Eric Silver - Here Comes the Sun

Eric Silver is an  American songwriter, musician and producer from Greensboro, North Carolina. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, plays guitar, mandolin, violin, banjo, bass and piano. Silver has toured and/or recorded with artists ranging from country stars The Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain, jazz artists David Grisman and Victor Wooten, to pop legends Cyndi Lauper and Donna Summer. Silver has written hits for artists Diamond Rio, Michelle Wright and The Dixie Chicks. These songs have earned him five ASCAP awards and one SOCAN award.

                           

Mica Paris / ft. Will Downing - Where Is The Love

 Michelle Antoinette Wallen MBE (born 27 April 1969), known professionally as Mica Paris  is an English singer, presenter and actress.

She was born in Islington in North London, but moved to Brockley, South London, when she was nine. Paris released her debut album So Good in 1988, which spawned singles including "My One Temptation" and "Where Is the Love". She has since gone on to release seven further albums; Contribution (1990), Whisper a Prayer (1993), Black Angel (1998), If You Could Love Me (2005), Soul Classics (2005), Born Again (2009) and Gospel (2020). In 2020, Paris was cast in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Ellie Nixon.

Paris grew up singing in her grandparents' church, and by her mid-teens was making regular appearances with The Spirit of Watts gospel choir (with whom she featured on the 1985 EP Gospel Joy). At the age of 17, she became a backing vocalist with the UK band Hollywood Beyond. Paris appeared on their album, If (1985). In 1988, she released her debut, platinum-selling album So Good with 4th & Broadway when she was 19 years old. "My One Temptation" was the lead single. This led to a collaboration with American soul singer Will Downing on a cover version of a classic "Where Is the Love", made famous by Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack in the early 1970s.

The follow up album, Contribution, was released in 1990. This extended Paris' soul and gospel influences to bring in hip-hop and house music and featured the track "If I Love U 2 Nite", written by Prince and recorded at his Paisley Park studios. With Omar Lye-Fook, a classically trained musician, Paris recorded "I Should've Known Better" in 1990. It was issued on the B-side to "South of the River". Paris also recorded with Anita Baker, Bonnie Raitt and Natalie Cole on the album Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa (1990), and provided the title track to Isaac Julien's Young Soul Rebels movie soundtrack the following year. She worked with the saxophonist Courtney Pine ("Redemption Song" – 1992), the Stereo MCs ("Don't Let Up" – 1992) and Bobby Womack ("I Wish I'd Never Met You" – 1991).

Her third album was Whisper a Prayer (1993), which included the singles "I Never Felt Like This Before" and "I Wanna Hold On To You", as well as "You Put a Move on My Heart" which was later recorded by Tamia in 1995 on Quincy Jones's Q's Jook Joint album. This followed by more collaboration work on album tracks with Guru on his Jazzmatazz II ("Looking Through Darkness" in 1995), Mark Morrison ("Tears For You" – 1996) and Maxwell ("Mantra" – 1996). Paris released the album Black Angel on Chrysalis in 1998. It contained a cover version of U2's "One", and a duet with James Ingram. Black Angel produced two more Top 20 singles in "Stay" and 'Carefree". More collaborations followed with Omar ("Confection" – 1994), Max Beesley ("High Vibes" – 1994), Dubversive ("Police & Thieves" – 1998), the Mobo All Stars compilation album in 1998, Mister Exe ("One Million Smiles" – 1998), Prince ("Just My Imagination" – 2000) and Boy George ("I Could Be Someone" – 2000). A collaboration with David Gilmour and Jools Holland on Screamin' Jay Hawkins' track "I Put A Spell On You" followed in 2001. The trio had regrouped on occasions to perform the hit.

Two years later, Paris lent her voice to Walt Disney Pictures (Touchstone Pictures) soundtrack for High Heels and Low Lifes, which was later included in the Primal Screen soundtrack compilation album (2001). In 2003, Paris released the Moby sampling "Heart" with Seraphim Suite. Paris also joined Omar onstage for his gig at The Shepherds Bush Empire. She also contributed to the track "I Don't Understand" on Milk & Sugar album. 2004 saw Paris feature as a guest on The New Inspirational Choir's album Inspirations along with Keisha White and Jocelyn Brown. In 2005, Paris released the album If You Could Love Me (Wounded Bird Records), featuring backing from the Brecker Brothers on the title track, with executive producer Andreas Neumann and producer Bernard Grobman. Also in 2005, she released the album Soul Classics, with executive producers Rick Blaskey and Andreas Neumann. Paris collaborated with Lemar on the track "Can't You See" on his album The Truth About Love in 2006, and in February 2008, she released the duet "Secret Lovers" with Alexander O'Neal. This was followed by a residency at the Indigo 02.

