David Bowie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000309/bio

David Robert Jones was born on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, London, England. He is an English born musician, actor, music arranger, record producer best known for his somewhat freaky alter ego Ziggy Stardust in the 1970s, and the band with it, The Spiders.

Man he was cute in the 1960s!!!

People got their 1st taste of Bowie when in July 1969, his song Space Oddity, hit #1 on the UK charts. In 1972, he made a debut as the somewhat weird Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders, a band inspired by the glam rock era of the 1970s. In 1975, he made his 1st American crossover song, Fame, with John Lennon, and his album Young Americans hit #1 on the charts. As the years went on, he got more popular, especially in the 1990s and 2000s, with songs like Let's Dance, Modern Love, Under Pressure, China Girl.

His nicknames include Ziggy Stardust, and the Thin White Duke. In the 1960s, he changed his name from David Jones to David Bowie to avoid confusion with The Monkees lead singer Davy Jones.

Spouse

• Angela Bowie: March 19, 1970-February 8, 1980, divorced, 1 child
• Iman: June 6, 1992-present, 1 child

Trademark:

• Constantly changing appearance
• Wide ranging vocals
• His one permanently dilated pupil gives him the appearance of 2 differently colored eyes.

Trivia

• Both eyes are blue, but due to a fight long ago, one eye is dilated and appears darker
• Has performed on several occasions with Mick Jagger, Queen, Iggy Pop, Al B Sure!, Tina Turner, Annie Lennox, Nine Inch Nails, Bing Crosby
• Lied about his bisexuality to give more mystery to himself
• In July 2004, underwent a triple bypass on his heart
• Voted #12 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists. I really don't know how this one happened, or how Mick Jagger got #4 while Steven Tyler got #21

In the 1960s, he and a bunch of his friends formed a band called the Konrads, and their manager was a guy named Leslie Conn. He quit the band later and joined the Manish Boys, a blues-rock band. He said he dreamed of being like Mick Jagger, and what's funny is that later on, he would do a version of the song Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger.

This is from the video he and Mick did, for the song Dancing in the Street.

In 1984, Bowie paired up with Mick Jagger and they both did a version of the Martha and the Vandellas hit Dancing in the Street. The video is on YouTube now. He has also gone in to acting. One of the movies he has been in is the movie The Prestige, with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, where he played Nikola Tesla. Some of the other movies he was in include Basquiat, which is about Andy Warhol, who he plays, he was in the SpongeBob Squarepants movie Atlantis Squarepantis, he did the voice of the Lord Royal Higness, he played a fashion judge in Zoolander, with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, in Martin Scorcese's 1988 movie Last Temptation of Christ, he played Pontius Pilate, and in the movie Labyrinth, he plays Jareth, the king of the goblins.

Labyrinth

Strangely enough, he looks dead on Andy Warhol!

Zoolander

First time I saw this, I never knew who David Bowie was, I swear!!

Bowie as Nikola Tesla in the Prestige

Tim McGraw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_McGraw

Samuel Timothy McGraw was born on May 1, 1967 in Delhi, Louisiana. He is the son of former Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Tug McGraw and is currently married to country singer Faith Hill. So far, he has won 3 Grammys, 14 Academy of Music Awards, 11 CMA Awards, 10 American Music Awards, 3 People's Choice Awards. He has also gone into acting, in movies like The Blind Side, Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, Four Christmases, Country Strong, and in honor of his grandfather's Italian heritage, he was honored by the National Italian American Foundation, receiving the special NIAF Special Achievement Award at the Foundation's 29th Anniversary Gala.

To be her for one day............

He is of Italian, Irish, German, Scottish-Irish descent. In 1994, he hit it big with the single Indian Outlaw, which was said to cause controversy among Native Americans, but critics said it portrayed them in a good way. Another one of his songs, Don't Take the Girl, became his #1 hit and showed him as a country guy with a good heart. Another one of his singles, Down on the Farm, rose to #2 on the charts. In 1995, he released his All I Want album, which includes the tracks I Like It, I Love It, which hit #1 on the country charts, She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart which rose to #1 on the charts in 1996. Hit top 5 hits that year were Can't Really Be Gone, All I Want is a Life, Maybe We Should Just Sleep On It, and She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart.

