Dewa

DEWA 19 is an Indonesian rock band From Surabaya, east Java that was formed in 1986 by four junior high school students (SMPN 6 Surabaya). The name of DEWA is acronym of the Dewa's founder name : Dhani (keyboard, vocals), Erwin Prasetya (bass guitar), Wawan Juniarso (Drums) and Andra (guitar). In Indonesian, the meaning of DEWA is God.

At the first, Dewa's based are in the Airlangga University complex, Wawan's Dorm. Dewa's first album was released in 1992 and received awards form BASF as the Best Newcomer and Most Popular Album of 1993. Due to incompatibility with another members, in 1994 during the proccess to make their second album Format Masa Depan, Wawan left the band. Wawan position as a drummer was replaced by Wong Aksan in 1995 after their 3th album Terbaik-terbaik was released. After the following album Pandhawa Lima was finished in 1997, Wong Aksan departed too and replaced by Bimo Sulaksono, a former member of Netral. Not long thereafter Bimo left too Dewa and colaboration with Bebi formed the band Romeo… to be continued

Queen

Freddie Mercury (born 5 September 1946, vocals & keyboards)

Brian May (born 19 July 1947, lead guitar & vocals)

Roger Taylor (born 26 July 1949, percussion & vocals)

John Deacon (born 19 July 1951, bass)

    In 1970, Tim Staffell left the group 'Smile' and a keen follower of the group, Farookh Bulsara, convinced the remaining members Roger Taylor and Brian May that he should be their new singer. He duly set about moulding the group into his own image, by changing the group's name to 'Queen' and his own name to 'Freddie Mercury', after the messenger of the Gods. The group tried out three bass players until February 1971, when John Deacon became their fourth and final permanent member.

    The band played several small concerts for close friends, before they were offered the chance to test a new recording studio, called 'De Lane Lea'. In return for testing the studio and equipment, they could make their own demo tapes. In 1972 they signed a recording contract with Trident, and were given 'down time' at the studio to record an album. In July 1973, their debut album 'Queen', was released, after which they were offered a big break by playing support to Mott The Hoople, on a tour which began in November. The second album 'Queen II', was released in March 1974, delayed due to a minor printing error. The band then embarked on a first headlining tour of Britain, which also started in March, before an extensive American tour, again as support to Mott The Hoople, beginning in April. In May, Brian collapsed with Hepatitis, so the group were forced to cancel the remaining tour dates.

    Work on the third album began without Brian, who was eventually well enough to return to the studio to record his guitar and vocal parts. The resulting album, called 'Sheer Heart Attack', was released in November 1974 and gave Queen their first #2 album and single, 'Killer Queen'.

    In January 1975, Queen embarked on their first headlining tour of the USA, with phenomenal demand for tickets. However, some shows on the tour were cancelled as Freddie had developed throat problems. Queen hired Jim Beach as a lawyer to sever their links with Trident. They flew off to Japan in April, and arrived to a riotous reception, as 'Sheer Heart Attack' was the #1 album at the time.

    Work on the new album began in June, and links with Trident were severed in August. In September, Queen enlisted John Reid as their new manager. They revealed their new single 'Bohemian Rhapsody', but at 5 minutes and 55 seconds everyone told them it was too long. However, Freddie gave a copy to his close friend, DJ Kenny Everett, who managed to play it on national radio 14 times in 2 days. This, and the first true promotional video, helped the single to reach no. 1, where it remained for 9 weeks.

    'A Night At The Opera' was Queen's fourth album, and at the time the most expensive ever recorded. Released in November 1975, it too went straight to no. 1, and gave Queen their first platinum selling album. January saw another US tour begin, which was completed in March, before flying off to Japan then Australia for further tours. In 1976, all four Queen albums were in the UK top twenty, the first time this had ever happened. Work on the next album began, before a short UK tour, during which, Queen played a huge free concert in Hyde Park to thank their fans, attended by upto two hundred thousand people.

    'A Day At The Races' was released in December 1976 and gave Queen their second no. 1 album, and the #2 single 'Somebody To Love'. In January 1977 they began an extensive tour of the USA and Canada, whilst May 1977 saw Queen begin another tour of Europe, featuring a new 'Crown' lighting rig costing £50,000. The 'News Of The World' album followed in October 1977, containing the classics 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are The Champions', which again reached #2 in the singles chart.

    November 11th saw Queen embark on another American tour, before returning to the UK in time for Christmas. February the next year saw them part with their manager, John Reid. A short European tour began in April 1978, before work on the next album began. The first single from that album, 'Bicycle Race', was promoted with a bicycle race featuring 50 naked girls, and public outcry lead to the single's artwork being changed in many countries worldwide. Further tours of the USA and Canada began in October, whilst the album Jazz was released in November, featuring a poster of the legendary race. The album's launch party was held in New Orleans, and has since gone down in history.

