http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Pop_Summary.html
Pop music was previously an abbreviation for popular music; nevertheless, today, pop is a subgenre of it. This subgenre is characterized by being produced commercially and designed to appeal to everyone. For this matter, the songs do not last long, have a rhythmic element, are easily memorable, with catchy lyrics and melodies. Even though they may not have a significant message, they are songs that people enjoy signing. This music has been subjected to criticism by those who consider it without a purpose and due to its marketable basis: a simple melody and rhythms.  Pop has been influenced by other musical genres: Randamp;B, rock, country jazz, and folk, among others. Ashlee Simpsom, Gorillaz and Bo Bice belong to this subgenre. en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9480.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:01:26 CST
Natasha Bedingfield was born on November 26, 1981 in Sussex.  Nevertheless, she was raised in Lewisham.  Natasha, whose parents are from New Zealand and who is Daniel Bedingfield’s sister, is a great British pop singer.  When she was just a teenager, Natasha, Daniel and another sister created a Christian band called The DNA Algorithm.  After high-school, she decided to go to the university instead of attending an art college due to the fact that she was more interested on the emotional approach of a major.  For this reason, she decided to study Psychology.

Signed by the label Phonogenic Records, Natasha Bedingfield launched her debut album titled Unwritten, with which she reached #1 in the United Kingdom.  In this way, she became the 3rd solo singer in having a #1 debut album in that place.  In addition, Natasha and Daniel, her brother, entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the only couple of siblings in having solo #1s in the charts in the UK.

Natasha Bedingfield’s debut album, Unwritten, has gone triple Platinum in the United States after selling more than 900,000 copies and Gold since it sold 491,394 copies.  Among Natasha’s singles that have been very successful comprise “Single”, “These Words”, “Unwritten”, “I Bruise Easily” and “The One that Got Away.”  Hence, Natasha Bedingfield will continue, for sure, conferring her fans their possibility of enjoying not only great but also intelligent music. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9430.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:34:54 CST
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques, best known as Sean Paul, is of of today’s most famous dancehall/reggae artists.  Born on January 8, 1973, Sean Paul relies on a great cultural fusion since, in spite of the fact that his parents are both Jamaican, his mother has African heritage and his father, Sephardic Jewish.  In addition, his maternal mother also has Chinese heritage.  Likewise, although Sean Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica, he spent his childhood in Canada.  The way he is nicknamed is really interesting because he is called King of Israel and Zion Lion.

Sean Paul’s music style is considered to be very similar to the Super Cat’s in the 90’s, who was a very famous Jamaican dancehall reggae artist.  In 1997, Sean Paul started working with Jeremy Harding, who was Beenie Man’s hit “Who Am I” producer.  Thus, this producer launched the crossover song “Baby Girl”, which was a complete success.  The follow-up hit was titled “Infiltrate”, and with this two hits, Sean Paul was introduced to the Jamaican top charts.  Lately, Sean Paul contributed to Nina Sky’s song called “Connection."

Sean Paul strongly believes in high quality due to the fact that, since 2002, he has released three discs, from which all of them have become incredibly successful: Stage One (2000), Dutty Rock (2002), which sold 6 million copies and went Platinum, and The Trinity (2005), which sold 4 million copies and went Gold.  In addition, he has received many awards, including a Grammy award for Best Reggae Album in 2004 and two Billboard Music awards for Selling Reggae Artist of the Year (2005) and Top Selling Reggae Album of the Year (2005). http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9425.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:17:45 CST
Christina Aguilera, whose real name is Christina Maria Aguilera, is not only a pop singer, but also a songwriter.  Born in Staten Island, New York in 1980, Christina is colloquially known as Xtina.  When she was a child, she used to live in many different places, including Texas and Japan.  Her father is an Ecuatorian U. S. Army Sargeant and her mother was a Spanish translator and violinist.  Christina’s artistic career began when she was only ten years old.  In 1993, she joined The New Mickey Mouse Club, where she co-starred with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez and Keri Russell (the star of Felicity).   Thus, in 1994, she started recording some demos in order to find a record label.

