Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer. His performances on YouTube were seen by Scooter Braun, who later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.

In October of 2008, Justin Bieber officially signed to Island Records. His debut album, My World is an intimate look into the mind of a budding young renaissance man. With production from star hit men like The Dream and Tricky Stewart who produced “Umbrella” for Rihanna and Beyonce’s latest smash, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” Justin has everything he needs to achieve pop supremacy.

His first single, “One Time” produced by Tricky, is about one of Justin’s favorite topics, puppy love. Usher joins Justin on “First Dance” where the two share verses on a song that Bieber describes as, “A slow groovy song that people can dance to.” On the Midi-Mafia produced “Down to Earth” Justin digs deep to talk about growing up. “Bigger” finds the teenaged singer maturing at a steady rate, while motivating his listeners to strive for their goals.

His debut single, “One Time”, was released worldwide during 2009, and charted within the top 30 in over ten countries. It was followed by his debut release, My World on November 17, 2009, which was certified platinum in the United States, which at the time gave Bieber the highest debut by a new artist in the year, and made Bieber the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. His first full studio release, My World 2.0 was released on March 23, 2010 and has since received similar success; debuting at number one and within the top ten of several countries and was certified platinum in less than two months of release in the United States. It was preceded by the international hit song, “Baby”.

Kylie Minogue released her first single in July 1987. It was a remake of the 1962 Little Eva hit “Locomotion”. The song hit No.1 in Australia and remained in the top spot for seven consecutive weeks, achieving the biggest Australian single of the ‘80’s.

Since then Kylie has released ten studio albums, two live CDs, eight live concert DVD’s, plus her Greatest Hits and the Ultimate Kylie double album and multiple video packages. This is of course in addition to almost 50 singles released internationally, all of which have been hits.

Kylie Minogue has been the guest of Royalty in Britain and Europe, she’s received countless gold and platinum discs; she’s been honoured with numerous prestigious awards, sold-out eight record breaking world tours and in 2000 closed the Sydney Olympics.

Kylie Minogue has graced the covers of the world’s leading magazines, including Attitude, Australian Style, Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, The Face, FHM, Follow Me, Glamour, GQ, Harpers Bazaar, Heat, Hello, ID, Melody Maker, Ministry, Music Week,
OK, Paris Match, Rolling Stone, Sky, Select, Time and multiple covers of Vogue (Australian Guest Editor in 2006), the list is endless.

Early on in Kylie Minogue’s career, after the release of “Shocked”, her 13th hit single in 1991, the British industry “bible” Music Week magazine declared that Kylie Minogue was the ONLY act in the history of the British pop music to have their first 13 releases all go Top 10. Kylie Minogue now has 42 consecutive U.K. hits, none of which failed to peak in the Top 20, 32 in the Top 10!

Today Kylie Minogue is one of the world’s most successful female music artists, but she wasn’t always known as a singer. Kylie Minogue started her career at age eleven when approached to act in the national Australian T.V. drama series “Skyways”, this was followed by more Australian television roles in the popular drama “The Sullivans” and later “The Henderson Kids”.

After Kylie Minogue’s seventeenth birthday Kylie left school to take up acting as a full time profession. Her character “Charlene” in the Australian “soap” Neighbours is still arguably today, one of the most popular characters ever to come out of Australian television.

By the time Kylie Minogue was out of her teens she had won five Logies (the Australian equivalent of an Emmy); the youngest actress ever to do so. In 1987 she won the Silver Logie for “Most Popular Actress” and in 1988 she was the first artist ever to win 4 Logies on one night, including the Gold for “Most Popular Personality on Australian Television”, and another Silver.

Kylie Minogue’s recording career began in 1987 when she released “Locomotion” which topped the charts in Australia and S.E.Asia. The success of this release led to Kylie Minogue teaming up with famed British record producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman in London.

Kylie Minogue’s eponymously titled debut album, released July 1988, contained the hit singles “I Should Be So Lucky”, “Got To Certain”, a re-recorded version of “The Loco-motion” and “Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi”. It sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Her duet with Jason Donovan, “Especially For You” debuted at #2 and shipped silver on release bringing Kylie’s single sales in the U.K. to well over 2 million in under 12 months. The album sold similar quantities, going seven-times platinum in the UK. An impressive debut.