    The tour of North America finished in late December, before they flew to Europe to begin the European tour which began in January 1979. During this tour they recorded many concerts and set about working on their first live album, which they produced at Mountain Studios in Montreux, which they liked so much they eventually bought. They flew out to Japan in April 1979 for another tour, and in June approached the All England Lawn Tennis Club to play a concert on Wimbledon's centre court, but permission was refused. 'Live Killers', the first live album, was released in June, reaching no. 3 in the charts. Queen also began work on their next album in June.

    October 1979 saw the release of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', and a new image for Queen, with short hair and clad in leather. The single became Queen's fourth UK no. 2 hit, and their first US no. 1. November and December saw Queen embark on the 'Crazy Tour', where they visited many smaller venues within London. On Boxing Day, they appeared as part of the 'Concert For Kampuchea' series of charity concerts, organised by Paul McCartney.

At the start of 1980, work was continuing on the new album, which was the first to use synthesisers. In June, the album was released and went to no. 1 in the UK and USA, and went 5 times platinum in Canada alone. The final single from the album, 'Another One Bites The Dust', became the band's biggest ever worldwide single, and gave Queen their second US no. 1 in less than a year. In December, the soundtrack album to 'Flash Gordon', a futuristic sci-fi film, was released, with both album and single ('Flash') reaching no. 10 in the charts. At the close of 1980 they had sold over forty five million albums worldwide.

In February 1981, Queen flew to Rio De Janiero to begin their first tour of South America, becoming the first band to do so, playing 5 sold out stadiums in just eight days. They then moved on to the Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo, performing in front of 131,000 people, the largest paying audience for a single band. During the tour, all of Queen's albums were in the Argentinean top 10, another first for any band. Whilst in Sao Paulo, Queen celebrated that their single 'Love Of My Life' had been in the Brazilian singles chart for an incredible 12 months. They returned to South America in September for the second leg of the tour.

In October, Queen released 'Greatest Hits', which went straight to no. 1 and became one of the best selling albums of all time. 'Greatest Flix', the world's first full-length release of promotional videos by any band, also became a best seller. 'Greatest Pix' was also released, a collection of photos of Queen from the previous decade. October also saw the release of 'Under Pressure', a collaborative single with David Bowie, which gave Queen their second no. 1.

May 1982 saw the release of 'Hot Space', an album with a disco flavour, which lost the band some fans, though it still got to no. 4 in the charts. The album was released during an extensive tour of Europe, which included a concert at the huge Milton Keynes Bowl, regarded by Brian as one of Queen's best ever concerts. At the end of December, Queen were listed in the Guinness Book of Records as Britain's highest paid executives.

1983 was a year off for Queen. Roger, Brian and Freddie all worked on solo material, only coming together as Queen to work on their new album in August. The result was 'The Works', released in February 1984, which gave them 4 hit singles including the hugely successful 'Radio Ga Ga' and 'I Want To Break Free'. A European tour followed in August, and the band's first live video was issued on September 1984. September also saw nine albums in the UK top 200, before Queen performed controversial concerts in South Africa in October.

January 1985 saw 'Rock In Rio', the biggest rock festival held anywhere in the world, and Queen were the headlining act. The concert was filmed and Queen became the only band to obtain rights to release their performance - 'Live in Rio' was later released as their second live video in May. In April, they flew to New Zealand to begin a small tour of Australasia, before flying to Japan for a small tour in May. July 1985 saw 'Live Aid', where many top bands gathered to raise money for the people of Ethiopia. Queen were unanimously regarded as the best act of the show, ahead of artists like David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Status Quo, The Who and many more. The day inspired Queen to work together again, and the result was the 'One Vision' single, which reached no. 7 in November.

Queen were approached by Russel Mulcahy to produce the soundtrack for his first film, 'Highlander'. The resulting album, 'A Kind Of Magic', was released on 2 June 1986, and went straight to no. 1. The first single from the album, which shared the name, reached no. 3 in the chart. Later in June, Queen began an extensive tour of Europe, entitled 'The Magic Tour', including two sell out shows at Wembley Stadium. The second show was later broadcast on TV, and became the first (and last) simulcast between a terrestrial TV channel and the Independent Radio Network in Britain. In July Queen made history by playing in Budapest, Hungary, the first time a major rock band had played behind the 'Iron Curtain'. The concert was filmed using every 35mm camera in the country. August saw the final date on The Magic Tour, and what was to become Queen's final concert, at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire. The concert was attended by over 120, 000 people, and caused one of the biggest traffic jams in history. By the end of the tour, over 1 million people saw Queen, with over 400,000 people in the UK alone.

