WAlice Babs was a Swedish singer and actress. She worked in a wide number of genres – Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera. While she was best known internationally as a jazz singer, Babs also competed as Sweden's first annual competition entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958. In 1972 she was named Sweden's Royal Court Singer, the first non-opera singer as such.
WFlorence Glenda Chapman was an American singer, a founding member of the popular Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-one hits. After being removed from the Supremes in 1967, Ballard tried an unsuccessful solo career with ABC Records before she was dropped from the label at the end of the decade. Ballard struggled with alcoholism, depression, and poverty for three years. She was making an attempt at a musical comeback when she died of a heart attack in February 1976 at the age of 32. Ballard's death was considered by one critic as "one of rock's greatest tragedies". Ballard was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes in 1988.
WFlora Batson (1864–1906) was a popular and well-known black concert singer, nicknamed "The Double-Voiced Queen of Song" because of her soprano-baritone range. She was also called "the colored Jenny Lind" in the press.
WCedric Bixler-Zavala is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta and the only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, for which he is the lead singer and occasional guitarist. He is also the lead singer of the band Antemasque, and sings and plays guitar in his band Zavalaz.
WBjörk Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, and DJ. Over her four-decade career, she has developed an eclectic musical style that draws on a range of influences and genres spanning electronic, pop, experimental, trip hop, classical, and avant-garde music.
WChristopher Maurice Brown is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year, which became certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
WCatherine Bush is an English singer, songwriter, musician, dancer and record producer. In 1978, aged 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song. She has since released 25 UK Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hits "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", "Babooshka", "Running Up That Hill", "Don't Give Up", and "King of the Mountain". All 10 of her studio albums reached the UK Top 10, including the UK number-one albums Never for Ever (1980), Hounds of Love (1985), and the compilation The Whole Story (1986). She was the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist to enter the album chart at number one.
WLydia Canaan is a Lebanese singer-songwriter and humanitarian activist widely regarded as the first “rock star” of the Middle East.
WJoshua Scott Chasez, better known as JC Chasez, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and occasional actor. He started out his career as a cast member on The Mickey Mouse Club before rising to stardom with *NSYNC, and by writing and producing for music acts such as Girls Aloud, Basement Jaxx, David Archuleta, and Matthew Morrison. He also served as a judge for America's Best Dance Crew.
WLugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for several pop hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 number one hit "Lightnin' Strikes".
WKelly Brianne Clarkson is an American singer-songwriter, actress, author, and television personality. She rose to fame in 2002 after winning the first season of American Idol, which earned her a record deal with RCA Records. Clarkson's debut single, "A Moment Like This", topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the country's best-selling single of 2002. It was followed by the release of her debut studio album, Thankful (2003), which debuted atop the US Billboard 200. Trying to reinvent her image, Clarkson parted ways with Idol management and shifted to pop rock music for her second album, Breakaway (2004). After numerous top 40 radio number-one singles, such as "Since U Been Gone" and "Because of You", the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and earned Clarkson two Grammy Awards.
WRobert Louis "Bobby" DeBarge, Jr. was an American singer and musician. DeBarge was the lead singer of the Motown R&B/soul vocal group Switch and was noted for his impressive falsetto vocals. Later on, he served as both mentor and a co-producer of his siblings' band, DeBarge, eventually joining them to fill in for departing members El and Bunny. Personal problems, including substance abuse which eventually led to drug trafficking charges in 1988, plagued DeBarge in later years, taking focus away from his musical career. He contracted HIV in the 1980s, and died of AIDS complications in 1995, at age 39.
WElizabeth Woolridge Grant, known by her stage name Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its stylized, cinematic quality; themes of sadness, tragic romance, glamor, and melancholia; and references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana.
WCéline Marie Claudette Dion is a Canadian singer. She is renowned for her powerful, technically skilled vocals, and remains the best-selling Canadian recording artist and one of the best-selling artists of all time with record sales of over 200 million worldwide. Born into a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, she emerged as a teen star in her home country with a series of French-language albums during the 1980s. She first gained international recognition by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland. After learning to speak English, she signed on to Epic Records in the United States. In 1990, Dion released her debut English-language album, Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English-speaking areas of the world.
