Name	Don't Turn Off the Lights
Cover	Dont_turn_off_the_lights.jpg
Artist	Enrique Iglesias
Album	Escape
Released	August 2002
Format	CD single
Recorded	2002
Genre	Pop
Length	3:47
Writer	Kara DioGuardiEnrique IglesiasSteve MoralesDavid Siegel
Label	Interscope
Producer	Steve Morales
Last single	"Love to See You Cry"(2002)
This single	"Don't Turn Off the Lights"(2002)
Next single	"Maybe" (2002)

"Don't Turn Off the Lights" is a pop song by Enrique Iglesias from his 2001 album Escape. The song was written by Iglesias Kara DioGuardi, Steve Morales and Dave Siegel and was released as the third single from the album in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Song information

In interviews Iglesias has stated that the for the album Escape he started using a different method to writing songs than he'd used before. Starting off with a title or single idea he would write the song around it. "Don't Turn Off the Lights" was the first song to use this method and set the tone for many of the other songs on the album. At the time it was expected that the song would be the album's first, in an interview with Mexican radio station Exa FM Iglesias stated that he believed the track would be the first single from his then upcoming album. The single was released in August 2002 and became very successful in Australia and New Zealand, peaking into the top ten in both countries. However in United States was not as successful, peaking only at number 110 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song however did significantly push up sales of the album in the US during Iglesias's promotion. Iglesias promoted the week of Thanksgiving performing the song the TV shows Last Call with Carson Daly, MTV's TRL, Live with Regis and Kelly and attracted the largest crowd ever at the Today Show summer concert series. A Spanish version of the song was also released titled "No Apagues La Luz".

Track listing

; Australian CD Single # "Don't Turn Off The Lights" (Album Version) - 3:47 # "Don't Turn Off The Lights" (Fernando Garibay & Giorgio Moroder Remix) - 4:23 # "Don't Turn Off The Lights" (Fernando Garibay & Giorgio Moroder Extended Mix) - 6:27 # "Escape" (Stonebridge Radio Mix) - 4:30 # "Escape" (JJ's Radio Edit) - 3:47 # "Escape" (Video) - 3:29

Chart performance

References

Category:2000s pop songs Category:2001 songs Category:2002 singles Category:Enrique Iglesias songs Category:Songs written by Kara DioGuardi Category:Songs written by Enrique Iglesias

Name	Nelly Furtardo
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Born	December 02, 1978
Origin	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, ukulele, trombone
Vocal range	Mezzo-soprano (Ab3-G5)
Genre	Pop, folk, pop rock, Latin pop, R&B;, dance-pop, hip hop, trip-hop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, actress
Years active	1996–present
Label	DreamWorks, Geffen, MMG, Universal Music Latino
Url
Associated acts	Juanes, Justin Timberlake, Tiësto, Timbaland, K'naan, Julieta Venegas, Alex Cuba

Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She has sold 20 million albums worldwide. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Furtado came into the public eye in 2000 with the release of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which featured her breakthrough Grammy Award-winning single "I'm Like a Bird". After becoming a mother and releasing the less commercially successful Folklore (2003), she returned to prominence in 2006 with the release of Loose and its hit singles "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and "Say It Right". In 2009, she released her first full-length Spanish album Mi Plan, which won a Latin Grammy Award in 2010.

Early life

Furtado was born on December 2, 1978, in Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado, both emigrants from the Azores. She was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. Her siblings are Michael Anthony and Lisa Anne. She was raised in a Roman Catholic home.

At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese. Furtado's first public performance was when she sang a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. She began playing musical instruments at the age of nine, learning the trombone, ukulele and — in later years — the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.

Music career

1996–99: Musical beginnings

During a visit with her sister Lisa Anne in Toronto, the summer after eleventh grade, Furtado met Tallis Newkirk, member of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination. She contributed vocals to their 1996 album, Join the Ranks, on the track "Waitin' 4 The Streets". After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved to Toronto to reside with her sister Lisa Anne. The following year, she formed Nelstar, a trip hop duo with Newkirk. Ultimately, Furtado felt the trip-hop style of the duo was "too segregated" and believed it did not represent her personality or allow her to showcase her vocal ability. Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton, who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West. The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records, where she was signed by A&R; executive Beth Halper, partner of Garbage drummer and record producer Butch Vig. Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the .

2000–02: Whoa, Nelly!

Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the "Burn in the Spotlight Tour" and also appeared on Moby's Area:One tour.

The album was an international success, supported by three international singles: "I'm like a Bird", "Turn off the Light", and "...On the Radio (Remember the Days)". It received four Grammy nominations in 2002, and her debut single won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's work was also critically acclaimed for her innovative mixture of various genres and sounds. Slant Magazine called the album "a delightful and refreshing antidote to the army of 'pop princesses' and rap-metal bands that had taken over popular music at the turn of the millennium". The sound of the album was strongly influenced by musicians who had traversed cultures and "the challenge of making heartfelt, emotional music that's upbeat and hopeful". According to Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly! had sold six million copies worldwide as of August 2006. Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage. The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to the Paul Oakenfold's song "The Harder They Come" from the album Bunkka and also made the song "These words are my own". She also had a collaboration with Colombian artist Juanes, in the song "Fotografia" where she showed her diversity of yet another language. Furtado was also featured in "Breathe" from Swollen Members "Monsters in the Closet" release; the video for "Breathe," directed by Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane, won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Video and MuchVIBE Best Rap Video.

2003–05: Folklore

Furtado's second album, Folklore, was released in November 2003. The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single "Força" (meaning "strength"/ "power" or "you can do it!" in Portuguese), the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed this song in Lisbon at the championship's final, in which the Portugal national team played. The lead single is "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the second single is the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound, as well as underpromotion from her label DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold to Universal Music Group. In 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists including Furtado, was absorbed into Geffen Records.

"Powerless (Say What You Want)" was later remixed, featuring Colombian rocker Juanes, who had previously worked with Furtado on his track "Fotografía" ("Photograph"). The two would collaborate again on "Te Busqué" ("I searched for you"), a single from Furtado's 2006 album Loose.

2006–08: Loose

Furtado's third album, named Loose, after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album, was released in June 2006. In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B;, hip hop, and 1980s music. Furtado herself describes the album's sound as punk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral". with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music, and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising". Some have labeled her a "sellout" for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favour of hip hop and R&B;, while others have accused her of attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.

Loose has become the most successful album of Furtado's career so far, as it reached number one not only in Canada and the United States, but also several countries worldwide. The album produced her first number-one hit in the United States, "Promiscuous", as well as her first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, "Maneater". The single "Say It Right" eventually became Furtado's most successful song worldwide, due to its huge success in Europe and in the United States, where it became her second number-one hit. "All Good Things (Come to an End)" became her most successful song in Europe, topping single charts in numerous countries there.

On February 16, 2007, Furtado embarked on the "Get Loose Tour". She returned in March 2007 to her hometown of Victoria to perform a concert at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. In honour of her visit, local leaders officially proclaimed March 21, 2007, the first day of spring, as Nelly Furtado Day. After the tour, she released her first live DVD/CD named Loose the Concert. On April 1, 2007, Furtado was a performer at and host of the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year. She also appeared on stage at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007, where she performed "Say It Right", "Maneater", and "I'm like a Bird".

In 2007, Furtado and Justin Timberlake were featured on Timbaland's single "Give It to Me", which became her third number-one single in the U.S. and second in the UK. In late 2008, Furtado collaborated with James Morrison on a song called "Broken Strings" for his album "Songs for You, Truths for Me". The single was released on December 8 and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart in early January.

In 2007, Furtado leaked plans to Flare regarding a song she was set to duet for Kylie Minogue's return. However, the song was not featured on her album X but Minogue says the aforementioned song "is still outstanding" and has plans to pursue it. She said "I am looking forward to getting in the studio and doing it because I know Nelly and I would have a great time together". The track hasn't appeared on Minogue's 2010 album Aphrodite as well.

In 2008, she sang with the Italian group "Zero Assoluto" the ballad Win or Lose - Appena prima di partire, released in Italy, France and Germany and whose video was shot in Barcelona.

On December 31, 2008, El Diario La Prensa posted an article that Furtado is planning on recording songs in English and Spanish for her upcoming album and that it is "expected to launch on September 15, 2009".

2009–present: Mi Plan and The Best of Nelly Furtado

Furtado made a guest appearance on Flo Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S., which was released on March 31, 2009. The track is titled "Jump". Furtado has also made a guest appearance on Divine Brown's Love Chronicles, co-writing and singing on the background of the song "Sunglasses".

In early March, a song called "Gotta Know" leaked onto the Internet and was said to be Nelly's. As response, on March 4, 2009, Furtado stated on her MySpace blog that the song is not hers and that she is recording two new albums: one in Spanish, and the other in Portuguese. Nelly Furtado announced via the Perez Hilton blog, that the Spanish album would be titled Mi Plan and the first single titled "Manos Al Aire" (in English, meaning "Hands in the Air"). The album will have twelve new songs, all in Spanish, as stated by Nelly in a message left in her official website The second single "Más" was released on July 21, as it was announced on Nelly's official myspace. The third single "Mi Plan" (ft. Alex Cuba) was released on iTunes on August 11, 2009 and "Bajo Otra Luz" (ft. Julieta Venegas and La Mala Rodriguez) is the fourth and final countdown single and it was released on September 1, 2009. She also invited the Mexican star Alejandro Fernández to sing a duet song named "Sueños" ("Dreams"). The video for "Manos al Aire" premiered on July 29 on It's On with Alexa Chung. On November 11, 2010 Furtado won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album for Mi Plan. She is the first Canadian to win a Latin Grammy award.

Furtado made a guest appearance on Canadian singer k-os's new album Yes!, collaborating alongside Saukrates on the song "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman," released in early July 2009. Nelly Furtado will make a guest appearance on Tiësto's single "Who Wants to Be Alone" on his new album Kaleidoscope which was released on October 6, 2009.

Furtado also recorded "Manos al Aire" in Simlish for the new Sims 3 expansion, World Adventures

On February 12, 2010, Nelly Furtado sang in a duet with Bryan Adams at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. The Song was called "Bang The Drum" released on EMI album Sounds Of Vancouver 2010 (a commemorative album). On February 14, 2010, she appeared again at the Winter Olympic Victory Ceremony after the awarding of the medals for the athletes. On April 13, 2010, Nelly announced on her Twitter account that Lifestyle, her fourth English studio album, would not be released during the summer of 2010 and that she will go on a second leg of her Mi Plan Tour where she will get more inspiration for her upcoming album Lifestyle. Nelly Furtado is featured in a new song by N.E.R.D. called Hot N Fun. She also participated in the Young Artists for Haiti song, in which many Canadian artists came together and sang K'naan's inspirational song Wavin' Flag to raise money for the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

To promote the tour in Brazil, on March 24, 2010, Furtado made a "VIP Pocket Show" in reality show program Big Brother Brasil 10 from Rede Globo, the country's leading channel. She performed 5 songs from the tour in acoustic versions ("Maneater", "I'm Like A Bird", "Try", "Say It Right" and "Turn Off The Light"). Nelly Furtado participated in the live DVD recording of the Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo in Madison Square Garden on September 4, 2010. Nelly Furtado sang two new songs: "Girlfriend" and "Night is Young" on her concert in Warsaw, Poland.

|source=— Furtado explaining song selected on The Best of Nelly Furtado.}}

Furtado was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in October 2010.

On October 26 2010, Furtado released Mi Plan Remixes featuring 12 tracks of remixed hits from "Mi Plan." This album included the Original Spanglish Version of "Fuerte," her final single from Mi Plan.

Furtado released her first greatest hits album entitled The Best of Nelly Furtado on November 16, 2010. The album's first single, "Night is Young" (originally "Free") premiered on BBC Radio 1 on October 3, 2010. The song was first released for digital download on October 12, 2010 in Australia. Three new songs will be on the greatest hits album, including "Night Is Young," another collaboration Salaam Remi entitled "Girlfriend in the City," and the Lester Mendez produced track, left over from the Loose sessions, "Stars."

Other work

Record label

She has formed her own record label, Nelstar, in conjunction with Canadian independent label group Last Gang Labels. The first act signed to Nelstar is Fritz Helder & the Phantoms. Furtado released her first Spanish single "Manos al Aire" on the new label.

Philanthropy

For World AIDS Day in 2006, Furtado took part in an AIDS awareness concert in South Africa hosted by MTV, BET, and Nike; fellow performers included Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson Furtado also hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured guests Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. She cites diverse influences, which include soul-trip/hip hop artists such as De La Soul, TLC, world music artists Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Amalia Rodrigues, as well as Caetano Veloso, Juanes, Jeff Buckley, Esthero, Björk, Cornershop, Oasis, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins and Beck.

In June 2006, in an interview with Genre magazine, when asked if she had "ever felt an attraction to women", Furtado replied "Absolutely. Women are beautiful and sexy". Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality, but in August 2006, she stated that she was "straight, but very open-minded". In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down US$ 500,000 to pose fully clothed in Playboy.

She was mentioned on the November 19, 2009, episode of the American version of "The Office".

It was reported that Furtado was engaged to Cuban sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellón. They worked together on Loose. On October 17, 2008, it was reported in People Magazine which Furtado confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that she married Castellón on July 19, 2008.