His 1997 album Everywhere topped the country charts at #2. 4 of the tracks, Where the Green Grass Grows, Everywhere, It's Your Love and Just to See You Smile stayed on the Billboard Country charts for 42 weeks. At the 1997 CMA awards(Country Music Association), Everywhere won for Best Album of the Year

In 1999, his A Place in the Sun album debuted. It had, yet again, more award winning tracks, such as Please Remember Me, Something Like That, My Best Friend, My Next Thirty Years, Some Things Never Change. It went to #7 on the country charts.

In 2000, he released a Greatest Hits album, which had all of his good songs on it. When in Buffalo, N.Y., him and Kenny Chesney had gotten into a little bit of trouble with the police after Chesney attempted to ride a police horse. McGraw came to his aid when police officers thought that Chesney was stealing and tried to arrest him. They were both arrested and charged with assault. Later on, Faith Hill dressed as a police officer and led McGraw off stage.

His 2004 album Live Like You Were Dying was a tribute to his father Tug McGraw, who died of a brain tumor the year before. This album spent 7 weeks on the charts. In late 2004, he did a duet with hip hop artist Nelly, Over and Over, which became a major hit and landed on the Top 40 charts for 10 weeks.

On Oct. 20, 2009, he released his Southern Voice album. On Nov. 10, 2010, he presented the awards at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards.

He first caught the acting bug when he appeared on a 1995 episode of the Jeff Foxworthy Show, playing Jeff's rival. In 2004, he played the overbearing father of a running back in the movie Friday Night Lights. His first lead role, however, came in 2006, when he played the father of the main character Rob in the movie Flicka. Then in 2009, he appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in the movie The Blind Side. Both him and Bullock played Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who raised a homeless teen named Michael Oher, who would later go on to be a famous football star. This movie was also based on a true story.

He also enjoys giving to charity and helping out. When Hurricane Katrina hit, him and his wife started collecting supplies to help those affected by the storm .

K is for Keith Urban

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Urban

Keith Lionel Urban was born on October 26, 1967 in  Whangarei, New Zealand, but was raised in Australia. He's a country singer, songwriter, and guitarist who has mainly had fame here in the US and in Australia. He was born in New Zealand, but raised in Australia. That explains the accent if you hear him talk. He cna play multiple instruments, such as the guitar, both electric and acoustic, banjo, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, sitar, bouzouki, and drums.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Urban_discography

Albums

• Keith Urban-1991
• Keith Urban in the Ranch- 1997
• Keith Urban- 1999
• Golden Road- 2002
• Be Here- 2004
• Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Thing- 2006
• Defying Gravity- 2009
• Get Closer- 2010

In January 2005, he met Nicole Kidman, at an event called G'Day L.A., an event honoring Australians. They later married on June 25, 2006 at the Cardinal Ceretti Memorial Chapel in Syndey.

On Oct. 1, 2007, Urban skidded off a motorbike he was riding when trying to escape a paparazzo following him to his house in Syndey. He wasn't hurt. On July 7, 2008, Kidman gave birth to their first child, a girl they named Sunday Rose, and on Dec. 28, 2010, they had yet another child, another girl, they named Faith.

Jon Bon Jovi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Bon_Jovi

John Francis Bongiovi Jr. was born on March 2, 1962 in Sayreville, New Jersey. He is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor. During the 1980s, he was the front man of a band named after him, Bon Jovi. The band was declared the 2nd richest band of all in 2011, right behind U2. He is of Sicilian, German, Russian, and Slovak ancestry, and has said that he is a blood relative of Frank Sinatra.

In 1983, the band Bon Jovi formed, with Richie Sambora, Tico Torres, Alec John Such, him and David Bryan. Their first hit was the song Runaway. In Oct. 1984, the band opened up for the heavy metal band KISS at the Queen's Hall in Leeds. They released their Slippery When Wet album in 1986, which included tracks like You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive.

In 2000, the band released the album Crush, which included the track It's My Life, and this album helped get a younger audience into the music of Bon Jovi. In Sept. 2005, they released the album Have a Nice Day, and on one of the tracks, Who Says You Can't Go Home, he sang it as a duet with Sugarland member Jennifer Nettles.

His music has also been used for movies. In the movie Young Guns II, the song Blaze of Glory plays at the end credits


He also has starred in movies, such as: Moonlight and Valentino, The Leading Man, Destination Anywhere, Homegrown, Little City, No Looking Back, Row Your Boat, Vampires Los Muertos, U-571, Cry Wolf, National Lampoon's Pucked, Pay It Forward, where he played Helen Hunt's abusive ex-husband

On April 29, 1989, while on tour, he made a scret trip to Las Vegas to marry his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley. Together they have 4 kids: Stephanie Rose, Jesse James Louis, Jacob Hurley, Romeo John.

