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Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass (often with hip hop vocalists or rappers) and Caribbean music such as reggae, reggaeton, zouk, and sometimes Soca (In Toronto, London, New York City, Boston and Miami). Urban contemporary was developed through the characteristics of genres such as R&B and soul.^[1] Virtually all Urban contemporary formatted radio stations are located in cities that have sizeable African-American populations, such as New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Memphis, New Orleans, Charlotte.

The term "urban contemporary" is heavily associated with African-American music, particularly for Contemporary R&B in African-American contexts. For the Latinos, the music is more Latin urban, such as Reggaeton, Latin hip hop, or bachata.

These stations focus primarily on marketing to African-Americans between the ages of 18 and 34.^{[citation needed]} Their playlists are dominated by singles by top-selling hip hop and R&B performers. On occasion, an urban contemporary station will play classic soul music songs from the '70s and early '80s to satisfy the earlier end of the genre.

Most Urban formatted stations such as; KJLH, KPRS, KMEL, KDAY, WRBP, UTN, and WVEE will play gospel music or urban contemporary gospel music on Sundays.

Mainstream urban is a branch of urban contemporary, and rhythmic contemporary is also a branch.

History[link]

The 1970s[link]

When Frankie Crocker was appointed as program director of the newly created WBLS in 1974, he created an eclectic music mix of R&B, disco and gospel music, redefining the R&B format as urban contemporary. The station was an instant success, the most listened-to radio station in the country^{[citation needed]}. In 1975, WDMT in Cleveland began programming a mix of R&B, disco and rap. The station featured live "street jocks" mixing vinyl records each night. The station 's popularity grew and in 1980, it was Arbitron rated No. 2 12+, just behind the No. 1 rated WMMS with the original "Morning Zoo". Carol Ford hosted the morning drive show. Other famous people who worked at WDMT include: Tony Harris (CNN), Len Canon (NBC, Fox-NYC), Brenda Love, Kim Skillern (Lady Skill), Matt Morgan, Dean Rufus, Freddie James, Mike Chapman, Rod See, Eric Fasion and Vanilla Fudge.

The 1980s[link]

WBLS in New York City was the first station to air a rap radio show, Rap Attack with Mr. Magic and Marley Marl, in 1983.^[2]

During the early 1980s as newly-formed WRKS-FM (98.7 Kiss FM) became the first rap station in the United States^{[citation needed]}, WBLS quickly began adding more rap records to its playlists. The urban format by this time was redefined by an eclectic mix of R&B, rap, reggae, gospel, dance, house, and freestyle. WBLS continued as the flagship station of the Urban format; however, Kiss FM surpassed them in the ratings.

Many radio stations imitated the urban sound since it was proven to be more profitable than other formats. Another subformat of urban contemporary is rhythmic contemporary hits which plays a great deal of dance music. WQHT-FM and KPWR were the first stations to utilize this format.

1990s–present[link]

Since the 1990s, as urban contemporary hits have dominated the US pop charts, many adult contemporary stations have turned to playing some tracks popular on urban contemporary radio stations.

Today, urban contemporary refers to music that can be described as a crossover of rap and contemporary R&B which in some instances may be accompanied with dance beats. Notable examples include:

• "I'm Real" by Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule
• "Dilemma" by Nelly and Kelly Rowland
• "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z
• "Baby Boy" by Beyoncé Knowles and Sean Paul
• "Yeah!" by Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris
• "Goodies" by Ciara and Petey Pablo
• "1 Thing" by Ameriie
• "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé Knowles

It should be noted that contemporary R&B artists usually produce alternative versions of such duets that have rapping excluded. Such versions are produced for more conservative radio stations that would consider rapping unacceptable for their listeners.

Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration is awarded since 2002.

Other formats[link]

Urban adult contemporary[link]

Urban AC is a subformat that is geared towards adult African-American audiences, and therefore, the artists that are played on these stations are most often African-American. The Urban AC stations are more similar to Soft AC than they are to Hot AC, and the music they play is predominantly R&B and soul music. This is reflected in many of the Urban AC radio stations' taglines, such as "Today's R&B and Classic Soul", "The Best Variety of R&B Hits and Oldies" and "(City/Region)'s R&B Leader." Some popular nicknames for Urban AC stations include "Magic" (borrowed from Soft AC), "Mix" (borrowed from Hot AC), and "Kiss" (borrowed from Top-40)^{[citation needed]}

A more elaborate form of Urban AC is the Rhythmic Oldies format, which focuses primarily on "Old School" R&B/Soul hits from the 1960s to the 1990s, including Motown and disco hits. Often referred to in the past as "Jammin'" or "Groovin'" Oldies, the Rhythmic Oldies format was quite popular for a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1997, KCMG-FM "Mega 100" in Los Angeles pioneered the concept of "Jammin' Oldies," which involved creating a mass-appeal music mix. The "Jammin'"/"Groovin'" Oldies format subsequently spread nationwide, to stations like WTJM-FM in New York City, WMOJ in Cincinnati, and WGRV-FM in Detroit (all of which have since changed format). Many of these stations played soul or disco by artists such as ABBA and The Bee Gees in addition to African-American artists. Many believe that what contributed the most to the death of the "Jammin' Oldies" stations was the fact that their playlists soon became very small and narrow, increasing listener "burnout" and dropping ratings within a few months after a promising ratings start. Rhythmic Oldies stations still exist today, but chiefly in markets with large African-American populations; the peak of the "Jammin' Oldies" approach has come and gone.