In November, EMI reissued the entire Queen album catalogue on Compact Disc - the first time a complete artist's collection had been released simultaneously. In December, the band's second live album, 'Live Magic', was released and reached no. 3. At the end of 1986, Queen had sold over 1.7 million albums.

1987 was a quiet year for Queen, with no concerts nor work on albums. Queen instead concentrated on solo projects, with 2 hit singles for Freddie and Roger forming another group, 'The Cross'. In November 1987 a highly successful set of documentaries on the band, 'The Magic Years', was released, featuring interviews with the band and behind the scenes footage. 1988 was another quiet year for Queen, with work continuing on the next album and various solo projects.

'The Miracle', Queen's 13th studio album, was released in May 1989 and went straight to no. 1, as it did in most European countries. The band gathered to record a rare interview with Mike Reid for Radio One. At the end of the year, Queen were voted 'The Best Band Of The Eighties', and appeared on television to collect the award.

Queen were awarded an 'Outstanding Contribution To British Music' in February 1990 by the British Phonographic Industry. Work on the next album continued throughout the year, and in November Queen signed a new deal with Hollywood Records in North America. In January 1991, the band's first single from the next album, 'Innuendo', was released and went straight to no. 1, despite it's six and a half minute running time. The album of the same name also went straight to no. 1, when released in February. On 30th May, Queen went into the studios (without Brian), to record what was to be Freddie's last ever video, 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives', while in October 1991, they repeated their 1981 success by releasing 'Greatest Hits II', 'Greatest Flix II' and 'Greatest Pix II'. All three went straight to no. 1 in their charts.

On November 23rd, 1991, Freddie announced in a press statement that he had the AIDS virus, but only the next day, it was announced that he had died. It was Freddie's last wish that 'Bohemian Rhapsody' should be released after his death to raise money to fight AIDS. The resulting single, coupled with 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives', reached no. 1 again and spent a further 5 weeks at no. 1, raising over £1 million, making it one of the most successful singles of all time. Queen closed the year with 10 albums in the top 100.

In February 1992, on collecting 'Outstanding Contribution To British Music' and 'Best Single Of 1991' awards at the Brit Awards, Roger announced plans for a huge concert to pay tribute to Freddie. All 72,000 tickets were sold in six hours, with no announcement of who would play apart from Queen. On April 20th 1992, many top stars, including David Bowie, Elton John, Roger Daltrey and George Michael, played alongside Queen in a concert televised to over one billion people. In May 1992, a double album of their 1986 concert at Wembley was released, which reached no. 2 in the albums charts. Before Christmas 1992, a double video of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was released, with all proceeds donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity set up in Freddie's name to distribute raised funds.

In 1993, Queen returned to the top of the charts with George Michael, with 'Somebody To Love', recorded at Freddie's tribute, while later in the year Freddie claimed a posthumous no 1 in his own right with 'Living On My Own'. Work began in 1993 and continued through to 1995 on the tracks that Freddie had left unfinished in 1991.

In October 1995, 'Heaven For Everyone', from the long-awaited 'final' album, was released. It reached no. 2 in the charts (yet again). November saw the release of the album, 'Made In Heaven', which went straight to no. 1 and went five times platinum, making it Queen's most successful studio album. Released on the same day was 'Champions Of The World', a new 2 hour documentary on the band, again compiled by the Torpedo Twins, Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher. The album gave Queen a further four hit singles throughout 1995 and 1996.

1997 began with a one-off performance as Roger, Brian and John were joined by Spike Edney and Elton John to perform just one track, 'The Show Must Go On', at the finale of the 'Bejart Ballet For Life', a ballet set to Queen music. November 1997 saw the release of 'Queen Rocks', a collection of heavier Queen material from over the years, which reached a relatively disappointing no. 7 in the charts. The album included a brand new Queen track, 'No One But You', featuring vocals by Brian and Roger, which was released as a single in January 1998, reaching no 13. The track marked the last work of John Deacon with Queen, who subsequently retired from both studio and live work. Later in the year, 'The Eye', a 5 CD-Rom game was released, featuring remixed instrumental versions of many tracks, and featuring pioneering techniques in gaming.

1999 was another quiet year, with the 'Greatest Hits III' compilation album released in November, along with 'Flix III', with the album reaching no. 5 in the charts. The album featured four solo tracks from Brian and Freddie, 'The Show Must Go On' from the Bejart Ballet performance, and a new remix of 'Under Pressure', which reached no 14 in the charts.

In late 1999, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was voted as 'The Song Of The Millennium'. In July 2000, Queen returned to the top of the singles chart with boy band Five, with a re-recording of 'We Will Rock You', and their first appearance on Top Of The Pops since 1982. They also released a three-CD boxed set of their 'Greatest Hits' albums for the Christmas market, called 'The Platinum Collection'.

