Adam Brand (born 27 January 1970) is an Australian country singer-songwriter. Brand released his debut album in 1997. He has since released 14 studio albums and has won 12 Country Music Awards of Australia. Adam Brand has been voted CMC Oz Artist of the Year five consecutive years between 2007 – 2011.
In January 2000, Brand won his fourth CMAA Award for Vocal Collaboration of the Year with Melinda Schneider for "Love Away the Night". In March 2000, Brand released his second studio album Good Friends which peaked at number 26 on the ARIA charts. The album was nominated for Best Country Album at the 2000 ARIA Awards. In January 2001, Brand won three more CMAA Awards; Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year. He also won a Mo Award for Male Country Performer of the Year.
In January 2002, Brand released his third studio album Built for Speed which peaked at number 24 ARIA charts and was certified platinum in Australia. Brand won a further Mo Award for Male Country Performer of the Year. In January 2003, "The Anzac" won the CMAA Award for Heritage Song of the Year, Brand's eighth CMA Award overall. In 2003, Brand contributed the tracks "Sicilian Born" and "Menindee" to the compilation album Australian Storytellers. Both songs received CMA Awards nominations.
In August 2004, Brand released his fourth studio album Get Loud, which debuted at number 16 on the ARIA charts, was certified Gold and earned Brand's third ARIA Award nomination for Best Country Album. In October 2005 Brand released a Christmas album titled Christmas in Australia.
In July 2006, Brand released his sixth studio album What a Life which peaked at number 28 on the ARIA charts and was certified Gold. Brand received another ARIA nomination for 'Best Country Album' at the ARIA Music Awards of 2006. In January 2007 Brand is awarded the inaugural Country Music Channel Oz Artist of the Year Award. In January 2008, Brand won three more CMA Awards for his song "Spirit of the Bush" with Lee Kernaghan and Steve Forde. In January 2008, Brand released his seventh studio album Blame It on Eve which became Brand's first ARIA top ten album. In September 2008, Brand's first compilation albumGreatest Hits 1998–2008 was released. In January 2009 Brand wins his third consecutive CMC Oz Artist of the Year Award and his twelfth CMA Award when he won Male Artist of the Year. In March 2009 Brand released his eighth studio album Hell of a Ride, which peaked at number 19 on ARIA charts. In March 2009, Brand was the lead act at the Victorian Bushfire Appeal concert in Traralgon.
In September 2009 Brand signed a recording contract with Arista Records, the Nashville-based division of Sony Music Entertainment for the distribution of his recordings in the United States
In January 2010 Brand won his fourth consecutive CMC Oz Artist of the Year Award. In August 2010, Brand released his ninth studio album It's Gonna Be OK which peaked at number 11 on the ARIA charts. The Track "Ready for Loving" was released in the United States and reached the Top 40 in the US Country charts. In January 2011, Brand won CMC Oz Artist of the Year Award for the fifth consecutive year. In May 2011, Brand released a compilation album titled You're a Revhead before supporting Taylor Swift on her North American tour.
In August 2012, Brand released his tenth studio album There Will Be Love on Arista Nashville/Sony Music Australia, which peaked at number 4 on the ARIA charts; Brand's highest-charting album. This was followed by My Acoustic Diary which was the first album recorded by Brand's own label. It was distributed by ABC Music. The album saw Brand re-record 13 of his own tracks in an acoustic setting. Upon release, Brand said "I have decided to re-record some of these diary entries acoustically, the way they were first written… I've chosen songs that represent pivotal points in my life, and my growth as a songwriter and as an artist trying to find my own voice."
Brand's twelfth studio album My Side of the Street was released in August 2014, became his second top 5 album. It was nominated for an ARIA Award and two CMA Awards. In January 2015, Brand won CMC Oz Artist of the Year Award for a fifth year.
