LADY GAGA Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta Born March 28,1986 Originally from New York City Singer, Song Writer, Musician Genres : Pop, Dance, Electronics Instruments : Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer, Keytar Years Active : 2006 - Presently Labels : Interscope, Streamline, Kon Live, Cherrytree & Def Jam
JUSTIN BEIBER Justin Drew Beiber March 1,1994 Originally from Stratford, Ontario, Canada Singer, Song Writer Genres : Pop, R & B Instruments : Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Percussion, Trumpet Years Active : 2007 - Presently Labels : Island, RBMG
KE$HA Kesha Rose Sebert March 1, 1987 Originally from Nashville, Tennessee Singer, Song Writer Genres : Electro Pop, Dance Pop Instruments : Vocals Years active : 2005 - Presently Labels : RCA
RIHANNA Robyn Rihanna Fenty Feburary 20, 1988 Originally from St. Michael, Barbados Singer, Model, Song Writer, Executive Producer Genres : R & B, Pop, Dance, Reggae, Hip Hop Instruments : Vocal Years Active : 2005 - Presently Labels : Def Jam/SRP
BEYONCE Beyoncé Giselle Knowles aka Sasha Fierce September 4, 1981 Originally from Houston, Texas Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer, Actress, Dancer, Choreographer, Model, Video Director Genres : R&B, Pop, Soul, Dance, Funk Instruments : Vocals Years Active : 1990 - Presently Labels : Columbia
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith October 18, 1979 Originally from Los Angeles, California Singer, Song writer, Actor, Record Producer Genres : R & B, Pop, Soul, Hip Hop Instruments : Vocals, Piano Years Active : 1999 - Presently Labels : Def Jam
Fergie Stacy Ann Ferguson March 27, 1975 Originally from Whittier, California Singer, Songwriter, Rapper, Actress, Fashion Designer Genres : Pop, R & B, Hip Hop Instruments : Vocals Years Active : 1984 - Presently Labels : A&M, Interscope, Will.i.am Music Group
NOTORIOUS BIGGIE SMALLS Christopher George Latore Wallace May 21, 1979 Died March 9, 1997 Originally from Clinton Hill Brooklyn, New York Rapper, Song writer, Singer, Record Producer Genres : Hip Hop Instruments : Vocals Years Active : 1992 - 1997 Labels : Bad Boy
Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, "Fallen", on Wind-up Records in 2003. "Fallen" sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and helped the band win two Grammy Awards. A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, "Anywhere but Home", which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second studio album, "The Open Door", which sold more than five million copies.
The members line-up of the band has changed several times. David Hodges left in 2002, co-founder Ben Moody left in 2003 in the middle of their tour, bassist Will Boyd left in 2006, followed by guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray in 2007. The last two changes led to a much needed hiatus, with temporary band members contributing to tour performances. In June 2009, it was announced that Evanescence was working on new material for a third studio album for release in the second half of 2010. Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano. Their first songs together were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me", both written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", both written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit.
Two of Lee and Moody's songs were played on local radio stations, raising local awareness of the group and demands for a concert. The band eventually appeared live, and became one of the most popular acts in the area. After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away". The band released two albums. The first is "Evanescence" (1998), of which about 100 copies were made and distributed at the band's early live performances. The second was "Sound Asleep" or also known as "The Whisper" (1999). For their first full-length demo CD, "Origin", about 2,500 copies were produced and sold to concert audiences. "Origin" contain demo versions of some of the songs on their debut album, "Fallen". The band's signature font was created when "Fallen" was in development. The label designers used slightly modified versions of each character to make the track titles look unique. In early 2003, the lineup was completed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody's friends, John LeCompt, Rocky Gray and Will Boyd, all of whom worked on Evanescence's earlier songs. Meanwhile, Evanescence signed on with their first major label, Wind-up Records, and began work on their first album, "Fallen". While they were looking to promote "Fallen", Evanescence accepted an offer from the video game company, Nintendo, to perform on the "Nintendo Fusion Tour" which they headlined in 2003. "Fallen" spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10. It was certified a 7 time Platinum in the United States alone. It sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, including 7 million in the U.S. The album was listed for 104 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, and it was one of eight albums in the history of the chart to spend at least a year on the Billboard Top 50. On October 22, 2003, Moody left the band during the European