In June 2009, she released her sixth studio album, Born Again. She embarked on a nationwide tour, which included dates at the Jazz Cafe in February 2009 to showcase the material. The album was produced by Brian Rawling. James Morrison wrote Paris' first single, "Baby Come Back Now".^[1] Paris released the second single from Born Again, on 17 August 2009. The track, "The Hardest Thing", was remixed by Stonebridge, Almighty and 2Darc. Paris performed at various venues prior to the release from the album in March 2010 of the title track "Born Again".

On 4 June 2022, Paris performed Climb Ev'ry Mountain with Nicola Roberts and Ruby Turner at the Platinum Party at the Palace concert to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Black - Wicked Game

Colin Vearncombe (26 May 1962 – 26 January 2016), known by his stage name Black, was an English singer-songwriter. He emerged from the punk rock music scene and achieved mainstream pop success in the late 1980s, most notably with the 1986 single "Wonderful Life", which was an international hit the next year.

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic described Vearncombe as a "smoky-voiced singer/songwriter, whose sophisticated jazz-pop songs and dramatic vocal delivery place him somewhere between Bryan Ferry and Morrissey". Michael Hann of The Guardian described his voice as a "slightly frayed baritone".

Black's first release was the single "Human Features" on Rox Records from Birkenhead in 1981. At this time the band also included Dane Goulding (formerly of Blazetroopers) on bass and Greg Leyland (another school friend) on drums, with Vearncombe calling himself Black as he did not think his own surname would be remembered. The single was followed by another independent release, "More than the Sun", in 1982. It was then that Vearncombe formed a friendship with Dave "Dix" Dickie of the Last Chant, and the two became musical collaborators and signed for WEA Records.

In 1982, Black played with the Thompson Twins on their 'Quick Step and Side Kick' tour and also supported Wah! on a UK tour. Black signed with WEA in 1984, and the next single was "Hey Presto", which got Vearncombe noticed outside the UK: the video for the song featured on the satellite channel Music Box, and the single was also released in Australia. The second WEA single was a re-recording of "More than the Sun". After this, Black was dropped from the record label, and Vearncombe and Dix went their separate ways.

In 1985, Vearncombe wrote the minor key song "Wonderful Life". It was released independently through Ugly Man Records, and got Black noticed by A&M Records, who signed Vearncombe and launched his international career. Vearncombe said:


By the end of 1985 I had been in a couple of car crashes, my mother had a serious illness, I had been dropped by a record company, my first marriage went belly-up and I was homeless. Then I sat down and wrote this song called 'Wonderful Life'. I was being sarcastic.

The song reached number eight in the UK Singles Chart. "Wonderful Life" was later covered by singers including Kim Wilde and Tony Hadley. A version by Katie Melua was included on the BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 80s compilation album, and was released as a single in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Children's Hospital Charity. But its widespread popularity came from its use on several advertising commercials for brands that included Standard Life, Cadbury's chocolate and Fleury Michon.[citation needed] In 2015, Melua sang a version in an advertisement for Premier Inn. Vearncombe suffered from the feeling of being a one-hit wonder:


Once you have had a hit, it's hard to write another song without having that in the back of your mind. For a long time, I would find myself hearing, 'I like it but it's not Wonderful Life'.

At first, the single "Everything's Coming Up Roses" flopped, but the follow-up, "Sweetest Smile" became a UK top-10 hit.[8] The third single, a re-release of "Wonderful Life", was a massive hit worldwide. The album of the same name, released in 1987, had similar success, reaping commercial and critical acclaim.

Black sold over two million records worldwide with Comedy (1988) and Black (1991). Disillusioned with having to deal with a big record company, Vearncombe founded the independent label Nero Schwarz (which is the word "black" in Italian and in German, respectively), and released one album Are We Having Fun Yet? (1993).

In 1991, Vearncombe co-founded the Tomato design collective, a worldwide group of directors, designers, artists, writers, producers and composers. He served as a director until 1995.