Usually embedded within the Urban Adult Contemporary is another format called Quiet Storm. This format is most played during the evening beginning at 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm hours into late night. The Quiet Storm format plays on Urban Adult Contemporary format. The music that is played are strictly ballads and slow jams. Popular artists played on the Quiet Storm format are Babyface, Teena Marie, Angela Bofill, Miki Howard, Regina Belle, Howard Hewett, Freddie Jackson, Johnny Gill, Anita Baker, Sade, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Vanessa Williams, Mariah Carey, Dru Hill, and En Vogue among others.

Mainstream urban[link]

Mainstream urban is a term used to describe a radio format similar to an urban contemporary format. The format differentiates itself due to two factors: playlist composition and target demographic. The majority of the stations cater to younger listeners; they tend to have a more hip-hop-heavy playlist compared to the R&B-heavy playlist that is very common among urban contemporary-formatted radio stations. Also, mainstream urban stations tend to target both genders with its playlist compared to urban contemporary station that tend to target mainly females^{[citation needed]}. The term 'mainstream urban' was coined in the mid-1990s when radio stations started featuring primarily different styles of current hip-hop and R&B when it became very popular. The target demographic of the format is usually the 16- to 34-years-old males and females.^{[citation needed]}

The format features various styles of hip-hop and R&B from different regions of the country that are popular at the moment. However, the format does feature numerous classic hip-hop and R&B songs from the late '80s and 1990s.

Rhythmic contemporary[link]

Rhythmic Contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio and "Rhythmic Crossover" is a music radio format that includes of a mix of dance, and upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop, and R&B hits. While most rhythmic stations' playlists are composed of that mentioned above, some tend to lean very urban with current hip-hop, urban pop, and R&B hits that gain mainstream appeal.

Most of its core listeners makeup a multicultural mix of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans, that include a core group of teens, young adults (mostly 18–34) and young females^{[citation needed]}

The origins of Rhythmic Top 40 can be traced back 1978 when WKTU on 92.3 FM New York City (now WXRK) became a disco based station. That station was classified as urban but played a blend of disco, dance music, and pop crossovers. Back then stations playing strictly R&B materials were known as Black stations^{[citation needed]}. Stations like WKTU were known as Urban^{[citation needed]}. In the 1980s many Urban contemporary stations began to spring up. Most of these leaned towards R&B and away from plenty of dance music. These urban stations began sounding identical to so called "Black stations" and by 1985 stations that played strictly R&B product were all known as Urban stations. Still some urban outlets continued to add artists from outside the format onto their playlist. In most cases it was dance and rhythmic pop but occasionally they added a few rock songs. Also Urban Contemporary radio stations were the first to play New Wave artists such as B-52's, Duran Duran, ABC and Culture Club.^[3] However it wasn't until January 11, 1986 that KPWR Los Angeles, a former struggling adult contemporary outlet and WQHT New York began to make its mark with this genre by adopting this approach^{[citation needed]}.

It would be known as Crossover because of the musical mix. As these stations pilfered listeners away from numerous mainstream stations, many urban stations reintroduced Dance music onto their playlists again. Billboard magazine took notice of this new format and on February 15, 1987, it launched the first Crossover chart. But by December 1990 Billboard eliminated the chart because more Top 40 and R&B stations were becoming identical with the rhythmic-heavy playlist that were also being played at the crossover stations at the time. Billboard would later revive the chart again in October 1992 as the Top 40 Rhythm/Crossover chart. On June 25, 1997, it was renamed the Rhythmic Top 40 chart as a way to distinguish stations that continue to play a broad based rhythmic mix from those whose mix leaned heavily toward R&B and Hip-Hop.

For years since its inception, the Rhythmic name has been a source of confusion among music trades, especially in both Billboard (which used the Rhythmic Top 40 title) and Radio & Records (which use the CHR/Rhythmic title for their official charts). In August 2006 Billboard dropped both the "Top 40" and "CHR" name from the Rhythmic title after its sister publication Billboard Radio Monitor merged with Radio & Records to become the "New" R&R as part of their realignment of format categories. The move also ended confusion among the radio stations who report to their panels, which was modified by the end of 2006 with the inclusion of non-monitored reporters that were holdovers from the "(Old) R&R" days.

Still, over the years since its inception, the genre has grown and evolved but not without criticism. Traditional R&B outlets claim that the Rhythmic format does not target or serve the African-American community properly, while traditional Top 40 stations claim that the format is too urban to be Top 40. However, those claims have been all but slienced, with both R&B and mainstream Top 40 stations taking cues from the format they criticized.

Still there continues to be confusion of the distinction between Rhythmic CHR stations and Urban Top 40 stations. In New York City WQHT Hot 97 strictly plays R&B and Hip Hop. Also in that city WWPR Power 105 plays a similar format. WQHT is classified as Top 40/Rhythm while WWPR is classified as Urban. Los Angeles is similar where KPWR and KDAY have similar formats but KPWR is considered Top 40/Rhythm while KDAY is considered Urban. Also very similar situations have occurred in Washington, D.C. with WPGC-FM and San Francisco with KMEL. One possible reason for this is precedent. When these stations began they played a great deal of dance music and were classified as CHR outlets. However, many critics say the ability to attract more mainstream advertisers as Rhythmic, rather than Urban, is the real reason, thus fueling the criticism from the African-American community in general.

However by 2005 KPWR began to re-add more Rhythmic Pop product after a seven-year gap (it had phased most of the Rhythmic and Dance product by 1997 when it had competition from KIBB and KACD/KBCD, both defunct), mostly in response to rival KIIS leaning towards a rhythmic direction. The move has resulted in KPWR and KIIS reigniting their Los Angeles Top 40 war. KPWR has also gone on the offensive to protect their Hispanic demos in the wake of new Hurban rival KXOL making a dent in the ratings.

