Yui

Yui (born March 26, 1987 in Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actress. She is currently signed to Sony Music Records Japan and attached to the talent agency Stardust Promotion.

Yui grew up in a fatherless home and so she doesn't have any memory of her father. She does remember always being close to music, be it from her mother's car stereo or the radio, she would remember the tunes and sing along. By the time she was in elementary school she thought she'd like to become a singer.



During her third year in middle school, following the influence of her mother, Yui began keeping a journal of everyday feelings and poetry. Because of this, by the time she was in high school, she began writing songs. While in high school she worked a part-time job to help pay for tuition. Always busy, with her time steadily disappearing, she thought there was no longer a road to music. Eventually her body would breakdown and she found her self under hospitalization. While in the hospital, with the time to consider her life, she was overwhelmed with the desire to make music. She decided that school and music couldn't coexist. Upon leaving the hospital she encountered a live street performance and expressed her desire to pursue a musical career to the band, Bianco Nero (ビアンコネロ), at the end of the concert. Bianco Nero recommended Yui that she should join a private music school and soon, she dropped out of high school and seriously began studying songwriting and guitar at a juku in her hometown of Fukuoka.

Aspiring to become a professional, she carried her guitar around and sang at local places at the entrance of Tenjin station in Fukuoka. Even though she was shy, she still enjoyed doing street performances.She met with two travellers who said one word that reminded her about her past



Her professional career began in March 2004 when at the recommendation of her juku instructors she applied for an audition hosted by Sony Music Japan.Despite the audition rule that a participant could only sing two songs, Yui sang three, with all of the judges gave her the highest score possible and causing a fierce scramble among record labels to sign her. She first sang "Why Me" (a song later included in her major label debut single), followed by "It's Happy Line" and "I Know". Because "I Know" was incomplete at the time, the judges were able to get a glimpse of what would later be dubbed "Yui-go", or Yui-talk (Yui語 in Japanese), nonsensical English hummed to a tune during her songwriting process — an example of Yui-go can be found in the film Midnight Sun when Yui is working on the song "Goodbye Days".

On Christmas Eve of that year, she released her debut single "It's Happy Line" under the indie label Leaflet Records, coupled with the track "I Know". The pressing was limited to only 2000 copies in her home area.



Upon leaving her hometown in Fukuoka for Tokyo, Yui wrote the song "Feel My Soul". She was planning its release on an indie label as a tribute to her hometown. However, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer Mr. Yamaguchi, who just happened to see the demo video clip, he claimed that Yui's voice haunted him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio all by himself. He even made his channel's prime time drama Fukigen na Gene use Yui's debut track.

On February 23, Yui released her first major debut single, "Feel My Soul". The music in Fukigen na Gene was mainly based on her songs such as "Feel My Soul" and "It's Happy Line". With the drama tie-in Feel My Soul managed to sell over 100,000 copies and her single managed to chart at #8 on Oricon Weekly Charts in its first week. Her next three singles, "Tomorrow's Way" (theme song for the Japanese movie, "Hinokio"), "Life" (fifth ending song for a popular anime, Bleach), and "Tokyo" did not chart as high as Feel My Soul did and were only moderately successful in comparison. After the release of four singles, Yui released her debut album From Me to You, which was another moderate success with sales of more than 200,000 copies.



Yui made her acting debut in the full-length Japanese feature film Midnight Sun, released on June 17, 2006. The film was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Yui attended Japan Academy Prize and received Best Newcomer Award for Midnight Sun. Prior to the release of the movie, however, Yui had released her 5th single "Good-bye Days" which is by far her highest selling single at 200,000 copies sold. "Good-bye Days" was written specifically for the film as are all three tracks featured on this single are featured in the movie. The single also has the track "It's Happy Line" as the third track, which was originally released on her debut single of the same title.

Her next single, "I Remember You", did fairly well in terms of sales boosted by "Good-bye Days"' popularity. Soon after, Yui's 7th single "Rolling Star" was chosen as the 5th opening theme song for the anime series Bleach and "Che.r.ry", her 8th single, was used as a song for the KDDI au Listen Mobile Service commercial. She released her second album Can't Buy My Love on April 4, 2007, which fared well on the Oricon charts, staying for two weeks at #1 and shattering her entire previous album's record sales in one week. So far, Can't Buy My Love has managed to sell over 680,000 copies. Due to the success of Can't Buy My Love, Yui's previous album, From Me to You charted once again to add another 9,000 copies to the Oricon counting.


Yui released her 9th single "My Generation / Understand" on June 13, 2007. It was her first double A-side single. "My Generation" was used as the theme song for the drama Seito Shokun!, and "Understand" was chosen as the theme song for the movie Dog in a Sidecar, which starred her senpai at Stardust Promotion, Yūko Takeuchi. It charted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts for the first week of its release. Her 10th single, "Love & Truth" was released on September 26 and the title track is the theme song to the Japanese film, Closed Note, starring Erika Sawajiri (also of Stardust) who played the lead role in the film who also played the same role as Yui in Midnight Sun (Taiyou no uta), in television-drama version.

During this time, her first two albums were re-released as Winter Sleeve Edition in alternate covers presumably from her "Love & Truth" photoshoot. Her first live DVD "Thank You My Teens" was released on November 14, 2007, which contained footage of one of Yui's concert during her second live tour. On November 19, 2007, Yui opened her first Live show at Nippon Budokan. The tickets for the concert sold out.

Her first single of 2008, Namidairo, was released for sale on February 27, 2008. It is the theme song for the Japanese drama 4 Shimai Tantei Dan. Yui was asked to make a "mysterious and sad sounding" song for the drama tie-in, and she composed the song "Namidairo" as such. Incidentally, the chorus of the song was created by Yui during the time she made her singing debut. A week following the release of her 11th single, the promotional video of a new song "Laugh Away", was released. The song was used as the theme song for the Glico "Watering KissMint" commercial. "Laugh Away" was released as a digital single on March 10, 2008 and also included on her third album which would later be released.



Her third studio album was released on April 9, 2008 titled I Loved Yesterday. It charted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts, with more than 400,000 copies sold, selling only a little behind her sophomore album. The 10th track on the album, titled "Oh Yeah" was used as the opening theme song to the morning Japanese show Mezamashi TV. The limited edition version of the album came with a DVD which included music videos of her previous singles and live footage of her Nippon Budokan show. Yui's third tour, named '"Oui" ~I Loved Yesterday~' was started in May and ended in July.

