodman Today, recorded live in Stockholm. His last album to be released before his death from a heart attack at 77 was Let's Dance, a television soundtrack, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band. Goodman's lengthy career and his popular success especially in the 1930s and '40s has resulted in an enormous catalog. His major recordings are on Columbia and RCA Victor, but Music Masters has put out a series of archival discs from his personal collection, and many small labels have issued airchecks. The recordings continue to demonstrate Goodman's remarkable talents as an instrumentalist and as a bandleader. ~ William Ruhlmann

Teddy Wilson

Teddy Wilson

Teddy Wilson was the definitive swing pianist, a solid and impeccable soloist whose smooth and steady style was more accessible to the general public than Earl Hines or Art Tatum. He picked up early experience playing with Speed Webb in 1929 and appearing on some Louis Armstrong recordings in 1933. Discovered by John Hammond, Willie joined Benny Carter's band and recorded with the Chocolate Dandies later that year. In 1935, he began leading a series of classic small-group recordings with swing all-stars which on many occasions featured Billie Holiday. That was also the year that an informal jam session with Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa resulted in the formation of the Benny Goodman Trio (Lionel Hampton made the group a quartet the following year). Although he was a special added attraction rather than a regular member of the orchestra, Wilson's public appearances with Goodman broke important ground in the long struggle against segregation. Between his own dates, many recordings with Benny Goodman's small groups and a series of piano solos, Teddy Wilson recorded a large number of gems during the second half of the 1930s. He left B.G. in 1939 to form his own big band but, despite some fine records, it folded in 1940. Wilson led a sextet at Cafe Society during 1940-1944, taught music at Juilliard during the summers of 1945-1952, appeared on radio shows, and recorded regularly with a trio, as a soloist and with pick-up groups in addition to having occasional reunions with Goodman. Teddy Wilson's style never changed, and he played very similar in 1985 to how he sounded in 1935; no matter, the enthusiasm and solid sense of swing were present up until the end. ~ Scott Yanow

Art Tatum

Art Tatum

Art Tatum was among the most extraordinary of all jazz musicians, a pianist with wondrous technique who could not only play ridiculously rapid lines with both hands (his 1933 solo version of "Tiger Rag" sounds as if there were three pianists jamming together) but was harmonically 30 years ahead of his time; all pianists have to deal to a certain extent with Tatum's innovations in order to be taken seriously. Able to play stride, swing, and boogie-woogie with speed and complexity that could only previously be imagined, Tatum's quick reflexes and boundless imagination kept his improvisations filled with fresh (and sometimes futuristic) ideas that put him way ahead of his contemporaries. Born nearly blind, Tatum gained some formal piano training at the Toledo School of Music but was largely self-taught. Although influenced a bit by <a href="spotify:artist:0DYWCXTkNqGFZIf67SrWEa">Fats Waller</a> and the semi-classical pianists of the 1920s, there is really no explanation for where Tatum gained his inspiration and ideas from. He first played professionally in Toledo in the mid-'20s and had a radio show during 1929-1930. In 1932 Tatum traveled with singer <a href="spotify:artist:2KNWLhYlWnBjBJPVqFzqmI">Adelaide Hall</a> to New York and made his recording debut accompanying <a href="spotify:artist:2KNWLhYlWnBjBJPVqFzqmI">Hall</a> (as one of two pianists). But for those who had never heard him in person, it was his solos of 1933 (including "Tiger Rag") that announced the arrival of a truly major talent. In the 1930s, Tatum spent periods working in Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and (in 1938) England. Although he led a popular trio with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2SJ9t86XCfdJnyoMgAtPU1">Tiny Grimes</a> (later <a href="spotify:artist:6A4HFr81FvKS8L9pJ4is71">Everett Barksdale</a>) and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3O2UhWvOcdi6WFCAaY4gNB">Slam Stewart</a> in the mid-'40s, Tatum spent most of his life as a solo pianist who could always scare the competition. Some observers criticized him for having too much technique (is such a thing possible?), working out and then keeping the same arrangements for particular songs, and for using too many notes, but those minor reservations pale when compared to Tatum's reworkings of such tunes as "Yesterdays," "Begin the Beguine," and even "Humoresque." Although he was not a composer, Tatum's rearrangements of standards made even warhorses sound like new compositions. Art Tatum, who recorded for Decca throughout the 1930s and Capitol in the late '40s, starred at the Esquire Metropolitan Opera House concert of 1944 and appeared briefly in his only film in 1947, The Fabulous Dorseys (leading a jam session on a heated blues). He recorded extensively for Norman Granz near the end of his life in the 1950s, both solo and with all-star groups; all of the music has been reissued by Pablo on a six-CD box set. His premature death from uremia has not resulted in any loss of fame, for Art Tatum's recordings still have the ability to scare modern pianists. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. More than a half-century after her death, it's difficult to believe that prior to her emergence, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs; only blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey actually gave the impression they had lived through what they were singing. Billie Holiday's highly stylized reading of this blues tradition revolutionized traditional pop, ripping the decades-long tradition of song plugging in two by refusing to compromise her artistry for either the song or the band. She made clear her debts to Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong (in her autobiography she admitted, "I always wanted Bessie's big sound and Pops' feeling"), but in truth her style was virtually her own, quite a shock in an age of interchangeable crooners and band singers. With her spirit shining through on every recording, Holiday's technical expertise also excelled in comparison to the great majority of her contemporaries. Often bored by the tired old Tin Pan Alley songs she was forced to record early in her career, Holiday fooled around with the beat and the melody, phrasing behind the beat and often rejuvenating the standard melody with harmonies borrowed from her favorite horn players, Armstrong and Lester Young. (She often said she tried to sing like a horn.) Her notorious private life -- a series of abusive relationships, substance addictions, and periods of depression -- undoubtedly assisted her legendary status, but Holiday's best performances ("Lover Man," "Don't Explain," "Strange Fruit," her own composition "God Bless the Child") remain among the most sensitive and accomplished vocal performances ever recorded. More than technical ability, more than purity of voice, what made Billie Holiday one of the best vocalists of the century -- easily the equal of Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra -- was her relentlessly individualist temperament, a quality that colored every one of her endlessly nuanced performances. Billie Holiday's chaotic life reportedly began in Baltimore on April 7, 1915 (a few reports say 1912) when she was born Eleanora Fagan Gough. Her father, Clarence Holiday, was a teenaged jazz guitarist and banjo player later to play in Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra. He never married her mother, Sadie Fagan, and left while his daughter was still a baby. (She would later run into him in New York, and though she contracted many guitarists for her sessions before his death in 1937, she always avoided using him.) Holiday's mother was also a young teenager at the time, and whether because of inexperience or neglect, often left her daughter with uncaring relatives. Holiday was sentenced to Catholic reform school at the age of ten, reportedly after she admitted being raped. Though sentenced to stay until she became an adult, a family friend helped get her released after just two years. With her mother, she moved in 1927, first to New Jersey and soon after to Brooklyn. In New York, Holiday helped her mother with domestic work, but soon began moonlighting as a prostitute for the additional income. According to the weighty Billie Holiday legend (which gained additional credence after her notoriously apocryphal autobiography Lady Sings the Blues), her big singing break came in 1933 when a laughable dancing audition at a speakeasy prompted her accompanist to ask her if she could sing. In fact, Holiday was most likely singing at clubs all over New York City as early as 1930-31. Whatever the true story, she first gained some publicity in early 1933, when record producer John Hammond -- only three years older than Holiday herself, and just at the beginning of a legendary career -- wrote her up in a column for Melody Maker and brought Benny Goodman to one of her performances. After recording a demo at Columbia Studios, Holiday joined a small group led by Goodman to make her commercial debut on November 27, 1933 with "Your Mother's Son-In-Law." Though she didn't return to the studio for over a year, Billie Holiday spent 1934 moving up the rungs of the competitive New York bar scene. By early 1935, she made her debut at the Apollo Theater and appeared in a one-reeler film with Duke Ellington. During the last half of 1935, Holiday finally entered the studio again and recorded a total of four sessions. With a pick-up band supervised by pianist Teddy Wilson, she recorded a series of obscure, forgettable songs straight from the gutters of Tin Pan Alley -- in other words, the only songs available to an obscure black band during the mid-'30s. (During the swing era, music publishers kept the best songs strictly in the hands of society orchestras and popular white singers.) Despite the poor song quality, Holiday and various groups (including trumpeter Roy Eldridge, alto Johnny Hodges, and tenors Ben Webster and Chu Berry) energized flat songs like "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" and "If You Were Mine" (to say nothing of "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo" and "Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town"). The great combo playing and Holiday's increasingly assured vocals made them quite popular on Columbia, Brunswick and Vocalion. During 1936, Holiday toured with groups led by Jimmie Lunceford and Fletcher Henderson, then returned to New York for several more sessions. In late January 1937, she recorded several numbers with a small group culled from one of Hammond's new discoveries, Count Basie's Orchestra. Tenor Lester Young, who'd briefly known Billie several years earlier, and trumpeter Buck Clayton were to become especially attached to Holiday. The three did much of their best recorded work together during the late '30s, and Holiday herself bestowed the nickname Pres on Young, while he dubbed her Lady Day for her elegance. By the spring of 1937, she began touring with Basie as the female complement to his male singer, Jimmy Rushing. The association lasted less than a year, however. Though officially she was fired from the band for being temperamental and unreliable, shadowy influences higher up in the publishing world reportedly commanded the action after she refused to begin singing '20s female blues standards. At least temporarily, the move actually benefited Holiday -- less than a month after leaving Basie, she was hired by Artie Shaw's popular band. She began singing with the group in 1938, one of the first instances of a black female appearing with a white group. Despite the continuing support of the entire band, however, show promoters and radio sponsors soon began objecting to Holiday -- based on her unorthodox singing style almost as much as her race. After a series of escalating indignities, Holiday quit the band in disgust. Yet again, her judgment proved valuable; the added freedom allowed her to take a gig at a hip new club named Café Society, the first popular nightspot with an inter-racial audience. There, Billie Holiday learned the song that would catapult her career to a new level: "Strange Fruit." The standard, written by Café Society regular Lewis Allen and forever tied to Holiday, is an anguished reprisal of the intense racism still persistent in the South. Though Holiday initially expressed doubts about adding such a bald, uncompromising song to her repertoire, she pulled it off thanks largely to her powers of nuance and subtlety. "Strange Fruit" soon became the highlight of her performances. Though John Hammond refused to record it (not for its politics but for its overly pungent imagery), he allowed Holiday a bit of leverage to record for Commodore, the label owned by jazz record-store owner Milt Gabler. Once released, "Strange Fruit" was banned by many radio outlets, though the growing jukebox industry (and the inclusion of the excellent "Fine and Mellow" on the flip) made it a rather large, though controversial, hit. She continued recording for Columbia labels until 1942, and hit big again with her most famous composition, 1941's "God Bless the Child." Gabler, who also worked A&R for Decca, signed her to the label in 1944 to record "Lover Man," a song written especially for her and her third big hit. Neatly side-stepping the musician's union ban that afflicted her former label, Holiday soon became a priority at Decca, earning the right to top-quality material and lavish string sections for her sessions. She continued recording scattered sessions for Decca during the rest of the '40s, and recorded several of her best-loved songs including Bessie Smith's "'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do," "Them There Eyes," and "Crazy He Calls Me." Though her artistry was at its peak, Billie Holiday's emotional life began a turbulent period during the mid-'40s. Already heavily into alcohol and marijuana, she began smoking opium early in the decade with her first husband, Johnnie Monroe. The marriage didn't last, but hot on its heels came a second marriage to trumpeter Joe Guy and a move to heroin. Despite her triumphant concert at New York's Town Hall and a small film role -- as a maid (!) -- with Louis Armstrong in 1947's New Orleans, she lost a good deal of money running her own orchestra with Joe Guy. Her mother's death soon after affected her deeply, and in 1947 she was arrested for possession of heroin and sentenced to eight months in prison. Unfortunately, Holiday's troubles only continued after her release. The drug charge made it impossible for her to get a cabaret card, so nightclub performances were out of the question. Plagued by various celebrity hawks from all portions of the underworld (jazz, drugs, song publishing, etc.), she soldiered on for Decca until 1950. Two years later, she began recording for jazz entrepreneur Norman Granz, owner of the excellent labels Clef, Norgran, and by 1956, Verve. The recordings returned her to the small-group intimacy of her Columbia work, and reunited her with Ben Webster as well as other top-flight musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and Charlie Shavers. Though the ravages of a hard life were beginning to take their toll on her voice, many of Holiday's mid-'50s recordings are just as intense and beautiful as her classic work. During 1954, Holiday toured Europe to great acclaim, and her 1956 autobiography brought her even more fame (or notoriety). She made her last great appearance in 1957, on the CBS television special The Sound of Jazz with Webster, Lester Young, and Coleman Hawkins providing a close backing. One year later, the Lady in Satin LP clothed her naked, increasingly hoarse voice with the overwrought strings of Ray Ellis. During her final year, she made two more appearances in Europe before collapsing in May 1959 of heart and liver disease. Still procuring heroin while on her death bed, Holiday was arrested for possession in her private room and died on July 17, her system completely unable to fight both withdrawal and heart disease at the same time. Her cult of influence spread quickly after her death and gave her more fame than she'd enjoyed in life. The 1972 biopic Lady Sings the Blues featured Diana Ross struggling to overcome the conflicting myths of Holiday's life, but the film also illuminated her tragic life and introduced many future fans. By the digital age, virtually all of Holiday's recorded material had been reissued: by Columbia (nine volumes of The Quintessential Billie Holiday), Decca (The Complete Decca Recordings), and Verve (The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959). ~ John Bush

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Recognized worldwide as "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald is arguably the finest female jazz vocalist of all time. Blessed with a highly resonant voice, wide range, and near-perfect elocution, Fitzgerald also possessed a deft sense of swing, and with her brilliant scat technique, could hold her own against any of her instrumental contemporaries. She came to initial popularity as a member of drummer Chick Webb's band in the 1930s, scoring a hit with a "A Tisket-A-Tasket," before ascending to wide acclaim in the 1940s with Jazz at the Philharmonic and Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band, and issuing landmark performances like "Flying Home" and "How High the Moon." Working with producer/manager Norman Granz, she gained ever more acclaim with her series of albums on Verve, including 1956's Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, recording definitive versions of the music of the Great American Songbook composers. Over her 50-year career, she earned 13 Grammy Awards, sold over 40 million albums, and picked up numerous accolades including a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A hugely important cultural figure, Fitzgerald has had an immeasurable impact on the development of jazz and popular music, and remains a touchstone for fans and artists decades after her passing. Born in 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, Fitzgerald grew up in a working-class family in Yonkers, New York. Her parents split up soon after her birth, and she was largely raised by her mother, Temperance "Tempie" Fitzgerald, and her mother's boyfriend Joseph "Joe" Da Silva. She also had a younger half-sister, Frances, who was born in 1923. To help with the family's finances, Fitzgerald often worked odd jobs including, at times, running bet money for local gamblers. By her teens, the self-professed tomboy was active in sports and often played in local baseball games. Influenced by her mother, she also enjoyed singing and dancing, and spent many hours singing along to records by Bing Crosby, Connee Boswell, and the Boswell Sisters. She also began taking the train to see shows with friends at Harlem's Apollo Theater. In 1932, her mother died from injuries sustained in a car accident. Deeply distraught over the loss, Fitzgerald went through a difficult period that found her skipping school and getting in trouble with the police. She was subsequently sent to a reform school, where she endured abuse by her caretakers. Eventually breaking free from the reformatory, she found herself on her own in New York during the height of the Great Depression. Despite her struggles, she worked to pursue her love of performing. In 1934, she entered and won an amateur contest at the Apollo, singing Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy" in the style of her idol, Connee Boswell. In the house band that night was saxophonist Benny Carter, who took the young vocalist under his wing and encouraged her to keep developing her career. More contests followed, and in 1935 Fitzgerald won a weeklong spot singing with Tiny Bradshaw at the Harlem Opera House. There, she met influential drummer Chick Webb, who agreed to try her out with his orchestra at a one-nighter at Yale University. She won the crowd over, and spent the next few years with the drummer, who became her legal guardian and reworked his show to feature the singer. The band's fame grew exponentially with Fitzgerald, as they dominated at the Savoy battle of the bands, and issued a string of Decca 78s, scoring hits "A Tisket-A-Tasket," in 1938, and the B-side "T'aint What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)," as well as "Liza," and "Undecided." As the singer's career was on the rise, Webb's health had begun to decline. Though only in his thirties, the drummer, who had struggled with congenital spinal tuberculosis throughout his life, would purportedly collapse from exhaustion after playing a set. Nonetheless, he forged onwards, hoping to keep his band working through the Depression. In 1939, not long after undergoing major surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, Webb died. Following his death, Fitzgerald continued to front his band with much success until 1941, when she decided to pursue a solo career. Sticking with Decca, Fitzgerald was teamed with the Ink Spots, Louis Jordan, and the Delta Rhythm Boys for several best-sellers, and in 1946 began working regularly for manager Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic. Though often regarded as a pop vocalist during her time with Webb, Fitzgerald had begun to experiment with scat singing, a sound she further developed during these years. She toured with Dizzy Gillespie's big band, and soon adopted bebop as an integral part of her style, punctuating her live sets with instrumental-style scat solos that wowed audiences and earned her respect from her fellow musicians. Her recordings of "Lady Be Good," "How High the Moon," and "Flying Home" during 1945-1947 were released to great acclaim and helped solidify her stature as a major jazz vocalist. It was while working with Gillespie that she met and married bassist Ray Brown, living with him from 1947 to 1953, during which time she often performed with his trio. The couple also adopted a son, Ray Brown, Jr., (born to Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances in 1949) who would go on to his own career as a pianist and vocalist. In 1951, the singer paired with pianist Ellis Larkins for the duets album Ella Sings Gershwin, on which she interpreted George Gershwin songs, prefiguring her later Songbooks series. After appearing in the film Pete Kelly's Blues in 1955, Fitzgerald signed with Norman Granz's Verve label. Her longtime manager, Granz had specifically launched Verve with the sole purpose of better showcasing her voice. Beginning with 1956's Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, she would record an extensive series of Songbooks albums, interpreting the music of the Great American Songbook composers, including Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer. The prestigious albums, which earned Fitzgerald her first four Grammys at the 1959 and 1958 Grammy Awards, further raised her stature as one of the great singers of all time. Other soon-to-be-classic albums followed, including her 1956 pairing with Louis Armstrong Ella & Louis, 1957's Like Someone in Love, and 1958's Porgy and Bess with Armstrong. Also under Granz's guidance, Fitzgerald toured often, issuing a handful of highly regarded live concert albums. Among them, 1960's Ella in Berlin included her off-the-cuff take on "Mack the Knife" in which she forgot the lyrics and improvised her own. One of the best-selling albums of her career, Ella in Berlin earned her Grammy Awards for Best Vocal Performance Single Record or Track, Female, and Best Vocal Performance Album, Female. The album was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Verve was sold to MGM in 1963, and by 1967 Fitzgerald found herself without a contract. She spent the next few years recording for a number of labels like Capitol, Atlantic and Reprise. Her albums during these years also found her updating her repertoire with modern pop and rock songs such as Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and the Beatles' "Hey Jude." She sang traditional hymns on 1967's Brighten the Corner, while 1969's Ella included her last U.S. chart single with a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Get Ready." Nonetheless, Fitzgerald remained an immensely popular and highly regarded performer. In 1967, she was bestowed with the Bing Crosby Award (later named the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award) at the 10th Annual Grammy Awards. However, her later years were again marked by the influence of Granz after he founded the independent Pablo Records. A concert album, Jazz at the Santa Monica Civic '72, featuring Fitzgerald, pianist Tommy Flanagan, and the Count Basie Orchestra, gained popularity via mail-order sales and helped Granz launch the label. More albums followed throughout the '70s and '80s, many pairing the singer with artists like Basie, Oscar Peterson, and Joe Pass, among others. While diabetes affected her eyes and heart during this period, forcing her to take breaks from performing, Fitzgerald always retained her joyful style, and exuberant sense of swing. Away from the stage, she was committed to helping disadvantaged youth, and made contributions to various charity organizations. In 1979, she was honored with a Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Medal of Honor Award. Also, in 1987, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the National Medal of Arts. More accolades followed, including a Commander of Arts and Letters award from France, and numerous honorary doctorates from Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, and other institutions. Following a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1991, she retired from her career. Fitzgerald passed away on June 15, 1996, at her home in Beverly Hills, California. In the decades following her death, Fitzgerald's reputation as one of the most influential and recognizable figures in jazz and popular music only increased. She remains a household name around the world, and has received a number of posthumous accolades, including four Hall of Fame Grammys and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ~ Matt Collar

Dick Hyman

Dick Hyman

Among the most versatile musicians of modern times, keyboardist Dick Hyman performed in styles ranging from classic jazz to stride to pre-bop swing and beyond, even releasing several albums of electronic keyboard music. He once recorded an album, Themes and Variations on "A Child Is Born," on which he rendered that tune in 11 different styles. Hyman began his career as a sideman in major swing bands, and for the latter part of his career, he returned to that style and to stride piano, which he recorded prolifically. Hyman was also a composer and became well known in that capacity as the creator of soundtracks for many films by actor-director <a href="spotify:artist:7HPDGnxb8oSBQ0HuNx2xqR">Woody Allen</a>. Hyman remained active into great old age, recording the album Counterpoint in 2019 with clarinetist <a href="spotify:artist:6RMpBHKpst3s0GQju2rNyz">Ken Peplowski</a>. Hyman was born on March 8, 1927, in New York. His mother's brother was the classical pianist Anton Rovinsky, and his first lessons were in the classical field. He also became interested in jazz through an older brother who had a jazz record collection. Hyman enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, but when his musical talent became clear, he was transferred to the Navy band department. He has credited his time there for rigorous training with players who were superior to himself. After the war, Hyman attended Columbia University, where he won a contest that brought a dozen lessons with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0tg5uVI4VjzZOFzBryJZii">Teddy Wilson</a> as the prize. Setting on a career in jazz, Hyman began to record solo and trio material around 1950, issuing several solo albums and several with a trio, including the 1955 LP The Unforgettable Sound of the Dick Hyman Trio. Hyman worked with xylophonist/vibraphonist <a href="spotify:artist:6TDBjaKrCj3BvbxhiUSbog">Red Norvo</a> (1949-1950) and clarinetist <a href="spotify:artist:1pBuKaLHJlIlqYxQQaflve">Benny Goodman</a> (1950) and then spent much of the '50s and '60s as a studio musician. He appeared on the one known sound film of <a href="spotify:artist:4Ww5mwS7BWYjoZTUIrMHfC">Charlie Parker</a> (Hot House from 1952); recorded honky tonk under pseudonyms; played organ and early synthesizers in addition to piano; was <a href="spotify:artist:2qh0WzH1j0QXhPrYriCNPU">Arthur Godfrey</a>'s music director (1959-1962); collaborated with writer <a href="spotify:artist:18JiHWhqvWBYpHQ44jMaSG">Leonard Feather</a> on some "History of Jazz" concerts (doubling on clarinet); and performed rock, pop, rhythm-and-blues, free jazz, and even country music (with vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0io243tshqbvutIxj44rMy">Marvin Rainwater</a>); his credits include appearances on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:2lolQgalUvZDfp5vvVtTYV">Tony Bennett</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5v8jlSmAQfrkTjAlpUfWtu">Perry Como</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3DpdJvcq90sWYUx35Tcbea">Ivory Joe Hunter</a>, and many more. On the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Command%22">Command</a> label, he released albums on which he played the Lowrey organ, including Electrodynamics, Fabulous, Keyboard Kaleidoscope, and The Man from O.R.G.A.N. He also recorded using the Moog synthesizer, including Moog: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman and The Age of Electronicus. These electronic releases had some pop success. For much of the later part of his career, Hyman was a prime force in the revival of classic jazz styles. In the '70s, Hyman played with the New York Jazz Repertory Company, formed the Perfect Jazz Repertory Quintet (1976), and started writing soundtracks for <a href="spotify:artist:7HPDGnxb8oSBQ0HuNx2xqR">Woody Allen</a> films, which often included classic jazz elements along with orchestral sounds. Hyman's scores include those for 11 <a href="spotify:artist:7HPDGnxb8oSBQ0HuNx2xqR">Allen</a> films and several by other directors, including Moonstruck (1987). He has written several dozen classical compositions, including solo piano works, chamber pieces, two piano concertos (one, "Concerto Electro," was for electric piano), and vocal and choral works. Hyman has recorded frequently during the past several decades (sometimes in duets with <a href="spotify:artist:2ZJWBoh0c53yW13f86HNuA">Ruby Braff</a>) for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Concord%22">Concord</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Music+Masters%22">Music Masters</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reference%22">Reference</a>, among other labels, and ranks at the top of the classic jazz field. He has remained active into his nineties. In 2013, Hyman teamed with vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:4TkwOuJPLv2LKNMwvK995M">Heather Masse</a> for a set of standards on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+House%22">Red House</a> label called Lock My Heart. In 2019, he and <a href="spotify:artist:6RMpBHKpst3s0GQju2rNyz">Peplowski</a> issued Counterpoint, an album of music by <a href="spotify:artist:13MyebMy7X56P2P6GYtlYH">Lerner</a> & <a href="spotify:artist:6vSV6SDf1vteodhgV83AJ6">Loewe</a>, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arbors+Records%22">Arbors Records</a> label, which also issued the collection A Century of Jazz Piano. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra was arguably the most important musical figure of the 20th century, his only real rivals for the title being Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In a professional career lasting 60 years, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to maintain his appeal and pursue his musical goals despite countervailing trends. He came to the fore during the swing era of the 1930s and '40s, helped to define the "sing era" of the '40s and '50s, and continued to attract listeners during the rock era that began in the mid-'50s. He scored his first number one hit in 1940 and was still making million-selling recordings in 1994. This popularity was a mark of his success at singing and promoting the American popular song as it was written, particularly in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s. He was able to take the work of great theater composers of that period, such as Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers, and reinterpret their songs for later audiences in a way that led to their rediscovery and their permanent enshrinement as classics. On records and in live performances, on film, radio, and television, he consistently sang standards in a way that demonstrated their perennial appeal. The son of a fireman, Sinatra dropped out of high school in his senior year to pursue a career in music. In September 1935, he appeared as part of the vocal group the Hoboken Four on Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour. The group won the radio show contest and toured with Bowes. Sinatra then took a job as a singing waiter and MC at the Rustic Cabin in Englewood, NJ. He was still singing there in the spring of 1939, when he was heard over the radio by trumpeter Harry James, who had recently organized his own big band after leaving Benny Goodman. James hired Sinatra, and the new singer made his first recordings on July 13, 1939. At the end of the year, Sinatra accepted an offer from the far more successful bandleader Tommy Dorsey, jumping to his new berth in January 1940. Over the next two and a half years, he was featured on 16 Top Ten hits recorded by Dorsey, among them the chart-topper "I'll Never Smile Again," later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. During this period, he also performed on various radio shows with Dorsey and appeared with the band in the films Las Vegas Nights (1941) and Ship Ahoy (1942). In January 1942, he tested the waters for a solo career by recording a four-song session arranged and conducted by Axel Stordahl that included Cole Porter's "Night and Day," which became his first chart entry under his own name in March 1942. Soon after, he gave Dorsey notice. Sinatra left the Dorsey band in September 1942. The recording ban called by the American Federation of Musicians, which had begun the previous month, initially prevented him from making records, but he appeared on a 15-minute radio series, Songs By Sinatra, from October through the end of the year and also did a few live dates. His big breakthrough came due to his engagement as a support act to Benny Goodman at the Paramount Theatre in New York, which began on New Year's Eve. It made him a popular phenomenon, the first real teen idol, with school girls swooning in the aisles. RCA Victor, which had been doling out stockpiled Dorsey recordings during the strike, scored with "There Are Such Things," which had a Sinatra vocal; it hit number one in January 1943, as did "In the Blue of the Evening," another Dorsey record featuring Sinatra, in August, while a third Dorsey/Sinatra release, "It's Always You," hit the Top Five later in the year, and a fourth, "I'll Be Seeing You," reached the Top Ten in 1944. Columbia, which controlled the Harry James recordings, reissued the four-year-old "All or Nothing at All," re-billed as being by Frank Sinatra with Harry James & His Orchestra, and it hit number one in September. Meanwhile, the label had signed Sinatra as a solo artist, and in a temporary loophole to the recording ban, put him in the studio to record a cappella, backed only by a vocal chorus. This resulted in four Top Ten hits in 1943, among them "People Will Say We're in Love" from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's musical Oklahoma!, and a fifth in early 1944 ("I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night") before protests from the musicians union ended a cappella recording. In February 1943, Sinatra was hired by the popular radio series Your Hit Parade, on which he performed through the end of 1944. Adding to his radio duties, he appeared from June through October on Broadway Bandbox and in the fall again took up the Songs by Sinatra show, which ran through December. In January, it was expanded to a half-hour as The Frank Sinatra Show, which ran for a year and a half. In April 1943, he made his first credited appearance in a motion picture, singing "Night and Day" in Reveille with Beverly. This was followed by Higher and Higher, released in December, in which he had a small acting role, playing himself, and by Step Lively, released in July 1944, which gave him a larger part. MGM was sufficiently impressed by these performances to put him under contract. The recording ban was lifted in November 1944, and Sinatra returned to making records, beginning with a cover of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" that was in the Top Ten before the end of the year. Among his eight recordings to peak in the Top Ten in 1945 were Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)," Johnny Mercer's "Dream," Styne and Cahn's "I Should Care," and "If I Loved You" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel. Sinatra insisted that Styne and Cahn be hired to write the songs for his first MGM musical, Anchors Aweigh, and over the course of his career, the singer recorded more songs by Cahn (a lyricist who worked with several composers) than by any other songwriter. Anchors Aweigh, in which Sinatra was paired with Gene Kelly, was released in July 1945 and went on to become the most successful film of the year. Sinatra returned to radio in September with a new show bearing an old name, Songs by Sinatra. It ran weekly for the next two seasons, concluding in June 1947. Among his eight Top Ten hits in 1946 were two that hit number one ("Oh! What It Seemed to Be" and Styne and Cahn's "Five Minutes More"), as well as "They Say It's Wonderful" and "The Girl That I Marry" from Irving Berlin's musical Annie Get Your Gun, Jerome Kern's "All Through the Day," and Kurt Weill's "September Song." He also topped the album charts with the collection The Voice of Frank Sinatra. His only film appearance for the year came in Till the Clouds Roll By, a biography of the recently deceased Kern, in which he sang "Ol' Man River." By 1947, Sinatra's early success had crested, though he continued to work steadily in several media. On radio, he returned to the cast of Your Hit Parade in September 1947, appearing on the series for the next two seasons, then had his own 15-minute show, Light-Up Time, during 1949-1950. On film, he appeared in five more movies through the end of the decade, including both big-budget MGM musicals like On the Town and minor efforts such as The Kissing Bandit. He scored eight Top Ten hits in 1947-1949, including "Mam'selle," which hit number one in May 1947, and "Some Enchanted Evening," from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific. He also hit the Top Ten of the album charts with 1947's Songs by Sinatra and 1948's Christmas Songs by Sinatra. Sinatra's career was in decline by the start of the '50s, but he was far from inactive. He entered the fall of 1950 with both a new radio show and his first venture into television. On radio, there was Meet Frank Sinatra, which found the singer acting as a disc jockey; it ran through the end of the season. On TV, there was The Frank Sinatra Show, a musical-variety series; it lasted until April 1952. His film work had nearly subsided, though in March 1952 came the drama Meet Danny Wilson, which tested his acting abilities and gave him the opportunity to sing such songs as Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "That Old Black Magic," "I've Got a Crush on You" by George and Ira Gershwin, and "How Deep Is the Ocean?" by Irving Berlin. At Columbia Records, Sinatra came into increasing conflict with musical director Mitch Miller, who was finding success for his singers by using novelty material and gimmicky arrangements. Sinatra resisted this approach, and though he managed to score four more Top Ten hits during 1950-1951 -- among them an unlikely reading of the folk standard "Goodnight Irene" -- he and Columbia parted ways. Thus, ten years after launching his solo career, he ended 1952 without a record, film, radio, or television contract. Then he turned it all around. The first step was recording. Sinatra agreed to a long-term, boilerplate contract with Capitol Records, which had been co-founded by Johnny Mercer a decade earlier and had a roster full of faded '40s performers. In June 1953, he scored his first Top Ten hit in a year and a half with "I'm Walking Behind You." Then in August, he returned to film, playing a non-singing, featured role in the World War II drama From Here to Eternity, a performance that earned respect for his acting abilities, to the extent that he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the part on March 25, 1954. In the fall of 1953, Sinatra began two new radio series: Rocky Fortune, a drama on which he played a detective, ran from October to March 1954; and The Frank Sinatra Show was a 15-minute, twice-a-week music series that ran for two seasons, concluding in July 1955. Meanwhile, Sinatra had begun working with arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle, a pairing that produced notable chart entries in February 1954 on both the singles and albums charts. "Young-at-Heart," which just missed hitting number one, was the singer's biggest single since 1947, and the song went on to become a standard. (The title was used for a 1955 movie in which Sinatra starred.) Then there was the 10" LP Songs for Young Lovers, the first of Sinatra's "concept" albums, on which he and Riddle revisited classic songs by Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Rodgers and Hart in contemporary arrangements with vocal interpretations that conveyed the wit and grace of the lyrics. The album lodged in the Top Five. In July, Sinatra had another Top Ten single with Styne and Cahn's "Three Coins in the Fountain," and in September Swing Easy! matched the success of its predecessor on the LP chart. By the middle of the '50s, Sinatra had reclaimed his place as a star singer and actor; in fact, he had taken a more prominent place than he had had in the heady days of the mid-'40s. In 1955, he hit number one with the single "Learnin' the Blues" and the 12" LP In the Wee Small Hours, a ballad collection later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. On September 15, 1955, he appeared in a television production of Our Town and sang "Love and Marriage" (specially written by Sammy Cahn and his new partner James Van Heusen), which became a Top Five hit. Early in 1956, he was back in the Top Ten with Cahn and Van Heusen's "(Love Is) The Tender Trap," the theme song from his new film, The Tender Trap. As part of his thematic concepts for his albums of the '50s, Sinatra alternated between records devoted to slow arrangements (In the Wee Small Hours) and those given over to dance charts (Swing Easy). By the late winter of 1956, the schedule called for another dance album, and Songs for Swingin' Lovers!, released in March, filled the bill, stopping just short of number one and going gold. The rise of rock & roll and Elvis Presley began to make the singles charts the almost-exclusive province of teen idols, but Sinatra's "Hey! Jealous Lover" (by Sammy Cahn, Kay Twomey, and Bee Walker), released in October, gave him another Top Five hit in 1957. Meanwhile, he ruled the LP charts. The Capitol singles compilation This Is Sinatra!, released in November, hit the Top Ten and went gold. Sinatra began 1957 by releasing Close to You, a ballad album with accompaniment by a string quartet, in February. It hit the Top Five, followed in May by A Swingin' Affair!, which went to number one, and another ballad album, Where Are You?, a Top Five hit after release in September. He was also represented in the LP charts in November by the soundtrack to his film Pal Joey (based on a Rodgers & Hart musical), which hit the Top Five, and by the seasonal collection A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra, which eventually was certified platinum. The Joker Is Wild, another of his 1957 films, featured the Cahn-Van Heusen song "All the Way," which became a Top Five single. In October, he returned to prime time television with another series called The Frank Sinatra Show, but it lasted only one season, and subsequently he restricted his TV appearances largely to specials (of which he made many). In February 1958, Sinatra reached the Top Ten with "Witchcraft," his last single to perform that well for the next eight years. That month, Capitol released Come Fly with Me, a travel-themed rhythm album, which hit number one. The year's ballad album, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, released in September, also topped the charts, and it went gold. In between, Capitol released the compilation This Is Sinatra, Vol. 2, which hit the Top Ten. 1959 followed a similar pattern. Come Dance with Me! appeared in January and became a gold-selling Top Ten hit. It also won Sinatra Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and for vocal performance. Look to Your Heart, a compilation, was released in the spring and reached the Top Ten. And No One Cares, the year's ballad collection, appeared in the summer and just missed topping the charts. Sinatra gradually did less singing in his movies of the '50s, but in March 1960, he appeared in a movie version of Cole Porter's musical Can-Can, and the resulting soundtrack album hit the Top Ten. Meanwhile, Sinatra was beginning to think about the approaching end of his Capitol Records contract and to enter the studio less frequently for the company. His next regular album was a year in coming, and when it did, Nice 'n' Easy was a mid-tempo collection, breaking his pattern of alternating fast and slow albums. The wait may have caused pent-up demand; the album spent many weeks at number one and went gold. Although Sinatra had not yet completed his recording commitment to Capitol, he began in December 1960 to make recordings for his own label, which he called Reprise Records. As a result, record stores were deluged with five new Sinatra albums in 1961: in January, Capitol had Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!; in April, Reprise was launched with the release of Ring-a-Ding Ding!; in July, Reprise followed with Sinatra Swings the same week that Capitol released Come Swing with Me!; and in October, Reprise had I Remember Tommy..., an album of songs Sinatra had sung with the Tommy Dorsey band. There was also the March compilation All the Way on Capitol, making for six releases in one year. Remarkably, they all reached the Top Ten. Meanwhile, Reprise's first single, "The Second Time Around," a song written by Cahn and Van Heusen for Bing Crosby, won Sinatra the Grammy for Record of the Year. By 1962, the market was glutted. Capitol released its last new Sinatra album, Point of No Return, as well as a compilation, and Reprise put out three new LPs, but only Reprise's Sinatra & Strings reached the Top Ten. In 1963, however, all three Reprise releases, Sinatra-Basie, The Concert Sinatra, and the gold-selling Sinatra's Sinatra, made the Top Ten. The onset of the Beatles in 1964 began to do to the LP charts what Elvis Presley had done to the singles charts in 1956, but Sinatra continued to reach the Top Ten with his albums of the mid-'60s, albeit not as consistently. Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners hit that ranking in May 1964, as did Sinatra '65 in August 1965. That same month, Sinatra mounted a commercial comeback by emphasizing his own advancing age. Nearing 50, he released September of My Years, a ballad collection keyed to the passage of time. After "It Was a Very Good Year" was drawn from the album as a single and rose into the Top 40, the LP took off for the Top Five and went gold. It was named 1965 Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, and Sinatra also picked up a trophy for best vocal performance for "It Was a Very Good Year." In November 1965, Sinatra starred in a retrospective TV special, A Man and His Music, and released a corresponding double-LP, which reached the Top Ten and went gold. It won the 1966 Grammy for Album of the Year. Sinatra returned to number one on the singles charts for the first time in 11 years with the million-selling "Strangers in the Night" in July 1966; the song won him Grammys for Record of the Year and best vocal performance. A follow-up album named after the single topped the LP charts and went platinum. Before the end of the year, Sinatra had released two more Top Ten, gold-selling albums, Sinatra at the Sands and That's Life, the latter anchored by the title song, a Top Five single. In April 1967, Sinatra was back at number one on the singles charts with the million-selling "Somethin' Stupid," a duet with his daughter Nancy. By the late '60s, even Sinatra had trouble resisting the succeeding waves of youth-oriented rock music that topped the charts. But Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits!, a compilation of his '60s singles successes released in August 1968, was a million-seller, and Cycles, an album of songs by contemporary writers like Joni Mitchell and Jimmy Webb, released that fall, went gold. In March 1969, Sinatra released "My Way," with a lyric specially crafted for him by Paul Anka. It quickly became a signature song for him. The single reached the Top 40, and an album of the same name hit the Top Ten and went gold. In the spring of 1971, at the age of 55, Sinatra announced his retirement. But he remained retired only until the fall of 1973, when he returned to action with a new gold-selling album and a TV special both called Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. In this late phase of his career, Sinatra cut back on records, movies, and television in favor of live performing, particularly in Las Vegas, but also in concert halls, arenas, and stadiums around the world. He refrained from making any new studio albums for six years, then returned in March 1980 with a three-LP set, Trilogy: Past, Present, Future. The most memorable track from the gold-selling set turned out to be "Theme From New York, New York," the title song from the 1977 movie, which Sinatra's recording belatedly turned into a standard. By the early '90s, the CD era had inaugurated a wave of box set reissues, and the 1990 Christmas season found Capitol and Reprise marking Sinatra's 75th birthday by competing with the three-disc The Capitol Years and the four-disc The Reprise Collection. Both went gold, as did Reprise's one-disc highlights version, Sinatra Reprise -- The Very Good Years. Sinatra himself, meanwhile, while continuing to tour, had not made a new recording since his 1984 LP L.A. Is My Lady. In 1993, he re-signed to Capitol Records and recorded Duets, on which he re-recorded his old favorites, joined by other popular singers ranging from Tony Bennett to Bono of U2 (none of whom actually performed in the studio with him). It became his biggest-selling album, with sales over 3,000,000 copies, and was followed in 1994 by Duets II, which won the 1995 Grammy Award for Traditional Pop Performance. Sinatra finally retired from performing in his 80th year in 1995, and he died of a heart attack less than three years later. Anyone will be astonished at the sheer extent of Sinatra's success as a recording artist over 50 years, due to the changes in popular taste during that period. His popularity as a singer and his productivity has resulted in an overwhelming discography. Its major portions break down into the Columbia years (1943-1952), the Capitol years (1953-1962), and the Reprise years (1960-1981), but airchecks, film and television soundtracks, and other miscellaneous recordings swell it massively. As a movie star and as a celebrity of mixed reputation, Sinatra is so much of a 20th century icon that it is easy to overlook his real musical talents, which are the actual source of his renown. As an artist, he worked to interpret America's greatest songs and to preserve them for later generations. On his recordings, his success is apparent. ~ William Ruhlmann

Horace Silver

Horace Silver

From the perspective of the 21st century, it is clear that few jazz musicians had a greater impact on the contemporary mainstream than Horace Silver. The hard bop style that Silver pioneered in the '50s is now dominant, played not only by holdovers from an earlier generation, but also by fuzzy-cheeked musicians who had yet to be born when the music fell out of critical favor in the '60s and '70s. Silver's earliest musical influence was the Cape Verdean folk music he heard from his Portuguese-born father. Later, after he had begun playing piano and saxophone as a high schooler, Silver came under the spell of blues singers and boogie-woogie pianists, as well as boppers like Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. In 1950, Stan Getz played a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, with a pickup rhythm section that included Silver, drummer Walter Bolden, and bassist Joe Calloway. So impressed was Getz, he hired the whole trio. Silver had been saving his money to move to New York anyway; his hiring by Getz sealed the deal. Silver worked with Getz for a year, then began to freelance around the city with such big-time players as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Oscar Pettiford. In 1952, he recorded with Lou Donaldson for the Blue Note label; this date led him to his first recordings as a leader. In 1953, he joined forces with Art Blakey to form a cooperative under their joint leadership. The band's first album, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, was a milestone in the development of the genre that came to be known as hard bop. Many of the tunes penned by Silver for that record -- "The Preacher," "Doodlin'," "Room 608" -- became jazz classics. By 1956, Silver had left the Messengers to record on his own. The series of Blue Note albums that followed established him for all time as one of jazz's major composer/pianists. LPs like Blowin' the Blues Away and Song for My Father (both recorded by an ensemble that included Silver's longtime sidemen Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook) featured Silver's harmonically sophisticated and formally distinctive compositions for small jazz ensemble. Silver's piano style -- terse, imaginative, and utterly funky -- became a model for subsequent mainstream pianists to emulate. Some of the most influential horn players of the '50s, '60s, and '70s first attained a measure of prominence with Silver -- musicians like Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Benny Golson, and the Brecker Brothers all played in Silver's band at a point early in their careers. Silver has even affected members of the avant-garde; Cecil Taylor confesses a Silver influence, and trumpeter Dave Douglas played briefly in a Silver combo. Silver recorded exclusively for Blue Note until that label's eclipse in the late '70s, whereupon he started his own label, Silveto. Silver's '80s work was poorly distributed. During that time he began writing lyrics to his compositions, and his work began to display a concern with music's metaphysical powers, as exemplified by album titles like Music to Ease Your Disease and Spiritualizing the Senses. In the '90s, Silver abandoned his label venture and began recording for Columbia. With his re-emergence on a major label, Silver once again received a measure of the attention his contributions deserve. Certainly, no one ever contributed a larger and more vital body of original compositions to the jazz canon. Silver died in New York on June 18, 2014 at the age of 85. ~ Chris Kelsey

Wes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of <a href="spotify:artist:0WdDpEeDIDmtYh5sqRrdI6">Charlie Christian</a>, whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark. He achieved great commercial success during his last few years, only to die prematurely. It had taken Wes a long time to become an overnight success. He started to teach himself guitar in 1943 (using his thumb rather than a pick) and toured with <a href="spotify:artist:2PjgZkwAEk7UTin4jP6HLP">Lionel Hampton</a> during 1948-1950; he can be heard on a few broadcasts from the period. But then Montgomery returned to Indianapolis, where he was in obscurity during much of the 1950s, working a day job and playing at clubs most nights. He recorded with his brothers vibraphonist <a href="spotify:artist:31EBsP0kTUCaHYqAvi5mWs">Buddy</a> and electric bassist <a href="spotify:artist:0Oxygj9VezoPvhzu2dh4sA">Monk</a> during 1957-1959 and made his first Riverside album (1959) in a trio with organist <a href="spotify:artist:1ImIJagDcfOPBYWDJmUh35">Melvin Rhyne</a>. In 1960 the release of his album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery made him famous in the jazz world. Other than a brief time playing with <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">the John Coltrane Sextet</a> (which also included <a href="spotify:artist:6rxxu32JCGDpKKMPHxnSJp">Eric Dolphy</a>) later in the year, Wes would be a leader for the rest of his life. Montgomery's recordings can be easily divided into three periods. His Riverside dates (1959-1963) are his most spontaneous jazz outings, small-group sessions with such sidemen as <a href="spotify:artist:6dUZplQfg5blo0h9HiJ94d">Tommy Flanagan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4yN4CL5hDeBFdEFFCvfGxw">James Clay</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:53TjTwCEnkdeTkNUO0qivk">Victor Feldman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0BhFfJmScFj7OzqVaDqnSv">Hank Jones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:52cM6vrM4MJ8g4H7Ibo5fZ">Johnny Griffin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1ImIJagDcfOPBYWDJmUh35">Mel Rhyne</a>. The one exception was the ironically titled Fusion!, a ballad date with a string section. All of the Riverside recordings have been reissued in a massive 12-CD box set. With the collapse of Riverside, Montgomery moved over to Verve, where during 1964-1966 he recorded an interesting series of mostly orchestral dates with arranger <a href="spotify:artist:4yr0fHJhSr7ZWlsoZIbg44">Don Sebesky</a> and producer <a href="spotify:artist:26wgGfiLU6HFdl5ZPo10ev">Creed Taylor</a>. These records were generally a good balance between jazz and accessibility, even if the best performances were small-group outings with either <a href="spotify:artist:5ncBRFyyylFng7kQJaRXN0">the Wynton Kelly Trio</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:5GXruybcLmXPjR9rKKFyS6">Jimmy Smith</a>. In 1967 Wes signed with <a href="spotify:artist:26wgGfiLU6HFdl5ZPo10ev">Creed Taylor</a> at A&M and during 1967-1968 he recorded three best-selling albums that found him merely stating simple pop melodies while backed by strings and woodwinds. His jazz fans were upset, but Montgomery's albums were played on AM radio during the period. He helped introduce listeners to jazz, and his live performances were as freewheeling as his earlier Riverside dates. Unfortunately at the height of his success, he died of a heart attack. However, Montgomery's influence is still felt on many young guitarists. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

Etta Jones

Etta Jones

An understated, dynamic singer within jazz and popular standards, Etta Jones was an excellent singer always worth hearing. She grew up in New York and at 16, toured with <a href="spotify:artist:23ZeHMuusfCSypkcHOa4Hc">Buddy Johnson</a>. She debuted on record with <a href="spotify:artist:28IxhsTl0mELeGN9E5J0Oh">Barney Bigard</a>'s pickup band (1944) for Black & White, singing four <a href="spotify:artist:18JiHWhqvWBYpHQ44jMaSG">Leonard Feather</a> songs, three of which (including "Evil Gal Blues") were hits for <a href="spotify:artist:32LHRiof0sa4taYew9i3Fa">Dinah Washington</a>. She recorded other songs during 1946-1947 for RCA and worked with <a href="spotify:artist:2mY5u4CceAPrpBnse1WpFr">Earl Hines</a> (1949-1952). Jones' version of "Don't Go to Strangers" (1960) was a hit and she made many albums for Prestige during 1960-1965. Jones toured Japan with <a href="spotify:artist:6QQuESLtKhAOcLW2TeWC2t">Art Blakey</a> (1970), but was largely off record during 1966-1975. However, starting in 1976, Etta Jones (an appealing interpreter of standards, ballads, and blues) began recording regularly for Muse, often with the fine tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:16Xx0WCnAKOA9mwPPSUJmr">Houston Person</a>. She died from complications of cancer on October 16, 2001, the day her last album, Etta Jones Sings Lady Day, was released. ~ Scott Yanow & Ron Wynn, Rovi

Bill Evans

Bill Evans

With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners. There is no more influential jazz-oriented pianist -- only McCoy Tyner exerts nearly as much pull among younger players and journeymen -- and Evans has left his mark on such noted players as Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, and Brad Mehldau. Borrowing heavily from the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, Evans brought a new, introverted, relaxed, lyrical, European classical sensibility into jazz -- and that seems to have attracted a lot of young conservatory-trained pianists who follow his chord voicings to the letter in clubs and on stages everywhere. Indeed, classical pianists like Jean-Yves Thibaudet have recorded note-for-note transcriptions of Evans' performances, bringing out the direct lineage with classical composers. In interviews, Evans often stressed that pianists should thoroughly learn technique and harmony so that they can put their inspiration to maximum use. Since he already had those tools in hand, he worked very hard on his touch, getting the special, refined tone that he wanted out of a piano. He also tried to democratize the role of the bassist and drummer in his succession of piano trios, encouraging greater contrapuntal interplay. Bespectacled, shy, soft-spoken, and vulnerable, Evans was not a good fit into the rough-and-tumble music business. In part to shield himself from the outside world, he turned to drugs -- first heroin, and later, cocaine -- which undoubtedly shortened his life. In interviews, though, he sounds thoroughly in control, completely aware of what he wanted from his art, and colleagues report that he displayed a wicked sense of humor. Nowadays, Evans seems to be immune from criticism, but there was a time when he was accused of not being able to swing, or pilloried for an "effete" approach to jazz that was alien to its African sources. However, there are plenty of Evans recordings which show that he could indeed flash the technique and swing as hard as anyone when he wanted to, especially early in his career. He simply chose a different path for himself, one entirely reflective of his inward personality -- and that's what seems to touch listeners inside and outside jazz the most. Indeed, the cult for Evans' recordings is big enough to justify the existence of six large, expensive boxed sets of his output: four from Fantasy's archives, one from Warner Bros., and the biggest one from Verve. A newcomer, though, would be better-advised to sample Evans in smaller doses. Since the bulk of his recordings were made with the same piano-bass-drums instrumentation, and his career was not marked by dramatic shifts in style, prolonged listening to hours upon hours of his trio recordings can lead to monotony (after all, you can even overdose on Bach, as great as he was). Born and raised in New Jersey, Evans was recruited for Southeastern Louisiana University on a flute scholarship, where he received a thorough background in theory, played in the marching band, and also led his football team to a league championship as a quarterback. Graduating as a piano major in 1950, he started to tour with the Herbie Fields band, but the draft soon beckoned, and Evans was placed in the Fifth Army Band near Chicago. After three years in the service, he arrived in New York in 1954, playing in Tony Scott's quartet and undertaking postgraduate studies at Mannes College, where he encountered composer George Russell and his modal jazz theories. By 1956, he had already recorded his first album as a leader for Riverside, New Jazz Conceptions, still enthralled by the bop style of Bud Powell but also unveiling what was to become his best-known composition, "Waltz for Debby," which he wrote while still in the Army. In spring 1958, Evans began an eight-month gig with the Miles Davis Sextet, where he exerted a powerful influence upon the willful yet ever-searching leader. Though Evans left the band that autumn, exhausted by pressured expectations and anxious to form his own group, he was deeply involved in the planning and execution of Davis' epochal Kind of Blue album in 1959, contributing ideas about mood, structure, and modal improvisation, and collaborating on several of the compositions. Although the original release gave composition credit of "Blue in Green" to Davis, Evans claimed he wrote it entirely, based on two chords suggested by Davis (nowadays, they receive co-credit). In any case, Kind of Blue -- now the biggest-selling acoustic jazz album of all time -- contains perhaps the most moving performances of Evans' life. Evans returned to the scene as a leader in December 1958 with the album Everybody Digs Bill Evans, which included the famous "Peace Piece," a haunting vamp for solo piano that sounds like a long-lost Satie Gymnopedie. Evans' first working trio turned out to be his most celebrated, combining forces with the astounding young bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian in three-way telepathic trialogues. With this group, Evans became a star -- and there was even talk about a recording with Davis involving the entire trio. Sadly, only ten days after a landmark live session at the Village Vanguard in June 1961, LaFaro was killed in an auto accident -- and the shattered Evans went into seclusion for almost a year. He re-emerged the following spring with Chuck Israels as his bassist, and he would go on to record duets with guitarist Jim Hall and a swinging quintet session, Interplay, with Hall and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Upon signing with Verve in 1962, Evans was encouraged by producer Creed Taylor to continue to record in more varied formats: with Gary McFarland's big band, the full-orchestra arrangements of Claus Ogerman, co-star Stan Getz, a reunion with Hall. The most remarkable of these experiments was Conversations With Myself, a session where Evans overdubbed second and third piano parts onto the first; this eventually led to two sequels in that fashion. In his only concession to the emerging jazz-rock scene, Evans dabbled with the Rhodes electric piano in the 1970s but eventually tired of it, even though inventor Harold Rhodes had tailored the instrument to Evans' specifications. Mostly, though, Evans would record a wealth of material with a series of trios. Through his working trios would pass such players as bassists LaFaro (1959-1961), Israels (1962-1965), Gary Peacock (1963), Teddy Kotick (1966), Eddie Gomez (1966-1977), and Marc Johnson (1978-1980); and drummers Motian (1959-1962), Larry Bunker (1962-1965), Arnold Wise (1966, 1968), Joe Hunt (1967), Philly Joe Jones (1967, 1977-1978), Jack DeJohnette (1968), John Dentz (1968), Marty Morell (1968-1975), Eliot Zigmund (1975-1977), and Joe La Barbera (1978-1980). After Verve, Evans would record for Columbia (1971-1972), Fantasy (1973-1977), and Warner Bros. (1977-1980). The final trio with Johnson and La Barbera has been considered the best since the LaFaro-Motian team -- Evans thought so himself -- and their brief time together has been exhaustively documented on CDs. Though Evans' health was rapidly deteriorating, aggravated by cocaine addiction, the recordings from his last months display a renewed vitality. Even on The Last Waltz, recorded as late as a week before his death from a hemorrhaging ulcer and bronchial pneumonia, there is no audible hint of physical infirmity. After Evans' death, a flood of unreleased recordings from commercial and private sources has elevated interest in this pianist to an insatiable level. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Martial Solal