WQHT on the other hand, had moved more towards R&B/Hip-Hop as they step up their competition in the Big Apple with WWPR-FM, which had gotten nasty with both stations blasting each other on the air and at high-profile concerts/events, as well as who claims ownership of who plays the most Hip-Hop in New York.

WPGC-FM began operating in 1987 as a Rhythmic that played R&B, hip-hop, dance, and pop music. Its playlist began to migrate to mostly Hip-Hop/R&B songs with R&B and soul slow songs on Sunday through Thursday nights since 1993, a format very similar to WKYS. This began a head-to-head battle with WKYS, but also Urban ACs, WHUR and WMMJ, due to WPGC playing old school R&B and soul songs during the overnight hours and on weekends. In 2008, WPGC began to air gospel music on Sunday mornings.

KMEL also began in 1984 as a Mainstream Top 40, but migrated to a Rhythmic that played began hip-hop, dance, freestyle, house, and reggae music by 1987. However, in 1992, its playlist began to lean more urban to battle with competitor KYLD, which ended in 1997 when both stations became sister stations. KMEL currently has a playlist that is Hip Hop/R&B music, and plays mostly R&B slow jams at night from Sundays through to Thursdays and gospel music on Sunday Mornings, while KYLD plays a balanced mix of Rhythmic Pop, Hip-Hop/R&B and some Dance products.

On August 11, 2006, R&R had moved WQHT, WPGC-FM, KMEL, to the Urban Contemporary Airplay Panel since they seldom play any type of Rhythmic pop product and is therefore not considered part of the 'Pure' Rhythmic community. However, despite the changes, there are a few "Churbans" who remain on the Rhythmic panel that are exceptions, mostly due to the lack of minorities in several major metropolitan markets that do not have a mainstream Urban, like KTWN-FM/Minneapolis-St. Paul and WJMN/Boston. However, on May 25, 2007, WQHT, KXHT/Memphis, WZMX/Hartford and WMBX/West Palm Beach, along with KZZA/Dallas-Ft.Worth (from the Latin Rhythm Airplay panel), were re-added to the panel, as their playlists now favors a broader Rhythmic direction, thus making them outright Rhythmics.

Urban adult hits[link]

In 2010, WUKS St. Pauls, North Carolina switched to a format described as "Everything that jamz" that included a variety of musical styles that can be described as urban contemporary or urban oldies. WUKS owner Beasley Broadcast Group said the new sound "targets men and women, ages 25 to 54, with a blend of rhythm-and-blues, funk and early hip-hop from the 1970s to today's hits."^[4] Beasley market manager Mac Edwards said listeners indicated they wanted more energy and more of the songs they danced to when younger.^[4] It is interesting to note that from 1975 to 1988, Beasley Broadcast Group owned WDMT in Cleveland, one of the first Urban Contemporary stations in the country.

Another station in this format is WUHT in Birmingham, Alabama owned by originally by Citadel Broadcasting, now Cumulus Media, that has had a similar format to this since 2005.

References[link]

Camp Mulla
Camp Mulla at the official launch party of their music videos "Party Don't Stop" and "Addicted". From front to back: Taio Tripper, K'Cous, Shappa Man, Miss Karun and Mykie Tuchi.
Background information
Origin	Nairobi, Kenya
Genres	Alternative hip hop, Kapuka rap, R&B
Occupations	Rapper, vocalist, record producer, DJ
Years active	2009-present
Labels	Sub Sahara Records
Associated acts	Collo
Website	campmulla.wordpress.com
Members
Taio Tripper Shappa Man Miss Karun K'Cous Mykie Tuchi

Camp Mulla is a Kenyan hip hop group originating from and based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The group has grown a big fanbase over a short period, already having over 32,500 fans on Facebook, over 21,800 followers on Twitter (more than any other successful Kenyan artist) and over 150 followers on SoundCloud.

The group is considered one of the most exciting upcoming music groups in Kenya, if not East Africa. However, many adults of the age of 30 and above have criticised their "bubblegum music", according to the Buzz feature on the Sunday Nation website.^[1]

During the 2012 Chaguo La Teeniez Awards held on 20 April 2012, Camp Mulla won the awards for "Teeniez' Group or Collabo" and "Teeniez' Nu Artist".^[2][3][4] They have also been nominated for the coming 2012 BET Awards for "Best International Act - Africa", becoming the first Kenyans to ever be nominated for a BET Award in the process, alongside Lira, Mokobé, Ice Prince, Wizkid and Sarkodie.^[5][6][7]

Foundation[link]

After honing their skills through a series of experimental projects, manager Mykie Tuchi and rappers Shappa Man (then known as Young Kass) and Taio Tripper co-founded the group in mid-2009. Miss Karun and K'Cous later joined.

Current members[link]

• Taio Tripper (born Matthew Wakhungu) - Emcee, rapper, vocalist, lyricist
• Shappa Man (born Benoit Kanema) - Record producer, rapper, songwriter
• Miss Karun (born Karungari Mungai) - Lead vocalist, songwriter
• K'Cous (born Marcus Kibukosya) - Record producer, Emcee, songwriter, rapper
• Mykie Tuchi (born Michael Mutooni) - CEO^[8]

Media[link]

Song distribution[link]

Camp Mulla started distributing their music through websites ReverbNation, SoundCloud and SoundClick for digital download. Their first official song, entitled Low, features J-Smiles and was popular amongst college students. It was introduced by radio presenter Eve D'Souza on Capital FM when it debuted on radio.