tour for "Fallen", reportedly because of creative differences. In an interview several months later, Amy Lee said, "...we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record." This became a point of confusion, as Moody and Lee had stated on the Fallen album liner notes, that they were best friends. Lee said it was almost a relief that Moody left because of tensions created within the band. During an interview, Lee has said "I don't know, I just think it's exactly what I would've expected. Ben's more about the kind of pop influence sort of thing and about being commercial. I mean selling albums, that's the part of him we often disagreed on. I wanted to do the more artistic weird thing and he'd wanna do the thing that people would want to hear..." She adds "So that's, a lot of the reason. It's been so fun writing now. It's like what do we like, what's fun, like what do we want to do that's different." Moody was replaced by Terry Balsamo from Cold. Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life", featuring guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, was a global hit for the band and reached #5 on the American Billboard Hot 100. It provided Evanescence with their first UK #1 single, where it stayed for four weeks from June-July 2003. The song became the official theme for WWE No Way Out 2003. The equally popular "My Immortal" peaked at #7 in the U.S. and UK charts, and both songs were featured in the soundtrack for the action movie "Daredevil". "Bring Me to Life" was recognized at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, where the band won the Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist awards and were nominated for two others. The two other singles off "Fallen" are "Going Under", #5 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #8 UK Charts and "Everybody's Fool" #36 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #23 on UK Charts, all were promoted by their music videos. In 2004, Evanescence released a DVD/CD compilation entitled "Anywhere but Home". The DVD, includes a concert in Paris, as well as behind-the-scenes features, including shots of the band backstage signing autographs and warming up. Also, on the CD are the live songs "Breathe No More", from the "Elektra" movie soundtrack, "Farther Away", and the band's cover of Korn's "Thoughtless". A spokesperson for the band's label confirmed on July 14, 2006, that bassist, Will Boyd, had left the band because he did not want to do another big tour and wanted to be close to his family. Amy Lee originally broke the news to the fans. In an interview with MTV, on August 10, 2006, Lee announced that Tim McCord, former Revolution Smile guitarist, would switch instruments and play bass for the band. The album progressed slowly for several reasons, number one was Amy Lee's desire to maximize the creative process and not rush production, other band members had side projects, guitarist Terry Balsamo's suffered a stroke, and the loss of their manager. Amy Lee had stated that their new album would be completed in March 2006. But the release was pushed back because Wind-up Records wanted to make a few changes to the upcoming single "Call Me When You're Sober", which hit modern rock and alternative rock radio on August 7, 2006. The 13-track album " The Open Door" was released in Canada and the United States on October 3, 2006, the UK on October 2, 2006, and Australia on September 30, 2006. The album sold 447,000 copies in the United States in its first week of sales and earned their first #1 ranking on the Billboard 200 album chart, becoming the 700th #1 album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956. The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was shot in Los Angeles and is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. "The Open Door" became available for pre-order on the iTunes Store on August 15, 2006; the music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was also available. The tour for "The Open Door" began on October 5, 2006, in Toronto and other locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe during that year. This first tour continued on January 5, 2007 and included stops in Canada, Japan and Australia and then returned to the U.S. for a second tour in the spring. As part of their tour, Evanescence performed on April 15, 2007 on the Argentinan festival Quilmes Rock '07 along with Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and other local bands. They co-headlined on the Family Values Tour 2007 along with Korn. The group closed their European tour with a sell-out concert at the Amphi in Ra'anana, Israel, on June 26, 2007 and finished the album tour on December 9, 2007.
On May 4, 2007, John LeCompt announced that he had been fired from Evanescence, and stated that drummer, Rocky Gray, had decided to quit,too. Wind-up issued a press release on May 17, 2007, stating that two Dark New Day members, drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn, would be joining the band. It was initially stated that Hunt and McLawhorn would tour with Evanescence until the end of the Family Values Tour in September 2007, but both decided to continue to play with the band through The Open Door tour.
