Background	solo_singer
Born	September 26, 1948Cambridge, England
Instrument	Vocal, Piano
Genre	Pop, country
Occupation	Singer, actress, songwriter, entrepreneur
Years active	1963–present
Associated acts	Cliff Richard, John Travolta, Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb, Bee Gees, ELO, John Farrar, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Anni-Frid Lyngstad among others.
Url	olivianewton-john.com

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE (born 26 September 1948) is an English-born, Australian-raised singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles (including two platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two platinum and four double platinum) have been certified gold by the RIAA. Her music has been successful in multiple formats including pop, country and adult contemporary. She co-starred with John Travolta in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Grease, which became one of the most successful films and movie soundtracks in Hollywood history.

Newton-John has been a long-time activist for environmental and animal rights issues. Since surviving breast cancer in 1992, she has been an advocate for health awareness becoming involved with various charities, health products and fundraising efforts. Her business interests have included launching several product lines for Koala Blue and co-owning the Gaia Retreat & Spa in Australia.

Newton-John has been married twice. She currently lives with her second husband, John Easterling, in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida. She is the mother of one daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, with her first husband, actor Matt Lattanzi.

Beginnings

Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, to a Welsh father, Brinley ("Bryn") Newton-John, and a Jewish-German mother, Irene Born, the eldest child of the Nobel prize-winning atomic physicist Max Born. Newton-John's family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1954 where her father worked as a professor of German and as Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne.

At 14, Newton-John formed a short-lived all-girl band, Sol Four, with three classmates often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law. She became a regular on local Australian radio and television shows including HSV-7's The Happy Show where she performed as "Lovely Livvy." She also appeared on the Go Show where she met future duet partner, Pat Carroll, and future music producer John Farrar. (Carroll and Farrar would later marry.) She entered and won a talent contest on the television program, Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by 1960s Australian icon Johnny O'Keefe performing the songs "Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses." Newton-John was initially reluctant to use the prize she had won, a trip to England, but travelled there nearly a year later after her mother encouraged her to broaden her horizons. After Carroll's visa expired forcing her to return to Australia, Newton-John remained in England to pursue solo work until 1975. She became engaged to, but never married, The Shadows' guitarist Bruce Welch.

Newton-John was recruited for the group Toomorrow formed by American producer Don Kirshner who was also the music consultant for the earliest recordings of The Monkees. In 1970, the group starred in a "science fiction musical" film and recorded an accompanying soundtrack both named after the group. The project bombed and the group disbanded.

Early success

Newton-John released her first solo album, If Not For You (No. 158 Pop), in 1971. The title track, written by Bob Dylan and previously recorded by Beatle George Harrison for his 1970 album, All Things Must Pass, was her first international hit (No. 25 Pop, No. 1 AC). Her follow-up single, "Banks of the Ohio," was a Top 10 hit in England and Australia. She was voted Best British Female Vocalist two years in a row by the magazine Record Mirror. She made frequent appearances on Cliff Richard's weekly show, It's Cliff Richard, and starred with him in the telefilm, The Case.

In 1974, Newton-John represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song, Long Live Love. The song was chosen for Newton-John by the British public out of six possible entries. (Newton-John later admitted that she disliked the song.) Newton-John placed fourth at the contest held in Brighton behind ABBA's winning Waterloo. All six Eurovision contest song candidates were recorded by Newton-John and included on her Long Live Love album, her first for the EMI Records label.

In the United States, Newton-John's career floundered after If Not For You. Subsequent singles including "Banks of the Ohio" (No. 94 Pop, No. 34 AC) and remakes of George Harrison's "What Is Life" (No. 34 AC) and John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (No. 119 Pop) made minimal chart impact until the release of "Let Me Be There" in 1973. The song reached the American Top 10 on the Pop (No. 6), Country (No. 7), and AC (No. 3) charts and earned her a Grammy for Best Country Female and Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female. The success of both singles helped the album reach No. 1 on both the Pop (one week) and Country (eight weeks) Albums charts.

Newton-John's country success sparked a debate among purists who believed a foreigner singing country-flavored pop music did not belong in country music. This outrage led to the formation of the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers (ACE). Newton-John was eventually supported by the country music community. Stella Parton, Dolly's sister, recorded "Ode To Olivia" and Newton-John recorded her 1976 album, Don't Stop Believin', in Nashville. and "Please Mr. Please" (No. 3 Pop, No. 5 Country, No. 1 AC). The soundtrack spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and yielded three Top 5 singles for Newton-John: the platinum No. 1 "You're The One That I Want" (with John Travolta), the gold No. 3 "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and the gold No. 5 "Summer Nights" (with John Travolta and the film's cast). The former two songs were written and composed by Newton-John's long-time music producer, John Farrar, specifically for the film. ("Summer Nights" was written for the original play by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.) Newton-John became the second female (after Linda Ronstadt in 1977) to have two singles – "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights" – in the Billboard Top 5 simultaneously. Newton-John's performance earned her a People's Choice award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Musical and performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted To You" at the 1979 Academy Awards.

The film's popularity has endured through the years. It was re-released for its 20th anniversary in 1998 and ranked as the second highest grossing film behind Titanic in its opening weekend. It was most recently re-released in July 2010 as a sing-along version in select American theatres. The soundtrack still sells strongly enough to often appear on Billboard's Top Soundtracks chart.

New image

Newton-John's transformation in Grease from goody-goody "Sandy 1" to spandex-clad "Sandy 2" emboldened Newton-John to do the same with her music career. In November 1978, she released her next studio album Totally Hot, which became her first solo Top 10 (No. 7) album since Have You Never Been Mellow. Dressed on the cover all in leather, the album's singles "A Little More Love" (No. 3 Pop, No. 94 Country, No. 4 AC), "Deeper Than The Night" (No. 11 Pop, No. 87 Country, No. 4 AC), and the title track (No. 52 Pop) all demonstrated a more aggressive and more uptempo sound for Newton-John. Although the album clearly de-emphasized country, it still reached No. 4 on the Country Albums chart. Newton-John released the B-side, "Dancin' 'Round And 'Round," of the "Totally Hot" single to Country radio, where it peaked at No. 29 (as well as No. 82 Pop and No. 25 AC), becoming her last charted solo Country airplay single to date.

Newton-John began 1980 by releasing I Can't Help It (No. 12 Pop, No. 8 AC), a duet with Andy Gibb from his After Dark album, and by starring in her third television special, Hollywood Nights. Later that year, she appeared in her first film since Grease, starring in the musical Xanadu with Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. Although the movie was a critical failure, its soundtrack (No. 4 Pop) was certified double platinum boasting five Top 20 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Newton-John charted with Magic (No. 1 Pop, No. 1 AC), Suddenly with Cliff Richard (No. 20 Pop, No. 4 AC), and the title song with the Electric Light Orchestra (No. 8 Pop, No. 2 AC). The Electric Light Orchestra also charted with "I'm Alive" (No. 16 Pop, No. 48 AC) and "All Over The World" (No. 13 Pop, No. 46 AC). Magic was Newton-John's biggest Pop hit to that point (four weeks at No. 1) (A successful national tour of the show followed.)

