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Category Archive: Music and dance

Aretha Franklin – Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin - Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin – Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin is an American singer. She achieved the greatest success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. She is often called the Queen of Soul or Lady Soul for her flexible and powerful voice. Franklin was the first African-American woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine (in June, 1968). On January 3, 1987 she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In November 2008, Rolling Stone magazine declared her the greatest singer in history.
Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee. The girl grew up in Detroit (Michigan). She was the daughter of famed minister C. L. Franklin and gospel singer Barbara Franklin. Aretha and her sisters sang in the church choir. When she was 14 years old the first recordings of her singing were made. Aretha signed a contract with Columbia Records.
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Scarlett Johansson – American actress and singer

Scarlett Johansson - American actress and singer

Scarlett Johansson – American actress and singer

Scarlett Johansson is an American actress and singer. The role of Natasha Romanova / Black Widow brought her the greatest popularity. In 2004 she was a winner of BAFTA Award in the category Best Actress for her role in the film Lost in Translation. In 2010 Scarlett received Tony award as Best Supporting Actress in the play View from the Bridge. In 2012 she was awarded Honorary Cesar Award.
Scarlett Johansson was born on November 22, 1984 in New York, USA. Her father, Karsten Johansson, is an architect, a native of Denmark, son of the writer, screenwriter and director Ejner Bainkamp Johansson. Scarlett’s mother, Melanie Sloan, comes from a Jewish family. Scarlett has an elder brother Adrian (born in 1976), an elder sister, actress Vanessa (born in 1980), twin brother Hunter (born in 1984), as well as elder half-brother Christian from a previous marriage of her father. After her parents’ divorce, Scarlett lived in two cities – New York and Los Angeles.
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Michael Shannon – American actor and musician

Michael Shannon – American actor and musician

Michael Shannon – American actor and musician

Michael Shannon is an American film and theater actor, musician. Shannon began his acting career in 1991. He made his debut in the theater in the city of Chicago. The first film in his career was Groundhog Day where he played a cameo role of the groom at a wedding.
His most famous film is considered Revolutionary Road by Sam Mendes. The actor is also known for his role as General Zod in Man of Steel, as well as for the TV series Boardwalk Empire. He also starred in the film Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Shannon is known for collaborations with filmmaker Jeff Nichols. He starred in all his films, and the most notable are Shelter, Mud and Midnight Special.
Michael is a winner of the US Screen Actors Guild Award, and Saturn, a nominee for Oscar, Golden and Tony.
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Sting – famous British musician

Sting – famous British musician

Sting – famous British musician

Sting is a British musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor and philanthropist. In 1976-1984 he was the leader of the group The Police. In 1984 Sting began his career as a solo artist.
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (his real name) was born on October 2, 1951 in Wallsend, North East of England. His father Ernest Matthew Sumner worked in a local engineering company. Later he bought a small dairy shop. As a child, Sting helped his father to deliver milk in the morning. His mother Audrey worked as a hairdresser and a nurse. She taught his son to play the piano at home. Gordon was the eldest of four children in the family. He has younger sisters Anita and Angela, and brother Philip.
At the age of 10 Gordon received his first guitar from his father’s friend. While studying at school the boy often visited music clubs with his friends. According to Sting, Jimi Hendrix had a great influence on him.
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Lisa Marie Presley – the only daughter of Elvis

Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley – the only daughter of Elvis

Lisa Marie Presley is a singer and the only daughter of singer Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, ex-wife of Nicolas Cage, and Michael Jackson.
Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Lisa Marie studied in many schools, mainly – in boarding schools. She was expelled from the Los Angeles schools because of drug problems (especially cocaine). She also was a student at the Church of Scientology School, located in Los Angeles. John Travolta brought Lisa Marie and her mother Priscilla Presley to the church. Lisa started taking drugs at the age of 13, but the church helped her to get rid of drug addiction at the age of seventeen.
Lisa Marie began her career as a singer after meeting with the famous actress, author and singer Linda Thompson, who was in a relationship with her father Elvis Presley.
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Sophie Marceau – French actress and singer

Sophie Marceau – French actress and singer

Sophie Marceau – French actress and singer

Sophie Marceau is a French actress, film director and singer.
Sophie Daniele Sylvie Marceau was born on November 17, 1966 in Paris, France. Her father worked as a driver, and her mother was a saleswoman.
In February 1980, Sophie joined one of the modeling agencies. Casting director of the film Boum Françoise Menidre asked modeling agencies to recommend a teenager for the role in the comedy. So Sophie got her first role. The film was a huge success and two years later its sequel La Boum 2 was released. For her role Sophie received Cesar award in the category Best Newcomer and the most promising actress.
At the age of 16, she already played with Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve in the film Fort Sagan. Depardieu was her partner once again in the film Police, directed by Maurice Pialat.
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Rick Astley – dance-pop artist

Rick Astley – dance-pop artist

Rick Astley – dance-pop artist

Rick Astley is a British dance-pop artist of the 1980s. His most famous song – Never Gonna Give You Up – was at the top of the British charts for 5 weeks, and in 2007 gave birth to the Internet meme Rickrolled.
Rick Astley was born on February 6, 1966 in Newton-Le-Willows, England. He was the fourth child in a farmer’s family. Rick’s parents divorced when he was 5 years old, and the boy was brought up by his father. At the age of 10 Rick began singing in the local church choir. At school Astley founded several local bands and was their drummer. Hard-rock band Give Way was among the groups. After school, Astley became the driver in his father’s agricultural company, and in the evenings he played the drums in a local club.
In 1985, Astley began to perform as a part of the local soul band FBI as a drummer. Later Rick became a vocalist. At that time, he was noticed by producer Pete Waterman who offered to move to London to work at RCA Records.
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