Black Eyed Peas

They've transcended their vigilant hip-hop roots and have become a global phenomenon, the likes of which the music world has rarely seen. Ever-curious and ever-confident, that group is The Black Eyed Peas, and after energizing crowds 'round the globe with the monster-stomp of Elephunk, it's time for the quartet - William, Fergie, apl.de.ap and Taboo to get down to business - Monkey Business, that is.

2003's Elephunk was a breakthrough album for The Black Eyed Peas, vaulting them to a level of success unparalleled by any other hip-hop group. The accolades are quick to recite: sales approaching 7 X platinum in Canada, 7.5 million albums sold worldwide, 1 Grammy award, and an unforgettable performance on the 2005 Grammy broadcast. But fitted with loose rhymes, buoyant anthemic funk and an ebullient live spirit, the album also heralded a new sound for the modern age - one that is inspired by hip-hop, eschews boundaries and inhibitions, and cuts across ages, races and backgrounds. It is a sound that can be described only as One Nation Under A Black Eyed Peas Groove.

But if Elephunk was the group being crowned prince of the castle, then Monkey Business, their fourth album, is The Black Eyed Peas conquering the throne to become King. It is an album that further intensifies their passion for making music together, for connecting with their audience through the most fundamental of ways: making people have a good time. It is a credo that has inspired the group since they formed in the late 1990s, earning their keep in the nurturing environment of Los Angeles' vibrant hip-hop underground. Even then, the group possessed a magnetic spirit that helped them establish a worldwide following through their first two albums, 1998's Behind The Front and 2000's Bridging The Gap.

In many ways, Monkey Business is a direct descendant of its predecessor. The success of Elephunk kept the group touring around the globe for nearly 18 months. "In going on the road for so long, we got an idea of what kind of music we wanted to play and make," explains will.i.am. "Monkey Business is very much about the types of songs we play live. It's about a party. It's layered differently and has energy to it that reflects how we tour - from the beats to the types of instruments we used to how we interact with the audience. It's very much about us and the crowd on this record."

Monkey Business was literally produced and recorded during The Black Eyed Peas everlasting road trip. "I was in Brazil doing some CD shopping," will.i.am recalls. "I came across this compilation and I thought it was one thing but it turned out to be something else. The Dick Dale song 'Miserlou,' was on it. At first I was angry - this isn't what I wanted to buy," he laughs. "But then, really, that song is hot. I said, 'we should do a song like this.' I jump-started the computer and made some beats on the train. Then we had to fly to Tokyo and I tightened up the beat on the plane. Then I recorded vocals in this park in Tokyo. And that's how we recorded the song, 'Pump It.'"

The song, a jump-up party anthem, is one of the featured tracks on Monkey Business - and made its debut in a commercial for Best Buy electronics. "It's the beauty of technology now - you can record anywhere, anytime, any which way. And I love that song because it feels like our live shows, it has that energy."

Monkey Business also furthers the bond the group forged as friends during the making of Elephunk. Before recording that album, the three original members of The Black Eyed Peas - will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo - had been ensnared by personal demons. "I remember that we were each talking about the things that were haunting us and seemed to be crippling us," recalls will.i.am. Adding the vocal talents of singer, Fergie, the group used music as a therapeutic vehicle. Making music with that near-desperate fervor also is maintained on Monkey Business, says will.i.am. "You're always challenged not to go back to those bad habits in life," he says. "When you're comfortable living, you sometimes think that, well, I beat it once so I can do it again. But you never really escape the things that haunt you."

Thus, making Monkey Business became an effort put forth by all the members of the group - the first the foursome co-wrote together - and the more sophisticated songwriting; the layered grooves of the record and its fulfilled spirit reflect that. "This was really about all of us building a house together," says will.i.am.

"Don't Phunk With My Heart" is a gripping soulful serenade that will.i.am describes as a sequel to The Black Eyed Peas song, "Shut Up." "Not sonically but in subject matter," he clarifies. "When you're on bad terms with a significant other, you don't want to break up. You tell her things and at the time you really mean them. But she's saying, stop f****ing with me."

If it sounds like the personal lives of the members infiltrated their songwriting, it is mostly because it did. "Don't Lie," is a song will.i.am says was born of true experience of deceptively bending the truth to an ex-girlfriend. "It's a song about owning up and apologizing and realizing your faults. It's about being a man or a woman - an adult - and confronting situations honestly."

Singer Justin Timberlake joins the group again for the song, "My Style." He first sang on the song, "Where Is The Love?," the breakout single from Elephunk. "We get along real well," says will.i.am, "and he sees music in a very similar way. Plus, he's just a good dude." The song was produced by famed beat-maker Timbaland. "I like experiencing things I've never experienced before," will.i.am says. "It brings you out of your comfort zone and that can be creatively inspiring. And Timbaland is an incredible talent."

