Showing 226 - 250 of 872
Artist: Caprice
The California beauty known simply as Caprice started her professional life as a successful model in England, best known then for her eye-catching ads posing in Wonderbras. She also appeared in national magazines like GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 1996 she turned her attention to acting and working as an award show host. In... [+] Read More
Artist: Franz Ferdinand
Glasgow's art-damaged rock quartet Franz Ferdinand -- named for the Austro-Hungarian Archduke whose murder sparked World War I -- features bassist Bob Hardy, guitarist Nick McCarthy, drummer Paul Thomson, and singer/guitarist Alex Kapranos. In late 2001, Kapranos and Hardy had begun working on music together when they met McCarthy, a classically... [+] Read More
Artist: Selena
The tragic shooting death of Tejano singer Selena spawned a reaction within the Latino community that can be compared to the reactions to the deaths of Elvis Presley and John Lennon. An enormously popular singer in Latino communities across North America, her music crossed cultural boundaries to touch the lives of young and old alike. A... [+] Read More
Artist: Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli. The mere mention of the name still calls up the same derision it did when the dance-pop duo's career came to a sudden and ignominious end: Fakers. Frauds. A blatant marketing scam. Their story has been retold countless times: after selling millions of records, Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan were revealed to be models who publicly... [+] Read More
Artist: Black Box
Leaders of the Italian house music movement of the late '80s, Black Box was primarily comprised of club DJ Daniele Davoli, computer whiz Mirko Limoni and classical clarinetist Valeric Semplici, a trio of studio musicians known collectively as the Groove Groove Melody production team. Acclaimed among the most successful producers in all of... [+] Read More
Artist: Floyd Bean
A 1946 postcard from the Hot Club of Chicago, preserved in the archive of the Chicago Jazz Institute, tells a typical Floyd Bean tale. The card announces an upcoming battle of the bands, a competition between Floyd Bean's Toddlin' Town Quintet and another band called the Windy City Five, with none other than Floyd Bean on piano. This guy was so... [+] Read More
Artist: Katherine Jenkins
While still in her mid-twenties, Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins emerged as Britain's all-time best-selling classical artist, although critics charged her success was more a result of physical beauty than musical talent. Born June 29, 1980 in Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales, Jenkins' fell under the sway of classical music at age seven,... [+] Read More
Artist: Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos
The '60s novelty act Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos was led by none other than cult artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, who is widely known around the world for his infamous "Rat Fink" character, who has graced numerous bits of merchandising over the years -- models, collecting cards, key chains, and t-shirts, among other items. Born on March 4, 1932, Roth... [+] Read More
Artist: Cumberland Three
John Stewart (b. Sep. 5, 1939, San Diego, CA) started out playing professionally in rock & roll in the late 1950s. He moved toward folk music while in college, however, and hooked up with John Montgomery. They formed a banjo/guitar duet, John and Monty, and in 1960 added bassist Gil Robbins (b. Rubin) to their lineup, forming the Cumberland... [+] Read More
Artist: Prince Paul
Beginning his career as a DJ for Stetsasonic, rapper and producer Prince Paul has lent his skills to albums by Boogie Down Productions, Gravediggaz, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, and 3rd Bass, among others. Paul's big break came when he produced De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising album. Shattering the acknowledged rules of hip-hop production, he... [+] Read More
Artist: Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips made her singing debut in 1989 with the group Wilson Phillips. The group was made up of Phillips, Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson. Phillips began her show-business career as a model and actress before joining the trio.
