GOLDFRAPP

Alison Goldfrapp began her musical career in the early 1990's as a guest vocalist with the electronic band, Orbital and Tricky, a trip-hop artist. She meet Will Gregory in 1999. He invited her to prepare and record a demo for a film soundtrack he was composing. The demo never got completed but Alison and Will found they worked well together.After months of talking,they formed the band Goldfrapp, using Alison's last name. In August of 1999, they signed a recording contract with Mute records.

Goldfrapp is considered an electronic band even though their style has changed numerous times. Their music is characterized by Alison's soft,breathy vocals and Will's multi-layered synthesizer and string arrangements. They have a passion for haunting melody, experimented with electronic sound and had a great appreciation of cinematic sound. They have forged a distinctive and erotic sound. Their music is dark and combines sounds from new and old music. You feel the their passion, fears, obsessions, and desires. They use sex-glam, with a twist of love and lonliness and a dash of shock value. Goldfrapp's sound is beautiful and sincere while it can be haunting and dark at the same time. Sex, subversion, style, humor, and lyrics are pop music's greatest components. And Goldfrapp knows how to make it work. They played throughout Europe and have received top 40 status in Germany. In the U.S., the band played sold-out audiences in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Montreal.
Goldfrapp's debut album, " Felt Mountain", was released in September of 2000. It featured Alison's synthesized vocal's over cinematic sound-scapes. It reached number fifty-seven on the UK charts. To promote their album, Goldfrapp toured the UK, Europe and the U.S. with alternative bands, Nick and the Bad Seeds and the Doves. Their second album, " Black Cherry", was released in April 2003. This album focused more on dance music and glam-rock. "Black Cherry" hit number nineteen in the UK but it hit number four on Billboard in the U.S. and went platinum. Their third album, " Supernature", was released in 2005. In 2006, Goldfrapp released, " We Are Glitter", a compilation of remixes from " Supernature". This was a U.S. only release. Their fourth album was "Seventh Tree", released at the end of 2008. In March 2010 they released their fifth album, " Head First".

GOLDFRAPP : JUST ANNOUNCED...TOUR COMING TO U.S.

Hold onto your hats Goldfrapp fans! Goldfrapp will have a very busy summer ahead. Not only do they have huge list of tour dates for Europe and Australia, they have found time to squeeze in four U.S. dates. The shows will be towards the end of June. They will begin with June 21st, in Washington DC. Then it will be followed by New York City on June 23rd, Oakland on June 26th, and Los Angeles on June 27th.

This exciting summer treat will start on June 7th, just one day before their new single, “Alive”, is set for release. The second single off of Head First will contain remixes by Joakim, Tensnake, Dave Aude, and Arno Cost. The video will follow in the footsteps of Goldfrapp’s unusual visual tastes. Tickets are currently on sale for all U.S. dates.

RONNIE JAMES DIO

Ronnie James Dio, the epiphany of Metal music has died at the age of 67. Dio had announced last summer after finishing his tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey that he was battling stomach cancer. He was touring with the incarnation of Black Sabbath called Heaven and Hell. Dio whose soaring vocals, poetic lyrics and mythic tales of a never-ending struggle between good and evil broke new ground in heavy metal. In addition to his wife, Ronnie is survived by son Daniel, grandchildren Julie and Joey, and father Pat. Wendy Dio said that friends and family were able to say their goodbyes to her husband, and asked for the family to have a bit of privacy. She concluded by saying, "Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

Ronnie was born July 10, 1942 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His birth name was Ronald James Padavona. He was an only child and was raised as Catholic. His musical career in began in 1957. He was a musical legend in Heavy metal, hard rock, and blues-rock. He was not only a singer but also producer as well as wrote music. Dio had been a member of the following bands: The Vegas Kings who were also called Ronnie & The Rumblers or Ronnie And The Red Caps, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and Heaven & Hell. Dio is credited with popularizing the devil's horns hand gesture.

Dio was multi-talented and could sing and play four instruments: bass, guitar, keyboards and the trumpet. He even recorded several singles when he was young playing his trumpet. He rose to fame in 1975 as the first lead singer of Rainbow, the heavy metal band put together by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who had just quit Deep Purple.Dio then replaced legendary vocalist Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1980 with the highly acclaimed album "Heaven & Hell," considered by many critics to be one of the finest heavy-metal albums of all time. His on-again, off-again relationship with Black Sabbath caused a huge debate among fans as to which singer was the true essence of the band — a discussion that lasted until his death.

Dio had a successful solo career with his band, Dio, in between his three stints with Black Sabbath in 1980-82,1992, and 2007-2009. Dio was inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame in Hollywood in 2007.

Many of his most memorable songs revolved around the struggle between good and evil, including his signature tune "Heaven & Hell." He drew heavily on medieval imagery in songs like "Neon Knights," "Killing The Dragon" and "Stargazer." His solo hits included "Rainbow In The Dark," "The Last In Line" and "Holy Diver."

"He possessed one of the greatest voices in all of heavy metal, and had a heart to match it," said Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, whose band had toured with Dio since 1983, and was to do so again this summer at European rock festivals. "He was the nicest, classiest person you would ever want to meet." Ronnie organized an all-star charity event in 1986 called "Hear N Aid" to raise money for famine relief in Africa.