Music - Albums - Videos

Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel (born 19 February 1963 in Paddington, London, United Kingdom) is a British soul singer and songwriter.

His name Olusegun means "God is victorious". Known professionally by his first name, Seal is known for his numerous international hits and his marriage to supermodel Heidi Klum.
Personal life
Seal proposed to German supermodel Heidi Klum on 24 December 2004 at 7,000 ft, in an igloo on a glacier in Whistler, British Columbia. On 10 May 2005, the couple married on a beach in Mexico near Seal's home on Mexico's luxurious Costa Careyes. The couple have two sons together, Henry Günther Ademola Dashtu Samuel (b. 12 September 2005) and Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel (b. 22 November 2006). Seal is also the adoptive father of Heidi's daughter, Helene "Leni" Klum (b. 4 May 2004), whom Heidi had with Renault Formula One team director and Italian businessman Flavio Briatore. Seal is her only father figure, and he has praised Briatore for keeping his distance and not disrupting Leni's life. Seal coached the participants of Germany's TV show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (Popidol) in February/March 2009. On Thursday April 16, 2009, Seal confirmed to the press and his audience at Radio City Music Hall that Klum is pregnant with their fourth child who is a girl.
Discography
Studio albums
* 1991 Seal
* 1994 Seal II
* 1998 Human Being
* 2003 Seal IV
* 2007 System
* 2008 Soul
Other albums
* 1991 "Acoustic Session
* 1991 Violet: Acoustic EP
* 2004 Best 1991-2004
* 2005 Live in Paris
* 2006 One Night to Remember
* 2008 Live in Hattiesburg
DVDs
* 2004 Videos - 1991 - 2004
* 2005 Live in Paris
* 2005 Live At the Point - 1992
* 2006 One Night to Remember
* 2008 Soundstage (Blu-ray only)

Sade is an English group, which achieved success in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The band's music features elements of soul, jazz, R&B, quiet storm, soft rock, funk, easy listening, and adult contemporary.

The lead vocalist, Sade Adu, is the only woman in the band and is the only one to appear on their album and single covers.
Band members
* Helen Folasade Adu - vocals
* Stuart Matthewman - sax and guitar
* Paul Spencer Denman - bass
* Andrew Hale - keyboards
* Paul Anthony Cook - drums (1983–1984)
Discography
Studio albums
* 1984: Diamond Life (# 2 UK Album Chart, Jul 1984)
* 1985: Promise (# 1 UK Album Chart, Nov 1985)
* 1988: Stronger Than Pride (# 3 UK Album Chart, May 1988)
* 1992: Love Deluxe (# 10 UK Album Chart, Nov 1992)
* 2000: Lovers Rock (# 18 UK Album Chart, Nov 2000)
* 2009: Untitled
Other albums
* 1994: The Best of Sade (# 6 UK Album Chart, Nov 1994)
* 2002: Lovers Live (# 51 UK Album Chart, Mar 2002)
EPs
* 1989: Solid Gold Series - Sade
* 1992: Remix Deluxe (Japanese)

Paul Weller (born John William Weller 25 May 1958), is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the very successful punk-rock band The Jam (1976-1982), Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council (1983-1989).

Soon after the formation of The Style Council, Weller and Dee C. Lee, Style Council's backing singer, formed a romantic relationship. The couple married, and have two children; though later divorced. Weller has five children in total: two with Lee, one from a short relationship, and two with Samantha Stock, his partner from 1995-2008. Shortly before Christmas 2008, Weller left Stock to move in with his backing singer.In 1991 he re-established himself as a successful solo artist, and continues to remain a respected singer, lyricist and guitarist, a fact reaffirmed by his recent awarding of the 2009 BRIT award for 'Best Male Solo Artist'. He has remained essentially a national rather than an international star, which may be unsurprising considering much of his songwriting is rooted in British culture. He is also the principal figure of the 1970s Mod revival and is often referred to as the Modfather. Weller had a good relationship with his father, John Weller, who acted as his manager from the formation of The Jam in 1976 until John's health began to deteriorate in 2003-4. Weller's father died on April 22, 2009.
Discography
Albums
* Paul Weller - (1992) #8 UK
* Wild Wood - (1993) #2 UK
* Stanley Road - (1995) #1 UK
* Heavy Soul - (1997) #2 UK
* Heliocentric - (2000) #2 UK
* Illumination - (2002) #1 UK
* Studio 150 - (2004) #2 UK
* As Is Now - (2005) #4 UK
* 22 Dreams - (2008) #1 UK

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American soul singer. He is renowned for an ability to convey strong emotion through his voice.