In March 2001, Queen were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony in the USA, appearing with two members of the Foo Fighters and keyboardist Spike Edney to perform two tracks. There was much speculation in the press throughout 2001 that Queen were recording an album with Robbie Williams, and in August 2001 the collaboration was revealed. They had recorded just one track - a remake of 'We Are The Champions', which appeared in the film 'A Knight's Tale'. December 2001 saw another project unveiled - 'Queen Heaven', a laser show based in Munich, set to Queen music and featuring much Queen imagery.

Much of 2001 and 2002 was spent working on the 'We Will Rock You' musical, with a script by comedian Ben Elton, featuring 31 Queen songs. In the meantime, they found time to play at a free jubilee event in Holland, in front of 130,000 fans. The musical's premiere was held on 13 May 2002, and promoted with an appearance on BBC TV's 'Parkinson'. Also on the 13th, Queen re-released 'The Platinum Collection' and it went to no. 2 in the album chart. A special 2-DVD 10th Anniversary reissue of 'The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert' was released on the same day, which went straight in at no. 1 in the DVD charts.

Queen performed at the Party In The Palace jubilee concert in London on 3rd June 2002, with Brian performing the national anthem from the roof of Buckingham Palace. Throughout the year, work had been in progress on remastering Queen's first Greatest Flix video, and the result, 'Queen Greatest Video Hits I', was released on DVD on 14 October 2002. True to form, the DVD went straight to no. 1 in the charts. Also in October, Queen were awarded a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and celebrated with a concert.

The 'We Will Rock You' musical quickly became the best selling West End musical, followed by a cast recording released in November 2002. In early 2003, 'Flash' was remixed by German producers Vanguard, and this became a major hit in many European markets. The single was released in the UK in March.

In May 2003, Roger and Brian appeared as Queen at two charity shows, one in London, and one with Pavarotti in Italy. Also in May the 'We Will Rock You' cast album was reissued to celebrate the musical's first anniversary. In early June 2003, the second volume of the Queen 'DVD Collection' was released, 'Live At Wembley Stadium', featuring the full concert for the first time with other rare footage.

In the Summer, Queen worked on a new version of 'We Will Rock You', with Australian vocalist John Farnham. This was done partly to celebrate the rugby world cup, but also to promote the new Australian production of 'We Will Rock You', which opened in Melbourne in August. In November, the Spanish production opened, whilst 'Greatest Video Hits II' was released on DVD, featuring a wealth of archive material, which went straight to no. 1 in the charts. Queen also worked closely with Nelson Mandela and Dave Stewart for the '46664' project, including new recordings and a huge concert in South Africa at the end of November, broadcast around the world to over two billion people. The concert was given a full CD and DVD release in April 2004.

January 2004 saw a compilation album, 'Jewels', and a single from it, 'I Was Born To Love You', reaching no 1 in the Japanese albums and singles charts respectively. The rest of the year was mostly dominated by the 'We Will Rock You' musical, with the UK production going from strength to strength, and new productions opening in the USA and Russia, as well as reopenings in Australia and Spain, and work on future productions in Germany, amongst others. Queen also performed a mini-concert at the finale of the MTV Russia Awards in Moscow in October. In September 2004, Brian teamed up with Paul Rodgers at the Strat Pack, a concert to celebrate 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster, alongside many other guitar legends.

October 2004 also saw the release of the fourth volume of the Queen 'DVD Collection'. 'Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl' was recorded at the Milton Keynes Bowl, in June 1982, and was previously only ever seen in a severely edited TV broadcast some 21 years earlier. It went straight in at #1 in the music DVD charts. On 8th November, a boxed set of the complete Live Aid concert was released, which included Queen's legendary performance for the first time. Later in the same week, Queen became the third artist to be inducted into the UK Music Hall Of Fame, after a UK television poll. At the awards ceremony, they teamed up with Paul Rodgers to perform three tracks, later broadcast on TV.

In December 2004, it was announced that Queen were to embark on an extensive European tour, again performing with Paul Rodgers, which they started in March 2004 at Fancourt in South Africa in aid of the 46664 campaign. Most venues for the tour were sold out, and the concerts received fairly good reviews from the usually hostile media. To tie in with the tour, Queen set another first, by releasing tracks from many of the concerts to download. The tour was originally going to include 27 dates, but due to demand this was extended to 33, as well as two dates in the US and a mini-tour of Japan. A double CD of the tour called 'Return Of The Champions' was released in September 2005, with a DVD following in October, whilst in November, a special 30th Anniversary edition of the classic 'A Night At The Opera' album was released, with a special download of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' following in December.

In March and April 2006, Queen + Paul Rodgers embarked on a 23 date arena tour of North America, while March also saw the release of 'The Making Of 'A Night At The Opera''. In June, a Japanese only DVD was released, titled 'Super Live In Japan', featuring a live show recorded in Tokyo during the 2005 mini-tour. In June 2006, Brian and Roger appeared together to perform the Queen classics 'We Will Rock You' and 'Tie Your Mother Down' at the Foo Fighters concert in Hyde Park. September saw the release of a new compilation of Freddie Mercury's solo material to mark his 60th birthday, alongside a DVD and book, and a special birthday party at the Dominion Theatre. December 2006 saw another Queen single, a remixed version of 'Another One Bites The Dust', which had previously been a big hit in clubs in the US.

2007 was a fairly quiet year for Queen. In July, Roger appeared as part of a 'drum extravaganza' at the opening of the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium, whilst in August Brian collected his doctorate from Imperial College, London, having finished his thesis nearly 40 years after starting it. October 2007 saw a simultaneous album and video release of 'Queen Rock Montreal', recorded at their 1981 Montreal shows and previously available as the 'We Will Rock You' concert in vastly inferior quality. For 'World Aids Day', on December 1, Queen marked the occasion by making a free download available of a new studio version of 'Say It's Not True', which was their first studio recording with Paul Rodgers and their first new studio material for nearly 10 years. Due to demand the single was rush-released on CD on 31 December, but it failed to chart.

In April 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers announced they would be releasing a studio album in September, promoted with a European tour. As part of the publicity for this they appeared together on the Al Murray TV show to perform one of their new tracks, 'C-lebrity'. Their second performance of the year came in June, when they appeared as the headlining act at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Party in Hyde Park, to raise awareness of the 46664 campaign.

September saw the long awaited released of the Paul Rodgers collaboration, 'The Cosmos Rocks', Queen's first studio album in 13 years, accompanied by a single release of 'C-lebrity'. Critical and public opinion was split over the album, as several tracks sounded far more like Paul Rodgers than Queen. A huge free concert for AIDS awareness in the Ukraine, attended by 350,000 fans, kicked off the European tour, which saw 34 dates across Europe, including 11 shows in the UK. This was followed by a single date in Dubai and a mini-tour of five concerts in a triumphant return to South America.

December 1st, World Aids Day, saw a number of cinemas throughout the UK showing 'Queen Rock The Cosmos', the concert film recorded in the Ukraine at the start of the tour. This was given a proper DVD release, simply titled 'Live In Ukraine', in June 2009. December 1st also saw the release of 'Queen Singles Collection - Volume 1', a boxed set containing Queen's first 13 singles pressed onto CD, which was followed by three further sets in 2009 and 2010.

In March 2009, a touring production of 'We Will Rock You' was opened which was initially to tour the UK for an initial 10 month run, which featured Roger's son Rufus on drums. November saw the release of the 'Absolute Greatest' compilation, which brought together 20 of Queen's best loved tracks on one album. This was the band's last album release on the EMI label, as in 2010 they famously signed to Island Records, part of Universal, after nearly 40 years.

2011 sees the 40th anniversary of the legendary line-up of the group, and the year began with remastered releases of the 'Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits II' albums. It will continue with digitally remastered versions of each studio album, a major London exhibition, and hopefully archive releases and live performances. There are also further productions of the 'We Will Rock You' musical, a possible sequel, a planned biographical film of Freddie's life, and hopefully the not too distant anthology boxed set, still in the pipeline.

Whatever happens, the legacy of Queen will be around for a long, long time.

Source : www.ultimatequeen.co.uk

Al Jarreau

Alwyn Lopez "Al" Jarreau (born March 12, 1940, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States) is an American singer. A seven-time Grammy Award winner, he is the only vocalist in history to win in three separate categories: jazz, pop, and R&B. He also won the Grammys within a span of four consecutive decades ? the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Biography

Al Jarreau at book drive event held at the Department of Education on August 25, 2004.
Al Jarreau during a concert in Germany in early 1981
Al Jarreau in Wroc?aw, Poland; June 25th, 2006
Al Jarreau headlining "Jazz in Kiev 2008" festival

Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc. the name of the street in Milwaukee he lived on. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and his mother was a church pianist. He and his family sang together in church concerts, and also performed in benefits. He and his mother performed at PTA meetings as well.

He was the president of the student council at high school, going on to receive a scholarship to Ripon College, where he also sang non-professionally with a group called the Indigos, and graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor Of Science degree in Psychology. He went on to earn a master's degree in Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Iowa and worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco while also performing evenings with a jazz trio headed by George Duke.

In 1967, he joined forces with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. The duo became the star attraction at a small Sausalito night club called Gatsby's. This success contributed to Jarreau's decision to make professional singing his life and fulltime career.

In 1968, Jarreau made jazz his primary occupation. In 1969, Jarreau and Martinez headed south, where Jarreau appeared in such Los Angeles hot spots as Dino's, the Troubadour and Bitter End West. Television exposure came from Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and David Frost, while he expanded his nightclub appearances to include performing at The Improv between the acts of such rising-star comics as Bette Midler, Jimmie Walker, and John Belushi, among others. During this period, he underwent an emotional trauma which prompted him to rethink matters of life and death. He became involved with the United Church of Religious Science and the Church of Scientology. Also, roughly at the same time, he began writing his own lyrics, finding that his spiritual tendencies began to impact and even shape his work.

In 1975, Jarreau was working with pianist Tom Canning when he was spotted by Warner Bros. Records and soon thereafter released his critically acclaimed debut album, We Got By, which catapulted him to international fame and garnered him a German Grammy Award. A second German Grammy would follow with the release of his second album, Glow.

One of Jarreau's most commercially and artistically successful albums is Breakin' Away (1981), which includes the hit song "We're in This Love Together." He wrote and performed the Grammy-nominated theme to the 1980s American television show Moonlighting. Among other things, he is well-known for his scat singing and the ability to imitate conventional guitar, bass and percussive instrumentation. He was also a featured vocalist on USA for Africa's "We Are the World" in which he sang the line, "...and so we all must lend a helping hand." Another charitable media event, HBO's Comic Relief, featured Al in a duet with Natalie Cole singing the song "Mr. President," written by Joe Sterling, Mike Loveless and Ray Reach.

In 2003 Jarreau and conductor Larry Baird collaborated together doing symphony shows around the United States, with Baird arranging additional orchestral material for Jarreau's shows.

He has toured and performed with numerous musicians, including Joe Sample, Kathleen Battle, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Rick Braun and George Benson. He also performed the role of the Teen Angel in a 1996 Broadway production of Grease. On , 2001 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

Al Jarreau appeared in a duet with American Idol finalist Paris Bennett during the Season 5 finale and on Celebrity Duets singing with actor Cheech Marin.

Personal life

Jarreau has been married twice. His first marriage, to Phyllis Hall, lasted from 1964-1968. His second wife was model Susan Player whom he married in 1977. Jarreau and Player have one adult son together, Ryan.

Il Divo

‘IL Divo’ means “Italian Divine male Performer”, a name adopted by popular Pop/Opera Band consisting of singers Urs Buhler, David Miller, Sebastian Izambard and Carlos Marin. The multinational group IL Divo is brain child of Pop impresario Simon Cowell. ‘IL Divo’ is contracted by Sony BMG Records.

It took two years  to bring together all aspects of the now famous band IL Divo, during the first half of 2001 Cowell started hunting young singers across the globe who were ready to join the IL Divo project. The idea behind forming IL Divo was to bring together young voices of different nationalities under one banner on a platform of lyrical emphasis combined with classical skills. The quadruple consists of accomplished Spanish opera singer Carlos Marin, classical singers Urs Buhler and David Miller and French pop singer Sebastian Izambard. American singer David Miller was the last one to join in December 2003.

As conceptualized all four members belong to different nationalities namely Spain, Switzerland, France, and the United States. The Multilingual and truly multinational group sings multiple languages including Latin, Spanish, French, Italian and English.

In the 2006th edition of the Guinness Book of World Records IL Divo acquired the No.1 position of the most multinational UK Album Group.

On April 25th, 2007 Il Divo performed at American Idol in one of the “Idol Gives Back” episode. The money generated was donated to charity for saving children in US and Africa. Sponsors like Coca-Cola, AT&T and others donated money to CPEF (Charity Projects Entertainment Fund) in  proportion to the votes collected during the show.

After completing six month tour of Europe, Australia and America, IL Divo performed as special guests of Barbra Streisand in her tour of North America, in all they performed in 20 concerts together. The tour was ranked second and it generated $92.5 million in gross sales.

On June 9, 2006 the official song of FIFA World Cup 2006 “Time Of Our Lives” was done by IL Divo live during the lunch session of the opening match between Costa Rica and Germany along with R&B singer Toni Braxton. The repeat of same was performed again during the closing ceremony on 9th July. Unfortunately the song is not available in any of IL Divo’s album, however it is available in Toni Braxton’s album Libra and Voices.

The self–titled album IL Divo includes the Spanish version of Toni Braxton’s hit “Unbreak My Heart”. The producers ‘Quiz & Larossi’ started recording this album in Sweden. After giving a career-defining emergence on 5 April 2005, on the Oprah Winfrey Show they performed “Regresa a M”, the album ranked 1st on both BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.

