Showing posts with label English musicians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English musicians. Show all posts

Hot Man Monday: Slash

Slash
Name: Saul Hudson
DOB: July 23, 1965
Where: Hampstead, London, England
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Genres: Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock
Occupations: musician, songwriter, record producer, film producer
Instrument: guitar, bass, banjo
Years Active: 1981-present
Website: http://www.slashonline.com/

Velvet Revolver



-Saul Hudson, best known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter.
-Best known as the lead guitarist for hard rock band Guns N Roses
-Formed the side project Slash's Snake Pit and also cofounded the group Velvet Revolver
-On Rolling Stone Magazine's List of 100 Greatest Guitarists, he ranks #65

Early Life
-His mother, Ola Hudson, was an African American costume designer whose clientele included David Bowie, and his father Anthony Hudson was an English artist who created album covers for people like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell.
-According to Slash "As a musician, I've always been amused that I'm both British and black; particularly because so many American musicians seem to aspire to be British while so many British musicians...went to such great lengths to be black."
-During the early part of his life, he was raised by his father and paternal grandparents in Staffordshire.
-In 1979, Slash decided to form a band with his friend Steven Adler. He learned to play guitar, and his grandmother gave him a flamenco guitar so he began taking classes on how to play. But he decided to switch guitars after hearing "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
-His teacher, Robert Wolin, would play popular rock songs for his students, by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Cream.




Career
-In 1981, he started a band called Road Crew- named after the Motorhead song (We Are) The Road Crew. He placed an ad for a bassist, and later got a call from Duff McKagan. He disbanded the group and joined up with another, called Hollywood Rose, which had Axl Rose as singer and Izzy Stradlin as guitarist.
-This group then renamed themselves Guns N Roses. They played at nightclubs such as the Whiskey a Go-Go, The Roxy, The Troubadour. Throughout 1985 and 1986, they opened for larger bands. During this time, they wrote "Welcome to the Jungle" "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City"
-Because of their rebellious, rowdy behavior, they earned the nickname "Most Dangerous Band in the World." Later in 1986, Slash went through drug addiction
-In July 1987, they released their Appetite for Destruction album, which became one of the bests selling albums in U.S. history. In 1989, during a show as an opening act for The Rolling Stones, Axl Rose threatened to leave the band if the band did not stop it's drug abuse. And during that concert, Izzy Stradlin remembers having a talk with Mick Jagger because the night the concert was to happen, Izzy was wearing cowboy boots and Mick offered to lend him a pair of his tennis shoes.
-In May 1991, the band went on a year-and-a-half tour to promote their Use Your Illusion album.
-In 1988, he and Guns N Roses appeared in the movie The Dead Pool. His character appears at a musician's funeral and shoots a harpoon.
-In a 1994 episode of the horror TV series Tales from the Crypt, he played a radio DJ named Hank




Personal Life
-On Oct. 10, 1992, he married model Renee Suran in Marina Del Ray, California. They divorced in 1997.
-On Oct. 15, 2001, he married Perla Ferrar in Hawaii. they have 2 sons, London Emilio and Cash Anthony.
-Slash, the son of an English father and African American mother, did not acquire American citizenship until 1996. He was considered a British national since his London birth.
-In 2001, at age 35, he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a form of congestive heart failure caused by many years of drug and alcohol abuse. His doctors said he had between 6 days and 6 weeks to live, but he went through physical therapy and implantation of a defibrillator. He has been clean and sober since 2006, which he credits to his wife Perla.

















IMDb

Trademarks
-Long, curly hair covering his face and top hat
-Sunglasses
-Almost always has a cigarette hanging from his mouth













Trivia
-Has dual citizenship to the U.S. and Britain
-Youngest member of Guns N Roses
-Auditioned for the band Poison


The Spice Girls

The Spice Girls
-British all girl pop group formed in 1994
-Consisted of Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell
-They earned the credit of being pioneers in the breakthrough of teen pop in the late 1990s.
-Their trademarks include Geri Halliwell's Union Jack dress, representing "girl power".
-They used aliases, nicknames basically. They used Ginger, Baby, Posh and Scary
-They are considered to be part of the 'second wave' of  1990s British Invasion of the US
-In 2007, they all reformed to launch a renunion tour that played at London's O2 Theatre






History
-In the mid 90s, father and son management team Bob and Chris Herbert set about creating an all female group to compete with the popular boy bands in the heavily male dominated world of music.
-400 women showed up, and each was asked to dance to "Stay" by Eternal.
-Victoria Beckham sang "Mein Herr", Melanie Brown sang "Greatest Love of All", Melanie Chisholm sang "I'm So Excited", Michelle Stephenson sang "Don't Be a Stranger".