Discography

Whoa, Nelly! (2000)

Folklore (2003)

Loose (2006)

Mi Plan (2009)

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Genre ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2001 | Roswell | Herself | American Science fiction Television series | Performed "I'm like a Bird" |- | 2006 | Floribella | Herself | Portuguese Soap Opera | Performed "Maneater" |- | 2007 | One Life to Live | Herself | American Soap Opera |}

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Nelly Furtado

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1978 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:People from Victoria, British Columbia Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian multi-instrumentalists Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Canadian people of Portuguese descent Category:Portuguese-language singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Trip hop musicians Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music

Name	Teddy Pendergrass
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Theodore DeReese Pendergrass
Alias
Born	March 26, 1950Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	January 13, 2010Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar, drums
Genre	R&B;, soul, gospel, jazz
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, composer
Years active	1970–2006
Label	Philadelphia InternationalAsylumElektraSurefire/Wind Up
Associated acts	Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Url	Official site

Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American R&B;/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade. In 1982, he was severely injured in an auto accident in Philadelphia, resulting in his being paralyzed from the waist down. After his injury, the affable entertainer founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation that helps those with spinal cord injuries. Pendergrass commemorated 25 years of living after his spinal cord injury with star filled event, Teddy 25 - A Celebration of Life at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. His last performance was on a PBS special at Atlantic City's Borgata Casino in November 2008.

Early life

Pendergrass was born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the only child of Jesse Pendergrass and Ida Geraldine Epps. When Pendergrass was still very young, his father left the family; Jesse Pendergrass was murdered when Teddy was 12. Pendergrass grew up in a local Philadelphia slum and sung often at church. Pendergrass once dreamed of being a pastor and got his wish when at ten he was ordained as a minister according to author Robert Ewell Greene. He also took up drums during this time and was a junior deacon of his church. Pendergrass attended Thomas Edison High School for Boys in North Philadelphia (now closed). He sang with the Edison Mastersingers. Subsequently, he dropped out in the eleventh grade to enter the music business recording his first song "Angel With Muddy Feet". The song went nowhere. Pendergrass became a drummer for local Philadelphia groups. Eventually he landed a drumming gig for the group, The Cadillacs. In 1970, the singer was spotted by Blue Notes founder Harold Melvin (1939–1997) and immediately convinced Pendergrass to play drums in his group. However, during a performance, Pendergrass began singing along after coming from the back of the stage jumping off its rear and Melvin immediately changed his mind on Pendergrass making him the lead singer of the group. By the time Pendergrass had joined the group, the Blue Notes had struggled to find success. That all changed when after a successful audition, they landed a recording deal with Philadelphia International Records, in 1971, thus beginning Pendergrass' successful collaboration with label founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

Early career

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes: 1972-1977

In 1972, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes released their first single, a slow, solemn ballad titled "I Miss You". The song was originally written for The Dells but the group passed on the song and noting how Pendergrass sounded like Dells lead singer Marvin Junior, Kenny Gamble decided to build the song with Pendergrass, then only 21 at the time of the recording of the song, singing much of the song in a raspy baritone wail that became his trademark. The song also featured Bluenotes member Lloyd Parks singing falsetto in the background and spotlighted Harold Melvin adding in a rap near the end of the song as Pendergrass kept singing, feigning tears. The song, one of Gamble and Huff's most creative productions, became a major rhythm and blues hit and put the Blue Notes on the map.

The group's follow-up single, "If You Don't Know Me by Now", brought the group to the mainstream with the song reaching the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 while also reaching number-one on the soul singles chart. Like "I Miss You" before it, the song was originally intended for a different artist, fellow Philadelphian native Patti LaBelle and her group Labelle but the group couldn't record it due to scheduling conflicts. Pendergrass and LaBelle developed a close friendship that would last until Pendergrass' death.

The group rode to fame with several more releases over the years including "The Love I Lost", a song which predated the upcoming disco music scene; the ballad "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon", and socially conscious singles "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck", the latter song about the Watergate scandal. One of the group's important singles was their original version of the Philly soul classic, "Don't Leave Me This Way", which turned into a disco smash when Motown artist Thelma Houston released her version in 1976. By 1975, Pendergrass and Harold Melvin were at odds, mainly over monetary issues and personality conflicts. Despite the fact that Pendergrass sung all of the group's songs, Melvin was controlling the group's finances. Pendergrass discovered this while attending a party with Melvin. At one point, Pendergrass wanted the group to be renamed "Teddy Pendergrass and the Blue Notes" because fans kept mistaking him as Melvin. Pendergrass left the group in 1977 and the Blue Notes struggled with his replacements. They eventually left Philadelphia International and by the early 1980s had disbanded for good.

Solo career

Early solo success

In 1977, Pendergrass released his self-titled album, which went platinum on the strength of the disco hit, "I Don't Love You Anymore". Its follow-up single, "The Whole Town's Laughing At Me", became a top 20 R&B; hit. It was quickly followed by Life Is a Song Worth Singing, in 1978. That album was even more successful with its singles including "Only You" and "Close the Door". The disco single, "Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose" was popular in dance clubs. 1979 brought two successes, Teddy and the live release, Live Coast to Coast. Hits off Teddy included "Come and Go With Me" and "Turn Off the Lights". His 1980 album, TP, included his signature song, "Love TKO" and the Ashford & Simpson composition, "Is It Still Good to You". Between 1977 and 1981, Pendergrass landed five consecutive platinum albums, which was a then-record setting number for a rhythm and blues artist.

Pendergrass' popularity became massive at the end of 1977. With sold-out audiences packing his shows, Pendergrass' manager soon noticed that a huge number of his audience consisted of women of all races. They made up a plan for Pendergrass' next tour to have it with just female audiences only, starting a trend that continues today called "women's only concerts". With five platinum albums and two gold albums, Pendergrass was on his way to be what the media was calling him, "the black Elvis", not only in terms of his crossover popularity but also due to him buying a mansion akin to Elvis' Graceland, located just outside of his hometown of Philadelphia. By early 1982, Pendergrass was the leading R&B; male artist of his day usurping competition including closest rivals Marvin Gaye and Barry White. In 1980, the Isley Brothers released "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time for Love)" to compete with Pendergrass' "Turn Off the Lights", which sensed Pendergrass' influence on the quiet storm format of black music.

Accident

On March 18, 1982, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Lincoln Drive near Rittenhouse Street, Pendergrass was involved in an automobile accident. The brakes failed on his 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, causing the car to hit a guard rail, cross into the opposite traffic lane, and hit two trees. Pendergrass and his passenger, Tenika Watson, a nightclub performer with whom Pendergrass was acquainted, were trapped in the wreckage for 45 minutes. While Watson walked away from the accident with minor injuries, Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Later solo career

Pendergrass got well-wishes from thousands of his fans during his recovery. In August 1982, his label released This One's for You, which failed to chart successfully, as did 1983's Heaven Only Knows. Both albums included material Pendergrass had recorded prior to his accident. The albums completed Pendergrass' contract with Philadelphia International, in which by that time Pendergrass decided to return to the studio to work on new music and struggled to find a recording deal. Eventually signing a deal and completing physical therapy, Pendergrass released Love Language in 1984. The album included the pop ballad "Hold Me", featuring a then unknown Whitney Houston.

On July 13, 1985, Pendergrass made an emotional return to the stage at the historic Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in front of a live audience of over 99,000 and 2 billion television viewers. It was the 35-year-old's first live performance following his 1982 accident. Pendergrass tearfully thanked the audience for keeping him in their well-wishes and then performed the Ashford & Simpson classic, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". In 1988, Pendergrass scored his first R&B; number-one hit in nearly a decade when the new jack swing-styled "Joy", off his album of the same name, was released. A video of the song was in heavy rotation on BET. It was also his final Hot 100 charted single, peaking at number 77. Also, Pendergrass' voice was heard on the jingles of a back then local Philadelphia radio station, WSNI-FM.

Pendergrass kept recording through the 1990s. One of the singer's final hits was the hip-hop leaning "Believe in Love", released in 1994. In 1996, he starred alongside Stephanie Mills in the touring production of the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. In 1998, Pendergrass released his autobiography entitled, Truly Blessed.

Pendergrass did a concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, California on February 14, 2002 entitled "The Power of Love". The concert became the album From Teddy, With Love, which was released on the Razor & Tie record label later that year. It was his second (after Live! Coast to Coast) and final live album. Clips of the concert, in particular his performance of his comeback song "Joy", can still be seen on Youtube. In his later years, Pendergrass' “Wake Up Everybody” has been covered by a diverse range of acts from Simply Red to Patti LaBelle and was chosen as a rallying cry during the 2004 Presidential campaign by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds to mobilize voters. In addition, Little Brother, Kanye West, Cam'ron, Twista, Ghostface, Tyrese Gibson, 9th Wonder, DMX and DJ Green Lantern have utilized his works.

In 2006, Pendergrass announced his retirement from the music business. In 2007, he briefly returned to performing to participate in Teddy 25: A Celebration of Life, Hope & Possibilities, a 25th anniversary awards ceremony that marked Pendergrass' accident date, but also raised money for his charity, The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, and honored those who helped Pendergrass since his accident.

Personal life

Pendergrass had three children, Tisha, LaDonna and Teddy II. In 1987, he married a former Philadanco dancer named Karen Still, who had also danced in his shows. Karen was Pendergrass' primary caregiver. The couple amicably divorced in 2003. Pendergrass met Joan Williams in the spring of 2006. Pendergrass proposed to Joan after four months and they married in a private ceremony officiated by Teddy's Pastor Allyn Waller of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008. A formal wedding was celebrated at The Ocean Cliff Resort in Newport, Rhode Island on September 6, 2008.

As members of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, Joan Pendergrass set up The Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church Youth Fund in the name of Teddy Pendergrass to provide assistance and a center for Philadelphia's inner city youth.

He published his autobiography, Truly Blessed, in 1992. There are plans to make a feature film biopic of Teddy's life. Tyrese Gibson is set to star as the late singer.

Death

On June 5, 2009, Pendergrass underwent successful surgery for colon cancer and recovered to return home. A few weeks later he returned to the hospital with respiratory issues. After seven months, he died of respiratory failure on January 13, 2010, at age 59 with wife Joan by his side, while hospitalized at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia. Teddy is survived by his mother Ida, wife Joan, three children; Tisha, Teddy II, LaDonna, stepdaughters Sherilla Leftrade, Jessica Avila and four grandchildren and three stepgrandchildren.

Joan Pendergrass is the executrix of The Theodore Dereese Pendergrass Estate.

Discography

Grammy Award nominations

Pendergrass received the following five nominations for Grammy Awards.

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! style="background-color: #BCBCBC" | Award ! style="background-color: #BCBCBC" | Year ! style="background-color: #BCBCBC" | Result ! style="background-color: #BCBCBC" | Category ! style="background-color: #BCBCBC" | Song |- | rowspan=5|Grammy Award || 1979 || Nomination || Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance || "Close the Door" |- | 1982 || Nomination || Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance || "I Can't Live Without Your Love" |- | 1989 || Nomination || Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance || "Joy" |- | 1992 || Nomination || Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance || "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" |- | 1994 || Nomination || Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance || "Voodoo" |}

In popular culture

In Eddie Murphy's standup comedy, Delirious, Murphy does an imitation of Pendergrass singing "Only You", saying Pendergrass' masculine voice "scares the bitches into liking him". Cedric the Entertainer references Teddy in the hit movie "The Kings of Comedy"

Teddy appeared on the on the dance show Soul Train on a number of occasions.

Latin Legend India, also known as The Princess of Salsa Music, recorded a cover of Teddy's song "Turn off the lights" on her 2010 album, Unica. India explained in an interview that she had grown up listening to some of this music and she had decided to do a cover to this song with a more tropical/Salsa feel to it.

In the live episode of 30 Rock, Dr. Leo Spaceman (performed by Chris Parnell) says that the last good "doing it" song is "Close the Door". It was a little sketch about erectile dysfunction and he says that this problem is caused by the lack of good songs like that.

References

External links

Official site (needs Macromedia Flash)

The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance

Teddy Pendergrass at Philly Soul Classics

Teddy Pendergrass at Discogs

Teddy Pendergrass at WhoSampled

Obituary article at Lasting Tribute

RIP Teddy Pendergrass

Teddy Pendergrass - Daily Telegraph obituary

talking about covering Teddy's song 'Turn Off the Lights'- Interview with Salsa's Princess and a fan of Pendergrass

Category:1950 births Category:2010 deaths Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:African American singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American male singers Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American soul musicians Category:Cancer deaths in Pennsylvania Category:Culture of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:People with quadriplegia Category:Philadelphia International Records artists

Name	Robert Pattinson
Caption	Pattinson in November 2009
Birth name	Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson
Birth date	May 13, 1986
Birth place	London, England, UK
Other names	Rob, R-Pattz, Spunk Ransom (nicknames)
Occupation	Actor, model, musician, producer
Yearsactive	2004–present
Signature	Robert Pattinson signature.svg
Signature size	90px

Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Later, he landed the leading role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight novels by Stephenie Meyer, and came to worldwide international fame. Pattinson was ranked as one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood based on 2009 earnings. In 2010, Pattinson was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World, and also in the same year Forbes ranked him as one of the most powerful celebrities in the world in the Celebrity 100. His upcoming films include Bel Ami, Water For Elephants, Unbound Captives, and .

