Name	Tiësto
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Tijs Michiel Verwest
Alias	DJ Tiësto, Allure, Da Joker, Drumfire, Handover Circuit, Paradise In Dubs, Passenger, Roze, Steve Forte Rio, Stray Dog, Tom Ace, Wild Bunch
Born	January 17, 1969Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands
Genre	Electronic dance, trance, progressive trance, electro house, house
Occupation	Musician, disc jockey, record producer
Years active	1994–present
Label	Noculan (1994)Basic Beat (1994–1997)Lightning (1995–1996)XSV Music (1997)Black Hole (1997–2009)Ultra Records (2007-present)Musical Freedom (2009–present)
Associated acts	Current: Jedidja, Clear View, TaxigirlFormer: Gouryella, Kamaya Painters (more)
Url

Tiësto OON (; born Tijs Michiel Verwest on January 17, 1969) an alias which is a twist of his childhood nickname.

In 1997, he founded the label Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the Magik and In Search of Sunrise CD series. In 1999 and 2000 he collaborated with Ferry Corsten to create Gouryella. His 2000 remix of Delerium's "Silence" featuring Sarah McLachlan exposed him to more mainstream audiences. In 2001 he released his first solo album In My Memory which gave him several major hits that launched his career. He was named "World’s No.1 DJ" 3 consecutive times by DJ Magazine from 2002 through 2004.

Just after releasing his second studio album Just Be in 2004 at the Summer Olympics, he performed live at the opening ceremony in Athens, Greece, becoming the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympics. Tracks he made especially for the Olympics were mixed together and released as the mix compilation Parade of the Athletes later that year. In April 2007 Tiësto launched both his radio show Tiësto's Club Life on Radio 538 in the Netherlands and released his third studio album titled Elements of Life. The album reached number one on the Dutch album chart as well on "Billboard Top Electronic Albums" in the U.S. and received a nomination for a Grammy Award in 2008. Tiësto released his fourth studio album called Kaleidoscope in October 2009.

Life and musical career

Early life and career

Tijs Michiel Verwest was born in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands on January 17, 1969. He had an interest in music since the age of twelve. When he was fourteen he decided to dedicate more time to it and began DJing professionally at school parties. He then moved on to become a resident DJ between 1985 and 1994 at several clubs in the Netherlands after his manager and friend Wilfred encouraged him. However, it was at The Spock, a small club in Breda, where he was able to fine-tune his own style by playing in a separate room from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. on weekends. In the beginning of his career, as a DJ he played mostly New Beat and acid house.

In 1994, he began releasing material on Noculan Records' sub-labels Chemo and Coolman. During these years, he produced hardcore/gabber tracks under aliases such as Da Joker and DJ Limited. He was later discovered by the general manager of Rotterdam-based Basic Beat Recordings. In late 1994, he signed to Basic Beat where he met Arny Bink, Tiësto released records on the sub-label Trashcan, founded by Arny, and later created the Guardian Angel sub-label with Arny in which they introduced the popular Forbidden Paradise series. Meanwhile from 1995 to 1996 he released four extended plays on Bonzai Jumps and XTC, sub-labels of Lightning Records. In 1997, Tiësto joined his friend Yves Vandichel on his sub-label, DJ Yves, a division of the now defunct Human Resource label XSV Music. In the fall of 1997, both Arny and Tiësto decided to leave Basic Beat and create their own parent label, now known as Black Hole Recordings, Trashcan was discontinued and Guardian Angel continued releasing music until 2002. Through Black Hole, Tiësto released the Magik series and also created two major sub-labels in 1998; In Trance We Trust and SongBird.

From 1998 to 1999, Tiësto released music on Planetary Consciousness were he met A&R; Hardy Heller and invited him to release some records on Black Hole. Tiësto later included the In Search of Sunrise series on SongBird. In 1999, Tiësto joined forces with fellow Dutch deejay Ferry Corsten to create the trance based duo of Gouryella.

Late in 2000, Tiësto decided to concentrate on his personal work and left Corsten by himself to write and produce Gouryella's next single with John Ewbank, the record company was demanding more tracks and neither Tiësto or Ferry could work together at the time. Tiësto introduced Armin van Buuren, Johan Gielen and Ferry Corsten to the mainstream with his first compilations and the In Trance We Trust series. Summerbreeze became Tiësto's debut DJ mix album in the US with the help of a contract signed to Nettwerk.

In My Memory era (2001–2004)

Tiësto's fame started to rise in the early 2000s after his set at the first ID&T; Innercity party (), and the release of In My Memory, his first solo album released in 2001 which contained 10 singles and 5 major hits; The singles from the album were: "Lethal Industry" which was actually produced in 1999 and had only 3 copies released at that time, the track was officially released in 2001 which was remixed by Richard Durand in 2006 along with "Flight 643" which was another leading single that was later adapted with vocals by Suzanne Palmer and released as "643 (Love's on Fire)". Other tracks were "Obsession" in which Tiësto worked alongside Junkie XL, the instrumental tracks "Dallas 4PM" and "Suburban Train" with "Urban Train" as its B-Side which contained some vocals. The last singles to be released were "In My Memory" which is the title track for the album as it only received high ratings in the United States and the opening track "Magik Journey" which opened Tiësto in Concert (2003). On February 2, 2002 Tiësto played nine consecutive hours during the second edition of the Dutch Dimension festival. On February 27 he was awarded a Zilveren ('Silver') Harp music award. The same year he also received a Lucky Strike Dance Award in the category Best DJ Trance/Progressive. In August he became part of Moby's Area2 Tour. For eighteen days he travelled through the United States with artists such as Moby himself, but also David Bowie and Busta Rhymes. In January 2003 Tiësto received the annual Dutch Popprijs ('Pop Award') during the Noorderslag festival. After touring with Moby, Tiësto remixed two songs from him, "We Are All Made of Stars" and "Extreme Ways" in the same year, having "We Are All Made of Stars" reach #13 in the Hot Dance Club Play. In 2002 he released his first In Search of Sunrise mix to feature a place on its name, . On March 28, 2003; Tiësto, Dieselboy, Bad Boy Bill, and Noel Sanger joined the PlayStation2 Dual Play tour. Tiësto and Noel's appearance began on April 13 and ended on June 6.

