Blue-eyed soul (also known as white soul or pop soul) is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and Stax record labels. The somewhat controversial term was coined during racial segregation in 1960s America at the time of the music genre's emergence in popular music culture.

The term continued to be used in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly by the British music press, to describe a new generation of white singers who adopted elements of classic soul music. To a lesser extent, the term has been applied to singers in other music genres that are influenced by soul music, such as urban music and hip-hop soul.

Blue-eyed soul began when white musicians remade African American music for mass audiences. Often there was a perception that the music was diluted for its new audience, a move that angered some African Americans as cultural appropriation, but pleased others who felt the growth of their music genre was positive.

Carl Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican-born, UK-based former singer, best known for his song "Kung Fu Fighting", which hit number one in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. It was awarded gold status by the RIAA on 27 November 1974, and won a Grammy Award for Best Selling Single in that year's event. It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

The song, which is an homage to martial arts films, has overshadowed the rest of the Douglas' career, resulting in his appearance on cover versions of the song. He did release two other singles ("Blue Eyed Soul" and "Dance the Kung Fu", which was sampled by DJ Premier on his 2007 remix of Nike's 25th Air Force One anniversary single "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)", featuring Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One and Rakim) but he has ultimately become known in recording history as an example of a one hit wonder.

He was at one time managed by Eric Woolfson, later the primary songwriter behind The Alan Parsons Project.

Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is an Italian-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician and composer.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Vannelli is one of three sons (Joe, Gino, and Ross) born to Russ and Delia Vannelli. Russ, his father, was a big band musician. As a child, Gino's greatest passion was music, and he began playing percussion at an early age. By the age of 15, Gino began writing songs. Just out of high school, he signed his first recording contract with RCA under the pseudonym Vann Elli, but went on to study music at McGill University.

After a stint in New York City, Vannelli and his brothers went to Los Angeles, California in a financially distraught and desperate state to wait outside trumpeter Herb Alpert's locked gate for an audition. Alpert was Vannelli's last hope prior to heading back to Montreal the next day. Alpert liked what he heard and two days later signed Vannelli with A&M Records, releasing his first album in 1973. Vannelli's brother, Joe, served as arranger and keyboardist for most of his recording career. At a time when polyphonic synthesizers were non-existent, Joe overdubbed multiple parts to create a texture of sound that was progressive for the early 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

Till Brönner (b. 6 May, 1971 in Viersen, Germany is a jazz musician, trumpet player, singer, composer, arranger and producer. He has a unique jazz approach influenced by bebop and fusion jazz, but also modern pop music, movie soundtracks (especially old German movies), country music and even German pop songs. His trumpet playing is primarily inspired by the listening experiences of Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie and Chet Baker. His most influential teachers were Bobby Shew and Malte Burba.

Till was raised in Rome and received classical trumpet education at the Jesuit boarding school Aloisiuskolleg in Bonn followed by a study of the jazz trumpet at the music academy in Cologne under professors Jiggs Whigham and Jon Eardley.

Brönner also wrote the movie soundtrack for Pepe Danquart's "Höllentour" (English title: "Hell On Wheels"; a movie about the "Tour de France" bicycle race). The soundtrack was nominated for a German Movie Award in the category "Best Music Score".

Allen Stone is a Soul musician from Chewelah, Washington.

Allen Stone began his career singing at his father's church. He started leading worship at his church when he was 14 years old. The draw of music for Allen was mainly being able to express himself to a crowd of people. Allen Stone classifies himself as an R&B/ Soul singer.

He has self-released two records, "Last To Speak" (2010) and the self-title sophomore release "Allen Stone" (2011).

"Allen Stone" peaked at the number 2 spot on the R&B/Soul charts on iTunes and hit #9 and #35 on the Billboard Heatseekers and R&B/Hip Hop Album charts, respectively.USA Today called Allen Stone a "pitch-perfect powerhouse".

On October 26, 2011, he performed his song "Unaware" on Conan.

Stone was born in Chewelah, Washington, a small town about 45 minutes north of Spokane with a population of approximately 1,500 people. When Allen was 18, he moved from his home town to Spokane, Washington, where he attended community college for a semester followed by Bible School. Not long after, he moved to Seattle, Washington.