Lied (German pronunciation: [liːt]; plural lieder, [ˈliːdɐ]) is a German word literally meaning "song". It usually describes the setting of romantic German poems to music, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert. Among English speakers, "lied" is often used interchangeably with "art song" to encompass works that the tradition has inspired in other languages. The poetry forming the basis for lieder often centers upon pastoral themes, or themes of romantic love.

Typically, lieder are arranged for a single singer and piano, the lied with orchestral accompaniment being a later development. Some of the most famous examples of lieder are Schubert's "Der Tod und das Mädchen" ("Death and the Maiden") and "Gretchen am Spinnrade". Sometimes lieder are gathered in a Liederkreis or "song cycle"—a series of songs (generally three or more) tied by a single narrative or theme, such as Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, or Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben and Dichterliebe. Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann are most closely associated with this genre, mainly developed in the Romantic era.

History[link]

For German speakers, the term "Lied" has a long history ranging from 12th century troubadour songs (Minnesang) via folk songs (Volkslieder) and church hymns (Kirchenlieder) to 20th-century workers songs (Arbeiterlieder) or protest songs (Kabarettlieder, Protestlieder).

In Germany, the great age of song came in the 19th century. German and Austrian composers had written music for voice with keyboard before this time, but it was with the flowering of German literature in the Classical and Romantic eras that composers found high inspiration in poetry that sparked the genre known as the lied^{[citation needed]}. The beginnings of this tradition are seen in the songs of Mozart and Beethoven, but it is with Schubert that a new balance is found between words and music, a new absorption into the music of the sense of the words. Schubert wrote over 600 songs, some of them in sequences or song cycles that relate a story—adventure of the soul rather than the body. The tradition was continued by Schumann, Brahms, and Hugo Wolf, and on into the 20th century by Strauss, Mahler and Pfitzner. Austrian partisans of atonal music, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, composed lieder in their own style.

Other national traditions[link]

The lied tradition is closely linked with the German language. But there are parallels elsewhere, notably in France, with the mélodies of such composers as Berlioz, Fauré, Debussy and Francis Poulenc, and in Russia, with the songs of Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff in particular. England too had a flowering of song, more closely associated however with folk song than with the 19th-century art song, in the 20th century represented by Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten.

At the end of the 19th and during the 20th century classical lieder produced in the Netherlands were usually composed in several languages; Alphons Diepenbrock and Henk Badings composed Dutch, German, English and French songs and in Latin for choirs; together with a strong influenced from French impressionism and German romanticism which made the Dutch lieder tradition the only strong cosmopolitan one in Europe.

Bibliography[link]

• Hallmark, Rufus (1996). German Lieder in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Schirmer. ISBN 0-02-870845-8. 
• Parsons, James (2004). The Cambridge Companion to the Lied. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-80027-7. 

External links[link]

Look up lied in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
• The Lieder Sound Archive
• The Art Song Project

Michael Bolton
Bolton performing in Barcelona, January 14, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Michael Bolotin
Born	(1953-02-26) February 26, 1953 (age 59) New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Genres	Soft rock, pop rock, hard rock, blue-eyed soul
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1975–present
Labels	RCA, Columbia, Jive, Concord
Associated acts	Blackjack, The Lonely Island
Website	Official website

Michael Bolotin^[1] (born February 26, 1953), better known as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. He is best known, however, for his series of soft rock ballads, recorded after a stylistic change in the late 1980s. He is noted for his distinctive tenor/countertenor vocals.

Bolton's achievements include selling eight top 10 albums, achieving two number one singles on the Billboard charts, and receiving awards from both the American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.

Early life[link]

Bolton was born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Helen (Gubin) and George Bolotin. He has a brother, Orrin, and a sister, Sandra, both older. His family was Jewish, and all of his grandparents had been immigrants from Russia.^[2] His parents were divorced when he was very young and his father died when Michael was 13 years old.^[1]

Career[link]

Musician[link]

Bolton began recording in 1975. This first album was self-titled using his original surname, Bolotin. Early in his musical career, he focused on hard rock. His band, Blackjack, once toured with heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne.