On June 2009, Amy Lee stated that the band was in the process of writing new material for a new album proposed for release in 2010. She stated that the music would be an evolution of previous works and be better, stronger, and more interesting. The band played a secret show at the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom in New York City, on November 4, 2009, with label mates, Civil Twilight. Tickets for the show sold out in five minutes. This performance acted as a warm-up for their headline appearance at the Maquinária Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, which took place on November 8. Evanescence entered the studio on February 22, 2010, to begin recording. The new album is intended for an August or September 2010 release and will be produced by Steve Lillywhite. Will "Science" Hunt joined the band as drummer and programmer, while Will Hunt returned as secondary drummer. David Campbell, who previously worked on "The Open Door", was brought back to handle string arrangements. MUSICAL STYLE
Critics dub Evanescence a rock/metal band, but most identify them as a gothic band. Publications such as The New York Times, Rough Guides, Rolling Stone and Blender have identified Evanescence as a gothic metal act. They have been compared to a variety of bands from differing genres, such as nu metal ensembles like P.O.D. and Linkin Park, gothic metal groups like Lacuna Coil, and symphonic metal acts like Nightwish and Within Temptation. David Browne of Blender, offers an elaborate description of the band goth- Christian nu metal with a twist of melancholic Enya. Adrian Jackson of My Dying Bride stated that he feels Evanescence is doing something similar to his own gothic metal group, only in a more commercial direction. Other genres and influences used to describe their sound include alternative metal, alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge, and electronica.
Evanescence was originally promoted in Christian stores. Later, the band made it clear they did not want to be considered part of the Christian rock genre. Terry Hemmings, CEO of Christian music distributor Provident, expressed puzzlement at the band's about-face, stating they clearly understood the album would be sold in these Christian music stores. Many Christian stores began to remove the band's music from their shelves, Wind-up Records chairman Alan Meltzer then issued a press release in April 2003 requesting that they wanted their music removed from the Christian stores. In 2006, Amy Lee told Billboard, that she always had been opposed to being identified as a Christian band from the very beginning.
The basketball world is watching Jaylin Fleming. College and high school coaches are circling, inviting him to games and camps. He has established himself on the all-important AAU circuit. And he has already worked out with the Knicks and with the Bulls' Derrick Rose. The Knicks head athletic trainer, Roger Hinds, says he has never seen a kid like Jaylin and that he is a basketball prodigy. Not surprisingly, college recruiters have begun the courting process.
Jaylin is regarded as the most talented 10 year old basketball player in the country. The 5' fifth-grader is merely a very humble child who's trying to achieve his goal. Jaylin attends Beasley Academic Center in Chicago, and he's the most talented basketball player for his age and whose basketball skills promise to be the next Michael or even better.
Jaylin was born in Chicago, Illinois, he and his younger brother Jericho live with their parents John and Kafi Fleming, who strongly believe their two sons were born for great things. When Jaylin was born doctors and nurses admired how big his hands were for a newborn. "All the doctors and nurses noticed his hands, they were incredibly huge, and I was praying and asking God, what would Jaylin be, what would he do with those hands?" said John Fleming. He never worried much about that, Jaylin was an exceptional young boy, a straight "A" student, well behaved, healthy and very athletic.
So when did this basketball thing start to happen? Well it all started when he was just six years old and he joined his father and his father’s godson Maurice Acker, Marquette University’s point guard to shoot some hoops. When his father went to the bathroom, he left Jaylin with Maurice. When he came back his son had some cool stuff to show his father, he had learned in a matter of minutes some of Maurice’s moves. When no one had ever taught him any, John describes this moment as when God answered his question about what would Jaylin be with his great hands. "When I walked back in, Maurice told me what Jaylin was doing with the ball and I could hear God saying this is what he’s supposed to do," John Fleming said. "He gave me the understanding to see that Jaylin was born to play this game." Jaylin is involved with his school’s basketball team at Beasley Academic Center.He takes time to train with his father, his team, and still has time to do his homework, play video games, play with his brother Jericho and attend to his Bible study. When asked what is his favorite verse or lesson from the Bible, Jaylin said Philippians 3:16, but corrected himself saying Phillipians 4:13. The verse says, "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me". You might be wondering if that is too much for a fifth grader, but Kafi said that all things are done at Jaylin’s request, and when it is getting too much, they tell their son to slow down. Jaylin says he never feels pressured to play and wants to always play basketball. And that he just stays humble and keeps working hard.
Everybody who knows Jaylin thinks he is very mature, not selfish, well grounded, extremely talented, highly intelligent and clever...a great kid who loves to eat cheese pizza and sausage. Jaylin loves his life and at this time, he is right where he wants to be. He appears to really have his head on straight. He loves math and his favorite player is Chris Paul. Some think of him as an out of this world talented kid, most think of him as a terrific kid whose skills and charisma will take him anywhere he wants to go. Is recruiting on the table right now? It’s not permitted until he gets to sixth grade, but he is drawing attention all over the U.S if not the world. He is just a 10 year old basketball star for now, who enjoys all the little things that most 10 yr. old's do, except this mighty mite is going to be a basketball icon sooner than we realize.
Richard Starkey was born July 7, 1940 and is best known by his stage name, Ringo Starr, the drummer for The Beatles from 1962, when he replaced Pete Best, until their breakup in 1970. Ringo had a reliable, steady drumming and innovative fills. His easygoing personality made him a great addition with the other Beatles.
Prior to joining the Beatles, he was the drummer for the Liverpool band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, from 1959 to 1962. His musical talents were primarily confined to drumming, rather than singing or songwriting. Of all the Beatles, he did the least songwriting. The Beatles explained that when he would present a song as a contender for an album cut, the song would be a clear knockoff of another popular song, but Ringo would not recognize the similarities until they pointed it out. Ringo did, however, write "Octopus's Garden" on the album, " Abbey Road" and "Don't Pass Me By", on " The White Album", as well as a few others. Ringo generally sang at least one song on each album. In most cases, John Lennon or Paul McCartney would write the lyrics and melody especially for him. Lennon helped with "With a Little Help from My Friends", from " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Often these melodies would be limited to take into account Starr's vocal range—most of " With A Little Help From My Friends" is sung within the space of five notes.
Starr did contribute a number of lyric ideas and song titles to Lennon and McCartney. One of the most famous examples of this, was the title for the band's first motion picture, " A Hard Day's Night". Starr had emerged from the studio after a long day of work and commented to the others how it had been a hard day's work. But before he finished his sentence, Starr noticed that it was now night time and added "night". Lennon and McCartney liked the twisted phrase enough that they decided to use it as the title for the still untitled movie the band had been filming. Another example is the title to "Tomorrow Never Knows".
Although some have tried to downplay his contributions to the band, Starr's unique drumming style played a major role in the overall sound of The Beatles. To this day, many drummers list Starr as a major influence including Max Weinberg of The E Street Band, Liberty DeVitto of Billy Joel's band, Phil Collins, Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish, and others. According to Collins, Ringo is vastly underrated. The drum fills on "A Day In The Life" are very complex things. You could take a great drummer today and say, 'I want it like that.' They wouldn't know what to do." Lennon, McCartney and Harrison have all said that Ringo was the best rock and roll drummer in the world. In 1972, after the breakup of the Beatles, Starr's solo recording of "Photograph", topped the Billboard charts. His other hits included the partly Harrison-penned, "It Don't Come Easy", "Back Off Boogaloo", "You're Sixteen", "Oh My My", "Only You" and "No No Song." He also did session work with each of the former Beatles, plus Harry Nilsson and Stephen Stills. Ringo's albums faded from public view toward the end of the '70s, but his career was resurrected through clever "All-Starr" touring packages that banded Ringo with talented warhorses like Joe Walsh, Mark Hudson, Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker and Simon Kirke. His 1998 album, " Vertical Man", featured guest appearances by his former bandmates McCartney and Harrison, and well as Alanis Morissette, Scott Weiland and Tom Petty. He acted in several films, "Candy" (1968), " The Magic Christian (1969), " Son of Dracula" (1974), and " Caveman" (1980). He also worked on the children's television series Shining Time Station, it's Christmas special Shining Time Station: 'Tis A Gift and Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. He appeared as himself on the cartoon The Simpsons. Ringo is married to Barbara Bach.
James Paul McCartney was born June 18, 1942 at Walton Hospital where his mother worked as a nurse. Walton Hospital is in the northern part of Liverpool not far from Paul's teen-age home at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. McCartney rose to fame as the bassist, pianist, guitarist, singer and a songwriter for The Beatles.
He wrote many songs with John Lennon, except some of their early songs, they rarely wrote together. One of them would write most of a song and the other would finish it or make a few changes. Their partnership was more a competition than a collaboration. Nonetheless, due to an early agreement between the two, all Beatles songs written by either of them but were credited to both. On Beatles records, the credit was Lennon-McCartney, but on Paul's own records it was McCartney and Lennon. One of McCartney's greatest songs is the ballad "Yesterday". McCartney conceived the melody in a dream, along with the lyric, "Scrambled Eggs...Oh my darling you've got lovely legs". In the years of the Beatles greatest popularity, Paul was regarded as the best looking and was the one who aroused most reaction from female audiences. Ironically, he was the last to marry. While involved in a long term relationship with actress, Jane Asher, McCartney met and fell in love with Linda Eastman, a photojournalist. He and Jane split, and Paul married Linda in 1969. He adopted Linda's daughter from her first marriage and they went on to have three other children together. They remained happily married until her death.