He is also a very charitable person, he works with the Special Olympics, the American Red Cross, The Elizabeth Glasner Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Project H.O.M.E, The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation

Stevie Van Zandt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Van_Zandt

Steven Lento was born on Nov. 22, 1950, in Winthrop, Massachusetts. He is best known by his stage name of Stevie Van Zandt, adopted from his grandfather. He is an Italian-American  radio DJ, musician, songwriter, music arranger, producer, actor. His nicknames include Little Miami Steve and he is best known for being a member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band, where he plays guitar and mandolin. He also acts on the side, playing Silvio Dante on the HBO show The Sopranos.

He grew up in the Jersey Shore neighborhood, nowadays popularly known as the Shore, made famous by the MTV show Jersey Shore. He joined the E-Street band in 1975, and was partially responsible for the song Born to Run. He lists his musical influences as the Dave Clark 5 and Paul Shaffer. In 1984, Van Zandt left the E-Street band officially,and after a few albums as a solo man, he rejoined the band which was reformed in 1995. When the band played at the 2009 Super Bowl, Van Zandt and Springsteen got the most face time during their rendition of Glory Days. In 1999, Van Zandt took on the role of level-headed, deadly mob consigliere and strip club owner Silvio Dante on the HBO show The Sopranos. That is where he met the woman who would soon be his real life wife. Maureen Van Zant is an actress who occasionally played his wife Gabriella Dante. His trademark look consists of gypsy like clothes and a bandanna on his head. It is to cover up a permanent hair loss recieved from a car accident long ago where he hit his head on the windshield. However, on the Sopranos, he wears a pompadour toupee to cover up his hair loss.

Ever since 2002, he has been the host of a radio show called Little Steven's Underground Garage, which frequently gives airplay to musicians from the 1950s and on, and garage rock band. He also has a show on the Sirius radio network. One of the hosts of the show, called Underground Garage, includes former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog-Oldham, rock singer Joan Jett, punk rocker Handsome Dick Manitoba. but he is not to be confused with Steve Van Zandt, who does Steve and Jackie in hte Morning, a show on WROW out of Albany, New York

He is currently married to Maureen Santoro(now Maureen Van Zandt), who played his Sopranos wife Gabriella Dante. At the wedding, the wedding band from the Godfather film played, and they married on Dec. 31, 1982, with Bruce Springsteen as best man and Little Richard as the reverend. And at the reception, Percy Sledge sang his hit When a Man Loves a Woman.

The Ed Sullivan Show

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sullivan_Show

The Ed Sullivan Show was an American-based variety show that ran from Sunday, June 20, 1948-
Sunday, June 6, 1971. It was hosted by entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan.

Most of the early kinds of entertainment on the show included opera singers, vaudeville, popular artists, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, actors and actresses performing acts of plays, circus acts.  This show was produced by Marlo Lewis and wasn't called the Ed Sullivan Show originally. It's previous name was Toast of the Town. And on Sept. 25, 1955, it's name changed to the Ed Sullivan Show.  The show originally filmed at the Maxine Elliot Theatre on Broadway, but moved to the CBS Studio 50 which was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theatre. The Late Show with David Letterman films there and has been since 1993. On March 28, 1971 was the last filming of the Ed Sullivan Show, and the acts on that show was Joanna Simon, Melanie, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, Sandler and Young

On the show, he would have recurring characters, such as Topo Gigio, which was a little Italian mouse puppet. In the US in the 1960s, it was usually a family event to gather around the TV and watch the Ed Sullivan Show to see who would perform that night. And Sullivan was regarded as the person to come to for fame because who ever played on his show usually got noticed by someone in the world of show biz.

This show is best known to the WWII and baby boomers generation for playing acts of the 1960s, such as popular musicians of the decade, such as Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, The Jackson 5, The Doors, Lovin' Spoonful.

On Sept. 5, 1955, Elvis made his first debut. He sang the songs Don't Be Cruel and Love Me Tender, Hound Dog. He also played a second time, on Oct. 28, later that same year. He played Love Me Tender. On January 6, 1957, he played for his 3rd and final appearance. He sang Love Me Tender, Hound Dog, Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Be Cruel, Peace in the Valley. And from the way he danced, people thought it was vulgar, with his swiveling hips. So he was filmed from the waist up.