Other collaborators join The Black Eyed Peas on this album, too, like Sting on "Union." Neo-folk singer, Jack Johnson is sampled on the song, "Gone Going." The Peas also got to live something of a dream when they hooked up with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, for the song, "They Don't Want Music."

Celine Dion

By 1988, Celine had established a strong name for herself in her native province of Quebec,
where she was enjoying superstar status, receiving numerous Felix Awards and racking up
platinum albums. That same year, Celine won the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest in
Dublin Ireland, where she performed live before a television audience of 600 million viewers
throughout Europe, the USSR, the Middle East, Japan, and Australia.
In September, 1990 Celine released "Unison" - her first English-language album and her first
for Sony Music - and scored a breakthrough US hit with the Top 5 single "Where Does My
Heart Beat Now."
Celine's international breakthrough came when she recorded the title track for the soundtrack
to the animated Disney hit movie "Beauty and the Beast." The song went to #1, garnering an
Academy Award for Best Song and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocal. "Beauty and the Beast" became the cornerstone for Celine's second
English language album, simply titled "Celine Dion." That album produced four more hit
singles including "Love Can Move Mountains," "Water From The Moon," "If You Asked Me
To" and "Did You Give Enough Love." In Canada, the album went six times platinum and set
the stage for an incredible streak of Juno Awards.
On December 17, 1994, Celine Dion and René Angélil were married at Notre Dame Basilica
in Montreal.
At this time, the Celine juggernaut started rolling at a momentous pace in the UK. British
fans took extremely well to "Think Twice," a ballad on "The Colour Of My Love." For five
consecutive weeks, the song and album stood on top of the respective British charts, an
achievement not replicated since 1965 during the heyday of The Beatles. "Think Twice"
remained at #1 for two more weeks, surpassing the magic million mark to become only the
fourth million-selling single ever in the UK by a female artist. With "D'eux," Celine achieved
a feat which everyone thought impossible: she'd successfully introduced French music to the
top rungs of the British charts. Selling more than 7 million copies and topping charts around

the world, the album became the largest-selling French-language album and the best-selling
non-English-language album in music history. The world had truly discovered Celine Dion.
Blessed with one of popular music's great voices, she has crossed all barriers - including that
of language - with her electrifying series of international hits. Given her breakneck pace of
recording, video shoots, touring and appearances on TV shows and awards specials, it seems
like Celine has time for little else. Not the case when it comes to causes she believes in.
Celine has used her talents to further the cause of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
In fact, one of Celine's most emotional songs ("Vole," from the "D'eux" album, later
translated into English as the song "Fly," which appears on the "Falling Into You" album) is a
touching memorial to her niece, Karine, who was taken from her by this disease.
Released in March 1996, "Falling Into You" became that year's best-selling album. Topping
the charts in 11 countries, "Falling Into You" was voted Album of the Year and Best Pop
Album at the 39th annual Grammy Awards ceremony and has gone on to sell more than 30
million copies worldwide.

John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, and together with Paul McCartney formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager, his first band, The Quarrymen, evolving into The Beatles in 1960. As the group began to undergo the disintegration that led to their break-up towards the end of that decade, Lennon launched a solo career that would span the next, punctuated by critically acclaimed albums, including John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine".

Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, his writing, on film, and in interviews, and became controversial through his work as a peace activist. He moved to New York City in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon's administration to deport him, while his songs were adapted as anthems by the anti-war movement. Disengaging himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to his family, Lennon reemerged in October 1980 with a new single and a comeback album, Double Fantasy, but was murdered weeks after their release.

Lennon's album sales in the United States alone stand at 14 million units, and as performer, writer, or co-writer he is responsible for 27 number one singles on the US Hot 100 chart.a In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth, and in 2008 Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Paul Mc Cartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record and film producer, poet, painter, and animal rights activist. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings, according to Guinness World Records, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in the history of popular music.

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the UK.

BBC News named his song "Yesterday" the most covered song in history by over 2,200 artists and, according to the BBC has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 32 number one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the US alone.

McCartney has worked on film scores and classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. He is a keen football fan, supporting both Everton and Liverpool football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. McCartney is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010.

Justin Timberlake

There are few artists who truly deserve the title of superstar. Justin Timberlake is undoubtedly one of them. As one fifth of the multiplatinum *NSYNC, he's responsible for the monster hits "Pop," "Gone" and "Girlfriend" on the group's last album Celebrity. With *NSYNC sales of over 30 million worldwide, Timberlake is ready to temporarily branch out on his own for his highly anticipated solo effort, Justified.

It would have been easy for Timberlake to repeat the same winning formula as *NSYNC for his own album. "I didn't wanna look back 5 years from now and regret not trying something different," says Timberlake. His musical tastes are so diverse; soulful R&B, hip hop, rock, blues, country and Justified thoroughly reflects all those genres. Although this Memphis native is only 21, his musical knowledge is extremely well rounded. "It's not like I set out to create some new sound, I just wrote what I wanted to hear and drew inspiration from the past," he says. As co-writer on the album's 13 tracks, Timberlake proves his talent as a songwriter once again.

