EMINEM

Eminem, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, 17 October 1973, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. This white rapper burst onto the US charts in 1999 with a controversial take on the horrorcore genre. Mathers endured an itinerant childhood, living with his mother in various states before eventually ending up in Detroit at the age of 12. He took up rapping in high school before dropping out in ninth grade, joining ad hoc groups Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and D12. The newly named Eminem released a raw debut album in 1997 through independent label FBT. Infinite was poorly received, however, with Eminem earning unfavourable comparisons to leading rappers such as Nas and AZ. His determination to succeed was given a boost by a prominent feature in Source's Unsigned Hype column, and he gained revenge on his former critics when he won the Wake Up Show's Freestyle Performer Of The Year award, and finished runner-up in Los Angeles' annual Rap Olympics. The following year's The Slim Shady EP, named after his sinister alter-ego, featured some vitriolic attacks on his detractors. The stand-out track, "Just Don't Give A fuck", became a highly popular underground hit, and led to guest appearances on MC Shabaam Sahddeq's "Five Star Generals" single and Kid Rock's Devil Without A Cause set. As a result, Eminem was signed to Aftermath Records by label boss Dr. Dre, who adopted the young rapper as his protege and acted as co-producer on Eminem's full-length debut. Dre's beats featured prominently on The Slim Shady LP, a provocative feast of violent, twisted lyrics, with a moral outlook partially redeemed by Eminem's claim to be only "voicing" the thoughts of the Slim Shady character. Parody or no parody, lyrics to tracks such as "97 Bonnie & Clyde" (which contained lines about killing the mother of his child) and frequent verbal outbursts about his mother were held by many, outside even the usual Christian moral majority, to be deeply irresponsible. The album was buoyed by the commercial success of the singles "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience" (the former helped by a striking, MTV-friendly video), and climbed to number 2 on the US album chart in March 1999.

Eminem subsequently made high profile appearances on Rawkus Records' Soundbombing Volume 2 compilation and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's Da Real World. He was also in the news when his mother filed a lawsuit claiming that comments made by the rapper during interviews and on The Slim Shady LP had caused, amongst other things, emotional distress, damage to her reputation and loss of self-esteem. None of which harmed the sales of Eminem's follow-up album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which debuted at number 1 on the US album chart in May 2000 and established him as the most successful rapper since the mid-90s heyday of 2Pac and Snoop Doggy Dogg. By the end of the year, however, his troubled personal life and a serious assault charge had removed the gloss from his phenomenal commercial success. Despite criticism from gay rights groups, the rapper swept up three Grammy Awards the following February. He also reunited with his D12 colleagues to record the transatlantic chart-topping Devil's Night.

Christina Aguilera

Name :Christina Aguilera
Date of birth : 18 December 1980
Place of birth :Staten Island, New York, USA
Birth name : Christina Maria Aguilera
Nickname : Chrissy
Height : 5' 2½


Christina Maria Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American pop singer and ex-Mouseketeer who rose to fame in the late 1990s with her debut hit song Genie in a Bottle. She was born in Staten Island, New York, USA. Her first song recorded was in Japan, but she only caught the attention of Americans when she released the song reflection for the Disney animated production of Mulan. The video clip featured a young Christina with a bob hair cut, who did not know what was ahead of her young career. Catering to the fresh pop sound that was popular of the era, her career is still going strong in the year 2002, although her image has become increasingly sexual. In the year 2000 she emphasized her Latino heritage, following the Latino trend of the time, by releasing her first Latin album, Mi Reflejo. At this time she claimed to have been learning Spanish. By the year 2002, however, her previously heralded vocals were much overlooked as she began to change her fresh, youthful image into that of a highly sexualized woman with hip-hop and porn-star influences. The video for her 2002 single Dirrty featured her writhing with members of both sexes including a female-only shower scene in which she was wearing only a thong and a bra. She claimed that releasing her first song had consequently catagorised her into the clean, squeaky, pop tart range and was not her. She added that she felt suffocated, and deliberately escaped from the media to return later on as herself, and expressing her voice. The Dirrty video also made the news when the government of Thailand banned the video from national television, because a pair of posters that appear in the background of the boxing ring advertise, in Thai language, the sex tourism and underage girls of Thailand. The producers and director of the video claimed to be ignorant of the meaning of the posters. She is currently banned from entering Thailand as it offended the Thai people. Her 2nd official English speaking album, Stripped, was ranked one of the worst albums to have been released by many charts, but fans beg to differ. Stripped features many interludes, one before the track, Infatuation, which features her speaking fluent Spanish. Aguilera's voice has been complemented with brilliance several times, and even in comparison to diva, Mariah Carey.


