Look up BB or .bb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

BB (or similar) may refer to:

Businesses and organisations[link]

• Bavarian Peasants' League or BB, a former German political party
• Bloggingsbooks, an imprint of the German group VDM Publishing
• Boston Bruins, an NHL hockey team.
• Boys' Brigade, an international non-denominational Christian youth organization
• Banco do Brasil, a Brazilian bank founded in 1808
• Brooks Brothers, an American apparel store

Entertainment[link]

• B.B. King blues musician
• Bad Brains U.S. rastafarian hardcore punk band
• Beastie Boys U.S. hardcore punk turned hip hop group. Their name was originally chosen so as to use the same initials as Bad Brains
• Big Brother (TV series)
• Bully Beatdown, an American reality television series
• Blues Brothers, an American blues and soul band, and a movie of the band from 1980
• Batman Begins, a superhero movie based on the fictional character Batman
• Breaking Benjamin, an Alternative Metal band from Pennsylvania
• Breaking Bad, an American television drama series

People[link]

• Brigitte Bardot or BB, French actress
• Cathy Dingman or BB, professional wrestler
• Denys Watkins-Pitchford or BB, illustrator and author
• Barry Bonds or BB, former MLB outfielder
• Benazir Bhutto or B.B., former Pakistani prime minister
• Bertolt Brecht or B.B., German poet, playwright, and theatre director
• Bill Belichick or BB, American football head coach

Places[link]

• Barbados' ISO 3166-1 country code
  • .bb, the top-level domain for Barbados
• Bluegrass Boardwalk, an amusement park in Kentucky
• Brandenburg's ISO 3166-2 code
• BB postcode area, a group of postal districts around Blackburn in England
• Bourbon County, Kansas' state county code

Science and medicine[link]

• Branch and bound, a general algorithm for finding optimal solutions
• British Birds (magazine)
• Buffer base, a blood value

Technology and computing[link]

• The Busy Beaver function, the greatest number of steps needed by all Turing Machines of a given size to halt on a blank input
• BBCode, markup language used in most forums
• BlackBerry, a smartphone by Research in Motion sometimes shortened to the letters BB

Transportation[link]

• Toyota bB, a car sold in Japan
• NZR Bb class, a New Zealand locomotive class
• Seaborne Airlines' IATA airline code
• Buckingham Branch Railroad's reporting mark
• Battleship, a US Navy hull classification symbol
• Bottom bracket, the crank hub of a bicycle
• a defunct subway line, now known as the B (New York City Subway service)

Fictional characters[link]

• Blue Beetle
• Beast Boy, or BB in the Teen Titans animated series
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four) or BB
• Big Boss (Metal Gear), character from the Metal Gear series
• B.B., a character in Max Payne
• BB, a character in Grander Musashi
• Big Bird, a character from Sesame Street
• Bugs Bunny, a character from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
• Beyond Birthday (B.B.), a character from the novel "Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases"
• BB (Transformers), a member of the Predacons

Other uses[link]

• Base on balls in baseball, commonly known as a walk
• Bava Batra, a Jewish law treatise
• Bed and breakfast, a style of accommodation sometimes shortened to the letters BB or B&B
• Bareback (sex), a slang term for unprotected sex
• Ballbusting, a BDSM practice
• Blue Book, value of automotive vehicles as listed in the Kelley Blue Book
• BB (ammunition), an ammunition for a [[BB gun](ball-bearing)]
• BB, person who follows someone else during day to day operations
• BB cream, a type of cosmetic.

B-B may refer to:

• B-B, a classification of AAR wheel arrangement

See also[link]

• B. B. King, American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter
• B-flat minor or B♭ minor, a musical key
• Death Note, from Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
• B&B (disambiguation)
• BBM, a messaging app for BlackBerry
• BB Gunns, American big-bust entertainer

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The Weeknd
Background information
Birth name	Abel Tesfaye
Born	(1990-02-16) February 16, 1990 (age 22) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Contemporary R&B, post-dubstep, downtempo
Years active	2010–present
Associated acts	Drake, Doc McKinney, Illangelo,
Website	www.the-weeknd.com

Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is an R&B^[1] Canadian recording artist and record producer from Toronto. He began recording songs under The Weeknd and uploading them to YouTube in late 2010,^[2] though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown.^[3][4] In March 2011, The Weeknd released a nine-song free album, House of Balloons which was critically acclaimed.^[5] The title track is based on a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit single "Happy House.^[6] The first album is a part of a trilogy which includes Thursday released in August of the same year and Echoes of Silence issued in December.^[7] In June, House of Balloons was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees of 2011 Polaris Music Prize but eventually lost to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.^[8] On December 21, 2011 at 11:07 p.m. EST Tesfaye released his highly anticipated third mixtape Echoes of Silence. The Weeknd's site crashed shortly after due to the large number of downloads. The Weeknd quickly provided a Hulkshare link to keep the album available while the official site was down.

Since hitting the scene, The Weeknd has received praise from a number of musical publications, including those of Pitchfork,^[1] MTV,^[9] BET, Rolling Stone, XXL and The Source, who have all dubbed him the "Songbird of his Generation", as well as the "best musical talent since Michael Jackson" (John Norris, MTV).

[edit] House of Balloons

In late 2010, Abel Tesfaye uploaded three songs: "What You Need," "Loft Music," and "The Morning" to YouTube.^[10] A nine-track free album titled House of Balloons was digitally released on 21 March 2011 through the artist's official website.^[11] The title track is based on the sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1980 hit single "Happy House" with Tesfaye covering the chorus.^[5] Tesfaye’s eclectic music also blends other samples ranging from Beach House to Aaliyah.^[12] Hip-hop artist Drake has been partly credited for generating public awareness for The Weeknd, after he quoted a line from the track "Wicked Games" via Twitter and linked to the singer's music on his website.^[11][13]

House of Balloons was met with universal critical acclaim. Pitchfork's Joe Colly wrote that "all the thematic and sonic pieces fit together - these weird, morning-after tales of lust, hurt, and over-indulgence ... are matched by this incredibly lush, downcast music. It's hard to think of a record since probably The xx's debut ... that so fully embodies such a specific nocturnal quality."^[1] Frontier Psychiatrist's L.V. Lopez claimed the album was "brilliant, disturbing, and not safe for work," calling the song "Loft Music" a song that is "so unsafe it should come with a child-proof cap, so dirty that you’ll feel guilty the next time you see your wife."^[14] Tom Ewing of The Guardian said that although the singing and songwriting on House of Balloons "aren't especially strong by R&B standards," the Weeknd is receiving "so much attention" as a result of its "command of mood."^[15] Sean Fennessey of The Village Voice called the album "impressive" and added, "It's patient, often gorgeous, and consistently louche ... with the sort of blown-out underbelly and echo-laden crooning that has already made Drake's less-than-a-year-old Thank Me Later such an influential guidepost."^[16] Maegan McGregor of Exclaim! also praised the album: "Packed full of sex, drugs and some downright killer production, this easily stands as one of the year's best debuts so far, hipster, Top 40 or otherwise."^[17] Sputnik Music's Tyler Fisher said that "despite being a free album, House of Balloons feels like a true album, a true labor of love."^[18]

In July, The Weeknd then went on tour and gave his first performance at the Mod Club on College Street in Toronto. The hour-and-a-half long performance created a lot of buzz about the young R&B singer.^[19] Tesfaye’s next performance took place at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. He collaborated with rapper Drake and appeared as one of the special guests to Drake’s 2nd Annual OVO Fest on July 31, 2011 ^[20] That same month, the song "High for This" was featured in the promo for the final season of the HBO show Entourage.^[21]

During the summer, the press noted that Tesfaye refused to give interviews and choose to only communicate via Twitter.^[22]

When House of Balloons was named #1 album of 2011 by Complex magazine, it beat both Drake's Take Care and Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West for the number 1 spot.^[12]

[edit] Thursday

Thursday (mixtape) is the second mixtape released by The Weeknd . The mixtape was released shortly after House of Balloons on August 18, 2011. Thursday was released on XO's label along with his other two mixtapes. Although the mixtape was released for free on his website as a digital download, the feedback it received was enormously positive.^[23] Thursday was produced in Toronto, Ontario with the help of Doc McKinney and Illangelo.^[24]

[edit] Echoes of Silence

The Weeknd's third mixtape, entitled Echoes of Silence, was released in December 21, 2011.^[23][25] Echoes of Silence has been described as his most lyrically powerful and emotional mixtape to date.^[24]

In April 2012, The Weeknd debuted his US tour by performing at the Coachella Festival.^[26] Tesfaye and his band visited the Union’s coasts, with a dozen of gigs in various major cities^[26] which culminated in New York where the two sold out shows were positively reviewed by Rolling Stone.^[27] Then, they will be also performing in European major festivals, including the Primavera Sound Festivals in Spain and Portugal,^[28] Wireless Festival in London,^[29] plus concerts in Paris and Brussels.