Radio[link]

Their first single, Low, got them their first airplay on the Kenyan radio scene. Their most successful song so far is their second single, Party Don't Stop, which has received airplaany Kenyan radio stations, including Kiss 100, 98.4 Capital FM, on which it has reached its Top 9 at 9 playlist, and Homeboyz Radio (91.5), hosted by G Money in the morning. The song peaked at number 2 on Capital FM's Hits Not Homework and number 13 on Homeboyz Radio's HitList.^[9]

On 21 September 2011 Camp Mulla had a live interview with Kenyan Kiss 100 host and vocalist DNG, where he asked the group why they do what they do, what their inspiration is, their goals in this music industry and all that motivates their style. Their inspiration appears to be more plagiarism. ^[10]

Public appearances and performances[link]

Camp Mulla got their first public appearance on 12 February 2011 at Collo's Valentine's Day concert, where he was to reveal the music video for his new song, Chini ya Maji. At the same time he was to introduce Camp Mulla in public to perform for the first time.

Camp Mulla was the opening act for Nigerian R&B duo P-Square at a live performance at The Carnivore on 26 February 2011.^[11] Camp Mulla also opened for Nigerian acts at Naija 9te (or Naija Nite) including Naeto C and Flavour on October 2011. They have also recently made huge appearances at hip hop events, school concerts and award-shows such as the Chaguo La Teeniez Awards.

The group were to perform in the Big Brother Africa 7 opening ceremony alongside J. Cole, Davido, Aemo E'Face, P-Square, Naeto C and Flavour on 6 May 2012,^[12][13][14] but were not able to due to delays in their travelling documentation.^[15] However, they performed on the show's first eviction show on 13 May 2012.^[16]

Musical style[link]

	"Party Don't Stop" A 28-second sample of "Party Don't Stop", which includes a portion of Taio Tripper's verse in the song.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

	"Fresh All Day" A 19-second sample of the "Fresh All Day" chorus.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Majority of Camp Mulla's songs incorporate hip hop and contemporary R&B respectively. However, a close listen to some of their tracks also clearly indicate their producer K'Cous operates within an "expanded" Kenyan state of mind, such as with their song Addicted. They call their musical style "2-5-Flow" or "254Low" (pronounced two five flow), which is a pun of Kenya's calling code +254.^[17] "254Low" is also said to be the name of their soon to be launched multi-talented fraternity, which will feature young Kenyan upcoming artists believed to be the future of the newly reformed music industry.

Discography[link]

Camp Mulla are yet to release their debut studio album, entitled Funkytown.^[18]

Singles[link]

Other songs[link]

The following songs are not arranged in any order. Each of these released tracks are bids to boost the group's growing fanbase. Songs that are written in bold and italics are very popular songs by Camp Mulla.

Group songs[link]

• All Night Long (Remix) (Remix of All Night Long by AJ)
• Beatbox (Produced by Coolibob)
• Pass That Doob (Freestyle)
• Pare (Remix of "Kare" by P-Unit)
• Take It to the Floor
• Addicted
• Captain of the Cool Kids
• Walkin' on a Dream (Remix of "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun)
• Money, Clothes, B******, Liquor
• Compliment (featuring Collo)
• Stick 'em Up (Produced by Sean Peevers)

Individual songs[link]

• "Slow Down Kass"- Shappa Man
• "I'm on It" - Taio Tripper
• "Doin' it Again" (with Idris Jones and A.D.E.)^[20] - K'Cous
• "Beenies On My Weenie" (with Idris Jones and A.D.E.) - K'Cous
• "Thirsty" (with Idris Jones) - K'Cous
• "O Holy Night (John Sullivan Dwight version)" (Acoustic guitar cover with Just a Band from The Just a Band Boxing Day Special) - Miss Karun

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Camp Mulla Official Website
• Camp Mulla on Facebook
• Camp Mulla on Twitter
• Camp Mulla on Myspace
• Camp Mulla's channel on YouTube
• Camp Mulla on ReverbNation
• Camp Mulla on SoundCloud
• Camp Mulla on SoundClick
• Camp Mulla on Vimeo
• Camp Mulla on MZIKI

Keith Urban
Keith Urban performing at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan 2 November 2007
Background information
Birth name	Keith Lionel Urban[1]
Born	(1967-10-26) 26 October 1967 (age 44) Whangarei, New Zealand
Origin	Caboolture, Queensland, Australia
Genres	Country, country rock, southern rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Banjo, piano, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, Ebow, drums, sitar
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Capitol Records Nashville
Associated acts	The Ranch, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Dann Huff, Radney Foster, John Butler Trio, John Mayer, Trisha Yearwood, Nelly Furtado, John Fogerty, Bon Jovi, Carrie Underwood, Richard Marx
Website	KeithUrban.net

Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is a Australian country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album, and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States in 1992. Eventually, Urban found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Records and charted two singles on the Billboard country charts.

Still signed to Capitol, he made his solo American debut in 1999 with the album Keith Urban. Certified platinum in the U.S., it also produced his first American Number One in "But for the Grace of God". His breakthrough hit was the Number One "Somebody Like You", from his second Capitol album Golden Road (2002). This album also earned Urban his first Grammy Award win for "You'll Think of Me", its fourth single and the fourth Billboard Number One of his career. 2004's Be Here, his third American album, produced three more Number Ones, and became his highest-selling album, earning 4× Multi-Platinum certification. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, producing the record-setting No.17 country chart debut of "Once in a Lifetime", as well as Urban's second Grammy for the song "Stupid Boy", while a Greatest Hits package entitled Greatest Hits: 18 Kids followed in late 2007. This album was re-released a year later as Greatest Hits: 19 Kids with one track added: the number one "You Look Good in My Shirt", which he had previously recorded on Golden Road. Additional albums Defying Gravity and Get Closer were released on 31 March 2009 and 16 November 2010, respectively.