In October 1989 Kylie Minogue released her eagerly awaited second album “Enjoy Yourself” which shot to No.1 in the U.K. with pre-sales of over 600,000 copies. The album spawned 4 worldwide hits including the No.1 singles “Hand On Your Heart” and “Tears On My Pillow”.

In December Kylie Minogue’s first feature film “The Delinquents” was released around the world to rave reviews and became the top grossing movie in the U.K. Also that month, Kylie joined the likes of Bob Geldof, Lisa Stansfield, Bananarama, Bros, Cliff Richard, and Wet Wet Wet for Band Aid 2′s 1989 recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” to raise money for Ethiopia.

Two more albums – “Rhythm Of Love” and “Let’s Get To It” – and more classic singles – “Better The Devil You Know”, “What Do I Have To Do”, “Shocked” – followed before the release of “Kylie’s Greatest Hits” in 1992. The album collected all 19 hits along with three new songs and debuted at #1 on the UK charts.

On her move from PWL to the dance label Deconstruction, Kylie Minogue effectively made the difficult transition from “Pop Princess” to “Career Artist”, a delicate jump very few artists have been able to make successfully.

September 1994 saw the release of her album simply entitled “Kylie Minogue”. Greeted with much critical acclaim the album debuted at no. 4 in the U.K. All three singles released from the album became worldwide hits.

Kylie Minogue’s third duet “Where The Wild Roses Grow”, a “Murder Ballad” penned by Nick Cave and recorded with Nick and his band The Bad Seeds was released internationally in 1995, becoming her 25th consecutive hit peaking at No. 2 in Australia and 11 in Britain. The release introduced Nick Cave to a whole new audience whilst doing the same for Kylie Minogue.

In 1994 Kylie Minogue had a lead role in the $40 million dollar epic Streetfighter with Jean Claude Van Damme, and in 1995 she starred in a short film entitled Hayride To Hell shot in Australia for the European Film Festivals. 1996 saw the release of a comedy called “Bio-Dome” for the producers of “Dumb & Dumber” in Hollywood with Pauly Shore and Steven Baldwin. In 1998 Kylie starred in an Australian independent film called “Sample People”; and alongside Molly Ringwald in Mushroom Pictures horror film “Cut”. Earlier in 1999 she also found time to appear in a Caribbean production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” for which she received rave reviews. More recently Kylie appeared in Baz Luhrmann’s film “Moulin Rouge”, as the Green Fairy.

Kylie’s sixth studio album “Impossible Princess” (aka “Kylie Minogue”) was released in March 1998. With all lyrics by Kylie Minogue, “Impossible Princess”, featuring collaborations with The Manic Street Preachers, Brothers In Rhythm and Dave Ball (Soft Cell, The Grid), became yet another No 1 for Miss Minogue (AUSTRALIAN MUSIC REPORT).

In addition to her famous murder ballad with Nick Cave, Kylie Minogue’s list of collaborations extend to the successful cult underground dance track “G.B.I.” recorded with leading Japanese artist Towa Tei (of Dee-lite fame); a track called “In Denial” with the Pet Shop Boys for their album, a duet with Ben Lee on “The Reflex” for a Duran-Duran tribute album, and the famous duet with Robbie Williams, “Kids” which debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts! May 2009 saw the release of her duet for children “Monkey Man” recorded with the Wiggles for UNICEF.

In October 1999 Kylie released a collectible art book featuring contributions from many of the world’s most respected artists, on the theme of “Kylie”. Demand for the book was unprecedented with a second printing within the first month of release! In 2008 Kylie released her collectible limited edition “K” book featuring William Baker’s photos of her. 90% of stock sold out during her KylieX2008 world tour.

June 2000 saw the much anticipated release of “Spinning Around” the first single from Kylie’s debut studio album for Parlophone Records. In true style she caused a sensation by debuting at Number 1 in both the UK and Australian charts. “Spinning Around” also gave Kylie the honour of being one of only two artists (the other being Madonna) to have a number one in the eighties, nineties and noughties!

In September 2000 her follow up single, “On A Night Like This” was released repeating Spinning Around’s success by debuting in the UK charts at #2 and Australian charts at #1. Kylie’s most anticipated album yet, “Light Years”, was released at the same time to massive critical & commercial success debuting at #2 in the U.K. and reaching #1 in Australia (double platinum!)