Early life

Pattinson was born in London. His mother, Clare, worked for a modelling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S. Pattinson has two elder sisters, singer Lizzy Pattinson, and Victoria Pattinson. Growing up in the Barnes suburb of London, he attended Tower House School until he was 12, and then the Harrodian School. He became involved in amateur theatre at the Barnes Theatre Company. He auditioned and was cast in a small role in Guys and Dolls. He next auditioned for Thornton Wilder's Our Town and was cast as George Gibbs. He also played in Anything Goes and Macbeth. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and began looking for professional roles.

Career

Modelling

Pattinson began modelling when he was twelve years old, but the number of jobs began to decrease only four years later. In December 2008 he blamed the lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance: "When I first started I was quite tall and looked like a girl, so I got lots of jobs, because it was during that period where the androgynous look was cool. Then, I guess, I became too much of a guy, so I never got any more jobs. I had the most unsuccessful modelling career." Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's autumn 2007 collection.

Acting

Pattinson had supporting roles in the made for television film in 2004 and in director Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair, although his scenes in the latter were deleted and only appear on the DVD version. In May 2005, he was slated to appear in the UK premiere of The Woman Before at the Royal Court Theatre, but was fired shortly before the opening night and was replaced by Tom Riley. Later that year he played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For this role he was named that year's British Star of Tomorrow by The Times. He has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.

Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the film Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel of the same name, which was released on 21 November 2008 in North America. According to TV Guide, Pattinson was initially apprehensive about auditioning for the role of Edward Cullen, fearful that he would not be able to live up to the "perfection" expected from the character. He reprised his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight sequels and , which was released 30 June 2010.

Pattinson had lead roles in the feature films Little Ashes (in which he plays Salvador Dalí), How To Be (a British comedy) and the short film The Summer House.

In 2009, Pattinson presented at the 81st Academy Awards. On 10 November, Revolver Entertainment released the DVD Robsessed, a documentary which details Pattinson's life and popularity.

In 2010, Pattinson executively produced and starred in the film Remember Me, which was released on 12 March 2010. He will play Georges Duroy in a film adaptation of the 1885 novel Bel Ami, with Uma Thurman, which will be released in 2011. He will also appear in a theatre production for producer David Pugh, and star in a film adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel, Water for Elephants, with Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon. On 13 May 2010, Pattinson appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show for and also made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 18 May, which aired the following day. Pattinson attended the official worldwide red carpet premiere for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on 24 June 2010 at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre.

Music

Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music. He also appears as the singer of two songs on the Twilight soundtrack: "Never Think", which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and "Let Me Sign", which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long. The songs were included in the film after director Catherine Hardwicke added Pattinson's recordings into an early cut without his knowledge, and he agreed that "one of them specifically, it really made the scene better. It was like it was supposed to be there." and written by composer Joe Hastings.

Aside from recording for the soundtracks, Pattinson has said, "I've never really recorded anything – I just played in pubs and stuff", and when asked about a professional music career, he said, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails." In 2009, he was also named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by Glamour. Ask Men named Pattinson as one of the top 49 most influential men of 2009. In 2009, Vanity Fair named Pattinson "the most handsome man in the world" along with Angelina Jolie as the most beautiful woman in the world.

He was named one of Vanity Fair's "Top Hollywood Earners of 2009" with estimated earnings of $18 million in 2009.

In December 2009, Pattinson autographed a guitar to be auctioned off for charity. He also volunteered for the in January 2010.

GQ and Glamour both named him the "Best Dressed Man" of 2010, with GQ stating, "Extremely elegant and inspiring, the true essence of a contemporary man." In 2010, People also listed Pattinson in their "World's Most Beautiful" issue.

In 2010, Britain's The Sunday Times "Rich List" put him on its "list of young millionaires" in the UK, worth £13 million. Time magazine named him as one of 2010's 100 Most Influential People in The World.

On 14 November 2010, Pattinson received two BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, Best Dressed and Best Actor.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2004 | Vanity Fair | Rawdy Crawley | Only seen on DVD release |- | 2004 | | Giselher | Television film |- | 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Cedric Diggory | |- | 2006 | | Toby Jugg | Television film |- | 2007 | | Daniel Gale | Television film |- | 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Cedric Diggory | Cameo |- | 2008 | How to Be | Art | Strasbourg Film Festival Award|Strasbourg Film Festival Award for Best Actor |- | 2008 | Twilight | Edward Cullen | Hollywood Film Award for New HollywoodMTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance MaleMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Fight People's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team Scream Award for Best Fantasy ActorTeen Choice Award for Choice HottieTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor DramaTeen Choice Award for Movie Liplock Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble Nominated–Empire Award for Best NewcomerNominated–People's Choice Award for Favourite Movie ActorNominated–Scream Award for Best Ensemble Cast |- | 2009 | Little Ashes | Salvador Dalí | |- | 2009 | | Edward Cullen | Russia's Georges Award for Best Foreign ActorNational Movie Award for Best PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best Male PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Global SuperstarMTV Movie Award for Best Kiss Teen Choice Award for Movie Liplock Teen Choice Award for Movie chemistry Nominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor FantasyNominated–Teen Choice Award for Choice HottieNominated–Empire Award for Best ActorNominated–Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Cutest Couple |- | 2010 | Remember Me | Tyler Hawkins | Executive producerTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor Drama |- | 2010 | | Edward Cullen | Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie Star – MalePeople's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team Nominated–People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie ActorNominated–People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Star Under 25 |- | 2011 | Bel Ami | Georges Duroy | Post-production |- | 2011 | Water for Elephants | Jacob Jankowski | Post-production |- | 2011 | | Edward Cullen | Filming |- | 2012 | | Edward Cullen | Filming |- | 2012 | Unbound Captives | TBA | Filming |}

References

External links

Category:1986 births Category:English child actors Category:English film actors Category:English guitarists Category:English male models Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English television actors Category:Living people Category:Actors from London Category:Old Harrodians Category:People from Barnes

Name	Lil Wayne
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
Born	September 27, 1982New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Instrument	Vocals, Guitars
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, CEO
Years active	1992–present
Associated acts	Big Tymers, Birdman, Drake, Cash Money Millionaires, Hot Boys, Juelz Santana, Kevin Rudolf, T-Pain, Young Money, Eminem
Label	Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Motown
Url

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (born September 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live! that year. Lil Wayne gained most of his success with the group's major selling album Guerrilla Warfare, released in 1999. Also in 1999, Lil Wayne released his Platinum debut album Tha Block Is Hot, selling over one million copies in the U.S.

Although his next two albums Lights Out (2000) and 500 Degreez (2002) were not as successful (only reaching Gold status), Lil Wayne reached higher popularity in 2004 with Tha Carter, which included the single "Go D.J." Wayne also appeared on the Destiny's Child top ten single "Soldier" that year. In 2005, the sequel to Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, was released. In 2006 and 2007, Lil Wayne released several mixtapes and appeared on several popular rap and R&B; singles.

His most successful album, Tha Carter III, was released in 2008 which went on to sell over 1 million copies in the U.S. its first week of release. It included the number-one single "Lollipop" and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Lil Wayne released his debut rock album, Rebirth, in 2010 to primarily negative reception from critics. The album eventually went gold. In March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8 month prison sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. While in jail he released another album entitled I Am Not a Human Being in September 2010, featuring Young Money artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Twist.

Early life

Lil Wayne was born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter was born when his mother, a chef, was 19 years old. His parents were divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Carter enrolled in the gifted program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School. In the summer of 1991, he met Bryan Williams, rapper and owner of Cash Money Records. Carter recorded freestyle raps on Williams's answering machine, leading him to mentor the young Carter and include him in Cash Money-distributed songs. He also recorded his first ever collaboration album True Story with rapper B.G.. At the time, Carter was 11, and B.G. was 14, and was billed as "The B.G.'z". When he was 12, he played the part of the Tin Man in his middle school drama club's production of The Wiz. At age 13, he accidentally shot himself with a .44 caliber gun, with the bullet missing his heart by two inches.

Music career

1997–99: The Hot Boys

In 1997, Carter joined the Hot Boys along with rappers Juvenile, B.G., and Turk. At age 15, Carter was the youngest member at that time. Hot Boys' debut album Get It How U Live! was released the same year, followed in 1999 by the group's major-label debut Guerrilla Warfare, Carter was also featured on Juvenile's single "Back That Azz Up", which reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Let 'Em Burn, a compilation album of unreleased tracks recorded during 1999 and 2000, came out in 2003, several years after the group disbanded. It reached No. 3 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

Carter's debut solo album Tha Block Is Hot at age 17 featured significant contributions from the Hot Boys and was certified 2x platinum, climbing to No. 3 on the Billboard album charts. and also became a Top Ten hit. Critics pointed to the lack of coherent narratives in his verses as evidence that he had yet to mature to the level of his fellow Hot Boys. The lead single was "Get Off The Corner" which was noticed for an improvement in lyrical content and style, it also received a music video. The second single which received less attention was "Shine" featuring The Hot Boys. Near the release of Lights Out, Lil Wayne was featured on the single, "1# Stunna" with Big Tymers and Juvenile, which rose to 24th place on the Hot Rap Tracks charts.

In 2001, Lil Wayne was shot in the chest in Florida after "some groupies" fired two shots through his tour bus window. He recalled the incident in 2008 interview: 'It [the bullet] 'didn’t go all the way in, ’cause the window slowed it down.' The lead single was "Way Of Life" which like the album failed to match the success of his previous singles. After the release of 500 Degreez, he was featured in the single "Neva Get Enuf" by 3LW.

2004–07: Tha Carter, Tha Carter II and collaborations

In the summer of 2004, Wayne's album Tha Carter was released, marking what critics considered advancement in his rapping style and lyrical themes. In addition, the album's cover art featured the debut of Wayne's now-signature dreadlocks. After the release of Tha Carter, Lil Wayne was featured in Destiny's Child's single "Soldier" with T.I., which peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B; Charts. The song Get Something (featuring Mannie Fresh) was supposed to appear on the album but failed to make the cut, however the music video was released.

Tha Carter II, the follow-up to the original Tha Carter album, was released in December 2005, this time without production by longtime Cash Money Records producer Mannie Fresh, who had since left the label. Tha Carter II sold more than 238,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and went on to sell 2,000,000 copies world wide. The lead single, "Fireman," became a hit in the US, peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other singles included "Grown Man", "Hustler Muzik", and "Shooter" (featuring R&B; singer Robin Thicke). Lil Wayne also appeared on a remix of Bobby Valentino's "Tell Me", which rose to No. 13 on the U.S. R&B; Charts.

In 2005, Lil Wayne was named president of Cash Money, and in the same year he founded Young Money Entertainment as an imprint of Cash Money. However, as of late 2007, Lil Wayne reported that he has stepped down from the management of both labels and has handed management of Young Money over to Cortez Bryant.

on July 23, 2007]]

In 2006, Lil Wayne collaborated with rapper Birdman for the album Like Father, Like Son, whose first single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Instead of a follow-up solo album, Lil Wayne reached his audience through a plethora of mixtapes and guest appearances on a variety of pop and hip-hop singles. and Vibe

Despite no album release for two years, Lil Wayne appeared in numerous singles as a featured performer, including "Gimme That" by Chris Brown, "Make It Rain" by Fat Joe, "You" by Lloyd, and "We Takin' Over" by DJ Khaled (also featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, and Birdman), "Duffle Bag Boy" by Playaz Circle, "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" by Wyclef Jean (also featuring Akon), and the remix to "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaled (also featuring T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Rick Ross). All these singles charted within the top 20 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Rap Tracks, and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs charts. On Birdman's 2007 album 5 * Stunna, Lil Wayne appeared on the singles "100 Million" and "I Run This" among several other tracks. Wayne also appeared on tracks from albums Getback by Little Brother, American Gangster by Jay-Z, and Graduation by Kanye West and Insomniac by Enrique Iglesias. "Make it Rain", a Scott Storch production that peaked at number 13 on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 2008.

Vibe magazine ranked a list of 77 of Lil Wayne's songs from 2007 and ranked his verse in DJ Khaled's "We Takin Over" as his best of 2007, with "Dough Is What I Got" (a freestyle over the beat of Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got") from Da Drought 3 the second song. The New Yorker magazine ranked him "Rapper of the Year", In 2008 he was named "Best Rock Star Alive" by Blender magazine

2008–09: Tha Carter III and We Are Young Money

Initially planned to be released in 2007, Tha Carter III's largest delay came after the majority of the tracks were leaked and distributed on mixtapes, such as "The Drought Is Over Pt. 2" and "The Drought Is Over Pt. 4". Lil Wayne initially decided to use the leaked tracks, plus four new tracks, to make a separate album, titled The Leak. The Leak was to be released December 18, 2007, with the actual album being delayed until March 18, 2008, The release of The Leak in this format never came to fruition, but an official EP titled The Leak and containing five tracks was released digitally on December 25, 2007.