The hit-making team The Neptunes produced 7 songs on the album. "After working with Pharrell and Chad on "Girlfriend," we had such a connection that it was a no-brainer to work with them again," says Timberlake. The combination this time around is a risk-taking journey to unchartered musical territory.

The first single "Like I Love You," produced by The Neptunes, feels like something Prince's band would've slapped together in the middle of a jam session. "I knew it wasn't a first listen record, you'd have to hear it a couple of times before you got it," says Timberlake. "I felt it was the best song to come out with because it sets up the album. It's definitely R&B, it's got the hip-hop element, but at the same time it has a rock flair." Indeed, the song was a perfect introduction.

"Take It From Here," a Neptune production, is another Timberlake favorite. "It's basically about how when the whole world is falling apart, I'll be the one who's there to pull you back on your feet," explains Timberlake. "That is the most genuine way to say I love you to someone." The groove ballad's melody is a cross between Bill Withers and Donny Hathaway. "Although it's a soulful track I kind of treated the vocals like a rock singer. I fell off the notes, and made it feel like you're floating when you listen to it," he says. Other Neptunes' records include the R&B banger "Rock Your Body" and the Spanish influenced/blues inflected track "Senorita."

Producer Timbaland appears with 4 tracks on Justified including "(And She Said) Take Me Now" featuring Janet Jackson. However, it's "Cry Me A River" that stands out among the Timbaland-produced songs. "As soon as Timbaland made that beat, I started humming this crazy melody. I really wanted one section of the song to follow that staccato rhythm, but wanted the other parts to feel like something new," says Timberlake. The song is like a Van Gogh painting; it takes you on an incredible journey that keeps building to an epic conclusion. "Even if you don't feel the emotion of the song, the groove is undeniable. It's not one of those songs that has a certain BPM (beats per minute) because it's a bit slower than what you're used to hearing on the radio," he says. "Cry Me A River" is a hip-hop ballad that has potential in both pop and urban markets.

The other producers on the album include the Underdogs, Scott Storch, and Brian McKnight. At such a young age, Timberlake has created a masterpiece with his first album. His *NSYNC fans will not be disappointed and he'll surely gain some new ones. After all, success for Timberlake is Justified.

James Blunt

The way James Blunt sees it, we may get older, but nothing changes much from elementary school. "We seem to be in exactly the same state as when I was 8 years old. In the school playground, children gossiped about who kissed who, who said what about who, who wasn't cool because they weren't wearing the right clothes. Now, on a global scale, people write about who kissed who, who said what, and who's wearing what clothes."

In the nearly three years since Blunt released his debut album, Back to Bedlam, it has sold 11 million worldwide, going No. 1 in 18 countries and top 10 in 35. A short list of his accomplishments includes being nominated for five Grammys, landing the first No. 1 single in the U.S. ("You're Beautiful") by a British act since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997," and winning two MTV Awards and two Brit Awards.

That seemingly sudden rush to global superstardom and the attendant experiences make up much of the lyrical content of his second Custard/Atlantic album, All The Lost Souls. The 10-song cycle about life - and death - shows tremendous growth from Back to Bedlam, which Blunt calls "a very honest, slightly naïve collection of thoughts, emotions, and experiences. I wrote them without any knowledge that anyone would hear them."

This time around, he knows there's an audience eager to hear his songs about "the ups and downs of his journey." Blunt bristles at the notion that his now-lofty perch distances him from his listeners. "Just because I've been given the fickle title of celebrity, it doesn't mean I'm any less human. I go through the same things, only my mother hears about them first now," he says, laughingly referencing his frequent appearances in the tabloids.

Indeed, one listen to All The Lost Souls and it is clear Blunt is talking about what unites us, not what divides us. We all crave love, comfort, and security, especially in those times when they seem the hardest to find. Those intersections are the ones that interest Blunt the most, and on All The Lost Souls, he brings a focus, clarity and, at times, urgency to our travels.

"We go through this really amazing experience called life, and we're trying to understand it and understand why the hell we're here," he says. "I really love life. I really enjoy it, but it does trouble me. And as it goes and it ticks by - it's not very long - you kind of wonder what you're going to get out of it, where to look for greater depth and meaning, and why we do the things we do to fill it. I think we all experience that."

All The Lost Souls was found as James toured the world in support of Back to Bedlam. He wrote five songs while on the road, testing them before a very willing audience. When it came time to write the remaining songs, Blunt needed to get off the merry-go-round of the last few years and be still. In the summer of 2006, he retreated to Ibiza, off the coast of Spain. After the constant cacophony, the silence took some getting used to. "It was the first minute I had to stop and look around at what had really happened over the past three years and have a think about it," he says.

