Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the The Island Def Jam Music Group in the US, and are both subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal Music Australia. In the United States, Universal Music Group Nashville administers the Mercury Records Nashville label.

Beginnings

Mercury Record Corporation was founded in the American city of Chicago in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. They were a major force in jazz and blues, classical music, rock and roll, and country music recordings. Early in the label's history, Mercury opened two pressing plants, one in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri. With the use of automatic presses and providing 24-hour turnaround, they went into direct competition with major recording labels such as Columbia, Decca, and RCA Victor.

By hiring two promoters, Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard, they penetrated the pop market with names such as Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane and Patti Page.

Rather than rely on radio airplay, Mercury initially relied to jukeboxes to promote their music.

In 1946, Mercury hired midget Eddie Gaedel to portray the "Mercury man", complete with a winged hat similar to its logo, to promote Mercury recordings. Some early Mercury recordings featured a caricature of him as its logo.

In 1947 Jack Rael, a musician and publicist/manager, persuaded Mercury to let Patti Page (whom he managed) record a song that had been planned to be done by Vic Damone, "Confess". The budget was too small for them to hire a second singer to provide the "answer" parts to Page, so at Rael's suggestion she did both voices. Though "overdubbing" had been used occasionally on 78 discs in the 1930s, for Enrico Caruso and Elisabeth Schumann recordings among others, this became the first documented example of "overdubbing" using tape, and Patti Page, along with rival Capitol Records artists Les Paul & Mary Ford, became one of the artists best known for the use of this technique.

The company released an enormous number of recordings under the Mercury label as well as its subsidiaries (Blue Rock Records, Cumberland Records, EmArcy Records, Fontana Records, Limelight Records, Philips Records, Smash Records and Wing Records). In addition, they leased and purchased material by independent labels and redistributed them.

Under their own label, Mercury released a variety of recording styles from classical music to psychedelic rock. However, its subsidiaries focused on their own specialized categories of music.

Mercury's jazz division

Mercury's jazz division had two distinct and important fathers. John Henry Hammond, Jr. brought his expertise and connections when Mercury bought Keynote Records in the late 1940s. And Mercury was the issuing company and distributor for Norman Granz's pre-Norgran/Verve recordings. Although both Hammond and Granz had departed Mercury by the mid-'50s, they established the company in the jazz world. Mercury, under its EmArcy label, released LPs by many important post-swing and bebop artists including Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Clark Terry, Dinah Washington, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Ernestine Anderson, Sarah Vaughn, Maynard Ferguson, Jimmy Cleveland, Herb Geller and others. By the early 1960s, Mercury was releasing jazz under the flagship label and was an early leader in the new stereo sound releases. Highlights of the early and mid-'60s included albums by Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich, Cannonball Adderley, Charles (then called Charlie) Mingus, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Max Roach and others.

In the early 1950s, Norman Granz started his own record company, Norgran, which later became Verve. In an ironic twist, both Mercury and Verve are now owned by Universal Music Group and Mercury's jazz library falls under the Verve division. Since the early 1990s, Verve has reissued many Mercury jazz titles on CD, often taking care to use original master tapes and including session material not included on the original LPs. In addition, Mosaic Records in Stamford CT has issued several box sets spotlighting the Mercury and Verve recordings of various artists including Max Roach, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie and Buddy Rich.

Mercury Living Presence series

In 1951, under the direction of recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine and recording director David Hall, Mercury Records initiated a recording technique using a single microphone to record symphony orchestras. Fine had for several years used a single microphone for various Mercury small-ensemble classical recordings produced by John Hammond and later Mitch Miller (indeed, Miller, using his full name of Mitchell Miller, made several recordings as a featured oboe player in the late '40s for Mercury). The first record in this new Mercury Olympian Series was Pictures at an Exhibition performed by Rafael Kubelík and the Chicago Symphony. The group that became the most famous using this technique was the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, which, under the leadership of conductor Antal Doráti, made a long series of classical albums that were very highly regarded - including the first-ever complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's ballets - Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Dorati's 1954 single-mic recording of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", which also included dramatic recordings of 1812-era artillery and the giant bell tower at Yale University, was one of only two classical albums to ring up Gold Record sales in the 1950s in the U.S.

The New York Times music critic described the Mercury sound on Pictures at an Exhibition as "being in the living presence of the orchestra" and Mercury eventually began releasing their classical recordings under the 'Living Presence' series' name. The recordings were produced by Mercury vice president Wilma Cozart, who later married Bob Fine. Cozart took over recording director duties in 1953 and also produced the CD reissues of much of the Mercury Living Presence catalog in the 1990s. By the late '50s, the Mercury Living Presence crew included session musical supervisors Harold Lawrence and Clair van Ausdall and associate engineer Robert Eberenz. When Cozart retired in 1964, Lawrence took over the Mercury classical division and continued producing Mercury Living Presence records into 1967.

Besides the recordings with the Chicago and Minneapolis orchestras, Mercury also recorded Howard Hanson with the Eastman Rochester Orchestra, Frederick Fennell with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and Paul Paray with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Dorati made some recordings in the United Kingdom with the London Symphony Orchestra for Mercury during the 1960s.

In 1955, Mercury began using 3 omni-directional microphones to make stereo recordings on 3-track tape. The technique was an expansion on the mono process—center was still paramount. Once the center, single microphone was set, the sides were set to provide the depth and width heard in the stereo recordings. The center mike still fed the mono LP releases, which accompanied stereo LPs into the 1960s. In 1961, Mercury enhanced the three-microphone stereo technique by using 35 mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater emulsion thickness, track width and speed (90 feet per min or 18 ips) of 35 mm magnetic film increased prevention of tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained in addition extended frequency range and transient response. The Mercury 'Living Presence' stereo records were mastered directly from the 3-track tapes or films, with a 3-2 mix occurring in the mastering room. The same technique—and restored vintage equipment of the same type—was used during the CD reissues. Specifically, 3-track tapes were recorded on Ampex 300-3½" machines at 15 IPS. 35 mm magnetic film recordings were made on 3-track Westrex film recorders. The 3-2 mixdown was done on a modified Westrex mixer. For the original LPs, the mixer directly fed the custom cutting chain. At Fine Recording in NY, the Westrex cutter head on a Scully lathe was fed by modified McIntosh 200W tube amplifiers with very little feedback in the system. Older mono records were made with a Miller cutter head. For the CD reissues, the output of the Westrex mixer directly fed a DCS analog-to-digital converter and the CDs were mastered on Sony 1630 tapes. No digital enhancement or noise reduction was used.

The original LP releases of the classical recordings continued through 1968. The Mercury classical music catalogue is currently managed by Decca Music Group through Philips Records, which reissued the recordings on LP and then CD.

In 2003 Speakers Corner Records began issuing 180 gram audiophile quality LP reissues. The LPs are mastered from 2-track tapes made at the time of the original LP mastering, thus one generation removed from the edited session master used to produce the original LP master and the CD master.

Later history

was the label's trademark.]] In 1961, Philips, a Dutch electronics company and owner of Philips Records, which lost its distribution deal with Columbia Records outside North America, signed an exchange agreement with Mercury. A year later, Philips' U.S. affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. (a.k.a Conelco), bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels. In 1963, Mercury switched British distribution from EMI to Philips.

In July 1967, Mercury Records became the first U.S. record company to release cassette music tapes (Musicassettes).

In 1969, Mercury changed its corporate name to Mercury Record Productions Inc. while its former parent Conelco became North American Philips Corp (N.A.P.C.) after Philips brought control of the company.

In 1972, Philips along with German Electronics giant Siemens merged their record operations with Deutsche Grammophon to become PolyGram. That year PolyGram brought Mercury from N.A.P.C. Mercury's corporate name was changed to Phonogram Inc. to match a related company in the UK that operated the Mercury label there.

In 1981, Mercury, along with other U.S. PolyGram-owned labels, which included Polydor, RSO, and Casablanca, consolidated under the new name PolyGram Records Inc. Around this time, Mercury moved its headquarters from Chicago to New York.

Under PolyGram, Mercury absorbed Casablanca Records (also home to the 20th Century Records back catalogue), home of heavy metalers Kiss and disco stars Donna Summer and Village People, in 1982 and primarily became a rock/pop label with Kiss, Scorpions, Rush, John Cougar Mellencamp, Kurtis Blow, Tears for Fears, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Treat, and Def Leppard.

Mercury, by having Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Kiss, and Scorpions on their roster, was a premiere label for glam metal.

In late 1998, PolyGram was bought by Seagram, which then absorbed the company into its Universal Music Group unit. Under the reorganization, Mercury Records was folded into the newly formed The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG). Mercury's pop roster was predominantly taken over by Island Records, while its hip hop artists found a new home at Def Jam Recordings, which formed an imprint dealing with R&B;, Def Soul, that absorbed Mercury's R&B; artists. Mercury's former country unit became Mercury Nashville Records. IDJMG revived the Mercury imprint in the US in 2007.

Current major Mercury Records labels and operations

Mercury Records (UK) Mercury also continues to operate as an imprint in the UK under the Mercury Records Group of Universal Music UK.

Mercury Records Relaunched in 2007 as a label under The Island Def Jam Music Group, appointing record executive David Massey, as the President and CEO of the new venture. This division of Mercury handles US distribution of pre-1998 Polydor Records pop/rock releases (with some exceptions, such as The Who, whose pre-breakup catalog is controlled by Geffen Records in the US due to having previously been on Decca Records and MCA Records in that country; this also applies to other artists who were signed to a different label that eventually became part of UMG in the US but Polydor internationally). As part of the Polydor catalog, Mercury now handles US rights to all music released by the Rolling Stones between 1971 and 1997 - all releases after that are handled by Interscope Records.

Mercury Nashville Formed with Mercury's roster of country artists just after PolyGram was absorbed into the Universal Music Group. Today it continues to be an active imprint under Universal Music Group Nashville, where it manages the country back catalog that once belonged to PolyGram (MCA Nashville manages what Universal had already owned at the time of the PolyGram merger).

Mercury Records Australia Launched in 2007 by Universal Music Australia exclusively as a full-service local (Australian) A&R; operation. Mercury Records had been used for some Australian artists in the 80s and 90s, but was put into hibernation in 1999 in favour of the Universal label until 2007.

Mercury Records (France)

A division of Universal Music France engaged in international Universal Music Group repertoire distribution, as well as local French A&R; operations.

Various other national Universal Music Group companies are known to actively use the Mercury Records trademark as an imprint for their local artist and repertoire operations, however no other Universal Music Group companies use the label as a key marketing differentiator, nor do they operate frontline divisions based on the Mercury label.

Artists

List of Mercury Records artists

See also

Universal Music Group Nashville

List of record labels

Chicago Record Labels

References

External links

US site

UK site

Mercury Nashville official site

A site devoted to the history of Mercury Records

Wilma Cozart Fine and 50 Years Living Presence

Jay & The Techniques article in The Standard Report

Interview with Wilma Cozart Fine by Bruce Duffie

Category:American record labels Category:Film soundtrack record labels Category:History of Chicago, Illinois Category:Philips Category:Record labels established in 1945 Category:Vivendi subsidiaries Category:Labels distributed by Universal Music Group

Name	Shania Twain
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Eilleen Regina Edwards
Alias	Eilleen Twain (1967-1992)
Born	August 28, 1965Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Genre	Country, pop, soft rock, dance, rock
Years active	1993–present
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Label	Mercury Nashville
Url	www.shaniatwain.com

Shania Twain, OC (; born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965) is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s with her album The Woman In Me (1995), and achieved worldwide success with her 1997 album Come On Over, which became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician, and the best selling country album of all time. It has sold over 39 million copies worldwide and is the 9th bestselling album in the U.S.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Twain has also achieved major success as a songwriter, winning 27 BMI Songwriter awards. Twain is one of the first country artists to achieve major crossover success in pop music. She is the only female musician to have three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is also the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums being certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Twain has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, including 48 million in the U.S. She is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with approximately 33.5 million in sales through April 2008. She was also ranked the 72nd Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.