In the latter years of the Beatles reign, McCartney wrote several ballads such as "Hey Jude", "Let It Be", and "The Long and Winding Road". After the Beatles broke up, Paul immediately began a solo career, literally driving around Britain in a van, looking for somewhere to perform with his new band. That band developed into Wings and produced a number of good singles, including "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Band on the Run," "Uncle Albert," "Live and Let Die," and "Listen To What The Man Said". He insisted that Linda be in his band, in spite of her insistence that she was not talented enough, so they did not have to be apart while he toured. After hearing Linda sing, many of Paul's fans seconded her opinion. Linda later became a valuable member of the band and an inspiring musician throughout the remainder of her life.
Paul and his wife became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists after owning cattle and watching them outside the window as they cooked and ate meat. In 1991, Linda introduced her own line of vegetarian meals to the general market. In 1995, Paul, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr released the first of the Beatles Anthology albums, consisting of alternate takes and live recordings of Beatles songs. Volumes two and three were released the next year. This was the first album of new material released since their last album, " Let It Be" in 1970. The Anthology certainly came as a surprise when it was released fifteen years after the death of John Lennon.
On March 11, 1997, Paul, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and in 1999 was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. And he was inducted with the rest of the Beatles in 1988. After Linda's death in 1998, Paul pledged to continue her line of food. Paul continues to release albums, " Run Devil Run", "Wingspan", " Driving Rain", as well as campaign for the groups Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, among others. Paul's daughter, Stella McCartney, is an award winning fashion designer and animal rights activist. He married Heather Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner, in June 2002 in a highly elaborate ceremony at a castle in rural Ireland. Under her influence, he has campaigned against landmines himself, and donated substantial sums to the cause. In early 2003, for example, he held a personal concert for the wife of banker Ralph Whitworth and donated one million dollars to Adopt-a-Landmine. Mills and McCartney had their first child, Beatrice Millie, on October 28, 2003. In April 2006, the couple announced they were separating after a short four year marriage. Paul McCartney continues to tour throughout the United States and the rest of the world. McCartney says he hopes to keep playing even after he is 64.
Achievements & World Records 1. Appears in the Guinness Book of Records several times. Once for the song "Yesterday" which is the most covered song in history. Once, for being the most successful popular-music composer and recording artist ever with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold disks. A third time for having the largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 paid to see him perform at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on April 1990. The fourth time is for having the fastest ticket sales in history, which took place in 1993 when 20,000 tickets for 2 shows in Sydney, Australia sold out in eight minutes. 2. "Yesterday" was confirmed as world's most popular song with 6,000,000 air-plays in the USA. 3. Received an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Sussex.
4. The first rock musician ever to receive Chile's Order of Merit for services to music, peace, and human understanding 5. First recipient of the Swedish Polar Music Award the Nobel prize for music
John Winston Lennon was born October 9, 1940. John's claim to fame was a songwriter, singer, and guitarist for the highly acclaimed 60's rock band...The Beatles. Lennon was a solo musician, political activist, and author. John Lennon lived with his mother, Julia, until his father, Fred Lennon, walked out on the family. Julia Lennon decided that she was unable to care for John as well as she should and gave him up to her sister Mimi, who lived nearby at 251 Menlove Avenue. Julia Lennon was killed when she was struck by a car driven by an off-duty police officer when John was just 16 years old. Lennon's aunt Mimi was able to get John accepted into the Liverpool College of Art by showing them his drawings. John grew to hate art school and became increasingly interested in music and singers like Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. Eventually, in the late 50's, Lennon formed his own group called The Quarry Men, which later became The Beatles.
Of the four former Beatles, Lennon had perhaps the most varied recording career, often reflecting his personality. While he was still with the Beatles, Lennon recorded two albums of experimental and unlistenable electronic music. His first solo album of popular music was " Live Peace In Toronto ", recorded in 1969 just prior to the breakup of the Beatles. It was at the Rock 'n' Roll Festival in Toronto with a Plastic Ono Band including Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann. He recorded three singles in his initial solo phase, the sing-along "Give Peace A Chance", "Cold Turkey" (about his struggles with heroin) and "Instant Karma".