In January 2016, Brand released his thirteenth studio album Adam Brand and the Outlaws, featuring fellow Australian country musicians Travis Collins, Drew McAlister, Matt Cornell and Mike Carr. The album peaked at number 6 on the ARIA charts and was nominated for an ARIA Award. The album won a CMC Award for Highest Selling Album. In February 2017, Brand released Get On Your Feet which peaked at number 7 on the ARIA charts.
In July 2018, Brand celebrated 20 years since the release of his debut album releasing a compilation album titled Milestones... 20 Years. The album debuted at number 6 on the ARIA charts, becoming his highest charting compilation album. In September 2018 Brand joined Scott Darlow, Sarah McLeod, Jack Jones and Todd Hunter to re-record the Dragon song "Rain" with all net proceeds from the sale to go towards to the Buy-a-bale program in support of Australian farmers suffering from the Australian drought.
In late 2019, Brand appeared in the first season of The Masked Singer Australia as the 'Dragon' and was the sixth contestant voted out.
In August 2019 Brand released a new single "Life's Been Good to Me" after taking 12 months off to start a family with the birth of his first child, a baby girl named Pepper. Adam will be hitting the road with his Speed of Life Tour March 2020 when he will release his new album. Special guests on the tour will be new country duo "Cornell & Carr". Matt Cornell and Mike Carr were previously members of Adam Brand and the Outlaws.
Lauren Rocket, es cantautora residente en Los Ángeles (nacida en otro planeta), crecio tocando y componiendo música clásica para piano, descubrió que interpretar siempre era algo natural para ella. A los dieciséis años, fundó la banda de power-pop de chicas Rocket, que se convirtió en su primer proyecto apasionante. Con tres lanzamientos en su haber durante un período de ocho años, la banda completó varias giras estadounidenses, incluido Van's Warped Tour. También estuvo en Night Terrors of 1927, una banda de indie-pop impulsada por la armonía de synth-pop que estaba en Atlantic Records.
Dos de sus canciones llegaron al número 1 en las listas de baile europeas y su álbum alcanzó el puesto número 11 en la lista de álbumes electrónicos principales de Billboard. Ha colaborado con los compositores Jeff Silbar, Matt Squire, Michael Fitzpatrick, Beau Dozier, Don Was y Thirty Seconds To Mars. Además, ha realizado giras con artistas como Fitz and the Tantrums, The Colorist, Butch Walker y The Horrorpops, y ha tocado en numerosos festivales, incluidos Coachella, Bunbury, SXSW, Life Is Beautiful, CMJ, Lollapalooza y Outside Lands.
Andrée Watters-Michaud(born January 25, 1983) is a musician and a two-time Félix Award winner from Quebec
Watters was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec, grew up in the Quebec City region and first showed her talent in a Christmas-related musical comedy when she was 15 years old. She later participated in a youth singing contest in which she finished first provincially and third across Canada. After moving to Montreal two years later, she made her first live public appearance in the Radio-Canada game show La Fureur.
Watters' brother Patrick, who worked as a firefighter in Alberta, Canada, was killed in July 2007 in a helicopter crash while he and several hundred other firefighters combated a major forest fire near Fort McMurray in northern Alberta. Four others were injured in the incident.
In 2003, after signing with Sony BMG, Watters released her first album AW, co-written and produced by Fred St-Gelais, which sold 75,000 copies in Quebec alone.The hits "Si exceptionnel" and "Ne reste pas" were the two songs that charted the highest in the Quebec Francophone charts including the Radio Énergie Countdown across the province. There were attempts by the label company to release a European version of the disc in France, but the project was cancelled. After the success of the album AW, she was awarded a Félix Award as "Best Rock Album of the Year" and was nominated to four other Félix awards.
Her second album À travers was released in 2005 with "Laisse la pluie" being the most notable hit across the charts in Quebec.
Her third album titled Minuit was released on April 29, 2008. The title song MINUIT was a #1 hit on the Francophone Chart in Quebec. She herself co-wrote the ten tracks and the album was produced along with singer-songwriter Sylvain Cossette who guided her as producer/co-songwriter of the album. The album consisted of a mix of rock songs and ballads in which Cossette had many top-charted singles during his career. At the same time, she signed with Universal Music and Mark Vinet Management.
