On 2 July 2005 an estimated 3 billion people came together in the fight against extreme poverty. LIVE 8 - 10 concerts featuring over 1000 musicians from across the globe - asked people not for their money, but for their voice.
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Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is the most commercially successful songwriter in the history of popular music, according to Guinness World Records. McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the UK. BBC News Online readers named McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium", and BBC News cites his Beatles song "Yesterday" as the most covered song in the history of recorded music—by over 2,200 artists—and since its 1965 release, has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio according to the BBC. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 32 number one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the US alone. McCartney has composed film scores, classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and has taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. He is a keen football fan, supporting both Everton and Liverpool football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. McCartney is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010.
Elton John is an English singer, pianist and composer. He has made appearances in numerous films such as "Born to Boogie" (1972) with Marc Bolan and Ringo Starr; "Tommy" (1975) as the Pinball Wizard; "Spice World" (1997); "The Country Bears" (2002). And in the autobiographies "Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras" (1997) and "Elton John: Me, Myself & I" (2007).
Pete Doherty is an English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer, and artist. He is best known for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie band Babyshambles and Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres.
Youssou N'Dour (also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa and in 2023, the same publication ranked him at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism. N'Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegalese music known by all Senegambians (including the Wolof) as mbalax, a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies. He is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Gorée (2007) directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world. In 2006, N'Dour was cast as Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace. Ethnically, N'Dour is Serer, born to a Serer father and a Toucouleur mother. However, culturally, N'Dour is Wolof. He was born in Dakar. He started performing at age 12 and would later perform regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the 1970s. Despite N'Dour's maternal connection to the traditional griot caste, he was not raised in that tradition, which he learned instead from his sibling. Although patrilineally from the noble N'Dour family, his parents' world-view encouraged a modern outlook, leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring N'Dour's identity as a modern griot. As a Mouride disciple, taalibé in Wolof, a Muslim of the Mouride brotherhood, one of the large four Sufi orders in Senegambia, he often incorporated aspects of Islamic music and chants into his work. At the age of 15, Youssou N'Dour joined Super Diamono and, in 1975, toured with the band in West Africa. In 1976 when N'Dour was 16 years old, he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasse's Star Band at Kasse's Miami club in Dakar where he would become a sensation. In 1978, N'Dour would follow as several members of the Star Band left to form Étoile de Dakar, a band that made important contributions to Senegal's newly evolving musical style called mbalax which incorporated traditional Senegalese music into the Latin styles that had dominated Senegalese popular music. Although they quickly became one of the city's most popular bands, the group was short-lived due to internal problems. Étoile de Dakar split into two groups: Étoile 2000 and Super Étoile de Dakar. The latter group included N'Dour, guitarist Jimi Mbaye, bassist Habib Faye, and tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam. Super Étoile de Dakar produced four albums on cassette in just a few months and eventually evolved into N'Dour's backing band. By 1991, he had opened his own recording studio, and, by 1995, his own record label, Jololi. ... Source: Article "Youssou N'Dour" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof KBE (born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part of the punk rock movement. The band had UK number one hits with his co-compositions "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays". Geldof starred as Pink in Pink Floyd's 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall. As a fundraiser, Geldof organised the charity supergroup Band Aid and the concerts Live Aid and Live 8, and co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?", one of the best-selling singles to date. Geldof is widely recognised for his activism, especially his anti-poverty efforts concerning Africa. In 1984, he and Midge Ure founded the charity supergroup Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. They went on to organise the charity super-concert Live Aid the following year and the Live 8 concerts in 2005. Geldof currently serves as an adviser to the ONE Campaign, co-founded by fellow Irish rock singer and activist Bono, and is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. A single father, Geldof has also been outspoken for the fathers' rights movement. Geldof was granted an honorary knighthood (KBE) by Elizabeth II in 1986 for his charity work in Africa: it is an honorary award as Geldof is an Irish citizen, but he is often referred to as 'Sir Bob'. He is a recipient of the Man of Peace title which recognises individuals who have made "an outstanding contribution to international social justice and peace", among numerous other awards and nominations. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bob Geldof, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper and actor. His initial fame dates back to 1992 after guest appearing on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Deep Cover", and then on Dre's debut album, The Chronic, the same year. Broadus has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide. His accolades include an American Music Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and 17 nominations at the Grammy Awards.
Annie Lennox, OBE (born 25 December 1954), is a Scottish recording artist. After achieving minor success in the band The Tourists in the late 1970s, Lennox went on to major international success in the 1980s as part of the duo Eurythmics, which she formed with former Tourists' member David A. Stewart. In the 1990s, Lennox embarked on a solo career beginning with her debut album Diva (1992), which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". She has released five solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection, in 2009. She is the recipient of eight BRIT Awards. In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, notable for raising money and awareness for HIV charities in Africa. She also objected to the unauthorized use of the 1999 Eurythmics song "I Saved the World Today" in an election broadcast for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Known as a pop culture icon for her distinctive contralto vocals and visual performances, Lennox has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. She has earned the distinction of "most successful female British artist in UK music history" because of her global commercial success since the early 1980s. Including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 80 million records worldwide.
Bryan Guy Adams is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and activist. One of the world's best-selling artists of all time, Adams has sold 100 million records and singles worldwide. Adams rose to fame in North America with his 1983 album Cuts Like a Knife and turned into a global star with his 1984 album Reckless which produced some of his best known songs including "Run to You" and "Summer of '69". In 1991, he released "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", one of the best-selling singles of all time. Adams also spawned the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Heaven", "All for Love" and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?".