Early years

Shania Twain was born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Clarence and Sharon Edwards. Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eilleen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier. Her maternal grandmother, Eileen Pearce, emigrated from Newbridge, Kildare, Ireland.

One of five children, Eilleen Twain had a hard childhood in Timmins. Her parents earned little, and there was often a shortage of food in the household. At one point, while Jerry was at work, her mother drove the rest of the family to a Toronto homeless shelter for assistance. She did not confide her situation to school authorities, fearing they might break up the family. In the remote, rugged community, she learned to hunt and to chop wood. Aside from working at an Ontario McDonald's restaurant, Twain began to earn money by singing in local clubs and bars from a very young age to support her family. She was singing in bars starting at the age of eight to try to make ends meet, often earning twenty dollars between midnight and one in the morning performing for remaining customers after the bar had finished serving. Although she has expressed a dislike for singing in such a smoky atmosphere at such a young age, Shania believes that this was her performing arts school on the road to becoming a successful singer. Twain has said of the ordeal, "My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought 'I hate this'. I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived".

Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten, Is Love a Rose and Just Like the Storybooks which were fairy tales in rhyme. As a child, Twain has been described by a close childhood friend Kenny Derasp as "a very serious kid who spent a lot of time in her room." The art of creating, of actually writing songs, "was very different from performing them and became progressively important".

Music career

Career as Eilleen Twain

At 13, Eilleen Twain, the future "Shania" Twain, was invited to perform on CBC television's Tommy Hunter Show. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, she was the singer for a local band called "Longshot" which covered Top 40 music.

After graduating from Timmins High in July 1983, Twain was eager to expand her musical horizons. After the demise of her band Longshot, Twain was approached by a covers band led by Diane Chase called "Flirt" and toured all over Ontario. In the autumn of 1984 Twain's talents were noticed by a Toronto DJ Stan Campbell who wrote about her in a Country Music News article, "Eileen possesses a powerful voice with an impressive range. She has the necessary drive, ambition and positive attitude to achieve her goals". Bailey later said "She sang a few songs that she had written, and I thought to myself, this kid is like nineteen years old, where does she get this? This is from a person who's lived sixty years". where Twain spent much time practicing in 1985.]] Mary Bailey bought the contract from Stan Campbell and Twain moved into Bailey's home on Lake Kenogami where she practiced her music every day for hours. In the fall of 1985, Bailey took Twain down to Nashville to stay with a friend, record producer Tony Migliore, who at the time was producing an album for fellow Canadian singer Kelita Haverland and Twain featured on the backing vocals to the song Too Hot to Handle. She also demoed songs with Cyril Rawson but without success, partly due to Twain's wish to become a rock singer, not a country artist and after five months she returned to Canada and moved in with Bailey in a flat in downtown Kirkland Lake. There she met a rock keyboardist Eric Lambier and drummer Randy Yurko and formed a new band, moving three months later to Bowmanville, near Toronto. In late summer 1986 Mary Bailey had arranged Twain to meet John Kim Bell, a half Mohawk, half American conductor who had close contacts with the directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. Bell recognised Twain's ability as well as looks and the two began secretly dating, despite their clash of backgrounds.

On November 1, 1987, Twain's mother and adoptive father died in a car accident. Twain took care of her siblings, moving with her half-brothers Mark and Darryl and half-sister Carrie Ann to Huntsville, Ontario, where she supported them by earning money performing at the nearby Deerhurst Resort.

1993–1994: Shania Twain

After Twain's siblings moved out on their own, she assembled a demo tape of her songs, and her manager set up a showcase for Twain to present her material to record executives. Twain caught the attention of a few labels, including Mercury Nashville Records, who signed her within a few months. During this time, she changed her name to Shania, an Ojibwa word which means "on my way".

Twain's self-titled debut album was released in 1993 in North America, garnering audiences outside of her own country. The album only reached #67 on the US Country Albums Chart, but it gained many positive reviews from critics. The album yielded two minor hit singles in the United States with "What Made You Say That" and "Dance with the One That Brought You". It was more successful in Europe, where Twain won Country Music Television Europe's "Rising Video Star of the Year" award.

The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995. The album's first single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" went to #11 on the Billboard Country Chart. This was followed by her first Top 10 and #1 hit single, "Any Man of Mine". Twain had further hits from the album, including the title track which peaked at #14 and three additional #1 hits: "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here!", "You Win My Love", and "No One Needs to Know". The album was a quick breakthrough. Shania performed selected international venues and television shows with Nashville guitarist Randy Thomas (co-writer of the song "Butterfly Kisses") and Stanley T., formerly with the Beach Boys. Mercury Record's promotion of the album was based largely upon a series of sexy music videos. The Woman in Me won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album as well as the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year; the latter group also awarded Twain as Best New Female Vocalist.

Worldwide success

1997–2000: Come on Over

In 1997, Twain released her follow-up album, Come on Over. This was the album that would establish her as a successful crossover singer. Slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the multi-chart hit single "You're Still the One", sales skyrocketed. Other songs like "Don't Be Stupid", "You've Got A Way", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "From This Moment On" joined the 12 songs that eventually saw release as singles. "From This Moment On" is a duet with singer Bryan White and even a pop version as well solo.

The album stayed on the charts for the next two years and Come on Over went on to sell 39 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album of all time by a female musician. It is also the eighth biggest-selling album by any type of artist in the US.

2002–2004: Up!

After a change in management — QPrime replaced Landau — and a two year break, Twain and Lange returned to the studio. Up! was released on November 19, 2002. About a year later, Twain kicked off the Up! Tour in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2003.

Up! was released as a double album, with three different discs—pop (a red CD), country (a green CD), and international (a blue CD). For North American markets, the pop disc was paired with the country disc and in international markets, the pop disc was paired with the world music disc. Up! was given four out of five stars by Rolling Stone magazine, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It remained at the top of the charts for five weeks. Up! reached #1 in Germany, #2 in Australia and the Top Five in the UK and France. In Germany, Up! was certified 4x platinum and stayed in the Top 100 for one and a half years.

The international music disc was remixed with Bollywood-style orchestral and percussion parts recorded in Mumbai, India. The new versions were produced by Simon and Diamond Duggal, brothers from Birmingham, England. They were originally invited to contribute parts to the pop version of "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" which retained the Bollywood influence.

Twain's popularity in UK was reflected by numerous appearances on the long-running music show Top of the Pops, performing singles from Come on Over from 1999. In 2002 an entire special show was dedicated to her on sister show TOTP2, in which Twain herself introduced some past performances of her greatest hits and new singles from Up!

The first single from the album, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" became a top 10 country hit in the US, after debuting at an impressive #24 after only five days of airplay; but only made the Top 40 on the pop charts. It was a much bigger hit on the other side of the Atlantic, released in a pop version, the single hit the Top Five in the UK and Australia as well as the Top 15 in Germany and France. The follow-up single "Up!" reached the Top 15 in the US country charts but failed to reach the pop Top 40.

The second European single became the mid-tempo song "Ka-Ching!" (which was never released as a single in North America) with lyrics where Twain was criticizing unchecked consumerism. The song eventually became another smash hit in the important European markets, reaching #1 in Germany and Austria and other European countries, the UK Top 10 and the Top 15 in France.

The third single from the album would be the most successful in the US. The romantic ballad "Forever and For Always" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at #4 on the country chart and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and made as well the Billboard Top 20. Again success was even bigger on the other side of the Atlantic with "Forever and For Always" again reaching the Top 10 in both, the UK and Germany. Further singles were "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" a country Top 10 hit, while the last US single, "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing", made the Top 20 on both Country and AC.

Due to the enormous European success of Up! and its first three singles, two more singles were released in the second half of 2003 with up-tempo "Thank You Baby" (#11 in the UK, Top 20 in Germany) and just before Christmas the romantic, acoustic ballad "When You Kiss Me", at least a minor hit in both territories. The title track "Up!" also saw a single release in a limited edition of European countries, such as Germany, in early 2004. In January 2008, Up! had sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S. and was certified by the RIAA as 11x platinum (the organization counts double albums as two units).

On November 19, 2004, she appeared on the BBC charity telethon Children in Need. In addition to performing "Up!", she also acted as one of the celebrity assistants in an "all-star" magic act, in an illusion called "Clearly Impossible", in which she was sawed in half inside a clear-sided box.

In August 2005, she released the single "Shoes" from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack.

2006 onwards

At the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 16, 2007, Twain said she was currently writing songs for a new album, and was doing a "lot of soul searching" and "indulging in the writing."

Twain joined Canadian singer Anne Murray on the song "You Needed Me" on Murray's album released November 13, 2007 in Canada, and on January 15, 2008 in the U.S. On November 12, 2008 Twain made her first television appearance since her split from ex-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, where she appeared as a surprise presenter at the 42nd CMA Awards.

In early January 2009, Internet forums were reporting that Twain was planning to make an announcement regarding her new album on January 26, 2009 but on the 22nd a spokesperson from Mercury Nashville told Country Weekly that no new album would be coming "anytime soon".

In June 2009, Twain released a letter to her fans explaining the delays in the release of her next album. In August 2009, at a conference in Timmins, Ontario, a spokesman for Twain's label said a new record from the singer is still "nowhere in sight". On August 17, 2009, EW announced that Twain would be a guest judge on American Idol in Chicago, for the show's August 30 and 31 episodes. On January 1, 2010, Shania carried the Olympic Torch through her hometown as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay.

In April 2010, Twain announced plans for her own TV show, entitled Why Not? With Shania Twain. The show is scheduled to debut in April 2011 on . Twain returned to American Idol as a guest mentor for a week where the top 6 contestants showcased her songs.

In September 2010, it was confirmed that Twain was to release an as of yet untitled autobiography in Spring 2011.

Endorsements and other ventures

Twain's commercial ventures outside the music industry included a series of cosmetic ads in 1999 based on "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" for Revlon. She also starred in ads for Candie's shoes and Gitano jeans, who also sponsored her 1998-1999 Come On Over Tour.

In January 2005, Twain joined Scentstories by Febreze to create a limited edition scent disc with the proceeds going to America's Second Harvest.

Late in 2005, Twain partnered COTY to produce her namesake fragrance "Shania by Stetson". A second fragrance was released in September 2007, called "Shania Starlight".

Personal life

Twain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993, and they have a son, Eja D'Angelo (pronounced "Asia") who was born on August 12, 2001. On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville announced that Twain and Lange were separating after Lange had an affair with Twain's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiebaud. Their divorce was finalized on June 9, 2010. On December 20, 2010, Twain's manager confirmed that Twain was engaged to Swiss business executive Frederic Thiebaud, the ex-husband of Marie-Anne Thiebaud. They married on January 1, 2011 in Rincón, Puerto Rico.

Twain practices Sant Mat, which calls for daily meditation and vegetarianism.

