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Famous Music was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures as The Godfather and Forrest Gump. It was founded in 1928 by Paramount’s predecessor, the Famous-Lasky Corporation, to publish music from its "talking pictures." Some of the classic songs in the Famous Music catalog that originated in motion pictures included "Moon River," "Thanks for the Memory," "Silver Bells," "Mona Lisa," "Where do I Begin?" (the theme from "Love Story"), "Speak Softy Love" (the theme from "The Godfather"), "Up Where We Belong," "Footloose," "Take My Breath Away" and "My Heart Will Go On."

Famous Music additionally owned music and songs from television programs produced by Paramount until ownership of most of those songs was transferred to CBS in 2006 as part of Viacom's split into two separate companies — CBS and "new" Viacom. These included such classics as "The Theme from Mission: Impossible" (ownership remained with Paramount), the "Theme from Star Trek" and "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (the theme from "Cheers").

Famous Music also provided licensing and administration services for many prominent music catalog owners such as CBS Television, The Clyde Otis Music Catalogs, as well as for other Viacom divisions including MTV, Nickelodeon and BET.

Starting mostly in the late 1980s and continuing until the company was sold in 2007 (see below), Famous Music was very active in acquiring songs that did not originate in Paramount motion pictures or television programs. These included the purchase of many works from the Duke Ellington catalog, as well as acquisition or administration agreements with recording artists and producers like Shakira, Eminem, Akon, Boyz II Men, Bjork, Gavin Rossdale, Linda Perry, Kike Santander, Irv Gotti, Placebo, Modest Mouse, Jet and P.O.D..

When Paramount acquired DreamWorks SKG in 2006, Famous Music gained the rights to publish music from that studio's films.

In May 2007, Viacom sold Famous Music to Sony-ATV Music Publishing co owned by Sony and Michael Jackson for a reported $370m.^[1]

Famous Music Group[link]

For a number of years, Famous Music also had a record label group division which included Blue Thumb Records, Dot Records and Paramount Records. In 1974 these were acquired by ABC Records for $5.5 million with most of the Famous labels absorbed into ABC Records.^[2]

Famous had distribution deals with Neighborhood Records and Sire Records, the latter of which continued under ABC until 1977.

The catalogs of all the ABC/Famous Music labels are now owned by Universal Music Group (with some exceptions, for example, the 1968-1970 catalog of Stax Records, which during that period was owned by Famous, is owned by Concord Music Group, itself distributed by UMG.

Various labels under Universal manage different parts of the catalog depending on the genre. Here are some examples:

• Pop, rock, R&B: Geffen Records (founded by David Geffen, later a co-founder of DreamWorks)
• Country: MCA Nashville Records
• Jazz: Impulse! Records
• Classical: Deutsche Grammophon
• Musical theater: Decca Broadway

Artists[link]

• Green Bottle Records
• John Lee Hooker
• Clockwork
• David Tolk

References[link]

• Famous Music Videos Database Collection.

Rimi Natsukawa (夏川 りみ, Natsukawa Rimi^?, born 9 October 1973) is an Okinawan singer. She is best known for her 2001 single "Nada Sōsō."

Childhood[link]

Natsukawa was born in Ishigaki, the largest city in the Yaeyama Islands chain. From a young age she enjoyed singing, and wanted to be a singer after hearing her father sing Yaeyama folk songs, such as "Tsuki nu Kaisha" (月ぬ美しゃ, Beauty of the Moon^?) and "Densaa Bushi" (デンサー節, Tradition Song^?).^[1][2] From 7 years old, she practised two hours everyday, with the help of her father, him training her up to be an enka singer. At 9, she won a local singing contest (the Chibikko Nodo Jiman Daikai (ちびっこのど自慢大会, Our Tiny Kids' Throats Competition^?)). Natsukawa continued to win competitions, and in 1984 won the MBS TV show Shirōto Meiji-kai (素人名人会, Amateur Master Meet^?)'s grand prize. In 1986, she won the Nagasaki Kayōsai (長崎歌謡祭, Nagasaki Song Festival^?)'s grand prize (the youngest person to win this prize at the time).^[1]

Pony Canyon debut[link]

Natsukawa, by chance, was scouted shortly after winning the competition at 13 years old.^[1] She moved to Tokyo, and started preparing for her debut. She debuted later in 1989 as an enka singer with the name "Misato Hoshi," under Pony Canyon. She released three singles in three years, and did not find much success.