Her parents are: Shelly Kearns and Fausto Aguilera
Co-wrote Kelly Clarkson's hit single, "Miss Independent".
Is #1 on Maxim's Hot 100 of 2003.
Is the host of MTV's 2003 Europe Music Awards.
Her parents were married in the LDS Temple in Washington D.C.
Debuted on national TV at age 8 in "Star Search"
At 11, she was the youngest person to perform the national anthem at a major sporting event at that time
Nominated for five 2003 Grammys, Song of the Year, "Beautiful", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, "Beautiful", Best Pop Collaberation with Vocal, "Can't Hold Us Down" (with Lil'Kim), Best Pop Vocal Album, "Stripped" and Best Remixed Recording, "Beautiful"(Peter Rauhofer, Remixer.)
Nominated for five 2004 Grammys, Song of the Year, "Beautiful", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, "Beautiful", Best Pop Collaberation with Vocal, "Can't Hold Us Down" (w/ Lil'Kim), Best Pop Vocal Album, "Stripped" and Best Remixed Recording, "Beautiful" (Peter Rauhofer, Remixer.)
Has a Cadillac SUV and a Range Rover.
Nominated for the 2004 Echo Awards Best International Female.
Christina Aguilera/Justin Timberlake's "Justified and Stripped" tour came in first in the Rolling Stone 2003 Readers' Poll for Best Tour.
Received 3 BRIT Award nominations, Best International Female Solo Artist, Best International Album, and Best Pop.
Has joined forces with Fetish, the cosmetic line to come out with a line of her own.
Won the 2004 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, with her song, "Beautiful".
Her much talked about, ground-breaking, record-setting video "Dirrty" cost an estimated $5 million dollars to make.
In the year 2003 she made an estimated $29.7 million dollars, in album sales, and endorsement campaigns.
Her video, Fighter, has six nominations for the 2004 Music Video Production Association awards for best pop video, best hair and best makeup, best cinematography, best styling and best direction of a female artist.
She is #3 on Maxim's Hot 100 List for 2004.

Shakira

Name : Shakira
Birth date :February 2, 1977
Birth Place :Barranquilla, Colombia
Birth Name : Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Height : 5'2
Nationality :Colombian
Occupation :Musician
Known For :Album : 'Pies Descalzos'

The Latin-pop superstar, born Shakira Mebarak Ripoll in the coastal city of Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira, who goes by her first name only in Arabic means "woman full of grace," belies her ancestry. She is the daughter of a Colombian mother and a Lebanese father-a jeweler and writer whose Arabic background greatly influenced his daughter. Shakira's fondness for music was apparent early on, and she started winning local and national talent contests at age 10. While in school, Shakira was making her musical talent known by winning talent shows playing the guitar, and she was even kicked out of her school choir because her voice drowned out the other choir singers. Elsewhere, Shakira impressed judges at local and national competitions, who declared her winner of these contests. By 13, she had signed a record deal with Sony in Colombia, which resulted in her first album, "Magia (Magic)," a compilation of songs she wrote between the ages of 8 and 13. It was an effort that put Shakira in Colombia's musical map, and led to her being chosen to represent her country at the Fesival OTI in Spain. Because she was under the minimum age of 16, she wasn't allowed to participate. So instead, Shakira recorded a second album of original material, "Peligro (Danger)." At that point, Shakira took a break from music, graduated from high school (at age 15-really) and came back with a vengeance. The result was the phenomenally successful "Pies Descalzos," a hit-laden smash, which has sold close to four million copies worldwide. Shakira became an international sensation touring for an almost solid two years, playing her songs to sold-out audiences throughout the world. In Brazil alone, "Pies Descalzos" sold in excess of 900,000 copies, leading Shakira to record remixes in Portuguese for her Brazilian fans. She abandoned the light pop format she had been doing and declined her label's suggestion to explore more commercial avenues. Instead, she insisted on recording her very own brand of music: a blend of pop and rock that was unprecedented for a Colombian musician, much less a woman. Such a smashing hit seems impossible to surpass. But Shakira has done it with "Donde Estan los Ladrones," a collection of potential hits that further explores the realms of rock 'n' roll without losing Shakira's authenticity. Produced by über-producer Emilio Estefan -- who also became her manager -- the album is the perfect blend of gritty, thought-provoking lyrics and rock-laden tracks, while still preserving the Shakira that her original fans knew and loved. No wonder, then, that it was Shakira who was chosen among dozens of female Latin singers to grace the cover of Time Magazine in a recent article titled "Era of the Rockera". For the most exciting singer/songwriter to come out of Latin America in years, the possibilities are endless. For the millions that already buy her albums, she is already the voice of a new generation.

50 Cent

Name : 50 Cent
Birth Name : Curtis James Jackson
Date of Birth : 6 July 1975
Place of Birth :Queens, New York, New York, USA
Height : 6'
Nationality : American
Profession :Musician
Claim to Fame : Debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin' produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre (2003).
Sometimes Called : G-Unit, C. Jackson, Curtis Jackson


Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has lived in New York City all his life. Raised by his grandparents after his father ran out and his mother was shot when he was only eight. Growing up, the Queens rapper originally wanted to be a heavyweight boxer, but eventually fell back on rapping. DJs had taken it upon themselves to release two Best of 50 Cent mix CDs, before he had even signed to a major label. 50 Cent hit the scene with "How To Rob An Industry Nigga" and he's been on a rampage ever since dealing with bootleggers, label back stabbing and other platinum selling artists trying to get at him physically. In 1999, 50 Cent's album Power of the Dollar, was heavily bootlegged and Trackmasters/Columbia never released it. Supposedly, Trackmasters weren't comfortable with him being caught up in the streets and getting shot three days before filming the video for "Thug Love," (with Destiny's Child) -- his first single. 50 Cent was shot nine times that night, two shots hitting him in the head, the bullet that struck his face he carries as a reminder of what happened. That event led to the fall out with Columbia and negotiating his release from their grasps. 50 Cent still showed love and rhymed over a Trackmasters produced remix of "I'm Gonna Be Alright" on J-Lo's latest album, but rivals at Murder Inc. had 50 Cent cut from the track which could have launched the rapper. This all changed in one night when Eminem said on a radio show that "50 Cent is definitely my favorite rapper right now, he's the only one keeping it real." The very next day a bidding war started on 50, ending when 50 Cent signed to Eminem's very own label Shady/Aftermath. 50 Cent's fame has exploded, being produced by Dr. Dre and Eminem and finally making his debut album "Get rich or Die Tryin'." 50 has full access and advantage of the streets through mix-tapes; that's his forum because he controls it. 50 Cent is the most anticipated artist of 2003. It's well deserved because he's "been patiently waiting."