In a 2009 study to determine what measurable parameters create "beauty", scientists correlated a set of measures for the positions of various facial features in women with ratings of attractiveness. According to the study, beauty is a product of having as many features as close to the average measurement for each feature as possible. Shania Twain was noted in a BBC News article concerning the study due to the fact that her face is a close approximation to the ideal measurements found by the study.

One of Twain's practices for her skin is using ointment known as Bag Balm, which is applied to cows' udders during winter months to protect them from harsh weather. Twain says she uses it on her legs and face for softer skin.

Awards and honors

In addition to her various awards for her singles and albums, Twain has received a number of personal honors:

She was named the 1999 Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association; Twain was the first non-US citizen to win the CMA award.

Twain was ranked #7 in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002. In 2003, Twain was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. The city of Timmins (located in Ontario, Canada) renamed a street for her, gave her the key to the city, and built the Shania Twain Centre in her honour. On November 18, 2005, Twain was invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Discography

;Albums

1993: Shania Twain

1995: The Woman in Me

1997: Come On Over

2001: The Complete Limelight Sessions

2002: Up!

2004: Greatest Hits

See also

Music of Canada

List of best-selling music artists

References

Bibliography

External links

Shania Twain official website

Category:1965 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Canadian contraltos Category:Canadian country singer-songwriters Category:Canadian country singers Category:Canadian expatriates in New Zealand Category:Canadian expatriates in Switzerland Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian vegetarians Category:Canadian people of English descent Category:Canadian people of First Nations descent Category:Canadian people of Irish descent Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People from Timmins Category:People from Windsor, Ontario Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Pixie Lott
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Victoria Louise LottBromley, London, England
Origin	London, England
Instrument	Vocals, piano
Genre	Pop, electropop, dance-pop, R&B;, soul
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress, dancer
Years active	2006–present
Label	Mercury, Interscope
Url

Victoria Louise "Pixie" Lott (born 12 January 1991) is an English singer-songwriter, dancer and actress. Her debut single "Mama Do" was released in June 2009 Her second single "Boys and Girls", also topped the UK charts in September 2009. Her debut album Turn It Up was released in September 2009. It has so far reached number six on the UK Albums Chart, spawned five consecutive Top 20 singles, and has been certified double platinum after spending almost an entire year on the charts.

Lott is often credited for her live performances and style. In July 2010, Lott appeared as a guest judge for the auditions for the sixth series of The X Factor in Cardiff, covering for Dannii Minogue, who was on maternity leave.

Lott has released "Boys and Girls" as her debut US single on 24 August 2010. The release is set to coincide with the TV premiere of her first film, . In January 2010, Lott was named one of 2010's "Faces to Watch" by US magazine, Billboard. Lott's album, Turn It Up, will be released in the US early 2011.

So far Lott has produced seven Top 20 Singles on the UK Singles Chart.

Early and personal life

Lott was born in Bromley, south-east London. Her mother gave her the nickname Pixie because she was "such a tiny, cute baby who looked like a fairy". She started singing in her church school At the age of 13, Lott moved with her family to Brentwood. During her time as a student she appeared in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, and in BBC One's Celebrate the Sound of Music as Louisa von Trapp. At the age of 14, she was part of the chorus, recording vocals on Roger Waters's opera Ça Ira. Lott is dating model Oliver Cheshire.

Music career

2008–2009: Early career

In 2006, at the age of 15, she sang for L. A. Reid after he heard a few of her demos. It entered both the iTunes chart and UK Singles Chart at number one, after over 50,000 sales. Lott was quoted as being shocked at the success of the single. The song was also recorded in Simlish for Electronic Arts' The Sims 3. It spent one week at number one, eleven weeks within the top forty and eighteen weeks within the top seventy five. The single also had considerable success outside the UK, reaching the top forty in eleven other countries, including top ten peaks of number eight in Denmark and number ten in France. The single was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry on 28 August 2009 after selling over 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. On 15 August 2009, Lott was featured alongside Hoobastank, The All-American Rejects, Kasabian, Boys Like Girls, Estranged and Raygun as one of the live acts at Asia's very first MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia concert. Lott's second lead single "Boys and Girls" was released on 6 September 2009 and topped the UK Singles Chart on 13 September 2009. During the week in which it reached number one, the single sold just under 50,000 copies. It spent nineteen consecutive weeks within the top seventy-five, including eight within the top forty, on the UK Singles Chart. The single has been accompanied by a music video and was directed by Diane Martel. It was also released in the US as her debut single on August 24, 2010. On 14 September 2009, Lott's debut album, Turn It Up was released. This followed an intensive promotional tour where Lott visited the Asia-Pacific region to promote the album and 'Mama Do'. The album debuted at number six on the UK Album Chart. The album has sold over 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom and was certified Double-Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry in August 2010. The music video was directed by Jake Nava (director of recent videos for Beyoncé, Leona Lewis and Shakira) and was shot in Cuba. The fourth single, "Gravity", was released in the UK on 8 March 2010, following the premiere of its video on Channel 4 on 6 February 2010. Lott won two MTV EMA Awards MTV Europe Music Awards 2009, Best UK & Ireland Act and Best Push Artist (best break through artist). Lott won a Cosmopolitan 2009 Ultimate Women Award for Ultimate Newcomer. In 2009, Lott won The Caron Keating Breakthrough Talent Award at The Variety Club Awards.

"The Way The World Works", from Lott's debut record was used in the U.S.-produced medical drama Private Practice. Lott was chosen as the face of Nokia's "Illuvial Pink Collection" mobile phone range, saying "I spend loads of time on my mobile, so it's important to me that it looks good. The phones in the range all look fab – they're stylish and yet still girlie." Lott was nominated for British Breakthrough Act, British Female Solo Artist and British Single at the 2010 BRIT Awards. Lott also served as the opening act of Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour in the UK 7–26 May 2010. Lott also performed on the main stage at the V Festival in August 2010.

Lott was cast as Judy, Fred Figglehorn's crush, in the film , starring alongside Lucas Cruikshank. The comedy was released on America's Nickelodeon channel on the 18th of September 2010, and is scheduled to be released in UK theatres in November. The fifth single from Lott's album, the title song "Turn It Up", was released on 7 June 2010. Lott recorded a song for the film Street Dance 3D, entitled "Live For The Moment", which is also featured on the soundtrack. On 23 May 2010, Lott performed at the Radio 1 Big Weekend in Bangor, North Wales, and on 4 July 2010 she performed at T4 on the Beach in Weston-super-Mare.

Turn It Up is due to be released in the U.S. during later in the year with a significantly updated track listing. For the new "repackaged" version Lott has recorded duets with Jason Derulo and Joe Jonas. The album will include her newest single, "Broken Arrow".

Songwriter Chris Braide confirmed in an interview with HitQuarters that he has written three new songs for the repackaged album together with Cathy Dennis. | |- || Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women 2009 |Ultimate Newcomer | |- || Q Awards 2009 |Breakthrough Artist | |- || MP3 Music Awards 2009 |Best/ New/ Act | |- || Virgin Media Music Awards |Best Newcomer | |- || UK Festival Awards 2010 |Festival Fitty of the year - Girls | |- |rowspan="7"|2010 |rowspan="3"| Brit Awards |Breakthrough Artist | |- |Female Solo Artist | |- |British Single ("Mama Do Uh Oh") | |- || Meteor Ireland Music Awards |Best International Female | |- || BT Digital Music Awards |Best Female Artist | |- || Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2010 |Sheer Infusion Newcomer | |- || NME Awards 2010 |Hottest Woman | |}

Discography

Turn It Up (2009)

Tours

; As the headline act:

2010 - The Crazycats Tour

; As a special guest:

2010 - Rihanna - Last Girl on Earth Tour (UK Dates)

; As supporting act:

2009 - The Saturdays - The Work Tour (Selected Dates)

References

External links

Category:1991 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:21st-century actors Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:English child actors Category:English child singers Category:English female singers Category:English film actors Category:English musical theatre actors Category:English pop singers Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English soul singers Category:English television actors Category:Italia Conti graduates Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists

Category:People from Brentwood, Essex Category:People from Bromley Category:Wonky Pop acts Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK)

Name	Matthew Good
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Matthew Frederick Robert Good
Born	June 29, 1971Burnaby, British Columbia
Origin	Coquitlam, British Columbia
Genre	Rock, Alternative rock, Acoustic
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter
Years active	1991–present
Instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Bass, Percussion
Label	Universal Music Canada, A&M;Atlantic Records
Associated acts	Matthew Good Band, Rodchester Kings
Url	www.matthewgood.org

Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971, Burnaby, British Columbia) is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer for the Matthew Good Band, one of Canada's most successful alternative rock bands in the 1990s, before dissolving the band in 2002. Other band members included drummer Ian Browne, guitarist/keyboardist Dave Genn, and original bassist Geoff Lloyd, later replaced by Rich Priske. In the years since the Matthew Good Band's disbanding, Good has pursued a solo career and established himself as a political activist and blogger.

Matthew Good Band

Formation

Good's early career in music involved a variety of folk demos and a stint as the lead singer of a folk band, the Rodchester Kings. Matthew Good and guitarist Simon Woodcock were discovered at an open mic at Simon Fraser University by manager Brent Christensen. Early Rodchester Kings demos were recorded at Fragrant Time Records in Burnaby by Greg Wasmuth and Steven Codling.

The Matthew Good Band was formed in Coquitlam, British Columbia in 1993. In late 1993 they recorded a short demo tape called "Euphony", which featured acoustic songs like "Mercy Misses You", "Heather's Like Sunday", and the title track "Euphony". In 1994, they won a prize in CFOX 99.3's annual local Vancouver independent artist competition "Vancouver Seeds". The prize included recording time at a local studio/recording school, where, in September 1994, they recorded "15 hours on a September Thursday". This demo tape included songs like "Second Sun", "Dancing Invisible", and "Push". In December 1994, the band signed a publishing deal with EMI Publishing.

In March 1995, the original band went on tour across Canada. Upon return, the band split up and Matt started over with a new group of musicians.

Last of the Ghetto Astronauts

In mid-1995, they released their debut full-length album, Last of the Ghetto Astronauts. Although initially popular only in the Vancouver area, the album began to catch on across Canada in 1996, with the singles "Alabama Motel Room", "Symbolistic White Walls", and "Haven't Slept in Years" becoming significant hits on radio and MuchMusic. Last of the Ghetto Astronauts, made on a budget of roughly five thousand Canadian dollars, eventually set the mark as the highest selling independent label release by a Canadian artist.

Underdogs

The band's 1997 album Underdogs spawned the hit singles "Everything Is Automatic", "Indestructible" and "Apparitions", the latter of which remains the band's most successful single. Good's political outspokenness and brash confidence were unusual in the Canadian rock scene of the 1990s, and he was soon recognized as much for his seemingly difficult disposition as for his musical talent. As a nod to his reputation, merchandise with the phrase "I Hear Matt Good Is a Real Asshole" was sold at MGB shows. He also maintained a subversive image, sometimes posing for publicity photos in a gorilla mask.

Beautiful Midnight

Beautiful Midnight, which saw the departure of Lloyd and the joining of Rich Priske as the new bassist, followed in 1999 and became hugely successful via the singles "Hello Time Bomb", "Strange Days", and "Load Me Up". The album skyrocketed the band's celebrity status and earned them two Juno awards in 2000, for Best Group and Best Rock Album. (Good himself boycotts the Juno Awards, and guitarist Dave Genn has been quoted as saying that he only attends for the open bar.)