The Beatles
In late 1963, when Sullivan was passing through Heathrow Airport, he noticed an awful lot of girls hanging around and that's how he found out about the Beatles. They were returning from a trip to Stockholm where they played a warm up show for local act Lill Babs. He talked to Beatles manager Brian Epstein about letting them perform on the show and the manager had his own plans. He wanted his clients to get attention so he suggested that they play 3 times on the show, recieve top billing and play the first and last spots. They appeared on the show on 3 Sundays in February 1964. On February 9, 1964, they played their first show, where they played All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You. And this was believed to be the event that opened the supposed floodgate to the British Invasion era of music. Their next show was broadcast from Miami, the same night that the fight between boxer Muhammad Ali(known as Cassius Clay then) and boxer Sonny Liston was going on. With all the people in the crowd for the concert, this almost prevented the Beatles from reaching the stage. Policemen had to keep order in the crowd to let them gain access to the stage, and they played the songs Twist and Shout, All My Loving and closed the show with I Want to Hold Your Hand. Their final appearance was on August 14, 1965, but was brodcast on Sept. 12, 1965. 3 acts went before them and then they came out to perform I Feel Fine, I'm Down, and Act Naturally. The songs they closed the show with was Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, Help! Even though this was their last show, they would provide promotional clips, especially for the 1966 and 1967 shows, which included the songs Strawberry Fields Forever, Rain, Paperback Writer, Penny Lane.

The Doors
On Sept. 17, 1967, The Doors got to play on the Ed Sullivan Show. They performed Light My Fire and People Are Strange. Before the group went on, lead singer Jim Morrison was told not to sing the lyric "Girl we couldn't get much higher" in the song Light My Fire. Unfortunately he sang the lyric anyway and that resulted in the band being refused to ever play again. And if you watch the video of the Doors performing the song, you can almost instantly tell that Jim Morrison was high. I don't think there eas a tim when he was ever sober.

You can tell he's high here!

Black artists

The Supremes
These ladies were a personal favorite of Ed's. They had almost 20 performances. Over the 5 years they performed on the show, they snag 15 of their singles. Back then, the Supremes consisted of Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson. In Oct. 1967, they were billed as Diana Ross and the Supremes, I guess Diana Ross' ego got too big! And Ballard basically replaced Cindy Birdsong and when Diana Ross quit, Jean Terrell stepped in in March 1970.

Here are some of the black artists who performed on the show:

• Frankie Lymon
• The Supremes
• Marian Anderson
• Louis Armstrong
• Pearl Bailey
• LaVern Baker
• Harry Belafonte
• James Brown
• Godfrey Cambridge
• Diahann Carroll
• Ray Charles
• Nat King Cole
• Bill Cosby
• Count Basie
• Dorothy Dandridge
• Sammy Davis Jr
• Bo Diddley
• Rocio Durcal
• Duke Ellington
• Lola Falana
• The 5th Dimension
• Ella Fitzgerald
• The Four Tops
• Aretha Franklin
• Dick Gregory
• W.C. Handy
• Lena Horne
• The Jackson 5
• Mahalia Jackson
• Eartha Kitt
• Gladys Knight and the Pips
• Little Anthony and the Imperials
• Moms Mabley
• Johnny Mathis
• The Miracles(later to be known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)
• Melba Moore
• The Platters
• Leontyne Price
• Richard Pryor
• Lou Rawls
• Della Reese
• Nipsey Russell
• Nina Simone
• Sly and the Family Stone
• The Temptations
• Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
• Tina Turner(then known as Ike and Tina)
• Leslie Uggams
• William Warfield
• Dionne Warwick
• Dinah Washington
• Ethel Waters
• Flip Wilson
• Jackie Wilson
• Nancy Wilson
• Stevie Wonder
• Otis Redding

Broadway

West Side Story- Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert singing Tonight, members of the Jets gang singing Cool

My Fair Lady- Julie Andrews singing I Could Have Danced All Night and Wouldn't It Be Loverly, Rex Harrison singing Why Can't the English?, Stanley Holloway singing With a Little Bit of Luck

Camelot- Richard Burton and Julie Andrews performing various acts, and Robert Goulet singing If I Ever Would Leave You and C'est Moi

Show Boat- Andrew Frierson singing Ol' Man River, Carol Bruce singing Bill

Carnival- Anna Maria Alberghetti performing Love Makes the World Go 'Round

Bye, Bye Birdie!-  Dick Van Dyke performing Put on a Happy Face, Chita Rivera performing Spanish Rose, Paul Lynde singing Kids, Hymn for a Sunday Evening

Oliver!- Georga Brown performing As Long as He Needs Me, Davey Jones singing Consider Yourself

Oklahoma!- John Raitt, Celeste Holm, Florence Henderson and Barbara Cook performing the title song, Celeste Holm performing I Cain't Say No

Sweet Charity- Gwen Verdon performing I'm a Brass Band and If My Friends Could See Me Now

The Roar of the Greasepaint- Anthony Newley singing Who Can I Turn To?