His fame continued to skyrocket in the early 2000s, following his six-hour "Tiësto Solo" sets which he performed without other DJs or opening acts. This idea, of one DJ playing alone to a large crowd, was brought to its pinnacle when Tiësto was the first DJ to hold a solo concert in a stadium; on May 10, 2003, he performed for over 25,000 people in Arnhem's GelreDome. In addition to holding these two concerts for 35,000 of his fans, he held another concert for a crowd of 20,000 in Hasselt, Belgium the following week. It consists of 200+ minutes of performances with a second disc with special features, It includes a behind-the-scenes looking at The Making Of the event, the music video for his song "Traffic" and TV Commercials for the event. The second DVD has performances from Aqualung and violin player DJ Mason, Micha Klein and the Bulgarian Children of Orpheus choir. During this period, he was crowned as "No. 1. DJ in the World" by DJ Magazine (UK) in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Just Be era (2004–2007)

In 2004, he released his second artist album Just Be, which featured his first single "Traffic" which is the first non-vocal track to reach number one spot in the Dutch national charts for 23 years. The track "Sweet Misery" was originally written for Evanescence but it did not meet the deadline for the release of their album. In support to his Just Be album, he played at Breda, Eindhoven, Utrecht, and Amsterdam; these stops were later named . On May 20, 2004 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony]]

The Athens Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC) asked Tiësto to perform at the Olympic Games, making him the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympic Games at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Athens, where he played for 90 minutes. Tiësto flew to Athens in January 2004 to have a meeting with the ATHOC. His Tiësto in Concert DVD caught their attention, after which he was asked to write more tracks based on his opening tune "Adagio for Strings" which could fit in with the Olympic spirit and combine the classical with the modern age; They also requested that he play his own produced music. The first rehearsal was on Saturday August, 7, for an empty stadium; the second rehearsal was on Sunday August 8 with 35,000 volunteers, a lot of the people recognised some tracks like "Traffic" and "Adagio for Strings". The last rehearsal included almost 60,000 people in the stadium which was on Tuesday August 10, there were some technical problems, the mixer broke down, the monitors dropped out a couple of times and the music in the stadium was not continuously on the right volume.

During the parade on Friday, August 13, 2004, all participating nations introduced their athletes—10,500 in total There were 80,000 spectators, only 75,000 knowing about dance music. During the course of his performance the Dutch athletes started dancing in front of the DJ booth and had to be moved on by officials. The performance included new tracks produced especially for the Opening Ceremony and songs that were created to complement the spirit and theme of the ceremony. A condensed studio-recorded album of the songs played on the Olympic set was later released, including new songs specially composed for the occasion, entitled Parade of the Athletes in October 2004. In the liner notes, he noted the IOC requested that the music not contain any lyrics as they could be inadvertently misinterpreted.

In late 2004, he began his touring across Latin America, with his release of in which he gained influence from the sun and sand in summer 2002. The tour continued in 2005, and Tiësto performed live at Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Peru, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador and Colombia. Following the tours, was released in 2005, featuring a second CD for the first time in the In Search of Sunrise series.

In 2005, his Perfect Remixes Vol. 3 compilation was released through Warlock Records, containing ten tracks which were created during the beginning of his career, between those is Junkie XL, Mauro Picotto and The Roc Project. On August 20, 2005, Verwest took Tiësto in Concert to the US when he played to 16,000 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena with Cirque du Soleil dancers. For the second year in a row he performed live at a New Year's Eve/New Year's concert in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Orleans Arena to a sell-out crowd. Despite his four-city US tour being postponed due to the hurricane damage in New Orleans and Miami, playing such cities further expanded and cemented his popularity among mainstream audiences. This was surpassed later in summer 2007 when some 250,000 danced on Ipanema Beach, Brazil, becoming the second largest concert in history. BPM magazine has an annual poll in the US which is unveiled in the WMC, in 2005 Tiësto took the No. 1 spot. The influences of Los Angeles remained with him and would later influence his In Search of Sunrise compilation.

in Portrush, Northern Ireland on March 5, 2005]]

A wax sculpture of Tiësto was placed behind a turntable at Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam where visitors can mix Tiësto's music together. In the fall of 2005 he went on a very successful tour across Central and Eastern Europe where he played once in each country to crowds of 10,000 to 15,000 fans. Stops were made in Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Croatia, Poland and South Africa. The United States tour that was part of Tiësto in Concert was dwarfed by his appearance at Sensation White in 2006 where he performed to over 45,000 people in the world's biggest dance event in Amsterdam, Holland.

was released in 2006 which was certified Gold in Canada for sales over 50,000 copies. It also charted, peaking #34 in Canada and #59 in Austria. The compilation was launched in the Winter Music Conference at Mansion in South Beach Miami to support his release, Tiësto went on his In Search of Sunrise 5 Asia Tour for more than 3 weeks.

In September 2006, Tiësto was admitted to hospital after experiencing pain in his chest. He was diagnosed with pericarditis and subsequently had to cancel a number of shows. With the diagnosis, he was invited to support Dance4Life to help teens who are not aware of the risks of HIV/AIDS. He was chosen as the official ambassador for the Dance4Life foundation in May 2006, and released the song "Dance4Life" with Maxi Jazz to help spread the awareness of HIV/AIDS.

On April 6, 2007 Tiësto began presenting a new weekly two-hour radio show called Tiësto's Club Life on Dutch radio station Radio 538. It is syndicated worldwide and later released as a Podcast.

Elements of Life era (2007–2009)

in Amsterdam on March 16, 2007]]

On April 16, 2007, Tiësto released his third studio album Elements of Life, the album moved 73,000 units in its April release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album consists of rock, trance and experimental music, which shows the style Tiësto has grown throughout the years since his previous albums which contained lyrics, In My Memory and Just Be. Producer Brian Transeau collaborated with Tiësto in three tracks, he composed "Bright Morningstar" and "Sweet Things", he also performed the vocals in the single "Break My Fall". Together, they produced more tracks which were not released in the album, Tiësto has mentioned they would work again during the coming summer. A special release party was held at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on November 3, 2007 for .

His last three full-length releases broke the 70,000 mark, and the 2003 2CD compilation Nyana recently hit 87,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In support of the album, he embarked on his Elements of Life World Tour which had shows across the world. Tiësto's performance at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 10, 2007 was also sold out. The DVD was released in a party which was held on February 29, 2008 in London at the IndigO2 club.

Tiësto announced his residence at Privilege, officially recognised by the Guinness World Records as being the largest club in the world. He played in Ibiza every Monday, from July 7 until September 22. The gigs consisted of sets in the style of his In Search of Sunrise series. In 2007, he had released which was inspired by the island. The residencies also featured the performance of guest deejays, all selected by Tiësto, such as Chris Lake, Andy Duguid, Mat Zo, Cosmic Gate, Alex Kunnari and Sander van Doorn as well as exclusive appearances by Fonzerelli and Airbase.

in London on August 8, 2008]]

On April 28, Tiësto released , a recompilation of the Elements of Life album with all songs being replaced by remixed versions. In mid-2008, Tiësto announced his , which will be presented by Armani Exchange on May in support of his upcoming compilation On July 31, he was the first DJ to perform for 25,000 people at an exclusive outdoor concert in Victoria Park, London.