James returned again to Ibiza last winter and received songwriting assistance from a most unlikely source: "Someone had stolen my boiler, so there was no heating," he explains. "I was in the house wearing an overcoat, a hat, and fingerless gloves playing on the piano. The builder said I lived like a monk. When you're cold, no one's around, and you don't speak the language, then you can write the songs: 'This is a miserable experience.' The songs I'd written in the summer, having just stepped out of a club, were much happier."

Seeking some different flavors for the album, Blunt asked his publisher to pair him with "people who weren't necessarily the obvious writers... to just free myself." While James wrote the bulk of the album himself, his request led to collaborations with Mark Batson (Dr. Dre, Dave Matthews Band), Jimmy Hogarth (with whom he also wrote for Bedlam), Steve McEwan, Eg (cq) White, and Max Martin.

Musically, the album draws much of its inspiration from great artists of the '70s: "Fleetwood Mac, Don McLean, Elton John, maybe a touch of Steely Dan in there, and if I'm lucky, a bit of Bowie," he says, before cheekily adding, "and if I'm lying I might as well add Zeppelin as well."

The album opens with the layered, rollicking "1973," a nostalgic look back at sharing great times with friends. Songs such as "One of the Brightest Stars" and "Annie" deal with the vagaries and distortions that fame can bring. "Carry You Home" and "I'll Take Everything" tackle our fragile mortality, while "I Really Want You" and "Same Mistake" showcase Blunt at his most vulnerable.

The Sandhurst graduate who served in Kosovo admits that he finds language limiting, but, in song, he finds the freedom to write what he can't speak. "My music is autobiographical. It's my expression and it's for me," he says. "It's a necessary expression; otherwise I'd just be this Brit that has a shell." As for those who may find his confessions too dramatic, he quotes Jeff Buckley: "Sensitivity isn't being wimpy; it's about being so painfully aware that a flea landing on a dog is like a sonic boom."

When it came time to record in Los Angeles with Back to Bedlam producer Tom Rothrock, Blunt brought in the boys from the road. The recording marked a sharp contrast to "Bedlam," which was tracked with studio musicians and then with Blunt overdubbing many of the instruments himself. This time, "I sat behind a piano or a guitar and played the band the songs and described what I wanted from them," he says. "We'd been touring together for two-and-a-half years. They know exactly what it is I'm after, and it takes very little time for them to put the flesh on a skeleton."

With the recording behind him, Blunt is eager to get back before his fans. "Touring is the most fun you can possibly have," he says. "It's the best invention anyone ever came up with." Yet even he imagines a day - hopefully in the far, far future - when the audiences are no longer there. On the album's closer, "I Can't Hear the Music," he sings with a quiet resolve that even after the fans' applause has faded and the curtain has come down for the last time, the music remains. For Blunt, it's a song of hope and an ultimate reminder of why he's here. "The chorus sums it up: 'And if I can't hear the music and the audience is gone/I'll dance here on my own.' It's about saying I'm in it for the passion," he says. "I'm in it for the love of it, and the audience may be a temporary thing."

Fergie

Stacy Ann Ferguson began her career in 1983 as the voice of Sally Brown in the children's cartoon series Charlie Brown. Shortly afterwards, at the age of eight, she made her first appearance on the variety television program Kids Incorporated. During the following five years, Ferguson appeared on over 100 episodes of Kids Incorporated, some of which alongside Renee Sands, with whom she would later reunite in the band Wild Orchid.

In 1993, Ferguson graduated from Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights, California.

In 1990 Ferguson became a member of the all-female band Wild Orchid. The group released two albums, but after completing their third album the record label declined to release it. During Wild Orchid, she was a Bongo model, and Guess model and had her own show called "The Great Pretenders", on Fox Family. She left the group shortly thereafter and, according to interviews, sought therapy. She told a Glasgow newspaper: "I started doing Ecstasy. Then I got addicted to crystal methamphetamine. My weight dropped to 90 lb (41 kg). I lied to my friends and said I was bulimic. Finally I started going crazy."

Ferguson was a dance floor regular and backup singer at various Los Angeles venues. She met will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas at one of those venues. Ferguson and will.i.am had a number of meetings after shows and before long, she was invited to join the band in the recording studio. Ferguson replaced background singer Kim Hill, who left the group in 2000. Ferguson recorded five songs with the group before she was invited to join them permanently. She took the stage name "Fergie" and is featured prominently in the group's songs "Shut Up" and "My Humps".

Ferguson is embarking on a solo career, but she has said she considers it only a side project and will still continue to record and tour with the band.

Christina Aguilera

One of the most accomplished performers of the last decade, Christina Aguilera has sold well over 25 million albums worldwide and cultivated a fan base that crosses generational, racial and gender lines. Now, segueing from the audacious sexuality of her second studio album, Stripped, the chameleon-like performer pays tribute to the music that has inspired her with the August 15th release of Back To Basics (RCA Records).

