Sunday, February 27, 2011
Musician, record producer, television personality. Born Randall Matthew Jackson on June 23, 1956 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A music industry veteran, Randy Jackson has become a famous television personality from his work as a judge on the popular singing competition American Idol. He first started playing bass guitar at the age of 13. The youngest of three children, Jackson used to slip out of his family's home at night to play at local clubs.
Jackson went to nearby Southern University to study music. Graduating in 1979, he pursued his dream of being a professional musician, playing with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Bob Dylan. He was even a temporary member of the 80s rock band Journey in 1983 and 1986. Jackson also recorded and toured with such well-known artists as Jerry Garcia, Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. Working behind the scenes, Jackson spent years as as a record producer and an executive with Columbia Records and MCA Records.
Jackson became one of the judges on the hit Fox talent search contest American Idol along with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul in 2002. Highly regarded within the music industry, Jackson is respected among contestants for his constructive criticism. Sharing his secrets for success, Jackson wrote the 2004 book What's Up Dawg? How to Become a Superstar in the Music Business.
For the MTV cable channel, Jackson helped develop and produce America's Best Dance Crew, which premiered in February 2008. "It's very much more street than whatever you've seen...It's really kind of raw and has a lot of great imagery," he explained to People magazine. The following month, Jackson released a compilation album, which featured performances from his American Idol cohort Paula Abdul, as well as musicians Joss Stone, Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, and Mariah Carey among others. "It's kind of a Quincy Jones record with all sorts—country, pop, hip-hop, R&B, and jazz songs," Jackson told Entertainment Weekly.
In addition to his American Idol duties, Jackson hosts a syndicated radio program, Randy Jackson's Hit List, for Westwood One. He has also branched out into eyewear. Known for his distinctive glasses, Jackson has his own line of frames through Zyloware eyewear.
While millions may know his name and face, they probably don't know he has type 2 diabetes. However, because of his celebrity, Jackson feels that he can—and should—make a difference by telling others about the dangers of diabetes. "I know first hand what it's like to live with the disease and how it affects your life," he says. "This is why it's so important for me to get the word out about type 2 diabetes and its connection with cardiovascular disease."
Jackson was caught off guard when he was diagnosed. In his mid-40s at the time, he had a family history of diabetes, but didn't realize that it was to blame for his feeling so tired and being dehydrated. The Louisiana native decided he needed to make some major changes for a healthier lifestyle.
"When I found out that I had type 2 diabetes, I was like, 'Wow,' I have a serious disease. It not only had a physical, but also an emotional impact on me." He understands how hard it may be for people to make the necessary crucial lifestyle changes diabetes demands. "It was hard to change my eating habits because food for me is emotional—I often found comfort in eating food that happened to be unhealthy."
A supporter of many charitable organizations, Jackson has served as the spokesperson for the American Heart Association's "Heart of Diabetes" campaign. He also established the Randy Jackson Childhood Obesity Foundation.
Jackson lives in Los Angeles with his wife Erika. The couple has been married since 1995, and they have two children together, daughter Zoe and son Jordan. He also has a daughter, Taylor, from his first marriage.
© 2011 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.
 |
| Jennifer Lynn Lopez |
Lopez's first big break came in 1997, when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena Quintillana Perez, who was killed by a crazed fan in 1995. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including a Golden Globe nomination, and became the highest-paid actress in history with her paycheck of $1 million. That same year, Lopez starred in the forgettable Anaconda and in Blood and Wine, opposite Jack Nicholson. Her role as federal marshal Karen Sisco in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, a film based on the Elmore Leonard novel and co-starring George Clooney, further enhanced her image as a bankable movie star.
Lopez's musical career also began to take off, as she released her debut Latin pop album, On the 6 in June 1999. The album, fueled by the success of her hit single, "If You Had My Love," went platinum within two weeks, making Lopez—along with Ricky Martin—one of the most influential examples of the growing Latin cultural influence in pop music.
Early in 2000, Lopez was nominated for Best Dance Performance for her second hit single "Waiting for Tonight," but lost the award to veteran diva Cher. In the summer of 2000, she starred in the science fiction-thriller The Cell, in which she plays a child psychologist helping to track a terrifying serial killer. The same year, she starred in Enough, a portrayal of spousal abuse.
The popularity of the multi-talented Lopez reached new heights in early 2001, when her album, J. Lo debuted at No. 1 on the pop charts, while her film, the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, shot to the top spot at the box office in its first week of release. In December 2002, she performed another one-two punch with the release of the record This Is Me ... Then and a starring role in the comedy Maid in Manhattan, which was a box office hit, if not a critical one. In 2003, she co-starred with Ben Affleck in the box office bomb, Gigli. Other projects included Jersey Girl (also with Affleck) and An Unfinished Life, in which she played a single mom taken in by her father-in-law played by Robert Redford. She also starred opposite Richard Gere in Shall We Dance?, a remake of the top-grossing Japanese flick.
