Russ Titelman (born 16 August 1944, Los Angeles, California) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has to date won three Grammy Awards. He earned his first producing the Steve Winwood song "Higher Love", and his second and third for Eric Clapton's Journeyman and Unplugged albums. Titelman also produced the 24 Nights live album of 1990 and the all-blues album From The Cradle, released in 1994.

Beginning his career in the 1960s, he has worked with musicians such as The Monkees, Dion Dimucci, George Harrison, Bee Gees, Little Feat, Christine McVie, Meat Loaf, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, The Allman Brothers Band, James Taylor, Rickie Lee Jones, Chaka Khan, Ry Cooder, Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot, Eric Clapton and Gerry Goffin. After having worked for Warner Bros. Records for 20 years, Titelman has been an independent producer since 1997.

Titelman started his independent music label Walking Liberty Records in New York. One of his first productions for the label was the debut album by the Oklahoma based singer-songwriter Jared Tyler. Released in 2005, Blue Alleluia included guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Mac McAnally and Mary Kay Place.

Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.

His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and much else. He has collaborated with many musicians, including Larry Blackmon, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Randy Newman, Earl Hines, Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, The Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Pops and Mavis Staples, Flaco Jiménez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Freddy Fender, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Ali Farka Touré. He formed the band Little Village with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner.

Ry Cooder produced the Buena Vista Social Club album (1997), which became a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed the documentary film of the same name (1999), which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000.

He was ranked eighth on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". A 2010 ranking by Gibson placed him at number 32.

Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE (22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the twin brother of Robin Gibb and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers. Their younger brother Andy was a popular solo singer. The trio got their start in Australia, and found major success when they returned to England. The Bee Gees became one of the most successful pop groups ever.

Born Maurice Ernest Gibb to Barbara (née Pass) and Hugh Gibb (d.1992) on the Isle of Man, Maurice was the fraternal twin brother of Robin Gibb, and the younger of the two by 35 minutes. The fourth-born of five children, he had one older sister, Lesley (b. 1945), and three brothers, Barry (b. 1946), twin Robin (1949–2012), and Andy (1958–1988). In the 1950s, the family moved to Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester, England, then in late 1958, they moved to Brisbane, Australia, settling in one of the city's poorest suburbs, Cribb Island, which was subsequently demolished to make way for the Brisbane Airport.

The Bee Gees were a musical group founded in 1958. The group's line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the late 1970s.

The group sang three-part tight harmonies that were instantly recognisable; Robin's clear vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the late 1970s and 1980s. The brothers wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.

Born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived their first few years in Chorlton, Manchester, England, then moved in the late 1950s to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, where they began their musical careers. After achieving their first chart success in Australia with "Spicks and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the United Kingdom in January 1967 where producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience.

Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens; March 23, 1953), frequently known as the "Queen of Funk", is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus.

While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career. Her signature hits, both with Rufus and as a solo performer, include "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing" which she wrote for her then husband Richard Holland, "Ain't Nobody", "I'm Every Woman", "I Feel for You" and "Through the Fire".