Martial Solal

French pianist, composer, and bandleader Martial Solal's intuitive approach to improvisation has earned him an honored place among the greatest minds in all of jazz. Thoroughly versed in the tradition from New Orleans (he worked extensively with <a href="spotify:artist:1RsmXc1ZqW3WBs9iwxiSwk">Sidney Bechet</a>) to big-band swing to bop to post-bop and beyond, Solal has also composed chamber music, written scores for more than 20 films, and recorded more than 70 albums as soloist and leader. For more than 60 years, Solal has personified the cross-pollinated splendor of European jazz by utilizing styles and influences from both sides of the Atlantic to generate and sustain musical ideas that almost invariably come across as intelligent, pleasant, and gratifying. Solal is highly regarded as one of the great storytelling soloists; many critics praise his unaccompanied outings -- his 1954 debut French Modern Sounds, 1974's Himself, and 1998's Jazz 'n (E)motion are prime examples). Likewise, Solal is also a formidable duo partner who pushes others to great heights of improvisation and harmonic inquiry. Besides <a href="spotify:artist:1RsmXc1ZqW3WBs9iwxiSwk">Bechet</a>, he has toured and recorded with some of the great jazz soloists, including <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen</a> (Movability, 1976) <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Lee Konitz</a> (Duplicity, 1978), <a href="spotify:artist:6AfbDYupHV5e6nse9W6tKG">Stéphane Grappelli</a> (Happy Reunion, 1980), <a href="spotify:artist:3zz4BITBs6xvnzw2vtQi2D">Michel Portal</a> (Fast Mood, 1999), and modernists such as <a href="spotify:artist:3SQrLX0O6RbBjmSIkwCgJb">Dave Douglas</a> (Rue De Seine, 2006) and <a href="spotify:artist:429bUEZe2Hq5QJvO2CmhLn">David Liebman</a> (Masters In Bordeaux, 2017). A student of 20th century European composers such as <a href="spotify:artist:5zyNXVd952fWOjkdGHCvPd">Béla Bartók</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7ie36YytMoKtPiL7tUvmoE">Igor Stravinsky</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:60ju8DuNEmkdLw3ymddLje">Alban Berg</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6CS9O2pE67oq44GZuBEBuD">Olivier Messiaen</a>, his early influences on piano were <a href="spotify:artist:0DYWCXTkNqGFZIf67SrWEa">Fats Waller</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0tg5uVI4VjzZOFzBryJZii">Teddy Wilson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3DtSOCXYU6o4EV0K1NgIKq">Art Tatum</a>, followed by <a href="spotify:artist:6C65D20ASusYqHGSIktfED">Erroll Garner</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:570vCzcespB48HIQyTbDO6">Bud Powell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4jXfFzeP66Zy67HM2mvIIF">Bill Evans</a>. Some might hear elements of <a href="spotify:artist:65kzYsVfMR2mJPPUmIYehi">Herbie Nichols</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:7astZCwZMiC9qtOlTqY68M">Dodo Marmarosa</a>. Both <a href="spotify:artist:6zkX5fhrSD4tdVOmimR9wB">Oscar Peterson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a> held him in highest esteem. As a composer he is clearly descended from both <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Ellington</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Thelonious Monk</a>. Each of these currents flows freely yet systematically through his music, tempered by his own unique sensibilities and a vast store of impressions harvested and manifested during a lengthy lifetime spent in absorption, reflection, and emanation. Born to French parents in Algiers, North Africa, on August 23, 1927, Martial Solal grew up under the influence of his mother, an opera singer who encouraged him to learn to play piano, clarinet, and saxophone. In 1942 the Vichy government's adopted Nazi racial policies (enforced in the French colony of Algeria) resulted in his expulsion from school, solely on account of his father's Jewish ancestry. Already familiar with the classical piano repertoire from <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:1Uff91EOsvd99rtAupatMP">Debussy</a>, young Solal now became a full-time musical autodidact. A turning point occurred when he pushed himself to emulate a recording he heard over the radio, unaware that he'd been listening to a piece for piano four hands. (Similarly, finger-style guitar virtuoso <a href="spotify:artist:1fLhQiFcZEtaaeYYMgvtoC">Guy Van Duser</a> cited an overdubbed <a href="spotify:artist:4dZrt8Ong5t7YYpvbfp0RU">Chet Atkins</a> record as an important inspiration for his own exceptional accomplishments.) By the age of 15, Solal was performing publicly, often playing to an audience of U.S. Armed Forces personnel. Solal continued to study and perform while enlisted in the military, began working professionally in 1945, and moved to Paris in 1950, performing in nightclubs and making his first recordings as soloist and sideman, sometimes under the name of O.J. Jaguar. During this period he worked with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3AMS24LJBwItCKdYcqydsH">Pierre Michelot</a> and in bands led by trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:0Ew3NrWSkKDmysWTJ07H7O">Aimé Barelli</a>, drummers Gerard Pochonet and Benny Bennett, and triple-threat trumpet/clarinet/tenor sax man Noel Chiboust. Solal formed a quartet in 1951 with trumpeter Roger Guerin, bassist Paul Rovère, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5khCKDGtTIZreUFp0gayVL">Daniel Humair</a>. He recorded with an ensemble under the direction of composer <a href="spotify:artist:4rni7I6sZ9jaCKaHKJNXxX">Andre Hodeir</a> in 1952, then cut an LP with his own trio and participated in <a href="spotify:artist:5Z1XZyEFY0dewG8faEIiEx">Django Reinhardt</a>'s very last session in 1953. In 1955 Solal played on what appears to have been Argentine composer and bandoneon virtuoso <a href="spotify:artist:7dsugSamBB7enWE2IrlbFg">Astor Piazzolla</a>'s first European recording date. He jammed with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1WtbGMxqfd5zuEO0yasDcn">Henri Crolla</a> and progressive clarinetists/tenor saxophonists <a href="spotify:artist:7zM3bs7txo1TnD1psGGfQc">Hubert Rostaing</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5nm1QsRZkzkRmb0IMZoA4P">Maurice Meunier</a>, and in 1956 was heard on one of earliest albums ever to appear under the name of <a href="spotify:artist:17YFYixTwkosluOZZJWhjb">Claude Bolling</a>. Solal's artistic collaborations with visiting or expatriate U.S. jazz musicians during the '50s and early '60s included sessions with trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:62xdwGEOLoGQxKUqoJusyU">Clark Terry</a>, trombonist <a href="spotify:artist:3wjEknI2VOYTXX19XYM6hC">Quentin "Butter" Jackson</a>, saxophonists <a href="spotify:artist:1RsmXc1ZqW3WBs9iwxiSwk">Sidney Bechet</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:71M7lckOooBtdsLfD1qqqa">Don Byas</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6cvs1RggkRFSyKPVCBT3cx">Lucky Thompson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:1UlsYUMhdvKPpLGtRrN0Dn">Jimmy Gourley</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3zcdjDbIg7eXdSJVCfFpIw">Joe Benjamin</a>, and drummers <a href="spotify:artist:7xwlN7fhoOwNgDmRTwYZOa">Kenny Clarke</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1tGINpEJVUsQXssRC28ugo">Roy Haynes</a>, as well as bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5WtyRAZhrecjFZRNH1yTXn">Curtis Counce</a> among a small contingent of instrumentalists associated with bandleader <a href="spotify:artist:27hSR8e34ZM5vj5fUFixyb">Stan Kenton</a>. In 1960, Solal achieved international fame when he scored music for the soundtrack to Jean-Luc Godard's film A Bout de Soufflé. Together with trumpeter Roger Guerin, alto saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0vSj4XkuVwKlcHDjyQD5ne">Pierre Gossez</a>, vibraphonist Michael A. Hauser, bassist Paul Rovère, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5khCKDGtTIZreUFp0gayVL">Daniel Humair</a>, Solal created a fascinating suite of deceptively simple variations that greatly enhanced the film's restless pacing, thrilling plot, and revolutionary editing. Other film projects would include scores for films by Godard's contemporaries <a href="spotify:artist:7pnzK2Kdp1JhpxmJmsIMwA">Jean-Pierre Melville</a>, Henri Verneuil, Edouard Molinaro, and Jean Becker, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:265QHMdeAzDHqNt0FKnyqW">Jean Cocteau</a>'s Testament of Orpheus and <a href="spotify:artist:7MRBURCph1WLG6O5PSh7wR">Franz Kafka</a>'s The Trial as interpreted by <a href="spotify:artist:3OMNuqaefKpUsINmjY7Hlq">Orson Welles</a>. A period of busy productivity ensued, including live performances and several albums with <a href="spotify:artist:5khCKDGtTIZreUFp0gayVL">Humair</a> and bassist Guy Pedersen. In 1963, Solal appeared live in Berlin, at the Hickory House in New York, in Montreal, and at the Newport Jazz Festival with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4EjCjBh0CRAsPcVxOPoBVq">Teddy Kotick</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4VIPZJwfn4EGbJxYVHJ0WX">Paul Motian</a>. A brief alignment with <a href="spotify:artist:50bsdKkUBCPSIAirpRXmEV">Attila Zoller</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6K1sWkR7FFGDXbcBJoVXpu">Hans Koller</a> resulted in a configuration remembered as Zo-Ko-So. From 1965-1969, Solal's reconstituted trio included Gilbert "Bibi" Rovère and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2osKSXSlZd5d47kki1acX4">Charles Bellonzi</a>. In 1967 Solal was heard in San Francisco and at the Monterey Jazz Festival. During the '60s he recorded with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:03YhcM6fxypfwckPCQV8pQ">Wes Montgomery</a> and trombonist <a href="spotify:artist:1JrZuQYlOzhNj1nvlB0Yys">Slide Hampton</a>, initiated a long-standing artistic relationship with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Lee Konitz</a>, and performed in duet with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6BvSJSt6l7QJO2GHvtwFOK">Hampton Hawes</a> backed by <a href="spotify:artist:3AMS24LJBwItCKdYcqydsH">Pierre Michelot</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7xwlN7fhoOwNgDmRTwYZOa">Kenny Clarke</a>. During the '70s Solal recorded as a soloist at various locales including Villingen, Germany, and Warsaw, Poland; in duets with <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Konitz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6AfbDYupHV5e6nse9W6tKG">Stéphane Grappelli</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:63ZJSdxmTX5wWRMoS1C5ph">Joachim Kühn</a>, and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen</a>; in trios with <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Pedersen</a>, Rovère, <a href="spotify:artist:5QUK81XDOagSPqOWMZoJJs">Jean-François Jenny-Clark</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5khCKDGtTIZreUFp0gayVL">Humair</a>; in quartets with <a href="spotify:artist:4YNvbaOaqp5pzC5US5t48k">Konitz</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:673nUEedXxOIdNlPvxXLiM">Pedersen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1bqaQBqbqbEXPxLF0v6AAH">Dave Holland</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:14RXohtx6NiBGFTW8IdmAK">John Scofield</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7rDjbKTLlpNYJRWMm7QVxU">Jack DeJohnette</a>; and with a band led by <a href="spotify:artist:11UvVuvsaBfkGXkOAv1U0L">George Gruntz</a>. During the '80s Solal led a 25-piece big band, appeared live at New York's Town Hall with an ensemble led by <a href="spotify:artist:5khCKDGtTIZreUFp0gayVL">Daniel Humair</a>, and continued to record as a soloist. Solal's two piano concerti, composed during the '80s, were recorded in 1989. A resurgence of activity occurred during the '90s, as he teamed up with pianists <a href="spotify:artist:5Pj7u76MK9VDyzDiAyYPSL">Katia</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4Xo09YXm0lIRA80IVUTe09">Marielle Labèque</a> and engaged in creative duets with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:63ZJSdxmTX5wWRMoS1C5ph">Joachim Kühn</a>, violinist <a href="spotify:artist:2AMQef1KyMP3l0egtvSyR2">Didier Lockwood</a>, mouth organist <a href="spotify:artist:0KyolDFb1RjJQb4qXZKCqo">Toots Thielemans</a>, trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:0k19laa5ZIamAJUqgL8vOe">Eric Le Lann</a>, and tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:52cM6vrM4MJ8g4H7Ibo5fZ">Johnny Griffin</a>. Solal's trios now involved bassists <a href="spotify:artist:3AT9157jK9F2gMSViMdRUH">Marc Johnson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2k1Qcdf3sOJYCNZEPus58Y">Gary Peacock</a>, drummers <a href="spotify:artist:4VIPZJwfn4EGbJxYVHJ0WX">Paul Motian</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3Bm6MhzPUczH3Pej2FNqGi">Peter Erskine</a>. He also made an album with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:7rrlGOFMo4ERCTSBsWVxEP">Mads Vinding</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5khCKDGtTIZreUFp0gayVL">Daniel Humair</a> backed by <a href="spotify:artist:5OloY2HCvl49xpl7S410rg">the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra</a>. Martial Solal inaugurated the 21st century by composing music for Les Acteurs, a film directed by Bertrand Blier, and remained active in the recording studios. In one setting, Solal's quartet was augmented by an orchestra conducted by <a href="spotify:artist:5gUCQvmRAPWBO9Qg2NnbAs">Patrice Caratini</a>. Solal's 12-piece "Dodecaband" interpreted an album's worth of <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Ellington</a> tunes and his "Une Piece Pour Quatre" was included with compositions by <a href="spotify:artist:6G4hVmXKJ9NW5JecncK89f">Phil Woods</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:30Mx3ZadPgGZTcs38FvYP8">Paquito d'Rivera</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4FGcIXWQF5RBWugYuxcpxQ">Aldemaro Romero</a> in an album by the Accademia Saxophone Quartet. In 2007, Solal released Exposition Sans Tableau featuring a scaled-down "Newdecaband" that included vocalizations by his daughter Claudia Solal. Also around this time, he collaborated with clarinetist <a href="spotify:artist:73xPAo16RiiVu6X90p7UVb">Rolf Kuhn</a> and with trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3SQrLX0O6RbBjmSIkwCgJb">Dave Douglas</a>. He then delivered the trio album Longitude with brothers Louis and <a href="spotify:artist:7rOP6AtMakDvwh3fQXXBOp">François Moutin</a>. A concert album, Live at the Village Vanguard, followed in 2009. In 2016, Solal joined fellow French pianist Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua for Martial Solal: Works for Piano and Two Pianos. The following year, he and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:429bUEZe2Hq5QJvO2CmhLn">David Liebman</a> released the duo album Masters in Bordeaux, followed by the solo outing My One and Only Love: Live at Theater Gütersloh in 2018. ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi

Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel was one of the top jazz guitarists and chanson singers in France. A prolific recording artist, Distel recorded more than 200 tunes including his biggest hit, "Scoubidou," in 1958. In addition to appearing in several French films, he became one of France's most popular television actors. Distel inherited his love of music from his mother, who played piano, and an uncle, Ray Ventura, who was a renowned bandleader and composer. Trained by Henry Salvador, guitarist/singer for Ventura's orchestra, Distel was a featured soloist with his school orchestra by the age of 13. He established his early reputation as accompanist for French vocalist Juliette Gréco. Following a stint in the French military, he spent an extended period in New York, haunting jazz clubs in Manhattan and Harlem. Returning to France, Distel launched his solo career. The success that he enjoyed during the '60s and '70s was offset by a series of setbacks in the '80s. After struggling psychologically following a mid-'80s car crash, in which a colleague was seriously hurt, Distel was diagnosed with cancer and forced to undergo chemotherapy. Distel's compositions have been covered by a lengthy list of international artists including Archie Shepp, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Billy Eckstine, Bobby Hackett, Shirley Horn, and Bireli Lagrene. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 71. ~ Craig Harris

Piero Piccioni

Piero Piccioni

There are few World film composers that can boast the prolificacy of Piero Piccioni. Since the early 1950s Piccioni has been a truly innovative composer of film music. In the 1950s he composed under the pseudonym of Piero Morgan, and since his first soundtrack Il Mondo Le Condanna of 1952, many directors sought Piero Piccioni to score the soundtracks for their films: Luchino Visconti, Bernardo Bertolucci, Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini, Elio Petri, Francesco Rosi, Mario Monicelli, Alberto Lattuada, Alberto Sordi, Luigi Comencini, Antonio Pietrangeli, Lina Wertmuller, Tinto Brass, Dino Risi, are just some of the great directors for whom he scored more than 300 wondrous soundtracks. Swept Away, <a href="spotify:album:12UkDz4OeTZcYeaCy3p6JS" data-name="Le Mani Sulla Città">Le Mani Sulla Città</a>, <a href="spotify:track:02xoswVvBiJFf76QTqncsF" data-name="Camille 2000">Camille 2000</a>, Colpo Rovente, The 10th Victim, <a href="spotify:track:29KwH2LEjfWEtiC2jCrLVw" data-name="Amore mio aiutami">Amore mio aiutami</a>, More Than a Miracle, The Light at the Edge of the World, Puppet on a Chain, Lucky Luciano, Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli, Anna Karenina, Finché c’è guerra c’è speranza, Viaggio con papà, Fumo di Londra, are just a few gems. With great versatility, Piccioni incorporates jazz, funk, fusion ,bossa, classical and contemporary 20th Century symphonic elements into his kaleidoscopic sounds which have been the lush sonic backdrop for everything from psychedelic, political, thriller, horror, romantic, comedy, western, classic novel adaptations, mythological, historic and epic film productions of the golden age of Italian and International cinema spanning four decades. www.pieropiccioni.com

Alberto Baldan Bembo

Alberto Baldan Bembo

Alberto Baldan Bembo, also known as Bedan, Blue Marvin, Shorty Baldan, was an Italian multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer. Born in Milan but of Venetian origins, his father is called Sebastiano and his mother, Domenica, is a piano teacher. From 1959, Alberto Baldan Bembo was part of the I Menestrelli del Jazz band as a vibraphonist, organist and pianist, and in 1963 he was in <a href="spotify:artist:12BN6qzA0M1QhjQkXHf2Yi" data-name="Bruno De Filippi">Bruno De Filippi</a>&#39;s ensemble. He was an appreciated session player, and for several years he was also the pianist and oranges of the group that accompanied <a href="spotify:artist:3HL1CyOnDLFJo1Rr8YBlKy" data-name="Mina">Mina</a> during her concerts. Alberto Baldan Bembo conducted the orchestra in the 1970 and 1972 editions of the Sanremo Festival, and he arranged the 1985 song ”E Tutti I Cats Miao”, performed in the same year by the actor and singer <a href="spotify:artist:0Vpc9U901a3N6h6SGe6Mhq" data-name="Lino Toffolo">Lino Toffolo</a>. Photo: Alberto Baldan Bembo (last on the right) during the recording of the album Summit-Reunion Cumbre, by <a href="spotify:artist:6l40OFJhuTbHQ9V12evc9K" data-name="Gerry Mulligan">Gerry Mulligan</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7dsugSamBB7enWE2IrlbFg" data-name="Astor Piazzolla">Astor Piazzolla</a> with Aldo Pagani (producer), <a href="spotify:artist:677NtrMPiyPumrSUs8lBKk" data-name="Tullio De Piscopo">Tullio De Piscopo</a>, Filippo Daccò, Angel Pocho Gatti, Pino Presti, Amelita Baltar, and Tony Paolillo (sound engineer)

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Known for his mariachi-inspired easy listening sound, trumpeter Herb Alpert is one of the most successful instrumental performers in pop history. He is also one of the entertainment industry's canniest businessmen, having co-founded A&M Records -- a label that ranks among the most prosperous artist-owned companies ever established -- with partner Jerry Moss. Emerging in the early '60s alongside his group, the Tijuana Brass, Alpert quickly established himself on the charts with Top Ten hits like the title track to 1962's The Lonely Bull and the Grammy-winning "A Taste of Honey" off 1965's Whipped Cream & Other Delights. Prior to landing his own hits, Alpert had already teamed with fellow future industry titan Lou Adler to co-write a number of singer Sam Cooke's most enduring hits, including "Wonderful World" and "Only Sixteen." They also produced tracks for the surf duo Jan & Dean. However, it was with the founding of A&M in 1962 that Alpert's career took off. Launched out of Alpert's garage, A&M grew to become the world's biggest independent label, showcasing artists like the Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, and Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66. Nevertheless, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass remained the label's flagship act, popularizing his Latin-influenced "Ameriachi" sound and scoring hits like "Spanish Flea" (off 1965's Going Places) as well as Alpert's classic 1968 vocal version of Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's in Love with You," which became his first number one hit single. Multiple Grammy Awards also followed, including two for 1967's "What Now My Love." As the sound of pop music evolved, so did Alpert's approach, as he embraced soft rock, disco, and R&B on 1979's Rise. From the '80s onwards, albums like 1983's Blow Your Own Horn, 1992's Midnight Sun (his last for A&M after selling the company), and 1997's Passion Dance showcased his continued love of jazz, adult contemporary pop, and Latin traditions. He has also branched out into other avenues, earning respect as an abstract painter and founding his own philanthropic Herb Alpert Foundation in support of youth arts and education. Although he has periodically taken time off from performing, Alpert remains a vital studio and live performer, often pairing with his wife, vocalist Lani Hall, for albums like 2011's I Feel You and 2016's Grammy-nominated Human Nature. Born March 31, 1935 in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, Alpert grew up in a family of Jewish heritage with parents who had immigrated to the United States from Ukraine and Romania. Although his father worked as a tailor, he was also a gifted mandolin player. Alpert's mother also taught violin lessons, and both Herb and his brother David (a drummer) were introduced to music at a young age. Alpert first started out taking trumpet lessons at age eight, and by his teens was playing in dance bands and experimenting with recording equipment. Graduating high school in 1952, he did a two-year stint with the Sixth Army Band, after which he enrolled at the University of Southern California. While there, he spent two years as a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band. It was during this period that he befriended Lou Adler, teaming with the budding lyricist and music impresario for a series of songs at Keen Records. Together, they scored several Top 20 hits, including Jan & Dean's "Baby Talk" and Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World." Working under the name Dore Alpert, the trumpeter also recorded his first album as a singer, issuing "Tell It to the Birds" on his and partner Jerry Moss' Carnival Records in 1960. Realizing the Carnival name was already in use, Alpert and Moss renamed their label A&M. In 1962, Alpert released The Lonely Bull, his first album billed under the Tijuana Brass. Recorded cheaply in Alpert's garage as well as at Conway Recording Studio in Hollywood with members of the Wrecking Crew, the album found him experimenting with overdubbing his trumpet lines to create a full brass band sound. The album's title track, a song written by collaborator Sol Lake and purportedly inspired by Alpert's experience seeing a bullfight in Mexico, became a number six U.S. hit. Following 1963's Volume 2, Alpert scored his first Top Ten hit album with 1964's South of the Border, a further collection of mariachi-influenced arrangements and pop covers by the Beatles, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and others. Released in 1965, Whipped Cream & Other Delights found Alpert and the Tijuana Brass moving away from their early Mexican-themed sound and more fully embracing an easy listening vibe, and included the singles "A Taste of Honey," "Whipped Cream," and "Lollipops and Roses." Largely considered the group's most popular and recognizable album, it sold over six million copies in the U.S., and hit number one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. Arriving the following year, What Now My Love also fared well, remaining at number one for nine weeks. More number one albums followed for Alpert, including 1966's S.R.O., 1967's Sounds Like, and 1967's Herb Alpert's Ninth. In 1968, Alpert scored his first number one single (and the first number one for A&M) with a rare vocal turn on a rendition of Burt Bacharach's romantically laid-back anthem "This Guy's in Love with You." Included on the album Beat of the Brass, the song remained on top of the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for four weeks. The album also hit number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, becoming Alpert's fifth and final number one LP. Warm followed a year later, and featured an even more languid, Brazilian-influenced sound. It would be the Tijuana Brass' last album to crack the Top 40. As A&M continued to thrive throughout the early '70s, Alpert shifted his focus somewhat from making his own music to his label duties. In 1973, he also wed former Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 singer Lani Hall. Nonetheless, he regularly recorded, issuing albums like 1974's Quincy Jones-arranged You Smile, the Song Begins, 1975's Coney Island, and 1976's Just You and Me. He also paired with famed South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela on 1978's Main Event Live. In 1979, Alpert issued Rise, which found him embracing a sophisticated jazz, funk, and disco-influenced sound. One of his earliest albums co-produced with nephew Randy "Badazz" Alpert, it reached the Top Ten, largely buoyed by the hit title track. Alpert's 1980 album, Beyond, was also a Top 40 success. It was followed by 1982's Fandango and 1985's Wild Romance, both of which found him further embracing a smooth crossover sound. Released in 1987, Keep Your Eye on Me included the Top Five single "Diamonds," which featured a guest vocal from Janet Jackson, one of A&M's major successes of the decade. In 1986, Alpert also established the Herb Alpert Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to establishing educational, arts, and environmental programs for children. Following the sale of A&M to PolyGram in 1990 for a sum in excess of $500 million, Alpert and Moss founded Almo Sounds in 1994. Among the artists they signed were luminaries including Garbage, Gillian Welch, and Imogen Heap. Alpert issued 1991's North on South Street and 1992's Midnight Sun as his final A&M albums before moving to Almo Sounds. There, he released 1997's Passion Dance and 1999's Colors. Also during this period, he branched out into artistic venues, exhibiting his abstract expressionist paintings and co-producing a number of Broadway successes, including Angels in America and Jelly's Last Jam. In 2007, Alpert and Lani Hall began touring regularly and recording together, releasing 2009's Anything Goes and 2011's I Feel You. The albums found the duo touching upon various aspects of their careers, including jazz standards, Brazilian and Latin music, pop songs, and reworkings of classic hits. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in 2012. In 2013, Alpert and Hall released the third of their albums together, Steppin' Out, which also featured keyboardist Jeff Lorber; the album won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album in January of 2014. Also that year, Alpert released the electronic dance-infused project In the Mood. The following year, he returned with yet another stylistically varied collection of originals and cover songs, Come Fly with Me. In 2016, Alpert delivered his third album of electronic-tinged tracks, Human Nature, which garnered him yet another Grammy nomination. He quickly returned with 2017's Music, Vol. 1, recorded with producer Jochem van der Saag (Andrea Bocelli, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé). Along with originals, the album featured reworkings of the Beatles' "Michelle" and John Lennon's "Imagine." The holiday-themed The Christmas Wish also arrived in 2017, followed a year later by Music, Vol. 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines the Tijuana Brass. ~ Matt Collar

Nina Simone

Nina Simone

Nina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic. Simone was a singer, pianist, and songwriter who bent genres to her will rather than allowing herself to be confined by their boundaries; her work swung back and forth between jazz, blues, soul, classical, R&B, pop, gospel, and world music, with passion, emotional honesty, and a strong grasp of technique as the constants of her musical career. Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina on February 21, 1933. Her mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a Methodist minister, and her father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who moonlighted as a preacher. Eunice displayed a precocious musical talent at the age of three when she started picking out tunes on the family's piano, and a few years later she was playing piano at her mother's Sunday church services. Mary Kate worked part time as a housemaid, and when her employers heard Eunice play, they arranged for her to study with pianist Muriel Mazzanovich, who tutored Eunice in the classics, focusing on Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, and Schubert. After graduating at the top of her high school class, Eunice received a grant to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and applied for enrollment at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. However, Eunice was denied admission at the Curtis Institute under mysterious circumstances, despite what was said to be a stellar audition performance; she would insist that her race was the key reason she was rejected. Determined to support herself as a musician, Eunice applied for a job playing piano at the Midtown Bar & Grill in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1954. Eunice was told she would have to sing as well as play jazz standards and hits of the day. While she had no experience as a vocalist, Eunice faked it well enough to get the job, and she adopted the stage name Nina Simone -- Nina from a pet name her boyfriend used, and Simone from the French film star Simone Signoret. The newly christened Nina Simone was a quick study as a singer, and her unique mixture of jazz, blues, and the classics soon earned her a loyal audience. Within a few years, Simone was a headliner at nightclubs all along the East Coast, and in 1957 she came to the attention of Syd Nathan, the mercurial owner of the influential blues and country label King Records. Nathan offered Simone a contract with his jazz subsidiary, Bethlehem Records, and the two were soon butting heads as the strong-willed Simone insisted on choosing her own material. Simone won out, and in 1958, she enjoyed a major hit with her interpretation of "I Loves You Porgy" from Porgy and Bess. The single rose to the Top 20 of the pop charts, but like many of Nathan's signings, Simone did not see eye to eye with him about business details (particularly after she discovered she'd signed away her right to royalties upon receiving her advance), and by 1959 she had signed a new deal with Colpix Records. Simone's reputation as a powerful live performer had only grown by this time, and her second album for Colpix was the first of many live recordings she would release, Nina Simone at Town Hall. Simone's live performances gave her more room to show off her classical piano influences, and her albums for Colpix reflected an intelligent taste in standards, pop songs, and supper club blues, and while she didn't enjoy another American hit on the level of "I Loves You Porgy," her recordings of "Trouble in Mind" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" both entered the pop charts as singles. (Simone's 7" releases for Colpix were later compiled into a collection from Rhino Records, 2018's The Colpix Singles.) In 1964, Simone left Colpix to sign a new deal with Philips, and the move coincided with a shift in the themes of her music. While always conscious of the ongoing struggle for civil rights, Simone often avoided explicit political messages in her material; as she later wrote, "How can you take the memory of a man like Medgar Evers and reduce all that he was to three-and-a-half minutes and a simple tune?" But as the fight for racial equality became a more pressing issue in America, Simone began addressing issues of social justice in her music, penning songs such as "Mississippi Goddam," "Four Women," and "Young, Gifted and Black," the latter inspired by the work of her friend and mentor Lorraine Hansberry. Simone also enjoyed a British hit single in 1964 with "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," and while the record didn't fare as well in the United States, a year later the Animals would take the song to the pop charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Simone would next hit the British charts with her cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You," which also rose to the Top 30 in the States. In 1967, after recording seven albums for Philips, Simone struck a new deal with RCA Records, and while her first album for her new label, Nina Simone Sings the Blues, was a straightforward collection of blues standards, her subsequent work for RCA found Simone focusing on contemporary pop, rock, and soul material, much of which dealt with topical themes and progressive philosophies (1969's To Love Somebody featured no fewer than three Bob Dylan tunes). Simone's 1968 cover of "Ain't Got No/I Got Life" (from the musical Hair) was a major chart hit in the U.K., and Simone would focus her energies on her European career when she left the United States in 1970, initially settling in Barbados and divorcing her husband and manager. Simone's exile was prompted by her increasing disillusionment with American politics, as well as her refusal to pay income taxes as a protest against U.S. involvement in Vietnam, though recording sessions and concert dates would occasionally bring her back to the United States. In 1974, Simone released her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, and spent the next several years traveling the world and playing occasional concerts; she would not return to the recording studio until 1978, when she recorded the album Baltimore at a studio in Belgium for Creed Taylor's CTI label. (That same year, Simone was arrested and charged for her non-payment of taxes from 1971 to 1973.) It would be another four years until Simone would record again, cutting Fodder on My Wings for a Swiss label in 1982. After several more years of travel, Simone released a live album through the American VPI label, 1985's Live & Kickin, and another concert set, Let It Be Me, was issued by Verve in 1987, a year that saw Simone enjoying a major career resurgence in Europe; her 1959 recording of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" was used in a British television commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume, and the song subsequently became a hit, rising to the Top Ten of the U.K. pop charts. In 1989, Simone was invited by Pete Townshend to sing the song "Fast Food" on his concept album The Iron Man, which also featured John Lee Hooker. Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You was published in 1990, and after a well-received United States concert tour, she was signed by Elektra Records, which released the album A Single Woman in 1993. In 1995, Simone found herself in the news after she fired a gun at one of her neighbors during an argument; she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which was said to be the cause of several episodes of erratic behavior in her later years. Simone continued to perform live in Europe and the United States up until the summer of 2002, when it was discovered she had breast cancer. Simone's battle with the disease came to an end on April 21, 2003 in Carry-le-Rouet, France. Only a few days earlier, Simone had received an honorary degree from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, the same school that had rejected her in 1953. ~ Mark Deming

Nicolás Ospina

Nicolás Ospina

Nicolás es uno de los más versátiles y reconocidos músicos de la actual escena en Colombia. Es pianista, compositor, arreglista, productor y cantante. Tiene dos producciones discográficas a su nombre: Entre espacios (2008) y Girando para atrás (2015). La primera de jazz instrumental y la segunda de canciones de su autoría; producción que ha presentado en Buenos Aires, Lima, Barcelona, Nueva York, Melbourne y Camberra. Nicolás ha tocado y a trabajado como arreglista y productor con diferentes artistas y agrupaciones como: Fonseca, Marta Gómez, Claudia Gómez, Kaze O, Antonio y Tico Arnedo, Alé Kuma, la Filarmónica de Bogotá, Aterciopelados, Herencia de Timbiquí, Ivan Benavides y la compañía de teatro musical MISI. Paralelamente a su proyecto de cantautor, trabaja con su hermano Juan Andrés Ospina en el dúo cómico musical “Inténtalo Carito”. Juntos compusieron la canción “Qué difícil es hablar el español”, la cual se convirtió en un fenómeno en redes sociales y hoy en día su canal de youtube cuenta con más de 24 millones de visitas. Con este dúo se ha presentado en diferentes escenarios en Colombia, España, Estados Unidos y Australia. También ha sido docente en la Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), la Universidad INNCA (Bogotá, Colombia), la Pontificia universidad Javeriana y la EMC de Buenos Aires (Argentina). Así mismo ha dictado talleres de canto con armónicos en diferentes lugares como Porto, Sao Paulo, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Medellín y Nueva York.

Stacey Kent

Stacey Kent

Stacey Kent is a singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans worldwide, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million, Gold, Double-Gold and Platinum-selling albums that have reached a series of No. 1 chart positions during the span of her career. In 2022, she released an EP, Christmas In The Rockies, and an album with pianist Art Hirahara called Songs From Other Places for which Stacey also won &#39;Best Vocal Performance&#39; at the Jazz Music Awards in Atlanta, GA. Her previous release, “I Know I Dream”, SONY) has had more than 40 million streams, received a coveted 5* review in Downbeat, won ‘Album of the Year” in the vocal category at the 2017 Jazz Japan Awards, and was described by All About Jazz as “intoxicating understatement at its finest...one more jewel in a discography with many, it&#39;s one that deserves singling out for its luster.” Kent travelled to Europe after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY, through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson. With 11 studio albums, including the Platinum-selling, GRAMMY-nominated &#39;Breakfast On The Morning Tram&#39; (EMI/BLUE NOTE 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages in nearly 60 countries over the course of her career.

Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Norah Jones first emerged on the world stage with the 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described “moody little record” that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Since then, Jones has become a nine-time GRAMMY-winner, sold more than 52 million albums, and her songs have been streamed ten billion times worldwide. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020), the live album ‘Til We Meet Again (2021), her holiday album I Dream Of Christmas (2021), and Visions (2024)—as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies, El Madmo, and Puss N Boots featuring Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper. The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones showcased her incredible versatility by collecting her collaborations with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Foo Fighters, Outkast, and Herbie Hancock. In 2022, Jones launched her podcast Norah Jones Is Playing Along which features candid conversations and impromptu musical collaborations with some of her favorite musicians.

Frank Sark

Frank Sark

Rosa Cecilia

Rosa Cecilia

bad at bios- listen to my music to get to know me 🇨🇱🇬🇧🇮🇹

London Paris New York Lounge

London Paris New York Lounge

London Paris New York Lounge

Hank Williams

Hank Williams

Hank Williams is the father of contemporary country music. He was a superstar by the age of 25; he was dead at the age of 29. In those four short years, he established the rules for all the country performers who followed him and, in the process, much of popular music. Hank wrote a body of songs that became popular classics, and his direct, emotional lyrics and vocals became the standard for most popular performers. He lived a life as troubled and reckless as that depicted in his songs. Hiram King Williams was born in Mount Olive, AL, on September 17, 1923. When he was eight years old, he was given a guitar by his mother. His musical education was provided by a local blues street singer, Rufus Payne, who was called Tee Tot. From Tee Tot, Williams learned how to play the guitar and sing the blues, which would come to provide a strong undercurrent in his songwriting. Williams began performing around the Georgiana and Greenville areas of Alabama in his early teens. His mother moved the family to Montgomery, AL, in 1937, where she opened a boarding house. In Montgomery, he formed a band called the Drifting Cowboys and landed a regular spot on a local radio station, WSFA, in 1941. During his shows, Williams would sing songs from his idol, Roy Acuff, as well as several other country hits of the day. WSFA dubbed him "the Singing Kid" and Williams stayed with the station for the rest of the decade. Williams met Audrey Mae Sheppard, a farm girl from Banks, AL, in 1943 while he was playing a medicine show. The following year, the couple married and moved into Lilly's boarding house. Audrey became Williams' manager just before the marriage. By 1946, he was a local celebrity, but he was unable to make much headway nationally. That year, Hank and Audrey visited Nashville with the intent of meeting songwriter/music publisher Fred Rose, one of the heads of Acuff-Rose Publishing. Rose liked Williams' songs and asked him to record two sessions for Sterling Records, which resulted in two singles. Both of the singles -- "Never Again" in December 1946 and "Honky Tonkin'" in February 1947 -- were successful and Williams signed a contract with MGM Records early in 1947. Rose became the singer's manager and record producer. "Move It on Over," released later in 1947, became Hank's first single for MGM. It was an immediate hit, climbing into the country Top Five. By the summer of 1948, he had joined The Louisiana Hayride, appearing both on its tours and radio programs. "Honky Tonkin'" was released in 1948, followed by "I'm a Long Gone Daddy." While neither song was as successful as "Move It on Over," they were popular, with the latter peaking in the Top Ten. Early in 1949, he recorded "Lovesick Blues," a Tin Pan Alley song initially recorded by Emmett Miller and made popular by Rex Griffin. The single became a huge hit upon its release in the spring of 1949, staying at number one for 16 weeks and crossing over into the pop Top 25. Williams sang the song at the Grand Ole Opry, where he performed an unprecedented six encores. He had become a star. Hank and Audrey Williams had their first child, Randall Hank, in the spring of 1949. Also in the spring, Hank assembled the most famous edition of the Drifting Cowboys, featuring guitarist Bob McNett, bassist Hillous Butrum, fiddler Jerry Rivers, and steel guitarist Don Helms. Soon, he and the band were earning $1,000 per concert while selling out shows across the country. Williams had no fewer than seven hits in 1949 after the success of "Lovesick Blues," including the Top Five smashes "Wedding Bells," "Mind Your Own Business," "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)," and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It." A string of additional singles followed in 1950, including the number one hits "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," "Why Don't You Love Me," and "Moanin' the Blues," as well as the Top Ten hits "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin'," "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy," "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me," "Why Should We Try," and "Nobody's Lonesome for Me." That same year, Williams began recording a series of spiritual records under the name Luke the Drifter. Williams continued to rack up hits in 1951, beginning with the Top Ten hit "Dear John" and its number one flip side, "Cold, Cold Heart." That same year, pop vocalist Tony Bennett recorded his own version of "Cold, Cold Heart" to popular acclaim, leading to a stream of covers from such mainstream artists as Jo Stafford, Guy Mitchell, Frankie Laine, Teresa Brewer, and several others. Williams had also begun to experience the fruits of crossover success, appearing on the Perry Como television show and joining a package tour that also featured Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Minny Pearl. In addition to "Dear John" and "Cold, Cold Heart," Williams had several other hits in 1951, including the number one song "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "Howlin' at the Moon," "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)," "Crazy Heart," "Lonesome Whistle," and "Baby, We're Really in Love," which all charted in the Top Ten. Though his professional career was soaring, Hank's personal life was beginning to spin out of control. He had suffered a mild drinking problem before becoming a star, but it had been more or less controlled during his first few years of fame. However, as he began to earn large amounts of money and spend long times away from home, he began to drink frequently. Furthermore, Hank's marriage to Audrey was deteriorating. Not only were they fighting, resulting in occasional separations, but Audrey was trying to create her own recording career without any success. In the fall of 1951, Hank was on a hunting trip on his Tennessee farm when he tripped and fell, re-activating a dormant back injury. Williams began taking morphine and other painkillers for his back and quickly became addicted. In January of 1952, Hank and Audrey separated for a final time and he headed back to Montgomery to live with his mother. The move had little effect on his music career, however, with "Honky Tonk Blues" peaking at number two during the spring. In fact, he released five additional singles in 1952 -- "Half as Much," "Jambalaya," "Settin' the Woods on Fire," "You Win Again," and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" -- all of which charted in the Top Ten. In spite of such success, Hank turned completely reckless in 1952, spending nearly all of his waking hours drunk and taking drugs. He also frequently destroyed property and played with guns. Williams left his mother in early spring, moving in with Ray Price in Nashville. In May, Audrey and Hank were officially divorced. She was awarded the house and their child, as well as half of his future royalties. Williams continued to play a large number of concerts, but he was always drunk during the show, and he sometimes missed the gig altogether. In August, the Grand Ole Opry fired Williams for that very reason, explaining that he could return once he was sober. Instead of heeding the Opry's warning, the singer just sank deeper into his self-destructive behavior. Soon, his friends were leaving him, as the Drifting Cowboys began working with Price and Fred Rose no longer supported him. Williams was still playing The Louisiana Hayride, but he was performing with local pickup bands and began earning reduced wages. That fall, he met Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar, the 19-year-old daughter of a Louisiana policeman. By October, they were married. Hank also signed an agreement to support the baby -- who had yet to be delivered -- of one of his other girlfriends, Bobbie Jett, in October. By the end of the year, Williams was having heart problems and Toby Marshall, a con man doctor, was giving him various prescription drugs to help soothe the pain. Hank was scheduled to play a concert in Canton, OH, on January 1, 1953. He was scheduled to fly out of Knoxville, TN, on New Year's Eve, but the weather was so bad that he had to hire a chauffeur to drive him to Ohio in his new Cadillac. Before they left for Ohio, Williams was injected with two shots of vitamin B-12 and morphine by a doctor. Williams got into the backseat of the Cadillac (allegedly with a bottle of whiskey), and the teenage chauffeur headed out for Canton. When the driver was stopped for speeding, the policeman noticed that Hank looked like a dead man. Williams was taken to a West Virginia hospital and he was officially declared dead at 7:00 a.m. on January 1, 1953. He had died in the back of the Cadillac, on his way to a concert. Ironically, the last single released in his lifetime was "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." Hank was buried in Montgomery, AL, three days later. His funeral drew a record crowd, larger than any crowd since Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederacy in 1861. Dozens of country music stars attended, as did Audrey Williams, Billie Jean Jones, and Bobbie Jett, who happened to give birth to a daughter three days later. "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" reached number one immediately after his death, and it was followed by a number of hit records throughout 1953, including the number ones "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Kaw-Liga," and "Take These Chains From My Heart." After his death, MGM wanted to keep issuing Williams records, so they took some of his original demos and overdubbed bands onto the original recording. The first of these, "Weary Blues from Waitin'," was a hit, but the others weren't quite as successful. In 1961, Hank was one of the first inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Throughout the '60s, Williams' records were released in overdubbed versions featuring heavy strings, as well as reprocessed stereo. For years, these bastardized versions were the only records in print, and only in the '80s, when his music was released on compact disc, was his catalog restored to its original form. Even during those years when only overdubbed versions of his hits existed, Williams' impact never diminished. His songs have become classics, his recordings have stood the test of time, and his life story is legendary. It's easy to see why Hank Williams is considered by many as the defining figure of country music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Skeeter Davis

Skeeter Davis

Skeeter Davis never received much critical attention, but in the '50s and '60s, she recorded some of the most accessible crossover country music, occasionally skirting rock & roll. Born Mary Penick, Davis took her last name after forming a duo with Betty Jack Davis, the Davis Sisters. Their 1953 single "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" was a big country hit; its B-side, the remarkable "Rock-a-Bye Boogie," foreshadowed rockabilly. That same year, however, the duo's career was cut short by a tragic car accident in which Betty Jack was killed and Skeeter was severely injured. Skeeter did attempt to revive the Davis Sisters with Betty Jack's sister but was soon working as a solo artist. In the early '60s, Davis followed the heels of <a href="spotify:artist:4cPHsZM98sKzmV26wlwD2W">Brenda Lee</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7dNsHhGeGU5MV01r06O8gK">Patsy Cline</a> to become one of the first big-selling female country crossover acts, although her pop success was pretty short-lived. The weepy ballad "The End of the World," though, was a massive hit, reaching number two in 1963. "I Can't Stay Mad at You," a Top Ten hit the same year, was downright rock & roll; penned by <a href="spotify:artist:09KTuJGTA2nISzHxnmYzRv">Gerry Goffin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6">Carole King</a>, it sounded like (and was) an authentic Brill Building girl group-styled classic. <a href="spotify:artist:09KTuJGTA2nISzHxnmYzRv">Goffin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6">King</a> also wrote another successful girl group knockoff for her, "Let Me Get Close to You," although such efforts were the exception rather than the rule. Usually she sang sentimental, country-oriented tunes with enough pop hooks to catch the ears of a wider audience, such as "I Will." Davis concentrated on the country market after the early '60s, although she never seemed too comfortable limiting herself to the Nashville crowd. She recorded a <a href="spotify:artist:3wYyutjgII8LJVVOLrGI0D">Buddy Holly</a> tribute album in 1967, when <a href="spotify:artist:3wYyutjgII8LJVVOLrGI0D">Holly</a> wasn't a hot ticket with either the country or the rock audience. But she certainly didn't reject country conventions either: She performed on the Grand Ole Opry and recorded duets with <a href="spotify:artist:69wzuykaVXlRS5KVygESvd">Bobby Bare</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4PcLkq6IefIYiRWLXOfwKA">Porter Wagoner</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6G39Gakqv1r26pZzijSWti">George Hamilton IV</a>. In the 1980s, she had a mild comeback with the rock crowd after recording an album with <a href="spotify:artist:5PpcyAkdpuo9a08HiU6yfi">NRBQ</a>; she also married <a href="spotify:artist:5PpcyAkdpuo9a08HiU6yfi">NRBQ</a>'s bass player, Joey Spampinato. Davis passed away September 19, 2004 after a long struggle with cancer. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

Bertha Tillman

Bertha Tillman

Sade

Sade

Since debuting with the Top Ten U.K. hit "Your Love Is King" (1984), Sade have remained, across four ensuing decades of intermittent activity, shrewd synthesists of classic jazz, cutting-edge R&B, and mature pop. Although they're known most for stylishly seductive ballads, including the international hits "Smooth Operator" (1984), "The Sweetest Taboo" (1985), "No Ordinary Love" (1992), and "By Your Side" (2000), they've also recorded poignant songs regarding slavery, immigration, parenthood out of wedlock, and everyday struggles, often through Sade Adu's third-person narratives. From Diamond Life (1984) through Soldier of Love (2010), breaks between Sade albums have increased in duration from a year-and-a-half to a decade, but each return has been warmly greeted. All six of Sade's albums have entered the U.K. Top 20, placed within the U.S. Top Ten, and in both countries have achieved platinum status. Additionally, Sade are four-time Grammy winners, having invalidated the Best New Artist curse with subsequent wins for "No Ordinary Love," Lovers Rock, and "Soldier of Love." Seven years after the latter took the award for Best R&B Performance, they returned with contributions to the soundtracks of A Wrinkle in Time and Widows. Sade are named after singer and songwriter Helen Folasade Adu. Born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, Adu moved with her mother and brother to southeast England outside Colchester at the age of four. A lover of early-'70s soul, Adu tentatively became involved with music after enrolling at Saint Martin's School of Art to study fashion, when friends asked her to help with their group's vocals. After she finished her course work in 1981, she joined the band Pride and into 1983 toured the U.K. with the act. Their gigs eventually featured a mini-set during which Adu was granted the spotlight, backed by some of her bandmates on intimate jazz-inspired material. These segments, specifically "Smooth Operator" -- composed by Adu and the band's Ray St. John -- drew attention from label representatives. Adu was pursued as a solo act, but she signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> after demanding to bring along some of her partners in Pride: bassist Paul S. Denman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and saxophonist and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2OOsPeiMEpk3JKFqUT9OAN">Stuart Matthewman</a>. The London-based quartet made their recorded debut in February 1984 with the controlled yet expressive ballad "Your Love Is King," which soon entered the U.K. singles chart and the following month peaked at number six. Another single, the down-but-not-out soul anthem "When Am I Going to Make a Living," preceded the July release of the full-length Diamond Life. Produced by Robin Millar, the album was written primarily by Adu and <a href="spotify:artist:2OOsPeiMEpk3JKFqUT9OAN">Matthewman</a> in tandem, finished off with a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:7JLwBH0X2G8tgHceqvOu5B">Timmy Thomas</a>' 1972 hit "Why Can't We Live Together." Reinforced with the number 19 U.K. single "Smooth Operator," Diamond Life -- itself falling just short of the top spot on the U.K. albums chart -- became one of the biggest mid-'80s debuts. In the U.S., it was issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> subsidiary Portrait in early 1985 and reached number five that June, with "Smooth Operator" doing most of the heavy lifting as a crossover smash that climbed to number five on the pop and R&B charts and topped the adult contemporary chart. Diamond Life eventually went quadruple platinum in the U.K. and U.S. and earned sales certifications in several other territories. Sade continued to gradually refine and expand their cosmopolitan mix of jazz, R&B, and pop, and continuously decelerated their writing and recording process. Working again with Robin Millar, they started recording their second album around the time Diamond Life was distributed in the U.S., issuing it internationally that November as Promise. On its way to international multi-platinum success, Promise topped the U.K. and U.S. pop charts, led by "The Sweetest Taboo," which went Top 40 U.K. and peaked at number five in the U.S. the week after the band won Best New Artist at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards. Shortly thereafter, "Never as Good as the First Time" strengthened their hold on urban and adult contemporary radio. Despite a gap of nearly two-and-a-half years between full-lengths, Sade remained a major commercial force with third album Stronger Than Pride. This time, production was handled by the band with help from Mike Pela and Ben Rogan, established Sade associates who played comparatively minor roles beforehand. Carrying some of the band's airiest arrangements and deepest rhythms -- exemplified respectively by the title song and "Paradise," two of its four singles -- the album climbed to the third spot on the U.K. and U.S. charts. A longer studio-release break ensued and was broken in October 1992 with Love Deluxe, produced by the band with Pela. More electronic and atmospheric than the band's previous albums, it entered the Top Ten in the U.K. and missed the top of the U.S. chart by two slots. "Feel No Pain," "Kiss of Life," and the pulsing trip-hop precursor "Cherish the Day" all charted, but the LP's biggest single was easily its first, "No Ordinary Love" -- it hit number 14 in the U.K. and U.S. and won another Grammy award, this time for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The song had a lingering effect strong enough to keep the parent release on the Billboard 200 for almost two years. The band responded in kind with their longest hiatus to that point. In 1996, <a href="spotify:artist:2OOsPeiMEpk3JKFqUT9OAN">Matthewman</a> resurfaced as a co-writer and co-producer on Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, thereby beginning a lasting close association with the album's maverick namesake. Later that year, <a href="spotify:artist:2OOsPeiMEpk3JKFqUT9OAN">Matthewman</a>, Denman, and Hale released Sweetback, titled after the name of their new side project. Maxwell, <a href="spotify:artist:4hVcxmC7igpot32EzQf7IR">Amel Larrieux</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6ZcRUVs3I5U8EOnm9ZdCsO">Bahamadia</a> were among the guests on the album, a stylistic successor to Love Deluxe that went a little farther out with no concern for hitmaking. Toward the end of the decade, Sade reconvened to record their fifth album, Lovers Rock. Distinguished by some dubwise rhythms and a greater emphasis on <a href="spotify:artist:2OOsPeiMEpk3JKFqUT9OAN">Matthewman</a>'s acoustic guitar, the LP cracked the U.K. Top 20 and was yet another number three U.S. hit upon its November 2000 arrival, supported with "By Your Side" (number 17 U.K. pop, number 75 U.S. pop). The Recording Academy awarded it Best Pop Vocal Album at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. Following a customary album-promoting tour, the band appeased fans in February 2002 with Lovers Live. A second project from <a href="spotify:artist:7fJy3VGVUCNVGrVrI1nv6x">Sweetback</a>, Stage [2], followed two years later. In December 2009, "Soldier of Love" ended a period of silence during which Adu raised her daughter and was honored with an OBE (Order of the British Empire). The song's stark, swaggering theatricality made it feel like more of an event more than any other Sade re-entry. An album of the same title was released the following February, entering the U.K. chart at number four and the U.S. chart at the top. The song made the band Grammy winners for a fourth time, again taking the award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. A 2011 catalog release, The Ultimate Collection, summarized the band's discography and included a handful of previously unreleased songs. Seven years passed before Sade released new recordings, both of which were made for soundtracks: "Flower of the Universe" for <a href="spotify:artist:3xvaSlT4xsyk6lY1ESOspO">Disney</a>'s A Wrinkle in Time, and "The Big Unknown" for Widows. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