Urban has released a total of nine studio albums (one of which was released only in the United Kingdom), as well as one album in The Ranch. He has charted more than fifteen singles on the U.S. country charts, including fourteen Number Ones. Urban plays acoustic and electric guitar, as well as banjo, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, sitar, bouzouki and drums.

Life and career[link]

Background[link]

Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban was born in Whangarei, New Zealand but later moved and lived with his parents in Caboolture, Queensland, Australia. By age six, Urban was already thinking about getting into the music business. He began learning the techniques at age seven and began winning young singing contests by age eight.

A few years later he began to make inroads into the Australian country music scene with regular appearances on the Reg Lindsay Country Homestead TV Program, Mike McClellan's Music Program and various other TV Programs performing in duet with Jenny Wilson, local Brisbane girl with whom he won a golden guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He also performed regularly on stage at the Northern Suburbs Country Music Club near Caboolture.

In 1990, Urban signed with EMI in Australia and recorded his first solo album, which charted four No. 1 country hits in Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. Urban toured as a back-up to Slim Dusty in 1993-4. In the mid 1990s, Dusty and Urban recorded a re-worked duet of Dusty's classic "Lights on the Hill" and Urban appeared for the first time at the Grand Ole Opry backing Dusty.^[2]

In 1992, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found work as a guitarist for Brooks & Dunn and can be seen backing Alan Jackson in his music video for "Mercury Blues". Later, Urban formed The Ranch, a three-piece group that released one album in 1997. Originally the front man for The Ranch, Urban disbanded the group to pursue a solo career in 1998. In 1999, Urban found "Vocal Coach to the Stars" Brett Manning, and worked with him up until 2001.

In August 2000, Urban was the first male New Zealand performer to reach the top 10 on the U.S. country chart with "Your Everything". At the time he was spelling his name "keith urban".^[3]

In Nashville, Urban became a frequent user of cocaine.^[4] After reaching a personal nadir in 1998, he became determined to give up the habit and checked into Cumberland Heights, a treatment center in Nashville. After cleaning up, Urban released his self-titled American debut in 1999, which produced three top 5 hits and secured for him the Top New Male Vocalist Award at the 2001 Academy of Country Music Awards and the 2001 Country Music Association's Horizon Award. Widely regarded for his guitar skills, has performed as a session musician on albums such as Garth Brooks' Double Live, Dixie Chicks' Fly, and Paul Brandt's This Time Around.^{[citation needed]}

Urban performed "Lights on the Hill" for Tamworth's 2004 tribute concert following the death of Australia's Slim Dusty, an artist whom Urban had both written for and covered.^[5][6]

Urban was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards.^[7][8]

[edit] Golden Road & Be Here

Urban released Golden Road in 2002, and the success of the single "Somebody Like You" sent his career into high gear. Touring as a supporting act for renowned country acts Brooks & Dunn, Martina McBride and Kenny Chesney honed Urban's skills and stage-craft. Country video channel CMT signed on as the title sponsor of Urban's first headlining arena tour titled Keith Urban Be Here '04 with opening act Katrina Elam. Urban continued his meteoric rise to fame in 2005 with a very successful tour with Elam called Alive in '05. He performed in the Live 8 Philadelphia concert on 2 July 2005 and had been selected by The Gap to appear alongside seven other musical artists in their "Favorites" campaign. He was named the 2005 CMA's Male Vocalist of the Year. He released a DVD in late September 2005 entitled Livin' Right Now, recorded in at the Wiltern Theater in California in December 2004.

In 2005 Urban performed in front of European audiences for the first time. In May Urban supported Bryan Adams on his UK and Ireland tour, which included dates in Earls Court, London, SECC, Glasgow and The Point, Dublin. On 6 June a UK only album, Days Go By was released, this album contained songs from both Be Here and Golden Road .

In October, Urban returned for a headlining tour with Nerina Pallot and Richard Winsland as support acts.

Urban has recently performed "Better Life" on the CMA Awards and "You'll Think of Me" on the American Music Awards. He also performed at the Grammys playing "You'll Think of Me" and "The Lucky One" with Faith Hill. At the 2006 ACM Awards Urban performed "Tonight I Wanna Cry" and played guitar for Brooks & Dunn's song "Believe."

[edit] Love, Pain, & The Whole Crazy Thing

On Monday 21 August 2006, Urban made history when his new single "Once in a Lifetime" debuted at #17, setting a new record for the highest-debuting country single in the 62-year history of Billboard's country charts. The record was formerly held by Garth Brooks' "Good Ride Cowboy" and Eddie Rabbitt's "Every Which Way But Loose", both of which debuted at #18. "Good Ride Cowboy" was the highest in the BDS era (1990–present). The song however would soon be beaten by Kenny Chesney's Don't Blink, which debuted at #16, and later Garth Brooks' "More Than A Memory", which debuted at #1.

Urban is also a winner of numerous "Golden Guitars", which are presented annually during the Tamworth Country Music Festival at "The Country Music Association of Australia's Annual Awards" in Tamworth, New South Wales Australia. He is also a former winner of the Toyota Starmaker Contest, which is held each year in conjunction with the CMAA Awards and the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Keith was named artist of the month for July 2007 on the television network GAC (Great American Country). He answered a question of the day every day that month, and did multiple interviews about love, life, his new album and his stay in rehab.