Kylie performed to her biggest audience ever at the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games! Kylie thrilled more than 4 billion viewers with her rendition of “Dancing Queen” and “On A Night Like This”. Less than two weeks later she headlined the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.

Kylie ended a phenomenal year with the release of a fourth single from “Light Years”, “Please Stay” on December 11th, as well as a prestigious appearance at the Royal Variety Performance. The top 10 hit “Please Stay” was Kylie’s 33rd hit single and her 20th UK Top Ten hit.

In January 2001 tickets went on sale for Kylie Minogue’s first major tour in nine years. The “On A Night Like This” tour sold out immediately for shows in the UK, Europe and Australia, where the tour became the most successful arena tour by a female artist EVER. The tour was no less successful in the UK, where the capacity doubled to accommodate the huge number of ticket applications.

The tour garnered rave reviews in the press, with the NME declaring that “the hits wheeled out tonight are pop at its most exciting” and the Guardian writing that the show was “utterly fabulous”.

By now “Light Years” was platinum in the UK and 4 x platinum in Australia, where readers voted her “Best Pop Artist” in Australian Rolling Stone. Back in the UK, Kylie was nominated for a prestigious Brit Award for Best International Female.

September 2001 saw the Kylie phenomenon reach fever peak with the release of her global smash hit “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” from the multi-platinum selling album “Fever”. The album generated a further three smash hit singles “In Your Eyes”, “Love At First Sight” and “Come Into My World” and sold over six million copies worldwide.

Kylie Minogue garnered a host of major awards including Top of The Pops Awards for Best Tour for “On A Night Like This” and Top Song for “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, 3 Italian Dance Music Awards for Best International Artist, Best Song and Best Video, an NME Award for Best Pop Act, and ‘Showbusiness Personality of The Year’ at the Variety Club of Great Britain Awards.

Kylie Minogue stole the show at the 2002 Brit Awards with an incredible performance of “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and won two major awards for Best International Female and Best International Album. At the World Music Awards in Monaco, Kylie delivered another show stopping performance to an world-wide audience of a billion people and was honoured as Best Selling Australian Artist of The Year.

In the spring Kylie embarked on her most ambitious live tour to date. Kylie Minogue’s ‘Fever’ tour kicked off in Cardiff in April 2002 before moving on to Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle and London. Tickets to the 25 date tour sold out within minutes of them going on sale and The Manchester Evening News presented Kylie with a plaque in recognition of having the most number of shows by a solo artist to sell out the Arena EVER a record she later broke herself!

Kylie Minogue brought her “Fever!” tour to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Holland, and then on to Australia in August where she sold out six nights at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre and a further six nights at the Rod Laver Arena in her native Melbourne.

Kylie Minogue was then awarded “Woman Of The Year” 2002 at the Elle style awards while the record-breaking “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” garnered 3 Ivor Novello Awards for Best International Single, Best Dance Record and Most Played Record of The Year, and scooped an MTV Award for Best Choreography in a Music Video.

She swept the board at the ARIA’s winning 4 awards including the first Special Achievement award! Just weeks later Kylie triumphed at the 2002 MTV Music Awards Best Pop Act and Best Dance Act and stole the show at Top of The Pops Awards with a stunning performance of “Come Into My World” and a second award for Tour Of The Year for “Fever 2002″.

November 2002 saw the highly anticipated release of the Fever 2002 Live DVD and the book “Kylie: La La La”. Written in collaboration with her artistic director Will Baker, “La La La” documents Kylie’s remarkable career and includes over 300 photos, most of which have never been seen before.

In 2003 Kylie’s lingerie range, ‘Love Kylie’, was launched in the UK in Selfridges to a massive media frenzy and incredible sales. Demand far exceeded supply with Selfridges doubling their orders to cope.

In May 2003 Kylie Minogue appeared in the Rambert Dance Company project, “21″ choreographed by Rafael Bonachella (“On A Night Like This Tour”, “Fever2002 Tour”) in a short black & white filmed piece.

In June Kylie Minogue was voted the sexiest pop pin up in the world by viewers of music channel VH1 and her “Agent Provocateur” commercial won Best Cinema Commercial of the Year at the British TV Awards.