Yui released a single, entitled "Summer Song" on July 2, 2008. This single charted at #1 on Oricon Weekly Chart. Summer Song is Yui's 1st #1 hit single since "I Remember You" that wasn't tied to a drama (My Generation / Understand, Namidairo), commercial (Laugh Away, Che.r.ry) or anime (Rolling Star). Summer Song sold 83,440 copies in a week, making Summer Song 2nd highest in 1st week sales after Love & Truth single.



Yui's latest compilation album, My Short Stories, released 12 November 2008, again charted #1 on Oricon, featuring the B-Sides from all her past singles (Feel My Soul to Summer Song), along with new song "I'll Be".

Yui is only the second female artiste whose B-side compilation album topped the charts, after Seiko Matsuda's "Touch Me" in 1984. The last compilation album that reached #1 was Mr. Children's B-Side, on 21 May 2007. Due to the success of "My Short Stories", sales of her first album From Me to You rose again. In her 29 August 2008 "Yui Diary" blog entry, Yui mentioned that she will take a break for a while from all public appearances after this new album to re-energize herself. With this break, she will be able to fully concentrate on next year's song production

Will.I.Am Biography

William James Adams, Jr. (born March 15, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA), better known by his stage name Will.i.am (formerly Will 1X), is a Jamaican American Emmy Award-winning musician, specializing as a hip hop musician, Rapper, dancer, songwriter and founding member and frontman of Black Eyed Peas. He also has his own label called will.i.am music group

In September 2007, Will.i.am's record label Universal Music Group decided on a pilot scheme to reward certain file sharing with cash incentives, including will.i.am tracks from his latest solo album Songs About Girls.

Will.i.am is also featured in Flo Rida's debut album Mail on Sunday on the song In The Ayer.

Will.i.am has recently been cast as John Wraith in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel to the X-Men film series. In 2008 will.i.am contributed the song "One People" to the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival.

Before joining the Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. In 2001, he began designing his own signature clothing line, i.am, which made its official debut in 2005 at the Magic apparel trade show in Las Vegas. In 2007, Will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design a premium denim collection, i.am Antik, that was scheduled to debut in August 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas. He has also designed clothing for the Black Eyed Peas.

In January 2008, Will.i.am wrote a song, "Yes We Can", in support of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama, which in turn became a music video directed by Jesse Dylan. The lyrics of the song are composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech on January 8, 2008, following the New Hampshire presidential primary election. The video features appearances from numerous celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adam Rodríguez, Kelly Hu, Hill Harper, Amber Valletta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger, Nick Cannon, Bryan Greenberg, Common and first appeared on the website for Dipdive, and within a week of its appearance racked up three million views, and over four million views on YouTube.

On February 29, 2008, a second video, "We Are the Ones" was released on Dipdive and YouTube. Including cameo appearances from Jessica Alba, Ryan Phillippe, Kerry Washington, pop punk band Yellowcard's front man, Ryan Key, John Leguizamo, Regina King, Tyrese Gibson, Eric Mabius, Tichina Arnold, Adrianne Palicki, comedian George Lopez, and singers Macy Gray, Zoe Kravitz and Black Eyed Peas' Taboo, the video features everyone chanting "O-BA-MA" as a portrayal as their hopes and wishes for Barack Obama and his presidential campaign.

On 4 November 2008 will.i.am spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper about his support for Sen. Obama, using CNNs 'hologram' technology.

After the 2008 election, will.i.am released "It's a New Day." The video reflects on the aftermath of electing an African-American as president and features celebrities such as Fergie, Olivia Wilde, Kanye West, Harold Perrineau, Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. The video first debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Dido Biography

Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong (born 25 December 1971 in London, England) professionally known as Dido (pronounced /ˈdaɪdoʊ/ DYE-doe) is an award winning English singer-songwriter.

Dido was born Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong at St. Mary Abbots hospital in Kensington, London on Christmas Day 1971. Because she was born on Christmas Day, she also celebrates an "official birthday" on 25 June, following the example of Paddington Bear. Her mother, Clare (née Collins) is a French poet and her father, William O'Malley Armstrong was an Irish publisher and former managing director of Sidgwick & Jackson. She has an older brother, Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong who is better known as record producer Rollo. Despite their impressive birth names, the pair were known from childhood by the names that are famous now — Dido and Rollo. Dido has made it clear that "Dido" is now her real name and not simply a stage name or nickname.
Dido was named after the mythical Queen of Carthage. As a child, she had to deal with the ambiguous and unusual nature of her name, which led to her being bullied and even to her pretending to have an ordinary name. As she explains:

Dido was educated at Thornhill Primary, City of London Girls' and Westminster School. After she stole a recorder from school at age five, her parents enrolled her at the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. By the time she reached her teens Dido had learned to play the piano, recorder and the violin. She later studied law at Birkbeck, University of London, while working as a literary agent. She never completed the course, deciding instead to take up music full-time. After learning the guitar, she showcased her skills to audiences during her 2004 Life for Rent tour.

In 1995, Dido began recording demo tracks which were put together on a collection entitled Odds & Ends and sent out by Nettwerk management. Nettwerk had signed her after she was brought to their attention by her collaborations with Faithless (Dido co-wrote and provided vocals for album tracks, such as "Flowerstand Man" and "Hem of His Garment") and the UK dance act spearheaded by her brother, Rollo Armstrong. The collection was released by Nettwerk on CD-R acetate in 1995 and featured a mixture of finished productions and demo versions which she later considered for release on her debut album, released in 1999 as No Angel. Odds & Ends brought her to the attention of Arista Records, who signed her in the USA, striking a deal with her brother's record label, Cheeky Records, to co-sign her. Of the tracks included on Odds & Ends, "Take My Hand" was included on all editions of No Angel as a bonus track; "Sweet Eyed Baby" was remixed and renamed to "Don't Think of Me", while "Worthless" and "Me" were released exclusively on the Japanese edition.

Cheeky Records, to which Dido was signed, was sold to BMG records in 1999. This delayed the release of No Angel in the United Kingdom, but also allowed her to concentrate on promoting the album No Angel in the United States, including a slot on Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour. Through touring, both before and after the album was available, Dido's music began to receive more exposure. The first official single chosen by Dido and her label, "Here with Me", was used as the theme music for the television programme Roswell. Arguably it was this, as well as the airplay on MTV throughout Europe of the single's video, which brought her attention from the masses.
In 1998, the music producer for the film Sliding Doors picked her track "Thank You" for the soundtrack. No Angel was first released in 1999, and Dido toured extensively to promote the record.