Kaleidoscope era (2009–present)

On October 6, 2009, Tiësto released his fourth studio album Kaleidoscope, which featured artists such as Priscilla Ahn, Calvin Harris, Tegan & Sara and Nelly Furtado. Unlike his earlier albums, which were all mostly trance, Kaleidoscope explores other electronic genres, and is considered Tiesto's most experimental album. The first single "I Will Be Here" featuring Sneaky Sound System being released in July 2009. In its first week, the album reached the Top 10 chart on iTunes.

To release the album he has set up a new record label called Musical Freedom after parting ways with Black Hole Recordings. Tiësto felt that his music was evolving in a new direction and his focus as an artist was moving away from what Black Hole was set up to support. His new tour, sharing the name of his new album, called Kaleidoscope World Tour commenced in late September.

Tiësto contributed songs to both DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2 video games and is a playable character in the second game. He contributed two exclusive mixes to the second game, and used content from DJ Hero 2 to create the official video for his single 'Speed Rail' - the world's first music video to be created entirely using in-game footage.

Tiësto has produced a trance-flavoured song on Memphis rap duo Three 6 Mafia's upcoming album Laws of Power called "Feel It," which features Flo Rida and Sean Kingston.

On March 16, 2010, Tiësto released his greatest hits album called Magikal Journey: The Hits Collection 1998-2008, a two disc album focusing on his most famous songs and remixes of his songs.

On April 7, 2010, Tiësto announced that he would start a new compilation series called A New Dawn with his own label Musical Freedom. In his interview Tiësto furthermore confirmed that he will no longer have any more involvement with Black Hole Recordings.

On August 31, 2010 was released, a remix album of his album Kaleidoscope.

On December 11, 2010, Tiësto was one of the headlining acts at ZoukOut 2010, which was held in Singapore at Siloso Beach, Sentosa Island.

Philanthropy

On January 6, 2005, Tiësto performed in an outdoor fundraiser in De Dam, Amsterdam. The event was free, and many famous Dutch artists like Dinand Woesthoff, BLØF, Acda & De Munnik, Di-rect, Berget Lewis, Xander de Buisonjé and Trijntje Oosterhuis were involved in it to provide financial aid to the people who suffered from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Southern and Southeastern Asia. All profits made of all TV commercials and live broadcast were given to the organisations collecting the relief funds.

In April 2006, Tiësto was named the official worldwide ambassador for the Dance4Life foundation promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS, as the foundation's ambassador he has helped the organisation with fundraising along with recording the track "Dance4life" that he recorded with Maxi Jazz from Faithless. The foundation consists on a better way of living with safe sex in exchange of entertainment to the young crowd. The song was a huge success, peaking for five weeks in #3 and eleven consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the Dutch Singles Chart, it also reached #5 in Belgium, #6 in Finland and also charting in the UK and Germany. With the successful release of Elements of Life, Tiësto and fashion designer Giorgio Armani collaborated together on a limited edition Tiësto T-shirt available at Armani Exchange stores. His single "Sweet Things" comes with the shirt including an exclusive "A|X Remix" by Tom Cloud which shows the great influence Tiësto has in fashion culture. The charity raised over US$300,000. On November 29, 2008 artists like Tiësto himself, Sied van Riel, Leon Bolier, Joop, and MC Gunner presented a concert at The Sand, Amsterdam promoted by Dance4Life, the sales from the event will go to the foundation to support next year's Schools4Life project.

Personal life

Until early 2006, Tiësto was in a relationship with Dutch model Monique Spronk. On January 10, 2008, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf announced that Tiësto and his girlfriend Stacey Blokzijl were going to get married on October 10, 2008 in Cartagena, Colombia. He proposed to her in December 2007 while they were visiting Mauritius. Tiësto cancelled his wedding for October 10, because he claimed to have a busy schedule and too little time for the preparations. During Christmas 2008, Blokzijl broke off the engagement due to the constant delays to their wedding.

Discography

;Studio albums

In My Memory (2001)

Just Be (2004)

Parade of the Athletes (2004)

Elements of Life (2007)

Kaleidoscope (2009)

Tours

2002: Area2 Tour

2004:

2005: Tiësto in Concert: North America Tour 2005

2005: Central Eastern European Tour 2005

2006: In Search of Sunrise 5 Asia Tour

2007–2008: Elements of Life World Tour

2008:

2009–2010: Kaleidoscope World Tour

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Tiësto

Tiësto's Club Life

References

External links

InTheBooth - official members-only fansite

Artist Site at Ultra Records

Category:Tiësto Category:1969 births Category:2004 Summer Olympics Category:Club DJs Category:Dutch dance musicians Category:Dutch DJs Category:Dutch electronic musicians Category:Dutch record producers Category:Dutch trance musicians Category:Eurodance musicians Category:Living people Category:People from Breda Category:Remixers Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Ultra Records artists Category:Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau

Name	Sarah McLachlan
Background	solo_singer
Img alt	A 37 year-old Caucasian woman wearing a long brown dress sings into a microphone with her hands upraised and eyes closed.
Birth name	Sarah Ann McLachlan
Born	January 28, 1968 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genre	Pop, adult contemporary
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, painter, executive producer
Voice type	Mezzo-soprano

External links

Official site

Interview with Sarah McLachlan

Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Arista Records artists Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Canadian adoptees Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian mezzo-sopranos Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop pianists Category:Canadian harpists Category:Canadian keyboardists Category:Canadian music video directors Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian multi-instrumentalists Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent Category:Feminist artists Category:Ballad musicians Category:Gemini Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:Members of the Order of British Columbia Category:Musicians from Nova Scotia Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People from Vancouver Category:People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:Animal rights advocates Category:Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University alumni

Name	Nelly Furtardo
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Born	December 02, 1978
Origin	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, ukulele, trombone
Vocal range	Mezzo-soprano (Ab3-G5)
Genre	Pop, folk, pop rock, Latin pop, R&B;, dance-pop, hip hop, trip-hop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, actress
Years active	1996–present
Label	DreamWorks, Geffen, MMG, Universal Music Latino
Url
Associated acts	Juanes, Justin Timberlake, Tiësto, Timbaland, K'naan, Julieta Venegas, Alex Cuba

Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She has sold 20 million albums worldwide. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Furtado came into the public eye in 2000 with the release of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which featured her breakthrough Grammy Award-winning single "I'm Like a Bird". After becoming a mother and releasing the less commercially successful Folklore (2003), she returned to prominence in 2006 with the release of Loose and its hit singles "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and "Say It Right". In 2009, she released her first full-length Spanish album Mi Plan, which won a Latin Grammy Award in 2010.