His debut album "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was the highest debut ever with 900,000 copies sold in the first week.
His mother was killed at the age of 23. 50 Cent was only 8 years old at the time
Was discovered by Jason Mizell aka Jam Master Jay.
Grew up in the same area of Queens, New York as actor Dwayne Winstead's cousin Ted Witherspoon.
Voted #8 on VH1's 100 Hottest Hotties
Used to be a boxer
Neither drinks alcohol nor smokes.
He bought former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson's Farmington, Conn., mansion for $4.1 million. The house is approximately 50,000 square feet, has 52 rooms, and was bought by Tyson for $2.7 million in 1996.

Snoop Dogg

Name :Snoop Dogg
Birth Date :October 20, 1972
Birth Place :Long Beach, California, USA
Birth Name :Cordozar Broadus
Height : 6' 3
Education :High School
Nationality :American
Profession : Actor, rapper


Born Calvin Broadus in Long Beach, California, the eccentric rapper was nicknamed Snoop by his mother because of his appearance. He took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg (later changed to Snoop Dogg) when he began recording. As a teenager on the streets of Long Beach, Snoop was always in some sort of trouble, and after graduating from high school, he served three years in prison for possession of cocaine. Like most rappers that walked the streets of the late 80’s and the early 90’s though, Snoop soon found an escape from crime through his musical talents, recording homemade tapes with friend Warren G, who was also related to the infamous Dr. Dre. After Warren introduced Snoop, Dre was instantly impressed with the young rapper’s unique style and menacing appearance, urging him to tag along on his next album, “The Chronic.” As a major player on Dre’s debut solo album, Snoop set the groundwork for his own release, but after he was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting, his highly anticipated album was put on hold. He first appeared in 1990 when helping out Dr Dre on a track called 'Deep Cover', from the film of the same title. Dogg was also ubiquitious on Dr Dre's breakthrough album, The Chronic. In '93 Snoop came out with his first solo-album, Doggystyle. Doggy Style was the most eagerly anticipated album in rap history, and the first debut album to enter the Billboard chart at number 1. In '95 Snoop was suspected on the murder of Philip Woldermariam, shot by his bodyguard McKinley Lee, while Snoop was driving the car. The verdict on February 20 1996 acquitted Dogg and McKinley Lee of both murder charges and the manslaughter cases were dropped in April. The trial had not overtly damaged his record sales; his debut has now topped 7 million copies worldwide, and the follow up Tha Doggfather entered the USA album chart at number 1. But in March '98 he left Deathrow Records and he moved to Master P.'s No Limit Records. He released his third album Da game is to be sold, not to be told in August and he is busy with his fourth solo-album Top Dogg.

Sting

Name :Sting
Date of birth :2 October 1951
Place of birth : Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
Birth name : Gordon Matthew Sumner
Height : 6' (183 cm)


Sumner was born in Newcastle, England to Audrey and Ernest Sumner, a milkman, and raised a Roman Catholic. From an early age, he knew that he wanted to be a musician. He attended the University of Warwick in Coventry, but did not graduate. From 1971 to 1974, he attended Northern Counties Teacher Training College. He is the oldest of 4 children and has a brother, Philip, and two sisters, Angela and Anita. Philip owns a pub in Newcastle, Angela works for British Airways, and Anita is an artist. Before playing music professionally, Sumner worked as a ditch digger and a primary school teacher. His first music gigs were wherever he could get a job. He played with local jazz bands such as the Phoenix Jazzmen and Last Exit. It is most likely that he gained his nickname while with the Jazzmen. He once performed wearing a black and yellow striped jersey that fellow band member Gordon Solomon had noted made him look like a bumblebee, thus he became Sting. He uses Sting almost exclusively, except on official documents. In 1977, Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers, formed the rock/pop band The Police in London. The group had several chart topping albums and won six Grammy Awards in the early 1980s, including their arguably best well-known song, Every Breath You Take. Their last album, Synchronicity was released in 1983. The Police attempted a reunion in 1986 with re-recording of their song "Don't Stand So Close to Me", but did not stay together.