Following the Beatles' split in 1970, he released the Plastic Ono Band album, a raw, honest record, heavily influenced by Arthur Janov's Primal therapy, which Lennon had undergone previously. This was followed by "Imagine" , his most successful solo album, which dealt with some of the same themes. The title track is a lovely song which has become an anthem for world harmony, but Lennon himself later dismissed it, claiming he had sugar coated his own message. Certainly there is irony in Lennon, a pure unadulterated shopaholic, urging his fans to imagine life with no possessions.
Perhaps in reaction, his next album, " Sometime In New York City", was loud, raucous, and explicitly political, with songs about prison riots, racial and sexual relations, the British role in the sectarian troubles in Northern Ireland, and his own problems in obtaining a United States Green Card. Two more albums of personal songs, " Mind Games" and " Walls And Bridges", and one of cover versions of rock and roll songs of his youth, came before 1975 when, following a fourteen-month split from Ono, he decided to retired so he could concentrate on his family life.
John's retirement lasted until 1980, when he and Ono produced, " Double Fantasy", a concept album dealing with their relationship. Less than a month after its release, John Lennon was shot dead on the night of December 8, 1980, by Mark David Chapman, in front of his apartment block in New York City. In a vicious kind of irony, the two Beatles most committed to pacifism were both brutally attacked, George Harrison was stabbed by an intruder in his home two decades later.
The Strawberry Fields Memorial was constructed across the street from the Dakota building in memory of Lennon. Millions of Beatles fans had thought of John Lennon almost as a second father, an older brother, or a son. His murder touched off emotional outpourings of grief around the world. Some fans reportedly committed suicide upon hearing the news and it ended the hopes of millions that the Beatles would someday reunite and stage one last world tour. In March, 2002, his native city, Liverpool, honored him by renaming their airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and adopting as its motto, a line from his song "Imagine", "...above us only sky ".
Lennon was included in the top 10 of the 2002 "100 Greatest Britons" poll sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public. The BBC comments: "John Lennon's generational influence was immense". John Lennon often spoke his mind. On March 4, 1966, in an interview for the London Evening Standard with Maureen Cleave, he made the following statement:
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that, I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."
The statement was part of a two-page interview that went virtually unnoticed in Britain. In July of that year, Lennon's words were reprinted in the United States fan magazine, Datebook, leading to a backlash by conservative religious groups mainly in the rural South and Midwest states. Radio stations banned the group's recordings, and their albums and other products were burned and destroyed. Spain and the Vatican denounced Lennon, and South Africa banned Beatles music from the radio. On August 11, 1966, Lennon held a press conference in Chicago in order to address the growing furor. He told reporters "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better." Lennon's son with Cynthia, Julian Lennon, enjoys a notable recording career of his own, as does his son with Yoko, Sean Lennon.
George Harrison was born February 24, 1943. He was a popular British songwriter and musician, best known as a member of The Beatles. He was born in Liverpool, England, and raised at 12 Arnold Grove. He first attended school at Dovedale Infants, just off Penny Lane. Later on, he attended the Liverpool Institute, a "smart school", but was regarded as a very poor student. His friends described him as someone who liked to sit alone in a corner reading or writing. In the mid-50's, he met Paul McCartney, who was a Liverpool Institute student also and who played lead guitar in the band initially called the Quarry Men, that eventually became the Beatles.At the height of the Beatles' popularity, he was often characterized as the Quiet Beatle. He had an introspective manner and a growing interest in Hinduism.
In the mid-60's, he began playing the sitar, which influenced the sound of the Beatles music in such songs as "Norwegian Wood," "Love You To", and "Within You Without You". His experimentation with the instrument brought him into contact with the sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, who became a close friend and mentor. It was his meeting with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that led him first into meditation. In the summer of 1969, the Beatles produced the single "Hare Krishna Mantra", performed by Harrison and the devotees of the London Radha-Krishna Temple that topped the 10 best-selling record charts throughout UK, Europe, and Asia. The same year, he and John Lennon met Swami Prabhupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Soon after, Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and remained a devotee till his death. While not the primary composer in the group, John and Paul wrote most of the Beatles' material, as time went on his songs improved greatly and his material earned respect from both his fellow Beatles and the music-buying public. Notable examples include, "Taxman", "Here Comes the Sun", "Something", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which was strongly influenced by the music of his friend Roy Orbison and featured a guitar solo by Eric Clapton.