According to the website of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (where he was inducted in 1989), Redding's name is "synonymous with the term soul, music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm and blues into a form of funky, secular testifying." Redding was born in the small town of Dawson, Georgia. When he was 5, his family moved to Macon, Georgia. Redding sang in the choir at church, and as a teenager won the talent show at the Douglass Theatre for 15 weeks in a row. His early influences were Little Richard and Sam Cooke. Richard Pennyman (Little Richard) was also a Macon resident. Redding said, "If it hadn't been for Little Richard, I would not be here. I entered the music business because of Richard he is my inspiration. I used to sing like Little Richard, his Rock 'n' Roll stuff, you know. Richard has soul, too. My present music has a lot of him in it."
Death
On December 9, 1967, Redding and his backup band, The Bar-Kays, made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local "Upbeat" television show. The next afternoon, Redding, his manager, the pilot, and four members of The Bar-Kays were killed when his Beechcraft 18 airplane crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 10, 1967. The two remaining Bar-Kays were Ben Cauley and James Alexander. Cauley was the only person aboard Redding's plane to survive the crash. Alexander was on another plane, since there were eight members in Redding's party and the plane could only hold seven, and it was Alexander's turn in the rotation to take a commercial flight. Cauley reported that he had been asleep until just seconds before impact, and recalled that upon waking he saw bandmate Phalon Jones look out a window and say, "Oh, no!" Cauley said the last thing he remembered before the crash was unbuckling his seatbelt. He then found himself in the frigid waters of the lake, grasping a seat cushion to keep afloat. Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake bed was searched. He was entombed on his private ranch in Round Oak, Georgia, 23 miles (37 km) north of Macon. The cause of the crash was never precisely determined although it most likely that he drowned.
Discography
Albums
* 1964 - Pain in My Heart (Atco)
* 1965 - The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (Volt)
* 1965 - Otis Blue (Volt)
* 1966 - The Soul Album (Volt)
* 1966 - Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (Volt)
* 1967 - King & Queen with Carla Thomas (Stax)
* 1967 - Live in Europe (Volt)
* 1967 - The History of Otis Redding (greatest hits album) (Volt)
Other albums
* 1968 - Soul As Sung by Otis Redding and Little Joe (Alshire Presents)
* 1970 - Monterey International Pop Festival - Otis Redding/The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Reprise) US: #16
* 1972 - The Best of Otis Redding (Atco) US: #76
* 1982 - Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances (Atlantic)
* 1986 - The Ultimate Otis Redding (Warner Bros.)
* 1987 - The Otis Redding Story (Atlantic)
* 1992 - Remember Me (Stax)
* 1992 - The Very Best of Otis Redding, Vol. 1 (Rhino)
* 1993 - Otis! The Definitive Otis Redding (Rhino 4D Boxed Set)
* 1995 - The Very Best of Otis Redding, Vol. 2 (Rhino)
* 1998 - Dreams To Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology (Rhino 2D)
* 1998 - Love Songs (Rhino)
* 1999 - In Concert (Stax)
* 2002 - Very Best of Otis Redding (Atco) UK: #26
* 2006 - Stax Profiles (Stax)
* 2006 - The Definitive Soul Collection (Rhino 2D)
* 2008 - Live in London and Paris (Stax)

Oran "Juice" Jones (born 1959 in Houston, Texas), often incorrectly cited as Orange "Juice" Jones, is a Soul and R&B singer. He was the first artist who was signed to OBR Records, a subsidiary of Def Jam.

He was also the first R&B artist on the hip hop record label. His song "The Rain" became a hit in 1986, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, which he followed with a successful duet with label mate Alyson Williams, "How to Love Again."
Discography
* JUICE (1986) Def Jam Recordings/Columbia
Side one
1. The Rain (5:07)
2. You Can't Hide From Love (5:13)
3. Here I Go Again (4:50)
4. Curiosity (4:03)
5. Grabbers Got Game (3:41)
Side two
1. Your Song (4:36)
2. Love Will Find A Way (3:55)
3. It's Yours (4:06)
4. 1.2.1. (4:14)
5. Two Faces (4:42)
6. I Heart Pants (hidden track) (4:39)

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was a Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist.

Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is generally classified as a jazz musician. Simone originally aspired to become a classical pianist, but her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles besides her classical basis, such as jazz, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop music. Her vocal style is characterized by intense passion, a loose vibrato, and a slightly androgynous timbre, in part due to her unusually low vocal range which veered between the alto and tenor ranges (occasionally even reaching baritone lows). Also known as The High Priestess of Soul, she paid great attention to the musical expression of emotions. Within one album or concert she could fluctuate between exuberant happiness or tragic melancholy. These fluctuations also characterized her own personality and personal life, worsened by bipolar disorder with which she was diagnosed in the mid-1960s, but was kept secret until 2004 after her death. Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums, the biggest body of her work being released between 1958 (when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue) and 1974. Songs she is best known for include "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I Put a Spell on You", "I Loves You Porgy", "Feeling Good", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Sinnerman", "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Ain't Got No/I Got Life" and "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl".
Her music & message made a strong and lasting impact on culture, illustrated by the numerous contemporary artists who cite her as an important influence (among them Mary J. Blige, Elkie Brooks, Alicia Keys, Jeff Buckley, John Legend, Lauryn Hill and Peter Gabriel). Many hip hop and other modern artists sample and remix Simone's rhythms and beats on their tracks. In particular, Talib Kweli and Mos Def routinely pay tribute to her outstanding and soulful musical style. Many of her songs are featured motion picture soundtracks as well, including but not limited to, the The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (1993) Notting Hill (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Before Sunset (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Sex and the City (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), and Watchmen (2009).
Musical style
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone gathered a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire (apart from the civil rights songs) and for which she is still remembered, even though most of these songs didn't do well on the charts at the time. These songs were self-written tunes, cover versions (usually with a new arrangement by Simone), or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was a cover of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. In that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest hit years later in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel no. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was then created by Aardman Studios. Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a Jacques Brel cover) and "Feeling Good" on I Put A Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966). Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably The Animals's version of the former song), sample usage and its use on various movie, TV-series and videogame soundtracks. "Sinnerman" in particular has been featured on movies like The Thomas Crown Affair and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists like Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album "Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don'tGetIt" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album "The Carter III". Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album songs that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968 it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album Nuff Said (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song earlier in 1961 (featuring on Nina At The Village Gate, 1962), predating versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan. It was later picked up by The Animals and became their signature hit.
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the '90s by French filmmakers. It was based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You and features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone herself while she was living in the Netherlands, and on a trip to her birthplace. A significant amount of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and titled simply Nina. Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005. The movie will be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and will also focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne) is working on the script, and singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role. The movie is scheduled for 2009.

Matt Bianco is a UK band that was formed in 1983. They are mainly known for their success in the mid 1980s and their jazzy, Latin-flavoured music.