Early life

Furtado was born on December 2, 1978, in Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado, both emigrants from the Azores. She was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. Her siblings are Michael Anthony and Lisa Anne. She was raised in a Roman Catholic home.

At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese. Furtado's first public performance was when she sang a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. She began playing musical instruments at the age of nine, learning the trombone, ukulele and — in later years — the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.

Music career

1996–99: Musical beginnings

During a visit with her sister Lisa Anne in Toronto, the summer after eleventh grade, Furtado met Tallis Newkirk, member of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination. She contributed vocals to their 1996 album, Join the Ranks, on the track "Waitin' 4 The Streets". After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved to Toronto to reside with her sister Lisa Anne. The following year, she formed Nelstar, a trip hop duo with Newkirk. Ultimately, Furtado felt the trip-hop style of the duo was "too segregated" and believed it did not represent her personality or allow her to showcase her vocal ability. Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton, who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West. The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records, where she was signed by A&R; executive Beth Halper, partner of Garbage drummer and record producer Butch Vig. Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the .

2000–02: Whoa, Nelly!

Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the "Burn in the Spotlight Tour" and also appeared on Moby's Area:One tour.

The album was an international success, supported by three international singles: "I'm like a Bird", "Turn off the Light", and "...On the Radio (Remember the Days)". It received four Grammy nominations in 2002, and her debut single won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's work was also critically acclaimed for her innovative mixture of various genres and sounds. Slant Magazine called the album "a delightful and refreshing antidote to the army of 'pop princesses' and rap-metal bands that had taken over popular music at the turn of the millennium". The sound of the album was strongly influenced by musicians who had traversed cultures and "the challenge of making heartfelt, emotional music that's upbeat and hopeful". According to Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly! had sold six million copies worldwide as of August 2006. Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage. The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to the Paul Oakenfold's song "The Harder They Come" from the album Bunkka and also made the song "These words are my own". She also had a collaboration with Colombian artist Juanes, in the song "Fotografia" where she showed her diversity of yet another language. Furtado was also featured in "Breathe" from Swollen Members "Monsters in the Closet" release; the video for "Breathe," directed by Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane, won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Video and MuchVIBE Best Rap Video.

2003–05: Folklore

Furtado's second album, Folklore, was released in November 2003. The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single "Força" (meaning "strength"/ "power" or "you can do it!" in Portuguese), the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed this song in Lisbon at the championship's final, in which the Portugal national team played. The lead single is "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the second single is the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound, as well as underpromotion from her label DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold to Universal Music Group. In 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists including Furtado, was absorbed into Geffen Records.

"Powerless (Say What You Want)" was later remixed, featuring Colombian rocker Juanes, who had previously worked with Furtado on his track "Fotografía" ("Photograph"). The two would collaborate again on "Te Busqué" ("I searched for you"), a single from Furtado's 2006 album Loose.

2006–08: Loose

Furtado's third album, named Loose, after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album, was released in June 2006. In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B;, hip hop, and 1980s music. Furtado herself describes the album's sound as punk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral". with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music, and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising". Some have labeled her a "sellout" for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favour of hip hop and R&B;, while others have accused her of attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.

Loose has become the most successful album of Furtado's career so far, as it reached number one not only in Canada and the United States, but also several countries worldwide. The album produced her first number-one hit in the United States, "Promiscuous", as well as her first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, "Maneater". The single "Say It Right" eventually became Furtado's most successful song worldwide, due to its huge success in Europe and in the United States, where it became her second number-one hit. "All Good Things (Come to an End)" became her most successful song in Europe, topping single charts in numerous countries there.

On February 16, 2007, Furtado embarked on the "Get Loose Tour". She returned in March 2007 to her hometown of Victoria to perform a concert at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. In honour of her visit, local leaders officially proclaimed March 21, 2007, the first day of spring, as Nelly Furtado Day. After the tour, she released her first live DVD/CD named Loose the Concert. On April 1, 2007, Furtado was a performer at and host of the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year. She also appeared on stage at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007, where she performed "Say It Right", "Maneater", and "I'm like a Bird".

In 2007, Furtado and Justin Timberlake were featured on Timbaland's single "Give It to Me", which became her third number-one single in the U.S. and second in the UK. In late 2008, Furtado collaborated with James Morrison on a song called "Broken Strings" for his album "Songs for You, Truths for Me". The single was released on December 8 and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart in early January.

In 2007, Furtado leaked plans to Flare regarding a song she was set to duet for Kylie Minogue's return. However, the song was not featured on her album X but Minogue says the aforementioned song "is still outstanding" and has plans to pursue it. She said "I am looking forward to getting in the studio and doing it because I know Nelly and I would have a great time together". The track hasn't appeared on Minogue's 2010 album Aphrodite as well.

In 2008, she sang with the Italian group "Zero Assoluto" the ballad Win or Lose - Appena prima di partire, released in Italy, France and Germany and whose video was shot in Barcelona.

On December 31, 2008, El Diario La Prensa posted an article that Furtado is planning on recording songs in English and Spanish for her upcoming album and that it is "expected to launch on September 15, 2009".

2009–present: Mi Plan and The Best of Nelly Furtado

Furtado made a guest appearance on Flo Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S., which was released on March 31, 2009. The track is titled "Jump". Furtado has also made a guest appearance on Divine Brown's Love Chronicles, co-writing and singing on the background of the song "Sunglasses".

In early March, a song called "Gotta Know" leaked onto the Internet and was said to be Nelly's. As response, on March 4, 2009, Furtado stated on her MySpace blog that the song is not hers and that she is recording two new albums: one in Spanish, and the other in Portuguese. Nelly Furtado announced via the Perez Hilton blog, that the Spanish album would be titled Mi Plan and the first single titled "Manos Al Aire" (in English, meaning "Hands in the Air"). The album will have twelve new songs, all in Spanish, as stated by Nelly in a message left in her official website The second single "Más" was released on July 21, as it was announced on Nelly's official myspace. The third single "Mi Plan" (ft. Alex Cuba) was released on iTunes on August 11, 2009 and "Bajo Otra Luz" (ft. Julieta Venegas and La Mala Rodriguez) is the fourth and final countdown single and it was released on September 1, 2009. She also invited the Mexican star Alejandro Fernández to sing a duet song named "Sueños" ("Dreams"). The video for "Manos al Aire" premiered on July 29 on It's On with Alexa Chung. On November 11, 2010 Furtado won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album for Mi Plan. She is the first Canadian to win a Latin Grammy award.