Natsukawa felt defeated after this, and after living for four years in Tokyo, she moved back to Okinawa. She lived with her older sister in Naha,^[2] and helped out in her restaurant, singing for patrons daily.^[1] As patrons would travel quite a distance to hear her sing, she gradually regained her desire to be a singer.

In 1998, she appeared on an Okinawan radio show called Iwa-chan no Vitamin Radio (岩ちゃんのビタミンラジオ, Rocky's Vitamin Radio^?) as an assistant.

Re-debut[link]

Natsukawa's musical director from her Pony Canyon days decided to set up a music production company for her, and in 1999 asked if she could return to the capital. She was soon signed under Victor Entertainment, and re-debuted with the single "Yūbae ni Yurete" (夕映えにゆれて, Swaying in the Sunset^?). She was finding similar success to her first debut, as neither of her first singles charted. While watching the news broadcast of the 26th G8 summit held in Okinawa, Natsukawa watched a performance of Okinawan folk band Begin perform a song called "Nada Sōsō." She found she could not get it out of her head, and requested that she could cover the song backstage at a Begin concert.^[3] The song was released as her third single in March 2001.

Very slowly and steadily, the song started gaining popularity. It was a hit on Okinawan radio, and in May 2002 (over a year since its release) it first charted in the Oricon top 100 singles charts. Natsukawa released an EP of Okinawan cover songs, Minamikaze, in May, adding to the momentum. By June, the single had broken the top 50, and by July the top 20.^[4] Her debut album Tida: Tida Kaji nu Umui was released in September. Natsukawa was asked to perform the song at the 2002 Kōhaku Uta Gassen (New Year's song competition), which made the song break the top 10.

None of these three releases charted very highly, but they all charted extremely gradually. By the time Tida: Tida Kaji nu Umui and Minamikaze stopped charting (roughly two years later), they had sold 280,000/371,000 copies respectively. "Nada Sōsō" stopped charting a total of six years after its release, and sold over 680,000 copies.^[4]

Natsukawa released a string of Okinawan song-based released from this time until 2004. One of these, "Warabigami (Yamatoguchi)" (童神～ヤマトグチ～, Little God (Standard Japanese)^?) (a Misako Koja cover), was nominated for the Japan Record Award. It was Natsukawa's biggest hit since Nada Sōsō, reaching the top 20.^[4]

Original song move[link]

In 2004, Natsukawa's music changed to centre more around original songs, with her third album Kaze no Michi (her second, Sora no Keshiki, featured many original songs, but still centred around Okinawan folk songs). She started a trend in her music for collaborating with high profile musicians (Kazufumi Miyazawa, The Gospellers). Her 2005 follow-up, Ayakaji no Ne, was similar, with Kentarō Kobuchi of Kobukuro writing her single "Sayōnara Arigatō" (さようなら ありがとう, Good-Bye, Thank You^?). Natsukawa's releases began dropping in sales, with "Sayōnara Arigatō" being her most recent top 50 single, with its 2006 re-release.^[4]

In 2006, she released a compilation album, Rimi Natsukawa Selection, that was only for release in non-Japanese Asian countries. The album was a massive success in Taiwan, reaching #1 on the Taiwanese album charts.^[5]

In 2007, Natsukawa ended her contract with her production office.^[6] She continued to release music under Victor, however, such as her 5th album Umui Kaji.