Popular during the mid 1980s in continental Europe, Matt Bianco epitomised the new jazz pop genre, that they shared with acts such as Working Week, Sade, Everything but the Girl, and The Style Council. The name suggests that Matt Bianco is a personal name, often referred to the main constant member and front man, Mark Reilly, but Matt is in fact "a made up spy, a secret agent; we loved spy TV themes and film scores"
The early years as a trio
Formed by Mark Reilly (vocals), Danny White (keyboards), & the late Kito Poncioni (bass) in 1982 from the shards of the abandoned art pop group, Blue Rondo A La Turk, for their first album, Whose Side Are You On?, they hired then unknown Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska. Her vocal arrangements gave the album a jazzy dimension that Reilly and White could not anticipate but made good use of. Mixmaster Phil Harding applied what would become his signature style to the recordings. Hits like "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Half a Minute," which Basia would feature live throughout her solo career, turned Matt Bianco into one of the biggest acts of Europe in 1984. Basia & Danny White, subsequently a couple in real life too, left the group soon after the first album to pursue an apparently more lucrative solo career with Sony, under the name Basia, on the Epic label. They maintained their working relationship with Phil Harding, who would continue to work with Matt Bianco as well. Mark Reilly, now without a musical partner, found ex-Wham keyboarder and session musician, Mark Fisher, and recorded the next (self-titled) Matt Bianco album.
Albums
* 1984 - Whose Side Are You On? (UK Albums Chart #35)
* 1986 - Matt Bianco (UK #26)
* 1988 - Indigo (UK #23)
* 1991 - Samba in Your Casa
* 1994 - Another Time Another Place
* 1995 - Gran Via (German edition)
* 1995 - Gran Via + 5 (Japanese edition + 5 extra tracks)
* 1997 - World Go Round (first Japanese edition)
* 1998 - World Go Round (second Japanese edition + Lost in You 1997)
* 1998 - World Go Round Spanish Version (third Japanese edition + 5 new tracks in Spanish)
* 2000 - Rico
* 2002 - Echoes
* 2004 - Matt's Mood
Compilations
* 1990 - The Best of Matt Bianco (UK #49) (collection of best tracks from the European period 1983 to 1990)
* 1993 - Yeah Yeah
* 1998 - A/Collection (collection of remakes of hits and of stand-out album tracks) (Japanese edition including 17 tracks)
* 2000 - A/Collection (collection of remakes of stand-out album tracks and remixes of a few hits) (European edition including 16 tracks)
* 2005 - The Best of Matt Bianco: Platinum Collection (re-release of 1990 Best-Of album)
* 2006 - Wap Bam Boogie
* 2008 - The Best of Matt Bianco - Volume 2 (collection of best tracks from the German/Asian period 1991 to 2008 - Internet release)
Singles
Singles Europe 1983-1990
* February 1984 - "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" (#15 UK Singles Chart - 8 weeks in the charts), #8 Ireland.
* April/May 1984 - "Sneaking Out the Back Door"/"Matt's Mood" (#44 UK - 7 weeks), #22 Ireland.
* November 1984 - "Half a Minute" (#23 UK - 10 weeks)
* February 1985 - "More Than I Can Bear" (remix) - (#50 UK - 7 weeks)
* September 1985 - "Yeh Yeh" (#13 UK - 10 weeks), #15 Ireland.
* February 1986 - "Just Can't Stand It" (#66 UK - 2 weeks)
* June 1986 - "Dancing in the Street" (#64 UK - 3 weeks)
* May 1988 - "Don't Blame It on That Girl / Wap-Bam-Boogie" (double A-side) (#11 UK - 13 weeks), #8 Ireland.
* August 1988 - "Good Times" (#55 UK - 3 weeks)
* January 1989 - "Nervous / Wap-Bam-Boogie (re-mix)" (#59 UK - 2 weeks), #22 Ireland.
* April 1989 - "Say It's Not Too Late" (UK -)
* September 1990 - "Fire in the Blood" (UK -)
* December 1990 - "Wap-Bam-Boogie 1990" (UK -)
* February 1992 - "What a fool believes" #23 Ireland.
Singles Germany/Asia 1991-1998
* October 1991 - "Macumba"
* 1992 - "What a Fool Believes"
* September 1993 - "Our Love" (Japan)
* 1994 - "Our Love" (Germany)
* December 1994 - "Buddy Love"
* August 1995 - "Lost in You" (Germany)
* October 1995 - "Lost in You" (Japan)
* June 1997 - "Altozano"
* July 1997 - "Sunshine Day / Lost in You 1997"
* 1998 - "Boogie Mi Vista"

Massive Attack are a British trip hop group, founded in 1988 by Robert Del Naja, Grantley Marshall, and Andrew Vowles in Bristol, England. The trio were together prior to the formation of this band, as part of The Wild Bunch.

With the release of their debut album Blue Lines in 1991, Massive Attack were critically acclaimed for their fusion of jazz, hip hop, rock, and soul elements into a style that journalists in the mid-nineties dubbed trip hop. With the release of later albums such as Protection in 1994, Mezzanine in 1998, and 100th Window in 2003 the group integrated a greater degree of electronica into their sound. Over the years, Massive Attack have teamed up with the likes of Madonna, Mos Def & Sinéad O'Connor among many others. Massive Attack began as an offshoot of the popular mid-1980s sound system The Wild Bunch. The core group consisted of three members, Robert Del Naja ("3D"), Grant Marshall ("Daddy G") and Andrew Vowles ("Mushroom"), along with occasional Wild Bunch collaborator (and also Del Naja's roommate) Tricky. In 1988 they released their first single "Any Love", followed in 1991 by their first album, Blue Lines, featuring the hit singles "Unfinished Sympathy" (with Shara Nelson) and "Safe From Harm". The album, which was produced by Cameron McVey, was well-received both critically and commercially. Blue Lines subsequently became one of the most influential British records of the 1990s, ushering in a new genre of music sometimes referred to as the 'Bristol sound', but more often labeled trip-hop, a label Massive Attack have said they dislike. Despite the use of breakbeats, samples, and rap courtesy of Tricky, "Blue Lines" is distinct stylistically from American hip-hop. The music is more complex, layered, and atmospheric, earning the designation of trip-hop, with its unique British tone and aesthetic The group were prominent in the 1980s Bristol club scene, and are considered pioneers of trip-hop.
Studio Albums
* Blue Lines (1991)
* Protection (1994)
* Mezzanine (1998)
* 100th Window (2003)
* "LP5" (To Be Announced)
Other
* No Protection (1995) (Remix Album by Mad Professor)
* Singles 90/98 (1998) (11 disc Box Set)
* Danny the Dog (2004) (Robert Del Naja / Neil Davidge soundtrack)
* Collected (2006) (Best Of 2xCD & DVD)