Donny Hathaway

Donny Hathaway

Known most for the festive holiday standard "This Christmas" and his duets with <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Roberta Flack</a>, Donny Hathaway was one of the brightest voices in soul music throughout the 1970s. Possessed of a smooth, gospel-inflected romantic croon that powered everything from love ballads to fiery protest material, Hathaway was an unequivocal multi-talent -- a masterful composer, arranger, and keyboardist -- and a riveting performer. The musician got his start in the late '60s, arranging <a href="spotify:artist:1b1N51wmSK0ckxFAMPSSHO">the Impressions</a>' "Choice of Colors" and co-writing songs for <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Flack</a>'s debut, among other supporting work. He emerged as an artist in his own right with the January 1970 chart debut of "The Ghetto," the lead single from his first album, Everything Is Everything. From that point on, through 1973, Hathaway was prolific, cutting Donny Hathaway, Live, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathway, the Come Back Charleston Blue soundtrack, and Extension of a Man. Most of these albums entered the upper reaches of the R&B chart, and they yielded eight more charting singles, most famously the Grammy-winning number five pop hit "Where Is the Love." Hathaway and <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Flack</a> scored a second gold single together in 1978 with the quiet storm classic "The Closer I Get to You," a number two pop hit. After Hathaway's tragic death in 1979, the second <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Flack</a>/Hathaway duets album was released and spawned a pair of additional Top Ten R&B hits with "You Are My Heaven" and "Back Together Again." The enduring popularity of "This Christmas" on streaming platforms resulted in Hathaway's first solo Top 40 placement in 2020, 50 years after the song's original release. Hathaway was born October 1, 1945, in Chicago, but moved to St. Louis when he was very young and began singing in church with his grandmother at the age of three. He also began playing piano at a young age, and by high school, he was impressive enough to win a full-ride fine arts scholarship to Howard University to study music in 1964. While in college, he performed with a cocktail jazz outfit called the Ric Powell Trio and wound up leaving school after three years to pursue job opportunities he was already being offered in the record industry. Hathaway first worked behind the scenes as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and session pianist/keyboardist. He supported the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:7nwUJBm0HE4ZxD3f5cy5ok">Aretha Franklin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0U2mUJuJkthantMGmsJygP">Jerry Butler</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7xGGqA85UIWX1GoTVM4itC">the Staple Singers</a>, among many others, and joined the Mayfield Singers, a studio backing group that supported <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Curtis Mayfield</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:1b1N51wmSK0ckxFAMPSSHO">Impressions</a>. Hathaway soon became a house producer at <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Mayfield</a>'s Curtom label, and in 1969 cut his first single, a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:4TJrpV9LLVZcfz7GN4gVCM">June Conquest</a> called "I Thank You Baby." From there he signed with Atco as a solo artist, and released his debut single, the inner-city lament "The Ghetto, Pt. 1," toward the end of the year. Although it stalled at number 23 on the R&B chart, "The Ghetto" still ranks as a classic soul message track and has been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. "The Ghetto" set the stage for Hathaway's acclaimed debut LP, Everything Is Everything, which was released in early 1970. That December, he issued the original holiday song "This Christmas," which, while it failed to chart apart from Billboard's short-lived Christmas Singles list, would become a staple in movies, television, advertising, and seasonal song collections for years to come. In 1971, he released his eponymous second album and recorded a duet with former Howard classmate <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Roberta Flack</a>, covering <a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6">Carole King</a>'s "You've Got a Friend." It was a significant hit, reaching the Top Ten on the R&B charts, and sparked a full album of duets, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, which was released in 1972. The soft, romantic ballad "Where Is the Love?" topped the R&B chart, went Top Five on the pop side, and won a Grammy, and the accompanying album went gold. Also in 1972, Hathaway branched out into soundtrack work, recording the theme song for the TV series Maude and scoring the film Come Back Charleston Blue. However, in the midst of his blossoming success, he was also battling severe bouts of depression, which occasionally required him to be hospitalized. His mood swings also affected his partnership with <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Flack</a>, which began to crumble in 1973. Hathaway released one more album that year, the ambitious Extension of a Man, and then retreated from the spotlight; over the next few years, he performed only in small clubs. In 1977, Hathaway patched things up with <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Flack</a> and temporarily left the hospital to record another duet, "The Closer I Get to You," for her Blue Lights in the Basement album. The song was a smash, becoming the pair's second R&B number one in 1978 and also climbing to number two on the pop chart. Sessions for a second album of duets were underway when, on January 13, 1979, Hathaway was found dead on the sidewalk below the 15th floor window of his room in New York's Essex House. The glass had been neatly removed from the window, and there were no signs of struggle, leading investigators to rule Hathaway's death a suicide; his friends were mystified, given that his career had just started to pick up again, and <a href="spotify:artist:0W498bDDNlJIrYMKXdpLHA">Flack</a> was devastated. Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway was released in 1980, and both of the completed duets -- "Back Together Again" and "You Are My Heaven" -- became posthumous hits. In 1990, Hathaway's daughter <a href="spotify:artist:0uNEy4544VZq2KOl7BsLuo">Lalah</a> launched a solo career. After Billboard recalibrated some of its charts to account for streaming, in December of 2020, "This Christmas" landed just inside the Top 40 of the Hot 100 for its debut on the chart. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was one of the U.K.'s flagship vocalists during the 2000s. While the British press and tabloids seemed to focus on her rowdy behavior and tragic end, fans and critics alike embraced her rugged charm, brash sense of humor, and distinctively soulful and jazzy vocals. Her platinum-selling, Mercury Prize-nominated album Frank (2003) elicited comparisons ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:1YzCsTRb22dQkh9lghPIrp">Billie Holiday</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1bgyxtWjZwA5PQlDsvs9b8">Sarah Vaughan</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:4ylR3zwA0zaapAu94fktwa">Macy Gray</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2Mu5NfyYm8n5iTomuKAEHl">Lauryn Hill</a>, introducing her unmistakable voice and deeply personal songwriting to the masses. However, it wasn't until 2006 that Winehouse truly landed on the global stage with her sophomore full-length, Back to Black. Teamed with producer <a href="spotify:artist:3hv9jJF3adDNsBSIQDqcjp">Mark Ronson</a>, she crafted a nostalgic, throwback sound heard on hit singles "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good." One of the best-selling albums in U.K. history, the set earned Winehouse a record-making five Grammy Awards in 2008. The album would be her last; she passed away in London on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27. Born to a taxi-driving father and a pharmacist mother, Winehouse grew up in the Southgate area of northern London. Her upbringing was filled with jazz. Many of the uncles on her mother's side were professional jazz musicians, and her paternal grandmother was romantically involved with British jazz legend <a href="spotify:artist:2vsL5bsgAVKdkb0wHeSy0x">Ronnie Scott</a> at one time. At home, she listened to and absorbed her parents' selection of greats: <a href="spotify:artist:32LHRiof0sa4taYew9i3Fa">Dinah Washington</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5V0MlUE1Bft0mbLlND7FJz">Ella Fitzgerald</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a>, among others. However, in her teens, she was drawn to the rebellious spirit of <a href="spotify:artist:0TImkz4nPqjegtVSMZnMRq">TLC</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7wqtxqI3eo7Gn1P7SpP6cQ">Salt-N-Pepa</a>, and other American R&B and hip-hop acts of the time. At the age of 16, after she had been expelled from London's Sylvia Young Theatre School, she caught her first break when pop singer <a href="spotify:artist:5OfPn2V9E04qhNiYHNvMJe">Tyler James</a>, a schoolmate and close friend, passed on her demo tape to his A&R representative, who was searching for a jazz vocalist. That opportunity led to her recording contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island+Records%22">Island Records</a>. By the end of 2003, when she was 20 years old, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island%22">Island</a> had released her debut album, Frank. With contributions from hip-hop producer/keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:0rlS0SzVFk8BoiAW0fGBbN">Salaam Remi</a>, Winehouse's amalgam of jazz, pop, soul, and hip-hop received rave reviews. The album was nominated for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize as well as two Brit Awards, and its lead single, "Stronger Than Me," won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song. Following Winehouse's debut, the accolades and inquiring interviews appeared concurrently in the press with her tempestuous public life. Several times she showed up to her club or TV performances too drunk to sing an entire set. In 2006, her management company finally suggested that she enter rehab for alcohol abuse, but instead, she dumped the company and transcribed the ordeal into the U.K. Top Ten hit "Rehab," the lead single for her second, critically acclaimed album, Back to Black. With evocative productions from <a href="spotify:artist:0rlS0SzVFk8BoiAW0fGBbN">Salaam Remi</a> and British DJ/multi-instrumentalist <a href="spotify:artist:3hv9jJF3adDNsBSIQDqcjp">Mark Ronson</a>, the album somewhat abandoned jazz, delving into the sounds of '50s/'60s-era girl group harmonies, rock & roll, and soul. The fanfare over the release was so great that it started to spill over onto U.S. shores; several rappers and DJs made their own remixes of various songs, not to mention covers by <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7Ln80lUS6He07XvHI8qqHH">the Arctic Monkeys</a>. One month after Winehouse won Best Female Artist at the Brit Awards in February 2007, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Universal%22">Universal</a> released Back to Black in the U.S. The LP charted higher than any other American debut by a British female recording artist before it, and it remained in the Top Ten for several months, selling a million copies by the end of that summer. Just as in the U.K., she became the talk of the town, landing on the covers of Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. Not long afterward, though, Winehouse canceled her North American tour. Early reports revealed that she was entering rehab for addiction, but her new management denied the claims, stating it was due to severe exhaustion. Her erratic behavior kept her and her new husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, in the tabloids constantly, on and off stages on both sides of the Atlantic, but in late 2007, American fans were finally given a chance to hear Winehouse's early work, with a slightly abbreviated (two songs removed and one added) version of Frank. Unfortunately, the next four years were filled with drama, disappointment, and very little music. By 2009, her marriage had ended in divorce, she had repeatedly been arrested on assault charges and/or public order offenses, and her struggles with substance abuse and mental health issues were tragically played out in the press. Public performances turned into incoherent disasters, the worst of them posted to video-sharing sites for all to see. A track on the <a href="spotify:artist:3rxIQc9kWT6Ueg4BhnOwRK">Quincy Jones</a> tribute Q: Soul Bossa Nostra appeared in 2010, while a duet with <a href="spotify:artist:2lolQgalUvZDfp5vvVtTYV">Tony Bennett</a> was announced in early 2011, but a planned follow-up to Back to Black would never make it past the demo stage. Winehouse was found dead in her Camden, London apartment on July 23, 2011. The coroner's report, delivered three months later, revealed that her blood alcohol content had reached a potentially fatal level. Nearly two months after her death, Winehouse's first posthumous appearance was released on <a href="spotify:artist:2lolQgalUvZDfp5vvVtTYV">Tony Bennett</a>'s Duets II, where she sang with him on "Body and Soul." Near the end of 2011, her family's foundation announced the release of Lioness: Hidden Treasures, a posthumous compilation featuring recordings from throughout her career (although a few of the arrangements were recorded after her death). A year after Lioness came At the BBC, a deluxe CD/DVD set -- available both as a four-disc box and a smaller two-disc compilation -- rounding up all of her live performances for the British Broadcasting Company. In the summer of 2015, Amy, a documentary by director Asif Kapadia, told her story through photographs, archival footage (in the studio and out), and music. Much of this material had not been available previously. It also contained interviews with friends, family, musical collaborators, and the late singer. That October, a soundtrack was issued that alternated previously released and unreleased Winehouse material with pieces from the film's score. In 2021, another posthumous collection was released as a Record Store Day vinyl exclusive. Remixes collected rare cuts from throughout her career, including takes by <a href="spotify:artist:37uLId6Z5ZXCx19vuruvv5">Hot Chip</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:49GY4uPAwdlk5lSGtfKWYl">MJ Cole</a>, as well as guest verses by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:3nFkdlSjzX9mRTtwJOzDYB">Jay-Z</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a>. ~ Cyril Cordor & Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

Paul Anka

Paul Anka

One of the biggest teen idols of the late '50s, Paul Anka moved to the adult sphere several years later and became a successful performer, songwriter, music businessman, and recording artist, remaining so well into the new millennium. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1941 to parents of Lebanese Christian descent who owned a local restaurant, Anka proved a child prodigy, beginning his show business life at the age of 12 as an impressionist. By the age of 14, he was stealing the family car to drive to amateur singing contests in nearby Hull, Quebec, and writing his own songs. His first single, "I Confess," appeared on the Riviera subsidiary of Jules and Joe Bihari's RPM label. While on a trip to New York with a group of friends who sang as the Rover Boys, Anka gained an audition with ABC producer Don Costa, and sang his own composition, "Diana," an ode to a former babysitter. Costa liked what he heard, recorded the teenager, and watched as the single hit number one on both sides of the Atlantic later in 1957, eventually selling a reported ten million copies worldwide. Anka placed four songs in the Top 20 a year later, including "You Are My Destiny" and "Crazy Love," tempering the all-out rebellion of rock & roll with songs that questioned parental authority rather than promoting outright disobedience. He wrote one of Buddy Holly's last hits, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," and moved into movies with Let's Rock and Girls Town. The latter film spawned his biggest American hit, "Lonely Boy," just the first in a string of 1959 chart successes including "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," "It's Time to Cry," and "Puppy Love" (written for old flame Annette Funicello, and later a hit for Donny Osmond as well). By 1961, when the teen idol craze began to cool off, Anka (a millionaire while still a minor) could boast of the over 125 compositions under his belt, his own record label (Spanka), and the recognition of being behind the second-best-selling single of all time (only "White Christmas" had sold more copies than "Diana"). Instead of resting on his laurels, Anka took on the adult market. First, he groomed a solo act and got bookings into that haven for sophisticates, the Copacabana. Anka next moved to RCA and, in yet another shrewd business move, bought the rights to his old masters and made a fortune on reissues alone. He diversified his career by appearing in several more movie roles (including the 1962 drama The Longest Day, for which he provided the title song). One of the first pop singers to do shows in Las Vegas, he also hosted television variety shows like Hullabaloo, The Midnight Special, and Spotlite, and moved on to foreign audiences in Asia and Europe (where he found his wife, Parisian model Anne de Zogheb). He wrote the theme to The Tonight Show (aired every weeknight for almost 30 years), rewrote the French lyrics to the song "Comme d'Habitude" for one of Frank Sinatra's most famous later songs, "My Way," and also wrote Tom Jones' biggest hit, "She's a Lady." Anka also branched out in the recording studio, recording theme albums such as Excitement on Park Avenue and Strictly Nashville. Although he had hit the Top 40 only once since 1963, Anka stormed the number one slot in 1974 with "(You're) Having My Baby," a duet recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with his singing protégée, Odia Coates. The duo's next two singles, "One Man Woman/One Woman Man" and "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone," both hit the Top Ten (his 1974 LP Anka reached gold), and his 1975 solo single, "Times of Your Life," reached number seven. Anka charted into the early '80s, continuing his many casino and international appearances while recording sparingly but continually. Concert recordings and compilations constituted the bulk of his '80s and '90s discography, although he also entered the studio, most notably on the 2005 Verve date Rock Swings, a collection of contemporary standards. Its large success prompted a follow-up (of sorts), Classic Songs: My Way, from 2007, which included more contemporary standards as well as duets with Michael Bublé and Jon Bon Jovi. Anka returned in 2011 with an album of Christmas songs, Songs of December, backed by a full orchestra. In 2013, Anka delivered the album Duets as a tie-in to his autobiography, My Way. The album featured Anka alongside a bevy of duet partners including Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, Chris Botti, and others. ~ John Bush

Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose

Jack Conte & Nataly Dawn make music together and with their friends. Nous sommes Pomplamoose. Pomplamoose.com for merch, shows, music, videos etc. Gros bisous :*

Wasia Project

Wasia Project

the arguments are melting like the sand

Dennis van Aarssen

Dennis van Aarssen

Let&#39;s keep the great crooners alive! 🎙️ I’m a Dutch crooner, winner of the Voice of Holland in 2019, with two Edison Jazz Awards and gold status on my debut album, Forever You. Although I love the Great American Songbook, when it comes to recording and releasing music, I focus mainly on my original music as an independent songwriter. But you can find a lot of covers and standards too on my socials. We&#39;re currently raising funds to make my first cover album. You can help us make our crooner album, you can donate at gofundme.com/crooners

Laufey

Laufey

“As a musician, my goal is to bring jazz and classical music to my generation,” declares GRAMMY-winning composer, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Laufey. In 2022, the Icelandic-Chinese artist’s trailblazing approach paid off, with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! in support of her debut album Everything I Know About Love, sold out tours of North America, Asia, and Australia, and she was the most streamed jazz artist on Spotify. The Los Angeles-based Laufey (pronounced lāy-vāy) continued her story by writing and recording Bewitched, her second album. Inspired by jazz greats and classical masters while possessing a point of view that could only be conveyed by a 21st-century twentysomething, Bewitched represents an expansion of Laufey’s sonic palette. Tracks like the breezy bossa nova cut “From the Start” and the smoldering string-assisted ballad “Promise” have classic songcraft and intricate arrangements that make them feel instantly timeless, while Laufey’s conversational lyrics give her music a relatability to the next generation of jazz and classical aficionados. The album has gone on to break the record as the biggest debut for a jazz album on Spotify in history and earned a 2024 GRAMMY win for "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album." Laufey’s self-assured musicianship and deeply felt lyrics take the idea of “classic” music, whether it’s slotted as classical or jazz—or even chart-topping pop—and humanize it, creating a deep-seated connection.

Nastyona

Nastyona

Sway

The Millia Pink And Green

Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars

15x time GRAMMY Award winner Bruno Mars is one of the best-selling artists of all time. DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS marked the landmark debut of a remarkable new artist. The album – which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 – has gone on to achieve global album equivalent sales of 15.5 million. Now boasting more than 7.8 billion total streams, DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS is certified RIAA 6X platinum, the longest-charting debut album on Top 200 and #4 longest-running of all time. His most recent album, the critically acclaimed, 3x platinum-certified 24K MAGIC, made an impressive debut atop Billboard’s “Top Digital Albums” and “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” charts upon its 2016 arrival. The album includes the 7x platinum-certified, #1 single, “That’s What I Like” – Mars’ seventh “Hot 100” chart-topper and first-ever #1 on the “Hot R&B Songs” chart, affirming him as one of the few artists to have written and produced each of his #1 hits as well as to have a #1 song on the “Hot 100” from each of his first three studio albums. Among his truly countless accolades, Mars is a 4x Guinness World Record holder, with his milestone 2015 NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show drawing a record-breaking total viewership of over 115.3 million. Mars also holds the world record as the “First Male Artist to Achieve Three 10 Million Selling Singles”, while 2016’s 2x GRAMMY® Award-winning, worldwide #1 collaboration with Mark Ronson, “Uptown Funk,” made history for the “Most Weeks at #1 on the U.S. Digital Song Sales” chart.

Bruno Major

Bruno Major

Songsmith 🌙✨

DPR IAN

DPR IAN

Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, DPR IAN developed a fondness for music and performance at an early age. A childhood fascination with electronic duo Daft Punk&#39;s seminal 2001 album Discovery and the musical Cats gave him a keen awareness of the importance of visual presentation. As a teen, he taught himself the drums and started a heavy metal band, playing and writing songs by ear. He was later drawn to b-boying and breakdancing as a form of physical self-expression, skipping class to busk in downtown Sydney and documenting his freestyles on YouTube. His channel gave him an audience, and it even connected him with his future DPR collaborator and friend Hong Da-Bin (also known as DPR LIVE). After graduating from his performing arts school in 2008, he bought a one-way ticket to Seoul to pursue his dreams as a dancer. He debuted as the leader and rapper of K-pop group C-Clown in 2012, performing as Rome. His experience as an idol was short-lived and tumultuous — the unit disbanded in 2015 — but it did give him a better understanding of the industry. So when he synched back up with his friend Hong to discuss making something together, he knew that he wanted the next stage of his career to be rooted in creative freedom, authenticity, and community. That vision ultimately became DPR. "I want to make an impact or nothing at all," he says. "When I set out to do something, I want people to turn their heads and not look away."

keshi

keshi

xoxosos

Post Malone

Cantante, compositor, actor, guitarrista, rapero y productor discográfico estadounidense | Hip hop, trap, R&B, rock, pop pop rock, pop rap, cloud rap, rap rock, indie country (2011)

Diamond-certified American hitmaker Post Malone bridges the gap between the worlds of rap and the pop mainstream. Within five years of his debut, he went from underground genre novelty to certified superstar, amassing a string of Top Ten singles with a hybrid style that combined his unique vocal delivery, pained lyrics, and hip-hop production inspired as much by <a href="spotify:artist:6roFdX1y5BYSbp60OTJWMd">Tim McGraw</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:5K4W6rqBFWDnAN6FQUkS6x">Kanye West</a>. After the release of his 2015 quintuple-platinum single "White Iverson" from his debut, Stoney, he quickly ascended to the top of the pop mainstream in the late 2010s with a succession of multi-platinum hits that included chart-toppers "Rockstar" with <a href="spotify:artist:1URnnhqYAYcrqrcwql10ft">21 Savage</a> and "Psycho" with <a href="spotify:artist:7c0XG5cIJTrrAgEC3ULPiq">Ty Dolla $ign</a>, from 2018's Grammy-nominated Beerbongs & Bentleys, and one of the highest-certified singles in RIAA history, "Sunflower" with <a href="spotify:artist:1zNqQNIdeOUZHb8zbZRFMX">Swae Lee</a>, from 2019's pop-leaning Hollywood's Bleeding. After dialing things back with 2022's vulnerable Twelve Carat Toothache, he made a further push into guitar-based pop with 2023's Austin. In 2024, he made another pivot with his foray into country on his sixth album, F-1 Trillion, topping the Billboard 200 and country chart and picking up Grammy nominations in the process. Raised in Dallas, <a href="spotify:artist:5nVzVUSgihKjFRoPCjrhiG">Austin Post</a> loved a wide range of music from a young age and planned on joining a band thanks to the video game Guitar Hero. When his dad gave him a copy of <a href="spotify:artist:2BvzbqWWwLN11XGBYgDZzx">Terror Squad</a>'s hit "Lean Back," though, Post decided to become an MC. He hung out with the Dallas crew the IRAS until a move to the West Coast dropped him in Los Angeles. After putting some braids in his hair, he coined the term "White Iverson," and when he posted the track in early 2015, he hit a million views within a month. Post signed with the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Republic%22">Republic</a> label later that year. In 2016, he released the single "Go Flex" along with his official debut mixtape, August 26th. Months later, his first studio effort arrived. Stoney featured guests ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:1uNFoZAHBGtllmzznpCI3s">Justin Bieber</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:6oMuImdp5ZcFhWP0ESe6mG">Migos</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:0VRj0yCOv2FXJNP47XQnx5">Quavo</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:0cGUm45nv7Z6M6qdXYQGTX">Kehlani</a>, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 and later achieving multi-platinum certification. Following the success of his debut, Post issued the chart-topping singles "Rockstar" with <a href="spotify:artist:1URnnhqYAYcrqrcwql10ft">21 Savage</a> and "Psycho" with <a href="spotify:artist:7c0XG5cIJTrrAgEC3ULPiq">Ty Dolla $ign</a>, which reached a combined total of 13-times platinum. Those hit tracks landed on his sophomore follow-up, Beerbongs & Bentleys, which dealt with his rapid climb to fame and all its trappings. The set reached number one upon release and was later nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Along with producers <a href="spotify:artist:4hadtPX6kKntrnA87Zdy01">Scott Storch</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2HPaUgqeutzr3jx5a9WyDV">PartyNextDoor</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0KhTK3BxneP2FPtlwyp1MK">Louis Bell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5Nf5yishRW9Ye174sJISkg">London on da Track</a>, the dark, introspective affair also featured guest rappers <a href="spotify:artist:0hCNtLu0JehylgoiP8L4Gh">Nicki Minaj</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0A0FS04o6zMoto8OKPsDwY">YG</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:02kJSzxNuaWGqwubyUba0Z">G-Eazy</a>, as well as the additional radio hit "Better Now." In between official full-lengths, Post capitalized on his steady ascent in the mainstream, hopping onto the Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack with previous collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:1zNqQNIdeOUZHb8zbZRFMX">Swae Lee</a>. Their duet, "Sunflower," topped the charts across the globe and marked a slight pop-smart shift in Post's production (Within a few years, the song was certified over 50 times platinum around the world, becoming one of the biggest songs of the decade). "Wow," "Goodbyes" with <a href="spotify:artist:50co4Is1HCEo8bhOyUWKpn">Young Thug</a>, and "Circles" all followed, firmly planting him in the Hot 100's upper reaches for much of 2019. This quartet of hits all appeared on his third effort, Hollywood's Bleeding, which recruited guests <a href="spotify:artist:4r63FhuTkUYltbVAg5TQnk">Da Baby</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1RyvyyTE3xzB2ZywiAwp0i">Future</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:26VFTg2z8YR0cCuwLzESi2">Halsey</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:20sxb77xiYeusSH8cVdatc">Meek Mill</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5f7VJjfbwm532GiveGC0ZK">Lil Baby</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7tYKF4w9nC0nq9CsPZTHyP">SZA</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Y5tJX1MQlPlqiwlOH1tJY">Travis Scott</a>, and even <a href="spotify:artist:6ZLTlhejhndI4Rh53vYhrY">Ozzy Osbourne</a>. His second number one album, the set topped the Billboard 200 for at least five non-consecutive weeks, the most for any artist that year. While "Circles" became his fourth Hot 100 chart-topper at the close of the year, he received a pair of Grammy nominations for that other 2019 number one, "Sunflower," including Record of the Year. Post's 2020 output mainly consisted of guest appearances like <a href="spotify:artist:1MXZ0hsGic96dWRDKwAwdr">Tyla Yaweh</a>'s "Tommy Lee" and <a href="spotify:artist:0c173mlxpT3dSFRgMO8XPh">Big Sean</a>'s "Wolves." He returned to solo work in 2021 with a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:08ct2eZF5lUPdJpHwNKWof">Hootie & the Blowfish</a>'s "Only Wanna Be with You" for the Pokemon 25 album, and his own track, "Motley Crew." The following year, he released his fourth full-length effort, Twelve Carat Toothache, which featured guest spots from <a href="spotify:artist:5cj0lLjcoR7YOSnhnX0Po5">Doja Cat</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2tIP7SsRs7vjIcLrU85W8J">the Kid Laroi</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4EVpmkEwrLYEg6jIsiPMIb">Fleet Foxes</a>' Robin Pecknold. Dealing with the pressures and pitfalls of fame and fortune, the oft-dour set, which hit number two on the Billboard 200, included hit singles "Cooped Up" with <a href="spotify:artist:757aE44tKEUQEqRuT6GnEB">Roddy Ricch</a> and "One Right Now" with <a href="spotify:artist:1Xyo4u8uXC1ZmMpatF05PJ">the Weeknd</a>. Less than a year later, he issued the hits compilation The Diamond Collection before priming fans with the release of "Chemical," the pop-punk-leaning single from album number five. That set, Austin, fully realized the guitar-based influence that had always bubbled behind Post's most successful mainstream hits (and was on full display during his viral 2020 <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> tribute set). The album again returned him to number two on the Billboard 200. In March 2024, Malone shifted gears to film, making an uncredited appearance as an underground fighter the Jake Gyllenhaal-starring remake of Road House. However, that May he revealed an ever bigger move embracing a country music, a creative shift he heralded with the single "I Had Some Help," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:4oUHIQIBe0LHzYfvXNW4QM">Morgan Wallen</a>. The first track released off his heavily country-leaning sixth album, it cracked the Top 40 and reached number nine on the Country Airplay chart. The full-length F-1 Trillion arrived in August and featured guests such as <a href="spotify:artist:6roFdX1y5BYSbp60OTJWMd">Tim McGraw</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1UTPBmNbXNTittyMJrNkvw">Blake Shelton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:32vWCbZh0xZ4o9gkz4PsEU">Dolly Parton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:13YmWQJFwgZrd4bf5IjMY4">Brad Paisley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19k8AgwwTSxeaxkOuCQEJs">Jelly Roll</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:718COspgdWOnwOFpJHRZHS">Luke Combs</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YLtscXsxbVgi031ovDDdh">Chris Stapleton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1ZN1c1qWEGZNX1pGeKCPpf">Billy Strings</a>, and many more. Along with topping both the Billboard 200 and Country Albums charts, it also finished the year with two Grammy nominations, including for Best Country Album. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

Temachii

Temachii

LISTEN 2 MY ALBUMS please <3 Contact: [email protected]

Thomas LaRosa

Thomas LaRosa

i honestly have no idea what to put here but i’m sitting in a airport at 10pm on 2 hours of sleep and bored so i thought i’d write something

Matthew Ifield

Matthew Ifield

Hello I love creating music I hope you enjoy what I make :)

Jex Nwalor

Jex Nwalor

little strummer boy

🎷 Pop tradicional

Ley Soul

Ley Soul

I am a panda trapped in a human body

Ginger Root

Ginger Root

Under the moniker "Ginger Root", multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter Cameron Lew fronts a sound, self-proclaimed as: Aggressive elevator soul. Photos by Taylor Leach & David Gutel

Steve Lacy

Steve Lacy

Alternative R&B artist Steve Lacy is in a presumably small class of musicians who have co-produced a Grammy-nominated album while still in high school. Foremost a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer, the musician joined <a href="spotify:artist:7GN9PivdemQRKjDt4z5Zv8">the Internet</a> in 2014 and made his recorded debut on the band's Ego Death (2015), which the Recording Academy nominated for Best Contemporary Urban Album. Lacy has since worked on his bandmates' assorted solo releases and outside the group has become a highly sought-after collaborator across genres. <a href="spotify:artist:6l3HvQ5sa6mXTsMTB19rO5">J. Cole</a>'s "Foldin Clothes," <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>'s "PRIDE.," <a href="spotify:artist:4V8LLVI7PbaPR0K2TGSxFF">Tyler, The Creator</a>'s "911/Mr. Lonely," and <a href="spotify:artist:5BvJzeQpmsdsFp4HGUYUEx">Vampire Weekend</a>'s "Sunflower" were among the highlights added to his songbook through the tail-end of the 2010s. He has also released lazing, heartfelt solo material, including the EP-length "song series" Steve Lacy's Demo (2017), the Grammy-nominated full-length Apollo XXI (2019), and the Grammy-winning Top Ten follow-up Gemini Rights (2022). A native of Compton, California, Lacy became interested in the guitar while attending church. His mother obliged him by buying him his first instrument and lining up lessons. Befriended in high school jazz band by upperclassman Jameel Bruner, Lacy entered the orbit of <a href="spotify:artist:7GN9PivdemQRKjDt4z5Zv8">the Internet</a>, and in 2014 joined Bruner's band as they worked on their third studio LP. Using mobile device applications, he co-produced over half of the songs on Ego Death, released in June 2015. The album, which also featured Lacy's multi-instrumental work, entered the upper half of the Billboard 200 and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Urban Contemporary Album. During 2016, the year he finished high school, he began his self-termed "song series" with the funky, easygoing "C U Girl," and branched out with contributions to recordings by <a href="spotify:artist:6fxyWrfmjcbj5d12gXeiNV">Denzel Curry</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1U1el3k54VvEUzo3ybLPlM">Kali Uchis</a>, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:5ZS223C6JyBfXasXxrRqOk">Jhené Aiko</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0c173mlxpT3dSFRgMO8XPh">Big Sean</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6g8AmloI8egfrr3dm3SnUL">TWENTY88</a> project, and <a href="spotify:artist:6aaMZ3fcfLv4tEbmY7bjRM">Isaiah Rashad</a>. He also co-produced "Foldin Clothes" for <a href="spotify:artist:6l3HvQ5sa6mXTsMTB19rO5">J. Cole</a>'s Billboard 200-topping 4 Your Eyez Only. Lacy was even more active throughout the next few years. <a href="spotify:artist:7GN9PivdemQRKjDt4z5Zv8">Internet</a> bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:7ycsWk9ae4pTAlWH8j6Hf9">Matt Martians</a> and Syd released Lacy-assisted solo sets during the first couple months of 2017. During the same period, Lacy issued Steve Lacy's Demo on the independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%223qtr%22">3qtr</a> label. By the end of that year, he co-produced and was featured on <a href="spotify:artist:5XenQ7XfcvQdfIbpLEFaKQ">GoldLink</a>'s "Some Girl," and co-produced <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>'s Top 40 entry "PRIDE." (off the Grammy-winning DAMN.) and <a href="spotify:artist:4V8LLVI7PbaPR0K2TGSxFF">Tyler, The Creator</a>'s "911/Mr. Lonely" (off the Grammy-nominated Flower Boy). Early the following year, he produced and co-wrote the entirety of <a href="spotify:artist:5RTLRtXjbXI2lSXc6jxlAz">Ravyn Lenae</a>'s Crush EP and contributed to <a href="spotify:artist:4LLpKhyESsyAXpc4laK94U">Mac Miller</a>'s Top Five hit Swimming, <a href="spotify:artist:1U1el3k54VvEUzo3ybLPlM">Kali Uchis</a>' Isolation, and <a href="spotify:artist:6LEeAFiJF8OuPx747e1wxR">Blood Orange</a>'s Negro Swan. That July, <a href="spotify:artist:7GN9PivdemQRKjDt4z5Zv8">the Internet</a>'s Hive Mind arrived with Lacy handling a heavier load of the band's production, songwriting, and playing duties -- guitar, co-production, and co-writing on all tracks, plus some co-lead and background vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, and drums on others. He made high-profile appearances in early 2019 on <a href="spotify:artist:2auiVi8sUZo17dLy1HwrTU">Solange</a>'s When I Get Home and the <a href="spotify:artist:5BvJzeQpmsdsFp4HGUYUEx">Vampire Weekend</a> single "Sunflower." That May, shortly after he appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:7ycsWk9ae4pTAlWH8j6Hf9">Martians</a>' The Last Party, Lacy released Apollo XXI, his first solo LP. It landed on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a 2020 Grammy. Also that year, he released the non-album single "Live Without Your Love" with <a href="spotify:artist:05KDKIpxshxrB9BMewaCBW">Love Regenerator</a>. As a producer and featured artist, Lacy was one of the key contributors to <a href="spotify:artist:5RTLRtXjbXI2lSXc6jxlAz">Ravyn Lenae</a>'s Hypnos, issued in May 2022. Two months later, he hit number seven on the Billboard 200 with his second full-length, and first through major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a>, Gemini Rights. Written in response to a breakup, the album sported a richer sound with assistance from the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5BozIJTTNCufaZpjhy2der">DJ Dahi</a>, Ely Rise, <a href="spotify:artist:7FQiZr787umw7P5dO3zqld">John Carroll Kirby</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6trIghKwHRUyxwvm66HLHH">Fousheé</a>, Lacy's duet partner on "Sunshine." Gemini Rights was named Best Progressive R&B Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

SZA

SZA

SZA (Solána Imani Rowe) is a global icon reshaping the landscape of modern music. SZA has become a defining artist of her generation; born in St. Louis and raised in New Jersey. She first captured the world’s attention with her groundbreaking debut album Ctrl (2017), in which she earned acclaim for blending vulnerability with genre-blurring melodies. In 2022, her chart-topping sophomore album SOS pushed boundaries, and its deluxe edition, SOS Deluxe: LANA (2024), solidified her place among music’s greats with 15 new tracks showcasing her evolution. From Grammy wins to sold-out tours and iconic collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Doja Cat, and Travis Scott, SZA continues to inspire and connect deeply with fans worldwide through her music about love, self-discovery, and empowerment.

Chevy

Chevy

hi i&#39;m chevy! i love writing cute and cozy tunes that tell sincere stories ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶ whether its inspired by my latest favourite webtoon or my own personal experiences, i hope you can enjoy the music i share online ♡

Kali Uchis

Kali Uchis

Raised between Virginia and Colombia, Kali Uchis is a Grammy, Billboard Latin Music, Billboard Music, American Music, Premios Nuestra Tierra and Univision Premios Juventud award winner and Variety Hitmakers honoree. Alternating between English and Spanish-language projects with unparalleled fluidity, she has released several of the most lauded albums of the past decade: her breakout 2015 mixtape Por Vida, her massively acclaimed 2018 debut album Isolation, 2020’s Grammy-nominated Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞—featuring her smash hit “telepatía” which has been streamed more than 2 billion times to date and is the Billboard Hot 100’s longest running Spanish song by a solo act this decade with a 23-week streak—last year’s Red Moon In Venus and most recently Orquídeas, her critically acclaimed second Spanish-language LP. Kali has collaborated and shared stages with today’s biggest artists in both the English and Latin music spaces, toured the world over, selling out arenas and playing much-lauded sets at festivals including Tropicalia, Coachella, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and many others.

Chase Atlantic

Chase Atlantic

CHASEATLANTIC.COM

The Weeknd

The Weeknd

The Weeknd is the alias of alternative R&B enigma-turned-pop star Abel Tesfaye, whose aching accounts of emotionally and physically toxic indulgences have translated to multi-platinum sales and Grammy recognition. The singer and songwriter made his early-2010s breakthrough with morose ballads that seemed to have no designs on mainstream appeal. Within a few years, however, Tesfaye had scored Top Ten hits with an Ariana Grande duet ("Love Me Harder"), the lead single from a major motion picture ("Earned It"), and a retro-contemporary disco-funk single ("I Can't Feel My Face"), the last of which was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award despite its subject (cocaine). Tesfaye received early support from Drake and scored his first Top Ten R&B/hip-hop placement as the featured artist on the fellow Torontonian's "Crew Love," but he swiftly outgrew his status as a Drake affiliate with his own hits and a streak of appearances on high-profile tracks by Wiz Khalifa, Future, Beyoncé, and Lana Del Rey. Tesfaye debuted the Weeknd in late 2010 with three songs uploaded to YouTube. Made with producer Jeremy Rose, they served as a low-key prelude to three mixtapes self-released as free digital downloads the following year. First was with House of Balloons (March), where clear traces of radio-friendly contemporary R&B à la Trey Songz, Jeremih, the-Dream, and Drake were synthesized with the progressive left-of-center likes of Spacek and Sa-Ra. Recorded in collaboration with producers Doc McKinney and Illangelo, among others, the set garnered widespread coverage within days of its release. A similar second mixtape, Thursday (August), preceded several appearances on Drake's album Take Care. Featuring a cover of Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana," Echoes of Silence (December) completed the trilogy just before the end of the year. The following June, "Crew Love," off Take Care, reached the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. A few months later, Tesfaye was featured on another charting single, Wiz Khalifa's "Remember You." After Tesfaye signed with Universal Republic, the three Weeknd mixtapes were remastered and bundled with three new songs for Trilogy, issued in November 2012. Despite consisting of material previously available for free, the set debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The following April, Tesfaye won Juno Awards in the categories of Breakthrough Artist of the Year and R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. Trilogy was certified platinum by the RIAA the next month. Kiss Land, much darker in tone than its title implied, followed in September 2013 and debuted at number two. Out of its several singles, only "Live For," featuring Drake, touched the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Tesfaye had much more success with a series of non-album singles that followed. "Often," released in 2014, was a Top Ten R&B/Hip-Hop hit. He was featured on Ariana Grande's "Love Me Harder," which reached the Top Ten of the Hot 100 and went platinum in the U.S. "Earned It," featured in Fifty Shades of Grey, repeated the same feats. In 2015, Tesfaye issued "The Hills," a booming, nightmarish ballad co-produced by Illangelo, and "Can't Feel My Face," an upbeat Max Martin collaboration, as the first two singles from Beauty Behind the Madness. Both songs topped the Hot 100. The album was issued that August and debuted at the same position. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, it won in the category of Best Urban Contemporary Album, while "Earned It" received the nod for Best R&B Performance. Through the end of 2015 and into 2016, Tesfaye was featured on Disclosure's "In the Night," Kanye West's "FML," Future's "Low Life," and Beyoncé's "6 Inch." "Starboy," produced by Daft Punk, was released in September 2016 as the lead single from Tesfaye's album of the same title. It became the singer's fifth Top Ten pop single prior to the November arrival of Starboy, which landed on top of the Billboard 200. The album's success was sustained with the second single, its other Daft Punk production, "I Feel It Coming." Appearances on singles by Nav, Lana Del Rey, and French Montana were scattered through 2017. The following year saw the Weeknd appear on the track "Pray for Me," with Kendrick Lamar -- one of the lead singles from the official soundtrack for Marvel's Black Panther movie. In March of 2018 he dropped a surprise EP titled My Dear Melancholy,. The release marked a return to the darker sound and aesthetic of Trilogy and featured contributions from Gesaffelstein, Skrillex, and Mike WiLL Made-It. ~ Andy Kellman

Brandy

Brandy

Whether she was singing pop-friendly urban soul or acting in her own family-oriented sitcom, Brandy's winningly wholesome persona helped catapult her to stardom during her teenage years. She scored the longest-running number one female duet in chart history (teamed with Monica on "The Boy Is Mine"), a testament to her mainstream appeal, and she spent several years as the title character on Moesha, the top-rated series on the fledgling UPN network during the late '90s. As she grew older, her music increasingly mined the middle ground between urban R&B and soft adult contemporary pop, and thanks to her consistent exposure in other arenas, it became more popular than ever. Brandy Rayana Norwood was born February 11, 1979, in McComb, MS, and began singing in church at age two. When she was four, her father was hired as music director at a church in Carson, CA, and after singing a few years later, she decided to pursue a professional singing career, inspired by Whitney Houston. With the help of her family, she began hunting for a record contract, and in 1992 began singing backup for the kiddie R&B group Immature; after enrolling in the Hollywood High Performing Arts Center, she also launched an acting career, appearing in films like Arachnophobia and Demolition Man. She eventually landed a record deal at the mere age of 14 after performing at an Atlantic Records talent showcase; around the same time, she won a supporting role on the short-lived ABC sitcom Thea. In 1994, Brandy released her self-titled debut album, which immediately produced Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten smashes in "I Wanna Be Down" and "Baby," both of which hit number one on the R&B chart; "Brokenhearted" and "Best Friend" went on to smaller successes, and Brandy went on to sell over four million copies during the next several years. She toured with Boyz II Men in 1995, and for a time dated group member Wanya Morris. In 1996, Brandy scored her biggest hit yet with "Sittin' up in My Room," a song she recorded for the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack; it hit number two pop and number one R&B. Early that year, she also debuted on UPN as the star of Moesha, parlaying her musical success into a concurrent acting career. In fact, she took a lengthy hiatus from recording to concentrate on Moesha; apart from "Sittin' up in My Room," her only real activity over the next couple of years was the Set It Off soundtrack single "Missing You," on which she teamed with Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Tamia. In 1997, she branched out by taking the title role in Disney's made-for-TV version of Cinderella, appearing alongside her idol Whitney Houston; the film's star power and integrated cast made it a significant ratings success. Finally, Brandy set about recording her second album. Never Say Never was released in the summer of 1998, and its first single, the Monica duet "The Boy Is Mine," was a mammoth hit, topping the Hot 100 for a staggering 13 weeks. In its wake, "Top of the World" (featuring guest rapper Mase) and "Have You Ever?" were both substantial hits as well, with the latter becoming Brandy's first solo number one Hot 100 hit. Never Say Never spun off an additional three singles -- "Almost Doesn't Count," "Angel in Disguise," and "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)" -- on its way to sales of over five million copies. Meanwhile, Brandy's acting career continued to blossom; in 1998, she landed her first major theatrical film role in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and the following year, she appeared in another TV movie with Diana Ross called Double Platinum. After being hospitalized for dehydration in late 1999, she cut back her schedule somewhat, concentrating mostly on Moesha until the show was canceled in the spring of 2001. The same year, she voiced a character in the animated film Osmosis Jones, and secretly married producer/songwriter Robert Smith. In early 2002, Brandy released her third album, Full Moon, which entered the Billboard 200 chart at number two and spun off an immediate hit in "What About Us?." That summer, Brandy gave birth to her first child, and her pregnancy became the subject of an MTV documentary series. The singer's fourth album, Afrodisiac, was released in 2004. Its lead single, "Talk About Our Love," was produced by Kanye West and peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100. Although the reviews were positive overall, the album didn't sell as well as any of her previous releases and the singer subsequently split from her longtime label. In December 2006, while driving on the San Diego Freeway, Brandy hit the car in front of her -- an accident that killed the driver and caused a four-car chain reaction. She recorded her fifth album, Human, an adult contemporary R&B leaning set that was released in December 2008 and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200. It was her lone release for Epic. A couple years later, she starred beside her brother and parents in the reality television series, Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. A soundtrack of sorts was released in 2011. She teamed up with Monica once more for the single "It All Belongs to Me" prior to the collaboration-heavy Two Eleven, released in 2012. ~ Steve Huey & Andy Kellman

Blackstreet

Blackstreet

One of the top R&B vocal groups of the '90s, Blackstreet was founded by singer, producer, and new jack swing pioneer Teddy Riley after the breakup of his seminal trio Guy. Riley had taken a few years to concentrate on his booming production career, which saw him working with Wreckx-N-Effect, Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, and SWV, among others. His itch to get back in the performing arena resulted in the formation of Blackstreet in 1993, which included singers Chauncey "Black" Hannibal, Levi Little, and Joe Stonestreet in addition to Riley. Stonestreet was replaced by Dave Hollister prior to the recording of the group's self-titled debut album, which appeared in the spring of 1994. On the strength of "Before I Let You Go," a Top Five hit on the R&B charts, Blackstreet was a platinum-selling hit even without much crossover exposure. Two more singles from the album, "Booti Call" and "Joy," were minor hits as well. Hollister subsequently left for a solo career and Little exited as well; their replacements were Mark Middleton and Eric Williams. The new additions helped set the stage for Blackstreet's pop breakthrough with 1996's Another Level. More specifically, it was the inescapable smash single "No Diggity," which featured special guest Dr. Dre, that put them over the top. "No Diggity" reigned for four weeks on top of the pop charts and won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group; it also pushed sales of Another Level past the four million mark. The follow-up single, "Don't Leave Me," was a decent-sized hit in 1997, and the group later made a guest appearance on Jay-Z's "The City Is Mine" and teamed with Mya and Mase for the hit "Take Me There" from the Rugrats soundtrack. More personnel shifts had ensued following their blockbuster success, however: Middleton left for his own solo career and was replaced by Terrell Phillips. Blackstreet's third album, Finally, was released in early 1999, and though it contained "Take Me There" (and a bevy of guest cameos), it spent only one week in the Top Ten. The group's commercial momentum had slowed in the intervening years, and Finally struggled to go gold. Tensions within the group and with their label, Interscope, ran high, and a rift between Hannibal and Riley spelled the end of the road for Blackstreet before the year was even out. Reports surfaced in early 2000 that Hannibal had sued Riley for two million dollars, but after Riley filed a countersuit, Hannibal denied that he had ever taken legal action and the matter was dropped. Riley recorded a reunion album with Guy in 2000, and subsequently began working on material for his first solo record. However, he had second thoughts about disbanding Blackstreet, and patched things up with Hannibal; Middleton and Williams returned to restore the Another Level lineup, and Riley's solo project became a Blackstreet reunion. The resulting album, Level II, was released in early 2003. ~ Steve Huey

Mac Miller

Rapero estadounidense | Hip hop, R&B, pop, neo soul (2007 - 2018)

For a tragically brief time, Pittsburgh-based rapper and producer Mac Miller connected with legions of listeners through the appeal of both his curious, jazz-flecked instrumental style and heartfelt lyrics that laid bare his struggles with depression and addiction. Though his 2011 studio album debut Blue Slide Park topped the charts, his style and lyrical focus changed on subsequent, more personal releases like 2016's The Divine Feminine, which dominated the R&B and rap charts. Miller followed up with Swimming in 2018, but he died from an overdose one month after the album's release. His early output had an immediate resurgence as longtime fans mourned and those who just learned about the rapper explored his work for the first time. Posthumous releases followed Miller's death, such as 2020's Circles, and the 2025 release of "lost album" Balloonerism. Born Malcolm McCormick, Miller first used the alias Easy Mac, a name referenced on his debut mixtape, 2007's But My Mackin' Ain't Easy. His KIDS mixtape became his breakthrough when it was released in August of 2010, earning plenty of attention from hip-hop blogs and landing Miller a recording contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rostrum+Records%22">Rostrum Records</a>. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rostrum%22">Rostrum</a> released his debut EP, On and on and Beyond, and his debut album, Blue Slide Park, in 2011. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. His seventh mixtape, Macadelic, arrived the next year, featuring appearances by <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5gCRApTajqwbnHHPbr2Fpi">Juicy J</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7iMvwE8qANp3aIfAGKEAwS">Cam'ron</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:55Aa2cqylxrFIXC767Z865">Lil Wayne</a>, and more (the set was later remastered for a spring 2018 release). The more experimental effort, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, followed in 2013, with left-field hip-hop names like <a href="spotify:artist:7BMccF0hQFBpP6417k1OtQ">Action Bronson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3A5tHz1SfngyOZM2gItYKu">Earl Sweatshirt</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:29XOeO6KIWxGthejQqn793">Flying Lotus</a> lending a hand. A year later, Miller issued the mixtape Faces, signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a>, and launched his own imprint, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22REMember+Music%22">REMember Music</a>, under the major label. GO:OD AM followed in 2015 with <a href="spotify:artist:4bbjivSh1oG4NOc7uYHfw5">Lil B</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:15iVAtD3s3FsQR4w1v6M0P">Chief Keef</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:360IAlyVv4PCEVjgyMZrxK">Miguel</a> on the album's guest list. The single "100 Grandkids" peaked appropriately at number 100, while "Weekend" was certified gold. Just a year after GO:OD AM ascended to the Top Five of the Billboard 200 and rap charts, Miller returned with his fourth LP, The Divine Feminine. The album featured contributions from guests like <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg">Kendrick Lamar</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5nLYd9ST4Cnwy6NHaCxbj8">Cee Lo Green</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:66CXWjxzNUsdJxJ2JdwvnR">Ariana Grande</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5cM1PvItlR21WUyBnsdMcn">Robert Glasper</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3jK9MiCrA42lLAdMGUZpwa">Anderson.Paak</a>, who lent his soulful rasp to first single "Dang!" A pair of non-album singles ("Buttons" and "Programs") kept Miller busy into 2018, when he issued his fifth album, Swimming. Debuting at number three on both the Billboard 200 and R&B/hip-hop charts, the set included the songs "Small Worlds," "Self-Care," and "What's the Use?" A month after the release of the effort, Miller died from a suspected drug overdose in his San Fernando Valley home. He was 26 years old. Following his death, seven of his full-lengths posthumously hit the Billboard 200 (the mixtapes Best Day Ever and Macadelic made their chart debuts), and Swimming was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Album. In early 2020, his first posthumous set was released. Intended as a companion to Swimming, Circles featured vocals recorded for this eventual project, which was completed by producer <a href="spotify:artist:57YJQe0ayvIaRZJ3PW5nFP">Jon Brion</a>. The LP became Miller's fifth Top Three showing on the U.S. charts. Later that year, KIDS was released to streaming services for the first time, which helped place it back on the Billboard 200. A revised edition of another mixtape, Faces, was issued commercially in 2021. The following year, his 2011 mixtape I Love Life, Thank You arrived on streaming services, which sent the collection to number 22 on the Billboard 200 (and into the Top Five on the U.S. indie album list). In 2025, the long-shelved album Balloonerism finally saw proper release. Recorded between 2013 and 2014 around the same time Miller was working on Faces, Balloonerism took a darker and more psychedelic tone than much of his other work. The album was released in tandem with a short film of the same name in January of 2025. ~ David Jeffries & Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige

Iconic GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated artist, actress, producer, and entrepreneur Mary J. Blige is a figure of inspiration, transformation, and empowerment. With a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine GRAMMY® Awards (37 nominations), an Emmy award, two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG nomination, Blige has cemented herself as a global superstar. In October 2024, she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Influenced at an early age by the music of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight, Blige brought her own gritty, urban-rooted style—fusing hip-hop, soul, and honest, frank lyrics—to the forefront on her 1992 debut album What’s the 411? Blige continued to redefine R&B and began forging a unique niche for herself on her second album, 1994’s My Life. Each subsequent album she released reads like a chapter from an autobiography leading to February 2022, when Blige released her 15th studio album Good Morning Gorgeous, which has since earned her six 2023 Grammy nominations including Album and Record of the Year.

Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean

Visionary American recording artist Frank Ocean is one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed artists of this era. His heavily lauded breakout mixtape ‘Nostalgia Ultra’ in 2011 set the tone for what would be the Grammy-Award winning record ‘Channel Orange’. After a four-year break, Ocean dropped one of the most anticipated albums of all time ‘Endless’, followed a day later by the seminal and game-changing album ‘Blonde’. Between then and now, Frank Ocean has released songs including ‘Chanel’, ‘Provider’, and ‘In My Room’ to further acclaim, plus launched the independent American luxury company, Homer.

joji

joji

Joji is one of the most enthralling artists of the digital age. Following on the heels of RIAA platinum-certified single “Glimpse of Us,” his new album SMITHEREENS expands on the melancholic, yet powerful emotions of the breakout hit. Comprising two parts, SIDE A of the album heralds a mature sonic direction for Joji through wistful and contemplative ballads accompanied by lush production that blooms within each song. SIDE B, produced mainly by Joji himself, digs deeper into the lo-fi and off-kilter sounds that hark back to his experimental beginnings as an artist. Of the album, Billboard raved, “Anyone familiar with Joji’s dulcet tones and emotionally revealing lyricism could have predicted that he’d become a solo star.” AllMusic also said of the album, which clocks in at just under 25 minutes, “is the perfect length to wallow in sadness before wiping off the tears and carrying on. It&#39;s not the happiest of experiences, but it is his most mature and relatable statement to date.” SMITHEREENS follows his album Nectar, executive produced and arranged by Joji, which bowed out at #3 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

La La Land

La La Land

Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee's alluring tone, distinctive delivery, breadth of material, and ability to write many of her own songs made her one of the most captivating artists of the vocal era, from her breakthrough on the Benny Goodman hit "Why Don't You Do Right" to her many solo successes, singles including "Mañana," "Lover" and "Fever" that showed her bewitching vocal power, a balance between sultry swing and impeccable musicianship. Born Norma Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, she suffered the death of her mother at the age of four and endured a difficult stepmother after her father remarried. Given her sense of swing by listening to Count Basie on the radio, she taught herself to sing and made her radio debut at the age of 14. She made the jump to Fargo (where she was christened Peggy Lee), then to Minneapolis and St. Louis to sing with a regional band. Lee twice journeyed to Hollywood to make her fortune, but returned unsuccessful from both trips. She finally got her big break in 1941, when a vocal group she worked with began appearing at a club in Chicago. While there, she was heard by Benny Goodman, whose regular vocalist Helen Forrest was about to leave his band. Lee recorded with Goodman just a few days later, debuting with the popular "Elmer's Tune" despite a good deal of nerves. That same year, several songs became commercial successes including "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" and "Winter Weather." In 1943, "Why Don't You Do Right" became her first major hit, but she left the Goodman band (and the music industry altogether) later that year after marrying Goodman's guitarist, Dave Barbour. After just over a year of domestic life, Peggy Lee returned to music, first as part of an all-star jazz album. Then, in late 1945, Capitol signed her to a solo contract and she hit the charts with her first shot, "Waitin' for the Train to Come In." Lee continued to score during the late '40s, with over two dozen chart entries before the end of the decade, including "It's a Good Day," "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" -- the most popular song of 1948 -- and "I Don't Know Enough About You." Many of her singles were done in conjunction with Barbour, her frequent writing and recording partner. After moving to Decca in 1952, Peggy Lee scored with the single "Lover" and an LP, Songs From Pete Kelly's Blues recorded with Ella Fitzgerald (both singers also made appearances in the film). She spent only five years at Decca however, before moving back to Capitol. There, she distinguished herself through recording a wide variety of material, including songs -- and occasionally, entire LPs -- influenced by the blues, Latin and cabaret as well as pop. Lee also used many different settings, like an orchestra conducted by none other than Frank Sinatra for 1957's The Man I Love, the George Shearing Quintet for 1959's live appearance Beauty and the Beat, Quincey Jones as arranger and conductor for 1961's If You Go, and arrangements by Benny Carter on 1963's Mink Jazz. Barbour's problems with alcoholism ended their marriage, though they remained good friends until his death in 1965. Peggy Lee was an early advocate of rock and made a quick transition into rock-oriented material. Given her depth and open mind for great songs no matter the source, it wasn't much of a surprise that she sounded quite comfortable covering the more song-oriented end of late-'60s rock, including great choices by Jimmy Webb, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Burt Bacharach, Randy Newman, Goffin & King and John Sebastian. She nearly brushed the Top Ten in 1969 with Leiber & Stoller's "Is That All There Is?" She continued recording contemporary material until 1972's Norma Deloris Egstrom From Jamestown, North Dakota brought her back to her roots. It was her last LP for Capitol, however. Lee recorded single LPs for Atlantic, A&M, Polydor UK and DRG before effectively retiring at the beginning of the 1980s. She returned in 1988 with two LPs for Music Masters that revisited her earlier successes. Her last album, Moments Like This, was recorded in 1992 for Chesky. Her voice was effectively silenced after a 1998 stroke, and she died of a heart attack at her Bel Air home in early 2002. ~ John Bush

Thee Sinseers

Thee Sinseers

To say that The Sinseers play oldies would be a misnomer. Fronted by bandleader and son of East Los Angeles Joey Quiniones, the group has quietly chipped away at the sounds of R&B and soul for the last half-decade. Quinones and his crew have continuously created a distinctive vibe that explores all aspects of a timeless genre, bringing together their interpretation of music through an unmistakable modern lens. With Quinones on vocals and keys, vocalist Adriana Flores, Christopher Manjarrez on bass, Francisco Floreson on guitar, Bryan Ponce on guitar and vocals, Luis Carpio on drums and vocals, saxophonists Eric Johnson and Steve Surman, and Jose Luis Jimenez on trombone, The Sinseers are making moves.