In 1998, she was selected to record the soundtrack of Mulan, and with its music video, the song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.  Hence, Christina Aguilera got signed by RCA Records.  Some time after, her song Genie in a Bottle made her get into the charts.  However, Christina Aguilera’s image and look has changed.  In fact, during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, she and Madonna kissed while they were performing Madonna’s songs “Hollywood” and “Like a Virgin.”  One year later in November, Aguilera launched her first DVD live recording.  In December, she released her fragrance called Xpose.

Her discography is made up of studios albums and other kinds.  Her studio albums are Christina Aguilera (1999), Stripped (2002) and Back to Basics (2006).  Among the others, Mi Reflejo (2002) and My Kind of Christmas (2002) are remarkable.  In addition, she has won three different Grammy awards, which are Best New Artist in 2000, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2002 and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2004.  Hence, Christina Aguilera is one of the most famed pop female artists in these days, not only due to her great voice, but also because of her peculiar style. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9379.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:37:56 CST
Bon Jovi is considered to be one of the most well-known American rock bands.  Bon Jovi, which is fronted by Jon Bon Jovi, lead singer (born John Francis Bongiovi), is from New Jersey.  The current members of the band are Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres, who plays the drums, David Bryan, the keyboardist and Hugh McDonald.  However, this last one is not considered to be an official member of Bon Jovi.  In addition, Alec John Such and Dave “the Snake” Sabo were former members of the band.  It can be said that this group became a great-dimension band in the 80’s.

At this time, Bon Jovi was a consolidated band, which released its debut album, which went gold in 1984.  Amazingly, before their disc was launched, they opened for ZZ Top at the Madison Square Garden.  One year later, they released their second album called 7800 Fahrenheit, but it was not as successful as it was believed to be.  The follow-up album titled Slippery When Wet and was launched in 1986 and included the hits “Living On a Prayer”, “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Wanted Dead or Alive.”  This disc sold more than 12 million copies.  Two years after, New Jersey, their fourth disc, was released.

Thus, in the 90’s, Bon Jovi decided to take a break, and once they came back, they launched three successful albums: Keep the Faith (1992), Cross Road, a “greatest hits” disc (1994) and These Days (1995).  They started the 2000s with an album that became worldwide famous titled Crush, comprising hits such as “Say It Isn’t So”.  Despite Bounce, which is the follow-up album of Crush, did not get to be as successful as Bon Jovi’s previous release, it produced the hits “Misunderstood” and “Everyday.”  Since that time, This Left Feels Right (2003), Have a Nice Day (2005) and Live from the Have a Nice Day (January, 2006) were launched.  Among the awards the band has received, the Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for selling 100,000,000 albums, the American Music Award, the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Rock and Brit Award for Best International Band are outstanding.  Thus, Bon Jovi is considered to be, without a doubt, among the most successful bands in music history of all times. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9153.html Mon, 24 Apr 2006 04:54:36 CST
Robert Kelly Thomas, best known as Rob Thomas, was born on February 14, 1972.  One interesting fact about him is that he was born on a military base in Landstuhl, Germany.  These days, he is a great pop-rock artist.  Rob Thomas, the lead singer of the very famed band called Matchbox Twenty, was also the lead singer of the group called Tabitha’s Secret.  It is believed that when he was only 13 years old, he got interested in being an artist.  Rob Thomas’ mentor is Steve Burry, from who he has received a great influence.

