Sandra Ann Lauer, stage name Sandra (born 18 May 1962) is a German pop singer, who dominated European charts with eighteen top 20 hits during the 1980s and early 1990s, with the help of her then-husband and musical partner, Michael Cretu. During a brief height of popularity, she even outsold Madonna in a number of countries around the world. At the start of her career, from 1979 to 1984, she was the lead singer of the female disco/dance trio Arabesque, which had a massive following in Japan and Russia. Subsequently a solo performer, she had her first international #1 hit-single "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" in 1985, followed by "In the Heat of the Night". In 1986 it was "Hi! Hi! Hi!", then "Everlasting Love" in 1987, "Heaven Can Wait" in 1988 and "Hiroshima" in 1990. Her top-rated albums are 1988's Into a Secret Land and 1992's Close to Seven. Between 1990 and 2001, she provided vocals on album releases of the very successful group Enigma, which had top 10 hits in America and Britain. With a unique high-pitched singing style, she has topped the charts from as far afield as Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Japan and Brazil, as well as closer to home in Sweden and France. A cult star with a devoted fan base, she remains one of the most popular singers of the 1980s in Continental Europe. With sales in excess of 30 million records worldwide, Sandra has established her position as the most successful German pop female vocalist.

Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American comedian, singer, actress and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy in which she often bitterly critiques celebrity culture and political figures. Bernhard is number 97 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.

Bernhard has often addressed her childhood in interviews and within the context of her stand-up comedy. She was born in Flint, Michigan, the daughter of Jeanette and Jerome Bernhard. She has three older brothers. Her family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, when she was 10.

Of her Jewish family, Bernhard stated in her show Without You I'm Nothing: "My father was a proctologist and my mother was an abstract artist, so that's how I view the world." In the documentary program Girls Who Do: Comedy, she discusses being a funny teenager. After graduating from Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, she went to live on a kibbutz in Israel. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19. During that time she made ends meet working as a manicurist in a high-end salon.

Rachel Anne Maddow (pronounced /ˈmædoʊ/; born April 1, 1973) is an American television host, political commentator, and author. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio. Maddow is the first openly gay anchor of a prime-time news program in the United States.

Asked about her political views by the Valley Advocate, Maddow replied, "I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform."

Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father, Robert B. "Bob" Maddow, is a former United States Air Force captain who resigned his commission the year before her birth and found civilian work as a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Her mother, Elaine Maddow (née Gosse), is a school program administrator from Newfoundland, Canada. She has one older brother, David. Her father is of Russian and Dutch descent and her mother is of English and Irish ancestry. Maddow's mother was raised a strict Roman Catholic, and Maddow herself grew up in a community that her mother has described as "very conservative." Maddow was a competitive athlete and played three sports in high school. Referencing John Hughes films, she describes herself in high school as "a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl."