Afternoon Delights was a Boston-based vocal studio group (a collection of musicians/singers assembled solely for a recording project) that scored a Top 30 R&B single with "General Hospi-Tale" on MCA Records. It was a parody of the long-running...
There comes a time in most everyone’s life when you decide the status quo isn’t good enough. Whether the result of a dramatic epiphany or a gentle revelation, the desire to escape mediocrity and embrace the best God has for us suddenly seems overwhelming....
Although she had made a name for herself as a solo artist in Sweden, Agnetha Faltskog will always be best known as one-fourth of ABBA, one of the most commercially successful and internationally beloved pop acts of all time. Born on April 5, 1950, Faltskog was...
With their heavily orchestrated, sweet ballads, the Australian soft rock group Air Supply became a staple of early-'80s radio, scoring a string of seven straight Top Five singles. Air Supply, for most intents and purposes, was the duo of vocalists Russell...
Borne by aspiring novelist and writer Mikel Jollett during a tumultuous period in his life, the Airborne Toxic Event (named after a section in American authorDon DeLillo's novel White Noise) were based in Los Angeles, and quickly made a name for themselves,...
Although he was born in St. Louis, MO, Aliaune Thiam -- aka Akon -- grew up in Senegal before he and his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) returned to the United States and settled in New Jersey when he was seven. There he discovered...
During the late '80s, Al B. Sure! enjoyed a brief run as one of new jack swing's most popular romantic singers. Born Al Brown in Boston, he grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, listening to smooth crooners like Marvin Gaye and Johnny Mathis; he later became interested in...
Al Green was the first great soul singer of the '70s and arguably the last great Southern soul singer. With his seductive singles for Hi Records in the early '70s, Green bridged the gap between deep soul and smooth Philadelphia soul. He incorporated elements of...
The only vocalist in history to net Grammy Awards in three different categories (jazz, pop, and R&B, respectively), Al Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, WI, on March 12, 1940. The son of a vicar, he earned his first performing experience singing in the church...
Al Martino was one of the great Italian-American pop crooners, boasting a string of hit singles and LPs that stretched from the early '50s all the way into the mid-'70s. However, he is perhaps even better known for his role in The Godfather as singer Johnny...
Glasgow-born Al Stewart has been an amazingly prolific and successful musician across 40 years and counting (as of 2009), working in a dizzying array of stylistic modes and musical genres -- in other words, he's had a real career, and has done it without...
Best remembered for the soul classic "Show and Tell," singer Al Wilson was born June 19, 1939 in Meridian, Mississippi. From childhood forward he was singing professionally, and by the age of 12 was leading his own spiritual quartet and singing in the...
Before Alabama, bands were usually relegated to a supporting role in country music. In the first part of the century, bands were popular with audiences across the country, but as recordings became available, nearly every popular recording artist was a vocalist,...
Before Alan O'Day became a successful recording artist, he was writing hits for other singers. First there was "The Drum" in 1971 for teen idol Bobby Sherman, which was featured on his Portrait of Bobby album. "Angie Baby" for mellow...
The daughter of jazz chanteuse Ann Marie Schofield and the late jazz pianist Walter Davis, Jr., Alana Davis made her own stand as a singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York's Greenwich Village, Davis learned to play the guitar as a youngster. Music...
A dozen years after the breakthrough debut of Jagged Little Pill, an album which earned four Grammys, sold 30 million records and spawned a dedicated worldwide fan base, Alanis Morissette remains not only an enduringly popular artist, but one whose success stems...
Albert Hammond is one of the more successful pop/rock songwriters to come out of England during the 1960s and 1970s, and has also enjoyed a long career as a recording artist, his work popular in two languages on three continents across four decades. Hammond was...
Canadian guitarist Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio in Montreal) was a relatively late bloomer musically, not learning how to play the instrument until he was 15. However, inspired by the playing of Jimi Hendrix and with a keen interest in jazz, Nova worked...
The inspiring sound of Alex Band’s powerful, emotionally charged voice is immediately recognizable to millions of music lovers, thanks to modern-day classics like “Adrienne,” “Our Lives” and the chart-topping hit “Wherever You Will Go,” which...
Alex Clare is a British singer-songwriter. His debut album, The Lateness of the Hour, was released in the UK on 11 July 2011 on Island Records and was produced by Mike Spencer and Major Lazer.
