b. Mario Barrett, 27 August 1986, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. This teenage R&B sensation rose to prominence in 2002. Mario decided at an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in entertainment, as he began utilizing a karaoke machine and tinkering…

With her multi-octave voice and more than 80 million records sold worldwide, it's no surprise that pop diva Mariah Carey is viewed as the successor to Whitney Houston. She emerged as the premier R&B/pop songstress of the 1990s, and by the end of the …

Hailing from Queens, New York, rapper 50 Cent had already garnered a grass-roots reputation as one of the hottest MCs around when he was tapped in the early 2000s by hip-hop golden boy Eminem for inclusion on the soundtrack to his film 8 MILE and a p…

Hailing from Chattanooga, TN, Usher Raymond (best known by his given name) emerged in the '90s as a young R&B singer full of promise. The stars must have been aligned correctly for him, as he snagged Puffy Combs as a producer for his eponymous 1994 d…

b. Austin, Texas, USA. R&B vocalist Ciara enjoyed immediate commercial success when her debut "Goodies', climbed up the US charts to reach the peak position in September 2004. As a child of a military family, Ciara spent an itinerant childhood moving…

b. Aliaune Thiam, St. Louis, USA. The son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam, Akon spent his early years in the west African country of Senegal before his family returned to the USA and settled in New Jersey. His parents relocated to Atlanta while he wa…

Videos and albums are not always the preferred formats for gaining success as a recording artist--it was an appearance in the hit Will Smith movie MEN IN BLACK that gave Destiny's Child a major boost to their recording career. From there, the all-fem…

St. Louis, Missouri rapper Nelly (of the St. Lunatics clique) dominated MTV and radio in late 2000 with his debut COUNTRY GRAMMAR, which featured irresistible hooks, a danceable tempo, newly styled bounce beats different from the New Orleans-based No…

As the very first winner of the AMERICAN IDOL television show competition, Kelly Clarkson was inevitably pegged as little more than a manufactured pop commodity. The surprisingly versatile singer managed to survive against expectations, however, and …

As the lead singer of California neo-ska pop-punks No Doubt, Gwen Stefani gained notoriety for her spunky, riot grrrl-lite approach to fronting a rock band. On her 2004 solo debut, LOVE. ANGEL. MUSIC. BABY., Stefani pulled a musical about-face and fu…

Turning the music world on its head, Eminem, the blond-haired rapper from Detroit, forced the hip-hop world to accept him as an equal. Despite lyrics full of anger, misogyny, violence, racism, and homophobia, Eminem has been a major commercial succes…

Atlanta, Georgia-based rapper Ludacris was a local success story. As a former intern on an Atlanta radio station, he became known for his theatrical station IDs. In 2000 he parlayed this notoriety into a successful debut album that he self-marketed t…

Getting her start as a dancer on the TV show IN LIVING COLOR, Jennifer Lopez first found stardom as an actress, then as a pop/dance singer. By the turn of the century, Lopez was one of the world's biggest celebrities. As both of her careers skyrocket…

Emerging from the Bay Area in 1994 rapper Baby Beesh was part of Potna Deuce whose album Welcome to da Tilt appeared briefly on Profile before disappearing Beesh and the rest of the Potna Deuce crew would release 1996s Heron Soup independently before…

The name translates literally as "Barking Dog", a fitting title for Japan's finest exponents of melodic heavy metal. Formed in 1976, the band comprised Kyoji Yamamoto (vocals/guitar), Mitsuhiro Saito (vocals/guitar), Kenji Sano (bass) and Toshiri Nii…

B2Ks Omarion went solo in 2005 with O featuring production help from the Neptunes Rodney Jerkins and the Underdogs The title track released as the lead single helped send the album to the top of the Billboard chart His second album 21 followed in lat…

Will Smith first reached a wide audience as the rapping half of the poppy, late-1980s hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. He soon crossed over to TV, with a starring role in the popular comedy series THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR. His subse…

Precocious R&B vocalist/pianist Alicia Keys was hand-picked by Clive Davis as one of the flagship artists for his post-Arista label, J Records. No doubt he was as impressed by her multitude of skills (Keys took a large role in the writing, arranging,…

Born in Mississippi but raised in Atlanta smooth RB crooner Bobby Valentino had a hard time convincing his skeptical parents that the music business was the place for him When the 16-year-old Valentino -- who was then known by his real name Bobby Wil…