Furtado made a guest appearance on Canadian singer k-os's new album Yes!, collaborating alongside Saukrates on the song "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman," released in early July 2009. Nelly Furtado will make a guest appearance on Tiësto's single "Who Wants to Be Alone" on his new album Kaleidoscope which was released on October 6, 2009.

Furtado also recorded "Manos al Aire" in Simlish for the new Sims 3 expansion, World Adventures

On February 12, 2010, Nelly Furtado sang in a duet with Bryan Adams at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. The Song was called "Bang The Drum" released on EMI album Sounds Of Vancouver 2010 (a commemorative album). On February 14, 2010, she appeared again at the Winter Olympic Victory Ceremony after the awarding of the medals for the athletes. On April 13, 2010, Nelly announced on her Twitter account that Lifestyle, her fourth English studio album, would not be released during the summer of 2010 and that she will go on a second leg of her Mi Plan Tour where she will get more inspiration for her upcoming album Lifestyle. Nelly Furtado is featured in a new song by N.E.R.D. called Hot N Fun. She also participated in the Young Artists for Haiti song, in which many Canadian artists came together and sang K'naan's inspirational song Wavin' Flag to raise money for the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

To promote the tour in Brazil, on March 24, 2010, Furtado made a "VIP Pocket Show" in reality show program Big Brother Brasil 10 from Rede Globo, the country's leading channel. She performed 5 songs from the tour in acoustic versions ("Maneater", "I'm Like A Bird", "Try", "Say It Right" and "Turn Off The Light"). Nelly Furtado participated in the live DVD recording of the Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo in Madison Square Garden on September 4, 2010. Nelly Furtado sang two new songs: "Girlfriend" and "Night is Young" on her concert in Warsaw, Poland.

|source=— Furtado explaining song selected on The Best of Nelly Furtado.}}

Furtado was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in October 2010.

On October 26 2010, Furtado released Mi Plan Remixes featuring 12 tracks of remixed hits from "Mi Plan." This album included the Original Spanglish Version of "Fuerte," her final single from Mi Plan.

Furtado released her first greatest hits album entitled The Best of Nelly Furtado on November 16, 2010. The album's first single, "Night is Young" (originally "Free") premiered on BBC Radio 1 on October 3, 2010. The song was first released for digital download on October 12, 2010 in Australia. Three new songs will be on the greatest hits album, including "Night Is Young," another collaboration Salaam Remi entitled "Girlfriend in the City," and the Lester Mendez produced track, left over from the Loose sessions, "Stars."

Other work

Record label

She has formed her own record label, Nelstar, in conjunction with Canadian independent label group Last Gang Labels. The first act signed to Nelstar is Fritz Helder & the Phantoms. Furtado released her first Spanish single "Manos al Aire" on the new label.

Philanthropy

For World AIDS Day in 2006, Furtado took part in an AIDS awareness concert in South Africa hosted by MTV, BET, and Nike; fellow performers included Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson Furtado also hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured guests Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. She cites diverse influences, which include soul-trip/hip hop artists such as De La Soul, TLC, world music artists Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Amalia Rodrigues, as well as Caetano Veloso, Juanes, Jeff Buckley, Esthero, Björk, Cornershop, Oasis, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins and Beck.

In June 2006, in an interview with Genre magazine, when asked if she had "ever felt an attraction to women", Furtado replied "Absolutely. Women are beautiful and sexy". Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality, but in August 2006, she stated that she was "straight, but very open-minded". In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down US$ 500,000 to pose fully clothed in Playboy.

She was mentioned on the November 19, 2009, episode of the American version of "The Office".

It was reported that Furtado was engaged to Cuban sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellón. They worked together on Loose. On October 17, 2008, it was reported in People Magazine which Furtado confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that she married Castellón on July 19, 2008.

Discography

Whoa, Nelly! (2000)

Folklore (2003)

Loose (2006)

Mi Plan (2009)

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Genre ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2001 | Roswell | Herself | American Science fiction Television series | Performed "I'm like a Bird" |- | 2006 | Floribella | Herself | Portuguese Soap Opera | Performed "Maneater" |- | 2007 | One Life to Live | Herself | American Soap Opera |}

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Nelly Furtado

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1978 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:People from Victoria, British Columbia Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian multi-instrumentalists Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Canadian people of Portuguese descent Category:Portuguese-language singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Trip hop musicians Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music

Name	Maxi Jazz
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Maxwell Fraser
Born	June 15, 1957
Origin	Brixton, London, England
Genre	Rap, dance, trip hop
Occupation	Rapper-songwriter
Years active	1983–present
Label	Cheeky Records & Columbia Records (both with Faithless)
Associated acts	Faithless1 Giant Leap
Url	http://www.maxijazz.co.uk/ http://www.faithless.co.uk/

Maxwell Alexander Fraser (born 15 June 1957 in Brixton, London), better known as Maxi Jazz, is an English rapper. He is best known as the lead vocalist of British band Faithless.

Biography

Maxi founded The Soul Food Cafe System as a DJ in 1984, having discovered hip hop a year earlier. He transferred this sound to pirate radio station LWR in 1987.

In 1989 The Soul Food Cafe Band was picked up by Tam Tam Records, which is the dance wing of Savage Records), and the album Soul Food Café was recorded. Maxi founded Namu Records in 1992 in order to release the band's material in the form of three EP's and the band toured as a support act to various artists, including Jamiroquai in Amsterdam; Soul II Soul in Barcelona; Galliano in Switzerland; and Jason Rebello in Brazil. After the band dissolved, Maxi worked throughout Europe, and took time out to collaborate with Jah Wobble on the Invaders Of The Heart album, followed by live dates with the Wobble Collective.

Maxi met Rollo Armstrong in a studio and went on to form Faithless, together with Jamie Catto and Sister Bliss. As a Soka Gakkai Buddhist, Maxi's strong beliefs and the band's own strong individual beliefs, contrast with the name 'Faithless', which was chosen during the writing of the song "Salva Mea". Rollo had asked Maxi to write a song about frustration, which was something to which Maxi could relate from his own experiences. The subject matter of Maxi's lyrics range from upbeat to melancholic. His work covers a range of personal and social issues, including current affairs and social commentary.