Eminem helped introduce Dido to the US audience in 2000 when he sampled the first verse of "Thank You" in his UK number-one single "Stan", after seeking permission from Dido herself; she also appeared in the music video as Stan's long-suffering girlfriend. She reportedly did not want to do the video at first, as she was uncomfortable with the scene in the video where she had to be tied up and have her mouth covered with duct tape, but later agreed to it and got along well with Eminem and the crew on set. Interest soared in her debut album, leading it to hit charts in Europe on import sales alone, charting in the top five on the UK albums chart before its official UK re-release.

Her No Angel went on to become the top-selling album of 2001 - both in the United Kingdom and worldwide,debuting at, and returning to, number one in the official UK albums chart many times throughout the year. It spawned two Top Ten hit singles, "Here with Me" and "Thank You", a further Top Twenty hit, "Hunter" and a fourth and final single release "All You Want" which reached the top 25. It was certified platinum in over thirty-five countries, and is estimated to have sold over 21 million copies worldwide. It is the second biggest selling album of the 21st century in the UK. Dido's widely emulated hairstyle at this time became known as the "Dido flip". After a sold-out worldwide tour (which featured hip-hop artist Pete Miser as her live band's DJ), Dido announced she was taking a sabbatical in 2002, in which time she began to write and record her second album.

Life for Rent was released on 29 September 2003 (world), 30 September 2003 (USA & Canada) and became one of the fastest selling albums in UK music history, debuting at number one in the UK, Ireland, France, Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand, the USA, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria and many more. Preceded by the hit single "White Flag", the music video for which features Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Bones star David Boreanaz, the album sold over 152,000 copies in the first day alone in the UK, and went on to sell over 400,000 in the first week. Three further singles—"Life for Rent", "Don't Leave Home" and "Sand in My Shoes"—were lifted from the album, with Dido embarking on a worldwide tour in support of the album (a DVD of footage from the tour was released in 2005 entitled Live at Brixton Academy). It is the 4th biggest selling album of the 21st century in the UK.

Following her sold-out world tour of 2004, Dido was asked to perform at three of the Live 8 concerts on 2 July 2005—performing in London, then at the Eden Project in Cornwall, before flying over to Paris, performing both solo ("White Flag") and duetting with Youssou N'Dour ("Thank You" and "Seven Seconds").
Also in 2005, Dido provided vocals for her brother's side project Dusted on the album Safe from Harm. She sings on the tracks: "Time Takes Time", "Hurt U" and "Winter" and she co-wrote three tracks on the album: "Always Remember to Respect & Honour Your Mother, Part 1", "The Biggest Fool in the World" and "Winter".

Dido started working on her third album in October 2005 in Los Angeles. The album has been produced by Jon Brion and herself. Collaborators include Brian Eno, Questlove, Mick Fleetwood, Rollo Armstrong and Matt Chamberlain. Recording sessions were held at London's Abbey Road and at Jon Brion's home studio in Los Angeles.

Dido's official website has been relaunched to coincide with the release of the album. The release of the album has been postponed several times, though no official reason has been given for this. The first single from the album, "Don't Believe in Love" leaked to the Internet on 5 September 2008 and was made available digitally on 27 October, 2008. The full album was leaked to the internet on the 1st November, 2008, some 16 days before its official launch date. On 13 November 2008, the full album was available for a world premier listening at iLike.

On 22 August 2008, Dido's official website confirmed that the album was to be entitled Safe Trip Home, with the official release date of 17 November 2008. A free song from the album, "Look No Further" was available to download from the site for a limited time. Other songs to be included in the album are: "It Comes And It Goes", "The Day Before", "Never Want To Say It's Love" and "Grafton Street". The latter was composed in collaboration with Brian Eno The album cover features a photograph of astronaut Bruce McCandless II during a spacewalk, as part of space shuttle mission STS-41-B.

In December 2008, Dido's song "Let’s Do The Things We Normally Do," was criticised by Gregory Campbell, MP for East Londonderry and Minister for Sports, Arts and Leisure of Belfast, Northern Ireland, for referencing lyrics from the famous Irish republican song, "The Men Behind the Wire.” Campbell described the song as, "written about people who were murderers, arsonists and terrorists" The song has been rumoured to be inspired by the death of her father, William O’Malley Armstrong

Chris Brown Biography

Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is a Grammy-nominated American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, dancer, music video director and actor. He made his recording debut in late 2005 with Chris Brown at the age of 16. The album featured the hit single "Run It!", which topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Brown the first male artist to have his debut single to top the chart. The album sold two million copies in the United States and was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the RIAA.
Brown's second studio album, Exclusive was released worldwide in November 2007. It spawned two successful singles; his second U.S. number one hit, "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain and "With You", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Brown has released a deluxe version of his album called the The Forever Edition. The first single off of it, "Forever", was released in May 2008 and reached number two on Billboard Hot 100. Exclusive has gone platinum, selling over one million units.
In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several hits such as "No Air", a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, "Shortie like Mine" with the rapper Bow Wow and "Shawty Get Loose" alongside Lil Mama and T-Pain. The songs have peaked on number three, number nine and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively.Due to his vocal and dance routines, Brown has been compared to renowned R&B artists such as Usher and Michael Jackson, citing both as large influences on his music.

Brown was born and raised in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia, the son of Joyce Hawkins and Clinton Brown. He began dancing at the age of two. He was influenced by the artists his parents played on the home radio, such as Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Anita Baker and Aretha Franklin. Before becoming a vocalist, he was interested in becoming a rapper, but became a vocalist when his mother pointed out his singing voice.
From the ages seven to thirteen, Brown was scarred by the domestic violence his mother endured from her boyfriend.
At the age of thirteen, Brown and his mother began looking for opportunities of a record deal. He was discovered by a local production team who visited his father's gas station searching for new talent. At the age of 15, Brown was then sent to perform for L.A. Reid and was subsequently signed in 2004 to Jive Records.By early 2005, Brown began work for his debut album, working with the likes of Scott Storch, The Underdogs, Dre & Vidal, Bryan-Michael Cox, Bow Wow, and Jermaine Dupri.

Brown left school in late 2004 to begin working on his self-titled debut album which was released on November 29, 2005. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling over 155,000 copies in first week of sales. His debut single, "Run It!", was #1 in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Following "Run It!", "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" became Brown's second top 10 hit in the U.S.,peaking at #7, and #13 in the UK. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
His third single, "Gimme That", was released in March 2006 which featured Lil Wayne for a remix, originally not featured on the album, but was later included. The single debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #80 and climbed the charts quickly peaking at #15. Brown also co-directed his music videos for "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" and "Gimme That". His fourth single is the ballad "Say Goodbye", which is also a part of the Step Up soundtrack. On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled, Chris Brown's Journey, which shows footage of him traveling in England and Japan, getting ready for his first visit to the Grammy Awards, behind the scenes of his music videos and bloopers.
On August 17, 2006 to further promote the album, Brown began his major co-headlining tour, The Up Close and Personal Tour. Due to the tour, production for his next album was pushed back two months. Brown was also the opening act for R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles on the Australian leg of her The Beyoncé Experience tour.

Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was set to be released on August 28, 2007 until it was pushed to November 6, 2007. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums selling nearly 300,000 copies in its first week domestically, 140,000 more copies than his debut album.
According to MTV News, Brown stated: "I am still going to keep it so my younger fans can continue to listen to my music, but I got a couple of joints on there that's for some of the older people." The album's first single, "Wall to Wall", debuted on the 'Billboard Hot 100 at #96, and peaked at #79 and #22 on the Billboard R&B and Hip-Hop Chart becoming his lowest charting song to date. "Kiss Kiss", featuring and produced by T-Pain, was released as the second single. "Kiss Kiss", became more successful surpassing the success of "Wall To Wall", reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to become Chris' second #1 single and his highest chart peak since "Run It!" in 2005. On December 4, 2007, Brown released the third single from "Exclusive", entitled "With You", a song produced by Stargate. "With You" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and had entered the charts in various countries around the world, becoming one of Brown's most successful released to date, entering the top ten in New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, the United States, Cyprus, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Australia.
Brown re-released Exclusive on June 3, 2008 as a deluxe edition, renamed Exclusive: The Forever Edition, seven months after the release of the original version. The re-released version featured four new tracks, including the single "Forever" which reached number 2 on Billboard Hot 100.

In support of the album, Brown embarked on his The Exclusive Holiday concert tour, visiting over thirty venues in United States. He started the tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 6, 2007 and concluded it on February 9, 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The documented footage was released on June 3, 2008 as the double disc of Exclusive: The Forever Edition.
Brown is featured on the forthcoming Nas album on a track featuring The Game, co-produced by the The Game and Cool & Dre.

Brown performed "With You" at the BET Awards '08 on June 24, 2008. He was then joined by Ciara to dance with him to a snippet of the song "Take You Down".
Chris Brown featured alongside Sean Garrett for Ludacris's hit single "What Them Girls Like" off Ludacris's album Theater of the Mind.
Brown was also featured on T-Pain's third single "Freeze" off T-Pain's new album Thr33 Ringz.

Natasha Bedingfield Biography

Natasha Anne Bedingfield is an English pop singer and songwriter.
Based in Book St., London, Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Bedingfield recorded rock and gospel songs for the Hillsong London Church, while Daniel Bedingfield went on to enjoy success with hits “Gotta Get Thru This” and “If You're Not The One”.
Natasha and Daniel share the Guinness World Record for being the only siblings to have had solo number-ones in UK chart history. Similarly, they have each cracked the Top 10 in Australia, United States, Canada and Europe.
Bedingfield recorded her first album Unwritten in 2004. The album contained primarily uptempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music; it enjoyed international success with over 2.5 million sold worldwide. In 2007, she received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for the song "Unwritten". Bedingfield's second album N.B. (2007) yielded the singles "I Wanna Have Your Babies" which was written and produced by Natasha Bedingfield, Wayne Wilkins, Andrew Frampton, and Steve Kipner, "Soulmate" and "Say It Again". Bedingfield has achieved 5 top ten singles in the United Kingdom to date and as of April 2008, she has sold over 10 million singles and albums worldwide.



Bedingfield was born in the Lewisham district of London to New Zealand-born Molly and John Bedingfield who are both charity workers. She has three siblings; two brothers: Daniel and Joshua and a younger sister Nikola. Both Daniel and Nikola are also pop singers. Her interest in music was encouraged by her parents and growing up she took guitar and piano lessons. As a teenager, Bedingfield and her siblings, Daniel and Nikola, formed the dance/electronic group, The DNA Algorithm. The group provided Bedingfield with the opportunity to explore different musical genres and expand her songwriting abilities. She provided vocals for the group which primarily performed dance-pop music about religion, independence and empowerment, themes that would later be found in her own solo compositions. The DNA Algorithm performed at several Christian music festivals before disbanding. Bedingfield attended a year at the University of Greenwich, where she studied psychology to "make [her] a better songwriter." After a year of studying psychology, she left the university to concentrate on singing and songwriting. She began to record demos in the garages of friends who had recording studios. Bedingfield eventually took these demos to record companies. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Bedingfield composed and recorded songs for the Hillsong London Church. In 2004, her recordings appeared on the church's live album Shout God's Fame and the children's album Jesus Is My Superhero by Hillsong Music Australia.



Bedingfield was a philanthropist who has donated time and money to organizations such as the Global Angels, an international children's charity founded by her mother, Molly Bedingfield. She became associated with the organization in 2006 because of her celebrity status which she could use to help "people around the world, particularly children, who live in conditions that would horrify us". Bedingfield is now an ambassador for Global Angels and in November 2006 she visited India for three weeks in support of the charity. She visited an orphanage in Calcutta and a refugee camp for former child prostitutes in Mumbai to learn more about the situation and the conditions in these areas. Bedingfield later expressed her shock at what she had witnessed. Video diaries filmed during her trip were posted on her official website in early 2007. She is also an advocate for Stop the Traffik, a global coalition which works to end human trafficking and a member of the (RED) campaign.
In 2004, Bedingfield showed interest in acting and made her debut in the James Bond video game From Russia with Love in November 2005. She lent her voice to the character Elizabeth Stark, the British Prime Minister's daughter who is kidnapped in the opening sequence. Bedingfield commented that she would like to do more acting, but only if the film "was good enough, and it was a role that [would] fit me." Bedingfield is not set to appear in any forthcoming films in the near future.
She has made an appearance in the seventh season finale of the hit Canadian television series Degrassi: The Next Generation.

In 2006, the media incorrectly reported that Bedingfield was dating Nick Lachey and Maroon 5 lead singer, Adam Levine. Referring to the media reports, Bedingfield commented that "Adam is lovely but I didn't date him or Nick. As soon as you talk to a famous guy, you're immediately linked with him." Bedingfield is currently engaged to Matt Robinson, a businessman and documentary filmmaker from California.



Discography
The discography of Natasha Bedingfield, an English pop music singer, consists of three studio albums, ten singles, eleven music videos and one music DVD on Sony BMG.
Natasha Bedingfield's debut studio album, Unwritten, was released in September 2004, and sold 5 million copies worldwide. It produced four commercially released singles and the song "Unwritten" was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007. Her second studio album, N.B. (2007), was considered a commercial failure, despite producing two top ten singles. In January 2008, Bedingfield released Pocketful of Sunshine in North America. The album comprised new songs and tracks previously released on N.B..