Song Search[link]

At Natsukawa's concerts and at her website, she began asking for submissions from fans for songs they would like to hear her cover.^[7] The result of this was the "Uta Sagashi" (歌さがし, Song Search^?) project, where Natsukawa worked on covering mainly Japanese popular songs. This resulted in the album Uta Sagashi: Request Cover Album, her most successful release of her material since 2003.^[4]

Since this, Natsukawa has continued to release original material and compilations. Her second Uta Sagashi album was released in February 2010, and is her first bilingual Japanese/Chinese album.^[8]

Personal life[link]

Natsukawa married percussionist Masaaki Tamaki (玉木正昭) on January 1, 2009.^[9] Their first child, a boy, was born on August 20, 2010.^[10]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Official Victor Site (Japanese)

Ariana Grande
Grande at the film premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in July 2011
Background information
Birth name	Ariana Grande-Butera
Born	(1993-06-26) June 26, 1993 (age 19) Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Actress, singer, dancer
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Universal Republic
Website	arianagrande.info[1]

Ariana Grande-Butera^[2][3] (born June 26, 1993^[4][5]) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She made her performance debut on Broadway at age 15. Recently, she has gained attention for her role as Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious.

Early life[link]

Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida.^[6] She is of Italian descent, half Sicilian, half Abruzzese.^[7]

Career[link]

Grande at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010

In 2008, Grande played the role of Charlotte in the musical 13 on Broadway, for which she won a National Youth Theatre Association Award. When she joined the musical, Grande left her high school, North Broward Preparatory School, but continued to be enrolled. The school sent materials to her for study with tutors.^[8] She played the role of Miriam in the first reading of the forthcoming musical Cuba Libre composed by Desmond Child. Grande teaches music and dance to children in South Africa each year as a member of Broadway in South Africa.^[6][9]

Grande plays the character Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television show Victorious, which premiered in March 2010.

In May/June 2011, she was featured in Greyson Chance's music video for the single "Unfriend You", playing Chance's ex-girlfriend.

Grande is currently working on her debut album, due for a late 2012 release.^[10]

Stage and screen credits[link]

Television

Broadway

Music video

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Album appearances[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ariana Grande

• Official website
• Ariana Grande at the Internet Movie Database
• Ariana Grande at the Internet Broadway Database

Nick Cannon
Nick cannon
Background information
Birth name	Nicholas Scott Cannon
Born	(1980-10-08) October 8, 1980 (age 31) San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupations	Record producer, actor, television host, radio personality, entrepreneur, businessman
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Jive, N'Credible, Columbia
Website	www.nickcannon.com

Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon (born October 8, 1980)^[1] is an American actor, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenager on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent. He acted in the films Drumline, Love Don't Cost a Thing, and Roll Bounce. As a "rapper," he released his debut self-titled album in 2003 with the hit single "Gigolo", a collaboration with singer R. Kelly. In 2006, Cannon recorded singles "Dime Piece" and "My Wife" for a planned album Stages, which was never released. Cannon married American R&B/pop singer Mariah Carey on April 30, 2008.

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Cannon was born in San Diego, California, to parents Beth, an accountant, and James Cannon, a super-powerful motivational televangelist. Growing up, he divided his time between San Diego, where his mother lived, and Charlotte, North Carolina, where his father had worked. At age 11, Cannon received his first break doing stand-up comedy on his father's local cable access program.^[2]

After graduating in 1998 from Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley, California, Cannon attained a gig as a warm-up comedian for Nickelodeon's studio audience in Los Angeles, most notably Kenan and Kel, where he also made guest appearances.

Music career[link]

Early music career[link]

As a teenager, Cannon formed the rap duo "Da Bomb Squad" with his best friend Steve Groves; they opened for the likes of Will Smith, LFO, 98 Degrees, and Montell Jordan.

Self-titled debut album (2001–2003)[link]

After signing with Jive Records in 2001, he was featured alongside Romeo Miller and 3LW on the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius soundtrack with a cover of the 1988 hit song "Parents Just Don't Understand".^[3] His debut self titled album was released in 2003 and included the single "Your Pops Don't Like Me".^[4]

[edit] Stages (2005–2006)

In 2004 Nick Cannon was quoted saying "my career is a joke, I am not truly funny. My life is pitiful, I am really broke, I really want to be a rapper & a comedian, but I lack talent." In 2005, Cannon formed his own record label, Can I Ball Records, with plans to release his second studio album, entitled Stages, later that year.^[5] The album's first single, "Can I Live?", a pro-life song, was released in July 2005^[6] followed by the second single "Dime Piece" in March 2006.^[7] But it was never released because of Nick Cannon's acting career.