Ye (born Kanye Omari West, June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists and producers and as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West initially gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style. Intent on pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he released his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), to critical and commercial success. He founded the record label GOOD Music later that year. West's outspoken views have received significant media coverage; he has been a frequent source of controversy due to his conduct on social media and at awards shows and public settings, as well as his comments on the music and fashion industries, U.S. politics, race, and slavery. In 2020, West launched an unsuccessful independent presidential campaign that primarily advocated for a consistent life ethic. In 2022, he faced backlash and lost a number of sponsors and partnerships—including his collaborations with Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga—after making anti-Semitic statements. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kanye West, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone) is a recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983. She followed it with a series of albums in which she found immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Throughout her career, many of her songs have hit number one on the record charts, including "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes". Critics have praised Madonna for her diverse musical productions while at the same time serving as a lightning rod for religious controversy. Her career was further enhanced by film appearances that began in 1979, despite mixed commentary. She won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in Evita (1996), but has received harsh feedback for other film roles. Madonna's other ventures include being a fashion designer, children's book author, film director and producer. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, and in 2007, she signed an unprecedented US $120 million contract with Live Nation. Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, behind Barbra Streisand, with 64 million certified albums. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked Madonna at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of the Billboard chart. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year. Considered to be one of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, Madonna is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry. On May 4, 2024, with a free concert which was live streamed at the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in front of 1.6 million people, Madonna broke the record for the most attended stand-alone concert by any artist, and the all-time highest attended concert by a female artist.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. After signing with Capitol Records in 1962, Wilson wrote or co-wrote more than two dozen Top 40 hits for the group. He originally functioned as the band's songwriter, producer, co-lead vocalist, bassist, keyboardist, and de facto leader. Wilson is considered a major innovator in the field of music production, the principal originator of the California Sound, one of the first music producer auteurs, and the first rock producer to use the studio as its own instrument. The unusual creative control Capitol gave him over his own records effectively set a precedent that allowed other bands and artists to act as their own producers or co-producers. He was a major influence on the retrospectively-termed "sunshine pop" and Flower Power music that proceeded.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), best known as Toby Keith, was an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of Mercury Records before exiting in 1998. These albums all earned gold or higher certification, and produced several chart singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since then, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated. Signed to Nashville DreamWorks in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" that year. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the Number One country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more Number Ones each, and all of the albums were certified multi-platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University. When Dreamworks closed in 2005, Keith founded his own label, Show Dog Nashville, which became part of Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released five studio albums on this label: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride and 2010's Bullets in the Gun as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits. He has also signed several other acts to the label, including Trailer Choir, Carter's Chord, Flynnville Train, Trace Adkins, Mac McAnally and Mica Roberts. Keith also made his acting debut in 2005, starring in the film Broken Bridges and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses. Keith has released thirteen studio albums, two Christmas albums, and multiple compilation albums. He has also charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including nineteen Number One hits and sixteen additional Top Ten hits. His longest-lasting Number One hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Description above from the Wikipedia article Toby Keith, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as the lead singer for the rock band Linkin Park, and also served as the frontman for Dead by Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chester Bennington, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of entertainment company Roc Nation, and was the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007. One of the world's best-selling music artists with over 140 million records sold, Jay-Z has won 24 Grammy Awards, jointly with Kanye West the most Grammy awards of any rapper. Jay-Z was the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first solo living rapper inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2013, Time included him on its list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World".
Jocelyn Eve Stoker, better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Wikipedia
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter. A classically-trained pianist, Keys was composing songs by age 12. She was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records, and then, after disputes with the label, by Arista Records. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, was released with J Records in 2001. Praised for Keys' musical talents and creative control, Songs in A Minor was critically and commercially successful, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Fallin'" and selling over 12 million copies worldwide. Songs in A Minor earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was also a critical and commercial success, spawning successful singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You" and "Diary", and selling eight million copies worldwide. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards. Her duet song "My Boo" with Usher became her second number-one single in 2004. Keys released her first live album, Unplugged (2005), and became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one. Her third album, As I Am (2007), produced the Hot 100 number-one single "No One", selling 5 million copies worldwide and earning an additional three Grammy Awards. In 2007, Keys made her film debut in the action-thriller film Smokin' Aces. Her fourth album,The Element of Freedom (2009), became her first chart-topping album in the UK, and sold 4 million copies worldwide. In 2009, Keys also collaborated with Jay Z on "Empire State of Mind", which became her fourth number-one single, and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2010. Girl on Fire (2012) was her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, spawning the successful title track, and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. In 2013, VH1 Storytellers was released as her second live album. Her sixth studio album, Here (2016), became her seventh US R&B/Hip-Hop chart topping album. Keys has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including 15 competitive Grammy Awards, 17 NAACP Image Awards, 12 ASCAP Awards, and awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and National Music Publishers Association. She has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide. Considered a musical icon, Keys was named by Billboard the top R&B artist of the 2000s decade and placed number 10 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. VH1 also included her on their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 100 Greatest Women in Music lists, while Time have named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005 and 2017. Keys is also known for her humanitarian work, philanthropy and activism, and has received accolades for such work. Keys co-founded and is the Global Ambassador of the nonprofit HIV/AIDS-fighting organization Keep a Child Alive.
Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range.
Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, with over 22.3 million records. As of 2012, he had sold over 25 million records worldwide. David Foster called Josh to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, "The Prayer", with Celine Dion at the rehearsal for the 1998 Grammy Awards. Rosie O'Donnell immediately invited him to appear on her talk show. Foster asked him to sing at California Governor Gray Davis' 1999 inauguration. He was cast on Ally McBeal by the show's creator, David E. Kelley, performing "You're Still You" for the 2001 season four finale. After his appearance in two professional productions of the musical Chess, he made his Broadway debut in 2016 as Pierre Bezukhov in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, to critical acclaim and nomination for a 2017 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. His performance at the 72nd Tony Awards earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations, one for Outstanding Live Variety Special and one for Original Music and Lyrics for the song "This One's for You". Groban co-starred as Tony Caruso Jr. in the Netflix original series,The Good Cop. He was also the host of Rising Star, he also appeared in the films, Coffee Town, Muppets Most Wanted, The Hollars, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. He also appeared on TV as Danny Chase in The Crazy Ones, as well as Walter Bernard Jr. in The Office.