Bass player and lead singer for influential 70s-80s new wave group 'The Police'.
His favorite music is actually jazz.
Was a certified primary school teacher in England. He also taught English in a secondary school in Cramlington near Newcastle.
Got his nickname "Sting" from the black and gold rugby shirts he used to wear, which made him look like a hornet.
Sting appeared in Threepenny Opera in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s.
Attended Warwick University in Coventry, England but never graduated.
Son, Joseph, is a singer in a band and bears a striking resemblance to Sting. Joe's singing sounds similar to his father's as well.
Is the godfather of Madonna's new born, Rocco.
The comic book character John Constantine from DC's Hellblazer was designed to look like Sting.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Police) on 10 March 2003.
Album "Nothing Like the Sun" is dedicated to his mother, Audrey.
Children: Joseph (b. 23 November 1976), Fuchsia Katherine (b. 17 April 1982) by Frances Tomelty; Brigitte "Mickey" Michael (b. 19 January 1984), Jake (b. 24 May 1985), Eliot "Coco" Paulina (b. 30 July 1990), Giacomo Luke (b. 17 December 1995) by Trudie Styler.
Filmed his son Jake's birth and put in his movie, Bring on the Night (1985)
He was a member of Band Aid (1984).
Appointed CBE in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Bryan Adams

Name :Bryan Adams
Birth Name :Bryan Guy Adams
Date of Birth :November 5, 1959
Place of Birth :Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Height : 5'8
Nationality :Canadian
Profession : actor, musician



Dating Cecilie Thomsen (c. 1997 - ?)
Bryan, RJ Lange, and Michael Kamen wrote a song for the 1996 film, 101 Dalmations. The song was not used in the film, however, but is available on Adams' 18 Til I Die album.
Refused to allow his song "Only the Strong Survive", from his album "Into the Fire", to be used for the film Top Gun (1986), because he felt that the movie glorified war.
Is a vegan.
Current girlfriend can be seen in at least two of his videos -- "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?" and "Let's Make A Night To Remember"
He may be Canada's most successful pop/rock singer, but his parents were both British citizens and he currently resides in Britain. However, he still has a studio in Canada.
His fourth album, Reckless, is the best-selling Canadian album of all time. He received the Diamond Sales Award (equivalent of a platinum award in the US) for the album, a first for a Canadian.
Has been nominated for 13 Grammy nominations. Recorded "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" in Spanish in 1992. Has received the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for outstanding Canadian citizenship.
His 1991 album was declared "non-Canadian" at the time, because some of the songs were co-authored by RJ Lange, who's British. The regulations later changed and Waking Up The Neighbours was declared a Canadian album.
Refuses to attend the Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent of the Grammys) because they, according to his manager, Bruce Allen, "turned their back on the biggest thing to come out" of Canada (referring to Adams' hit "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You").
In 1976 joined replaced the lead singer of a band called Sweeney Todd. He recorded several songs for them before leaving the band in 1977. On those recordings, his voice was speeded up so it didn't sound so raspy.
Of his #1 hits, only one ("Please Forgive Me") was not written for a motion picture.
The title theme to the film A Night in Heaven (1983) was recorded at the time of the film's release, and at the time, his third album, Cuts Like A Knife, yielded several Top 10 hits. The song was later included in his fourth album, Reckless (1984), which later became a Top 10 hit. The same album also has a duet with Tina Turner titled "It's Only Love."
Had a number one single for 16 weeks (4 months) in Britain with (everything I do) I do it for you.


With his distinctive vocals and blue-collar songwriting skills, Canadian icon Bryan Adams' take on rock 'n' roll basics found a niche that has lasted for over 20 years. Adams solo career was launched with the release of his self-titled debut album Bryan Adams in February of 1980 on A&M Records. Adams had already been touring, recording demos and working as a studio musician paying his rent for a few years, but it was when Adams formed a song-writing partnership with drummer Jim Vallance that things started to happen.



In November 1999, Adams issued a second hits compilation, The Best of Me, but the American branch of A&M/Interscope declined to release it. The title track _The Best Of Me_ charted all over Europe and in Canada. Adams returned in the spring of 2002 collaborating with Hans Zimmer on his first full-length song score for a film, the animated DreamWorks feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The soundtrack made it into the Top 40 and Adams and Zimmer earned a Golden Globe Nomination for their collaboration. His most recent work is entitled Room Service, which was released in September of 2004 where it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard European Top 100 albums Chart. Room Service is currently pending a US release in 2005

Justin Timberlake

Name :Justin Timberlake
Date of Birth :January 31, 1981
Place of Birth :Memphis, Tennessee
Birth Name :justin Randall Timberlake
Education : High School Mickey Mouse Club
Relationship :Britney Spears (singer; broke up in March 2002)
Nationality : American
Occupation : Singer


For Justin, son of a bluegrass musician, performance began early. The curly haired moppet appeared on the Star Search TV talent contest at age 11, and was signed the next year to the Disney Channel’s 90’s remake of the Mickey Mouse Club (1993-94). There he met future band-mate JC, and a year after that the two had been put together with three more singers/dancers to tour Europe as ’N Sync. Back in the States, they recorded their close harmonies on a debut self-titled album (1998), immediately following its success (seven million copies sold) with Home For Christmas (1998). Immense popularity in Europe and subsequent immense popularity in North America came as no surprise to supporters; the boys of the band give their all at each performance, truly entertaining their audiences. Most recently, the release of the band’s album, No Strings Attached (2000), was delayed while the lawsuit played out, but promises to be another monster hit. Fans who can’t get enough are also promised the release of the soundtrack (complete with ’N Sync vocals) to the film Dr Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). His own education is difficult, with concerts six nights a week, 300 days a year, but Timberlake did earn his high school diploma – it’s just that he received it, not in a usual gymnasium commencement, but during a Memphis concert. He, as well, has put some engineering and computer skills to work, designing the track of a virtual Disney rollercoaster ride. Timberlake has recently, too, broken into acting and will appear as a “male model” in a World of Walt Disney feature entitled Model Behaviour/Janine and Alex: Cover Girls. He cares a great deal about performance, lending his name and energies to the Justin Timberlake Foundation, initiated to support theatre arts and music in public schools in America. Timberlake has an upcoming appointment with the U.S. President and First Lady to further develop the program. More acting is upcoming for the teen heartthrob. He is to star, along with his band-mates, in the stage musical Grease 3, and all plan to have a bit of fun lending their voices to an episode of the animated television series, The Simpsons.