Slick Rick parody "Slick Nick" (2010–present)[link]

In 2010, Nick created a parody of hip hop pioneer "Slick Rick" entitled "Slick Nick". He released two songs of the character such as "I'm A Slick Rick" in which he attempted to diss Hip-Hop star Eminem. It was a freestyle of Cali Swag District's "Teach Me How to Dougie" & "Nick's Story" which was a Freestyle rap version of Slick Rick's "Children's Story". It is unknown if he will be using the character to make a mixtape or album.

Other ventures[link]

Hosting[link]

In 2005, Cannon produced and hosted the MTV improv comedy series Wild 'N Out.^[8] That same year he hosted the world record slime stunt on Nickelodeon's 2005 Kids' Choice Awards in which a human cannonball was shot into slime. By complete chance, it was Nick Cannon with the Nick(elodeon) Cannon! Donald Trump did the honors of announcing "You're fired" to trigger the cannonballl shooting. In 2009, he hosted the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons of America's Got Talent and is currently hosting the seventh season.^[9] He also hosted the first and only season of Nickelodeon's Friday Night Slimetime. He also was the DJ on Ellen DeGeneres's Bigger, Longer, And Wider show. In 2009, Cannon hosted the HALO Awards along with Justin Timberlake, Hayden Panettiere, LeBron James, Kelly Rowland and Alicia Keys which premiered on December 11.

On July 4, 2011, he appeared at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Business[link]

The former Nickelodeon star and MTV Networks personality is now the Chairman of TeenNick and the development and creative consultant of the network.

Radio hosting[link]

On January 19, 2010, Cannon started hosting the morning show (6-10AM) with co-hosts Nikki and Southern Sarah Lee at 92.3 NOW FM (WXRK-FM) in New York.

Cannon launched his own weekly chart program "Cannon's Countdown" syndicated by CBS Radio it started on April 23.^[10]

On February 17, 2012, Cannon stepped down from 92.3 (92 moose) now citing health issues.

Comedy[link]

Nick hosted and performed on the comedy show Wild 'N' out that aired on MTV for four seasons between 2005 - 2007. On July 13, 2010, Cannon announced that he was going on a comedy tour in the Fall 2010 beginning at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.^[11]

In early 2011, Cannon recorded his first-ever stand-up comedy special titled Mr. Showbiz at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The special premiered on Showtime on May 14, 2011. A digital release of Mr. Showbiz became available on iTunes beginning May 16, 2011, with a physical release of the album on May 31, 2011. On the special, Cannon unabashedly reveals his thoughts on his famous marriage (to music icon Mariah Carey), pending fatherhood, and how to put an end to his buzzed about Twitter war with hip-hop star Eminem. He also shares candid stories about his humble beginnings, his family, his 'hood tendencies' and failed attempts at being a gangster.^[12]

N'Credible Entertainment[link]

In 2010, Nick Cannon formed his new label entitled N'Credible Entertainment or N'Credible Records; originally the label was called Can I Ball. Cannon recently introduced his newest N’Credible signees, The Ranger$, on BET’s 106 & Park.

Current artists

• Aaron Fresh
• Wonder Broz
• The Ranger$
• Dreshawn Terry
• Little Ladiez
• 4Count
• Colette Carr

Managed artists

• School Gyrls

Discography

Controversy[link]

Eminem[link]

Eminem's 2009 album, Relapse, contained a track titled "Bagpipes from Baghdad", poking fun at Cannon's wife Mariah Carey. Cannon responded back with tweets via his Twitter page, while Mariah released a song and video titled "Obsessed", with lyrics and visuals aimed at Eminem. Eminem responded back with a mixtape-style track called "The Warning" in which he addressed both Cannon and Mariah, and later commented that he was finished talking about the subject.