-Later on, Geri Halliwell was let in to audition and she sang "I Wanna Be a Nightclub Queen" and aftr the interviews, they were divided in to groups of 3 and asked to sing "Just A Step from Heaven" by Eternal.
-1 week later, the women had a recall and they all learned to sing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."
-Stephenson left the group to take care of her mother whow as diagnosed with breast cancer
-On June 7, 1996, they released their debut album Wannabe.





-The success they received from releasing chart topping single after single was compared to the Beatlemania experienced back in the 1960s.
-In 7 weeks, they released 1.8 million copies in Britain alone, making them the fastest selling British act since The Beatles.
-In January 1997, they released Wannabe in to the notoriously hard to break U.S. market. They managed to make it onto the Hot 100 and it was the highest debut by a British(or non-American) act in the US, beating the record held previously by The Beatles for "I Want to Hold Your Hand".




-Later that month, The Spice Girls won 2 Brit Awards for Best Video, "Say You'll Be There", and Best Single for "Wannabe".
-They performed "Who Do You Think You Are?" to open the 1997 Brit Awards with Geri Halliwell debuting her Union Jack min dress, causing it to become one of pop history's biggest icons
-On May 31, 1998, Halliwell announced she was leaving the band

-In 1999, Victoria Adams went on to marry soccer star David Beckham and she became Victoria Beckham.
-At the 2008 Live Vodafone Music Awards, they beat acts such as rock bands Led Zeppelin and The Sex Pistols.


Fashion Trends and nicknames
-Early Spice Girls look was casual, calm and laid back, maintaining an image of everyday young British females. But as they got more famous, their look changed. Each girl had a unique look and nickname

Victoria Beckham(nee Adams)
-Posh Spice because of her upper middle class background, her choppy brunette bob and refined attitude, form fitting designer outfits, and love of high heeled shoes
Melanie Brown
-Scary Spice because of her outrageous "in your face" attitude, "loud" Leeds accent, throaty laugh, pierced tongue, style of dress(leopard skin outfits), curly hair
Emma Bunton
-Baby Spice because she was the youngest of the group, wearing her hair in long, blonde pigtails, wearing babydoll dresses, innocent smile, and a girly girl personality
Melanie Chisholm
-Sporty Spice because she usually wore tracksuits, her hair in a ponytail, and a tough girl attitude.
Gerri Halliwell
-Ginger Spice because of her "liveliness" and flaming red hair. She usually wore outrageous stuff on stage, such as her Union Jack dress. And was seen as the leader because of her conversational style and business savvy nature.

Sting

Sting
Name: Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner
DOB: Oct. 2, 1951
Where: Wallsend, England
Genres: rock, pop, new wave, jazz, new age, blue-eyed soul
Occupations: musician, producer, singer-songwriter
Instruments: vocals, bass guitar, guitar, double bass, keyboards, lute
Years Active: 1971-present
Website: www.sting.com


















-Best known as the lead singer of The Police


Early Life
-Oldest of 4 kids born to Audrey, a hairdresser and Ernest Matthew Sumner, a milkman and engineer
-When he was young, he would sneak into clubs to see people like Cream and Jimi Hendrix
-Worked as a schoolteacher at St. Paul's First School for 2 years

Music
-In January 1977, moved to London and joined Stuart Copeland and Henry Padovani to form The Police
-Between 1978-1983, they released 5 chart topping albums and won 6 Grammy awards.
-Synchronocity was the last album The Police released together before Sting decided to go solo
-September 1981: Sting makes his first solo appearance. Peformed "Roxanne" "Message in a Bottle". His first solo album was called The Dream of the Blue Turtles and was released in 1985
-On February 11, 2007, he was the intoductory act for the 2007 Grammy Awards, singing "Roxanne".