Thee Sacred Souls

Thee Sacred Souls

The highly anticipated follow-up to their breakout 2022 self-titled debut, Thee Sacred Soul’s Got A Story To Tell (Daptone Records) features 12 all original new songs, a soaring statement of exquisite craftsmanship from this young band from San Diego whose own story grows bigger by the day. Millions of monthly listeners on Spotify. Celebrity fans like SZA, Alicia Keys, and Kylie Jenner. An NPR Tiny Desk performance that burned the house down. And all in the first two years of the band’s existence. Then came life on the road...

Adele

Adele

Since the release of her debut album ‘19’, in 2008, Adele has become one of the most successful British artists of her generation. Her critically acclaimed debut album garnered over 6.5 million sales worldwide whilst the album has gone 8x Platinum in the UK. At the age of 19, Adele became the first-ever recipient of the BRITS Critics’ Choice Award. The accolades received by Adele only multiplied as the following year saw her claim Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the GRAMMYs. As Adele embarks on her next chapter, she holds 15 GRAMMYs, 9 BRITS, 18 Billboard Awards, 2 IVORs, 1 Golden Globe, 1 Academy Award and 5 American Music Awards under her belt. The British singer-songwriter has received 11.5 million Album sales in the UK alone and 48 million Worldwide Album sales.

Chris Grey

Chris Grey

THE CASTLE NEVER FALLS ⚔️🥀🏰🖤 TikTok/Insta: @chrisgreymusic

John Legend

John Legend

Multiplatinum artist and activist  John Legend made history as the first African American man to join the prestigious EGOT club. Legend has released eight celebrated albums including, <a href="spotify:album:4W6kVnBPgcW8zDYXbRHh2J" data-name="Get Lifted">Get Lifted</a> (2004), <a href="spotify:album:1ZWwFwSKaREGLWxpGiPAoF" data-name="Once Again">Once Again</a> (2006), <a href="spotify:album:11sKu4dBGvmEZTuVw9EC9A" data-name="Evolver">Evolver</a> (2008), <a href="spotify:album:4OTAx9un4e6NfoHuVRiOrC" data-name="Love In The Future (Expanded Edition)">Love In The Future (Expanded Edition)</a> (2013), <a href="spotify:album:7xMjYDrgPLp1ReFGAOyS1O" data-name="DARKNESS AND LIGHT">DARKNESS AND LIGHT</a> (2016), <a href="spotify:album:67vlDQxXPo2JKnZ5e6tHKY" data-name="A Legendary Christmas">A Legendary Christmas</a> (2018), and <a href="spotify:album:7BRuKFs9BFuba9TlMs2ZLd" data-name="Bigger Love">Bigger Love</a> (2020). The 12-time Grammy Award-winner released his eighth studio album,  <a href="spotify:album:48XBEHGNh0oVF5foY3ZtvT" data-name="LEGEND">LEGEND</a>, in September 2022 and just wrapped his critically acclaimed Las Vegas residency entitled “Love In Las Vegas,” which began in April 2022 at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Legend is a judge on the Emmy-nominated show, The Voice, and a principal in Get Lifted Film Co. As an activist, Legend initiated the #FREEAMERICA campaign in 2015 and most recently founded the initiative HUMANLEVEL, which is igniting systematic change and building racial equity across American cities and communities.

Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor

Perhaps second only to Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor has become one of the best-known female disco artists from the '70s due to the ongoing success of her monster 1979 hit (and subsequent "woman's anthem"), "I Will Survive." Born Gloria Fowles on September 7, 1949, in Newark, NJ, the singer (who began going by Gloria Gaynor by the early '70s), first sang as part of the obscure R&B outfit the Soul Satisfiers before being discovered by MGM Records head honcho Mike Curb (eventual leader of the Curb label and Lieutenant Governor of California), who decided to sign the singer to his label after several auditions. Gaynor began issuing albums on a regular basis beginning in 1975 and with her 1976 release Never Can Say Goodbye, the singer became one of the first-ever dance artists to issue an album aimed primarily for club use (there were no breaks between the songs, as one track would automatically segue into the next), a method used to this day by DJs and certain dance artists. Although Gaynor enjoyed a few moderate hits, it wasn't until the release of 1979's aforementioned disco gem "I Will Survive" that Gaynor racked up her first true smash hit. The song was awarded the first and only Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980 (the category was discontinued upon disco's fall from favor shortly afterward) and although Gaynor was unable to follow up "I Will Survive" with another sizeable hit, the track subsequently took on a life of its own. It remains popular in dance clubs and has appeared on countless movie soundtracks and dance/disco compilations. Gaynor continues to issue albums and play shows (especially in Europe) and during the late '90s issued an autobiography (also titled I Will Survive), as well as appearing for a two-week run on Broadway's hit musical Smokey Joe's Café. ~ Greg Prato

Bobby Womack

Bobby Womack

A veteran who paid his dues for over a decade before getting his shot at solo stardom, Bobby Womack persevered through tragedy and addiction to emerge as one of soul music's great survivors. Able to shine in the spotlight as a singer or behind the scenes as an instrumentalist and songwriter, Womack never got his due from pop audiences, but during the late '60s and much of the '70s, he was a consistent hitmaker on the R&B charts, with a high standard of quality control. His records were quintessential soul, with a bag of tricks learned from the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Sam Cooke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Wilson Pickett</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:66XuLc224VwkhDVuPMZL9c">Sly Stone</a>, all of whom Womack worked closely with at one time or another. Yet often, they also bore the stamp of Womack's own idiosyncratic personality, whether through a lengthy spoken philosophical monologue or a radical reinterpretation of a pop standard. An underrated guitarist, Womack helped pioneer a lean, minimalist approach similar to that of <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Curtis Mayfield</a>, and was an early influence on the young <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>. Additionally, his songs have been recorded by numerous artists in the realms of both R&B and rock, and the best of them rank as all-time classics. Bobby Dwayne Womack was born in Cleveland on March 4, 1944. His upbringing was strict and religious, but his father Friendly also encouraged his sons to pursue music as he had (he sang and played guitar in a gospel group). In the early '50s, while still a child, Bobby joined his siblings Cecil, <a href="spotify:artist:0dJEZHsytuV37SafNq1bGB">Curtis</a>, Harry, and Friendly Jr. to form the gospel quintet <a href="spotify:artist:6Yp6CbQQo25DvMiY6IfGrO">the Womack Brothers</a>. They were chosen to open a local show for <a href="spotify:artist:1bZKspL8h396R1WihOiPb5">the Soul Stirrers</a> in 1953, where Bobby befriended lead singer <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Sam Cooke</a>; following this break, they toured the country as an opening act for numerous gospel groups. When <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a> formed his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SAR%22">SAR</a> label, he recruited <a href="spotify:artist:6Yp6CbQQo25DvMiY6IfGrO">the Womack Brothers</a> with an eye toward transforming them into a crossover R&B act. Learning that his sons were moving into secular music, Friendly Womack threw them out of the house, and <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a> wired them the money to buy a car and drive out to his Los Angeles offices. The <a href="spotify:artist:6Yp6CbQQo25DvMiY6IfGrO">Womack Brothers</a> made several recordings for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SAR%22">SAR</a> over 1960 and 1961, including a few gospel sides, but <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a> soon convinced them to record R&B and renamed them <a href="spotify:artist:0n8GWTNsS9bnb4ZMUKg5VH">the Valentinos</a>. In 1962, they scored a Top Ten hit on the R&B charts with "Lookin' for a Love," and <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a> sent them on the road behind <a href="spotify:artist:7GaxyUddsPok8BuhxN6OUW">James Brown</a> to serve a boot-camp-style musical apprenticeship. Bobby eventually joined <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a>'s backing band as guitarist. The <a href="spotify:artist:0n8GWTNsS9bnb4ZMUKg5VH">Valentinos</a>' 1964 single "It's All Over Now," written by Bobby, was quickly covered by <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a>'s blessing; when it became <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Stones</a>' first U.K. number one, Womack suddenly found himself a rich man. <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a>'s tragic death in December 1964 left Womack greatly shaken and <a href="spotify:artist:0n8GWTNsS9bnb4ZMUKg5VH">the Valentinos</a>' career in limbo. Just three months later, Womack married <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a>'s widow, Barbara Campbell, which earned him tremendous ill will in the R&B community; many viewed him as a shady opportunist looking to cash in on <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Cooke</a>'s legacy, especially since Campbell was significantly older than Womack. According to Womack, he was initially motivated to look after Campbell in an unstable time, not to tarnish the memory of a beloved mentor. Regardless, Womack found himself unable to get his solo career rolling in the wake of the scandal; singles for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chess%22">Chess</a> ("I Found a True Love") and Him ("Nothing You Can Do") were avoided like the plague despite their quality. The <a href="spotify:artist:0n8GWTNsS9bnb4ZMUKg5VH">Valentinos</a> cut a couple of singles for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chess%22">Chess</a> in 1966, "What About Me" and "Sweeter Than the Day Before," which also failed to make much of a splash. To make ends meet, Womack became a backing guitarist, first landing a job with <a href="spotify:artist:1eYhYunlNJlDoQhtYBvPsi">Ray Charles</a>; he went on to make a valuable connection in producer Chips Moman, and appeared often at Moman's American Studio in Memphis, as well as nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In the process, Womack appeared on classic recordings by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5TbXjzD8tYgMD5JU2g2F8q">Joe Tex</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0WxOgeRxUt0MwPrI7A5atQ">King Curtis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7nwUJBm0HE4ZxD3f5cy5ok">Aretha Franklin</a> (Lady Soul), among others. He recorded singles for Keymen and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a> without success, but became one of <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Wilson Pickett</a>'s favorite songwriters, contributing the R&B Top Ten hits "I'm in Love" and "I'm a Midnight Mover" (plus 15 other tunes) to the singer's repertoire. Womack had been slated to record a solo album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Minit%22">Minit</a>, but had given <a href="spotify:artist:0N5PyKJzS3M1XNlaCL7bbE">Pickett</a> most of his best material, which actually wound up getting his name back in the public eye in a positive light. In 1968, he scored the first charting single of his solo career with "What Is This?" and soon hit with a string of inventively reimagined pop covers -- "Fly Me to the Moon," "California Dreamin'," and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," the former two of which reached the R&B Top 20. A songwriting partnership with engineer Darryl Carter resulted in the R&B hits "It's Gonna Rain," "How I Miss You Baby," and "More Than I Can Stand" over 1969-1970. A series of label absorptions bumped Womack up to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22United+Artists%22">United Artists</a> in 1971, which proved to be the home of his greatest solo success; in the meantime, he contributed the ballad "Trust Me" to <a href="spotify:artist:4NgfOZCL9Ml67xzM0xzIvC">Janis Joplin</a>'s masterpiece Pearl, and <a href="spotify:artist:69Mj3u4FTUrpyeGNSIaU6F">the J. Geils Band</a> revived "Lookin' for a Love" for their first hit. He also teamed up with jazz guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:38CPjAAqYV8lTYi6clzbjG">Gabor Szabo</a> on the LP High Contrast, which debuted Womack's composition "Breezin'" (which, of course, became a smash for <a href="spotify:artist:4N8BwYTEC6XqykGvXXlmfv">George Benson</a> six years later). Most importantly, however, Womack played guitar on <a href="spotify:artist:5m8H6zSadhu1j9Yi04VLqD">Sly & the Family Stone</a>'s There's a Riot Goin' On, a masterpiece of darkly psychedelic funk that would have an impact on Womack's own sound and sense of style. Womack issued his first <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22UA%22">UA</a> album, Communication, in 1971, which kicked off a string of excellent releases that ran through the first half of the decade. In addition to several of Womack's trademark pop covers, the album also contained the original ballad "That's the Way I Feel About 'Cha," which climbed all the way to number two on the R&B chart and became his long-awaited breakout hit. The 1972 follow-up Understanding spawned Womack's first chart-topper, "Woman's Gotta Have It," co-written with Darryl Carter and stepdaughter Linda (Womack divorced Barbara Campbell in 1970). The follow-up "Harry Hippie," a gently ironic tribute to Womack's brother, also hit the R&B Top Ten. Later that year, Womack scored the blaxploitation flick Across 110th Street; the title cut was later revived in the 1998 Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown. Released in 1973, The Facts of Life had an R&B number two hit in a rearrangement of the perennial "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," and the following year's Lookin' for a Love Again found Womack revisiting his <a href="spotify:artist:0n8GWTNsS9bnb4ZMUKg5VH">Valentinos</a> hit; the re-recorded "Lookin' for a Love" became his second number one R&B single and his only Top Ten hit on the pop charts. Follow-up single "You're Welcome, Stop on By" made the R&B Top Five. Womack was by this time a seasoned veteran of the rock & roll lifestyle, having befriended the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a>, the late <a href="spotify:artist:4NgfOZCL9Ml67xzM0xzIvC">Janis Joplin</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:66XuLc224VwkhDVuPMZL9c">Sly Stone</a>. After his brother Harry was murdered by a jealous girlfriend in 1974 (in Bobby's own apartment), the drug usage began to take a more serious turn. Womack scored further R&B Top Ten hits with 1975's "Check It Out" and 1976's "Daylight," the latter of which seemed to indicate a longing for escape from the nonstop partying that often masked serious depression. Despite Womack's new marriage to Regina Banks, the song was a sign that things were coming to a head. Womack pushed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22UA%22">UA</a> into letting him do a full album of country music, something he'd always loved but which the label regarded as commercially inadvisable (especially under the title Womack reportedly wanted to use: Step Aside, Charley Pride, Give Another Nigger a Try). They eventually relented, and when BW Goes C&W met with predictably minimal response, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22UA%22">UA</a> palmed the increasingly difficult Womack off on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a>. A pair of albums there failed to recapture his commercial momentum or reinvent him for the disco age, and he moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arista%22">Arista</a> for 1979's Roads of Life, which appeared not long after the sudden death of his infant son. At a low point in his life, Womack took a bit of time off from music to gather himself. He appeared as a guest vocalist on <a href="spotify:artist:6BufIg68WvvzrEqoDI19Kl">Jazz Crusader</a> <a href="spotify:artist:63cn8iGgLoxEHkp3mMPNXj">Wilton Felder</a>'s 1980 solo album, Inherit the Wind, singing the hit title track, and subsequently signed with Black entrepreneur Otis Smith's independent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Beverly+Glen%22">Beverly Glen</a> label. His label debut, 1981's The Poet, was a critically acclaimed left-field hit, rejuvenating his career and producing a number three R&B hit with "If You Think You're Lonely Now." Unfortunately, money disputes soured the relationship between Womack and Smith rather quickly. The Poet II was delayed until 1984, and featured several duets with <a href="spotify:artist:0ty0xha1dbprYIUAQufkFn">Patti LaBelle</a>, including another number three R&B hit, "Love Has Finally Come at Last." <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Beverly+Glen%22">Beverly Glen</a> released a final LP culled from Womack's previous sessions, Someday We'll All Be Free, in 1985, by which time the singer had already broken free and signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a>. Another hit with <a href="spotify:artist:63cn8iGgLoxEHkp3mMPNXj">Wilton Felder</a>, "(No Matter How High I Get) I'll Still Be Looking Up to You," appeared that year, and his label debut, So Many Rivers, produced a Top Five R&B hit in "I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much." Released in 1986, Womagic reunited Womack with Chips Moman, and he also backed <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> on their remake of "Harlem Shuffle." By the following year he'd christened himself The Last Soul Man, which proved to be his final recording for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MCA%22">MCA</a>. In the following years, Womack made high-profile returns to the music business only sporadically. Released in 1994, Resurrection was recorded for <a href="spotify:artist:5HFtQOrPHOFptM1WF9xPuK">Ron Wood</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slide%22">Slide</a> label and featured an array of guest stars including <a href="spotify:artist:5HFtQOrPHOFptM1WF9xPuK">Wood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:08avsqaGIlK2x3i2Cu7rKH">Keith Richards</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2y8Jo9CKhJvtfeKOsYzRdT">Rod Stewart</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a>. In 1999, he fulfilled a longstanding promise to his father (who passed away in 1981) by delivering his first-ever gospel album, Back to My Roots. While he continued to perform throughout the following decade, his guest appearance on the 2010 <a href="spotify:artist:3AA28KZvwAUcZuOKwyblJQ">Gorillaz</a> album Plastic Beach seemed like a return. A couple years later, after being the subject of TV One's Unsung documentary series, he released The Bravest Man in the Universe, a collaboration with the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22XL%22">XL</a> label's Richard Russell and <a href="spotify:artist:3AA28KZvwAUcZuOKwyblJQ">Gorillaz</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:0O98jlCaPzvsoei6U5jfEL">Damon Albarn</a>. However, Womack had experienced a number of health challenges in his latter years, and he died in June 2014 at the age of 70. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke was the most important soul singer in history -- he was also the inventor of soul music, and its most popular and beloved performer in both the black and white communities. Equally important, he was among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of the music business, and founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. Yet, those business interests didn't prevent him from being engaged in topical issues, including the struggle over civil rights, the pitch and intensity of which followed an arc that paralleled Cooke's emergence as a star -- his own career bridged gaps between black and white audiences that few had tried to surmount, much less succeeded at doing, and also between generations; where Chuck Berry or Little Richard brought black and white teenagers together, James Brown sold records to white teenagers and black listeners of all ages, and Muddy Waters got young white folkies and older black transplants from the South onto the same page, Cooke appealed to all of the above, and the parents of those white teenagers as well -- yet he never lost his credibility with his core black audience. In a sense, his appeal anticipated that of the Beatles, in breadth and depth. He was born Sam Cook in Clarksdale, MS, on January 22, 1931, one of eight children of a Baptist minister and his wife. Even as a young boy, he showed an extraordinary voice and frequently sang in the choir in his father's church. During the middle of the decade, the Cook family moved to Chicago's South Side, where the Reverend Charles Cook quickly established himself as a major figure in the religious community. Sam and three of his siblings also formed a group of their own, the Singing Children, in the 1930s. Although his own singing was confined to gospel music, he was aware and appreciative of the popular music of the period, particularly the melodious, harmony-based sounds of the Ink Spots, whose influence could later be heard in songs such as "You Send Me" and "For Sentimental Reasons." As a teenager, he was a member of the Teen Highway QCs, a gospel group that performed in churches and at religious gatherings. His membership in that group led to his introduction to the Soul Stirrers, one of the top gospel groups in the country, and in 1950 he joined them. If Cooke had never recorded a note of music on his own, he would still be remembered today in gospel circles for his work with the Soul Stirrers. Over the next six years, his role within the group and his prominence within the black community rose to the point where he was already a star, with his own fiercely admiring and devoted audience, through his performances on songs like "Touch the Hem of His Garment," "Nearer to Thee," and "That's Heaven to Me." The group was one of the top acts on Art Rupe's Specialty Records label, and he might have gone on for years as their most popular singer, but Cooke's goal was to reach audiences beyond the religious community, and beyond the black population, with his voice. This was a tall order at the time, as the mere act of recording a popular song could alienate the gospel listenership in an instant; singing for God was regarded in those circles as a gift and a responsibility, and popular music, rock & roll, and R&B were to be abhorred, at least coming from the mouth of a gospel singer; the gap was so great that when a blues singer such as Blind Gary Davis became "sanctified" (that is, found religion) as the Rev. Gary Davis, he could still sing and play his old blues melodies, but had to devise new words, and he never sang the blues words again. He tested the waters of popular music in 1956 with the single "Lovable," produced by Bumps Blackwell and credited under the name Dale Cooke so as not to attract too much attention from his existing audience. It was enough, however, to get Cooke dropped by the Soul Stirrers and their record label, but that freed him to record under his real name. The result was one of the biggest selling singles of the 1950s, a Cooke original entitled "You Send Me," which sold over two million copies on the tiny Keen Records label and hit number one on both the pop and R&B charts. Although it seems like a tame record today, "You Send Me" was a pioneering soul record in its time, melding elements of R&B, gospel, and pop into a sound that was new and still coalescing at the time. Cooke was with Keen for the next two years, a period in which he delivered up some of the prettiest romantic ballads and teen pop singles of the era, including "For Sentimental Reasons," "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha," "Only Sixteen," and "(What A) Wonderful World." These were extraordinarily beautiful records, and in between the singles came some early album efforts, most notably Tribute to the Lady, his album of songs associated with Billie Holiday. He was unhappy, however, with both the business arrangement that he had with Keen and the limitations inherent with recording for a small label -- equally to the point, major labels were knocking on Cooke's door, including Atlantic and RCA Records; Atlantic, which was not yet the international conglomerate that it later became, was the top R&B-oriented label in the country and Cooke almost certainly would have signed there and found a happy home with the company, except that they wanted his publishing, and Cooke had seen the sales figures on his songs, as well as their popularity in cover versions by other artists, and was well aware of the importance of owning his copyrights. Thus, he signed with RCA Records, then one of the three biggest labels in the world (the others being Columbia and Decca), even as he organized his own publishing company, Kags Music, and a record label, SAR, through which he would produce other artists' records -- among those signed to SAR were the Soul Stirrers, Bobby Womack (late of the Valentinos, who were also signed to the label), former Soul Stirrers member Johnny Taylor, Billy Preston, Johnnie Morisette, and the Simms Twins. Cooke's RCA sides were a strangely schizophrenic body of work, at least for the first two years. He broke new ground in pop and soul with the single "Chain Gang," a strange mix of sweet melodies and gritty, sweaty sensibilities that also introduced something of a social conscience to his work -- a number two hit on both the pop and R&B charts, it was his biggest hit since "You Send Me" and heralded a bolder phase in his career. Singles like bluesy, romantic "Sad Mood," the idyllic romantic soul of "Cupid," and the straight-ahead dance tune "Twistin' the Night Away" (a pop Top Ten and a number one R&B hit), and "Bring It on Home to Me" all lived up to this promise, and also sold in huge numbers. But the first two albums that RCA had him do, Hits of the Fifties and Cooke's Tour, were among the lamest LPs ever recorded by any soul or R&B singer, comprised of washed-out pop tunes in arrangements that showed almost none of Cooke's gifts to their advantage. In 1962, Cooke issued Twistin' the Night Away, a somewhat belated "twist" album that became one of his biggest-selling LPs. He didn't really hit his stride as an LP artist, however, until 1963 with the release of Night Beat, a beautifully self-contained, dark, moody assembly of blues-oriented songs that were among the best and most challenging numbers that Cooke had recorded up to that time. By the time of its release, he was mostly identified through his singles, which were among the best work of their era, and had developed two separate audiences, among white teen and post-teen listeners and black audiences of all ages. It was Cooke's hope to cross over to the white audience more thoroughly, and open up doors for black performers that, up to that time, had mostly been closed -- he had tried playing the Copa in New York as early as 1957 and failed at the time, mostly owing to his inexperience, but in 1964 he returned to the club in triumph, an event that also yielded one of the most finely recorded live performances of its period. The problem with the Copa performance was that it didn't really represent what Sam Cooke was about in full -- it was Cooke at his most genial and non-confrontational, doing his safest repertory for a largely middle-aged, middle-class white audience; they responded enthusiastically, to be sure, but only to Cooke's tamest persona. In mid-1963, however, Cooke had done a show at the Harlem Square Club in Miami that had been recorded. Working in front of a black audience and doing his "real" show, he delivered a sweaty, spellbinding performance built on the same elements found in his singles and his best album tracks, combining achingly beautiful melodies and gritty soul sensibilities. The two live albums sum up the split in Cooke's career and the sheer range of his talent, the rewards of which he'd finally begun to realize more fully in 1963 and 1964. The drowning death of his infant son in mid-1963 had made it impossible for Cooke to work in the studio until the end of that year. During that time, however, with Allen Klein now managing his business affairs, Cooke did achieve the financial and creative independence that he'd wanted, including more money than any black performer had ever been advanced before, and the eventual ownership of his recordings beginning in November of 1963 -- he had achieved creative control of his recordings as well, and seemed poised for a breakthrough. It came when he resumed making records, amid the musical ferment of the early '60s. Cooke was keenly aware of the music around him, and was particularly entranced by Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind," its treatment of the plight of black Americans and other politically oppressed minorities, and its success in the hands of Peter, Paul & Mary -- all of these factors convinced him that the time was right for songs that dealt with more than twisting the night away. The result was "A Change Is Gonna Come," perhaps the greatest song to come out of the civil rights struggle, and one that seemed to close and seal the gap between the two directions of Cooke's career, from gospel to pop. Arguably his greatest and his most important song, it was an artistic apotheosis for Cooke. During this same period, he had also devised a newer, more advanced dance-oriented soul sound in the form of the song "Shake." These two recordings heralded a new era for Cooke and a new phase of his career, with seemingly the whole world open to him. None of it was to be. Early in the day on December 11, 1964, while in Los Angeles, Cooke became involved in an altercation at a seedy motel, with a woman guest and the night manager, and was shot to death while allegedly trying to attack the manager. The case is still shrouded in doubt and mystery, and was never investigated the way the murder of a star of his stature would be today. Cooke's death shocked the black community and reverberated far beyond -- his single "Shake" was a posthumous Top Ten hit, as were "A Change Is Gonna Come" and the At the Copa album, released in 1965. Otis Redding, Al Green, and Solomon Burke, among others, picked up key parts of Cooke's repertory, as did white performers, including the Animals and the Rolling Stones. Even the Supremes recorded a memorial album of his songs, which is now one of the most sought-after of their original recordings, in either LP or CD form. His reputation survived, at least among those who were smart enough to look behind the songs -- to hear Redding's performance of "Shake" at the Monterey Pop Festival, for example, and see where it came from. Cooke's own records were a little tougher to appreciate, however. Listeners who heard those first two, rather poor RCA albums, Hits of the Fifties and Cooke's Tour, could only wonder what the big deal was about, and several of the albums that followed were uneven enough to give potential fans pause. Meanwhile, the contractual situation surrounding Cooke's recordings greatly complicated the reissue of his work -- Cooke's business manager, Allen Klein, exerted a good deal of control, especially over the songs cut during that last year of the singer's life. By the 1970s, there were some fairly poor, mostly budget-priced compilations available, consisting of the hits up through early 1963, and for a time there was even a television compilation out there, but that was it. The movie National Lampoon's Animal House made use of a pair of Cooke songs, "(What A) Wonderful World" and "Twistin' the Night Away," which greatly raised his profile among college students and younger baby-boomers, and Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes made almost a mini-career out of reviving Cooke's songs (most notably "Having a Party," and even part of "A Change Is Gonna Come") in concert. In 1986, The Man and His Music went some way to correcting the absence of all but the early hits in a career-spanning compilation, but since the mid-'90s, Cooke's final year's worth of releases have been separated from the earlier RCA and Keen material, and is in the hands of Klein's ABKCO label. Finally, in the late '90s and beyond, RCA, ABKCO, and even Specialty (which still owns Cooke's gospel sides with the Soul Stirrers) each issued comprehensive collections of their portions of Cooke's catalog. ~ Bruce Eder

Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves is a eight-time Grammy Award winner who will release her fifth studio album Deeper Well in March 2024. Deeper Well is the first release since her critically acclaimed 2021 album star-crossed, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart. star-crossed was the follow up to Musgraves’ groundbreaking 2018 album Golden Hour which earned Kacey her third No 1 debut on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and distinguished her as only the third artist to ever take-home Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, Country Music Association Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. In 2023 Musgraves achieved her first Hot100 #1 for “I Remember Everything,” a duet with Zach Bryan. “I Remember Everything” is the first country music duet in 40 years since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream” (1983) to reach this feat. “I Remember Everything” won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song by a Duo or Group at the 66th annual ceremony in February 2024. With this win, Musgraves became the only artist ever to receive a Grammy Award for Best Country Album, Best Country Song, Best Country Solo performance and Best Country Duo or Group performance.

Camille

Camille

French pop chanteuse Camille attracted international attention as a member of the acclaimed <a href="spotify:artist:4h7NLIlg1oYdEtfQJfyto0">Nouvelle Vague</a> before resuming her solo career. Born Camille Dalmais in Paris in 1978, she focused on ballet throughout adolescence while developing a passion for bossa nova and American stage musicals. At 16, she performed an original song, "Un Homme Déserté," at a wedding and from that point forward, she embraced songwriting, channeling influences including '60s folk and '70s soul. While taking vocal lessons, Camille began playing Paris jazz clubs, and in 2001 she made her professional acting debut in the film Les Morsures de l'Aube, contributing the song "La Vie la Nuit" to its soundtrack. At the same time, her demo tape entered circulation, and upon signing to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Virgin%22">Virgin</a> subsidiary Source, she began work on her 2002 debut LP, Le Sac de Filles, a critical and commercial success buoyed by the single "Demeure d'un Ciel." In April 2004, Camille joined producers <a href="spotify:artist:6JKxnWJWnYt3OlhBaozJxY">Marc Collin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4JolMwisQMUtwysQfA193F">Olivier Libaux</a> in <a href="spotify:artist:4h7NLIlg1oYdEtfQJfyto0">Nouvelle Vague</a>, a project dedicated to bossa nova-influenced cover renditions of new wave and post-punk classics. She contributed four lead vocals to the LP, including renditions of <a href="spotify:artist:3RGLhK1IP9jnYFH4BRFJBS">the Clash</a>'s "The Guns of Brixton" and <a href="spotify:artist:30U8fYtiNpeA5KH6H87QUV">the Dead Kennedys</a>' "Too Drunk to Fuck," and was a featured performer on the subsequent European tour in support of the album. Camille returned to her solo career in early 2005 with her sophomore effort, Le Fil, which fell just shy of the French Top Ten thanks to the success of its lead single "Ta Douleur." The disc ended up winning Best New Album of the Year honors at the annual Victoires de la Musique Awards, where she also earned the title of Breakthrough Live Act. Days later, Camille issued the 2005 concert set Live au Trianon. Two years later, she adapted <a href="spotify:artist:7MJ1pB5d6Vjmzep2zQlorn">Benjamin Britten</a>'s A Ceremony of Carols and a collection of a cappella songs from different faiths and countries called God Is Sound that she performed on a tour of churches throughout France. She also contributed the song "Le Festin" to Pixar's 2007 film Ratatouille and voiced the role of Colette for the movie's French dub. For 2008's Music Hole, Camille borrowed from gospel and R&B and used her body as a percussion instrument. The following year, she won the Victoire de la Musique Award for Female Singer of the Year. She then reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:4h7NLIlg1oYdEtfQJfyto0">Nouvelle Vague</a> on their 2010 album, Couleurs sur Paris, and appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:2YUtwzi5pjYRnJGOoIpFcn">Jérôme Van Den Hole</a>'s self-titled album. On 2011's Ilo Veyou, she took a more stripped-down approach than on Music Hole, focusing on a mix of folk, pop, and chanson that evoked Le Fil. Her music appeared in the 2015 animated film The Little Prince, and her fifth album, Oui, arrived in 2017 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Because+Music%22">Because Music</a>. Recorded in a 14th century monastery, the album reflected Camille's fascination with the way the words "oui" (“yes”) and "l’ouï" (“hearing”) were open to so many different interpretations. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Mason Ramsey

Mason Ramsey

As the youngest major label Country artist signed in the genre in nearly two decades, MASON RAMSEY continues his fast-track to stardom after being discovered singing in an aisle at his local Walmart. Ramsey’s new music illustrates how far he’s come – the differences prove instantly apparent as his voice boasts with the kind of confidence only gained through experience and his songwriting brims with unfiltered truth buoyed by intimate creativity. Praised by THE NEW YORK TIMES as delivering "a stylistically diverse country and roots music EP,” the ATLANTIC RECORDS artist’s debut FAMOUS EP (Atlantic Records/Big Loud Records) spawned a hit single of the same name which scored a #4 spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart. In addition to making his debut at the famed Grand Ole Opry, the Golconda, IL-bred phenom has also performed at several high-profile festivals including CMA FEST, COACHELLA, iHEARTCOUNTRY FESTIVAL and STAGECOACH. He has made high-profile TV performances on ELLEN and TODAY; as well as esteemed award show appearances on the CCMA AWARDS, CMA AWARDS, CMT MUSIC AWARDS, and GRAMMY AWARDS.

Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf

Edith Piaf is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Still revered as an icon decades after her death, "the Sparrow" served as a touchstone for virtually every chansonnier, male or female, who followed her. Her greatest strength wasn't so much her technique, or the purity of her voice, but the raw, passionate power of her singing. Her style epitomized that of the classic French chanson: highly emotional, even melodramatic, with a wide, rapid vibrato that wrung every last drop of sentiment from a lyric. She preferred melancholy, mournful material, singing about heartache, tragedy, poverty, and the harsh reality of life on the streets. ~ Steve Huey

Studio Sunset

Studio Sunset

Studio Sunset

Madera Jazz

Madera Jazz

Madera Jazz es una propuesta musical que nace del deseo de experimentar, crear y compartir una búsqueda estética dirigida a un público diverso. Sin dejar de lado los orígenes de la tradición colombiana y latinoamericana, el grupo apuesta por un estilo fresco y renovado donde tienen cabida una multiplicidad de voces e identidades. Un vínculo con lo propio que explora sonoridades diversas y acoge influencias musicales como la voluptuosidad de la música latinoamericana y la pulsión del soul o del funk, todo ello en perfecta aleación con la libertad creadora de un género en constante transformación como el jazz.

Santiago Sandoval

Santiago Sandoval

Santiago Sandoval is a jazz guitar player based in Bogotá, Colombia. He is son of the legendary drummer German Sandoval and nephew of pianist Orlando Sandoval. He studied at Universidad Sergio Arboleda, where he won various scholarships and talent contests. In 2015, he won an scholarship granted by Fundacion Carolina and went to Barcelona, Spain, to do a Master’s degree in performance. Thorughout his carrer, he has played and toured worldwide with various internationally renowed groups and artists like Antonio Arnedo, Aca Seca Trío, Carlos Malta, Jacques Morelenbaum, Lucía Pulido, Carmen Aguilera, Maite Hontele, su tío Orlando Sandoval y su padre Germán Sandoval, Juancho Valencia, Hugo Candelario, Jorge Veloza, C4 trío, among others.

Currently he teaches guitar at the Universidad Sergio Arboleda in Bogotá. He is one of the most active musicians from the Colombian musical scene.

The Princess And The Frog

The Princess And The Frog

Bebopovsky And The Orkestry Podyezdov

Bebopovsky And The Orkestry Podyezdov

The Jazz Messengers

The Jazz Messengers

Formed in 1955 as The Jazz Messengers, the iconic jazz group was led by drummer Art Blakey (born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 11, 1919), who remained the only constant through all of its line-up changes. A depression era orphan who was sent down the coal mines as a child, Art Blakey started out playing piano as a teenager in Pittsburgh nightclubs until, as legend has it, a local gangster announced one night with a gun pointed in his direction, "Art, you on drums tonight". He went on to master a hugely influential percussive and improvisational style and The Jazz Messengers became a pillar of America's be-bop scene for decades. While commonly referred to as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, their albums have been credited to The Jazz Messengers, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, The Jazz Messengers featuring Art Blakey and various other similar names. The group’s classic albums include Hard Bop (1957), Drum Suite (1957), Cu-Bop featuring Sabu (1958), Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (1958), Moanin' (1959), The Big Beat (1960) and Free for All (1964), all based around Blakey's genius drumming. The group evolved into a group where young jazz players could learn their trade and do their apprenticeship. Horace Silver (piano), Wayne Shorter (sax), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Wynton Kelly (piano), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone) and Kenny Garrett (alto sax) all came through the ranks and went on to become acclaimed stars in their own right. Through the years, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers adapted through swing, free-form jazz, hard bop, and avant-garde trends. Constantly performing and recording at an incredible rate, the band did have a slump in popularity in the late-1970s fusion period but made a resurgence in the 1980s with the Grammy Award-winning album New York Scene (1984). Art Blakey died of lung cancer on October 16, 1990 and was posthumously given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Harry Connick, Jr.

Harry Connick, Jr.

With his swinging piano skills and warm baritone vocals, Harry Connick, Jr. helped bring New Orleans stride, jazz, and traditional pop back into the mainstream, an achievement that brought him celebrity and fame beyond music. A multi-faceted performer, Connick has garnered acclaim across the entertainment spectrum, earning Grammy and Emmy Awards, as well Tony nominations for his work on Broadway. A star since he first emerged as a piano prodigy at age ten, Connick had developed into a charismatic jazz artist by his teens. Influenced by <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7v4imS0moSyGdXyLgVTIV7">Nat King Cole</a>, he earned widespread acclaim for a string of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a> albums, including his soundtrack to the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally, for which he took home his first Grammy. He built upon that success, issuing a bevy of Top 20 jazz albums, including 1990's Grammy-winning We Are in Love, 2002's Grammy-winning Songs I Heard, and 2004's number five Billboard 200-charting Only You, all of which helped define the neo-crooner sound and paved the way for artists like <a href="spotify:artist:1GxkXlMwML1oSg5eLPiAz3">Michael Bublé</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3XxxEq6BREC57nCWXbQZ7o">Jamie Cullum</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2Kx7MNY7cI1ENniW7vT30N">Norah Jones</a>. At the same time, Connick expanded into acting, appearing on Will & Grace and in films like Memphis Belle and Independence Day. He also earned accolades on Broadway, including picking up a Tony Award nomination for his starring role in the 2006 revival of The Pajama Game. While standards are his mainstay, as evidenced by 2009's Your Songs, he has explored sounds outside of jazz, embracing pop, R&B, gospel, and funk, as he did on 2015's That Would Be Me and 2021's intimate, Grammy-nominated Alone with My Faith. More varied projects arrived with his starring role as Daddy Warbucks in NBC's Annie Live!, as well as his 2022 holiday album Make It Merry. Born in New Orleans on September 11, 1967, Connick grew up the son of two lawyers who owned a record store. After starting on keyboards at the age of three, he first performed publicly at six and recorded with a local jazz band at ten. Connick attended the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and studied with <a href="spotify:artist:6gMW76a7vmuyUuAivTjFGj">Ellis Marsalis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0gxNgUdRvhVgeq4L3gFamF">James Booker</a>. A move to New York to study at Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music gave him the opportunity to look up a <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia+Records%22">Columbia Records</a> executive who had asked to see him, and Connick's self-titled album debut -- a set of mostly unaccompanied standards -- appeared in 1987. Jazz critics praised Connick's maturity and engaging style, as well as his extended stays at New York hot spots throughout the year. His second album, named for his age in 1988, was the first to feature him on vocals. Already well known within jazz circles, Connick entered the American consciousness with the soundtrack to 1989's popular film When Harry Met Sally. Director Rob Reiner had asked Connick to compose it, and he recorded several warm standards ("It Had to Be You," "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore") with a big-band backing. A world tour followed, and When Harry Met Sally eventually reached double-platinum status. With Connick a major celebrity, he diverged into an acting career, playing a tail gunner in 1990's Memphis Belle. That same year, he released two albums simultaneously: one, We Are in Love, was another vocal outing with similar standards as had appeared on When Harry Met Sally, and the second, Lofty's Roach Souffle, was all-instrumental. Both albums hit the Top Five of the jazz chart, while We Are in Love reached number 22 on the Billboard 200. Connick toured again, this time with a big band, and recorded the group on 1991's Blue Light, Red Light, which again topped the jazz charts and cracked the Top 20 of the Billboard 200. During the mid-'90s, Connick's albums continued to reach platinum status, including 1992's 25, a 1993 Christmas album, and 1994's She. More acting work came his way, including a starring role in 1995's Copycat (where he played a serial killer). He also had a role in the year's biggest blockbuster, Independence Day. In 1996, he released Star Turtle, an album that found him exploring his love of <a href="spotify:artist:7guDJrEfX3qb6FEbdPA5qi">Stevie Wonder</a>-esque funk and R&B. However, he returned to more jazz-oriented work with 1997's orchestral ballads album To See You and 1999's big band production Come by Me, both of which hit number one on the jazz charts. In the new millennium, Connick cycled between albums exploring his jazz roots and those with songbook standards. Interestingly, post-2001, Connick moved between two labels with albums released on both <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> and saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:1gPY6jETlC02stpXOUmSBH">Branford Marsalis</a>' <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Marsalis+Music%22">Marsalis Music</a> label. Among these were the big-band album Only You, featuring popular music from the '50s and '60s, and the more intimate releases Other Hours: Connick on Piano, Vol. 1 (2003) and Occasion: Connick on Piano, Vol. 2 (2005), which focused on the artist's instrumental abilities. As well as releasing albums, Connick continued to act, appearing regularly on the television sitcom Will & Grace before it ended in 2006. Ever devoted to his hometown, Connick was also heavily involved in the support and rebuilding of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina. In early September 2005, he organized the benefit telethon A Concert for Hurricane Relief on NBC to raise money for and draw attention to the beleaguered residents of New Orleans. Afterward, he worked closely with Habitat for Humanity in helping victims of Katrina. He also returned to Broadway starring alongside <a href="spotify:artist:7p8IggUKyVuZy23HxdiNY9">Kelli O'Hara</a> in a 2006 production of The Pajama Game for which he earned Tony Award-nomination. In 2007, Connick once again expressed his deep love for his hometown with the release of his New Orleans tribute album, Oh, My Nola, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a>. The similarly New Orleans-themed Chanson du Vieux Carré followed soon after. A year later, Connick delivered his third holiday album, What a Night! A Christmas Album. He once again revisited a set of American popular song classics and contemporary pop standards with 2009's Your Songs. In 2011, as part of WNET's Great Performances series on PBS, Connick released the live album and DVD In Concert on Broadway. The concert featured Connick backed by his big band and orchestra performing at the Neil Simon Theater in New York City. That same year, he also starred in a Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. In 2013, he returned with the funk-oriented album Smokey Mary. The album coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Krewe of Orpheus, the Mardi Gras super krewe that Connick co-founded in 1993. Included on the album was the song "Smokey Mary Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train," which Connick penned in homage to the krewe's signature float. Also in 2013, Connick released the eclectic album of all-original songs, Every Man Should Know. In 2014, Connick signed on to be a judge on the 13th season of American Idol. He stayed with the show through its final season -- the one that ran from 2015 to 2016 -- but he made plans to stay on television via a daytime variety show, Harry, which debuted in September 2016. While all these plans were being laid, he released the poppy album That Would Be Me in the fall of 2015 before returning to his big band in 2019 with True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter. Also in 2019, he headlined the Broadway production Harry Connick, Jr. -- A Celebration of Cole Porter. In March 2021, Connick delivered the Grammy-nominated Alone with My Faith, an intimate, gospel-inspired album recorded entirely on his own while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, he also starred as Daddy Warbucks in NBC's Annie Live! The following December, he returned with the holiday album Make It Merry and embarked on his 2022 Holiday Celebration Tour. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi

Antonio Arnedo

Antonio Arnedo

Jazz became a major issue for Colombian Antonio Arnedo while studying geology and he decided to get involved in the local scene after teaming up with Francisco Zumaqué. The two formed an ensemble called Macumbia, and played for Bogota's Philharmonic Orchestra soon after. In 1994, Antonio Arnedo made his live debut, having the opportunity to perform in New York a year later. Combining jazz, classical music, and Colombian folklore, the talented sax player recorded Travesía in 1996, followed by Orígenes in 1997 and Encuentros in 1998. In addition, Arnedo participated in Carlos Vives' successful album Clásicos de la Provincia. ~ Drago Bonacich, Rovi

福村博

福村博

John Coltrane Quartet

John Coltrane Quartet

1960 was a major turning point for John Coltrane (born September 23, 1926, died July 17, 1967). It was in 1960 that the big-toned saxophone giant left Miles Davis' employ for good, made modal jazz (as opposed to hard bop) his main focus, and formed a highly influential group of his own. That group was the New York-based John Coltrane Quartet, whose original lineup included Trane on tenor and soprano sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Steve Davis on bass. Davis didn't stay long; Coltrane went through a few more bassists (Art Davis and Reggie Workman) before hiring Jimmy Garrison in 1961. Like his former employer Miles Davis, Coltrane was a very restless musician who was determined to forge ahead -- and his 1960-1965 quartet did exactly that. In the 1950s, Coltrane's main focus had been hard bop -- "Giant Steps," recorded in 1959, is considered bop's ultimate blowing tune. But it was also in 1959 that Coltrane was prominently featured on Davis' influential modal classic Kind of Blue, and the saxman took the modal plunge in a major way when he became a full-time group leader in 1960. That year, Coltrane's new quartet recorded My Favorite Things, an Atlantic release that did as much to popularize modal playing as Kind of Blue. My Favorite Things' title track is considered a definitive example of modal post-bop, as are "Impressions," "Equinox," "Miles' Mode," and other gems that Coltrane's quartet unveiled in the early '60s. Coltrane, who moved from Atlantic to Impulse! in 1961, occasionally augmented his group; reedman Eric Dolphy, for example, was briefly on board in 1961. But for the most part, Coltrane favored a quartet format from 1960-1964 -- and that quartet was amazingly influential. In the early to mid-'60s, John Coltrane Quartet's modal explorations influenced everyone from saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, and Jackie McLean to trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and organist Larry Young. It was in 1965 (the year after Coltrane's quartet recorded the spiritual A Love Supreme for Impulse!) that he opted for another change of direction. The saxman started to explore atonal free jazz -- a shift that signaled the end of his modal period as well as the end of the famous Coltrane/Tyner/Garrison/Jones lineup. But the quartet's influence never went away; anyone who has played modal jazz, past or present, owes a debt of gratitude to John Coltrane Quartet. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi

Tommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey

Though he might have been ranked second at any given moment to Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, or Harry James, Tommy Dorsey was overall the most popular bandleader of the swing era that lasted from 1935 to 1945. His remarkably melodic trombone playing was the signature sound of his orchestra, but he successfully straddled the hot and sweet styles of swing with a mix of ballads and novelty songs. He provided showcases to vocalists like Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Jo Stafford, and he employed inventive arrangers such as Sy Oliver and Bill Finegan. He was the biggest-selling artist in the history of RCA Victor Records, one of the major labels, until the arrival of Elvis Presley, who was first given national exposure on the 1950s television show he hosted with his brother Jimmy. Dorsey was 21 months younger than Jimmy and thus the second son of Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr., a music teacher and band director, and Theresa Langton Dorsey. Both brothers received musical instruction from their father. Tommy focused on the trombone, though he also played trumpet, especially early in his career. The brothers played in local groups, then formed their own band, Dorsey's Novelty Six, in 1920. By 1922, when they played an engagement at a Baltimore amusement park and made their radio debut, they were calling the group Dorsey's Wild Canaries. During the early and mid-'20s, they played in a series of bands including the Scranton Sirens, the California Ramblers, and orchestras led by Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman, sometimes apart, but usually together. Eventually, they settled in New York and worked as session musicians. In 1927, they began recording as the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra for OKeh Records, using pickup bands, and they first reached the charts with "Coquette" in June 1928. In the spring of 1929, they scored a Top Ten hit with "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)," which featured Bing Crosby on vocals. The Dorseys finally organized a full-time band and signed to Decca Records in 1934. Hiring Bing Crosby's younger brother Bob Crosby as their vocalist, they scored a Top Ten hit with "I Believe in Miracles" in the late winter of 1935, quickly followed by "Tiny Little Fingerprints" (vocal by Kay Weber) and "Night Wind" (vocal by Bob Crosby). They then enjoyed successive number one hits with "Lullaby of Broadway" (vocal by Bob Crosby) and "Chasing Shadows" (vocal by Bob Eberly, Bob Crosby's replacement). The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra was poised to become the biggest band in the country in the spring of 1935 and might have been remembered for launching the swing era, but at the end of May the brothers, whose relationship was always volatile, disagreed, and Tommy left the band (which nevertheless scored another Top Ten hit with "Every Little Movement" that summer). Jimmy Dorsey continued to lead the band, which eventually was billed as Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra and went on to considerable success. But while the Dorseys stumbled, Benny Goodman achieved national success and was dubbed "the King of Swing." Tommy Dorsey took over the remnants of the Joe Haymes band in founding his own orchestra in the fall of 1935. Signing to RCA Victor Records, he scored an immediate success with "On Treasure Island" (vocal by Edythe Wright), which topped the charts in December 1935, one of four Dorsey records to peak in the Top Ten before the end of the year. Dorsey was back at number one in January 1936 with "The Music Goes Round and Round" (vocal by Edythe Wright) and topped the charts again in February with "Alone" (vocal by Cliff Weston). "You" (vocal by Edythe Wright) gave him his third number one in 1936, to which can be added eight other Top Ten hits during the year. Dorsey was even more successful in 1937, a year in which he scored 18 Top Ten hits, among them the chart-toppers "Marie" (vocal by Jack Leonard), "Satan Takes a Holiday" (an instrumental), "The Big Apple," "Once in a While," and "The Dipsy Doodle" (vocal by Edythe Wright). Dorsey earned his own radio series, which ran for nearly three years. His 15 Top Ten hits in 1938 included the number one "Music, Maestro, Please" (vocal by Edythe Wright), and he had another 11 Top Ten hits in 1939, among them "Our Love" (vocal by Jack Leonard), which hit number one. Notwithstanding his commercial success, Dorsey made important changes in his band in late 1939, particularly in his vocalists. Jack Leonard left the band in November, and Dorsey hired Frank Sinatra away from Harry James. Longtime female singer Edythe Wright also departed, replaced by Connie Haines, and the vocal quartet the Pied Pipers, featuring Jo Stafford, also joined Dorsey. The success only continued with the new members. Dorsey scored ten Top Ten hits in 1940, among them the chart-toppers "Indian Summer" and "All the Things You Are" (both with vocals by Leonard) as well as "I'll Never Smile Again" (with vocals by Sinatra and the Pied Pipers). For the year, he ranked second behind Glenn Miller as the top recording artist. He dropped to third place behind Miller and his brother Jimmy in 1941, a year in which he scored another ten Top Ten hits, eight of them featuring Sinatra, including the number one hit "Dolores" from the film Las Vegas Nights, released in March, in which the band appeared. The year 1942 was a challenging one for Dorsey. The U.S. had entered World War II in December 1941, which put pressure on the big bands particularly in terms of changing personnel and travel difficulties. On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians called a strike that prevented musicians from entering recording studios. Frank Sinatra left the band in September to launch a solo career, and the Pied Pipers were gone by the end of the year. Nevertheless, Dorsey carried on, putting the band into a second motion picture, Ship Ahoy, which opened in June, and scoring four Top Ten hits, which, with his other chart entries, was enough to rank him fifth among the year's top recording artists. He earned the same ranking in the transitional year of 1943, despite being shut out of the recording studios, managing another four Top Ten hits, among them "There Are Such Things" and "In the Blue of the Evening," chart-toppers Sinatra recorded with the band before his departure. Meanwhile, Dorsey turned to film roles to keep active, appearing in three movies released during 1943: Presenting Lily Mars, DuBarry Was a Lady, and Girl Crazy. By 1944, RCA Victor had exhausted its stockpile of unissued Dorsey recordings and had to resort to reissues, managing Top Ten hits with the 1938 instrumental "Boogie Woogie" and the 1940 recording "I'll Be Seeing You" with Sinatra on vocals. Dorsey remained in Hollywood, appearing in Broadway Rhythm, which opened in April. The settlement of the musicians' union strike in the fall allowed him to return to the recording studio, and he scored six Top Ten hits in 1945 as a result, also placing an album, Getting Sentimental, in the newly instituted album charts. In May, he appeared in the film Thrill of a Romance. Dorsey scored another Top Ten album with Show Boat, containing songs from the Broadway musical, in February 1946. The big bands were in decline, and like some of his peers, Dorsey broke up his band in December 1946. But his All-Time Hits was in the Top Ten of the album charts in February 1947, and in March "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" (vocal by Stuart Foster) entered the singles charts to become a Top Ten hit. Dorsey reorganized his band, and in May he played himself in a largely fictionalized film biography, The Fabulous Dorseys. Clambake Seven, an album of music by Dorsey's small group, reached the Top Ten in October 1948, the same month he appeared in the film A Song Is Born, and the following month he was back in the Top Ten of the singles charts with "Until" (vocal by Harry Prime). In the spring of 1949, he had a double-sided Top Ten hit with "The Hucklebuck" (vocal by Charlie Shavers)/"Again" (vocal by Marcy Lutes). The compilation album And the Band Sings Too was in the Top Ten in September, and Dorsey returned to the Top Ten of the album charts with Tommy Dorsey Plays Cole Porter in April 1950. His final film appearance came in Disc Jockey in September 1951. Dorsey switched to Decca Records and continued to perform with his band in the early '50s. In May 1953, Jimmy Dorsey broke up his band and joined his brother's orchestra as a featured attraction; before long, the band was again being billed as the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. While playing a residency at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York, the brothers launched a television series, Stage Show, as a summer replacement program in the summer of 1954. It returned on an occasional basis during the 1954-1955 season and ran regularly once a week during the 1955-1956 season. Elvis Presley appeared on the show for six consecutive weeks starting in January 1956, his first nationally broadcast appearances. Sedated by sleeping pills following a heavy meal, Dorsey accidentally choked to death at the age of 51. His brother led his band briefly afterward, but Jimmy Dorsey died in 1957. Nevertheless, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra continued to record and perform, and under the direction of Warren Covington it scored a final million-selling Top Ten hit in November 1958 with "Tea for Two Cha Cha." Billed as "the sentimental gentleman of swing," Tommy Dorsey successfully combined the hot and sweet aspects of swing music while leading a band that consistently ranked among the top two or three orchestras in the U.S. from the mid-'30s to the mid-'40s, the entire swing era. His band was peopled with major jazz instrumentalists (including Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman, Pee Wee Erwin, Max Kaminsky, Buddy Rich, Charlie Shavers, and Dave Tough), arrangers (including Sy Oliver and Paul Weston), and singers (including Frank Sinatra and Jo Stafford) who went on to define popular music in the late '40s and early '50s. He was also an accomplished trombone player whose distinctive sound dominated his band and recordings. The bulk of those recordings were made for RCA Victor, though some later work was done for Decca and Columbia, and of course there are numerous airchecks, making for a large discography. ~ William Ruhlmann

