Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, Middlesex, England on 25 March 1947) is an immensely popular English singer, composer (mostly with lyricist Bernie Taupin) and pianist. In a career spanning five decades, Elton John has sold over 250 million records and has over fifty Top 40 hits, making him one of the most successful musicians of all time. His 1997 tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, “Candle In The Wind 1997,” remains the world’s biggest selling and fastest selling single of all time.

 In 1964, Dwight and his friends formed a band called Bluesology. By day, he ran errands for a music publishing company; he divided his nights between solo gigs at a London hotel bar and working with Bluesology. By the mid-1960s, Bluesology was backing touring American soul and R&B musicians like The Isley Brothers, Major Lance, Billy Stewart, Doris Troy and Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles. In 1966, the band became musician Long John Baldry’s supporting band and played 16 times at The Marquee Club. John was one of the dominant commercial forces in the rock world during the 1970s, with a string of seven consecutive #1 records on the U.S. album charts, twenty-three Top 40 singles, sixty Top 10 hits, and six #1 hits. His success had a profound impact on popular music, and contributed to the continued popularity of the piano in rock and roll.

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Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton (born Eric Patrick Clapton in Ripley, Surrey, England on 30 March 1945), nicknamed “Slowhand”, is a Grammy Award winning English composer, singer and guitarist who became one of the most respected artists of the rock era, winning three inductions into the rock and roll hall of fame. Clapton’s musical style has changed during his career, but has remained rooted in the blues.

Clapton is credited as an innovator in several phases of his career, which have included blues-rock with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and The Yardbirds (1963-1965), early single hit “Come With Me” by The Roosters, blues-hard rock (with Cream), and work as a sideman and a solo artist; he has achieved chart success in genres ranging from delta blues (Unplugged) and psychedelic rock (Sunshine of Your Love) to pop (Change the World) and reggae (I Shot the Sheriff).

Eric Clapton was a friend of George Harrison of the Beatles. It is believed that he wrote Layla about Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, whom he married in 1979 after she divorced George Harrison. They divorced in 1988. Eric Clapton has also dated singers Marianne Faithfull and Rosanne Cash, actresses Patsy Kensit and Sharon Stone, and rock muses Cynrinda Fox and Geraldine Edwards, who was one of the inspirations for Penny Lane in Almost Famous. He is now married to Melia McEnry and has been since 2002. They have three daughters together.

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Green Day

Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tré Cool and guitarist and backing vocalist Jason White, who became a full member after playing in the band as a session and touring guitarist for 13 years. Cool replaced former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990, prior to the recording of the band’s second studio album, Kerplunk (1992).

Green Day was originally part of the punk scene at the DIY 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band’s early releases were from the independent record label Lookout! Records. In 1994, its major label debut Dookie released through Reprise Records became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands Sublime, Bad Religion, The Offspring and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States.

Green Day’s three follow-up albums, Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), and Warning (2000) did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, though they were still successful, with Insomniac and Nimrod reaching double platinum and Warning reaching gold status. The band’s rock opera, American Idiot (2004), reignited the band’s popularity with a younger generation, selling five million copies in the United States. The band’s eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009 which achieved the band’s best chart performance to date. 

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Nirvana

Nirvana was an American grunge band. The band formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987, and it was part of the Seattle grunge scene of the late 80s, alongside bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. As their popularity rose, alternative rock became a dominant genre on American and Canadian radio and music television during the early-to-mid ’90s.

In late 1987, Cobain and Novoselic recruited drummer Aaron Burckhard (1987–1988).The three practiced material from Cobain’s Fecal Matter tape. After losing contact with Burckhard, the pair instead practised with Dale Crover of the Melvins, and Nirvana recorded its first demos in January 1988. Their first single, a cover version of “Love Buzz”, a song by Dutch group ‘Shocking Blue’, was released in November 1988 on the Seattle independent record label Sub Pop. Their debut album, ‘Bleach’, was produced by Jack Endino and released in June 1989. Later that year, the band recorded the ‘Blew EP’ with producer Steve Fisk.