In 1981, Newton-John released her most successful studio album, the double platinum Physical. The title track, written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick, spent ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, matching the record of most weeks at No. 1 held by Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life. The single was certified platinum and it ultimately ranked as the biggest song of the decade. (In 2008, Billboard ranked the song No. 6 among all songs that charted in the 50-year history of the Hot 100.) "Physical" even earned Newton-John her only placement ever on the R&B; Singles (No. 28) and Albums (No. 32) chart. The Physical album spawned two more singles, Make a Move on Me (No. 5 Pop, No. 6 AC) and Landslide (No. 52 Pop).

The provocative lyrics of the title track prompted two Utah radio stations to ban the single from their playlists. (In 2010, Billboard magazine ranked this as the most popular single ever about sex.) To counter its overtly suggestive tone, Newton-John filmed an exercise-themed video that turned the song into an aerobics anthem and made headbands a fashion accessory outside the gym. Newton-John became a pioneer in the nascent music video industry by recording a video album for Physical featuring videos of all the album's tracks and three of her older hits. The video album earned her a fourth Grammy and was aired as an ABC prime time special, Let's Get Physical, redeemed by its platinum soundtrack (No. 26 Pop) featuring Twist Of Fate (No. 5 Pop), The couple had met four years earlier while filming Xanadu. Their daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, was born in January 1986. (They divorced in 1995.) Newton-John's music career cooled again with the release of her next studio album, the gold Soul Kiss (No. 29 Pop), in 1985. The album's only charted single was the title track (No. 20 Pop, No. 20 AC). The album's second single, Toughen Up, failed to even chart. The video album for Soul Kiss featured videos of only five (two concept, three performance) of the album's ten tracks. Newton-John limited her publicity for the album due to her pregnancy.

Motherhood and advocacy

After a nearly three-year hiatus to raise Chloe, Newton-John resumed her recording career with the 1988 album, The Rumour. The album was promoted by an HBO special, Olivia Down Under, and its first single, the title track, was written and produced by Elton John. Both the single (No. 62 Pop, No. 33 AC) and the album (No. 67 Pop) fizzled as the nearly 40 year-old Newton-John seemed "old" when compared with the teen queens Debbie Gibson and Tiffany ruling the Pop charts at that time. (Ironically, this album was praised by critics as more mature with Newton-John addressing topics such as AIDS, the environment and single parent households.) The second single, the Sandy Linzer/Irwin Levine–penned Can't We Talk It Over In Bed, did not chart. (Grayson Hugh, the song's arranger, subsequently released his version of the song as Talk It Over in 1989 and it became a Top 20 Pop hit.) A year later, Newton-John recorded her self-described "self-indulgent" album, Warm and Tender. Inspired by her daughter, who appeared on the album cover, the album featured lullabies and love songs for parents and their children. Newton-John recovered and since became a tireless advocate for breast cancer research and other health issues. She is a product spokesperson for the Liv-Kit, a breast self-examination product. She is also partial owner of the Gaia Retreat and Spa in Byron Bay, Australia advertised as "the ideal place to renew, refresh, and restore your mind, body and soul."

Newton-John's advocacy for health issues was presaged by her prior involvement with many humanitarian causes. Newton-John cancelled a 1978 concert tour of Japan to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets. (She subsequently rescheduled the tour when the Japanese government assured her the matter was being addressed.) She was a performer on the 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert for the United Nations' International Year of the Child televised worldwide. During the concert, artists performed songs for which they donated their royalties, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause. She was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme. In 1991, she became the National Spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund/CHEC (Children’s Health Environmental Coalition) following the death of four year old Colette Chuda, a family friend, from cancer. (Chuda was featured along with Newton-John and daughter Chloe on the cover of Newton-John's Warm and Tender album.)

Newton-John's cancer diagnosis also affected the type of music she recorded. In 1994, she released Gaia: One Woman's Journey which chronicled her ordeal. This was the first album on which Newton-John wrote and composed all of the songs encouraging her to become more active as a songwriter thereafter. In 2005, she released Stronger Than Before, sold exclusively in the United States by Hallmark. Proceeds from the album's sales benefited breast cancer research. The album featured the song Phenomenal Woman based on the poem by Maya Angelou that featured guest vocals from Diahann Carroll, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Delta Goodrem, Amy Holland, Patti LaBelle, and Mindy Smith - all survivors of or affected by cancer. The following year, Newton-John released a healing CD, Grace And Gratitude. The album was sold exclusively by Walgreens also benefitting various charities including Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. The CD was the "heart" of their "Body – Heart – Spirit" Wellness Collection which also featured a re-branded Liv-Kit and breast-health dietary supplements.

In 2008, Newton-John raised funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She led a three-week, 228 km. walk along the Great Wall of China during April joined by various celebrities and cancer survivors throughout her trek. The walk symbolized the steps cancer patients must take on their road to recovery. Newton-John released a companion CD, A Celebration In Song, the following month in Australia and later worldwide featuring new and previously recorded duets by "Olivia Newton-John & Friends." Her "Friends" included Jann Arden, Jimmy Barnes, John Farrar, Barry Gibb, Delta Goodrem, Sun Ho, Richard Marx, Cliff Richard, Melinda Schneider, Amy Sky and Keith Urban. In October, Newton-John helped launch the www.liv.com website and teamed with fitness franchise Curves to distribute one million Liv-Aid breast self-examination aids for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Newton-John collaborated with producer David Foster to record Hope Is Always Here for the November 2009 television special, Kaleidoscope. The song was written and composed for the show's performance by another breast cancer survivor, figure skater Dorothy Hamill. The song was released as a digital single after the show aired.

Newton-John's spirituality also extended to the release of several Christmas albums. In 2000, she teamed with Vince Gill and the London Symphony Orchestra for 'Tis The Season sold exclusively through Hallmark. The following year, she released The Christmas Collection which compiled seasonal music previously recorded for her Hallmark Christmas album, her appearance on Kenny Loggins's 1999 TNN Christmas special and her contributions to the Mother And Child and Spirit Of Christmas multi-artist collections. In 2007, she re-teamed with her Grace And Gratitude producer, Amy Sky, for Christmas Wish (No. 187 Pop) which was sold exclusively by Target in its first year of release.

Later career

Newton-John continued to record and perform pop-oriented music as well. In 1998, she returned to Nashville to record Back With A Heart (No. 59 Pop).