Irene Kral

Irene Kral

A superb ballad singer who always put both plenty of emotion and subtlety into her often haunting interpretations, Irene Kral stood near the top of her field during her shortened life. The younger sister of singer/pianist <a href="spotify:artist:3pqhVdFspg2hDQE0EYnVZs">Roy Kral</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:5TlIEEHom333zi0equADiu">Jackie & Roy</a>), she debuted as a singer with the Jay Burkhardt Big Band. Freelancing in Chicago (including with a vocal group called the Tattle-Tales), Kral spent nine months singing with <a href="spotify:artist:6T4kUHIlszpj944ZXR3yNw">Maynard Ferguson</a>'s big band in 1957. Next up was an association with Herb Pomeroy's Orchestra. After getting married and settling in Los Angeles, Kral did not work for a while. However, from 1974-1977, she recorded three exquisite albums for Choice and Catalyst, including two duet sets with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:702XoGfJJgkpPDzJffMiY1">Alan Broadbent</a> (Where Is Love and Gentle Rain), that are considered classics; her rendition of "Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most" is definitive. Sadly, Irene Kral was struck down by cancer at the height of her career at age 46. Her recordings (for United Artists in 1959, a 1963 date for Ava, a Mainstream session in 1965, and the Choice and Catalyst albums) are all currently out of print, although a live set from September 1977 put out by Just Jazz in the mid-'90s is available on CD. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

In the 1950s and '60s, few American jazz artists were as influential, and fewer still were as popular, as Dave Brubeck. At a time when the cooler sounds of West Coast jazz began to dominate the public face of the music, Brubeck proved there was an audience for the style far beyond the confines of the in-crowd, and with his emphasis on unusual time signatures and adventurous tonalities, Brubeck showed that ambitious and challenging music could still be accessible. And as rock & roll began to dominate the landscape of popular music at the dawn of the '60s, Brubeck enjoyed some of his greatest commercial and critical success, expanding the audience for jazz and making it hip with young adults and college students. David Warren Brubeck was born in Concord, California on December 6, 1920. Brubeck grew up surrounded by music -- his mother was a classically trained pianist and his two older brothers would become professional musicians -- and he began receiving piano lessons when he was four years old. Brubeck showed an initial reluctance to learn to read music, but his natural facility for the keyboard and his ability to pick up melodies by ear allowed him to keep this a secret for several years. His father worked as a cattle rancher, and in 1932, his family moved from Concord to a 45,000-acre spread near the foothills of the Sierras. As a teenager, Brubeck was passionate about music and performed with a local dance band in his spare time, but he planned to follow a more practical career path and study veterinary medicine. However, after enrolling in the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California, Brubeck played piano in local night spots to help pay his way, and his enthusiasm for performing was such that one of his professors suggested he would be better off studying music. Brubeck followed this advice and graduated in 1942, though several of his instructors were shocked to learn that he still couldn't read music. Brubeck left college as World War II was in full swing, and he was soon drafted into the Army; he served under Gen. George S. Patton, and would have fought in the Battle of the Bulge had he not been asked to play piano in a Red Cross show for the troops. Brubeck was requested to put together a jazz band with his fellow soldiers, and he formed a combo called "the Wolfpack," a multi-racial ensemble at a time when the military was still largely segregated. Brubeck was honorably discharged in 1946, and enrolled at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he studied under the French composer Darius Milhaud. Unlike many composers in art music, Milhaud had a keen appreciation for jazz, and Brubeck began incorporating many of Milhaud's ideas about unusual time signatures and polytonality into his jazz pieces. In 1947, Brubeck formed a band with several other Mills College students, the Dave Brubeck Octet. However, the Octet's music was a bit too adventurous for the average jazz fan at the time, and Brubeck moved on to a more streamlined trio with Cal Tjader on vibes and percussion and Ron Crotty on bass. Brubeck made his first commercial recordings with this trio for California's Fantasy Records, and while he developed a following in the San Francisco Bay Area, a back injury Brubeck received during a swimming accident prevented him from performing for several months and led him to restructure his group. In 1951, the Dave Brubeck Quartet made their debut, with the pianist joined by Paul Desmond on alto sax; Desmond's easygoing but adventurous approach was an ideal match for Brubeck. While the Quartet's rhythm section would shift repeatedly over the next several years, in 1956 Joe Morello became their permanent drummer, and in 1958, Eugene Wright took over as bassist. By this time, Brubeck's fame had spread far beyond Northern California; Brubeck's recordings for Fantasy had racked up strong reviews and impressive sales, and along with regular performances at jazz clubs, the Quartet began playing frequent concerts at college campuses across the country, exposing their music to a new and enthusiastic audience that embraced their innovative approach. Brubeck and the Quartet had become popular enough to be the subject of a November 8, 1954 cover story in Time Magazine, only the second time that accolade had been bestowed on a jazz musician (Louis Armstrong made the cover in 1949). In 1955, Brubeck signed with Columbia Records, then America's most prestigious record company, and his first album for the label, Brubeck Time, appeared several months later. A steady stream of live and studio recordings followed as the Dave Brubeck Quartet became the most successful jazz act in the United States, and in 1959, they released one of their most ambitious albums yet, Time Out, a collection of numbers written in unconventional time signatures, such as 5/4 and 9/8. While Columbia were initially reluctant to release an album they felt was too arty for the mainstream, their fears proved groundless -- Time Out became the first jazz album to sell a million copies, and in 1961, it bounded back into the charts when "Take Five" unexpectedly took off as a single, rising to 25 on the pop charts and five on the adult contemporary survey. As Brubeck enjoyed increasing commercial success, he began exploring new musical avenues; in 1959, the Brubeck Quartet performed with the New York Philharmonic, performing "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra," a piece written by Howard Brubeck, Dave's brother. Dave's own composition "Elementals," written for orchestra and jazz ensemble, debuted in 1962; "Elementals" was later adapted into a dance piece by choreographer Lar Lubovitch. And Brubeck and his wife, Iola, wrote a song cycle called "The Real Ambassadors" that celebrated the history of jazz while decrying racism; it was performed at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival, with contributions from Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. The Brubeck Quartet also became international stars, with the State Department arranging for them to perform in locales rarely visited by jazz artists, including Poland, Turkey, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sri Lanka. In 1967, Brubeck dissolved the Dave Brubeck Quartet and began devoting more time to composing longer works that often focused on his spiritual beliefs, including an oratorio for jazz ensemble and orchestra, "The Light in the Wilderness," which debuted in 1968; "The Gates of Justice," first performed in 1969, which melded passages from the Bible with the writings of Martin Luther King, and "Upon This Rock," which was written for Pope John Paul II's visit to San Francisco in 1987. Brubeck continued to perform in a more traditional jazz format as well, forming a new combo in 1968 featuring Jack Six on bass, Alan Dawson on drums, and Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax. In the '70s, Brubeck also toured with a group featuring his sons Darius (keyboards), Chris (bass and trombone), and Dan (drums); dubbed Two Generations of Brubeck, the ensemble performed a bracing fusion of jazz, rock, and blues. In 1976, Brubeck reassembled the classic lineup of the Dave Brubeck Quartet for a 25th anniversary tour; the reunion was cut short by the death of Paul Desmond in 1977. From the mid-'80s onward, Brubeck maintained a schedule that would befit a rising star eager to make a name for himself rather than a respected elder statesman. He continued to compose orchestral works as well as fresh jazz pieces, and recorded and performed on a regular basis with a variety of accompanists. Perhaps the most honored jazz artist of his generation, Brubeck received awards from two sitting United States Presidents -- Bill Clinton presented him with the National Medal of the Arts in 1994, and Barack Obama presented him with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009. Brubeck also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a lifetime achievement Grammy from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Medal, and honorary degrees from universities in five different countries, among many other awards for his life in music. When he died of heart failure late in 2012, just one day before his 92nd birthday, his life and his work were celebrated around the world. ~ Mark Deming

Blossom Dearie

Blossom Dearie

A distinctive, girlish voice, crisp, impeccable delivery, and an irrepressible sense of playful swing made Blossom Dearie one of the most enjoyable singers of the vocal era. Her warmth and sparkle ensured that she'd never treat standards as the well-worn songs they often appeared in less capable hands. And though her reputation was made on record with a string of excellent albums for Verve during the '50s, she remained a draw with Manhattan cabaret audiences long into the new millennium. Actually born with the name Blossom Dearie in the New York Catskills, she began playing piano at an early age and studied classical music before making the switch to jazz while in high school. After graduation, she moved to New York and began appearing with vocal groups like the Blue Flames (attached to Woody Herman) and the Blue Reys (with Alvino Rey). She also played cocktail piano around the city, and moved to Paris in 1952 to form her own group, the Blue Stars of France. Dearie also appeared in a nightclub act with Annie Ross, and made a short, uncredited appearance on King Pleasure's vocalese classic, "Moody's Mood for Love." She recorded an obscure album of piano solos, and in 1954, the Blue Stars hit the national charts with a French version of "Lullaby of Birdland." After hearing Dearie perform in Paris in 1956, Norman Granz signed her to Verve and she returned to America by the end of the year. Her eponymous debut for Verve featured a set of standards that slanted traditional pop back to its roots in Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and cabaret. Her focus on intimate readings of standards ("Deed I Do," "Thou Swell") and the relaxed trio setting (bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jo Jones, plus Dearie on piano) drew nods to her cabaret background. On her next few records, Dearie stuck to her focus on standards and small groups, though her gift for songwriting emerged as well with songs like "Blossom's Blues." She performed in solo settings at supper clubs all over New York, and appeared on the more cultured of the late-'50s New York talk shows. Her husband, flutist Bobby Jaspar, made several appearances on her records, notably 1959's My Gentleman Friend. After a recording break in the early '60s, Blossom Dearie signed to Capitol for one album (1964's May I Come In?), but then recorded sparingly during the rest of the decade. Finally, in the early '70s, she formed her own Daffodil Records label and began releasing her own work, including 1974's Blossom Dearie Sings and the following year's My Favorite Celebrity Is You. She also performed at Carnegie Hall with Anita O'Day and Joe Williams, billed as the Jazz Singers. She continued to perform and record during the 1980s through to the early 2000s, centered mostly in New York but also a regular attraction in London as well. She retired from playing live in 2006 due to health concerns and died quietly in her Greenwich Village apartment on February 7, 2009. ~ John Bush

Chet Baker

Chet Baker

Chet Baker was a primary exponent of the West Coast school of cool jazz in the early and mid-'50s. As a trumpeter, he had a generally restrained, intimate playing style and he attracted attention beyond jazz for his photogenic looks and singing. But his career was marred by drug addiction. Baker's father, Chesney Henry Baker,Sr., was a guitarist who was forced to turn to other work during the Depression; his mother, Vera (Moser) Baker, worked in a perfumery. The family moved from Oklahoma to Glendale, CA, in 1940. As a child, Baker sang at amateur competitions and in a church choir. Before his adolescence, his father brought home a trombone for him, then replaced it with a trumpet when the larger instrument proved too much for him. He had his first formal training in music in junior high and later at Glendale High School, but would play largely by ear for the rest of his life. In 1946, when he was only 16 years old, he dropped out of high school and his parents signed papers allowing him to enlist in the army; he was sent to Berlin, Germany, where he played in the 298th Army Band. After his discharge in 1948, he enrolled at El Camino College in Los Angeles, where he studied theory and harmony while playing in jazz clubs, but he quit college in the middle of his second year. He re-enlisted in the army in 1950 and became a member of the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio in San Francisco. But he also began sitting in at clubs in the city and he finally obtained a second discharge to become a professional jazz musician. Baker initially played in Vido Musso's band, then with Stan Getz. (The first recording featuring Baker is a performance of "Out of Nowhere" that comes from a tape of a jam session made on March 24, 1952, and was released on the Fresh Sound Records LP Live at the Trade Winds.) His break came quickly, when, in the spring of 1952, he was chosen at an audition to play a series of West Coast dates with Charlie Parker, making his debut with the famed saxophonist at the Tiffany Club in Los Angeles on May 29, 1952. That summer, he began playing in the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, a group featuring only baritone sax, trumpet, bass, and drums -- no piano -- that attracted attention during an engagement at the Haig nightclub and through recordings on the newly formed Pacific Jazz Records (later known as World Pacific Records), beginning with the 10" LP Gerry Mulligan Quartet, which featured Baker's famous rendition of "My Funny Valentine." The Gerry Mulligan Quartet lasted for less than a year, folding when its leader went to jail on a drug charge in June 1953. Baker went solo, forming his own quartet, which initially featured Russ Freeman on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Bobby White on drums, and making his first recording as leader for Pacific Jazz on July 24, 1953. Baker was hailed by fans and critics and he won a number of polls in the next few years. In 1954, Pacific Jazz released Chet Baker Sings, an album that increased his popularity but alienated traditional jazz fans; he would continue to sing for the rest of his career. Acknowledging his chiseled good looks, nearby Hollywood came calling and he made his acting debut in the film Hell's Horizon, released in the fall of 1955. But he declined an offer of a studio contract and toured Europe from September 1955 to April 1956. When he returned to the U.S., he formed a quintet that featured saxophonist Phil Urso and pianist Bobby Timmons. Contrary to his reputation for relaxed, laid-back playing, Baker turned to more of a bop style with this group, which recorded the album Chet Baker & Crew for Pacific Jazz in July 1956. Baker toured the U.S. in February 1957 with the Birdland All-Stars and took a group to Europe later that year. He returned to Europe to stay in 1959, settling in Italy, where he acted in the film Urlatori Alla Sbarra. Hollywood, meanwhile, had not entirely given up on him, at least as a source of inspiration, and in 1960, a fictionalized film biography of his life, All the Fine Young Cannibals, appeared with Robert Wagner in the starring role of Chad Bixby. Baker had become addicted to heroin in the 1950s and had been incarcerated briefly on several occasions, but his drug habit only began to interfere with his career significantly in the 1960s. He was arrested in Italy in the summer of 1960 and spent almost a year and a half in jail. He celebrated his release by recording Chet Is Back! for RCA in February 1962. (It has since been reissued as The Italian Sessions and as Somewhere Over the Rainbow.) Later in the year, he was arrested in West Germany and expelled to Switzerland, then France, later moving to England in August 1962 to appear as himself in the film The Stolen Hours, which was released in 1963. He was deported from England to France because of a drug offense in March 1963. He lived in Paris and performed there and in Spain over the next year, but after being arrested again in West Germany, he was deported back to the U.S. He returned to America after five years in Europe on March 3, 1964, and played primarily in New York and Los Angeles during the mid-'60s, having switched temporarily from trumpet to flügelhorn. In the summer of 1966, he suffered a severe beating in San Francisco that was related to his drug addiction. The incident is usually misdated and frequently exaggerated in accounts of his life, often due to his own unreliable testimony. It is said, for example, that all his teeth were knocked out, which is not the case, though one tooth was broken and the general deterioration of his teeth led to his being fitted with dentures in the late '60s, forcing him to retrain his embouchure. The beating was not the cause of the decline in his career during this period, but it is emblematic of that decline. By the end of the '60s, he was recording and performing only infrequently and he stopped playing completely in the early '70s. Regaining some control over his life by taking methadone to control his heroin addiction (though he remained an addict), Baker eventually mounted a comeback that culminated in a prominent New York club engagement in November 1973 and a reunion concert with Gerry Mulligan at Carnegie Hall in November 1974 that was recorded and released by Epic Records. By the mid-'70s, Baker was able to return to Europe and he spent the rest of his life performing there primarily, with occasional trips to Japan and periods back in the U.S., though he had no permanent residence. He attracted the attention of rock musicians, with whom he occasionally performed, for example adding trumpet to Elvis Costello's recording of his anti-Falklands War song "Shipbuilding" in 1983. In 1987, photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber undertook a documentary film about Baker. The following year, Baker died in a fall from a hotel window in Amsterdam after taking heroin and cocaine. Weber's film, Let's Get Lost, premiered in September 1988 to critical acclaim and earned an Academy Award nomination. In 1997, Baker's unfinished autobiography was published under the title As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir and the book was optioned by Miramax for a film adaptation. Baker's drug addiction caused him to lead a disorganized and peripatetic life, his constant need for cash requiring him to accept many ill-advised recording offers, while his undependability prevented him from making long-term commitments to record labels. As a result, his discography is extensive and wildly uneven. ~ William Ruhlmann

Jeri Southern

Jeri Southern

A converted piano player and vocal coach, Jeri Southern became one of the most underrated jazz vocal interpreters of the 1950s despite a voice regarded as subpar. Transforming a potential failing into her prime strength, Southern was devastatingly effective at delivering songs charting the downhill romantic life of world-weary everywoman characters. After recording for Decca, Roulette, Capitol and Jasmine during the 1950s though, she abruptly retired after growing tired of the music industry. Born in rural Nebraska, Jeri Southern played piano by ear at the age of three and began formal lessons three years later. She studied classical piano and voice at a school in Omaha, but after an introduction to jazz at a local nightclub, Southern quickly changed her focus. After graduation, she moved to Chicago and began making appearances at clubs during the late '40s, occasionally supporting Anita O'Day. Convinced to begin singing as well, Southern abandoned her classical training and began singing in a voice just several steps removed from her speaking voice. After signing to Decca in 1951, her first hit, "You Better Go Now," established her style -- lyrically focused, somewhat desultory, and definitely lovesick, the style of singing often called (for better or worse) torch songs. Her decidedly unflashy voice lent additional weight to the lyrical concerns of other Southern favorites like "I Don't Know Where to Turn," "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "If I Had You." She also had a moderate hit in 1954 with "Joey" and toured with the Birdland Jazz Stars of 1957. Southern's LPs of the '50s for Decca utilized mostly small groups in an era of large orchestras, including top-flight jazz-pop names like Ralph Burns, Dave Barbour and Marty Paich. After Southern recorded two LPs for Roulette during 1958, she moved to Capitol for her most celebrated album, 1959's Jeri Southern Meets Cole Porter, arranged by Billy May. She recorded only one additional LP for Capitol (live at the Crescendo) before retiring in 1961, disgusted at the state of traditional pop. She married several times, raised a family and worked as a piano/vocal coach in Hollywood until her death (from double pneumonia) in 1991. She was booked for her first studio time in years at the time of her death. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Julie London

Julie London

A sultry, smoky-voiced master of understatement, Julie London enjoyed considerable popularity during the cool era of the 1950s. London never had the range of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, but often used restraint, softness, and subtlety to maximum advantage. An actress as well as a singer, London played with heavyweights like Gregory Peck and Rock Hudson in various films, and was married to Jack Webb of Dragnet fame for seven years before marrying songwriter Bobby Troup ("Route 66"). London performed her biggest hit, "Cry Me a River," in the Jayne Mansfield film The Girl Can't Help It. After recording her last album, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, in 1969, she continued to act -- playing a nurse on the NBC medical drama Emergency from 1974-1978. Despite her "sex symbol" image -- London was known for her sexy LP covers, which make them collector's items -- she was surprisingly shy, and left show biz altogether in the late '70s. In the mid-'90s London suffered a stroke, which led to a half-decade of poor health and ultimately contributed to her death on October 18, 2000. ~ Alex Henderson

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson was one of the greatest piano players of all time. A pianist with phenomenal technique on the level of his idol, Art Tatum, Peterson's speed, dexterity, and ability to swing at any tempo were amazing. Very effective in small groups, jam sessions, and in accompanying singers, O.P. was at his absolute best when performing unaccompanied solos. His original style did not fall into any specific idiom. Like Erroll Garner and George Shearing, Peterson's distinctive playing formed during the mid- to late '40s and fell somewhere between swing and bop. Peterson was criticized through the years because he used so many notes, didn't evolve much since the 1950s, and recorded a remarkable number of albums. Perhaps it is because critics ran out of favorable adjectives to use early in his career; certainly it can be said that Peterson played 100 notes when other pianists might have used ten, but all 100 usually fit, and there is nothing wrong with showing off technique when it serves the music. As with Johnny Hodges and Thelonious Monk, to name two, Peterson spent his career growing within his style rather than making any major changes once his approach was set, certainly an acceptable way to handle one's career. Because he was Norman Granz's favorite pianist (along with Tatum) and the producer tended to record some of his artists excessively, Peterson made an incredible number of albums. Not all are essential, and a few are routine, but the great majority are quite excellent, and there are dozens of classics. Peterson started classical piano lessons when he was six and developed quickly. After winning a talent show at 14, he began starring on a weekly radio show in Montreal. Peterson picked up early experience as a teenager playing with Johnny Holmes' Orchestra. From 1945-1949, he recorded 32 selections for Victor in Montreal. Those trio performances find Peterson displaying a love for boogie-woogie, which he would soon discard, and the swing style of Teddy Wilson and Nat King Cole. His technique was quite brilliant even at that early stage, and although he had not yet been touched by the influence of bop, he was already a very impressive player. Granz discovered Peterson in 1949 and soon presented him as a surprise guest at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert. Peterson was recorded in 1950 on a series of duets with either Ray Brown or Major Holley on bass; his version of "Tenderly" became a hit. Peterson's talents were quite obvious, and he became a household name in 1952 when he formed a trio with guitarist Barney Kessel and Brown. Kessel tired of the road and was replaced by Herb Ellis the following year. The Peterson-Ellis-Brown trio, which often toured with JATP, was one of jazz's great combos from 1953-1958. Their complex yet swinging arrangements were competitive -- Ellis and Brown were always trying to outwit and push the pianist -- and consistently exciting. In 1958, when Ellis left the band, it was decided that no other guitarist could fill in so well, and he was replaced (after a brief stint by Gene Gammage) by drummer Ed Thigpen. In contrast to the earlier group, the Peterson-Brown-Thigpen trio (which lasted until 1965) found the pianist easily the dominant soloist. Later versions of the group featured drummers Louis Hayes (1965-1966), Bobby Durham (1967-1970), Ray Price (1970), and bassists Sam Jones (1966-1970) and George Mraz (1970). In 1960, Peterson established the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, which lasted for three years. He made his first recorded set of unaccompanied piano solos in 1968 (strange that Granz had not thought of it) during his highly rated series of MPS recordings. With the formation of the Pablo label by Granz in 1972, Peterson was often teamed with guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels Pedersen. He appeared on dozens of all-star records, made five duet albums with top trumpeters (Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, and Jon Faddis), and teamed up with Count Basie on several two-piano dates. An underrated composer, Peterson wrote and recorded the impressive "Canadiana Suite" in 1964 and has occasionally performed originals in the years since. Although always thought of as a masterful acoustic pianist, Peterson has also recorded on electric piano (particularly some of his own works), organ on rare occasions, and even clavichord for an odd duet date with Joe Pass. One of his rare vocal sessions in 1965, With Respect to Nat, reveals that Peterson's singing voice was nearly identical to Nat King Cole's. A two-day reunion with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown in 1990 (which also included Bobby Durham) resulted in four CDs. Peterson was felled by a serious stroke in 1993 that knocked him out of action for two years. He gradually returned to the scene, however, although with a weakened left hand. Even when he wasn't 100 percent, Peterson was a classic improviser, one of the finest musicians that jazz has ever produced. The pianist appeared on an enormous number of records through the years. As a leader, he has recorded for Victor, Granz's Clef and Verve labels (1950-1964), MPS, Mercury, Limelight, Pablo, and Telarc. ~ Scott Yanow

Erroll Garner

Erroll Garner

One of the most distinctive of all pianists, Erroll Garner proved that it was possible to be a sophisticated player without knowing how to read music, that a creative jazz musician can be very popular without watering down his music, and that it is possible to remain an enthusiastic player without changing one's style once it is formed. A brilliant virtuoso who sounded unlike anyone else, on medium tempo pieces, Erroll Garner often stated the beat with his left hand like a rhythm guitar while his right played chords slightly behind the beat, creating a memorable effect. His playful free-form introductions (which forced his sidemen to really listen), his ability to play stunning runs without once glancing at the keyboard, his grunting, and the pure joy that he displayed while performing were also part of the Erroll Garner magic. Garner, whose older brother <a href="spotify:artist:3xdSUf7TZUT0hgBbLPOE5F">Linton</a> was also a fine pianist, appeared on the radio with the Kan-D-Kids at the age of ten. After working locally in Pittsburgh, he moved to New York in 1944 and worked with <a href="spotify:artist:3O2UhWvOcdi6WFCAaY4gNB">Slam Stewart</a>'s trio during 1944-1945 before going out on his own. By 1946, Garner had his sound together, and when he backed <a href="spotify:artist:4Ww5mwS7BWYjoZTUIrMHfC">Charlie Parker</a> on his famous Cool Blues session of 1947, the pianist was already an obvious giant. His unclassifiable style had an orchestral approach straight from the swing era but was open to the innovations of bop. From the early '50s on, Garner's accessible style became very popular and he never seemed to have an off day up until his forced retirement (due to illness) in early 1975. His composition "Misty" became a standard. Garner, who had the ability to sit at the piano without prior planning and record three albums in one day (all colorful first takes), made many records throughout his career for such companies as Savoy, Mercury, RCA, Dial, Columbia, EmArcy, ABC-Paramount, MGM, Reprise, and his own Octave label. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

Lelio Luttazzi

Lelio Luttazzi

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk

Recognized as one of the most original musicians in American history, Thelonious Sphere Monk fashioned a startlingly unique, inimitable playing and composing style that influenced virtually every succeeding jazz generation. His playing technique offered a percussive approach to the piano, identified by sparse, complex, sometimes dissonant harmonies, developed from unusual intervals and rhythms, and imbued with warmth and playfulness. (His motto was "There are no wrong notes on the piano.") Monk's name is synonymous with the creation of modern jazz; many of his compositions are jazz standards including, "Round Midnight," "Well You Needn’t," "Straight, No Chaser," and "Epistrophy." His bold musical conceptions sought to bind harmony and rhythm seamlessly to melody. A classically trained pianist, he was deeply influenced by Harlem's stride piano tradition. Monk's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a> recording sessions between 1947 and 1948, and 1951 and 1952, netted two volumes, numerically titled Genius of Modern Music. He cut outstanding albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Riverside%22">Riverside</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Prestige%22">Prestige</a> in the '50s (Brilliant Corners), and Columbia in the '60s (Monk's Dream). On-stage, he was in constant motion: he'd leave his piano to dance during another player's solo, wiggle on his piano bench to emphasize a rhythm, and even bash elbows and forearms onto the keys in search of different tones. Monk released the charting Criss-Cross and Monk's Dream in 1963 and landed on the cover of Time a year later. After leaving Columbia in 1971, he recorded and played live only sporadically. From 1976 until his death in 1982, Monk lived at the home of longtime friend Pannonica de Koenigswarter. In 1978, he was honored by President <a href="spotify:artist:5Y6CuiLP9R11N46JkwoPWX">Jimmy Carter</a> during a White House jazz party. Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in October of 1917. His family moved to New York City when he was five. He started playing piano a year later and received formal classical tutoring from age 11. He also received rigorous gospel training accompanying his church choir (in which his mother sang), and attended Stuyvesant High School, where he excelled at physics and math. Near his home were several jazz clubs, as well as the residence of Harlem stride pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0BMlIte9CqjItQ6mh2GoGi">James P. Johnson</a>, from whom Monk learned a great deal. By age 13 he was playing in a local bar and grill with a trio. A year later he was playing rent parties. Monk gained distinction while performing at the Apollo Theater's weekly amateur contests: He won so often, he was ultimately banned from the competition. Subsequently, he accompanied a faith healer and preacher for a year-long tour that revealed to him the subtleties and intricacies of rhythm & blues accompaniment. During the late '30s he toured as a pianist with a gospel group, then began playing stride and swing in clubs where drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7xwlN7fhoOwNgDmRTwYZOa">Kenny Clarke</a> heard and hired him for the house band at Minton's Playhouse in 1941. Minton's was home to the late-night jam sessions frequented by young lions <a href="spotify:artist:5RzjqfPS0Bu4bUMkyNNDpn">Dizzy Gillespie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4Ww5mwS7BWYjoZTUIrMHfC">Charlie Parker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6jrlNnS5B830kpi40j3S6g">Max Roach</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:570vCzcespB48HIQyTbDO6">Bud Powell</a>; the club served as an incubator for the emergent bebop. Monk was hired by <a href="spotify:artist:4tdVYQWfsBth04tc1mmQ23">Lucky Millinder</a>'s orchestra in 1942 and he also worked with the Coleman Hawkins Sextet between 1943 and 1945, making his recording debut on the 78 "Flyin' Hawk." Monk was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:5RzjqfPS0Bu4bUMkyNNDpn">Dizzy Gillespie</a>'s big band in 1946, and started leading his own groups in 1947. The period between 1945 and 1954 was difficult for Monk. Because his rhythmic solos reflected an uncommon use of space, and a somewhat percussive technique, some musicians and critics erroneously thought him an inferior pianist. His compositions were so harmonically and rhythmically advanced -- even when employing a 12-bar blues or 32-bar ballad architecture -- they confused lesser and/or lazier players. Add to this the systemic racism of the era, his unusual name, his large physical stature, and iconic fashion sense: He wore a stylish goatee, and had a constantly changing array of colorful hats, bamboo sunglasses, and sharp cut suits. His personality that rendered him an occasionally uncommunicative introvert but also the ultimate hipster who spoke in the jazz vernacular. All served to brand him an outsider. A trumped-up charge for drug possession (he took the rap for <a href="spotify:artist:570vCzcespB48HIQyTbDO6">Powell</a>) didn't help, either, as it deprived Monk of his New York cabaret license in 1951, forcing him to seek work in Brooklyn and elsewhere for six years. He was also forced to rely on the freely offered financial assistance of his patron, Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a>'s Alfred Lion paid no mind to critics. He believed in Monk and recorded him extensively between 1947 and 1948 and again in 1951 and 1952. His singles were eventually compiled onto two 10" vinyl LPs released as Genius of Modern Music, Vols. 1 & 2. The initial release, issued when Monk was 35, offered eight originals including "Epistrophy" "'Round Midnight," "Well You Needn't," Ruby My Dear," and "Off Minor"; the second featured "Criss-Cross," "Four in One," and "Straight, No Chaser." Each of these titles reflected Monk’s trademark playing style, which incorporated silence and dissonance as forms of self-expression. Soon after that first recording session, Monk married Nellie Smith, who gave birth to his two children Barbara and <a href="spotify:artist:3dNwAPe7GZxgNZjNhMyx5f">T.S. Monk II</a>. During his time with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a>, Monk recorded a host of titles for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Prestige%22">Prestige</a> including Thelonious Monk Plays and Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk. In 1955, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Prestige%22">Prestige</a> sold his contract to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Riverside%22">Riverside</a> where he released Plays the Music of Duke Ellington to appease the label. By 1956, Monk had come into his own with Brilliant Corners, considered to be his first masterpiece (due in part to its complex title track). It proved so technically demanding and harmonically complex that the album version had to be edited together from separate takes. In 1957, he recorded Mulligan Meets Monk with <a href="spotify:artist:6l40OFJhuTbHQ9V12evc9K">Gerry Mulligan</a>; the release helped expose him to a wider audience. With the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Riverside%22">Riverside</a> release of the solo Thelonious Himself and Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, the artist received belated but well-deserved acclaim. In 1957 and 1958, he won the Down Beat Critics Poll as Best Jazz Pianist. Monk also worked with classical composer <a href="spotify:artist:68KGSSa7bIgkL1nCU5amlD">Hall Overton</a> to present his music orchestrally for 1959's At Town Hall. The pianist signed to Columbia in late 1961 and toured Europe for the first time with a quartet that included saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:4WjOiUFD5b9kpa8LfdxkvM">Charlie Rouse</a>, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5aX7oXHgxcRWdKGEsvgQkb">Frankie Dunlop</a>, and bassist John Ore. (Later rhythm sections would include bassists <a href="spotify:artist:6uwQqe6gJeefFCZzqdiNQe">Butch Warren</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:0M075ct5jz2QllWqU15bgn">Larry Gales</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5kJE3cE2n7nsTy9LP7KPnj">Ben Riley</a>). He issued two long-players in 1962, Monk's Dream and Criss-Cross, both compiled from EP and single sessions. They both charted and were received enthusiastically by critics. In 1964, Monk, at the peak of his popularity, appeared on the cover of Time Magazine: He is one of only five jazz musicians to have done so. (The others were <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3kUKwTJdH8FuWzF8p6Dg9E">Dave Brubeck</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a>, and much later, <a href="spotify:artist:375zxMmh2cSgUzFFnva0O7">Wynton Marsalis</a>.) Columbia issued two charting titles by him that year, including Big Band and Quartet in Concert and It's Monk's Time. 1965 saw the release of Monk, comprised of a pair of striking originals (Teo" and "Pannonica") and standards. It's one of the artist's most unjustly underrated offerings, and it's still a radical album. Critics complained that he wasn't writing new music, but Monk re-recorded tunes to reinvigorate them using fresh harmonic and rhythmic approaches. His approach to standards here was to strip them to basic harmonies and rhythms then rebuild them in his own musical image. In 1965, the release of Solo Monk appeased them. A standout in his catalog, most of its sides were cut during breaks on a 1964 West Coast quartet tour in October and November. The jaunt netted two masterful live quartet releases as well: Live at the It Club and Live at the Jazz Workshop (unreleased until the '80s). By 1965, Columbia had become enthralled with rock and R&B artists on its roster thanks to administrative vice-president and general manager <a href="spotify:artist:5alKeK7PQGqEJ2oBz5n7sU">Clive Davis</a>, who took the helm in 1966. Jazz was losing its place of import. Still, Monk continued to record and tour for the label. The seminal Straight, No Chaser was released in 1967. Underground, Monk's last Columbia record to receive acclaim during his lifetime was released in 1968 at the pinnacle of the counterculture, its iconic Norman Griner cover shot featured Monk in a makeshift bunker (actually an upscale New York photo studio) with a rifle strapped to his back and assorted grenades and handguns on a table, a cow, a tied-up Nazi, and a broken piano that he played for 90 minutes. Monk spoke only to the cow during the entire shoot. 1969's Monk's Blues was his last outing for the label. Recorded by Monk's quartet with a big band in Los Angeles, it was deemed a commercial failure. Columbia's disinterest, combined with Monk's deteriorating mental and physical health, kept him out of the studio. In January of 1970, <a href="spotify:artist:4WjOiUFD5b9kpa8LfdxkvM">Rouse</a> left the band, and less than two years later, the label quietly dropped Monk from its roster. In 1971, Japan's Express signed him and issued Monk in Tokyo with a pick-up quartet comprised of saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:71nS33YzHLaLWONdoosM9S">Paul Jeffrey</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5QrYAC15Wzqt9enexULyKu">Larry Ridley</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5X4Izq2I8ct81gKjnHhNLr">Lenny McBrowne</a> on one side, and with Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd Orchestra on the flip. He recruited saxophonist Pat Patrick and son <a href="spotify:artist:3dNwAPe7GZxgNZjNhMyx5f">Thelonious, Jr.</a> for his quartet. Monk toured widely in 1972 with the "Giants of Jazz," a bop supergroup consisting of <a href="spotify:artist:5RzjqfPS0Bu4bUMkyNNDpn">Dizzy Gillespie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1kYYk4lJ7ZWbyy3zDYOl6h">Kai Winding</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:217b0uqAzsOOhGcnoANZqj">Sonny Stitt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5SeP4LY3IETDelJgMu6dOO">Al McKibbon</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6QQuESLtKhAOcLW2TeWC2t">Art Blakey</a>, resulting in the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a>-issued live set Giants of Jazz. That said, he accepted ever fewer live engagements. Monk cut two outings for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Black+Lion%22">Black Lion</a> in London, comprised of solo and trio recordings with <a href="spotify:artist:6QQuESLtKhAOcLW2TeWC2t">Blakey</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5SeP4LY3IETDelJgMu6dOO">McKibbon</a>. Commercially they appeared as Something in Blue in 1972 and The Man I Love in 1973. (A final recording from these sessions appeared as Blue Sphere in 1977.) This material, all but ignored during his lifetime, was collected for a box set by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mosaic%22">Mosaic</a> after his death and acclaimed for the inspiration and quality in his playing. After appearances at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in 1974 and 1975, and the Newport Jazz Festivals in 1975 and 1976, Monk quit performing altogether. With the full approval of his wife Nellie, he retired to a single room in Baroness Pannonica's New Jersey mansion. The room contained a piano, but he seldom touched it. He spoke even less. Monk, seriously ailing, would rise, shower, put on a fresh suit, and return to bed where he spent the day watching television. In 1979, Columbia issued the two-fer Always Know, a compilation of unreleased material from his tenure with the label. Monk died from a stroke in 1982. Having lived in the same ground floor apartment on West 63rd St. for years, New York City named it "Thelonius Monk Circle" (sic). The spelling wasn't corrected until 2013. The year of his death, Columbia issued two stellar double-length live offerings from its vaults: Live at the It Club and Live at the Jazz Workshop. Two years later, producer <a href="spotify:artist:3VRX2RB0mQ1vFBro0qibnZ">Hal Willner</a>'s seminal tribute to the musician, That's the Way I Feel Now, was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a>. Its track list included performances by jazz musicians such as the <a href="spotify:artist:5Xa7vltv61tUZVNHPmoK9v">Carla Bley Big Band</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:52cM6vrM4MJ8g4H7Ibo5fZ">Johnny Griffin</a>; <a href="spotify:artist:1BEsuwAkTQMG50TeHB5qny">Steve Lacy</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:4dUMhhUjQ2YcNTvab29hYF">Elvin Jones</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:7g9DeYASD3RzlT4kDchsQZ">Gil Evans</a>, and many others, but it also included rock and funk musicians like <a href="spotify:artist:7Jmod60ZpPG0tckhY0Ls0p">Was (Not Was)</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6KOqPxwfNAmZPkiCnDE9yT">Joe Jackson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5PpcyAkdpuo9a08HiU6yfi">NRBQ</a> interpreting Monk's tunes. Mulligan Meets Monk was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Milestone%22">Milestone</a> that same year. It contained the original album appended with alternate takes -- including a 21-minute version of the title tune in the process of being recorded. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mosaic%22">Mosaic</a>, the jazz collector's label, offered The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk as its debut release. It sold out almost instantly. A few years later they followed with The Complete Vogue Recordings/The Black Lion Sessions, fomenting a major critical reappraisal of the work; they were once maligned as inferior. In 1988, director Charlotte Zwerin's biographical documentary Straight, No Chaser appeared to thunderous acclaim and awards; <a href="spotify:artist:7gDNcZAStavwiBcb1CHQND">Clint Eastwood</a> was executive producer. Virtually all of Monk's officially released recordings have been remastered and reissued several times. In 2005, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a> released The Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall to unanimous critical acclaim and chart success. Recorded during a benefit concert in 1957, the tape sat untouched in the Library of Congress until recording lab supervisor Larry Appelbaum unearthed it for restoration by Michael Cuscuna and <a href="spotify:artist:3dNwAPe7GZxgNZjNhMyx5f">T.S. Monk</a>. In 2013, Robin D.G. Kelley's award-winning biography Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, was published. In 2017, the release of Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 contained 30 unreleased minutes of Monk's music cut in a single day by his quartet for Roger Vadim's film of the same name. In 2019, a long-lost 1968 recording of the <a href="spotify:artist:2ZUAe0H2nhsuuCOykSVsJ2">Thelonious Monk Quartet</a> (with <a href="spotify:artist:4WjOiUFD5b9kpa8LfdxkvM">Rouse</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0M075ct5jz2QllWqU15bgn">Gales</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5kJE3cE2n7nsTy9LP7KPnj">Riley</a>) at Palo Alto High School by <a href="spotify:artist:4kzRaWE1I10bNW3CFt5QMV">Danny Scher</a> emerged. Simply titled Palo Alto: Live at Palo Alto High School, it was set for release by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Impulse%21%22">Impulse!</a> during the summer, but a dispute between Monk's estate and the label delayed its issue indefinitely. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi

Gene Ammons

Músico estadounidense | Jazz, soul jazz, hard bop, bebop (1943)

Stan Getz

Stan Getz

One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound." He possessed one of the most beautiful tones in all of jazz, and was among the greatest of melodic improvisers. His main early influence was Lester Young, but he grew to influence generations of players himself and never stopped evolving as a musician. Getz was an extraordinary improviser who created a distinctive sound and vocabulary. Getz's solos managed to meld lush romanticism with jazz's sense of physical toughness. He preferred ballads and medium-tempo tunes, though he was equally gifted at performing uptempo numbers. His emotional solos communicated directly and simply, revealing a canny yet innate logic. Getz recorded over 150 albums during his lifetime, and several are considered jazz classics: Stan Getz Plays in 1955, Focus from 1961 with arranger and composer Eddie Sauter, and Jazz Samba from 1962 with guitarist Charlie Byrd, which brought Brazil's bossa nova to American shores. In 1964, the groundbreaking Getz/Gilberto album won several Grammy awards while the single "The Girl from Ipanema" crossed over to pop radio and became a worldwide hit. During the late '60s and the '70s, his playing became more athletic: Sweet Rain in 1967, Change of Scenes with the Clarke-Boland Big Band in 1971, and Captain Marvel in 1974 offered excellent examples of his bona fides in progressive jazz and fusion. Getz's final album, People Time, was a live double-length duo set with pianist Kenny Barron. Issued shortly after his death from liver cancer in 1992, it is a distillation of all of his gifts. Getz was born in Philadelphia in 1927, but moved to the Bronx as a youngster during the Depression as his family sought jobs. From the time he was six, he began playing along with the radio on a harmonica. Anywhere he went, if there were musical instruments around Getz would gravitate to them. His father bought him a saxophone and clarinet when he was 13. In 1941, he was accepted into the All City High School Orchestra of New York City. At age 16 in 1943, he dropped out of school and became the ward of trombonist and bandleader Jack Teagarden while playing in his band. This was followed by stints with Stan Kenton (1944-1945), Jimmy Dorsey (1945), and Benny Goodman (1945-1946); he soloed on a few records with Goodman. Getz, who had his recording debut as a leader in July 1946 with four titles, became famous during his period with Woody Herman's Second Herd (1947-1949), soloing (along with Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward, and Serge Chaloff) on the original version of "Four Brothers," and having his sound well-featured on the ballad "Early Autumn." After leaving Herman, Getz was (with the exception of some tours with Jazz at the Philharmonic) a leader for the rest of his life. During the early '50s, he broke away from the Lester Young style to form his own musical identity, and he was soon among the most popular of all jazzmen. He discovered Horace Silver in 1950 and used him in his quartet for several months. After touring Sweden in 1951, he formed an exciting quintet that co-featured guitarist Jimmy Raney; their interplay on uptempo tunes and tonal blend on ballads were quite memorable. Getz's playing helped Johnny Smith have a hit in "Moonlight in Vermont"; during 1953-1954, Bob Brookmeyer made his group a quintet and, despite some drug problems during the decade, Getz was a constant poll winner. After spending 1958-1960 in Europe, the tenor man returned to the U.S. and recorded his personal favorite, Focus, with arranger Eddie Sauter's Orchestra. Then, in February 1962, Getz helped usher in the bossa nova era by recording Jazz Samba with Charlie Byrd; their rendition of "Desafinado" was a big hit. During the next year, Getz made bossa nova-flavored albums with Gary McFarland's big band, Luiz Bonfá, and Laurindo Almeida, but it was Getz/Gilberto (a collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto) that was his biggest seller, thanks in large part to "The Girl from Ipanema" (featuring the vocals of Astrud and João Gilberto). Getz could have spent the next decade sticking to bossa nova, but instead he de-emphasized the music and chose to play more challenging jazz. His regular group during this era was a piano-less quartet with vibraphonist Gary Burton, he recorded with Bill Evans (1964), played throughout the 1965 Eddie Sauter soundtrack for Mickey One, and made the classic album Sweet Rain (1967) with Chick Corea. Although not all of Getz's recordings from the 1966-1980 period are essential, he proved that he was not afraid to take chances. Dynasty with organist Eddie Louiss (1971), Captain Marvel with Chick Corea (1972), and The Peacocks with Jimmy Rowles (1975) are high points. After utilizing pianist Joanne Brackeen in his 1977 quartet, Getz explored some aspects of fusion with his next unit, which featured keyboardist Andy Laverne. Getz even used an Echoplex on a couple of songs but, despite some misfires, most of his dates with this unit are worthwhile. However, purists were relieved when he signed with Concord in 1981 and started using a purely acoustic backup trio on most dates. In 1987, Getz had a large tumor removed from behind his heart. Subsequent tests revealed that he had liver cancer and cirrhosis, most likely due to years of substance abuse. Undeterred, Getz embarked on a strict, herbal-based diet hoping to treat the lymphoma. By fall 1988, MRI scans revealed that the tumor had dramatically shrunk in size. Buoyed by the good news, Getz remained active, touring with pianist Kenny Barron and recording the albums Apasionado (1990) with Herb Alpert and You Gotta Pay the Band (1990) with vocalist Abbey Lincoln. Sadly, Getz's cancer never fully abated and he died on June 6, 1991 at age 64. His final recording, 1991's People Time, is a brilliant duet set with Barron. While most of his catalog was remastered and reissued in subsequent years, 2019 saw the release of Getz at the Gate from Verve, a previously unissued recording from November 26, 1961 where he was backed by his short-lived "Boston Band" with pianist Steve Kuhn, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist John Neves.

Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole

For a mild-mannered man whose music was always easy on the ear, Nat King Cole managed to be a figure of considerable controversy during his 30 years as a professional musician. From the late '40s to the mid-'60s, he was a massively successful pop singer who ranked with such contemporaries as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin. He shared with those peers a career that encompassed hit records, international touring, radio and television shows, and appearances in films. But unlike them, he had not emerged from a background as a band singer in the swing era. Instead, he had spent a decade as a celebrated jazz pianist, leading his own small group. Oddly, that was one source of controversy. For some reason, there seem to be more jazz critics than fans of traditional pop among music journalists, and Cole's transition from jazz to pop during a period when jazz itself was becoming less popular was seen by them as a betrayal. At the same time, as a prominent African-American entertainer during an era of tumultuous change in social relations among the races in the U.S., he sometimes found himself out of favor with different warring sides. His efforts at integration, which included suing hotels that refused to admit him and moving into a previously all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles, earned the enmity of racists; once, he was even physically attacked on-stage in Alabama. But civil rights activists sometimes criticized him for not doing enough for the cause. Such controversies do not obscure his real talent as a performer, however. The dismay of jazz fans at his abandonment of jazz must be measured against his accomplishments as a jazz musician. An heir of Earl Hines, whom he studied closely as a child in Chicago, Cole was an influence on such followers as Oscar Peterson. And his trio, emerging in the dying days of the swing era, helped lead the way in small-band jazz. The rage felt by jazz fans as he moved primarily to pop singing is not unlike the anger folk music fans felt when Bob Dylan turned to rock in the mid-'60s; in both cases, it was all the more acute because fans felt one of their leaders, not just another musician, was going over to the enemy. Less well remembered, however, are Cole's accomplishments during and after the transition. His rich, husky voice and careful enunciation, and the warmth, intimacy, and good humor of his approach to singing, allowed him to succeed with both ballads and novelties such that he scored over 100 pop chart singles and more than two dozen chart albums over a period of 20 years, enough to rank him behind only Sinatra as the most successful pop singer of his generation. Nat King Cole was born Nathaniel Adams Coles on Montgomery, AL, on March 17, 1919. (In his early years of music-making, he dispensed with the "s" at the end of his name.) As a black child born to a poor family in the American South at that time, he did not have a birth certificate; his March 17 birthday was recalled because it was also St. Patrick's Day. He listed conflicting years of birth on legal documents during his life; most sources give the year as 1917. (Biographer Daniel Mark Epstein, for his 1999 book Nat King Cole, consulted the 1920 census to determine that the Coles household had a male infant at that time and confirm the birth year as 1919.) Cole's father was a butcher who aspired to the Baptist ministry, and when Cole was four the family moved to Chicago, where his father eventually succeeded in becoming a preacher. Like his older brother Eddie, who became a bass player, Cole showed an early interest in music. He was taught piano by his mother as a child and later took lessons. Also like his brother, he turned professional early; by his teens, he was leading a band, called either the Royal Dukes or the Rogues of Rhythm, and he dropped out of high school at 15 to go into music full-time. The following year, Eddie, who had been touring with Noble Sissle's band, returned to Chicago and the brothers organized their own sextet. On July 28, 1936, as Eddie Cole's Swingsters, they recorded two singles for Decca Records, Nat King Cole's recording debut. That fall, they were hired to perform in a revival of the all-black Broadway musical revue Shuffle Along. Unlike his brother, Cole remained with the show when it went on tour, in part because his girlfriend, dancer Nadine Robinson, stayed with it as well. The two married in Michigan on January 27, 1937, even though Cole was only 17 years old. The tour made its way around the country, finally closing in Los Angeles in May. Cole and his wife remained there, living at first with her aunt, while Cole sought employment as a musician. He briefly led a big band, then played solo piano in clubs. While performing at the Café Century during the summer of 1937, Cole was approached by the manager of the Swanee Inn, who invited him to put together a small band to play in the club. With guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince, the act debuted that fall, drawing upon the children's nursery rhyme ("Old King Cole was a merry old soul...") for the name the King Cole Swingsters, later simply the King Cole Trio. The group gradually built up a following, with Cole emerging as a singer as well as a pianist. By September 1938, they had begun making radio transcriptions, originally not intended for commercial release, though they have since been issued. In 1939 and 1940, they made occasional recordings for small labels while expanding their live performing to include appearances across the country and radio work. In late 1940 they were contracted by Decca. Their 1941 recording of Cole's composition "That Ain't Right" hit number one on Billboard magazine's Harlem Hit Parade (i.e., R&B) chart on January 30, 1943, Cole's first successful record. By that time, Prince had left the group to work for the war effort, replaced by Johnny Miller. The King Cole Trio's contract with Decca expired before "That Ain't Right" became a hit. Their next single, "All for You," was recorded for the tiny Excelsior label in October 1942. After its initial release, it was purchased by Capitol Records and reissued. On November 20, 1943, it became the group's second number one hit on the Harlem Hit Parade. It also crossed over to the pop chart. With that, Capitol signed Cole directly. The trio's first Capitol session produced both the Cole composition "Straighten Up and Fly Right," which topped the black chart for the first of ten weeks on April 29, 1944, spent six weeks at the top of the folk (i.e., country) chart, and reached the Top Ten of the pop chart, and "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," which topped the black chart on October 21 and also crossed over to the pop chart. The trio placed another four titles in the black chart during 1944, and Capitol released its debut album, The King Cole Trio (catalog number BD-8) that fall. The collection of four 78 rpm discs contained eight tracks, only three of them featuring Cole vocals. When Billboard instituted its first album chart on March 24, 1945, The King Cole Trio was ranked at number one, a position it held for 12 weeks. At the same time, big-band swing music was declining in popularity, and many jazz fans were beginning to turn to the emerging style of bebop, a development that, whatever its artistic significance, spelled the end of jazz as a broadly popular style of music. The King Cole Trio -- and particularly the singer/pianist then known as "King Cole" -- on the other hand, was going in exactly the opposite direction, as its success on records and at clubs and theaters around the country led to appearances in films and on radio. After numerous guest-star stints on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall radio series, the trio, along with pianist Eddy Duchin, was hired to host the show's summer replacement program for 13 weeks beginning May 16, 1946. During that run, on August 17, The King Cole Trio, Vol. 2 (Capitol BD-29), another set of four 78s, hit number one. Over the next five days, the trio recorded two songs that would add to their pop success. Mel Tormé and Robert Wells' "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" (better known by its opening line, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"), recorded August 19, was Cole's first disc to feature strings. "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," though it only featured the trio, demonstrated that Cole was more than capable of handling a straight romantic ballad, not just the uptempo novelties with which he and the group had succeeded up until this point. "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" became Cole's first number one pop single on December 28, 1946; "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" peaked at number three, going on to become a holiday perennial and million seller. While these hits were developing, the trio went from its summer replacement berth to its own network radio series, King Cole Trio Time, a 15-minute Saturday afternoon program that debuted on October 19, 1946, and ran until April 1948. The group's recording schedule during the first half of 1947 was relatively light, but the pace picked up considerably starting in August, in anticipation of the musicians' strike called for January 1, 1948. On August 22, 1947, with an orchestral backing, Cole recorded "Nature Boy," an unusual philosophical ballad. Released March 29, 1948, and credited to "King Cole," it hit number one for the first of eight weeks on May 8, becoming a gold record. Oscar Moore, the trio's original guitarist, left the group in October 1947 after ten years and was replaced by Irving Ashby. In March 1948, Cole divorced his wife and married singer Marie Ellington. Among the couple's children was Natalie Cole, who became a singer. Bass player Johnny Miller quit the trio in August 1948 and was replaced by Joe Comfort. In February 1949, Cole added percussionist Jack Costanzo to the group, which thereafter was billed as "Nat 'King' Cole & the Trio." As of the spring of 1950, Cole's recordings were being credited simply to "Nat 'King' Cole." On July 8 of that year, his recording of the wistful movie theme "Mona Lisa," featuring a string chart arranged by Nelson Riddle, became Cole's third number one pop hit and gold record. That September, he traveled to Europe for his first international tour, beginning a pattern that would find him giving concerts almost continually in a combination of top nightclubs in major cities and concert halls around the U.S., with occasional trips to Europe, the Far East, and Latin America and extended stays at Las Vegas casinos. In these appearances, he stood for most of the show, only occasional sitting down to play a number or two at the piano. Ashby and Comfort left in 1951, and an announcement was made that the trio was officially dissolved, but that simply meant that Cole henceforth would be billed as a solo act. In practice, he continued to carry a guitarist, John Collins, and a bassist, Charles Harris, along with Costanzo (until he left in 1953 and was replaced by drummer Lee Young), while often augmenting them with an orchestra. Cole scored his fourth number one pop hit and gold record with "Too Young," which topped the charts on June 23, 1951. His recording of "Unforgettable" peaked at only number 12 on February 2, 1952, but it went on to become one of his better remembered recordings; in 1991, a version of the song by Natalie Cole with the Nat King Cole recording dubbed onto it became a gold record and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. With his 1952 LP Penthouse Serenade, Cole showed that he was not yet ready to dispense with his jazz chops entirely. The disc was an instrumental collection that spent one week at number ten in the album chart in October. Meanwhile, he was also looking for new challenges, taking on small acting roles in the films The Blue Gardenia and Small Town Girl and the television drama Song for a Banjo in 1953. His 1953 album Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, was a Top Ten hit in early 1954 that predated similar "concept" albums by Frank Sinatra. Although Cole did not score a number one hit in 1953 ("Pretend" peaked at number two), his seven chart entries were enough to rank him among the ten most successful singles artists of the year. His five chart singles in 1954, among them the gold-selling Top Ten hit "Answer Me, My Love," allowed him to repeat this ranking the following year, and he did the same thing in 1955 with another eight chart entries, including the Top Ten hits "Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup," "A Blossom Fell," and "If I May." Nine more chart entries allowed him to stay among the most successful singles artists in 1956, even though none of them reached the Top Ten, and he maintained his rank for the fifth straight year in 1957, reaching the Top Ten (and the top of the R&B chart) with "Send for Me." Though he managed one more Top Ten hit, "Looking Back," in 1958, the rise of rock & roll diminished his success on the singles chart. Meanwhile, he returned to a jazz approach on his 1957 LP After Midnight, which paired his backup group with jazz musicians Harry "Sweets" Edison, Stuff Smith, Willie Smith, and Juan Tizol. It was a modest commercial success, quickly followed by the ballad album Love Is the Thing, arranged and conducted by Gordon Jenkins, which hit number one for the first of eight weeks on May 27, 1957, and eventually was certified platinum. Meanwhile, in the fall of 1956, Cole became the first African-American host of a network television series when The Nat "King" Cole Show debuted as a 15-minute weekly program on November 5. The show was expanded to a half-hour in July 1957 and ran until December of that year, though it never attracted a national sponsor that might have made it an ongoing success. Cole attributed advertisers' reticence to racism. He returned to his acting career during 1957, appearing in Istanbul and China Gate, and got his most substantial role in 1958 playing blues musician W.C. Handy in a film biography, St. Louis Blues. His last acting role came in Night of the Quarter Moon in 1959. In 1960, he turned his attention to the theater, putting together a musical revue intended for Broadway. The songs were by Dotty Wayne and Ray Rasch, and the album Cole made of them, Wild Is Love, became his first Top Ten LP in three years. The corresponding stage show, I'm With You, was not as successful, opening what was intended to be a pre-Broadway tour in Denver on October 17, 1960, but closing in Detroit on November 26. Cole, however, salvaged the concept of the show for a stage production he called Sights and Sounds: The Merry World of Nat King Cole, featuring a group of dancers and singers, with which he toured regularly from 1961 to 1964. Cole returned to the Top Ten of the singles chart for the first time in four years with the country-tinged "Ramblin' Rose" in 1962; his album of the same name also reached the Top Ten and eventually was certified platinum. "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" became his last Top Ten hit in the summer of 1963. In December 1964, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Two months later, he died of it at the age of 45. After his death, Cole continued to appeal to the two almost mutually exclusive audiences that had appreciated him during his life. Jazz fans continued to treasure his recordings of the 1930s and 1940s and to dismiss the non-jazz recordings he had made later. (In 1994, German discographer Klaus Teubig compiled Straighten Up and Fly Right: A Chronology and Discography of Nat "King" Cole, which pointedly cut off in the early '50s.) Pop fans clamored for reissues of Cole's 1950s and '60s music, awarding gold record status to compilations that Capitol continued to assemble, without much worrying about the singer's talent as a piano player. (And, as his recordings fell into the public domain in Europe, where there is a 50-year copyright limit, a spate of low-quality reissues assumed flood levels.) But the ongoing debate was only testament to Cole's ongoing attraction for music lovers, which, in the decades following his untimely end, showed no signs of abating. ~ William Ruhlmann