CREED

Creed was an American post-grunge rock band from Tallahassee, Florida that became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for the song "With Arms Wide Open" in 2001. The band broke up in 2004 after three multi-platinum albums, selling more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Creed was formed in 1995 under the name Naked Toddler when Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti, college friends at Florida State University, got together and started collaborating and writing songs. They soon added bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. Brian Marshall came up with the band name "Creed", taken from the name of his former band, Mattox Creed.[1]
Once the band was complete as a four-piece in late 1995, (Scott Stapp, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips) the band was soon dominating the Tallahassee local music scene and was one of the only local bands playing all original music in a town where club owners wanted local bands to play cover songs. The four members had already written and collaborated three of the songs that would go on to become tracks on their chart-topping debut album My Own Prison. The songs were "One", "Sister" and "What's This Life For".
They then found work at a live music bar, where they impressed promoters Jeff Hanson and Andy Levine enough to let them play at one of their bigger venues known as Floyd's Music Store on the Tennessee Street Strip in Tallahassee. Hanson and Levine liked the band so much that he convinced producer John Kurzweg to record the band.

In June 2004, Creed officially announced their break-up. Stapp began recording his debut solo album, The Great Divide with Roadrunner Records recording artist Goneblind. The other band members (including former bassist Brian Marshall) formed a new band, Alter Bridge, with Myles Kennedy. Touring bassist Brett Hestla has since joined the band Dark New Day. On November 22, 2004 Creed released a greatest hits album.
Since Creed's disbanding, many fans have been waiting for a reunion. The three members currently involved in Alter Bridge have stated that Creed is solely in their past, and will not reunite any time in the future. Tremonti even went as far to say that he would only agree to a Creed reunion if it was for "world peace." Originally, Stapp was optimistic about Creed reuniting someday, yet his recent claims reflect that he too feels that Creed is in the past, and claims that the band will reunite if "hell freezes over".
In 2008, Mark Tremonti, along with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy appeared as guests on two separate tracks on Sevendust's album Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow.

Despite the band's continual dismissals of the label, Creed is sometimes labeled a Christian rock band due to the fact that all three albums focus on questions of faith, Christianity, and eternity. The band was never signed to a contemporary Christian music label, nor did it perform in Christian music venues or get any widespread regular play on Christian radio. However, the band's namesake creed itself denotes a popular Christian theological concept, of absolute individual belief, usually monotheistic. Also, themes within their musical titles such as "Human Clay", "My Sacrifice", "My Own Prison", "With Arms Wide Open", and "One Last Breath" contain allusion to Christian theology, however it hasn't been confirmed that the songs were meant to be Christian songs.
Creed was sued in 2003 by four concert goers who claimed Scott Stapp "was so intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song" at a December 29, 2002 concert in Chicago. The lawsuit was later dismissed and the concert goers who filed the suit were mocked in a Daily Show segment conducted by Rob Corddry.
Scott Stap contemplated suicide sometime in 2003 after drinking a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey. He retrieved two MP5's from his collection, put the guns to his head, but failed to pull the trigger after looking at a picture of his son, "Jagger". He stated in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that he was convinced that anyone involved with Creed wanted him dead so he would become a "Kurt Cobain martyr-type" and increase record sales. "I had crazy thoughts going through my head," he says.

For many years, Creed collaborated with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) by allowing many of their songs to be played for promotions (such as a song being the soundtrack for a pay per view). In 2001, when WWE began airing videos highlighting many different wrestlers' careers as well as video highlights of the rigors of the road for wrestlers, a Creed song was almost always the background music; "My Sacrifice" being the most-used song. Even following the breakup of Creed, Scott Stapp and Alter Bridge have both contributed music to WWE.

Band members

Former members

• Scott Stapp – lead vocals (1995–2004)
  
• Mark Tremonti – guitars, backing vocals (1995–2004); bass guitar on Weathered (2001 — all tracks)
  
• Scott Phillips – drums, percussion, keyboards (1995–2004)
  
• Brian Marshall – bass guitar (1995–2000)
  

Touring members

• Brett Hestla – bass guitar (2000–2004)
  
• Brian Brasher – guitars (1995)
  

Session members

• John Kurzweg – keyboards on My Own Prison (1997 — multiple tracks)
  
• Aimee Stapp – backing vocals on Weathered (2001 — track "Don't Stop Dancing")
  
• Robby Krieger – guitars on Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors (2000 — track "Riders on the Storm")
  
• Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards on Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors (2000 — track "Riders on the Storm")
  

Leah Dizon

Leah Dizon (リア・ディゾン Ria Dizon?, born Leah Donna Dizon on September 24, 1986) is a television talent, model, singer, actress, Gravure idol and TV personality in Japan, born in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. Her ethnicities include Chinese, Filipino and French. In 2006, she moved to Tokyo, Japan after signing with a Japanese talent agency and made her singing debut under Victor Entertainment with a download exclusive song, "Fever", a cover of Kylie Minogue's hit song. During her "Communication!!!" Tour she revealed that she had recently married and was also pregnant.



Leah Dizon was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has two older brothers, an older sister, and two younger brothers. She says she grew up listening to Rock and R&B music. She took dance lessons and was in her high school theater.

After graduating from high school, Dizon moved to Los Angeles and began her modeling career. While attending college as a film major, Dizon landed a phone company advertisement and posed for the cover features of various import-car magazines. This gained her much attention and a fanbase overseas, predominantly in East Asia. One year after her pictures were posted up on the internet, she already had 2,000,000 hits from search engines. Following the advice of her fans, Dizon sent a demo tape with photographs of herself to a talent agency in Japan and in April 2006, after being accepted, she immediately moved to Tokyo. In October 2006, she released her first photobook titled Petite Amie (Girlfriend in French), which was ranked as the third best-selling photobook of 2006 and 2007.


On February 14, 2007, she released her first physical single, Softly under the Victor Entertainment label. It peaked at number #7 in the Oricon Weekly Chart. On the same day, she also released her second photobook titled Hello! Leah, which was ranked as the second best-selling photobook of 2007.

On May 30, 2007, Dizon released her second single Koi Shiyō (恋しよう♪?), which also peaked at #7 on the Oricon Weekly Chart. The title track is described as a 'grooving, up-tempo dance song' and the single features 2 B-sides: Could you be that one? and Aishiteru～ Love Story (アイシテル～ Love Story?).[8] The title track, Koi Shiyō was used in a Lotte TV ad while Could you be that one? was used in a PlayStation 3 Ninja Gaiden Sigma TV ad, with Dizon starring in both commercials.

