Steve "Silk" Hurley (born Steven Hurley on November 9, 1962, Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American club DJ, pioneering house-music producer, songwriter, and four time Grammy Award-nominee. Two times as Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical (in 1999 and 2000), respectively twice for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical (in 2002 and 2003).

From 1985 to 1988, he scored four Top 10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the number one hit "I Can't Turn Around", all released in collaboration with Keith Nunnally as J.M. Silk. With "Jack Your Body" (number #25 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play), he topped the UK Singles Chart in January 1987 as a solo artist, while one of his later compositions, "Work it Out" from 1989, brought him his fifth Top 10 record on US Dance (at number #3). To date, Hurley's last charting single "The Word Is Love (Say The Word)", also known as "Silk's Anthem of Life" by The Voices of Life, peaked in 1997 at #26 in England.

Hurley studied engineering at Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy (originally named Lindblom Technical High School) in Chicago, Illinois, and later at junior college but dropped out by 1981 to concentrate on his music career full-time.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye (he added the 'e' as a young man), was an acclaimed American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range, who achieved major success in the 1960s and 1970s as an artist for the Motown Records label. He was shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984.

Starting his career as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late 1950s, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960, signing with Motown Records subsidiary, Tamla. He started off as a session drummer, but later ranked as the label's top-selling solo artist during the 1960s. He was crowned "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul". because of solo hits such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell.

His work in the early- and mid-1970s included the albums, What's Going On, Let's Get It On, and I Want You, which helped influence the quiet storm, urban adult contemporary, and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early 1980s, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album before his death.

Robin Charles Thicke ( /ˈθɪk/; born March 10, 1977) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. Thicke's albums, which he previously released under the name Thicke, are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B sound. Thicke has written hits for popular artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Mary J. Blige and Raven-Symoné. Thicke has also been acknowledged for his work in popular albums such as Confessions and Tha Carter III.

Thicke is a judge on the ABC show Duets.

Before his days as a singer-songwriter, Thicke had written "Love Is On My Side" on Brandy's self-titled album and a number of songs for 3T's "Sexual Attention" and collaborated with Jordan Knight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs in Knight's 1999 album Jordan Knight. He also co-wrote the songs "When You Put Your Hands On Me" for Christina Aguilera's debut album and "No Tears on My Pillow" for Mýa's sophomore release, Fear of Flying. As an artist, he recorded and performed solely under his surname, Thicke. He would continue to do so until 2005.

Chantay Savage is an R&B/dance singer who found substantial success in the 1990s with "I Will Survive", in which she reworked the Gloria Gaynor disco anthem. In total her singles have spent 452 weeks on various Billboard singles charts, and her albums have spent a total of 81 weeks on various Billboard charts.

Before Savage signed a recording contract, she parlayed success into gigs as a session musician, singer, and songwriter with artists such as CeCe Peniston and Tanya Blount, she co-wrote Peniston's number one Dance single "We Got a Love Thang". In 1993 she released her first single "If You Believe" from her debut album Here We Go..., her follow-up "Betcha'll Never Find" became a top twenty dance and R&B hit on the Billboard chart. She also released the singles "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" and "Give It to Ya".

In 1995 she teamed up with Aaliyah, En Vogue, BlackGirl, Mary J. Blige, Vanessa Williams, SWV, and others for the single "Freedom" from the movie Panther.

Savage took two years off before she returned in 1996 with "I Will Survive" from her second album I Will Survive (Doin' It My Way). The lead single became a moderate smash in the U.S., where it reached #5 on Billboard's R&B chart, and number 12 in the UK Singles Chart. The single was also certified gold by the RIAA for US single sales of over 500,000 units. In 1997 she, along with Deborah Cox, Heavy D, and Brownstone performed Janet Jackson's #1 single "That's the Way Love Goes" at the Soul Train Music Awards tribute to the popular icon. In 1998 Savage scored another minor hit with "Reminding Me (Of Sef)", performed by Common. It was a top 10 hit on Billboard's Hot Rap chart.