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. The two aspects of his career were related; Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of his bandmembers, many of whom remained with him for long periods. Ellington also wrote film scores and stage musicals, and several of his instrumental works were adapted into songs that became standards. In addition to touring year in and year out, he recorded extensively, resulting in a gigantic body of work that was still being assessed a quarter century after his death. Ellington was the son of a White House butler, James Edward Ellington, and thus grew up in comfortable surroundings. He began piano lessons at age seven and was writing music by his teens. He dropped out of high school in his junior year in 1917 to pursue a career in music. At first, he booked and performed in bands in the Washington, D.C., area, but in September 1923 the Washingtonians, a five-piece group of which he was a member, moved permanently to New York, where they gained a residency in the Times Square venue The Hollywood Club (later The Kentucky Club). They made their first recordings in November 1924, and cut tunes for different record companies under a variety of pseudonyms, so that several current major labels, notably Sony, Universal, and BMG, now have extensive holdings of their work from the period in their archives, which are reissued periodically. The group gradually increased in size and came under Ellington's leadership. They played in what was called "jungle" style, their sly arrangements often highlighted by the muted growling sound of trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley. A good example of this is Ellington's first signature song, "East St. Louis Toodle-oo," which the band first recorded for Vocalion Records in November 1926, and which became their first chart single in a re-recorded version for Columbia in July 1927. The Ellington band moved uptown to The Cotton Club in Harlem on December 4, 1927. Their residency at the famed club, which lasted more than three years, made Ellington a nationally known musician due to radio broadcasts that emanated from the bandstand. In 1928, he had two two-sided hits: "Black and Tan Fantasy"/"Creole Love Call" on Victor (now BMG) and "Doin' the New Low Down"/"Diga Diga Doo" on OKeh (now Sony), released as by the Harlem Footwarmers. "The Mooche" on OKeh peaked in the charts at the start of 1929. While maintaining his job at The Cotton Club, Ellington took his band downtown to play in the Broadway musical Show Girl, featuring the music of George Gershwin, in the summer of 1929. The following summer, the band took a leave of absence to head out to California and appear in the film Check and Double Check. From the score, "Three Little Words," with vocals by the Rhythm Boys featuring Bing Crosby, became a number one hit on Victor in November 1930; its flip side, "Ring Dem Bells," also reached the charts. The Ellington band left The Cotton Club in February 1931 to begin a tour that, in a sense, would not end until the leader's death 43 years later. At the same time, Ellington scored a Top Five hit with an instrumental version of one of his standards, "Mood Indigo" released on Victor. The recording was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. As "the Jungle Band," the Ellington Orchestra charted on Brunswick later in 1931 with "Rockin' in Rhythm" and with the lengthy composition "Creole Rhapsody," pressed on both sides of a 78 single, an indication that Ellington's goals as a writer were beginning to extend beyond brief works. (A second version of the piece was a chart entry on Victor in March 1932.) "Limehouse Blues" was a chart entry on Victor in August 1931, then in the winter of 1932, Ellington scored a Top Ten hit on Brunswick with one of his best-remembered songs, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," featuring the vocals of Ivie Anderson. This was still more than three years before the official birth of the swing era, and Ellington helped give the period its name. Ellington's next major hit was another signature song for him, "Sophisticated Lady." His instrumental version became a Top Five hit in the spring of 1933, with its flip side, a treatment of "Stormy Weather," also making the Top Five. The Ellington Orchestra made another feature film, Murder at the Vanities, in the spring of 1934. Their instrumental rendition of "Cocktails for Two" from the score hit number one on Victor in May, and they hit the Top Five with both sides of the Brunswick release "Moon Glow"/"Solitude" that fall. The band also appeared in the Mae West film Belle of the Nineties and played on the soundtrack of Many Happy Returns. Later in the fall, the band was back in the Top Ten with "Saddest Tale," and they had two Top Ten hits in 1935, "Merry-Go-Round" and "Accent on Youth." While the latter was scoring in the hit parade in September, Ellington recorded another of his extended compositions, "Reminiscing in Tempo," which took up both sides of two 78s. Even as he became more ambitious, however, he was rarely out of the hit parade, scoring another Top Ten hit, "Cotton," in the fall of 1935, and two more, "Love Is Like a Cigarette" and "Oh Babe! Maybe Someday," in 1936. The band returned to Hollywood in 1936 and recorded music for the Marx Brothers' film A Day at the Races and for Hit Parade of 1937. Meanwhile, they were scoring Top Ten hits with "Scattin' at the Kit-Kat" and the swing standard "Caravan," co-written by valve trombonist Juan Tizol, and Ellington was continuing to pen extended instrumental works such as "Diminuendo in Blue" and "Crescendo in Blue." "If You Were in My Place (What Would You Do?)," a vocal number featuring Ivie Anderson, was a Top Ten hit in the spring of 1938, and Ellington scored his third number one hit in April with an instrumental version of another standard, "I Let a Song Go out of My Heart." In the fall, he was back in the Top Ten with a version of the British show tune "Lambeth Walk." The Ellington band underwent several notable changes at the end of the 1930s. After several years recording more or less regularly for Brunswick, Ellington moved to Victor. In early 1939 Billy Strayhorn, a young composer, arranger, and pianist, joined the organization. He did not usually perform with the orchestra, but he became Ellington's composition partner to the extent that soon it was impossible to tell where Ellington's writing left off and Strayhorn's began. Two key personnel changes strengthened the outfit with the acquisition of bassist Jimmy Blanton in September and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster in December. Their impact on Ellington's sound was so profound that their relatively brief tenure has been dubbed "the Blanton-Webster Band" by jazz fans. These various changes were encapsulated by the Victor release of Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train," a swing era standard, in the summer of 1941. The recording was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. That same summer, Ellington was in Los Angeles, where his stage musical, Jump for Joy, opened on July 10 and ran for 101 performances. Unfortunately, the show never went to Broadway, but among its songs was "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)," another standard. The U.S. entry into World War II in December 1941 and the onset of the recording ban called by the American Federation of Musicians in August 1942 slowed the Ellington band's momentum. Unable to record and with touring curtailed, Ellington found an opportunity to return to extended composition with the first of a series of annual recitals at Carnegie Hall on January 23, 1943, at which he premiered "Black, Brown and Beige." And he returned to the movies, appearing in Cabin in the Sky and Reveille with Beverly. Meanwhile, the record labels, stymied for hits, began looking into their artists' back catalogs. Lyricist Bob Russell took Ellington's 1940 composition "Never No Lament" and set a lyric to it, creating "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." The Ink Spots scored with a vocal version (recorded a cappella), and Ellington's three-year-old instrumental recording was also a hit, reaching the pop Top Ten and number one on the recently instituted R&B charts. Russell repeated his magic with another 1940 Ellington instrumental, "Concerto for Cootie" (a showcase for trumpeter Cootie Williams), creating "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me." Nearly four years after it was recorded, the retitled recording hit the pop Top Ten and number one on the R&B charts for Ellington in early 1944, while newly recorded vocal cover versions also scored. Ellington's vintage recordings became ubiquitous on the top of the R&B charts during 1943-1944; he also hit number one with "A Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship)," "Sentimental Lady," and "Main Stem." With the end of the recording ban in November 1944, Ellington was able to record a song he had composed with his saxophonist, Johnny Hodges, set to a lyric by Don George and Harry James, "I'm Beginning to See the Light." The James recording went to number one in April 1945, but Ellington's recording was also a Top Ten hit. With the end of the war, Ellington's period as a major commercial force on records largely came to an end, but unlike other big bandleaders, who disbanded as the swing era passed, Ellington, who predated the era, simply went on touring, augmenting his diminished road revenues with his songwriting royalties to keep his band afloat. In a musical climate in which jazz was veering away from popular music and toward bebop, and popular music was being dominated by singers, the Ellington band no longer had a place at the top of the business; but it kept working. And Ellington kept trying more extended pieces. In 1946, he teamed with lyricist John Latouche to write the music for the Broadway musical Beggar's Holiday, which opened on December 26 and ran 108 performances. And he wrote his first full-length background score for a feature film with 1950's The Asphalt Jungle. The first half of the 1950s was a difficult period for Ellington, who suffered many personnel defections. (Some of those musicians returned later.) But the band made a major comeback at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, when they kicked into a version of "Dimuendo and Crescendo in Blue" that found saxophonist Paul Gonsalves taking a long, memorable solo. Ellington appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and he signed a new contract with Columbia Records, which released Ellington at Newport, the best-selling album of his career. Freed of the necessity of writing hits and spurred by the increased time available on the LP record, Ellington concentrated more on extended compositions for the rest of his career. His comeback as a live performer led to increased opportunities to tour, and in the fall of 1958 he undertook his first full-scale tour of Europe. For the rest of his life, he would be a busy world traveler. Ellington appeared in and scored the 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder, and its soundtrack won him three of the newly instituted Grammy Awards, for best performance by a dance band, best musical composition of the year, and best soundtrack. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his next score, Paris Blues (1961). In August 1963, his stage work My People, a cavalcade of African-American history, was mounted in Chicago as part of the Century of Negro Progress Exposition. Meanwhile, of course, he continued to lead his band in recordings and live performances. He switched from Columbia to Frank Sinatra's Reprise label (purchased by Warner Bros. Records) and made some pop-oriented records that dismayed his fans but indicated he had not given up on broad commercial aspirations. Nor had he abandoned his artistic aspirations, as the first of his series of sacred concerts, performed at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on September 16, 1965, indicated. And he still longed for a stage success, turning once again to Broadway with the musical Pousse-Café, which opened on March 18, 1966, but closed within days. Three months later, the Sinatra film Assault on a Queen, with an Ellington score, opened in movie houses around the country. (His final film score, for Change of Mind, appeared in 1969.) Ellington became a Grammy favorite in his later years. He won a 1966 Grammy for best original jazz composition for "In the Beginning, God," part of his sacred concerts. His 1967 album Far East Suite, inspired by a tour of the Middle and Far East, won the best instrumental jazz performance Grammy that year, and he took home his sixth Grammy in the same category in 1969 for And His Mother Called Him Bill, a tribute to Strayhorn, who had died in 1967. "New Orleans Suite" earned another Grammy in the category in 1971, as did "Togo Brava Suite" in 1972, and the posthumous The Ellington Suites in 1976. Ellington continued to perform regularly until he was overcome by illness in the spring of 1974, succumbing to lung cancer and pneumonia. His death did not end the band, which was taken over by his son Mercer, who led it until his own death in 1996, and then by a grandson. Meanwhile, Ellington finally enjoyed the stage hit he had always wanted when the revue Sophisticated Ladies, featuring his music, opened on Broadway on March 1, 1981, and ran 767 performances. The many celebrations of the Ellington centenary in 1999 demonstrated that he continued to be regarded as the major composer of jazz. If that seemed something of an anomaly in a musical style that emphasizes spontaneous improvisation over written composition, Ellington was talented enough to overcome the oddity. He wrote primarily for his band, allowing his veteran players room to solo within his compositions, and as a result created a body of work that seemed likely to help jazz enter the academic and institutional realms, which was very much its direction at the end of the 20th century. In that sense, he foreshadowed the future of jazz and could lay claim to being one of its most influential practitioners. ~ William Ruhlmann

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

A jazz pioneer, Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920s studio recordings he made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, emotionally charged improvisation. For this, he is revered by jazz fans. But Armstrong also became an enduring figure in popular music due to his distinctively phrased baritone singing and engaging personality, which were on display in a series of vocal recordings and film roles. He weathered the bebop period of the '40s, growing ever more beloved worldwide. By the '50s, Armstrong was widely recognized, even traveling the globe for the US. .State Department and earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch." His resurgence in the '60s with hit recordings like 1965's Grammy-winning "Hello Dolly" and 1968's classic "What a Wonderful World" solidified his legacy as a musical and cultural icon. In 1972, a year after his death, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Similarly, many of his most influential recordings, like 1928's "West End Blues" and 1955's "Mack the Knife," have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Born in 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Armstrong had a difficult childhood. William Armstrong, his father, was a factory worker who abandoned the family soon after the boy's birth. Armstrong was brought up by his mother, Mary (Albert) Armstrong, and his maternal grandmother. He showed an early interest in music, and a junk dealer for whom he worked as a grade-school student helped him buy a cornet, which he taught himself to play. He dropped out of school at 11 to join an informal group, but on December 31, 1912, he fired a gun during a New Year's Eve celebration, and was sent to reform school. He studied music there and played cornet and bugle in the school band, eventually becoming its leader. He was released on June 16, 1914, and did manual labor while trying to establish himself as a musician. He was taken under the wing of cornetist Joe "King" Oliver, and when Oliver moved to Chicago in June 1918, Armstrong replaced him in the Kid Ory Band. He moved to the Fate Marable band in the spring of 1919, staying with Marable until the fall of 1921. Armstrong moved to Chicago to join Oliver's band in August 1922 and made his first recordings as a member of the group in the spring of 1923. He married Lillian Harden, the pianist in the Oliver band, on February 5, 1924. (She was the second of his four wives.) With her encouragement, he left Oliver and joined Fletcher Henderson's band in New York, staying for a year and then going back to Chicago in November 1925 to join the Dreamland Syncopators, his wife's group. During this period, he switched from cornet to trumpet. Armstrong had gained sufficient individual notice to make his recording debut as a leader on November 12, 1925. Contracted to OKeh Records, he began to make a series of recordings with studio-only groups called the Hot Fives or the Hot Sevens. For live dates, he appeared with the orchestras led by Erskine Tate and Carroll Dickerson. The Hot Fives' recording of "Muskrat Ramble" gave Armstrong a Top Ten hit in July 1926, the band for the track featuring Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lillian Harden Armstrong on piano, and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo. By February 1927, Armstrong was well-enough known to front his own group, Louis Armstrong & His Stompers, at the Sunset Café in Chicago. (Armstrong did not function as a bandleader in the usual sense, but instead typically lent his name to established groups.) In April, he reached the charts with his first vocal recording, "Big Butter and Egg Man," a duet with May Alix. He took a position as star soloist in Carroll Dickerson's band at the Savoy Ballroom in Chicago in March 1928, later taking over as the band's frontman. "Hotter Than That" was in the Top Ten in May 1928, followed in September by "West End Blues," which later became one of the first recordings named to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Armstrong returned to New York with his band for an engagement at Connie's Inn in Harlem in May 1929. He also began appearing in the orchestra of Hot Chocolates, a Broadway revue, and was given a featured spot singing "Ain't Misbehavin'." In September, his recording of that song entered the charts, becoming a Top Ten hit. Armstrong fronted the Luis Russell Orchestra for a tour of the South in February 1930, and in May went to Los Angeles, where he led a band at Sebastian's Cotton Club for the next ten months. He made his film debut in Ex-Flame, released at the end of 1931. By the start of 1932, he had switched from the "race"-oriented OKeh label to its pop-oriented big sister Columbia, for which he recorded two Top Five hits, "Chinatown, My Chinatown" and "You Can Depend on Me" before scoring a number one hit with "All of Me" in March 1932; another Top Five hit, "Love, You Funny Thing," hit the charts the same month. He returned to Chicago in the spring of 1932 to front a band led by Zilner Randolph; the group toured around the country. In July, Armstrong sailed to England for a tour. He spent the next several years in Europe, his American career maintained by a series of archival recordings, including the Top Ten hits "Sweethearts on Parade" (August 1932; recorded December 1930) and "Body and Soul" (October 1932; recorded October 1930). His Top Ten version of "Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train," in the charts in early 1933, was on Victor Records; when he returned to the U.S. in 1935, he signed to the recently formed Decca Records and quickly scored a double-sided Top Ten hit, "I'm in the Mood for Love"/"You Are My Lucky Star." Armstrong's new manager, Joe Glaser, organized a big band for him that had its premiere in Indianapolis on July 1, 1935; for the next several years, he toured regularly. He also took a series of small parts in motion pictures, beginning with Pennies from Heaven in December 1936, and he continued to record for Decca, resulting in the Top Ten hits "Public Melody Number One" (August 1937), "When the Saints Go Marching In" (April 1939), and "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (April 1946), the last a duet with Ella Fitzgerald. He returned to Broadway in the short-lived musical Swingin' the Dream in November 1939. With the decline of swing music in the post-World War II years, Armstrong broke up his big band and put together a small group dubbed His All-Stars, which made its debut in Los Angeles on August 13, 1947. He embarked on his first European tour since 1935 in February 1948, and thereafter toured regularly around the world. In June 1951 he reached the Top Ten of the LP charts with Satchmo at Symphony Hall ("Satchmo" being his nickname), and he scored his first Top Ten single in five years with "(When We Are Dancing) I Get Ideas" later in the year. The single's B-side, and also a chart entry, was "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," sung by Armstrong in the film The Strip. In 1993, it gained renewed popularity when it was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle. Armstrong completed his contract with Decca in 1954, after which his manager made the unusual decision not to sign him to another exclusive contract but instead have him freelance for different labels. Satch Plays Fats, a tribute to Fats Waller, became a Top Ten LP for Columbia in October 1955, and Verve Records contracted Armstrong for a series of recordings with Ella Fitzgerald, beginning with the chart LP Ella and Louis in 1956. Armstrong continued to tour extensively, despite a heart attack in June 1959. In 1964, he scored a surprise hit with his recording of the title song from the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, which reached number one in May, followed by a gold-selling album of the same name. It won him a Grammy for best vocal performance. This pop success was repeated internationally four years later with "What a Wonderful World," which hit number one in the U.K. in April 1968. It did not gain as much notice in the U.S. until 1987, when it was used in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, after which it became a Top 40 hit. Armstrong was featured in the 1969 film of Hello, Dolly!, performing the title song as a duet with Barbra Streisand. He performed less frequently in the late '60s and early '70s, and died of a heart ailment in 1971 at the age of 69. A year later, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. As an artist, Armstrong was embraced by two distinctly different audiences: jazz fans who revered him for his early innovations as an instrumentalist but were occasionally embarrassed by his lack of interest in later developments in jazz, especially his willingness to serve as a light entertainer; and pop fans, who delighted in his joyous performances, particularly as a vocalist, but were largely unaware of his significance as a jazz musician. Given his popularity, his long career, and the extensive label-jumping he did in his later years, as well as the differing jazz and pop sides of his work, his recordings are extensive and diverse, with parts of his catalog owned by numerous companies. But many of his recorded performances are masterpieces, and none are less than entertaining. ~ William Ruhlmann

Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

During a long and winding career that has seen him moving from bluesman to guitar hero to chart-topping rocker to balladeer and back, Eric Clapton has done his best to live up to his early reputation, one that saw him feted as a god by his devotees. Early stints with <a href="spotify:artist:2lxX1ivRYp26soIavdG9bX">the Yardbirds</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2ScuQMRWThcifBRIvNDFDC">John Mayall's Bluesbreakers</a> found the young guitarist sticking firmly to the tradition of the blues, to the point where he left the former group when they decided to go pop. By the time he formed the very influential trio <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a> in the late '60s, he had a much wider scope that accounted for psychedelia and hard rock. After splitting that band and taking a short detour with the supergroup <a href="spotify:artist:5GUVj2b1lJ4DolQyHlzyaO">Blind Faith</a>, he regrouped under the name <a href="spotify:artist:2rc78XDH9zuJP6bm78lU8Z">Derek and the Dominos</a> and had his first smash hit with the long version of "Layla" in 1972 . The rest of the decade saw him scoring multiple hits and becoming a staple of FM radio and arenas across the world. After some commercial downtime and personal tragedy, Clapton mounted a comeback that saw him topping the charts in 1992 with the poignant ballad "Tears in Heaven" and the MTV Unplugged album. After this high point he continued doing what he did best, playing the blues, both solo and with other artists like <a href="spotify:artist:5xLSa7l4IV1gsQfhAMvl0U">B.B. King</a> (on 2000's Riding with the King), <a href="spotify:artist:06nsZ3qSOYZ2hPVIMcr1IN">J.J. Cale</a> (2006's The Road to Escondido), and <a href="spotify:artist:375zxMmh2cSgUzFFnva0O7">Wynton Marsalis</a> (2011's Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center.) After setting up his own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bushbranch%22">Bushbranch</a>, Clapton continued to make a series of album in the 2010s filled with the blues, easygoing soft rock, and plenty of collaborations. He worked with a crew including <a href="spotify:artist:5W5bDNCqJ1jbCgTxDD0Cb3">Willie Nelson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Tom Petty</a> on 2016's The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale, and joined <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a> for a series of singles in the early 2020s; these appeared on his 2025 album Meanwhile, which also featured a duet with the late <a href="spotify:artist:0AD4odMWVQ2wUSlgxOB5Rl">Jeff Beck</a>. By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album in mid-1970, he was long established as one of the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations -- <a href="spotify:artist:2lxX1ivRYp26soIavdG9bX">the Yardbirds</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ScuQMRWThcifBRIvNDFDC">John Mayall's Bluesbreakers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5GUVj2b1lJ4DolQyHlzyaO">Blind Faith</a> -- all of which had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist of his generation. The fact that it took Clapton so long to go out on his own, however, was evidence of a degree of reticence unusual for someone of his stature. And his debut album, though it spawned the Top 40 hit "After Midnight," was typical of his self-effacing approach: it was, in effect, an album by the group he had lately been featured in, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Not surprisingly, before his solo debut had even been released, Clapton had retreated from his solo stance, assembling from the D&B&F ranks the personnel for a group, <a href="spotify:artist:2rc78XDH9zuJP6bm78lU8Z">Derek & the Dominos</a>, with whom he played for most of 1970 and recorded the landmark album Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs. Clapton was largely inactive in 1971 and 1972, due to heroin addiction, but he performed a comeback concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on January 13, 1973, resulting in the album Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert (released in September 1973). He did not launch a sustained solo career until July 1974, though, when he released 461 Ocean Boulevard, which topped the charts and spawned the number one single "I Shot the Sheriff." The persona Clapton established over the next decade was less a guitar hero than an arena rock star with a weakness for ballads. The follow-ups to 461 Ocean Boulevard -- There's One in Every Crowd (March 1975), the live E.C. Was Here (August 1975), and No Reason to Cry (August 1976) -- were less successful. But Slowhand (November 1977), which featured both the powerful "Cocaine" (written by <a href="spotify:artist:06nsZ3qSOYZ2hPVIMcr1IN">J.J. Cale</a>, who had also written "After Midnight") and the hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight," was a million-seller. Its follow-ups, Backless (November 1978), featuring the Top Ten hit "Promises," the live Just One Night (April 1980), and Another Ticket (February 1981), featuring the Top Ten hit "I Can't Stand It," were all big sellers. Clapton's popularity waned somewhat in the first half of the '80s, as the albums Money and Cigarettes (February 1983), Behind the Sun (March 1985), and August (November 1986) indicated a certain career stasis. However, he was buoyed by the release of the box set retrospective Crossroads (April 1988), which seemed to remind his fans of how great he was. Journeyman (November 1989) was a return to form. It would be his last new studio album for nearly five years, though in the interim he would suffer greatly and enjoy surprising triumph. On March 20, 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son was killed in a fall. While he mourned, he released a live album, 24 Nights (October 1991), culled from his annual concert series at Royal Albert Hall in London, and prepared a movie soundtrack, Rush (January 1992). The soundtrack featured a song written for his son, "Tears in Heaven," that became a massive hit single. In March 1992, Clapton recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged that, when released as an album in August, became his biggest-selling record ever. Two years later, he returned with a blues album, From the Cradle, which became one of his most successful releases, both commercially and critically. Crossroads, Vol. 2: Live in the Seventies, a box set chronicling his live work from the '70s, was released to mixed reviews. In early 1997, Clapton, billing himself by the pseudonym "X-Sample," collaborated with keyboardist/producer <a href="spotify:artist:3HISkAiDX0gaSSUDZej38A">Simon Climie</a> as the ambient new age and trip-hop duo T.D.F. The duo released Retail Therapy to mixed reviews in early 1997. Clapton retained <a href="spotify:artist:3HISkAiDX0gaSSUDZej38A">Climie</a> as his collaborator for Pilgrim, his first album of new material since 1989's Journeyman. Pilgrim was greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its spring 1998 release, but the album debuted at number four and stayed in the Top Ten for several weeks on the success of the single "My Father's Eyes." In 2000, Clapton teamed up with old friend <a href="spotify:artist:5xLSa7l4IV1gsQfhAMvl0U">B.B. King</a> on Riding with the King, a set of blues standards and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing, entitled Reptile, followed in early 2001. Three years later, Clapton issued Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honoring the Mississippi-born bluesman <a href="spotify:artist:0f8MDDzIc6M4uH1xH0o0gy">Robert Johnson</a>. Released in 2005, Back Home, Clapton's 14th album of original material, reflected his ease with fatherhood. Also in 2005, he unexpectedly teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:73ndLgs6jSrpZzjyzU9TJV">Jack Bruce</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5xTbqEbkihxdjj2jyYSthw">Ginger Baker</a> for a <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a> reunion that included May concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall and shows at New York's Madison Square Garden in October, with the former being compiled for a live release that fall. This turned out to be the first of many reunions and looks back for Clapton. In 2006, he elevated the profile of his latter-day idol <a href="spotify:artist:06nsZ3qSOYZ2hPVIMcr1IN">J.J. Cale</a> by recording an album-long duet, The Road to Escondido. The following year he released his autobiography -- accompanied by a new career compilation called The Complete Clapton -- which focused more on his trials with addiction and subsequent recovery than his musical career. In 2008, Clapton began playing regular shows with his old <a href="spotify:artist:5GUVj2b1lJ4DolQyHlzyaO">Blind Faith</a> partner <a href="spotify:artist:5gxynDEKwNDgxGJmJjZyte">Steve Winwood</a>, gigs that were captured on the 2009 double-live set Live from Madison Square Garden. In addition, <a href="spotify:artist:5gxynDEKwNDgxGJmJjZyte">Winwood</a> appeared on Clapton's next studio album, 2010's Clapton, which was a collaboration-heavy affair also featuring <a href="spotify:artist:06nsZ3qSOYZ2hPVIMcr1IN">Cale</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4TKTii6gnOnUXQHyuo9JaD">Sheryl Crow</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:63aP18bg2ABSOqSNQcAMNy">Allen Toussaint</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:375zxMmh2cSgUzFFnva0O7">Wynton Marsalis</a>. In 2011, Clapton returned the favor to <a href="spotify:artist:375zxMmh2cSgUzFFnva0O7">Marsalis</a> by collaborating on the live concert album Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center. Clapton parted ways with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> after Clapton, and he chose to set up his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bushbranch%22">Bushbranch</a> imprint on independent label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Surfdog%22">Surfdog</a>. His first album for the label was Old Sock, largely a collection of old songs the guitarist loved. It reached the Top Ten in the U.S. and Great Britain. In the fall of 2013, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> released Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013, and his Unplugged album was expanded and remastered by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rhino%22">Rhino</a>. Early the following year, Clapton announced that a new album, The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale, would be issued in July, one year on from the passing of his key inspiration. The tribute album included contributions from artists such as <a href="spotify:artist:5W5bDNCqJ1jbCgTxDD0Cb3">Willie Nelson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0hEurMDQu99nJRq8pTxO14">John Mayer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Tom Petty</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0FI0kxP0BWurTz8cB8BBug">Mark Knopfler</a>. A collection of his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> recordings called Forever Man saw a spring 2015 release. Clapton returned in May 2016 with I Still Do, his third album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Surfdog%22">Surfdog</a>. It found him reuniting with Slowhand producer Glyn Johns; the set debuted at six on the Billboard Top 200. Later that year, Clapton issued Live in San Diego, a double-disc album featuring a 2007 concert with <a href="spotify:artist:06nsZ3qSOYZ2hPVIMcr1IN">J.J. Cale</a>. In 2018, he released his first holiday album, Happy Xmas. Clapton next appeared playing and singing on 2020's "Stand and Deliver," an anti-COVID-19 lockdown protest song written by <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a>. The pair reunited for "This Has Gotta Stop," another anti-lockdown single, in August 2021. At the end of the year, he released The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions, a live-in-the-studio collection of blues standards and old Clapton hits. He returned to the stage in 2022, playing a brief American tour with <a href="spotify:artist:4gPGI1vW8TOypARV9Ykzae">Jimmie Vaughan</a>. The following year, he participated in a series of tribute concerts to fellow <a href="spotify:artist:2lxX1ivRYp26soIavdG9bX">Yardbird</a> <a href="spotify:artist:0AD4odMWVQ2wUSlgxOB5Rl">Jeff Beck</a>, who died on January 10, 2023. Later in 2023, Clapton performed a London benefit concert for Medical Aid for Palestine. The show -- which featured a guest appearance from <a href="spotify:artist:0BNG5EOWoNlIE1Q1c4L0Kh">Dhani Harrison</a> on "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" -- was released in July 2024 as To Save a Child: An Intimate Live Concert. All the while he had been working on his first non-holiday studio album in nearly a decade with producer <a href="spotify:artist:3HISkAiDX0gaSSUDZej38A">Simon Climie</a>. The record -- which was a mixture of blues rockers, ballads, and standards like "Smile" and "Moon River" -- included the COVID-era tracks recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Morrison</a>, a duet with the late <a href="spotify:artist:0AD4odMWVQ2wUSlgxOB5Rl">Jeff Beck</a>, and an appearance by country singer <a href="spotify:artist:3WDUptC9KS6ZFNwkZipSlQ">Bradley Walker</a>. Meanwhile was released in January of 2025. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

1) Punk rock (1970s):

Género rápido y agresivo con letras contestatarias y estructuras simples.

🎸 Rock tradicional y raíces

Ooh, love, ooh, loverboy What''re you doin'' tonight?🎸

1) Rock and roll (1950s):

Género pionero del rock, caracterizado por ritmos enérgicos y una fusión de blues, country y R&B.

3) Garage rock (1960s):

Estilo crudo y enérgico, precursor del punk, caracterizado por su sonido lo-fi.

5) Blues rock (1960s):

Fusión de blues y rock, con énfasis en solos de guitarra y estructuras de blues.

4) Surf rock (1960s):

Género instrumental con guitarras reverberantes, asociado a la cultura del surf.

6) Folk rock (1960s):

Combinación de música folk y rock, con letras introspectivas y arreglos eléctricos.

7) Country rock (1960s):

Mezcla de música country y rock, incorporando instrumentos tradicionales del country.

8) Swamp rock (1960s):

Estilo del sur de EE.UU. que fusiona rock, blues y música cajún.

⚡ Rock clásico y sus vertientes

1) Rock clásico (1970s):

Término que engloba a las bandas de rock más influyentes de los años 60 y 70.

2) Hard rock (1960s):

Estilo con guitarras distorsionadas y ritmos potentes, precursor del heavy metal.

🌀 Rock psicodélico y derivados

3) Neo-psicodelia (1980s):

Revival del rock psicodélico con influencias modernas y producción actualizada.

1) Rock progresivo (Prog rock) (1970s):

Género complejo con estructuras elaboradas, cambios de tempo y virtuosismo instrumental.

2) Rock sinfónico (1970s):

Subgénero del prog rock que incorpora elementos de la música clásica y orquestaciones.

3) Art rock (1970s):

Estilo que busca elevar el rock a una forma de arte, incorporando elementos de otras disciplinas.

5) Post-rock (1990s):

Estilo instrumental que utiliza instrumentos de rock para crear paisajes sonoros atmosféricos.

🧷 Rock alternativo y sus derivados

1) Rock alternativo (1980s):

Término amplio para bandas que se apartan del rock comercial, con sonidos diversos.

Basement

Basement

Just trying to be honest.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Expanded Edition)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Expanded Edition)

Bleachers

Bleachers

new jersey

2) Noise rock (1980s):

Género que incorpora disonancia, feedback y estructuras atonales.

⚔️ Punk y sus variantes

Oasis

Oasis

Oasis shot from obscurity to stardom in 1994, becoming one of Britain's most popular and critically acclaimed bands of the decade in the process. Along with <a href="spotify:artist:7MhMgCo0Bl0Kukl93PZbYS">Blur</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6PHIK3kjWggLtVygsOtpqS">Suede</a>, they were responsible for returning British guitar pop to the top of the charts. Led by guitarist/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel Gallagher</a>, the Manchester quintet adopted the rough, thuggish image of <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Stones</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:67ea9eGLXYMsO2eYQRui3w">the Who</a>, crossed it with "<a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatlesque</a>" melodies and hooks, injected distinctly British lyrical themes and song structures like <a href="spotify:artist:66U6cJ3kDBat0jS42Jkp9q">the Jam</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1SQRv42e4PjEYfPhS0Tk9E">the Kinks</a>, and tied it all together with a massive guitar roar, as well as a defiant sneer that drew equally from <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a>' rebelliousness and <a href="spotify:artist:1lYT0A0LV5DUfxr6doRP3d">the Stone Roses</a>' cocksure arrogance. <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Gallagher</a>'s songs frequently reworked previous hits from <a href="spotify:artist:3dBVyJ7JuOMt4GE9607Qin">T. Rex</a> ("Cigarettes and Alcohol" borrows the riff from "Bang a Gong") to <a href="spotify:artist:5lpH0xAS4fVfLkACg9DAuM">Wham!</a> ("Fade Away" takes the melody from "Freedom"), yet the group always put the hooks in different settings, updating past hits for a new era. Originally, the group was formed by schoolmates <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Liam Gallagher</a> (vocals), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass), and Tony McCaroll (drums). After spending several years as the guitar technician for a <a href="spotify:artist:1lYT0A0LV5DUfxr6doRP3d">Stone Roses</a>-inspired group named <a href="spotify:artist:66GWpx9iLxrvvfhDsG9STP">the Inspiral Carpets</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel Gallagher</a> returned to Manchester to find that his brother had formed a band. <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel</a> agreed to join if he could have complete control of the group, including contributing all the songs; the rest of the band agreed and adopted a new name, Oasis, before launching a year of intensive rehearsals. After playing a handful of small club gigs, the band cornered Alan McGee, the head of Creation Records, and forced him to listen to their demo. Impressed, he signed the band and helped them ready their debut album. The group released their first single, "Supersonic," in the spring of 1994; it edged its way into the charts on the back of positive reviews. With a melody adapted from "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," "Shakermaker" became a bigger hit in the early summer. Released a month before their debut album's arrival, the soaring ballad "Live Forever" became a major hit in England and helped make Definitely Maybe the fastest-selling debut in British history. The record entered the charts at number one and eventually sold over seven million copies. Oasis mania continued throughout 1994, as the group began playing larger theaters and watched each new single outperform the last. However, tensions in the group began to build -- <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Liam</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel</a> refused to do joint interviews because they always fought -- and <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel Gallagher</a> briefly left the band at the end of a difficult fall American tour. However, he quickly re-joined and the band headed back to England. As "Supersonic" began to climb the U.S. album rock and modern rock charts, the string-laden "Whatever" (a non-album single) hit number two over the British Christmas season. At the beginning of 1995, the group set their sights on America by promoting the single "Live Forever." The song became a major hit on MTV and modern rock radio stations, peaking at number two, and Definitely Maybe soon climbed to gold status in the U.S. Returning to England after a sold-out American tour, the group recorded a new single, "Some Might Say." Drummer Tony McCaroll parted ways with the band on the eve of the single's May release, with Alan White taking his place. "Some Might Say" entered the charts at number one, and its success led to all of Oasis' previous singles reentering the indie charts. Oasis spent the rest of the summer completing their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, which was released in October of 1995. Upon its release, the album shot to number one in England, becoming the fastest-selling album in the U.K. since <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>'s Bad. The band continued to set records during the following years. Over the course of 1996, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? became the second-biggest British album in history. On the strength of the iconic single "Wonderwall," Morning Glory also became a Top Ten success in America, where it reached quintuple platinum status; it also cracked the Top Ten throughout countries in Europe and Asia. During 1996, the <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Gallaghers</a>' combative relationship was frequently detailed in newspapers and gossip columns, particularly when they suddenly pulled out of their late summer U.S. tour. This followed the group's two concerts at Knebworth, which broke records for being the biggest outdoor concert in England. After Oasis abandoned their American tour, they concentrated on recording their third album. While the band's first two LPs were quickly recorded, they took several months to record the third, which finally saw completion during the spring of 1997. The resulting album, Be Here Now, was released in late August, one month after the arrival of the single "D'You Know What I Mean." Greeted with generally enthusiastic reviews and robust sales, Be Here Now shattered sales records in the U.K. and nearly topped the U.S. charts, positioning the quintet as the de facto rulers of rock. However, a backlash set in among both critics and record buyers over the album's perceived excesses, which meant that Be Here Now lacked the shelf life of its predecessors. Not long afterward, typical infighting unraveled the band's tour, and the group disappeared from the spotlight for a time -- although a collection of B-sides, Masterplan, did follow in 1998. As the band was recording their fourth album in the summer of 1999, Bonehead left Oasis, claiming that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Interviewed by NME on August 11, the day after the departure was made public, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel Gallagher</a> seemed unfazed, stating "It's hardly <a href="spotify:artist:4STHEaNw4mPZ2tzheohgXB">Paul McCartney</a> leaving <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>." Ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0WPY9nnBy01s5QOt4o4oQX">Ride</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3FTxQTEzrX6tcJYSlsdUle">Andy Bell</a> and onetime <a href="spotify:artist:3dTQACulfQtyV7ouHBHHTl">Heavy Stereo</a> guitarist Gem Archer signed on after the recording of 2000's Standing on the Shoulder of Giants was completed. In fall 2000, the band celebrated their monumental world tour success with the release of their first-ever live record, Familiar to Millions. The album highlights Oasis' July 2000 gig at Wembley Stadium and was released on six different formats including CD and cassette, DVD, VHS, triple vinyl, and mini-disc. Two years later, Oasis surfaced with Heathen Chemistry. Worldwide dates coincided the release of Oasis' fifth studio album; however, problems loomed ahead. While touring America in late summer, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel Gallagher</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3FTxQTEzrX6tcJYSlsdUle">Andy Bell</a>, and touring keyboardist Jay Darlington were injured in Indianapolis after their taxi collided with another vehicle. The band bounced back soon, returning to the road in two weeks time after canceling shows in Indianapolis, Boston, and Philadelphia. In America, however, the album wasn't faring as well as Oasis' tour sales, and the leadoff single "Hindu Times" barely made a mark on MTV. More trouble arrived in December, when <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Liam Gallagher</a> and several members of the Oasis entourage were involved in a street scuffle in Munich; the younger <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Gallagher</a> sustained facial injuries and was later arrested while two of the band's security guards sought serious medical attention. Despite such setbacks -- which also included mixed reviews for the album -- Heathen Chemistry nevertheless sold several million copies at home and charted four U.K. singles. Additionally, <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Liam</a>'s own composition, "Songbird," marked the first time Oasis had released a single penned by anyone other than <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel</a>. The song fared well on U.K. charts and paved the way for a new collaborative approach to songwriting. Oasis' next album suffered delays, as initial sessions with the electronica duo <a href="spotify:artist:5aj3LEYRbuaabjjHkj5oE1">Death in Vegas</a> (who had been recruited to produce the record) were scrapped. Additionally, drummer Alan White made his exit from the band in early 2004, and <a href="spotify:artist:6DbJi8AcN5ANdtvJcwBSw8">Ringo Starr</a>'s son <a href="spotify:artist:4h4l0uPYNCYJQZF4ZzugIy">Zak Starkey</a> climbed aboard to take his place. Don't Believe the Truth eventually saw a worldwide release in May 2005. Featuring songwriting contributions from every bandmember, the record represented a new approach from the previously <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel</a>-dominated group. "Lyla," "The Importance of Being Idle," and "Let There Be Love" all contributed to the album's success, and Don't Believe the Truth soon became the band's highest-selling effort since Be Here Now. The band quickly returned to the studio in mid-2007, halting production several months later to allow <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel</a> to spend time with his newborn child. Sessions resumed in November and wrapped up in 2008, with Dig Out Your Soul receiving a release date later that year. In 2009, after a typically heated, backstage sibling altercation, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRQd80VHepXiTXdmBzk6l">Noel</a> left the group for good, prompting <a href="spotify:artist:6sN51vEARnAAdBw1IKZ8Q9">Liam</a> (and the rest of the band) to change the name to <a href="spotify:artist:5yBDILLJyNFAjFpECkk7ys">Beady Eye</a>, with plans to release a debut single in 2010. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Ramones

Ramones

The Ramones may or may not have invented punk rock, but they were inarguably the most important band in punk history, creating the stylistic prototype that would be followed by countless bands who emerged in their wake. They were informed by the thunder and flash of <a href="spotify:artist:67ea9eGLXYMsO2eYQRui3w">the Who</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4WquJweZPIK9qcfVFhTKvf">the MC5</a>, the speed and primitivism of Iggy and the Stooges, and the alternately sullen and goofy musings of '60s garage rock, but the Ramones synthesized their influences into something raw and revolutionary, a fury of pounding rhythms and downstroked guitars married to rudimentary melodies and comically absurd lyrics that both mocked and celebrated popular culture and teenage life. The Ramones were tuneful, aggressive, and challenging in their embrace of minimalist fury, and while bands from <a href="spotify:artist:3RGLhK1IP9jnYFH4BRFJBS">the Clash</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:6xTk3EK5T9UzudENVvu9YB">Rancid</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7oPftvlwr6VrsViSDV7fJY">Green Day</a> would build on their formula, it's essentially impossible to imagine any of those bands, or punk as we know it, without the Ramones' guiding example. Their first four albums -- Ramones (1976), Leave Home (1977), Rocket to Russia (1978), and Road to Ruin (1979) -- were defining works for the band and the movement they helped inspire, and songs like "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," "Pinhead," "Rockaway Beach," and "I Wanna Be Sedated" would become anthems even if they were never embraced by radio. From 1980 onward, the Ramones recorded a long series of albums in which they often toyed with their formula in an effort to attract a larger audience (working with legendary producer <a href="spotify:artist:3jVMgT4X7YeuYE4aludcmE">Phil Spector</a> on 1980's End of the Century, adding keyboard accents on 1986's Animal Boy, recording a batch of covers on 1993's Acid Eaters), though their best work of this era (especially 1984's Too Tough to Die) was usually their most elemental, as they focused on what they did first and best. Based in the Forest Hills section of Queens, New York, the Ramones formed in 1974. Originally, the band was a trio consisting of <a href="spotify:artist:7dxF7y4hlGFazdArMsxbEx">Joey Ramone</a> (vocals, drums; born <a href="spotify:artist:7dxF7y4hlGFazdArMsxbEx">Jeffrey Hyman</a>, May 19, 1951), <a href="spotify:artist:3wP4BDQqjhbH5LyJ40Bvrr">Johnny Ramone</a> (guitar; born <a href="spotify:artist:3wP4BDQqjhbH5LyJ40Bvrr">John Cummings</a>, October 8, 1951), and <a href="spotify:artist:1GhAsqSOsQVkFtJZ4XriSC">Dee Dee Ramone</a> (bass; born <a href="spotify:artist:1GhAsqSOsQVkFtJZ4XriSC">Douglas Colvin</a>, September 18, 1951), with Tommy Ramone (born Tom Erdelyi, January 29, 1952) acting as the group's manager. All of the group's members adopted the last name "Ramone" and dressed in torn blue jeans and leather jackets, in homage to '50s greaser rockers. The group played their first concert on March 30, 1974, at New York's Performance Studio. Two months after the show, <a href="spotify:artist:7dxF7y4hlGFazdArMsxbEx">Joey</a> switched to vocals and Tommy became the band's drummer. By the end of the summer, the Ramones had earned a residency at CBGB. For the next year, they played regularly at the nightclub, earning a dedicated cult following and inspiring several other artists to form bands with similar ideals. All of the Ramones sets clocked in at about 20 minutes, featuring an unrelenting barrage of short, barely two-minute songs. By the end of 1975, the Ramones secured a recording contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sire%22">Sire</a>; discounting <a href="spotify:artist:0vYkHhJ48Bs3jWcvZXvOrP">Patti Smith</a>, they were the first New York punk band to sign a contract. Early in 1976, the Ramones recorded their debut album for just over $6,000.00. The resulting album, Ramones, was released in the spring, gained some critical attention, and managed to climb to 111 on the U.S. album charts. On July 4, the band made their debut appearance in Britain, where their records were becoming a big influence on a new generation of bands. Throughout 1976, the Ramones toured constantly, inaugurating nearly 20 years of relentless touring. By the end of the year, the group released their second album, Ramones Leave Home. While the album just scraped the U.S. charts, Leave Home became a genuine hit in England in the spring of 1977, peaking at number 48. By the summer of 1977, <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> and the Ramones were seen as the two key bands in the punk rock revolution, but where <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Pistols</a> imploded, the Ramones kept on rolling. Following the U.K. Top 40 hit "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," the Ramones released their third album, Rocket to Russia, in the fall of 1977. Tommy Ramone left the band in the spring of 1977, although he produced the group's subsequent album. He was replaced by former Voidoid <a href="spotify:artist:32a9EW1q6Wwx4SBdrNETpI">Marc Bee</a>, who immediately changed his name to <a href="spotify:artist:32a9EW1q6Wwx4SBdrNETpI">Marky Ramone</a>. With their new drummer in place, the Ramones recorded their fourth album, Road to Ruin, which was released in the fall. Road to Ruin marked the band's first significant attempt to change their sound; not only were there stronger bubblegum, girl group, surf, and '60s pop influences on the music, it was the first of their albums to run over a half-hour. Although their sound was more accessible, it didn't gain the band a noticeably larger following. Neither did Rock N' Roll High School, the 1979 Roger Corman film in which the Ramones had a pivotal part. The soundtrack to Rock N' Roll High School and the U.K.-only live album It's Alive were the band's only releases of 1979. For most of the year, they were in the studio recording their fifth album with legendary '60s pop producer <a href="spotify:artist:3jVMgT4X7YeuYE4aludcmE">Phil Spector</a>. The title song to the Corman movie was the first track released from the sessions, although the soundtrack album did feature a number of older Ramones songs remixed by <a href="spotify:artist:3jVMgT4X7YeuYE4aludcmE">Spector</a>. End of the Century, the <a href="spotify:artist:3jVMgT4X7YeuYE4aludcmE">Spector</a>-produced Ramones album, finally appeared in January of 1980 to mixed reviews. Despite the lukewarm reception to the album, the record's cover of <a href="spotify:artist:7CyeXFnOrfC1N6z4naIpgo">the Ronettes</a>' "Baby I Love You" became their only Top Ten British hit; in America, none of the singles made an impact, although the record became their biggest hit, peaking at number 44. The Ramones continued their attempts at crossover success with their sixth album, Pleasant Dreams, which was released in 1981. Featuring a production by former <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">Hollies</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6i6WlGzQtXtz7GcC5H5st5">10cc</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Graham Gouldman</a>, the record was a commercial disappointment in both America and England. The band was relatively quiet during 1982, spending most of their time touring. In the spring of 1983, the band returned with Subterranean Jungle, which was produced by Ritchie Cordell and Glen Koltkin, the heads of the American indie label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Beserkley+Records%22">Beserkley Records</a>. Not only did Subterranean Jungle fail to gain the band the larger audience they desired, it continued the erosion of the band's die-hard fan base, as well as their decline in the eyes of many rock critics. Following the album's release, <a href="spotify:artist:32a9EW1q6Wwx4SBdrNETpI">Marky Ramone</a> left the band; he was replaced by Richard Beau, a former member of the Velveteens, who changed his name to <a href="spotify:artist:29zdX5JthMX1KYNwlYaoug">Richie Ramone</a>. With 1984's Too Tough to Die, the Ramones delivered a belated response to America's burgeoning hardcore punk scene that was largely produced by Tommy Erdelyi. The album helped restore their artistic reputation, as did the 1985 single "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," an attack on <a href="spotify:artist:0zHF6HanMFdEcjjrZGlEs6">President Ronald Reagan</a>'s 1985 visit to Germany. Instead of continuing with the sound of Too Tough to Die, the Ramones began pursuing a more streamlined, stylized, and conventional take on their songwriting formula with 1986's Animal Boy. This was a direction the group followed for the remaining ten years of their career. Following the release of 1987's Halfway to Sanity, <a href="spotify:artist:29zdX5JthMX1KYNwlYaoug">Richie Ramone</a> left the band and <a href="spotify:artist:32a9EW1q6Wwx4SBdrNETpI">Marky Ramone</a> re-joined the group. In 1988, the career retrospective Ramones Mania appeared. In 1989, the Ramones contributed the theme song to the <a href="spotify:artist:6cXlNJGEwzOrgajIqpUUcg">Stephen King</a> movie Pet Semetary, and the track was included on Brain Drain, which was released in the summer of that year. After its release, the group's bassist, <a href="spotify:artist:1GhAsqSOsQVkFtJZ4XriSC">Dee Dee Ramone</a>, left the band to pursue a career as a rapper called <a href="spotify:artist:37VdrHc9Dy2VYjZgjyUcGl">Dee Dee King</a>; after his debut rap recording failed miserably, he formed the band Chinese Dragons. <a href="spotify:artist:1GhAsqSOsQVkFtJZ4XriSC">Dee Dee</a> was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:3jVd6Z5yEh5SSdvzkzUbUp">C.J. Ramone</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:3jVd6Z5yEh5SSdvzkzUbUp">Christopher John Ward</a>). In the early '90s, the Ramones sobered up, with both <a href="spotify:artist:7dxF7y4hlGFazdArMsxbEx">Joey</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:32a9EW1q6Wwx4SBdrNETpI">Marky</a> undergoing treatment for alcoholism. The band returned to recording in 1992, first releasing the live Loco Live and then Mondo Bizarro, their first studio album in three years. Mondo Bizarro turned out to be a commercial failure, as did their 1994 covers album, Acid Eaters. Following the release of Acid Eaters, the mainstream guitar rock audience in America finally embraced punk rock in the form of young bands like <a href="spotify:artist:7oPftvlwr6VrsViSDV7fJY">Green Day</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5LfGQac0EIXyAN8aUwmNAQ">the Offspring</a>. Sensing that the climate may have been right for the crossover success they had desired for so many years, the Ramones immediately followed Acid Eaters with Adios Amigos, claiming that unless the new album sold in substantial numbers, the band would call it quits after a final farewell tour. Adios Amigos only spent two weeks in the charts. Nevertheless, the Ramones embarked on a long farewell tour that ran throughout the rest of 1995. The band was set to split in the beginning of 1996 when they were offered a slot on the sixth Lollapalooza, and they toured with the festival that summer. Following the completion of the tour, the Ramones parted ways, 20 years after the release of their first album. Just a few years later, <a href="spotify:artist:7dxF7y4hlGFazdArMsxbEx">Joey Ramone</a> passed away on April 15, 2001, at age 49, the victim of lymphoma. Little more than a year after <a href="spotify:artist:7dxF7y4hlGFazdArMsxbEx">Joey</a>'s death, <a href="spotify:artist:1GhAsqSOsQVkFtJZ4XriSC">Dee Dee Ramone</a> was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on June 5, 2002. <a href="spotify:artist:3wP4BDQqjhbH5LyJ40Bvrr">Johnny Ramone</a> passed away two years later on September 15, 2004 after a long battle with cancer. Ten years later, on July 11, 2014, Tommy Ramone -- the last remaining member of the original Ramones foursome -- died of cancer at his home in Queens, New York. Despite the passing of all four original members, the Ramones' legacy continued to be celebrated in a series of new archival projects. In 2016, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rhino+Records%22">Rhino Records</a> coordinated a Super Deluxe 40th Anniversary Edition of the band's 1976 debut, featuring a wealth of alternate takes, an unreleased live concert, and an LP featuring a newly created mono mix of the album. Similarly expanded versions of Leave Home and Rocket to Russia followed in 2017, and a Super Deluxe Road to Ruin appeared in 2018. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Mark Deming, Rovi