Her third single entitled L・O・V・E U was released on August 8, 2007. Leah released her debut album "Destiny Line" on September 12, 2007. The CD+DVD Edition contains 14 tracks, 10 of which were penned by Leah herself the single PVs as well as a special album PV "Again and Again". The CD Only Edition contains the digitally-released remix of Koi Shiyō, called Koi Shiyō♪ (yasutaka nakata-capsule mix).

Leah Dizon's third photobook titled Heaven, was released October 5, 2007. It includes a DVD.
Dizon released her fourth single entitled "Love Paradox" on March 26, 2008. The Title track is an American like Urban song, and the B-side "Under the same sky" is a mid-tempo ballad. The same day, she also released her fourth photobook, "Pure Leah."

On April 18 it was announced that Leah's song, Under the Same Sky, will be used as the theme song for the Japanese drama, Tokyo Prom Queen. Leah will also make a guest appearance on the show as Naomi, the prom queen from the previous year.

Her fifth single, Vanilla was released on June 25, 2008. Her second album, Communication!!!, was released August 20, 2008.
In October 2008, Leah held a press conference confirming her marriage to her Japanese stylist. Also she told fans that she is already 4 months pregnant.


Leah Dizon - Love Paradox

Maroon 5

Maroon 5 is a Grammy Award-winning American pop rock band. Formed with only two members at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts[citation needed] and expanded in Los Angeles, the group comprises five members: Adam Levine (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Valentine (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Mickey Madden (bass guitar), and Matt Flynn (drums, percussion).
Maroon 5 has won several awards for its debut album Songs About Jane. Released in June 2002, the album enjoyed major chart success, going gold, platinum, and triple platinum in many countries around the world. In support of Songs About Jane, Maroon 5 toured extensively throughout 2003 – 2005, in which a live album was released, entitled Live - Friday the 13th. Original member Ryan Dusick left the band in September 2006, due to injuries sustained by the constant touring, and was replaced by Matt Flynn.
After a hiatus from the music scene, Maroon 5 released their second studio album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long in May 2007, five years after Songs About Jane. The second set debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of nearly half a million. The album has since gone on to become 2x platinum with 2 million albums sold in the United States alone and over 3.5 million world wide. The band performed throughout the summer and fall of 2007, including a North American tour with The Hives. They followed that with a world tour with New Found Glory. Beginning March 28, 2008, they will tour with Counting Crows and Sara Bareilles.

Band members

• Adam Levine - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1994–present)
  
• James Valentine - lead guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)
  
• Jesse Carmichael - keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–present)
  
• Mickey Madden - bass guitar (1994–present)
  
• Matt Flynn - drums, percussion (2006–present)
  

Former members

• Ryan Dusick - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–2006)
  

Discography
The discography of Maroon 5, a Los Angeles-based pop-rock band, consists of two studio albums, four live albums, one compilation album, ten singles and twelve music videos.
Maroon 5 originally formed in 1995 as Kara's Flowers while they were still attending high school. With a line-up of Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick, they signed to Reprise Records and released an album The Fourth World in 1997. After a tepid response to the album, the band parted with their record label and attended college. In 2001, the band regrouped and added James Valentine to the lineup, and pursued a new direction under the name Maroon 5.
Maroon 5 signed with Octone Records and recorded Songs About Jane in 2002. In 2003, their debut single "Harder to Breathe" was well received by radio airplay, which helped propel the album into the top 20 of the Billboard 200. Their second and third singles, "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved", were worldwide hits in 2004, both reaching #1 in the United World Chart. For the next few years, the band toured extensively worldwide in support of Songs About Jane and issued two live recordings; 2004's 1.22.03.Acoustic and 2005's Live – Friday the 13th.
Ryan Dusick was replaced by Matt Flynn as the drummer of the band in 2006, and the revised band recorded their second album It Won't Be Soon Before Long in early 2007. The music in the album was inspired by artists of the 1980s including Prince, Michael Jackson, Shabba Ranks and Talking Heads. The album's first single "Makes Me Wonder" became the band's first #1 single in the Billboard 100 and had major success worldwide, also reaching #1 in the United World Chart. The album, released on May 22, 2007, broke the record for the most iTunes sales in its first week of release, with over 101,000 copies sold.

Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Since their formation in 1996, the band has sold more than 50 million albums and won two Grammy Awards. They achieved mainstream success with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005. Their following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200’s album charts in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world.
Recognized for their adaptation of the nu metal and rap rock genre into a radio-friendly yet densely-layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band moved away from this and explored a variety of other genres in their latest studio album, Minutes to Midnight. The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year. They are also known for their several collaborations, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mash-up album Collision Course, and many other artists on Reanimation.

Style
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combined the nu metal and rap rock sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock, and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style," whereas Rolling Stone called "Breaking the Habit" "risky, beautiful art".
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their established sound and sees them drawing influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times compares to a stage in U2's work. In it, only two of the songs feature rapping. It also is their first studio album to feature guitar solos.
Linkin Park's use of two separate vocalists has become a large part of their music. Chester Bennington is most known for using growling and screaming vocals common in various forms of metal, while also using more melodic singing, and has placed 46th in Hit Paraders list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".
Mike Shinoda is the group's MC, and does all of the rapping. Mike has also done all of the backing vocals live, and in their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, he sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High" and the B-side "No Roads Left". Shinoda has also been placed in Hit Parader's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" at number 72.

Band members
Current
Chester Bennington - vocals (1999–present)
Rob Bourdon - drums, percussion (1996–present)
Brad Delson - lead guitar (1996–present)
Dave "Phoenix" Farrell - bass guitar, backing vocals (1996–1999, 2001–present)
Joe Hahn - turntables, programming, samples (1996–present)
Mike Shinoda - emcee, vocals, guitar, keyboards (1996–present)

Former
Mark Wakefield – vocals (1996–1998)

Stand-in
Kyle Christener — Bass guitar (1998–1999); temporarily replaced Farrell
Scott Koziol — Bass guitar (1999–2001); stand-in bassist on Hybrid Theory

Discography
The discography of Linkin Park, a Agoura Hills, California-based rock band, consists of three studio albums, twenty-one singles, two live albums, two remix albums, four EPs, six video albums and twenty-four videos. This list does not include material recorded by Linkin Park band members with other sideprojects.
Linkin Park was formed in Agoura Hills, California in 1996 under the name Xero by vocalist Mike Shinoda and guitarist Brad Delson. Although widely associated with nu metal, the band's sound incorporates rap metal and alternative rock elements. The band is known for its distinct vocal style which often includes the aggressive vocals of Chester and Mike.
Linkin Park rose to international fame in 2000 with their debut album Hybrid Theory, which became a high commercial success and sold over 24 million copies worldwide. Linkin Park is one of the most successful acts of the 2000s and sold over 16 million albums in the United States alone. The band has achieved three number-one Billboard 200 albums (Meteora, Collision Course and Minutes to Midnight), seven number one singles on the Modern Rock Tracks charts, and has won two Grammy Awards and as well been nominated two times.