A modern take on vintage jazz, soul and blues from the 1920s, '30s, '40s and beyond, her third studio album is wildly inventive, whose throwback style creates a sound that's gritty and raw. The album reunites her with producer Linda Perry and offers new collaborations with producers such as DJ Premier. The upbeat first single, "Ain't No Other Man," was world-premiered on the MTV Movie Awards on June 8 prior to its debut on June 12.

"This is a concept album that follows a bold vision," explains Aguilera. "The touchstones are Billie Holiday, Otis Redding, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald -- what I used to call my 'fun music' when I was a little girl."

The double album "Back To Basics" utilizes an orchestra, choir, string quartet and jazz horns, as well as techniques that, according to GQ, "blends a vintage-soul sound with state-of-the-art beatsmanship to form a throwback/hip-hop showcase for her outsize voice." "I Got Trouble" incorporates a scratchy blues feel, while "Candy Man" recalls the tight harmonies of all-girl groups from the '30s and '40s "Save Me From Myself" is an emotionally naked, raw-sounding song dedicated to her husband. "Thank You," dedicated to her fans, features DJ Premier splicing bits of "Genie In A Bottle" with fan voicemail messages. Also sure to appeal to Aguilera fans is the risque song "Nasty Naughty Boy" (which has a '20s burlesque feel) and the sassy club track "Still Dirrty."

Aguilera's backstory is well-known. A native of Staten Island, the pre-teen began performing in local talent shows while growing up in Pennsylvania. In 1992, after appearing on "Star Search," she joined the cast of the Disney Channel's "The New Mickey Mouse Club." In 1998 Aguilera's song "Reflection" for Disney's Mulan led to a record deal with RCA and the release of her self-titled debut album in Summer, 1999. The album quickly hit #1 on the strength of its first dance/pop single, "Genie In A Bottle" (which dominated the charts for five weeks) and other chart toppers including "What A Girl Wants." It was a feat she would repeat the following year with Mi Reflejo, the smash Spanish-language version of her debut, followed by her hit holiday release, My Kind Of Christmas.

In 2001 Aguilera joined forces with Pink, Mya and Lil' Kim on the smash "Lady Marmalade" single and video. That eye-popping slice of ear candy kept her front and center in the international spotlight even as she began, slowly and steadily, to lay the groundwork for her second album, Stripped. Released in October 2002, it sealed her status as an international superstar while transforming her previous squeaky-clean image into a fully sexualized woman with lots on her mind. Along with the superheated funk of the album's provocative debut single, "Dirrty," came such standout tracks as "Beautiful," "Can't Hold Us Down" and "Make Over."

Earning her first of three Grammy Awards in 2000 for Best New Artist, her subsequent trophies came in 2001 for "Lady Marmalade" (Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals) and in 2003 for "Beautiful" (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). Among countless other honors, she is also the recipient of a 2001 Latin Grammy Award for Mi Reflejo (Best Female Pop Vocal Album), a 2000 Billboard Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, and two 2004 Rolling Stone Music Awards (Best Female Performer, Readers' Pick; and Best Tour, Readers' Pick, "Justified and Stripped"). Voted Sexiest Teen Idol in a VH1 poll, Aguilera's beauty and charisma have also led Teen People to list her among its "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" and Maxim to crown her Best International Female Singer (2000), one of the Sexiest Women of the Year (2003) and #1 on their "Hot 100" List (2003).

Today, while devoting the lion's share of her time to recording and touring, the 25-year-old is active in a range of philanthropy. A major contributor to the fight against AIDS, Aguilera has participated in the "What's Going On?" cover project for AIDS Project Los Angeles' Artists Against AIDS. In 2004 she became the new face for MAC cosmetic company and spokesperson for the MAC AIDS Fund. More recently she became involved in awareness campaigns with YouthAIDS and ALDO. She also sponsors and is actively involved in the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh for battered women and children.

Coldplay

This album was fuelled by a desire to move from black and white into colour," says Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. "Or, if you like, we decided to let our garden grow a little more unkempt. The bloodhound was let off its leash."

However you might describe it, there's no mistaking the artistic leap which Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends represents for the four friends collectively known as Coldplay. "I think it's our boldest and most confident record," says bassist Guy Berryman. "We were much more open to new ideas and influences and much less afraid to experiment." "It can be easy to stop yourself from trying things because you're scared of what people might say," adds Martin, "but we forced ourselves not to do that."

The result is a record where groovesome programmed beats jostle with grand swells of church organ ('Lost!'), where the space between verse and chorus is filled with deliciously propulsive stabs of North African-styled strings and tablas ('Yes'), where breezy Flamenco handclaps drive a tale of gloom and despair ('Cemeteries Of London'), or where four-to-the-floor rhythms meld with weeping strings for an ode to lost glories ('Viva La Vida'). It sounds like Coldplay, only different.

"The starting point for this album was listening to an amazing old Blur song called 'Sing (To Me)' while we were on the road with X&Y," says Martin, referring to a pounding, hypnotic track from Blur's first album. "I remember hearing it and thinking, 'OK, we need to get better as a band'." The first song for Coldplay's new album was written the very next day.

