Short biography singers

Billie Holiday, born April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a superstar of her day. She first rose to prominence in the 1930's with a unique style that reinvented the conventions of modern singing and performance. More than 80 years after making her first recording Billie's legacy continues to embody what is elegant and cool in contemporary music. Holiday's complicated life and her genre-defining autobiography “Lady Sings the Blues” made her a cultural icon. The evocative, soulful voice which she boldly put forth as a force for good, turned any song she sang into her own. Today, Billie Holiday is remembered for her musical masterpieces, her songwriting skills, creativity and courageous views on inequality and justice.

Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan Gough) grew up in jazz-soaked Baltimore of the 1920s. In her early teens, the beginning part of her “apprenticeship” was spent singing along with the records of iconoclasts Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. In 1929 Billie's mother Sadie Fagan moved to New York in search of better jobs. Young Eleanora soon joined her there and began showing up at jazz clubs to audition and sing with resident pianists. She made debuts in obscure Harlem nightclubs, sharing tips with other dancers and comedians on the bill. Around this time she borrowed her professional name Billie Holiday from screen actress Billie Dove. Although she never received technical training and never learned how to read music, Holiday quickly became an active participant in what was then the most vibrant jazz scene in the country – as the Harlem Renaissance transitioned into the Swing Era.

At age 18, after gathering more life experience than most adults, Holiday was spotted by producer John Hammond with whom she cut her first record as part of a studio group led by clarinetist Benny Goodman – then on the verge of his own superstardom. From 1935 to 1941 Holiday’s career accelerated, recording hit after hit with pianist/arranger

English musician (born 1974)

For other uses, see James Blount.

James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is known for his 2004 songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover".

As a British Army captain in the aftermath of the Kosovo War, Blunt was involved in the British refusal to engage Russian troops at Pristina Airport. After leaving the army, he rose to fame in 2004 with the release of his debut album Back to Bedlam, achieving worldwide fame with the singles "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". His first album had sold over 12 million copies worldwide by December 2009, topping the UK Albums Chart and peaking at number two in the US. "You're Beautiful" reached number one in thirteen countries, including the UK and the US. Back to Bedlam was the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK, and is as of 2018 one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.

Blunt's second album, All the Lost Souls, released in 2007, reached number one in twelve countries. He went on to release a further five albums, at intervals of approximately three years: Some Kind of Trouble (2010), Moon Landing (2013), The Afterlove (2017), Once Upon a Mind (2019) and Who We Used to Be (2023).

As of 2013, Blunt had sold over 20 million records worldwide. He has received several awards, including two Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 2006—two MTV Video Music Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards, as well as receiving five Grammy Award nominations and an HonoraryDoctorate of Music in 2016 from the University of Bristol.

Early life and education

Blunt was born James Hillier Blount, on 22 February 1974, at Tidworth Camp military hospital, then in Hampshire, England. His mother, Jane Ann Farran (née Amos), started a ski chalet company in the French Alpine resort of Méribel, while his fath

American singer-songwriter (born 1989)

For other uses, see Taylor Swift (disambiguation).

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic reinventions, and cultural impact, Swift is a leading figure in popular music and the subject of extensive media coverage, with a vast fanbase known as Swifties.

Swift signed to Big Machine Records in 2005, debuting as a country singer with the albums Taylor Swift (2006) and Fearless (2008). The singles "Teardrops on My Guitar", "Love Story", and "You Belong with Me" found crossover success on country and pop radio formats. She incorporated rock on Speak Now (2010) and electronic on Red (2012), later re-calibrating her image from country to pop with the synth-pop set 1989 (2014); the ensuing media scrutiny inspired the hip-hop-imbued Reputation (2017). The albums contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood" and "Look What You Made Me Do".

Shifting to Republic Records in 2018, Swift released the electropop album Lover (2019) and explored indie folk styles in the 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore. She experimented with subdued pop genres on Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024), and began re-recording her Big Machine albums as Taylor's Version due to an ownership dispute with the label. Through the 2020s, she garnered the US number one songs "Cardigan", "Willow", "All Too Well", "Anti-Hero", "Cruel Summer", "Is It Over Now?", and "Fortnight". She has undertaken six concert tours, including the Eras Tour (2023–2024), the highest-grossing tour of all time. Her films include Miss Americana (2020), All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), and The Eras Tour (2023)—the highest-grossing concert film.

With 200 million records sold, Swift is one of the world's best-selling music a

1988-present

Adele Now: Singer Completes Las Vegas Residency

Adele has left Las Vegas, and what the singer does next is uncertain.

The 36-year-old completed her “Weekends with Adele” residency on November 23, giving fans an emotional goodbye during the 100th and final performance of her two-year engagement at Caesars Palace. “I will miss it terribly, and I will miss you terribly. I don’t know when I’m next going to perform again. I’m not doing anything else,” she said in a clip shared on social media. “Of course, I’ll be back. The only thing I’m good at is singing. I just don’t know when I next want to come on stage.”

The singer also thanked partner Rich Paul for his support and shared excitement about being able to spend more time with her son, Angelo.

It’s not clear how long Adele expects to be away from music—either on tour or in the studio. She previously said she planned on taking an “incredibly long” break at the conclusion of the residency, which began in November 2022 following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who Is Adele?

British singer-songwriter Adele has sold millions of albums worldwide and is known for songs “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You,” and “Hello.” Months after graduating from a performing arts school near London, the young talent signed a record deal at age 18. On the heels of her 2008 debut album, 19, Adele picked up the 2009 Grammy for Best New Artist. Her subsequent albums have been massive commercial hits, including her most recent release, 30, in November 2021. To date, the musical powerhouse has 16 Grammys and one Oscar and is the first artist in Grammy history to sweep the top three categories—Album, Song, and Record of the Year—twice. In November 2024, Adele completed a two-year-long Las Vegas residency.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins
BORN: May 5, 1988
BIRTHPLACE: London, England
SPOUSE: Simon Konecki (2018-2021)
CHILDREN: Angelo
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus

Where Is Adele From