At the start of the new decade, the band commenced their first recording sessions to the follow-up album with producer Butch Vig, substituted their drummer by Dave Grohl and signed to DGC Records. The result, ‘Nevermind’, would eventually sell over seven million copies in the United States, and over 30 million worldwide. 

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Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band’s line-up has included Stone Gossard (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Mike McCready (guitar), and Eddie Vedder (vocals). The band’s fifth and current drummer is Matt Cameron, of Soundgarden, who has been with the band since 1998.

Formed after the demise of Gossard and Ament’s previous band, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with its debut album, Ten, in 1991. One of the key bands of the grunge movement in the early 1990s, over the course of the band’s career, its members became noted for their refusal to adhere to traditional music industry practices, including refusing to make music videos, giving interviews and engaging in a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having “spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame.”

To date, the band has sold more than 31.5 million records in the U.S, and an estimated 60 million worldwide. Pearl Jam has outlasted and outsold many of its contemporaries from the alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands of the decade. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to Pearl Jam as “the most popular American rock & roll band of the ’90s.”

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The Cure

The Cure are a rock band which formed in 1976 in Crawley, England, United Kingdom. The band originally consisted of Robert Smith (vocals, guitar), Porl Thompson (guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass) and Lol Tolhurst (drums), with the band’s lineup overgoing several changes throughout the years and Smith remaining as the only constant member throughout the band’s history. The band currently consists of Smith (vocals, guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Roger O’Donnell (keyboards), Jason Cooper (drums) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar). The Cure has released 13 studio albums and have sold 27 million albums worldwide and are considered a major influence on alternative rock, goth rock and new wave music.

The Cure’s full lineup history is as follows: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar 1976-present), Lol Tolhurst (drums, keyboards 1976-1989), Michael Dempsey (bass 1976-1979), Porl Thompson (guitar, keyboards 1976-1978, 1983-1992, 2005 -2010), Simon Gallup (bass, keyboards 1979-1982, 1985-present), Matthieu Hartley (keyboards 1979 -1980), Andy Anderson (drums 1983-1984), Phil Thornalley (bass 1983-1984), Boris Williams (drums 1984-1994), Roger O’Donnell (keyboards 1987 -1990, 1995-2005, 2011-present), Perry Bamonte (guitar, keyboards 1990-2005), Jason Cooper drums 1995-present) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar 2012-present)

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4 Non Blondes

The 4 Non Blondes were an early-90s American alternative rock band. Lead vocalist Linda Perry has since released solo work and produced songs on hit albums by P!nk, Lisa Marie Presley and Christina Aguilera. The band consisted of bassist Christa Hillhouse, guitarist Roger Rocha, drummer Dawn Richardson and vocalist Linda Perry. The 4 Non Blondes had a huge hit single in 1993 with “What’s Up”. A year later, DJ Miko remixed the track as a dance song, and it became a hit again, on radio and in clubs. The original version of the song overshadowed the groups’ other work, with them being labeled as a ‘one hit wonder’, but they scored significant underground success, particularly with listeners drawn to their feminist political themes. In 1995, The4 Non Blondes contributed the song “Misty Mountain Hop” to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin. The group also covered Van Halen’s “I’m The One” for the popular slacker comedy ‘Airheads’. Linda Perry went solo in 1996, and the band disbanded after recording, but not releasing, their second album.