Sting (aka Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter, lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police. Sting has varied his musical style throughout his career, incorporating distinct elements of jazz, reggae, classical, new age, and worldbeat into his music. As a solo musician and member of The Police, Sting has received sixteen Grammy Awards for his work, receiving his first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1981, and an Oscar nomination for the best song. He is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Mariah Carey (March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the "Songbird Supreme" and the "Queen of Christmas", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style, and signature use of the whistle register. Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her eponymous debut album. She was the first artist to have her first five singles reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, from "Vision of Love" to "Emotions".
Neil Percival Young OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer, musician and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Since the beginning of his solo career with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has released many critically acclaimed and important albums, such as Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Harvest and Rust Never Sleeps. He was a part-time member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Young has received several Grammy and Juno Awards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: in 1995 as a solo artist and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young No. 34 on their list of the 100 greatest musical artists. According to Acclaimed Music, he is the seventh most celebrated artist in popular music history. His guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature high tenor singing voice define his long career. He also plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country and other musical genres. His often distorted electric guitar playing, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname "Godfather of Grunge" and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently he has been backed by Promise of the Real. 21 of his albums and singles have been certified Gold and Platinum in U.S by RIAA certification. Young directed (or co-directed) films using the pseudonym "Bernard Shakey", including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia (1993) and Dead Man (1995). Description above from the Wikipedia article Neil Young, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Robbie Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams left the group in 1995 to launch his solo career. On 15 July 2010, it was announced he had rejoined Take That and that the group intended to release a new album in November 2010. Williams has sold more than 55 million records worldwide. He is the best-selling British solo artist in the United Kingdom and the best selling non-Latino artist in Latin America. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the United Kingdom. He has also been honoured with fifteen BRIT Awards — more than any other artist — and seven ECHO Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted as the "Greatest Artist of the 1990s."
Keith Lionel Urban (born October 26, 1967) is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age. In 1991, he released a self-titled debut album, and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States in 1992. Eventually, Urban found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch, which recorded one studio album on Capitol Records and charted two singles on the Billboard country charts. Still signed to Capitol, he made his solo American debut in 1999 with the album Keith Urban. Certified platinum in the U.S., it also produced his first American Number One in "But for the Grace of God". His breakthrough hit was the Number One "Somebody Like You", from his second Capitol album Golden Road (2002). This album also earned Urban his first Grammy Award win for "You'll Think of Me", its fourth single and the fourth Billboard Number One of his career. 2004's Be Here, his third American album, produced three more Number Ones, and became his highest-selling album, earning 4× Multi-Platinum certification. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006, producing the record-setting #17 country chart debut of "Once in a Lifetime", as well as Urban's second Grammy for the song "Stupid Boy", while a Greatest Hits package entitled Greatest Hits: 18 Kids followed in late 2007. This album was re-released a year later as Greatest Hits: 19 Kids with one track added: the number one "You Look Good in My Shirt", which he had previously recorded on Golden Road. Additional albums Defying Gravity and Get Closer were released on March 31, 2009 and November 16, 2010, respectively. Urban has released a total of nine studio albums (one of which was released only in the United Kingdom), as well as one album in The Ranch. He has charted more than fifteen singles on the U.S. country charts, including ten Number Ones. Urban plays acoustic and electric guitar, as well as ganjo, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, sitar, bouzouki and drums.
Rob Thomas is an American musician born on February 14, 1972 in Landstuhl, West Germany. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Matchbox Twenty. He has been married to Marisol Thomas since October 2, 1999
Stevland Hardaway Morris (previously Judkins; born May 13, 1950), better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist. Blind since shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records' Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day. Among Wonder's best known works are singles such as "Superstition", "Sir Duke", "I Wish" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Well known albums also include Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and received twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with Wonder at number five. Description above from the Wikipedia article Stevie Wonder, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with sales of over 120 million records worldwide. Michael was known as a leading creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He achieved seven number-one songs on the UK Singles Chart and eight number-one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. Michael won numerous music awards, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. In 2015, he was ranked 45th in Billboard's list of the "Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time". The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. Description above from the Wikipedia article George Michael, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard (born 7 February 1962) is an English stand-up comedian and actor. Her comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's works include stand-up sets Unrepeatable, Definite Article, Glorious, Dress to Kill, Circle, Sexie and Stripped. She had a starring role in the television series The Riches as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Mystery Men, The Cat's Meow, Across the Universe, and Valkyrie. She has cited her main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to her as the "Lost Python". In 2009, she completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long-distance running. Izzard is genderfluid and has said she prefers she and her pronouns, but "[doesn't] mind" he and him. Description above from the Wikipedia article Eddie Izzard, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh lyric mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns. After winning singing competitions in her youth, Jenkins studied at the Royal Academy of Music, modelled and taught voice. She came to wide public attention in 2003 when she sang at Westminster Cathedral in honour of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee. Since 2004, she has released numerous albums that have performed well on UK and foreign charts. In both 2005 and 2006, her albums received Classic Brit Awards as Album of the Year. She has also been seen widely in concert, including concerts for UK troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has sung at sporting events, on television shows and in support of many charities. In Spring 2012, she competed on the US television show Dancing with the Stars, finishing in second place, behind NFL Super Bowl champion Donald Driver. Description above from the Wikipedia article Katherine Jenkins, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
