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Famous people all over the world

Category Archive: Music and dance

Irreplaceable Beyoncé

Irreplaceable Beyoncé

Irreplaceable Beyoncé

Beyoncé is a Grammy Award winning American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, Golden Globe Award-nominated actress, dancer, and fashion designer and model.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas. She is the elder of two daughters born to Mathew Knowles and Tina Beyince. In her childhood the girl attended dance school and was a soloist in her church choir.
Knowles and her former best friend LaTavia Roberson met Kelly Rowland and LeToya Luckett. They formed a quartet.
After singing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search. The group, then named “Girl’s Tyme”, lost the competition. Beyoncé’s father and Rowland’s legal guardian decided to help the girls to become singers. In 1996 the group was signed to Columbia Records.
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The Beatles – story of success

The Beatles – story of success

The Beatles – story of success

The Beatles were one of the most successful and influential pop-music groups of the 1960s. This quartet of British musicians were rhythm guitarist John Lennon (October 9, 1940-December 8, 1980); bass guitarist Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942); lead guitarist George Harrison (February 25, 1943— November 29, 2001); and drummer Ringo Starr (originally Richard Starkey; born July 7, 1940).
In March 1957, John Lennon formed a group, The Quarry Men. On July 6 that year, he met Paul McCartney and the two were soon playing music together. In 1958 the young guitarist George Harrison joined the group. In 1960 they finally became the Beatles. In 1962 they signed a recording contract with a large music company. At about this time they chose Starr to replace drummer Pete Best.
The Beatles were fond of Little Richard and some of their songs featured falsetto calls similar to his, notably “Long Tall Sally”. In 1962 he socialized with the Beatles around Hamburg and they performed together at the Star Club.
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Alicia Keys – musical prodigy

Alicia Keys - musical prodigy

Alicia Keys – musical prodigy

Alicia Keys is an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and the winner of fifteen Grammy awards.
Alicia J. Augello-Cook was born on January 25, 1981. Alicia was born and raised in New York, in a poor area of Manhattan into a family of lawyer’s assistant and actress Teresa and steward Craig Cook.
Alicia began writing music at the age of 14. She studied at Professional Performing Arts School. An all-around outstanding student, her musical talents grew to an even higher level under the guidance of one of her instructors. This instructor helped to train her voice, enabling Alicia to further grow as a multi-talented musician.
After school she entered Columbia University but four weeks later she left it because of a musical career. She signed a trial contract with Jermaine Dupri and his label So So Def (then a part of Columbia Records).
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Umm Kulthum – the voice of Egypt

Umm Kulthum - the voice of Egypt

Umm Kulthum – the voice of Egypt

Umm Kulthum is called “the voice of Egypt.” She was one of the most famous singers of the Arabic-speaking world in the twentieth century.
Umm was born on May 4, 1904 in a small village in Egypt into a poor family. Her father was the imam, or prayer leader at the local mosque. He sang religious songs for weddings and other celebrations to earn extra money. She had an older brother, Khalid, and sister, Sayyida. The father taught his children to sing. Umm’s voice was exceptionally strong and clear. Soon the girl became the star singer. But she had to dress as a boy because her father thought it was wrong for a girl to sing in public.
In 1923, the family decided to move to Cairo from their village of Tammay al-Zuhayra. In the beginning, Umm sang the religious songs. Then she decided to compete with the other famous singers of the time and started to sing modern love songs. Al-Shaykh Abu’l-Ila Muhammad became her main teacher. Her voice attracted a well-known poet, Ahmad Rami, who became her teacher and lifelong mentor.
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Justin Bieber – Canadian pop star

Justin Bieber - Canadian pop star

Justin Bieber – Canadian pop star

Justin Bieber is a Canadian pop R&B singer, songwriter, musician and actor. His full name is Justin Drew Bieber.
Justin was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, and was raised in Stratford, Ontario. His mother was 18 years old when she became pregnant. She worked several jobs to support the family. Justin contacted with his father, who married another woman and had two children. Justin loved ice hockey, football, chess and was fond of music.
As a child he taught himself to play the piano, guitar and trumpet.
In 2007, at the age of 12, Bieber won second place in a local singing competition in Stratford. His mother posted a video of this performance on YouTube and Justin got thousands of Internet fans. Scooter Braun was so much impressed by the boy’s performance and decided to find him. Later Scooter became Bieber’s manager. Braun arranged for Bieber meeting with Usher in Atlanta. Soon Bieber became a singer of Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG) and even later Reid invited him to Island Records. Justin Timberlake also wanted to sign a contract with Bieber but he chose Usher.
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Niccolo Paganini – Virtuoso or Devil

Niccolo Paganini – Virtuoso or Devil

Niccolo Paganini – Virtuoso or Devil

He was the first mega superstar. He could do miracles with his violin. Many of his admirers whispered that he was the son of the devil. The secret of his power was simple. He worked hard since early childhood.
Niccolo Paganini was born on October 27, 1782 in Genoa, Italy. His father hoped that his son’s talent would bring the family fame and wealth. So Niccolo had to practise from morning to night.
In 1797, Paganini started his concert tours. He earned enough money to support himself and he decided to leave home at the age of 16. The freedom turned his head. He began to gamble. He even had to pawn his violin to pay off a debt of honor. One day he swore he would never approach a gaming table again. And he kept his promise.
Paganini composed, taught, and gave concerts startling the audiences with his phenomenal technique.
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Robbie Williams – King of Pop

Robbie Williams - King of Pop

Robbie Williams – King of Pop

Robbie Williams is a British singer, songwriter and actor. His full name is Robert Peter Williams. According to polls he is the most popular British singer, performing songs in such genres as pop, pop rock, soft rock. For the tone of voice and manner of performance, Elton John called Williams “Frank Sinatra of the XXI century”.
Robbie was born on February 13, 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. He has a sister – Sally. His parents split up when he was three, but Robbie remained close to his father Pete Williams, who was an entertainer. Almost every summer the boy spent with his dad, who worked in clubs and holiday camps.
At the age of 12 and 13 Robbie took part in several musicals and at 16 he was offered a place in a boy band Take That. He was the youngest member of the chart-topping group. Their first album Take That And Party became the second best-selling record in the UK at that time. The second album, Everything Changes, was at the top of the charts for several weeks and became one of the best-selling albums in England. Singles Pray, Relight My Fire, Everything Changes and Babe became hits. The album has played a huge role in the formation of the team, as one of the most famous in the world.
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