"I'm driven by two things," Martin continues. "One is trying to make sense of existence. The other is when I hear something brilliant, trying to write something as good as that. With this album, we were inspired by so much amazing music. We'd listen to Rammstein and Tinariwen next to each other and the result would be something like the middle bit of '42.' For another track, we'd listen to Marvin Gaye and Radiohead. Or Jay-Z and the Golden Gate Trio. Or My Bloody Valentine and Gerschwin. Or Delakota and Blonde Redhead. There were no limitations."

"We've definitely stretched ourselves," says guitarist Jonny Buckland. But those sonic stretches didn't come at the expense of the diamond-tipped melodies which have helped make Coldplay one of the world's favourite bands since they released their debut album, Parachutes, in 2000. 'Viva...' might find Coldplay in experimental mood, but its 10 songs still burst with big, life-affirming hooks and choruses. "I hope so," says Buckland, "We've never been ashamed of tunes and we never will be." "We're still obsessed with making songs that can be sung to the rafters," agrees Martin. "We just wanted to present them differently."

In that spirit, the band decided at the very beginning of the recording process that 'Viva...' would be their shortest album. "We realized we hadn't really listened to any albums all the way through for quite a long time," explains Buckland, "the simple reason being that people put too many songs on them." "So, although it meant leaving off some tracks that we love," says Martin, "this album had to finish before an episode of CSI is over." Sure enough, the band kept the album's ten tracks within their target of 42 minutes (though additional hidden songs do bring the overall length to 46 minutes).

Britney Spears

An astonishing fact: it has been only five years since Britney Spears released her debut album, ...Baby One More Time. Sixty months. Less than 2,000 days. That's it. Fifty-five million albums later (that's about 30,000 records a day, if you want to get technical about it), it's hard to imagine what the landscape of pop culture would look like without her. What would have happened if this one Southern belle had decided to be a doctor or lawyer or schoolteacher instead of becoming the biggest pop star of her generation?

When a then-sixteen year-old Spears debuted on MTV dressed in a naughtied-up schoolgirl uniform, no one could have guessed that she would make such an immediate and lasting impact. You want proof that this dame ain't no flash in the pan? There is perhaps no greater testament to Spears' cultural significance — no better symbolic flipping-of-the-bird to naysayers - than the sheer existence of this album. From her coy, bubblegum beginnings with "...Baby One More Time" to the sophisticated techno groove of her recent #1 single "Toxic," this collection of songs demonstrates exactly how Britney has grown up and grown into her larger-than-life persona with the eyes of the world studying and analyzing her every move.

All in just five years. Ponder this: how would you have occupied your time without her? Just think how much more work you could have gotten done if you weren't spending so many hours obsessing about the question that seems to arise every single time Spears steps foot in public: "What has she gone and done now?"

As a journalist who has interviewed and written about Britney Spears on numerous occasions, I've lost track of how many times some tabloid TV program has asked me to come on and talk about whether our dear pop princess has "taken it too far this time." No matter what it was — whether it was a scandalously revealing outfit she had worn in a video or who she was dating (or not dating) or some finger she stuck up at the paparazzi who constantly hound her; the question was the same: "Has Britney gone too far?" The question itself totally misses the point. The job of any major pop star - any of the ones whose legacies loom large, from the Beatles to Madonna, Elvis to Michael Jackson — is not only to be entertaining, but also to be provocative. The more interesting question to be asking is, "What is it about Britney that holds such fascination? How did this young woman from Kentwood, Louisiana become the object of such desire, speculation and adoration?"

It all started in 1998, when Spears' video for "...Baby One More Time" caused an immediate sensation and heralded the beginning of a nascent teen-pop movement. On the cover of the ...Baby One More Time album — released in early 1999 — Spears knelt in front of a pink backdrop, with all the sweetness and innocence of an adolescent who had no idea what lie ahead. But this was a distinctly different image from the confident young woman in the video who came up with the idea on her own to knot her school uniform's shirt above her navel. Never has a bellybutton caused such uproar. Nowadays, whenever a teenage girl shows her midriff, red-faced, conservative pundits would have you believe Spears is to blame. As Britney herself might say, it's not that deep. Yet, along with the uproar came an even more overwhelming show of support: "...Baby One More Time" went to #1, the album of the same name sold over a million copies within its first six weeks out, and the follow-up singles, "Sometimes" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy," kept Spears' debut album on the charts for 103 weeks.

