Glow or GLOW or The Glow may refer to:
Donavon Frankenreiter (born December 10, 1972, Downey, California) is an American musician and surfer. He is a long-time friend of Jack Johnson and his debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Johnson's Brushfire Records through Universal Music and made the Australian ARIA Top-40 charts in April 2004.
Frankenreiter took up surfing as a teenager on the beaches of San Clemente, California, and was eventually signed to a sponsorship deal with the Australian-based Billabong clothing company which allowed him to travel the world over.[citation needed] During his travels, he would rent a room in North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, from the parents of musician and surfing-enthusiast Jack Johnson which resulted in Frankenreiter and Johnson developing a strong friendship.
Donavon is also well known for his appearances in the Drive Thru series of surf videos.
Frankenreiter started playing in the group, Peanut Butter and Jam, at the age of 18. In 1996 he began to seriously pursue a musical career when he formed the band Sunchild. In Sunchild, Frankenreiter was the lead guitar player but did not sing. The band had a 70s rock sound similar in style to The Black Crowes. They released their first CD, Barefoot & Live, on Surfdog Records in 1997. Produced by Gary Hoey, the live album featured covers of The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison, as well as several originals. California Honey followed in 2000 on their own Sunchild Records. This studio album is now out-of-print. Sunchild disbanded in 2001 and Frankenreiter went on to pursue a solo career.
Shannon Rebecca Saunders (born 4 July 1994) is an English singer-songwriter who won the Disney Channel UK contest "My Camp Rock 2 in September 2010. Before My Camp Rock 2, Saunders had already had a following on YouTube. She is currently signed to Walt Disney Records.
Saunders attended Stagecoach Swindon on Saturdays where pupils spend three hours acting, dancing and singing.
Before entering My Camp Rock 2, Saunders started a YouTube channel in 2009 and starting posting covers of songs by many artists, including originals which have been copyrighted. As of September 26, 2010 she has over 17,000 subscribers and over 2 million total upload views. She has also performed at local festivals, videos of which can be found on YouTube.
In 2010, Saunders auditioned for the Disney Channel UK talent contest My Camp Rock 2, inspired by the Disney Channel Original Movie "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam which was the second series of the previous series in 2009, which was won by Holly Hull. She was chosen as one of the four finalists, along with Ryan Hulme, Parisa Tarjomani and Leanne Fotheringham. In the first episode, Saunders, along with the other training by John Modi and dance training by Beth Honan, and was set a challenge to go busking in Covent Garden. In the second episode, she, along with the finalists, was given "Introducing Me", sung by Nick Jonas in Camp Rock 2, to sing for the remainder of the show, and in that episode, at the International Youth Festival and was given advice by Simon Webbe. In the third episode, Saunders and the finalists were told they had to perform their songs at a gig in their hometowns, without the support of the other finalists or the presenters/choreographers. Saunders was set a challenge as a market trader to help her with her performance. In the next episode, her performance was shown and she, along with the finalists, were shown preparing for the Final Jam to be held at Koko Club in London, England.
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B. Among his well known songs are "Super Freak", "Mary Jane" and "You and I".
In addition to his music, James gained notoriety for his wild lifestyle, which led to widely publicized legal problems, and which was famously satirized by Chappelle's Show in 2004.
Rick James was born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. in Buffalo, New York. He attended Orchard Park High School and Bennett High School before dropping out at the age of 15. One of eight children, his father, an autoworker, abandoned him and his siblings when Rick was a child. His mother, a former vaudeville dancer, later reportedly ran errands for a Mafia family to make ends meet.[citation needed]
James grew up singing on street corners with fellow neighborhood boys. James' early idols included Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Temptations (particularly his uncle, Melvin Franklin). After briefly being involved in street crime, James dropped out of high school at 15 to avoid a possible draft and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. A year later, James left the Reserve after he began to miss weekend training, because it interfered with his music career.[not in citation given]
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is most notable for being the founder and front man of the popular Motown vocal group, The Miracles, for which he also served as the group's chief songwriter and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as The Five Chimes until 1972 when he announced a retirement from the stage to focus on his role as Motown's vice president.
However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year, later having solo hits such as "Baby That's Backatcha", "Quiet Storm", "The Agony and the Ecstasy", "Cruisin'", "Being With You" and "Just to See Her". Following the sale of Motown Records in 1988, Robinson left Motown in 1990. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Robinson was born in Detroit and raised in the city's North End section. At one point, he and Diana Ross were next-door neighbors; he said he has known Ross since she was eight. Robinson later told reporters when he was a child, his uncle christened him "Smokey Joe", which Robinson assumed was a "cowboy name for me" until he was later told that smokey was a pejorative term for dark-skinned Blacks. Robinson, who is mainly of African American descent and is light-skinned, remembers his uncle saying to him, "I'm doing this so you won't ever forget that you're black." Robinson grew up as a fan of Western films.