The Audio of Being/Break-Up

After touring Beautiful Midnight for nearly two years, the band set to work on The Audio of Being. The album's creation came during a difficult emotional period for Good. While he struggled to deal with the band's success, he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a disease that causes lesions to form in the lungs, prompting him to temporarily quit smoking. Following throat surgery to remove a nodule from a vocal cord, Good holed up for three weeks in a hotel in Whistler to work on songs. Good later wrote that he spent much of the time "trying to keep down food supplement bars, trying to forget the growing tension within the band, the high expectations of needing to produce 'hit songs' (whatever they are these days), throwing up, and trying to find some semblance of direction in my personal life."

The band entered the studio in late 2000 to record the material. The sessions saw a great deal of intra-band turmoil, with Dave Genn quitting the band before the album was complete. He returned a few days later, however, only to quit permanently not long after the album's release in October 2001. Following Genn's departure, Good dissolved the band in 2002.

Solo career

Avalanche (2003)

Good released his solo debut, Avalanche, in 2003. The album featured major stylistic differences from those recorded with the previous band, and featured the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on several tracks, including the first two singles, "Weapon" and "In a World Called Catastrophe". Good recorded the album with long-time MGB producer Warne Livesey, who earned a Juno nomination for the effort.

Good and co-director Ante Kovac were also nominated for a Juno Award for Best Video of the Year for "Weapon". Despite winning three Junos total, Good has not accepted any of the three Juno Awards he has won. He later criticized the awards several years later in 2009 for not promoting Canadian music at the grassroots level, saying "When it ... isn't kind of this weekend when the Canadian music industry pretends that it's ... not just marketing warehouses for the United States, then sure, I'll be a part of it." Kovac received the award alone on stage. In a later commentary, Good related that Kovac's first edit of the video was far too standard, with gratuitous and generic fades. After firing Kovac, Good flew to Toronto and worked with video editor J. D. Shaw to re-craft the footage. While working on the edit, Good began to experiment with overlaying text and adding still frames and stock photos to help deliver the message. Good noted that he felt that the video was his favourite from his catalogue.

White Light Rock & Roll Review (2004)

Good's second solo album, the politically-charged White Light Rock & Roll Review, was released June 15, 2004. Video singles included "Alert Status Red" and "It's Been a While Since I Was Your Man". For the album, Good elected to take a stripped-down approach. Rather than record each instrument separately, Good and his new band (which consisted of himself, former MGB bassist Rich Priske, guitarist Christian Thor Valdson and drummer Patrick Steward) recorded the songs as a unit, with Good adding vocals and additional guitar parts later. Good later noted that he loved the freedom of being able to write a song, enter the studio, and have a recording completed almost immediately, rather than having to deal with the sometimes arduous process of recording layers and layers of music for a single song.

Good encountered controversy with the video for "Alert Status Red". Initially, the video was intended to be a concept piece, directed by Good. However, upon entering the editing stage, he realized he hadn't shot enough footage to make his concept work. He opted to turn all of the footage over to Kyle Davison, who directed the video for "In a World Called Catastrophe", to see if anything could be made out of it. Davison came up with his own concept, edited it together, and sent the finished product to Good. Good approved of the video, and made it available for download on his website. Good, however, was unaware that Davison had utilized several short clips of surveillance footage of the Columbine High School shootings in the piece. Upon hearing about the clips from individuals who felt the use was insensitive, Good pulled the video from his website. After watching it again, he decided to enlist the opinions of others, including MuchMusic, to see if they had any objections. Most felt it was reasonable, granted that the use wasn't exploitative and helped to support the message of the video, a message that they believed was decidedly relevant. Good agreed. He then returned the video to his website and expressed his support for the work of his co-director.

In a Coma (2005)

In March 2005, Good brought in Ryan Dahle and Meegee Bradfield of Limblifter to join his band (replacing Valdson and Priske). Good noted that he was concerned his previous line-up had run its course creatively, and that, as a solo artist, he was graced with the freedom to change direction by involving different musicians. He hoped that Dahle and Bradfield might be able to lend a new perspective to familiar material. In April, the lineup entered the studio and recorded two tracks for the Matthew Good best-of, "Big City Life" and "Oh Be Joyful". However, when Good undertook a brief tour of Ontario in July 2005, he was rejoined by Priske and Valdson.

A compilation of Good's work with the Matthew Good Band as well as his solo material was released in September 2005, titled In a Coma: Matthew Good 1995-2005. The first single from the album, "Oh Be Joyful", was released at the end of July.

Good took particular care in the production of the expanded deluxe edition of In a Coma, which included an additional CD and a DVD. In April 2005, Good entered the studio and recorded nine songs from his catalog, reworked and performed acoustically. As a nod to fans who were unable to find them, the CD also included all of the tracks from the out-of-print EPs Lo-Fi B-Sides and Loser Anthems. The DVD featured the complete library of Good's music videos, including a new video for "While We Were Hunting Rabbits" from Avalanche developed by animation students at Sheridan College.

Following the release of In a Coma, Good began demoing songs for a new album. While promoting In a Coma, Good noted that he might use the release of the compilation to mark the end of the first era of his career, where he could then move on to write "weirder" music. In December 2005, Good previewed a demo called "Black Helicopter", which he recorded at home using GarageBand on an Apple Power Mac G5.

In March 2006, Good embarked on a solo acoustic tour of Canada, which featured smaller crowds and more intimate settings. Good spent several weeks leading up to the tour reworking many of his older songs to fit a solo acoustic format, including rarities such as "Fated" and "Life Beyond the Minimum Safe Distance". He was joined on tour by opening act Melissa McClelland, with whom he played a cover of Johnny Cash's cover version of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt" at the end of his solo performances.

Hospital Music (2007)

In the aftermath of divorcing his wife, developing an addiction to Ativan and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Good channeled the emotional turmoil into his next album, 2007's Hospital Music. The opening sound bites in both "Girl Wedged Under the Front of a Firebird" and album-opener "Champions of Nothing" feature men narrating snippets of their experience from the impoverished neighbourhood. The album also marked the end of his recording and publishing contracts.

In support of Hospital Music, Good embarked on a brief solo tour of the United States in March 2008, and began a full-band tour of Canada in May.

Vancouver (2009)

In July 2008, Good announced he had begun working on his fourth solo album to be titled Vancouver. After entering the studio in early 2009 to record Vancouver, Good confirmed that he had re-signed with Universal Music Canada and the new album would not be an indie release. The album was released on October 6, 2009. For about a month prior to its release, the album was made available on his website for free streaming, stating a desire to make his music as accessible as possible. The first single from the album is "Last Parade."

Vancouver is a reflection of Good's experiences and opinions of his hometown. "It's kind of like the way we were, the way we are -- that kind of thing," Good has explained, referring to a sense of the city's "depletion", mostly in regards to the situation in the Downtown Eastside.

A US tour was announced in December, kicking off March 8, 2010, ending April 4.

Lights of Endangered Species (2011)

Matthew entered the studio on October 19, 2010 to record his 5th album as a solo artist. He is again working with producer Warne Livesey, making this the 6th album Warne has produced with Matt. Warne and Matt's Facebook wall postings stated tracking was completed November 20th, and mixing of the record commenced November 29th, completed December 11. The album will be mastered in England during the first half of 2011. It is expected to be released some time in 2011. The track listing was released in the members section of matthewgood.org on January 13, 2011.

# Extraordinary Fades # How It Goes # Shallow's Low # What If I Can't See The Stars Mildred? # Zero Orchestra # Non Populus # In A Place Of Lesser Men # Set Me On Fire # Lights Of Endangered Species

Writings

Beyond his music career, Good has also been a writer and blogger. From late 1997 through the end of 2000, Good published a series of monthly "manifestos" on the band's website. Many of these were later compiled and released in his debut book At Last There Is Nothing Left To Say, published in 2001 by Insomniac Press (ISBN 1-894663-08-X).

Throughout his life, Good has found a passion for politics and history. He once commented that he would have become a history teacher had he not found success as a musician. In recent years, he has made his political views far more public, and has used his website to express his opinions about the Canadian government, the effects of the United States' foreign policy, and world crises like the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Good has also been heavily involved with Amnesty International, bringing Amnesty representatives on the road with him during his 2004 tour and offering a limited-edition soccer jersey on his website with proceeds going to Amnesty.

In 2008, Good created a new website entitled Dear San Diego, on which he writes fictional journal entries. In an interview, Good said regarding his writing: "It comes from the need inside of me to make fun of people. And my need to make fun of myself. I like writing things that are both intelligent and subversive. There's so much for me to write about - society has become so absolutely ridiculous."

Good's blogs are 'tweeted' to over 5000 followers. Until recently Good made a practice of return following all twitter followers but recently has found that reading so much content from these followers has left him with no other option but to unfollow all but a few.

Personal life

Good, whose family background is English, was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, and grew up in Coquitlam – both suburbs of Vancouver. After living in various parts of Vancouver for the most part of his career, Good moved to Maple Ridge around the time of Vancouver's 2009 release.

Good has been affected by ongoing bouts of mania and anxiety throughout his career, many of which he credited to the stresses of popularity.

The following summer, Good planned to spend several months in Europe to write a book. However, just a few days into the trip, Good found himself overwhelmed emotionally, experiencing what he described as the "absolute worst manic episode" while visiting friends in Bristol. The genetic illness was traced back to his mother's side. Good wrote much of his material for his 2007 release, Hospital Music during his recovery.

Discography

Matthew Good Band discography

Solo discography

Avalanche (2003)

White Light Rock & Roll Review (2004)

In A Coma: 1995-2005 (2005)

Hospital Music (2007)

Live At Massey Hall (2008)

Vancouver (2009)

Lights of Endangered Species (2011)

See also

Canadian rock

Music of Canada

List of musical artists from Canada

References

Further reading

External links

Official website

Near Fantastica, fansite

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Coquitlam Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Musicians from Vancouver Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian rock singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Canadian alternative rock musicians Category:Canadian activists Category:Canadian bloggers

Name	Michel Sardou
Background	solo_singer
Born	January 26, 1947Paris, France
Genre	French popular music
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1965–present
Label	Barclay Records, Trema, Universal Music Group
Url	www.michelsardou.net

Michel Sardou (born 26 January 1947) is a French singer.

He was born in Paris, the son of Fernand Sardou and Jackie Rollin (Jackie Sardou). Contrary to claims common towards the beginning of his career, he is not the grandson of the dramatist Victorien Sardou. However, he is the father of the French novelist Romain Sardou, and the actor Davy Sardou.

He is known not only for his love songs ("La Maladie d'Amour"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, such as the rights of women in Islamic countries, clerical celibacy, colonialism and the death penalty. Another sometimes controversial theme found in some of his songs ("Les Ricains" and "Monsieur le Président de France" for example) is his respect and support for the culture and foreign policies of the United States. He has focused his full attention on his homeland, ignoring the prospect of an international audience, although his 1981 single "Les Lacs du Connemara" did manage to become a big international hit. A number of his hit songs were written in collaboration with Jacques Revaux, a few others (most notably "En Chantant") with Italian singer Toto Cutugno.

Even in the 21st century, Michel Sardou remains quite popular in France, selling out 18 consecutive dates at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 2001, while his 2004 album "Du plaisir" went straight to the no. 1 spot on the French album charts.

He has been married three times; first (1965–1977) to a dancer Françoise Pettré, the mother of his daughters Sandrine (b. 1970) and Cynthia (b. 1973); then (1977–1998) to Elizabeth "Babette" Haas, the mother of his sons Romain (b. 1974) who is a writer and Davy (b. 1978) who is a comedian; and lastly to a lifelong friend Anne-Marie Périer (the daughter of the actor François Périer) who was the editor of the French version of Elle magazine.

