Corinne Bailey Rae Biography (1979-)

Neo-soul songstress Corinne Bailey Rae was born in Leeds, England, in 1979 to a British mother and West Indian father. Displaying an interest in music from an early age, Rae studied classical violin until she acquired an electric guitar in her early teens. Inspired by such ’90s alt-rock icons as L7, Veruca Salt, and others, Rae formed her first…

Alexa Ray Joel Biography (1986-)

Listening to Alexa Ray Joel’s music, it’s not difficult to imagine the young singer, songwriter, and pianist had parents who nurtured her love of music and encouraged her to follow her muse. You might not guess that one of them was pop star Billy Joel, given the jazz-influenced textures and deeply personal yet playfully insouciant lyrical perspective…

Anna Faris Biography (1976-)

Difficult to recognize in her natural blonde state following her turn as a raven-haired Neve Campbell knockoff in Scary Movie (2000), Anna Faris made her professional acting debut at the tender age of nine at Washington’s Seattle Repertory Theater. Refining her skills in improvisational theater, Faris later found roles in commercials and small local productions, though her future…

Susanna Hoffs Biography (1959-)

After the Bangles disbanded in 1989, vocalist/guitarist Susanna Hoffs began her own solo career. Two years after the band’s demise, she released When You’re A Boy, which featured songs written by Cyndi Lauper, Juliana Hatfield and Diane Warren. As the wide array of songwriters suggest, the album was a little unfocused — alternating between jangling guitar-pop and synth-laden…

Billie Piper Biography (1982-)

In 1998 a 15-year-old female singer named Billie Piper took the United Kingdom’s music scene by storm with her hit single “Because We Want To.” When the contagious pop song found a number one spot on the charts, it made Piper the youngest solo artist to reach that goal. Her second single, “Girlfriend,” also started out with a tight…

Blu Cantrell Biography (1976-)

As she grew up in Providence, R.I., with her five siblings, Blu Cantrell was toted from one jazz performance to another to watch her mother sing. From that point forward, she knew what she wanted to do, and began auditioning for vocal gigs and displaying her dynamic alto at talent shows. On a visit to Atlanta in 2000, Cantrell…

Renee Olstead Biography (1989-)

By the age of 14, Reneé Olstead had already amassed a list of credits that could prompt an envious reaction from nearly any adult. Her appearances in hit films and television programs along with a major-label music debut have practically made her a veteran in the entertainment world. Born in Houston, Olstead developed a great love for music…

Chris Daughtry Biography (1979-)

Bo Bice proved that American Idol could have a rocker as a finalist, but Chris Daughtry proved that the show could generate a successful rocker outside the context of the show. Of course, it helped that Daughtry  was the polar opposite of Bice, a shaggy retro-rocker soaked in the South: bold and bald, he was the picture of…

Lena Horne Biography (1917-2010)

(born June 30, 1917, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) American singer and actress who first came to fame in the 1940s.

Horne left school at age 16 to help support her ailing mother and became a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City. In two years at the Cotton Club she appeared with such entertainers as Cab Calloway…

Katie Melua Biography (1984-)

Plucked from music school obscurity by songwriter/producer Mike Batt, Katie Melua saw her debut bolt up the U.K. charts upon its release there in late 2003. Melua was born in Soviet Georgia in 1984. Eventually, she and her family moved to Belfast, Ireland, and finally to London, where Melua entered the B.R.I.T. School for the Performing Arts &…

Billy Joel Biography (1949-)

(born May 9, 1949, Bronx, N.Y., U.S.) American singer, pianist, and songwriter in the pop ballad tradition. His greatest popularity was in the 1970s and ’80s.

The son of a German-Jewish Holocaust survivor but raised as a Roman Catholic in Hicksville, a middle-class suburb on Long Island, N.Y., Joel was steered toward classical music by his parents and began…