Tha Carter III was released on June 10, 2008, selling more than a million copies in its first week of release, the first to do so since 50 Cent's The Massacre in 2005. The first single "Lollipop", featuring Static became the rapper's most commercially successful song at that point, topping the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first Top 10 single for Lil Wayne as a solo artist, as well as his first No. 1 on the chart. His third single from Carter III', "Got Money" featuring T-Pain, peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 100. Along with his album singles, Lil Wayne appeared on R&B; singles "Girls Around the World" by Lloyd, "Love In This Club, Part II" by Usher, "Official Girl" by Cassie, "I'm So Paid" by Akon, "Turnin' Me On" by Keri Hilson, and "Can't Believe It" by T-Pain; rap singles "My Life" by The Game, "Shawty Say" by David Banner, "Swagga Like Us" by T.I., "Cutty Buddy" by Mike Jones, All My Life (In the Ghetto) by Jay Rock and the remix to "Certified" by Glasses Malone; and pop single "Let It Rock" by new Cash Money artist Kevin Rudolf. On July 14, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America certified Tha Carter III two times platinum. In an October 2008 interview with MTV News, Lil Wayne announced plans to re-release this album with all new tracks, including a duet with Ludacris and remixes of "A Milli". concert in Vancouver in January 2009.]]

The lineup for New Orleans' 2008 Voodoo Experience concert, held in October, featured Lil Wayne. Jonathan Cohen of Billboard magazine reported that the event would mark his biggest hometown headlining set of his career. Lil Wayne stated that he would reunite with Hot Boys alongside Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. They plan to release an album after B.G.'s solo album Too Hood to Be Hollywood was completed. Wayne also performed as the 2008 Virgin Mobile Music Fest with Kanye West, performing the remix of "Lollipop" with West and also lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Lil Wayne also performed at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards with Kid Rock ("All Summer Long"), Leona Lewis ("DontGetIt (Misunderstood)") and T-Pain ("Got Money"). On the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, he performed "Lollipop" and "Got Money". He later performed at the homecoming rally at Vanderbilt University and the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards with 12 nominations. He won the "MVP" title at the BET Hip Hop Awards and seven others. It was revealed that M.I.A. dropped out of performing on the tour due to her pregnancy, however Jay-Z is expected to perform with Wayne on the song "Mr. Carter" at select shows.

On November 11, 2008, Wayne became the first hip-hop act to ever perform at the Country Music Association Awards. He played alongside Kid Rock for the song, "All Summer Long", in which Wayne did not rap but instead inaudibly strummed guitar strings alongside the guitarist in Kid Rock's band. Shortly after, Wayne was nominated for eight Grammys – the most for any artist nominated that year. Wayne was then named the first ever MTV Man of the Year at the end of 2008. He won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for "A Milli", Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his appearance in T.I.'s single "Swagga Like Us", and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop". Tha Carter III won the award for Best Rap Album.

DJ Drama stated that there would be a third installation of the Dedication mixtape series with Lil Wayne, who insisted that it will would be a full album under the title. However despite the fact Wayne wanted to release Dedication 3 as an album, it was released as a mixtape on November 14, 2008.

MTV listed Lil Wayne number two on their 2009 list of the Hottest MCs In The Game.

On December 23, 2009, Wayne released a collaboration album with Young Money, with the first single confirmed as "Every Girl". The second single is "BedRock", featuring Lloyd. The third single is "Roger That". On May 24, 2010, the album was certified gold by the RIAA with over 500,000 copies sold.

Wayne is featured on the song, "Revolver", with Madonna for her 2009 greatest hits album, Celebration. He was also featured on a Weezer song, "Can't Stop Partying", on their 2009 album, Raditude.

2008–present: Rebirth, I Am Not a Human Being, and Tha Carter IV

In late 2008, Wayne stated that he would re-release The Carter III with leftover tracks and call it Rebirth, several months later, however, he announced Rebirth would instead release as his debut rock album, maintaining its title as Rebirth. To support the release of Rebirth and a collaboration album with Young Money Entertainment, Wayne headlined the 'Young Money Presents: America's Most Wanted Music Festival'... a United States and Canada–only concert tour which started on July 29, 2009. The Rebirth album was originally scheduled for a April 7, 2009 release, however after numerous delays, the album was released on February 2, 2010. For the anticipation of Rebirth, Wayne was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.

"Prom Queen", the first official single, debuted on January 27, 2009 immediately after a live Internet broadcast on Ustream of his concert in San Diego. "Prom Queen" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. On December 3, 2009, Lil Wayne's second single from the album, "On Fire", was released on iTunes. "On Fire" was produced by Cool & Dre with Lil Wayne playing the guitar with the aid of Pro Tools. "On Fire" peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. "Drop the World", which features Eminem, is the third single from the album. Following Tha Carter III's achievement of selling over 2 million copies, becoming 2008's best-selling record, Wayne re-signed with Cash Money Records for a multi-album deal. Wayne said Tha Carter IV will be released in 2009 just before the holidays. Birdman had previously stated that Tha Carter IV would be packaged with Rebirth as a double disc album. However, Wayne denied this idea saying that "Tha Carter IV deserves Tha Carter IV". He went on to say that We Are Young Money may be packaged with Rebirth. However, it was later confirmed that Rebirth and We Are Young Money will be released separately and that Tha Carter IV will be released during 2011. He started from scratch on Tha Carter IV since getting released from jail. He recorded his first track since being released from jail and it was described as being "a 2010 version of A Milli'' on steroids." The album is set to feature multiple guests, including Tech N9ne. The album will be released February 2011. The first single "6 Foot 7 Foot" featuring Cory Gunz was released on December 15, 2010. It was available for digital download on iTunes December 16, 2010. The song is produced by Bangladesh, who also produced Lil Wayne's single A Milli in 2008. Tha Carter IV is expected for release in Winter 2011.

Future projects

He has announced several possible upcoming projects, including a collaboration album I Can't Feel My Face with rapper Juelz Santana that has been in production for several years. He has discussed a possible R&B; album titled Luv Sawngz, for which he will heavily rely on a vocoder. He has also talked with singer Lloyd about doing a collaboration album in the future. On June 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and T-Pain formed a duo called T-Wayne and planned to release an album. On June 8, 2010, Drake confirmed that he and Wayne are planning to release a joint album in the future. Lil Wayne and Baby will release a second Like Father, Like Son album around Fathers Day 2011. Wayne and Drake will release a collaboration album sometime in the near future.

Television and film career

Lil Wayne was a guest debater going up against Skip Bayless on the "1st & 10" segment on the January 6, 2009 edition of ESPN First Take. On February 10, 2009 he also appeared on ESPN's Around the Horn and beat out veterans Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti and fellow New Orleanian Michael Smith to win that show's episode. Wayne is set to produce and compose music for the film Hurricane Season. A documentary of Lil Wayne titled The Carter was released at the Sundance Film Festival. Prior to the 2009 Grammy Awards, Wayne was featured in an interview with Katie Couric. He then appeared on an April 24 episode of The View – talking about his GED and addictions. In September 2009, Wayne was profiled in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music and was a presenter of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

Personal life

Family

Lil Wayne has four children. His first child, daughter Reginae, was born when he was 15, Internet rumours started circulating in August 2008 that Wayne's daughter had died in a car crash, which however he quickly cleared up as false saying "Please allow me to dispel any rumors or speculations and report that my daughter is alive, healthy and surrounded by family who care and love her dearly. The rumors are completely false and unfounded; neither Reginae nor any other member of my family has been involved in any car accident." His second child, Dwayne III, was then born on October 22, 2008 at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. His third child, Lennox Samuel Ari, was born to actress Lauren London on September 9, 2009. He had his fourth child, Neal, on November 30, 2009 with singer Nivea.

In a CBS interview with Katie Couric, Wayne described why he goes by the name of "Wayne" instead of his given name, Dwayne. Carter explained, "I dropped the D because I'm a junior and my father is living and he's not in my life and he's never been in my life. So I don't want to be Dwayne, I'd rather be Wayne". Couric asked Wayne if his father knew of this and Wayne replied with a smile, "He knows now". He also revealed on The View that he switched to the University of Phoenix and majored in psychology taking online courses. An article in Urb magazine in March 2007 asserted that Wayne had been earning high grades at Houston.

Sports and musical interests

In an interview with Blender magazine, Lil Wayne revealed one of his favorite bands from childhood to be rock group Nirvana, and cites them as a major influence in his music.

On September 24, 2008, Lil Wayne published his first blog for ESPN in their issue, ESPN The Magazine. Wayne revealed he was a fan of tennis, the Green Bay Packers, the Boston Bruins, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Red Sox. Wayne has continued writing for ESPN, notably reporting at the ESPN Super Bowl party.

Lil Wayne made his debut on ESPN's daily sports round table show Around The Horn on February 10, 2009.

Along with Mack Maine, Wayne was in attendance of Game 3 of the opening round NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the home team New Orleans Hornets on April 25, 2009.

Religion

Lil Wayne is a practicing Christian, who takes time to read the Bible regularly. He then asked the Newark crowd if they also believed, and they responded affirmatively with a roar.

According to his Rikers Island inmate ID and prison records, Wayne is specifically a Roman Catholic.

Philanthropy

On February 19, 2008, Lil Wayne and Cortez Bryant revisited their alma mater McMain Secondary School to get students to design an invitation to the gala introducing Lil Wayne's nonprofit One Family Foundation. The website Change.org states: "The mission of One Family Foundation, Inc. is to empower urban youth by engaging them in opportunities to cultivate their talents and skills, educating them to become productive and economically self-sufficient, and motivating them to dream beyond their circumstances."

Drug use and arrests

Wayne told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric on her All Access Grammy Special in 2009 that he enjoys smoking marijuana recreationally. He also stated that he is "not addicted" to drinking purple drank (codeine cough syrup) any longer, like some claimed he was. He has been arrested for use or possession of marijuana and other drugs.

Following a performance at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho, Lil Wayne was arrested October 5, 2007 on felony fugitive charges after Georgia authorities accused the rapper of possessing a controlled substance. The incident was later described as a "mix-up" and the fugitive charges were dropped.

On January 23, 2008, Lil Wayne was arrested alongside two others. His tour bus was stopped by Border Patrol agents near Yuma, Arizona. A K-9 Unit recovered of marijuana, almost of cocaine, of MDMA, and $22,000 in cash. Lil Wayne was charged with four felonies: possession of narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was granted permission to travel outside of the state and remain out of custody on the $10,185 bond he posted. On May 6, 2008, Wayne returned to court in Arizona to plead not guilty to the charges. A bench warrant was issued on March 17, 2010 when Lil Wayne didn't show for a final trial management conference. However, the rapper was already in prison, serving a year-long sentence in Rikers on weapons charges. On June 22, 2010 Wayne plead guilty to the charges. As part of the plea deal he may serve 36 months of probation. On June 30, 2010, he was sentenced to 3 years probation.

On December 18, 2009, Wayne and 11 others were detained at the Falfurrias, Texas border patrol checkpoint after an unknown amount of marijuana was found on two of his tour buses.

New York weapon case

On July 22, 2007, Lil Wayne was arrested in New York City following a performance at the Beacon Theatre; the New York City Police Department discovered Lil Wayne and another man smoking marijuana near a tour bus. After taking Lil Wayne into custody, police discovered a .40 caliber pistol on his person. The gun, which was registered to his manager, was in a bag located near the rapper. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana.

On October 22, 2009, Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He was due for sentencing in February 2010 and was expected to receive a one-year jail sentence, but on February 9, 2010, Lil Wayne's attorney announced that the sentencing was delayed until March 2 due to dental surgery, which was performed on February 16. The surgery included eight root canals, the replacement of several tooth implants, as well as the addition of a few new implants and work on his remaining original teeth.

On March 2, 2010, sentencing was postponed again when the courthouse reported a fire in the basement.

On March 8, 2010, Lil Wayne was sentenced to a year in prison, which he served in Rikers Island. His lawyer said the rapper expected to be held in protective custody, separated from other prisoners. He was released on good behavior. However, in May 2010 Wayne was found by Rikers Island correctional staff to be in possession of contraband (an MP3 player, charger, and headphones). However at that time, it was reported by MTV and HipHopDX (and later confirmed) that Lil Wayne was to be released four months early in November.

In April 2010, Lil Wayne's friends created a website called Weezy Thanx You, which publishes letters written by Wayne in prison. In the first letter, titled "Gone 'til November", the rapper described his daily routine, saying he works out a lot, and reads the Bible every day.

Lawsuits

In February 2009, production company RMF Productions filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against Wayne, following a $100,000 advance payment for three shows, all of which were cancelled by the artist.

On October 2009, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Cash Money Records and various music distribution outlets were sued for copyright infringement by Thomas Marasciullo, who claims his voice was used without permission. The rappers asked him to record some "Italian-styled spoken word recordings" in 2006. The lyrics were allegedly used on "Respect" and other tracks from the rappers' collaboration album Like Father, Like Son and Birdman's 5 * Stunna.

Public references by Barack Obama

Lil Wayne has been referenced in public speeches by President Barack Obama on at least two occasions, in mixed contexts. Speaking to a largely African-American audience during a general election campaign town hall speech in Georgia, then-U.S. Senator Obama exhorted children to stay in school and achieve their dreams through education and perseverance instead of hoping for shortcuts to fame and riches, stating: "You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school."

