Branches of Mathematics

Pure mathematics

• Algebra
• Calculus
• Geometry
• Topology
• Trignometry
• Combinatorics
• Logic
• Number theory

Applied mathematics

• Dynamical systems and differential equations
• Mathematical physics
• Computing
• Information theory and signal processing
• Probability and statistics
• Game theory
• Operations research

Related Topics

• Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Linear Equations
• Applied Physics
• Nano Technology
• Engineering Sciences
• Mathematical Medicine
• Fluid dynamics
• Computational Mathematics
• Gamma Ray Optics
• Onfrared Optics
• Relative Velocity
• Iciam
• Intelligent Imaging Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience Research
• Quantum Cosmology
• Brain Research

• A Case of You
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• Televangelist
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• Woodstock (song)
• World music
• World War II
• Wyclef Jean
• Yorkville
• You've Got A Friend
• You've Got a Friend
• 
  

• 
  Alberta
  Alberta /ælˈbɜrtə/ is a province of Canada. It had a population of 3,645,257 in 2011, making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. Alberta and its neighbour, Saskatchewan, were established as provinces on September 1, 1905.
  Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the US state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to border only a single U.S. state and is also one of only two provinces that are landlocked.
  Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, is located near the geographic centre of the province and is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's oil sands and other northern resource industries. Approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) south of the capital is Calgary, Alberta's largest city and a major distribution and transportation hub. Calgary and Edmonton centre Alberta's two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding 1 million.Census agglomerations in the province include Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Wood Buffalo (includes Fort McMurray), Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Okotoks, Brooks, Camrose, Cold Lake, High River, Sylvan Lake, Wetaskiwin, Strathmore, Canmore, and Lacombe. Notable tourist destinations in the province include Canmore, Sylvan Lake, Drumheller, Banff, and Jasper.
  
  wn.com/Alberta
• 
  Baltic states
  The term Baltic states (also Baltics, Baltic nations or Baltic countries) refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (from north to south); Finland also fell within the scope of the term from the 1920s to 1939.Estonia is only considered Baltic geographically, not linguistically or culturally, as Estonians and Finns are descendants of the Baltic Finns.
  The term in the indigenous languages of the Baltic states is:
  The term "Baltic" stems from the name of the Baltic Sea – a hydronym dating back to the 11th century (Adam of Bremen mentioned Latin: Mare Balticum) and earlier.
  The Latvian and Lithuanian term Baltija most likely originates from the Indo-European root *bhel meaning white, fair. In modern Baltic languages, namely, Lithuanian language, baltas literally means white, and in Latvian language balts means white also.
  Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the present day, the Baltic Sea appears on the maps subscribed in Germanic languages as German: Ostsee, Danish: Østersøen, Dutch: Oostzee, Swedish: Östersjön, etc. In English "Ost" is "East", and in fact, the Baltic Sea mostly lies to the east for Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Clearly, part of the Baltic Sea lies to the east of Germany and Sweden, and due north of parts of Germany.
  
  wn.com/Baltic_states
• 
  British Columbia
  British Columbia ⁱ/ˌbrɪtɪʃ kəˈlʌmbiə/ (B.C. or BC) (French: la Colombie-Britannique, C.-B.) is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ("Splendour without Diminishment"). Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858. In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.
  As well as being the westernmost province of Western Canada, British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest, along with the US states of Oregon and Washington. The province has strong cultural and personal ties to the Prairie Provinces and Ontario as well as to the West Coast of the United States and to Alaska and the Yukon.
  The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the second largest in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,419,974 (about two and a half million of whom were in Greater Vancouver). The province is currently governed by the BC Liberal Party, led by Premier Christy Clark, who became leader as a result of the party election on February 26, 2011.
  
  wn.com/British_Columbia
• 
  Calgary
  Calgary  /ˈkælɡᵊri/ is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The city is located in the grassland and parkland natural regions of Alberta.
  As of 2011, the City of Calgary had a population of 1,096,833 and a metropolitan population of 1,214,839, making it the largest city in Alberta, and the third-largest municipality and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.
  Located 294 km (183 mi) south of Edmonton, Statistics Canada defines the narrowly populated area between these cities as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor."
  Economic activity in Calgary is mostly centred on the petroleum industry and agriculture. In 1988, Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic Winter Games.
  Before the Calgary area was settled by Europeans, it was inhabited by pre-Clovis people whose presence has been traced back at least 11,000 years. In 1787, cartographer David Thompson spent the winter with a band of Peigan encamped along the Bow River. He was the first recorded European to visit the area, and John Glenn was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area, in 1873.
  
  wn.com/Calgary
• 
  Canada
  Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km² (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
  The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
  
  wn.com/Canada
• 
  Gibson Amphitheatre
  The Gibson Amphitheatre (formerly Universal Amphitheatre) is an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles within Universal City. It seats up to 6,189 for concerts, including 6,089 chairback seats (3,900 in the main level and 2,189 in the mezzanine). It was originally built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1973 with a production of Jesus Christ Superstar that was extended until cold weather forced the show to close. To the chagrin of many^[who?], was remodeled and converted into an indoor theatre in 1982 to improve acoustics.
  It is the third-largest mid-sized venue in California, behind Nokia Theatre and the Shrine Auditorium - two other Los Angeles venues. The amphitheatre is best known^{[by whom?]} for its acoustics and its sightlines^{[citation needed]}. The theatre was known as the Universal Amphitheatre from its inception until early 2005, when naming rights were acquired by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. The venue regularly hosts concerts by high profile touring artists and major recurring events, such as the MTV Movie Awards and the Teen Choice Awards. On December 6, 2011, it was announced that Gibson Amphitheatre would close and would be demolished to make way for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park area.
  
  wn.com/Gibson_Amphitheatre
• 
  McGill University
  McGill University is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. McGill University is one of world's most prestigious universities. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland and alumnus of Glasgow University, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university. Founded in 1821, McGill was chartered during the British colonial era, 46 years before the Canadian Confederation, making it one of the oldest universities in Canada.
  As of 2011, McGill ranked 1st in Canada and 17th in the world in the QS World University Rankings. According to the 2011 Emerging/Trendence global employability ranking, McGill was ranked 19th in the world for popularity among major employers. In the Maclean's 21st Annual University Ranking (2011), McGill was ranked 1st in Canada among all institutions offering medical and doctoral degrees, maintaining this ranking for the seventh year in a row.
  With almost 215,000 living alumni worldwide, students and professors at McGill have been recognized in fields ranging from the arts and sciences, to business, politics, and sports. Notable alumni include eleven Nobel Laureates, one hundred and thirty-two Rhodes Scholars, three astronauts, two Canadian prime ministers, eleven justices of the Canadian Supreme Court, three foreign leaders, nine Academy Award winners, three Pulitzer Prize winners, and twenty-eight Olympic medalists.
  
  wn.com/McGill_University
• 
  Michigan
  Michigan (ⁱ/ˈmɪʃɨɡən/) is a state located in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the 8th most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and the largest city is Detroit. Michigan was admitted into the Union on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state.
  Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. Michigan is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating. The state has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline. It is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.
  Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km) channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The Upper Peninsula is economically important due to its status as a tourist destination. There is also a variety of natural resources to be found there, including a sizable amount of iron ore.
  
  wn.com/Michigan
• 
  North Battleford
  North Battleford is a small city in west central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as the Battlefords. The Battlefords Provincial Park is 40 km north on Highway 4. North Battleford borders the Rural Municipality of North Battleford No. 437, as well as the City of North Battleford and the Hole Battleford "crown colony".
  In the late 2000s a large number of Ruthenians have emigrated to Canada, concentrating in North Battleford.
  For thousands of years prior to European settlement, succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area. The Battlefords area (including the present city of North Battleford and town of Battleford) was home to several historic aboriginal groups, including the Algonquian-speaking Cree and Blackfeet, and the Siouan Assiniboine tribes, who contested for control of local resources.
  Early European settlement began as a result of fur trading by French colonists in the late 18th century. The Canadians founded Fort Montaigne d'Aigle (Eagle Hills Fort) nine miles below the confluence of the Saskatchewan and Battle rivers in 1778. A year later the fort was abandoned following conflict between traders and natives.
  
  wn.com/North_Battleford
• 
  Saskatchewan
  Saskatchewan (ⁱ/səˈskætʃɨwən/ or /səˈskætʃɨwɑːn/) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588,276 square kilometres (227,100 sq mi). Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota.
  As of April 2011, the population of Saskatchewan was estimated at 1,053,960. Residents primarily live in the southern half of the province. Of the total population, 257,300 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 210,000 live in the provincial capital, Regina. Other major cities include Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Swift Current and North Battleford.
  Saskatchewan was first explored by Europeans in 1690 and settled in 1774, having also been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups. It became a province in 1905. Saskatchewan's current premier is Brad Wall and its lieutenant-governor is Vaughn Solomon Schofield. Its major industries are agriculture, mining, and energy. "In 1992, the federal and provincial governments signed a historic land claim agreement with Saskatchewan First Nations. Under the Agreement, the First Nations received money to buy land on the open market. As a result, about 761,000 acres have been turned into reserve land and many First Nations continue to invest their settlement dollars in urban areas", including Saskatoon.
  
  wn.com/Saskatchewan
• 
  Southern California
  Southern California (SoCal) is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego. The United States - Mexico border makes up the southern border. Southern California is a major economic center for the state of California and the nation.
  Southern California's population encompasses five metropolitan, or MSA, areas: Los Angeles County and Orange County together make up the Los Angeles metropolitan area; the Inland Empire consists of such cities as Riverside, Ontario, and San Bernardino; the San Diego metropolitan area; the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura metro area; and the El Centro area. Out of these, three are heavy populated areas; the Los Angeles area with over 12 million inhabitants, the Riverside-San Bernardino area with over 4 million inhabitants, and the San Diego area with over 3 million inhabitants. For CSA metropolitan purposes, the five counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura are all combined to make up the Los Angeles metropolitan area; with San Diego as Southern California's other CSA metropolitan area. With over 22 million people, roughly 60% of California's population resides in Southern California.
  
  wn.com/Southern_California
• 
  Toronto
  Toronto (/təˈrɒntoʊ/, colloquially /ˈtrɒnoʊ/) is the largest city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from the Mississaugas of the New Credit. The settlement was later established as the Town of York and proclaimed as the new capital of Upper Canada by its lieutenant-governor, John Graves Simcoe. In 1834, York was incorporated as a city and renamed to its present name. The city was ransacked in the Battle of York during the War of 1812 and damaged in two great fires in 1849 and in 1904. Since its incorporation, Toronto has repeatedly expanded its borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities, most recently in 1998.
  With over 2.6 million residents, it is the fifth most populous city in North America. Its metropolitan area has over 5.5 million residents. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and is part of a densely populated region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, which has a population of nearly 9 million people as of 2011. The census metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of 5,583,064, and the Greater Toronto Area had a population of 6,054,191 in the 2011 Census. Its cosmopolitan and international population reflects its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, with about 49% of the population born outside Canada. Toronto is also consistently rated as one of the world's most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey.
  
  wn.com/Toronto
• 
  United States
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
  wn.com/United_States

• 
  Adam Clayton
  Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965. Clayton is well known for his bass playing on songs such as "New Year's Day", "Bullet the Blue Sky", "With or Without You", "Mysterious Ways", "Get on Your Boots", and "Magnificent". His work on No Line on the Horizon has been cited as his best bass playing. He has worked on several solo projects throughout his career, such as his work with fellow band member Larry Mullen Jr. on the theme of 1996's Mission: Impossible. Clayton, as a part of U2, has won 22 Grammy awards.
  Clayton is the elder child of Brian and Jo Clayton, born on 13 March 1960 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England. When Clayton was five years old, his family moved from Oxfordshire to Malahide, County Dublin, where Clayton's brother Sebastian was born. The Clayton family became friends with the Evans family, with their sons Dik and Dave (more commonly known as The Edge), who were both in the original group, Feedback, that spawned U2.
  
  wn.com/Adam_Clayton
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  Aimee Mann
  Aimee Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.
  Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School (Richmond, Virginia) in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes.^{[citation needed]} The band released the EP Bark Along with the Young Snakes in 1982, and a compilation album was issued in 2004.
  In 1983, she co-founded with Berklee classmate and boyfriend Michael Hausman the new wave band 'Til Tuesday, which achieved success in 1985 with its first album, Voices Carry. The title song is said to be inspired by Hausman and Mann's breakup. The video became an MTV staple, winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. Mann was featured on the Rush song "Time Stand Still" (from Hold Your Fire, 1987) which hit #3 on the American rock charts and became a minor UK hit, singing backup vocals and appearing in the music video. Her laughter is also heard at the start of "Force Ten," from the same album. With Mann playing an increasingly important role in songwriting, 'Til Tuesday released two more albums, Welcome Home and Everything's Different Now. Shortly after the release of Welcome Home, Mann told a writer for Nine-O-One Network Magazine that she was much more pleased with it than "Voices Carry", primarily because she felt it made more of a personal statement about her life. On their final tour, musician Jon Brion joined the band, which broke up in 1990 when Mann left to start her solo career.
  
  wn.com/Aimee_Mann
• Al Schmitt
  Al Schmitt is a recording engineer and record producer.
  Schmitt grew up in New York City. After serving in the U.S. Navy he began working at Apex Recording Studios at the age of 19. In the late 1950's Schmitt moved to Los Angeles and became a staff engineer at Radio Recorders on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood. In the early 1960's he moved to RCA in Hollywood as a staff engineer. While at RCA he engineered albums for Henry Mancini, Cal Tjader, Al Hirt, Rosemary Clooney, Liverpool Five, The Astronauts, Sam Cooke "Bring It on Home to Me" "Cupid" "Another Saturday Night" in 1961. He also did a lot of motion-picture scoring work for Alex North and Elmer Bernstein.
  In 1966 Schmitt left RCA and became an independent producer. He produced albums for Jefferson Airplane, Eddie Fisher, Glenn Yarborough, Jackson Browne and Neil Young. In the mid 70's he began spending more time engineering again, recording and mixing artists from Willy DeVille and Dr. John.
  Other career highlights include engineering both Frank Sinatra Duets albums, Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company and some of Diana Krall's albums. Much of his work in the last few years has been with producer Tommy LiPuma.
  
  wn.com/Al_Schmitt
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  Alanis Morissette
  Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination. Morissette began her career in Canada, and as a teenager recorded two dance-pop albums, Alanis and Now Is the Time, under MCA Records Canada.
  Her first international album was the rock-influenced Jagged Little Pill, released in 1995. Jagged has sold more than 33 million units globally. Her following album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was released in 1998 and was a success as well. Morissette took up producing duties for her subsequent albums, which include Under Rug Swept, So-Called Chaos and Flavors of Entanglement. Morissette has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. Morissette is also known for her powerful and emotive mezzo-soprano voice.
  Morissette acquired United States citizenship in 2005.
  Morissette was born June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Georgia Mary Ann (née Feuerstein), a teacher of Hungarian descent, and Alan Richard Morissette, a French-Canadian high school principal. She has a twin brother, Wade Morissette, (also a musician) who was born 12 minutes after her. Morissette was raised Catholic. She attended Glebe Collegiate Institute (Ottawa, Canada) for high school.
  
  wn.com/Alanis_Morissette
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  Alison Krauss
  Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS), and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.
  She has released fourteen albums, appeared on numerous soundtracks, and helped renew interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, an album also credited with raising American interest in bluegrass, and the Cold Mountain soundtrack, which led to her performance at the 2004 Academy Awards. As of 2012, she has won 27 Grammy Awards from 41 nominations, making her the most awarded living recipient, and three back of the most honoured artist, classical conductor Sir Georg Solti. She is also the most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. At the time of her first award, at the 1991 Grammy Awards, she was the second youngest winner ever (currently tied as third youngest).
  
  wn.com/Alison_Krauss
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  Allison Crowe
  Allison Louise Crowe (born November 16, 1981) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist from Nanaimo, British Columbia who lives in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, communities spanning the breadth of Canada.
  Crowe records on her own record label, Rubenesque Records Ltd. (incorporated in 2001) and releases her original music under Creative Commons licensing.
  Allison Crowe began performing professionally in 1996, at age 15, doing regular sets in the coffee-houses and bars of Vancouver Island. Crowe's recording debut came in 2001, with an EP subsequently reissued (in 2003) as Lisa’s Song + 6 Songs. Her first full-length albums, Secrets and Tidings, were released in 2004, when Crowe was 22. (Tidings was originally released in EP form in 2003.) Allison Crowe: Live at Wood Hall, a double concert album, was released in July 2005. A DVD featuring live-in-the-studio performances of Tidings songs was created for her fan club in November 2005.
  Crowe, of Scottish, Irish, and Manx descent, grew up surrounded by jazz, classical and rock music, and discovered additional influences on her own such as Ani DiFranco, Pearl Jam, Tori Amos and Counting Crows. She plays music of all these genres, making her difficult to categorize: in Amazon.com’s downloads, she has simultaneously been in the top three on the Rock Singer-Songwriters, Hymns, Blues, Jazz, Broadway and British & Celtic Folk charts. "Drawing from classical, jazz, pop and gospel sources, the young singer has created singular, inspiring music both in the studio and in the concert hall.” (Joseph Blake, Victoria Times Colonist, March 24, 2005).
  
  wn.com/Allison_Crowe
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  Amy Grant
  Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop". As of 2009, Grant remains the best-selling contemporary Christian music singer ever, having sold over 30 million units worldwide.
  Grant made her debut as a teenager, and gained fame in Christian music during the 1980s with such hits as "Father's Eyes," "El Shaddai", and "Angels". In 1986, she scored her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song in a duet with Peter Cetera The Next Time I Fall. During the 1980s and 1990s, she became one of the first gospel artists to cross over into mainstream pop on the heels of her successful albums Unguarded and Heart in Motion, the latter of which included the No. 1 single "Baby Baby."
  Grant has won six Grammy Awards, 25 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, and had the first Christian album ever to go Platinum.Heart in Motion is her highest-selling album, with over five million copies sold in the United States alone. She was honored with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005 for her contributions to the entertainment industry.
  
  wn.com/Amy_Grant
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  André 3000
  André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name André 3000 (formerly known as Dre), is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. As an actor, Benjamin has made appearances in a number of TV series and films, including Families, The Shield, Be Cool, Revolver, Semi-Pro, and Four Brothers.
  In addition to music and acting, Benjamin has also been an active entrepreneur. In the spring of 2008, he launched a clothing line called Benjamin Bixby. He has also been an advocate for animal rights. He is also known for his work on the Cartoon Network animated series Class of 3000.
  Benjamin was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the only child of Sharon Benjamin Hodor, a single mother who sold real estate, and Lawrence Walker, a collections agent. He is of African and Native American descent. Growing up in East Point, Georgia and Buckhead He attended Willis A. Sutton Middle School, and Tri-Cities High School.
  
  wn.com/André_3000
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  Ani DiFranco
  Ani DiFranco ( /ˈɑːniː/; born Angela Maria DiFranco on September 23, 1970) is an American singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.
  DiFranco was born in Buffalo, New York, to Elizabeth and Dante DiFranco, who had met while attending MIT. She started playing Beatles covers at local bars and busking with her guitar teacher, Michael Meldrum, at the age of nine.
  In 1989, DiFranco started her own record company, Righteous Records. Early in her career DiFranco worked with manager Dale Anderson, a writer for the Buffalo News, who started another record label called Hot Wings Records, after the two parted ways, that released similar sounding material. Her self-titled debut album was issued on the label in the winter of 1990. Later, she relocated to New York City, where she took poetry classes at The New School and toured vigorously for the next 15 years, essentially pausing briefly only to record albums.
  Righteous Records was renamed Righteous Babe Records in 1994.
  
  wn.com/Ani_DiFranco
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  Anita Baker
  Anita Baker (born January 26, 1958, in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit.
  In 1975, Baker (Contralto) joined the Detroit-based band, Chapter 8, which featured Michael J. Powell, who would later produce her solo works. The band eventually got a record deal with Ariola, and their self-titled debut Chapter 8 came out in Fall 1979. Two singles hit the R&B charts: "Ready for Your Love," a duet between Baker and group member Gerald Lyles; and the Baker-led "I Just Wanna Be Your Girl."
  Ariola Records was bought by Arista Records. Chapter 8 were subsequently dropped from the label roster.
  Baker released her solo debut album, The Songstress, in 1983. Produced by Patrick Moten and Otis Smith, the album was released on the small independent label Beverly Glen Records. The album was initially not a success, but featured the moderate R&B hit "Angel".
  