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in London, England in 1998. The group comprises vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Will Champion. Coldplay have sold 40 million albums, and are also known for their hit singles, such as "Yellow", "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound", "Fix You", "Viva la Vida" and the Grammy Award-winning "Clocks".
Coldplay achieved worldwide fame with the release of their single "Yellow", followed by their debut album, Parachutes (2000), which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Its follow-up, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) won multiple awards such as NME's Album of the Year. Their next release, X&Y (2005), received a slightly less enthusiastic yet still generally positive reception. The band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008), was produced by Brian Eno and released again to largely favourable reviews. All of Coldplay's albums have enjoyed commercial success.
Coldplay's early material was compared to acts such as Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, U2, and Travis.Since the release of Parachutes, Coldplay have drawn influence from other sources, including Echo and the Bunnymen,Kate Bush and George Harrison on A Rush of Blood to the Head, Johnny Cash and Kraftwerk for X&Y and Blur, Arcade Fire and My Bloody Valentine on Viva la Vida. Coldplay have been an active supporter of various social and political causes, such as Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. The group have also performed at various charity projects such as Band Aid 20, Live 8, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Musical style
Coldplay's musical style has been defined as alternative rock, being compared to Jeff Buckley and Oasis,while on their MySpace profile they describe their musical style as "very heavy soft rock".The band's music has been called "meditative"; it "[reflects] on their emotions" and lead singer/songwriter Martin "endlessly examine[s] his feelings". Martin's lyrical wordplay has been called feminist, similar to Andrew Montgomery of Geneva.
The tone of the band's first studio album, Parachutes, was defined as melodic pop with "distorted guitar riffs and swishing percussion". It was also described as being "exquisitely dark and artistically abrasive". In a review for A Rush of Blood to the Head, the songs were considered to contain "lush melodies and a heartbreak" and that they had a "newfound confidence." The music on X&Y has been considered to be "ruminations on Martin's doubts, fears, hopes, and loves."

Activism
Despite Coldplay's worldwide popularity, the band has remained protective of how their music is used in the media, refusing its use for product endorsements. In the past, Coldplay turned down multi-million dollar contracts from Gatorade, Diet Coke, and Gap, who wanted to use the songs "Yellow", "Trouble", and "Don't Panic" respectively. According to vocalist/pianist Martin, "We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if we sold the songs' meanings like that." The song "Viva la Vida" was featured in a commercial for the iTunes Store, advertising its exclusive availability of the single as a digital download on iTunes. Coldplay are supporters of Amnesty International. Chris Martin is also noted as one of the most visible celebrity advocates for fair trade, supporting Oxfam's ongoing Make Trade Fair campaign. Martin has been on trips with Oxfam to assess conditions, has appeared in its advertising campaign, and is known for wearing a "Make Trade Fair" wristband during public appearances, including at Coldplay concerts. The band were also filmed for Make Poverty History, clicking their fingers.
In the band's early years, Coldplay were also widely noted in the media for their claim to give 10% of the band's profits to charity. Bassist Guy Berryman said, "You can make people aware of issues. It isn't very much effort for us at all, but if it can help people, then we want to do it." The band also asks that any gifts intended for them are donated to charity, according to a response on the FAQ section of Coldplay's website. Martin was outspoken against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and he endorsed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004.

Discography
This is the discography of Coldplay, an English alternative rock band formed in London in 1997. The band have released four studio albums, 18 singles, five extended plays, one live album, and one compilation album. Coldplay's first release, the limited demo Safety (EP), was released in 1998, and their debut studio album, Parachutes, was released two years later, in July 2000.
Coldplay have sold over 40 million albums, and are also known for their hit singles, such as "Yellow", "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound", "Talk", "Violet Hill", "Viva la Vida", and the Grammy Award-winning "Clocks".
The band's most successful album so far is A Rush of Blood to the Head

Five for Fighting

Five for Fighting is the stage name of American singer-songwriter John Ondrasik. His 2000 album America Town went platinum in the U.S. largely due to the success of the song "Superman (It's Not Easy)" following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The 2004 album The Battle for Everything has also enjoyed chart success in the United States. Ondrasik has also released a DualDisc of his 2004 album which has one side containing The Battle for Everything in its entirety and the other side being a DVD containing bonus footage and the "100 Years" music video. Five for Fighting's fourth album, Two Lights, was released on August 1, 2006.

John Ondrasik
Singer/songwriter John Ondrasik has spent the past decade writing deeply personal songs that include social messages, invoke the human spirit and make an emotional connection. This can be heard on the past four albums by Five For Fighting, the band name under which he records and performs.

Ondrasik first came on the scene in 2001 with his Grammy-nominated song "Superman” from the Platinum certified America Town (Aware/Columbia) CD. Already climbing the charts prior to 9/11, "Superman" went on to have a life of his own, becoming a song of healing for the nation. John joined superstar musicians for the now legendary post 9/11 fundraiser The Concert For New York, which paid tribute to all the firefighters, police officers and paramedics affected by the events of September 11th. In 2004, John recorded the Platinum-certified album, The Battle For Everything, which yielded the retrospective hit, “100 Years,” a song that has become a part of classic American songbook.

With the 2006 release of Two Lights, featuring “World," the hit song “The Riddle," and "Freedom Never Cries," John continues to craft songs with material drawn from his personal experience in regards to love, war, culture, family, humanity and mortality. The single “World” is a call-to-arms that proposes the question “What kind of world do you want?"

In the fall of 2007, Ondrasik released the first live Five For Fighting CD titled Live, and the DVD, Back Country Live . The CD captures the band live in concert and the DVD features live concert footage, Five For Fighting Music videos, interviews and more.

In addition to his musical accomplishments John has a made a personal commitment towards causes that are important to him. In mid 2007, Ondrasik launched a unique charity-driven web site, whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com that raises money for various charities when users view video clips provided by visitors to the site. Current views are over three million with over two hundred thousand dollars pledged.

The success of the site has led to a recent collaboration between Ondrasik and The History Channel, with the launching a user-generated video contest. Fans can create a video on Eyespot.com describing what kind of world they want by making a video using archival footage of important historical events and the Five For Fighting song "World" as the music bed. One winning video will be chosen to air on The History Channel.