After assuming the Presidency, Obama later echoed this theme of personal and familial responsibility—and the difficulty of achieving Lil Wayne's lyrical skills or success—during an address to a meeting commemorating the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, telling the audience:}}

Obama also mentioned listening to Lil Wayne on his iPod:

Discography

; Studio albums

1999: Tha Block Is Hot

2000: Lights Out

2002: 500 Degreez

2004: Tha Carter

2005: Tha Carter II

2008: Tha Carter III

2010: Rebirth

2010: I Am Not a Human Being

2011: Tha Carter IV

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

Lil Wayne at MTV

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:21st-century American criminals Category:African-American Catholics Category:African American rappers Category:American dance musicians Category:American shooting survivors Category:Cash Money Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:Rappers from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:University of Houston alumni Category:World Music Awards winners

Caption	Stewart at Photocall at the Crillon Hotel in Paris, France
Birthname	Kristen Jaymes Stewart
Birthdate	April 09, 1990
Birthplace	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Yearsactive	1999–present
Website	kristenstewart.com
Signature	Kristen Stewart signature.svg90px

Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in films such as Panic Room (2002), Zathura (2005), In the Land of Women (2007), The Messengers (2007), Adventureland (2009) and The Runaways (2010). She has won various awards in three consecutive years.

Early life

Kristen Stewart was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father, John Stewart, is a stage manager and television producer who has worked for Fox. Her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, is a script supervisor originally from Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia. She has an older brother, Cameron Stewart. Stewart attended school until the seventh grade, and then continued her education by correspondence.

Career

Her whole family all worked behind the camera, and Stewart thought she would become a writer/director, but never considered being an actor. "I never wanted to be the center of attention — I wasn't that 'I want to be famous, I want to be an actor' kid. I never sought out acting, but I always practiced my autograph because I love pens. I'd write my name on everything." Stewart's acting career began at the age of eight, after an agent saw her perform in her elementary school's Christmas play. After a year of auditioning, Stewart's first role was a nonspeaking part in the film The Thirteenth Year.

After Panic Rooms success, Stewart was cast in another thriller, Cold Creek Manor, playing the daughter of Dennis Quaid's and Sharon Stone's characters; the film generally failed at the box office. She was again nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance. The following year, she played the character Maya in Fierce People, directed by Griffin Dunne. After that film, she received the lead role of Jess Solomon in the supernatural thriller film The Messengers.

In 2007, Stewart appeared as teenager Lucy Hardwicke in In the Land of Women, a romantic drama starring Meg Ryan and Adam Brody. The film, as well as Stewart's performance, received mixed reviews. That same year, Stewart appeared in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed adaptation film Into the Wild. For her portrayal of Tracy — a teenage singer who has a crush on young adventurer Christopher McCandless — Stewart received generally positive reviews. Salon.com considered her work a "sturdy, sensitive performance", and the Chicago Tribune noted that she did "vividly well with a sketch of a role." Her performance was not without detractors, however; Variety's critic Dennis Harvey wrote, "It's unclear whether Stewart means to be playing hippie-chick Tracy as vapid, or whether it just comes off that way." After Into the Wild, Stewart had a cameo appearance in Jumper and also appeared in What Just Happened, which was released in October 2008. She also co-stars in The Cake Eaters an independent film that has only been screened at film festivals.

On November 16, 2007, Summit Entertainment announced that Stewart would play Isabella "Bella" Swan in the film Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire romance novel of the same name. Stewart was on the set of Adventureland when director Catherine Hardwicke visited her for an informal screen test which "captivated" the director. She stars alongside Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, her character's vampire boyfriend. The film began production in February 2008 and finished filming in May 2008. Twilight was released domestically on November 21, 2008. After the release of Twilight, Kristen Stewart was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance for her portrayal as Bella Swan. Stewart reappeared as Bella in the sequel, , and reprised this role in .

Stewart has been nominated and presented with the BAFTA Rising Star award. At the 2010 82nd Annual Academy Awards, Stewart and Twilight co-star Taylor Lautner presented a tribute in honour of the horror movie genre.

In 2009, Stewart starred in The Yellow Handkerchief, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was released into theaters in 2010 by Samuel Goldwyn Films. She also starred alongside James Gandolfini in Welcome to the Rileys, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010.

Stewart most recently portrayed rock star Joan Jett in The Runaways, a biopic of the titular band from writer-director Floria Sigismondi. Stewart met with Jett over the 2008–2009 New Year to prepare for the role, and ended up prerecording songs in a studio for the film. She received nearly unanimous praise for her performance. Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend pronounced her to be "a modern day James Dean. She gives the kind of performance in The Runaways that hasn’t been seen on screen since his death. The Runaways is her Rebel Without a Cause ... she’s absolutely brilliant as Joan Jett." The Metro Times wrote, "It turns out that Stewart is actually really good at capturing Jett's icy, tough-but-cool girl swagger, adding the needed touches of vulnerability that transform it into a pretty terrific performance... Stewart is a genuine rock star here." Also, A.O. Scott of The New York Times noted "Ms. Stewart, watchful and unassuming, gives the movie its spine and soul."

Stewart will star in a film called K-11 with Jason Mewes. She has also been cast in the role of Mary Lou in an upcoming film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's cult classic novel On the Road. Shooting began in August 2010.

Personal life

Stewart currently lives in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Stewart has expressed a desire to live and work in Australia, saying, "I want to go to Sydney University in Australia. My mom's from there." Apart from acting, she is also interested in attending college in the near future, saying, "I want to go to college for literature. I want to be a writer. I mean, I love what I do, but it's not all I want to do — be a professional liar for the rest of my life." In an interview with Vanity Fair, Stewart stated that she dated Michael Angarano, her co-star from Speak.

Filmography

|- | 1999 || The Thirteenth Year || Girl waiting for drink || Uncredited (film debut) |- | 2000 || ''The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas || Ring toss girl || Uncredited |- | 2001 || The Safety of Objects || Sam Jennings ||Limited release |- | 2002 || Panic Room || Sarah Altman || |- | 2003 || Cold Creek Manor || Kristen Tilson || |- | rowspan="3" | 2004 || Speak || Melinda Sordino || |- | Catch That Kid || Maddy || |- | Undertow || Lila || |- | rowspan="2" | 2005 || Fierce People || Maya Osbourne || Limited release |- | Zathura || Lisa || |- | rowspan="5" | 2007 || The Messengers || Jessica "Jess" Solomon || |- | In the Land of Women || Lucy Hardwicke || |- | The Cake Eaters || Georgia || Limited release |- | Into the Wild || Tracy Tatro || |- | Cutlass || Young Robin || Short film |- | rowspan="3" | 2008 || Jumper || Sophie || Cameo |- | What Just Happened|| Zoe || |- | Twilight|| Bella Swan || |- | rowspan="2" | 2009 || Adventureland || Emily "Em" Lewin || |- | || Bella Swan || |- | rowspan="4" | 2010 || The Yellow Handkerchief || Martine || Limited Release |- | The Runaways || Joan Jett || |- | Welcome to the Rileys || Mallory || |- | || rowspan="1" | Bella Swan || |- | rowspan="2" |2011 || On the Road || Marylou || Post-production |- | | Bella Swan | Filming |- | 2012 | | Bella Swan | Filming

Awards and nominations

|- |2002 || Panic Room || rowspan="4" | Young Artist Awards || Best performance in a feature film- Leading Young Actress || || |- |2003 || Cold Creek Manor || rowspan="3" | Best performance in a feature film- Supporting Young Actress || || |- |2004 || Undertow || || |- |rowspan="2" | 2007 || rowspan="2" | Into the Wild || || |- |Screen Actors Guild Awards || Outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture || || Entire Cast |- |rowspan="8" | 2008 || rowspan="8" | Twilight || rowspan="2" | MTV Movie Awards || Best Female Performance || || |- |Best Kiss || || Shared with Robert Pattinson |- |rowspan="2" | Teen Choice Awards || Choice Movie Actress Drama || || |- |Choice Movie Liplock || || Shared with Robert Pattinson |- |rowspan="2" | Scream Awards || Best Fantasy Actress || || |- |Best Ensemble Cast || || |- |rowspan="2" | People's Choice Awards || Favourite On-Screen Team || || Shared with Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner |- |Favourite Movie Actress || || |- |rowspan="9" | 2009 || Adventureland || Gotham Awards || Best Ensemble cast || || Entire cast |- |rowspan="8" | || BAFTA Awards || Rising Star Award || || |- |rowspan="2" | Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards || rowspan="2" | Cutest Couple || || Shared with Taylor Lautner |- | || Shared with Robert Pattinson |- |rowspan="2" | MTV Movie Awards || Best Female Performance || || |- |Best Kiss || || rowspan="2" | Shared with Robert Pattinson |- |rowspan="2" | Golden Raspberry Awards || rowspan="2" | Worst Screen Couple || |- | || Shared with Taylor Lautner |- |rowspan="2" | Teen Choice Award || Choice Movie Actress Fantasy || || |- |rowspan="5" | 2010 || rowspan="2" | The Runaways || Choice Movie Actress Drama || || |- |MTV Movie Awards || Best Kiss || || Shared with Dakota Fanning |- |rowspan="3" | || rowspan="3" | People's Choice Awards || Favorite Movie Actress || || |- | People's Choice Award for Favourite On-Screen-Team || || Shared with Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson |- | People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Star Under 25 || || |-

References

External links

Kristen Stewart's Changing Style – slideshow by Life magazine

Category:1990 births Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American people of Australian descent Category:American television actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Living people

Name	Kanye West
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Born	June 08, 1977Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
Occupation	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
Years active	1996–present
Label	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Mr Hudson, Pusha T, Big Sean
Url

Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. 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, synth-pop, 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. His five albums have received numerous awards, including a cumulative twelve Grammys, All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos. About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game." On 17 December 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.

Music career

Early career (1996–2003)

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album didn't attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998-1999 he produced for well known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000 however when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album . West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life" he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture. West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling. During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again. Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period The College Dropout was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy. Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics. Late Registration topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including USA Today, Spin, and Time. Rolling Stone awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic." The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year. Late Registration was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the Billboard 200. Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, Late Registration was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales. The sophomore album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger". The album is certified triple platinum.

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes On Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006: "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." The current status of this project is unknown. In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.

Graduation (2007)

.]] In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life. " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, Graduation, because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally. After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine Complex. On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth. West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.

In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments. The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.

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On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show Entourage which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

Glow in the Dark Tour, 808s & Heartbreak (2008–09)

in Chicago]]

West kicked off the Glow In The Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that 808s & Heartbreak was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of Graduation with 450,145 sold.

Along with Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis, and others, West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23. That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Graduation and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ. The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of This Is War, titled "Hurricane 2.0".

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne (2010–present)

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series The Cleveland Show (a spin-off of Family Guy) as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son. In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of Family Guy. Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of The Cleveland Show.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title "Good Ass Job", later named My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010. West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with. The short film debuted consecutively on VH1, MTV, and BET on October 23, 2010.

Watch The Throne, an upcoming collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z, is scheduled to be released by Def Jam Recordings in 2011. It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010. West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop. He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from Watch the Throne would be a song called "H.A.M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011.

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had been straining, significantly influenced by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told People.

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation. TMZ reported that Beverly Hills physician Andre Aboolian had advised Donda West not to have surgery because of a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack. He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board. Adams appeared on Larry King Live on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves". The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007. West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.

Musical style and influences

(left)]] At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s . West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life". and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that." RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for Rolling Stone, "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section. Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis. This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He is due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.

Controversies

Media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

Award shows

Later in 2006, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead. Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane. He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right." West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears hasn't had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass" in an off the record comment. In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes. He posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on The Jay Leno Show, on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again. After Swift appeared on The View two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology. In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she didn't accept the song, he would perform it himself.

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras. West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009. West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009. West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at a hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside a nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.

Discography

; Studio albums

The College Dropout (2004)

Late Registration (2005)

Graduation (2007)

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

; Live albums

''Late Orchestration (2006)

(2010)

; Collaboration albums Watch The Throne (2011) (with Jay-Z)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Kanye West at Beatbuggy

Category:1977 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American bloggers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Chicago State University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Jeffree Star
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jeffrey Lynn Steininger
Alias	Jeffree Star
Origin	Orange County, California, United States
Genre	Electropop, synthpop, electronic rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, Make-up artist, model
Years active	2003–present
Label	Popsicle Records (2008–present) Kon Live (2010–present)
Url	Myspace Page Facebook Page Official Website

Jeffree Star (born Jeffrey Lynn Steininger), is an American model, fashion designer, make-up artist, DJ, and singer-songwriter residing in the Los Angeles area. He is an Internet celebrity known for his popularity on MySpace (alongside Tila Tequila) as well as his fashion line and from his transgressive, gender-bending appearance and persona while calling himself "Queen of the Internet" and "Queen of the Beautifuls". Star has leveraged his fame as an androgynous model and aesthetic talents to launch his own clothing line and forays into acting and DJing.