Kylie Minogue spent the summer of 2003 recording her ninth studio album, “Body Language” in London, Ireland and Spain. “Body Language” was released in various territories on 17th November 2003. It was preceded by the hypnotic single “Slow”, written by Kylie Minogue/Emiliana Torrini and Dan Carey which debuted at number 1 in Australia and the UK.

Kylie Minogue, in February 2004, received a Grammy for ‘Come Into My World’ which was the ‘Best Dance Recording’. During 2004 polls released by the PPL reveal that Kylie is the most played female artist on UK radio over the last 20 years and 4th overall.

When the tickets went on sale for Kylie Minogue’s biggest concert tour to date, ‘Showgirl’ a greatest hits extravaganza celebrating her extraordinary career thus far, dates sold out instantly. Kylie’s greatest hits CD package, ‘Ultimate Kylie’ dominated the Christmas charts and also included the new track, ‘I Believe In You’ co-written with Jake Shears and Babydaddy from the Scissor Sisters which debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts.

Early in 2005, ‘Kylie – the Exhibition’ opened in Melbourne. The free exhibition featured costumes and photographs spanning Kylie’s entire career and went on to tour Australian capital cities receiving over 500,000 visitors, before opening at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in January 2007 where the show set a new attendance record with 8000 visitors in one week. After a successful stint in Manchester the Exhibition concluded with a record breaking residence at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow.

In March ’05 Kylie’s sold out ‘Showgirl – The Greatest Hits Tour’ opened to great critical acclaim in Glasgow. She went on to perform 23 sold out nights at only four venues in the UK including seven nights at Earls Court Arena where she set the record for the most dates by a female artist ever at a UK venue. The tour also played 14 sold out dates throughout Europe before travelling to Australia where the rest of the tour had to be postponed due to Kylie being diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.

Kylie Minogue spent the next twelve months focusing on her treatment and recovery from cancer and in June of 2006 readers of leading British fashion magazine GQ and Glamour both vote Kylie ‘Woman of The Year’. In October of 2006 Kylie’s enchanting children’s book, ‘The Showgirl Princess’ was published, delighting her younger fans (and some older ones too!) Shortly after the release of the book Kylie’s first fragrance ‘Darling’ was released by beauty giants Coty. ‘Darling’ became the most successful fragrance launch in the history of Australian retailing and also is a huge success in the UK and throughout Europe.

On the 11th November 2006 Kylie made an emotional return to the stage in Australia to resume her Showgirl Tour which was retitled, ‘Showgirl Homecoming’, before taking it back to the UK for seven dates at Wembley and another seven in Manchester! The reviews were superlative.

On 29th October 2007 Kylie was honoured by Britain’s prestigious annual Music Industry Trusts’ Award, the first woman in the event’s 16 year history to receive the honour. Previous recipients include Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Sir George Martin, Michael Parkinson, John Barry and Peter Gabriel.

Sir Paul McCartney asked Kylie to duet with him “live” on BBC TV nationally throughout the UK to see out the last few minutes of 2007 – only to wake up on 1st January ‘08 to the news that the Queen had honoured her with an OBE!

Just over two weeks later John Travolta honoured Kylie Minogue in America at the now famous Australia Week Gala held by Australia’s Consul General to Los Angeles and in May the French Minister of Culture and Communications awarded Kylie one of France’s highest cultural awards, the “Chevalier de L’ordre des Arts et Lettres” insignia (‘Knight’ in the Order of Arts and Letters) for her “contribution to the enrichment of French culture”.

Her world tour KylieX2008 opened at the Paris Bercy on May 6th 2008. She travelled to 21 counties throughout Europe this (northern) summer playing to over half a million fans at 53 sold out shows! The London papers called the tour “pop perfection!” KylieX2008 continues on to South America in November before moving on to Dubai then through Asia to NZ and finishing in Australia just before Christmas. “A show NOT to be missed!”.

Kylie concluded the year with her 5th Grammy nomination when finalists for the
51st Grammy Awards were announced in Los Angeles. Her album “X”, released in the U.S. in February 2008 was nominated as “Best Dance Album”.

“Kylie at Home”, Kylie’s range of bed-linen, first released only a year ago has already broken sales records around the world and is currently the best selling range in House of Fraser, in the UK.