Michael gained his first major hit as a songwriter, co-writing "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" for Laura Branigan, previously best known for singing the pop hit "Gloria". Narrowly missing the Top 10 on the US pop chart, Branigan took the song to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks in 1983. The two sought to work with each other again, and their next collaboration was when Bolton co-wrote "I Found Someone" for Branigan in 1985. Her version was only a minor hit, but two years later, Cher resurrected the song, and with it her own singing career. Bolton co-wrote several other songs for both singers.

Bolton would achieve his greatest success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a singer on the adult contemporary/easy listening charts. One of his first major hits was his 1987 interpretation of the Otis Redding classic, "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay." Always interested in soul and Motown classics, Bolton's success with that song encouraged him to tackle the standard "Georgia On My Mind," with which he had another hit. In 1991, Bolton released the album Time, Love & Tenderness which featured his Grammy Award winning cover version of "When a Man Loves a Woman".^[3]

As a singer, he has performed with other artists such as: Lucia Aliberti, Patti LaBelle, José Carreras, Tony Cetinski, Ray Charles, Céline Dion, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Wynonna Judd, BB King, The Lonely Island, Luciano Pavarotti, Percy Sledge, and Zucchero.

As a songwriter, he has written and collaborated on several songs for other artis as well.

Bolton's last Top 40 single in the US in his own right was the 1997 hit "Go the Distance" (featured in the Walt Disney motion picture Hercules), which peaked at No. 1 on the US adult contemporary chart. He hired conductor Larry Baird (orchestral musical director/conductor/arranger for The Moody Blues, Three Dog Night, Al Jarreau, etc.) for his 2001 tour.

In 2006, Bolton and his then fiancee Nicollette Sheridan sang a duet, "The Second Time Around," for the album Bolton Swings Sinatra. In March 2007, Bolton toured South Africa for the first time. He was the headline act at Jacaranda 94.2 FM's two day concert.

For Over the Rainbow, an album which was recorded in five days, Bolton recorded the song "New York, New York" (also on his Bolton Swings Sinatra album). This was for an episode of the TV series, Challenge Anneka. The proceeds from the album went to children's hospices across the UK.

Bolton performed a duet entitled "Il Mio Amico" with the Italian singer Anna Tatangelo at the Sanremo Music Festival 2008. The song was originally sung by Tatangelo alone, but the duet version contained English lyrics as well. It is a song about the difficulties of being gay in Italy, written by Tatangelo's partner, Gigi D'Alessio.^{[citation needed]}

Bolton at the 1990 Grammy Awards

Bolton's album Only A Woman Like You was released in 2001. The title song was co-written by Shania Twain and with background vocals by Skyler Jett. Bolton released his album One World One Love in the UK on September 21, 2009. The first single, "Just One Love," was released one week earlier.^[4]

In 2011, Bolton was featured as a guest vocalist in The Lonely Island's song "Jack Sparrow" on their Turtleneck & Chain album. His performance with the notorious comedic hip-hop trio focused on his (intentionally) off-topic chorus and miscommunication with the group, and the video featured him dressed in costumes as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Forrest Gump, Erin Brockovich, and Tony Montana from Scarface.^[5]

Bolton is currently working on his new studio album. He has collaborated with Indian musician A. R. Rahman for a song which was recorded in February 2011.^[6]

Acting[link]

Bolton has made a number of cameos in films. He is also rumored to have appeared as an extra in Dune as a "spice-eyed" drummer, but Bolton has said in interviews that it is not him.^[7]

Television[link]

Michael Bolton was a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars.^[8] He and his partner, Chelsie Hightower, were the second couple to be eliminated, on September 28, 2010.

Legal troubles[link]

On May 9, 2000, a US Court of Appeals affirmed a jury's 1994 decision that Bolton's 1991 pop hit, "Love Is a Wonderful Thing," infringed on the copyright of the 1964 Isley Brothers song of the same name, and let stand the jury's award of $5.4 million against the singer, his co-author, Andrew Goldmark, and their record company, Sony Music Entertainment.^[9] This was the biggest payout in musical copyright infringement to date.