After a prolonged hiatus, Vearncombe returned in 1999 to release a string of recordings under his own name. Vearncombe returned to the name 'Black' to release the album Between Two Churches in November 2005. On this album, he included a song mocking the success of his hit "Wonderful Life", where he poignantly re-asked the question, ‘Are you having a wonderful life?’

In 2009, he released two albums: The Given was issued on 4 July as a free download under Vearncombe's name; Water on Stone was released on 17 November as the first Black studio album in four years. In September 2011, the album Any Colour You Like was released through Black's website.

In April 2014, Vearncombe started a pledge fund (via the dedicated music crowd-funding site PledgeMusic) for a new album, co-written with long-time friend and musical collaborator Calum MacColl. This was the first time he had participated in a crowd-funded project. The project significantly exceeded its funding goals, and he regularly expressed his surprise and gratefulness through video updates on the PledgeMusic site.[15] His experience with the process also contributed to the name of the album, Blind Faith, was released on 13 April 2015. Several months later, he recorded a Catalan version of "Wonderful Life" as a fundraiser for the Catalan telethon La Marató de TV3. Vearncombe sang a Catalan translation of the original lyrics.

James Ingram - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Man.

 James Ingram (Akron, Ohio; 16 de febrero de 1952 - Los Ángeles, California; 29 de enero de 2019)¹​ fue un cantante estadounidense de música soul y R&B.​

Ingram se formó como músico autodidacta siendo capaz de tocar el piano, la guitarra, el bajo, percusión y sintetizadores. Comenzó su carrera en los setenta como parte de la banda Revelation Funk.​ Por esta época desarrolló fama en Los Ángeles como cantante de estudio llamado la atención del productor y compositor Lamont Dozier del famoso equipo de composición Holland-Dozier-Holland del sello Motown. Dozier invitó a Ingram a colaborar con algún material, en donde se destacó la canción "Love's Calling", y que hizo parte del álbum de 1980 Zingara.

En 1980, Ingram trabajó con Quincy Jones en su álbum The Dude, siendo el vocalista en "Just Once" y en "One Hundred Ways" lo cual le significó ganar un premio Grammy como mejor vocalista R&B.​ El álbum de debut de Ingram, It’s Your Night, apareció en 1983, incluyendo la balada "There’s No Easy Way." Mientras tanto trabajó con una gran cantidad de artistas como Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Michael McDonald, Patti Austin, Anita Baker, Nancy Wilson, Natalie Cole, y Kenny Rogers.​

En 1985 ganó nuevamente un Grammy por "Yah Mo B There", canción interpretada con Michael McDonald.​ En ese mismo año colaboró junto con otros artistas en la campaña USA for Africa, siendo uno de los cantantes del tema «We Are the World».​ En 1986 Ingram cantó a dúo con Linda Ronstadt la canción principal de la banda sonora de la película An American Tail llamada "Somewhere Out There".¹​ Apareció también en la serie de televisión Suburgatory en el episodio «The Motherload».

Falleció el día 29 de enero de 2019, a los 66 años de edad, tras luchar contra un tumor cerebral.​ La actriz y coreógrafa Debbie Allen publicó en la red social Twitter una foto de ambos, acompañada de la siguiente despedida: «El coro celestial me ha robado a mi amigo más querido y a mi socio creativo. Siempre será apreciado, amado y recordado por su creatividad, su amor a la familia y su humanidad».

Def Leppard - Personal Jesus

 Def Leppard es una banda británica de rock originaria de Sheffield, Reino Unido, que dio inicio a su carrera a finales de los años setenta, alcanzando gran éxito mundial en la década de los ochenta, acercando al heavy metal a las emisoras de radio y al gran público en general, gracias a una mezcla de hard rock melódico con un gran trabajo vocal. Junto a otras bandas como Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Scorpions, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, etcétera, es reconocida como una de las bandas de heavy metal superventas de los años 1980.​Junto a grupos como Iron Maiden o Saxon fueron una de las bandas de cabecera de la New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Def Leppard ha vendido más de 100 millones de álbumes en todo el mundo, y dos de sus producciones han alcanzado la certificación de Diamante de la RIAA (Pyromania e Hysteria). De esta forma, se convirtieron junto a The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, y Queen en uno de los cinco grupos de rock con dos álbumes de estudio originales con ventas por más de 10 millones de copias solo en los Estados Unidos y más de 20 en todo el mundo. La banda ocupa el número 31 del ranquin de VH1 Los 100 mejores artistas de Hard Rock y el puesto número 70 en Los 100 artistas más grandes de todos los tiempos.​ Su mayor éxito es la canción "Pour Some Sugar on Me", considerada por la cadena Vh1 la segunda mejor canción de los años 1980.​Sus conocidos e influyentes álbumes de estudio Pyromania e Hysteria han sido incluidos por la revista Rolling Stone en su lista de los 500 mejores álbumes de todos los tiempos según Rolling Stone. La propia revista Rolling Stone ha situado a Hysteria en la primera posición en su lista de los 50 mejores discos de glam metal de la historia.​ Han sido incluidos en el prestigioso Salón de la Fama del Rock and Roll en 2019.