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The Cranberries

The Cranberries is an alternative rock band from Limerick, Ireland that formed in 1989 and rose to mainstream popularity in the early 1990’s. The band consists of Dolores O’Riordan (vocals, keyboards, guitars), Noel Hogan (guitars, vocals, also a member of Mono Band), Mike Hogan (bass, vocals), and Fergal Lawler (drums, percussion, also a member of The Low Network). The band went on hiatus in 2003 and reunited in the summer of 2009. Combining the melodic jangle of post-The Smiths indie pop with the lilting, trance-inducing sonic textures of late-80s dream pop and adding a slight Celtic tint, The Cranberries became one of the more successful groups to emerge from the indie scene of the early 90s. Led by vocalist Dolores O’Riordan, whose keening, powerful voice is the most distinctive element of the group’s sound, the group initially made little impact in the United Kingdom. It wasn’t until the lush ballad “Linger” became an American hit in 1993 that the band also achieved mass success in the U.K. Following the success of “Linger”, The Cranberries quickly became international stars, as both their 1993 debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, and its 1994 follow-up, No Need to Argue, sold millions of copies and produced a string of hit singles like “Dreams”, “Zombie” and “Ode to My Family”. By the time of their third album, 1996’s To the Faithful Departed, the group had added distorted guitars to its sonic palette and attempted to make more socially significant music, which resulted in a downturn in the band’s commercial fortunes

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Motley Crue

Mötley Crüe is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has been described through the years as one of the world’s best-selling groups of all time, having sold more than 75 million records, including 25 million in the U.S.
The members of the band have often been noted for their hedonistic lifestyles and the persona they maintained. Various original members have had numerous brushes with the law, spent time in prison, suffered from alcoholism, suffered from long addictions to drugs such as cocaine and heroin, had countless escapades with women and are heavily tattooed. The band is considered as a part of the first wave of glam metal. Their ninth and most recent studio album, Saints Of Los Angeles, was released on June 24, 2008, and was certified Gold in January 2012. The band is currently embarking on a final tour that will continue through 2015 before retiring.

Early years (1981–1983)

Mötley Crüe was formed in 1981, when bass guitarist Nikki Sixx left the band London and began rehearsing with drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon. Lee had worked previously with Leon in a band called Suite 19 and the trio practiced together for some time with Leon eventually deciding not to continue. Sixx and Lee then began a search for new members and soon met guitarist Bob Deal, better known as Mick Mars.

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Simply Red

Simply Red is an English pop band, formed in the mid 1980s. Simply Red’s roots originate from the notorious 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Manchester art student Mick Hucknall was one of the many young music fans present (along with original members of The Fall, Joy Division, The Smiths and Buzzcocks) who was inspired to form a band after witnessing that gig. The first incarnation of the band was a punk group called The Frantic Elevators. This band existed for 7 years, with limited releases on local labels, but split in 1984 with only limited local attention and critical acclaim for their final single, “Holding Back the Years”. After the demise of the Frantic Elevators, Hucknall linked up with manager Elliot Rashman. By early 1985 Hucknall and Rashman had assembled a band of local session musicians and began to attract record company attention. Around this time the group adopted the name Simply Red (after Hucknall’s nickname, which denoted hair color, football allegiance to Manchester United and left-wing political affiliation). They signed to Elektra in 1985, with the somewhat changeable line-up of Hucknall, Tony Bowers (bass), Fritz McIntyre (keyboards), Tim Kellett (brass), Sylvan Richardson (guitar) and Chris Joyce (drums). Their first single, released in 1985, was “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)”, a cover of a soul standard originally recorded by The Valentine Brothers. This single had moderate success, reaching the UK Top 20.

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Candlebox

Candlebox is a rock band from Seattle, Washington. Formed in December 1991, they originally named the band Uncle Duke and later changed it as a tribute to a song by Midnight Oil. They were sometimes looked down upon by grunge fans for their style, which was considered by many to be a derivative version of true grunge, and their commercial success suffered as a result. Despite this, the band played the Seattle club circuit during the early 1990s to the many of the same fans who had supported many of the bands that had come immediately before them. The members did not consider Candlebox to be a grunge band however; they viewed themselves as a rock and roll band more than anything. Nevertheless, Candlebox had sold more than 4 million copies of their self-titled debut which, after many months of gaining momentum, peaked at number 7 on Billboard’s album charts. Their follow up album, Lucy, was certified as platinum. Their third and last album was Happy Pills, which was released in 1998. Candlebox was the first successful act on Madonna’s Maverick Records, which went on to sign Alanis Morissette, Deftones, and Prodigy. Candlebox was known for an explosive live show and throughout their 8 year career, they toured with such bands as Living Colour, The Flaming Lips, Our Lady Peace, Rush, Henry Rollins, and Metallica. They were also a featured band on the main-stage at Woodstock ‘94 and made repeat live performances on the David Letterman show. Later, they had a line up change when Mercado and Klett go off to play with other band Lotus Crust.

