Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat (for bands from Liverpool beside the River Mersey) is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo-wop, skiffle, R&B and soul. The beat movement provided most of the bands responsible for the British invasion of the American pop charts in the period after 1964, and provided the model for many important developments in pop and rock music, including the format of the rock group around lead, rhythm and bass guitars with drums.

The exact origins of the terms Beat music and Merseybeat are uncertain. Beat music seems to have had little to do with the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s, and more to do with driving rhythms, which the bands had adopted from their rock and roll, rhythm and blues and soul music influences. As the initial wave of rock and roll declined in the later 1950s "big beat" music, later shortened to "beat", became a live dance alternative to the balladeers like Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard who were dominating the charts. The term Mersey Beat was used for a Liverpool magazine of that name found in 1961 by Bill Harry. Harry claims to have coined the term "based on a policeman's beat and not that of the music". The band the Pacifics were renamed the Mersey Beats in February 1962 by Bob Wooler, MC at the Cavern Club and in April that year they became The Merseybeats. The equivalent scenes in Birmingham and London would be described as Brum beat and the Tottenham Sound respectively.

Mark Guiliana (born Florham Park‚ New Jersey in 1980) is an American drummer, composer, and leader of the band Beat Music. He is known for his playing with Avishai Cohen's Trio and Quartet, Meshell Ndegeocello, Dhafer Youssef, Gretchen Parlato, Tigran Hamasyan, Matisyahu, and his old band Heernt.

Brett Eldredge (born 1986) is an American country music singer signed to Atlantic Records Nashville. He is the cousin of Terry Eldredge of The Grascals.

He was born in 1986 in Paris, Illinois. He is the son of Robin and Chris Eldredge, and has an older brother, Brice, and a cousin, Terry.

He went to school at the Paris Cooperative High School. There he played sports, such as basketball and football, and did many other activites. He starred in the muscial production of Honk!, as the Ugly duckling.

He went on to graduate from Paris High School and also earn a degree from Chicago's Elmhurst College.

Eldredge co-wrote the track "I Think I've Had Enough" for Gary Allan, who recorded it for his album Get Off on the Pain. Eldredge released his first single, "Raymond," on September 27, 2010. It debuted at number 52 on the Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week ending October 16, 2010. It peaked at number 23, followed by "It Ain't Gotta Be Love", which reached number 46.

Eldredge performed on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time on October 29, 2010.

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.