During the summer of 2008, she toured along with Dan Bigras and his show titled "Dan et ses blondes", and opened for Cossette's "70s Tour" and a tour of her own in 2010.
In 2011, Andrée released a new album Country Rock, which has since peaked at #29 on the Canadian Albums Chart.
In 2012, Watters' released a second country album titled "Country Rock COVER" and toured French Canada. She was also nominated for 2 Felix awards, including Best Country Album.
Starting in 2011, her production company has been involved with many music projects including: Girls Wanna Have Fun!, 70s, All Star, 5x5, Glam Rock, as well as children projects: Ari Cui Cui, Lily et le Lutin, and Pyjama Party.
In 2017, Andrée Watters Productions launched ReCover Band, SuperNOVA, Funk & Soul and a reboot of the hit show Girls Wanna Have Fun!
Andrée Watters is managed by Mark Vinet, a Montreal-based entertainment lawyer and businessman.
In 2004, the success of the album resulted in a Félix Award for "Best Rock Album of the Year"[8] at the annual ADISQ awards, the Quebec provincial version of the Canadian Juno Awards. She was also nominated for four other Felix awards including "Best Female Singer of the Year [8] and "Breakthrough Artist of the Year". In 2006, she again won a Félix Award for "Best Rock Album of the Year"[8] for her sophomore effort titled "À Travers". In 2009, she received a SOCAN award for the song Tout de moi. She was nominated for 2 Adisq Felix awards, including Best Country Album in 2012. She also received multiple ADISQ nominations for her company's work on various music albums between 2014-17.
Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Turn Around" (1988) and "Shine" (1994). "Aswad" is Arabic for "black". They are three-time Grammy Award nominees.
The members of Aswad are UK descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean. They attended John Kelly/Holland Park School.
The original members of Aswad were guitarist/vocalist Brinsley "Chaka B" Forde, drummer/vocalist Angus "Drummie Zeb" Gaye, lead guitarist/vocalist Donald "Dee" Griffiths, bassist George "Ras" Oban, and keyboardist Courtney "Khaki" Hemmings.[4] Aswad were the backing band of Burning Spear's 1977 Live album, recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Other contributors included Vin Gordon, and Karl Pitterson.
Initially, the band produced music in the roots reggae vein, with members contributing songs individually and with Forde acting as the band's principal songwriter. The band's dynamic soon began to change however. Shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album in 1976, Hemmings left and was replaced by Tony "Gad" Robinson (the only time in the band's history where a departing member would be officially replaced by an incoming musician). The band then released their second studio effort, Hulet, in 1978, before Oban departed the band in 1979, with Robinson taking over the position of bassist as well as continuing his role as keyboardist. The following year saw Griffiths depart, leaving Forde as the band's sole guitarist. During this early period in the band's history they were distinctly different from Jamaican reggae acts, in that they wrote songs that dealt with the issues surrounding the experiences of black youths growing-up in the UK; such as "Three Babylon" and "It's Not Our Wish", and the powerful jazz-influenced instrumental "Warrior Charge".
Once the band's line-up had stabilised into the trio of Forde, Gaye, and Robinson, Aswad followed a more commercial reggae style, gaining a wider audience with the New Chapter album (1981). They then followed this with the Michael Reuben Campbell-produced A New Chapter of Dub LP which was a dub of the entire New Chapter album. Not Satisfied was a London roots-reggae album released in 1982. In August 1982, Aswad played live at Meanwhile Gardens on the Sunday of the Notting Hill Carnival; the resulting live album Live and Direct is a faithful record of that event, where they played a live dub set. "Love Fire" gained wide recognition when it was used as the backing rhythm for Dennis Brown's "Promised Land".
