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Famous people all over the world

Category Archive: Music and dance

Grant McLennan – Australian musician

Grant McLennan – Australian musician

Grant McLennan – Australian musician


Grant McLennan was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist.
Grant William McLennan was born on February 12, 1958 in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. At the age of four McLennan lost his father.
In 1976, Grant became a student at the University of Queensland.
Grant had no ambitions of music stardom as a boy and only picked up the bass guitar on the suggestion of his friend Robert Forster. Grant and Robert were a very harmonious team, and somehow in the 80’s music critic Robert Christgau called them “the greatest duet of all that exist today.” Their rock band was called The Go-Between. The duo released their first single Lee Remick in 1978, and the first full-length album was released in 1982.
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Vaslav Nijinsky – legendary ballet dancer

Vaslav Nijinsky – legendary ballet dancer

Vaslav Nijinsky – legendary ballet dancer


Contemporaries called him the eighth wonder of the world, King of the Air, God of Dance.
Vaslav Nijinsky was born on March 12, 1889 in Kiev. His parents were dancers at the Warsaw Imperial Theater and after retirement went on tour in Paris, Kiev, Minsk, Tiflis, Odessa, St. Petersburg. When they divorced, Eleanor Nijinskaya and their three children settled in the northern capital of Russia, St. Petersburg. She became the first teacher for her son.
At the age of ten Vaslav was brought to the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg by his parents. Soon he was recognized as remarkable by his ballet teacher, N. Legat.
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Johann Strauss Jr – Waltz King

Johann Strauss Jr - Waltz King

Johann Strauss Jr – Waltz King

Johann Strauss Jr. was Vienna’s greatest composer of light music. He is known for his waltzes and operettas.
Johann Strauss, Jr., was the eldest son of Johann Strauss, Sr., a famous composer and conductor, known as “the father of the waltz.” Johann composed his first waltz at the age of 6. At the age of 19 he organized his own small orchestra, which performed some of his compositions in a restaurant in Hietzing.
Strauss toured throughout Europe and England with great success and also went to America. He was the official conductor of the court balls in Vienna (1863-1870) and during this time composed his most famous waltzes.
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Ian Curtis – godfather of gothic rock

Ian Curtis – godfather of gothic rock

Ian Curtis – godfather of gothic rock


Ian Curtis was a British musician, poet, vocalist and author of all Joy Division lyrics. He was recognized as a cult figure in the history of rock music and was repeatedly named “the godfather of post-punk and gothic rock”. Also, his work had a significant impact on indie rock. His last song Love Will Tear Us Apart has become one of the most singing songs around the world.
Ian Kevin Curtis was born on July 15, 1956 in Stretford, England. He was always creative, writing and drawing his own books from a young age. His favorite singers were David Bowie and The Doors.
On August 23, 1975 Curtis married his school sweetheart Deborah Woodruff (he was 19, she was 18). On April 16, 1979 they had a daughter, Natalie.
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Brian Jones – founder The Rolling Stones

Brian Jones – founder The Rolling Stones

Brian Jones – founder The Rolling Stones


Brian Jones was the founder, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist of the British rock band The Rolling Stones. He became famous for his musical talent, a bright image and addiction to drugs. His death at the age of 27 made him one of the first musicians to enter the so-called Club 27.
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was born on February 28, 1942 in Cheltenham, England. The boy was born during the Second World War, and throughout his life suffered from asthma. His parents were from Wales and belonged to middle-class townsfolk. He had two sisters – Pamela (October 3, 1943 – October 14, 1945), who died of leukemia, and Barbara, born in 1946.
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Kurt Cobain – Last Great Rock Star

Kurt Cobain - Last Great Rock Star

Kurt Cobain – Last Great Rock Star


Kurt Cobain was an American singer, songwriter, musician and artist, best known as vocalist and guitarist of rock band Nirvana, performing grunge. He was The Voice of a Generation and The Last Great Rock Star.
Kurt Donald Cobain was born on February 20, 1967 in Hoquiam, Seattle. He has Irish, English, Scottish and German roots. The Irish ancestors of Cobain emigrated in 1875 from the county of Northern Ireland to Tyrone in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and then to Washington. Cobain had a younger sister, Kimberly, who was born on April 24, 1970.
The boy showed interest in music early enough: according to his relatives, at the age of two he was happy to sing The Beatles songs. At the age of four he wrote his first song about a trip to the local park. At the age of seven he received a percussion kit from his aunt. In addition to his musical abilities, he showed himself as a talented little artist. This was encouraged by his grandmother, who was a professional artist.
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Dottie West – country music singer

Dottie West - country music singer

Dottie West – country music singer


Dottie West was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is considered one of the genre’s most influential and groundbreaking female artists.
Dorothy Marie Marsh was born on October 11, 1932 in McMinnville, Tennessee. She was one of several children born to a workshy alcoholic who mistreated his family. When her father was eventually imprisoned, Marsh and her family were able to thrive. Her mother ran a couple of successful restaurants and the girl became a singing sensation.
She married her college fiancé, Bill West and found her way on to the books of Nashville’s Starday Records. Angel On Paper was a radio smash. She befriended Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves and became a part of the country glitterati within a year.
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