Biography

Childhood

He is the heir to a long family tradition of spectacle. Indeed, his paternal grandparents were comic actors in Marseille; his grand mother was a dancer. When he was a child, he spent the most of his time in cabarets or on tour with his parents.

His school situation was not brilliant and he carried out a life behind the scene and in theaters, so he decided to stop his studies. In 1963, at 16 years old, he planned to run away in Brazil in order to open a Strip-tease club. His father caught him at the Airport. Then Michel announced to him his desire to work and to leave school.

While he was a waiter in his father's cabaret, he was earning his spurs on stage, he met Michel Fugain and had an audition for Eddie Barclay.

Career

The early stages (1965 - 1970)

In 1965, Michel began to sing with Le Madras, co-written with Michel Fugain and Patrice Laffont. Thanks to this song, he could be on TV for the first time but then he was completely forgotten.

In 1967, his career was really launched, thanks to a censorship: while France left NATO's military command and the Vietnam War caused an anti-American sentiment in France, Michel Sardou launched Les Ricains (The Yankees), this song insists on the duty of gratitude towards the USA. Charles de Gaulle didn't like this song and he advised against broadcasting it on the air.

This conferred a new notoriety to the singer. The song allowed espacially to lay the foundations for his futur artistic style. However from 1967 to 1970, he had difficulties being a big hit.

In view of the mitigated success of his singles, in 1969, Eddie Barclay decided to terminate his contract, estimating that Michel was not cut out to be a singer.

So he launched the record label Tréma which would produce his records, with Jacques Revaux, who will become his most loyal composer and Regis Talar, a French record producer.

The 2000s

in 2005]] Michel Sardou seemed to leave the scene in order to devote to acting and to his Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin.

But Michel Sardou has proved that he has not gave up his singer career, as in 2004 he signed a contract with Universal Music for a new album entitled "Du plaisir", he took part also to the French television show Star Academy and finally he organized a big tour in 2004 and 2005, in which he sang in France, in Belgium, in Switzerland and in Canada.

His new double album, entitled "Hors Format" was released on 13 November 2006. This album includes 23 new songs, one of whom is a duet with Chimène Badi, "Le chant des hommes". Hors Format has reached 400 000 copies sold and it's a double platinum.

In 2007, he started his last tour, he sung in among others the Olympia and the Zénith de Paris.

Private life

Michel Sardou got married three times :

with Françoise Pettré, a dancer. They got married in 1965, they divorced in 1977. They had two daughters : Sandrine (born in 1970) and Cynthia (born in 1973).

with Elizabeth Haas, called Babette. They got married in 1977, they divorced in 1998. They had two sons : Romain, writer (born in 1974) and Davy, actor (born in 1978).

with Anne-Marie Périer, the daughter of the actor François Périer, the sister of the photographer Jean-Marie Périer and the former editor-in-chief of Elle. They got married in 1999, at Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Discography

Albums

Emblematic songs

La Maladie d'amour (love disease) is certainly the most famous song of Michel Sardou, it remained at the top for 11 weeks. Michel drew his inspiration for this song from the Pachelbel's Canon.

Les Lacs du Connemara (Connemara Lakes) is also one of the most popular song of Michel Sardou. It is very often sung at the end of French student parties and at weddings in Flanders.

Other activities

Theater manager

In 2001, he bought the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, with his producer Jean-Claude Camus. In 2005, he resold his shares to his associate.

Theater actor

1996 : Bagatelle(s) by Noël Coward, directed by Pierre Mondy, in the Théâtre de Paris, with Natacha Amal, Philippe Khorsand, Frédéric Diefenthal…

1999 : Comédie privée by Neil Simon, directed by Adrian Brine, in the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell, with Marie-Anne Chazel.

2001-2002 : L'homme en question by Félicien Marceau, directed by Jean-Luc Tardieu, on tour and in the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, with Brigitte Fossey, Davy Sardou...

2008-2009 : Secret de famille by Eric Assous, directed by Jean-Luc Moreau, in the Théâtre des Variétés, with Davy Sardou, Laurent Spielvogel, Mathilde Penin, Elisa Servier and Rita Brantalou.

Movie actor

1982 : L'Été de nos 15 ans by Marcel Jullian : Bernard. with Cyrielle Claire, Elisa Servier...

1986 : Cross by Philippe Setbon : Thomas Crosky, called Cross. With Roland Giraud, Patrick Bauchau, Marie-Anne Chazel...

1990 : Promotion canapé by Didier Kaminka : Bernard. With Grace de Capitani, Thierry Lhermitte, Claude Rich, Patrick Chesnais, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Zabou, Martin Lamotte, Pierre Richard, Eddy Mitchell...

TV actor

1993 : L'Irlandaise by José Giovanni : Régis Cassani. With Jean-Michel Dupuis, Thérèse Liotard...

2003 : Le Prix de l'honneur by Gérard Marx : le colonel Christian Legoff. With Alexandra Vandernoot...

Awards

External links

Official site

Biography of Michel Sardou, from Radio France Internationale

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:People from Paris Category:French male singers

Name	Kanye West
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Born	June 08, 1977Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
Occupation	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
Years active	1996–present
Label	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Mr Hudson, Pusha T, Big Sean
Url

Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B;, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His five albums have received numerous awards, including a cumulative twelve Grammys, All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos. About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game." On 17 December 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.

Music career

Early career (1996–2003)

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album didn't attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998-1999 he produced for well known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000 however when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album . West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life" he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture. West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling. During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again. Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period The College Dropout was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy. Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics. Late Registration topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including USA Today, Spin, and Time. Rolling Stone awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic." The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year. Late Registration was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the Billboard 200. Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, Late Registration was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales. The sophomore album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger". The album is certified triple platinum.

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes On Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006: "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." The current status of this project is unknown. In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.

Graduation (2007)

.]] In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life. " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, Graduation, because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally. After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine Complex. On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth. West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.

In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments. The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.

}}

On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show Entourage which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

Glow in the Dark Tour, 808s & Heartbreak (2008–09)

in Chicago]]

West kicked off the Glow In The Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that 808s & Heartbreak was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of Graduation with 450,145 sold.

Along with Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis, and others, West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23. That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Graduation and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ. The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of This Is War, titled "Hurricane 2.0".

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne (2010–present)

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series The Cleveland Show (a spin-off of Family Guy) as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son. In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of Family Guy. Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of The Cleveland Show.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title "Good Ass Job", later named My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010. West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with. The short film debuted consecutively on VH1, MTV, and BET on October 23, 2010.

Watch The Throne, an upcoming collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z, is scheduled to be released by Def Jam Recordings in 2011. It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010. West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop. He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from Watch the Throne would be a song called "H.A.M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011.

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had been straining, significantly influenced by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told People.

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation. TMZ reported that Beverly Hills physician Andre Aboolian had advised Donda West not to have surgery because of a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack. He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board. Adams appeared on Larry King Live on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves". The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007. West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.

Musical style and influences

(left)]] At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s . West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life". and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that." RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for Rolling Stone, "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section. Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis. This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He is due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.

Controversies

Media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

Award shows

Later in 2006, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead. Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane. He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right." West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears hasn't had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass" in an off the record comment. In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes. He posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on The Jay Leno Show, on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again. After Swift appeared on The View two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology. In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she didn't accept the song, he would perform it himself.

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras. West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009. West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009. West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at a hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside a nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.

Discography

; Studio albums

The College Dropout (2004)

Late Registration (2005)

Graduation (2007)

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

; Live albums

''Late Orchestration (2006)

(2010)

; Collaboration albums Watch The Throne (2011) (with Jay-Z)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Kanye West at Beatbuggy

Category:1977 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American bloggers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Chicago State University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

Horst Jankowski (January 30, 1936 – June 29, 1998) #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #3 on the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The track was featured on the BBC's review of the 1960s music scene, Pop Go The Sixties, broadcast on BBC One and ZDF, on January 1, 1970. The Genius of Jankowski album, released in 1965, was also a million seller. Between 1989 and 1994 Jankowski composed and performed easy listening music for Sonoton, Germany.

Jankowski died of lung cancer in 1998, at the age of 62.

Discography

Traumklang und Rhythmus (1965; Mercury Records)

Encore (1965; Mercury Records)

The Genius of Jankowski (1965; Mercury Records) US #18

More Genius of Jankowski (1966; Mercury Records) US #65

Sing mit Horst (1966; Mercury Records)

Still More Genius of Jankowski (1967; Mercury Records) US #107

The Horst Jankowski Scene (1967; Mercury Records)

And We Got Love (1967; Mercury Records)

Baby, But Grand (1967; Mercury Records)

So What's New? (1968; Mercury Records)

Play Some More, lieber Horst (1968; Mercury Records)

The Many Moods of Jankowski (1968; Mercury Records)

Piano Affairs (1968; Mercury Records)

Jankowski Plays Jankowski (1969; Mercury Records)

Jankowski Meets Beethoven (1969, Mercury Records)

A Walk in the Evergreens (1969; Mercury Records)

Piano on the Rocks (1970; Mercury Records)

Jankowskingsize – For Nightpeople Only (1970; MPS)

Jankowskinetik (1970; MSP)

Jankowskeynotes (1970; MPS)

Follow Me (1972; Intercord)

International (1973; Intercord)

Jankowskyline (1973; Intercord)

Happy Blue Piano (1982; Sonoton / Intersound)

The Best of Mr. Black Forest (1989; Sonoton / Intersound)

Piano Interlude (1994; Sonoton / Intersound)

Black Forest Explosion! (1997; Motor Music)

Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt (1998; Mercury Records)

Jankowskinetik (2003; Universal)

Jankowskeynotes (2004; Universal)

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart

References

External links

Detailed information on Horst Jankowski

Category:1936 births Category:1998 deaths Category:German jazz pianists Category:German composers Category:Easy listening music Category:Deaths from lung cancer

Name	Dinah Washington
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Ruth Lee Jones
Alias	Queen of the Blues
Born	August 29, 1924
Died	December 14, 1963
Origin	Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Genre	Blues, R&B;, Vocal jazz
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1943–1963
Label	Keynote, Mercury,EmArcy, Roulette

Dinah Washington (August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was a blues, R&B; and jazz singer. She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Washington was well known for singing torch songs.

Biography

In 1962, Dinah hired a backing trio that called themselves the Allegros. The male trio consisted of Jimmy Thomas on drums, Earl Edwards on sax, and Jimmy Sigler on organ. Edwards was eventually replaced by John Payne on sax. A Variety writer praised their vocals as "effective choruses". They became close to the singer and saw her the night she died.

Washington was married eight times and divorced seven times, while having several lovers, including, according to Patti Austin, Quincy Jones. She had two children. Her husbands were John Young (1942–43), George Jenkins (1949), Walter Buchanan (1950), saxophonist Eddie Chamblee (1957), Rafael Campos (1957), Horatio Maillard (1959–60), Jackie Hayes (1960), and Dick "Night Train" Lane (1963).

Very early on the morning of December 14, 1963, Dinah's eighth husband, NFL player Dick "Night Train" Lane went to sleep with his wife and awoke later to find Dinah slumped over and not responsive. Doctor B. C. Ross came to the scene to pronounce her dead. An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital which contributed to her untimely death at the age of 39. She is buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

is a 1964 album recorded by Aretha Franklin as a tribute. Dinah Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois was also named for her.