The Cramps

The Cramps

Conjuring a fiendish witches' brew of primal rockabilly, grease-stained '60s garage rock, vintage monster movies, perverse and glistening sex, and the detritus and effluvia of 50 years of American pop culture, the Cramps are a truly American creation much in the manner of the Cadillac, the White Castle hamburger, the Fender Stratocaster, and <a href="spotify:artist:5xd8JF8LzoWiRJKTq0rSaS">Jayne Mansfield</a>. Often imitated, but never with the same psychic resonance as the original, the Cramps celebrate all that is dirty and gaudy with a perverse joy that draws in listeners with its fleshy decadence, not unlike an enchanted gingerbread house on the Las Vegas strip. The entire psychobilly scene would be unthinkable without them, and their prescient celebration of the echoey menace of first-generation rock & roll had a primal (if little acknowledged) influence on the rockabilly revival and the later roots rock movement. The saga of the Cramps begins in 1972 in Sacramento, CA, when LSD enthusiast and <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a> fan Erick Purkhiser picked up a hitchhiker, a woman with a highly evolved rock & roll fashion sense named Kristy Wallace. The two quickly took note of one another, but major sparks didn't began to fly until a few weeks later, when they discovered they were both enrolled in a course on "Art and Shamanism" at Sacramento City College. These two lovebirds were soon sharing both an apartment and their collective enthusiasm for the stranger and more obscure sounds of rock's first era, as well as the more flamboyant music of the day. Their passion for music led them to the conclusion that they should form a band, and Kristy picked up a guitar and adopted the stage name Poison Ivy Rorschach, while future vocalist Erick became Lux Interior, after short spells as Raven Beauty and Vip Vop. Ivy and Lux hit the road for Ohio, and after living frugally in Akron for a year and a half, they made their way to New York City in 1975 in search of stardom. While working at a record store, Interior made the acquaintance of fellow employee Greg Beckerleg, who had recently arrived from Detroit and also wanted to form a band. Beckerleg transformed himself into primal noise guitarist Bryan Gregory, and even persuaded his sister to join the nascent combo as a drummer. However, Pam Beckerleg didn't work out on traps, and so Miriam Linna, an Ohio transplant who had gotten to know Lux and Ivy during their sojourn in the Buckeye State, finalized the first proper lineup of the band they called the Cramps. Between Ivy's twangy single-note leads, Bryan's shower-of-sparks reports of noise, Lux's demented banshee howling, and Miriam's primitive stomp, the Cramps didn't sound like anyone else on the budding New York punk scene, and the foursome soon began attracting both crowds and buzz with their shows at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City. After about a year of gigging in and around New York, Linna left the group (she would later co-found frantic cultural journal Kicks Magazine and exemplary reissue label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Norton+Records%22">Norton Records</a>), and another former Ohioan, Nick Stephanoff (known to his fans as Nick Knox and previously a member of infamous Cleveland noise terrorists <a href="spotify:artist:4PjgCQnuQ0NHnwwqQ09VwY">the Electric Eels</a>) took over behind the drums, and this version of the Cramps released the group's first recordings, a pair of 7" singles recorded in Memphis with <a href="spotify:artist:7CW5MYWUsyUYiHbiTmVZHe">Alex Chilton</a> as producer and issued by the band's own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Vengeance+Records%22">Vengeance Records</a> label. In 1979, Miles Copeland signed the band to his fledgling new wave label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22I.R.S.+Records%22">I.R.S. Records</a>, and their first 12" release was an EP featuring the material from their self-released singles, entitled Gravest Hits. That same year, the band traveled to Europe for the first time, playing as opening act for <a href="spotify:artist:5NGO30tJxFlKixkPSgXcFE">the Police</a> and stealing the show from the peroxide-addled pop stars many nights. The Cramps returned to Memphis with <a href="spotify:artist:7CW5MYWUsyUYiHbiTmVZHe">Chilton</a> to record their first full-length album, 1980's masterful Songs the Lord Taught Us, but what should have been a triumphant U.S. tour following its release was scuttled when Gregory unceremoniously quit the band by leaving unannounced with a van full of their equipment; at the time, a story circulated that Gregory left the Cramps to pursue an interest in Satanism, though in later interviews Lux and Ivy said there was no truth to these rumors and his actions were more likely the result of his addiction to heroin. Lux, Ivy, and Nick opted to move the band to Hollywood, CA, and recruited <a href="spotify:artist:3Un18X4NF1bpjgUk44lUzn">Gun Club</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:0L6iFdKUI7LHenJ1lrzNeX">Kid Congo Powers</a> to take over as second guitarist in time to record their second long-player, Psychedelic Jungle. In 1981, the Cramps filed suit against <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22I.R.S.+Records%22">I.R.S. Records</a> over unpaid royalties; the court case prevented the band from recording new material for two years, and when they returned to America's record racks, it was with a live album, 1983's Smell of Female, recording during a pair of dates at New York City's Peppermint Lounge. <a href="spotify:artist:0L6iFdKUI7LHenJ1lrzNeX">Kid Congo</a> amicably parted ways with the band shortly afterward, and the search for the right record company kept the Cramps out of the studio until the U.K.-based Big Beat label released the ultra-lascivious A Date With Elvis in 1986; while several guitarists had come and gone since <a href="spotify:artist:0L6iFdKUI7LHenJ1lrzNeX">Kid Congo</a>, for these sessions Poison Ivy ended up overdubbing herself on bass. In 1987, the group finally found a simpatico bassist in the form of tough gal Candy Del Mar, whom Lux and Ivy met in the parking lot of a liquor store. Del Mar made her recorded debut on the live album Rockin n Reelin in Auckland New Zealand, and she was still on board when the Cramps finally signed a U.S. record deal with Enigma Records and recorded the fine and full-bodied Stay Sick! in 1990. Only a year later, the Cramps were back with a new studio album, Look Mom No Head!, but in a surprising move Nick Knox had left the band, and was replaced by Jim Sclavunos; after Jim's short tenure with the group, Nickey Beat (aka Nicky Alexander, former timekeeper with <a href="spotify:artist:2XRBA6Nc5WTh9cTcvnqOge">the Weirdos</a>) took over the drum throne before one Harry Drumdini signed on. Less startlingly, Candy Del Mar was also out of the lineup, replaced by Slim Chance, a one-time member of <a href="spotify:artist:1Ya5XnZANkNyY2k0WXXoMi">the Mad Daddys</a>. Harry and Slim joined Lux and Ivy in 1994 for the Cramps' first major-label album, Flamejob, released by the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a>-distributed Medicine imprint. As usual, much touring followed, and the band even made an appearance on the popular youth-centric soap opera Beverly Hills 90210 in 1995. The Cramps' major-label period proved to be brief, with Cal-punk indie label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epitaph%22">Epitaph</a> inking a deal with the group to release 1997's Big Beat from Badsville, which featured the same lineup as Flamejob. In 2001, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorschach celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Cramps by taking the matters of record-making into their own hands; they revived the long-dormant <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Vengeance%22">Vengeance</a> label and reissued their entire post-<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22I.R.S.%22">I.R.S.</a> album catalog (except for Flamejob) on expanded and remastered CDs and colored vinyl LPs. A new Cramps album followed in 2003, Fiends of Dope Island, which (of course) featured yet another personal change, with Chopper Franklin becoming the band's latest bassist. And with the Cramps continuing their unholy mission well into the 21st century, they offered their fans a look back with 2004's How to Make a Monster, a collection of rare live material and demos. They performed live for the final time in November 2006 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California, before a relative period of inactivity for the band. Then, in February 2009, the sad news came that Lux Interior had passed away, aged 62, at the Glendale Memorial Hospital after suffering an aortic dissection. Tributes were plentiful for such a singular figure and 2011’s File Under Sacred Music: Early Singles 1978-1981 acted as a timely reminder of the passion, prescience and originality that was inherent in the music of The Cramps. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

💿 Fusiones con otros géneros (1970s–2000s)

1) Disco rock (1970s):

Fusión de rock con música disco, combina guitarras eléctricas con ritmos bailables, líneas de bajo funky y arreglos orquestales.

2) Skate punk (1980s):

Punk asociado a la cultura del skate, con ritmos rápidos y melodías pegajosas.

2) Rap rock (1980s):

Fusión de elementos del hip hop con bases de rock.

3) Rap metal (1990s):

Subgénero del nu metal que mezcla rap con guitarras pesadas.

4) Ska punk / Ska rock (1990s):

Mezcla de ska y punk rock, con secciones de metales y ritmo sincopado.

5) New wave (late 1970s–1980s):

Género con sintetizadores, estética moderna y raíces punk/pop.

🧪 Estilos específicos o híbridos recientes (1980s–2020s)

Wham!

Wham!

Wham! followed the parallel path of most of their British pop peers, celebrating colorful, candied hooks and big, effervescent beats at a time most emerging U.K. groups were dedicated to stylish, detached synth pop. <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">George Michael</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Andrew Ridgeley</a>, the childhood friends who comprised Wham!, didn't ignore fashion -- their flashy visuals were tailor-made for MTV -- but they shunned the arty and dour portions of new wave, building their persona on American dance music and pop, even dabbling in a bit of rap on their first single "Wham! Rap (Enjoy What You Do)." That single, along with "Young Guns (Go for It)" and "Bad Boys," broke them into the U.K. Top Ten in 1983, but it was the jubilant "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" that turned them into international superstars. Almost immediately, <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a> stood apart from <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Ridgeley</a>: he had the supple, soulful voice showcased on their second number one, "Careless Whisper," which was occasionally credited to <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a> on his own. Wham! sustained their run at the top of the charts through 1985 but in 1986, "A Different Corner" announced <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a>'s separation from his longtime friend. By the end of that year, Wham! had split, leaving <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a> on the road to superstardom. <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">George Michael</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Andrew Ridgeley</a> met as preteens attending Bushey Meads School in Hertfordshire, England. Becoming fast friends, the two played in a ska revival band named the Executive before leaving to form their own group. Inspired by American dance and R&B, the duo decided to call themselves Wham! because they believed it represented their sunny, kinetic chemistry. Signing with Innervision Records, Wham! released their debut single "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" in June 1982 but it failed to gain much attention. That wasn't the case with "Young Guns (Go for It)," another iteration of the group's youthful positivity. Reaching number three on the charts, "Young Guns (Go for It)" ignited Wham!'s stardom in the U.K., leading to a re-release of "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" that climbed into the Top Ten in early 1983. "Bad Boys" and "Club Tropicana" followed their predecessors into the Top Ten in 1983, establishing the duo as peers of the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6kz53iCdBSqhQCZ21CoLcc">Culture Club</a>, who were the only other British band of that moment drawing so heavily on American R&B. After an acrimonious split with Innervision, Wham! signed with Epic Records--in America, they signed Columbia, another CBS-run imprint--paving the way for a massive worldwide push for their second album, Make It Big. Accompanied by a bright, cheerful video where the duo, along with backing vocalists <a href="spotify:artist:4azCxB0suG81OnUw627zBT">Pepsi and Shirlie</a>, sported shirts proclaiming "Choose Life," lead single "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" became a number one hit around the globe in the summer of 1984, sparking a blockbuster year for Wham! that was filled with chart-topping singles, including the effervescent "Freedom," slinky "Everything She Wants" and deceptively joyous "Last Christmas," which turned into an enduring instrumental standard. Among those number one hits was the ballad "Careless Whisper," a sultry slow jam that was promoted in some markets as a solo single by <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">George Michael</a> and in other countries as "Wham! Featuring George Michael," a puzzling choice considering it was one of the few Wham! singles co-written by <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Andrew Ridgeley</a>. The credit confusion was the first indication that CBS viewed <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a> as the true star of Wham! Despite this simmering internal tension, Wham! stayed active throughout 1985, beginning the year by being the first Western group to tour China. Footage from the tour would feature in the American video for "Freedom," which was released in the US in 1985, several months after it topped the British charts, and also provided the basis for the 1986 documentary Wham! In China: Foreign Skies. The buoyant single "I'm Your Man" also reached number one in the UK late in the year but by that point, <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a> was already planning to leave Wham! In March of 1986, he released the slow, contemplative "A Different Corner" as a solo single. A few months later, he and <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Ridgeley</a> made it official: they announced their next single, the spritely "The Edge of Heaven" would be their last and they'd say farewell with an album aptly titled The Final, which contained older hits along with newer singles, including "A Different Corner." The release of The Final got a bit messy, with Wham!'s American record company whittling the album down to its newer material and entitling this collection Music from the Edge of Heaven. Not long after separating, <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">George Michael</a> released Faith, the 1987 album that cemented his superstardom. <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Andrew Ridgeley</a> didn't have nearly as successful a recording career: after his 1990 debut Son of Albert failed to find an audience, he bowed out of music. The pair remained friends until <a href="spotify:artist:19ra5tSw0tWufvUp8GotLo">Michael</a>'s untimely death on December 25, 2016. <a href="spotify:artist:7s8YNE4OYY44nrlSTAKLOD">Ridgeley</a> subsequently published a 2019 memoir called Wham! George & Me and also participated in the 2023 documentary Wham! ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

1) Glam rock (1970s):

Estilo teatral y visualmente llamativo, con fuerte presencia de la androginia.

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell

The singer and frontman for <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a>, Chris Cornell also forged his own career after the band's initial break-up in 1997. <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> had rightfully become one of rock's most popular bands on the strength of such albums as Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. And with each album, Cornell's vocals grew stronger -- farther away from heavy metal screaming and toward a true singing style. Euphoria Morning, his first solo album, was in the singer/songwriter mold, but he also pursued true pop music on 2009's Scream, with help from producer <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>. Cornell also joined forces with former <a href="spotify:artist:2d0hyoQ5ynDBnkvAbJKORj">Rage Against the Machine</a> members as <a href="spotify:artist:2ziB7fzrXBoh1HUPS6sVFn">Audioslave</a>, and continued recording and performing -- both as a solo artist and with a resurgent <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> -- until his death in 2017. Posthumous releases like 2020's No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1 continued to celebrate his legacy as a powerful and expressive vocalist. Born in Seattle on July 20, 1964, his music career didn't take shape until he was a teenager when he began playing drums in a local cover band. Although he spent most of his teenage years as a loner, rock music helped Cornell overcome his uneasiness around others. After dropping out of high school and working as a cook, Cornell laid the foundation for what would become the influential grunge band <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> by the mid-'80s. Cornell assumed vocal duties for the group, with friend Hiro Yamamoto on bass, Kim Thayil on guitar, and eventually <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Matt Cameron</a> on drums. Along with <a href="spotify:artist:6aVjo0xHSiuW5hkasoYSR3">the Melvins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> was one of the first rock bands to slow down punk's youthful energy to a <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Black Sabbath</a>-like crawl. Following the release of several recordings on various independent labels, <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> also became one of the first bands of the Seattle underground to sign with a major label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a>, which issued Louder Than Love in 1989. After the album's release, however, Yamamoto left and was first replaced by ex-<a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> member Jason Everman, who was later ousted by <a href="spotify:artist:6zZEMNr7otbq5uwYYRqVKN">Ben Shepherd</a>. With <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a>'s quintessential lineup in place, the group became one of rock's most popular bands on the strength of such albums as 1991's Badmotorfinger, 1994's Superunknown, and 1996's Down on the Upside. With each album, Cornell's singing grew stronger as he demonstrated a growing mastery of his multi-octave range. From the start, however, Cornell's talents weren't limited to his work with <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a>. He organized a tribute for late <a href="spotify:artist:3XR64HmFo4OvexUUNW7TP0">Mother Love Bone</a> singer Andrew Wood in the form of 1990's <a href="spotify:artist:0iHb0mCbqZTYeb4y9Pirrd">Temple of the Dog</a> project, which featured a stripped-down sound and yielded the enduring hit "Hunger Strike." Cornell's first officially released solo composition, the acoustic "Seasons," was the highlight of the 1992 motion picture soundtrack Singles. His bluesy voice also helmed a superb cover of <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>'s "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" on the 1993 Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix compilation (under the pseudonym M.A.C.C.). Meanwhile, he found time to pen songs for other acts (including <a href="spotify:artist:1ApBh0VSoxRjjT3kFQZrpz">Flotsam & Jetsam</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3EhbVgyfGd7HkpsagwL9GS">Alice Cooper</a>) while also producing <a href="spotify:artist:3Ukr3Ufjg8ygRJv7Ww887f">the Screaming Trees</a>' 1991 release, Uncle Anesthesia. After <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a>'s demise in April 1997, Cornell slowly but surely began to assemble a solo album with his friends from the band <a href="spotify:artist:2je6GFLTZmAbrnjokRtWfU">Eleven</a>. Issued in 1999, Euphoria Morning was a departure from his former band's sound, emphasizing Cornell's vocals and lyrics rather than meaty guitar riffs. Shortly after its release, Cornell launched his first solo tour, mixing songs from all eras of his career. After the tour's conclusion in early 2000, a tepid remix of the Euphoria Morning track "Mission" (retitled "Mission 2000") was included on the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack. It appeared as though Cornell would take a break from music for a while, as his wife gave birth to the couple's first child in June of the same year, but by late 2000, Cornell found himself involved in a project that promised to be a classic hard rock collaboration. <a href="spotify:artist:2d0hyoQ5ynDBnkvAbJKORj">Rage Against the Machine</a> had decided not to break up after longtime vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:1jKpNUjiz4KXgaAZD5FI9S">Zack de la Rocha</a> left the band, opting instead to find another singer and carry on under a different name. Cornell accepted an invitation to jam and pen a few songs (which former <a href="spotify:artist:2d0hyoQ5ynDBnkvAbJKORj">Rage</a> guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:74NBPbyyftqJ4SpDZ4c1Ed">Tom Morello</a> described as "really groundbreaking") and, shortly thereafter, officially joined forces with the former <a href="spotify:artist:2d0hyoQ5ynDBnkvAbJKORj">Rage</a> members under the moniker <a href="spotify:artist:2ziB7fzrXBoh1HUPS6sVFn">Audioslave</a>. Produced by <a href="spotify:artist:1EpmQFTiJbcxzwbLpuUL8L">Rick Rubin</a>, the band's self-titled debut arrived in November 2002 and went multi-platinum. The follow-up effort, 2005's Out of Exile, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and was followed by the platinum-selling Revelations in 2006. Despite such success, Cornell left the band that same year, citing the usual "irreconcilable differences" for his departure. Cornell returned to his solo career with 2007's Carry On. Although the album was largely biographical, it also featured a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>'s "Billie Jean" (a rendition made famous one year later by American Idol contender <a href="spotify:artist:4SQxI8xg6LcSWL3KuGVHLa">David Cook</a>) and a song from the James Bond movie Casino Royale. Two new singles, "Ground Zero" and "Watch Out," were offered as digital downloads one year later, featuring a newfound emphasis on electronics and studio trickery. The tracks had been recorded with producer <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>, with whom Cornell partnered for the creation of his third solo album. Stocked with drum machines and R&B melodies, Scream arrived in March 2009, heralded by <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a> as "the best work I've done in my career" but received poorly by several critics. The following year, <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> joined the many popular '90s alternative bands who reunited in the 2000s and 2010s, headlining that year's Lollapalooza festival and releasing the retrospectives Telephantasm and Live on I-5, which documented the group's 1996 tour, as well as recording new songs. The following spring, however, Cornell returned to his solo career with the solo acoustic Songbook tour, from which came two EPs and the Songbook album, all of which were released in 2011. That September, Cornell contributed a song to the Machine Gun Preacher soundtrack. King Animal, <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a>'s first album since Down on the Upside, appeared in November 2012 and the group supported the record with a tour. Cornell returned to his solo work in 2015, teaming with producer <a href="spotify:artist:0BG5aq4J5LuJV8kQcGJ336">Brendan O'Brien</a> to record Higher Truth, his first collection of original solo songs since 2009's Scream. Cornell returned to <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> in 2016, and the band began work on a new album. In the meantime, the group released a deluxe reissue of Ultramega OK in March 2017 and began an American tour that April. On May 17, following the band's concert at Detroit's Fox Theater, Cornell was found dead in his hotel room; he had taken his own life at the age of 52. The following year, a legacy compilation chronicling Cornell's career arrived in the form of Chris Cornell, which included key tracks from his <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2ziB7fzrXBoh1HUPS6sVFn">Audioslave</a> eras, as well as touchstones from his decades-spanning solo career and a previously unreleased song. One of those tracks, "When Bad Does Good," won Best Rock Performance at the 61st Grammy Awards. Posthumous projects from Cornell began to arrive in 2019, when the <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> album Live from the Artists Den arrived that summer. In 2020, a covers album called No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1 that Cornell completed prior to his death was released digitally; a physical version followed in early 2021. The set and single "Nothing Compares 2 U" were both nominated for Grammy Awards in 2021. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi

2) Grunge (late 1980s–1990s):

Subgénero con sonido sucio, distorsionado, y letras introspectivas.

Soundgarden

Soundgarden

Soundgarden carved out a place for heavy metal in alternative rock. They were not the first band to draw upon the heavy, sludgy sounds of the '70s; the group picked up a thread left hanging by fellow Seattle rockers <a href="spotify:artist:1XIIxzmo6BNRR4QkImSdsX">Green River</a>, grunge pioneers who favored the scuzzy rock of <a href="spotify:artist:4BFMTELQyWJU1SwqcXMBm3">the Stooges</a>, and they shared <a href="spotify:artist:02NfyD6AlLA12crYzw5YcR">Jane's Addiction</a>'s love of grandiose heavy rock. Nevertheless, Soundgarden popularized metal within alternative rock, even obliterated the line separating the two subcultures. Melding the slow grind of <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Black Sabbath</a> and cinematic scope of <a href="spotify:artist:36QJpDe2go2KgaRleHCDTp">Led Zeppelin</a> with the D.I.Y. aesthetics of punk, Soundgarden played with an intelligence and ironic sense of humor that was indebted to the American underground of the mid-'80s. Their music contained a similar sense of adventure, often taking detours into psychedelia, unconventional guitar tunings, and complicated time signatures. Vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Chris Cornell</a> and guitarist Kim Thayil were excellent foils, with <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Cornell</a>'s powerful wail pushing against Thayil's winding riffs, a chemistry that gave the band a distinctive character that belonged neither to the mainstream nor the underground. This chemistry was evident from the band's start, when Soundgarden was one of the first groups to release a recording on Seattle's pioneering <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> label. Those early records built a considerable buzz, suggesting Soundgarden would be the band that broke down the commercial doors for alternative rock. That didn't turn out to be the case. They were eclipsed by the meteoric success of <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> alumni whose Nevermind became a blockbuster while Soundgarden was working on Badmotorfinger in the fall of 1991. As it turns out, Soundgarden received a boost from grunge exploding in the mainstream. Superunknown, their 1994 album, became an international smash, with its hit single "Black Hole Sun" becoming a standard of its era. The group didn't weather success well, disbanding after 1996's Down on the Upside, but their catalog endured, leading the band to reunite in 2010. Over the next few years, the group toured regularly, releasing a new album called King Animal in 2012, before <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Cornell</a> died tragically in 2017. For a band so heavily identified with the Seattle scene, it's ironic that two of its founding members were from the Midwest. Kim Thayil (guitar), Hiro Yamamoto (bass), and <a href="spotify:artist:3u1pd9504A11CNSlt9jdQ0">Bruce Pavitt</a> were all friends in Illinois who decided to head to Olympia, Washington, to attend college in 1981. Though none of them completed college, all of them became involved in the Washington underground music scene. <a href="spotify:artist:3u1pd9504A11CNSlt9jdQ0">Pavitt</a> was the only one who didn't play -- he founded a fanzine that later became the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> record label. Yamamoto played in several cover bands before forming a band in 1984 with his roommate <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Chris Cornell</a> (vocals), a Seattle native who had previously played drums in several bands. Thayil soon joined the duo and the group named itself Soundgarden after a local Seattle sculpture. Scott Sundquist was originally the band's drummer, but he was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Matt Cameron</a> in 1986. Over the next two years, Soundgarden gradually built up a devoted cult following through their club performances. <a href="spotify:artist:3u1pd9504A11CNSlt9jdQ0">Pavitt</a> signed Soundgarden to his fledgling <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> label in the summer of 1987, releasing the single "Hunted Down" before the EP Screaming Life appeared later in the year. Screaming Life and the group's second EP, 1988's FOPP, became underground hits and earned the attention of several major labels. The band decided to sign to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22SST%22">SST</a> instead of a major, releasing Ultramega OK by the end of 1988. Ultramega OK received strong reviews among alternative and metal publications, and the group decided to make the leap to a major for its next album, 1989's Louder Than Love. Released on A&M Records, Louder Than Love became a word-of-mouth hit, earning positive reviews from mainstream publications, peaking at 108 on the charts, and earning a Grammy nomination. Following the album's fall 1989 release, Yamamoto left the band to return to school. Jason Everman, a former guitarist for <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, briefly played with the band before <a href="spotify:artist:6zZEMNr7otbq5uwYYRqVKN">Ben Shepherd</a> joined in early 1990. Soundgarden's third album, 1991's Badmotorfinger, was heavily anticipated by many industry observers as a potential breakout hit. Though it was a significant hit, reaching number 39 on the album charts, its success was overshadowed by the surprise success of <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>'s Nevermind, which was released the same month as Badmotorfinger. Prior to Nevermind, Soundgarden had been marketed by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22A%26M%22">A&M</a> as a metal band, and the group had agreed to support <a href="spotify:artist:3qm84nBOXUEQ2vnTfUTTFC">Guns N' Roses</a> on the fall 1991 Use Your Illusion tour. While the tour did help sales, Soundgarden benefited primarily from the grunge explosion, whose media attention helped turn the band into stars. They were also helped by the Top Ten success of Temple of the Dog, a tribute to deceased <a href="spotify:artist:3XR64HmFo4OvexUUNW7TP0">Mother Love Bone</a> singer Andrew Wood that <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Cornell</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Cameron</a> recorded with members of <a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a>. By the spring release of 1994's Superunknown, Soundgarden's following had grown considerably, which meant that the album debuted at number one upon its release. (A year before its release, <a href="spotify:artist:6zZEMNr7otbq5uwYYRqVKN">Shepherd</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Cameron</a> released an eponymous album by their side project, <a href="spotify:artist:0cDULsp0aF8xxHVF7a7GwM">Hater</a>.) Superunknown became one of the most popular records of 1994, generating a genuine crossover hit with "Black Hole Sun," selling over three million copies and earning two Grammys. Soundgarden returned in 1996 with Down on the Upside, which entered the charts at number two. Despite the record's strong initial sales, it failed to generate a big hit, and was hurt by grunge's fading popularity. Soundgarden retained a sizable audience -- the album did go platinum, and they were co-headliners on the sixth Lollapalooza -- but they didn't replicate the blockbuster success of Superunknown. After completing an American tour following Lollapalooza that was plagued by rumors of internal fighting, Soundgarden announced that they were breaking up in April 1997 to pursue other interests. During the late '90s and 2000s, each member kept very busy. <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Cornell</a> released three solo albums, also recording and touring as <a href="spotify:artist:2ziB7fzrXBoh1HUPS6sVFn">Audioslave</a> with former members of <a href="spotify:artist:2d0hyoQ5ynDBnkvAbJKORj">Rage Against the Machine</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Cameron</a> toured his <a href="spotify:artist:7ifLpnGjBGcWLDCT3lGleH">Wellwater Conspiracy</a> project, and played and recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:40Yq4vzPs9VNUrIBG5Jr2i">Smashing Pumpkins</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a>. Thayil collaborated with a wide range of artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Cameron</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3leAD1YcOv55y1JeKEnlEt">Steve Fisk</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3EgMK920cIH5aLxFnJ6zSi">Boris</a>. Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:6zZEMNr7otbq5uwYYRqVKN">Shepherd</a> helped out with <a href="spotify:artist:7ifLpnGjBGcWLDCT3lGleH">Wellwater Conspiracy</a>, and also played and recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:1fpXM23IoNckJ7NDAm8YJQ">Mark Lanegan</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:3Ukr3Ufjg8ygRJv7Ww887f">Screaming Trees</a>. Finally, in 2010, the band announced a reunion with a few live shows during the summer (including that year's edition of Lollapalooza) which preceded a compilation, Telephantasm, in the fall. Telephantasm was initially available as a double-disc set on September 28, with a single-disc version appearing a week later (the single-disc was also included in Guitar Hero on September 28). In 2011, Soundgarden released their first live album, Live on I-5, which featured material recorded during the band's supporting tour for Down on the Upside. All of this activity would be the prelude to Soundgarden's full-on return in 2012, when they released their sixth album, King Animal, in the fall of that year. King Animal debuted at five on the Billboard Top 200 upon its November 2012 release and the band supported it throughout the next year with a tour. <a href="spotify:artist:4NfvOU2TMtQhyBOW0erSDf">Matt Cameron</a> took a hiatus from the band in November 2013 due to commitments with <a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a>; former <a href="spotify:artist:1w5Kfo2jwwIPruYS2UWh56">Pearl Jam</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2ACGbJEQ3zbG0fcPEmdOSP">Matt Chamberlain</a> replaced him for live dates in 2014. That year, Soundgarden celebrated the 25th anniversary of Superunknown with the release of two deluxe editions of the 1991 album: a double-disc set and a seven-disc Super Deluxe box set. During 2015, <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Chris Cornell</a> mentioned that Soundgarden had started working on material for a new studio set and the band made it official in 2016, announcing that they were beginning to record an album. In the meantime, the band released a deluxe reissue of Ultramega OK in March 2017 and began an American tour that April. On May 17, following the band's concert at Detroit's Fox Theater, <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Cornell</a> was found dead in his hotel room; he had taken his own life at the age of 52. In the wake of <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Cornell</a>'s death, the surviving members of Soundgarden took time to regroup. In an October 2018 interview, Thayil suggested that the remaining trio would retire the Soundgarden name but perhaps work together in some capacity. The three did perform at a <a href="spotify:artist:0XHiH53dHrvbwfjYM7en7I">Chris Cornell</a> tribute concert in January 2019, a show where vocals were handled by several singers, including <a href="spotify:artist:2sG4zTOLvjKG1PSoOyf5Ej">Brandi Carlile</a>, Taylor Momsen, and <a href="spotify:artist:6bI8H2TnlKYGJSo52wcTP4">Taylor Hawkins</a>. In July 2019, the band released their first posthumous record, the double album Live from the Artists Den, which captured a concert from 2013. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Nirvana

Nirvana

Nothing was ever quite the same after Nirvana. The band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, revolutionized popular music by bringing alternative rock above ground, introducing mainstream audiences to sounds and concepts that had previously existed only in shadowy record store corners and on low-frequency college radio airwaves. Nevermind's noisy, dissonant guitar rock, mumbled or howled surrealistic lyrics, and generally angsty punk attitudes were unlikely candidates for chart success, but the band undercut their grungy songs with enough pop melodicism to create a sound unlike anything average listeners had ever heard before, striking at the exact right moment to become an unprecedented success. Since Nirvana were rooted in an indie aesthetic but loved pop music, they fought their stardom while courting it, becoming some of the most notorious anti-rock stars in history. They consciously attempted to shed their audience with 1993's abrasive, <a href="spotify:artist:52ZFTGbQ9miWMX8JYBvtOO">Steve Albini</a>-produced third album In Utero, but vocalist/guitarist/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Kurt Cobain</a>'s growing mental health and substance abuse issues led to his death by suicide in 1994. Though Nirvana's story was cut tragically short, their legacy stands as one of the most influential in rock & roll history. <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Kurt Cobain</a> (vocals, guitar) met <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Chris Novoselic</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Krist Novoselic</a>) (bass) in 1985 in Aberdeen, Washington, a small logging town 100 miles away from Seattle. While <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> came from a relatively stable background, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>'s childhood had been thrown into turmoil when his parents divorced when he was eight. Following the divorce, he lived at the homes of various relatives, developing a love for <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> and then heavy metal in the process. Eventually, American hardcore punk worked its way into dominating his listening habits and he met <a href="spotify:artist:6aVjo0xHSiuW5hkasoYSR3">the Melvins</a>, an Olympia-based underground heavy punk band. <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> began playing in punk bands like Fecal Matter, often with <a href="spotify:artist:6aVjo0xHSiuW5hkasoYSR3">the Melvins</a>' bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4IRzt4Zde0xpbbc2BtsRGm">Dale Crover</a>. Through <a href="spotify:artist:6aVjo0xHSiuW5hkasoYSR3">the Melvins</a>' leader, Buzz Osborne, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> met <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a>, who also had an intense interest in punk, which meant that he, like <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>, felt alienated from the macho, redneck population of Aberdeen. The duo decided to form a band called the Stiff Woodies, with <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> on drums, <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> on bass, and a rotating cast of guitarists and vocalists. The group went through name changes as quickly as guitarists, before deciding that <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> would play guitar and sing. Renamed <a href="spotify:artist:4opTS86dN9uO313J9CE8xg">Skid Row</a>, the new trio featured drummer Aaron Burkhart, who left the band by the end of 1986 and was replaced by Chad Channing. By 1987, the band was called Nirvana. Nirvana began playing parties in Olympia, gaining a cult following. Around 1987, the band made ten demos with producer <a href="spotify:artist:5WPz1DmtxRJBajeTYGiftU">Jack Endino</a>, who played the recordings to Jonathan Poneman, one of the founders of the Seattle-based indie label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a>. Poneman signed Nirvana, and in December of 1988, the band released its first single, a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:5WimOFbBnCU5wI6t5PPpEk">Shocking Blue</a>'s "Love Buzz." <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> orchestrated an effective marketing scheme, which painted the band as backwoods, logging-town hicks, which irritated <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a>. While "Love Buzz" was fairly well-received, the band's debut album, Bleach, was what got the ball rolling. Recorded for just over $600 and released in June 1989, Bleach slowly became a hit on college radio, due to the group's consistent touring. Though Jason Everman was credited as a second guitarist on the sleeve of Bleach, he didn't appear on the record; he only toured in support of the album before leaving the band at the end of the year to join <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> and then Mindfunk. Bleach sold 35,000 copies and Nirvana became favorites of college radio, the British weekly music press, and <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7LuYiSXiWs86rwWJjEEgB9">Mudhoney</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:267VY6GX5LyU5c9M85ECZQ">Dinosaur Jr.</a>, which was enough to attract the attention of major labels. In July 1990, Nirvana recorded "Sliver"/"Dive" with <a href="spotify:artist:7LuYiSXiWs86rwWJjEEgB9">Mudhoney</a> drummer Dan Peters on drums and producer <a href="spotify:artist:0gTi2zsOHn6wtlkx66uxXM">Butch Vig</a>. The band also made a six-song demo with <a href="spotify:artist:0gTi2zsOHn6wtlkx66uxXM">Vig</a>, which was shopped to major labels, who soon began competing to sign the group. In August, they hit the road with <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>'s Goo tour (including <a href="spotify:artist:4IRzt4Zde0xpbbc2BtsRGm">Crover</a> on drums). That September, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Dave Grohl</a>, formerly of the D.C.-based hardcore band <a href="spotify:artist:0wIhCBrT02x0GG5bKqcSAh">Scream</a>, became Nirvana's drummer and the band signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DGC%22">DGC</a> for $287,000. Nirvana recorded their second album with <a href="spotify:artist:0gTi2zsOHn6wtlkx66uxXM">Vig</a>, completing the record in June of 1991. Nevermind was released in September, supported by a quick American tour. While <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DGC%22">DGC</a> was expecting a moderately successful release, in the neighborhood of 100,000 copies, Nevermind immediately became a smash hit, quickly selling out its initial shipment of 50,000 copies and creating a shortage across America. What helped the record become a success was "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a blistering four-chord rocker that was accompanied by a video that shot into heavy MTV rotation. By the beginning of 1992, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" had climbed into the American Top Ten and Nevermind bumped <a href="spotify:artist:3fMbdgg4jU18AjLCKBhRSm">Michael Jackson</a>'s much-touted comeback album Dangerous off the top of the album charts; it reached the British Top Ten shortly afterward. By February, the album had been certified triple platinum. Nirvana's success took the music industry by surprise, Nirvana included. From the moment Nirvana were met with mainstream visibility, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> used his newfound fame to relentlessly push his favorite independent artists as if their music was more important than his own. This took the form of bringing Japanese alt-pop trio <a href="spotify:artist:4ukJlDdlvuQOHZdD2NVsFD">Shonen Knife</a> on tour, covering lesser-known but formative artists like <a href="spotify:artist:0sTTw3dw3EA0c7NaZnrJd2">the Wipers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4wWQkHhmUNlXvhbHRUSqZW">the Vaselines</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2h9yQhKyqOMex3QFMVeq7F">Meat Puppets</a>, or wearing a homemade <a href="spotify:artist:1jeYbk5eqo6wgsQPjLeU5w">Daniel Johnston</a> t-shirt during television appearances and high-profile concerts. <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>'s enthusiastic fandom introduced untold numbers of Nirvana fans to artists they most likely wouldn't have known to seek out on their own, and in the process, energized those artists' careers. It soon became apparent that Nirvana wasn't quite sure how to handle its success. Around the time of Nevermind's release, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> appeared on MTV's Headbangers Ball in drag; the group mocked the tradition of miming on the BBC's Top of the Pops, with <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> constantly throwing his bass into the air and <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> singing his live vocals in the style of Ian Curtis; and their traditional live destruction of instruments was immortalized on a Saturday Night Live performance that ended with <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> sharing a kiss. By early 1992, questions began to arise about the band's stability. <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> married <a href="spotify:artist:4vI0xGbQl2cMnMiagUEBOj">Courtney Love</a>, the leader of the indie rock/foxcore band <a href="spotify:artist:5SHQUMAmEK5KmuSb0aDvsn">Hole</a>, in February of 1992, announcing that the couple was expecting a child. A few months later, Nirvana canceled several concerts and refused to mount a full-scale American tour during the summer. <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> complained that he was suffering from chronic stomach troubles, which seemed to be confirmed when he was admitted to a Belfast hospital after a June concert. While he went through these problems,<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DGC%22">DGC</a> released the odds-and-ends compilation Incesticide late in 1992; the album reached number 39 U.S. and number 14 U.K. As Nirvana prepared to make their third album, they released "Oh, the Guilt" as a split single with <a href="spotify:artist:6r26MaDr8bqNALjXgYPXMa">the Jesus Lizard</a> on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Touch+%26+Go+Records%22">Touch & Go Records</a>. Choosing <a href="spotify:artist:52ZFTGbQ9miWMX8JYBvtOO">Steve Albini</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:6zvul52xwTWzilBZl6BUbT">Pixies</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1xgFexIwrf2QjbU0buCNnp">the Breeders</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5EYkvHZuGM3pwU3DZUrrZ3">Big Black</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6r26MaDr8bqNALjXgYPXMa">the Jesus Lizard</a>) as their producer, they recorded In Utero, in two weeks during. Februrary 1993. Later in the year, reports, including an article in Newsweek, circulated that DGC was unhappy with the forthcoming album, and making accusations that Nirvana deliberately made an uncommercial record. Both the band and the label denied such allegations. Deciding that <a href="spotify:artist:52ZFTGbQ9miWMX8JYBvtOO">Albini</a>'s production was too flat, Nirvana decided to remaster the album with <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a> producer <a href="spotify:artist:1jBYxrGP7Ev7Qs0X5qJdDM">Scott Litt</a>, who also remixed the singles "Heart Shaped Box" and "All Apologies." In Utero was released in September of 1993 to positive reviews and strong initial sales, debuting at the top of the U.S. and U.K. charts. Nirvana supported it with an American tour, hiring former <a href="spotify:artist:39zgKjGWsiZzJ9h6gbrPFY">Germs</a> member <a href="spotify:artist:36AOO7vOYRSjm2nVgvu63E">Pat Smear</a> as an auxiliary guitarist. While the album and the tour were both successful, sales weren't quite as strong as expected, with several shows not selling out until the week of the concert. As a result, the group agreed to play MTV's acoustic Unplugged show at the end of the year, and sales of In Utero picked up after its December airing. After wrapping up their U.S. tour on January 8, 1994 with a show at Center Arena in Seattle, Nirvana embarked on a European tour in February. Following a concert in Munich on February 29, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> stayed in Rome to vacation with <a href="spotify:artist:4vI0xGbQl2cMnMiagUEBOj">Love</a>. On March 4, she awakened to find that <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> had attempted suicide. When he returned to Seattle, his mental illness grew worse. <a href="spotify:artist:4vI0xGbQl2cMnMiagUEBOj">Love</a> and Nirvana's management organized an intervention program that resulted in <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>'s admission to the Exodus Recovery Center in L.A. on March 30, but he left the clinic on April 1, returning to Seattle. His mother filed a missing persons report on April 4. On April 5, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a> died by suicide at his Seattle home.After his death, <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Kurt Cobain</a> was quickly anointed as a spokesman for Generation X, as well as a symbol of its tortured angst. <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> planned to release a double-disc live album at the end of 1994, but sorting through the tapes proved to be too painful, so MTV Unplugged in New York appeared in its place. The album debuted at the top of the British and American charts, as a home video comprised of live performances and interviews from the band's Nevermind era, titled Live! Tonight! Sold Out!, was issued at the same time (the project began prior to <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>'s passing and was completed by surviving bandmembers). In 1996, MTV Unplugged in New York's electric counterpart, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, was released, debuting at the top of the U.S. charts. Following <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>'s death, <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">the Foo Fighters</a>, releasing their self-titled debut album in 1995, followed by The Colour and the Shape in 1997 and There Is Nothing Left to Lose in 1999. <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> formed the trio Sweet 75, releasing their debut in the spring of 1997, and also appeared along with former <a href="spotify:artist:30U8fYtiNpeA5KH6H87QUV">Dead Kennedys</a> frontman <a href="spotify:artist:1ddbFlSqbqp2vuJd5CuRcE">Jello Biafra</a> and former <a href="spotify:artist:5xUf6j4upBrXZPg6AI4MRK">Soundgarden</a> guitarist Kim Thayil on the 2000 live set Live from the Battle in Seattle under the name <a href="spotify:artist:0l6DIGXp0GGVDEieOA0D0P">the No W.T.O. Combo</a>. By the late '90s, <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a> began research for a proposed box set of previously unreleased songs from throughout Nirvana's career. The project was supposed to surface in the fall of 2001 (to coincide with the tenth anniversary release of Nevermind), but legal issues delayed its release. Finally, the Nirvana LLC partnership -- which included <a href="spotify:artist:7mRVAzlt1fAAR9Cut6Rq8c">Grohl</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4BZKfXia2RPZnzCgQ2fG8M">Novoselic</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4vI0xGbQl2cMnMiagUEBOj">Love</a> -- came to an agreement and the album-length compilation Nirvana was released in October of 2002. Although that release included only one unreleased song, the long-awaited box set, titled With the Lights Out, appeared in late 2004, including three discs of rare and unreleased material plus a live DVD that featured material filmed as early as 1988. The band's 1992 set at the Reading Festival was released in 2009 as Live at Reading. The same year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> began a Nirvana studio album reissue campaign with Bleach; special 20th-anniversary editions of Nevermind and In Utero followed in 2011 and 2013, respectively. In 2014, Nirvana was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by <a href="spotify:artist:4KWTAlx2RvbpseOGMEmROg">R.E.M.</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:2G1Lyk7bWbBBrtwyl3obNB">Michael Stipe</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:6pAuTi6FXi6qFQJ1dzMXQs">Cobain</a>'s place in the induction performance was taken by several vocalists, including Joan Jett and <a href="spotify:artist:3n8qeKQViV1waeCzZmS4Tx">Kim Gordon</a>. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Greg Prato, Rovi

3) Post-grunge (1990s–2000s):

Versión más pulida y accesible del grunge, orientada a radios mainstream.

4) Pop rock (1960s–presente):

Rock con estructuras y producción pop, muy comercial.

6) Screamo (1990s–2000s):

Subgénero del emo con voces gritadas y agresividad post-hardcore.

Sunny Day Real Estate

Sunny Day Real Estate

Considering their relatively brief existence, Sunny Day Real Estate racked up enough dramatic twists and turns to rank with some of the great rock soap operas. Their key members engaged in just about every rock cliché imaginable, including finding religion, refusing to work with the media, breaking up, joining a big-name group, and even recording an ambitious full-orchestra pop album -- all before reuniting in 1997. Although formed in 1992 amid the burgeoning hard rock scene in Seattle (and later signed to Northwest power label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a>), the band could not have been more different from its flannel-clad contemporaries. Originally conceived as a three-piece (guitarist/vocalist Dan Hoerner, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith), Sunny Day Real Estate garnered attention when they added enigmatic lead singer <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Jeremy Enigk</a>, whose high-pitched, continually ascending voice complemented their melodic songs. Shrouded in mystery from the get-go, the group released only one picture to the press, conducted one interview, and never played a show in the state of California with all four members. With the release of their 1994 debut album, Diary, Sunny Day achieved newfound fame (at one time posing for an ad by department-store chain Nordstrom), while <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Enigk</a> converted to Christianity. In 1995, the group broke up, but not before releasing that year's LP2 (which, because of its single-hue design, is usually referred to as "The Pink Album") and prompting speculation as to whether <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Enigk</a>'s born-again status was behind the breakup. Goldsmith and Mendel quickly found work with <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">Foo Fighters</a>, while Hoerner retreated to a farm in Washington. One year after the breakup, <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Enigk</a> released Return of the Frog Queen, a set of acoustic songs recorded with a 21-piece orchestra. In the meantime, the band maintained a steady Internet fan base, and continued to sell copies of its first two albums. After months of speculation, the group re-formed in 1997 minus Mendel, who stayed with <a href="spotify:artist:7jy3rLJdDQY21OgRLCZ9sD">Foo Fighters</a> and was replaced first by former <a href="spotify:artist:30HbzG87mLz5XDSoNFQcr7">Mommyheads</a> bassist Jeff Palmer, then by ex-<a href="spotify:artist:5ZOh5D4MKLhU3GekPzNFam">Posie</a> Joe Skyward. In September 1998, Sunny Day returned with How It Feels to Be Something On, which was met with critical accolades from fans and critics. The album prompted more media attention than ever, as well as a new tour. The dates also yielded 1999's Live, which helped whet appetites for the second studio album of the reunion (and the first not recorded for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a>). The Rising Tide was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Time+Bomb%22">Time Bomb</a> in 2000, marked by a gentler tone and a stronger prog rock influence that resulted in some of the best reviews of the band's already acclaimed career. However, external forces conspired against the band; <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Time+Bomb%22">Time Bomb</a>'s distribution deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Arista%22">Arista</a> fell through, making promotion and touring all but impossible. Additional difficulties with their management soured sessions for a follow-up, and it was announced in June 2001 that Sunny Day Real Estate had disbanded. By the end of the year, <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Enigk</a>, Mendel, and Goldsmith had reunited as <a href="spotify:artist:7CVHpcuVERzqAJcP2ddoFy">the Fire Theft</a>, which recorded a self-titled album released in 2003. <a href="spotify:artist:6jUpCAtHPCEowkiAo4bpWK">Enigk</a> recorded his second solo album, World Waits, eventually released in 2006 on his own World Hollow label. The original quartet (including Hoerner) reunited in 2009 for a full North American tour during the summer and fall, plus dates in Europe in 2010. Recording sessions were mounted as well, but the only new material to surface was a single song, "Lipton Witch," part of a split 7" single with <a href="spotify:artist:11FY888Qctoy6YueCpFkXT">Circa Survive</a> released in 2014. ~ Brian Raftery, Rovi

7) Post-hardcore (1980s–2000s):

Más melódico y experimental que el hardcore punk, con dinámica compleja.

5) Emo (1980s–2000s):

Evolución emocional del hardcore punk, centrado en letras introspectivas y sentimentales.

The Police

The Police

Nominally, the Police were punk rock, but that's only in the loosest sense of the term. The trio's nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky, but it wasn't necessarily punk. All three members were considerably more technically proficient than the average punk or new wave band. Andy Summers had a precise guitar attack that created dense, interlocking waves of sounds and effects. Stewart Copeland could play polyrhythms effortlessly. And Sting, with his high, keening voice, was capable of constructing infectiously catchy pop songs. While they weren't punk, the Police certainly demonstrated that the punk spirit could have a future in pop music. As their career progressed, the Police grew considerably more adventurous, experimenting with jazz and various world musics. All the while, the band's tight delivery and mastery of the pop single kept their audience increasing, and by 1983, they were the most popular rock & roll band in the world. Though they were at the height of their fame, internal tensions caused the band to splinter apart in 1984, with Sting picking up the majority of the band's audience to become an international superstar. Stewart Copeland and Sting (born Gordon Sumner) formed the Police in 1977. Prior to the band's formation, Copeland, the son of a CIA agent, had attended college in California, before he moved to England and joined the progressive rock band Curved Air. Sting was a teacher and a ditch digger who played in jazz-rock bands, including Last Exit, on the side. The two musicians met at a local jazz club and decided to form a progressive pop band with guitarist Henri Padovani. For the first few months, the group played local London pubs. Soon, they were hired to appear as a bleached-blonde punk band in a chewing gum commercial. While the commercial provided exposure, it drew the scorn of genuine punkers. Late in 1977, the band released its first single, "Fall Out," on IRS, an independent label Stewart Copeland founded with his brother Miles, who was also the manager of the Police. The single was a sizable hit for an independent release, selling about 70,000 copies. Padovani was replaced by Andy Summers, a veteran of the British Invasion, following the release of "Fall Out." Summers had previous played with Eric Burdon's second lineup of the Animals, the Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, the Kevin Ayers Band, and Neil Sedaka. The Police signed with A&M by the spring of 1978, committing to a contract that gave the group a higher royalty rate in lieu of a large advance. A&M released "Roxanne" in the spring of 1978, but it failed to chart. The Police set out on a tour of America in the summer of 1978 without any record to support, traveling across the country in a rented van and playing with rented equipment. Released in the fall of 1978, Outlandos d'Amour began a slow climb into the British Top Ten and American Top 30. Immediately after its release, the group began a U.K. tour supporting Alberto y los Trios Paranoias and released the "So Lonely" single. By the spring of 1979, the re-released "Roxanne" had climbed to number 12 on the U.K. charts, taking Outlandos d'Amour to number six. In the summer of 1979, Sting appeared in Quadrophenia, a British film based on the Who album of the same name; later that year, he acted in Radio On. Preceded by the number one British single "Message in a Bottle," Reggatta de Blanc (fall 1979) established the group as stars in England and Europe, topping the U.K. charts for four weeks. Following its release, Miles Copeland had the band tour several countries that rarely received concerts from foreign performers, including Thailand, India, Mexico, Greece, and Egypt. Zenyatta Mondatta, released in the fall of 1980, became the Police's North American breakthrough, reaching the Top Ten in the U.S. and Canada; in England, the album spent four weeks at number one. "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the album's first single, became the group's second number one single in the U.K.; in America, the single became their second Top Ten hit in the spring of 1981, following the number ten placing of "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" in the winter. By the beginning of 1981, the Police were able to sell out Madison Square Garden. Capitalizing on their success, the band returned to the studio in the summer of 1981 to record their fourth album with producer Hugh Padgham. The sessions, which were filmed for a BBC documentary hosted by Jools Holland, were completed within a couple months, and the album, Ghost in the Machine, appeared in the fall of 1981. Ghost in the Machine became an instant hit, reaching number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. as "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" became their biggest hit to date. Following their whirlwind success of 1980 and 1981, in which they were named the Best British Group at the first Brit Awards and won three Grammys, the band took a break in 1982. Though they played their first arena concerts and headlined the U.S. Festival, each member pursued side projects during the course of the year. Sting acted in Brimstone and Treacle, releasing a solo single, "Spread a Little Happiness," from the soundtrack; the song became a British hit. Copeland scored Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, as well as the San Francisco Ballet's King Lear, and released an album under the name Klark Kent; he also played on several sessions for Peter Gabriel. Summers recorded an instrumental album, I Advance Masked, with Robert Fripp. The Police returned in the summer of 1983 with Synchronicity, which entered the U.K. charts at number one and quickly climbed to the same position in the U.S., where it would stay for 17 weeks. Synchronicity became a blockbuster success on the strength of the ballad "Every Breath You Take." Spending eight weeks at the top of the U.S. charts, "Every Breath You Take" became one of the biggest American hits of all time; it spent four weeks at the top of the U.K. charts. "King of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" became hits over the course of 1983, sending Synchronicity to multi-platinum status in America and Britain. The Police supported the album with a blockbuster, record-breaking world tour that set precedents for tours for the remainder of the '80s. Once the tour was completed, the band announced they were going on "sabbatical" in order to pursue outside interests. The Police never returned from sabbatical. During the Synchronicity tour, personal and creative tensions between the bandmembers had escalated greatly, and they had no desire to work together for a while. Sting began working on a jazz-tinged solo project immediately, releasing The Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985. The album became an international hit, establishing him as a commercial force outside of the band. Copeland and Summers demonstrated no inclination to follow their bandmate's path. Copeland recorded the worldbeat exploration The Rhythmatist in 1985, and continued to compose scores for film and television; he later formed the prog rock band Animal Logic. With his solo career -- which didn't officially begin until the release of 1987's XYZ -- Summers continued his art rock and jazz fusion experiments; he also occasionally collaborated Fripp and John Etheridge. During 1986, the Police made a few attempts to reunite, playing an Amnesty International concert and attempting to record a handful of new tracks for a greatest-hits album in the summer. As the studio session unraveled, it became apparent that Sting had no intention of giving the band his new songs to record, so the group re-recorded a couple of old songs, but even those were thrown off track after Copeland suffered a polo injury. Featuring a new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me," the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles was released for the 1986 Christmas season, becoming the group's fifth straight British number one and their fourth American Top Ten. A few more quiet years passed, but 1992 found Summers taking the helm as musical director for Dennis Miller's late-night show and Sting taking his vows with Trudie Styler. At the wedding, the three Policemen hopped on-stage for a very impromptu set, then, just as quickly, dismissed any rumors of an official Police reunion in the future. That same year a Greatest Hits album was released in the U.K., and in 1994 the box set Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings was released, followed in 1995 by the double album Live. Things again went quite on the Police front as the millennium rolled around. Then, in 2003, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the group into its pantheon. The band did reorganize enough to perform three tunes at the induction ceremony, but again, it looked as if that single show was going to be the extent of their collaboration. There was a brief reunion of sorts with original Police guitarist Henri Padovani, on his 2004 album A Croire Que C'Etait Pour la Vie, where Copeland and Sting appeared on one track together -- but still no signs of a full-blown reunion. Sting released his autobiography, Broken Music, in 2003, and by 2006 Copeland's documentary, Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, and Summers' autobiography, One Train Later, had joined the ranks. Odd side projects and collaborations with other musicians continued, but the real Police news came in conjunction with another seemingly one-off reunion gig -- this time for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Amid the hoopla, it was announced that the Police would indeed be embarking on a world tour, beginning on May 28, 2007, in Vancouver. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Duran Duran

Duran Duran

Duran Duran have always reveled in the shadows, playing with artistic, aesthetic, and emotional extremes. As much as you can move and shout along to the timeless chants of Hungry Like the Wolf, Ordinary World, or Rio, it feels most natural do so under the cover of night. They’re the ultimate soundtrack to sharing secrets in close whispers on the dancefloor before the lights go up. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® in 2022, they’ve sold north of 100 million albums around the world in addition to scoring 18 American chart hits and 21 Top 20 UK smashes. Their various awards and accolades have included two GRAMMY® Awards, two Ivor Novellos, two BRIT Awards (including “Outstanding Contribution to Music” in 2004), and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They penned the only James Bond theme to reach #1 in the US, while David Lynch helmed their concert film. Summing up their enduring impact, Vanity Fair proclaimed, “Duran Duran’s always been about constant innovation and the ‘new’.” Given a penchant and flair for fashion, rock music never looked the same after their emergence either. In between selling out shows worldwide, 2021’s FUTURE PAST saw the group earn widespread acclaim from Salon, Rolling Stone, and more. Now, the iconic UK quartet unearth bright melodies from darkness as they thread together new tunes, covers, and alternate versions of classics on their 16th full-length offering, DANSE MACABRE [Tape Modern/BMG].