Early 2009 saw Kylie travel to Mumbai to take part in the most expensive Bollywood feature film ever to be made entitled ‘Blue’. As well as filming a cameo role Kylie also performed the main musical production number for the film. The track was written and recorded with the internationally renowned composer, AR Rahman.

In February 2009 Kylie’s 5th perfume, ‘Couture’ was released and ensured the on-going success of her fragrance brand ‘Kylie Minogue Parfums’ which is now enjoying it’s 3rd year of international success. She also hosted the prestigious Brit Awards in London alongside comedians Matt Horne and James Corden.

Kylie is currently preparing for a series of one off performances and is planning a US tour later in the year. She is also commencing work on her 11th studio album for Parlophone Records.

Source Kylie Minogue Official Site

Kings of Leon are an American rock group whose music is closer in spirit to indie-rock than to the mainstream sensibilities of American contemporaries like 3 Doors Down. Kings of Leon have enjoyed more commercial success in Europe than they have in America. Still, the band’s albums command a decent amount of critical acclaim and, starting in 2008, respect from the Recording Academy in the form of Grammy nominations.

Kings of Leon are made up of members of the Followill family: three brothers (singer Caleb, bassist Jared, drummer Nathan) and a cousin (guitarist Matthew). The band formed in 2000 in Tennessee, putting out their first EP, Holy Roller Novocaine, three years later through RCA. Novocaine established the band’s sonic building blocks: Caleb’s sandpaper-gritty vocals, Matthew’s unvarnished guitars and a swinging rhythm section that had a swampy, stormy vibe to it. Novocaine contained a few songs that would soon reappear on the band’s full-length debut.

Appearing about six months after Novocaine, Youth & Young Manhood revealed that Kings of Leon were extremely confident with Southern rock, particularly the lazy grace of prime Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Black Crowes. Whether it’s the stoned sunniness of “Dusty” or the bar-band rock of “California Waiting,” Kings of Leon eschewed mainstream accessibility for a hard-edged sound whose old-school qualities drew comparisons to other retro-leaning bands of the time like the Strokes and the White Stripes. Manhood failed to even break the top 100 of the Billboard album charts, but the band began attracting a loyal audience.

2005’s Aha Shake Heartbreak came out in the U.K. several months before its debut in the United States. If Manhood suffered because of the band’s debt to their influences, Aha Shake Heartbreak felt looser and more assured, expanding into country-rock without giving in to tear-in-my-beer clichés. “The Bucket” managed to get some attention on the American charts, but Kings of Leon’s lack of mainstream success was at least partially due to the fact that the group’s lively songs were simply too understated to cross over to large audiences.

Kings of Leon got considerably more adventurous and interesting on their third record, 2007’s Because of the Times. Though still playing Southern rock, Kings of Leon had evolved into an edgy, moody band, and on the brooding love song “On Call” they showed an ability to absorb modern-rock influences organically into their sound. Because of the Times resonated with a new urgency that the band’s earlier retro-rock albums had rarely shown. They remained an indie favorite – Kings of Leon still couldn’t secure much of a foothold on American radio, although Because of the Times did go to the top of the U.K. charts.

Kings of Leon started making headway commercially with 2008’s Only by the Night. The dynamic, moody album got the nation’s attention with two blockbuster singles, “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody.” In addition, Kings of Leon also landed their first three Grammy nominations at the end of 2008 – for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album. The band won the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Grammy for “Sex on Fire.” Then on January 31, 2010, the band won three Grammys for “Use Somebody,” including Record of the Year.

Singer, songwriter. Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, to an African-American working-class family. His father, Joseph Jackson, had been a guitarist but had put aside his musical aspirations to provide for his family as a crane operator. Believing his sons had talent, he molded them into a musical group in the early 1960s. At first, the Jackson Family performers consisted of Michael’s older brothers Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie. Michael joined his siblings when he was five, and emerged as the group’s lead vocalist. He showed remarkable range and depth for such a young performer, impressing audiences with his ability to convey complex emotions. Older brother Marlon also became a member of the group, which evolved into the Jackson 5.

Behind the scenes, Joseph Jackson pushed his sons to succeed. He was also reportedly known to become violent with them. Michael and his brothers spent endless hours rehearsing and polishing up their act. At first, the Jackson 5 played local gigs and built a strong following. They recorded one single on their own, “Big Boy” with the b-side “You’ve Changed,” but it failed to generate much interest.