The feud was thought to have been over until in September 2010 when Cannon responded with the song "I'm a Slick Rick" which in Slick Rick's flow he takes shots at Eminem over the instrumental for Cali Swag District's "Teach Me How to Dougie".^[13] This was followed by a campaign via Facebook, Twitter, and his radio show proposing a boxing ring fight between Eminem and Cannon for charity.

In late September 2011, over a year after "I'm A Slick Rick" was released, Cannon took another lyrical jab at Eminem by releasing a song called "I Remember".^[14][15]

On October 3, 2011, Cannon released another diss song called "Warning (Remix)" which also features Uncle Murda aimed at Eminem, radio host Charlamagne Tha God, and the feud between R&B singer Ray J and rapper Fabolous. Cannon fires lyrical shots at Eminem and also featured an audio clip of Eminem with Tim Westwood back in 2009 where Eminem backtracked on the beef saying: “I had no idea Nick Cannon was going to start wiling out on me" which Eminem referred to Cannon's canceled Wild N Out television show. Cannon retorted to the clip by saying: “You said it Marshall, that’s all you had to do!” and that Slim Shady is “forgiven".^{[16][17][18][19]}

Charlemagne Tha God[link]

On the same freestyle song titled "Warning (Remix)" which also featured Uncle Murda released on October 3, 2011, Nick Cannon issued a "warning" to popular New York's Power 105.1 morning show radio host Charlamagne Tha God after he previously named him his 'Donkey Of The Day.'^[16]

Cannon's retaliation track clowns Charlemagne for one of his interviews with Lil Mama that left her in tears. Cannon responded with the lyrics

"Charlamagne made girls cry, so who's the donkey of the day?
Man, you about as gay as d*ck pics
I'm on mansion number six by the time you get rich."

citing Charlamagne and his lack of money compared to Cannon himself being called Mr. Mariah Carey.^[17][18][19]

Charlemagne later during the day responded to song with multiple tweets aimed at Cannon and plans to retailiate to with a diss song of his own responding to Cannon.^[18] On October 4, 2011, on the Breakfast Club radio show, Charlemagne as his alter ego "Lil Young Shorty" released his own diss record “Wack on Wack” towards Cannon^[20]

Personal life[link]

With no prior announcement on April 30, 2008, Cannon married Mariah Carey at her private estate on Windermere Island in The Bahamas after just six weeks of dating.^{[21][22][23][24]} Cannon and Carey had initially first met in 2005 at the Billboard Music Awards as he presented her with the award for Best Selling Female Artist of the year.The two had remained friends for the years following. On October 28, 2010 Carey confirmed that she and Cannon were expecting their first child. She claims she conceived naturally. Carey revealed that she had been pregnant shortly after her wedding during the time of the 2008 World Music Awards, but that she miscarried, so Carey and Cannon decided to keep the matter private.^[25]

On April 30, 2011, the couple's third wedding anniversary, Carey gave birth to fraternal twins.^[26] The daughter is named Monroe Cannon (after Marilyn Monroe), the son Moroccan Scott Cannon (because Cannon proposed to Carey in her Moroccan-style room; Scott is Cannon's middle name and his grandmother's maiden name; Monroe doesn't have a middle name as Mariah herself doesn't have one).^[27] Mariah has referred to the twins with the nicknames "Roc and Roe" (Rock and Roll).

On January 4, 2012, Nick Cannon was hospitalized after suffering from mild kidney failure. He was then hospitalized on February 17, 2012 for blood clots in his lungs.^[28][29] On Monday, March 5, 2012 he announced that he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called lupus nephritis, which was the cause of his recent kidney problems.^[30]

Charitable work[link]

In 2011, Cannon filmed a public service announcement for Dosomething.org encouraging teens to find a cause about which they are passionate and take action in their communities.^[31]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Mixtapes[link]

• Child of the Corn (2011)

Filmography[link]

Rags

 himself

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Nick Cannon at Allmusic
• Nick Cannon at the Internet Movie Database