Newton-John's television work included starring in two Christmas movies, A Mom For Christmas (1990) and A Christmas Romance (1994) – both Top 10 Nielsen hits. Her daughter, Chloe, starred as one of her children in both A Christmas Romance and in the 2001 Showtime film The Wilde Girls. Newton-John guest-starred as herself in the sitcoms Ned and Stacey, Murphy Brown, and Bette, and made two appearances as herself on Glee. For her first Glee appearance, Newton-John re-created her "Physical" video with series regular Jane Lynch. The performance was released as a digital single, returning Newton-John to the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 89) for the first time since her 1998 re-release of I Honestly Love You. In Australia, Newton-John hosted the animal and nature series Wild Life and guest starred as Joanna on two episodes of the Australian series The Man From Snowy River.

Newton-John met gaffer/cameraman Patrick McDermott a year after her 1995 divorce from Matt Lattanzi. The couple dated on and off for nine years. McDermott disappeared following a 2005 fishing trip off the California coast. Various theories abounded regarding his disappearance ranging from his death by accident or foul play to McDermott staging his disappearance to avoid child support payments to his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar. Newton-John, who was in Australia at her Gaia Retreat & Spa at the time of his disappearance, was never a suspect in McDermott's disappearance and has refused to comment on any speculation. A US Coast Guard investigation released in 2008 "suggest[ed] McDermott was lost at sea," although some have claimed contact with McDermott since his disappearance. Newton-John returned to the tabloid headlines again in 2007 when it was revealed that her daughter Chloe was recovering from anorexia.

Newton-John released another concert DVD, Olivia Newton-John and the Sydney Symphony: Live at the Sydney Opera House, and a companion CD, Olivia's Live Hits, in January 2008. An edited version of the DVD premiered on PBS station, WLIW (Garden City, New York), in October 2007 and subsequently aired nationally during the network's fund-raising pledge drives. This was Newton-John's third live album after the 1981 Japanese release, Love Performance, and her 2000 Australian release, One Woman's Live Journey.

In June 2008, Newton-John secretly wed John ("Amazon John") Easterling, founder and president of natural remedy firm, Amazon Herb Company. The couple had first met 15 years earlier, but they only became romantically involved in 2007. (Like Newton-John, this was Easterling's second marriage.) The couple married alone in a private Incan spiritual ceremony in Cuzco, Peru on June 21 followed nine days later by a legal ceremony on the Jupiter Island beachfront in Florida. There were no guests at either service since the couple preferred to marry simply and privately. Only Newton-John's daughter, Chloe, was aware of the nuptials. The couple did not announce their marriage until a July 4th barbecue at Newton-John's Malibu, California home, where guests were surprised with the news. The wedding was confirmed thereafter by HELLO! Magazine which published exclusive pictures of both weddings. In June 2009, the Easterlings purchased a new $4.1 million home in Jupiter Inlet, and Newton-John sold her home in Malibu, California.

Current endeavors

Newton-John still occasionally tours. Most of her recent public performances have been at charitable functions or to promote products such as Zamu, produced by Amazon Herb, a company founded by John Easterling. Her tour schedule can be found at http://olivianewton-john.com/tour.html.

Newton-John joined Judy Brooks and Roy Walkenhorst as co-host of the health and well-being series Healing Quest, currently airing on PBS.

Newton-John re-recorded some tracks from her 2006 Grace And Gratitude album and re-released the album as Grace And Gratitude Renewed in September 2010 on the Green Hill music label. The Renewed CD includes a new track, "Help Me To Heal", which was not featured on the original album. Her 2001 The Christmas Collection was also re-released in October 2010 with different artwork. Green Hill will re-release Newton-John's 2008 CD, A Celebration In Song, with different artwork on January 25. The Renewed CD charted in Billboard as follows:

* Christian Albums (No. 36)

* Christian & Gospel Albums (No. 54)

* New Age (No. 2)

Newton-John starred in the film , released in Canada. Newton-John portrays Hope Gordon, the mother of a home-schooled hockey prodigy. The film opened the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2010, and it features a duet by Newton-John with her co-star, Marc Jordan.

Newton-John is featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama, 1 a Minute, released October 2010. The documentary was made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral, and it features breast cancer survivors Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith. The film also features brothers Daniel and William Baldwin, Morgan Brittany, Deepak Chopra, Priya Dutt, Barbara Mori and Lisa Ray.

Bluewater Productions released a comic book featuring Newton-John in October 2010 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Ten of Newton-John's albums were re-released separately and combined as a box set in October 2010 by Universal Music Japan. The albums include Long Live Love, Have You Never Been Mellow, Clearly Love, Come On Over, Don't Stop Believin', Making A Good Thing Better, Totally Hot, Physical, Soul Kiss, and The Rumour. Each studio album featured two additional bonus tracks not included on the original releases of each album. On the same day, Universal Music Japan also released a "40/40" compilation that included 40 of Newton-John's hits as voted for by her Japanese fans as well as a previously unreleased bonus track, "Come on Home". Newton-John promoted these re-releases with a five-date tour of Japan.

Discography and videography

;Studio albums

If Not For You (1971)

Olivia (1972)

Let Me Be There/Music Makes My Day (1973)

Long Live Love (1974)

If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974)

Have You Never Been Mellow (1975)

Clearly Love (1975)

Come On Over (1976)

Don't Stop Believin' (1976)

Making a Good Thing Better (1977)

Totally Hot (1978)

Physical (1981)

Soul Kiss (1985)

The Rumour (1988)

Warm and Tender (1989)

Gaia (1994)

Back With a Heart (1998)

'Tis the Season (2000)

The Christmas Collection (Olivia Newton-John album) (2001)

(2) (2002)

(2004)

Stronger Than Before (2005)

Grace and Gratitude (2006)

Christmas Wish (2007)

A Celebration in Song (2008)

Grace And Gratitude Renewed (2010)

;Main compilation albums

Greatest Hits (1977)

Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982)

(1992)

;Live albums

Love Performance (1981)

Highlights from The Main Event (1998)

One Woman's Live Journey (2000)

Olivia's Live Hits (2008)

;Soundtracks

Toomorrow (1970)

(1978)

Xanadu (1980)

Two of a Kind (1983)

Sordid Lives (2000)

(2008)

;DVDs

Olivia Physical (1982)

Olivia in Concert (1983)

Twist of Fate (1983)

Soul Kiss (1985)

Olivia Down Under (1988)

Live at the Sydney Opera House (2008)

Video Gold 1 (2005)

Video Gold 2 (2005)

Filmography

Tours

If Not For You Tour (1972)

Cliff Richard Japan tour w/Pat Carroll (1972)

Clearly Love Tour (1975)

Love Performance Tour (1976)

Totally Hot World Tour (1978)