James Brown (May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter, eventually referred to as "The Godfather of Soul"(GFOS). Brown started singing in gospel groups and worked his way on up. He has been recognized as one of the most iconic figures in the 20th century popular music and was renowned for his vocals and feverish dancing. He was also called "the hardest-working man in show business". Brown began his professional music career in 1956 and rose to fame during the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and string of smash hits. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks he continued to score hits in every decade through the 1980s. In addition to his acclaim in music, Brown was also a presence in American political affairs during the 1960s and 1970s.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Robert "Will" Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor. He rose to fame in 2002 after winning the inaugural Pop Idol contest (February 2002), making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise. He has won multiple awards. Young has sold over eight million albums worldwide. Description above from the Wikipedia article Will Young, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Adam Noah Levine is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor, widely known as the lead vocalist for the Los Angeles pop rock band, Maroon 5. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Levine began his musical career in 1994, when he co-founded the alternative rock band Kara's Flowers, of which he was the lead vocalist and guitarist. After the commercial failure of their only album, The Fourth World (released in 1997), the band split up. In 2001, the group was reformed – with guitarist James Valentine joining the line-up – and began a new, musical chapter, changing their name to Maroon 5. In 2002, the band released their first album, Songs About Jane, which went multi-platinum in the US. Since then, they have released four more albums, It Won't Be Soon Before Long (2007), Hands All Over (2010), Overexposed (2012) and V (2014). As part of Maroon 5, Levine has received three Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and a World Music Award. Since 2011, Levine has served as a coach on NBC's reality talent show The Voice. The winners of the first and fifth seasons, Javier Colon and Tessanne Chin, were on his team. In 2012, he made his acting debut as a recurring character in the horror television show American Horror Story: Asylum for the series' second season. He also appeared in the film Begin Again. As an entrepreneur, Levine launched his own eponymous fragrance line in 2013. The same year, he collaborated with Kmart and ShopYourWay.com to develop his menswear collection. He also owns a record label, 222 Records. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that "sources familiar with his many business dealings" estimated Levine would earn more than $35 million that year.
Matthew "Matt" Flynn (born May 23, 1970) is an American musician. He is the drummer for the pop rock band Maroon 5. In 2006, after being the band's touring drummer for two years, Flynn officially replaced the original drummer of Maroon 5, Ryan Dusick, who left the group due to serious wrist and shoulder injuries sustained from constant touring after the release of their first album, Songs About Jane in 2002. Prior to joining Maroon 5, Flynn has played drums for The B-52's, Chicago, Gavin DeGraw and Gandhi. Description above from the Wikipedia article Matt Flynn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Jesse Royal Carmichael is an American musician. He is the rhythm guitarist for the pop rock band Maroon 5, as well as one of the keyboardists alongside PJ Morton. Carmichael also has a solo project called 1863. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jesse Carmichael, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born September 4, 1981), often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American R&B and pop recording artist and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the hiatus of Destiny's Child, Knowles released her debut solo album Dangerously in Love (2003), which spawned the number one hits "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy" and became one of the most successful albums of that year, earning her a then record-tying five Grammy Awards. Following the group's disbandment in 2005, Knowles released B'Day in 2006. It debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and included the hits "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful Liar". Her third solo album I Am... Sasha Fierce, released in November 2008, included the anthemic "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". The album and its singles earned her six Grammy Awards, breaking the record for most Grammy Awards won by a female artist in one night. Knowles is one of the most honored artists by the Grammys with 16 awards—13 as a solo artist and three as a member of Destiny's Child. Knowles began her acting career in 2001, appearing in the musical film Carmen: A Hip Hopera. In 2006, she starred in the lead role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, for which she earned two Golden Globe nominations. Knowles launched her family's fashion line, House of Deréon, in 2004, and has endorsed such brands as Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani and L'Oréal. In 2010, Forbes ranked Knowles at number two on its list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential Celebrities in the world; she was also listed as the most powerful and influential musician in the world. Time also included Knowles on its list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World". Knowles has attained five Hot 100 number one singles as a solo performer and four with Destiny's Child, and as a solo artist, has sold over 35 million albums and singles in the U.S.; according to Sony, her total record sales, when combined with the group, have surpassed 100 million. On December 11, 2009, Billboard listed Knowles as the most successful female artist of the 2000s decade and the top Radio Artist of the decade. In February 2010, the RIAA listed her as the top certified artist of the decade.
Kelendria Trene "Kelly" Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer,songwriter, actress and television personality. Rowland 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 their hiatus, Rowland released her debut solo album Simply Deep (2002), which sold 2.5 million copies worldwide and produced the number-one single "Dilemma" with Nelly, as well as the international top-ten hit "Stole". Rowland also transitioned into acting, with guest appearances in television sitcoms, and starring roles in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and The Seat Filler (2004).
Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time with over 60 million records, of which more than 35 million copies sold with the trio lineup that included Williams. During the group's two-year hiatus, 2001–2003, Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours (2002) which topped the US gospel album chart and became the best-selling gospel release of the year. Also in 2002, Billboard named Williams the fifth-best gospel artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act". Following this, she released Do You Know (2004) which gained her a nomination for "Best Gospel Act" at the 2004 MOBO Awards. After Destiny's Child's disbanded in 2006, Williams released her first pop album, Unexpected (2008), which spawned the internationally charting single "We Break the Dawn" and the US Dance number-one "The Greatest". Her fourth studio album, Journey to Freedom (2014), received positive reviews and became her highest-charting album in the US; it was preceded by lead single "If We Had Your Eyes" which reached the US Adult R&B top 20 and the Soul Train-nominated "Say Yes", which charted internationally and topped the US Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks. Journey to Freedom was nominated for "Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary)" at the 46th NAACP Image Awards and earned Williams four nominations at the 30th annual Stellar Awards, winning Music Video of the Year for "Say Yes". Williams has found success as a television, Broadway and West End theatre actress, gaining a nomination for "Best Lead Female – Equity" in 2008 at the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. Making her acting debut on Broadway in Aida (2003), she has since starred in the sitcom series Half & Half (2006) and the musical productions The Color Purple (2007), Chicago (2009–10), What My Husband Doesn't Know (2011) and Fela! (2013). She was a featured judge on MTV's Top Pop Group, a contestant in season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom and co-starred alongside gospel musician Deitrick Haddon in the Oxygen reality television series Fix My Choir. She has also appeared on both the American and British versions of The Masked Singer as "Butterfly" and "Rockhopper" respectively. She has earned several awards and accolades including a Grammy Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of Destiny's Child, as well as a solo MOBO Award and Stellar Award. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michelle Williams (singer), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor and rapper. Known for variety of roles, Smith has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and four Grammy Awards. Smith began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996). He first gained recognition as part of a hip hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff, with whom he released five studio albums and the US Billboard Hot 100 top 20 singles "Parents Just Don't Understand", "A Nightmare on My Street", "Summertime", "Ring My Bell", and "Boom! Shake the Room" from 1984 to 1994. He released the solo albums Big Willie Style (1997), Willennium (1999), Born to Reign (2002), and Lost and Found (2005), which contained the US number-one singles "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" and "Wild Wild West". He has received four Grammy Awards for his rap performances. Smith achieved wider fame as a leading man in films such as the action film Bad Boys (1995), its sequels Bad Boys II (2003) and Bad Boys for Life (2020), and the sci-fi comedies Men in Black (1997), Men in Black II (2002), and Men in Black 3 (2012). After starring in the thrillers Independence Day (1996) and Enemy of the State (1998), he received Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his portrayal as Muhammad Ali in Ali (2001), and as Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). He then starred in a range of commercially successful films, including I, Robot (2004), Shark Tale (2004), Hitch (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Hancock (2008), Seven Pounds (2008), Suicide Squad (2016) and Aladdin (2019). For his portrayal of Richard Williams in the biographical sports drama King Richard (2021), Smith won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.
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Neil Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter and co-founder of the synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He also was a journalist for Smash Hits, and was assistant editor for the magazine for a period in the mid-1980s.
Chris Lowe is an English musician and songwriter, and co-founder of the synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981.
John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He has released 15 studio albums with his band as well as two solo albums. In the 1990s, Bon Jovi started an acting career, starring in the films Moonlight and Valentino and U-571 and appearing on television in Sex and the City, Ally McBeal and The West Wing. As a songwriter, Bon Jovi was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2012, he ranked number 50 on the list of Billboard magazine's "Power 100", a ranking of "The Most Powerful and Influential People in the Music Business". In 1996, People magazine named him one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World". In 2000, People awarded him the title "Sexiest Rock Star". Bon Jovi was a founder and former majority owner of the Arena Football League team, the Philadelphia Soul. He is the founder of The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, founded in 2006.
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards for his acting, in addition to a second Academy Award, a second British Academy Film Award, a third Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as a producer under his production company, Plan B Entertainment. Pitt first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in the road film Thelma & Louise (1991). His first leading roles in big-budget productions came with the drama films A River Runs Through It (1992) and Legends of the Fall (1994), and the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994). He gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven (1995) and the science fiction film 12 Monkeys (1995), the latter earning him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination. Pitt starred in Fight Club (1999) and the heist film Ocean's Eleven (2001), as well as its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). His greatest commercial successes have been Ocean's Eleven (2001), Troy (2004), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), World War Z (2013), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), for which he won a second Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Pitt's other Academy Award nominated performances were in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Moneyball (2011). He produced The Departed (2006) and 12 Years a Slave (2013), both of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and also The Tree of Life (2011), Moneyball (2011) and The Big Short (2015), all of which were nominated for Best Picture. Pitt is the second actor to have won Academy Awards for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture.
David Jon Gilmour is an English musician and multi-instrumentalist, who was the guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 250 million records worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of artists, and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist. Gilmour has been actively involved with many charities over the course of his career. In 2005, he was appointed CBE for his services to music. He was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution title at the 2008 Q Awards. In 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 14 in their list of the greatest guitarists of all time.
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter and conceptual leader. The band subsequently achieved worldwide success in the 1970s with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Although Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the bass guitar, he also experimented with synthesisers and tape loops and played rhythm guitars in recordings and in concert. Amid creative differences within the group, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the remaining members over their future use of the group's name and material. The dispute was settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed with Pink Floyd again. Waters' solo career has included three studio albums: The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (1984), Radio K.A.O.S. (1987), and Amused to Death (1992). In 1986, he contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the movie When the Wind Blows based on the Raymond Briggs book of the same name. In 1990, he staged one of the largest rock concerts in history, The Wall – Live in Berlin, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance. In 1996, he was inducted into the US and UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tours of 2006–2008. In 2005, he released Ça Ira, an opera in three acts translated from Étienne Roda-Gil and his wife Nadine Delahaye's libretto based on the early French Revolution. On 2 July 2005, he reunited with Pink Floyd bandmates Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour for the Live 8 benefit concert, the group's only appearance with Waters since their last performance with him 24 years earlier. In 2010, he began The Wall Live, a worldwide tour that features a complete performance of The Wall.
Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English musician who co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He played keyboards and sang, appearing on almost every Pink Floyd album and performing on all their tours. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Pink Floyd. Wright grew up in Hatch End, Middlesex, and met his future Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and Nick Mason while studying architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London. After being joined by frontman and songwriter Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd found commercial success in 1967. Barrett was replaced by David Gilmour in 1968, who, along with Waters and Wright, took over songwriting. Initially contributing more as a singer-songwriter, Wright later acted mainly as an arranger on compositions by Waters and Gilmour. He began to contribute less towards the end of the 1970s and left the band after touring The Wall in 1981. He rejoined as a session player in 1987 for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and rejoined full-time for The Division Bell in 1994. Sessions with Wright during this period were later released on the 2014 album The Endless River. Away from Pink Floyd, Wright recorded two solo albums and was briefly active in the pop duo Zee with Dave Harris of Fashion. Following Pink Floyd's Live 8 appearance in 2005, he became part of Gilmour's touring band, singing occasional lead vocals on songs such as "Arnold Layne". Wright died from lung cancer in London in September 2008, aged 65. Wright's jazz influences and distinctive keyboard playing were an important part of the Pink Floyd sound. As well as playing Farfisa and Hammond organs and Kurzweil synthesisers, he sang regularly in the band and took lead vocals on songs such as "Remember a Day" (1968), "Time" (1973) and "Wearing the Inside Out" (1994).