Macy Gray (born Natalie Renee McIntyre on September 6, 1967 also credited as Natalie Hinds in her music) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis

To date, Gray has released four studio albums, one compilation album, and one live album—with her fourth studio album, Big, released in March 2007 & has received five Grammy Award nominations, winning one. She has appeared in a number of films including Training Day, Spider-Man, and Idlewild. Gray is best known for her international hit single "I Try", taken from her multi-platinum debut album On How Life Is. In late 2008, Gray took on a new alias "Nemesis Jaxson", and has plans to release her fifth studio album in 2009.
Personal life
Gray was married from 1996 to 1998 to Tracy Hinds, with whom she had three children: Aanisah (in January 1994), Tahmel (in December 1995), Cassius (nicknamed "Happy") (in 1997).[69] She opened up a music academy called The Macy Gray Music Academy in 2005 and it was the scene for an episode of MTV's Punk'd because of "black mold in the building". Gray has been highly praised for her work with the academy and has given underprivileged children and teenagers the chance to perform. Gray has two tattoos one on her right wrist with all her children's names and the other on her leg that has a rose and says "Daddy". She was an early supporter of a Barack Obama presidential campaign, almost two years before his official announcement, she wore a shirt saying "Barack Obama for President" during the Hurricane Katrina fundraisers. Macy is the oldest of her three younger siblings; Nathan McIntyre, Nehlia Grey, and Chanese Taylor ( the youngest ).
Studio albums
* 1999: On How Life Is
* 2001: The Id
* 2003: The Trouble with Being Myself
* 2007: Big
* 2009: The Gray Life
Films
* Training Day - Sandman's Wife
* Spider-Man - Herself
* Scary Movie 3 - Herself
* Gang of Roses - Assassin
* Lackawanna Blues - Pauline
* Around the World in 80 Days - Sleepy Frenchwoman
* Lightning in a Bottle - Herself
* The Crow: Wicked Prayer - Carman
* Shadowboxer - Neisha
* Domino - Lashandra Davis
* Idlewild - Taffy

Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is a popular American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and arranger whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads.

In addition to singing lead and backing vocals, Kravitz often plays all the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and percussion himself when recording. He is known for his elaborate stage performances and music videos. Kravitz has had multiple number 1 hits on the US Top Singles Charts and many more worldwide. He won the Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" four years in a row from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category and most consecutive wins in one category. He has been nominated many more times and has also won many other prestigious awards, namely American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, BRIT Awards and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. He is regarded as one of the most successful and best-selling rock artists of his time, having sold an estimated 38 million albums worldwide.
Albums
* 1989 - Let Love Rule
* 1991 - Mama Said
* 1993 - Are You Gonna Go My Way
* 1995 - Circus
* 1998 - 5
* 2000 - Greatest Hits
* 2001 - Lenny
* 2004 - Baptism
* 2008 - It Is Time for a Love Revolution
Filmography
* 1998 - The Rugrats Movie
* 2001 - Being Mick
* 2001 - Zoolander
* 2009 - Precious
Awards
* MTV Video Music Awards
o 1993 - Best Male Video ("Are You Gonna Go My Way?")
* Brit Awards
o 1994 - International male
* VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards
o 1998 - Most Fashionable Artist, Male Award
* Grammy Awards
o 1998 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Fly Away")
o 1999 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("American Woman")
o 2000 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Again")
o 2001 - Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Dig In")
* Radio Music Awards
o 2001 - Artist of the Year/Pop Alternative Radio
* My VH1 Awards
o 2001 - Favorite Male Artist
* Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
o 2001 - Favorite Male Artist - Rock
* American Music Awards
o 2002 - Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist
* Microsoft Windows Media Innovation Awards
o 2002 - Microsoft Windows Media Innovation Award

Lauryn Noel Hill (born May 25, 1975 in South Orange, New Jersey) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, and film actress.