Chynna Phillips was born in Los Angeles, California to singing greats... [+] Read More
Artist: Kai Tracid
Kai Tracid, or Kai MacDonald in real life, hails from Europe's trance capital Frankfurt am Main (Tracid is, in fact, a blend of the two words trance and acid). Armed with model looks as well a fine ear for both underground and commercial sounds, he was playing at some of Germany's top venues -- such as Frankfurt's Dorian Gray nightclub -- only a... [+] Read More
Artist: Francesco Scavullo
Arguably the most influential and ubiquitous celebrity photographer of the 20th century, Francesco Scavullo helped define the look and style of popular music by shooting numerous album covers and magazine spreads, including a stint on the staff of Rolling Stone at the peak of the publication's notoriety. Born on Staten Island, NY, on January 16,... [+] Read More
Artist: Daniela Romo
Mexican singer Daniela Romo started singing in a vocal group called los Hermanos Zavala and participated in Eduardo Gorostiza's musical Contigo Pan y Cebolla. To improve her skills, Romo studied acting at Andrés Solar's Academy, becoming a model in 1973 and getting roles in TV commercials soon after. Daniela Romo started her solo career in... [+] Read More
Artist: Calle Ciega
As North American boy bands such as Backstreet Boys and NSYNC reached platinum status, Jhony Nunez was creating and molding his own Latin version of such groups. Nunez, who founded and created the band in the vein of "boy-band" manager Lou Pearlman, began a series of strenuous casting calls and auditions. The final five became Calle Ciega, which... [+] Read More
Artist: The Cheeky Girls
In the proud tradition of U.K. groups that have one massively popular single and then fade from memory even more quickly than they appeared come the Cheeky Girls, Gabriela and Monica Irimia. Identical twins born on Halloween in Transylvania, the Cheeky Girls spent their adolescence studying voice, ballet, and modern dance. Gabriela and Monica... [+] Read More
Artist: Tristan Prettyman
Tristan Prettyman grew up surfing in San Diego. Pretty soon she was playing her dad's guitar, too, and before long was using her primary influences (Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell, Jack Johnson) to write songs of her own. In between modeling for Quicksilver's Roxy line (and of course more surfing) she starting playing some local gigs, mostly at... [+] Read More
Artist: Cold
Jacksonville, Florida-based alternative metal outfit Cold started out by sharing the aesthetic of another Florida band, Limp Bizkit. Both groups favored technically complex, bleak and brutal metal that merged elements of Jane's Addiction, Metallica and Tool. The Bizkit actually discovered Cold playing in the Jacksonville area and helped them... [+] Read More
Artist: Army of Lovers
The flamboyant multi-cultural Swedish dance-pop group Army of Lovers formed in 1987, the brainchild of composer and producer Alexander Bard. Five years earlier Bard first emerged as a member of the short-lived trio Baard, best known for the single "Life in a Goldfish Bowl." In 1985 -- in drag, no less -- he led Barbie, a band also comprising... [+] Read More
Artist: Vale (OC)
OC Pop: Vale proudly embraces '80sPlenty of 21st-century Orange County rockers have been able to successfully mine 1960s and 1970s influences with authenticity, but using the 1980s as a blueprint has been more elusive.However, there is enough fearlessness, beauty and winning songwriting from Vale to fuel an entire movement. -ROBERT KINSLER... [+] Read More
Artist: Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano has come a long way since her years as a child model and actress in the '80s sitcom Who's the Boss. She spread her wings in the music world, putting out a handful of pop albums that made her a hit in Japan and achieved platinum status. She also married and divorced a rock singer, Cinjun Tate of Remy Zero. Milano landed in a... [+] Read More
Artist: Antony and the Johnsons
Growing up in California, Antony felt himself to be the consummate outsider until he came face to face with the image of Boy George on the cover of the Culture Club's 1982 debut album, Kissing to Be Clever. He relocated to New York City in 1990, where he found a world more accepting of his avant-garde sensibilities and sexually ambiguous nature.... [+] Read More
Artist: W.A.S.P.
One of the heavier bands to come out of the early-'80s L.A. metal scene, W.A.S.P. quickly rose to national infamy thanks to their shock rock image, lyrics, and live concerts. Unfortunately, once the novelty and scandal began to wear off, the band found it difficult to expand, or even maintain, their audience by relying only on their music. ... [+] Read More
Artist: Spencer Dickinson
Spencer Dickinson was the name given to a one-off collaborative project fronted by three musicians with their own special take on the blues -- Jon Spencer of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Boss Hogg, and siblings Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson, best known for their work with the North Mississippi Allstars. While Jon, Luther and Cody... [+] Read More
Artist: Encore
Milpitas, CA's underground rapper Encore discovered hip-hop at an early age and tried his hand at many of the style's aspects, including DJing, breaking and popping, and graffing, but found rhyming to be the least expensive -- and most expressive -- way to become involved in the hip-hop scene.
After he finished high school and left the army,... [+] Read More