The IL Divo album became number one in the charts in 13 countries around the world, and ranked top 5 in near about 25 countries.

It is publicized that the latest album named “The Promise” is going to be released on November 10th globally, except in Canada and US where the releasing date is 18th of November. This album is produced by Steve Mac. Some got the message from their official sites that ‘IL Divo will come with their richest and most varied album till date’ the album is anticipated to be a collection of 12 songs.

Source : www.ildivo.org

The Beatles

Formed : 1960, Liverpool, England

Disbanded : 1970

Inspired by the "skiffle boom", a student at Quarry Bank School in Liverpool named John Lennon decided to form a group in 1957 which laid the foundation to what was to become the most famous rock band of all time. John's original name was "The Blackjacks". However, this name only lasted a week and John used the school name as inspiration for the later name "The Quarry Men" in March 1957. John sang and played guitar, Colin Hanton played drums, Eric Griffiths on guitar, Pete Shotton on washboard, Rod Davis on banjo and Bill Smith on tea-chest bass. Bill was soon replaced by Ivan Vaughan.

John was inspired by "Heartbreak Hotel" and became a fan of American rock 'n' roll music. He introduced songs by Buddy Holly , Carl Perkins, The Coasters, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent into their repertoire. On July 6, 1957, Ivan Vaughan invited Paul McCartney to see their gig at The Woolton Parish Church Fete. The fifteen-year-old McCartney was introduce to sixteen-year-old Lennon and a unique song writing partnership began.

The line-up of The Quarry Men increased to seven with Paul on guitar and vocals, John Lowe on piano and George Harrison on guitar and vocals. Soon Griffiths and another member would leave, leaving a five-piece band. The group appeared at several local talent contests but had very few gigs. By January 1959, the group wasn't operating. Although John and Paul kept in touch, George had joined the Les Stewart Quartet.

That might have been the end of The Quarry Men but they had a stroke of luck. The Les Stewart Quartet had been booked as a resident band at a new club called "The Casbah". It was run by Mrs. Mona Best to support her son's Pete and Rory. Stewart, upset because his guitarist Ken Brown help decorate the club, refused to play there. Ken and George walked out of the group and George contacted John and Paul, and The Quarry Men were reunited as a quartet. After about seven gigs at the club, Ken Brown left over a disagreement about money. From October 1959 to January 1960 John, Paul and George continued as a trio with Paul on drums. They called themselves "Johnny & the Moondogs".

By this time John was enrolled in The Liverpool College of Art. John knew that they needed a bass player so he asked two students if they would like the position. The two were Stuart Sutcliffe and Rod Murray. Both could not afford a guitar, so Rod started to make one by hand. However, Stuart was able to sell one of his paintings to a John Moores Exhibition and was able to buy a Hofner bass guitar and join the group in January, 1960. At this time the group had changed its name to "Silver Beetles". They also began shifting drummers around, the first was Tommy Moore who toured with them through Scotland and then left. The next was Norman Chapman but he left after only a few weeks. Finally, George suggested that Pete Best, the son of club owner Mrs. Mona Best, become the group's drummer.

Paul contacted Pete and offered him the drummer seat, he took it. The group had finally settled on "The Beatles" just before their first trip to Hamburg in August, 1960. Now John, Paul, George, Stuart and Pete would head off for Hamburg. At that time The Beatles weren't considered to be the leading group in Liverpool and in most cases were looked down upon. In Hamburg they pulled their act together musically. This was caused by the fact that they had to play such long hours and were bullied by the club owner Bruno Koschimider to "make a show". It wasn't just Hamburg that made them special. The fact that Liverpool had so many venues for local acts to play at, coupled with the rivalry between more than 300 Merseyside groups, continued to forge The Beatles until they were to be regarded as Liverpool's top band.

At the time, Pete Best was regarded as the most potent symbol in the band. After Hamburg, Stuart Sutcliffe had left and now The Beatles were a four-piece band and Paul took over as bass guitarist. John, Paul and George were the three front-line guitarists and they alternated as lead singers and also performed vocal harmony with either John and Paul or all three. Pete Best played drums and occasionally sang one song but he had developed a distinctive drum sound called "the atom beat" which many other drummers tried to copy.

By this time, The Beatles had hired Brian Epstein as their manager and he signed them up for an audition with Decca Records. The head of Decca Records told The Beatles manager, "Guitar groups are on their way out Mr. Epstein.". The Beatles were devastated by their failed audition but Epstien secured them a contract with Parlophone Records. George Martin became their A&R Man. In August of 1962, Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr.

Their first single "Love Me Do" was issued on October 5, 1962, and was a modest hit. 1963 and 1964 proved to be the most important years in their careers. In 1963 the "Beatlemania" craze had started in Britain and The Beatles were no longer support acts at concerts. Now they were starring in the Royal Variety Show and the highest rating TV show "Sunday Night At The London Palladium".