In 2006 Maxi provided the vocals for the hit Tiësto track "Dance4life". He also sang alongside Robbie Williams on the single "My Culture" from the collaborative album 1 Giant Leap.

Maxi celebrated his 50th birthday on June 15, 2007 in Hyde Park, London by headlining the O2 Wireless Festival 2007. In the encore he was greeted by thousands of fans singing happy birthday.

Cars and racing

Maxi is very fond of cars and his collection was featured on Sky One's Vroom Vroom motoring show. He owns a Subaru Impreza P1, a Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000, a Ford Sierra Cosworth and a Marcos LM500 R.

Maxi founded Maxi Jazz Racing in 2000 when he asked Rae Claydon to enter him in the Ford Fiesta Championship for the 2000 season but was only able to race occasionally due to his musical obligations.

On Sunday 9 December 2001 Maxi was involved in a serious car accident, causing several of Faithless's UK tour dates to be postponed. In 2005 he raced a Ginetta, and in 2006 and 2007 has been racing a Porsche 997 in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.

He is currently banned from driving on highways in the United Kingdom, having accumulated sufficient points under the penalty points scheme.

Personal life

He lives in West Norwood, in the London Borough of Lambeth and supports Crystal Palace football club. He advocates the work of the Burma Campaign UK and also supports the Cultural Boycott of Israel. He is also a Buddhist.

Discography

With Faithless

With 1 Giant Leap

2002 "My Culture" (with 1 Giant Leap and Robbie Williams),

Solo

2006 "Dance4life" (with Tiësto), #3 NL, #5 BEL, #10 FIN

External links

Maxi Jazz Racing

References

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:English rappers Category:English Buddhists Category:Members of Soka Gakkai Category:Black British musicians Category:British GT Championship drivers Category:English trance musicians

Name	Kaskade
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Ryan Raddon
Born	February 25, 1971
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre	House, deep house
Occupation	Disc jockey, record producer
Years active	2001–present
Label	Om Records, Ultra Records
Associated acts
Url

Ryan Raddon (born February 25, 1971 in Evanston, Illinois), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ and record producer. On October 27, 2010, DJ Magazine announced the results of their annual Top 100 DJ Poll, with Ultra Records Kaskade placed at #35.

History

Kaskade was born in 1971 in Evanston, Illinois. He is the brother of Rich Raddon. He attended Brigham Young University in Provo, UT from 1989-1990 honing his DJ skills in his dorm room at DT. He later moved to Salt Lake City in 1992 to attend the University of Utah. During this time he owned and operated a local record store, Mechanized Records. In May 2000, Kaskade moved to San Francisco and began working as an A&R; assistant for Om Records. Releasing his first single "What I Say" on the label in 2001. Ryan is from Chicago, has lived in New York, LA, Tokyo, and San Francisco which earned him the nickname "Big City". Ryan is fluent in Japanese, and is currently married to Naomi Raddon.

In the Moment saw Kaskade's first top 10 single with "Stepping' Out" reaching #5 on Billboard Magazine’s Hot Dance Club Play chart and #6 on Dance Radio Airplay. The fourth single to be released from the album, "Everything," reached #1 on Billboard Magazine’s Hot Dance Club Play.

Upon signing with Ultra Records in late 2006, Kaskade subsequently left Om Records and now only releases with the former.

Most recently Kaskade has worked with Canadian house/electronic DJ/artist "Deadmau5" to produce tracks on Strobelite Seduction, including the first single (released as an EP) Move For Me. The single became his fifth top ten hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart, reaching the number one position in its September 6, 2008 issue. It also gave Kaskade his first number one single on this chart. The dance single has become a crossover hit, managing to reach number 71 on the Canadian Hot 100 as of February 14, 2009. The follow up single, "Angel On My Shoulder", also found success on the dance chart, placing at number 5 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart. "I Remember", another collaboration with Deadmau5, became his first UK hit, peaking inside the top 15 on the Uk Singles Chart. The video-clip which accompanied "I Remember" was filmed in Manchester, England. The single became his second chart topper on the Billboard dance chart. In 2010, he added another number one Billboard Hot Dance Airplay track to his credit with "Dynasty", featuring Haley Gibby on vocals.

Other projects

Kaskade is also an active member of Summer Of Space, Late Night Alumni and The Sellars. Remixed Late Night Alumni's "Empty Streets", which is found on Tiësto's "In Search of Sunrise 5" mix. Late Night Alumni released their second album in November 2009 titled "Of Birds, Bees, Butterflies, Etc."

Kaskade is one of 9 artists who participated in thetruth.com’s Remix Project, where he remixed the Sunny Side song “Smaller Babies”.

Kaskade also had a comprehensive video outlining his creative process and musical background created about him. It was featured on an online television show called The Craft .

On May 30, 2010 Kaskade becomes a resident DJ for a daytime pool party at the Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas, NV. The party is titled "Kaskade Sundays."

Personal life

Kaskade is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served for two years as a missionary in Japan. Despite being a Latter-day Saint, Kaskade voiced his opposition to Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in California, citing his sympathies for the gay community and their role in propelling of dance music into popularity.

Discography

Albums

It's You, It's Me (2003)

In the Moment (2004)

The Calm (2006) (available online only)

Love Mysterious (2006)

Here & Now (2006)

Strobelite Seduction (2008)

Dynasty (2010)

Singles and EPs

"What I Say" (2001)

"Gonna Make It" (2001)

"I Feel Like" (2002)

"True" (2004)

"Keep On" (2004)

"Steppin' Out" (2004)

"Soundtrack to the Soul" (2004)

"The Gift" (2004)

"To Do" (2004)

"Sweet Love" (2004)

"Everything" (2005)

"Safe" (2005)

"Be Still" (2006)

"Stars Align" (2006)

"In This Life" (2007)

"Sorry" (2007)

"Sometimes" (2007)

"4 AM" (2008)

"Move for Me" (with Deadmau5) (2008)

"I Remember" (with Deadmau5) (2008)

"Angel On My Shoulder" (2008)

"Step One Two" (2008)

"I Remember" (Remixes) (with Deadmau5) (2009)

''So Far Away" (with Seamus Haji & Emily Haines)

"Dynasty" (feat. Haley) (2010)

"Fire In Your New Shoes" (feat. Dragonette) (2010)

Mixes

Sounds of Om 3 (2002)

San Francisco Sessions 4 (2003)

House of Om 3 (2005)

Bring the Night (2007)

The Grand (2009)

The Electric Daisy Carnival CD (2010)

dance.love (2010)