On 7 July 2007, Keith performed with Alicia Keys at one of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts held around the world. The concerts were held to raise awareness of global warming. Keith performed at the concert held in New York City and said in an interview that global warming is not a political issue, and what he is doing to help the environment is running all bio-diesel buses in his Love, Pain and The Whole Crazy World Tour.

Urban released his first greatest hits collection, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids, on 20 November 2007. The CD contains all of his top 10 hits, along with two new songs, "Romeo's Tune" and "Got It Right This Time (The Celebration)."

In January 2008, Urban embarked on the Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour with fellow country singer Carrie Underwood. In early May 2008, Urban debuted a new song at the Grand Ole Opry titled "A New Sunshine". And in late May 2008, Urban re-recorded a song from his sophomore CD, "You Look Good in My Shirt". The song was released on the radio at the end of May. "Over the years it ("You Look Good In My Shirt") has always played like a hit song," said Keith. "That, combined with numerous requests from both fans and radio about why it was never a single, inspired us to get back into the studio and re-record the song."(keithurban.net) The single was a pre-cursor to the "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy World Tour" concert DVD release in the Fall of '08. Urban's newest release "Defying Gravity" was released 31 March 2009.

"You Look Good in My Shirt" was the first single from Keith Urban's re-recorded 2007 album, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids. The album was released under a different title, Greatest Hits: 19 Kids on 19 August 2008. Keith Urban was also featured on Brad Paisley's instrumental album titled Play, on a song called "Start a Band."

[edit] Defying Gravity

Urban recently announced that the lead single for his forthcoming 5th studio album will be titled "Sweet Thing". This song became the first No.1 single off the album. The song was co-written with Monty Powell, who wrote some of Urban's past hits, and co-produced with his longtime producer Dann Huff. The album, Defying Gravity, was released on 31 March 2009, through Capitol Records. Its second single, "Kiss a Girl",^[9] debuted in March 2009. Urban performed this song on American Idol, during the season 8 finale, as a duet with eventual winner Kris Allen. Its third single, "Only You Can Love Me This Way", is another chart-topping song, co-written by Steve McEwan and John Reid.^[10] Defying Gravity debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200. This was Urban's first No.1 CD. His past two albums debuted at #3.

Keith Urban has received four nominations on the 2009 CMA Awards, including Entertainer Of The Year and Male Vocalist Of The Year for a fourth consecutive year in a row. He also earned a nomination for Album Of The Year for Defying Gravity and shares a nomination with Brad Paisley for Music Video Of The Year for "Start A Band".

A video for "Hit The Ground Runnin'" premiered on 2 October on CMT and CMT.com.

Urban's 2009 Escape Together tour, supporting the album, Defying Gravity, featured many big name opening acts, including Taylor Swift, Sugarland, and Jason Aldean. On 27 June 2009 Keith filmed a video for the song, "Only You Can Love Me This Way", at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

On 5 May 2010, whilst being interviwed by CNN about the flooding in Nashville, Urban stated that he was about to begin recording a new album, but all his guitars were now underwater.

Urban's 2010 Summer Lovin' tour consisted of mostly festival shows.

[edit] Get Closer

In May 2010, Urban entered the studio to begin work on a new album.^[11] The recording process was documented in a blog on his official website. At the beginning of September, it was announced that the album would be titled Get Closer and would see release on 16 November. At the same time, "Put You in a Song" was revealed to be the first single and was released digitally and to radio on 13 September.^[12]

Keith Urban appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on 10 November 2010.^[13]

To promote the new album, Keith played surprise concerts at New York City's Penn Station as well as a train station in Philadelphia. The impromptu concerts included a 4-song set list mixing in new and old hits.

On 30 November, Keith played a free concert at The Ice Palace of the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Fans lined up days in advance to hear him play the first single (Put You in a Song) from "Get Closer" and a short collection of past hits. He also played a tribute to Johnny Cash with "Folsom Prison Blues" and Steve Miller's "The Joker"

On 15 December, After appearing on Oprah's Australian special, Keith decided to play an acoustic set in Pitt St Mall in Sydney. There he played in front of 2500+ people. He also called up a young fan to play his single Put You In a Song.

Urban announced the "Get Closer – World Tour 2011", an Australian, American and Canadian tour in support of the album. His American tour features country artist Jake Owen supporting. The Canadian leg features The Band Perry as the opening act.

Urban also recorded a song titled "For You," which was featured as the theme song of the 2012 action film Act of Valor. It also appears on the film's soundtrack.

On 10 April 2012, Urban was asked to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry by Vince Gill at the third annual "All for the Hall" benefit concert which Urban organized. He will be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on 21 April 2012.

[edit] The Voice

On 23 November 2011, Urban was confirmed as one of the four vocal coaches in the upcoming Australian version of the reality singing competition The Voice.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Starting in 1992, Urban dated veterinary technician Laura Sigler for eight years. Urban proposed to Sigler in 2001, but the pair eventually split in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Urban met Australian actress Nicole Kidman at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honoring Australians, in January 2005, but they reportedly didn't begin dating until 6 months later. Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, 25 June 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney.

On 19 October 2006, Urban checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in California. On 20 October, Urban issued a statement saying: "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones who love and support me. One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have." On 18 January 2007, Urban announced his completion of rehab and his plans to go on tour to promote his new album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing.^[15]

On 2 February 2007, Urban filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey painter by the same name, who has a web site KeithUrban.com. The singer wanted to acquire the rights to the URL.^[16] Keith Urban the singer's URL is KeithUrban.NET. The painter counter sued.^[17] The lawsuit was settled in the painter's favor.