After the Beatles split in 1970, Harrison released a number of albums that were critically and commercially successful, both as solo projects and as the member of other groups. After many years of being limited in his contributions to the Beatles' catalog, he unleashed a torrent of material in the first major solo work released after the breakup, the triple album All Things Must Pass. The album included the number one hit single, " My Sweet Lord ", although Harrison was later sued for copyright infringement over similarities between " My Sweet Lord " and the 1963 Chiffon's single, "He's So Fine". Harrison denied deliberately stealing the song, but he did lose the case in 1976. In the ruling, the court accepted the possibility that Harrison had unconsciously taken the Chiffon's song as the basis for his own song.
Harrison was perhaps the first modern musician to organize a major charity concert. His Concert for Bangladesh on August 1, 1971, drew over 40,000 people to New York's Madison Square Garden and raised millions of dollars to aid the starving refugees of Bangladesh. The concert included other popular musicians, such as, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Badfinger and Billy Preston. Classical sitar maestro Ravi Shankar opened proceedings. Harrison continued to make records throughout the 70's but successive releases met with dwindling interest and sales. He formed his own record label, Dark Horse Records in 1974 and issued a limited number of records by performers such as Splinter, Attitudes and Ravi Shankar. He moved his own music to the label in 1976, once his contract with EMI finished. Immediately following the murder of his close friend and former band-mate, John Lennon, Harrison composed a tribute song to Lennon, "All Those Years Ago," which gained high radio airplay and continues to be a favorite of classic rock radio. He released no records for five years after Gone Troppo in 1982 was met with much indifference. He returned in 1987 with the album " Cloud Nine ", co-produced with Jeff Lynne and was a super hit : #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K.. He also released his cover version of " Got My Mind Set On You " as a single. The album made it to #8. During the 1980's, he helped form the Traveling Wilbury's with Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty, when they gathered in Dylan's garage to quickly record an additional track for a projected Harrison European single release. The record company realized the track, " Handle With Care " was way too good for its original purpose and asked for it to be made into a separate album. It had to be completed inside 2 weeks, as Dylan was scheduled to start a tour.
He was involved in film production through his Hand-Made Films company, providing financial backing for the Monty Python film, " Life of Brian ", after the original backers, EMI Films, withdrew because of the controversial subject matter of the film. Other films produced by Hand-Made include, " Mona Lisa ", " Time Bandits ", " Shanghai Surprise ", and " Withnail and I ". Throughout the 1990's, Harrison, a heavy smoker, endured an ongoing battle with cancer, having growths removed first from his throat, then his lung. There was a 1999 attempt on his life by a crazed fan who stabbed him at his home, Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, puncturing his lung. George married twice. His first wife was the model, Patti Boyd, for whom Harrison is supposed to have written the song, " Something ". Following their divorce, Boyd married Eric Clapton who was said to have written, " Layla ", for her after their affair. Harrison married for a second time to Olivia Arias, in September 1978. The ceremony took place at their home, with Joe Brown acting as Best Man. They had one son, Dhani Harrison, born the month before. George passed away at the home of a friend in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday, November 29, 2001, at the age of 58, death being caused by a brain tumor. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the River Ganges. His final album, " Brainwashed " was completed by Dhani Harrison and Jeff Lynne and released in November 2002. On November 29th, 2002, the first anniversary of his death, the Concert For George saw the two remaining Beatles Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr join many of Harrison's friends for a special memorial concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London that benefited the Material World Charitable Foundation.
The Beatles are among the most influential music artists of the second half of the 20th century, affecting the culture of Britain, America, the post-war baby boom generation, and the entire world, especially during the 1960's and early 1970's. Certainly they're the most successful, with global sales reaching past 1.2 thousand million records sold as of 2003. Their influences on popular culture extended far beyond their roles as recording artists, as they branched out into film and even willingly became spokesmen for their generation. The members of the group were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, all from Liverpool, England. The effect of the Beatles on Western culture ans on the rest of the world, has been phenomenal.