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He is the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965. Despite solely writing only a few Pink Floyd songs, Mason has co-written some of Pink Floyd's most popular compositions such as "Echoes" and "Time". Mason is the only Pink Floyd member to be featured on every one of their albums. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 250 million records worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States. He competes in auto racing events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On 26 November 2012, Mason received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Westminster at the presentation ceremony of the School of Architecture and Built Environment (he had studied architecture at the University's predecessor, Regent Street Polytechnic, 1962–1967).
David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is an Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 14 studio albums with the band and one solo record. As a guitarist, the Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive sound that has become a signature of U2's music. Description above from the Wikipedia article The Edge licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Paul David Hewson, better known by his stage name Bono, is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician, venture capitalist, businessman, and philanthropist. He is best recognized as the frontman of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife, Alison Stewart, and the future members of U2. Bono writes almost all U2 lyrics, frequently using religious, social, and political themes. During U2's early years, Bono's lyrics contributed to their rebellious and spiritual to; as the band matured, his lyrics became inspired more by personal experiences shared with the other members. Outside the band, he has collaborated and recorded with numerous artists, is managing director and a managing partner of Elevation Partners, and has refurbished and owns The Clarence Hotel in Dublin with The Edge. He was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and, with Bill and Melinda Gates, was named Time Person of the Year in 2005, among other awards and nominations. On 17 July 2013, the BBC announced that Bono had been made a Commandeur of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters).
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and writer best known for co-founding the software giant Microsoft, along with his childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president, and chief software architect, while also being its largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He was a major entrepreneur of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.
Richard Tiffany Gere (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor and producer. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and a starring role in Days of Heaven (1978). He came to prominence with his role in the film American Gigolo (1980), which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. He went on to star in many well-received films, including An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), The Cotton Club (1984), Pretty Woman (1990), Sommersby (1993), Primal Fear (1996), Runaway Bride (1999), I'm Not There (2007), Arbitrage (2012) and Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016). For portraying Billy Flynn in the Academy Award-winning musical Chicago (2002), he won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the cast. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Gere, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Christopher "Chris" Tucker (born August 31, 1971) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour trilogy and Smokey in the 1995 film Friday. Tucker was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the youngest son of Mary Louise and Norris Tucker. Tucker was raised in Decatur, Georgia. After graduating from Columbia High School, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy and movies. In 1992, Tucker was a frequent performer on Def Comedy Jam. He made his cinematic debut in House Party 3, and gained greater film recognition alongside rapper Ice Cube in the 1995 film Friday. In 1997, he co-starred with Charlie Sheen in Money Talks, and alongside Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element. Tucker did not reprise his role of Smokey in Next Friday (2000) because he had become a born-again Christian after filming Money Talks (1997).He later starred in the 1998 martial arts action comedy Rush Hour and its sequels, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3, in which he played James Carter, an abrasive wise-cracking detective. Tucker is good friends with fellow Rush Hour star Jackie Chan, and was also close friends with the late singer Michael Jackson, introducing and dancing with him at his 30th Anniversary Special, appearing in Jackson's video "You Rock My World" from his 2001 album Invincible and attending Jackson's memorial service. A friend of Bill Clinton, Tucker has traveled with the former President overseas, though he endorsed Barack Obama rather than Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries. On February 13, 2009, Tucker participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend's Celebrity Game.
David Robert Joseph Beckham (born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer. He played for Manchester United, Preston North End (on loan), Real Madrid, AC Milan (on loan), LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain and the England national team, for which he held the appearance record for an outfield player until 2016. He is the first English player to win league titles in four countries: England, Spain, the United States and France. He retired in May 2013 after a 20-year career, during which he won 19 major trophies. Beckham's professional club career began with Manchester United, where he made his first-team debut in 1992 at age 17. With United, he won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He then played four seasons with Real Madrid, winning the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In July 2007, Beckham signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. He was the first British footballer to play 100 UEFA Champions League games. In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996 at the age of 21. He was captain for six years, earning 58 caps during his tenure. He made 115 career appearances in total, appearing at three FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998, 2002 and 2006, and two UEFA European Championship tournaments, in 2000 and 2004. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending free-kicks as a right winger, Beckham has been hailed as one of the greatest and most recognisable midfielders of his generation, as well as one of the best set-piece specialists of all time. He was runner-up in the Ballon d'Or in 1999, twice runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year (1999 and 2001) and in 2004 was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021. A global ambassador of the sport, Beckham is regarded as a British cultural icon. Beckham has consistently ranked among the highest earners in football, and in 2013 was listed as the highest-paid player in the world, having earned over $50 million in the previous 12 months. He has been married to Victoria Beckham since 1999 and they have four children. He has been a UNICEF UK ambassador since 2005, and in 2015 he launched 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund. In 2014, MLS announced that Beckham and a group of investors would own Inter Miami CF, which began play in 2020. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards, one for his acting and the other as a producer. In 2018, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, and in 2022, he was felicitated at the Kennedy Center Honors for a "lifetime of contributions to American culture."