  wn.com/Anita_Baker
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  Annie Lennox
  Ann "Annie" Lennox, OBE (born 25 December 1954), is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s as part of the New Wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician David A. Stewart went on to achieve major international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Lennox is the most recognized female artist at the Brit Awards, winning a total of eight awards. She has also been named the "Brits Champion of Champions".
  Lennox embarked on a solo career in the 1990s with her debut album, Diva (1992), which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". To date, she has released five solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). She is the recipient of eight Brit Awards, four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine. In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
  
  wn.com/Annie_Lennox
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  Arif Mardin
  Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, as both an assistant, producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records. His collaborations include working with Queen, The Bee Gees, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Laura Branigan, Chaka Khan, Scritti Politti, Phil Collins, Daniel Rodriguez, Norah Jones, Richard Marx, Culture Club and Jewel. Mardin was awarded 11 Grammy Awards.
  Arif Mardin was born in Istanbul into a renowned family that included statesmen, diplomats and leaders in the civic, military and business sectors of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. His father was co-owner in a petroleum gas station chain.
  Mardin grew up listening to the likes of Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller. Through his sister he met jazz critic Cuneyt Sermet, who turned him onto this music and eventually became his mentor. After graduating from Istanbul University in Economics and Commerce, Mardin studied at the London School of Economics. Influenced by his sister's music records and jazz, he was also an accomplished orchestrator and arranger, but he never intended to pursue a career in music. However, he made two solo albums: Glass Onion, in 1970, and Journey, in 1975. In Journey, he was the composer and arranger, but he also played electric piano and percussion, and was accompanied by many stars of jazz (Randy and Michael Brecker, Joe Farrell, Gary Burton, Ron Carter, Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham and many others).
  
  wn.com/Arif_Mardin
• Barry Bales
  Barry Turner Bales [1] (born August 23, 1969 in Kingsport, Tennessee) is the bass player and harmony vocalist for Alison Krauss and Union Station.
  Barry grew up in Colonial Heights, Tennessee outside of Kingsport, Tennessee and attended Sullivan South High School (Tennessee). Early memories of music include listening to the records of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Bob Wills, Buck Owens and Hank Thompson from his father's extensive collection. He started experimenting with various instruments at the age of 10, starting with guitar. By age 15, Barry had found the bass and was playing regionally in various groups. Bales attended East Tennessee State University, participating in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music program, as did future Union Station members Tim Stafford and Adam Steffey. [2] It was while performing with many of these musicians that he began traveling in ever-wider musical circles, eventually landing the bass job with Union Station in 1990.
  Over the years, Barry has become one of the most in-demand session players in acoustic music. He has recorded and performed with such artists as Reba McEntire, Susan Ashton, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Bowman, the Cox family, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Dan Tyminski, Patty Loveless and many others.
  
  wn.com/Barry_Bales
• Benjamin Orr
  Benjamin Orr (September 8, 1947 – October 3, 2000) was an American rock musician best known as the bassist and vocalist for the Boston-based rock band, The Cars.
  He sang several of their best known hits, including "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", and "Drive" as well as "Candy-O" and "Moving In Stereo". He also scored a moderate solo hit with "Stay the Night."
  Benjamin Orr was born Benjamin Orzechowski in Lakewood, Ohio, to parents of Russian, Czechoslovak, and German descent, who actively supported his musical endeavors. He became proficient in several instruments including the guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, and drums. Known locally as "Benny 11-Letters," he grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, and Parma, Ohio, and dropped out of Valley Forge High School to join a local band the Grasshoppers as lead singer and guitarist in 1964. The Grasshoppers were the house band on the syndicated TV show Upbeat produced by WEWS-TV in Cleveland. In 1965, the Grasshoppers released two singles on the Sunburst label, "Mod Socks" and "Pink Champagne (And Red Roses)", the latter written by Orzechowski. The Grasshoppers dissolved in 1966 when two of the band members were drafted into the U.S. Army, after which Orzechowski joined the band Mixed Emotions. Later Orzechowski was drafted as well, although he received a deferment after approximately a year and a half in the Army.
  
  wn.com/Benjamin_Orr
• Bernie Grundman
  Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer.
  He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1983 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan and Brian Gardner, mastered 37 projects which received Grammy Award nominations in 2005.
  Grundman and his studio have both won numerous TEC Awards, including Best Mastering Facility and several production awards.
  Previously, Grundman worked at Contemporary Records and then was head of the A&M Records mastering department in Los Angeles. Now his studio also has been established in Tokyo, Japan with engineer Yasuji Maeda.
  Airwolf Themes
  
  
  
  wn.com/Bernie_Grundman
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  Big Boi
  Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André 3000 each announced plans to release a solo album. Big Boi's solo debut Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty was released in July 2010 to respectable sales and critical acclaim.
  Patton was born and spent the first half of his childhood in Savannah, Georgia, attending Herschel V. Jenkins High School before moving to Atlanta with his Aunt Renne. Eventually he decided to pursue his interest in music at Tri-Cities High School, a Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School.
  He had a strong interest in hip-hop music, and met André "3000" Benjamin while attending Tri Cities High School in the early-1990s. The two eventually joined forces as OutKast and signed with LaFace Records.
  
  wn.com/Big_Boi
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  Billy Idol
  William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X. He then embarked on a successful solo career, aided by a series of stylish^{[citation needed]}music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars. Idol continues to tour with guitarist Steve Stevens and has a worldwide fan base.^{[citation needed]}
  Idol was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of a salesman.. The name Billy Idol was inspired by a schoolteacher's description of Broad as "idle".
  In 1958, when Idol was two years old, his parents moved to Patchogue, New York, on Long Island. The family returned to England four years later with Idol and a younger child Jane (who had been born in the US), settling in Dorking, Surrey. In 1971 the family moved to Bromley, southeastern London, where Idol attended Ravensbourne School for Boys. Idol (rather William Broad) also attended Worthing High School for Boys (later becoming Worthing College), in West Sussex. In October 1975, Idol went to the University of Sussex, near Brighton, to pursue an English degree and lived on campus (East Slope) but left after year one (1976). He then went on to join the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, a loose gang that travelled into town when the band played.
  
  wn.com/Billy_Idol
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  Björk
  Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( /ˈbjɜrk/; [ˈpjœr̥k ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtoʊhtɪr] ( listen); born 21 November 1965), known as Björk, is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her musical style is eclectic and she has achieved recognition in rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical, and folk.
  Björk's 1990s singles "It's Oh So Quiet", "Army of Me" and "Hyperballad" charted in the UK Top 10.^{[citation needed]} Her record label, One Little Indian, reported that by 2003 she had sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. She has acquired a high level of critical acclaim. She has won four BRIT Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, one MOJO Award, three UK Music Video Awards, and, in 2010, the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, in recognition for her "deeply personal music and lyrics, her precise arrangements and her unique voice".
  Björk has also been nominated for twelve Grammy Awards, one Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Dancer in the Dark. She was ranked thirty-sixth in VH1's "The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll", eighth in MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music", and sixtieth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".
  
  wn.com/Björk
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  Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan ( /ˈdɪlən/), born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as radically altering the parameters of popular music in 1965. However, his recordings employing electric instruments attracted denunciation and criticism from others in the folk movement.
  Dylan's lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the songs of Woody Guthrie,Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, as well as the music and performance styles of Buddy Holly and Little Richard, Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning fifty years, has explored numerous distinct traditions in American song—from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing.
  
  wn.com/Bob_Dylan
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  Bono
  Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), most commonly known by his stage name Bono (/ˈbɒnoʊ/ BON-oh), is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife, Alison Stewart, and the future members of U2. Bono writes almost all U2 lyrics, often using political, social, and religious themes. During their early years, Bono's lyrics contributed to U2's rebellious and spiritual tone. As the band matured, his lyrics became inspired more by personal experiences shared with members of U2.
  Outside the band, he has collaborated and recorded with numerous artists, is managing director and a managing partner of Elevation Partners, and has refurbished and owns The Clarence Hotel in Dublin with The Edge. Bono is also widely known for his activism concerning Africa, for which he co-founded DATA, EDUN, the ONE Campaign and Product Red. He has organised and played in several benefit concerts and has met with influential politicians. Bono has been praised and criticised for his activism and involvement with U2. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and was named as a Person of the Year by Time, among other awards and nominations.
  
  wn.com/Bono
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  Brian Eno
  Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948), commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno ( /ˈiːnoʊ/^{[citation needed]}), is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer, and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.
  Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex, England, taking inspiration from minimalist painting. During his time on the art course at the Institute, he also gained experience in playing and making music through teaching sessions held in the adjacent music school.
  He joined the band Roxy Music as keyboard and synthesiser player in the early 1970s. Roxy Music's success in the glam rock scene came quickly, but Eno soon tired of touring and of conflicts with lead singer Bryan Ferry.
  Eno's solo music has explored more experimental musical styles and ambient music. It has also been extremely influential, pioneering ambient and generative music, innovating production techniques, and emphasising "theory over practice". He also introduced the concept of chance music to popular audiences, partially through collaborations with other musicians.
  
  wn.com/Brian_Eno
• Brian Gardner
  Brian Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner is a mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk, and dance pop. He is perhaps best known for his work on hip hop albums and in particular in his collaborations with Dr. Dre.
  He is currently employed at Bernie Grundman Mastering, a mastering house founded and run by Bernie Grundman.
  
  Brian has been awarded seven Grammy nominations six of which were for Album Of The Year and one Grammy win for Album of the Year (SpeakerBox - Outkast)
  
  
  
  wn.com/Brian_Gardner
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  Brooke Fraser
  Brooke Gabrielle Fraser Ligertwood, better known as Brooke Fraser (born 15 December 1983) is a New Zealand born award-winning folk-pop and Christian music artist. Her third studio album Flags has become the most successful album of her career, with the single "Something in the Water" reaching number one on the RIANZ singles chart in 2010.
  Fraser is the eldest of the three children born to former All Black Bernie Fraser, who was born in Lautoka, Fiji, and his wife Lynda Fraser. She grew up in Naenae, Lower Hutt and attended Dyer Street School, Naenae Intermediate School and Naenae College.
  Fraser took piano lessons between the ages of seven and seventeen. She started writing songs at age twelve and taught herself the acoustic guitar at fifteen. Despite her skills as a singer she has never taken singing lessons.
  She performed at Parachute, an annual New Zealand music festival in 2000 – including a special guest performance in 2007.
  She began writing for the Soul Purpose magazine at age fifteen, and was later made editor in 2002. She gave up her job as editor shortly after moving to Auckland in late 2002 in order to pursue her music career.
  
  wn.com/Brooke_Fraser
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  Bruce Springsteen
  Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949), nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter-performer who records and tours with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered on his native New Jersey.
  Springsteen's recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more somber folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, Born in the U.S.A. and Born to Run, showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life; he has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and more than 120 million worldwide and he has earned numerous awards for his work, including 21 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. He is widely regarded by many as one of the most influential songwriters of the 20th century, and in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him as the 23rd Greatest Artist of all time.
  Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and spent his childhood and high school years in Freehold Borough. He lived on South Street in Freehold Borough and attended Freehold Borough High School. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, was of Dutch and Irish ancestry and worked, among other vocations, as a bus driver, although he was frequently unemployed; his surname is Dutch for jump stone. His mother, Adele Ann (née Zerilli), was a legal secretary and was of Italian ancestry. His maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense, a city near Naples. He has two younger sisters, Virginia and Pamela. Pamela had a brief film career, but left acting to pursue still photography full time; she took photos for the Human Touch and Lucky Town albums.
  
  wn.com/Bruce_Springsteen
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  Bryan Adams
  Bryan Adams, OC OBC (born Bryan Guy Adams, 5 November 1959) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. For his contributions to music, Adams has many awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations, 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1992. He has also won MTV, ASCAP, and American Music awards. In addition, he has won two Ivor Novello Awards for song composition and has been nominated for several Golden Globe Awards and three times for Academy Awards for his songwriting for films.
  Adams was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for contributions to popular music and philanthropic work via his own foundation, which helps improve education for people around the world.
  Adams was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the 2,435th star in March 2011 and Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998, and in April 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Canada's Juno Awards. In 2008, Bryan was ranked 38 on the list of All-Time top artists by the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. On 13 January 2010, he received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award for his part in numerous charitable concerts and campaigns during his career, and on 1 May 2010 was given the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.
  
  wn.com/Bryan_Adams
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  Burt Bacharach
  Burt F. Bacharach ( /ˈbækəræk/ BAK-ə-rak; born May 12, 1928) is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick. Following on with the initial success of this collaboration, Bacharach went on to produce hits with Dusty Springfield, Bobbie Gentry, Jackie DeShannon and others.
  As of 2006^[update], Bacharach had written 70 Top 40 hits in the U.S., and 52 Top 40 hits in the UK.
  Burt Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but grew up in the Forest Hills section of New York City, graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1946. He is the son of Irma (née Freeman) and Bert Bacharach, a well-known syndicated newspaper columnist, and is of German-Jewish descent. Bacharach studied music at McGill University, under Helmut Blume, at the Mannes School of Music, and at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California. His composition teachers included Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinů. Following service in the Army, Bacharach worked as a pianist, both as a solo player and as an accompanist for singers such as Vic Damone, Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence, the Ames Brothers and Paula Stewart (who became his first wife). For some years he was musical arranger for Marlene Dietrich as well as touring with her.
  
  wn.com/Burt_Bacharach
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  Caetano Veloso
  Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (Portuguese pronunciation: [kaeˈtɐ̃nu emanuˈɛw viˈɐ̃nɐ ˈtɛlis veˈlozu]; born August 7, 1942), better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s, at the beginning of the Brazilian military dictatorship. He has remained a constant creative influence and best-selling performing artist and composer ever since.
  Veloso was born in the city of Santo Amaro da Purificação, in Bahia, a state in the northeastern area of Brazil, but moved to Salvador, the state capital, as a college student in the mid-1960s. Soon after the move, Veloso won a music contest and was signed to his first label. He became one of the founders of Tropicalismo with a group of several other musicians and artists—including his sister Maria Bethânia—in the same period. However the Brazilian government at the time viewed Veloso's music and political action as threatening, and he was arrested, along with fellow musician Gilberto Gil, in 1969. The two eventually were exiled from Brazil, and went to London, where they lived for two years. After he moved back to his home country, in 1972, Veloso once again began recording and performing, becoming popular outside of Brazil in the 1980s and 1990s.
  
  wn.com/Caetano_Veloso
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  Carlos Santana
  Carlos Augusto Alves Santana (born July 20, 1947) is a Mexican and American rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, Latin music and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine listed Santana at number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and 3 Latin Grammy Awards.
  Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. Carlos learned to play the violin at age five and the guitar at age eight. His younger brother, Jorge Santana, would also become a professional guitarist. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie Valens at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop music. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana In La Colonia Libertad, the city on Mexico's border with California, and then San Francisco. Carlos stayed in Tijuana but joined his family in San Francisco later and graduated from James Lick Middle School and Mission High School there. He graduated from Mission High in 1965. Carlos was accepted into the California State University, Northridge and Humboldt State University, but turned down both of the offers. Javier Bátiz, a famous guitarist from Tijuana, was said to have been Carlos's guitar teacher who taught him to play a different style of guitar soloing. After learning Javier Batiz's techniques, Santana would make them his own as well.
  
  wn.com/Carlos_Santana
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  Carole King
  Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, her Tapestry album topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971, and remained on the charts for more than six years.
  She was most successful as a performer in the first half of the 1970s, although she was a successful songwriter long before and long after. She had her first number 1 hit as a songwriter in 1961 at age 18, with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which she wrote with Goffin. In 1997, she co-wrote "The Reason" for Aerosmith, but instead it was sung by Celine Dion.
  In 2000, Joel Whitburn, a Billboard Magazine pop music researcher, named her the most successful female songwriter of 1955–99, because she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
  King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry. Her most recent non-compilation album is Live at the Troubadour, a collaboration with James Taylor, which reached number 4 on the charts in its first week, and has sold over 600,000 copies.
  
  wn.com/Carole_King
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  Cassandra Wilson
  Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her work, Wilson has won two Grammy Awards.
  Cassandra Wilson is the third and youngest child of Herman Fowlkes, Jr., a guitarist, bassist and music teacher; and Mary McDaniel, an elementary school teacher who eventually earned her PhD in education. Between her mother’s love for Motown and her father’s dedication to jazz, Wilson’s parents sparked her early interest in music.
  Wilson’s earliest formal musical education consisted of classical lessons; she studied piano from the age of six to thirteen and played clarinet in the middle school concert and marching bands. When she tired of this training, she asked her father to teach her the guitar. Instead, he gave her a lesson in self-reliance, suggesting she study Mel Bay method books. Wilson explored guitar on her own, developing what she has described as an “intuitive” approach. During this time she began writing her own songs, adopting a folk style. She also appeared in the musical theater productions, including The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy, crossing racial lines in a recently desegregated school system.
  
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  Cat Power
  Charlyn Marie Marshall (born January 21, 1972), also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands. Over a twenty year career she has produced eight studio albums, one live album and two EPs.
  A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Marshall loved soul, rock 'n' roll and country music from childhood and began to play guitar in experimental bands with friends in her early adult years. After a move to New York at age 20, Marshall recorded two lo-fi, improvised solo albums, Dear Sir (1995) and Myra Lee (1996), collaborating with Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Cat Power then signed to Matador Records to release her third, more focused album, What Would the Community Think? (1996), which united her with notable indie musicians. She followed with Moon Pix (1998) and The Covers Record (2000), receiving notice for her spare, intense originals and radically stripped down takes on folk songs and familiar songs. You Are Free (2003) was more structured indie rock and brought Cat Power wider attention. Marshall followed it up with the one-take performance film, Speaking for Trees (2004), filmed in a forest. The Greatest (2006), in which she worked with classic R&B and gospel musicians, was her most recent collection of original songs, and her best-selling. A second covers collection, Jukebox (2008), with a horn-led backing band, is her most recent album.
  
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  Chaka Khan
  Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens; March 23, 1953), frequently known as the "Queen of Funk", is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus.
  While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career. Her signature hits, both with Rufus and as a solo performer, include "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing" which she wrote for her then husband Richard Holland, "Ain't Nobody", "I'm Every Woman", "I Feel for You" and "Through the Fire".
  
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  Charles Mingus
  Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.
  Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music. Yet Mingus avoided categorization, forging his own brand of music that fused tradition with unique and unexplored realms of jazz.
  Mingus focused on collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, Mingus looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists whom he assembled into unconventional and revealing configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.
  
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  Chester Thompson
  Chester Cortez Thompson (born December 11, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American drummer and session musician.
  Thompson made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band (as part of the 1973–1974 lineups, which also featured percussionist Ruth Underwood and jazz keyboardist George Duke) and in Weather Report's album Black Market (1976). He played on such noted Zappa albums as Roxy & Elsewhere (Live recording 8-10.12.1973 & 8.5.1974), You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (Live in Helsinki, Finland 22–23.9.1974, released 1988) and One Size Fits All (1975).
  His longest-standing gig was with Genesis as the touring drummer (1977-2007). His relationship with the band began with the departure of frontman Peter Gabriel. Then-drummer, Phil Collins, assumed Gabriel's role in live shows, but remained behind the drum kit in the studio. Thompson became the touring drummer in 1977, playing on their tours in that year and in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983/4, 1986/7, 1992 and the 2007 reunion Turn It On Again Tour. Chester is featured on their live albums Seconds Out (1977), Three Sides Live (1982), The Way We Walk Volume 1 (1992) & Volume 2 (1993) and Live Over Europe 2007. He chose not to be involved in the band's Calling All Stations European 1998 tour, following the band's failure to invite him to join the studio band following Phil Collins's departure.
  
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  Chris Carmouche
  Chris Carmouche (born December 19, 1978), known as "Mouche" is a producer, recording engineer and rapper. In 2004, Carmouche won a Grammy for his work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
  Chris was born December 19, 1978 in Church Point, LA to Robert and Elizabeth Carmouche. He was raised in Sunset, LA outside of Metro-Lafayette. Carmouche's early musical influences included Duran Duran, Big Daddy Kane, N.W.A., Michael Jackson, and Prince. Carmouche got his musical start playing classical piano in grade school, laying the foundation for his musical career as a drum major in high school marching band and playing the Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard he received as a gift at the age of 15.
  Carmouche graduated from Georgia State University in 2002 with a Bachelors Degree in music with a focus in audio engineering.
  Carmouche got an internship with Stankonia Studios during his senior year of college, helping to engineer Outkast's Grammy-winning album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Carmouche stayed with Stankonia as an engineer, mixer and performer, working closely on artists’ projects such as Lil Jon, Big Boi, Usher, Beyonce, Akon, Cee-Lo Green, Nelly, Ice Cube and Chamillionaire.
  
  wn.com/Chris_Carmouche
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  Chris Thomas King
  Chris Thomas King (born October 14, 1962) is an American New Orleans, Louisiana-based blues musician and actor.
  King was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. He is the son of blues musician Tabby Thomas. He has won awards including "Album of the Year" for both Grammy Award and Country Music Awards. King has sold more than 10 million records in the United States. He is featured playing the part of Tommy Johnson in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen) He is also featured in Down From the Mountain and More Music From Ray soundtracks.
  King is known as the pioneer of rap/blues. He conceived the first sample based blues concept album in the early 1990s by writing and producing the first all-rap/blues album for RCA Records titled 21st Century Blues… From Da Hood.
  As an entrepreneur King took control of his master recordings in the early 1990s, forming 21st Century Blues Records. He also established a publishing company, Young Blues Rebel, LLC. 21st Century Records signed the New Orleans Ninth Ward rap/blues duo the 21C-B-Boyz and the London, England based NuBlues, to 21st Century Blues Records in 2003.
  
