(Producer, vocals, b. 1970) Sean Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, was the most important hip hop and rap impresario of the 1990s who remains a major player today. Starting in the A&R department of Uptown Records for artists like Mary J. Blige he formed the Bad Boy label in 1983. Breakthrough artists Craig Mack and the ...
(Vocals, harmonica, guitar, 1867–1963) Daddy Stovepipe – a.k.a. Mobile, Alabama native Johnny Watson – is an obscure figure, with only a scattering of recording sessions to his credit, but he represents an important era of blues and pre-blues music. He was not only one of the first downhome blues performers to record (in ...
(Vocals, 1972–97) Born Christopher Wallace in New York, he sold crack to make ends meet which ended up in a jail term. Because of his large size he began rapping under the name of Biggie Smalls and an early demo eventually found its way to Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, who signed him to his ...
(Rap group, 1982–present) Although Public Enemy began trading pioneering hip hop in the late 1980s the resonance of their music and message of black empowerment resonated through the entire 1990s. Chuck D, Hank Shocklee, Flavor Flav and the informational Professor Griff delivered seminal third and fourth albums Fear Of A Black Planet (1990) and Apocalypse 91 … The ...
(Vocals, b. 1978) Usher Raymond IV, often called the ‘prince of pop’ after his 2004 Confessions album sold 1.1 million copies in the first week, is the perfect blend of pop and R&B. A singer since the age of 13, Usher made his name via singles such as ‘You Make Me Wanna’ (1997), which topped charts ...
Although contemporary R&B prefers to align itself with its ruder and more street-credible cousins in hip hop, the roots of its mainstream practitioners lie firmly in manufactured pop. In a throwback to the Motown era, R&B has become a global phenomenon by combining producer-led factory formula with a high level of musical innovation and adventure. This balance of pop ...
Adele was just three years old when she attended her first live gig with her mother: a Cure concert in London’s Finsbury Park. It was the same year her father, a Welsh plumber, left her mother, practically severing all ties with his daughter in the process. After that first gig, the tot took to the music straight ...
Country music and gospel have always been close partners, since many gospel acts come from the American South, and Nashville, the home of country music, lies in the heart of the Bible Belt. Numerous influences abound within the Church, stretching from traditional shape-note singing that goes back several hundred years, to today’s contemporary and Christian ...
The invention of valves meant that brass instruments could now explore the bass register, and soon after 1835 bass tubas started being manufactured in Germany. Essentially a keyed bugle by descent, the bass tuba (confusingly, the name tuba comes from the Latin word for trumpet) has a very wide conical bore and as a result requires a good ...
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on 5 May 1988 in Tottenham, a deprived part of North London with a high rate of unemployment. Her mother, Penny Adkins, was just 18 and an art student when her daughter was born. Adele’s father, Mark Evans, exited Adele’s life when she was aged three, leaving mother and daughter ...
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on 19 January 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Immediately after graduation in the summer of 1964, she travelled from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Nashville, taking with her dreams of country stardom and little else. Ever since, she has thrilled audiences worldwide. An entertainer extraordinaire, Dolly has also become an ...
The undisputed queen of country rock, Emmylou Harris has long been both a student of traditional country music and a peerless innovator. Even now, some 30 years after she debuted with the tormented genius Gram Parsons, she is still the one others turn to for acceptance and support. Gram Parsons’ Influence Born in Birmingham, Alabama, on ...
Country music gained a new face when the Garth Brooks phenomenon swept the stage in the 1990s. Such a huge marketing venture took place that his name virtually became synonymous with country music and the pop crossover style. Yet Brooks’ career had started in unspectacular style in 1989, when his Garth Brooks album shipped only 20,000 copies. Such was ...
It’s hard to fathom now – 70 years on – the enormous impact that the laid-back, unassuming Gene Autry (1907–98) had when he rose to national stardom in 1935. Cowboys and western music had enjoyed a certain currency and mystique before he came along, but the first singing movie cowboy’s phenomenal rise inspired an entire generation and changed the ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1949) Williams was only three when his famous father died, but the youngster was raised to imitate his daddy’s records as closely as possible. He finally rebelled against that formula in 1975 by releasing Hank Williams Jr. And Friends with his southern-rock friends. After an injury-induced break, he returned to performing in 1976, ...
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An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.