Their biggest year was 1964 when they conquered the biggest record market in the world - America. The group became symbols. America was mourning the death of President John F. Kennedy and The Beatles appeared on the scene to bring them fun and excitement and end their mourning. They also brought back rock 'n' roll to America. After Elvis had join the army, he lost much of his early rebelliousness. Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry were rocked by scandals and their careers suffered. Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens had been killed in an plane crash. The American media was promoting what The Beatles called "One-Hit-Wonders" such as Frankie Avalon, Tab Hunter, James Darren, etc.

Ed Sullivan had been at London airport when The Beatles return from Sweden and saw all the girls screaming, the boys cheering and the media taking pictures. He knew they were something special and he booked them on his TV show "The Ed Sullivan Show". That show received the highest ratings in the history of television up to then. That same year The Beatles toured America for the first time and starred in their first motion picture "A Hard Day's Night". In 1965, The Beatles second motion picture "HELP!" premiered. Later that year, The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium in New York to a crowd of 55,000 screaming fans. The largest live audience in history. Their tours did have their darker moments. The first being in Tokyo, Japan where The Beatles were locked up in their hotel and were not allowed to come out until show time. The next was in the Philippines when, on a day off, Madam Marcos asked them to attend a Royal dinner. The Beatles politely turned down the invitation and the public was furious. The Bea

tles quickly left.

In 1966, The Beatles were under heavy pressure from the press after John made a remark that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. John had to apologize and explain himself several times. Not only that but their tour of America was plagued with mishaps. On August 19, 1966 they receive a death threat in Memphis and a firecracker went off during the show terrifying The Beatles. The next day in Cincinnati a concert promoter failed to provide a stage canopy and can't understand why The Beatles were unwilling to play electric guitars in a rainstorm. Paul becomes so agitated he becomes ill. On August 28, 1966 at Dodger Stadium, L.A. cops are seen beating teenage girls. Dozens are trampled in the chaos.

During the sixties, The Beatles not only became a musical phenomenon, they affected the styles and fashions of the decade. They transformed the record industry as well. They brought about royalties for artists and producers, revolutionized music tours, and started the Pop promo film or what we know today as "The Music Video". Everyone of their albums, from Please Please Me to Abbey Road were all popular and unique in their own way. But after the death of their long time manager Brian Epstein, things would start to fall apart for The Beatles.

Due to outside interests the group focused less and less and the band. In late 1964 they were introduced to marijuana and would experiment with more drugs such as LSD which they were first introduced to in late 1965. The Beatles played their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on August 29, 1966. In 1967, their manager Brian Epstein died of a accidental drug overdose. Some friction was caused between John and Paul because Paul was trying to become the leader of the group after Brian's death. Ties were still strong at this point between the band members despite Ringo leaving the band for a short time during The White Album because he felt left out. When Ringo decided to return he found his drum kit decked with flowers and the others tried to include him more.

After The White Album they embarked on the "Let It Be" project. The idea was to see The Beatles jam, rehearse and record a whole new album of songs. At the end they would give a concert from some spectacular place. Tensions were high between Paul and George as they started recording at Twickenham Film Studios. John was off in his land of love with Yoko and Ringo was left in the background. One day George walked out on a session after a disagreement with Paul. George came back to finish up the album but as John would later explain, "We couldn't play the game anymore, we just couldn't do it".

The Beatles gave their last public appearance on top of the Apple building on January 30, 1969. However their "Let It Be" album was deemed un-releasable. It was handed over to Phil Spector who added lush orchestrations to such songs as "The Long and Winding Road", infuriating Paul. Despite all of this, The Beatles decided to get together to make one final album "Abbey Road" which would go on to become their biggest selling record in history. It was mainly Paul who kept the group together this long, encouraging them to make Magical Mystery Tour back in 1967 after Brian's death and trying to get them all excited about recording and performing. Recording yes, performing no. From Sgt. Pepper's through Abbey Road these were considered to be their "studio years" where they rarely got together except to record. The Let It Be album was finally released on May 8, 1970 less than a month after Paul publicly announced he was no longer a member of the group.

In the end, The Beatles became true legends. Their music touched all our lives. The Beatles wanted more than just to "Be Beatles", they wanted happiness. A happiness that they once had back when they first became successful. John found happiness with his one true love Yoko, his Plastic Ono Band, and son Sean; Paul found happiness with Linda, his children, and Wings; George found happiness with his solo career, Olivia, and his son Dhani; and Ringo found happiness with his solo career, acting career, Barbara, and his sons. They will always be the greatest rock 'n' roll band in history.

Resource : www.sing365.com