Among Aswad's catalogue of hits is "Don't Turn Around", a UK No. 1 hit in 1988, originally recorded by Tina Turner as a B-side to her "Typical Male" single. They followed this up with UK No. 11 hit "Give a Little Love",[6] and a reggae-flavoured rendition of "Best of My Love", first popularised and written by The Eagles. In 1989, they contributed the single "Set Them Free" to the GreenpeaceRainbow Warriors album. In the same year, they performed together with Cliff Richard the song "Share a Dream", recorded the previous year, at Wembley Stadium as part of The Event (16 and 17 June 1989). Their next single, "Shine", was released in 1994 and was a big hit in much of Europe. Another track was the upbeat 1998 remake of The Police's "Invisible Sun", performed with Sting.
The band also hold the distinction of having played with each one of the ex-Wailers.
Aswad suffered their first line-up change in sixteen years in 1996, when Forde departed the band for spiritual reasons, leaving Gaye as the only founding member. Once again, the remaining members opted not to seek to recruit a replacement musician, and thus Aswad became a duo of Gaye and Robinson. With the exception of a brief reunion with Forde in 2009 for the Island record label's 50th-anniversary celebrations, the band's line-up hasn't changed since.
Aswad released their most recent material in 2009, with the album City Lock. They released the singles "What Is Love?" and "Do That Thing" in the same year.
Saltó a la fama en los años sesenta al formar parte del grupo The Supremes. En 1970 se estableció como solista. Después interpretó el papel principal de la película Lady Sings the Blues, sobre la vida de la cantante Billie Holiday, que le valió una nominación al Óscar como mejor actriz. Durante los años 70 y 80, se convirtió en la artista femenina más exitosa de la era pop y abarcó también la industria cinematográfica y televisiva así como la teatral en Broadway.[cita requerida]
En 1993, entró en el Libro Guinness de Récords como la artista femenina de mayor éxito de todos los tiempos, debido en parte a sus 18 "nº1", seis de ellos en solitario. Solo The Beatles (con 20 "nº1") y Mariah Carey (con 19) la han igualado o superado. Pero en Billboard sus "nº1" cuentan por separado: tiene 12 con The Supremes, 6 como solista y 1 con la canción "We are the world", siendo superada entonces por cantantes como Janet Jackson, Madonna y Whitney Houston.
Con casi 60 años de carrera, las ventas de sus álbumes y sencillos tienen un total estimado de más de 100 millones de copias, lo cual la convierte en una de artistas musicales con mayores ventas.
En 1961 firmaron un contrato con la discográfica Motown Records, y Betty McGlown fue reemplazada por Barbara Martin. El grupo fue relanzado bajo el nombre de The Supremes. En 1962 Barbara abandonó el cuarteto, convirtiéndolo en un trío. El delegado de la discográfica, Berry Gordy, convirtió a Diana en la líder del conjunto musical.
Entre agosto de 1964 y mayo de 1967, el terceto consiguió que diez de sus sencillos llegaran al puesto n.º 1 del Billboard Hot 100. Después, Gordy sustituyó a Florence Ballard por la vocalista de Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, Cindy Birdsong. Pronto, rebautizó al grupo como Diana Ross and the Supremes, para darle protagonismo tanto a la voz principal como al conjunto. Él ya lo había hecho con otras agrupaciones como Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, antes llamados The Miracles, y Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, antes conocidos como The Vels, por las mismas razones.
The Supremes, bajo el liderazgo de Diana Ross, consiguió doce grandes éxitos en Estados Unidos, entre los que destacan "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", y "You Can’t Hurry Love". Así, se convirtieron en el segundo conjunto musical de habla inglesa más exitoso de la década de 1960, después de los Beatles.En 1969, Diana decidió abandonar el grupo. Actuó por última vez como miembro del trío en enero de 1970 y su vacante fue cubierta por diversas cantantes.