Personal Life
-Married film producer Trudie Styler on August 20, 1992, they have 4 kids: Bridget Michael, Jake, Eliot Pauline, Giacomo Luke
Discography
Acting

Sting occasionally has ventured into acting. Film and television roles include:
Sting narrated the American premiere of the musical Yanomamo (1983), by Peter Rose and Anne Conlon, outlining problems that existed in the Amazon rainforest. This was made into a film and later broadcast asSong of the Forest. He also provided the voice of Zarm on the 1990s television show Captain Planet and the Planeteers. In 1989 he starred as Macheath (Mack the Knife) in John Dexter's Broadway production ofThe Threepenny Opera. Sting also appeared as himself in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.


VH1 Classic

VH1 Classic
-TV network launched on May 8, 2000
-Part of MTV Networks
-Primarily features concert footage from 1970s through the mid 1990s and on. Also features music video blocks such as Metal Mania dedicated to metal bands from all over the world and from various decades, etc
-This channel is a sister to regular VH1
-Also has shows like Classic Albums, Behind the Music, Rock and Roll Picture Show, Pop Up Video, I Love the 80s, That Metal Show

VH1 Shows

That Metal Show
-Host Eddie Trunk does That Metal Show, which is an hour long, focused on heavy metal, both classic and current. Guest starts include Lita Ford, Geddy Lee of Rush, Alex Lifeson, Geoff Tate, Peter Criss of KISS fame, Yngwie Malmstein

Video Compilation Shows

VH1 Classic 120 Minutes

Totally 80s
-Broadcasts music videos from the 1980s, such as Hot Legs by Rod Stewart, Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones, etc.

Metal Mania
-Classic hard rock and metal videos from 1970s-1990s

All Time Top Ten
-Ranked in order of videos focused on a single artist or theme

Pop Up Videos
-Includes pop up bubbles with info you never knew.
  1. Examples include in the video for the song Love is Strong by The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger was 3'' shorter than his 2nd wife Jerry Hall or in the video for the song Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts was previously in advertising/graphic design before becoming a musician, Bill Wyman was a member of the Royal Air Force before going into music
Every Breath You Take: The Police

Undercover of the Night: The Rolling Stones

The Spice Girls. According to the Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger, these girls are England's Newest 90s hitmakers.

Hot for Teacher: Van Halen

Documentaries, Film Series

Classic Albums
-Tells the story behind the making of some of the greatest albums in music through the artists and producers.
-Some of the artists include Led Zeppelin, The Who, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Judas Priest, Elton John, Motorhead, Rush, Metallica, Def Leppard

Rock Docs
-Music documentaries, such as Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, or Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon

Rock and Roll Picture Show
-Most of the movies have some musical theme. Such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Shine a Light, Let's Spend the Night Together, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc.

Famous Songwriting Teams

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to rock bands, the ones usually writing the songs are the lead singer and lead guitarist, or it will end up being the lead singer and the lead guitarist have known each other for like ever?

Famous Songwriting Teams

Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA)

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan)

Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter (The Grateful Dead)

Deborah Harry and Chris Stein (Blondie)

Big Boi and Andre 3000 (OutKast)

Don Henley and Glenn Frey (The Eagles)

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

John Lennon and Paul McCartney (The Beatles)

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)

Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti (Creed)

Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (The Clash)

Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (Aerosmith)

Roger Waters and David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)

Brian Wilson and Mike Love (The Beach Boys)

People Magazine

People Magazine
-American magazine of celebrity and human interest stories.
-Published by Time Inc.
-Prints everything from human interest stories, to celebrity gossip
-Also best known for printing yearly issues titled Sexiest Man Alive

Got this one!!
 History
Teen People
-In 1998, the magazine introduced a version called Teen People, dedicated to stories about teen entertainers, such as Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, etc.














Sexiest Man Alive
-Jude Law


I'll definitely agree here! What a hunk!!
 -Johnny Depp
-Hugh Jackman
-Denzel Washington