Awards

Grammy Award

{| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Genre |- align=center | 1959 | Best Rhythm & Blues Performance | What a Diff'rence a Day Makes | R&B; |- align=center |}

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings by Dinah Washington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

{| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Year Inducted |- align=center | 1959 | Unforgettable | pop (single) | Mercury | 2001 |- align=center | 1954 | Teach Me Tonight | R&B; (single) | Mercury | 1999 |- align=center | 1959 | What a Diff'rence a Day Makes | traditional pop (single) | Mercury | 1998 |- align=center |}

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed a song of Dinah Washington as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock.

{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Genre |- align=center | 1948 | Am I Asking Too Much? | R&B; |- align=center |}

Honors and Inductions

In 1993, the U.S. Post Office issued a Dinah Washington 29 cent commemorative postage stamp.

In 2008, the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Washington's birthplace, renamed the section of 30th Avenue between 15th Street and Kaulton Park "Dinah Washington Avenue." The unveiling ceremony for the new name took place on March 12, 2009, with Washington's son Robert Grayson and three of her grandchildren, Tracy Jones, Tera Jones, and Bobby Hill Jr., in attendance. In 2005, the Board of Commissioners renamed a park, near where Washington had lived in Chicago in the 1950s, Dinah Washington Park in her honor. {| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Title ! Result ! Notes |- align=center | 1993 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Inducted | Early Influences |- align=center | 1984 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | Inducted | |- align=center |}

Discography

Albums

1950: Dinah Washington (MG-25260) 1950: Dynamic Dinah! - The Great Voice of Dinah Washington

1952: Blazing Ballads

1954: After Hours with Miss "D"

1954: Dinah Jams

1955: For Those in Love

1956: Dinah!

1956: In the Land of Hi-Fi

1956: The Swingin' Miss "D"

1957: Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller

1957: Dinah Sings Bessie Smith

1958: Newport '58

1959: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!

1959: Unforgettable

1960: The Two of Us (with Brook Benton)

1960: I Concentrate on You

1960: For Lonely Lovers

1961: September in the Rain

1962: Dinah '62

1962: In Love

1962: Drinking Again

1962: Tears and Laughter 1962: I Wanna Be Loved

1963: Back to the Blues

1963: Dinah '63

1963: This Is My Story 1964: In Tribute 1964: Dinah Washington (SR-25269) 1967: Dinah Discovered ;Notes Compilation albums with tracks of early 78 rpm era. Compilation albums from Mercury Records which consist of previously unreleased tracks, released after Dinah moved to Roulette Records. Posthumous compilation albums which consist of previously unreleased tracks. ;References

Mercury Records Discography Project - JAZZDISCO.org, retrieved June 24, 2010

Mercury Records Collection, retrieved June 24, 2010

Roulette Album Discography, Part 1, Both Side Now Publications, retrieved June 24, 2010

[ allmusic ((( Dinah Washington > Discography > Main Albums )))] is quite questionable. Retrieved June 24, 2010.

Compilations

The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury (7 x 3-CDs, PolyGram, 1987–1989)

*Vol. 1 (1946–1949)

*Vol. 2 (1950–1952)

*Vol. 3 (1952–1954)

*Vol. 4 (1954–1956)

*Vol. 5 (1956–1958)

Vol. 6 (1958–1960)

*Vol. 7 (1961)

The Complete Roulette Dinah Washington Sessions (5-CDs, Mosaic Records, 2004)

Singles

"September In the Rain", "Tears and Laughter" and "Where Are You" also made the AC charts (nos. 5, 17 and 11 respectively)

Notes

References

Queen of the Blues: A Biography of Dinah Washington, Jim Haskins, 1987, William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-04846-3

Top Pop Records 1955-1972, Joel Whitburn, 1973, Record Research.

External links

Dinah Washington : Home, Verve Music Group

Dinah Washington's Gravesite

Category:1924 births Category:1963 deaths Category:African American musicians Category:Musicians from Alabama Category:American blues musicians Category:American blues singers Category:American female singers Category:American jazz singers Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Dirty blues musicians Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Women in jazz Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Drug-related deaths in Michigan Category:Accidental deaths in Michigan Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Name	Céline Dion
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Céline Marie Claudette Dion
Born	March 30, 1968
Origin	Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada
Spouse	René Angélil
Children	Rene Charles (born 2001) Eddy and Nelson (born 2010)
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Pop, dance-pop, pop rock, soft rock, adult contemporary
Occupation	Singer, songwriter-composer, actress
Years active	1980–present
Label	Sony Music Canada, Epic, 550, Columbia
Networth	over US$250 million (Jan. 2007)
Url

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, CC, OQ (; born March 30, 1968) is a French-Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Born in Repentigny, Quebec, to a large family from Charlemagne, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. In 1990, she released the anglophone album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.

Dion had first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to CBS Records Canada in 1986. During the 1990s, with the help of Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history. However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment in order to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed a three-year (later extended to almost five years) contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B; to gospel and classical. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals. Dion is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time, is the second best-selling female artist in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era, and is the only female artist to have two singles that have sold more than a million copies in the United Kingdom. In addition, her 1995 album D'eux, is the best-selling French-language album of all time. In 2004, after surpassing 175 million in album sales worldwide, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for becoming the best-selling female artist of all time. According to Sony Music Entertainment, Dion has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

Childhood and early beginnings

The youngest of fourteen children born to Adhémar Dion and Thérèse Tanguay, both of French Canadian descent, Céline Dion was raised a Roman Catholic in a poverty-stricken, but, by her own account, happy home in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada. Music had always been a part of the family (Dion was named after the song Céline, recorded by French singer Hugues Aufray two years before her birth), as she grew up singing with her siblings in her parents' small piano bar called Le Vieux Baril. From an early age Dion had dreamed of being a performer. In a 1994 interview with People magazine, she recalled, "I missed my family and my home, but I don't regret having lost my adolescence. I had one dream: I wanted to be a singer."

At age twelve, Dion collaborated with her mother and her brother Jacques to compose her first song, "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" ("It Was Only a Dream"). Further success in Europe, Asia, and Australia came when Dion represented Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Ne partez pas sans moi (Don't Go Without Me) and won the contest by a close margin in Dublin, Ireland. However, American success was yet to come, partly because she was exclusively a Francophone artist. At eighteen, after seeing a Michael Jackson performance, Dion told Angélil that she wanted to be a star like Jackson. Though confident in her talent, Angélil realized that her image needed to be changed in order for her to be marketed worldwide. He gave her an ultimatum: have surgery on her vocal chords, or not utilize them at all for three weeks. The album was largely influenced by 1980s soft rock music that quickly found a niche within the adult contemporary radio format. Unison also hit the right notes with critics: Jim Faber of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Dion's vocals were "tastefully unadorned", and that she never attempted to "bring off styles that are beyond her". Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic declared it as, "a fine, sophisticated American debut." Singles from the album included "(If There Was) Any Other Way", "The Last to Know", "Unison", and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", a mid-tempo soft-rock ballad which made prominent use of the electric guitar. The latter became her first single to reach the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number four. The album established Dion as a rising singer in the United States, and across Continental Europe and Asia.

In 1991, Dion was also a soloist in Voices That Care, a tribute to American troops fighting in Operation Desert Storm. Dion's real international breakthrough came when she duetted with Peabo Bryson on the title track to Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991). The song captured a musical style that Dion would utilize in the future: sweeping, classically influenced ballads with soft instrumentation. Both a critical and commercial hit, the song became her second U.S. top ten single, and won the Academy Award for Best Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. She would later regain her fan base at the Félix Award show, where, after winning "English Artist of the Year", she openly refused to accept the award. She asserted that she was—and would always be—a French, not an English, artist. Apart from her commercial success, there were also changes in Dion's personal life, as Angélil, who was twenty-six years her senior, transitioned from manager to lover. However, the relationship was kept a secret as they both feared that the public would find their relations inappropriate.

Popularity established: 1993–1995

In 1993, Dion announced her feelings for her manager by declaring him "the colour of [her] love" in the dedication section of her third Anglophone album The Colour of My Love. However, instead of criticizing their relationship as Dion had feared, fans embraced the couple. Eventually, Angélil and Dion married in an extravagant wedding ceremony in December 1994, which was broadcast live on Canadian television.

As it was dedicated to her manager, the album's motif focused on love and romance. It became her most successful record up to that point, selling more than six million copies in the U.S., two million in Canada, and peaking at number-one in many countries. The album also spawned Dion's first U.S., Canadian, and Australian number-one single "The Power of Love" (a remake of Jennifer Rush's 1985 hit), which would become her signature hit until she reached new career heights in the late 1990s. while the album was eventually certified five-times platinum for two-million copies sold.

Dion kept to her French roots and continued to release many Francophone recordings between each English record. Generally, they achieved more credibility than her Anglophone works. The single also reached the top ten in the UK and Ireland, a rare accomplishment for a French song. The second single off the album, "Je sais pas", reached number one on the French Singles Chart as well and was certified Silver in France. These songs would later become "If That's What It Takes" and "I Don't Know" on Dion's next English album, Falling into You.

During the mid-1990s, Dion's albums continued to be constructed on the basis of melodramatic ballads, but also with up-tempo pop and adult contemporary themed music. She collaborated with talented craftsman such as Jim Steinman and David Foster who helped her devise more adult contemporary songs. While critical reviews fluctuated, Dion's releases performed increasingly well on the international charts, and in 1996 she won the World Music Award for "World’s Best-selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year" for the third time. By the mid-1990s, she had established herself as one of the best-selling artists in the world.

Worldwide commercial success: 1996–1999

Falling into You (1996), Dion's fourth Anglophone album, presented the singer at the height of her popularity, and showed a further progression of her music. The singles encompassed a variety of musical styles. The title track "Falling into You" and "River Deep, Mountain High" (a Tina Turner cover) made prominent use of percussion instruments; "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (a remake of Jim Steinman's song) and a remake of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" kept their soft-rock atmosphere, but were combined with the classical sound of the piano; and the number-one single "Because You Loved Me", which was written by Diane Warren, was a ballad that served as the theme to the 1996 film Up Close & Personal.

Falling into You garnered career-best reviews for Dion. While Dan Leroy wrote that it was not very different from her previous work, and Stephen Holden of The New York Times and Natalie Nichols of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the album was formulaic, other critics, such as Chuck Eddy of Entertainment Weekly, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AMG and Daniel Durchholz, lavished the album as "compelling", "passionate", "stylish", "elegant" and "remarkably well-crafted". Falling Into You became Dion's most critically and commercially successful album: it topped the charts in many countries and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. In the United States, the album reached number-one, and was later certified 11x Platinum for over 11 million copies shipped. In Canada, the album was certified diamond for over one million copies shipped. The IFPI certified Falling into You 9x Platinum, an accolade that has been given to only two other albums in history, with one of the two being Dion's own album, Let's Talk About Love. The album also won Grammy Awards for Best Pop Album, and the academy's highest honor Album of the Year. Dion's status on the world stage was further solidified when she was asked to perform "The Power of the Dream" at the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. In March 1996, Dion launched the Falling into You Tour in support of her new album, giving concerts around the world for over a year.