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  Clive Davis
  Clive Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer and music industry executive. He won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975 through 2000 until founding J Records. From 2002 until April 2008, Davis was the Chairman and CEO of the RCA Music Group (which included RCA Records, J Records and Arista Records), Chairman and CEO of J Records, and Chairman and CEO of BMG North America. Currently Davis is the Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Entertainment. He currently plays a part in the careers of Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Carlos Santana, Kelly Clarkson, Harry Connick, Jr., Leona Lewis, Barry Manilow, BC Jean and Seattle De Luca. Davis is credited with bringing Whitney Houston to prominence. Clive Davis is an alumnus of New York University, and the recorded music division of its Tisch School for the Arts is named after him.
  
  wn.com/Clive_Davis
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  Conor Oberst
  Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer (The Faint), Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.
  Oberst began his musical career at age 13 while at St. Pius X/St. Leo School in Omaha, Nebraska. He was in the school choir and other musical groups at the school. One night in 1992, Ted Stevens (of Mayday and Cursive) invited Oberst onstage to play. Bill Hoover, who was in attendance, invited Oberst to come back to play with him a couple of weeks later. In that short amount of time, Oberst wrote enough songs to fill out the set, establishing himself as an artist. Shortly thereafter, Oberst began committing his new repertoire to tape in his parents' basement with his father's four track cassette recorder and an acoustic guitar.
  In mid-1993, Oberst self-released his debut album Water on cassette tape. The release of the album was financed by his brother Justin on what they called Lumberjack Records, the indie label that would become Saddle Creek Records, making them founders and present day executives of the label.
  
  wn.com/Conor_Oberst
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  Corinne Bailey Rae
  Corinne Bailey Rae (born Corinne Jacqueline Bailey on 26 February 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds, West Yorkshire. Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2006. She released her debut album, Corinne Bailey Rae, in February 2006, and became the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. In 2007, Bailey Rae was nominated for three Grammy Awards and three Brit Awards, and won two MOBO Awards. In 2008, she won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year (for her work as a featured artist in Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters).
  Bailey Rae released her second album, The Sea, on 26 January 2010, after a hiatus of almost three years. It was produced by Steve Brown and Steve Chrisanthou (who produced her debut album in 2006). She was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize for Album of the Year. In 2012, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance (for "Is This Love)". Bailey Rae was married to fellow musician Jason Rae from 2001 until his death in 2008, and as part of the grieving process, she channeled her emotions into her music. Her two albums have together sold over five million copies worldwide.
  
  wn.com/Corinne_Bailey_Rae
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  Courtney Love
  Courtney Michelle Love (born Courtney Michelle Harrison; July 9, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actress and artist. Love initially gained notoriety in the Los Angeles indie rock scene with her band Hole, which she formed in 1989 with Eric Erlandson. Their debut album, Pretty on the Inside (1991) garnered them critical praise, and they went on to achieve international critical and commercial acclaim for their following albums, Live Through This (1994) and Celebrity Skin (1998).
  Love also had a career in acting, originally landing small roles in Alex Cox films in the 1980s. In 1996, Love starred in The People vs. Larry Flynt alongside Woody Harrelson, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. She later had a brief solo career in the early 2000s after the dissolution of Hole, releasing America's Sweetheart (2004), and went through several rehab sentences and run-ins with the the law until achieving sobriety. In 2009, Love reformed Hole with new members and released Nobody's Daughter (2010). In 2012, she debuted an art exhibit featuring a collection of her own paintings and drawings titled "And She's Not Even Pretty".
  
  wn.com/Courtney_Love
• Craig Street
  Craig Street, born in Oakland, California, is a noted record producer.
  Craig moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of 11, but returned to the Bay Area for his high school years. He began playing guitar at age 14, playing in a number of Berkeley bands. In 1981 he interviewed Alan Douglas for NPR for a documentary about Jimi Hendrix he co-produced with then KPFA-FM 3rd World Director Bari Scott, and San Jose radio broadcaster Don West, and began producing shortly thereafter.
  He has worked with artists such as Norah Jones, k. d. lang, Rebekka Bakken, Cassandra Wilson, Charlie Sexton, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joe Henry, John Legend, The Manhattan Transfer, Chris Whitley and others. Come Away with Me, which he produced for Norah Jones, won a Grammy for album of the year in 2002.
  
  
  
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  Cree
  The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. About 15,000 live in eastern Quebec.
  In the United States, this Algonquian-speaking people historically lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share a reservation with the Ojibwe (Chippewa).
  The documented westward migration over time has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American Fur Trade.
  The Cree Nation is generally divided into eight groups (some political, others cultural):
  Collectively the Cree used the autonym Nēhilawē (those who speak our language). They used "Cree" to refer to their people only when speaking the languages of the European colonists, French or English.
  Skilled American bison hunters and horsemen, the Plains Cree were allied with the Assiniboine and the Saulteaux before they encountered French settlers in the 18th century.
  
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  Cyndi Lauper
  Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper (born June 22, 1953 in Queens, New York) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and LGBT rights activist.
  She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the debut solo album She's So Unusual in 1983, which spawned four Billboard Hot 100 top-five songs—"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night"—She's So Unusual was the first album in history to have four top five singles by a female. The album earned Lauper Best New Artist at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985.
  Her success continued with the follow-up, True Colors in 1986, which spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"True Colors" and "Change of Heart", and earned two nominations at the 29th Grammy Awards.
  Since 1989 released from a nine studio albums acclaimed critical, A Night to Remember (1989), Hat Full of Stars (1993), Sisters of Avalon (1996), Merry Christmas... Have a Nice Life (1998),Shine (2001), At Last (2003), The Body Acoustic (2005), Bring Ya to the Brink (2008).
  
  wn.com/Cyndi_Lauper
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  Dan Fogelberg
  Daniel Grayling "Dan" Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, rock, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music. He is best known for his 1980 hit "Longer" and his 1981 hit "Leader of the Band".
  Dan Fogelberg, the youngest of three sons, was born in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Margaret (née Irvine), a classically trained pianist, and Lawrence Peter Fogelberg, a high school band director, who spent most of his career at Peoria's Woodruff High School and Pekin High School. Dan Fogelberg's mother was a Scottish immigrant, and his father was of Swedish descent. His father would later be the inspiration for the song, "Leader of the Band". Using a Mel Bay course book, Dan taught himself to play a Hawaiian slide guitar that his grandfather gave to him; he also learned to play the piano. At age 14 he joined a band, The Clan, which covered The Beatles. His second band was another cover combo, The Coachmen, who in 1967 released two singles, written by Fogelberg, on Ledger Records: "Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget" and "Don't Want To Lose Her."
  
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  Dan Tyminski
  Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski (born June 20, 1967 in Rutland, Vermont) is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain (2000), on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels (2008), on the Rounder Records label.
  He is best known for his updated version of the song "Man of Constant Sorrow," which was featured in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? and won the 2001 CMA award for best single as well as a Grammy Award for best Country Collaboration with Vocals (along with Harley Allen and Pat Enright, filling out the vocals for the movie's Soggy Bottom Boys). In total, he has won 10 Grammy awards for solo and collaborative projects.
  Tyminski was born June 20, 1967 in Rutland, Vermont and plays a bluegrass style that blends traditional and pop traditions. Before becoming a member of Union Station in 1994, Tyminski played mandolin and sang in the Lonesome River Band. Though Tyminski's love and feel for traditional bluegrass didn't come from growing up in the southern Appalachians, he absorbed and learned the music just the same. He credits his brother Stan with getting him hooked on the guitar and mandolin at the age of 6. While Stan was in the Navy and home on leave, he left his mandolin with his younger brother.
  
  wn.com/Dan_Tyminski
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  Daniel Lanois
  Daniel Lanois ( /lænˈwɑː/ lan-WAH; born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Brandon Flowers and Ron Sexsmith. Lanois is best known for his work with Brian Eno, the pair collaborating on a number of projects together and producing several platinum albums for U2, including The Joshua Tree. Three albums produced or co-produced by Lanois have won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and four others received nominations.
  Lanois started his production career when he was 17, working in his own studio with his brother Bob Lanois in the basement of their mother's Ancaster, Ontario home, recording local artists including Simply Saucer. Later Daniel started Grant Avenue Studios in an old house he purchased in Hamilton, Ontario. He worked with a number of local bands, including Martha and the Muffins (for whom his sister Jocelyne played bass), Ray Materick, as well as the Canadian children's singer Raffi.
  
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  Dave Van Ronk
  Dave Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" .
  He was an important figure in the acoustic folk revival of the 1960s. His work ranged from old English ballads to Bertolt Brecht, blues, gospel, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing. He was also known for performing instrumental ragtime guitar music, especially his transcription of St. Louis Tickle and Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag.
  Dave Van Ronk was regarded as the friendly uncle of Greenwich Village, presiding over the coffeehouse folk culture and acting as a friend to many up and coming artists, inspiring, aiding and promoting them. Folk performers whom he befriended included Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Guthrie Thomas, and Joni Mitchell.
  Van Ronk received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), in December 1997.
  
  wn.com/Dave_Van_Ronk
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  David Crosby
  David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash (who are sometimes joined by Neil Young), and CPR. Crosby has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: once for his work in The Byrds and once for his work with CSN.
  David Crosby was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents were Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead and Floyd Crosby, an Academy Award winning cinematographer. He is also the younger brother of musician Ethan Crosby. Growing up in California, he attended several schools, including the University Elementary School in Los Angeles, the Crane Country Day School in Montecito, and Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara for the rest of his elementary school and junior high. At Crane, he starred in HMS Pinafore and other musicals but was asked not to return due to lack of academic progress. He graduated from the Cate School in Carpinteria, completing his studies by correspondence. In 1960, his parents divorced, and his father was remarried to Betty Christie Crosby.
  
  wn.com/David_Crosby
• David Geffen
  David Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990. Geffen was also one of the three founders of DreamWorks SKG in 1994.
  Geffen was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Abraham Geffen and Batya Volovskaya. Both were Jewish immigrants who met in British-mandated Palestine and then moved to Brooklyn.^{[citation needed]} Geffen graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, then attended Santa Monica College (then known as Santa Monica City College) in Santa Monica, California, but soon left. He then attended night school at Brooklyn College for three semesters before again dropping out. He also briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin. His mother owned a clothing store, Chic Corsets By Geffen, in Borough Park, Brooklyn. David's older brother Mitchell Geffen was an attorney who attended UCLA Law School and later settled in Encino, California. Mitchell Geffen fathered two daughters, who are David's closest surviving relatives.
  
  wn.com/David_Geffen
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  Diana Krall
  Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide. On December 11, 2009, Billboard magazine named her the second Jazz artist of the 2000–09 decade, establishing her as one of the best-selling artists of her time. She is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums. To date, she has won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards. She also has earned nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums.
  In 1993, Krall released her first album, Stepping Out, which she recorded with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton. It caught the attention of producer Tommy LiPuma, who produced her second album, Only Trust Your Heart (1995).^{[citation needed]}
  Her third album, All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio (1996), was nominated for a Grammy and continued for 70 weeks in the Billboard jazz charts. Love Scenes (1997) quickly became a hit record with the trio of Krall, Russell Malone (guitar) and Christian McBride (bass).^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Diana_Krall
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  Dianne Reeves
  Dianne Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.
  Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a well-known piano and keyboard player and producer. Dianne and her sister Sharon were raised by their mother in Denver, Colorado. As a child, Dianne took piano lessons and sang at every opportunity. When she was 11 years old, her interest in music was enhanced by an inspiring teacher who thought that music was the best way to bring students together. Dianne discovered a love of music and that she wanted to be a singer.
  Her uncle, Charles Burrell, a bass player with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, introduced her to the music of jazz singers, from Ella Fitzgerald to Billie Holiday. She was especially impressed by Sarah Vaughan.
  At the age of 16, Reeves was singing at the George Washington High School (Denver) in Denver, in a high school big-band. That same year, the band played at a music festival (Convention of the National Association of Jazz Educators). Her band won first place, and it was there she met the trumpeter Clark Terry, who became her mentor.
  
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  Dizzy Gillespie
  John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( /ɡɨˈlɛspi/; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and, occasionally, singer.
  Allmusic's Scott Yanow wrote, "Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis's emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated . . . Arguably Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time."
  Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop.
  In the 1940s Gillespie, together with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Jon Faddis and Chuck Mangione.
  
  wn.com/Dizzy_Gillespie
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  Don Henley
  Donald Hugh "Don" Henley (born July 22, 1947, in Gilmer, Texas) is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up. Henley sings lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Desperado", "Best of My Love", "One of These Nights", "Hotel California", "Life in the Fast Lane", and "The Long Run". He formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships with Glenn Frey.
  After the Eagles broke up in 1980, Henley pursued a solo career and released his debut album in 1982. He has released four studio albums, two compilation albums, and one live DVD. His solo hits include "Dirty Laundry", "The Boys of Summer", "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", "The Heart of the Matter", "The Last Worthless Evening", "Sunset Grill", "Not Enough Love in the World", "New York Minute" and "The End of the Innocence".
  The Eagles have sold over 120 million albums worldwide, won six Grammy Awards, had five #1 singles, 17 Top 40 singles, and six #1 albums. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and are the biggest selling American band in history. As a solo artist, Henley has sold over 10 million albums worldwide, had eight Top 40 singles, won two Grammys and five MTV Video Music Awards. Combined with the Eagles and as a solo artist, Henley has released 25 Top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. He has released seven studio albums with the Eagles and four as a solo artist. In 2008, he was ranked the 87th greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
  
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  Donald Fagen
  Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the rock band Steely Dan (along with partner Walter Becker).
  Fagen is known for his use of jazz harmonies, elaborate arrangements, and attention to detail. Following the breakup of Steely Dan in 1981, he launched a long-running, if sporadic, solo career in 1982, spawning three albums to date, with a fourth album in progress. Fagen has toured with Becker since Steely Dan reunited in 1993.
  Fagen was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 10, 1948 to Joseph "Jerry" Fagen, an accountant and his wife Elinor. From the age of 12 to 17, Elinor sang in a hotel band in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains until bouts of stage fright (a condition her son would later be afflicted with) forced her to discontinue performing live. Fagen would later recall: "I can't ever remember when there was silence around the house. She was either playing records or singing."
  
  wn.com/Donald_Fagen
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  Dorothy Parker
  Dorothy Parker (August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles.
  From a conflicted and unhappy childhood, Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary output in such venues as The New Yorker and as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. Following the breakup of the circle, Parker traveled to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Her successes there, including two Academy Award nominations, were curtailed as her involvement in left-wing politics led to a place on the Hollywood blacklist.
  Dismissive of her own talents, she deplored her reputation as a "wisecracker." Nevertheless, her literary output and reputation for her sharp wit have endured.
  
  wn.com/Dorothy_Parker
• Dust Brothers
  The Dust Brothers are the Los Angeles, California based, Grammy Award winning producers, E.Z. Mike (Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo (John King), famous for their sample-based music in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on the albums Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Odelay by Beck, and the soundtrack to the film Fight Club.
  The Dust Brothers started working together in 1985 at the Pomona College radio station, KSPC, hosting a weekly hip-hop show, started by Simpson in 1983, called 'The Big Beat Showcase'.
  They eventually turned to DJing at parties, and 1987 began writing and producing for the Delicious Vinyl label. There they produced and sequenced tracks on Tone Lōc's album, Lōc-ed After Dark. They also produced two tracks on Young MC's debut album Stone Cold Rhymin.
  Through a mutual friend, Matt Dike, the Dust Brothers were introduced to Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Dike played some instrumental music created by the Dust Brothers for Yauch, and he recruited the Dust Brothers to make the music for the Beastie Boys' highly acclaimed sophomore album, Paul's Boutique, which was considered one of the best albums of all-time by Time Magazine in 2006.
  
  wn.com/Dust_Brothers
• Elliot Scheiner
  Elliot Scheiner is a record producer and record engineer. Scheiner has received 24 Grammy Award nominations, 7 of which he won, and he has been awarded four Emmy nominations, one Emmy award for his work with the Eagles on their farewell tour broadcast, three TEC Awards nominations, a TEC Hall of Fame inductee, and recipient of the Surround Pioneer Award. Elliot holds an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music and is one of the only Americans to be awarded the Master of Sound honor from the Japan Audio Society.
  In 2012 he received his 24th Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Surround Sound Album for Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (Super Deluxe Edition), which he also won, making him a 7 time Grammy Award winner.
  He started as Phil Ramone's assistant at A&R Recording in New York City, and quickly advanced to an engineer. By 1973 he had begun to freelance as an engineer and producer, becoming the first person ever to work as a freelance engineer for other artists. Scheiner is considered to be among the most accomplished sound engineers and producers in his field [not identified].
  
  wn.com/Elliot_Scheiner
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  Elton John
  Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.
  In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
  John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998.
  
  wn.com/Elton_John
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  Elvis Costello
  Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus, 25 August 1954) is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader than that of most popular songs. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a "pop encyclopaedia", able to "reinvent the past in his own image".
  Costello has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male. In 2003, Elvis Costello & the Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
  Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus in St Mary's Hospital, London, the son of Lilian Alda (née Ablett, b. 1927, Liverpool) and Ross MacManus (1927–2011), a musician and bandleader. He is of Irish heritage. Costello lived in Twickenham, attending Hounslow Secondary Modern School, which is now St Mark's Catholic Secondary School, in neighbouring Hounslow. With a musically inclined father (who was a jazz trumpeter and sang with The Joe Loss Orchestra), Costello's first broadcast recording was alongside his dad in a television commercial for R. White's Lemonade (I'm a Secret Lemonade Drinker). His father wrote and sang the song; Costello provided backing vocals. The advertisement won a silver award at the 1974 International Advertising Festival.
  
  wn.com/Elvis_Costello
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  Emily Robison
  Emily Robison (born Emily Burns Erwin on August 16, 1972) is an American songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the female country band the Dixie Chicks. Robison plays banjo, dobro, guitar, bass, mandolin, accordion, and sitar. Initially in her career with the Dixie Chicks, she limited her singing to harmony with backing vocals, but within her role in the Court Yard Hounds, she has taken on the role of lead vocalist.
  Emily Erwin was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Parents Paul Erwin and Barbara Trask moved the family to the northern suburban town of Addison, Texas on the edge of Dallas, where she was raised with her two older sisters, Julia and Martha. Her parents were both educators and nurtured the growing interest that both Emily and Martha (later nicknamed Martie) shared, and together both sisters became proficient on several instruments while in elementary school.
  Emily began playing the violin at age seven, and the banjo at age ten, afterward learning all the string instruments she could find. Years later, Martie joked that Emily was better than she at the fiddle, and because she wanted to keep the fiddle as her instrument, she forced Emily to learn something else. Emily responded by mastering the five string banjo, by reading books to teach herself the chord progressions.
  
  wn.com/Emily_Robison
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  Emmylou Harris
  Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released many chart-topping albums and singles over the course of her career, and has won 12 Grammys and numerous other awards.
  In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including Gram Parsons, The Band, Linda Ronstadt, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Mark Knopfler, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Rodney Crowell, and Neil Young.
  Emmylou Harris is the daughter of a career military family, her father, Walter Harris, was a military officer and her mother, Eugenia was a wartime military wife. Her father, a member of the Marine Corps, was reported missing in action in Korea in 1952 and spent ten months as a prisoner of war. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Harris spent her childhood in North Carolina and Woodbridge, Virginia, where she graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School as class valedictorian. In high school she also won a drama scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she began to study music seriously, learning to play the songs of Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez on guitar. Leaving college to pursue her musical aspirations, she moved to New York, working as a waitress to support herself while performing folk songs in Greenwich Village coffeehouses. She married fellow songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969 and recorded her first album, Gliding Bird. Harris and Slocum soon divorced, and Harris and her newborn daughter Hallie moved in with her parents in the Maryland suburbs on the edge of Washington, D.C.
  
  wn.com/Emmylou_Harris
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  Ennio Morricone
  Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, Italian pronunciation: [ˈɛnnjo morriˈkoːne], (born November 10, 1928) is an Italian composer and conductor, who has written music for more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces. Morricone is most famous for his work in the Spaghetti Westerns directed by his friend Sergio Leone, including A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) but his career includes a wide range of composition genres making him one of the film world's most versatile artists. He is considered as one of the most influential film music composers of the 20th century.
  Born in Rome, Italy, Morricone took up the trumpet as a child and attended the National Academy of Santa Cecilia to take lessons on the instrument at the age of nine. He formally entered a conservatory at the age of 12, enrolling in a four-year harmony programme. He received his trumpet diploma in 1946 and started working professionally, composing the music to "Il Mattino" ("The Morning"). Morricone soon gained popularity by writing his first background music for radio dramas and quickly moved into film.
  