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Skid Row

Skid Row is a rock band that was formed by bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave Sabo, who got the band a quick record deal through being close friends with Jon Bon Jovi, lead singer of popular hard rock band Bon Jovi. In 1987 Gary Moore, of the other band name Skid Row, sold the rights to the name for $35,000. The band signed a deal with Atlantic Records and their first self-titled album was finally released in 1989. It included their three most famous songs: “18 and Life”, “I Remember You” and their first single “Youth Gone Wild”. They performed at the Moscow peace festival in 1989 along with Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, Gorky Park, Bon Jovi and Cinderella.

During 1990, the band prepared to record their sophomore record. Spring 1991 saw the release of “Slave To The Grind”; Though not as successful sales-wise as the first album it reached #1 on the American Billboard album charts. In the following year, there was a five-song EP of covers called “B-Side Ourselves”

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Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams OC, OBC, (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and photographer. Some of his best-known albums are Reckless, 18 til I Die, and Waking Up the Neighbours.

Bryan Adams was already popular in Canada when the release of his third album ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ in 1983 brought him a large following in the USA. His fourth album, ‘Reckless’, often referred to as one of the most significant of the 1980s, sold over 4 million copies at the time and continues to sell now. His fifth album ‘Into the Fire’ went platinum.
‘Waking Up The Neighbours’, his sixth album in 1991, powered him to international stardom. The single ‘(Everything I Do) I Do For You’ spent 16 weeks at number 1; it broke a UK record that had stood since 1955 and still stands today. Across in the USA it became the second largest selling single to ‘We Are The World’. The song was featured in the film ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991) and for this Mr Adams received his first Academy Award nomination. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe.
42 film Directors’ have used Adams’ music as soundtrack - from A Night In Heaven (1983) to Bobby (2007).
Adams was awarded the C.M. (Member of the Order of Canada) on April 20th 1998 and the C.O. (Officer of the Order of Canada) on May 6th 1988 for his contribution to popular music and his philanthropic work. He was also inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 1998, and more recently inducted into the Music Hall of Fame at Canada’s Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys) in April 2006

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Survivor

Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978 by Jim Peterik. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its arena rock sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger," the theme song for the motion picture Rocky III (US number 1 for 6 weeks). Singles like "Burning Heart" (US number 2), "The Search Is Over" (US number 4), "High on You" (US number 8), "Is This Love" (US number 9) and "I Can't Hold Back" (US number 13) continued to chart in the mid-1980s. The band tweaked its musical direction in 1988 with the release of the slightly heavier Too Hot to Sleep, but due to lackluster promotion the album barely reached the Billboard 200 in the United States. Because of this and tension between founding members, the band split. Singer Jimi Jamison later toured as "Survivor" in the mid-1990s without the permission of the rest of the band, but reunited with Sullivan in 2000. The band then released Reach in 2006, but Jamison left again after its release and was replaced by singer Robin McAuley. Survivor continued to tour with McAuley into 2011 until Jamison returned later that year. An announcement on November 13, 2011 by McAuley on his Facebook page revealed that he had left Survivor. A subsequent announcement on November 18, 2011 confirmed that Jamison had rejoined the band and a tour was to take place in 2012. In April 2013 it was announced by the band's official media sources that guitarist Frankie Sullivan had reunited the current Survivor line-up with original singer Dave Bickler, with the band now having their two most popular vocalists together for the next tour, Bickler and Jamison.[1] On September 1, 2014 Jamison died of what was believed to be a heart attack in his home in Memphis, TN. at the age of 63. His autopsy released on November 11, 2014 revealed the actual cause of death to be a hemorrhagic brain stroke, with "acute methamphetamine intoxication contributing.

