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Category:Artists by record label Category:Universal Music Group artists
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| 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 |
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.
"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 | |}
; As a special guest:
; As supporting act:
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)
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| Name | Sammy Kershaw |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Samuel Paul Kershaw |
| Born | February 24, 1958 |
| Origin | Kaplan, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Genre | Country |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Label | Mercury, Audium/Koch, Category 5, Boomerville/Big Hit |
| Associated acts | Doug Kershaw, Lorrie Morgan |
| Url | http://www.sammykershaw.com/ |
Kershaw's second album, Haunted Heart, followed in 1993. Its lead-off single, "She Don't Know She's Beautiful", became his only Number One hit in April of that year. Following it were the title track, the Dennis Linde-penned "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer", and "I Can't Reach Her Anymore", all of which hit the Top Ten as well. Although Kershaw had been told by others that radio audiences might not identify with the subject matter on "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer", Kershaw had wanted to release the song because he had an experience similar to its story line. of the 64 parishes but ran third behind Dardenne and Democrat Caroline Fayard; Kershaw then endorsed fellow Republican Dardenne in the runoff election and joined Dardenne at campaign events, giving Dardenne a "bear hug" at Dardenne's victory celebration.
Category:1958 births Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Cajun people Category:Living people Category:Louisiana Republicans Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:People from Abbeville, Louisiana Category:People from Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
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| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:People from Paris Category:French male singers
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| Name | Mel Street |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | King Malachi Street |
| Born | October 21, 1933 |
| Origin | Grundy, Virginia |
| Died | October 21, 1978 |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Genre | Country |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1972-1978 |
King Malachi Street (October 21, 1933 – October 21, 1978), commonly known as Mel Street, was an American country music singer.
From 1968 to 1972, Street hosted his own show on a Bluefield, West Virginia television station. He recorded his first single, "Borrowed Angel," in 1970 for a small regional record label. A larger label, Royal American Records, picked it up in 1972, and it became a top-10 Billboard hit. He recorded the biggest hit of his career, "Lovin' on Back Streets", in 1973.
Street continued to flourish throughout the mid-1970s, recording several hits such as "You Make Me Feel More Like a Man," "Forbidden Angel," "I Met a Friend of Yours Today," "If I Had a Cheatin' Heart," and "Smokey Mountain Memories". He signed with Mercury Records in 1978. But, suffering from clinical depression and alcoholism, he committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, on October 21, 1978, his 45th birthday. Sadly he had a record debut on the country charts on October 21 as well, a prophetic song called "Just Hangin' On".
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| 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 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
# 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
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.
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.
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
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| Name | Karina Pasian |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Karina Pasian |
| Alias | Karina |
| Born | July 18, 1991 |
| Origin | New York City, New York |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Genre | R&B;, Pop |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Label | Def Jam (2007–present) |
| Associated acts | Lil Mama, Diggy Simmons |
| Url |
Pasian became the subject of a bidding war, when she was thirteen, between three major record labels: Def Jam, Interscope, and Bad Boy Records. She chose Def Jam in 2006. The first single was 16 @ War, released in June 2008. The single charted on Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs at 51, Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Airplay 51, and the Bubbling Under R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles 6. The second single was Can't Find The Words. It charted on Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs at number 88. The album charted at number 57 and sold 28,408 copies in the U.S., and was nominated for the Best Contemporary R&B; Album Grammy.
Category:1991 births Category:American pianists Category:Def Jam Recordings artists Category:American people of Dominican Republic descent Category:American people of Armenian descent Category:English-language singers Category:Living people Category:Rhythm and blues pianists Category:Rhythm and blues singers Category:American child singers Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Manhattan
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Jankowski died of lung cancer in 1998, at the age of 62.
Category:1936 births Category:1998 deaths Category:German jazz pianists Category:German composers Category:Easy listening music Category:Deaths from lung cancer
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Fennell chose percussion as his primary instrument at the age of seven, as drummer in the fife-and-drum corps at the family's encampment called Camp Zeke. He owned his first drum set at age ten. In the John Adams High School Orchestra, Fennell performed as the kettledrummer and served as the band's drum major.
His studies at the Interlochen Arts Camp (then the National Music Camp) included being chosen by famed bandmaster Albert Austin Harding as the bass drummer in the National High School Band in 1931. This band was conducted by John Philip Sousa on July 26, the program including the premiere of Sousa's Northern Pines march. Fennell himself conducted at Interlochen at the age of seventeen.
Fennell found a compatible and fruitful relationship at the Eastman School of Music. As a student, he organized the first University of Rochester marching band for the football team and held indoor concerts with the band after the football season for ten years. At Eastman, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees (in 1937 and 1939). Fennell became the first person ever to be awarded a degree in percussion performance. He was also awarded a fellowship that allowed him to study at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 1938. Attending the Mozarteum Salzburg allowed him to take several classes with Herbert Albert and visit several times with the festival’s chief conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. Returning, he sailed on the SS Bremen departing Southampton on September 3, 1938. For the purpose of the passenger manifest, he signed his name as Frederick Putnam Fennell (a rare use of his middle name).
Fennell also studied conducting with Sergei Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood in 1942 (with fellow classmates Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, and Walter Hendl). (He was appointed Koussevitzky’s assistant at the Center in 1948). During World War II Fennell served as the National Musical Advisor in the United Service Organizations.
Nearly all of Fennell's Mercury recordings were reissued on compact disc. Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble were also featured in the premiere issuance of Mercury material on compact disc. In 1986, 24 Sousa marches performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble were released as a compact disc by Philips Records, which now owned the Mercury catalog.