The Jackson 5 moved on to working an opening act for such R&B artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips, James Brown, and Sam and Dave. Many of these performers were signed to the legendary Motown record label, and it has been reported that Gladys Knight may have been the one to tell Motown founder Berry Gordy about the Jackson 5. Impressed by the group, Gordy signed them to his label in 1968.

Relocating to Los Angeles, Michael and his brothers started work on their music and dancing with their father as their manager. They lived with Gordy and also with Supremes singer Diana Ross when they first arrived there. In August 1969, the Jackson 5 was introduced to the music industry at a special event, and later served as the opening act for the Supremes. Their first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, hit the charts in December of that year. It’s first single, “I Want You Back,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1970.

More chart-topping singles quickly followed, such as “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There.” At the age of 13, Jackson launched a solo career in addition to his work with the Jackson 5. He made the charts in 1971 with “Got to Be There” from the album of the same name. His 1972 album, Ben, featured the eponymous ballad about a rat. The song became Jackson’s first solo No. 1 single.

For several years, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 maintained a busy tour and recording schedule, under the supervision of Berry Gordy and his Motown staff. Gordy wrote many of the songs recorded by the group and by Michael Jackson as a solo artist. The group became so popular that they even had their own self-titled cartoon show, which ran from 1971 to 1973.

Despite Jackson’s individual achievements and the group’s great success, there was trouble between the Jacksons and their record company. Tensions mounted between Gordy and Joseph Jackson over the management of his children’s careers, and their level of participation in making their music. The Jacksons wanted more control over their recordings, which led to most of the Jacksons breaking ties with Motown in 1975. Jermaine Jackson remained with the label and continued to pursue a solo career, having previously released several albums—none of which had matched the success of his younger brother Michael.

Pixie Lott (born Victoria Lott on 12 January 1991), is an English singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. Signed to Mercury Records in the UK, and Interscope in the US, her first single “Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)”, was released for download on 7 June 2009 and officially on 8 June, going straight to Number 1 in the UK on 14 June. She is scheduled to release her debut album “Turn It Up” on September 7th 2009.

Pixie lives in Essex with her father, who is a stock broker, her mother a housewife, and she has an older brother and sister. Pixie Lott’s mother gave her the nickname Pixie because she was a “tiny, cute baby” who looked like a fairy.

After starting singing in her church school, Lott attended the Italia Conti Associates Saturday school in Chislehurst from five years old, her family then moved to Essex and she went onto the main school Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where she was awarded a scholarship. During her time as a student, she appeared in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, and A Celebration To The Sound Of Music as Louisa Von Trapp on BBC 1 television. Aged fourteen she was part of the chorus line, recording vocals on Roger Waters opera, Ça Ira.

L. A. Reid heard one of her demos and signed her to Island Def Jam Music Group when she was fifteen, but after a change of managers, a bidding war ensued, resulting in her now being signed to Mercury Records in the UK, and Interscope in the United States.

Pixie played her first festival concert in the Big Top at the Isle of Wight Festival 2009, during her first full British tour, where she supported The Saturdays on The Work Tour.

Pixie Lott released her debut single, “Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)”, on 8 June 2009. It entered the iTunes chart at number one and entered the UK Singles Chart at number one after over 50,000 sales. Lott was quoted as being “shocked” at the success of the single.

When lady gaga was a little girl, she would sing along on her mini plastic tape recorder to Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper hits and get twirled in the air in daddy’s arms to the sounds of the rolling stones and the Beatles. The precocious child would dance around the table at fancy upper west side restaurants using the breadsticks as a baton. And, she would innocently greet a new babysitter in nothing but her birthday suit.
It’s no wonder that little girl from a good Italian New York family, turned into the exhibitionist, multi-talented singer-songwriter with a flair for theatrics that she is today: lady gaga.

“i was always an entertainer. I was a ham as a little girl and I’m a ham today,” says lady gaga, 23, who made a name for herself on the lower east side club scene with the infectious dance-pop party song “beautiful dirty rich,” and wild, theatrical, and often tongue-in-cheek “shock art” performances where gaga – who designs and makes many of her stage outfits — would strip down to her hand-crafted hot pants and bikini top, light cans of hairspray on fire, and strike a pose as a disco ball lowered from the ceiling to the orchestral sounds of a clockwork orange.