Remixes

Afro-Mystik - Natural (Kaskade Roots Remix)

Amma - Heartbeat (Kaskade Mix)

Amma - On My Own (Kaskade Mix)

Andy Caldwell - I Can't Wait (Kaskade Remix)

The Beard featuring Phillipa - For Me (Kaskade Mix)

Britney Spears - Break the Ice (Kaskade Remix)#1 Billboard Hot Dance Play

Britney Spears - Gimme More (Kaskade Remix)#1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play

Britney Spears - Womanizer (Kaskade Remix) #2 Billboard Hot Dance Airplay

Cabin Crew - Can't Stop It (Kaskade Remix)

Chieko Kinbara - If You Only (Kaskade Original Mix)

Chieko Kinbara - Stay with Me (Kaskade Remix)

Colette - Didn't Mean To Turn You On (Kaskade Extended Mix)

Colette - Hypnotized (Kaskade Extended Mix)

Colette - What Will She Do For Love (Kaskade's Big Room Mix)

Conjure One - Face the Music (Kaskade Club Mix)

Crystal Method featuring Emily Haines - Come Back Clean (Kaskade Remix) ''#11 Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs

David Morales featuring Tamra Keenan - Here I Am (Kaskade Remix)#1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play

Dissent - Bleeding Together (Kaskade Remix)

DJ Mark Farina - To Do (Kaskade's Carry On mix)

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream (Kaskade Club Remix)

Esmée Denters - Outta Here (Kaskade Club Remix)

Floetry - SupaStar (Kaskade Vocal Mix)

Genki Rockets - Breeze (Kaskade Remix)

Haley - This Is How It Goes (Kaskade's Grand Club Edit)

Jay-J & Mark Grant - Love Is (Kaskade Mix)

J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science - Rainfall (Kaskade Remix)

Jes - Imagination (Kaskade Club Remix)#1 Billboard Hot Dance Airplay

Joslyn - Funk 2 Night (Kaskade Remix)

Jyongri - Lullaby For You (Kaskade Mix)

Justin Timberlake - LoveStoned (Kaskade Remix) #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play

Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You (Kaskade Full Vox Mix)

Kaskade - Baby Mine (Dumbo)

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (Kaskade Club Mix)

Keri Hilson - Slow Dance (Kaskade Remix)

King Kooba - If I Could (Kaskade More Pop Mix)

Koda Kumi - Run For Your Life (Kaskade Remix)

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (Kaskade Remix) ''#1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs

Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce - Telephone (Kaskade Remix)

Late Night Alumni - Another Chance (Kaskade's 'Homage to Roger' Remix)

Late Night Alumni- I Knew You When (Kaskade Mix)

LeAnn Rimes - What I Cannot Change (Kaskade Remix)#1 Billboard Hot Dance Airplay

Little Boots - Remedy (Kaskade Club Remix)

Livvi Franc - Now I'm That Bitch (Kaskade Remix)#1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play

Mark Farina - Cali Spaces (Kaskade Remix)

Mark Farina - To Do (Kaskade Carry On Mix)

Mocean Worker - Chick a Boom Boom Boom (Kaskade Remix)

Naked Music NYC - If I Fall (Kaskade Soulshower Mix)

Natalie Bassingthwaighte - Alive (Kaskade Remix)

Nelly Furtado - All Good Things (Come To An End)(Kaskade Remix) #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play

Neon Trees - Animal (Kaskade Mix)

Paul Van Dyk - Home (Kaskade Remix)

Paris Hilton - Nothing In This World #12 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play

Peyton - I'll Rise (Kaskade Remix)

Plumb - In My Arms (Kaskade Extended Remix)

Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play.

Rasmus Faber - Are You Ready (Kaskade Remix)

Rithma - Builder (Kaskade Let's Make Out Mix)

Rithma - Love & Music (Kaskade Remix)

Roomsa feat. Lady Sarah - This Girl (Kaskade Remix)

Samantha James Waves of Change (Kasekade Extended Remix)

Seal - Amazing #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play (two weeks)

Summer Of Space - Hearts Reaction (Kaskade Electro Rubb)

Summer Of Space - With You (Kaskade Does Rock Mix)

Terri Walker - Guess You Didn't Love Me (Kaskade Remix)

truth® - Smaller Babies (Kaskade Remix)

West Magnetic - Give It Up For Free (Kaskade's Vision Mix)

The World's Most Beautiful I'm A Lot Like You (Kaskade's Vocal Mix)

See also

Om Records

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Notes and references

External links

Official Site

Artist Site at Ultra Records

Fan Site full of information

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Club DJs Category:Remixers Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:American dance musicians Category:American house musicians Category:Mormon missionaries in Japan Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Ultra Records artists

Name	Calvin Harris
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Adam Richard Wiles
Birth date	January 17, 1984
Birth place	Dumfries, Scotland
Genre	Electropop, electro house, , synthpop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician
Years active	1999–present
Label	Fly Eye, Columbia
Url

Calvin Harris (born Adam Richard Wiles on 17 January 1984) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, record producer and DJ. His gold-selling debut album, I Created Disco, was released in 2007 and contained the top ten singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls". He has written and produced records for other recording artists including Kylie Minogue's X and his number-one collaboration with English rapper Dizzee Rascal, "Dance wiv Me".

His second studio album Ready for the Weekend was released on 17 August 2009 and reached number one in the UK Album Charts on 23 August. It includes the chart-topper "I'm Not Alone", the UK top five hit "Ready for the Weekend", which was released on 10 August, and the track "Flashback", which was released as the third single from the album on 2 November 2009. The fourth single from the album, "You Used to Hold Me", was released on 8 February 2010 as a CD single and download. A remix album titled L.E.D. Festival was released in July 2010 as a free album in the August issue of Mixmag.

Biography

1984–2006: Early life and career

Harris was born in Dumfries, Scotland. He states that his childhood hero was football star Steve McManaman, but because he could not play [the game] nor have McManaman's 'curly hair', music was the next best option for a career. He was first attracted to electronic music in his teens and was recording bedroom demos by 1999. According to an interview with News of the World, all the while he created music, he started becoming an antisocial person, which affected his personality. His earliest success was when he was 21: the songs "Da Bongos" and "Brighter Days" were released as a 12" club single and CD-EP by the Prima Facie label in early 2002 under the name Stouffer.

Harris signed contracts with EMI (publishing) and Sony BMG (recording) in 2006, after his music had been discovered on the social networking website MySpace. Harris had recently moved back from London to his hometown of Dumfries because he was unable to find a job. He had only managed to release one song in 2004 with artist, Ayah Marar. The song appears on The Unabombers' 'Electric Soul 2'.