Dion followed Falling into You with Let's Talk About Love (1997), which was publicized as its sequel. The recording process took place in London, New York City, and Los Angeles, and featured a host of special guests, such as Barbra Streisand on "Tell Him"; the Bee Gees on "Immortality"; and world-renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti on "I Hate You Then I Love You". Other musicians included Carole King, Sir George Martin, Bryan Adams and Jamaican singer Diana King, who added a reggae tinge to "Treat Her Like a Lady". As with Falling into You, Let's Talk About Love was a major success for Dion, reaching number-one all over the world, attaining platinum status in twenty-four sales territories, and becoming Dion's fastest selling album of her career. In the United States, the album topped the chart in its seventh week of release, and was later certified 10x Platinum in the U.S. for over 10 million copies shipped. In Canada, the album sold 230,212 copies in its first week of release, which became, and still is, a record. It was eventually certified diamond in Canada for over 1 million copies shipped. The most successful single from the album became the classically influenced ballad "My Heart Will Go On", which was written and composed by James Horner and Will Jennings, and produced by Horner and Walter Afanasieff. as well as winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. The song also gave Dion two Grammy Awards for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" and the most coveted "Record of the Year", (the song itself won four awards, but two were presented to the songwriters). "My Heart Will Go On" and "Think Twice" made her the only female artist in the UK to have two singles to sell more than a million copies. In support of her album, Dion embarked on the Let's Talk About Love Tour between 1998 and 1999.

Dion ended the 1990s with three more extremely successful albums—the Christmas album These Are Special Times (1998), the French-language album, S'il suffisait d'aimer, and the compilation album All the Way... A Decade of Song (1999). On These Are Special Times, Dion became more involved in the writing process. She co-wrote the song, Don't Save It All For Christmas Day along with Ric Wake and Peter Zizzo. The album was her most classically influenced yet, with orchestral arrangements found on virtually every track. "I'm Your Angel", a duet with R. Kelly, became Dion's fourth U.S. number one single, and another hit single across the world. All the Way... A Decade of Song drew together her most successful hits coupled with seven new songs, including the lead off single "That's the Way It Is", a cover of Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and "All the Way", a duet with Frank Sinatra. All the Way... A Decade of Song also topped the charts in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Her last French-language studio album of the 1990s, S'il suffisait d'aimer, was very successful as well, topping the charts in every major French-speaking country, including France, Switzerland, Belgium Wallonia, and Canada. By the end of the 1990s, Celine Dion had sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, and had won a slew of industry awards. Her status as one of the music industry's biggest pop divas was further solidified when she was asked to perform on VH1's Divas Live special in 1998, with superstars Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain and Mariah Carey. That year she also received two of the highest honors from her home country: "Officer of the Order of Canada for Outstanding Contribution to the World of Contemporary Music" and "Officer of the National Order of Quebec".

During this time, the pop-rock genre that was more noticeable in her earlier releases, was replaced by a more adult contemporary feel. Other critics, like Elysa Gardner and Jose F. Promis, praised her vocals during this period, describing it as a "technical marvel". However, others, like Steve Dollar, who reviewed These Are Special Times'', stated that Dion is a "vocal Olympian for whom there ain't no mountain—or scale—high enough."

Career break: 2000–2002

After releasing and promoting thirteen albums during the 1990s, Dion stated that she needed to settle down, and announced on her latest album All the Way... A Decade of Song, that she needed to take a step back from the spotlight and enjoy life. Angélil's diagnosis with throat cancer also prompted her to hiatus. While on break, Dion was unable to escape the spotlight. In 2000, the National Enquirer published a false story about the singer. Brandishing a picture of Dion and her husband, the magazine misquoted Dion, printing the headline, "Celine — 'I'm Pregnant With Twins!'" Dion later sued the magazine for more than twenty million dollars. The editors of the Enquirer printed an apology and a full retraction to Dion in the next issue, and donated money to the American Cancer Society in honor of Dion and her husband. A year after the incident, after undergoing fertility treatments, Dion gave birth to a son, René-Charles Dion Angélil, on January 25, 2001, in Florida. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, Dion returned to the music scene, and in a televised performance sang "God Bless America" at the benefit concert . Chuck Taylor of Billboard wrote, "the performance... brings to mind what has made her one of the celebrated vocalists of our time: the ability to render emotion that shakes the soul. Affecting, meaningful, and filled with grace, this is a musical reflection to share with all of us still searching for ways to cope." In December 2001, Dion published her autobiography, My Story, My Dream which chronicled her rags to riches story.

Return to music: 2002–2003

" with members of the Band of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, 2002.]] Dion's aptly titled A New Day Has Come, released in March 2002, ended her three-year break from the music industry. The album was Dion's most personal yet, and established a more mature side of Dion with the songs "A New Day Has Come", "I'm Alive", and "Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)", a change that resulted from her new-found maternal responsibilities, because, in her own words, "becoming a mother makes you a grown-up." She stated, "A New Day Has Come, for Rene, for me, is the baby. It has everything to do with the baby...That song "A New Day Has Come" represents very well the mood I'm feeling right now. It represents the whole album." A New Day Has Come debuted at number one in over 17 countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 527,000 copies; marking her first number one debut on the chart. It was eventually certified 3x Platinum in the United States, and 6x Platinum in Canada.

While the album was commercially successful, critical reviews suggested that it was "forgettable" and the lyrics were "lifeless". Both Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine, and Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly, stated that Dion's music had not matured during her break, and classed her music as trite and mediocre. Sal Cinquemani of Slant magazine called the album "a lengthy collection of drippy, gooey pop fluffer-nutter." The first single off the album, A New Day Has Come peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, being an airplay-only release. On the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, however the song spent 21 consecutive weeks at number 1, breaking the record for the longest span at the top. The previous record holders were Phil Collins' You'll Be in My Heart and Dion's own Because You Loved Me, both of which lasted nineteen weeks at number 1. During 2002, she performed for many benefit concerts, the famous VH1 Divas Live, a concert to benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, alongside Cher, Anastacia, Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Shakira and Stevie Nicks.

Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, Dion released One Heart (2003), an album that represented her appreciation for life. The album largely consisted of dance music—a deviation from the soaring, melodramatic ballads, for which she had once been given mixed reception. Although the album achieved moderate success, One Heart was met with mixed criticism, and words such as "predictable" and "banal" appeared even in the most lenient reviews. A cover of the 1989 Cyndi Lauper hit "I Drove All Night", released to launch her new advertising campaign with Chrysler, incorporated dance-pop and rock and roll. The advertising deal itself, however was met with mixed criticism, with some stating that Dion was trying to please her sponsors. However, people like Bonita Stewart, who was the director of Chrysler Group Marketing Communications stated that "Chrysler was taken by how her appeal crossed ethnic lines." She also added, "She brings sophistication, refinement, romance and passion to the brand."

After One Heart, Dion released her next English Language studio album, Miracle (2004). Miracle was a multimedia project conceived by Dion and photographer Anne Geddes, and had a theme centering on babies and motherhood. The album was filled with lullabies and other songs of maternal love and inspiration, the two most popular being covers of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy". The reviews for Miracle were mixed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic.com gave the album three of out five stars, stating, "The worst you can say about the record is that there are no surprises, but the audience for this record doesn't want surprises; they want comfort, whether it arrives in polished music or artsy photos of newborns, and Miracle provides both, which makes it appealing for those expectant or new mothers in Dion's audience. Chuck Arnold of People Magazine, however, labeled the album as excessively sentimental, while Nancy Miller of Entertainment Weekly opined that "the whole earth-mama act is just opportunism, reborn". Miracle debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and number one in Canada , and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA.

The Francophone album 1 fille & 4 types (1 Girl & 4 Guys), released in October 2003, fared better than her first two releases, and showed Dion trying to distance herself from the "diva" image. She recruited Jean-Jacques Goldman, Gildas Arzel, Eric Benzi, and Jacques Veneruso, with whom she had previously worked on two of her best-selling French albums S'il suffisait d'aimer and D'eux. Labeled "the album of pleasure" by Dion herself, the album cover showed Dion in a simple and relaxed manner, contrary to the choreographed poses usually found on her album covers. The album achieved widespread commercial success in France, Canada, and Belgium where it reached number one. In France, the album debuted at number one and was later certified 2x platinum after selling over 700,000 copies. Critic, Stephen Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that Dion's vocals "are back at top of their game" and that she was "getting back to pop basics and performing at a level unheard in a while."

Though her albums were commercially successful, they did not achieve the sales or the reception of her previous works. Albums like The Collector's Series, Volume One (2000), and One Heart (2003) did not perform as well critically. However, by 2004, Dion had accumulated sales of more than 175 million albums worldwide, and received the Chopard Diamond Award from the World Music Awards for her achievements. According to the official World Music Awards website, the award is rare; it's not even "presented every year" and an artist can only be presented with the award for selling "over 100 million albums during their career."

A New Day... Live in Las Vegas: 2003–2007

In early 2002 Dion had announced a three-year, 600-show contract to appear five nights a week in an entertainment extravaganza, A New Day..., at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. She conceived the idea for the show after seeing O by Franco Dragone early in her break from recording, and began on March 25, 2003, in a 4,000-seat arena designed for her show. The show, put together by Dragone, was a combination of dance, music, and visual effects. It included Dion performing her biggest hits against an array of dancers and special effects. Reviewer Mike Weatherford felt that, at first, Dion was not as relaxed as she should be, and at times, it was hard to find the singer among the excessive stage ornamentations and dancers. However, he noted that the show had become more enjoyable, due to Dion's improved stage-presence and simpler costumes. Ticket prices averaged $135.33. The show was choreographed by Mia Michaels, who is a world renowned choreographer. According to Pollstar, Dion sold 322,000 tickets and grossed US$43.9 million in the first half of 2005, and by July 2005, she had sold out 315 out of 384 shows. By the end of 2005, Dion grossed more than US$76 million, placing sixth on Billboard's Money Makers list for 2005. A New Day... was the 6th biggest selling tour in America in 2006. Because of the show's success, Dion's contract was extended into 2007 for an undisclosed sum. On January 5, 2007 it was announced that the show would end on December 15, 2007, with tickets for the period after October 2007 having gone on sale from March 1. During its entire run, the show accumulated a total gross of $400 million, while being seen by nearly 3 million fans. The Live in Las Vegas - A New Day... DVD was released on December 10, 2007 in Europe and the following day in North America.

Back to studio and world tour: 2007–2009

in Uniondale, NY on Long Island.]]

Dion's latest French language album, D'elles (About Them), released on May 21, 2007, debuted at the top of the Canadian album charts, selling 72,200 copies in its first week. It marked her tenth number-one album in the SoundScan era, and her eighth to debut at the top position. In Canada, the album has been certified 2x platinum, and within the first week had already shipped half a million units worldwide. D'Elles also reached No. 1 in France and Belgium. The first single "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" (meaning "And If There Was Only One Woman Left (I Would Be That One)") debuted at the top of the French singles chart a month earlier. She released her latest English album Taking Chances on November 12 in Europe, and on the 13th in North America. Her first English studio album since 2003's One Heart, it features pop, R&B;, and rock inspired music. Dion has collaborated with John Shanks, ex-Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody, as well as Kristian Lundin, Peer Astrom, Linda Perry, Japanese singer Yuna Ito, and R&B; singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. Dion stated, "I think this album represents a positive evolution in my career ... I'm feeling strong, maybe a little gutsier than in the past, and just as passionate about music and life as I ever was." She launched her year-long worldwide Taking Chances Tour on February 14, 2008 in South Africa, performing 132 dates in stadiums and arenas across five continents.