  wn.com/Ennio_Morricone
• Eric Ericson
   Eric Ericson (help·info) (born 26 October 1918, Borås), is a Swedish choral conductor and influential choral teacher. He graduated from the Royal College of Music (Kungl. Musikhögskolan) in Stockholm in 1943 and went on to complete his studies abroad, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland, and in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States.
  Renowned for his innovative teaching methods and the wide-ranging nature of his repertoire, Ericson was the principal conductor of the Orphei Drängar choir at Uppsala University from 1951 until 1991, and choirmaster until 1982 of the Swedish Radio Choir which was established on his initiative in 1951. Also in 1951, he began his teaching career at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he became a legendary and inspirational figure, and he was appointed to the chair of choral conducting there in 1968.
  He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1995, and in 1997 Ericson shared the Polar Music Prize with Bruce Springsteen: the citation was for "pioneering achievements as a conductor, teacher, artistic originator and inspirer in Swedish and international choral music". On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1998, Swedbank of Sweden endowed an "Eric Ericson Chair in Choral Directing" to Uppsala University.
  
  wn.com/Eric_Ericson
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  Eva Cassidy
  Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C., when she died of melanoma (skin cancer) in 1996.
  Four years later, Cassidy's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at Blues Alley in Washington, was shown on BBC Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition worldwide; her posthumously released recordings, including three UK number 1s, have sold more than ten million copies. Her music has also charted top 10 positions in Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.
  
  wn.com/Eva_Cassidy
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  Ferron
  
  
  Ferron, born Debby Foisy on (1952-06-01) June 1, 1952 (age 60), is a Canadian folk singer/songwriter and poet. In addition to being one of Canada's most famous folk musicians, she is one of the most influential writers and performers of women's music, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco, Mary Gauthier and the Indigo Girls.^{[citation needed]}
  She learned to play guitar at age 11, and left home at 15. Ferron attended Total Ed, an alternative high school in Vancouver, graduating in 1973 (Thomas 2002). Of her earliest musical memories, she wrote, "my mother’s French Canadian family played music. I heard guitars and banjo and accordion and scrub board and my grandfather clogging. I put it together...music meant fun, meant love and laughter. I started writing songs when I was 10, never saved them after some kids at school found them and teased me about it. I wrote songs and remembered them and when I forgot them I felt they were not important anymore. The next time I saved a song I was 18. It was 1970." It was with that first saved song that she made her professional debut in 1975, playing the song "Who Loses" at a benefit for the Women's Press Gang, a feminist publishing house.
  
  wn.com/Ferron
• 
  Fiona Apple
  Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success. At the age of nineteen she received a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single "Criminal" from that album in 1998.
  After Tidal, Apple released the critically acclaimed, though less commercially successful albums, When the Pawn... (1999) and Extraordinary Machine (2005). A perceived shelving of Extraordinary Machine was met with vocal protests from her fans, who campaigned against her record label in 2005. Apple's musical style contains elements of jazz and alternative rock.
  Born in New York City, Apple is the daughter of singer Diane McAfee and actor Brandon Maggart. Her older sister, Amber, sings cabaret under the stage name Maude Maggart. Her half brother Spencer is a director and directed the video for her single "Parting Gift." Her half brother Garett Maggart starred in the TV series The Sentinel. In addition, her maternal grandparents were Millicent Green, a dancer with the George White's Scandals, a series of 1920s musical revues similar to the Ziegfeld Follies, and Johnny McAfee, a multireedist and vocalist of the big band era; her grandparents met while touring with Johnny Hamp and his orchestra. Apple was raped at the age of twelve, a trauma she would later allude to in songs such as "Sullen Girl."
  
  wn.com/Fiona_Apple
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  First Nations
  First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The total population is nearly 700,000 people. Under the Employment Equity Act, First Nations are a "designated group", along with women, visible minorities, and persons with physical or mental disabilities. They are not defined as a visible minority under the Act or by the criteria of Statistics Canada.
  The term First Nations (most often used in the plural) has come into general use for the indigenous peoples of the Americas located in what is now Canada, except for the Arctic-situated Inuit, and peoples of mixed European-First Nations ancestry called Métis. The singular, commonly used on culturally politicized reserves, is the term First Nations person (when gender-specific, First Nations man or First Nations woman). A more recent trend is for members of various nations to refer to themselves by their tribal or national identity only, e.g., "I'm Haida," or "We're Kwantlens," in recognition of the distinctiveness of First Nations ethnicities.
  
  wn.com/First_Nations
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  Frank Turner
  Frank Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an Englishfolk/punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Winchester. Initially the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, Turner embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. To date, Turner has released four solo albums, two rarities compilation albums and four EPs. Turner began recording for his new album England Keep My Bones, in January 2011. It was released on 6 June 2011 in the UK, and 7 June 2011 worldwide.
  Turner was educated on a scholarship at Eton College, where he studied alongside Prince William, and later went on to attend the London School of Economics where he read History. His father, Roger Turner, is the son of Sir Mark Turner, formerly chairman of high street retailer BHS, and had himself also attended Eton before becoming a City investment banker, while his mother, Jane, the daughter of a bishop, is a primary school headmistress.
  Turner's musical career began at school, with the short-lived alternative band Kneejerk. The band released three records and played several shows around the UK (including a support slot for Boysetsfire), before disbanding in November 2001. The last record, their only full length, was entitled 'The half life of kissing' and was released by Yorkshire DIY hardcore label Sakari Empire after the band had actually broken up.
  
  wn.com/Frank_Turner
• Gavin Lurssen
  Gavin Lurssen is a mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California. Lurssen's Grammy Award–winning work includes Raising Sand, a collaborative album featuring Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, and the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He has also mastered recordings by Tom Waits, Sheryl Crow, Loretta Lynn, Matchbox Twenty, T-Bone Burnett, Jennette McCurdy and many others.
  This is a partial discography of recordings mastered by Gavin Lurssen.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Gavin_Lurssen
• George Hamilton IV
  George Hege Hamilton IV (born July 19, 1937) is an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, later switching to country music in the early 1960s.
  Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. On June 18, 1956, while a 19-year-old student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton recorded "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" for Chapel Hill record label, Colonial Records. The song, written by John D. Loudermilk, climbed to No. 6 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. By 1960, "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" had attained gold record status for ABC-Paramount (which had acquired the song from Colonial). The self-penned B-side of the record, "If You Don't Know", revealed Hamilton's ambitions to be a rockabilly-country singer. In late 1959, Hamilton moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee to further his work as a country musician. On February 8, 1960, Hamilton officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Later that same year, he began recording for RCA Records, having been signed by Chet Atkins.
  
  wn.com/George_Hamilton_IV
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  George Michael
  George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (Greek: Γεώργιος Κυριάκος Παναγιώτου); 25 June 1963) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Michael rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley. His first solo single, "Careless Whisper", was released when he was still in the duo and sold about six million copies worldwide.
  As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Michael has sold more than 100 million records worldwide as of 2010. His 1987 debut solo album, Faith, has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and made several records and achievements in the United States. Michael has garnered seven number one singles in the UK and eight number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked Michael the 40th most successful artist on the Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists list.
  Michael has won numerous music awards throughout his 30-year career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male twice, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards from eight nominations.
  
  wn.com/George_Michael
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  Gilberto Gil
  Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (born June 26, 1942), better known as Gilberto Gil (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒiɫˈbɛʁtu ʒiɫ]) or (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒiu̯ˈbɛɾtʊ ʒiu̯]), is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Gil's musical style incorporates an eclectic range of influences, including Rock music, Brazilian genres including samba, African music, and reggae.
  Gil started to play music as a child and was still a teenager when he joined his first band. He began his career as a bossa nova musician, and then grew to write songs that reflected a focus on political awareness and social activism. He was a key figure in the Música Popular Brasileira and tropicália movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964 saw both Gil and Veloso as a threat, and the two were held for nine months in 1969 before they were told to leave the country. Gil moved to London, but returned to state of Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, as well as working as a politician and environmental advocate.
  
  wn.com/Gilberto_Gil
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  Gillian Welch
  Gillian Welch (/ˈɡɪliən ˈwɛltʃ/; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms".
  Welch and Rawlings have released five critically acclaimed albums. Their 1996 debut, Revival, and the 2001 release Time (The Revelator), received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Their 2003 album, Soul Journey, introduced electric guitar, drums and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, they released their fifth studio album, The Harrow & The Harvest, in 2011.
  Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Welch has collaborated and recorded with distinguished musicians such as Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, The Decemberists, and Ani DiFranco. Welch and Rawlings perform at many music festivals.
  
  wn.com/Gillian_Welch
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  Glenn Frey
  Glenn Lewis Frey (pronounced Fry; born November 6, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and released their debut album in 1972. Glenn Frey would play guitar with the Eagles as well as piano and keyboards, and shared lead vocals with Don Henley. The Eagles broke up in 1980 after becoming one of the most successful bands of all time. Frey sang lead vocals on many Eagles hits such as "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Tequila Sunrise", "Already Gone", "Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid in Town", and "Heartache Tonight". After the breakup of the Eagles in 1980, Frey embarked on a successful solo career. He released his debut album in 1982 and would go on to record such Top 40 hits like "The One You Love", "Smuggler's Blues", "Sexy Girl", "The Heat Is On", and "You Belong to the City". As a member of the Eagles, Frey has won six Grammys, and five American Music Awards. The Eagles have sold over 120 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. As a solo artist and with the Eagles combined, Frey has released 24 Top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
  
  wn.com/Glenn_Frey
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  Gordon Lightfoot
  Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. CC OOnt (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and internationally as a folk-rock legend.
  Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country charts with Marty Robbins' cover in 1965— and the 1967 Detroit riot-generated "Black Day In July" brought him international recognition in the 1960s. He experienced chart success in Canada with his own recordings, beginning in 1962 with the Number 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One". Lightfoot's recordings then made an impact on the international music charts as well in the 1970s, with songs such as "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) (Number 5 on the US charts), "Sundown" (1974), "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), all reaching number 1, and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) (reaching number 2).
  
  wn.com/Gordon_Lightfoot
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  Graham Nash
  Graham William Nash, OBE (born 2 February 1942) is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor voice and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock super group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer. Nash was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997 and as a member of The Hollies in 2010.
  Nash was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to music and to charity.
  Nash holds three honorary doctorates, the latest in Music from the University of Salford (England) in 2011.
  Nash was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, in 1942, his mother having been evacuated there from the Nash's hometown of Salford, Lancashire because of the Second World War. The family subsequently returned to Salford, where Graham grew up. In the early 1960s he was co-founder with schoolfriend Allan Clarke of The Hollies. Nash was a leading 'group figurehead' member of The Hollies, one of the UK's most successful pop and "British Invasion" groups. Credited on the first album as 'Group Leader' and recognised as a key member of the group, plus their public spokesman, he occasionally took a lead vocal. Nash was featured vocally on 'Just One Look' in 1964, and sang his first lead vocal on the original Hollies song "To You My Love" on the band's second album In The Hollies Style (1964). He then progressed to often singing featured 'bridge vocals' on Hollies recordings; 'So Lonely', 'I've Been Wrong' 1965, 'Pay You Back With Interest' 1966 etc., also by 1966 Nash was providing a few solo lead vocals on Hollies albums & then from 1967 'B' sides to singles.
  
  wn.com/Graham_Nash
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  György Ligeti
  György Sándor Ligeti (Hungarian: Ligeti György Sándor, [ˈliɡɛti ˈɟørɟ ˈʃaːndor]; May 28, 1923 – June 12, 2006) was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born into a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he lived in Hungary before emigrating and becoming an Austrian citizen.
  Ligeti was born in Dicsőszentmárton, which was renamed Târnăveni in 1945, in Transylvania to a Hungarian Jewish family. Ligeti recalls that his first exposure to languages other than Hungarian came one day while listening to a conversation among the Romanian-speaking town police. Before that he hadn't known that other languages existed. He moved to Kolozsvár (Cluj) with his family when he was 6, and he was not to return to the town of his birth until the 1990s.
  Ligeti received his initial musical training in the conservatory at Kolozsvár (Cluj), and during the summers privately with Pál Kadosa in Budapest.
  In 1940, Northern Transylvania was occupied by Hungary following the Second Vienna Award. In 1944, Ligeti's education was interrupted when he was sent to a forced labor brigade by the Horthy regime. His brother, age 16, was deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp, and both of his parents were sent to Auschwitz. His mother was the only other survivor of his immediate family.
  
  wn.com/György_Ligeti
• Harley Allen
  Harley Lee Allen (January 23, 1956 – March 30, 2011) was an American bluegrass and country singer and songwriter.
  He was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of the bluegrass performer Red Allen.
  Allen appeared on several 1970s albums with his brothers as The Allen Brothers. He recorded three solo albums, "Across the Blueridge Mountains" (Folkways Records 1983), "Another River" (1996) and "Live at the Bluebird" (2001).
  He was most known for providing background vocals on the song "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Soundtrack. He won two Grammy Awards for that recording in 2002, in the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals and Album of the Year categories.
  Allen is survived by his wife, singer Debbie Nims, and their two daughters, Katie and Maggie and son, Aaron.
  Allen died of lung cancer on March 30, 2011 at his home in Brentwood, Tennessee.
  The singles/songs written or co-written by Allen are, among others, performed by:
  
  
  
  wn.com/Harley_Allen
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  Herbie Hancock
  Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace music synthesizers and funk music (characterized by syncopated drum beats). Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz. In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
  Hancock's best-known solo works include "Cantaloupe Island", "Watermelon Man" (later performed by dozens of musicians, including bandleader Mongo Santamaría), "Maiden Voyage", "Chameleon", and the singles "I Thought It Was You" and "Rockit". His 2007 tribute album River: The Joni Letters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album ever to win the award after Getz/Gilberto in 1965.
  
  wn.com/Herbie_Hancock
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  Iannis Xenakis
  Iannis Xenakis (Greek pronunciation: [ˈʝanis kseˈnakis], Greek: Γιάννης Ξενάκης) (May 29, 1922 – February 4, 2001) was a Greek composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalized citizen of France. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers. Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of set theory, stochastic processes and game theory and was also an important influence on the development of electronic music. He integrated music with architecture, designing music for pre-existing spaces, and designing spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances.
  Among his most important works are Metastaseis (1953–4) for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as Psappha (1975) and Pléïades (1979); compositions that introduced spatialization by dispersing musicians among the audience, such as Terretektorh (1966); electronic works created using Xenakis's UPIC system; and the massive multimedia performances Xenakis called polytopes. Among the numerous theoretical writings he authored, the book Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition (1971) is regarded as one of his most important. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the Sainte Marie de La Tourette, on which the two architects collaborated, and the Philips Pavilion at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed alone.
  
  wn.com/Iannis_Xenakis
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  Irish people
  The Irish people (Irish: Muintir na hÉireann or na hÉireannaigh; Ulster-Scots: Airisch or Airish fowk) are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years (according to archaeological studies, see Prehistoric Ireland). The Irish people's earliest ancestors are recorded in legends – they are claimed to be descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians.Lebor Gabála Érenn, a book of Irish mythology tells that Tuatha Dé Dananns were Scythian descendants.
  The main groups that interacted with the Irish in the Middle Ages include the Picts, Scots, and the Vikings. Due to this contact, Icelanders are noted for having some Irish descent. The Anglo-Norman invasion of the High Middle Ages, the English plantations and the subsequent English rule of the country introduced the Normans and Flemish into Ireland. Welsh, Picts, Bretons, and small parties of Gauls and even Anglo-Saxons are known in Ireland from much earlier times.
  
  wn.com/Irish_people
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  Isaac Stern
  Isaac Stern (Ukrainian: Исаак Стерн, Russian: Айзек Стерн; July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was a Ukrainian-born violinist and conductor. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.
  Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco. He received his first music lessons from his mother, then in 1928 enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied until 1931 before going on to study privately with Louis Persinger. He returned to the San Francisco Conservatory to study for five years with Naoum Blinder, to whom he said he owed the most. At his public début on February 18, 1936, aged 15, he played Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor with the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Pierre Monteux. Reflecting on his background, Stern once memorably quipped that cultural exchanges between the US and Soviet Russia were simple affairs: "They send us their Jews from Odessa, and we send them our Jews from Odessa."
  
  wn.com/Isaac_Stern
• Jacknife Lee
  Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including The Cars, U2, R.E.M., Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, AFI, The Hives, Weezer, Vega4 and Editors.
  Lee started as a guitarist for the punk band Compulsion, then pursued a solo career in the field of electronica after the band's break-up. His first solo work, the EP A Dog Named Snuggles, was released under the name Jacknife Lee in 1998 by Pussyfoot Records, a label founded by Howie B.
  Lee released his first album Muy rico in 1998. His second album Punk Rock High Roller was released in 2001 by Palm Pictures. To Hell With You I'll Make My Own People was recorded as Jack Planck for the One Little Indian label. Jacknife Lee released his self titled third solo album in 2007.
  Jacknife Lee has also remixed a variety of artists' work including a version of Run-DMC's "It's Tricky 2003", The Future Sound of London's "The Mello Hippo Disco Show" and versions of U2's "Vertigo" which was limited released onto 7", 10" and 12" vinyl, Christina Aguilera, TLC, Pink, Blur, Radiohead, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, The Raveonettes, Dirty Vegas, Kraftwerk, New Order, Aqualung and Kasabian. In 2008 he produced R.E.M.'s Accelerate, Bloc Party's Intimacy and Hadouken!. Crystal Castles worked with him for a few weeks in 2009 for their second album, after which he worked with LostAlone. In 2010 he produced R.E.M.'s latest album Collapse into Now, which was released in 2011.
  
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  Jaco Pastorius
  John Francis Anthony Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician, composer, and electric bass player.
  His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register and for the "singing" quality he achieved on the fretless bass. His innovations also included the use of harmonics. Pastorius suffered from mental illness including a substance-related disorder, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. He died in 1987 at age 35 following a violent altercation at a Fort Lauderdale bar.
  Pastorius was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only six bassists to be so honored (and the only electric bass guitarist). He is one of the most influential electric bass players of all time.
  John Francis Pastorius III was born December 1, 1951 in Norristown, Pennsylvania to Jack Pastorius (big band singer and drummer) and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius, the first of their three children, Jaco Pastorius was of Finnish, German, Swedish and Irish ancestry.
  
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  James Taylor
  James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
  Taylor achieved his major breakthrough in 1970 with the #3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first #1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. His commercial achievements declined slightly until a big resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when some of his best-selling and most-awarded albums (including Hourglass, October Road and Covers) were released.
  James Taylor was born at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1948, where his father, Isaac M. Taylor, was a resident physician. His father was from a well-off family of Southern Scottish ancestry. His mother, the former Gertrude Woodard, had studied singing with Marie Sundelius at the New England Conservatory of Music and was an aspiring opera singer before the couple's marriage in 1946. James was the second of five children, the others being Alex (1947-1993), Kate (born 1949), Livingston (born 1950), and Hugh (born 1952).
  
  wn.com/James_Taylor
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  Jane Monheit
  Jane Monheit (born November 3, 1977) is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist for Concord Records. She has collaborated with artists such as Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins, Terence Blanchard and Tom Harrell, and has received Grammy nominations for two of her recordings.
  Jane Monheit was raised in Oakdale, New York on Long Island. She began singing professionally while attending Connetquot High School in Bohemia, N.Y. from which she graduated in 1995. As a child, Jane spent her summers as a student at the Usdan Center For the Creative and Performing Arts, and is a recipient of their distinguished alumna award. As a student at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, she studied voice under Peter Eldridge. Jane graduated with honors from the Manhattan School of Music in 1999, earning a BA in music and receiving the William H. Borden Award for outstanding accomplishment in Jazz. As a finalist in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute's vocal competition, she was first runner-up to Teri Thornton. She and her husband, drummer Rick Montalbano, currently reside in New York. They have one child.
  
  wn.com/Jane_Monheit
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  Janet Jackson
  Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years. The youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame.
  After signing a recording contract with A&M in 1982, she came to prominence following the release of her third studio album Control (1986). Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and industrial beats, which led to crossover appeal in popular music. In addition to receiving recognition for the innovation in her records, choreography, music videos, and prominence on radio airplay and MTV, she was acknowledged as a role model for her socially conscious lyrics.
  
  wn.com/Janet_Jackson
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  Jeff Buckley
  Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician. After a decade as a guitarist-for-hire in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by playing cover songs at venues in Manhattan's East Village, such as Sin-é, gradually focusing more on his own material. After rebuffing much interest from record labels and his father's manager Herb Cohen, he signed with Columbia, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, Grace.
  Over the following two years, the band toured widely to promote the album, including concerts in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia. In 1996, they stopped touring and made sporadic attempts to record his second album in New York with Tom Verlaine as producer. In 1997, Buckley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to resume work on the album, to be titled My Sweetheart the Drunk, recording many four-track demos while also playing weekly solo shows at a local venue. While awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, he drowned during a spontaneous evening swim — fully clothed — in the Wolf River, when he was caught in the wake of a passing boat. His body was found on June 4, 1997.
  
  wn.com/Jeff_Buckley
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  Jerry Douglas
  Jerry Douglas (born Gerald Calvin Douglas, May 28, 1956 in Warren, Ohio) is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned musicians.
  In addition to his thirteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1600 albums. As a sideman, he has recorded with artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Phish, Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Mumford & Sons, Keb' Mo', Ricky Skaggs, Elvis Costello, and Johnny Mathis, as well as performing on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. He has been part of such notable groups as The Whites, J. D. Crowe and the New South, The Country Gentlemen, Strength in Numbers, and Elvis Costello's "Sugar Canes".
  As a producer, he has overseen albums by Alison Krauss, the Del McCoury Band, Maura O'Connell, Jesse Winchester and the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Along with Aly Bain, he serves as Music Director of the popular BBC Television series, "Transatlantic Sessions".
  
