Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player with two or more loudspeakers. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music (usually cassettes or CDs), usually at relatively high volume. Many models are also capable of recording (onto cassette) from radio and (sometimes) other sources. Designed for portability, most boomboxes can be powered by batteries, as well as by line current.

The first Boombox was developed by the inventor of the C-Cassette, Philips of the Netherlands. Their first 'Radiorecorder' was released in 1969. The Philips innovation was the first time that radio broadcasts could be recorded onto C-Cassette tapes without cables or microphones that previous stand-alone cassette tape recorders needed. Early sound quality of tape recordings was poor but as the C-Cassette technology evolved, with stereo recording, Chromium tapes and noise reduction, soon HiFi quality devices become possible. Several European electronics brands such as Grundig also introduced similar devices.

Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He continues to perform both Bush and Institute songs during his solo concerts. Rossdale is married to fellow musician Gwen Stefani.

Rossdale was born in Kilburn, London, the son of Barbara Stephan (Bowie) and Douglas Rossdale, a doctor. His mother was born in Scotland and his father's parents were of Russian Jewish descent, the family's surname originally being Rosenthal. His parents divorced when he was eleven years old, and he was raised primarily by his father and aunt. His mother remarried and moved to Tampa, Florida. Rossdale has a younger sister, Soraya, and an elder one, Lorraine. Rossdale's half brother, David Rossdale, is the Bishop of Grimsby (a suffragan in the Diocese of Lincoln). Rossdale's half sister, Georgina Rossdale-Smith, is a doctor.

Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and frontman of The Strokes. Casablancas pursued a solo career during The Strokes' hiatus, releasing the album Phrazes for the Young on November 3, 2009.

Julian Casablancas was born in New York City, to Spanish American business mogul John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Model Management, and Jeanette Christiansen, a former model and onetime Miss Denmark. His paternal grandfather, Fernando Casablancas, was a well-known textile businessman. His parents divorced and his mother subsequently married painter Sam Adoquei. Adoquei helped shape Casablancas' early musical taste by exposing him to music such as The Doors, which was markedly different from the mostly Phil Collins-influenced music he listened to as a child. In 2005, Julian married the assistant to the Strokes' manager, Juliet Joslin. In 2010, they welcomed a son, Cal Casablancas.

The first member of The Strokes Casablancas met was Nikolai Fraiture, who attended Lycée Français de New York with him (Fraiture graduated in 1997, Casablancas in 1996). When he was 14, Casablancas' father sent him to Institut Le Rosey, an elite boarding school in Switzerland. There, he met future Strokes member Albert Hammond, Jr. Casablancas attended The Dwight School with two other future Strokes, Nick Valensi and Fabrizio Moretti. Casablancas never finished school, but continued to take music classes, where he says he first enjoyed himself in class.