Fennell made the first symphonic digital recording in the United States for Telarc with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds, on April 4-5, 1978. This recording included the two Suites for Military Band by Gustav Holst. With the Dallas Wind Symphony, Fennell recorded five programs of music by Nelybel, Albeniz, Grainger, Bernstein and more, for Reference Recordings. Fennell also recorded for Brain, Columbia Records, Delos, King, Kosei, Ludwig, Premier Recordings, and Sine Qua Non Superba as well as the Library of Congress label.
On the podium, Fennell evinced a courtly yet commanding manner despite his five foot, one inch stature. He was known to take charge of a room with just his words, and his conducting was extremely animated. His conducting workshops were famous for including calisthenics and baton technique exercises in swimming pools. He remained highly active in the world of conducting until a few months before his death at the age of ninety at his home in Siesta Key, Florida. At the time he was conductor laureate of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony , and professor emeritus of the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Fennell was said to be most fond of the honorary doctorate he was awarded from Eastman, being inducted as an honorary chief of the Kiowa Nation in the 1960s, and receiving a medal of honor from Interlochen in 1989. He made frequent appearances guest conducting such ensembles as the Boston Pops Orchestra 1949 to 1978, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the United States Marine Band, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Interlochen Arts Camp. In 1997, Fennell became the first civilian to conduct an entire concert with the United States Marine Band; and in July 1998 he repeated this at a concert in the Kennedy Center celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Marine Band.
Dr. Fennell was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music (initiated into the Fraternity's Alpha Nu Chapter at the Eastman School of Music in 1934), and Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Frederick Fennell Hall was dedicated in Kofu, Japan on July 17, 1992. On April 4, 2006, the Interlochen Center for the Arts opened up state of the art music and academic libraries, with the music library named in honor and memory of Dr. Fennell and his wife, Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell.
At the conductor's request, his ashes were scattered in the woods at Interlochen, Michigan.
Fennell was commissioned by Grenadilla Music to write a major article on 20th Century band composers and their music. The article was published in volume one of "Panorama of 20th Century Classical Music" subtitled, "BAND! (Wind Ensembles, Brass & Concert Bands" and is currently available at www.grenadillamusic.com
The 1993 Roger E. Rickson book Ffortissimo: a Bio-Discography of Frederick Fennell: the First Forty Years, 1953 to 1993, (Ludwig Music, Inc., publisher) ISBN 1-57134-000-9 covers in detail the Fennell story, with particular attention to recordings. There is also considerable biographical detail in the 2004 Robert Simon book A Tribute to Frederick Fennell (GIA Publications) ISBN 1-57999-472-5.
The Frederick Fennell Collection at the Library of Congress includes over 20,000 items (scrapbooks, letters, photographs).
Category:American conductors (music) Category:1914 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Eastman School of Music alumni Category:University and college band directors
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| 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.
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.
{| 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 |}
{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Genre |- align=center | 1948 | Am I Asking Too Much? | R&B; |- align=center |}
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
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| Name | Dave Dudley |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | David Darwin Pedruska |
| Born | May 03, 1928 |
| Died | December 22, 2003 |
| Origin | Spencer, Wisconsin, United States |
| Genre | Country music |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 1961–2003 |
| Label | Golden Wing Records, Mercury Records |
| Associated acts | Dick Curless, Del Reeves, Tom T. Hall, Red Simpson |
| Notable instruments | }} |
Dave Dudley (May 3, 1928 – December 22, 2003 born in Spencer, Wisconsin) was an American country music singer,who was best-known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s, and his semi-slurred baritone. His signature song was "Six Days on the Road," and he is also remembered for "Vietnam Blues," "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun," and "Me and ol' C.B.". Other recordings included Dudley's duet with Tom T. Hall, "Day Drinking," and his own Top 10 hit, "Fireball Rolled A Seven," supposedly based on the career and death of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.
Dudley was injured once again in 1960, this time in a car accident, setting back his career in music. He first appeared on the Country charts in 1961 with "Maybe I Do," released by Vee Records. He later moved to Golden Ring Records.
In the original version of the song as recorded by Dudley the lyrics include the words "...I'm taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide..." a reference to the stimulants some truckers used to keep driving (and make their delivery times) when they needed sleep. Some remakes of the song replace these words with a reference to looking at the white lines on the road. Dudley can be heard and seen singing the correct original lyrics in a 1971 performance currently available at YouTube.
In 1963, Dudley moved on to Mercury Records. By the end of 1963, he released his first single from the label, "Last Day in the Mines". Dudley scored more big hits in the 1960s, including "Truck Drivin' Son-Of-a-Gun", "Trucker's Prayer" and "Anything Leaving Town Today". "Six Days on the Road" has been covered by several artists, including George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Steve Earle and Sawyer Brown.
Dudley continued to have success into the 1970s, while continuing to record for Mercury Records. He had some Country Top 10s in the 1970s, including "Comin' Down" and "Fly Away Again." By the late 1970s, his success on the charts was beginning to fade, although Dudley amassed thirty-three Top 40 Country hits.
In total, Dudley recorded more than 70 albums. However, he did not manage to reclaim his past success, and neither his single "Where's that Truck?", recorded with disc jockey Charlie Douglas, nor the track "Dave Dudley, American Trucker", recorded in 2002 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, helped revive his career. Few of his hits have made it onto CDs and albums, creating a market for his vintage vinyl recordings.
Dudley died on December 22, 2003, aged 75, after suffering a heart attack at his home in Wisconsin.
Category:1928 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Musicians from Wisconsin Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:American country singers Category:National Recording Corporation artists Category:Jubilee Records artists Category:Starday Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists
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| 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.
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.
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.
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."
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."
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.
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.
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).
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."
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."
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.
English-language studio albums
French-language studio albums
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