Mickey Thomas - Moneytalks

 John Michael Thomas (born December 3, 1949) is an American rock singer, best known as one of the lead vocalists of Jefferson Starship and Starship.

Thomas was born in Cairo, Georgia, on December 3, 1949. He was inspired to pursue a career in music after travelling to Atlanta with longtime childhood friends Charles Connell and Tommy Verran to see a Beatles performance in 1965. Thomas, Connell, and Verran formed their first band together; Verran was the lead vocalist. They disbanded while attending different colleges, but later reformed in the early 1970s along with friend Bud Thomas as the Jets.

Thomas was the vocalist for the Lords of London, a garage band from Douglas, Georgia, for a brief time, along with guitarist Billy Folsom, bassist Bob Hutchinson, keyboardist Billy Corbi, and drummer Troy Blasingame.

While singing lead for the Jets in 1974, Thomas joined the Elvin Bishop Group as a backing vocalist and eventually made it to lead vocals. He sang lead vocals on the 1975 Elvin Bishop single "Silent Night" and the 1976 single "Spend Some Time," but his best known achievement was singing on Elvin Bishop's chart hit "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", a #3 single in 1976

Thomas recorded the solo album As Long as You Love Me in 1976. After leaving the Elvin Bishop Group, he recorded three songs for the 1978 film Skateboard, which also featured a cameo by Jefferson Starship guitarist Craig Chaquico. In April 1979, Thomas was asked to join that group after the departure of Marty Balin and Grace Slick. In 1981 he recorded his second solo album, Alive Alone. Former Elvin Bishop Group drummer Donny Baldwin became drummer for Jefferson Starship two years later when Aynsley Dunbar left.

Thomas spent most of the early 1980s as the main vocalist of Jefferson Starship, performing several duets with Slick (who rejoined in 1981) and gaining greater influence in the band. After Paul Kantner left in 1984, Thomas was leader of the band. Kantner sued over the name of Jefferson Starship, and the settlement left the band with the name Starship. From 1985 until 1989 the band had three #1 hit songs. When Slick left again in 1988, Thomas sang all lead vocals. The 1989 "Love Among the Cannibals" tour was postponed after Baldwin attacked Thomas in a bar. The damage was such that it required facial reconstruction surgery. Baldwin resigned after the incident.

Starship was let go by their record label RCA and became inactive in 1991. In early 1992, Mickey Thomas revived Starship as Starship featuring Mickey Thomas and touring has continued with this title. The band's Loveless Fascination was released on September 17, 2013. The band performed at the Streamy Awards on September 8, 2014.

The S'aints - Where the Streets Have No Name

 The Saints were an Australian rock band, originating in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973. The band was founded by Chris Bailey (singer-songwriter, later guitarist), Ivor Hay (drummer), and Ed Kuepper (guitarist-songwriter). They were initially labeled a punk band because, like American punk rock band the Ramones, the Saints were employing the fast tempos, raucous vocals and "buzzsaw" guitar that characterised early punk rock – although this only reflects a portion of their overall sound. With their debut single "(I'm) Stranded" in September 1976, they became the first punk band outside the US to release a record, ahead of better-known acts the Damned, the Sex Pistols and the Clash. They are considered one of the first and most influential groups of the genre, particularly within Australia.

Aside from mainstay Bailey, the group also had numerous line-up changes – in early 1979, Ivor Hay and Ed Kuepper left, while Bailey continued under the moniker with new musicians. Although the band achieved little commercial success in its early years, their seventh album All Fools Day peaked in the Top 30 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in April 1986. Bailey also forged a solo career, and had relocated to Sweden by 1994. The band was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2001. Bailey died in April 2022, effectively ending the band.