Personal life[link]

Bolton was married to Maureen McGuire, but they divorced. They are the parents of three adult daughters: Isa, Holly, and Taryn.^[10][11] Taryn gave birth to a daughter in October 2010.^[12]

Bolton was introduced to actress Nicollette Sheridan in 1992 by adult contemporary/jazz saxophonist Kenny G.^[10] Bolton and Sheridan dated until 1995, stopped dating, then reunited in 2005 and became engaged in March 2006;^[10] however, it was confirmed in August 2008 that they had broken off their engagement.^[13] Bolton also dated Sheridan's former Desperate Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher in the early 1990s.^[14] Hatcher featured in the music video for Missing You Now, one of the songs from Bolton's Time, Love & Tenderness.^[15]

Charity work[link]

In 1993, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation (now Michael Bolton Charities) to assist women and children at risk from the effects of poverty as well as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.^[16] The foundation has provided over US$3.7 million in funding to local and national charities.

Bolton also serves as the honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America,^[17] the national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research,^[18] and a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership^[19] and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.^[20]

In March 2003, Bolton joined with Lifetime Television, Verizon Wireless, and many others to lobby on behalf of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,^[21] urging legislation to provide more assistance for victims of domestic violence, such as affordable housing options.

Bolton has received the Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.^[22] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce^[23] also recognized Bolton with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his musical and charitable contributions.

Discography[link]

Since 1975, Bolton has released at least 17 studio albums and 35 singles. Nine of his singles have peaked at No. 1 on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the US. He has also released numerous compilation albums and three Christmas albums.

Filmography[link]

As actor[link]

• 1997: Meet Wally Sparks
• 2002: Snow Dogs
• 2002: High Voltage
• 2008: The Onion Movie

As executive producer[link]

• 2001: Offside (short)
• 2001: Good Advice
• 2005: Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America (TV)
• 2008: The Other Side of the Tracks

See also[link]

• List of best selling music artists
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• Michael Bolton Charities Inc.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Bolton

• Official Web site
• Michael Bolton 2006 interview on "I Like Music"
• Michael Bolton at the Internet Movie Database

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Lykke Li
A studio portrait of Lykke Li
Background information
Birth name	Li Lykke Timotej Svensson Zachrisson
Born	(1986-03-18) 18 March 1986 (age 26) Ystad, Skåne, Sweden
Genres	Indie pop, indie rock, dream pop, electronic, folk pop, indie folk, folktronica, indietronica, wonky pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2007–present
Labels	LL, Atlantic
Website	www.lykkeli.com

Lykke Li (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈlʏˌkɛ ˈliː]; born Li Lykke Timotej Svensson Zachrisson; 18 March 1986 in Ystad), is a Swedish singer-songwriter. Her music often blends elements of pop, indie rock and electronic; various instruments can also be found in her songs, including violins, synthesizers, tambourines, trumpets, saxophones and cellos.^[1] Her debut album, Youth Novels, was released in 2008.

Early life[link]

Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson was born in Ystad, Skåne; her mother is a photographer and her father, a musician, is a member of Dag Vag.^[2] The family moved to Stockholm when Zachrisson was a toddler and when she was six moved to a mountaintop in Portugal where they lived for five years. The family also spent time in Lisbon and Morocco, and winters in Nepal and India.^[2][3] She moved to the neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn in New York for three months when she was 19.^[4][5][6] She returned when she was 21 to record her album.^[7]

Career[link]

Music career[link]

Performing at Paradiso, 2011

Lykke Li, modelling Levi's Curve ID Collection

Lykke had some success with the EP "Little Bit" in 2007. Stereogum named her an artist to watch in October 2007 and described her music as a mix of soul, electro and "powdered-sugar pop".^[8]

Lykke's debut album, Youth Novels, was released on LL Recordings in the Nordic region on 30 January 2008 and received a wider European release in June 2008. The album was produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John and Lasse Mårtén and was reportedly inspired by a previous relationship of three years.^{[citation needed]} It was released in the United States on 19 August 2008. The album was released in the UK and Ireland in June 2008, promoted by a performances of "Little Bit" on Later... with Jools Holland on 25 May 2008.

She appeared on Swedish musician Kleerup's self titled album, contributing vocals to the track "Until We Bleed". She also worked with Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp on their 2009 album Junior, contributing vocals to "Miss It So Much" and "Were You Ever Wanted".

Lykke appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly on 18 February 2009. She covered "Knocked Up", originally recorded by Kings of Leon who had approached Lykke to cover a song of her choice, and "Gifted" in which she performs with Kanye West. Lykke performed at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 19 April, as well as the 2009 Lollapalooza festival on 8 August as part of the promotional tour for Youth Novels.

