Curtis James Jackson III, better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2003) and The Massacre (2005). Both albums achieved multi-platinum success, selling more than twenty-one million copies combined.
Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who’s Back? in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world’s highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, entertainer, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Weekend in New England", "Can’t Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)."
In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Johnny Mathis. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and multi-platinum albums that have resulted in his being named Radio & Records number one Adult Contemporary artist and winning three straight American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. Several well-known entertainers have given Manilow their "stamp of approval," including Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s regarding Manilow, "He’s next." In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a party, hugged him and said, "Don’t stop what you’re doing, man. We’re all inspired by you." Arsenio Hall cited Manilow as a favorite guest on The Arsenio Hall Show and admonished his audience to respect him for his work.
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actor. He has won several awards, including two Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Lebanon, the UK and Canada. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It’s Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was an even bigger success, reaching number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and the European charts. Bublé has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.
In 2000, Bublé’s career breakthrough came from a surprising chain of events. Michael McSweeney saw Bublé’s performance at a business party and received a copy of Bublé’s self-financed independent album from Bublé. McSweeney, an aide to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, showed the album to Mulroney and his wife. Subsequently, Bublé was invited to sing at the wedding of Mulroney’s daughter Caroline, where he sang Kurt Weill’s "Mack the Knife". At the wedding, Bublé was introduced to David Foster, a multi-Grammy Award winning producer and record executive who had worked previously with artists such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Céline Dion, Barbra Streisand, Kenny G., Cher, Josh Groban, and Andrea Bocelli.
Christopher Brian Bridges, better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Ludacris is the highest-selling Southern hip hop solo artist of all time with over 17 million units sold in the United States and 24 million records sold worldwide. Ludacris has won the Screen Actors Guild, Critic’s Choice, MTV, and Grammy Awards during his career.
Ludacris was born Christopher Brian Bridges in Champaign, Illinois. He is of African American and Native American descent. Bridges wrote his first rap song at age nine and joined an amateur rap group three years later. He attended Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois, and Banneker High School in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1998 to 1999, he studied music management at Georgia State University. In 2007, Bridges lost his father, Wayne, to cancer. Ludacris has a daughter named Karma with an Atlanta attorney named Cristine.
Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock, and its upcoming sequel, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and Sonny Munroe in Sonny With A Chance. Besides acting, she is also a solo music artist and released her debut album Don’t Forget on September 23, 2008. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling over 89,000 copies in the first week. Lovato released her second album, Here We Go Again, on July 21, 2009. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 selling over 108,000 copies in the first week.
Lovato was born in Albuquerque, NM and was rasied in Dallas, Texas to Patrick and Dianna Lovato (née Hart). She has an older sister, Dallas, and a younger half sister, Madison De La Garza. Her mother was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and country recording artist; her father moved to New Mexico after their marriage ended in 1994. Lovato is of Mexican, Italian, and Irish ancestry.
Usher Raymond IV, who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American recording artist and actor. He rose to fame in the 1990s, releasing the multi-platinum album My Way (1997) and 8701 (2001). His success continued with Confessions (2004), which has sold over ten million copies in the United States, and been certified diamond by the RIAA. To date, he has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has won five Grammy Awards.
In 2008, Usher was ranked as the 21st most successful Hot 100 Singles Artist of all-time by Billboard magazine. He ranked higher than any other artist of his generation. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Usher has sold over 21.5 million albums in the United States. Billboard Magazine ranked Usher the #1 Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade. He was also ranked as the 2nd greatest artist of the decade behind only American rapper Eminem. His 2004 album Confessions was ranked as the best solo album and second best overall album of the last decade. All ranked by Billboard Magazine.
Algernod Lanier Washington, better known by his stage name Plies, is an American rapper and founder of Big Gates Records. After dropping out of college, he founded Big Gates Records with his brother. Signed to Slip-n-Slide Records, from 2007 to 2008 he released three albums. Plies debuted in 2007 with The Real Testament with the chart-topping singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies also recorded two bestselling albums in 2008, Definition of Real and Da REAList and plans to released Goon Affiliated in 2010.
The Real Testament was released in August 2007. His debut single "Shawty" featuring T-Pain topped the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and peaked at number nine on the Hot 100. "Hypnotized", the second single, featured Akon, and peaked at number three on the Rap chart and 14 on the Hot 100. The third single was "I Am the Club". On February 29, 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album Gold for having sold over 500,000 units; five days later the RIAA did the same for singles "Shawty" and "Hypnotized". Plies made a guest performance on Fat Joe’s single "Ain’t Sayin’ Nuthin" from The Elephant in the Room in early 2008.
Jason René Castro is an American acoustic/folk-pop singer-songwriter who was the fourth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. After Idol, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records and his self-titled debut album will be released in early 2010. Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Rowlett, Texas, he currently resides in Rockwall, Texas. His parents, René and Betsy Castro, are Colombian, and he is the first person in his family to be born in the United States, followed by younger siblings Michael and Jackeline, of whom both are singer-songwriters as well. Spanish was his first language as a child.
Castro auditioned for American Idol in Dallas, Texas, singing the Ray LaMontagne version of the song "Crazy". He was not shown on the television series until the final 24 due to legal restrictions on the songs he chose to perform. During a March 17, 2008 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, judge Simon Cowell chose Castro early as one of his four favorites in the competition, along with David Cook, David Archuleta, and Brooke White On April 12, Ryan Seacrest and the three judges appeared in Larry King Live, Larry King revealed the results of his website poll which asked "Whom do you want to win American Idol?" and said that Castro was in the lead.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known by his stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling hip hop album in history. It brought Eminem increased popularity, including his own record label, Shady Records, and brought his group project D12 to mainstream recognition.
Mathers was born in St. Joseph, Missouri the son of Deborah Mathers-Briggs (née Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. He is of Scottish, English and distant Swiss and German ancestry. Shortly after his birth, his father abandoned his family. Until he was twelve, Mathers and his mother moved between various cities and towns in Missouri (including St. Joseph, Savannah and Kansas City) before moving to Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
Jason Mraz is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Mraz’s stylistic influences include reggae, pop, rock, folk, jazz, and hip hop.
Mraz is of Czech descent through his grandfather who moved to the United States from what is now the Czech Republic in 1915. His surname is Czech for "frost." Mraz is a vegan. He attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, for a short time, studying musical theater before moving to San Diego. Mraz also owns an avocado farm in Northern San Diego County near Fallbrook.