Early in her career, she established her reputation in the hip-hop world as the lone female member of The Fugees. In 1998 she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The recording earned Hill five Grammy Awards. Following the success of her debut album, Hill largely dropped out of public view, in part due to her displeasure with fame and the music industry. After a four-year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, a live recording of "deeply personal songs", played with an acoustic guitar. Hill also participated in a short-lived Fugees reunion during the mid-2000s. Hill is the mother of five children with Rohan Marley, the fourth son of reggae legend Bob Marley.
Solo albums
Album information
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
* Released: August 25, 1998
* Chart positions: #1 (U.S.), #1 (UK)
* RIAA certification: 8x Platinum
* BPI certification: 6x Platinum
* WW sales: 19,575,000+
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
* Released: 2002
* Chart positions: #3 (U.S.)
* RIAA certification: Platinum
* BPI certification:
* WW sales: 1,300,000

King were a British New Wave pop band of the mid-eighties from Coventry. Their name comes from the surname of lead singer Paul King. The band were formed from the remnants of Coventry rock-ska band The Reluctant Stereotypes plus producer Paul Sampson.

Riding on the back of the Two Tone wave, they had two UK Top 10 albums on CBS. both produced and mixed by Richard James Burgess, and two UK Top 10 singles. After the demise of The Reluctant Stereotypes, singer Paul King formed The Raw Screens, who perfected their act and style to what Paul and his manager Perry Haines called 'Multi Tone,' as opposed to 'Two Tone', and then, in 1983, relaunched the group as self-named Eighties band King.
Albums
* Steps in Time (1984) - King
* Bitter Sweet (1985) - King
* Joy (1987) - Paul King solo
* The Best of King - Love & Pride (1998) - King & Paul King collection
1. "Love & Pride" (3:20)
2. "Don't Stop" (3:29)
3. "Won't You Hold My Hand Now" (3:12)
4. "Fish" (5:12)
5. "Trouble" (4:02)
6. "Soul on My Boots" (3:37)
7. "I Kissed the Spikey Fridge" (4:05)
8. "Alone without You" (3:34)
9. "Crazy Party" (3:25)
10. "The Taste of Your Tears" (4:03)
11. "I Cringed, I Died, I Felt Hot" (4:56)
12. "These Things" (2:29)
13. "Torture" (3:37)
14. "Groovin' with the Kings" (3:30)
15. "I Know" [Paul King solo] (3:37)
16. "Love & Pride (Body & Soul Mix)" (5:28)
17. "Won't You Hold My Hand Now (Heavy Times Mix)" (7:50)
18. "The Taste of Your Tears (Breaker Heart Mix)" (6:24)

Imagination were a three piece British soul and dance band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in twenty eight countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and over a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983. Formed in 1981, the trio took a demo tape of a track called "Body Talk" to producers Jolley & Swain.

It was released as a single in April 1981 under the group name Imagination, a name that the group chose as a tribute to John Lennon. The track reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1981, selling 250,000 copies in the UK and spending eighteen weeks in the Top 50. They had two more hit singles that year, "In and Out of Love" (September) and "Flashback" (November), both of which peaked at number 16, all from their debut album, also called Body Talk.
Band members
* Leee John born John Lesley McGregor, 23 June 1957, Hackney, London, of St Lucian descent. He was educated in New York, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School. He was working as a backing vocalist for The Delfonics, Chairmen of the Board, The Velvelettes and The Elgins when he met ...
* Ashley Ingram, a guitarist/bassist, born 27 November 1960, Northampton. John and Ingram formed a songwriting partnership, resolving to start their own 'slinky, sexy and erotic' group, working in a short-lived band called Fizzz. Whilst auditioning for another short-lived band, Midnight Express, they met.
* Errol Kennedy, born 9 June 1953; a drummer born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and learned to drum in the Boys' Brigade and Air Training Corps.

Grace Jones (born May 19, 1948) is a Jamaican–American singer, model, and actress. Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits and a large gay following. The three disco albums she recorded Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978), and Muse (1979) generated considerable success in that market. These albums consisted of pop melodies (such as "All on a Summer's Night" and "Do or Die," set to a disco beat) and standards (such as "What I Did for Love," "Autumn Leaves," and "Send in the Clowns").