Physical World Tour (1982)

The Main Event Tour (1998)

Greatest Hits Tour (1999)

One Woman's Live Journey Tour (1999)

Millennium Tour (2000)

30 Musical Years Tour (2001)

Heartstrings World Tour (2002)

Japan 2006 Tour (2006)

Live at the Sydney Opera House Tour (2006)

Grace and Gratitude Tour (2006)

Body Heart & Spirit Tour (2007)

Verona-Canadian 2007 Tour (2007)

United States 2009 Tour (2009)

Awards and honours

{| class=wikitable |- style="background:#ccc;" !Year !Category !Genre !Recording !Result |- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Grammy Awards |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1973 |Best Female Country Vocal Performance |Country |"Let Me Be There" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1974 |Record of the Year |General |"I Honestly Love You" | |- align=left |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"I Honestly Love You" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1975 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Have You Never Been Mellow" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1978 |Album of the Year |General |"Grease" (Soundtrack) | |- align=left |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Hopelessly Devoted to You" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1980 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Magic" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1981 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Physical" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1982 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Heart Attack" | |- align=left |Video of the Year |General |Olivia Physical | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1983 |Best Long Form Music Video |General |Olivia in Concert | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1984 |Best Short Form Music Video |General |Twist of Fate | |}

See also

List of best-selling music artists

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

List of songs by Australian artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)

List of songs by British artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

References

Bibliography

Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Olivia Newton-John." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 380–1.

The Story of the Shadows by Mike Read. 1983. Elm Tree books. ISBN 0-241-10861-6.

Rock 'n' Roll, I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life – A Life In The Shadows by Bruce Welch ISBN 0-670-82705-3 (Penguin Books).

External links

Olivia Newton-John

Gaia Retreat

Great Walk To Beijing

ON-J Cancer Centre Appeal

Breast Health

Newton-John, Olivia (1948-) National Library of Australia, Trove, People and Organisation record for Olivia Newton-John

Category:1948 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Living people Category:Actors from Melbourne Category:ARIA Award winners Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:Australian country singers Category:Australian dance musicians Category:Australian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian people of English descent Category:Australian people of German descent Category:Australian people of Welsh descent Category:Australian pop singers Category:Australian television actors Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:British Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:English country singers Category:English dance musicians Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English female singers Category:English film actors Category:English immigrants to Australia Category:English pop singers Category:English people of German descent Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English television actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1974 Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Naturalised citizens of Australia Category:Officers of the Order of Australia Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Cambridge Category:Singers from Melbourne

Name	Son Dam Bi
Background	solo_singer
Alias	손담비
Born	September 26, 1983
Origin	South Korea
Genre	K-pop, dance, RnB
Years active	2007–present
Label	Pledis Entertainment
Url	Official Website

Color	khaki
Title	Korean name
Hangul	손담비
Hanja
Rr	Son Dam-bi
Mr	Son Tambi
Tablewidth	245

Son Dam Bi (born September 25, 1983) is a South Korean singer, model and actress.

Biography

Son Dam Bi is one of the most hyped names to debut in Korea. She had appeared in music videos for Paran and MYV, along with many advertisements. She first came to fame when she appeared in a commercial for an MP3 player alongside Poppin' Hyun Joon. Before her debut, MSN Japan had a video documentary made, capturing her pre-debut training and rehearsals; it attracted 480,000 visitors in 5 days. Son Dam Bi trained especially with a well-known American choreographer in preparation for this album, and people began calling her the female version of Rain.

Son Dam Bi’s highly anticipated debut single comes with five tracks that give her ample opportunity to show off her vocal and dancing talents. Her debut single "Cry Eye" was produced and composed by Jang Joon Ho, who previously wrote MC Mong's "180 Degrees" and Jang Woo Hyuk's "Last Game". The lyrics were provided by Brian Kim, who also penned Shinhwa’s Once in A Lifetime.

Son Dam Bi joined MBC's reality show 우리 결혼했어요 ("We Got Married"), being paired with Marco. Joining the show in late 2008 as part of the second group of couples, their last episode was on February 2, 2009.

It was also announced that Son would be part of the cast for Hype Nation, a film that has been labelled a "world movie". However, as the movie was delayed, Son released a mini-album with the single "Toyoil Bamae" ("토요일 밤에", "On Saturday Night"). The song became her first #1 hit, topping various on- and offline charts, including M! Countdown (within 20 days), two wins on KBS's Music Bank, a 3-week chart-topping run on SBS's Inki Gayo. The song's routine features Son in various 80s fashions, transforming her into a "retro fashionista".

She starred in SBS drama Dream with Ju Jin Mo and Kim Bum, her debut as an actress.

Return to Korea

After training in the United States after "Cry Eye", Son Dam Bi returned to Korea and released a mini album, Son Dambi Mini Album Vol.1, with a focus on electronica (departing from her previous style of crunk pop) on April 29, 2008. The lead title was "Bad Boy", produced by Brave Brothers.

In September 2008, she returned with the single "미쳤어" ("Crazy"). The song featured a "chair dance" that has become popular with the Korean public; it has since been upgraded to a "sofa dance". The dance has been copied and parodied by many people, including Hyun Young, "Infinite Challenge" comedy team member Noh Hong-cheol, comedienne Shin Bong-sun, and Lee Soo Young.

Her follow-up song in 2009, "Toyoilbamae" (, "On a Saturday Night"), was a success.

She then released her next EP, The Queen, which was not as well-received as her previous hits; she faced netizen criticism for her vocals, as well as accusations of plagiarism for "Queen", the lead single from the EP.

Discography

Awards

References

External links

Son Dam Bi Cyworld Pledis Entertainment

Category:1983 births Category:K-pop singers Category:Living people Category:South Korean female singers Category:South Korean pop singers

Name	Ayumi Hamasaki
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	, Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for ××. The album debuted atop the Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks, establishing her popularity in Japan. Hamasaki has sold over 50 million records in Japan, ranking her among the best-selling singers in the country. the highest sales, and the most million-sellers. Since 1999, Hamasaki has had at least one single each year top the charts.

In support of the album, Hamasaki held the (Miss)understood arena tour, which spanned three months with thirty concerts, from Saitama on March 11, 2006 to Yoyogi on June 11, 2006.

Hamasaki's first single of 2006, "Startin'", became Hamasaki's twenty-sixth number-one single, setting a new record for most number-one singles held by a solo female artist. The subsequent studio album, Secret, was released in November 2006. Although Secret was originally intended to be a mini-album, Hamasaki "began brimming with things to say" while producing the album and wrote five more songs. The album consisted mostly of rock songs and ballads; to complement these, Hamasaki experimented with new vocal techniques. The album also topped the Oricon weekly charts, making Hamasaki the only artist to have eight consecutive number-one studio albums. Her sales, however, continued to decline: according to both Oricon and the RIAJ, Secret failed to sell a million copies.