Discography[link]

Mixtapes[link]

Guest Appearances and Production[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official blog

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since November 2010.

Diane Schuur (b. December 10, 1953 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Deedles", she has won two Grammy Awards, headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall and The White House and has toured the world performing with such greats as Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, B. B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Joe Williams and Stevie Wonder. Like Stevie Wonder, Schuur was blinded at birth due to retinopathy of prematurity.

Biography[link]

Diane Schuur grew up in suburban Seattle, Washington and was encouraged by both her parents to sing. She started singing when she was a two-and-a-half, and by age nine was getting professional gigs. She has said that as a small child she would often retreat to the closet to be alone with herself and sing.^[1]Her early childhood music heroines were Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. Schuur had her first gig at Tacoma's Holiday Inn at age ten in which she sang country music. Attending the Washington State School for the Blind, she began performing original material, and starting at the young age of sixteen, revealed a distinctive voice and began performing. Her big break came when Stan Getz became positive about her work on hearing her sing "Amazing Grace" at legendary Monterey Jazz Festival in 1979, returning once again in '88 and '91. In 1982, Getz asked her to join him at a performance at the White House. Nancy Reagan invited her to perform again as a vocalist with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1987. Stan Getz later played on Schuur's first three albums, Deedles (1984), Schuur Thing (1985) and Timeless (1988).^[2]

Schuur's debut album, Deedles, was released in 1984, the first of several recordings to showcase her vocal abilities. In 1985, while on tour in the Far East, Schuur met B.B. King when the two of them played a music festival in Tokyo. Schurr and King eventually made an album together, Heart to Heart released May 1994, which top the Billboard charts to number one. Twelve of Schuur's albums have reached the Top 10 Jazz Albums on Billboard history charts, including her latest Diane Schuur: Live In London (2006) ^[3] She received her first Grammy for the album Timeless (1986), and the following year received another, for Diane Schuur & the Count Basie Orchestra (1987).

Schuur proved her staying power through the 1990s and into the 2000s, first with her 1991 follow up to Talkin' 'Bout You, Pure Schuur, and then with nearly an album a year from then on, including In Tribute (1992]), Love Songs (1993), Heart to Heart (1994), Love Walked In (1995), Blues for Schuur (1997), Music Is My Life (1999), Friends for Schuur (2000), and Swingin' for Schuur (2001). Late in 2003, Schuur released Midnight, featuring original songs written for the album by Barry Manilow. Manilow also performs alongside Schuur on the album, along with Alan Broadbent on piano, Chuck Berghofer on bass, and the drummers Harvey Mason and Peter Erskine.

Her second live album, Diane Schuur: Live In London, was released in June 2006. It is her first release on the GR2 Classics label, the 20th album of her career and was recorded at Ronnie Scott's in Soho, London.

In 2008 she released a new studio collection entitled Some Other Time.

Selective discography[link]

Grammy history[link]

• Career Nominations: 5
• Career Wins: 2^[4]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Zimmerman, David (March 7, 1988). "A Schuur bet as the next jazz superstar". USA Today: p. D4. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/55813337.html?dids=55813337:55813337&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT. 
• Kohlhaase, Bill (January 14, 1995). "Happiness Is Now a Schuur Thing Jazz: After years of personal struggle, the singer, who performs tonight in Cerritos with the Count Basie Orchestra, is wearing a smile". Los Angeles Times: p. F2. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/21445926.html?dids=21445926:21445926&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT. 
• Kimura, Donna (2001). "Swingin' with Diane Schuur". Jazz Review. http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm?ID=547. Retrieved January 19, 2011. 

External links[link]

• Diane Schuur's website
• Starpulse biography