During this period, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively. Jones also accompanied him to famed New York City nightclub Studio 54 on many occasions.
Toward the end of the 1970s, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music to create a different style for herself. Still with Island, and now working with producers Chris Blackwell, Alex Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars, she released the acclaimed albums Warm Leatherette (1980) and Nightclubbing (1981). These included re-imaginings of songs by Sting, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Flash and the Pan, The Normal, Ástor Piazzolla, and Tom Petty.
Parallel to her musical shift was an equally dramatic visual makeover, created in partnership with stylist Jean-Paul Goude, with whom she had a son. Jones adopted a severe, androgynous look, with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes. The iconic cover photographs of Nightclubbing and, subsequently, Slave to the Rhythm (1985) exemplified this new identity. To this day, Jones is known for her unique look at least as much as she is for her music. Her collaboration with Blackwell, Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars continued with the dub reggae–influenced album Living My Life.

Gilles Peterson (born 28 September c.1964) is a DJ, record collector and record label owner from London, UK.
Through his labels Acid Jazz, Talkin' Loud, and latterly Brownswood Recordings, he has been associated with the careers of countless well known artists of the 1990s such as Erykah Badu and Tony Rich plus Jamiroquai. He is also well known as a radio DJ. After starting out on pirate radio, and having shows on various legal London based radio stations, most noticeably including Kiss FM dance music station, he was recruited to the BBC's youth-oriented Radio 1 in 1998.

Peterson is known for his eclectic musical selections, and has even been occasionally mentioned as the new John Peel. However whilst the late John Peel had an "anything goes" range of tastes displayed on his show, Peterson's focus has always been Jazz music, generally Modern Jazz, with a strong emphasis on its use in a club environment, mixed with associated music styles. So you would hear him playing anything from dub and reggae through jazz, nu-jazz, funk, soul, neo soul, quality R&B to drum and bass, house, broken beat, hip-hop, Jazz-funk, latin, bossa nova, samba and beyond.
Widely acclaimed as a musical tastemaker, he spreads his influence on music listeners around the world mostly through his Worldwide radio show on BBC Radio 1 which is also broadcast live on the Radio 1 website and available for audio streaming online for seven days from broadcast. He also does another version of the show which gets syndicated to radio stations all over the world, such as FM4 in Austria and Radio Helsinki in Finland, and does a British Airways in flight entertainment show too. Parallel to this, his frequent DJing gigs around the world also have cemented a worldwide following perhaps rather apt, given the name of his radio show is Worldwide. He has recently been involved with the start of new record label Brownswood Recordings, named after the road in North London where the house he used to live is, though he has since had to move out of after his record collection became too big, and which now acts as a warehouse for his enormous collection of vinyl records. Incidentally, this new label should not be confused with Talkin' Loud, the previous label he was involved with, imprint label called Brownswood Records which was used to release music from the United Future Organization as well as other Japanese associated projects.

Garland Jeffreys (born 1943/44 in Brooklyn, New York) is an African-American and Puerto Rican singer-songwriter. His music is a unique blend of rock and roll, reggae, blues, and soul.
Jeffreys is from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Jeffreys majored in arts at Syracuse University where he met Lou Reed before The Velvet Underground became active. In 1966, Jeffreys played in Manhattan nightclubs. Grinder's Switch, a group founded by him in 1969, released one album before breaking up in 1970. In 1973, he released his first solo album, Garland Jeffreys, on Atlantic Records.

Around the same time Atlantic also released a 45 RPM single of a song called "Wild in the Streets" that was not included on the LP. The track received airplay on progressive FM album-oriented rock stations and has become one of his best-known songs. Later, in 1977 when Garland recorded his Ghost Writer album for A&M Records, the Atlantic version of "Wild In The Streets" was included on side 2.
"Wild In The Streets" has been covered by several artists, including:
* The Circle Jerks, from the album Wild In The Streets
* Chris Spedding, from the album Hurt
* British Lions, from the album British Lions
* Hot Water Music, from the album Til the Wheels Fall Off
Jeffreys is featured in the 2003 documentary Soul of a Man, directed by Wim Wenders as the fourth installment of the documentary film series "The Blues" produced by Martin Scorsese. The film explores the musical careers of blues musicians Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir.
He was featured on the cover of Beyond Race magazine in February 2007.
Jeffreys is currently touring again and has been very active on MySpace, communicating personally with his extensive fanbase.

The British disco/funk band Freeez formed in the late '70s, featuring members Paul Morgan (drums), Peter Maas (bass and vocals), Andy Stennett (keyboards), and John Rocca (percussion and vocals).

The quartet issued four albums from the early to mid-'80s, including such titles as 1981's Southern France, 1983's Gonna Get You, 1984's Anti Freeze, and 1985's Idle Vice.