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Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is a hard rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Fronted by lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.), the group originally achieved large-scale success in the 80s. Over the past 25 years, the band has sold over 120 million albums worldwide, 34 million of those sales being in the U.S. alone, making them one of the most successful modern groups of all time. They continue to have widely popular tours.

Bon Jovi formed in 1983. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi teamed up with guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, bassist Alec John Such, and drummer Tico Torres. Other than the departure of Alec John Such in 1994, which pared the lineup down to a quartet, the lineup has remained the same for the past 27 years.
The group took influence from contemporary arena-ready hard rock bands such as Aerosmith and Deep Purple among others while also seeking a catchy, pop-oriented vibe focused on slick guitar and keyboard riffs, with Bon Jovi becoming a key part in what was to become ‘pop metal’ music. After releasing two moderately successful albums in 1984 and 1985, which resulted in the production of some popular singles such as “Runaway” (the band’s first Top 40 hit in the U.S.), the band scored big with ‘Slippery When Wet’ (1986) and ‘New Jersey’ (1988). Those two albums sold a combined 19 million copies in the U.S. alone, charted eight Top Ten hits, and launched the band into global super-stardom.

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Warrant

There are two groups by this name. Warrant is a glam metal band from Los Angeles, California that enjoyed its greatest success in 1990 with the album ‘Cherry Pie’. Spearheaded by frontman Jani Lane, the band’s brand of metal was often loud, cheesy, sex-obsessed, and usually delivered with a mischievous sense of humor. The generally lighthearted band became known for raucous party anthems (such as “Down Boys” and “Cherry Pie”) but also featured a versatility producing sentimental, melodic power ballads (such as “Bed of Roses”, “Heaven”, and “I Saw Red”).

Formed in 1984, the group endured several line-up changes and soul-searching before coalescing around vocalist Jani Lane, guitarist Erik Turner, guitarist Joey Allen, bassist Jerry Dixon, and drummer Steven Sweet. In January 1988, Warrant signed a contract with Columbia Records. They then released their debut album, which they titled ‘Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich’. Although coming in at the tail end of the 80s pop metal boom, their tuneful rock brought them some critical and commercial acclaim, the album reaching the #10 slot on the Billboard 200 top albums chart.

The band’s second record, ‘Cherry Pie’, was released in March 1990, and spawned the hits “Cherry Pie”, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, and “I Saw Red”. It reached the Top Ten in the United States, and went on to sell over three million copies. The group found the title song, written by the band under studio pressure with the lyrics literally composed on a pizza box, a ‘throw-away’ type tune, giving them a commercial breakthrough. Yet their other tracks showed a desire to branch out into diverse subject matter and styles

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Poison

Poison is a glam metal band from Los Angeles. Formed by drummer Rikki Rockett and singer Bret Michaels. they started out in Pennsylvania in the early 80s. Their first band together was called the Spectres. They left the Spectres and started Paris with bassist Bobby Dall. They then moved to Los Angeles, where they parted ways with guitarist Matt Smith. Many people tried out for Poison’s vacant lead guitar spot, including soon-to-be Guns N’ Roses lead axeman Slash.

After hiring C.C. DeVille, they changed their name to the more edgy ‘’Poison’’ and started working their way up the L.A. Club scene. In 1986 they recorded their debut album ‘’Look What the Cat Dragged In’‘, which was made succesful by their massive hit ‘’Talk Dirty to Me’‘, whose video was played on a constant rotation on MTV. Poison’s next album, the fan favorite ‘’Open Up and Say… AH!’’ was carried on the shoulders of the chart topping ballad ‘’Every Rose Has Its Thorn’‘, written by Bret Michaels about his girlfriend cheating on him with Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow. Poison’s third album, Flesh & Blood, showed Poison’s more mainstream side. After Flesh & Blood came out, Poison started going downhill. C.C. DeVille was in a constant drug binge and couldn’t be found.

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