10cc

10cc

10cc are genuine oddballs who came of age in an era rife with eccentrics: pop pranksters and studio perfectionists who often seemed to play for their own amusement. Capable of conjuring and satirizing all manners of popular musical styles, the collective were as clever as any art-rockers of the 1970s, but they also were happy to steer their quirks in the direction of Top 40. Considerably more popular in the U.K., where their arch sense of humor was considered an attribute -- they began their '70s run on the British charts with the oldies pastiche "Donna" and ended it with the reggae sendup "Dreadlock Holiday" -- 10cc nevertheless created two American soft rock perennials in "I'm Not in Love" and "The Things We Do for Love." The core of 10cc lies in the partnership between <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Eric Stewart</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Graham Gouldman</a>, two British Invasion veterans who initially played together in <a href="spotify:artist:16QtUGLCcAypi0eZJsu0zd">the Mindbenders</a>, the Manchester group who had a hit in 1965 with "A Groovy Kind of Love." <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> joined them in 1968 with a number of big hits under his belt, including <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">the Hollies</a>' "Bus Stop," "No Milk Today" by <a href="spotify:artist:48YxSlb23RAaCd4RyHcV9V">Herman's Hermits</a>, plus <a href="spotify:artist:2lxX1ivRYp26soIavdG9bX">the Yardbirds</a>' big pop moves "For Your Love" and "Heart Full of Soul." <a href="spotify:artist:16QtUGLCcAypi0eZJsu0zd">The Mindbenders</a> split not long after he came aboard, with <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a> headed to Inner City Studios in Stockport with the idea of becoming a recording engineer. By the end of 1968, Inner City became Strawberry Studios. Strawberry Studios became <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a>'s headquarters in 1969, right around the time he signed a deal to write and record tunes for Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz of the bubblegum powerhouse Super K Productions. <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> convinced the duo they'd save money if he recorded solely at Strawberry, supported by <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a> and Kevin Goldey and <a href="spotify:artist:4hBANjxIKiBHeN1usQ4bpC">Lol Creme</a>, old friends from the Manchester music scene. Super K accepted the offer and the quartet started cranking out fizzy pop tunes under a variety of guises, including <a href="spotify:artist:6EHdKd4m8DzNf9NhVeJSVI">Ohio Express</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7bp2mrTNmrjp69DS3EKL4K">Crazy Elephant</a>, and Grumble. When the Super K production contract came to a close, <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> left Strawberry to remain on Kasenetz's and Katz's songwriting staff, leaving <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a>, Godley, and <a href="spotify:artist:4hBANjxIKiBHeN1usQ4bpC">Creme</a> to record the lurching glam "Neanderthal Man" as <a href="spotify:artist:7aytjvL9XZ2mGzmIpT4xzy">Hotlegs</a>. Improbably a smash hit in the U.K., "Neanderthal Man" led to a full album as <a href="spotify:artist:7aytjvL9XZ2mGzmIpT4xzy">Hotlegs</a>, which they took on the road as a support act for <a href="spotify:artist:5BcZ22XONcRoLhTbZRuME1">the Moody Blues</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> rejoined the group for the tour and they'd all work in various permutations on a host of projects in the early '70s. The culmination of this period was Solitaire and The Tra-La Days Are Over, a pair of albums from <a href="spotify:artist:5N6GwJzOcOY5kv8p0NjhYL">Neil Sedaka</a> that brought the Brill Building veteran into the satiny sounds of the '70s. The <a href="spotify:artist:5N6GwJzOcOY5kv8p0NjhYL">Sedaka</a> success prompted the quartet to set out on their own as 10cc. They took "Donna," a sly satire of late-'50s doo wop, to <a href="spotify:artist:1bvo51530qqjHyHapoE7N2">Jonathan King</a>, who signed them to his U.K. Records. "Donna" became a hit, climbing to the number two position on the British charts, establishing not only a long-running string of major hits, but also the quartet's fondness for ironic and affectionate reclamations of musty pop styles. The follow-up, "Rubber Bullets," topped the charts in 1973, and both the subsequent single "The Dean and I" (a nostalgic look at academia recalling <a href="spotify:artist:2zyz0VJqrDXeFDIyrfVXSo">Jerry Lee Lewis'</a> "High School Confidential") and an eponymously titled debut LP further solidified 10cc as a major force in British pop. While 1974's Sheet Music and singles, including the <a href="spotify:artist:4Q82S0VzF8qlCb4PnSDurj">Brian Wilson</a>-esque "Wall Street Shuffle," "Silly Love" and "Life Is a Minestrone" continued 10cc's dominance of the U.K. charts, they found the American market virtually impenetrable prior to the release of 1975's "I'm Not in Love," which topped the charts at home and climbed as high as number two in the States. After 1975's Original Soundtrack and the next year's How Dare You!, Godley and <a href="spotify:artist:4hBANjxIKiBHeN1usQ4bpC">Creme</a> exited to focus on video production as well as developing the Gizmo, a guitar modification device the duo invented. In the wake of their departure, <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a> continued as a duo, enlisting the aid of sessionmen to record 1977's Deceptive Bends, highlighted by the perennial "The Things We Do for Love." After recruiting guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:4ZjFLzUkmXmzmK0KHXVicu">Rick Fenn</a>, keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:4mqOXd67Yu36TH3nRW3Vmn">Tony O'Malley</a>, and drummer Stuart Tosh as full-time members, 10cc returned in 1978 with Bloody Tourists, which yielded the number one reggae nod "Dreadlock Holiday." <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a>'s involvement in a serious car wreck in 1979 proved to be a major setback for the band and by the time they released 1980's Look Hear?, critical reception was lukewarm. After dismissing the rest of the group, <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a> recorded 1981's 10 Out of 10 using mostly session musicians and the album failed to chart. 10cc would release one more album, 1983's Windows in the Jungle, before disbanding that same year. Throughout the rest of the '80s, the members occupied themselves with new endeavors to varying degrees of success and in 1991, the original lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a>, Godley, and <a href="spotify:artist:4hBANjxIKiBHeN1usQ4bpC">Creme</a> reunited to record ...Meanwhile. The album fared well in Europe and Japan, but Godley and <a href="spotify:artist:4hBANjxIKiBHeN1usQ4bpC">Creme</a>'s involvement was tenuous, and they both bowed out shortly after its release. Shortly after 1995's Mirror Mirror and its subsequent tour, <a href="spotify:artist:75Fw341uXtDe6MayuEWmT2">Stewart</a> also called it quits. In 1999, <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a> put together a new 10cc lineup which included himself, <a href="spotify:artist:4ZjFLzUkmXmzmK0KHXVicu">Rick Fenn</a>, and Paul Burgess along with newcomers Mick Wilson and Mike Stevens. Although no new music was released, this lineup continued to tour consistently throughout the 2000s, playing various 10cc hits along with some of <a href="spotify:artist:5Z6IqCEJ0aYRpxd5moXnQL">Gouldman</a>'s solo highlights. Various 10cc reissues and anthologies have been released, including a 30th anniversary box set in 2002 and a limited-edition 40th anniversary set in 2012 called Tenology. Another box set, Before, During and After: The Story of 10cc, arrived in 2017, with the comprehensive 14-CD box 20 Years seeing release at the beginning of 2024. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Timothy Monger, Rovi

Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks

Of all the singer-songwriters to emerge from the '70s, few embody the contrast of confidence and vulnerability like Stevie Nicks. Born in Arizona, where she learned country duets with her grandfather as a child, Nicks (along with her then-partner, singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham) went on to help transform Fleetwood Mac from a British blues band into one of the most influential pop groups of all time. She brought a sense of softness and sophistication to rock music at a time when it was still primarily considered the province of youth culture. Her best-known turns with Fleetwood Mac—"Rhiannon," "Dreams," "Landslide"—proved that pop could be both feminine and powerful, earthbound yet mystical. Nicks helped close the distance between our notions of artist and star–and inspired a generation of women from Madonna and Courtney Love to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to do the same. For as accessible as they are, Nicks’ songs are also symbolic, even mythological, springing from what seem like a world lurking somewhere beyond our own: Her 1981 solo debut, <i>Bella Donna</i>, mixes a rootsy, unvarnished sound with images of demons, dreams, mountains, and doves—an especially perceptive blend for an era when spirituality and self-realization were creeping into the mainstream. Ultimately, though, it's Nicks' connection to—and evocation of—the dualities and subtleties of womanhood that define her music: “My mission maybe wasn’t to be a mom and wife,” she reflected in an interview with ABC’s <i>Downtown</i>. “Maybe my particular mission was to write songs to make moms and wives feel better.”

Rita Lee

Rita Lee

Rita Lee is a central figure in Brazilian rock. A former member of the seminal rock band Os Mutantes, she eventually departed from that group and began an extremely successful solo career in the rock and dance styles that have lasted for more than 30 years. The daughter of an amateur female pianist, she never took music lessons. In place of the traditional adolescent debut ball, she asked to receive a drum set. Lee formed a band with two other friends and they were quite good at vocals, backing stars like Tony Campelo, Jet Blacks, Demetrius, and Prini Lopez, when they met the brothers Arnaldo and Sérgio Dias Baptista. Adopting the name O'Seis (a pun with "the six" and the Brazilian redneck way of saying "you all"), they recorded the single "O Suicida," which was never released. When the rest of the band left for college, only three of them remained. Picking the name Os Mutantes, they backed Nana Caymmi on her then-husband's composition "Bom Dia" (Gilberto Gil). When Gil met them, he immediately knew that Os Mutantes were on the same track as the Baianos. Inviting them to accompany him at TV Record's 1967 III FMPB, they won second place for Gil's "Domingo no Parque" with the addition of Rogério Duprat conducting an orchestra with his revolutionary arrangements. The novelty of electric guitars and a generalized irreverence of the mixing of strange orchestral sounds irritated the audience a great deal; the nascent Tropicalia was coming to the world under heavy booing. Soon after, they recorded their single "O Relógio." In 1968, they performed on the album/manifesto Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis (Philips), with Nara Leão, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Tom Zé. This was also when they recorded their first LP, Os Mutantes. In that period, during their somewhat frequent tours of Europe, they recorded an LP that was never fully released, with the exception of some tracks included on 1971's Jardim Elétrico. Also in 1968, they accompanied Caetano to TV Globo's III FIC, on his "É Proibido Proibir" and performed their "Caminhante Noturno," which won seventh place. In 1969, they participated at the IV FMPB with their "Dom Quixote" and, by Lee and Tom Zé, "2001." In the same year, they performed with the Baianos at the Sucata nightclub, Rio, and recorded their second album, also self-titled. They went to Europe, playing at Cannes, France, at the MIDEM, and in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1970, they returned to Brazil and set the show O Planeta dos Mutantes, the first multi-media experiment in Brazil. In the same year, Lee recorded her solo album, Build Up, produced by Arnaldo Baptista. Soon after, they had a stint at the Olympia in Paris, France. With bassist Liminha (now a respected studio producer) and drummer Dinho, they participated in the V FIC with "Ando Meio Desligado" (Arnaldo and Sérgio). The LP A Divina Comédia is from that year and O Jardim Elétrico (Polydor) from the next. In 1972, Lee recorded another solo album backed by the Os Mutantes, Hoje é o Primeiro Dia do Resto de Sua Vida (Philips). After releasing the Os Mutantes' No País dos Bauretz, Lee departed from the group. In fact, she was expelled as she wasn't proficient enough as an instrumentalist. Following a period of depression, during which she became locked up in her home, she decided to abandon her career. But, at the same time, she was writing the material that would make her famous as a solo artist. In 1973, she presented herself together with Lúcia Turnbull at the show Phono 73. Forming the rock band Tutti Frutti (which included Lúcia) for a series of presentations at the Teatro Ruth Escobar, they adopted the name Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti by suggestion of the record label. The band would follow her to the success in subsequent years, releasing Lee's hits "Ovelha Negra," "Agora só Falta Você," "Esse tal de Roque Enrow," "Miss Brasil 2000," and "Jardins da Babilônia." In 1974, they released Atrás do Porto tem uma Cidade (Philips). In 1975, Lúcia went out of the band and they recorded Fruto Proibido (Som Livre). In 1977, pregnant for the first time, she was arrested for having marijuana and condemned to one year of domiciliary imprisonment, when she composed with Paulo Coelho (who is now a best-selling esoteric writer) the single "Arrombou a Festa," which sold 200,000 copies. She continued to perform, under special judge permits. Elis Regina invited her to a duo performance at a special TV show at TV Bandeirantes, when they recorded "Doce de Pimenta," which Lee had composed especially for Elis. It was during this time that she unofficially married Roberto de Carvalho, who was incorporated in her band as a guitarist and composer. Soon, they departed for a tour with Gilberto Gil for Refestança, which was recorded and released as the eponymous LP. In 1978, Lee and her band recorded the LP Babilônia, when the group was dissolved under internal dissension. She then formed the group Rita Lee & Cães e Gatos, and departed for a series of shows under the same name, alluding to the members' fighting with each other. Next year's album brought "Mania de Você," her biggest hit. Lee decided not to have a band anymore. With "Lança Perfume," she achieved international recognition with even Prince Charles recognizing her as his favorite singer. In the early '80s, she made great success recording "Joujou e Balangandãs" together with João Gilberto. Her albums, openly danceable and fully committed to a commercial result, were breaking all selling records, and her shows becoming mega-productions. During the 1983 tour for Rita Lee e Roberto de Carvalho -- Flagra, she began to have health problems, fainting on-stage at one presentation. She then decided to take a rest, recording another album in that year with no supporting tours. In January 1985, she sang deceptively at the Rock in Rio festival. There were plenty of rumors accounting that she had leukemia. After another seven months in obscurity, she recorded another album that received good reviews, but was ignored by audiences. In 1986, as Lita Ree, she made true a longtime dream: to host a radio show, which was presented at São Paulo's 89 FM, and later, on Rio's Rádio Cidade. In 1987, she released Flerte Fatal under harsh criticism and fights with the press. After two more albums and still under fire of the critics, she ended the partnership with her husband, but worked with him on the film Fogo e Paixão. Later, she worked on the movie Dias Melhores Virão by Cacá Diegues, which granted her a prize at the Denzer Festival, Europe, in 1990. Impersonating the late singer/composer Raul Seixas in the short movie Tanta Estrela por Aí, she was appointed Best Male Actor by Rio's mayoralty. On TV, she worked on the soap operas Top Model and Vamp and hosted her own show, TV Leezão, a version for MTV of Rádio Amador. In 1990, she performed on her show Bossa n' Roll, which had the greatest audience that year and launched the acoustic craze. The album sold 350,000 copies. After an album recorded with her early companion Lúcia Turnbull, Lee was expressly required by Mick Jagger, who demanded personally that she open the Rolling Stones tour in Brazil. She was a great success, supplanting the Spin Doctors. After that, she toured for A Marca da Zorra, again with Roberto de Carvalho. The following year, she became the first woman and first pop icon to be awarded with the Prêmio Shell de MPB. In 1997, she received the distinguished Prêmio Sharp de Música. She followed with a CD and tour for Santa Rita de Sampa and the mega-production Acústico MTV. In 2000, she released the CD 3001. ~ Alvaro Neder

Return to Dust

Return to Dust

Every ending sparks a new beginning. Return To Dust embodies the sound of shedding the weight of the past while embracing the promise of tomorrow. The Los Angeles-based quartet—Matty Bielawski [guitar, vocals], Graham Stanush [bass, vocals], Sebastian Gonzalez [guitar], and London Hudson [drums]— brings a fresh perspective to alternative rock. Their music fuses powerful harmonies, fuzz-laden riffs, and seismic grooves, fueled by the raw energy of four Gen Z friends jamming in a garage. What may seem like a traditional approach on paper feels like an act of rebellion today, rippling towards a real turn of the tide. As the story goes, the band settled in Los Angeles to record with producer Jim Kaufman [Everclear, Danny Worsnop, Night Riots, Helmet]. 2024 saw them unveil their independent self-titled full-length debut, Return To Dust, featuring single “Belly Up” which surged online, organically gathering over 2 million Spotify streams. Distorted Sound hailed it as “a grungy, punky thrill ride,” while Revolver applauded the group’s “Alice In Chains-inspired form of modern-day grunge.” In the aftermath, they lit up the stages at major festivals like Inkarceration, Welcome To Rockville, and Sonic Temple, while also joining rock legends Chevelle and Sevendust as support on their respective tours. Signing to LAVA Records/Republic Records with more music on the horizon, the group is poised to stand at the forefront of the next generation of rock music.

The B‐52s

The B‐52s

Among the first American new wave acts to break through to mainstream visibility, the B-52s became one of the biggest success stories to emerge from the American underground in the late '70s. Making music that was full of quirks but also sounded friendly and fun to dance to, the B-52s filtered surf music, '60s pop, vintage soul, and low-budget sci-fi soundtracks through a pop culture kaleidoscope, with vocals laid over the top that suggested someone had been listening to a lot of <a href="spotify:artist:2s4tjL6W3qrblOe0raIzwJ">Yoko Ono</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1HkQ4XrPffqcVW0TgTTw0d">Yma Sumac</a> records. With their eager embrace of kitschy fashion and oddball humor, the B-52s made party music for the skinny tie crowd, and also brought a queer sensibility to their music when punk rock was turning increasingly macho and misogynistic. (Four of the five founding members were on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and they were outspoken in their support of AIDS research and marriage equality.) At the same time, the tuneful energy of songs like "Rock Lobster," "Private Idaho," and "Legal Tender" helped them cross over to the mainstream audience. While the tragic death of guitarist Ricky Wilson nearly ended the band in 1985, they bounded back with the 1989 album Cosmic Thing, a more polished but still engaging effort that went multi-platinum and produced their biggest hit, "Love Shack." The B-52s have matured into respected elders of alternative pop, touring regularly and releasing music that embraced electronic influences on 2008's Funplex. The B-52s were formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. While Georgia, like much of the deep south, is generally conservative, as the home of the University of Georgia, Athens was long considered an oasis of progressive thinking, with a significant bohemian and creative community. In this environment, longtime friends and Athens natives Ricky Wilson and Keith Strickland became familiar with <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy Wilson</a> (Ricky's sister), <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred Schneider</a> (originally from New Jersey), and <a href="spotify:artist:3qE0gnM1Y16ZdniN0nkLgD">Kate Pierson</a> (also born in the Garden State) through mutual friends. One evening in October, the friends were enjoying an evening at a Chinese restaurant where a number of flaming Volcano drinks were consumed, and they decided they wanted to form a band, embracing their diverse influences including surf music, '60s pop, sci-fi soundtracks, vintage soul music, <a href="spotify:artist:2ebK4ueGwhVaXUm060m1BS">Captain Beefheart</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2s4tjL6W3qrblOe0raIzwJ">Yoko Ono</a>. Initially, Ricky and Keith were the only members of the group who knew how to play instruments, and the two began writing music for the band through extended jam sessions. For their initial show on Valentine's Day 1977, Ricky and Keith played along with pre-recorded rhythm and keyboard tracks, while <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3qE0gnM1Y16ZdniN0nkLgD">Kate</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred</a> traded off on vocals. In time, the members became a capable live act, with Ricky playing guitar (he usually removed the two middle strings to give his instrument a rougher sound), <a href="spotify:artist:3qE0gnM1Y16ZdniN0nkLgD">Kate</a> on vocals and keyboards (usually playing a keyboard bass with her left hand and a Farfisa organ with her right), <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy</a> on vocals and percussion, <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred</a> on vocals, and Keith on drums. The band adopted the name the B-52s from local slang for high-rise beehive hairdos, and they developed a devoted fan following in Athens. As the B-52s' popularity spread, Danny Beard, who helped run a record store in Atlanta, offered to help them make a record for his fledgling label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DB+Records%22">DB Records</a>. The band's debut single, "Rock Lobster" b/w "52 Girls," was released in February 1978, and became one of the first independent hits on the American new wave scene, selling over 20,000 copies without major-label distribution. As the B-52s became aware of the burgeoning punk and new wave scene in New York City, they began booking shows in the Big Apple with the single as their calling card, and their unique sound and kitschy style soon made them favorites at CBGB and Max's Kansas City. With their off-kilter but dance-friendly approach, the B-52s sounded friendly and accessible in a way many new wave acts didn't, and they were soon being scouted by major labels. Chris Blackwell of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Island+Records%22">Island Records</a> signed the B-52s to a U.K. record deal, while <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros%22">Warner Bros</a>. struck a deal with the group for North America. Blackwell soon flew the B-52s to Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, where he produced the sessions for their self-titled debut album. Released in July 1979, The B-52s received strong reviews and the re-recorded version of "Rock Lobster" became a minor hit, rising to 56 on the Top Singles charts. The album also enjoyed a sales boost after the group made an appearance on Saturday Night Live. The B-52s would eventually go platinum, and <a href="spotify:artist:4x1nvY2FN8jxqAFA0DA02H">John Lennon</a> cited the album as a personal favorite in interviews. The B-52s returned to Compass Point to cut their second album, Wild Planet, with producer Rhett Davies. Tighter and more polished but no less idiosyncratic than the debut, the album came out in September 1980 and proved to be as successful as the debut, spawning another minor hit, "Private Idaho," and peaking at 18 on the album charts. An EP of remixes, Party Mix, appeared in July 1981 as a stopgap while the B-52s worked on album number three. <a href="spotify:artist:20vuBdFblWUo2FCOvUzusB">David Byrne</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2x9SpqnPi8rlE9pjHBwmSC">Talking Heads</a>, long a supporter of the band, was brought in to produce the sessions, but creative differences between <a href="spotify:artist:20vuBdFblWUo2FCOvUzusB">Byrne</a> and the group, as well as a lack of enthusiasm from their record labels, led them to scrap the project, and some of the completed tracks were issued in early 1982 as an EP, Mesopotamia. The B-52s changed up their recording approach for their next album, 1983's Whammy! With a greater reliance on synthesizers and drum machines, Ricky and Keith performed all the instruments on the backing tracks, while <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3qE0gnM1Y16ZdniN0nkLgD">Kate</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy</a> only provided vocals. The album fared better on the charts than Mesopotamia, and the band launched a major concert tour in support, but the band took a break while <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred</a> recorded a solo project, 1984's Fred Schneider & the Shake Society. When the band reconvened to work on their next album, Ricky Wilson's health began to fail him, and on October 12, 1985, he died of AIDS-related illnesses, though initially the band claimed he died of natural causes. The B-52s eventually completed the album Bouncing Off the Satellites, which was released in September 1986, but the surviving group members were too shaken with grief to tour or promote the album, and they went on hiatus. In 1988, the surviving members of the B-52s began writing new material and returned to the recording studio, with <a href="spotify:artist:3yDIp0kaq9EFKe07X1X2rz">Nile Rodgers</a> producing one set of sessions and Don Was producing another. 1989's Cosmic Thing proved to be the biggest hit of the B-52s' career, spawning two Top Five singles ("Love Shack" and "Roam") and selling over four million copies. Reinvigorated, the group launched a successful concert tour in support, with Keith taking over on guitar and several guest musicians joining them on the road to handle additional bass, drum, and keyboard duties. In 1990, <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy Wilson</a> left the B-52s in order to stay home and start a family, and <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3qE0gnM1Y16ZdniN0nkLgD">Kate</a>, and Keith recorded 1992's Good Stuff without her; vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:4Pt1HZtuJwrQB8l0ES5iTX">Julee Cruise</a> stood in for <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy</a> on tour. In 1994, the group recorded a new version of "Meet the Flintstones" for the big-screen reboot of the popular animated series, billed as the B.C.-52s; the single peaked at number 33. In 1996, <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy</a> returned to the B-52s, and the group recorded two new songs for the 1998 compilation Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation. A more expansive career overview, Nude on the Moon: The B-52s Anthology, came out in 2002. While the B-52s remained busy as a live act and made periodic guest appearances on such television shows as The Simpsons, The L Word, and Portlandia, it wasn't until 2008 that they returned with fresh music. Funplex, produced by Steve Osborne, gave the group a more up-to-date sound informed by electronic dance music, though the B-52s' personality still shone through. In 2012, Keith announced that he would no longer tour with the B-52s, though he would continue to work with the band. An archival digital-only live album appeared in 2015; Live! 8-24-1979 preserved a show they played opening for <a href="spotify:artist:2x9SpqnPi8rlE9pjHBwmSC">Talking Heads</a> only weeks after the release of their debut album. As the band focused on live work in the 2010s, the members worked on solo recording projects. <a href="spotify:artist:7HWVWTbgJBXqBX6Jd4AvzJ">Fred</a> recorded with his side band <a href="spotify:artist:1EiU7zdqF5adOCKJblpuPj">the Superions</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3qE0gnM1Y16ZdniN0nkLgD">Kate</a> made her solo debut in 2015 with Guitars and Microphones, and <a href="spotify:artist:2HqWajOyk7AXi8YziEhgia">Cindy</a> stepped out on her own with 2017's Change. The B-52s celebrated the 30th anniversary of Cosmic Thing in 2019 with a deluxe double-disc reissue of the 1989 album and a tour where they were supported by <a href="spotify:artist:7wJ9NwdRWtN92NunmXuwBk">OMD</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2aS6jYh7ysTL1ZUsHneNgM">Berlin</a>. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Bee Gees

Bee Gees

Relying on their top-notch songwriting and impeccable vocals, the Bee Gees were able to craft a long-running career that began in the late '50s in Australia. Along the way they became a hit-producing psychedelic pop group in England during the '60s and the biggest disco band in the world in the '70s, and had a late comeback as adult contemporary crooners in the '90s. Their long-reaching influence extended past sales figures and saw their sound and style mirrored in acts as disparate as <a href="spotify:artist:31TPClRtHm23RisEBtV3X7">Justin Timberlake</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5xeBMeW0YzWIXSVzAxhM8O">of Montreal</a>. The group was also music's most successful brother act. <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry Gibb</a>, born on September 1, 1946, in Manchester, England, and his fraternal twin brothers <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin Gibb</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Maurice Gibb</a>, born on December 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man, were three of five children. The three of them gravitated toward music, encouraged by their father, who saw his sons at first as a diminutive version of <a href="spotify:artist:5v8bwWRbu7AI3YFhzoM6Ha">the Mills Brothers</a>. The three Gibb brothers made their earliest performances at local movie theaters in Manchester in 1955, singing between shows. The family moved to Australia in 1958, resettling near Brisbane. Now known as the Brothers Gibb -- with <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry</a> writing songs -- they attracted the attention of a local DJ, and eventually got their own local television show. It was around this time that they took on the name the Bee Gees (for <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Brothers Gibb</a>). The trio was astoundingly popular in the press and on television, but actual hit records eluded them. By late 1966, they'd decided to return to England -- which, thanks to <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>, was now the center of the world for rock and popular music. The group had sent demo recordings ahead of them, and "Spicks & Specks" -- which became their first Australian hit while they were in mid-ocean -- had attracted the interest of manager Robert Stigwood. The trio was signed by Stigwood upon their arrival, and began shaping their sound in the environment of Swinging London. <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin Gibb</a> alternated the lead vocal spot, harmonizing together and with <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Maurice</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry</a> played rhythm guitar, while <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Maurice</a> played bass, piano, organ, and Mellotron, among other instruments. Their first English recording, "New York Mining Disaster 1941," an original by the group with a haunting melody and a strangely surreal, almost psychedelic ambience, was released in mid-1967 and made the Top 20 in England and America. They had successful follow-ups with "Holiday" and "To Love Somebody," the latter actually written for <a href="spotify:artist:60df5JBRRPcnSpsIMxxwQm">Otis Redding</a> to record, and "Massachusetts," which topped the U.K. charts. After Bee Gees' 1st, the Gibb brothers took over producing their own records. It was easy, amid the sheer beauty of their recordings, to overlook the range of influences that went into their sound, which came from a multitude of sources, including American country music and soul music. At this point in their history, they were most comfortable deconstructing elements in the singing and harmonies of Black American music and rebuilding them in their style. In 1969, the trio split up in a dispute involving the Odessa album. A lushly orchestrated double LP, it was their most ambitious recording to date, but they were unable to agree on which song would be the single, and <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin</a> walked out. <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Maurice</a> held on to the Bee Gees name for one LP, Cucumber Castle, while <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin</a> released Robin's Reign. Without a group to promote it, the Odessa album never sold the way it might have, even with a hit, "First of May." Cucumber Castle generated several successful singles in England and Germany, including the gorgeous, African-influenced "I.O.I.O.," while <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin</a> had a hit with "Saved by the Bell." In 1970, almost two years older and a good deal wiser, they decided to get back together. They related to each other better and had also evolved musically, now creating a progressive pop/rock sound similar to <a href="spotify:artist:5BcZ22XONcRoLhTbZRuME1">the Moody Blues</a>. They came back on a high note with two dazzling songs: the soulful "Lonely Days," the group's first number one hit in America; and the achingly lyrical "Morning of My Life," which proved so popular with fans that the group was still doing it in concert decades later. Their success began to ebb, however, after another huge international hit with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1971. The single "Run to Me" made the Top 20 in 1972, but the album To Whom It May Concern was forgotten almost instantly after a brief chart run. Their fortunes continued in reverse during 1973 with Life in a Tin Can and the single "Saw a New Morning" -- despite a move to America and a heavy promotional push, the song never made the Top 40 and the album stalled out. The trio was falling into a deep creative and commercial hole. Rescue came from a suggestion by <a href="spotify:artist:6PAt558ZEZl0DmdXlnjMgD">Eric Clapton</a> that they try recording at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, where he had just cut an album. The Bee Gees took his advice and came back with Mr. Natural (1974), produced by <a href="spotify:artist:3EOX6d6CuTUiS1PGJfHEzU">Arif Mardin</a>. This record was a departure with its heavily Americanized R&B sound, and the following year they plunged headfirst into the new sound with Main Course -- the emphasis was now on dance rhythms, high harmonies, and a funk beat. And spearheading the new sound was <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry Gibb</a>, who, for the first time, sang falsetto and discovered that he could delight audiences in that register. "Jive Talkin'," the first single off the album, became their second American number one single, and was followed up with "Nights on Broadway" and then the album Children of the World, which yielded the hits "You Should Be Dancing" and "Love So Right." Then, in 1977, their featured numbers on the soundtrack to the Robert Stigwood-produced Saturday Night Fever, "Stayin' Alive," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "Night Fever," each topped the charts, even as the soundtrack album stayed in the top spot for 24 weeks. In the process, the disco era in America was born -- Saturday Night Fever, as an album and a film, supercharged the phenomenon and broadened its audience by tens of millions, with the Bee Gees at the forefront of the music. It was a profound moment although, ironically, there wasn't that much difference in their sound. Amid the dance numbers, the Bee Gees still did a healthy portion of romantic ballads that each offered memorable hooks. They'd simply decided, at <a href="spotify:artist:3EOX6d6CuTUiS1PGJfHEzU">Arif Mardin</a>'s urging, to forget the fact that they were white Englishmen and plunged into soul music, emulating, in their own terms, the funkier Philadelphia soul sounds that all three brothers knew and loved. In one fell swoop, the group had managed to meld every influence they'd ever embraced, from <a href="spotify:artist:5v8bwWRbu7AI3YFhzoM6Ha">the Mills Brothers</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a> to early-'70s soul, into something of their own that was virtually irresistible. Spirits Having Flown was their crowning commercial triumph, topping 30 million in sales and yielding three more number one singles. By the end of the '70s, however, the disco era was waning from a combination of the bad economy, political chaos domestically and internationally (leading to the election of <a href="spotify:artist:0zHF6HanMFdEcjjrZGlEs6">Ronald Reagan</a>), and a general burnout of the participants from too many drugs and profligate sex (which would precipitate an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases and herald the outbreak of AIDS in the United States). There had already been an ad hoc reaction against the group's dominance of the airwaves, with mass burnings of Bee Gees posters and albums organized by DJs. The Bee Gees themselves helped contribute to the end of the party with their participation (at Stigwood's insistence) in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "inspired" (if that's the word) by the <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatles</a> album. The movie was a commercial and critical disaster, and an embarrassment to all concerned. In America, the Bee Gees were virtually invisible for most of the '80s. Instead, <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry Gibb</a> pursued work as a producer for other artists, creating hits for <a href="spotify:artist:7jmTilWYlKOuavFfmQAcu6">Barbra Streisand</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3MdG05syQeRYPPcClLaUGl">Diana Ross</a>. By 1987 and the E.S.P. album, their sales had rebounded everywhere but the United States, yielding a number one single (outside of the U.S.) in "You Win Again." Their 1989 album, One, got a good reception around the world and generated a Top Ten U.S. single. And in the '90s, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22PolyGram+Records%22">PolyGram Records</a> released the four-CD anthology Tales from the Brothers Gibb, which sold well around the world. The trio's 1997 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame led to a resurgence of interest, which heralded the release of the live album One Night Only (1998), cut at their first American concert in almost a decade. The Bee Gees remained active until the January 2003 death of <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Maurice</a> from cardiac arrest during surgery. Following his death, <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry</a> decided to cease performing as the Bee Gees. Their recorded legacy, however, subsequently became more visible than it had been in decades with the move of their catalog to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a>. The latter company began the long-awaited upgraded CD reissue of the Bee Gees' post-1966 library, including the first-ever release of outtakes and rehearsal versions of songs. <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin</a> was diagnosed with and underwent treatment for cancer in 2011. He died in London in May 2012 due to complications from cancer and intestinal surgery; he was 62 years old. Given the previous deaths of <a href="spotify:artist:4YPqbAiLzBg5DIfsgQZ8QK">Andy</a> (who had several number one hits and who died of an inflammatory heart virus in 1988) and <a href="spotify:artist:6h4ALbc1G80KRRG7THwHic">Maurice Gibb</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4vZduJO8Uukqzx64de5JxV">Robin</a> was the third Gibb brother and second member of the Bee Gees to pass away. In the wake of tragedy, <a href="spotify:artist:7Hd38PVp634oGEb9pIDs5d">Barry</a> kept working, appearing on other people's records, playing concerts, and releasing a solo album titled In the Now in 2016. The next year the Bee Gees were honored at the 2017 Grammys; then their music was featured in the star-studded concert Stayin' Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees, which was broadcast by CBS in April. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

45 Grave

45 Grave

.45 Grave was a Los Angeles-based death rock band whose macabre, morose, and sometimes amusing music helped get American goth-rock off to its shambling start. In 1985, after gaining a fair deal of attention via gloom-ridden gigs and several depressing releases, the band split up, with Paul B. Cutler and Dinah Cancer (real name Mary Sims) going on to other projects, including <a href="spotify:artist:1l0eT7EY5r7U1gMVm2SyoS">Dream Syndicate</a>, while drummer Don Bolles and bassist Rob Graves formed Silver Chalice with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7q86P6PKMt8qpGMd8LnBY5">Geza X</a>. In 1988, a sporadic series of reunion gigs led to a new live album in Only the Good Die Young and a revitalized career for the band, which came to a second and more final end with the overdose death of Graves in 1991. Don Bolles went on to lead <a href="spotify:artist:2keqGFjHUxnV5K5SRLWuej">Celebrity Skin</a>, while Sims was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:4gQoZeY3KN6MBtT77tylog">Penis Flytrap</a>. ~ Steven McDonald, Rovi

Buzzcocks

Buzzcocks

With their crisp melodies, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Pete Shelley</a>'s biting lyrics, and <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a>'s and <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Steve Diggle</a>'s driving guitars, Buzzcocks were one of the most influential bands to emerge in the initial wave of British punk rock. Largely eschewing politics, they instead brought an intense, brilliant vigor to the three-minute pop song, powered by <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a>'s alternately funny and anguished lyrics about adolescence and love, backed by melodies and hooks that were concise and memorable. They released two albums in 1978 (Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites) that tightened up and refined their sound, then delivered the more experimental A Different Kind of Tension in 1979 before the fast pace of their career and problems with their record label led them to break up in 1981. When Buzzcocks re-formed in 1989, they launched a long string of tours and albums that exhibited the same spirit the group had shown from the start, starting with 1993's Trade Test Transmissions and continuing to The Way in 2014, which was <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a>'s last album with the band before his 2018 death. After a short break, <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Diggle</a> rallied the troops and went on, touring and releasing an LP titled Sonics in the Soul in 2022. The group's powerful punk-pop proved to be enormously influential and timeless, with echoes of their sound resonating in bands like <a href="spotify:artist:16bN8mhtDFdegWbg0z3s10">Hüsker Dü</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:137l8QdpxTAeZawP4qQYXK">the Exploding Hearts</a>, along with almost every band who ever blended the hooks of pop with the energy of punk. Before Buzzcocks, the teenaged <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Pete Shelley</a> had played guitar in various heavy metal bands. In 1975, he enrolled in the Bolton Institute of Technology. While he was at school, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> joined an electronic music society, which is where he met <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Howard Devoto</a>, who had enrolled at BIT in 1972. Both <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> shared an affection for <a href="spotify:artist:1nJvji2KIlWSseXRSlNYsC">the Velvet Underground</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> was also fascinated by <a href="spotify:artist:4BFMTELQyWJU1SwqcXMBm3">the Stooges</a>. While they were still in school, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> began rehearsing with a drummer, covering everything from <a href="spotify:artist:4BFMTELQyWJU1SwqcXMBm3">the Stooges</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:7MSUfLeTdDEoZiJPDSBXgi">Brian Eno</a>. The trio never performed live and soon fell apart. <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> remained friends and several months after their initial musical venture dissolved, they read the first live review of <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> in NME and traveled to see the band in London. After witnessing the <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">Pistols</a> twice in February 1976, the pair decided to form their own band, with the intent of replicating <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Pistols</a>' London impact in Manchester. Both musicians decided to change their last names -- Peter McNeish became <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Pete Shelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Howard Trafford</a> became <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Howard Devoto</a> -- and took their group's name from a review of the satirical television series Rock Follies, which ended with the quotation "get a buzz, cock." Buzzcocks began rehearsing, picking up local drummer and bassist Garth Smith. Shortly after their formation, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> booked a local club, the Lesser Free Trade Hall, with the intent of persuading <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> to play in Manchester. They succeeded, but the Buzzcocks had to pull out of their own gig when both the bassist and drummer left the group before the concert. At the <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">Pistols</a> show, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> met <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Steve Diggle</a>, who joined Buzzcocks as their bassist, and the group found their drummer John Maher through an advertisement in Melody Maker. Within a few months, the band played their first concert, opening for the second <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">Sex Pistols</a> show at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in July 1976. By the end of the year, Buzzcocks had played a handful of gigs and helped establish Manchester as the second biggest punk rock city in England, ranking just behind London. In October 1976, Buzzcocks recorded their first demo tape, which went unreleased. At the end of the year, the group joined <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> on their Anarchy Tour. After the tour was completed, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> borrowed a couple hundred pounds from his father and the band used the money to record their debut EP, Spiral Scratch. The record was the first D.I.Y., independently released record of the punk era. Spiral Scratch appeared on the band's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22New+Hormones%22">New Hormones</a> record label in January 1977; it didn't take long to sell out the initial pressing of 1,000 copies, and it would go on to sell 16,000 before going out of print. Shortly after the release of the EP, <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a> quit the group and returned to college; later in the year, he formed <a href="spotify:artist:4VuMnSnoTGrma3a79UhfMs">Magazine</a>. Following <a href="spotify:artist:4h36evdgERR6C9JKlar2hb">Devoto</a>'s departure, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Pete Shelley</a> assumed the role as lead vocalist, <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Steve Diggle</a> moved to guitar, and Garth Smith became the band's bassist. By June 1977, Buzzcocks were attracting the attention of major record labels, and in September, they signed with United Artists, which gave the band complete artistic control. Buzzcocks certainly tested the limits of that artistic control with their debut single, "Orgasm Addict." Released in October 1977, the song didn't become a hit because its subject matter was too explicit for BBC radio, but it generated good word of mouth. Following its release, Garth Smith was kicked out of the group and was replaced by Steve Garvey. Buzzcocks' second single, "What Do I Get?," became their first to chart, scraping the bottom of the Top 40. In March, the band released their first album, Another Music in a Different Kitchen. In September 1978, Buzzcocks released their second full-length record, Love Bites. The rapid pace of the band's recording and performing schedules had an effect on the group. Not only were the concerts and recordings wearing the band down, the members were consuming alcohol and drugs in increasing quantities. Early in 1979, they recorded their third album, A Different Kind of Tension, which displayed some signs of wear and tear. Following the album's release in August, Buzzcocks embarked on their first American tour, and later in 1979, the singles collection Singles Going Steady was issued in the States. All of the inner and outer tensions afflicting the band culminated in 1980, when they drastically cut back their performance schedule, but they persevered with recording, cutting the EP Parts 1, 2, 3, which was released as three separate singles over the course of the year. During 1980, United Artists was bought out by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>, which cut back support of Buzzcocks. The group began working on their fourth long-player in early 1981, but were prevented from recording by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a>. The label wanted to release Singles Going Steady in the U.K. before the band delivered the album, and the Buzzcocks refused. Consequently, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EMI%22">EMI</a> didn't advance the recording costs of the fourth LP. <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> decided to break up the band instead of fight the label, and they split that year. Immediately afterward, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a> pursued a solo career that initially produced the hit single "Homosapien" and saw the singer experimenting with electronic pop. <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Steve Diggle</a> formed Flag of Convenience with John Maher, who quit the band shortly after its formation. Steve Garvey moved to New York, where he played with <a href="spotify:artist:46JmdXnmPIDgIIlFXdn3u1">Motivation</a> for a few years. In 1989, Buzzcocks re-formed and toured the United States. The following year, Maher left and former <a href="spotify:artist:3yY2gUcIsjMr8hjo51PoJ8">Smiths</a> drummer Mike Joyce joined the band on tour. By 1990, the reunion had become permanent; after Joyce's brief tenure with the group, the lineup of the reunited Buzzcocks featured <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Diggle</a>, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker. The new version of the band released their first album, Trade Test Transmissions, in 1993. After its release, the group toured frequently. In spring of 1996, Buzzcocks released their fifth studio album, All Set. Modern followed three years later, and a self-titled record for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Merge%22">Merge</a> appeared in 2003. Flat-Pack Philosophy arrived in 2006 on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cooking+Vinyl%22">Cooking Vinyl</a> label. An anniversary live set simply called 30 was released in 2008 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cooking+Vinyl%22">Cooking Vinyl</a>. In 2014, yet another new lineup -- <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Diggle</a>, bassist Chris Remington, and drummer Danny Farrant -- emerged with a new studio album, The Way, which was supported by an extensive North American tour in addition to their usual roadwork in the U.K. and Europe. On December 6, 2018, <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Pete Shelley</a>'s family and management announced that the singer and guitarist had died in his home that morning of a suspected heart attack; he was 63 years old. There was still plenty of interest in the Buzzcocks in the wake of <a href="spotify:artist:7r2lG8Ui6vGHAgsKlE8Hd8">Shelley</a>'s passing, and several archival releases appeared. 2020's Sell You Everything (1991-2014) was an eight-disc box set that included the six studio albums the group recorded following their reunion, as well as bonus collections of demos and re-recorded versions of their hits. Another multi-disc box set, Late for the Train: Live & In Session 1989-2016, appeared in 2021 and was devoted to concert recordings and radio performances. Also that year, 30 Live in London was given a vinyl reissue, documenting the band's 30th anniversary concert in 2006. In 2020, Buzzcocks continued on as a trio, and the <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Diggle</a>, Remington, and Farrant lineup toured the U.K. and cut a new song, "Gotta Get Better." In April 2022, Buzzcocks issued the three-song EP Senses Out of Control. The title track reflected <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Diggle</a>'s love of the mod sounds of the mid-'60s and served as a preview of the group's first post-Shelley album, Sonics in the Soul, which was released by the British <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cherry+Red%22">Cherry Red</a> label in September 2022. Largely written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and '21, the LP was produced by <a href="spotify:artist:3dk8ViCJp40aqAOADoWU7Q">Diggle</a> and Laurence Loveless and offered up a leaner version of the sound of his Buzzcocks-era tunes and his post-breakup project Flag of Convenience. The group also worked club and festival dates in the U.K. and Europe, keeping their sound and spirit alive for their fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Mark Deming, Rovi

Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols may have only been together for two years in the late '70s, but they changed the face of popular music. Through their raw, nihilistic singles and violent performances, the band revolutionized the idea of what rock & roll could be. In England, the group was considered dangerous to the very fabric of society and was banned across the country; in America, they didn't have the same impact, but countless bands in both countries were inspired by the sheer sonic force of their music, while countless others were inspired by their independent, Do-It-Yourself ethics. Even if they didn't release any singles by themselves, there was an implicit independence in the way they played their music and handled their career. The band gave birth to the massive independent music underground in England and America that would soon include bands that didn't have a direct musical connection to the Sex Pistols' initial three-minute blasts of rage, but couldn't have existed without those singles. Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook were regulars at a boutique owned by their manager, Malcolm McLaren; bassist Glen Matlock worked at the store. Vocalist John Lydon, who would later perform under the name Johnny Rotten, met the rest of the group at the shop and was asked to join the band. While the band played simple rock & roll loudly and abrasively, Rotten arrogantly sang of anarchy, abortion, violence, fascism, and apathy; without Rotten, the band wouldn't have been threatening to England's government -- he provided the band's conceptual direction, calculated to be as confrontational and threatening as possible. The publicity caused by their caustic first single "Anarchy in the U.K." caused the band to be dropped by their record label, EMI. Matlock was fired before their next single "God Save the Queen," which was released on Virgin; it was banned by the BBC. Matlock's replacement was Sid Vicious, a tough street kid who, unlike the rest of the band, couldn't play his instrument. After releasing one album, Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols, in 1977, the band headed over to the U.S. for a tour in January of 1978; it lasted 14 days. Rotten left the band after their show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom on January 14, heading back to New York; he would form Public Image Limited later that year. McLaren tried to continue the band but Cook and Jones soon turned against him. In the two decades following the Sex Pistols' implosion, an endless stream of outtakes, demos, repackagings, and live shows were released on a variety of labels, which only helped their cult grow. In 1996, to celebrate their impending 20th anniversary, the Sex Pistols reunited, with original bassist Glen Matlock taking the place of the deceased Sid Vicious. The band embarked on an international tour in June of 1996, releasing the Filthy Lucre Live album the following month. Four years later, Julien Temple (who helmed the band's first movie, The Great Rock & Roll Swindle) directed the documentary film The Filth & the Fury. In 2016, the Sex Pistols' organization signed a deal with Universal Music to handle distribution of the group's catalog outside of North America. In what may have been a belated effort to ward off the extensive bootlegging of the band's live shows and demos, Universal's first Sex Pistols release was Live 1976, a four-disc box set documenting four shows the group played between June and September 1976, as recorded by their soundman Dave Goodman. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols, in 2017 Universal released a deluxe expanded edition of the album, with included two bonus CDs of outtakes, demos, and live material, as well as a DVD of live footage of the band. (The set had previously been released, with different packaging, as a limited-edition item in 2012.) ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

3) Britpop (1990s):

Movimiento británico que mezcla pop y rock con influencias de los 60 y 70.

4) Rock experimental (1970s):

Género que explora nuevas técnicas y sonidos, desafiando las convenciones del rock.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Everyone has a David Bowie that they fell in love with first—the otherworldly outsider Ziggy Stardust, the electronic adventurer, the wild-eyed glam pioneer, the enigmatic storyteller. But it was Bowie's ability to reinvent himself so vividly that captivated us again and again. Driven by boundless imagination, David Bowie was a multifaceted music icon, a social provocateur, a force in fashion, and a gifted actor whose unique personas and perspectives traveled with him through the decades. From the moment his homesick astronaut captured the spotlight in the late ‘60s to his exploratory, jazz-influenced <i>Blackstar</i> almost 50 years later, he excelled and innovated with turns in pop, glam, punk, soul, hard rock, and electronic music. And even though Bowie released vital albums throughout his life—and will forever embody the most artful edge of rock ’n’ roll—he was more than just the music he made. Bowie's fearlessness inspired us to celebrate the complexity and beauty of being completely ourselves.

🔮 Rock progresivo y experimental

2) Acid rock (1960s):

Subgénero más pesado del rock psicodélico, con largas improvisaciones y distorsiones.

The Zombies

Banda inglesa | Rock psicodélico, pop barroco, soft rock, pop rock, pop psicodélico, beat, rock and roll, protopunk (1961)

1) Rock psicodélico (1960s):

Estilo que busca replicar experiencias psicodélicas mediante sonidos experimentales y letras surrealistas.

3) Soft rock (1970s):

Estilo más suave y melódico del rock, con énfasis en las baladas.

2) Rockabilly (1950s):

Fusión de rock and roll y música country, con ritmos rápidos y guitarras prominentes.

ELLIOT JAMES REAY

ELLIOT JAMES REAY

At just 23 years old, Manchester&#39;s own Elliot James Reay has already captured the hearts of a global audience. With over 4 million dedicated fans and hundreds of millions of views, Elliot&#39;s velveteen voice and vintage style have made him a standout talent. ‍Elliot&#39;s debut single, &#39;I Think They Call This Love,&#39; generated immense anticipation, with over 10 million views before its release and over 150 million streams to date. ‍The song encapsulates timeless romance, classic songwriting, and swooning vocal harmonies, reminiscent of a long-lost&#39; 50s gem, and it marks the beginning of Elliot&#39;s own original repertoire. A magnetic performer in the making, Elliot&#39;s charm lies in his authenticity and simplicity. In partnership with Interscope and EMI, he’s unveiled his second and third single, Boy In Love, and Daydreaming, and is hard at work on his debut album. With big plans for touring in 2025, Elliot James Reay is poised to become a significant force in the music world.

Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz is singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, drummer Russel Hobbs and guitarist Noodle. The BRIT and Grammy-winning virtual band formed following a collision of mishaps, meetings and pure luck to blow up a pre-digital world with their colourful backstory and ground-breaking virtual ways. Based at Kong Studios in West London, Gorillaz settled into a life of musical innovation with an eye-wateringly exciting roster of collaborators, a list that includes musical legends, geniuses and future stars from Elton John to Little Simz, MF Doom to Jean-Michel Jarre, Grace Jones to Bad Bunny, Kali Uchis to Sidiki Diabaté, plus so many more. Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), The Fall (2011), Humanz (2017), The Now Now (2018), Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez (2020) and Cracker Island (2023), Gorillaz is a truly global phenomenon, achieving success in entirely new and unique ways, touring the world and winning numerous awards including the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor, along the way. Cracker Island, their latest album, is an energetic, upbeat, genre-expanding collection of 10 tracks featuring yet another stellar line-up of artist collaborators: Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Bootie Brown and Beck. The band is recognised by The Guinness Book Of World Records as the planet’s Most Successful Virtual Act www.gorillaz.com

A Day to Remember

Banda estadounidense | Metalcore, pop punk, post-hardcore, easycore, emocore, hardcore melodico (2003)

Over the course of the past several years, each of A Day To Remember’s releases have hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock, Indie and/or Alternative Charts. They’ve also sold more than a million units, racked up over 800 million Spotify streams and 500 million YouTube views, two Gold-selling albums and singles (and one Silver album in the UK) and sold out entire continental tours (including their own curated Self Help Festival), amassing a global fanbase whose members number in the millions. All of which explains why Rolling Stone called them “An Artist You Need To Know.” In other words, their creative process has worked and worked well. But for new album Bad Vibrations, the Ocala, Florida-based quintet switched gears and headed for uncharted territory. “We completely changed the way we wrote, recorded and mixed this album,” says vocalist Jeremy McKinnon. “It was one of the most unique recording experiences we’ve ever had. We rented a cabin in the Colorado mountains and just wrote with the five of us together in a room, which was the polar opposite of the last three albums we’ve made. We just let things happen organically and in the moment. I think it forever changed the way we make music.” Bad Vibrations debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top Album Sales Chart. It was also the #1 album in Australia, #6 in the UK and #7 in Germany. On Aug 20 the band debuted their new single &#39;Degenerates&#39;.

🪷

🪷3) J-pop (ca. 1960s – presente)

Género de música popular japonesa que evolucionó a partir del kayōkyoku. Se caracteriza por su sonido influenciado por el pop, rock y electrónica occidental, con una gran variedad estilística y alta producción.

🙀2) Enka (ca. 1940s–1950s – presente)