Originally a high energy pop band, with their early singles "Twist and Shout" and "Please Please Me", as the Beatles progressed their style became more sophisticated, influenced in by Bob Dylan and Chuck Berry. Their popularity was aided by their good looks, distinctive personalities, charm, and natural charisma. When seen on the popular Ed Sullivan show, their fan base was obviously huge and above hysteria. This was the beginning of Beatlemania, in which the committed band found itself turned into a worldwide phenomenon with fans who worshiped them, hysterical screaming girls. One of their biggest fans and followers was Frank Sinatra. The band shared mixed feelings of intermittent awe and resentment, as they felt their fans were not really into their music at first, but more into the reaction of mass hysteria. The Beatles recorded their first full length album, live in the studio, on February 11, 1963 in a 12 hour session. On February 22, 1963 the second single, "Please Please Me" went straight to No. 1. "Meet the Beatles", the first Beatles album in the United States, was released on January 20, 1964. On February 7, 1964 The Beatles traveled to New York for a number of U.S television appearances and performances. Upon arriving at JFK airport, The Beatles noticed thousands of kids screaming and waiting for their plane's arrival. They assumed that there must have been someone important on the plane with them and were a bit shocked to learn that the crowds were actually there for them. On February 9, 1964 The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. To this day it remains one of the highest rated television programs of all time, with 73 million people tuning in. The Beatles made four more live appearances on the show in months to come. Two days later, on February 11, 1964, in the Washington, DC Coliseum, The Beatles made their first live stage appearance in the United States. On April 4, 1964, The Beatles set a record that has yet to be broken when they occupied all five top positions on Billboard's Top Pop Singles chart. Their single "Can't Buy Me Love" was at number one. In August of that year, their first motion picture was released, "A Hard Day's Night". They started filming their second film, "Help" on February 23, 1965 in the Bahamas.
John Lennon met Paul McCartney at a garden party and joined his band, The Quarry Men, Paul then recruited George Harrison. The band briefly split before regrouping. After going through several changes in name and band members, it finally became "the Beatles" under the EMI's Parlophone label. The Beatles' first full-length album, "Please Please Me", was recorded within 12 consecutive hours. In 1964 they held the top five places on Billboard's Top Pop Singles Chart, a feat which has never been repeated. In 1965, they began experimenting with LSD and were created as Members of the Order of the British Empire. Lennon caused a great backlash against the Beatles the following year, when in an interview he claimed that Christianity was dying. Eventually he apologized after being slammed by the Holy See. That same year the Beatles performed their last concert. Their fortunes took a turn for the worse when their manager, Brian Epstein, passed away, and the band's affairs began to unravel. The various members began to pursue their individual interests and got together less often. By 1966, the influence of the peace movement, psychedelic drugs and the studio technique of producer George Martin resulted in the albums "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Most notable, along with the use of studio tricks such as sound processing, unconventional microphone placements, and vari-speed recording, was the Beatles' use of unconventional instruments for pop music, including string and brass elements, Indian instruments such as the sitar, and early electronic instruments. At the height of their fame in the mid-sixties, the band stopped touring. The increasingly sophisticated arrangements of their songs were difficult to perform in front of thousands of screaming fans who typically made such noise that the music could not be heard anyway. By then, the stress of their fame was beginning to show and they were on the verge of splitting up at the time of their release of the "White Album", with some tracks recorded by the band members individually. Ringo decided to take a two-week holiday in the right in the middle of the recording session. In 1969, they recorded their last album, "Abbey Road", although, in 1970, various songs recorded earlier, were compiled into "Let It Be". In that same year, the "Paul Is Dead" hoax sprang up. The band officially broke up in 1970, and any hopes of a reunion were crushed when Lennon was murdered in 1980.
DISCOGRAPHY:
Please Please Me...........1963 With The Beatles..........1963 A Hard Day's Night.......1964 Beatles For Sale.............1964 Help!...............................1965 Rubber Soul..................1965 Revolver........................1966 A Collection of Beatles Oldies.............................1966 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.....................1967 Magical Mystery Tour..............................1967 The White Album........1968 Yellow Submarine.......1969 Abbey Road...................1969 Let It Be.........................1970 The Beatles 1962-1966......................1973 The Beatles 1967-1970......................1973 Rock N' Roll Music.......1976 At The Hollywood Bowl...............................1977 Love Songs....................1977 Rarities..........................1979 Rock N' Roll Music Volume One.................1980 Rock N' Roll Music Volume Two.................1980 The Beatles Box............1980 The Beatles Ballads......1980 Reel Music.....................1982 20 Greatest Hits............1982 Past Masters Volume One..................................1988 Past Masters Volume Two.................................1988 Past Masters...................1988 Live at the BBC..............1994 Anthology 1....................1995 Anthology 2...................1996 Anthology 3...................1996 Yellow Submarine Song Track..............................1999 Beatles 1.........................2000 Let It Be...Naked...........2003 The Capitol Albums Vol. 1...............................2004 The Capitol Albums Vol. 2..............................2006 Love...............................2006 The Beatles in Mono..............................2009
LADY GAGA
JUSTIN BEIBER