Linkin Park

Name :Linkin Park
Profession :Nu metal/rapcore band
Nickname : Lq


Released a remix album in 2002 called "Reanimation".
Released their second album of new material in March, 2003 called "Meteora". It sold more than 810,000 copies in its first week.
Were the highest-selling music act of 2001, having sold more than 8 million copies of their 2000 debut album, "Hybrid Theory".
Band consists of Chester Bennington, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Joseph Hahn, Mike Shinoda and Phoenix Farrell.
Linkin Park, prior to 2000, was known as "Hybrid Theory", which also turned out to be the name of their first album as "Linkin Park".
Also have been known as Xero before Chester, with the lead singer of Mark Lund, who is now Taproots Manager.
Linkin Park has had several bassist swaps, Kyle Christner (now in the band NoseDive) was the bassist for Hybrid Theory, then Phoenix was back, while Phoenix was touring with "The Snax," Scott Koziol was a step in bassist, then finally, Phoenix came back for good...


Linkin Park is a nu metal/rapcore band from Los Angeles, California, currently signed to Warner Brothers Records. They are often considered the most famous and most commercially successful exponents of the nu metal genre, mainly due to their debut album Hybrid Theory (2000), which has sold 19 million copies worldwide to date. Linkin Park have a global music publishing deal with Zomba Music Publishing, a division of BMG Music Publishing. Their entire song catalogue is represented by Zomba. Upon graduating from Washington High School in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1994, vocalist Chester Bennington joined a band called Grey Daze. The band released two albums, No Sun Today and Wake Me. However, due to personal conflicts within the band, Bennington decided to leave. Meanwhile, in 1996, guitarist Brad Delson and emcee Mike Shinoda graduated from Agoura High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills, California. Upon graduation, the two men formed a band with their friend, drummer Rob Bourdon, under the moniker SuperXero. Previously, Delson and Bourdon were in a band together for about a year called "Relative Degree".

Some of the artists featuring on the album included Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Stephen Richards of Taproot, Kelli Ali of Sneaker Pimps, Aaron Lewis of Staind, the Humble Brothers, Jonathan Davis of Korn, Aceyalone, The X-Ecutioners, Black Thought and Jay Gordon of Orgy. The project was released on July 30, 2002 and its first and only single was "Pts.of.Athrty" ("Points of Authority") remixed by Orgy's Jay Gordon. In November, the second edition of the LPU launched as "Underground 2.0" and the second package was revealed. The new fan club-only EP featured the Crystal Method's remix of "Points of Authority" and a song called "Dedicated", which has been speculated as being cut from the band's EP before it was pressed. There's also a fifty-second instrumental track entitled "A.06" which showcases a harder side of the band. This instrumental gave fans a new hope allowing them to believe that the band's second album would be harder than Hybrid Theory. It also elevated hype for the band's follow-up.

Back Street Boys

The Backstreet Boys:Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson have become a hit in Europe and are growing to star status in the United States.Their singles, ''Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)'' and ''As Long As You Love Me'' are topping the charts.''As Long As you Love Me'' won MTV Europe's Select Award.Select is MTV Europe's jukebox show allowing viewers the opportunity to request favorite videos from a menu on the screen.

The BBoys have been close friends for over five years.They are five solo acts who joined together and love what they do.Kevin and Brian are cousins who come from musical families.They sang in church choirs and did a lot of family harmonizing growing up in Kentucky.A. J., Nick and Howie, all solo singers, met at auditions in Orlando.To pass the time, while waiting to audition, they would harmonize.Their singing had a sound of its own.They met up with Brian and Kevin and that was the beginning of the Backstreet Boys.In the future the BBoys are looking into the possibility of a TV series about the day to day lives of a popular.
singing group. It would incorporate the work and the fun. Nothing is set, just in the planning stages.



Name :
Backstreet Boys

Foundation :
1992

Band Members :
Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean
First released record :
Quit Playing Games With My Heart - 1997

Breakthrough :
Quit Playing Games With My Heart - 1997

Labels :
Jive, BMG, Zomba, Mushroom, Chrome Dreams, Import
Music styles :
Pop, Dance

Jennifer Lopez

Actress and pop singer. Born July 24, 1970, in the Bronx, New York. Lopez began her career as a dancer, appearing in stage musicals and various music videos. In 1990, she won a national competition and earned a spot dancing on the popular Fox comedy television series, "In Living Color," as one of the "Fly Girls." A series of small acting jobs followed, including parts in two more series and a TV movie, Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7, in 1993. Lopez's first feature film was the critically acclaimed Mi Familia, or My Family, in 1995. She also appeared in Money Train (1995), opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, and in Jack (1996), directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Robin Williams.
Lopez's first big break came in 1997, when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena Quintillana Perez, who was killed by a crazed fan in 1995. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including a Golden Globe nomination, and became the highest-paid Latina actress in history with her paycheck of $1 million. That same year, Lopez starred in the forgettable Anaconda and in Blood and Wine, opposite Jack Nicholson. Her role as federal marshal Karen Sisco in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, a film based on the Elmore Leonard novel and co-starring George Clooney, further enhanced her image as a bankable movie star.
Lopez's musical career also began to take off, as she released her debut Latin pop album, On the 6 in June 1999. The album, fueled by the success of her hit single, "If You Had My Love," went platinum within two weeks, making Lopez—along with Ricky Martin—one of the most influential examples of the growing Latin cultural influence in pop music.