Biography

1986–2005: Childhood and youth

Jeffree Star was born in Orange County, California. His father died before he was old enough to remember; subsequently, he was raised solely by his working mother, a model who frequently went on assignments. As a child, Star regularly began experimenting with his mother's makeup, leading to an obsessive compulsive interest, Two years later, after his graduation from high school, Star moved to Los Angeles and began supporting himself with various make-up, modeling, and music jobs.

He later recalled spending his time on weekends "using a fake ID to attend Hollywood clubs dressed in mini dresses and nine inch high heels where celebrities would contract [Star] for make-up work at their homes", or "hiring [Star] as a model." with each new photo shoot getting over 50,000 comments when posted,

Star also gained fame as one of the most popular unsigned artists with the daily rankings placing him in the top tier Stars' social trendsetting participation at Buzznet and his success at growing online fan-base was noted in Buzznet's six million financing in May 2007. Star regularly uploads video-blog segments including music reviews, event reports as well as posting news about his upcoming music release.

Star's music career as an electronica and hip-hop vocalist began when he befriended Peaches' drummer who encouraged him to make music. However, the track did not make it onto the disc. Deuce was recently evicted from Hollywood Undead and has produced a mixtape ("Break Them Wallz") with Jeffree and another song titled "Freaky Now" (alongside friend "Truth"), in which Jeffree raps extremely explicit lyrics.

His first two solo tracks "We Want Cunt", named in tribute to his former screen name Cunt: Queen of the Beautifuls, and "Straight Boys" were co-written with Hole and one time Mötley Crüe drummer, Samantha Maloney and singer Jessicka from Scarling.. Star asked MySpace co-founder Tom to convert his MySpace profile into a music page so he could showcase his music. Star has toured with electro musician Peaches, as well as Cyndi Lauper, Breathe Carolina, Dr. Manhattan, Schoolyard Heroes, and Ultraviolet Sound.

On the 13 March 2007, Star released his debut extended play Plastic Surgery Slumber Party which was produced by Ultraviolet Sound. The record topped at number one on the iTunes’s dance charts and "has consistently topped the iTunes dance charts at #1, hovering high above household names such as Justin Timberlake and Cascada." Separately, Star's MySpace page has 25 million listens to Plastic Surgery Slumber Party as of July 2007.

During the summer of 2007, Star was advertised as a part of the True Colors Tour 2007, which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The tour, sponsored by the LGBT Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007 to coincide with Pride month. Profits from the tour benefited the Human Rights Campaign as well as PFLAG and The Matthew Shepard Foundation. Though he was advertised as a special guest to perform on several West Coast dates, Star did not appear.

Star's song "Plastic Surgery Slumber Party" appeared on the August 2007 Tommy Boy release of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors tour compilation. Featuring ten tracks from ten of the artists, the compilation benefits the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that fights for civil rights for LGBT people. Star later recorded and released "Starstruck" featuring Danger Radio - his first single available for free download as a "thank you" to fans. Trace Cyrus and Mason Musso from Metro Station originally provided vocals for the song, however, due to a feud between the band and Star, they were ultimately replaced with Andrew de Torres from Danger Radio.

Cupcakes Taste Like Violence, Star's sophomore extended play, was released on December 9, 2008. This is his first record to be available as a CD as well as digitial download. Cupcakes Taste Like Violence peaked at number six on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums and at number eight on the Billboard Top Heatseekers. "Lollipop Luxury" was the first single from the extended play released November 18, 2008.

Star's debut studio album, Beauty Killer, was released on September 22, 2009. The first single from the album, "Prisoner", was released for digital download on May 2, 2009. The track received two million plays on MySpace at the end of its second week being available for stream. "Love Rhymes With Fuck You" was the second single from the album; like "Prisoner", it was also released for digital download on June 30, 2009. The album debuted at number 122 in the US Billboard 200 Chart. It also debuted at #7 in the US Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart and fell to #12 on its second week. A music video for "Prisoner", directed by Robert Hales, was originally planned. However, it has since been cancelled and replaced with "Get Away With Murder" which was filmed on November 7, 2009. The video premiered on the front page of MySpace on January 23, 2010.

It was announced that recording was underway for Star's first studio album in late 2007. He stated that the new songs "are more sexy, some are more "guy"ish and some are me screaming my heart out. I'm still finding what "Jeffree Star" really is. And I think I'm almost there..." To "tide fans over" until the first single from the album was released, on April 21, 2009, Star released a remix cover of Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" which was made available for free download. Morgan Page's radio edit mix of "Prisoner" was released for free download by Star on December 18, 2009. He worked with producers such as Lester Mendez, 3OH!3's Nathaniel Motte, God's Paparazzi

Star originally planned a North American headlining concert tour, titled "I'm Cold, Keep Me Warm...Bitch!" for two weeks in December 2009. However, due to "personal things [that] have gotten out of hand in [his] family" the tour was canceled. Star will be embarking on his "2 DRUNK 2 FUCK" 2010 world tour where he says he will "be going everywhere...and yes that means Europe and Australia". This will be his first headlining tour supporting the album. Dates have been officially announced in the USA, United Kingdom and several countries in continental Europe.

Star released his fifth single "Blush" (his second single-only release) on February 16, 2010. "Size of Your Boat" was released as Star's sixth single (third single-only release) on July 1, 2010. The song "I'm In Love (With a Killer)" was released on October 10, 2010 and made available for free download via Facebook. Star also recorded an anthem song for the It Gets Better Project titled "Kiss It Better". The song was also made available for free download on November 4, 2010.

Other work

Make-up, modeling and internet fame

Star was referred to celebrities including Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, AFI frontman Davey Havok and Jessicka from the band Scarling. He is a former make-up artist for alt porn website, GodsGirls.

Star gained a cult following from posting outrageous photographs of himself on Internet forums and later MySpace, who began sending him gifts including expensive cameras to take more pictures. He has appeared in several music videos including Good Charlotte's "The River", Godhead's "Push", Aiden's "One Love" and Metro Station's "Shake It".

Reality show development

It was reported in 2007 that Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's World of Wonders Productions would be developing a reality show featuring Star and promise of "glamour and sexual tension." However, in June 2009, when asked in an interview with OrangeCounty.com "When's the reality show coming?" Star said:

Merchandise

Star's T-shirts, hoodies and accessories were ranked #1 on Hottopic.com. He is also developing a fragrance called "Fierce", which he says will smell like "vanilla and cotton candy."

Filmography

Discography

2009: Beauty Killer

References

External links

Official Website

Myspace Page

Facebook Page

Twitter Page

Jeffree Star on Buzznet

Jeffree Star on PureVolume

Category:1986 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American bloggers Category:American electronic musicians Category:American Internet personalities Category:American make-up artists Category:American male models Category:American male singers Category:American performance artists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Jeffree Star Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:Warner Music Group artists

Name	Gary Numan
Background	solo_singer
Landscape	Yes
Birth name	Gary Anthony James Webb
Born	March 08, 1958Hammersmith, west London, United Kingdom
Genre	1977-1994:New Wave, synthpop, electronic1994-present:Industrial rock, gothic rock, darkwave
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Years active	1977–present
Instrument	Vocals, synthesizer, guitar, bass, percussion
Label	Metropolis, Beggars Banquet, Numa, IRS, Eagle, Mortal, Atco
Associated acts	Tubeway Army, Dramatis, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Gardiner, Bill Sharpe, Fear Factory
Url	Official site
Notable instruments	Minimoog, Polymoog , ARP Odyssey

Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb on 8 March 1958) is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for appearing on the chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" by Tubeway Army and his song "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.

Commercially unsuccessful for many years of his career, Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music. His use of themes from science fiction, and his combination of aggressive punk energy with electronics, have since been widely imitated.

Biography

Early life

Born in Hammersmith, Gary Anthony James Webb was the son of a British Airways bus driver based at Heathrow Airport. Webb was educated at Town Farm Junior School Stanwell, Ashford County Grammar School, Middlesex, Slough Grammar School and Brooklands Technical College. He joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He then briefly did various jobs including fork lift truck driver, air conditioning ventilator fitter and clerk in an accounts department. A guitar was purchased for him at an early age and he began writing songs when he was about 15 years old. He played in various bands, including Mean Street and The Lasers, before forming Tubeway Army with his uncle, Jess Lidyard, and Paul Gardiner. His initial pseudonym was "Valerian", probably in reference to the hero in French science fiction comic series Valérian and Laureline. Later he picked the name "Numan" from an advert in the "Yellow Pages" for a plumber "A. Neumann".

1970s

Tubeway Army

Numan rose to prominence at the end of the 1970s as front man, writer and producer for Tubeway Army. After recording an album's worth of punk-influenced demo tapes (released in 1984 as The Plan), he was signed by Beggars Banquet Records in 1978 and quickly released two singles, "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers", neither of which charted.

A self-titled, New Wave-oriented debut album later that same year sold out its limited run and introduced Numan's fascination with dystopian science fiction and, more importantly, synthesizers. Tubeway Army's third single, the dark-themed and slow-paced "Down in the Park" (1979) also failed to chart but it would prove to be one of Numan's most enduring and oft-covered songs; it was featured with other contemporary hits on the soundtrack for the movie Times Square, and a live version of the song can also be seen in the movie Urgh! A Music War. After exposure in a television advertisement for Lee Cooper jeans with the jingle "Don't be a dummy", Tubeway Army released the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" in May 1979. The single took seven weeks before it finally reached #1 at the end of June; the parent album Replicas simultaneously achieving #1 in the album charts.

As Gary Numan

A few months later Numan found success in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with "Cars", which peaked at #1 in the UK in 1979 and #9 in US in 1980. "Cars" and the 1979 album The Pleasure Principle were both released under Numan's own (assumed) name. A sell-out tour ('The Touring Principle') followed; the concert video it spawned is often cited as the first full-length commercial music video release. The Pleasure Principle was a rock album with no guitars; instead, Numan used synthesizers fed through guitar effects pedals to achieve a distorted, phased, metallic tone. The Pleasure Principle remains one of Numan's most highly-regarded efforts to date. A second single from the album "Complex" made it to #6 in the UK charts.

Personality and style

Numan bewildered the music press. He was a driven, creative, angst-ridden 21-year-old loner who still lived with his parents at the peak of his success. While angry like his punk contemporaries, Numan could not relate to the specific political issues they were singing about. Numan suppressed his anger and "got really hung up with this whole thing of not feeling, being cold about everything, not letting emotions get to you, or presenting a front of not feeling". Furthermore, Numan's admiration of wealth alienated critics and fellow musicians; Yes recorded a sardonic song about him, "White Car", for their 1980 album Drama, a reaction to his habit of tearing around London in the white Chevrolet Corvette given to him by Beggars Banquet.

Around this time, Numan also developed his distinctive style. Numan claims this was an unintentional result of acne; before an appearance on Top of the Pops, he had "spots everywhere, so they slapped about half an inch of white makeup on me before I'd even walked in the door. And my eyes were like pissholes in the snow, so they put black on there. My so-called image fell into place an hour before going on the show". Numan claims his "wooden" stage presence was a result of extreme self-consciousness and lack of "showmanship". Telekon reintroduced guitars to Numan's music and featured a wider range of synthesizers. The same year he embarked on his second major tour ("The Teletour") with an even more elaborate stage show than The Touring Principle the previous year. Although considered a success, Numan claimed the tour actually lost him a great deal of money because of the vast expense in mounting it. He announced his retirement from touring with a series of sell-out concerts at Wembley Arena in April 1981, supported by Alternative musician Nash the Slash and Shock, a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe whose members included Barbie Wilde, Tik and Tok and Carole Caplin. The decision to retire would be short-lived.

Moving away from the pure electropop that he had made his name with, Numan then experimented with jazz, funk and ethereal, rhythmic pop. His first album after his 1981 farewell concerts was the bleak, atmospheric and experimental Dance (1981). The album charted as high as #3 on the UK charts, but it only produced one hit single ("She's Got Claws") and then dropped out of the charts after only eight weeks. The album featured several distinguished guest players; Mick Karn (bass, saxophone) and Rob Dean (guitar) of Japan, Roger Mason (keyboards) of Models and Roger Taylor (drums) of Queen.

With his former backing band, Chris John Payne (Keyboards, Viola) Russell Bell (Guitar) and Ced Sharpley (Drums) now reformed as Dramatis, Numan contributed vocals to the minor hit "Love Needs No Disguise" from the album For Future Reference. However, Numan's career had begun to experience a gradual decline, and he was eclipsed initially by acts such as Adam Ant, and later by The Human League, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode. Each album also saw a new "image", none of which captured the public's imagination to nearly the same extent as the lonely android of 1979. The band Basement Jaxx had a huge hit in 2002 with "Where's Your Head At?", which relied on a sample of Numan's "M.E." - from The Pleasure Principle - for its hook. Fear Factory produced a cover of "Cars" (featuring a prominent guest appearance by Numan himself) for the digipak version of their album Obsolete. Nine Inch Nails covered the song "Metal" on The Fragile remix album Things Falling Apart as did Afrika Bambaataa (with Numan himself) on the album Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light. "Cars" remains Numan's most enduring song; it was a hit again in 1987 (remixed by Zeus B. Held) and 1996, in the latter case thanks to an appearance in an advert for Carling beer. In 2000 DJ Armand Van Helden sampled the track and mixed it up in his single "Koochy" which conquered the dancefloors. In 2002, UK pop trio Sugababes scored a #1 with "Freak Like Me" - a mashup of Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" and "Are Friends Electric?" by Numan's Tubeway Army.