En 1971, Motown lanzó un segundo álbum de Diana llamado Everything Is Everything. El primer sencillo del mismo, "I'm Still Waiting", fue todo un éxito, en especial en el Reino Unido, donde alcanzó el puesto n.º 1 de las listas de popularidad. Varios meses después lanzó su tercer disco en solitario titulado Surrender. Ese mismo año tuvo su propio programa especial para la televisión, llamado Diana!. En él aparecieron como invitados The Jackson 5, Bill Cosby y Danny Thomas. A finales del mismo año, Motown anunció que produciría una película biográfica protagonizada por Ross, en la que retrataría a la cantante Billie Holiday.
A comienzos de 1973, publicó el álbum Touch Me in the Morning. El sencillo homónimo alcanzó el puesto número uno de las listas estadounidenses. A fines del mismo año, la cantante lanzó un exitoso álbum junto a Marvin Gaye, llamado Diana & Marvin. De él se desprendieron los sencillos "My Mistake (Was to Love You)", que se situó en el Top 20 de Estados Unidos, y "You Are Everything", que se situó en el Top 5 de Reino Unido.
En 1975, protagonizó la película Mahogany, junto a Billy Dee Williams. El director era Tony Richardson, pero luego fue sustituido por Berry Gordy. Con este último Diana no tuvo una buena relación, por lo que abandonó el rodaje antes de que culminara. El filme fue un éxito comercial, pero no recibió buenas críticas.De la banda sonora se desprendieron los singles "Do You Know Where You're Going To", que llegó al n.º 1 de las listas pop, y el tema de música disco "Love Hangover". El éxito de estos sencillos ayudaron a la publicación del álbum Diana Ross.
En 1977 ganó el Premio Tony por el especial musical An Evening with Diana Ross, que luego fue televisado por la cadena NBC. En ese mismo año, Motown adquirió los derechos de la popular obra de BroadwayThe Wiz para poder llevarla a la pantalla grande como una versión "afroamericana" de El mago de Oz. Diana interpretó el papel de Dorothy, que había encarnado de forma inolvidable Judy Garland, y compartió escena con Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross y su amigo Michael Jackson, quien en esos años empezaba a destacar al margen de su grupo The Jacksons. La película se estrenó en octubre de 1978, recibiendo críticas malas y fracasando en la taquilla; pero la banda sonora de la misma, producida por Quincy Jones, vendió más de 850.000 copias. Esta sería la última producción cinematográfica de Motown.
En 1979, Ross se reunió con Nicholas Ashford y Valerie Simpson para el lanzamiento del disco The Boss, el cual fue certificado como "disco de oro" por la RIAA. En 1980, publicó Diana, su primer álbum certificado como "disco de platino" por la RIAA. El álbum incluyó los exitosos sencillos "Upside Down", el quinto en llegar al puesto n.º 1 de las listas, y "I'm Coming Out". Diana alcanzó el segundo puesto del Billboard 200, y permaneció allí durante tres semanas, vendiendo más de 6 millones de copias en Estados Unidos. Ross colaboró en la banda sonora de la película Endless Love, grabando el sencillo homónimo junto al cantautor Lionel Richie. Cuando esta canción llegó al puesto n.º 1 de las listas de popularidad, Diana se convirtió en la primera cantante femenina en conseguir seis singles número uno en el Billboard Hot 100. Cuando su contrato de veinte años con Motown venció, firmó un contrato de 20 millones de dólares con la discográfica RCA Records.
En 1983 se reunió con Mary Wilson y Cindy Birdsong, sus ex compañeras de The Supremes, para el programa especial Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. El trío interpretó el tema "Someday We'll Be Together", un clásico de su repertorio. A finales de ese mismo año, Diana reailizó un concierto en el Central Park de Nueva York, cuya recaudación se utilizó para la construcción de una zona de juegos que lleve su nombre. Parte de este show fue filmado y televisado por la señal de cable Showtime. Al mismo asistieron más de 800.000 personas, por lo que Ross anunció que al día siguiente brindaría un nuevo concierto, al que asistieron cerca de 500.000 espectadores. Sin embargo la recaudación de ambas presentaciones no fueron suficientes para la financiación del Diana Ross Playground, por lo que la misma Ross debió pagar los 250.000 dólares que faltaban para que se llevase a cabo el proyecto.
