She achieved this breakthrough for CCM and for herself by forging a pop/rock sound that matched the production values, and often aped the styles, of pop/rock, and by writing lyrics that often were ambiguous in their meaning, sounding to Christian music fans like appeals to God and to more general pop fans like love songs. She also matched the staging of rock concerts in her shows, which often played in venues more typical of secular performances than religious ones. And her music videos,...
Although Billy Joel never was a critic's favorite, the pianist emerged as one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the latter half of the '70s. Joel's music consistently demonstrates an affection for Beatlesque hooks and a flair for Tin Pan Alley and Broadway melodies. His fusion of two distinct eras made him a superstar in the late '70s and '80s, as he racked an impressive string of
Rising from humble beginnings in the small town of Charlemagne, Quebec, Celine Dion became one of the biggest international stars in pop music history, selling more than 100 million albums worldwide. The youngest in Adhemar and Therese Dion's family of 14 children, Dion grew up in an environment full of the inherent chaos and material austerity that comes with such a large working-class family. However, the Dion household was also one filled with love for children and music, and her...
By age 21, Californian vocalist Colbie Caillat evolved swiftly from an aspiring R&B/folk singer to a pop sensation with the marketing assistance of a little networking tool called Myspace. She grew up in Malibu and Ventura county and caught the music bug at an early age from her father Ken Caillat, an established audio engineer who helped produce Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Tusk. Songs were often mixed at the console in her Malibu beach house, filling the corridors with the sound of...
In terms of sales and lasting popularity, Elton John was the biggest pop superstar of the early '70s. Initially marketed as a singer/songwriter, John soon revealed he could craft Beatlesque pop and pound out rockers with equal aplomb. He could dip into soul, disco, and country, as well as classic pop balladry and even progressive rock. His versatility, combined with his effortless melodic skills, dynamic charisma, and flamboyant stage shows, made him the most popular recording artist of...
One of the biggest female country stars of the '90s and 2000s, Faith Hill also took advantage of the inroads Shania Twain made into pop territory, becoming an enormous crossover success by the end of the millennium. Of course, Hill's movie star good looks certainly helped her cause, and her much-celebrated marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw gave her career an extra kick of glamour and mystique. Hill may not have appealed to country purists, but she had the star power of a diva...
After a short-lived stint at the Berklee College of Music, where he had a "great learning experience, but not because of class," John Mayer set down roots in Atlanta, where his music career hit the ground running. After one year in Atlanta, he released his debut solo album, Inside Wants Out, in 1999. At the same time, he became a regular in the Atlanta club circuit, playing a steady stream of shows at venues like Eddie's Attic. An appearance in March 2000 at the South by...
Pop and classical singer Josh Groban made his debut in the seventh grade, but then put music aside for a few years until he enrolled at the Interlochen Arts Program. In late 1998, he hooked up with a friend of his vocal coach, producer/writer/arranger David Foster. Groban worked for Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events, including the inauguration of Grey Davis as governor of California and the Grammy Awards (at which he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer"...
The winner of Fox TV's first American Idol: The Search for a Superstar competition during the summer of 2002, Kelly Clarkson went from an anonymous talent to a nationally known singer, performing for an audience of millions of viewers. One of the show's most naturally gifted singers, the 20-year-old Burleson, TX, native's vocal talents were discovered when she was in seventh grade, when her school's choir teacher heard her singing and urged Clarkson to join the choir. After high school,...
Phil Collins' ascent to the status of one of the most successful pop and adult-contemporary singers of the '80s and beyond was probably as much of a surprise to him as it was to many others. Balding and diminutive, Collins was almost 30-years old when his first solo single, "In the Air Tonight," became a number two hit in his native U.K. (the song was a Top 20 hit in the U.S.). Between 1984 and 1990, Collins had a string of 13 straight U.S. Top Ten hits. Long before any of...
Upon the release of their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, in the fall of 1996, Matchbox Twenty were pigeonholed as one of the legions of post-grunge guitar bands that roamed the American pop scene in the middle of the '90s. As their first single, "Push," climbed the charts, it was widely assumed (at least by cyncial critics) that they were a one-hit wonder, but Yourself or Someone Like You continued to spin off singles well into 1998. By that time, the group's blend...
Michael Bublé's introduction to the music of the swing era came to him through his grandfather, who filled his grandson's ears with the sounds of the Mills Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and others. As Bublé eagerly absorbed the recordings, he began to realize that he wanted to be a singer and that this style of music, virtually foreign to his own generation, was what he wanted to perform. With his grandfather's assistance, Bublé soon learned a whole...
Rod Stewart may have began his career as a respected singer, yet that respect eroded as he got older, as he became more concerned with stardom than music. While he has recorded some terrible albums -- and he would admit that freely -- Stewart was once rock & roll's best interpretive singer as well as an accomplished songwriter, creating a raw combination of folk, rock, blues, and country that sounded like no other folk-rock or country-rock. Instead of finding the folk in rock, he...
Emerging in the mid-'90s, Shania Twain became the most popular country music artist since Garth Brooks. Skillfully fusing mainstream, AOR rock production with country-pop, Twain and her producer/husband, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, created a commercial juggernaut with her second album, The Woman in Me. The record became a multi-platinum phenomenon, peaking at number five on the pop charts and eventually selling over nine million copies in America alone. Twain might have sold a lot...