Before her first album had even cooled, Britney hit us with the follow-up, 2000's Oops!...I Did It Again. With a nod and a wink to her previous disc's ubiquitous first single, the Max Martin-produced title track opened with a familiar vamp that echoed "...Baby One More Time." The message was clear as soon as she curled her lip and sang, "I think I did it again." Indeed she had done it again. But this wasn't a simple repetition of what she had done before. Rather than the pleading tone of "...Baby One More Time," this #1 hit was devilish and flirtatious and empowering. "Oops!...You think I'm in love / That I'm sent from above / I'm not that innocent," she sang. If her debut album hinted that there was more to Britney Spears than met the eye, "Oops!" made that point crystal clear. Midway through the "Oops!" video, the poor sap who fell for Britney shows her a giant sapphire pendant like the one tossed overboard in Titanic. "I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end?" Britney asks her love slave teasingly. "Well baby, I went down and got it for you," he says. In her red latex bodysuit, Britney was no damsel in need of rescuing - she was beginning to take control and assert her womanhood unapologetically.

Similarly, "Lucky" was a song ostensibly about Spears' alter ego: a young superstar who is miserable in spite of her massive success. And yet the pressure to follow up the blockbuster success of her debut album was immense. "The world is spinning and she keeps on winning," Spears sang in "Lucky." "But tell me what happens when it stops?" It never felt like she was singing about herself, but rather that she was singing about who she might be if she let all the negative energy directed at her actually sink in. And, in "Stronger," she proclaimed that sentiment even more brazenly. Referring back to a lyric in "...Baby One More Time," she announced, "My loneliness ain't killing me no more. I'm stronger than yesterday."

Spears had been letting other writers give her feelings voice up until her third album, Britney. She had co-written one song from Oops!...I Did It Again — the confessional ballad "Dear Diary" — but her tastes in music were getting edgier and her sense of her own voice was strengthening. She had learned to play a little bit of guitar, and she had been jotting down lyrics in her spare time. Sometimes in the bath, she said, an idea would bubble up among the soapsuds. Nonetheless, the two songs on the record that best described where Spears' head was at were "Overprotected" and "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman." She was nearly twenty, and in the midst of a difficult transition into adulthood. "I need to make mistakes just to learn who I am," she sang defiantly. "And I don't wanna be so damn protected."

The same fall the album was released, Spears also made her big-screen debut in Crossroads, the story about three childhood girlfriends who go on a cross-country road trip and learn some dark truths about themselves along the way. Its plot was not entirely removed from what was going on in Spears' head at the time: Here she was, on the verge of releasing her third album and about to leave her teen years behind, but feeling like she had so much more to experience before she could really figure out who she was.

Part of that process involved experimenting with her sound, moving away from the straight-up bubblegum pop and into darker, dancier grooves. "I'm A Slave 4 U" was the most un-Britney-sounding song she'd done yet, but its vaguely Middle Eastern flavor and pulsating rhythm have exerted tremendous influence on her subsequent singles . Produced by the Neptunes' Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, "I'm A Slave 4 U" was twitchy and languid at the same time, like an off-kilter bellydance. In the video, Spears and her dancers are covered in sweat, writhing around in a sauna - which is really not the best place for a dance routine, so don't try that one at home, kiddies. The song, Britney explained, was about being a slave to music, to the beat, to dancing. Of course, it could also be interpreted as an ode to pure sexual attraction. When the song was released, just a few months after Spears had appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards with a giant, flesh-colored snake wrapped around her, many of Spears' detractors deemed it too risqué. But even the song's opening lyric answered that charge: "All you people look at me like I'm a little girl / Well did you ever think it would be okay for me to step into this world."

In 2002, Spears went back to the studio to make In The Zone with producers including Moby, Bloodshy & Avant, Guy Sigsworth, RedZone and The Matrix. The songs that came out of those sessions — tunes like "Toxic," "Me Against The Music" and "Outrageous" were her most musically daring and deliciously sexy. Full of trance beats, hip-hop flavor and futuristic samples, In The Zone was like a Britney Spears record from outer space. In the action-adventure clip for the chart-topping "Toxic," Spears comes on like a vixen from a James Bond movie, rendered in Japanese anime style. The follow-up single, "Everytime," couldn't have expressed a more divergent point-of-view from the tongue-in-cheek sassiness of the R. Kelly-penned "Outrageous" (which lists among Spears' outrageous qualities, "my sex drive" and "my shopping spree"). With unexpected fragility in "Everytime," Spears sang about being haunted by the memory of a lost lover.

Fans and foes alike have been intent on figuring out whether Spears is an angel or a devil-in-disguise. The answer is obvious, but not simple. She is both. Britney Spears is not what she seems, but it seems that's all part of her plan. When Britney pants "get it, get it," the world pants with her. Oops my ass. She knows exactly what she's doing, each and every time she does it (again). She's not that innocent, indeed. Or, perhaps the explanation is best found in the words she snarls during her brand new version of Bobby Brown's 1988 hit "My Prerogative": "Everybody's talking all this stuff about me / Why don't they just let me live? / I don't need permission, make my own decisions / That's my prerogative."

Madonna

On her highly anticipated new Warner Bros. Records release, Confessions On A Dance Floor, Madonna brilliantly re-invents dance music for our time. A stunning creative leap into the dazzling dimension of 'future disco,' these dozen new originals simultaneously capture the spontaneous thrill of the iconic superstar's early hits.