Rob Thomas has been married to Marisol Maldonado since1999.  However, he has a son who is named Maison Avery from a former relationship.  In this same year, he got to be worldwide known due to his participation, meaning co-writing and singing, in the Carlos Santana’s hit called “Smooth”, which is comprised in the album titled Supernatural.  Five years later, Rob Thomas was awarded as one of the young songwriters that have provoked a great impact on music by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Last year, he released an album that sold 1.2 million copies that reached #1 in the United Kindom and Australia.  The name of this album, which marks the beginning of Rob Thomas’ solo career, is called Something to Be.  This album constitutes the first album released by a solo artist that has reached #1 at the Billboard chart.  Thus, Rob Thomas appeared, in 2005, the Live 8 concert and, about one month later, on the 2005 MTV Katrina Relief Concert.  In October 2005, he started with the first tour as a solo artist.  In addition, this year, Rob Thomas will tour in conjunction with Jewel; however, his fans can expect much more from him for this year! http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9095.html Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:59:10 CST
Cornell Haynes Jr. is how the very well-known hip hop artist Nelly is really named.  He was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 2, 1974.  Today, Nelly, a 32 year-old man, has two children, which are called Chanel, who is 10, and Cornell Haynes Jr. AKA Tre, 7.  On March, 2005, his sister Jackie died of leukemia.  Due to this reason, Nelly started a foundation for this illness.  Another Nelly’s facet corresponds to his acting career.  In 2002, he appeared in Snipes, an independent film.  Nonetheless, Nelly is best known for his really successful career in the field Randamp;B and Rap.

Thus, Nelly debuted with an album called Country Grammar in 2002.  Without a doubt, this album got to be so incredibly successful that it reached #1 on The Billboard 2002 and on The Randamp;B/Hip-Hop Albums, and #10 on the Top Internet Albums since he sold more than eight million copies.  Two years later, he launched two albums simultaneously.  These are called Sweet, which is a rap album that went platinum, and Suit, an Randamp;B-style one.  Amazingly, both albums, on the very same week, debuted #2 and #1 respectively.

Throughout his artistic career, Nelly has won three Grammies and has been nominated 10 times, including Best Album Rap (2001), Best Rap Solo Performance (2001), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (2002), Album of the Year (2003) and Record of the Year (2003).  The three awards he won are Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (2003), Best Male Rap Solo Performance (2003) and Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group (2004).  Therefore, it is impossible to mention all the success he has experienced due to his high-quality productions.  However, what really matters is that Nelly is considered to be one of the best Randamp;B and Rap artists ever. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9052.html Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:34:37 CST http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7202.html Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:28:43 CST
Britney Jean Spears was born December 2, 1982, in the small town of Kentwood, LA, and began performing as a singer and dancer at a young age. She sang in her local church and with a nationally televised appearance on Star Search already under her belt, by the age of eight she auditioned for Disney’s Channel’s The New Mickey Mouse Club. Even though she was turned down because she was too young to join the cast a producer on the show introduced her to a New York agent. She spent the next three years in New York City studying at the off-Broadway Dance Center and at the Professional Performing Arts School, appearing in several commercials and even got a part in the off-Broadway play “Ruthless”. By the age of eleven Britney returned to audition in The Mickey Mouse Club and finally earned a spot in the show. After spending two seasons in the show, it was cancelled in spite of the impressive array of future stars it included: *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez, Christina Aguilera, and Felicity actress Keri Russell.

After cancellation of the show she returned to home, but her passion for music drove her to audition for pop bands and to record demos. Her demo tape eventually landed in the hands of a Jive Records executive who quickly signed her to the label.  Spears entered the studio with top writer/producers like Eric Foster White (Boyzone, Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys) and Max Martin (Ace of Base, Backstreet Boys, ‘NSYNC). In the fall of 1998, Jive released her debut single named "...Baby One More Time." She also toured around in malls and got the chance to open to the already successful boy band 'NSync. In January of 1999 her album, homonym of her single, hit the shelves and landed on top of the Billboard Charts and stayed number one for six weeks.

After the big success of her first album which granted Britney four MTV Europe music awards and four Billboard music awards, she released her second record entitled “Oops!... I Did It Again.” With this record released in spring of 2000, Britney was able to locate some of its songs in the music charts. It sold over a million copies in its first week of release, setting a new record for single-week sales by a female artist. It also accredited Britney some more awards including an American Music Award as favorite new artist, a Billboard Music Award as album artist of the year, and 2 Teen Choice Awards.