WSertab Erener is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990s. Because of her education in classical music, she initially had difficulties in performing pop music. Although she did experimental works from time to time, she eventually preferred to focus on making pop music instead of making avant-garde works, in order to make her music heard by a larger audience. In some of her works, she combined Western music and Eastern music, and benefited from operas as well as classical Turkish music together with ethnic elements. With her entrance to Europe's market in the early 2000s, many of her works were also sold in Turkey as well as European countries.
WLara Sophie Katy Crokaert (born January 9, 1970), better known as Lara Fabian, is a Canadian-Belgian singer, songwriter, musician, actress and producer. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide as of September 2017 and is one of the best-selling Belgian artists of all time.
WPenny Ford is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, she rose to fame in the 1980s after signing a recording contract with Total Experience Records and releasing her debut solo album Pennye. The album spawned the singles "Change Your Wicked Way" and "Dangerous", which were produced and written by Ford.
WMiho Fukuhara is a Japanese pop star who made an independent label debut in 2006, releasing a single titled "The Roots" and mini-album titled Step Out. In early 2008, she made her major-label debut under Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Her single, "Change", was the number ninety-two song on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles year-end charts for 2008. With her single, "Let It Out", she had her first major anime tie-in with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
WJohn Gary was an American singer, recording artist, television host, and performer on the musical stage.
WElena Jane Goulding is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who later became her manager and A&R. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding later that year.
WLa Toya Yvonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman and television personality. The fifth and middle child of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, The Jacksons, on CBS between 1976 and 1977. Thereafter, she saw success as a solo recording artist under multiple record labels in the 1980s and 1990s, including Polydor, Sony Music and RCA, where she released nine studio albums over the course of fifteen years. Her most successful releases in the United States were her self-titled debut album (1980) and the 1984 single "Heart Don't Lie". Jackson's other songs include "If You Feel the Funk", "Bet'cha Gonna Need My Lovin'", "Hot Potato", "You're Gonna Get Rocked!" and "Sexbox". Another one of Jackson's songs, "Just Say No" from her fifth album was composed for US first lady Nancy Reagan and Reagan administration's anti-drug campaign.
WHoward Jones is an American metalcore vocalist, best known as vocalist of the bands Killswitch Engage and Blood Has Been Shed, and as the current vocalist of Light the Torch, formerly known as Devil You Know.
WKesha Rose Sebert, formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and actress. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on American rapper Flo Rida's number-one single "Right Round".
WAlicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter. A classically-trained pianist, Keys began composing songs by age 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. After disputes with the label, she signed with Arista Records, and later released her debut album, Songs in A Minor, with J Records in 2001. The album was critically and commercially successful, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Fallin'" and selling over 16 million copies worldwide. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002.
WPeter Gene Hernandez, known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, hip hop, and rock. Mars is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers.
WDavid Irving McAlmont is a British vocalist, essayist and art historian.
WBridgit Claire Mendler is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. In 2004, she began her career in the animated Indian film The Legend of Buddha, later starring in the films Alice Upside Down (2007), The Clique (2008), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009) and Labor Pains (2009) as a teenager. In 2009, Mendler signed with Disney Channel and played Juliet van Heusen on Wizards of Waverly Place. Following the positive reception to her character, she landed the role of Teddy Duncan on the Disney series Good Luck Charlie, which ran from April 2010 to February 2014. Mendler also starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Lemonade Mouth in 2011. Subsequently, Mendler portrayed Candace in the NBC sitcom Undateable (2015–2016) and Ashley Willerman in the musical television series Nashville (2017).
WMina Anna Maria Mazzini OMRI, Anna Maria Quaini, known as Mina Mazzini or simply Mina, is an Italian singer. She was a staple of television variety shows and a dominant figure in Italian pop music from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, known for her three-octave vocal range, the agility of her soprano voice, and her image as an emancipated woman.
WLani Bayot Misalucha is a Filipino singer who performs pop, rock, jazz, soul, rhythm and blues, and operatic arias. Her ability to sing across several genres gave her the title "Asia's Nightingale" by MTV Southeast Asia. She was also nominated for an Aliw Award for playing Sita in the 1999 Filipino musical Rama at Sita - The Musical.
WMisia , commonly stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended Seinan Gakuin University before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She was signed to BMG Japan in 1997, after auditioning for record producer Haruo Yoda.