Other musicians, and at least one comedian, who have sung Numan's praises in recent years include Beck, Grant Nicholas, Tricky, Damon Albarn & Matt Sharp, Jarvis Cocker, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, Noel Fielding and Afrika Bambaataa, who spoke of the influence Numan's music had on the fledgling American DJ scene: "In the late 70s and early 80s Gary had the rhythms that DJs wanted to get hold of and people waited for his records on the dance floor." "Cars" was featured on the soundtrack for the blockbuster 2002 videogame as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103, although it did not appear on the soundtrack CD release for the game. "Are Friends Electric" appeared on EA's game in 2006.

In 2002, Numan enjoyed chart success once again with the single "Rip", reaching #29 in the UK chart and in 2003 with the Gary Numan vs Rico single "Crazier", which reached #13 in the UK chart. Rico also worked on the remix album Hybrid which featured reworkings of older songs in a more contemporary industrial style as well as new material. Other artists and producers who contributed on these remixes included Curve, Flood, Andy Gray, Alan Moulder, New Disease and Sulpher. 2003 also saw Numan performing the vocals on a track named "Pray For You" on the Plump DJs album Eargasm, which was well received. In 2004 Numan took control of his own business affairs again, launching the label Mortal Records and releasing a series of live DVDs. In late 2006, Numan announced on his website that recording would begin on his new album in January 2007, with Ade Fenton co-producing. Numan stated "think of Jagged and Pure, but faster, with bigger choruses, more energy, and more aggression" to describe the album's intended sound. The album, Jagged, was duly released on 13 March 2006. An album launch gig took place at The Forum, London on 18 March followed by UK, European and US tours in support of the release. Numan also launched a Jagged website to showcase the new album, and made plans to have his 1981 farewell concert (previously released as Micromusic on VHS) issued on DVD by November 2006 as well as releasing the DVD version of the Jagged album launch gig. Numan undertook a Telekon 'Classic Album' tour in the UK in December 2006.

On 6 November 2006, Numan took part in the Sky1 reality show The Race. It pitted ten celebrities (five male, five female) against each other in a series of Formula One-style car races. These races were held at Silverstone over the next five days, and varied in racing styles, ultimately culminating in one final Grand Prix race on Sunday, 12 November. Numan did win on the overall leaderboard, though he lost the final race to AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson.

Numan contributed vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of Fenton's debut solo album Artificial Perfect on his new industrial/electronic label Submission, including songs "The Leather Sea", "Slide Away", "Recall" and the first single to be taken from the album, "Healing". The second single to be released in the UK was "The Leather Sea" on 30 July 2007. He sold out a fifteen-date UK tour in Spring 2008 during which he performed his 1979 number one album Replicas in full, and all the Replicas-era music including B-sides. The highly successful tour also raised Numan's profile in the media again due to the fact that it coincided with his 30th anniversary in the music business. The tour was also notable for the Manchester gig on 8 March 2008 which also happened to fall on his 50th birthday. The band, along with wife Gemma, helped Numan celebrate by bringing a large cake onstage. A recording of the concert was released on DVD under the title "Replicas Live".

In November 2007, Numan confirmed via his website that work on a new album, with the working title of Splinter, would be under way throughout 2008, after finishing an alternate version of Jagged (called Jagged Edge) and the CD of unreleased songs from his previous three albums (confirmed to be titled Dead Son Rising on 1 December 2008 via official mailing list message). He wrote that Splinter was likely to be released in early 2010. Numan has recently completed a four-date run of gigs in Australia and will be touring the UK in the coming months.

In July 2009, Gary Numan appeared as a special guest at the "Wave Goodbye" Nine Inch Nails concert at The O2 arena (London) in London. Before coming on stage, Trent Reznor explained how Numan was "vitally important and a huge inspiration" to him during the past 20 years. Numan then went on to play two songs with Nine Inch Nails; "Cars" and "Metal". Numan appeared once again at the final run of the "Wave Goodbye" shows in Los Angeles, CA. In August 2009 he played at the Hevy Music Festival in Folkestone, UK. On 2 September 2009 at the Hollywood Palladium, Numan joined Reznor on stage to perform "Metal" and "Cars" near the end of the Nine Inch Nails set. He then joined the band onstage a third time at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA, this time performing "Metal" and "I Die: You Die" from the album Telekon. He then joined them a fourth time at the Henry Fonda Theater, performing "Down In The Park", "Metal" and "Cars". Mike Garson initially played "Down In The Park (Piano Version)" before they started the song. He then joined them for the final show at the Wiltern Theater.

In a September 2009 interview with The Quietus, Numan says that he and Trent Reznor plan to make music together. He was set to perform a small number of American live dates in April 2010, including a Coachella Festival appearance in California, but had to cancel because air travel in Europe was halted by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. As a result, the tour was not only postponed but expanded, and his Pleasure Principle 30th Anniversary Tour's American and Mexican dates began on 17 October 2010, at Firestone Live in Orlando, Florida.

Personal life

Numan is a positive atheist and has incorporated anti-religious motifs and images in his music. Numan was an outspoken supporter of the Conservative Party and of Margaret Thatcher after her inauguration as Prime Minister. He also said, "I'm not socialist, I know that. I don't believe in sharing my money."

Numan married a member of his own fan club, Gemma O'Neill, a native of Sidcup. In 2003, after some pregnancy difficulties, the couple had their first child, Raven. In 2005 they had a second daughter, Persia. In 2007 the couple had their third child, Echo. Numan resides with his family in East Sussex. He published his autobiography, Praying to the Aliens, in 1997 (updated edition 1998), in collaboration with Steve Malins. (Malins also wrote the liner notes for most of the CD reissues of Numan's albums in the late 1990s, as well as executive producing the Hybrid album in 2003.)

Numan is known for his love of flying, a passion which has featured in some of his music videos ("Warriors", "I Can't Stop"). He has owned several small aircraft. Numan was a member of the Air Training Corps. He is one of a very small handful of flyers with the credentials and qualifications to train aerobatic instructor pilots. He was once forced to emergency-land his light aircraft on a Southampton motorway.

Numan is referenced several times in the BBC TV series The Mighty Boosh as Vince Noir, one of the main characters, is a huge Gary Numan fan. Examples of this are in the episode "Tundra" where Numan gives Noir a lift to the Antarctic in his personal jet (a black jet with a red trim with "NUMAN" written in white), in the episode "Electro" Numan's influence is clear to see on Noir when he joins electro band "Kraftwork Orange". Along with making several other references to Numan (notably a scene where Noir states he's made some 'tapes' for a journey saying "This is the best of the 60s (holding one tape), this is the best of the 70s (holding another tape) and THIS (picks up a horde of tapes) is Gary Numan!"), Numan guest-starred in "The Power of the Crimp", being locked in a cupboard and is used (unsuccessfully) to cheer Vince up.

At age 15, after a series of outbursts in which Numan would "smash things up, scream and shout, get in people's faces and break stuff", he was prescribed antidepressants and anxiolytics.

Discography

Tubeway Army (1978) (with Tubeway Army)

Replicas (1979) (with Tubeway Army)

The Pleasure Principle (1979) (Numan's first album under his own name)

Telekon (1980)

Dance (1981)

I, Assassin (1982)

Warriors (1983)

Berserker (1984)

The Fury (1985)

Strange Charm (1986)

Metal Rhythm (1988) (New Anger in the United States)

Automatic (1989) (With Bill Sharpe)

Outland (1991)

Machine and Soul (1992)

Sacrifice (1994) (Dawn in the US)

Exile (1997)

Pure (2000)

Hybrid (2003)

Jagged (2006)

References

Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan.

Guinness Book of British Hit Singles 7th Edition

Gary Numan Famous people with Asperger Syndrome

External links

NuWORLD: Official website

Official MySpace page

Numanme unofficial fansite with complete discography

North American Gary Numan Fan Club, unofficial

Complete discography, unofficial

GaryNuman.com - Interactive Fan Site, unofficial

Gary Numan Unauthorised - Trade site, unofficial

Review: Exposure - NXLive.co.uk

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:British industrial musicians Category:English atheists Category:English male singers Category:English songwriters Category:English New Wave musicians Category:I.R.S. Records artists Category:Old Paludians Category:People with Asperger syndrome Category:Synthpop Category:People from Hammersmith Category:Gothic rock musicians Category:Tubeway Army members Category:1980s New Wave acts

Name	Enrique Iglesias
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler
Born	May 08, 1975Madrid, Spain
Origin	Miami, Florida, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Latin pop, R&B;, dance-pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, model, actor
Years active	1995–present
Label	Fonovisa, Interscope, Universal Music Latino, Universal Republic
Url

Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (born May 8, 1975), better known as Enrique Iglesias, is a Spanish pop music singer-songwriter.

Iglesias started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa. This helped turn him into one of the most popular artists in Latin America and in the Hispanic or Latino market in the United States, and the biggest seller of Spanish language albums for a number of years. Before the turn of the millennium, he made a crossover into the mainstream English language market, signing a unique multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for an unprecedented US$48,000,000, with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope to release English albums. In 2010, he parted with Interscope and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Universal Republic.

Iglesias has had four Billboard Hot 100 top five singles including two #1s, and holds the record for producing 21 number 1 Spanish-language singles on the Billboards Hot Latin Tracks. Up until the release of his latest album, Euphoria, in 2010, he had sold over 55 million albums in both English and Spanish.

Early life

Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, the third and final child of singer Julio Iglesias and socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His mother is a Spanish-Filipino and his father is of Galician Spanish and Jewish ancestry. His parents divorced in 1978, and the following year Julio moved to Miami, Florida, in the U.S. to continue with his musical career.

In 1985, Enrique Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga was kidnapped by the terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio Iglesias Jr. were sent to live with their father in Miami. He also lived in Belgrade, Serbia, for one year with his mother, who worked as a journalist. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended Gulliver Preparatory School and went on to study business at the University of Miami.

Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed by a record label called Fonovisa. After dropping out of college, he went to Toronto to record his first album.

Music career

1995–98: Enrique Iglesias and Vivir

On July 12, 1995, Iglesias released his first album titled Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including such mega-hits as "Si Tú Te Vas", "Experiencia Religiosa", and others. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English.

His song " Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions of the album, with most of the songs translated into those languages.

Five singles released from this album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" topped the Latin charts. The album went on to win Iglesias a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance.

In 1997, Iglesias' star continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song "Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí".

Insisting on stadiums, that summer, Enrique, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning the tour in Odessa, Texas the tour went on to three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca Cola and two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina to over 130,000 people as well as 19 arenas in the U.S.

Three singles released from Vivir ("Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "Sólo en Ti" and "Miente") topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. It was said beforehand that the elder Iglesias would walk out if he did not win the award. Iglesias lost out to his father, but did perform the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event.

in 1999, his Cosas del Amor tour was sponsored by McDonald's.]]

1998–1999: Cosas del Amor

In 1998, Iglesias released his third album, Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene.

Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by McDonald's.

He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against Ricky Martin and Los Tigres del Norte. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series.

1999–2002: Enrique and Escape

By 1999, Iglesias had begun a successful crossover career into the English language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably that of Ricky Martin and Selena, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music. Iglesias' contribution to the soundtrack of Will Smith's movie Wild Wild West, "Bailamos" became a number one hit in the US.

After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Enrique. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete and contained a duet with Whitney Houston called "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". The album's third single, "Be With You", became his second number one.

The final single from the album was the song "You're My #1", re-recorded and released in selected territories as a duet with local acts – Alsou in Russia, Sandy & Junior in Brazil and Valen Hsu in Asia.

Iglesias followed up in 2001 with the album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more. The album's first single, "Hero", became a number one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias.

Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "Escape" and "Don't Turn Off The Lights" became radio staples, fairing well and placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Enrique's favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman".

Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of 50 sold-out shows in 16 countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights in London's Royal Albert Hall, the tour ended with a big show at Stadium National Lia Manoliu in Bucharest, Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania, with the video for "Love to See You Cry" being the first to be shown on the channel.

The second leg of the tour, "Don't Turn Off The Lights", was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium. The tour finished with a single show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2002–03: Quizás

In 2002, Iglesias chose to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father.

The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish language album on the chart at the time. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in 5 years. The three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of 16 number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number one singles on Billboard's Latin Chart. His last single from the album, "Para Que la Vida", reached a million spins on U.S. radio, the only Spanish language song to do so.

The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish language music video to be added to the selection on MTV's popular show Total Request Live. Iglesias performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, becoming the first to sing a Spanish song on the show, and opening doors for other artists such as Ricky Martin, Juanes and Jorge Drexler to perform their Spanish material. Iglesias included songs from Quizás in his "Don't Turn Off the Lights Tour", and the album went on to win a Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

2003–06: 7

In 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by Iglesias. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist, Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence (the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents didn't believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career). The first single was the song "Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring Kelis.

With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at Houston Rodeo and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt and Singapore before ending his tour in South Africa.

2007–09: Insomniac and Greatest Hits

on August 29, 2007.]] Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on June 12, 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The album contained a more contemporary pop style than that of previous albums. The album's highlights include "Push", with rapper Lil' Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells", and a cover of Ringside's "Tired of Being Sorry".