Fine Young Cannibals were a British band formed in Birmingham, England in 1984, by guitarist David Steele and bassist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat, and singer Roland Gift. They are probably best known for their 1989 hit singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing". Their name came from the 1960 film All The Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.

The group was formed in 1984 in Birmingham, UK, from the ashes of The Beat, with whom Cox and Steele previously played. The band's eponymous debut album was released in 1985, spawning two UK hit singles, "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" featuring additional vocals by Jimmy Somerville. Fine Young Cannibals appeared as the house band in a nightclub in the 1987 comedy film Tin Men, set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1963. Steele and Cox released an instrumental house single under the moniker Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet in 1988, called "Tired Of Getting Pushed Around", which reached #18 in the UK Singles Chart and was popular on the U.S. dance chart. During this time, Gift appeared in the movie Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. Their highest charting hits were "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing", from the 1989 album The Raw and the Cooked. Both reached number one in the U.S. singles charts. The Raw and The Cooked included three songs the band had recorded for Tin Men (including "Good Thing"), and their cover of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" recorded for the film Something Wild.
Fine Young Cannibals broke up in 1992, although they briefly returned to the studio in 1996 to record a new single, "The Flame", which would complement their greatest hits compilation The Finest released that year. Gift reactivated the band name and toured in the 2000s as Roland Gift and the Fine Young Cannibals, releasing his debut self-titled solo album in 2002.
Band members
* Roland Lee Gift (singer) - May 28, 1961
* Andy Cox (guitarist) - January 25, 1956
* David Steele (bass and Synth) - September 8, 1960
Albums
* 1985 - Fine Young Cannibals UK: #11, U.S. #49
* 1989 - The Raw and the Cooked UK: #1, U.S. #1
* 1990 - The Raw and the Remix (remix collection)
* 1996 - The Finest (compilation album) UK: #10
* 2006 - The Platinum Collection (compilation album)

D:Ream was a Northern Irish pop rock / synthpop and dance band of the 1990s. They had one UK Number One hit with the re-release of "Things Can Only Get Better"; two Top 10 hits coupled with four Top 20 hits: the re-release of "U R The Best Thing", "Take Me Away", "Party Up the World", and the second re-release of "Things Can Only Get Better"; plus five other releases that all reached the UK Singles Chart.

Between 1992 and 1997, the period during which they were active, the band released two studio albums (D:Ream On Volume 1 and World), ten different singles (some of them re-released twice or three times, until totally reaching fourteen singles - but two tracks were featured together on a double A-side single), and an official greatest hits album (The Best of D:Ream). In 2006, a second collection was released, for The Platinum Collection series.
When D:Ream became famous the main members were Peter Cunnah (vocalist, songwriter), Al Mackenzie (musician) and Cian McCarthy (producer), although later the group would become a one man band, exclusively centred upon the singer. Another member, Brian Cox played keyboards for several years in D:Ream, while studying for his PhD. Drumtech trained Mark Roberts played drums. There were a number of vocalists who changed over time such as T.J. Davis, who is featured as co-lead vocalist on "The Power (Of All the Love in the World)", one of the singles taken from their second album, World as well as providing backing vocals on many other songs. Cox is currently working on the Large Hadron Collider project.

The Fifth Dimension, also known as The 5th Dimension, is a multiple Grammy-winning American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire also includes pop, R&B, soul, and jazz.

The Fifth Dimension were best-known during the late 1960s and early 1970s for popularizing the hits "Up, Up and Away," Wedding Bell Blues," "Stoned Soul Picnic," "California My Way," and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," as well as the eponymous "Fifth Dimension" and "The Magic Garden" LP recordings. The five original members were Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townson. They have recorded for several different labels over their long careers. Their first work appeared on the Soul City label, which was started by Imperial Records/United Artists Records recording artist Johnny Rivers. The group would later record for Bell/Arista Records ABC Records and Motown Records.
Some of the songwriters popularized by The Fifth Dimension later went on to careers of their own, especially Ashford & Simpson, who wrote "California Soul." The group is also notable for having more success with the songs of Laura Nyro than Nyro did herself, particularly in the cases of "Wedding Bell Blues," "Stoned Soul Picnic," and "Save the Country." The group also covered music by well known songwriters such as the song "One Less Bell to Answer," written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. And perhaps best of all, they became great interpreters of the songs and music of Jimmy Webb, who penned their original mega-hit "Up, Up, and Away," including an entire recording of memorable Webb songs called "The Magic Garden" which produced the hit The Worst That Could Happen and "Paper Cup," which Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge also covered successfully.