  wn.com/Jerry_Douglas
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  Jerry Duplessis
  Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis is a Grammy Award nominated Haitian-born musical composer and record producer. His first major success was as producer for The Fugees' 1996 album The Score. He also played the bass guitar with The Fugees, and band member Wyclef Jean is his cousin.
  Jerry 'Wonda' Duplessis was born and raised in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. At 14, he began playing the bass. Early influences at this time included Aston Barrett, and James Jamerson. At 16, he was sent to the US and was raised by his father and his aunt who was also Wyclef's mother. The basement of their family home soon became their home studio.
  From church to some time at the Institute of Audio Research, and gigs wherever he could play, their home studio "Booga Basement" was opened serving artists near New Jersey. Wyclef, Samuel Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill would then unite to create a new Caribbean style group ultimately known as The Fugees. Wonda and Wyclef would align to provide production for the group which would be signed by Ruffhouse/Columbia. Label mates at the time would include Cypress Hill and Kris Kross.
  
  wn.com/Jerry_Duplessis
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  Jimmy Page
  James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.
  Jimmy Page is viewed by critics, fans and fellow musicians alike as one of the most influential and important guitarists and songwriters in rock music.Rolling Stone magazine has described him as "the pontiff of power riffing & probably the most digitally sampled artist in pop today after James Brown." In 2010, Jimmy Page was ranked No.2 in Gibson's list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time" and, in 2007, No.4 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". Page was ranked third in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; once as a member of The Yardbirds (1992), and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995).
  
  wn.com/Jimmy_Page
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  Joan Baez
  Joan Chandos Baez ( /ˈbaɪ.ɛz/) (born January 9, 1941 as Joan Chandos Báez) is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice.
  Baez has a distinctive vocal style, with a strong vibrato. Her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues.
  Baez began her career performing in coffeehouses in Boston and Cambridge, and rose to fame as an unbilled performer at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. She began her recording career in 1960, and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert all achieved gold record status, and stayed on the charts for two years.
  Baez has had a popular hit song with "Diamonds & Rust" and hit covers of Phil Ochs's "There but for Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". Other songs associated with Baez include "Farewell, Angelina", "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word", "Joe Hill", "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "We Shall Overcome". She performed three of the songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, helped to bring the songs of Bob Dylan to national prominence, and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment.
  
  wn.com/Joan_Baez
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  Joanna Newsom
  Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.
  Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California. As a child, Newsom was not allowed to watch television or listen to the radio because she was raised by doctors who were "kind of idealists when it came to hoping they could protect us from bad influences, like violent movies, or stupid stuff". She was exposed to music from a young age. Her father played the guitar and her mother was a classically trained pianist who played the hammered dulcimer, the autoharp and conga drums. Newsom attended a Waldorf school where she studied theater and learned to memorize and recite long poems. This skill helps her to remember lyrics while on tour.
  At the age of five, Newsom asked her parents if she could play the harp. Her parents eventually agreed to sign her up for harp lessons, but the local harp teacher did not want to take on such a young student and suggested she learn to play the piano first. Starting at the age of four, she began playing the piano and later the harp, which she "loved from the first lesson onward." From her instructor, Joanna learned composition and improvisation. She learned to play on smaller Celtic harps until her parents bought her a full-size pedal harp in the seventh grade. During her teens, she and the instrument became inseparable, and she describes her relationship with the harp as similar to "an artificial limb or a wheelchair. It’s almost part of me, but more to the point, it serves a purpose, and if it wasn’t there I would wonder what was supposed to fit in its place."
  
  wn.com/Joanna_Newsom
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  John Coltrane
  John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz. He organized at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his recording career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk.
  As his career progressed, Coltrane and his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. His second wife was pianist Alice Coltrane, and their son Ravi Coltrane is also a saxophonist. Coltrane influenced innumerable musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history. He received many posthumous awards and recognitions, including canonization by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane. In 2007, Coltrane was awarded the Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his "masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of jazz."
  
  wn.com/John_Coltrane
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  John Hartford
  John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore. Hartford performed with a variety of ensembles throughout his career, and is perhaps best known for his solo performances where he would interchange the guitar, banjo, and fiddle from song to song. He also invented his own shuffle tap dance move, and clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang.
  John Harford (he would change his name to Hartford later in life at the behest of Chet Atkins) was born on December 30, 1937 in New York City to parents Dr. Carl and Mary Harford. He spent his childhood in St. Louis, Missouri. There he was exposed to the influence that would shape much of his career and music—the Mississippi River. From the time he got his first job on the river, at age 16, Hartford was on, around, or singing about the river.
  
  wn.com/John_Hartford
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  Jonas Salk
  Jonas Edward Salk (October 28, 1914 – June 23, 1995) was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families. Although they did not have much formal education, his parents were determined to see their children succeed. While attending New York University School of Medicine, Jonas stood out from his peers not just because of his academic prowess, but because he chose to do medical research instead of becoming a physician.
  Until 1955, when the Salk vaccine was introduced, polio was considered the most frightening public health problem of the post-war United States. Annual epidemics were increasingly devastating. The 1952 epidemic was the worst outbreak in the nation's history. Of nearly 58,000 cases reported that year, 3,145 people died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis, with most of its victims being children. The "public reaction was to a plague", said historian William O'Neill. "Citizens of urban areas were to be terrified every summer when this frightful visitor returned." According to a 2009 PBS documentary, "Apart from the atomic bomb, America's greatest fear was polio." As a result, scientists were in a frantic race to find a way to prevent or cure the disease. U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt was the world's most recognized victim of the disease and founded the organization that would fund the development of a vaccine.
  
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  Joni Mitchell
  Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson; November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto. In 1965 she moved to the United States and, touring constantly, began to be recognized when her original songs ("Urge for Going," "Chelsea Morning," "Both Sides, Now," "The Circle Game") were covered by notable folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her own debut album in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell and her popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock" helped define an era and a generation. Her more starkly personal 1971 recording Blue has been called one of the best albums ever made. Musically restless, Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring her radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris."
  
  wn.com/Joni_Mitchell
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  José Antonio Abreu
  José Antonio Abreu (born May 7, 1939 in Valera) is a Venezuelan pianist, economist, educator, activist, and politician.
  Born in the city of Valera in 1939, Abreu graduated ¨Summa Cum Laude¨ as an Economist at Universidad Católica Andres Bello and he was awarded a PhD degree in Petroleum Economics from the same university in 1961. Abreu also did some graduate work at the University of Michigan. He served as a Deputy at the Chamber of Deputies in the Congress of Venezuela. After his political career, he also worked as a professor of economics and law at Universidad Simón Bolívar and his Alma Mater. He would return to politics briefly in 1983 to serve as Minister of Culture.
  Abreu began to study music with Doralisa Jiménez de Medina in Barquisimeto. Later, he attended the Caracas Musical Declamation Academy in 1957, where he studied piano with Moisés Moleiro, organ and harpsichord with Evencio Castellanos, and composition with Vicente Emilio Sojo. In 1967, he received the Symphonic Music National Prize for his musical ability. It was in 1975 that he founded El Sistema, formally known as the Foundation for the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela.
  
  wn.com/José_Antonio_Abreu
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  Judy Collins
  Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records (which has included folk, show tunes, pop, rock and roll and standards); and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.
  Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. As a child, Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her public debut at age 13, performing Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos. Dr. Brico took a dim view, both then and later, of Collins's developing interest in folk music, which led her to the difficult decision to discontinue her piano lessons. Years later, when Collins had become internationally known through her music, she invited Dr. Brico to one of her concerts in Denver. When they met after the performance, Brico took both of Judy's hands in hers, looked wistfully at her fingers and said, "Little Judy—you really could have gone places." Still later, Collins discovered that Brico herself had made a living when she was younger playing jazz and ragtime piano (Singing Lessons, pp. 71–72). She also had the fortune of meeting many musicians through her blind father, a Seattle radio program host.
  
  wn.com/Judy_Collins
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  Juice Newton
  Judy Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952, Lakehurst, New Jersey, United States) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter and guitarist. To date, Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categories (winning once in 1983), as well as an ACM Award for Top New Female Artist and two Billboard Female Album Artist of the Year awards (won consecutively). She has several Gold and Platinum records to her credit, including Juice, Quiet Lies and her first Greatest Hits album. During the 1980s, Newton charted 14 Top-10 hits across the Billboard Country, AC, and Hot 100 charts, with many of the recordings achieving crossover success and six of the songs hitting the #1 position.^{[citation needed]}
  Newton graduated from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In the early 1970s, Newton, Otha Young and Tom Kealey formed a band that would eventually be called Juice Newton and Silver Spur that was signed to RCA Records. The group released two RCA albums in 1975 and 1976, and scored only one charting country single with "Love Is a Word." The band signed with Capitol Records in 1977, but disbanded shortly after releasing one album.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Juice_Newton
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  Kanye West
  Kanye Omari West ( /ˈkɑːnjeɪ/; born June 8, 1977) is an American musician, film director and fashion designer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synthpop, and classical music.
  West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. West released a collaborative album, Watch the Throne with Jay-Z in 2011, which is the duo's first collaborative album. His five solo albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim. As of 2012, West has won a total of eighteen Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all-time. All albums have been very commercially successful, with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy becoming his fourth consecutive No. 1 album in the U.S. upon release. West has had 5 songs exceed 3 million in digital sales as of July 2011, with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,402,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000, "E.T." selling over 4,000,000 and "Love Lockdown" selling over 3,000,000 placing him third in overall digital sales of the past decade. He has sold over 30 million digital songs in the United States making him one of the best-selling digital artists of all-time.
  
  wn.com/Kanye_West
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  Kate Voegele
  Kate Elizabeth Voegele (born December 8, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is also known for playing Mia Catalano on The CW TV series One Tree Hill.
  Voegele was born in the Cleveland suburb of Bay Village, Ohio. Sheref> She also recorded a cover of the song, "When You Wish Upon a Star", for the compilation album DisneyMania 6. Voegele's second album, A Fine Mess was released on May 18, 2009. and her third, Gravity Happens, was released on May 17, 2011. Voegele opened for Natasha Bedingfield on her Less is More Tour at select concerts.
  As an actress, she appeared in One Tree Hill as Mia. She appeared in seasons 5, 6, 7 and 8. The season 8 finale marked her final appearance on the show. Her character did not return to the series.
  Voegele was born in the Cleveland suburb of Bay Village, Ohio. Voegele attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio through spring of 2007 as a fine arts and psychology major, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, leaving to focus on a music career afterwards.^{[citation needed]} Since the spring of 2008, Kate has been taking online classes to pursue a bachelor of science degree in Psychology at the University of Phoenix. She is engaged to professional lacrosse player Brett Hughes of the MLL's Ohio Machine.
  
  wn.com/Kate_Voegele
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  Keith Green
  Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same. Often considered controversial for his frequently confrontational lyrics and spoken messages, he wrote some notable songs alone or with his wife, Melody Green, including "Your Love Broke Through", "You Put This Love in My Heart", and "Asleep in the Light". Green is also known for numerous popular modern hymns, including "O Lord, You're Beautiful" and "There is a Redeemer", written by his wife, Melody.
  Keith took to music at a young age, beginning with the ukulele at age three, the guitar at five, and the piano at seven years of age. His talents were noted by a major newspaper by the time he was only eight years old. Following a performance of Arthur Laurents' The Time of the Cuckoo, a local review by the Los Angeles Times wrote that "roguish-looking, eight-year-old Keith Green gave a winning [character] portrayal" as "the little Italian street urchin, Mauro"; another review commented that he "stole the show". The show was Keith's first appearance in live theater, which was held in Chatsworth, California, in September 1962. According to the LA Times, Green had already "done a number of television commercials and...made a TV pilot."
  
  wn.com/Keith_Green
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  Keith Jarrett
  Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.
  Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as a group leader and a solo performer. His improvisations draw not only from the traditions of jazz, but from other genres as well, especially Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music.
  In 2003, Jarrett received the Polar Music Prize, the first (and to this day only) recipient not to share the prize with a co-recipient, and in 2004 he received the Léonie Sonning Music Prize.
  In 2008, he was inducted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame in the magazine's 73rd Annual Readers' Poll.
  Jarrett grew up in suburban Allentown, Pennsylvania, with significant early exposure to music. He possessed absolute pitch, and he displayed prodigious musical talents as a young child. He began piano lessons just before his third birthday, and at age five he appeared on a TV talent program hosted by the swing bandleader Paul Whiteman. The young Jarrett gave his first formal piano recital at the age of seven, playing works by composers including Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Saint-Saëns, and ending with two of his own compositions. Encouraged especially by his mother, Jarrett took intensive classical piano lessons with a series of teachers, including Eleanor Sokoloff of the Curtis Institute.
  
  wn.com/Keith_Jarrett
• Keri Noble
  Keri Noble (born 1975) is an American singer-songwriter born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised in Detroit.Her father was a Baptist minister, and Noble sang in church as a child. She attended a local Assembly of God school for Jr High and high school in Michigan. She began playing her own music in the Detroit area. After meeting Billy McLaughlin, she moved to Minneapolis, and in 2003 she signed with major label EMI. She has been compared to Norah Jones. She left EMI in 2005 and signed with JVC in Japan where she achieved great success, enabling her to continue to write and perform in the US without the support of a label.
  In 2008 Noble signed with Telarc Records in the United States and released a full-length album (self titled) in February, 2009. In June, she released her EP, "Leave Me in the Dark", and November brought the release of her first-ever holiday cd, "Winter Comes Again", which she produced herself.
  Currently, Noble resides in Minneapolis with her cat, Akiko, and continues to tour both the U.S. and Japan in support of her albums.
  
  wn.com/Keri_Noble
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  KT Tunstall
  Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland. She has enjoyed commercial and critical success since, picking up three nominations before winning a BRIT Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. She is also the recipient of an Ivor Novello Award. Tunstall has a contralto vocal range.
  She has released four albums internationally: Eye to the Telescope (2004), KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza (2006),Drastic Fantastic (2007) and Tiger Suit (2010). She has also done a guest appearance in an episode (S1E04) of the comedy series This is Jinsy on BBC Three.
  Kate has a half-Chinese, half-Scottish mother and an Irish father. She was 18 days old when she was adopted by an English family in St Andrews, Scotland. Kate never got to meet her biological father. Her adoptive father was employed as a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews, and her adoptive mother was a school teacher. Tunstall's family also includes an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel. Her parents had no interest in music and owned no records — the only tape her father owned was a comedy recording by mathematician and musical satirist Tom Lehrer.
  
  wn.com/KT_Tunstall
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  Kurt Cobain
  Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989.
  After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled "the flagship band" of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as "the spokesman of a generation". Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. He challenged Nirvana's audience with its final studio album In Utero (1993).
  During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the U.S. alone, and over 50 million worldwide.
  
  wn.com/Kurt_Cobain
• Larry Klein
  Larry Klein (born 1956) is a music producer, songwriter and bass guitar player, commonly known for being the frequent musical collaborator, and ex-husband, of Joni Mitchell.
  He began his musical career while still in his teens, as a session musician, playing bass guitar on a string of albums, most notably several by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.
  Klein met Mitchell when he was hired as a bassist and sound engineer for her 1982 album Wild Things Run Fast. The two quickly became romantically attached, and were married in November 1982. He helped produce that album, as well as her next four, occasionally contributing his own musical compositions to which Mitchell would add lyrics. It was during the recording of Turbulent Indigo, in 1994, that their marriage broke apart. He has continued to be involved, in various capacities, in the production of her albums.
  Since his work with Mitchell, Klein has tended to produce albums by female singer–songwriters, although he was the co-producer (with Herbie Hancock) on Hancock's Grammy-winning River: The Joni Letters.
  
  wn.com/Larry_Klein
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  Laura Marling
  Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.
  Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008 and 2010 respectively. She won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards.
  Marling was born in Hampshire, England, the youngest of three daughters of a music teacher, and learned guitar at an early age. Her father, who ran a recording studio, introduced her to folk music and shaped her musical taste. This was "a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse. I couldn’t slot myself into the age-appropriate genre", she later remembered. Marling was educated at Leighton Park School, a private Quaker school in Reading, Berkshire. She has said that during this time she felt uneasy around other people and had a fear of death.
  At the age of 16 Marling moved to London, where she soon became part of a cluster of intertwined bands drawn to acoustic instruments and tradition-tinged melodies which formed a movement labelled "nu-folk" by the British press. She became part of the original line-up of indie folk band Noah and the Whale and was romantically linked with singer/guitarist Charlie Fink. She is featured as a background vocalist on their début album Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down; however, she left the group before the album's 2008 release and split up with Fink that same year. She also appeared on The Rakes track "Suspicious Eyes", from the band's 2007 album Ten New Messages, credited as 'Laura Marlin'. Marling would later collaborate with Mystery Jets, contributing guest vocals to the single "Young Love", released 10 March 2008. Previously, Marling was in a relationship with Marcus Mumford; they broke up around Christmas 2010, but are reportedly still friends.
  
  wn.com/Laura_Marling
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  Lauryn Hill
  Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actress.
  Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The recording earned Hill 5 Grammy Awards, including the coveted Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
  Following the success of her debut album, Hill largely dropped out of public view, in part due to her displeasure with fame and the music industry. After a four-year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, a live recording of "deeply personal songs" performed mostly solo with an acoustic guitar. In more recent years, she has recorded songs for soundtracks and mixtapes, as well as performing live at several music festivals. Hill has 6 children, five of whom are with Rohan Marley, one of reggae musician Bob Marley's sons.
  Lauryn Hill was born in South Orange, New Jersey of Haitian and African-American descent,^{[citation needed]} the second of two children born to high school English teacher Valerie Hill and computer programmer Mal Hill. As a child, Hill listened to her parents' Motown 1960s soul records. Music was a central part of the Hill home. Mal Hill sang at weddings, Valerie played the piano, and Lauryn's older brother Malaney played the saxophone, guitar, drums, harmonica, and piano. In 1988, Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It's Showtime at the Apollo. She sang her own version of Smokey Robinson's song "Who's Lovin' You?", where she was booed tremendously, but persevered and ended up with audience applause.
  
  wn.com/Lauryn_Hill
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  Leonard Cohen
  Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality, and interpersonal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour.
  While giving the speech at Cohen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2008, Lou Reed described Cohen as belonging to the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters."
  Cohen was born on 21 September 1934 in Westmount, Montreal, Quebec, into a middle-class Jewish family. He attended Roslyn Elementary School. His mother, Marsha Klinitsky, of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, emigrated from Lithuania while his great-grandfather emigrated from Poland. He grew up in Westmount on the Island of Montreal. His grandfather was Lyon Cohen, founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Cohen, who owned a substantial Montreal clothing store, died when Cohen was nine years old. On the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen has said that, "I had a very Messianic childhood." He told Richard Goldstein in 1967. "I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest." Cohen attended Westmount High School, beginning in 1948 where he was involved with the Student Council and studied music and poetry. He became especially interested in the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca. As a teenager, he learned to play the guitar, and formed a country-folk group called the Buckskin Boys. Although he initially played a regular acoustic guitar as a teenager, he soon switched to playing a classical guitar after meeting a young Spanish flamenco guitar player who taught him "a few chords and some flamenco."
  
  wn.com/Leonard_Cohen
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  Linda Ronstadt
  Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden Globe nominations.
  A singer, songwriter, and record producer, she is recognized as a definitive interpreter of songs. Being one of music's most versatile and commercially successful female singers in U.S. history, she is recognized for her many public stages of self-reinvention and incarnations.
  With a one-time standing as the Queen of Rock, where she was bestowed the title of "highest paid woman in rock", and known as the First Lady of Rock, she has more recently emerged as music matriarch, international arts advocate and human rights advocate.
  Ronstadt has collaborated with artists from a diverse spectrum of genres—including Billy Eckstine,Frank Zappa, Rosemary Clooney, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, Carla Bley, The Chieftains, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton, Kate and Anna McGarrigle and has lent her voice to over 120 albums around the world. Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times noted in 2004, Ronstadt is "Blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation ... rarest of rarities—a chameleon who can blend into any background yet remain boldly distinctive ... It's an exceptional gift; one shared by few others."
  
  wn.com/Linda_Ronstadt
• Mac Dre
  Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), better known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper, and the initial founder of Thizz Entertainment, and the now defunct Romp Productions.
  