2007–present: Market beyond Japan

On February 28, 2007, Hamasaki released A Best 2, a pair of compilation albums containing songs from I Am... to (Miss)understood. The two versions, and , debuted at the first and second positions on the Oricon weekly charts, making Hamasaki the first female artist in thirty-six years to hold the top two positions on any Oricon album chart. At the end of 2007, the pair became Japan's fifth and seventh best-selling albums of the year respectively. In support of A Best 2 and Secret, Hamasaki held the four-month-long Tour of Secret from March to the end of June. It was her first international tour, and aside from Japan, she performed in Taipei, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Her foreign fanbase highly anticipated the concerts, and tickets for the Taipei and Hong Kong performances sold out in less than three hours.

In July 2007, Hamasaki released her first single in over a year, "Glitter/Fated". A short film, Distance Love, was used as the music video for "Glitter" and "Fated". The film, shot in Hong Kong, co-starred Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue as Hamasaki's romantic interest. "Glitter/Fated" and the following single "Talkin' 2 Myself" reached the top of their respective charts, continuing Hamasaki's streak of number-one singles. In December, Hamasaki released her first digital-only single, "Together When...", which topped the RIAJ's monthly download chart. Unlike its predecessors, the writing of Hamasaki's ninth studio album, Guilty (January 2008), was not an emotional experience for her, nor did it have a set theme. However, she said later that the album's tracks appeared to tell a story. Guilty peaked at the number-two position on the weekly Oricon charts, making it Hamasaki's first studio album not to reach the top. |group=fn}} Guilty was later released as a digital album in twenty-six countries outside Japan, nineteen of them Western nations. That, along with Hamasaki's decision to employ western DJs such as Armand van Helden for her 2008 remix albums and , has been interpreted as her first step into the global market.

In April 2008, to commemorate her tenth anniversary in Avex, Hamasaki released the single "Mirrorcle World"; it topped the Oricon, making Hamasaki the only female solo artist to have a number-one single every year for ten consecutive years. Hamasaki also held her second tour of Asia, , to celebrate her tenth anniversary. From April until June, she toured Japan, holding seventeen concerts. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai were again the foreign stops after the domestic performances. On September 10, 2008, Hamasaki released , a compilation album that includes the A-sides of all her singles along with previously unreleased footage from her A-nation concerts.

Hamasaki's next two singles, "Days/Green" (December 2008) and "Rule/Sparkle" (February 2009), continued Hamasaki's streak of number-one singles. "Rule" is used as the international theme song for the film Dragonball Evolution. The subsequent studio album, Next Level, was released on March 25, 2009 in several formats: CD, CD+DVD, 2CD+DVD and a two-gigabyte USB flash drive. Sonically, Next Level was mainly an electronic dance album. Next Level reached the top of the Oricon charts, making Hamasaki the only artist to have a number-one album every year for eleven years in a row since her debut. On August 12, 2009, Hamasaki released her forty-sixth single, "Sunrise/Sunset (Love Is All)". "Sunrise (Love Is All)", one of the A-sides, is being used as the opening theme song for the Japanese television drama Dandy Daddy?. The single reached the top of the weekly charts, making it her twenty-first consecutive (thirty-third total) number-one single. "Sunrise/Sunset" is also her forty-fourth single to enter the Top 10, making Hamasaki the artist with the most Top 10 singles ever. Hamasaki's third single of the year, "You Were.../Ballad", was released on December 29, 2009. Hamasaki's eleventh studio album Rock 'n' Roll Circus was released on April 14, 2010. Though the album contained a few "powerful and melodramatic gothic rock" tracks, it was mainly "pure and classic J-pop", with pop-rock songs and ballads. The album topped the charts, making Hamasaki the first female solo artist in twenty years to have ten number-one original studio albums. Hamasaki also began expanding her online presence, setting up accounts on MySpace, Ustream, and Twitter. In July, entertainment company Livespire announced that Hamasaki's would be shown in 3-D at Toho cinemas nationwide beginning on August 28.

On July 14, Hamasaki released her forty-eighth single, "Moon/Blossom". The single was released as the first of a three-part project to celebrate her yet-unreleased fiftieth single. The two other singles in the project (her forty-ninth and fiftieth singles respectively), "Crossroad" and "L", were released within a week of each other, "Crossroad" on September 22 and "L" on September 29. "Crossroad" was composed by Tetsuya Komuro and its coupling was her cover version of Komuro's band TM Network's 1988 song "Seven Days War", which was her first cover of a male song. The three singles all topped the Oricon, becoming Hamasaki's twenty-third, twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth consecutive number-one singles and setting a new record for the most consecutive number-one singles by any female artist (solo or group) as well as by any solo artist.

Image and artistry

Time magazine has noted that Hamasaki lacked talents such as the dance moves of Namie Amuro, the "supermodel allure" of Hitomi, and the "vocal pyrotechnics" of Hikaru Utada. Her own fans even considered her high-pitched voice screechy. The Guardian says that Hamasaki has "married accessible, mainstream hits with over-the-top costumes and high-concept videos". The widespread influence of her music and her constantly changing image has meant that Hamasaki has often been compared to Madonna. Hamasaki's lyrics and image have gained a following predominantly among the Generation X of Asia, mainly because of the "conflicting or inharmonious beauty" of her fashion and lyrics; Hamasaki's fashions combine Eastern and Western elements, and her songs, unlike those of many of her contemporaries, all have English titles but contained no English lyrics (until Rainbow). she has a "sizable [following] across Asia" and is one of the few Japanese singers whose albums have sold over 10,000 copies in Singapore. In 2002, however, Hamasaki's domestic sales began declining due to a sluggish Japanese market and increasing piracy in Japan. With her popularity declining (due in part to the rising popularity of other singers like Kumi Koda), she made a foray into the Asian market, starting with her first tour of Asia in 2007.

Musical style

In the beginning, I was searching for myself in my music. My music was for me. I didn't have the mental room to be conscious of the listener; I wrote to save myself. I didn't understand what it was to write songs. But over time I began to see many things, my influence, the responsibilities that gave me.