In March 2007, Ondrasik performed at Guantanamo Bay for service members on his first USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour. Since then John has performed for US forces on USO tours in Hawaii, Guam and Japan.

Ondrasik also spearheaded “For the Troops,” a superstar compilation of recording artists that is available for free to every active service person in the US Armed Forces. The compilation includes Billy Joel, Brooks & Dunn, Josh Groban, The Fray, Melissa Etheridge, Los Lonely Boys as well as Five For Fighting's "100 Years." To date, Two Hundred Thousand physical CD’s have been distributed to troops in theatre, with over a quarter million songs downloaded from the Army/Air Force Exchange online store, aafes.com.

Along with numerous television licenses, film credits include compositions for "August Rush," "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,"" We Were Soldiers," "Chicken Little" and "Everyone's Hero."

An avid sports enthusiast and part-time journalist John writes a regular hockey column for SportsIllustrated.com and free lances for various publications.

John is married with two children and resides on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981),[1] commonly known as Beyoncé (pronounced /biːˈɑn.seɪ/), is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of girl group Destiny's Child, the best-selling girl group of all time.
After a series of commercial successes with the group, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, in June 2003. The album became one of the most-successful albums of that year, spawning the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". It earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004, and its reception signaled her viability as a solo artist. The disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005 facilitated her continued success; she released her second album, B'Day, in 2006, which spawned the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar", and the worldwide hit "Irreplaceable". Knowles has sold more than 30 million records worldwide as a solo artist.[1] Knowles will release her third solo album titled I Am… Sasha Fierce on November 18, 2008.
The success of her solo albums has established Knowles as one of the most marketable artists in the industry. She has added acting and endorsement deals to her repertoire. In 2006, she starred in the comedy film The Pink Panther, and, in the same year, scored the main role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Knowles launched in 2004 her family's fashion line, House of Deréon, and among her many lucrative commercial deals are Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, and L'Oréal. Knowles has been with boyfriend Jay-Z since 2002, though they have been discreet about their relationship. After much speculation, they married on April 4, 2008.

Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinge (also known as Nicole Kea, born June 29, 1978) is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and occasional actress best known for her role as the lead vocalist for the Pussycat Dolls.She has a contralto vocal range.



Scherzinger was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Filipino father and a Hawaiian/Russian mother. Her mother Rosemary was 18 at the time of Nicole's birth and lived in an inner city neighborhood and separated from her father when Nicole was a baby. The family moved to Louisville, Kentucky when she was 6 years old, with her sister Ke'ala and German American stepfather Gary Scherzinger. She stated she had a "conservative Catholic" upbringing. Scherzinger began her life as a performer in Louisville, attending the Youth Performing Arts School at duPont Manual High School and performing with Actors Theatre of Louisville. Scherzinger majored in theater arts at Wright State University but put her studies on hold in 1999 to sing backing vocals for the rock band Days of the New.

Scherzinger appeared on the second album by Days of the New, released in 1999. She also recorded two songs with Barry Drake's F.O.B, which were released in 2001. In 2001, Scherzinger competed in the premiere season of The WB's television show Popstars, on which she earned a spot in the all-girl pop group Eden's Crush. She became one of the main vocalists for the group. The group's 2001 single "Get Over Yourself (Goodbye)" peaked at number one in sales and hit the top ten on Billboard Hot 100. "Love This Way" was the second single chosen from the Popstars album; however, their record company, London-Sire Records, folded and the group eventually disbanded. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi contributed one track to the album, and later went on to co-write with Scherzinger for PCD, Doll Domination and Her Name Is Nicole.
In November 2007, Scherzinger talked of her time in Eden's Crush

...it was hell... I was in a band with five other girls and every day was torture for me. We were on TV all the time and the atmosphere was awful.... Every day I was in that band I cried my eyes out. The band was meant to be fun and frivolous but the reality was that it was miserable.... I was too sensitive back then, but I got toughened up. I couldn't have gone into the Dolls without my experience in Crush.

After the disbanding of Eden's Crush, Scherzinger made a few promotional solo appearances under the stage name of Nicole Kea, including covering "Breakfast in Bed" for the soundtrack to 50 First Dates in 2003. This track was produced by Nick Hexum who was her boyfriend for three years.
Scherzinger worked with Yoshiki of Japanese rock band X Japan on in his Violet UK project. She sang the English version of "I'll Be Your Love" live with the Tokyo Symphonic Orchestra. The track also appeared on the 2003 Various Artists album Exposition of Global Harmony.

In May 2003, Scherzinger joined the Pussycat Dolls burlesque troupe, who were being re-cast as recording artists. She had first seen them performing on The Late Show with David Letterman in November 2002, where Carmen Electra sang "Big Spender" from the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity. In 2006, Scherzinger said "It caught my eye because I’d played Velma Kelly in [Fosse's] Chicago in college."The Pussycat Dolls now have world-wide status as a popular singing group, with "Don't Cha", "Buttons", "Stickwitu" and "When I Grow Up" as top ten hits in the U.S.. The album PCD went double-platinum in 2006. Scherzinger sang nearly all lead vocals on the album, with Carmit Bachar and Melody Thornton also contributing.
Scherzinger is the only group member with songwriting credits on PCD; she co-wrote "I Don't Need a Man" with Kara DioGuardi and producer Rich Harrison, and co-wrote "Buttons" with producer Sean Garrett. Another collaboration with DioGuardi, "Flirt", became a B-side to "Stickwitu" and a bonus track on PCD.
In 2006, Scherzinger toured with the Pussycat Dolls for their album promotion. It was revealed in 2006 that the Dolls are salaried employees of Interscope Records, giving the label a high level of control over the group's finances and business decisions.
She was ranked at number twenty-two on Maxim's Hot 100 in 2006 and twenty-one in 2007
Scherzinger appeared on the March 2008 cover of Men's Fitness magazine. She was called the lead or queen doll. Her latest single with the Pussycat Dolls is called "Whatcha Think About That" and it features rapper Missy Elliot.

Marié Digby My Favorite Singer

Marié Christina Digby (Ma-ree-AY Dig-Bee) (born April 16, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist. She is best known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna's No. 1 hit "Umbrella", which attracted attention on YouTube in 2007. The song was subsequently played on the radio station STAR 98.7, was featured on the third season opening episode of the MTV show The Hills,[1] and peaked at #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Digby performed the song on the late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on August 2, 2007.Digby's first official single, "Say It Again", was released to radio stations on January 18, 2008. Her debut album, Unfold, was released on April 8, 2008.

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