  
  Andre Hicks was born in Oakland, California and moved to Vallejo at a young age. In the early 1980s, Hicks began his rap career under the stage name "Mac Dre", and by the middle of the 1990s his music had gained widespread popularity throughout the Bay Area thanks in part to the independent music distributor: . He started robing pizza parlors in vallejo California at the age of 25
  Mac Dre recorded his first three albums between 1989 and 1991. In 1992 Mac Dre was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. At the time Hicks owned the record label, Romp Productions. His many references to "Romper Room" in his songs, bore a similarity the "Romper Room Gang", a group of robbers who had been victimizing banks and pizza parlors in Vallejo.^{[citation needed]} Following allegations by authorities about his membership in the gang, Hicks was sentenced to five years in prison. He refused a deal offered by law enforcement authorities that would have required him to inform on other gang members.
  
  wn.com/Mac_Dre
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  Mandy Moore
  Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of Wild Hope. Her most recent album, Amanda Leigh, was released on May 26, 2009. Moore has sold more than 10 million records worldwide. Moore subsequently branched out into film, starring in 2002's A Walk to Remember and later in other movies, such as Chasing Liberty, Saved! and License to Wed. Most recently Moore provided the voice of Rapunzel in Tangled. In April 2011, she ranked 5th in People's annual Most Beautiful issue.
  Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her mother, Stacy (née Friedman), is a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and her father, Donald "Don" Moore, is a pilot for American Airlines. Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and her mother is of half-English and half-Jewish ancestry. Moore, who has an older brother Scott and a younger brother Kyle, grew up in Longwood, Florida, outside of Orlando, where the family moved shortly after her birth because of her father's job as an airline pilot. She was raised Catholic (though she is no longer practicing), and attended Bishop Moore High School, in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.
  
  wn.com/Mandy_Moore
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  Martie Maguire
  Martie Maguire (born Martha Elenor Erwin; October 12, 1969) is an American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the female alternative country band, the Dixie Chicks. She won awards in national fiddle championships while still a teenager. Maguire is accomplished on several other instruments, including the mandolin, viola, acoustic bass, and guitar. She has written and co-written a number of the band's songs, some of which have become chart-topping hits. She also contributes her skills in vocal harmony and backing vocals, as well as orchestrating string arrangements for the band. She is left-handed but plays right-handed.^{[citation needed]}
  Maguire learned several instruments at a young age, honing her skills with her younger sister, Emily Robison (born Emily Erwin) and two schoolmates (a brother and sister team, Troy and Sharon Gilchrist) for over five years as a part of a high school touring bluegrass quartet. After graduation, the sisters forged an alliance with two other women they had met through the Dallas music scene, Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy, forming a bluegrass and country music band, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits for six years. After the departure of Macy, and the replacement of Lynch with singer-songwriter Natalie Maines, the band widened their musical repertoire and appearance. The result was a trio so commercially successful that it took the country music industry by surprise, with a number of hit songs, albums, and awards that have set records in the music industry. Maguire subsequently stood by her bandmates as they were engulfed in political controversy.
  
  wn.com/Martie_Maguire
• Matt Serletic
  Matt Serletic is a record producer who has worked with several popular bands and artists for Atlantic Records, including Collective Soul, Matchbox Twenty, Blessid Union of Souls, Edwin McCain, Stacie Orrico, Taylor Hicks, Rob Thomas, and singer/songwriter Angie Aparo. Serletic will be working with American Idol Season 7 Winner David Cook on his second studio album. He also preceded Jason Flom as chairman of Virgin Records. Most recently he has been working with Joe Cocker, writing and producing his latest album, Hard Knocks.
  Serletic is the owner of Emblem Music Group and currently resides in Calabasas, California with his wife, Ramona and two children. Matt was a member of the 1999 Alternative band class of '99 as a keyboardist.
  
  wn.com/Matt_Serletic
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  Maynard James Keenan
  Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American rock singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, winemaker, and actor. Originally from Ohio, Keenan spent his high school and college years in Michigan. After serving in the Army in the early 1980s, he attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1988 to pursue a career in interior design and set construction. He formed the band Tool with Adam Jones shortly thereafter.
  Keenan is best known as the lead singer of the multi-platinum rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle with whom he has released four and two studio albums, respectively. In 2003 he created Puscifer as a side project, financing and releasing its first studio album in October 2007. Since rising to fame, Keenan has been a noted recluse, although he does emerge to support charitable causes.
  In addition to his music career, he has performed improvisational stand-up comedy and ventured into acting. He is the current owner of Merkin Vineyards and the associated winery, Caduceus Cellars, and has part ownership of Stronghold Vineyards, all located in Arizona, where he lives. Among other business ventures, he is a partner in the Los Angeles restaurant Cobras & Matadors, and owns a produce market and an organic market in Cornville, Arizona, the latter featuring a tasting room for his wines as well as a food court.
  
  wn.com/Maynard_James_Keenan
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  Michelle Branch
  Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums, The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper, and was subsequently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2003. In 2005, she formed the country music duo The Wreckers with friend and fellow musician Jessica Harp, and produced the Grammy-nominated single "Leave the Pieces". The Wreckers disbanded in 2007 to pursue their respective solo careers. She has had several commercially successful songs, most notably winning a Grammy with Santana for "The Game of Love".
  Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch was born on July 2, 1983, in Phoenix, Arizona, to David and Peggy Branch, six months after they were married. Her father is of Irish descent, and her mother is of Dutch Indonesian and French descent. Her siblings include an older half-brother named David and a younger sister named Nicole.
  Beginning to sing at the age of three, Branch enrolled in voice lessons at Northern Arizona University when she was eight, and received her first guitar for her fourteenth birthday. After teaching herself chords, she composed her first song "Fallen" within a week of receiving her guitar. She initially attended Sedona Red Rock High School, but finished the last two years of her high school education through home schooling so that she could focus on her music career. To support Branch's interests, her parents helped her book local gigs in Sedona, AZ, and later financed her independent album Broken Bracelet. Her set list at these gigs included covers by Sheryl Crow, Lisa Loeb, Jewel, and Fleetwood Mac.
  
  wn.com/Michelle_Branch
• Mike Piersante
  Mike Piersante is a recording engineer and mixer.
  Mike Piersante won two Grammy Awards in 2009 for his work as Engineer/Mixer. The first Grammy was for Please Read the Letter a duet track by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Krauss and Plant sang this track as a duet which was released on the album Raising Sand , available on Rounder which won another 2009 Grammy for Mike Piersante for Album of the Year.
  
  wn.com/Mike_Piersante
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  Miles Davis
  Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.
  Miles Dewey Davis was born on May 26, 1926, to an affluent African American family in Alton, Illinois. His father, Dr. Miles Henry Davis, was a dentist. In 1927 the family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois. They also owned a substantial ranch in northern Arkansas, where Davis learned to ride horses as a boy.
  Davis' mother, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, wanted her son to learn the piano; she was a capable blues pianist but kept this fact hidden from her son. His musical studies began at 13, when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged lessons with local musician Elwood Buchanan. Davis later suggested that his father's instrument choice was made largely to irk his wife, who disliked the trumpet's sound. Against the fashion of the time, Buchanan stressed the importance of playing without vibrato; he was reported to have slapped Davis' knuckles every time he started using heavy vibrato. Davis would carry his clear signature tone throughout his career. He once remarked on its importance to him, saying, "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything."Clark Terry was another important early influence.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Miles_Davis
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  Miriam Makeba
  Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 10 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist.
  In the 1960s she was the first artist from Africa to popularize African music in the U.S. and around the world. She is best known for the song "Pata Pata", first recorded in 1957 and released in the U.S. in 1967. She recorded and toured with many popular artists, such as Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and her former husband Hugh Masekela.
  She actively campaigned against the South African system of apartheid. As a result, the South African government revoked her citizenship and right of return. After the end of apartheid she returned home. She died on 10 November 2008 after performing in a concert organized to support writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like organisation local to the Region of Campania.
  Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born in Johannesburg in 1932. Her mother was a Swazi sangoma (traditional healer-herbalist). Her father, who died when she was six years old, was a Xhosa. When she was eighteen days old, her mother was arrested for selling umqombothi, an African homemade beer brewed from malt and cornmeal. Her mother was sentenced to a six-month prison term, so Miriam spent her first six months of life in jail. As a child, she sang in the choir of the Kilmerton Training Institute in Pretoria, a primary school that she attended for eight years.
  
  wn.com/Miriam_Makeba
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  Morrissey
  Steven Patrick Morrissey (born 22 May 1959), known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career, making the top ten of the UK Singles Chart on ten occasions. Widely regarded as an important innovator in indie music, Morrissey has been described by music magazine NME as "one of the most influential artists ever," and The Independent has stated "most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status he has reached in his lifetime."Pitchfork Media has called him "one of the most singular figures in Western popular culture from the last twenty years."
  Morrissey's lyrics have been described as "dramatic, bleak, funny vignettes about doomed relationships, lonely nightclubs, the burden of the past and the prison of the home." He is also noted for his unusual baritone vocal style (though he sometimes uses falsetto), his quiff haircut and his dynamic live performances. His forthright and often contrarian opinions have led to a number of media controversies, and he has also attracted media attention for his advocacy of vegetarianism and animal rights. Morrissey moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1990s.
  
  wn.com/Morrissey
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  Natalie Maines
  Natalie Louise Maines Pasdar (born October 14, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter who achieved success as the lead vocalist for the female alternative country band, the Dixie Chicks. Born in Lubbock, Texas, Maines considers herself a rebel who "loved not thinking in the way I knew the majority of people thought."
  In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace their lead singer, Laura Lynch. With Maines as lead vocalist, the band earned 10 Country Music Association Awards and 13 Grammy Awards for their work between 1998 and 2007.
  On the eve of the Iraq invasion, while in concert in London for the 2003 Top of the World Tour, Maines commented that the Dixie Chicks were "...ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Negative public reaction in the United States to this comment resulted in boycotts by country music radio stations and death threats.
  In 2006, with Maines still acting as lead singer, the Dixie Chicks released Taking the Long Way. The album subsequently won five Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year).
  
  wn.com/Natalie_Maines
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  Neil Young
  Neil Percival Young,OC,OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation.
  Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with a continual and uncompromising exploration of musical styles. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes Young as "one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers". He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and second as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.
  Young's work is characterized by his distinctive guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature alto or high tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments, including piano and harmonica, his idiosyncratic electric and clawhammer acoustic guitar playing are the defining characteristics of a varyingly ragged and melodic sound. While Young has experimented with differing music styles, including swing and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into two primary styles: acoustic (folk and country rock) and electric (amplified hard rock, very often in collaboration with the band Crazy Horse). Young has also adopted elements from newer styles such as alternative rock and grunge. His influence on the latter caused some to dub him the "Godfather of Grunge".
  
  wn.com/Neil_Young
• Nellee Hooper
  Nellee Hooper (born 1963, Bristol, England) is a British producer/remixer/composer best known for his work with Björk, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor, Garbage, Andrea Corr, U2, Sneaker Pimps, Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer with famed Scottish composer Craig Armstrong and Marius De Vries for the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996.
  Hooper began his career as a DJ and as a member of the Wild Bunch, the Bristol-based group that would turn into Massive Attack.
  Between 1989 and 1992 he produced the debut albums for Soul II Soul (Club Classics Vol. I), Massive Attack (Blue Lines) and Björk (Debut), which in 1995 Mixmag magazine ranked the 31st, 1st and 3rd best dance albums of all time.
  The 1995 BRIT Awards honored Hooper as Best Producer for his work on Massive Attack's Protection, Björk's Post and Madonna's Bedtime Stories albums.
  In 1998 he won a BAFTA Award (Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music) for his work arranging the score and soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.
  
  wn.com/Nellee_Hooper
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  Nena
  Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer and actress. She rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". In 1984, she re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons".Nena was also the name of the band with whom she released the song. With the re-recording and subsequent release of some of her old songs, her career re-emerged in 2002. In 2007, she co-founded the school "Neue Schule Hamburg".
  Gabriele Susanne Kerner was born on 24 March 1960 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, while her family lived in the nearby town of Breckerfeld. She spent the earliest part of her childhood in Breckerfeld and later lived in Hagen. She acquired her nickname, based on the Spanish word "nena" (colloquial for "niña"), or "little girl", at the age of three, while on a vacation to Spain with her parents. In 1977 she left high school before graduation, and in the three following years she was trained as a goldsmith.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Nena
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt
  Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Count Nikolaus de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt) (born 6 December 1929) is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement. Around 1970, Harnoncourt started to conduct opera and concert performances, soon leading renowned international symphony orchestras, and appearing at leading concert halls, operatic venues and festivals. His repertoire has since widened to include composers of the 19th and 20th century. In 2001 and 2003, he conducted the Vienna New Year's Concert. Harnoncourt is also the author of several books, mostly on questions of performance history and musical aesthetics.
  Harnoncourt was born in Berlin, Germany. He was raised in Graz, Austria and studied music in Vienna. His mother, Ladislaja Gräfin von Meran, Freiin von Brandhoven, was the granddaughter of the Habsburg Archduke Johann, the 13th child of the Emperor Leopold II. He is thus descended from various Holy Roman Emperors and other European royalty. His father, Eberhard de la Fontaine Graf d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt, was an engineer working in Berlin who had two children from a previous marriage. Two years after Nikolaus's birth, his brother Philipp was born. The family eventually moved to Graz, where Eberhard had obtained a post in the state-government (Landesregierung) of Styria.
  
  wn.com/Nikolaus_Harnoncourt
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  Norah Jones
  Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. She is also the paternal half-sister of Anoushka Shankar.
  In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, a fusion of jazz, pop, and country music, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies. The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Her subsequent studio albums, Feels Like Home, released in 2004, Not Too Late, released in 2007, the same year she made her film debut in My Blueberry Nights, and her 2009 release The Fall all gained Platinum status after selling over a million copies and were generally well received by critics. Jones' fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts was released on April 27, 2012.
  Jones has won nine Grammy Awards and was Billboard magazine's 60th-best-selling music artist of the 2000–2009 decade. Throughout her career, Jones has won numerous awards and has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000–2009 decade, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time.
  
  wn.com/Norah_Jones
• Oscar Brand
  Oscar Brand (born February 7, 1920) is a folk singer, songwriter, and author. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand's music runs the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spans a number of genres.
  He has also written a number of short stories, including:
  He was born into a Jewish family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but he moved to New York as a young man where he studied at Brooklyn College.
  In his long career he has played alongside such legends of folk music as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, The Weavers and Pete Seeger. He wrote various books on the folk song and folk song collections including The Ballad Mongers: Rise of the American Folk Song, Songs Of '76: A Folksinger's History Of The Revolution and Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads, the latter comprising four volumes.
  Brand is well known for writing catchy, themed, folk songs, including the eponymous theme to his initially CTV and then CBC television show "Let's Sing Out" and the Canadian patriotic song "Something to Sing About" (actual title: "This Land of Ours"), which is one of Canada's national folk songs.He collaborated on a number of musicals, most notably The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (a musical version of Leo Rosten's stories on the fictional character Hyman Kaplan), and A Joyful Noise.
  
  wn.com/Oscar_Brand
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  Pat Metheny
  Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny (/məˈθiːni/mə-THEE-nee; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
  He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progressive and contemporary jazz, post-bop, latin jazz and jazz fusion. Pat Metheny has three gold albums and 19 Grammy Awards. He is the brother of jazz flugelhornist and journalist Mike Metheny.
  Metheny was born and raised in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb southeast of Kansas City. Following his graduation from Lee's Summit High School, he briefly attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 1972, where he was quickly offered a teaching position. He then moved to Boston to take a teaching assistantship at the Berklee College of Music with jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton. He first made his name as a teenage prodigy under the wing of Burton. In 1974 he made his recording debut on two sessions for pianist Paul Bley's and Carol Goss' Improvising Artists label, along with fretless electric bassist Jaco Pastorius.
  
  wn.com/Pat_Metheny
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  Patti Smith
  Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses.
  Called the "Godmother of Punk", her work was a fusion of rock and poetry. Smith's most widely known song is "Because the Night", which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen and reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. In 2005, Patti Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, and in 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On November 17, 2010, she won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids. She is also a recipient of the 2011 Polar Music Prize.
  
  wn.com/Patti_Smith
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  Paul Carrack
  Paul Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well. His distinctive voice appears on some of his affiliated bands' best-known hits. He was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
  Carrack's recording career began with the jazz rock band Warm Dust, who released three albums of original material between 1970 and 1972. Carrack was the keyboard player for the band, occasionally playing other instruments, with Les Walker as the lead vocalist.
  After Warm Dust broke up, Carrack and Warm Dust bassist Tex Comer helped to found the pub rock band Ace. Carrack both wrote and was vocalist on "How Long?", Ace's debut single – a hit in both the UK and US in 1975. However, no further Ace recordings enjoyed that same level of popularity.
  In 1977 Ace disbanded, and Carrack began working as a backing musician for Frankie Miller. Subsequently, he was a member of Roxy Music, playing keyboards on their 1979 reunion album Manifesto. Carrack would also play on the next two Roxy Music albums, but as a session musician, not a band member.
  
  wn.com/Paul_Carrack
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  Paul McCartney
  Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of the Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), he has been described by Guinness World Records as "The Most Successful Composer and Recording Artist of All Time", with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and with Lennon formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. After leaving the Beatles, he began a solo career and later formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine.
  According to the BBC, his Beatles song "Yesterday" has been covered by over 2,200 artists—more than any other song. Wings' 1977 release, "Mull of Kintyre", became one of the best-selling singles ever in the UK, and he is "the most successful songwriter" in UK chart history, according to Guinness. As a songwriter or co-writer, he is included on thirty-one number one titles on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2012 he has sold over 15.5 million RIAA certified units in the United States.
  
  wn.com/Paul_McCartney
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  Pete Seeger
  Peter "Pete" Seeger (born May 3, 1919) is an American folk singer and an iconic figure in the mid-20th-century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of The Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, and environmental causes.
  As a song writer, he is best known as the author or co-author of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)", (composed with Lee Hays of The Weavers), and "Turn, Turn, Turn!", which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are still sung throughout the world. "Flowers" was a hit recording for The Kingston Trio (1962); Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962); and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while The Byrds popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn!" in the mid-1960s, as did Judy Collins in 1964, and The Seekers in 1966. Seeger was one of the folksingers most responsible for popularizing the spiritual "We Shall Overcome" (also recorded by Joan Baez and many other singer-activists) that became the acknowledged anthem of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement, soon after folk singer and activist Guy Carawan introduced it at the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. In the PBS "American Masters" episode Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, Seeger states it was he who changed the lyric from the traditional "We will overcome" to the more singable "We shall overcome".
  
  wn.com/Pete_Seeger
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  Peter Gabriel
  Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. His 1986 album, So, is his most commercially successful, and the album's biggest hit, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and the song is the most played music video in the history of the station.
  More recently, Gabriel has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music. He has also been involved in various humanitarian efforts. Gabriel has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1987, six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2007 he was honoured as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his “influence on generations of music makers.” Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
  
  wn.com/Peter_Gabriel
• Peter Kurland
  Peter Franklin Kurland (born 1958) is a production sound mixer.
  Kurland has done boom operation work along with sound mixing on many films, such as Walk the Line, The Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty, Men in Black, Wild Wild West, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He won two Grammy's for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a BAFTA award and a CAS award for Walk the Line, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound for Walk the Line.
  In 2008 he won the CAS award for No Country for Old Men was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound as well as the BAFTA award. In 2011, he was nominated again for the Best Sound Oscar, this time for the film True Grit.
  Kurland has worked on every Coen Brothers' film for the past 25 years. List of frequent Coen Brothers collaborators
  He attended Peabody Demonstration (Now University School of Nashville) School in Nashville, Tennessee. He was once the fire chief at Antioch College. He has two children, Julian David Kurland, who currently attends the University of Connecticut, and Benjamin Franklin Kurland, by his wife, Shannon Dee Wood. She ran for the US Senate seat from Tennessee in 2000 against Bill Frist.
  
  wn.com/Peter_Kurland
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  Phil Ramone
  Phil Ramone (born 1941) is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.
  As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten. In the late 1940s he trained as a classical violinist at The Juilliard School, where one of his classmates was Phil Woods.
  In 1959, he established an independent recording studio A&R Recording (the initials were derived from the last initials of Ramone and his then-business partner Jack Arnold). There he quickly gained a reputation as a sound engineer and music producer, in particular for his use of innovative technology. Among those whose music he has produced are Clay Aiken, Burt Bacharach, Laura Branigan, Ray Charles, Karen Carpenter, Chicago, Peter Cincotti, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Sheena Easton, Melissa Errico, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Patricia Kaas, B. B. King, Julian Lennon, Madonna, Barry Manilow, Richard Marx, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Liza Minnelli, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Sinéad O'Connor, Fito Páez, Luciano Pavarotti, Peter Paul and Mary, Andre Previn, Diane Schuur, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, The Guess Who, and Dionne Warwick. He is also credited with recording Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" to President John F. Kennedy [1].also Phoebe Snow
  
  wn.com/Phil_Ramone
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  Pierre Boulez
  Pierre Boulez (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ bu.lɛːz]) (born 26 March 1925) is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.
  Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics. He pursued the latter at Lyon before pursuing music at the Paris Conservatoire under Olivier Messiaen and the wife of Arthur Honegger, Andrée Vaurabourg.
  Through Messiaen, Boulez discovered twelve-tone technique — which he would later study privately with René Leibowitz — and went on to write atonal music in a post-Webernian serial style. Boulez was initially part of a cadre of early supporters of Leibowitz, but due to an altercation with Leibowitz, their relations turned divisive, as Boulez spent much of his career promoting the music of Messiaen instead.
  The first fruits of this were his cantatas Le visage nuptial and Le soleil des eaux for female voices and orchestra, both composed in the late 1940s and revised several times since, as well as the Second Piano Sonata of 1948, a well-received 32-minute work that Boulez composed at the age of 23. Thereafter, Boulez was influenced by Messiaen's research to extend twelve-tone technique beyond the realm of pitch organization, serialising durations, dynamics, mode of attack, and so on. This technique became known as integral serialism.
  