A remixed version of her song "I'm Good, I'm Gone" was featured in the 2009 horror film Sorority Row.

The song "Possibility" was written for the 2009 film The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Lykke had been asked to write a song to the film soundtrack but she was reluctant to commit to the project. It was after she had seen an early screening of the film that she decided she wanted to contribute to the soundtrack. The soundtrack was released on 16 October 2009.

The song "Get Some" was featured in the fifteenth episode of the first season of Hawaii Five-0 titled "Kai e'e" which aired January 23,2011. The song was also used in ABC Family's drama Pretty Little Liars in the eighteenth episode of the second season which was titled "A Kiss Before Lying" which aired January 30, 2012. It was also featured in The Vampire Diaries.

Lykke's song "Melodies and Desires" was featured in the 2010 Australian film Griff the Invisible and an edited version of "Get Some" was featured in the Catwoman trailer for the video game, Batman: Arkham City.

She collaborated with singer Kleerup on the song "Until We Bleed", which was featured on an episode of UK TV series Misfits.

Her second album Wounded Rhymes was released in 2011. The album was featured on several lists of 2011's best albums, including Q, Mojo, The Observer, The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Rolling Stone.^[9]

On 30 April 2011, she performed on Later... with Jools Holland in the UK, playing "Get Some", "Sadness Is a Blessing" and "I Follow Rivers". Lykke played at the 2011 Latitude Festival, held between 14 and 18 July 2011 at Henham Park in Suffolk, England. She appeared with her band on US late night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in August 2011 and on The Late Show with David Letterman in November 2011.

The Magician remix version of "I Follow Rivers" is featured in Jacques Audiard's 2012 film De rouille et d'os in competition at the Cannes festival.

Model career[link]

In September 2010, she was announced as the official face of the Levi's Curve ID Collection, alongside Pixie Geldof and Miss Nine.^[10] In January 2012, she signed up to the books of the Viva Model Management agency.^[11]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

B-sides

• "I Don't Mind (Jump on It)" included on the Swedish and UK two-track single of "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
• "After Laughter" split single with El Perro del Mar for Record Store Day 18 April 2009
• "Until We Bleed" – Kleerup featuring Lykke Li included on the Swedish two-track single of "Tonight"
• "Paris Blue" included on the "Get Some" single

Guest appearances

• 2008: "Until We Bleed" – Kleerup featuring Lykke Li (Kleerup)
• 2009: "Gifted" – N.A.S.A. featuring Kanye West, Santogold and Lykke Li (The Spirit of Apollo)
• 2009: "Little Bit" – Drake and Lykke Li (So Far Gone)
• 2009: "Miss It So Much" – Röyksopp featuring Lykke Li (Junior)
• 2008: "Knocked Up" (Lykke Li vs. Rodeo Remix) – Kings of Leon ("Use Somebody")
• 2008: "Starchasers" (as a sample of "Little Bit") – Charles Hamilton (It's Charles Hamilton)
• 2009: "Were You Ever Wanted" – Röyksopp featuring Lykke Li (Junior) [Japanese bonus track]
• 2009: "Leaving You Behind" – Amanda Blank featuring Lykke Li (I Love You)
• 2011: "Let Me Go" - Logic featuring Lykke Li (Young Sinatra)
• 2011: "A New Name To Go By" - Deportees (Island & Shores)
• 2012: "Black Tin Box" - Miike Snow (Downtown Records)

Covers

• "After Laughter Comes Tears" – originally recorded by Wendy Rene
• "Can I Kick It?" – originally recorded by A Tribe Called Quest (regular live cover/performed with Q-Tip at MTVu Awards)
• "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" – originally recorded by Vampire Weekend (regular live cover)
• "Hustlin'" – originally recorded by Rick Ross
• "Knocked Up" – originally recorded by and featuring Kings of Leon
• "A Milli" – originally recorded by Lil Wayne
• "Velvet" – originally recorded by The Big Pink
• "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" – originally recorded by The Shirelles

Music videos

Awards and nominations[link]

Remixes[link]