2006–07: I Created Disco

Harris' first album I Created Disco was released on 29 June 2007. The album contained uptempo electroclash songs that were influenced by music from the 1980s. To promote I Created Disco, Harris embarked on a tour of the UK, supporting Faithless and Groove Armada.

The first release from the album was "Vegas" on limited edition vinyl and the first charted single released from the album was "Acceptable in the 80s", a tribute to the style and culture of the decade. The song reached the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for fifteen weeks. "The Girls" was the album's second single, it reached the top 5 in the UK singles chart. The fourth release from the album was "Merrymaking at My Place" which reached number 43 in the UK chart. His song "Colours" is featured on the Kia Motors ad for the Soul. In 2007, Dragonette released a cover of Harris' "The Girls" retitled "The Boys", during which the band alludes directly to him: "I even like those scrawny, Scottish, into pop music but not like sorta like pop dance electro music."

In 2007 Harris recorded with Kylie Minogue. He had caught Minogue's attention after his recordings had been passed on to her by another record producer.

2008–present: Ready for the Weekend

On 3 April 2008, Harris stated that the only existing copy of his upcoming album work was lost when his laptop was misplaced during the baggage handling problems at the opening of London Heathrow Terminal 5. He later stated on the BBC's Glastonbury Festival 2008 coverage that he got his baggage back including the album within a few days. Harris recently admitted however that this was a lie as the album was not in his luggage at all, and that he hoped that what he said would buy him some more time to finish recording the LP. Harris' second studio album was released on 17 August 2009 in the United Kingdom. The first single, "I'm Not Alone" was exclusively performed in Sydney, on New Year's Eve. The new single debuted on BBC Radio 1 on 23 January 2009, on the Pete Tong radio show and was released in April 2009. It debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 1 on Easter Sunday on downloads alone, then stayed on top for a second week after the physical format had been released. On its release his single "Ready for the Weekend" went to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.

Harris will be touring around the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and the United States promoting his new singles and his new album. His single "Ready for the Weekend" features singer Mary Pearce. Other tracks included on the album are "Worst Day" featuring Izza Kizza and "Yeah Yeah Yeah La La La" used in a Coca-Cola advertisement. In June 2009, NME announced that Harris' second album, Ready for the Weekend would be released on 17 August 2009. His songs "Holiday" and "Ready for the Weekend" are listed on radio line-ups. Excerpts from "I'm Not Alone" were used in Madonna's remixed version of "Frozen" in her Sticky & Sweet Tour. Also excerpts of "I'm Not Alone" are used on the 2009 live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) on ITV4.

On 7 June 2009, Harris appeared at the Summertime Ball at the Emirates Stadium and performed "I'm Not Alone", "The Girls" and "Acceptable in the 80s". He then brought on Dizzee Rascal and Chrome and performed "Dance Wiv Me". Harris will make a guest appearance on Tiësto's song "Century" on his new album Kaleidoscope which was released on 6 October 2009. On 15 August, Harris made an appearance on the first Soccer AM show of the season. Harris performed at Wembley Stadium on 25 October 2009 as part of the pre-game entertainment for the NFL International Series game between the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On 14 November 2009, Harris invaded the stage of British TV talent show The X Factor during a performance by John & Edward holding a pineapple on his head and bending over to point at his rear end. He was subsequently evicted from the studio by the security team and told not to return to have his say on the ITV2 programme The Xtra Factor—in which he was to have been a "Celebrity Guest". He later apologised on Twitter, saying he was a fan of the boys, "At the end of the day, I had a pineapple on my head. Sorry if I caused anyone embarrassment. PS, I love Jedward". On 16 November however, Harris spoke to The Chris Moyles Show and revealed that he had been "inspired to make a mockery of the show", as well as stating that "If you look at music it's a frightening stranglehold that Simon Cowell has got over the entire music chart in the UK at the moment." On the same day, John and Edward's "mentor" Louis Walsh, appearing on The Paul O'Grady Show, accused Harris of trying to "cash in" on John & Edward's fame, and claimed to not know who he was. On 28 November 2009, Harris was a guest at 1xtra Live and appeared on stage with Dizzee Rascal as he sang his single "Dance Wiv Me."

On 15–25 January 2010, Harris played at the 2010 Big Day Out which is situated in select major capital cities in Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. On 30 May 2010, he performed at Evolution Festival, UK in Newcastle upon Tyne, Quayside which included performances such as Tinchy Stryder and Paolo Nutini. On July 24, 2010 Calvin Harris Played At Nottingham Splendour. On July 31, 2010 Calvin Harris headlined at the Stockton International Riverside Festival in Stockton-on-Tees.

In July 2010, Harris released a mix, titled L.E.D. Festival (short for L.E.D. Festival Presents... Calvin Harris). It was available for one month as a free covermount CD in Mixmag.

Harris appeared at the 10th birthday of Our:House in Auckland, New Zealand, on 26 November 2010, alongside Afrojack, and performed an hour long DJ set at Australia's 'Steresonic' festival alongside Tiesto, Carl Cox, Afrojack and Major Lazer in November/December 2010, in several major Australian cities including Sydney and Melbourne.

Discography

Studio albums

2007: I Created Disco

2009: Ready for the Weekend

Remixes

Awards and nominations

{| class=wikitable !Year !Award !Category !Title !Result |- |rowspan="2"|2007 |BT Digital Music Awards |Best Electronic Artist or DJ |– | |- |Q Awards |Best Breakthrough Artist |– | |- |rowspan="3"|2008 |Xfm New Music Award |– |I Created Disco | |- |Shortlist Music Prize |– |I Created Disco | |- |Popjustice £20 Music Prize |– |"Dance Wiv Me" | |- |rowspan="5"|2009 |The Music Producers Guild Awards |Best Remixer |– | |- |2009 BRIT Awards |British Single |"Dance Wiv Me" | |- |NME Awards |Best Dancefloor Filler |"Dance Wiv Me" | |- |Ivor Novello Awards |Best Contemporary Song |"Dance Wiv Me" | |- |Popjustice £20 Music Prize |Best Contemporary Song |"I'm Not Alone" | |- |rowspan="1"|2010 |2010 BRIT Awards |Best British Male |– | |}

References

External links

Official Website

Artist Site at Ultra Records

Category:1984 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Living people Category:Nu-disco musicians Category:People from Dumfries Category:Remixers Category:Scottish DJs Category:Scottish electronic musicians Category:Scottish male singers Category:Scottish singer-songwriters Category:Synthpop Category:Tracker musicians