— Hamasaki on the new lyrical directions in I Am....|group=fn|name="lyrics" }} have resonated among her fans, who praise them as being honest and heartfelt and "expressing determination"; in two surveys conducted by Oricon, respondents voted Hamasaki's lyrics as their favorite aspect of her artistry. Steve McClure of The Japan Times noted that Hamasaki has "developed a reputation as a thoughtful, introspective lyricist"; Barry Walters of The Village Voice comments that Hamasaki's lyrics "pack unlikely insights." Having "trouble voicing her thoughts", Hamasaki uses her lyrics as an outlet; she draws inspiration from her own (and occasionally her friends') experiences and emotions and tries to put them "honestly into words". This meant that she did not use English lyrics until her album Rainbow, as she felt that she could best express herself in Japanese. In addition to personal experiences and feelings, Hamasaki bases lyrics on sources such as historical events. The life of Joan of Arc was the inspiration for "Free & Easy", while a story told to her by her friend about a saint named Mary served as the basis for "M"; the September 11 attacks inspired "A Song Is Born". In addition to writing her own lyrics, Hamasaki has also involved herself in other aspects of production such as artistic direction. Though Max Matsuura is officially credited as the producer of her records, he said of Hamasaki, "Ayu is a very meticulous worker behind the scenes. A lot of the work she does by herself is more in the producer's arena. I think really we should say 'Produced by [A]yumi [H]amasaki'." Until her single "M", however, Hamasaki left the task of composing to her staff; as she has explained, "I'm not a professional; I lack even basic knowledge about writing music." Hamasaki cites Madonna, soul musicians Babyface and En Vogue, and rock bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple as her influences and states that she admires Michelle Branch, Kid Rock, Joan Osborne, Seiko Matsuda, Rie Miyazawa, and Keiko Yamada; and traditional Chinese music ensemble Princess China Music Orchestra. Hamasaki has released more than a hundred original songs; through them, she has covered a wide range of musical styles, such as dance, metal, R&B;, progressive rock, pop, and classical. Additionally, many of the videos contain short storylines, some of which use symbolism to convey their respective messages. the video for "Ourselves" featured masked people destroying "effigies of [Hamasaki's] past" such as photographs and album covers to symbolize destruction and rebirth. Additionally, the videos of "Fairyland", "My Name's Women", "Jewel" and "Virgin Road" are among the top twenty or so most expensive music videos, making Hamasaki the only non-American artist to hold such a distinction. Hamasaki is also involved in the production and artistic direction of her live performances; they, like her videos, are often lavish productions and use a variety of props, extravagant costumes, and choreographed dances. She has used large video screens, fireworks, simulated rain drops, trick stage floors, and suspended devices.

Public image

Hamasaki's influence goes beyond music; she is often considered a fashion icon and trend-setter, a status attributed to her tight control over her image. Besides her frequent appearances in fashion magazines, such as Vivi, Popteen, and Cawaii, Hamasaki has often been lauded for her trendy choices in apparels and accessories; Oricon has repeatedly named her the "Most Fashionable Female Artist". Many aspects of Japan's fashions—including clothing, hair, nails, and accessories—have in some way been influenced by her. As with her music, trends Hamasaki started have spread to Asian countries as Taiwan, China, and Singapore. Hamasaki's constantly changing image is apparent not only in her fashion photo shoots and commercial endorsements but also in her record covers, an element she considers essential in conveying her message. Though Hamasaki has portrayed herself in earlier releases as a "girl next door", she has adopted a more sexualized image since the release of Loveppears. The covers for records including Loveppears, I Am..., and Rainbow feature Hamasaki in states of partial nudity, for which she has generated controversy. Hamasaki also garnered criticism after she modeled bra for lingerie manufacturer Wacoal, though most of the criticism alleged that Hamasaki was only trying to "play catch-up" with Kumi Koda, who gained popularity for her overtly sexual image.

Hamasaki has been sought by numerous brands to endorse their products. Throughout her career under Avex, she has promoted products that ranged from electronics (Tu-Ka cell phones and Panasonic) to various snack foods. Kosé cosmetics, Mister Donut donuts, and Boss coffee. As well as serving as background music for television advertisements, some of Hamasaki's songs have been used as themes for video games, television shows and motion pictures, such as , InuYasha, and . Although Hamasaki initially supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, saying that it was "necessary that [she is] viewed as a product",

Other activities

Hamasaki has been described as having a "merchandise empire". She launched her own fashion brand, MTRLG (Material Girl), in 2001; the clothes were sold at MTRLG boutiques and at Mise S*clusive stores. In 2002, Hamasaki created Ayupan, a cartoon version of herself that appeared in a line of merchandise (mainly figurines) and in a 2003 cartoon. For her 2007 tour Tour of Secret, Hamasaki collaborated with Sanrio to create a line of merchandise, "Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty," that features Ayupan and Hello Kitty together. The merchandise included cell phone straps and Lumix cameras decorated with a picture of Hello Kitty behind Hamasaki's "A" logo; the former product was a result of a collaboration with Sanrio and Japanese fashion brand Ash & Diamonds, the latter a collaboration with Sanrio and Panasonic. She briefly hosted her own television show, Ayuready? (October 2002), on Fuji Television. The talk show, aired on Saturday nights from 11:30 to midnight, often featured her performing songs with guests, among whom were Goto Maki, Puffy, and Akina Nakamori. To promote the program (and her album Rainbow), Hamasaki opened a restaurant, Rainbow House, on Shōnan Beach; it was occasionally used in episodes of Ayuready?.

Personal life

Hamasaki dated singer-actor Tomoya Nagase since her brief acting career, and they publicly announced their relationship in 2001.

In a January 8, 2008 entry on her TeamAyu blog, Hamasaki announced that an inoperable condition, possibly tinnitus or Ménière's disease, had caused complete deafness in her left ear.

On January 1, 2011, Hamasaki announced her upcoming marriage to Austrian actor and model Manuel Schwarz, whom Hamasaki met in August 2010 on the set of her music video "Virgin Road". On January 2, her office announced that she and Schwarz had gotten married in the United States the day before.

Discography

Studio albums

1995: Nothing from Nothing (pre-Avex mini-album)

1999: A Song for ××

1999: Loveppears

2000: Duty

2002: I Am...

2002: Rainbow

2003: Memorial Address (mini-album)

2004: My Story

2006: (Miss)understood

2006: Secret

2008: Guilty

2009: Next Level

2010: Rock 'n' Roll Circus

2010: Love Songs

Compilation albums

2001: A Best

2003: A Ballads

2007: A Best 2 (/)

2008:

Concerts

Concert tours

2000: Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 Vol.1

2000: Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 Vol.2

2001: Ayumi Hamasaki Dome Tour 2001 A

2002: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2002 A

2002: Ayumi Hamasaki Stadium Tour 2002 A

2003:

2003: A Museum

2003–2004: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2003-2004 A

2005: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2005 A: My Story

2006: Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2006 A: (Miss)understood

2007: Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007 A: Tour of Secret

2008:

2009:

2010:

2010:

New Years countdown concerts

2000–2001: Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2000-2001 A

2001–2002: Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2001-2002 A

2002–2003: Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2002-2003 A

2004–2005: Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2004-2005 A

2005–2006: Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2005-2006 A

2006–2007:

2007–2008: Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2007-2008 Anniversary

2008–2009: Ayumi Hamasaki Premium Countdown Live 2008-2009 A

2009–2010:

2010–2011:

Filmography

See also

List of awards received by Ayumi Hamasaki

List of best-selling music artists

List of J-pop artists

Footnotes

References

Further reading

)| title=Secrets of Ayumi Hamasaki ()| publisher=Data House ()| year=2005 | isbn=978-4887188518 }} | title=Ayumi Hamasaki Pure Stories (Pure Stories)| publisher=R's Publishing ()| year=2005 | isbn=978-4901226998 }} | title=Ayumi Hamasaki Stories ()| publisher=Chobun ()| year=2003 | isbn=978-4811376233 }}

External links

Official

Ayumi Hamasaki's official English-language website

TeamAyu (official fansite) Official online collection of Hamasaki's music videos up to "Mirrorcle World" (also includes making-of videos)

Ayumi Hamasaki's YouTube Channel

Ayumi Hamasaki's Twitter

Ayumi Hamasaki's MySpace

Other

Category:1978 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Avex Trax artists Category:Japanese female singers Category:Japanese pop singers Category:Living people Category:People from Fukuoka (city) Category:Japanese singer-songwriters Category:Ayumi Hamasaki Category:Japanese dancers Category:Japanese poets Category:World Music Awards winners

Caption	Alyssa Milano, 2008
Birthname	Alyssa Jayne Milano
Birthdate	December 19, 1972
Birthplace	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Yearsactive	1984–present
Occupation	Actress, singer, producer
Spouse
Website	http://www.alyssa.com/

Alyssa Jayne Milano,(born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and former singer. Her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? made her famous, and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the supernatural series Charmed brought her a new round of fame. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of Jennifer Mancini. Milano has a female sports apparel line, Touch.

Early life

Milano is the daughter of Lin, a fashion designer and talent manager, and Thomas M. Milano, a film music editor and boating enthusiast. Milano was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Staten Island, and was raised Roman Catholic. She has a younger brother, Cory (born in 1982), who is also an actor. In a 2003 interview, Milano recalled having had a good childhood, having grown up in a "loving, true family."

Career

Early career

Milano began her career at age eight after winning a role in an open audition for a national tour of Annie. She was one of the four picked out of an audition with over 1500 girls. She appeared in television commercials and off-Broadway productions.

At age 11, she won her first major role in the television show, Who's the Boss?, alongside Tony Danza, Judith Light, Danny Pintauro, and Katherine Helmond. She starred as Samantha Micelli, the daughter of Danza's character. After Milano won the role, she and her father relocated from Staten Island to Hollywood. The rest of the family followed a year later, because her mother was initially unwilling to give up her home life "for a show that wasn't a guarantee." Although born and raised in Brooklyn, Milano had trouble getting this accent, because she worked to lose it to land more roles in the theater, including in a stage adaption of Jane Eyre. and the first American musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. She returned to the theater in 1991, when she starred in and produced a Los Angeles production of Butterflies Are Free.

In 1985, Milano was in the film Commando as Jenny Matrix, daughter of John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Appearing at age 12 in an R-rated action film, Milano admitted she was sometimes "freaked out" by the weapons on set.

In 1996, Milano appeared opposite Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon in the thriller Fear.

Later roles

show aboard USS Nimitz on June 19, 2003.]] Her performance in Fear led to a starring role in Hugo Pool (1997), her first film released through cinemas since Commando.

Milano's commercial work includes appearing in the "Josie" music video by Blink-182, as well as 2007 television ads for Veet and Sheer Cover.She also appeared in an early 80s commercial for Hi-C.

Milano was part of TBS's special coverage installment Hot Corner for the 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs. She reported at Fenway Park during the ALDS between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. She also reported at Chase Field during the NLCS between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

Milano starred in the 2008 film Pathology alongside Milo Ventimiglia and was then cast in a television sitcom, Single with Parents, which was pulled prior to production.

On March 20, 2009, it was announced that Milano would provide a voice for the . In a 2010 interview, she told the press that she had 'a blast' working on the game, although she recalled it being 'odd' having to grunt in a room alone. It was speculated that following the voice over in the video game, she was set to star in Ghostbusters III, although Milano claimed she was never approached.

Milano starred in the sitcom Romantically Challenged as Rebecca Thomas, a recently divorced single mom attorney in Pittsburgh who has not dated "since Bill Clinton was president". The series premiered on ABC on April 19, 2010. On why she accepted the role, Milano commented: :"I was so attracted to the writing. Our creative showrunner is Ricky Blitt from Family Guy and I was struck at how funny the female characters were written. Usually the female characters are written pretty straightforward, like the straight-man but with Ricky’s writing, the women get to be equally as funny. That was what hooked me. James Burrows, who’s our director, is another major part of what attracted me to the show. It just seemed like a really good package and something that I could commit to in the long-term." On the show's cancellation, Milano wrote on her website: :"It would be so very, very, easy for me to be upset and bitter about [it]. But… I'm not upset or bitter. [..] I am well aware that I'm in a business that sometimes makes decisions that are inexplicable. Dealing with those decisions is almost just as much a part of the job as memorizing my dialogue. My only true sadness comes from not being able to see Ricky, Mr. Burrows, Josh, Kelly and Kyle's face every day."

In the future, Milano will co-star with Owen Wilson, Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate in the romantic comedy Hall Pass (2011), in which she was assigned in February 2010, as well as producing and leading the cast of Lifetime's TV film Sundays at Tiffany's. The latter will be her second collaboration with Lifetime, the first being 2008's Wisegal.

In honor of her 37th birthday (December 19, 2009), Milano ran an online fundraising campaign for Charity:Water. Her original goal was to raise $25,000, but a donation from her husband put her over the $75,000 mark on December 18. The fundraiser was scheduled to run until December 26.

Personal life

Milano has dyslexia. In an interview in 2004, Milano explained how she deals with the disorder:

"I've stumbled over words while reading from teleprompters. Sir John Gielgud, whom I worked with on The Canterville Ghost years ago, gave me great advice. When I asked how he memorized his monologues, he said, 'I write them down.' I use that method to this day. It not only familiarizes me with the words, it makes them my own."

Milano is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and writes a regular baseball blog on the Major League Baseball's website. In 2007, Milano launched her signature "Touch" line of team apparel for female baseball fans, selling it through her blog and Major League Baseball's website. She has an interest in the Los Angeles Kings, a National Hockey League team, and is involved with a related clothing line. In 2008, she expanded that to NFL football, as a New York Giants fan. Since Milano is in the same hometown as NFL Network's Rich Eisen (Staten Island), she revealed some of her family's connections with the New York Giants.