El primer álbum que lanzó en ocho años con Motown fue Workin' Overtime. A pesar de que el sencillo homónimo llegó al puesto n.º 3 de la lista R&B, el compacto fue un fracaso comercial.
En la década de 1990 publicó sencillos y álbumes que consiguieron poca acogida en las listas de Reino Unido y Europa, como "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" (canción que años después grabarían a dúo Julio Iglesias y Dolly Parton), "One Shining Moment", "Force Behind The Power", "Heart (Don't Change My Mind)", "Your Love", "The Best Years of My Life", "Take Me Higher", "Gone", "I Will Survive" y "In the Ones You Love". En 1993 publicó el disco Christmas in Vienna, que recogía un concierto de sabor navideño ofrecido por Diana con Plácido Domingo y José Carreras.
En 1994, retomó su carrera de actriz al protagonizar el telefilme de la cadena ABC, Out of Darkness. Por su interpretación recibió su tercera nominación al Globo de Oro. En 1996 realizó una actuación especial en el Super Bowl XXX. En 1999, como solista, ella se ubicó en el 38 en la lista de VH1The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll mientras que The Supremes se colocaron en el n.º 6. En el mismo año, co-protagonizó otra película de televisión para la ABC, llamada Double Platinum, donde interpretó a una cantante que abandona a su hija para concentrarse en su carrera.
En 2000, Ross anunció que realizaría con sus antiguas compañeras de The Supremes, Mary Wilson y Cindy Birdsong, una gira titula Return to Love. Wilson y Birdsong no quisieron participar en ella porque Diana recibiría 15 millones de dólares, mientras que a ellas les pagarían 2 y 1 millón de dólares respectivamente.Ellas fueron sustituidas por Lynda Laurence y Scherrie Payne, quienes habían formado parte del grupo después de que Diana lo abandonara. Los primeros conciertos del tour se llevaron a cabo primero en Filadelfia y luego en el Madison Square Garden de Nueva York. Return to Love sólo contó con nueve presentaciones, ya que las ventas de boletos fueron escasas. A principios del año 2000 fue homenajeada en el evento anual "VH1 Divas"
En diciembre de 2002, Ross fue arrestada en Tucson, Arizona por conducir en estado de ebriedad. Tras cumplir dos días de arresto regresó a su casa en Greenwich, Connecticut.Después de este episodio, se mantuvo durante poco más de dos años alejada de los medios de comunicación.
En 2005 grabó con Rod Stewart el sencillo "I've Got a Crush on You", perteneciente al álbum de este último llamado The Great American Songbook, que alcanzó el puesto 19 del Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary. Diana, junto a Westlife, regrabó su éxito "When You Tell Me You Love Me", que volvió a alcanzar el puesto #2 de las listas de Reino Unido y el n.º 1 de las de Irlanda. En junio de 2006, Motown publicó su pospusto álbum Blue, el cual alcanzó el puesto n.º 2 de la lista de jazz de Billboard. Su siguiente álbum de estudio fue I Love You, lanzado mundialmente el 2 de octubre de 2006 y el 16 de enero de 2007 en Norteamérica, producido por la discográfica Manhattan Records/EMI.El compacto alcanzó debutó en la posición nº32 de las listas pop y la nº16 de las de R&B, y desde su lanzamiento vendió más de 622.000 copias en todo el mundo.
A comienzos de 2007, Ross apareció en diversos programas de televisión de Estados Unidos y Europa, como por ejemplo American Idol o Live with Regis and Kelly, para promocionar su trabajo discográfico.Este, al igual que su gira europea, obtuvo críticas positivas.
Diana quedó devastada cuando supo que Michael Jackson había muerto. El 2 de julio de 2009 fue revelada la intención póstuma de Michael de que ella tuviera la custodia de sus hijos en caso de que su madre Katherine de 79 años muriera o se viera impedida de ejercerla.
Sigue brindando conciertos con el Tour "In The Name Of Love".