Early in 2000, Lopez was nominated for Best Dance Performance for her second hit single "Waiting for Tonight," but lost the award to veteran diva Cher. In the summer of 2000, she starred in the science fiction-thriller The Cell, in which she plays a child psychologist helping to track a terrifying serial killer. The same year, she starred in Enough, a portrayal of spousal abuse.
The popularity of the multi-talented Lopez reached new heights in early 2001, when her album, J. Lo debuted at No. 1 on the pop charts, while her film, the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, shot to the top spot at the box office in its first week of release. In December 2002, she performed another one-two punch with the release of the record This Is Me ... Then and a starring role in the comedy Maid in Manhattan, which was a box office hit, if not a critical one. In 2003, she co-starred with Ben Affleck in the box office bomb, Gigli. Other projects included Jersey Girl (also with Affleck) and An Unfinished Life, in which she played a single mom taken in by her father-in-law played by Robert Redford. She also starred opposite Richard Gere in Shall We Dance?, a remake of the top-grossing Japanese flick.


Lopez was briefly married, in 1997, to Ojani Noa, a model and actor. She then had a lengthy and widely publicized relationship with rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. In December 1999, Combs and Lopez were allegedly involved in a shooting incident outside a New York City nightclub, in which three people were injured. Combs was later charged with gun possession and bribery, as prosecutors claimed he offered his driver, Wardel Fenderson, $50,000 to say that the loaded gun police found at the scene of the crime was Fenderson's. He was acquitted of all charges, but Combs confirmed in mid-February that he and Lopez had separated.


Lopez has recently found time to join forces with her husband. She acts along side him in the 2006 film El Cantante, which stars Marc Anthony as Hector Lavoe, the internationally acclaimed salsa singer. True to life, Lopez plays Puchi, Lavoe's wife.

Elvis Presley

Popular singer and film actor, born in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA. An only child (a twin brother was stillborn), he was raised in a religious home. As a boy he sang with his local Assembly of God church choir, which emulated the style of African-American psalm singing. At age 10 he won a school singing contest and taught himself the rudiments of the guitar (though he never really could read music). In 1948 he moved with his family to Memphis, TN, where he graduated from high school (1953) and began working as a truck driver and studying at night classes to be an electrician. Later that year he made a private recording for his mother at the Memphis Sound Studio, where he attracted the attention of proprietor Sam Phillips (1923–2003), who also operated Sun Records, a fledgling blues label. In July 1954 Phillips had Presley record his first singles, ‘That's All Right, Mama’ and ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’, a synthesis of rhythm-and-blues and country-and-western that was for a time described as ‘rockabilly’. The record made an immediate impression on local listeners, who were bewildered to learn that Presley was white, but their enthusiasm for his style of dress, bodily movements, and music signalled the beginnings of rock 'n' roll.
He toured the South as the Hillbilly Cat and performed on a Shreveport, LA radio station, and after releasing his first national hit on Sun Records, he moved to RCA Records under the tutelage of his ambitious personal manager, ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker. His first national television appearance was actually in 1955 on Jackie Gleason's Stage Show, but it was his 1956 appearance on Ed Sullivan's Talk of the Town that made him a national sensation: his pelvic gyrations were considered so scandalous that he was shown only from the waist up. That same year he released his first million-selling single, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and starred in Love Me Tender, the first of 33 relatively bland films he eventually made. He was forced to interrupt his career while serving in the US Army (1958–60), but he returned to his recording and film careers with undimmed success and solidified what became virtually an industry.


He scored his last chart-topping single in 1969, but in 1973 his television special, ‘Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii’ was broadcast to a potential worldwide audience of over a billion people, and he carved out a new career as a flashy nightclub performer even as he broadened his repertoire to include traditional and religious songs. In 1973, following his divorce from his wife Priscilla Presley, he became increasingly drug-dependent and overweight, and he spent his last years living reclusively at his Memphis home, Graceland. His death at age 42 shocked his many admirers, who have never given up on the music, mementoes, and memory of the man they regard as ‘the King of rock 'n' roll’. A remix of an earlier song ‘A Little Less Conversation’ topped the UK charts in 2002, giving Elvis his 18th number one hit in Britain. He was inducted into the inaugural UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. In January 2005, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was re-released to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday and topped the UK charts. Later the same month his single ‘One Night’ made history by becoming the 1000th UK number one.

Mariah Carey

Singer. Born March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York to Alfred Roy Carey, a Venezuelan aeronautical engineer; and Patricia Carey, a voice coach and opera singer. Has two older siblings: a brother, Morgan, and a sister, Alison.
Carey is known as one of the top “pop divas” of the 1990s, having sold more than eighty million albums worldwide. Her voice spans more than five octaves and she writes most of her own music.
Carey’s parents divorced when she was three. She stunned her mother by imitating her operatic singing as early as age two, and was given singing lessons starting at age four. After graduating in 1987 from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, Carey moved to Manhattan where she worked as a waitress, coat check girl, and studied cosmetology while writing songs and actively pursuing a music career at night.