On 1 October 2007, while riding, Urban skidded off his motorbike when a paparazzo followed him near his home in Sydney; Urban was not hurt. In a statement released by his publicists, Urban says the incident was "the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy." Urban says he tried to avoid an oncoming car and dropped his bike. He says the photographer came to his assistance without taking photos.

On 7 January 2008, Nicole Kidman confirmed she and Urban were expecting their first child together. Kidman's publicist said "the couple are thrilled and cannot wait." Kidman gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, on 7 July 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. She weighed 2.93 kg (6 lbs, 7.5 oz). On his website, Urban stated,

"Earlier this morning Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today."^[18][19]

On 28 December 2010, Urban and Kidman welcomed a second daughter, Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, via surrogate at Nashville's Centennial Women's Hospital. The baby is biologically Urban and Kidman's.^[20] On 17 January 2011, Keith posted this statement on his website: "Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret. No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier."^[21] Faith's middle name is after Kidman's late grandmother.^[22]

Discography[link]

Keith Urban in Sydney

Studio albums[link]

• Keith Urban (1991)^A
• Keith Urban in The Ranch (1997)
• Keith Urban (1999)
• Golden Road (2002)
• Be Here (2004)
• Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing (2006)
• Defying Gravity (2009)
• Get Closer (2010)

Compilation albums[link]

• Days Go By (2005)
• Greatest Hits: 18 Kids (2007)^B

Number one singles[link]

• "But for the Grace of God" (2001)
• "Somebody Like You" (2002)
• "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me" (2003)
• "You'll Think of Me" (2004)
• "Days Go By" (2004)
• "Making Memories of Us" (2005)
• "Better Life" (2005)
• "You Look Good in My Shirt" (2008)
• "Start a Band" (with Brad Paisley) (2009)
• "Sweet Thing" (2009)
• "Only You Can Love Me This Way" (2009)
• "Without You" (2011)
• "Long Hot Summer"(2011)
• "You Gonna Fly" (2012)

^A Released only in Australia, but later re-released independently in 2005.
^B Re-released in 2008 as Greatest Hits: 19 Kids, with one track added.

Tours[link]

Keith Urban in concert, 2007

Official Tours[link]

• Get Closer 2011 World Tour (2011) – supporting his seventh studio album, Get Closer, released on 16 November 2010
• Summer Lovin' 2010 (2010) – supporting his sixth studio album, Defying Gravity, released on 31 March 2009
• Escape Together World Tour 2009 (2009) – supporting his sixth studio album, Defying Gravity, released on 31 March 2009
• Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride (2008) – supporting his fifth studio album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing touring with Carrie Underwood supporting her album Carnival Ride
• Love, Pain & the Whole crazy World Tour (2007) – supporting his fifth studio album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing
• Still Alive in 06 (2006) – supporting his fourth studio album, Be Here
• Alive In 05 (2005) – supporting his fourth studio album, Be Here
• Livin' Right Now Tour (2004) – supporting his fourth studio album, Be Here

Supporting Tours[link]

• Eagles Summer 2010 Tour (2010) – touring with The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks. It was announced on 16 March 2010 that Keith will be hitting the road with The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks for a North American stadium concert tour. 5 concert dates have been announced so far, which include Boston, and Chicago.^[23]
• Brooks & Dunn's Neon Circus & Wild West Show 2001

Band[link]

Touring Band[link]

2010–2011[link]

Danny Rader (guitar, ganjo, mandolin, bazouki, piano, organ) has recently been added to Urban's touring band.

2010[link]

After four years with the band, Chris Rodriguez and Brad Rice departed. Coming off the Escape Together World Tour, the two were told Urban would not be mounting big tours for awhile, and that a smaller band was all that was needed. The following band was from 2010 onwards for the CMT Crossroads and the Summerlovin Tour, as well as the tour with The Eagles:

• Keith Urban – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, bass guitar, bouzouki, e-bow, drums
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion
• Brian Nutter – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals, drums
• Jerry Flowers – bass guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, background vocals

2007–2009[link]

The following band was used for Keith's Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour (2008), Love, Pain & the whole crazy World Tour (2007) and the Escape Together World Tour (2009):

• Keith Urban – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, bass guitar, bouzouki, e-bow, drums
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion
• Chris Rodriguez – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals
• Brian Nutter – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals, drums
• Jerry Flowers – bass guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Brad Rice – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, ganjo, mandolin, background vocals

2005–2006[link]

Jerry Flowers replaced Mark Hill as the bass player. Jerry was a member of The Ranch in 1997 and 1998.

2004[link]

The following band was used for Keith's Be Here 2004 Tour:

• Mark Hill – bass guitar
• Steven King – piano, keyboards
• Chad Jeffers – acoustic guitar, ganjo, mandolin, dobro
• Chris Rodriguez – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, ganjo, mandolin, bass guitar, background vocals
• Chris McHugh – drums, percussion

Pre-2004[link]

The following band was used before 2004

• Peter Clarke – drums
• Jason Mowery – fiddle, mandolin
• Scotty Huff – acoustic guitar, banjo, rhythm guitar
• Tim Horsely – drums
• Robbie Harrington – bass guitar
• Randall Waller
• Jimmy Mattingly
• Millard Powers

Awards & honors[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keith Urban

• Official website
• Keith Urban at the Internet Movie Database
• Keith Urban at People.com

Ziggy Marley
Ziggy Marley performing in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	David Nesta Marley
Also known as	Ziggy Marley
Born	(1968-10-17) 17 October 1968 (age 43) Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	Reggae
Occupations	Musician, Singer-songwriter, Guitarist, voice actor
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, Piano, percussion
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Tuff Gong Worldwide
Associated acts	Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers
Website	www.ziggymarley.com

David "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968, Trenchtown, Jamaica) is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley. His father gave him the nickname "Ziggy"; he has stated that it means "a small joint".