“I always loved rock and pop and theatre. When I discovered queen and David Bowie is when it really came together for me and I realized I could do all three,” says gaga, who nicked her name from queen’s song “radio gaga” and who cites rock star girlfriends, Peggy Bundy, and Donatella Versace as her fashion icons. “I look at those artists as icons in art. It’s not just about the music. It’s about the performance, the attitude, the look; it’s everything. And, that is where I live as an artist and that is what I want to accomplish.”

That goal might seem lofty, but consider the artist: gaga is the girl who at age 4 learned piano by ear. By age 13, she had written her first piano ballad. At 14, she played open mike nights at clubs such as New York’s the bitter end by night and was teased for her quirky, eccentric style by her convent of the sacred heart school (the Manhattan private school Nicky and Paris Hilton attended) classmates by day. At age 17, she became was one of 20 kids in the world to get early admission to Tisch school of the arts at NYU. Signed by her 20th birthday and writing songs for other artists (such as the pussycat dolls, and has been asked to write for a series of interscope artists) before her debut album was even released, lady gaga has earned the right to reach for the sky.

“My goal as an artist is to funnel a pop record to a world in a very interesting way,” says gaga, who wrote all of her lyrics, all of her melodies, and played most of the synth work on her album, the fame(streamline/konlive/cherrytree/interscope). “I almost want to trick people into hanging with something that is really cool with a pop song. It’s almost like the spoonful of sugar and I’m the medicine.”

On the fame, it’s as if gaga took two parts dance-pop, one part electro-pop, and one part rock with a splash of disco and burlesque and generously poured it into the figurative martini glasses of the world in an effort to get everyone drunk with her fame. “the fame is about how anyone can feel famous,” she explains. “pop culture is art. It doesn’t make you cool to hate pop culture, so i embraced it and you hear it all over the fame. But, it’s a sharable fame. I want to invite you all to the party. I want people to feel a part of this lifestyle.”

The cd’s opener and first single, “just dance,” gets the dance floor rocking with it’s “fun, L.A., celebratory vibe.” As for the equally catchy, “boys boys boys,” gaga doesn’t mind wearing her influences on her sleeve. “I wanted to write the female version of motley crue’s ‘girls girls girls,’ but with my own twist. I wanted to write a pop song that rockers would like.”

“Beautiful dirty rich” sums up her time of self-discovery, living in the lower east side and dabbling in drugs and the party scene. “That time, and that song, was just me trying to figure things out,” says gaga. “Once I grabbed the reigns of my artistry, I fell in love with that more than I did with the party life.” On first listen, “paparazzi” might come off as a love song to cameras, and in all honestly, gaga jokes “on one level it is about wooing the paparazzi and wanting fame. But, it’s not to be taken completely seriously. It’s about everyone’s obsession with that idea. But, it’s also about wanting a guy to love you and the struggle of whether you can have success or love or both.”

Gaga shows her passion for love songs on such softer tracks as the queen-influenced “brown eyes” and the sweet kiss-off break-up song “nothing i can say (eh eh).” “‘Brown eyes’ is the most vulnerable song on the album,” she explains. “‘eh eh’ is my simple pop song about finding someone new and breaking up with the old boyfriend.”

For the new tour for this album, fans will be treated to a more polished version of what they saw (and loved) at her critically acclaimed lollapalooza show in august 2007 and winter music conference performance in march 2008. “This new show is the couture version of my handmade downtown performance of the past few years. It’s more fine-tuned, but some of my favourite elements to my past shows – the disco balls, hot pants, sequin, and stilettos – will still be there. Just more fierce and more of a conceptual show with a vision for pop performance art.”

It’s been a while since a new pop artist has made her way in the music industry the old-fashioned/grass roots way by paying her dues with seedy club gigs and self-promotion. This is one rising pop star that hasn’t been plucked from a model casting call, born into a famous family, won a reality TV singing contest, or emerged from a teen cable TV sitcom. “I did this the way you are supposed to. I played every club in New York City and I bombed in every club and then killed it in every club and I found myself as an artist. I learned how to survive as an artist, get real, and how to fail and then figure out who I was as singer and performer. And, I worked hard.”

Gaga adds with a wink in her eye, “and, now, I’m just trying to change the world one sequin at a time.”