When she was eighteen, Carey and her friend, singer Brenda K. Starr, went to a party hosted by CBS Records. Starr convinced Carey to bring along one of her demo tapes. She intended to give the tape to Columbia’s Jerry Greenberg, but Tommy Mottola, the president of Columbia Records (later Sony), intercepted it before she could hand it to Greenberg. After listening to the tape on the way home from the party, Mottola signed Carey immediately and set her to work on her first album, Mariah Carey (1990) which included four No. 1 singles: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Some Day,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” Her second album Emotions was released in 1992; the title track became her fifth No. 1 single, and included hits “Can’t Let Go” and “Make it Happen.”
In March 1992, Carey appeared on MTV’s Unplugged. This performance was released as an album and a home video, resulting in another No. 1 single (a cover of The Jacksons’ “I’ll Be There”). Her next album Music Box (1993) cut back a bit on the lavish studio production techniques heard in her previous albums, and included the No. 1 singles, “Dreamlover” and “Hero.” Her November 1994 release Merry Christmas combined traditional Christian hymns with new songs. In 1995 she released Daydream; the first single “Fantasy” debuted at No. 1. It also included collaborations with R&B and hip-hop artists, such as Wu-Tang Clan and Boyz II Men (“One Sweet Day”).



In June 1993, Carey married Mottola in a spectacular ceremony at Manhattan’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church. The couple divorced in 1998. Carey then dated Latin singer Luis Miguel for three years, but their relationship reportedly ended in the summer of 2001.


In July 2001, Carey was admitted into a New York-area hospital and put under psychiatric care after suffering what her publicists called a "physical and emotional collapse." Carey had been preparing to promote her upcoming feature film debut, Glitter, and its accompanying soundtrack album, but cancelled all public appearances. The release of Glitter was subsequently pushed back from late August to late September 2001. Carey was released from the hospital after two weeks.


In January 2002, Carey and EMI (the corporate owner of Virgin Records, with whom Carey had signed a reported $80 million contract in April 2001) severed their relationship. Though the film and soundtrack for Glitter failed to generate the desired box office and sales totals, Carey reportedly walked away from Virgin with nearly $50 million as part of her severance agreement. In May of 2002, she signed a deal with Universal Music Group's Island/Def Jam Records. In December 2002, Carey staged a comeback with her eighth album, Charmbracelet, which debuted in third place on the charts. The record's accompanying tour, her first in more than three years, launched in June 2003.

michael jackson

Singer, songwriter. Born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, as the seventh of nine children. Jackson and his brothers Jackie, Tito, Marlon, and Jermaine were assembled into a singing group when Michael was only five years old. Despite his extremely young age, he soon distinguished himself as a singer and dancer of prodigious ability. No mere child prodigy, Michael had a gift for vocal phrasing that was not only well beyond his years, but would have been astonishing in a performer of any age. After winning several talent contests, the Jackson 5, as the group was called, signed a recording contract with the trailblazing soul label Motown and proceeded to rule the charts in the late 1960s and early ‘70s with such hits as "I Want You Back," "Stop, the Love You Save," "ABC," and "Dancing Machine." By 1972, Michael had begun releasing solo albums, and he sang the hit title song to the movie Ben.


Michael and the group (with the exception of brother Jermaine) left Motown in 1975, signing with Epic Records, which also gave Michael a solo deal. Two years later, he starred in the film version of the hit musical The Wiz, which also featured singer Diana Ross and comic Richard Pryor. Quincy Jones, who produced the soundtrack album, became one of Michael's longtime friends and collaborators. The year 1979 saw the release of Jackson's extraordinarily successful album Off the Wall; this record included the hit singles "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and eventually sold some 10 million copies. The singer had matured into a dynamic adult entertainer, but he also began to make his mark as a songwriter, crafting durable pop that synthesized rock and disco.


Jackson's next album, Thriller, was a quantum leap for him both creatively and commercially. Produced by Jones, the recording spanned a number of pop genres—cannily enlisting rock guitar idol Eddie Van Halen to play a solo on "Beat It," for example, guaranteed access to listeners Jackson might not otherwise have reached—and fired a record-setting seven Top 10 singles up the charts, notably the title track, a duet with Paul McCartney titled “The Girl Is Mine,” the insinuating "Billie Jean," and the raucous "Beat It." The state-of-the-art videos that accompanied these singles, meanwhile, coincided with the sudden dominance of Music Television (MTV); Jackson's distinctive "Moonwalk" and overall visual panache (combined with brilliant choreography and lavish special effects) won him an even vaster audience. Thriller went on to become the bestselling album of all time and garnered an unprecedented eight Grammy Awards; Jackson also snagged a Grammy for his participation in the E.T.: The Extraterrestrial soundtrack album.


In 1994, Jackson shocked the public again—in a very different way. He and Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock innovator and cultural icon Elvis Presley, were married in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic. The unexpected union was the cause of further speculation: had Jackson married to divert attention from his alleged homosexuality and/or pederasty? Was he hoping to save his career by establishing himself as a "normal" and adult man? A very staged kiss at the MTV Video Music Awards added fuel to the fire.