Her song "I'm Good, I'm Gone" was remixed by Fred Falke and featured in Hed Kandi's Lounge 2009^[15] "I'm Good, I'm Gone" was also covered by British group Friendly Fires in 2009.^[16] Her song "Little Bit" was remixed by Drake, as well as a bootleg remix by AutoErotique. Her song "Little Bit" was sampled and remixed by Charles Hamilton. Her song "Love until We Bleed" was remixed by QuESt. Her song "Dance, Dance, Dance" was remixed by Buraka Som Sistema and Dada life.^[17] Her song "I'm Good, I'm Gone" was also remixed by 3OH!3 as a collaboration.^[18][19] Most recently however her song "I Follow Rivers" was remixed by rapper Tyler, The Creator. A remix of her track "I Follow Rivers" by The Magician has been a huge club success in Europe, taking the track to number 1 in Romania and number 7 in Greece.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Lykke Li at Allmusic
• Lykke Li at the Internet Movie Database
• Lykke Li on RCRD LBL
• Lykke Li at Lollapalooza 2011

Guus Meeuwis
Background information
Born	(1972-03-23) 23 March 1972 (age 40) Mariahout, Netherlands
Genres	Pop
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1995-present
Associated acts	Vagant
Website	http://www.guusmeeuwis.com/

Gustaaf Stephanus Modestus "Guus" Meeuwis (born Mariahout, 23 March 1972) is a Dutch singer and songwriter. As part of the band Vagant, he scored several hits in the Netherlands and Flanders during the '90s and first decade of the 2000s.

Biography[link]

Guus Meeuwis was born at a monastery in Mariahout, a small village in the municipality of Laarbeek where his parents were living temporarily. He attended Stella Maris College, and went on to study jurisprudence in Tilburg. It quickly became apparent that Meeuwis was musically talented while at school. Following a romantic weekend in Bruges with his girlfriend Valérie he wrote the song Het is een Nacht ("It is a Night"), with which, in 1994, he won a prize at the AHC-Studentensongfestival in Leiden. He and his backing band were awarded a record contract, under the name "Guus Meeuwis & Vagant", after a café they frequented. Marc Meeuwis, Jan Willem Rozenboom, Hugo van Bilsen, Robin van Beek en Dirk Oerlemans. At the end of 2001 the group decided to split and Meeuwis continued on as a solo artist.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Live Albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

External links[link]

• (Dutch) Guus Meeuwis official website

Alexander George Clare (born 14 September 1985 in Southwark, London, England) is a British singer-songwriter.^[1] His debut album, The Lateness of the Hour, was released in the UK on 11 July 2011 on Island Records^[2] and was produced by Mike Spencer and Major Lazer.^[3]

Clare adopted his current stage name, Alex Clare, in 2010, replacing Alexander G. Muertos, a pseudonym he first used whilst still at school.

Early life[link]

Clare was born in Southwark, London. He grew up listening to his father’s jazz records and was drawn to blues and soul (Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder), which eventually led to interests in drum and bass and UK garage. Though Clare took up the trumpet and drums as a youngster, he eventually placed an emphasis on guitar and songwriting, playing open mike nights with original material.^{[citation needed]}

Music career[link]

A demo earned him a deal with the Island label in the UK. His debut album, The Lateness of the Hour, produced by Mike Spencer and Major Lazer^[3] was released in July 2011. The first single from the album was "Up All Night", followed by "Too Close" and "Treading Water".

On 19 May 2011, Reggie Yates made Alex Clare's cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" his Song of the Day.^[4] A day later, the Dutch radio station 3FM announced single "Too Close" to be the '3FM's Megahit of that week.^[5]

On 21 June 2011, Clare performed at the Queens' College, Cambridge May Ball.^[6] On 14 August 2011, Clare performed at the Summer Well festival in Buftea, Romania.

Following the disappointing performance of the album, Clare was dropped from his record contract with Universal Island in the UK.^[7]

In 2012, Clare's song "Too Close" was featured in an Internet Explorer 9 commercial.^[8] Following its use in the commercial, the song debuted at #68 on the US Billboard Hot 100^[9] Clare saw success on the German charts too, topping the charts at #1. On 16 May, Clare's song peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart.^[10]

Personal life[link]

Clare is a practicing Shomer Shabbat Jew, refusing to perform, travel or work on the Jewish Sabbath or religious Holidays. He lives in Golders Green, North London but often travels to Jerusalem when his work permits.

Before gaining critical success, Clare dated singer Amy Winehouse for a year. They met while he performed and worked at a bar she frequented, The Hawley Arms in Camden, North London.^[11]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]