For her next album, Spears looked ahead to a not-so-distant future when both she and much of her audience would be growing up. Released in late 2001, the record “Britney” tried to present the singer as a more mature young woman. This was her third consecutive album to debut number one, though its singles were not able to rank as high as previous ones. The album was quickly followed by Britney’s motion picture debut, “Crossroads,” which proved that she has the talent and box-office pull to be a multifaceted superstar. In 2003 she released “In The Zone” which as expected topped the charts and bestowed her more awards including a 2004 Teen Choice Award of Choice Music Single for “Toxic”, 2004 Female Artist of the Year at the MTV Europe Awards and a 2005 Grammy for Best Dance Recording of “Toxic”. In January 2005, Britney released “Greatest Hits: My Prerogative” album that recompiles Britney’s bright Career.
http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7171.html Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:28:06 CST
Bo Bice, whose real name is Harol Elwin Bice (he got his nickname “Bo” from his grandmother who thought he looked like Humphrey Bogart), was born in Huntsville, Alabama on November 1, 1975. Bo comes from a family very passionate about music: “My father played guitar, banjo and mandolin. My mother and her three cousins were in a group called the Singing Jays, and my mom sang at the Grand Ole Opry.” He claims that he'd been singing since he'd learned to talk. Bo’s parent had a great collection of records that inspired Bo to make his own, in which he stacked artists like Steve Miller, Boston, the Rolling Stones, and the James Gang. He got formal training at a high school choir and taught himself to play the piano and the guitar. He started performing when he was nine years old. On his ninth birthday, he received his first real guitar, an electric Squire Telecaster, he won his first competition at Brown Elementary School in Syrma, Georgia, and then later on second place at the Georgia State Competition (singing "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood). When he was twelve, he won the state vocal competition in Atlanta. Since he was in high school, Bo has always been in touch with the music scene by either writing songs, producing, recording or playing in bands. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_7172.html Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:26:45 CST
Alyson Renae "Aly" Michalka (born March 25, 1989) and Amanda Joy "AJ" Michalka (born April 10, 1991) are accomplished actresses as well as talented singers. They were born in Torrance, California, and moved to Seattle in the early 1990’s. They showed a passion for music since early age, and their parents exposed them to a diversity of music raging from classical to rock. Aly and AJ began performing at a young age; singing in church and school plays. Then they moved on to acting and modeling which led the family to move back to Southern California.

Aly and AJ have had several appearances on the air. Aly began studying acting at the age of 11 and at the same time started working as a professional print model. She stars in Disney Channel’s series Phil of the Future incarnating the role of Phil’s best friend Keely Teslow and also played the lead role in that Network’s movie “Now You See It” as Allyson Miller. AJ, the younger sister, had a successful modeling career appearing in several national ads for companies like Disney, Mattel, Playmates Toys, Zutopia, and American Girl among others. She began studying acting by the age of 9 and even got to appear on a commercial on her first audition. She has also appeared as a guest star in several shows on some mayor networks. AJ is well known for her role as Shannon in CBS’ “The Guardian”, and has also starred in FOX’s “Oliver Beene”, HBO’s “Six Feet Under” and WB’s “Birds of Prey”.

Aly and AJ are talented singers and musicians. They began playing the piano by the age of six and are also proficient guitar players, the instrument in which they compose most of their songs. They like to write songs addressing issues of relationships, heartaches and staying true to yourself and celebrating your own uniqueness. Their first single is a remake of the Lovin' Spoonful hit “Do You Believe in Magic” and it is the signature track for Disney’s movie “Now You See It”. Their Song “No One” was featured in the motion picture “Ice Princess” and a cover of “Walking on Sunshine” played in Disney’s motion picture: "Herbie: Fully Loaded". They wrote most of the material of their debut album “Into the Rush”, and their video “Rush” from that same album made it in the top 10 in Total Request Live. Their recording resume also includes songs for the Platinum-selling Disney Jingle Jams ("Jingle Bell Rock") and Disneymania III ("Zippidy Do Dah").