The marketing campaign for HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1 (1995) was the biggest ever seen for an album; amid the hype, strangely enough, Jackson was trumpeting the message that he resented intrusions into his privacy. When HIStory was released it met with mixed reviews. "It's not where music is headed, it's where music has been," complained radio station music director Bruce St. James, quoted in Newsweek. The public, despite the media bombast, seemed to agree. The debut single, "Scream”—a raucous duet with Janet that was supported by a flashy science-fiction video—earned only a lukewarm reception, and HIStory dropped out of the top ten after only a few weeks.


In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, a combination of some new and some remixed material. His first new studio album in six years, titled Invincible, hit stores in October of 2001.
The albums relatively poor performance -- by July 2002 it had sold only 4 million copies worldwide -- led Jackson to publicly criticize Sony Music, which he claimed failed to properly promote his work. Jackson went further, claiming his treatment was indicative of racism and black exploitation in the music industry. He enlisted the aid of controversial activist Al Sharpton to forge a campaign against supposed mistreatment.
In February 2003, Britain's ITV network broadcast the first-ever documentary about the controversial pop king called Living with Michael Jackson. ABC purchased the rights to broadcast the interview to American audiences on 20/20, though Jackson claimed it to be "a gross distortion of the truth." A year later, in January 2004, Jackson pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges, which echoed the charges brought against the pop star a decade earlier. These included seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. Three months later, Jackson was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Barbara County Superior Court. Jury selection for the long-awaited court trial began in January 2005.

britney spears

Pop singer. Born December 2, 1981, in Kentwood, Louisiana. The daughter of Lynne, an elementary school teacher, and Jamie, a construction contractor, Spears auditioned for the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club at the age of 8. Producers for the show decided she was too young, but one was impressed enough to help her find an agent in New York. Accompanied by her mother and younger sister, Spears lived in Manhattan for the next several summers, studying at the Professional Performing Arts School. In 1991, she landed a part as a demonic child in Ruthless, an off-Broadway production based on the 1956 horror film, The Bad Seed.

At age 11, Spears auditioned again, this time successfully, for the Mickey Mouse Club. For the 1993 and 1994 seasons, she lived in Orlando, Florida, where the show is filmed, in a dorm with the rest of the cast—including two future members of the group ‘N Sync and Keri Russell, future star of the WB’s Felicity. After her run on the MMC, Spears attended high school at home in Louisiana for a year, before heading back to New York at age 15 to audition for executives at Jive Records. She signed a development deal with Jive and over the next two years recorded her debut album with producers Eric Foster White, who had worked with Whitney Houston (one of Spears’s professed influences, with Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Mariah Carey), and Max Martin, who worked with fellow popstars the Backstreet Boys.

The album, Baby One More Time, was completed by early 1998 but wasn’t released until January 1999. During the interim, Spears set out on a promotional tour to shopping malls throughout America, prompting inevitable comparisons with ‘80s teen pop stars such as Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. Her first single, also titled “Baby One More Time,” was released in October 1998; its success got Spears a gig opening for ‘N Sync, by then a popular teen band. When Spears’s album was released on January 12, 1999, it went straight to the top of the Billboard charts, becoming the first album of the year to debut at No. 1. The single, spurred along by a racy video featuring Spears dressed as a bare-midriffed Catholic schoolgirl, also shot up to No. 1. By September, Baby One More Time had sold over 6 million copies. Spears’s first eagerly-awaited solo tour opened in June 1999.

Spears' second album, Oops!...I Did It Again, hit stores in May of 2000. With 1.3 million copies sold in its first week in stores, the album became the top-selling debut by a solo female artist ever. It earned Spears two more Grammy nominations, for Best Vocal Pop Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for the single "Oops!...I Did It Again").
Spears released her third album, Britney, in November 2001.

Spears dated fellow Mickey Mouse Club alum Justin Timberlake of the blockbuster boy band 'N Sync. Their much-talked-about breakup was followed by an annulled impromptu marriage to childhood pal Jason Allen Alexander in 2003. Spears married dancer Kevin Federline in a much-publicized wedding in September 2004. Their first child, a son, was born on September 14, 2005. Their second son was born on September 12, 2006.

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Madonna(pop singer)

Pop singer, born in Rochester, Michigan, USA. She trained as a dancer at Michigan University before moving to New York City, where she began her professional career as a backing singer to a number of New York groups. She hired Michael Jackson's manager prior to releasing Madonna (1983), an album which included five US hit singles. Subsequent albums have included Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), Ray of of Light (1998), Music (2000), American Life (2003), and Confessions on a Dancefloor (2005). She has also acted in films, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) and Shanghai Surprise (1986). Her defiant and raunchy stage appearances became an important role model for teenagers in the 1980s and 1990s, and her international success has been secured by clever promotion and image-making. This was reinforced in several media in the early 1990s, with the publication of a controversial collection of erotic photographs of herself in Sex (1992), alongside an album, Erotica. Later films include Body of Evidence (1993) and Evita (1996). She made her London West End stage debut in 2002 in Up for Grabs. In a new departure, her first children's book, The English Roses, was published in 2003. She was inducted into the inaugural UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

Albums
1983 Madonna
1984 Like A Virgin
1986 True Blue
1987 You Can Dance
1987 Who's That Girl
1989 Like A Prayer
1990 I'm Breathless
1992 Erotica
1994 Bedtime Stories
1995 Something To Remember
1996 Evita
2000 Music
2000 Ray of Light
2003 American Life
2005 Confessions on a Dancefloor
Compilations
1991 The Immaculate Collection
1993 Best Of The Rest Vol 2.