International artists

2005-05-11

Angelique Kidjo (Benin)

Whose work has garnered her three Grammy nominations, has cross-pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with a diverse group of international artists like Santana and Gilberto Gil. "There's only own humankindI believe that to my gut," Kidjo says. "The reason I believe this so strongly is because I was raised in Africa , and if you are raised in nature, you understand and respect every life. That's something that some people try to keep away from one another, because once you understand that, there's no need to hate anybody anymore. There's no need to say they' and we'we are all one." Kidjo sings in English, French and African languages Yoruba and Fon. Her hits include the songs Agolo, Aye, and Batonga

For more information, see: http://ayemusic.free.fr/accueil.html

Bongo Maffin (SA)

It's the sound of South Africa today. The sound of the first generation of South Africans unshackled from the specter of apartheid. It's the sound of Bongo Maffin, one of the most popular groups in South Africa today, leading "kwaito" music into the future and across the planet.

Bongo Maffin formed in 1996, starting as a project of South African deejay Oscar. The trio's music is firmly rooted in the rhythms of house music, but they incorporate reggae, dancehall, rap and contemporary R&B. The group, however, also gives props to their homeland, adding the sounds from South Africa 's many homegrown genres.

Bongo Maffin's singular mix of groove and spirituality, cutting edge and tradition has already made them one of the biggest sounds on South African dance floors. Undoubtedly the world's dance floors are next.

For more information, see:

http://www.lightyear.com/music/world/africa/bongomaffin/#Bio

Brian May (UK)

He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s as the guitarist of the rock group Queen and composed many of Queen's hits: "We Will Rock You", "Hammer to Fall", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "I Want it All", "The Show Must Go On".

Throughout the last several years, he has overseen the remastering of Queen albums. In 2004, he announced he and drummer Roger Taylor were going on tour for the first in 18 years as "Queen," along with Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers. The tour is being billed as "Queen + Paul Rodgers Spring 2005."

He has been quoted throughout the years as saying: "I live in my head too much."

For more information, see: http://www.brianmay.com/

Jivan Gasparyan (Armenia)

He is a famous Armenian musician and composer. He plays the duduk, a native Armenian shalmey, a relative of the orchestral oboe.

He has won four world-wide gold Medal UNESCO competitions. He has the unique distinction of being the only musician to be given the honorary title of People's Artist of Armenia in 1973. In 2002, he received the WOMEX (World Music Expo) lifetime achievement award.

He has collaborated with many artists, such as Lionel Richie, Peter Gabriel and Michael Brook.

For more information, see: http://www.hermesrecords.com/Jivan.htm

Johnny Clegg (UK/SA)

Sometimes Johnny Clegg is called "the White Zulu", who has recorded and performed with his bands Juluka and Savuka. He is an important figure in South African popular music history, with songs that mix Zulu and English lyrics, and African / European / Celtic music styles.

In June 2004, Clegg and Savuka toured North America for the first time in over eight years, doing 22 concerts in one month. Even though they had no albums for sale in North America during those eight years, they filled most of their venues. At the close of the final concert at the Keswick Theater in Philadelphia, he stated that he was amazed at the reception they had gotten, and promised to return the following year with a full band. He then thanked his Internet fans for their support. In 2004 he was voted 23rd in the Top 100 Great South Africans.

For more information, see: www.johnnyclegg.com

Razorlight (UK/S)

A British-Swedish underground rock and roll band formed in 2002. Their sound is best described as post punk New Wave music stripped-down to the acoustic as opposed to the synthetic.

Their debut album, Up All Night, was released on June 28th, 2004. On July 4th it reached number 3 in the UK album charts. The critical reception was generally reasonably good, receiving good reviews from NME, Q magazine and Billboard,.

NME wrote that the album "bristles with passion, energy and, most importantly, amazing songs". Their fans, embrace the music for its usage of layering simple melodies to achieve their token multi-layered, catchy, and easy-going compositions.

Up All Night was re-issued in April 2005, including the new and previously unreleased single "Somewhere Else" which peaked at #2 that month, giving them their biggest hit single so far in their short career.

Their lineup is as follows:

Johnny Borrell - Vocals/guitar

Björn Ågren - Guitar

Carl Dalemo - Bass

Christian (Smith) Pancorvo - Drums (2003-2004)

Andy Burrows - Drums (2004)

For more information, see: www.razorlight.co.uk

Robert Plant (UK)

Rock singer most famous for being the lead singer of one of the most influential rock bands of all time Led Zeppelin. He is known for his powerful style with a wide vocal range that embodied folk/blues passion at its finest. The band's greatest success came with "Stairway to Heaven", an epic fantasy piece that draws influence from folk, blues, Celtic traditional music and hard rock.

Early in 2001 Robert formed another new band, Strange Sensation. When the band first played they were billed as Robert Plant and his Strange Sensations but were eventually called The Strange Sensation when they hit the states.

Robert Plant & The Strange ensation released their most recent album in April 2005 - Mighty Rearranger - with his new band The Strange Sensation.

In Norway the critical reception was very good from the major national Norwegian press. VG wrote: "At his most excellent, he is not far from the best he did with Led Zeppelin". Also Dagsavisen gave Plant top score, and called the album "Big and Mighty".

For more information, see: www.robertplant.com

Sharon Corr (Ireland)

She is a member of the Irish folk-rock band The Corrs.

The Corrs were formed in 1991, and their first album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, had its greatest success in Australia. They followed this up with Talk On Corners, which was very popular in Ireland and Britain. Both have been certified gold in the United States and the recent In Blue has been certified platinum by the The Recording Industry Association of America. In 2004, they released Borrowed Heaven, which has been very popular in Ireland.

For more information see: http://www.thecorrswebsite.com/index2.htm

Zucchero (IT)

Zucchero has become one of the most famous Italian rock singers.

He is probably best known internationally for the song Senza Una Donna. His music, both in Italian and in English, is largely inspired by gospel music, and alternates between syrupy ballads and more rythmic boogie-like pieces. He sang several duets with Joe Cocker, Miles Davis, Paul Young, Sting, Luciano Pavarotti, and Johnny Hallyday.

In 1999, he collaborated with singer Tom Jones for a track on the latter's album Reload.

For more information, see: http://www.zucchero.it/english/english.htm

Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel join Mandela for 46664 ARCTIC

International artists

Top artists to 46664 Arctic