Milano has eight tattoos on her body: one on each wrist and ankle, shoulder, neck, hip, and lower back. Milano is a vegetarian and appears in numerous PETA advertising campaigns for vegetarianism. Outside of acting, her hobbies include photography, humanitarian work, and spending time with her three dogs and eight horses. Milano has commented on her love for animals, and in a 2009 interview discussed one of her dogs, a German shepherd called Pinto, who had died at the age of 14; he had worked with the LAPD dogs and Milano had owned him for 10 years.

Milano dated actor Corey Haim from 1987 to 1990. She was engaged to Scott Wolf in 1993. She was married to singer–songwriter Cinjun Tate of Remy Zero in 1999; they were divorced later that year. She dated Charmed co-star Brian Krause for a while during the third and fourth season of the show. She briefly dated Justin Timberlake in 2002. After one year of dating, she and CAA agent David Bugliari were engaged December 18, 2008. Milano and Bugliari married on August 15, 2009 in New Jersey, at the home of Bugliari's family.

Filmography

; Film |- | 1984 | Old Enough | Diane | |- | 1985 | Commando | Jenny Matrix | Nominated–Young Artist Award–Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress Starring in a Feature Film–Comedy or Drama |- | 1986 | The Canterville Ghost | Jennifer Canterville | TV movie |- | rowspan="2" | 1988 | Crash Course | Vanessa Crawford | TV movie aka Driving Academy |- | Dance 'til Dawn | Shelley Sheridan | Nominated–Young Artist Award–Best Young Actress in a Special, Pilot, Movie of the Week, or Miniseries |- | 1989 | Speed Zone! | Lurleen | aka Cannonball Fever |- | rowspan="2" | 1992 | Little Sister | Diana | |- | Where the Day Takes You | Kimmy | |- | rowspan="4" | 1993 | The Webbers | Fan | TV movie |- | Conflict of Interest | Eve | |- | | Amy Fisher | TV movie |- | Candles in the Dark | Sylvia Velliste | TV movie |- | rowspan="2" | 1994 | Confessions of a Sorority Girl | Rita Summers | TV movie |- | Double Dragon | Marian Delario/Power Corps Chief | |- | rowspan="3" | 1995 | Deadly Sins | Cristina | |- | Embrace of the Vampire | Charlotte Wells | |- | The Surrogate | Amy Winslow | TV movie |- | rowspan="6" | 1996 | "Jimmy Zip" | Francesca | Short film |- | | Lily Leonetti | |- | Fear | Margo Masse | |- | Glory Daze | Chelsea | |- | To Brave Alaska | Denise Harris | TV movie |- | Public Enemies | Amaryllis | |- | rowspan="2" | 1997 | Below Utopia | Susanne | also credited as producer |- | Hugo Pool | Hugo Dugay | |- | 1998 | | Frances Ella 'Fizzy' Fitz | TV movie |- | rowspan="2" | 2001 | | Angel | Nominated–Annie Award–Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production |- | Diamond Hunters | Tracey Van der Byl | TV movie |- | rowspan="2" | 2002 | Buying the Cow | Amy | |- | Kiss the Bride | Amy Kayne | |- | 2003 | | Cyndi | |- | 2005 | | 26 | Voice |- | 2007 | The Blue Hour | Allegra | |- | rowspan="2" | 2008 | Wisegal | Patty Montanari | TV moviealso credited as producer |- | Pathology | Gwen Williamson | |- | rowspan="3" | 2010 | "" | Aimee Brenner | Animated short: voice |- | My Girlfriend's Boyfriend | Jesse Young | also credited as producer |- | Sundays at Tiffany's | Jane | TV moviealso credited as producer |- | 2011 | Hall Pass | Grace | post-production ; TV series |- | 1984–92 | Who's the Boss? | Samantha Micelli | 1–8 | Young Artist Award–Best Young Supporting Actress in a Television Series (1986)Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress, Starring in a Television, Comedy or Drama Series (1986)Best Young Female Superstar in Television (1988)Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards–Favorite TV Actress (1988, 1989)Blimp Award–Favorite TV Actress (1990) 196 episodes |- | 1997–98 | Melrose Place | Jennifer Mancini | 5-7 | Left after only 7 episodes in Season 7 to take a lead role on The WB show Charmed. Recurring Season 5. 40 episodes |- | 1998–2006 | Charmed | Phoebe Halliwell | 1–8 | She became a producer at the beginning of season 4.Nominated–Blimp Award–Favorite TV Actress (2005)Nominated–Teen Choice Awards–TV–Choice Actress (2006) 178 episodes |- | 2007 | Reinventing the Wheelers | Annie | | TV pilot |- | 2008 | Single with Parents | Lou | | TV pilot |- | 2010 | Romantically Challenged | Rebecca Thomas | 1 Season | 6 episodes

; TV appearances |- | 1985 | Jem | Jessica Sharp | "Frame Up" | Season 1, Episode 4 |- | 1989 | Living Dolls | Samantha Micelli | "It's My Party" ; "It's All Done with Mirrors" | Season 1, 2 episodes |- | rowspan="2" | 1990 | Série rose | | "Softly from Paris" | Season 4, episode 1 |- | The American Film Institute Presents: TV or Not TV? | | | |- | 1995 | The Outer Limits | Hannah Valesic | "Caught in the Act" | Season 1, episode 17 |- | rowspan="2" | 1997–2001 | rowspan="2" | Spin City | rowspan="2" | Meg Winston | "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" | Season 2, episode 11 |- | "Rain on My Charades" | Season 5, episode 17 |- | 1998 | Fantasy Island | Gina Williams | "Superfriends" | Season 1, episode 2 |- | 2001 | Family Guy | Herself | "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" | Season 3, episode 3 |- | 2004 | | April Gorlock | "" | Voice, season 2 |- | 2007–2008 | My Name Is Earl | Billie Cunningham | | Recurring in Season 3, episodes 6–22. |- | 2010 | Castle | Kyra Blaine | "A Rose for Everafter" | Season 2, episode 12 Sunday At Tiffany's

Discography

; Studio albums

; Compilations

; Singles

Footnotes:

¹ Non-album single

² Only released in France

; Other recordings

"Teen Steam" – Theme song from Alyssa Milano's Teen Steam Workout Video (1988).

References

External links

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American vegetarians Category:American actors of Italian descent Category:Actors from New York City Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Staten Island

Name	Adam Lambert
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Adam Mitchel Lambert
Born	January 29, 1982Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Origin	San Diego, California, U.S.
Genre	Pop rock, pop The Times identified Lambert as one of the few openly gay mainstream pop artists to launch a career on a major label in the United States.
Name	Lambert, Adam
Alternative names	Glambert
Short description	Singer
Date of birth	January 29, 1982

Category:1982 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Actors from California Category:American Idol participants Category:American Jews Category:American male singers Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American rock singers Category:American stage actors Category:Gay actors Category:Idol series runners-up Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:LGBT Jews Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:RCA Records artists