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, Hanks is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is widely regarded as an American cultural icon. Hanks made his breakthrough with leading roles in the comedies Splash (1984) and Big (1988). He won two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor for starring as a gay lawyer suffering from AIDS in Philadelphia (1993) and a young man with below-average IQ in Forrest Gump (1994). Hanks collaborated with film director Steven Spielberg on five films: Saving Private Ryan (1998), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), Bridge of Spies (2015), and The Post (2017), as well as the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers, which launched him as a director, producer, and screenwriter. Hanks' other notable films include the romantic comedies Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You've Got Mail (1998); the dramas Apollo 13 (1995), The Green Mile (1999), Cast Away (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), and Cloud Atlas (2012); and the biographical dramas Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Captain Phillips (2013), Sully (2016), and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). He has also appeared as the title character in the Robert Langdon film series, and has voiced Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story film series. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Hanks, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. Signed by an agent at the age of 15, Cruz made her acting debut on television at 16, and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón Jamón (1992). Her subsequent roles included Belle Époque (1992), Open Your Eyes (1997), Don Juan (1998), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000), and Woman on Top (2000). She is known for her frequent collaborations with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar in Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009), I'm So Excited! (2013), Pain and Glory (2019), and Parallel Mothers (2021), as well as for her work with director Woody Allen in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and To Rome with Love (2012). For her role in the romantic comedy-drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cruz received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other Oscar-nominated roles include Volver (2006), Nine (2009), and Parallel Mothers (2021). Other notable films include All the Pretty Horses (2000), Vanilla Sky (2001), Blow (2001), Elegy (2008), Sahara (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), The Counselor (2013), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Everybody Knows (2018), and Official Competition (2022). For her role as Donatella Versace in the FX series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018), she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. Since 2010, Cruz has been married to Spanish actor Javier Bardem. She has done modelling work for Mango, Ralph Lauren, and L'Oréal, and along with her younger sister Mónica Cruz, also designed clothing for Mango. She has been a house ambassador for Chanel since 2018. She has volunteered in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working with Mother Teresa; she donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission.
Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His movies have also earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's sleeper hit Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). He used this breakthrough role as a frequent cinematic persona during the 1990s to deliver comic performances in mainstream films like Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and Notting Hill (1999). By the turn of the century, he had established himself as a leading man skilled with a satirical comic talent. Since the 2000s, Grant has expanded his oeuvre with critically acclaimed turns as a cad in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About A Boy (2002), Love Actually (2003), and American Dreamz (2006). Within the film industry, Grant is cited as an anti-movie star who approaches his roles like a character actor, with the ability to make acting look effortless. Hallmarks of his comic skills include a nonchalant touch of irony/sarcasm and studied physical mannerisms as well as his precisely-timed dialogue delivery and facial expressions. The entertainment media's coverage of Grant's life off the big screen has often overshadowed his work as a thespian. He has been vocal about his disrespect for the profession of acting, his disdain towards the culture of celebrity, and hostility towards the media. In a career spanning 20 years, Grant has repeatedly claimed that acting is not a true calling but just a job he fell into.
Claudia Maria Schiffer is a German model, actress, and fashion designer, based in the United Kingdom. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, cementing her supermodel status. In her early career, she was compared to Brigitte Bardot. She has appeared on more than 1,000 magazine covers and holds the record for the model with the most magazine covers, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2002, Forbes estimated her net worth to be around US$55 million.
Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005).
Ewan Gordon McGregor (/ˈjuːən/ YOO-ən; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and charity. While studying drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, McGregor began his career with a leading role in the British series Lipstick on Your Collar (1993). He gained international recognition for starring as drug addict Mark Renton in Trainspotting (1996) and as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005). His career progressed with starring roles in the musical Moulin Rouge! (2001), action film Black Hawk Down (2001), fantasy film Big Fish (2003), and thriller Angels and Demons (2009). He gained praise for his performances in the thriller The Ghost Writer (2010) and romantic comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011). McGregor made his directorial debut with the crime film American Pastoral (2016), in which he also starred. For his dual role as brothers Ray and Emmit Stussy in the third season of the anthology series Fargo (2017), he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. He voiced Lumière in Beauty and the Beast (2017), and played the title role in Christopher Robin (2018), Dan Torrance in Doctor Sleep (2019), and Black Mask in Birds of Prey (2020). He reprised his role as Kenobi in the 2022 miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi, and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his portrayal of fashion designer Halston in the miniseries Halston (2021). McGregor has also starred in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls (2005–2007) and Othello (2007–2008). He has been involved in charity work and has served as an ambassador for UNICEF UK since 2004.
Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award. During the early years of his career, Cage starred in a variety of films such as Rumble Fish (1983), Racing with the Moon (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Vampire's Kiss (1989), Wild at Heart (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), and Red Rock West (1993). During this period, John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 36 listed him as one of twelve Promising New Actors of 1984. For his performance in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation (2002). He subsequently appeared in more mainstream films, such as The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), City of Angels (1998), 8mm (1999), Windtalkers (2002), Lord of War (2005), The Wicker Man (2006), Bangkok Dangerous (2008) and Knowing (2009). He also directed the film Sonny (2002), for which he was nominated for Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival. Cage owns the production company Saturn Films and has produced films such as Shadow of the Vampire (2000) and The Life of David Gale (2003). In October 1997, Cage was ranked No. 40 in Empire magazine's The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list, while the next year, he was placed No. 37 in Premiere's 100 most powerful people in Hollywood. In the 2010s, he starred in Kick-Ass (2010), Drive Angry (2011), Joe (2013), The Runner (2015), Dog Eat Dog (2016), Mom and Dad (2017), Mandy (2018), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), and Color Out of Space (2019). His participation in various film genres during this time increased his popularity and gained him a cult following.