  wn.com/Pierre_Boulez
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  Quincy Jones
  Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, conductor, arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is particularly recognized as the producer of the album Thriller, by pop icon Michael Jackson, which has sold more than 110 million copies worldwide, and as the producer and conductor of the charity song “We Are the World”.
  In 1968, Jones and his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song "The Eyes of Love" from the Universal Pictures film Banning. That same year, he became the first African American to be nominated twice within the same year when he was nominated for Best Original Score for his work on the music of the 1967 film In Cold Blood. In 1971, Jones would receive the honor of becoming the first African American to be named musical director/conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony. He was the first African American to win the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1995. He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the most Oscar-nominated African American, each of them having seven nominations. At the 2008 BET Awards, Quincy Jones was presented with the Humanitarian Award. He was played by Larenz Tate in the 2004 biopic about Ray Charles, Ray.
  
  wn.com/Quincy_Jones
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  Rachael Yamagata
  Rachael Yamagata (born September 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing four EP's and three studio albums. Her songs have appeared on numerous television shows and she has collaborated with other musicians including Jason Mraz, Rhett Miller, Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams, Toots and the Maytals and Ray Lamontagne.
  Yamagata's childhood was divided between her divorced parents; her father, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney; and her mother, an artist/painter living in New York City.^{[citation needed]} Yamagata graduated from the Holton-Arms School for Girls in Bethesda, Maryland and attended Northwestern University and Vassar College.^{[citation needed]}
  Yamagata became the vocalist for the Chicago group Bumpus and spent six years touring, writing and recording with the band before leaving in 2001 to begin a solo career. In September 2002, she obtained a two-record deal with Arista's Private Music and her self-titled EP produced by Malcolm Burn, Rachael Yamagata EP was released in October.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Rachael_Yamagata
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  Ralph Stanley
  Ralph Stanley (born February 25, 1927), also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.
  Ralph Edmond Stanley was born, grew up, and lives today in rural southwestern Virginia—"in a little town called McClure at a place called Big Spraddle, just up the holler" from where he moved in 1936 and has lived ever since in Dickenson County. The son of Lee and Lucy Stanley, Ralph did not grow up around a lot of music in his home. As he says, his "daddy didn't play an instrument, but sometimes he would sing church music. And I'd hear him sing songs like 'Man of Constant Sorrow,' 'Pretty Polly' and 'Omie Wise.'"
  He learned to play the banjo, clawhammer style, from his mother:
  He graduated from high school on May 2, 1945 and was inducted into the Army on May 16, serving "little more than a year." He immediately began performing when he got home:
  After initially considering a course in "veterinary," he decided to throw in with his older guitar-playing brother, Carter, and form the Clinch Mountain Boys, in 1946. Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique minor-key singing style of the Primitive Baptist Universalist church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the Stanleys began playing on local radio stations. They first performed at Norton, Virginia's WNVA, but didn't stay long there, moving on instead to Bristol, Virginia and WCYB to start the show Farm and Fun Time where they stayed "off and on for 12 years."
  
  wn.com/Ralph_Stanley
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  Ravi Shankar
  Ravi Shankar (Bengali: রবি শংকর; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury on 7 April 1920), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the most known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.
  Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.
  In 1956, he began to tour Europe and America playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of The Beatles. Shankar engaged Western music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992 he served as a nominated member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999, and received three Grammy Awards. He continues to perform in the 2000s, often with his daughter Anoushka.
  
  wn.com/Ravi_Shankar
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  Ray Charles
  Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business.”
  The influences upon his music were mainly jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and country artists of the day such as Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, Louis Armstrong. His playing reflected influences from country blues and barrelhouse, and stride piano styles.
  Rolling Stone ranked Charles number ten on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work?"
  
  wn.com/Ray_Charles
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  Regina Spektor
  Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (Russian: Реги́нa Ильи́нична Спе́ктор, IPA: [rʲɪˈɡʲinə ˈspʲɛktər], English: /rɨˈdʒiːnə ˈspɛktər/; born February 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.
  Spektor was born in Moscow, Soviet Union in 1980 to a musical Russian Jewish family. Her father, Ilya Spektor, is a photographer and amateur violinist. Her mother, Bella Spektor, was a music professor in a Soviet college of music and now teaches at a public elementary school in Mount Vernon, New York. She has a brother Barry (Bear), who was featured in track 7, "* * *", or "Whisper", of her 2004 album, Soviet Kitsch.
  She learned how to play piano by practising on a Petrof upright that was given to her mother by her grandfather. She was also exposed to the music of rock and roll bands such as The Beatles, Queen, and The Moody Blues by her father, who obtained such recordings in Eastern Europe and traded cassettes with friends in the Soviet Union. The family left the Soviet Union in 1989, when Regina was nine and a half, during the period of Perestroika, when Soviet citizens were permitted to emigrate. Regina had to leave her piano behind. The seriousness of her piano studies led her parents to consider not leaving the USSR, but they finally decided to emigrate, due to the ethnic and political discrimination that Jews faced. Spektor is fluent in Russian and reads Hebrew, and has since paid tribute to her Russian heritage, quoting the poem February by the Russian poet Boris Pasternak in her song Après Moi, and stating “I’m very connected to the language and the culture.”
  
  wn.com/Regina_Spektor
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  Renée Fleming
  Renée Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice. Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also speaks fluent German and French, along with limited Italian. Her signature roles include Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka, the title role in Massenet's Manon, the title role in Massenet's Thaïs, the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, and the title role in Arabella.
  A Richard Tucker Award winner, she regularly performs in opera houses and concert halls worldwide. In 2008 she was awarded the Swedish Polar Music Prize for her services in music.
  Conductor Sir Georg Solti said of Fleming, "In my long life, I have met maybe two sopranos with this quality of singing; the other was Renata Tebaldi."
  
  wn.com/Renée_Fleming
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  Rick Rubin
  Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin (born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin is the founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings. With the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Run–D.M.C., Rubin helped popularize hip hop music.
  Rubin has worked with artists as varied as Tom Petty, Black Sabbath, Trouble, Slipknot, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta, Danzig, Dixie Chicks, Metallica, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Weezer, Linkin Park, The Cult, Neil Diamond, Mick Jagger, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys, Audioslave, The Avett Brothers, Adele and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In the 1990s and 2000s, he produced the "American Recordings" albums with Johnny Cash. MTV called him "the most important producer of the last 20 years." In 2007, Rubin was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World.
  Rubin was born in Long Beach, New York and grew up in Lido Beach, New York, in a Jewish family. His father was a shoe wholesaler and his mother a housewife. While a student at Long Beach High School he befriended the school's AV Director Steve Freeman who gave him a few lessons in guitar playing and songwriting and helped him create a punk band called "The Pricks". Their biggest claim to fame was being thrown off the stage at CBGB after two songs for brawling with the heckling audience. These hecklers were friends of the band instructed to instigate a confrontation so as to get the show shut down and create a buzz. Although he had no authority in New York City, Rubin's father traveled all the way from Nassau county to Manhattan wearing his Lido Beach auxiliary police uniform as he attempted to "shut down" the show.
  
  wn.com/Rick_Rubin
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  Robert Moog
  Robert Arthur "Bob" Moog (/ˈmoʊɡ/ MOHG; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005), founder of Moog Music, was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.
  Bob Moog's innovative electronic design is employed in numerous synthesizers including the Minimoog Model D, Minimoog Voyager, Little Phatty, Moog Taurus Bass Pedals, Moog Minitaur, and the Moogerfooger line of effects pedals.
  A native of New York City, Moog attended the Bronx High School of Science in New York, graduating in 1952. Moog earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Queens College, New York in 1957, another in electrical engineering from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in engineering physics from Cornell University. Moog's awards include honorary doctorates from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (New York City) and Lycoming College (Williamsport, Pennsylvania).
  During his lifetime, Moog founded two companies for manufacturing electronic musical instruments. He also worked as a consultant and vice president for new product research at Kurzweil Music Systems from 1984 to 1988, helping to develop the Kurzweil K2000. He spent the early 1990s as a research professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
  
  wn.com/Robert_Moog
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  Robert Plant
  Robert Anthony Plant, CBE (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career. In 2007, Plant released Raising Sand, an album produced by T-Bone Burnett with American bluegrass soprano Alison Krauss, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.
  With a career spanning more than 40 years, Plant is regarded as one of the most significant singers in the history of rock music, and has influenced contemporaries and later singers such as Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose. In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All-Time". In 2009, Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock. In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers' pick placed Plant in first place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time".
  Plant was born in the Black Country town of West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire now in West Midlands) to parents Robert C. who worked as a civil engineer and Annie C. (Cain) Plant, but grew up in Kidderminster, in Worcestershire. Plant gained an interest in singing and rock and roll music at an early age.
  
  wn.com/Robert_Plant
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  Roger Waters
  George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter and conceptual leader. The band subsequently achieved worldwide success in the 1970s with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Although Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the bass guitar, he also experimented with synthesisers and tape loops and played rhythm guitars in recordings and in concerts. Amid creative differences within the group, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the remaining members over their future use of the group's name and material. The dispute was settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed with Pink Floyd again. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States.
  
  wn.com/Roger_Waters
• Ron Block
  Ronald Franklin "Ron" Block (born July 30, 1964) is an American bluegrass and alternative country musician, mainly playing the banjo and the guitar, singing, and writing gospel music.
  Block was born in 1964 in Inglewood, California. He received his first guitar at 11. He first became interested in banjo at 13, after seeing Earl Scruggs play on television. His interest in guitars and singing grew after seeing The Stanley Brothers and Larry Sparks. He is best known for his participation in the Grammy Award winning band, Alison Krauss & Union Station.
  For the past twenty years, Ron Block has been the spiritual touchstone of Alison Krauss and Union Station, contributing sterling musicianship on banjo, guitar, vocals, and songwriting.
  Alison Krauss and Union Station have recorded 10 of Block’s songs since 1992, including There Is A Reason," "In The Palm of Your Hand," "Jesus Help Me To Stand," and "A Living Prayer, which received a 2006 Gospel Music Association Dove award. His songs have also been recorded and performed by Rhonda Vincent (“You’re In My Heart”), Randy Travis (“Which Way Will You Choose”), Dan Tyminski (“Be Assured,” “The One You Lean On,” and “It All Comes Down To You”), Michael W. Smith (“Loving You Eternally”), Rhonda Vincent (“You’re In My Heart”), the Cox Family, and the Forbes Family.
  
  wn.com/Ron_Block
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  Sam Bush
  Sam Bush (born April 13, 1952 in Bowling Green, Kentucky) is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.
  Sam Bush was exposed to country and bluegrass music at an early age through his father Charlie's record collection, and later by the Flatt & Scruggs television show. Buying his first mandolin at the age of 11, his musical interest was further piqued when he attended the inaugural Roanoke, VA Bluegrass Festival in 1965. As a teen Bush took first place three times in the junior division of the National Oldtime Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, ID. He joined guitarist Wayne Stewart, his mentor and music teacher during Sam's teen years, and banjoist Alan Munde (later of Country Gazette) and the three recorded an instrumental album, Poor Richard's Almanac, in 1969. In the spring of 1970, Bush attended the Fiddlers Convention at Union Grove, NC, and was inspired by the rock-flavored progressive bluegrass of the New Deal String Band. Later that year, he moved to Louisville and joined the Bluegrass Alliance. In the fall of 1971, the band dissolved and reformed as the New Grass Revival.
  
  wn.com/Sam_Bush
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  Sami people
  The Sami people, also spelled Sámi or Saami, are the indigenous people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are the only indigenous people of Scandinavia recognized under the international conventions of Indigenous peoples, and hence the northernmost indigenous people of Europe.Sami ancestral lands span an area of approximately 388,350 km² (150,000 sq. mi.), which is approximately the size of Sweden, in the Nordic countries. Their traditional languages are the Sami languages and are classified as a branch of the Uralic language family. The Sami languages are endangered.
  Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding, with which about 10% of the Sami are connected and 2,800 actively involved on a full-time basis. For traditional, environmental, cultural and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.
  
  wn.com/Sami_people
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  Sarah Dawn Finer
  Sarah Dawn Finer, born 14 September 1981 in Stockholm, Sweden, is a singer, songwriter and actress. Her father is from the United Kingdom (London), and her mother from USA (New York), but she is born and raised in Sweden. Dawn is her middle name, and Finer her surname.
  Finer's first EP "Sarah Dawn Finer" with 6 songs, was released in 2006. Her first full-length debut album A Finer Dawn, released 30 May 2007, debuted at number two on the Swedish album charts.
  Her next album Moving On was released on 26 August 2009. The album included the title single "Moving On" and "Does She Know You?".The album Moving On debut #1 on iTunes in its digital release on 17 August 2009. The CD version was released on 26 August 2009, debuting at number one in the Swedish Charts. Her next album "Winterland" also sold gold and debuted no 2 on the Swedish charts.
  She has recorded duets with Moneybrother, Peter Jöback, Fatboy, Samuel Ljungbladh and Patrik Isaksson.
  Finer hosted Melodifestivalen 2012 along with Helena Bergström and Gina Dirawi. In a sketch recorded for the finale, Finer played "Lynda Woodruff", an EBU spokeswoman who speaks with an Estuary-like dialect and can't pronounce Azerbaijan. She reprised her role for a European audience when delivering Sweden's vote in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
  
  wn.com/Sarah_Dawn_Finer
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  Sarah McLachlan
  Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2009, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and four Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians. The Lilith Fair concert tours took place from 1997 to 1999, and resumed in the summer of 2010. Since 2006 she has also been known as a highly visible supporter of the ASPCA, as well as various other charities.
  Sarah McLachlan was born on January 28, 1968, and adopted in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. As a child, she took voice lessons, along with studies in classical piano and guitar. When she was 17 years old and still a student at Queen Elizabeth High School, she fronted a short-lived rock band called The October Game. One of the band's songs, "Grind", credited as a group composition, can be found on the independent Flamingo Records release Out of the Fog and the CD Out of the Fog Too. It has yet to be released elsewhere. Her high school yearbook predicted that she was "destined to become a famous rock star."
  
  wn.com/Sarah_McLachlan
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  Schuyler Fisk
  Schuyler Elizabeth Fisk (pronounced “Sky-ler”; born July 8, 1982) is an American actress and singer-songwriter.
  Fisk was born in Los Angeles, California to actress Sissy Spacek and production designer Jack Fisk.
  Fisk began acting in school plays as a child and eventually progressed to film. Her first acting role was as a bumblebee in a community theatre production of Charlotte's Web. She played her first lead role, as the title character in Annie, in sixth grade.
  She married Chapman Bullock on May 26, 2012.
  Fisk made her film debut in 1995 as Kristy Thomas in The Baby-Sitters Club. She is perhaps most well known for her supporting role in the 2002 teen comedy, Orange County, starring opposite Colin Hanks and Jack Black. Her notable TV appearances include an appearance on One Tree Hill as Daytona in the 2005 episode "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and an appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Ella Christiansen in the 2006 episode "Taboo." She played the overbearing and protective sister in the 2011 film "Restless".
  
  wn.com/Schuyler_Fisk
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  Scottish people
  The Scottish people (Scots Gaelic: Albannaich), or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse. Later the Normans also had some influence.
  In modern use, "Scottish people" or "Scots" is used to refer to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, family ancestral or genetic origins are from within Scotland. The Latin word Scotti originally applied to a particular, 5th century, Goidelic tribe that inhabited Ireland. Though sometimes considered archaic or pejorative, the term Scotch has also been used for the Scottish people, though this usage is current primarily outside Scotland.
  There are people of Scottish descent in many countries other than Scotland. Emigration, influenced by factors such as the Highland and Lowland Clearances, Scottish participation in the British Empire, and latterly industrial decline and unemployment, resulted in Scottish people being found throughout the world. Large populations of Scottish people settled the new-world lands of North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. There is a Scottish presence at a particularly high rate in Canada, which has the second largest population of descended Scots ancestry, after the United States. They took with them their Scottish languages and culture.
  
  wn.com/Scottish_people
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  Shawn Colvin
  Shawn Colvin (b. January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician.
  Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota and spent her youth in London, Ontario and Carbondale, Illinois. She learned to play guitar at the age of 10 and grew listening to her father's collection of music, which included artists such as Peter Seeger and the Kingston Trio.
  Colvin moved to Austin, Texas and joined a Western swing band called the Dixie Diesels. She then entered the the folk circuit in Illinois and San Francisco, California before forming the Shawn Colvin Band. She "strained her voice" singing rock songs took a sabbatical from singing at the age of 24.
  Colvin later moved to New York City and with a renewed voice became involved in the Fast Folk cooperative of Greenwich Village. Over time she became progressively more popular on the new folk circuit and while appearing in the off-Broadway shows, Diamond Studs, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and Lie of the Mind. She was featured in Fast Folk magazine, and in 1987 sang backup vocals on the song Luka by Suzanne Vega.
  
  wn.com/Shawn_Colvin
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  Sheryl Crow
  Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop. She has won nine Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
  She has performed with The Rolling Stones and has sung duets with Mick Jagger,Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Luciano Pavarotti, John Mellencamp, Kid Rock, Michelle Branch, and Sting among others. She has performed backing vocals for Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Don Henley and Belinda Carlisle. She also sang as part of the back up vocals for the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary celebrating Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Crow has released seven studio albums, two compilations, and a live album, and has contributed to film soundtracks. She has sold 16 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide and her newest album, 100 Miles from Memphis, was released on July 20, 2010. Recently she appeared on NBC's 30 Rock, ABC's GCB and Cougar Town, Disney Channel's Hannah Montana Forever, and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
  
  wn.com/Sheryl_Crow
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  Sofia Gubaidulina
  Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, (Russian: Софи́я Асгатовна Губайду́лина, Tatar Cyrillic: София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина, Latin: Sofia Äsğät qızı Ğöbäydullina) (born October 24, 1931) is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.
  Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations. In Erwartung combines percussion (bongos, güiros, temple blocks, cymbals and tam-tams among others), bayan and saxophone quartet.
  Gubaidulina was born in Chistopol, in the Tatar ASSR. She studied composition and piano at the Kazan Conservatory, graduating in 1954. In Moscow she undertook further studies at the Conservatory with Nikolay Peyko until 1959, and then with Shebalin until 1963. She was awarded with Stalin-fellowship. Her music was deemed "irresponsible" during her studies in Soviet Russia, due to its exploration of alternative tunings. She was supported, however, by Dmitri Shostakovich, who in evaluating her final examination encouraged her to continue down her "mistaken path". However, she was allowed to express her modernism in various scores she composed for documentary films, including the 1968 production, On Submarine Scooters, a 70mm film shot in the unique Kinopanorama widescreen format.
  
  wn.com/Sofia_Gubaidulina
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  Sonny Rollins
  Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", and "Airegin", have become jazz standards.
  Although Rollins was born in New York City, his parents were born in the United States Virgin Islands. Rollins received his first saxophone at age 13. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem. He said that a concert by Frank Sinatra there, accompanied by a plea for racial harmony, changed his life.
  Rollins started as a pianist, changed to alto saxophone, and finally switched to tenor in 1946. During his high-school years, he played in a band with other future jazz legends Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor. He was first recorded in 1949 with Babs Gonzales ( J. J. Johnson was the arranger of the group). In his recordings through 1954, he played with performers such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.
  
  wn.com/Sonny_Rollins
• Spank Rock
  Spank Rock is an American hip-hop group consisting of rapper Naeem Juwan (MC Spank Rock) and producer Alex Epton (XXXChange). Their style is generally described as a mix of underground alternative rap, electro and rock.
  Spank Rock began performing in Philadelphia and Phoenixville, where their reputation quickly increased. They later toured with Hollertronix and M.I.A.. They also toured with Beck in 2006. Spank Rock's debut album YoYoYoYoYo was released in 2006 on the Big Dada record label. In Late 2007, Alex Epton aka XXXchange, left Spank Rock to pursue his own production.
  In June 2011, Spank Rock officially announced that his second full length album, Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar, would be released September 27, 2011 on his own label, Bad Blood Records. Pitchfork.com premiered the first single from the album, titled "Energy," produced by Boys Noize and based on a beat from Can's song "Vitamin C". Pitchfork also reported that the upcoming album will feature production from Boys Noize, XXXChange, Diplo, Crystal Castles, Pharrell and Sam Spiegel, and features Santigold.
  