Musical career[link]

In 1979, Ziggy and his siblings, Cedella, Stephen and Sharon made their recording debut with their father, "Children Playing in the Streets". The Melody Makers, as the group came to be known, played occasionally for several years, including at their father's funeral in 1981. Their debut LP was Play the Game Right, which was a very pop-oriented album, earning Ziggy some derision from critics. The band's label, EMI, wanted to market Ziggy as a solo act, and so the Melody Makers moved to Virgin Records, where they recorded Conscious Party (1988, produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth). The album was critically and popularly successful, as was One Bright Day (1989) and Jahmekya (1991).

Ziggy Marley singing at Guilfest 2011

As the 1990s continued, the Melody Makers' sales slowly declined, beginning with Joy and Blues (1993) and continuing with Free Like We Want 2 B (1995).

Ziggy became politically active, working with the United Nations and creating a record label called Ghetto Youths Crew. A solo album, Dragonfly was released on 15 April 2003. On 2 July 2006, his second solo album, Love Is My Religion, was released on his independent record company Tuff Gong Worldwide. This album won a Grammy for best Reggae album and this was Ziggy's 4th Grammy win. On 5 May 2009, his third solo children's album Family Time, was released on his independent record company Tuff Gong Worldwide. Family Time features Family and Friends, Rita Marley, Cedella Marley, Judah Marley, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Toots Hibbert, Laurie Berkner, Elizabeth Mitchell and more. This album won a Grammy for "Best Musical Album for Children".

Some of his most popular singles include "True To Myself", "Drive", "People Get Ready", and his hit single "Tomorrow People", which reached #39 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In April 2011, Marley announced his fourth album, entitled Wild and Free would be released on 14 June. The title track, featuring Woody Harrelson, is available for free with the pre-order of Ziggy's first comic book, "Marijuanaman."

Personal life[link]

Ziggy Marley is the oldest son of Bob Marley. He is married to Orly Marley, who is a former vice-president of William Morris Agency. He also has 6 children, Daniel Marley, Justice Marley, Zuri Marley, Judah Victoria, Gideon Robert Nesta, and Abraham Selassie Robert Nesta. Most of the family resides in Miami.

Philanthropy[link]

• Ziggy Marley founded Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment (URGE), which works to help children (especially in Jamaica and Ethiopia).

• In 2007, Marley signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. He has visited with children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.

Other work[link]

In 1991, Marley and the Melody Makers contributed the song "Give A Little Love" to the Disney album, For Our Children. The album is a collection of kid-friendly songs by popular artists (e.g. Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John), with proceeds given to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Marley made guest appearances as himself on an episode of the sitcom Family Matters in 1995, and on the television series Charmed in season 6 (episode 14, "The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell"), performing "Rainbow in the Sky".

He and his Melody Makers made a guest appearance on the popular kids television show Sesame Street in the 1991-92 season, and sang a Sesame Street version of "Small People" from their 1991 album Jahmekya

In 1996, Marley and the Melody Makers recorded the reggae-style theme song for the children's television series Arthur called "Believe in Yourself".

He voiced Ernie, one of Sykes' (Martin Scorsese) Rasta jellyfish henchmen in the 2004 film Shark Tale. In the film when Oscar (Will Smith) tries to sing the Bob Marley song "Three Little Birds", Marley's character zaps Oscar on the head and says "That's not the way you sing that song, mon." The title song for the film was a cover version of "Three Little Birds" performed by Marley and Sean Paul.

Further voice acting includes "Crockadle" on an episode of My Gym Partner's a Monkey, the Cheshire Cat in a 2010 episode of Wonder Pets, and Reflux the Knaaren, in the Ubisoft video game Rayman 3.

Marley covered "Drive" by The Cars for the Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates, and his father's song "Three Little Birds" for the Dora The Explorer soundtrack.

Ziggy is listed as the featured artist on Donna Summer's song, "Crayons," the title track from her 2008 album. He has also performed duets with Angelique Kidjo, Sting, Dora The Explorer, Taj Mahal, The Chieftains, Sean Paul and others.

Marley and his daughter Judah made an appearance in the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Ziggy Marley released a pro-marijuana song in support of California's Proposition 19 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. Voters rejected the ballot but backers said they would mount another legalization campaign in 2012.

In popular culture[link]

On an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch, Ziggy was mentioned while his father, Bob Marley (who was brought back to life via time machine), had his hands full with Shaggy. Shaggy first implies that Ziggy was merely a Bob impersonator ("Me? What about Ziggy? He sings all your songs - he even looks like you!"), while Bob answers that Ziggy is his son. Shaggy taunts Bob on how Ziggy might have got his name, on which Bob fight backs with comments on Scooby-Doo, where Shaggy got his nickname.

His song "Love Power" was played during the end credits of Muppet Treasure Island (1996), and "True To Myself" was featured on the TV show Scrubs (Season 8 Episode 14 - "My Soul On Fire", Pt. 1).

In the episode of South Park entitled Medicinal Fried Chicken, Randy Marsh wants to get a prescription for medicinal marijuana before the Ziggy Marley concert in Denver.

He is mentioned in holding a concert in Nevada in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Discography[link]

• Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers albums

Solo albums[link]

• 2003: Dragonfly
• 2006: Love Is My Religion
• 2008: Love Is My Religion Live
• 2009: Ziggy Live From Soho
• 2009: Family Time
• 2011: Wild and Free

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official Site of the Marley Brothers
• Official Melody Makers website
• Ziggy Marley at the Internet Movie Database