Kate Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularizing the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on eating disorders, and her role in size zero fashion. In 2007, she came 2nd on the Forbes top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $9 million in one year. Description above from the Wikipedia article KateMoss, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Juliette Binoche (born 9 March 1964) is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during adolescence. After performing in several stage productions, she was propelled into the world of auteurs Jean-Luc Godard (Hail Mary, 1985), Jacques Doillon (Family Life, 1985) and André Téchiné, who made her a star in France with the leading role in his 1985 drama Rendez-vous. Her sensual performance in her English-language debut The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), directed by Philip Kaufman, launched her international career. She sparked the interest of Steven Spielberg, who offered her several parts including a role in Jurassic Park which she declined, choosing instead to join Krzysztof Kieslowski on the set of Three Colors: Blue (1993), a performance for which she won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress and a César. Three years later Binoche gained further acclaim in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996), for which she was awarded an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in addition to the Best Actress Award at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival. For her performance in Lasse Hallström’s romantic comedy Chocolat (2000) Binoche was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. During the 2000s she maintained a successful, critically acclaimed career, alternating between French and English language roles in both mainstream and art-house productions. In 2010 she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy making her the first actress to win the European “best actress triple crown”. Throughout her career Binoche has intermittently appeared on stage, most notably in a 1998 London production of Luigi Pirandello’s Naked and in a 2000 production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal on Broadway for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2008 she began a world tour with a modern dance production in-i devised in collaboration with Akram Khan. Affectionately referred to as "La Binoche" by the French press, her other notable performances include: Mauvais Sang (1986), Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Damage (1992), The Horseman on the Roof (1995), Code Unknown (2000), Caché (2005), Breaking and Entering (2006) and Flight of the Red Balloon (2007). Description above from the Wikipedia article Juliette Binoche, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
David Jude Heyworth Law (born December 29, 1972) is an English actor. He has received multiple awards including a BAFTA Film Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and two Tony Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary César and was named a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. Born and raised in London, Law started acting in theatre. After finding small roles in feature films, Law gained recognition for his role in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for an Academy Award. He found further critical and commercial success in Enemy at the Gates (2001), Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition (2002). He continued to gain praise for starring in the war film Cold Mountain (2003), the drama Closer (2004), and the romantic comedy The Holiday (2006), gaining Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for the first of these. Law played Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), a younger Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel (2019); all of which rank among his highest-grossing releases. His other notable roles were in Contagion (2011), Hugo (2011), Side Effects (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Spy (2015); and the television series The Young Pope (2016) and The New Pope (2020). Law has also had an accomplished career on stage, performing in several West End and Broadway productions such as Les Parents terribles in 1994, Hamlet in 2010, and Anna Christie in 2011. He received Tony Award nominations for the first and second of these. Law's Riff Raff Entertainment, founded with business partner Ben Jackson, inked a first-look deal for both feature films and television production with New Republic Pictures on April 13, 2021.
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including ten Grammy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, the Contemporary Icon Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. According to Billboard, he is the best performing male soloist in the history of the Mainstream Top 40. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, as a child he appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Timberlake won two Grammy Awards for his R&B-focused debut solo album Justified (2002) and its single "Cry Me a River". Another single from the album, "Rock Your Body", was also successful. His critically acclaimed second album FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), characterized by its diversity in music genres, debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 and spawned the Hot 100 consecutive number-one singles with "SexyBack" (featuring Timbaland), "My Love" (featuring T.I.), and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". Established as a solo artist worldwide, his first two albums both exceeded sales of 10 million copies, as he continued producing records and collaborating with other artists. From 2008 through 2012, Timberlake focused on his acting career, effectively putting his music career on hiatus. He held starring roles in the films The Social Network, Bad Teacher, Friends with Benefits, and In Time. Timberlake resumed his music career in 2013 with his third and fourth albums The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, exploring neo soul styles, partly inspired by the expansive song structures of 1960s and 1970s rock. The former became the best-selling album of the year and spawned the top three singles "Suit & Tie" (featuring Jay-Z) and "Mirrors". Timberlake voiced Branch in DreamWorks Animation's Trolls (2016), whose soundtrack includes his fifth Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping single, "Can't Stop the Feeling!", which earned him an Academy Award nomination. His fifth studio album Man of the Woods (2018) became his fourth number-one album in the US. Supported by the two top ten singles, "Filthy" and "Say Something" (featuring Chris Stapleton), it concluded 2018 as the sixth best-selling album of the year.
Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including nominations for four Golden Globe Awards and a British Academy Film Award. As of 2018, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S., making her the fifth-highest-grossing actress at the domestic box office. Diaz's roles in comedies and romances cemented her as a sex symbol and a bankable star, and she was named the highest-paid Hollywood actress over 40 in 2013. Born in San Diego, California, Diaz was raised in Long Beach. While still in high school, she signed a modeling contract with Elite Model Management. She made her film debut at age 21 opposite Jim Carrey in the comedy The Mask (1994). Following a supporting role in the romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), she starred as the titular character in the Farrelly brothers' comedy There's Something About Mary (1998), which brought her increased fame and her first Golden Globe nomination. Her following two projects—the sports drama Any Given Sunday and Spike Jonze's fantasy film Being John Malkovich (both 1999)—lent Diaz a reputation as a dramatic actress. Diaz had praised supporting roles in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (2001) and Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002) and had greater commercial success in the action comedy Charlie's Angels (2000) and its 2003 sequel, as well as for voicing Princess Fiona in the Shrek franchise (2001–2010). Her subsequent films include the comedies In Her Shoes (2005), The Holiday (2006), What Happens in Vegas (2008), Knight and Day (2010), The Green Hornet (2011), and Bad Teacher (2011). After starring in three critically panned but financially successful films in 2014, The Other Woman, Sex Tape and Annie, Diaz retired from acting to focus on her family and businesses, but made a return to the profession in 2022. Diaz has also written two health books: The Body Book (2013), a New York Times bestseller, and The Longevity Book (2016). Her personal life drew strong media attention throughout the course of her career, mostly regarding her relationships and fashion sense. In 2015, she married Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden; they have a daughter via surrogate in 2019.