Official Lady Gaga website

Avril Lavigne is a girl who knows what she wants. And when it came to writing her eagerly awaited third album, The Best Damn Thing, she had one very clear goal in mind: To make it fun. While touring in 2004 for her last album, Under My Skin, which sold more than 8 million copies worldwide, the Canadian-born punk-pop dynamo found that her favorite songs to play were the faster, more up-tempo songs so she resolved to make a record that captured the kind of high-spirited, full-throttle energy that she loved to unleash on-stage.

The Best Damn Thing is brimming with gutsy guitar riffs, instantaneously catchy sing-along party-starting choruses, power pop punk, and rebellious rock ‘n’ roll attitude. It’s a marked departure from the darker, more introspective tone of Under My Skin and on tracks such as the defiant, riotous, kiss-off-to-a-cheating-boyfriend “Everything Back But You”, Avril took pleasure in creating scenarios for her lyrics that weren’t, as she says, “straight out of my diary.” The result is a collection of songs that reveal just how far she’s evolved as a songwriter and singer, from the sassy, empowering “I Can Do Better” (one of Avril’s personal favorites) to the irrepressible first single “Girlfriend” which unexpectedly combines a hip-hop beat with beefy power chords, hand-claps, and a chanted girl-group-style chorus with a punk rock twist to the emotional ballad “Keep Holding On”, which she wrote at the request of 20th Century Fox for the studio’s fantasy/adventure film Eragon.

As an artist with a keen and well-trained ear for powerful, magnetic pop melodies, Avril was intensely involved in every aspect of The Best Damn Thing’s creation: From being fiercely independent while writing her own songs (“I didn’t have an A&R guy on this record,” she emphasizes. “I knew exactly how I wanted it to sound.”), to choosing her producers and musical collaborators, to obsessively going back and tweaking guitar tones and drumbeats in the studio, she worked hard to ensure that it would be her best record yet.
The album features the production skills of Butch Walker (who has also produced The Donnas, American Hi-Fi, and Avril’s second album, Under My Skin), Dr. Luke (Pink, Lady Sovereign), Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Goo Goo Dolls), and her husband Deryck Whibley (from Sum 41). The process turned out to be a blast: “I didn’t know making a record could be so fun,” she says. She was eager to work with her good friend Butch again, as she says, “What’s great about Butch is that he’s a talented artist as well as being an incredible producer.” And about collaborating with Dr. Luke, she adds, “Luke and I had a really good connection and chemistry.” The relaxed atmosphere in the studio comes across in the songs themselves . Avril’s laughter rings out in “I Can Do Better”, and in “Girlfriend” you can hear her, she says, “playing a beer bottle” (by blowing into it) in the last few choruses.

Four of the songs on The Best Damn Thing “Innocence”, “Hot”, “One of Those Girls”, and “Contagious” were co-written with Avril’s former bandmate Evan Taubenfeld. “Evan is one of my best friends in the world,” she says, affectionately. “He’s been with me since day one.”

Of course, all of the spiky, buoyant energy that drives the album will come to life in the live show that Avril is planning for her tour later this year. She has assembled a new band, and is even bringing along two dancers (“I’m doing choreographed dancing for the first time ever,” she grins. “It’s going to be such a blast”).
A great deal has happened in Avril Lavigne’s life since she released her debut album, Let Go, in 2002, when she was 17 years old. That album snagged 8 Grammy nominations and four Juno Awards (including Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year), spawned the anthemic hit singles “Complicated”, “Sk8ter Boi”, and “I’m With You”, and sold more than 16 million copies world-wide. Under My Skin cemented the Napanee, Ontario native’s superstardom, entering U.S., Canadian, and U.K. charts at #1, unleashing smash singles “Don’t Tell Me” and “My Happy Ending”, and collecting three more Juno Awards along the way. In 2006, Avril married Sum 41′s Deryck Whibley and branched out into acting, appearing in Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation and lending her voice to the Dreamworks animated film Over the Hedge.

She may be a bit more sophisticated these days, but she’s still peerless, and still fearless. The Best Damn Thing is Avril Lavigne at a new stage in her life; she’s passed through the shadows of teen angst and emerged in a spotlight, ready to have fun and rock out and yes, even dance. It is, just as she intended, the best damn thing she’s ever done.

Visit Avril Lavigne’s official website