WHarry Edward Nilsson III, known professionally as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experiments, returns to the Great American Songbook, and fusions of Caribbean sounds. A tenor with a 3 1⁄2 octave range, Nilsson was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists of his era and others to achieve significant commercial success without ever performing major public concerts or undertaking regular tours. The craft of his songs and the defiant attitude he projected remains a touchstone for later generations of indie rock musicians.
WBrandy Rayana Norwood, better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and businesswoman. Born into a musical family, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist for teen groups. After signing with Atlantic Records in 1993, she released her self-titled debut album the following year, which sold six million copies worldwide. In 1996, Norwood began starring in the UPN sitcom Moesha as the title character, which lasted six seasons and resulted in numerous other roles. She resumed her music career in 1998 with the wildly successful duet with fellow R&B contemporary Monica, "The Boy Is Mine", which went on to become one of the best selling female duets of all time. Her second album, Never Say Never, featured two number one singles, and earned Norwood her first Grammy Award.
WRobyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna was discovered by American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the United States to record demo tapes. After signing with Def Jam in 2005, she soon gained recognition with the release of her first two studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl like Me (2006), both of which were influenced by Caribbean music and peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard 200 chart.
WKelendria Trene Rowland is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the group's two-year hiatus, Rowland released her first solo album, Simply Deep (2002), which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. It included the number-one single "Dilemma" with Nelly, as well as the UK top-five hits "Stole" and "Can't Nobody". Rowland also ventured into acting with starring roles in the successful films Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and The Seat Filler (2005).
WSerena Lauren Ryder is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad "Weak in the Knees" in 2007 and has released eight studio albums.
WTamia Marilyn Washington Hill, known mononymously as Tamia, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, producer, and actress. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development deal with Warner Bros. Records, she was asked by veteran producer Quincy Jones to appear on his album Q's Jook Joint (1995), earning her Grammy Award nominations for their collaboration on "You Put a Move on My Heart" and "Slow Jams." Her self-titled debut album was released in 1998 and followed by a series of successful albums with Elektra Records, including A Nu Day (2000) and More (2004). Several songs from these albums became hit singles on the pop and R&B record charts, including "So Into You", "Stranger in My House" and "Imagination" as well as her collaborations "Into You", "Missing You" and "Spend My Life with You".
WUsher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, actor, businessman, and dancer. He was born in Dallas, Texas, but raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee until moving to Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 12, his mother put him in local singing competitions before catching the attention of a music A&R from LaFace Records. He released his self-titled debut album Usher (1994), and rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way (1997). It spawned his first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and the top-two singles "You Make Me Wanna..." and "My Way". His third album, 8701 (2001), produced the number-one singles "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003.
WAbel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his falsetto and eccentric music style, Tesfaye is recognized for heavily influencing contemporary R&B and inspiring multiple artists. He began his recording career in 2010, anonymously uploading several songs to YouTube. A year later, the Weeknd released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, and quickly earned a following and critical recognition from several mainstream publications due to his dark style of R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity.
WOttis Dewey Whitman Jr., professionally known by the stage name Slim Whitman, was an American country music, western music and folk music artist singer-songwriter and instrumentalist known for his yodeling abilities and his smooth, high, three-octave-range falsetto in a style christened as "countrypolitan". He personally stated that he had sold in excess of 120 million records, although the recorded sales figures give 70 million, during a career that spanned over seven decades, and consisted of a prolific output of over 100 albums and around 500 recorded songs, that not only consisted of country music, but also of contemporary gospel, Broadway show tunes, love songs and standards. In the 1950s, Whitman toured with Elvis Presley as the opening act. In the 1990s and 2000s a new generation was exposed to Whitman through his songs featured in the film Mars Attacks!; his famed "Indian Love Call" would kill the invading Martians every time the record was played and his rendition of "I Remember You" was heard in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses.
WAkira Yamanaka , better known as Joe Yamanaka (ジョー山中), was a Japanese singer and actor. He is known for both his work with Flower Travellin' Band and as a solo musician; singing at a vocal range of three octaves. As an actor, he appeared in many television shows and movies, such as Takashi Miike's Deadly Outlaw: Rekka and the 1989 version of Zatoichi.