Set to arrive in stores November 15th, and featuring the debut single "Hung Up," scheduled for release October 17th, Confessions On A Dance Floor once again establishes Madonna's preeminent place on the international club scene. It's a mesmerizing sound that evokes and embellishes all the excitement, energy and innovation that first set her apart as a dance music pioneer over two decades ago.

While Madonna's recent music has explored her thoughts and feelings on everything from spirituality to politics, Confessions On A Dance Floor is, in the artist's own words, "about having good time straight through and non-stop. I want people to jump out of their seats."

A genuine global superstar, packing stadiums worldwide with her astonishing stage spectacles, Madonna, a multi-Grammy winner, has made music history with international sales of over 200 million albums. Her enormous influence has spanned 33 number one dance hits; five chart topping albums and 46 Top 40 singles and 20 MTV Video Music Awards.

Recorded earlier this year in London, Confessions On A Dance Floor was primarily co-produced and co-written by Madonna and Stuart Price. Also known as Les Rythmes Digitales and Jaques Le Cont, Price is one of the UK's most electrifying young DJ's and remix wizards, who initially forged a creative partnership with Madonna as her Musical Director on both the 2001 Drowned World and 2003's Reinvention tours.

"This is music that just comes naturally to her," explains Price, whose home studio served as the setting for the freewheeling writing and recording sessions. "The songs flowed very quickly. Madonna was interested in capturing the moment because, when all said and done, it's that instinctive joy of rhythm and movement that comes across best on the dance floor."

Also collaborating on Madonna's first new release in over two years is Mirwais Ahmadzai and the Grammy-winning duo of Bloodshy and Avant, as well as Anders Bagge and Peer Astrom of the Murlyn Music Collective and Joe Henry whose previous Madonna credits includes "Don't Tell Me."

Confessions On A Dance Floor selections include the above mentioned "Hung Up" which includes a sample of Abba's classic "Gimme Gimme," as well as dance themed cuts "Get Together," "Sorry," "Future Lovers," "I Love New York," "Let It Will Be," "Forbidden Love," "Jump," "How High," "Isaac," "Push" and "Like It Or Not." The entire CD is seamlessly segued in a classic dance club format.

Michael Jackson

Epic/Legacy Recordings proudly celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller, the world's biggest-selling album of all time, with a newly expanded deluxe edition of the phenomenal record-breaking pop culture touchstone available worldwide the week of February 11, 2008.

The Michael Jackson Thriller 25th anniversary celebration kicks off in December 2007 and continues throughout 2008 with the release of a new single and a multi-faceted global marketing campaign featuring high-profile television, radio and online events around the world.

The Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition will include the original album in its entirety as well as seven bonus tracks and a DVD featuring Michael Jackson's groundbreaking short films from Thriller ("Thriller," "Beat It," and "Billie Jean") and the artist's Emmy-nominated breakout performance of "Billie Jean" from the legendary "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" television special (first broadcast on NBC on May 16, 1983).

The newly expanded version of Thriller premieres six tracks previously unreleased in any form: "Beat It 2008" with Fergie; a new Kanye West remix of "Billie Jean"; a new 2008 version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with Akon; will.i.am remixes of "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T."; and "For All Time," a rare unreleased cut from the original Thriller recording sessions, newly mixed and mastered by Michael Jackson.
The deluxe Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition packaging contains a personal greeting from Michael Jackson to his fans penned exclusively for this special release.

Originally released 25 years ago early December 1982 by Epic Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson's sixth solo album and second with producer Quincy Jones, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international superstardom. Introducing the "robot" and the "moonwalk" into the international lexicon of clubland dance moves via the pulsing sounds of Thriller, Michael Jackson revolutionized all aspects of mainstream pop culture -- from radio airwaves to the newly emerging art form of music videos -- becoming the world's most popular entertainer in the process.

The original Thriller spent an astounding 80 consecutive weeks in the American Top 10, 37 of those at #1. Seven of the album's original nine tracks became Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 while Individual singles from Thriller reached #1 chart positions in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.

Thriller made history as the first and only record to be America's top-selling album two years running (1983 and 1984).

Thriller has been certified 27x platinum by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond Award status in the US. In addition, the album has achieved Diamond or Multi-Platinum status in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time, an achievement which remains unsurpassed to this day.

In February 1984, Michael Jackson held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight, which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone in a single year. Seven of Michael's Grammys that year were for Thriller: Album of the Year; Record of the Year ("Beat It"); Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("Thriller"); Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical (Thriller); Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Beat It"); Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Billie Jean"); Best R&B Song ("Billie Jean"). (Michael's eighth Grammy that year was in the Best Recording For Children - Single or Album, Musical or Spoken category for "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial"). That same year, Michael Jackson took home eight American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, "The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller" took home the Best Video Album trophy at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.

Named the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" by the Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop culture. He was named the World Music Award's Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist in 2001.