Taking Chances Tour was a great success in the United States, reaching the Number 1 spot on the Billboard Boxscore and sold out every concert in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, she appeared on Idol Gives Back for a second year in a row. Céline Dion was nominated for 6 Juno Awards in 2008, leading the group of Canadians to receive this honour. Dion has added to her 53 previous nominations. Her nominations included Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year (for Taking Chances), Francophone Album of the Year (for D'elles) and Album of the Year (for both Taking Chances and D'elles). The following year, Dion was nominated for 3 Juno Awards including the Fan Choice Award, Song of the Year (for Taking Chances), and Music DVD of the Year (for Live in Las Vegas — A New Day...)

, Canada, August 2008.]] On August 22, 2008, Celine Dion presented a free show, exclusively francophone, outside on the Plains of Abraham, in Quebec City, Canada, for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. The celebration gathered approximately 490,000 people (total with TV broadcast). The concert, called Céline sur les Plaines, was released on DVD on November 11, 2008 in Quebec and was released on May 20, 2009 in France. The end of October saw the worldwide release of her first ever comprehensive English greatest hits album called , available in two different album formats.

In May 2009, Celine Dion was named the 20th best-selling artist of the decade in the United States and the 2nd best selling female artist of the decade in the United States, selling an estimated 17.57 million albums. In June 2009, Forbes Magazine reported that Celine Dion earned $100 million during 2008. In December 2009, Pollstar announced that Celine Dion was the best-selling solo touring act of the decade and the second best-selling touring act of the decade, only to the Dave Matthews Band. Dion grossed $522.2 million during the decade, a large sum of that coming from her five year residence at Caesars Palace. The documentary shows behind-the-scenes footage of Dion both onstage and offstage, along with footage of Dion with her family as they traveled with her.

In January 2010, The Los Angeles Times presented its annual list of the top ten largest earners of the year, and revealed that Celine Dion took the top spot for the entire decade, with $US747.9 million in total revenue from 2000-2009. The largest haul came in from ticket sales, totaling $522.2 million. A public online survey asked responders to vote for who they believe deserved the above-mentioned accolade. Specifically, Dion was the most popular musician in the female demographic, as well as among all Democrats, those who live in the eastern United States and southern United States, and those who have incomes between US$35k and US$74.9k.

New Las Vegas Show: 2010 - present

In an interview with People Magazine published in February 2010, Dion announced that she will be returning to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for a three-year residency for seventy shows a year, beginning 15 March 2011. She stated that the show will feature, "all the songs from my repertoire that people want to hear" and will contain a selection of music from classic Hollywood films. In September 2010, she released the single, "Voler", a duet with French singer, Michel Sardou. The song was later included on Sardou's album. In addition, it was announced in October 2010 that Dion wrote and composed a new song for Canadian singer, Marc Dupré entitled Entre deux mondes.

Personal life

Dion first met her husband and manager, Rene Angelil in 1980, when she was 12 and he was 38, after she and her mother sent him a demo tape of a song they had written. They began a relationship in 1987, and became engaged in 1991. They married on December 17, 1994, at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec. On January 5, 2000, Dion and Angelil renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas.

In May 2000, Dion had two small operations at a fertility clinic in New York to improve her chances of conceiving, after deciding to use in-vitro fertilisation after years of failed attempts to conceive. Their first child, Rene-Charles Angelil, was born on January 25, 2001. In May 2010, Angelil announced that Dion was 14 weeks pregnant with twins after a sixth treatment of in-vitro fertilisation. On Saturday, October 23, 2010, at 11:11 and 11:12am respectively, at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, Dion, by Caesarean section, gave birth to two healthy fraternal twins weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces and 5 pounds 4 ounces. The twins were named Eddy, after Dion's favorite Algerian songwriter Eddy Marnay, and Nelson, after former South African President Nelson Mandela. Dion appeared with her new born sons on the cover of the December 9, 2010 issue of the Canadian edition of Hello! magazine.

On 15 October 2010, Céline Dion was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Artistry and image

Dion grew up listening to the music of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Anne Murray, Barbra Streisand, and the Bee Gees, all of whom she would eventually collaborate with. Dion has also stated she grew up listening to artists such as Janis Joplin, the Doobie Brothers, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, but never got the chance to sing their genre of music. She also was inspired by fellow vocalist Whitney Houston, whom Dion has often been compared to. Her music has been influenced by numerous genres, including pop, rock, gospel, R&B; and soul, and her lyrics focus on themes of poverty, world hunger, and spirituality, with an emphasis on love and romance. After the birth of her child, her work also began to emphasize maternal bond and brotherly love.

Dion has faced considerable criticism from many critics, who state that her music often retreats behind pop and soul conventions, and is marked by excessive sentimentality. According to Keith Harris of Rolling Stone magazine, "[Dion's] sentimentality is bombastic and defiant rather than demure and retiring....[she] stands at the end of the chain of drastic devolution that goes Aretha-Whitney-Mariah. Far from being an aberration, Dion actually stands as a symbol of a certain kind of pop sensibility—bigger is better, too much is never enough, and the riper the emotion the more true." Dion's francophone releases, by contrast, tend to be deeper and more varied than her English releases, and consequently have achieved more credibility. In her French repertoire, Dion also adorns her vocal lines with more nuances and modulations, and the emotional intensity is "more tender and intimate." According to Luc Plamondon, who has written several songs for her, there are three singers: the Québécoise, the French, and the English. }}

Many critics have stated that Dion's involvement in the production aspect of her music is fundamentally lacking, which results in her work being overproduced Also, she helped to compose many of her earlier French songs, and had always tried to involve herself with the production and recording of her albums. On her first English album, which she recorded before she had a firm command of the English language, she expressed disapproval of the record, which could have been avoided if she had assumed more creative input. and parody, and is frequently impersonated on shows like MADtv, Saturday Night Live, South Park, Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes for her strong accent and on-stage movements. However, Dion has stated that she is unaffected by the comments, and is flattered that people take the time to impersonate her. After her interview, she stated, "When I do interviews with Larry King or the big TV shows like that, they put you on the spot, which is very difficult. I do have an opinion, but I'm a singer. I'm not a politician."

Voice

Celine Dion possesses a soprano vocal range that spans five octaves, and is often regarded as one of pop music's most influential voices. She has been described as a reigning "Queen of Pop" for her influence over the record industry during the 1990s, alongside other female entertainers, including Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. In a countdown of the "22 Greatest Voices in Music" by Blender Magazine and MTV, she placed ninth (sixth for a female), and she was also placed fourth in Cove magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists." Dion is often compared to Mariah Carey for her vocal style and to her idol, Barbra Streisand for her voice. She is often praised for her technical virtuosity.

The New York Times expressed similar sentiments, stating, "Ms. Dion [...] is a belter with a high, thin, slightly nasal, nearly vibratoless soprano and a good-sized arsenal of technical skills. She can deliver tricky melismas, produce expressive vocal catches and sustain long notes without the tiniest wavering of pitch. And as her duets [...] have shown, she is a reliable harmony voice." Charles Alexander of Time adds, "[Her] voice glides effortlessly from deep whispers to dead-on high notes, a sweet siren that combines force with grace."

Other activities

and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.]]

Dion became an entrepreneur with the establishment of her franchise restaurant, Nickels in 1990. She has since divested her interests in the chain and is no longer affiliated with Nickels, as of 1997. In 2003, Dion signed a deal with Coty, Inc. to release Celine Dion Parfums. Her latest fragrance, Pure Brilliance is scheduled to be released in September 2010. Since its inception, Celine Dion Parfums has grossed over $850 million in retail sales. In October 2004, Canada's flag carrier airline, Air Canada hired Dion as part of their promotional campaign to unveil new service products and an updated livery. "You and I", the theme song sung by Dion, was written by advertising executives working for Air Canada.

Dion has actively supported many charity organizations, worldwide. She has promoted the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) since 1982, and became the foundation's National Celebrity Patron in 1993. She has an emotional attachment to the foundation; her niece Karine succumbed to the disease at the age of sixteen. In 2003, Dion joined a number of other celebrities, athletes, and politicians, including Josh Groban and Yolanda Adams to support "World Children's Day", a global fundraising effort sponsored by McDonald's. The effort raised money from more than 100 nations and benefited orphanages and children's health organizations. In addition, Dion has been a major supporter of the T.J. Martell Foundation, the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and many health and educational campaigns. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Dion donated $1 million to the victims of the storm, and held a fund-raising event for the victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, which subsequently raised more than $1 million. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Dion donated $100,000 to China Children & Teenagers' Fund and sent a letter showing her consolation and support.

In 1999, Dion received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and also a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2004. She dedicated her star to her father, who died the month prior. In 2007, Celine Dion was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 5th richest woman in entertainment with an estimated net worth of US$250 million. She also received France's highest award, the Légion d'honneur, in May 2008. In August 2008, she received an honorary doctorate in music from the Université Laval in Quebec City. In October 2010, Dion was named a Goodwill Ambassador, a program created by the United Nations in 1999. She shared this accolade with Oscar-winner, Susan Sarandon.

Discography

Albums

English-language studio albums

1990: Unison

1992: Celine Dion

1993: The Colour of My Love

1996: Falling into You

1997: Let's Talk About Love

1998: These Are Special Times

2002: A New Day Has Come

2003: One Heart

2004: Miracle

2007: Taking Chances

French-language studio albums

1981: La voix du bon Dieu

1981: Céline Dion chante Noël

1982: Tellement j'ai d'amour...

1983: Les chemins de ma maison

1983: Chants et contes de Noël

1984: Mélanie

1985: C'est pour toi

1987: Incognito

1991: Dion chante Plamondon

1995: D'eux

1998: S'il suffisait d'aimer

2003: 1 fille & 4 types

2007: D'elles

Singles

Tours

Filmography

Touched by an Angel

The Nanny

All My Children

La fureur de Céline

Des fleurs sur la neige

Céline sur les Plaines

See also

List of awards received by Celine Dion

Celine Dion videography

List of best-selling music artists

Notes

References

Céline Dion. Artist direct. Retrieved on December 18, 2005.

"Celine Dion." Contemporary Musicians, Volume 25. Gale Group, 1999.

"Celine Dion." Newsmakers 1995, Issue 4. Gale Research, 1995.

Céline Dion Rock on the Net. Retrieved November 20, 2005.

Céline Dion The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 2, 2006

Céline Dion provided by VH1.com Retrieved August 16, 2005.

Dion extends long Las Vegas stint bbc news. com. Retrieved November 5, 2005.

Durchholz, Daniel. Review: One Heart. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Mo.: April 24, 2003. p. F.3

The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalist covemagazine.com Retrieved November 1, 2005.

Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Nineties (ISBN 0-89820-137-3)

The Journey so far celinedion.com. Retrieved August 16, 2005.

World Music Awards Diamond Award Retrieved November 1, 2005, (Search by year required)

Céline Dion's biography Biography Retrieved April 7, 2006.

Céline DTV Series TV Series Retrieved April 15, 2006.

Further reading

External links

CelineDion.com – Official website operated by Sony Music Canada (English, French).

Celine Dion YouTube Channel

Celine Dion at WN

[ Celine Dion] at Allmusic

Celine Dion at Billboard.com

FAO Goodwill Ambassador website

Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:1968 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Ballad musicians Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian child singers Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian philanthropists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian people of French descent Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian sopranos Category:Canadian voice actors * Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:English-language singers Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1988 Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:French-language singers Category:French Quebecers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:Légion d'honneur recipients Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Quebec Category:Officers of the National Order of Quebec Category:People from Montreal Category:Swiss Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:World Music Awards winners