  wn.com/Spank_Rock
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  Stephen Stills
  Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young). He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time. Stills was ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Stills became the first person to be inducted twice on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with CSN and the Buffalo Springfield.
  Stills was raised in a military family. Moving around as a child, he developed an interest in blues and folk music. He was also influenced by Latin music after spending his youth in Gainesville and Tampa, Florida, Louisiana, Costa Rica, Panama Canal Zone and El Salvador, where he graduated from high school, and was an avid sailor. He also attended Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida and Saint Leo College Preparatory School in Saint Leo, Florida.
  
  wn.com/Stephen_Stills
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  Stephin Merritt
  Stephin Raymond Merritt (born 1966) is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles (formerly in New York City), best known as the principal singer and songwriter in the band The Magnetic Fields. He is known for his distinctive and untrained bass voice.
  He created and played principal roles in the bands The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes.
  He briefly used the name The Baudelaire Memorial Orchestra as an attribution for a song written for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, entitled "Scream and Run Away". Further music was recorded for the audiobook versions of the series and is attributed to The Gothic Archies. The Tragic Treasury was released by Nonesuch Records in October 2006 along with the 13th and final book of the series.
  Under his own name, he recorded and released the soundtracks to the films Eban and Charley and Pieces of April. The soundtrack to the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete & Pete featured many of his songs.
  He and director Chen Shi-zheng have collaborated on three pieces of musical theatre; Orphan of Zhao (2003), Peach Blossom Fan (2004), and My Life as a Fairy Tale (2005) Select tracks from these works have been released on Nonesuch Records under the title Showtunes.
  
  wn.com/Stephin_Merritt
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  Steve Hogarth
  Steve Hogarth (born Ronald Stephen Hoggarth on 14 May 1959 in Kendal, Westmorland) also known as "h", is the lead vocalist and occasional keyboardist/guitarist with the British rock band Marillion. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with The Europeans and vocalist with How We Live.
  Hogarth was born in Kendal in Cumbria. His father was an engineer in the British Merchant Navy. He was brought up on a council estate in Doncaster from the age of two. As a child he became interested in music, his earliest influences being The Beatles and The Kinks. He taught himself to play piano. Leaving school at the age of eighteen, Hogarth spent three years studying for a degree in electrical engineering at Trent Polytechnic. He was also a member of a band during this time, Harlow, who played working men's clubs. They recorded the single Harry de Mazzio on the Pepper record label in 1978. The band split in 1981 and Hogarth left his engineering degree, moving to London to further his music career.
  
  wn.com/Steve_Hogarth
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  Steve Lillywhite
  Stephen Lillywhite, CBE (born 1955) is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Simple Minds, Chris Cornell, The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, The Psychedelic Furs, The Pogues, Beady Eye, Blue October and Phish.
  Lillywhite entered the music industry in 1972, when he worked as a tape operator for Polygram. He produced a demo recording for Ultravox, which led to them being offered a recording contract with Island Records. Lillywhite soon joined Island as a staff producer, where he worked with many of the leading new wave musicians. His first commercial success was with Siouxsie and the Banshees in August 1978, after producing their first single, "Hong Kong Garden". He also produced "Ku Klux Klan" - the first single that Steel Pulse released under Island Records in 1978.
  
  wn.com/Steve_Lillywhite
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  Steve Reich
  Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich ( /ˈraɪʃ/; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer who is one of the pioneering composers of minimal music along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass.
  His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns (examples are his early compositions, "It's Gonna Rain" and "Come Out"), and the use of simple, audible processes to explore musical concepts (for instance, "Pendulum Music" and "Four Organs"). These compositions, marked by their use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm and canons, have significantly influenced contemporary music, especially in the US. Reich's work took on a darker character in the 1980s with the introduction of historical themes as well as themes from his Jewish heritage, notably the Grammy Award-winning Different Trains.
  Reich's style of composition influenced many other composers and musical groups. Reich has been described, in The Guardian by music critic Andrew Clements, as one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history", and the critic Kyle Gann has said Reich "may...be considered, by general acclamation, America's greatest living composer."
  
  wn.com/Steve_Reich
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  Steve Rothery
  Steve Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is the guitarist of the English rock band Marillion. He was born in Brampton, South Yorkshire, England. From the age of six he lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire. According to Guitar Player, Rothery "specializes in crafting lush sonic atmospheres with layered guitars and effects processing." In 2001, Rothery was voted Yorkshire and Humberside's best guitarist in a poll in Total Guitar magazine.
  Rothery began to play the guitar at the age of 15. In 1979, he saw an ad in the music press for a band called Silmarillion that needed a guitarist. He auditioned successfully for the band (19 August 1979). From this point he concentrated more on melody, composition and mood, and less on his technique. Later, Silmarillion shortened its name to Marillion. Rothery is the only member of Marillion's founding lineup who remains in the band to this day. As well as work with Marillion, he started a solo project under the name The Wishing Tree (with Hannah Stobart providing vocals), and released 2 albums called Carnival of Souls and Ostara.
  
  wn.com/Steve_Rothery
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  Stevie Nicks
  Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums. She has been noted for her ethereal visual style and symbolic lyrics. Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac on December 31, 1974, along with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, 1977's Rumours, produced four US Top 10 singles (including Nicks's song "Dreams", which was the band's first and only US number one) and remained at No.1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks, as well as reaching the top spot in various countries around the world. To date the album has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the eighth best-selling album of all time.
  Nicks began her solo career in 1981 with the 8 million selling album Bella Donna, and she has produced six more solo studio albums to date. Her seventh solo studio album entitled In Your Dreams, and her first in ten years, was produced largely by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame and Glen Ballard and was released on May 3, 2011. After the release of her first solo album, Rolling Stone deemed her "The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll". Having overcome cocaine addiction, and dependency on tranquilizers, Nicks remains a popular solo performer. As a solo artist, she has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations and, with Fleetwood Mac, a further five, of which one was the 1978 award for Album of the Year for Rumours, which they won. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Nicks is known for her distintive voice, mystical visual style and symbolic lyrics as well as the famous (sometimes tense) chemistry between herself and former boyfriend and guitarist/vocalist in Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham.
  
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  Stevie Wonder
  Stevland Hardaway Morris (born May 13, 1950 as Stevland Hardaway Judkins), known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, a child prodigy who developed into one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century. Blind since shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day.
  Among Wonder's best known works are singles such as "Superstition", "Sir Duke", "I Wish" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Well known albums also include Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and received twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with Wonder at number five.
  
  wn.com/Stevie_Wonder
• Stuart Duncan
  Stuart Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician who has worked with such stars as George Strait, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Barbra Streisand, to name a few.. Recently Duncan joined forces with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile in The Goat Rodeo Sessions, an "ambitious and groundbreaking project that brings together four string virtuosos."
  As a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, he won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 1994 and 1996, and was named the Academy of Country Music Fiddle Player of the Year for 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2004, and Specialty Instrument Player of the Year for 2006. In 2006, he toured with the Mark Knopfler/Emmylou Harris Roadrunning tour and is on the All The Roadrunning and Real Live Roadrunning albums. In 2008, he toured with the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss Raising Sand tour, to much acclaim. He appeared on Transatlantic Sessions Series 4 broadcast by the BBC in September/October 2009.
  
  wn.com/Stuart_Duncan
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  Sufjan Stevens
  Sufjan Stevens ( /ˈsuːfjɑːn/ SOOF-yahn; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came. He is best known for his 2005 album, Illinois, which hit number one in the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and for the song "Chicago".
  Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of Enjoy Your Rabbit and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas. Stevens makes use of a variety of instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same recording, and writes music in various time signatures. Though he has repeatedly stated an intent to separate his beliefs from his music, Stevens also freely draws from the Bible and other spiritual traditions, incorporating mystical elements into his music often.
  Stevens was born in Detroit and lived there until the age of nine, when his family moved to Petoskey, Michigan. In Petoskey he attended the Petoskey High School, the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated from Harbor Light Christian School. He went on to attend Hope College in Holland, Michigan and earned a Master of Fine Arts from The New School in New York City.
  
  wn.com/Sufjan_Stevens
• Suzanne Cox
  Suzanne Cox (born 19 March 1972) is an English aerobic instructor. She was formerly a gladiator in the UK television show Gladiators, in which she went by the name Vogue.
  Cox was born in Hertfordshire, England on March 19, 1972. She joined a local gymnastics club at a young age and reached regional level. She also competed in athletics in county meetings in 100 metres, shot putt and long jump. At college she gained a PEA and RSA certificate in Exercise and Health Studies which qualifies her to teach aerobics and circuit training.
  Cox progressed into competitive aerobics, becoming the UK Champion in 1991, '92, '93 and '94. She also competed at International and European level, becoming European Champion in 1993 and was ranked 7th in the world at the World International Championships in Las Vegas.
  In 1995, Cox joined the UK version of Gladiators. Cox was a firm favourite with fans, dazzling them with a display of backflips upon entering the arena. She excelled in Hang Tough and Powerball, although she could turn her hand to any event. Her theme music was "Vogue" by Madonna.
  
  wn.com/Suzanne_Cox
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  The Edge
  David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.
  The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.
  
  wn.com/The_Edge
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  Thomas Dolby
  Thomas Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson; 14 October 1958) is an English musician and producer. Best known for his 1982 hit "She Blinded Me with Science", and 1984 single "Hyperactive!", he has also worked extensively in production and as a session musician.
  Robertson was born in London, England, contrary to information in early 1980s press releases that reported his birthplace as Cairo, Egypt. His father, Martin Robertson, was an internationally distinguished professor of classical Greek art and archeology at the University of London and Oxford University, and in his youth Thomas lived or worked in France, Italy and Greece. He attended Abingdon School in 1975-76, completing his A Levels whilst there. Thomas Dolby spoke of his early musical experiences in a 2012 interview:
  He later married actress Kathleen Beller in 1988; the couple have three children together.
  Dolby is member #00001 of the current incarnation of the Flat Earth Society, a pseudoscientific group.
  The Thomas Dolby stage name originated from a nickname that Thomas picked up around the age of 13. Thomas was always messing around with keyboards and tapes and the like, so his friends nicknamed him Dolby, which came from the name Dolby Laboratories. Later, when Thomas was 18 or 19 years old, British singer Tom Robinson was popular, so the then-Thomas Robertson chose to adopt the stage name "Thomas Dolby" when he began working professionally. Early publicity implied that "Dolby" was a middle name, and that the artist's full name was Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson; this is not true, but he does sometimes informally go by the initials TMDR.
  
  wn.com/Thomas_Dolby
• Tim Blake Nelson
  Tim Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.
  Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father. Nelson is Jewish. His maternal grandparents escaped the Nazis shortly before World War II, fleeing to the UK in 1938 and immigrating to the United States in 1940. His father's family had immigrated from Russia. His maternal uncle is businessman George Kaiser.
  Nelson attended the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain Resort Arts and Conference Center in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. He is a 1982 graduate of Holland Hall School in Tulsa, and a graduate of Brown University, where he was a Classics major as well as Senior Orator for his class of 1986. Additionally, Nelson won the Workman/Driskoll award for excellence in Classical Studies. He graduated from Juilliard in 1990.
  Nelson's debut play, Eye of God was produced at Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1992. The Grey Zone premiered at MCC Theater in New York in 1996 where his 1998 work Anadarko was also produced.
  
  wn.com/Tim_Blake_Nelson
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  Tina Turner
  Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards. Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of hits including "River Deep, Mountain High" and the 1971 hit "Proud Mary". With the publication of her autobiography I, Tina (1986), Turner revealed severe instances of spousal abuse against her by Ike Turner prior to their 1976 split and subsequent 1978 divorce. After virtually disappearing from the music scene for several years following her divorce from Ike Turner, she rebuilt her career, launching a string of hits beginning in 1983 with the single "Let's Stay Together" and the 1984 release of her fifth solo album Private Dancer.
  Her musical career led to film roles, beginning with a prominent role as The Acid Queen in the 1975 film Tommy, and an appearance in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. She starred opposite Mel Gibson as Aunty Entity in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome for which she received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, and her version of the film's theme, "We Don't Need Another Hero", was a hit single. She appeared in the 1993 film Last Action Hero.
  
  wn.com/Tina_Turner
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  Tom Petty
  Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (born October 20, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. and Muddy Wilbury.
  He has recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist, many of which remain heavily played on adult contemporary and classic rock radio. His music, and notably his hits, have become popular among younger generations as he continues to host sold-out shows. Throughout his career, Petty and his collaborators have sold 60 million albums.
  Tom Petty was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida, and attended Gainesville High School. His interest in rock and roll music began at age 10 when he met Elvis Presley. In the summer of 1961, his uncle was working on the set of Presley's film Follow That Dream in nearby Ocala, Florida and invited Petty to come down and watch the shoot. He instantly became an Elvis Presley fan and soon traded his Wham-O slingshot for a box of Elvis 45s. In a 2006 interview on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, Petty said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. One of his first guitar teachers was Don Felder, a fellow Gainesville resident, who would later join the Eagles. As a young man, Petty worked briefly on the grounds crew for the University of Florida, but never attended as a student. An Ogeechee lime tree that he planted while employed at the University is now called the Tom Petty tree.
  
  wn.com/Tom_Petty
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  Tom Rush
  Tom Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.
  Rush was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School, in Concord, New Hampshire. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University after graduating from the Groton School. He majored in English literature. Many of his early recordings are versions of Lowland Scots and Appalachian folk songs. He regularly performed at the Club 47 coffeehouse (now called Club Passim) in Cambridge, the Unicorn in Boston and The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
  Rush is credited by Rolling Stone magazine with ushering in the era of the singer/songwriter. In addition to performing his own compositions, he covered songs by Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Murray McLauchlan, David Wiffen and William Hawkins, helping them to gain recognition early in their careers.
  Bob Dylan is reputed to be the "Roosevelt Gook" credited as playing piano on the 1966 Elektra album Take A Little Walk With Me, though many believe it was Al Kooper under another name to collect a second musician's fee.
  
  wn.com/Tom_Rush
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  Tori Amos
  Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. Amos originally served as the lead singer of 1980s synthpop group Y Kant Tori Read, and as a solo artist was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s. She was also noteworthy early in her solo career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.
  As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million albums worldwide. She has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards. Amos was also named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1996.
  Amos was born in Newton, North Carolina. When she was two, her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she began to play the piano. By age five, she had begun composing instrumental pieces on piano and, while living in Rockville, Maryland, she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Her scholarship was discontinued at age 11 and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock and popular music, coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music. In 1972, The Amos family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, where her father, Reverend Edison Amos, became pastor of the Good Shepherd United Methodist church. At the age of 13 she began playing at gay bars and piano bars, chaperoned by her father.
  
  wn.com/Tori_Amos
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  Valery Gergiev
  Valery Abisalovich Gergiev PAR (Russian: Валерий Абисалович Гергиев, Ossetic: Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери/Gergity Abisaly Fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.
  Gergiev, born in Moscow, is the son of Tamara Tatarkanovna and Abisal Zaurbekovich. He and his siblings were raised in Vladikavkaz in their native North Ossetia in the Caucasus. He began piano at secondary school, before going on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Leningrad from 1972 to 1977. His principal conducting teacher was Prof. Ilya Musin (Илья Мусин), one of the greatest conductor-makers in Russian musical history. His sister, Larissa Gergieva, is a pianist and director of the Mariinsky's singers' academy.
  In 1978, he became assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera, now the Mariinsky Opera, under Yuri Temirkanov, where he made his debut conducting Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace. He was chief conductor of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1981 until 1985 – the year he made his debut in the United Kingdom, along with pianist Evgeny Kissin, and violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin, at The Lichfield Festival.
  
  wn.com/Valery_Gergiev
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  Van Morrison
  Van Morrison, OBE (born George Ivan Morrison; 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely viewed as among the greatest ever made.
  Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison started his professional career when, as a teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands covering the popular hits of the day. He rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria". His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns' death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks in 1968. Even though this album would gradually garner high praise, it was initially poorly received; however, the next one, Moondance, established Morrison as a major artist, and throughout the 1970s he built on his reputation with a series of critically acclaimed albums and live performances. Morrison continues to record and tour, producing albums and live performances that sell well and are generally warmly received, sometimes collaborating with other artists, such as Georgie Fame and The Chieftains. In 2008 he performed Astral Weeks live for the first time since 1968.
  
  wn.com/Van_Morrison
• Vince Mendoza
  Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961) is a music arranger and composer.
  Mendoza was born in Connecticut and studied guitar as a child, influenced by classical music, soul and jazz. He then took up the trumpet, which he continued to play throughout his time at Ohio State University, where he played in the Jazz Ensemble and the Concert Band. Mendoza also led his own big band at Ohio State called the Vince Mendoza Big Band where he honed his composing skills. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in music composition in 1983. He did his graduate studies in composition at the University of Southern California.
  He was signed to Blue Note Records, with whom he released “Start Here” and “Instructions Inside”. His compositions have been featured by Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker and Charlie Haden. Mendoza has frequently provided arrangements for their work, as well as for Randy Brecker and Peter Erskine.
  Mendoza's work involves various musical styles. He has produced and arranged for singers as diverse as Robbie Williams, Björk, Elvis Costello, and six Grammy Award winning albums, Travelogue, Both Sides Now with Joni Mitchell, Some Skunk Funk, Brown Street, El Viento and 54. Since 2005 he has been chief conductor of the Dutch Metropole Orchestra.
  
  wn.com/Vince_Mendoza
• Walter Becker
  Walter Carl Becker (born February 20, 1950 in Queens, New York) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist and co-songwriter in Steely Dan.
  Becker met his future songwriting partner Donald Fagen while studying at Bard College. After a brief period of activity in New York, the two relocated to California in 1971 and formed the nucleus of Steely Dan, who enjoyed a critically and commercially successful ten-year career. Following the group's disbanding, Becker relocated to Hawaii and reduced his musical activity, working primarily as a record producer.
  Becker and Fagen reformed Steely Dan in 1993 and have remained active, most notably including their 2000 Two Against Nature album, which won four Grammy Awards. Becker has also released two solo albums, 1994's 11 Tracks of Whack and 2008's Circus Money.
  Becker was born in Queens, grew up in Westchester County and Forest Hills, Queens, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in the class of 1967. After starting out on saxophone, he switched to guitar and received instruction in blues technique from neighbor Randy Wolfe.
  
  wn.com/Walter_Becker
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  Wayne Shorter
  Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
  He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards. Shorter's output has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and various commendations, including multiple Grammy Awards.
  Shorter first came to wide prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he went on to join Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, and from there he co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He has recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader.
  Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey, and attended Newark Arts High School from which he graduated in 1952. He loved music, being encouraged by his father to take up the saxophone as a teenager (his brother Alan became a trumpeter). After graduating from New York University in 1956, Shorter spent two years in the U.S. Army, during which time he played briefly with Horace Silver. After his discharge from the army, he played with Maynard Ferguson. It was in his youth that Shorter was given the nickname '"Mr. Gone", which would later become an album title for Weather Report.
  
  wn.com/Wayne_Shorter
• Wikipedia Persondata
  wn.com/Wikipedia_Persondata
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  Willie Nelson
  Willie Hugh Nelson (pronounced /wɪli nɛlsən /; born April 30, 1933) is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed at the end of the 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.
  
  wn.com/Willie_Nelson
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  Witold Lutosławski
  Witold Lutosławski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvitɔld lutɔsˈwafski]; January 25, 1913 – February 7, 1994) was one of the major European composers of the 20th century, and one of the preeminent Polish musicians during his last three decades. He earned many international awards and prizes, including the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest honour.
  During his youth, Lutosławski studied piano and composition in Warsaw. His early works were influenced by Polish folk music. His style demonstrates a wide range of rich atmospheric textures. He began to develop his own characteristic composition techniques in the late 1950s. His music from this period onwards incorporates his own methods of building harmonies from small groups of musical intervals. It also uses aleatoric processes, in which the rhythmic coordination of parts is subject to an element of chance. His compositions (of which he was a notable conductor) include four symphonies, a Concerto for Orchestra, a string quartet, several instrumental concertos and orchestral song cycles.
  
  wn.com/Witold_Lutosławski
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  Wyclef Jean
  Wyclef Jeanelle Jean (/ˈwaɪklɪf ˈʒɑːn/; Haitian Creole pronunciation: [wajklɛf ʒã]; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian American musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country. He first received fame as a member of the acclaimed New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees.
  On August 5, 2010, Jean filed for candidacy in the 2010 Haitian presidential election, although the Electoral Commission subsequently ruled him ineligible to stand as he had not met the requirement to have been resident in Haiti for five years.
  Although his birth date was widely given as October 17, 1972, papers filed for his run as a candidate for the presidency of Haiti, disclosed that he was, in fact, born in 1969. Born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, the son of a Nazarene pastor, Wyclef moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York, when he was nine before moving again to northern New Jersey. Jean has cited reggae artist Bigga Haitian as one of his early influences, as well as neighborhood heroes MC Tiger Paw Raw and producer Lobster v. Crab. Jean graduated from Vailsburg High School in Newark, briefly attended Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts, and finished one semester at Five Towns College in New York. Jean has been a resident of Saddle River, South Orange, and North Caldwell, New Jersey. In 2009, Jean enrolled in the Berklee College of Music.
  
  wn.com/Wyclef_Jean