Flower Drum Song- Pat Suzuki performing I Enjoy Being a Girl

 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes- Carol Channing performing Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Hair- The cast singing Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In 

Hello, Dolly!- Pearl Bailey singing Before the Parade Passes By

I Do! I Do!- Gordon McRae and Carol Lawrence singing the title song, and McRae singing I Love My Wife, and My Cup Runneth Over

Kiss Me, Kate- Alfred Drake, Patricia Morrison, Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang singing Another Op'nin Another Show, We Open in Venice, Wunderbar

Man of La Mancha- Richard Kiley singing The Impossible Dream, Joan Diener singing What Does He Want of Me

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown- Gary Burghoff, Reva Rose, Bob Balaban, Skip Hinnant, Karen Johnson, Bill Hinnant singing the title song and Happiness

Ethel Merman- singing songs from Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, Happy Hunting, Panama Hattie, Anything Goes

Hermione Gingold and  Maurice Chevalier singing I Remember It Well from Gigi

Controversies

Bo Diddley

On. Nov. 20, 1955, rock and roll singer Bo Diddley. He was asked to play Tennesses Ernie Ford's song Sixteen Tons, but he instead played his R&B hit Bo Diddley. This made Sullivan mad. When Diddley went backstage, Sullivan said, and I quote: "You're the 1st black boy that ever double crossed me!"

Buddy Holly and the Crickets

On Jan. 26, 1956, Buddy Holly and the Crickets were due to perform. They were scheduled to perform 2 songs. They were going to play Oh, Boy! But Sullivan wanted them to substitute another song for that one because he thought it was too rowdy. So by now, Sullivan was furious, he cut their songs from 2 to 1, and purposely mispronounced the name Holly, and also mispronounced the band as the Picketts, and also made sure the microphone for Holly's electric guitar was off. To show the audience the technical glitch wasn't his fault, he cut loose with a solo. 

Jackie Mason

On October 18, 1964, comedian Jackie Mason flipped the finger to Sullivan on air! 

Bob Dylan

On May 12, 1963, Bob Dylan was scheduled to play on the show. He was going to play Talkin John Birch Society Blues, which was basically making fun of the John Birch Society and the red Communist paranoia attached to it. Bascially Dylan told Sullivan "If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear". He left the show rather than perform

The Doors

The event attached to this is also above. The Doors were scheduled to perform on the show on Sept. 17, 1967. They were to play People Are Strange and Light My Fire. Sullivan asked them that they omit the lyric "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from the song Light My Fire. Morrison ignored it and sung the lyric anyway. Sullivan was furious. He told them they'd never be allowed back.

The Doors singing Light My Fire

The Rolling Stones

On January 15, 1967, The Rolling Stones were scheduled to perform their hit Let's Spend the Night Together. But Sullivan kindly asked them that they change the title. They complied, but every time they got to the clean new title of the song, Mick Jagger would roll his eyes upward, at the new lyric "Let's spend some time together". As a form of revenge, the Stones went backstage and changed into Nazi uniforms with swastikas on them. Sullivan was furious! He demanded they change into their previous clothes which resulted in the Stones leaving and Sullivan saying they'd never be allowed to play again. But it was considered to be 2 sets of rules, as he said nothing to Diana Ross and the Supremes about their song Love Child, which was about having a baby out of wedlock

Performing the song (I Can't Get No)Satisfaction

Parodies

• Billy Joel's Tell Her About It, Nirvana's In Bloom, OutKast's Hey Ya, The Red Hot Chili Peppers Dani California all joke around with Sullivan's style of performance
• RAIN- A Beatles tribute band, they open their concerts with a prerecorded footage of a man like Sullivan introducing the act and playing on a stage similar to the stage the Beatles used
• All You Need is Cash- a mockumentary of a fictional band called the Ruttles, and features footage of the Beatles redubbed for the sake of comedy
• The Fab Four- Beatles tribute act hosted by a Sullivan impressionist
• Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp- children's live action show, with character named Ed Simian
• The Flinstones, a 1960s cartoon about stone age family, featured a version of Ed Sullivan named Ed Sulleystone