The first single Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song) was released on April 10, 2007. It was the Iglesias's highest charting song on the Hot 100 since "Escape" it was also a it throughout Europe peaking in the top 10 in many countries and the Spanish version entitled "Dímelo" was #1 on Hot Latin Tracks from 12 weeks becoming his second best performing song on that chart.

Iglesias followed up with the ballad "Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in the American continent. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboard's Hot AC, where the Spanish version also performed well. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya which was #1 in France for one week.

On July 4, Enrique Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of 10,000 in the capital city of Damascus and in the same week performed on Live Earth.

The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world Tour and took him to sold out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK with him playing venues such as Manchester's MEN Arena and Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at newly opened L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour has taken him throughout Latin America from Mexico to Argentina.

A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio the song has charted in several countries and is one of his most highly rated songs amongst fans.

Enrique's song "Can You Hear Me" has been chosen as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. He performed the song live at the June 29, 2008 final in Vienna, Austria. The song featured on a re-issue of the Insomniac album being released in certain countries.

Enrique released a Spanish Greatest Hits album on 25 March 2008 which included his seventeen #1 songs on Hot Latin Tracks chart, plus two new songs. The first single was the song "Dónde Están Corazón", which is written by Argentine star Coti and became Iglesias's 18th #1 single on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Latin Album Charts and #18 on Billboards top 200 Album chart. It was Enrique's second Spanish Album to debut in the top 20 Billboards Top 200 Albums (Quizás debuted at 12 in 2002). The album has been recently certified double platinum in the U.S.and in some Latin American countries.

The album's second single Lloro Por Ti had an official remix featuring Wisin y Yandel which also reached #1. Iglesias did a tour of the US. Beginning in Laredo, Texas and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey he was accompanied though most of the tour with Bachata band Aventura who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the Premios Juventud.

Iglesias was a surprise performer at the Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "Dónde Están Corazón" and "Dimelo". He also performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award.

After the success of his Spanish Greatest Hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English language hits on November 11. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well two new songs. The first single is entitled "Away" ft Sean Garrett and was followed by "Takin' Back My Love" ft Ciara.

The compilation includes English hit songs such as "Bailamos", "Hero", "Be With You", "Not In Love" and "Escape" which have topped the various Billboard Charts (two of which on Hot 100) as well as songs such as Rhythm Divine, Tired Of Being Sorry and Do You Know (The ping pong song) which have also topped charts in Europe.

After the successful collaboration with Nadiya Iglesias has recorded a second duet with her called "Miss You" which featured on a delux edition of the album.

The album debuted at #3 on The Official Uk Album Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first 2 weeks alone.

Enrique was the winner for two World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist", in the ceremony held in Monaco on November 9, 2008.

2010–present: Euphoria

On July 5, 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album, Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label, Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias's first bilingual album with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs.

Iglesias worked with three producers whom he has worked with before; RedOne, Mark Taylor and Carlos Paucer. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra and his third duet with Wisin y Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino Iglesias will release different singles in both languages simultaneously to different formats.

The first English single from the album, "I Like It", which features Cuban rapper Pitbull, was released on May 3, 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. After weeks on the chart, it reached to #1 on the Billboard Hot/Dance Club Play, making it Enrique's 7th number one song on that chart and also making it the male singer with most number-ones tying with Prince & Michael Jackson.

"Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album. The song debuted at number 8 and number 25 on U.S Latin Pop Songs and U.S. Hot Latin Songs, respectively. The song became his 25th top 10 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs & after 4 weeks of its release date it became his 21st No.1 song on this chart.

Another English single from the album "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" broke into the top 10 on the Billboard charts becoming no 6. on January 7, 2011.

Songwriting, producing, and acting

Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day of My Life" and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also wrote the single "The Way" for American Idol runner up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies' current album. Many times Iglesias has said that should he ever retire, he wants to write and produce songs for other artists. In 2010 Idol Allstars 2010 (Swedish Idol Series) released a song "All I Need Is You" co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström and Kristian Lundin. It went straight to I-Tunes #1.

In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Richie Valens, Santana, Ricky Martin and Iglesias himself.

Iglesias also developed an interest in acting, starring alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the foul-mouthed gun-wielding Lorenzo. In 2007, he had guest starred in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman. He says that he would act again if given small roles that he could fit in between his musical commitments.

He also guest starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest on the CBS hit TV show How I Met Your Mother.

Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in an ambitious TV commercial for Pepsi, which sponsored his last world tour. He starred alongside Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink, who turn the tables on him in the commercial. He's also starred in commercials for Doritos and for Viceroy watches.

Personal life

Iglesias started dating tennis star Anna Kournikova in late 2001 (she appeared in his video, "Escape"), and rumors that the couple had secretly married circulated in 2003 and again in 2005. Kournikova herself has consistently refused to directly confirm or deny the status of her personal relationships. But in May 2007, Iglesias was (mistakenly, as he would clarify later) quoted in the New York Sun that he had no intention of marrying Kournikova and settling down because they had split up. The singer would later deny these rumors of "divorce" or simply separation. In June 2008, Iglesias told the Daily Star that he had married Kournikova the previous year and that they are currently separated. Enrique has stated in interviews after that it was simply a joke, and they are still very much together. In an interview with Graham Norton in 2010, Kournikova confirmed that she and Iglesias have been together for over eight years but have no plans to marry in the near future.

Discography

Spanish Studio albums

Enrique Iglesias (1995)

Vivir (1997)

Cosas del Amor (1998)

Quizás (2002)

English studio albums

Enrique (1999)

Escape (2001)

7 (2003)

Insomniac (2007)

Bilingual studio albums

Euphoria (2010)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Enrique Iglesias

Julio Iglesias

References

External links

Enrique Iglesias Official website

Interscope Records Official Site

Enrique Iglesias on YouTube

Enrique Iglesias profile at NNDB

Category:1975 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:English-language singers Category:Expatriates in Serbia Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:People of Jewish descent Category:People from Madrid Category:People from Miami, Florida Category:Spanish people of Filipino descent Category:Spanish male singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Spanish expatriates Category:Spanish immigrants to the United States Category:University of Miami alumni Category:Enrique Iglesias

Name	Big Sean
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Sean Michael Leonard Anderson
Born	March 25, 1988Santa Monica, California, US
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, US
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, songwriter, model
Years active	2005 – present
Label	GOOD Music, Def Jam
Associated acts	Kanye West, Pharrell, Mike Posner, Chip tha Ripper
Url

Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988) is an American hip hop artist who primarily goes by the stage name Big Sean. He was born in Santa Monica, California and moved to the Detroit, Michigan area at two months of age. Big Sean signed with Kanye West's GOOD Music in 2007, and then in 2008 signed with Def Jam Recordings. He has been featured in The Source and the Detroit Metro Times.

Early life

Sean was raised by his mother, where he would grow up with his little cousins Chris Jinkins and Gregg Pluta in Southwest Detroit. In his early childhood Sean attended Detroit Waldorf School for the arts. After eighth grade, Sean briefly attended Marietta High for his Freshman year, before returning to the Detroit Area. He later met Sean Menifee, an older teen who mentored him after recognizing his wordplay skills. Since Sean was much smaller than his mentor, many called him "Big Sean" when referring to him as an ironic joke. He attended Cass Technical High School.In his later years in high school, Sean gained a valuable relationship with Detroit hip hop station 102.7 FM; he would show his rhyming skills on a weekly basis as part of a rap battle contest held by the station.

Music career

In 2005, Kanye West was doing a radio interview at 102.7 FM. Hearing about this, Sean headed over to the station to meet West and perform some free-style. Initially Kanye was reluctant to hear the emcee, however he gave Sean 16 bars to rap for him, eventually according to Big Sean "As we get to the entrance of the radio station ... we stopped in the middle of the doorway. He starts looking at me and bobbing his head,". He left a demo-tape as well. Two years later, West finally signed Big Sean to GOOD Music. His musical rap/singing style and lyrical delivery has influenced many top rappers in the game, such as Lil Wayne and Drake.

Finally Famous Vol 1: The Mixtape (2007)

On September 21, 2007, Big Sean released his first official mixtape Finally Famous: The Mixtape. His hit single, "Getcha Some", produced by WrighTrax, attained media attention and led to articles in The Source and the Detroit Metro Times. He also recorded a music video for "Getcha Some", which was directed by Hype Williams. The mixtape also featured the song "Get Em" (produced by 93 P).

Finally Famous Vol. 2: UKNOWBIGSEAN (2009)

Sean released a second mixtape hosted by Mick Boogie on April 16, 2009, called U Know Big Sean. It features the songs "Million Dollars" Getcha Some" & "Desire, Want & Need."

''Finally Famous Vol. 3: B.I.G. (2010)

Sean released a third mixtape hosted by Don Cannon on August 31, 2010 called Finally Famous Vol.3 B.I.G. Features include Bun B, Chip tha Ripper, Curren$y, Say It Aint Tone, Tyga, Drake, Mike Posner, Suai, Chuck Inglish, Asher Roth, Dom Kennedy, Boldy James, and Chiddy Bang. The mixtape includes 20 tracks.

Finally Famous (2011)

It will be Sean's debut album and includes Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Mr Hudson, Game, Chiddy Bang, Pusha T of Clipse, Rick Ross, The-Dream, Drake, Tyga, Eminem, Wale, and Mike Posner with production from Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Posner, No I.D., The Olympicks, Tricky Stewart, Chiddy Bang member Xaphoon Jones and The Neptunes. Big Sean also recorded a song for the album titled "Way Out" featuring Mr. Hudson. An unauthorized leak of his collaboration with Drake, called "Made" made its way to the net on April 30, 2010. In an interview with TheHipHopUpdate.com on May 1, Big Sean expressed his disappointment over the leak, calling it an unfinished version both musically and verse wise. The first single of his "Finally Famous" Album was What U Doin' (Bullshittin')(produce by The Olympicks) release on August 3 on iTunes. Big Sean's official Facebook page, he confirmed that on September 14, 2010, his debut album Finally Famous & Consequence's Cons TV will be released. On the 31st of August, Big Sean tweeted that the album was not coming out on September 14, but it will still be coming out sometime in 2011. In a recent interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, he discussed the role Kanye West and No I.D. have had in the development of the albums sonic direction as well as the challenges of being inside the studio with West.

Style and clothing

In late October 2008, Big Sean was featured in The Source and headlined the "Style" section of the magazine. In the article Sean talks about his own personal style and states that his favorite clothing brands are 10. Deep, Billionaire Boys Club, and Bape. Big Sean also posed in the Winter 2008 Billionaire Boys Club lookbook. Big Sean is also a consistent representative of Ti$A clothing and hats, along with Chris Brown and Tyga. Ti$A is a vintage company run by Big Sean's fellow G.O.O.D Music recording artist Taz Arnold. Big Sean also goes to a small store in Royal Oak, Michigan called, "Burn Rubber" This store offers many styles of his clothing that he wears now. Big Sean is also a follower in the clothing style: Rosewood.

Discography

Studio albums

(2011)

Mixtapes

(2007)

(2009)

(2010)

Appearances

Chip tha Ripper - Fat Raps ft Curren$y & Big Sean

Chris Brown - Shit Got Damn ft Big Sean

Chris Brown - Glitter ft Big Sean

Chris Brown - What U Doin' ft Big Sean

French Montana - I'm On It ft Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa & Nipsey Hussle

Kanye West - Paranoid Remix ft Big Sean, Kid Cudi & Mr Hudson

Kanye West - Looking For Trouble ft Big Sean, Pusha T, J. Cole & CyHi The Prynce

Kanye West - See Me Now ft Big Sean, Beyonce & Charlie Wilson

Kanye West - Good Friday ft. Common, Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Big Sean & Charlie Wilson

Kanye West - Don't Look Down ft Mos Def, Big Sean & Lupe Fiasco

Fly Union ft. Big Sean - Poe'd Up

Mike Posner - Cooler than Me ft Big Sean

Malik Yusef - V.E.R.S.E (Very Entertaining Recitals Spit Effortlessly) (featuring Big Sean, Anna Maria Cardinalli)

Mike Posner - Speed of Sound ft Big Sean

Mike Posner - Bring Me Down ft Big Sean & Freddie Gibbs

Mike Posner - "Smoke and Drive ft. Big Sean"

Royce da 5'9 - My Own Planet ft Big Sean

Tommy Lee - I'm A Loser ft Lil Wayne, Joell Ortiz, Sparkdawg, Big Sean, J-Son & Sum 41

Wale - Wonder Why ft Big Sean, Kenn Star & Mike Posner

YG - Big Krit Big Sean & Ty$

Videography

"Get'cha Some"

"Million Dollars"

"What U Doin (Bullshitting)"

"Highrise"

"Supa Dupa Lemonade"

"Okay"

"Supa Dupa"

"Final Hour"

"Too Fake" (feat. Chiddy Bang)

"Ambiguous" (feat. Mike Posner)

"Crazy"

References

External links

HipHopGame April 2008 Interview

HipHopAtLunch Interview

TheHipHopUpdate May 2010 Interview

Conspiracy Worldwide Radio October 2010 Uncensored Interview

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:American rappers Category:African American rappers Category:Waldorf school alumni