Showing 1 - 25 of 2876
Artist: Similar Mind
Artist: Similares y Conexos
Rock band from Mexico Similares y Conexos started getting involved in the local music scene in the mid-'90s. Formed by young performers from the National School of Music, the band combined Mexican folklore and elements from progressive and alternative rock. In 1999, the group recorded its debut album, called De Flora y Fauna. In September of... [+] Read More
Artist: Lil Wayne
Initially known best as the youngest Hot Boy, Lil Wayne grew up quickly and enjoyed a steady stream of hits in the process. The New Orleans rapper began his long stint with Cash Money as part of the Hot Boys, a popular late-'90s supergroup also comprised of Juvenile, Turk, and B.G. that set the stage for respective solo careers. Juvenile and... [+] Read More
Artist: Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold is the DJ, remixer, and producer who did more than anyone else to break house music in Britain during the late '80s. During 1987-1988, Oakenfold hosted a series of crucial club nights that introduced thousands of Brits to house music. Just a few years later, he helped push the new dance crossover into the charts by masterminding... [+] Read More
Artist: Rakim
Although he never became a household name, Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs -- perhaps the greatest -- of all time within the hip-hop community. It isn't necessarily the substance of what he says that's helped him win numerous polls among rap fans in the know; the majority of his lyrics concern his own skills and... [+] Read More
Artist: 2Pac
2Pac became the unlikely martyr of gangsta rap, and a tragic symbol of the toll its lifestyle exacted on urban black America. At the outset of his career, it didn't appear that he would emerge as one of the definitive rappers of the '90s -- he started out as a second-string rapper and dancer for Digital Underground, joining only after they had... [+] Read More
Artist: Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd is the premier space rock band. Since the mid-'60s, their music relentlessly tinkered with electronics and all manner of special effects to push pop formats to their outer limits. At the same time they wrestled with lyrical themes and concepts of such massive scale that their music has taken on almost classical, operatic quality, in... [+] Read More
Artist: Iron Maiden
Known for such powerful hits as "Two Minutes to Midnight" and "The Trooper," Iron Maiden was and is one of the most influential bands of the heavy metal genre. The often-imitated band existed for over 20 years, pumping out wild rock similar to Judas Priest. Iron Maiden has always been an underground attraction; although failing to ever obtain... [+] Read More
Artist: Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash was one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music. With his deep, resonant baritone and spare, percussive guitar, he had a basic, distinctive sound. Cash didn't sound like Nashville, nor did he sound like honky tonk or rock & roll. He created his own subgenre, falling halfway between the blunt... [+] Read More
Artist: Justin Timberlake
As both a member of *NSYNC and a solo artist, Southern superstar Justin Timberlake has played a major role in the teen pop explosion of the '90s and 2000s. Like similar teen pop favorites -- who have included the Backstreet Boys, C-Note, Christina Aguilera, Hanson, the Spice Girls, and Britney Spears -- Timberlake usually doesn't get much... [+] Read More
Artist: Westlife
In the tradition of British and Irish boy bands like Take That and Boyzone comes Dublin's Westlife, a quintet consisting of Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Bryan McFadden, Mark Feehily, and Kian Egan. Filan, Egan, and Feehily were among the group's six founding members, but the other half of the group was dispatched when Louis Walsh, Boyzone's... [+] Read More
Artist: Too Short
Born in Los Angeles, but an Oakland resident by the age of 14, Too Short was the first West Coast rap star, recording three albums on his own before he made his major-label debut with 1988's gold album Born to Mack; his next four all went platinum. Anticipating much of the later gangsta phenomenon, he restricted his lyrical themes to tales of... [+] Read More
Artist: Daft Punk
In similar company with new-school French progressive dance artists such as Motorbass, Air, Cassius, and Dimitri from Paris, Parisian duo Daft Punk quickly rose to acclaim by adapting a love for first-wave acid house and techno to their younger roots in pop, indie rock, and hip-hop. The combined talents of DJs Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and... [+] Read More
Artist: R. Kelly
Urban R&B producer/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter R. Kelly and his supporting band Public Announcement began recording in 1992 at the tail end of the new jack swing era, yet he was able to keep much of its sound alive while remaining commercially successful. While he created a smooth, professional mixture of hip-hop beats, soul-man... [+] Read More
Artist: Nelly
When Nelly first debuted nationally in summer 2000, he seemed like a novelty, but it quickly became apparent that he was, in fact, an exceptional artist, a rapper with truly universal appeal. He wasn't from the East or West Coast, and wasn't really from the Dirty South, either. Rather, Nelly was from St. Louis, a Midwestern city halfway between... [+] Read More
Artist: Paramore
Pop/rock outfit Paramore began humbly enough in Franklin, TN, when lead singer Hayley Williams met brothers Josh and Zac Farro (guitar and drums, respectively) after moving into town from Mississippi. The two had a young band that the burgeoning singer was soon asked to join. Opening Williams' 13-year-old eyes to the likes of U2, the Cure,... [+] Read More
Artist: Kid Rock
One of the unlikeliest success stories in rock at the turn of the millennium, Detroit rap-rocker Kid Rock shot to superstardom with his fourth full-length album, 1998's Devil Without a Cause. What made it so shocking was that Rock had recorded his first demo a full decade before, been booted off major label Jive following his Beastie Boys-ish... [+] Read More
Artist: Jay-Z
To the admiration of a generation, Jay-Z led an incredibly storied career in the rap industry, pulling himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to one day become the reigning rapper of New York City and then a major-label executive following his retirement from music-making. More than anyone, Jay-Z embodied the ultimate rags-to-riches rap dream,... [+] Read More
Artist: AZ
One of the numerous thoughtful, literate gangsta rappers to emerge from New York during the mid-'90s, AZ never garnered the attention of peers like Nas and Jay Z. Instead, he saw his debut album, Doe or Die, become a critical favorite in late 1995 before his career suddenly went downhill after such modest and short-lived success. Critics and... [+] Read More
Artist: Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was... [+] Read More
Artist: Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra was arguably the most important popular music figure of the 20th century, his only real rivals for the title being Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles. In a professional career that lasted 60 years, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to maintain his appeal and pursue his musical goals despite often countervailing trends.... [+] Read More
Artist: Slayer
Slayer was one of the most distinctive, influential, and extreme thrash metal bands of the 1980s. Their graphic lyrics deal with everything from death and dismemberment to war and the horrors of hell. Their full-throttle velocity, wildly chaotic guitar solos, and powerful musical chops paint an effectively chilling sonic background for their... [+] Read More
Artist: Tenacious D
Rightfully hailed as "the greatest band on Earth," the super-sized acoustic metal/comedy duo Tenacious D was an unlikely success story. Actually, Tenacious D was probably so successful precisely because they were so unlikely: few people would imagine that two chunky guys bashing on acoustic guitars, singing songs like a tribute to the greatest... [+] Read More
Artist: The Goo Goo Dolls
Early in their career, Buffalo natives the Goo Goo Dolls were frequently dismissed by critics as mere imitators of the Replacements; however, the band refined and mainstreamed their sound enough to become of the most popular adult alternative rock bands of the latter half of the '90s, selling millions of records to audiences largely unfamiliar... [+] Read More
Artist: The Rolling Stones
By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based... [+] Read More
