Gospel reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica, mixing reggae rhythms with Christian-themed lyrics. Several reggae artists, many of whom were previously part of the Rastafari movement, have converted to Christianity and adopted gospel reggae as their primary style. Examples include Tommy Cowan, Carlene Davis, Nora Dean, Lieutenant Stitchie and Kerron Ennis. […]
Sun Quan The Emperor
Sun Quan (182 – 252), formally known as Emperor Da of Wu (literally “Great Emperor of Wu”), was the founder of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdomsperiod. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by his elder brother, Sun Ce, in 200. He declared formal independence and ruled from 222 to […]
The Unthanks
The Unthanks (until 2009, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset) are an English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres. Originally an all female band, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset made their debut performance at Towersley Village Festival in August 2004 and, in […]
The Puppini Sisters
The Puppini Sisters are an English close harmony vocal trio composed of Italian-born singer Marcella Puppini and English singers Kate Mullins and Emma Smith. Although the three are not related, the name was chosen in tribute to The Andrews Sisters. Puppini first studied fashion design at Saint Martins School of Art, and later music at […]
Howard Jones
Howard Jones is a British musician, singer and songwriter. He had ten top 40 hit singles in the UK between 1983 and 1986; six of those 10 singles reached the top ten. He appeared as a solo artist in local venues in High Wycombe before inviting mime artist Jed Hoile to perform improvised choreography as […]
The Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, who helped to define the city’s Motown sound of the 1960s. Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, Renaldo ‘Obie’ Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel. […]
The Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector (who died yesterday at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session musicians later known as “the Wrecking Crew”. The intention was to exploit the […]
The Jubalaires
The Jubalaires were an gospel group active during the 1940s and 1950s. The group initially went by the name the Royal Harmony Singers, as far back as 1936 and under that name reached #10 on the R&B charts in November 1942, with “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”, a song adapted from the speech […]
Emilie Simon
Émilie Simon is a French singer, songwriter and composer of electronic music. In May 2003, she released her debut album Emilie Simon. The electronic album was critically acclaimed and went on to become a commercial success. To promote her album, she did numerous live performances and TV appearances all over France. In 2004, she was […]
Nicola Benedetti
Nicola Benedetti was born in West Kilbride, Scotland, to an Italian father and an Italian-Scottish mother. She started learning to play the violin at the age of four. At age eight, she became the leader of the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain. By the age of nine, she had already passed the eight grades […]