Box office standing and record sales:
Jennifer Lopez is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood history, though she's never had a film grossing over $100 million in the U.S. She was on the The Hollywood Reporter's list of the top ten actress salaries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. She received $15 million for her role in Monster-in-Law. Her top-grossing film domestically is Maid in Manhattan which grossed $94,011,225, and her most successful international film, Shall We Dance?, grossed $112,238,000, at the international box office. Domestically, Shall We Dance? grossed $57,890,460 and a total of $170,128,460 worldwide.
Lopez has sold over 48 million albums worldwide. Lopez made the 2007 Forbes magazine's list of The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment, ranking ninth. Her wealth is estimated to be $110 million.
Music Career:
In June 1, 1999, she released a debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, "If You Had My Love",, as well as the top ten hit "Waiting for Tonight". The album also featured a Spanish language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony (who later would become her husband.) "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001Grammy Awards.
Lopez's second album, J. Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. When her film The Wedding Planner achieved number one shortly after, Lopez become the first actress-singer to have a film and an album at number one in the same week. The lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Following the success of the re-release of J. Lo, Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart. Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album included rare dance and hip hop remixes of past singles. It is the fourth all-time biggest-selling remix album in history, after Michael Jackson's Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, The Beatles' Love and Madonna's You Can Dance.
Just over six months later, on October 9, 2007, Lopez released her fifth English studio album (sixth studio album overall). She collaborated with producers Midi Mafia, J. R. Rotem, Lynn and Wade and Ryan Tedder, with Rotem working on some tracks with writing partner Evan "Kidd" Bogart.[35] Earlier, on August 26, 2007, ABC premiered a promo for the fourth season of Desperate Housewives, featuring a snippet of the song "Mile In These Shoes". "Do It Well" was released as the lead single and reached the top 20 in many countries. "Hold It, Don't Drop It" was released as the second single in certain European territories only.
In February 2009 the first of several new recordings, "Hooked On You" was circulated on the internet which confirmed rumours that Lopez was back in the studio recording a brand new album. Later in March 2009 Lopez went on record to speak about the track in March via her official website confirming that she was indeed working on new songs.
Steven Tyler (born Steven Victor Tallarico; March 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is also known as the "Demon of Screamin'" and is equally known for his on-stage acrobatics. During his high-energy performances, he usually dresses in bright, colorful outfits with his trademark scarves hanging from his microphone stand. Rolling Stone has named him one of the greatest singers of all time.
In the 1970s, Tyler rose to prominence as the frontman of Aerosmith, which released such milestone hard rock albums as Toys in the Attic and Rocks. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tyler had a heavy drug and alcohol addiction, and the band's popularity waned. He completed drug rehabilitation in 1986 and has subsequently maintained sobriety for over 20 years, aside from a painkiller addiction in the late 2000s, for which he successfully received treatment in 2009.[1] After Aerosmith launched a remarkable comeback in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the albums Permanent Vacation, Pump, and Get a Grip, Tyler became a household name and has remained a relevant rock icon. As a result, he has since embarked on several solo endeavors including guest appearances on other artists' music as well as film and TV roles (including a judge on American Idol). However, he has continued to record music and perform with Aerosmith, after more than 40 years in the band. He recently was included among Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers.[2] He was also ranked 3rd on Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. In 2001 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Aerosmith, and he was the presenter when AC/DC was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.
After moving to Boston in the late 1960s, Tyler eventually met up the musicians that would form the rock group Aerosmith. He reportedly met up with guitarist Joe Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton while they were playing in different bands in the Sunapee, New Hampshire area. Guitarist Ray Tabano (who was later replaced by Brad Whitford) and drummer Joey Kramer joined up with the others to form Aerosmith. The band played its first gig together in 1970 and shared an apartment in Boston.
Aerosmith played its first gig together in 1970, and by 1975, emerged as one of the world’s leading rock bands. Forty years later, the “Bad Boys from Boston” continue to excite fans in stadiums and arenas worldwide. Aerosmith came full circle when they played to a sold-out crowd in August 2010 at Fenway Park, a few blocks from where they had their humble beginnings as a band. Closing out the show, Tyler appeared atop the famed Green Monster in the outfield projecting his classic smash “Dream On” on a white baby grand piano in what can only be described as one of the greatest moments in recent rock-and-roll history.
The band has sold over 100 million records and has won numerous prestigious awards, including Grammys, American Music Awards, Billboard Awards and MTV Awards. Aerosmith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Many of the band’s greatest hits have topped the Billboard charts throughout the years: “Dream On,” “Walk This Way,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Toys In The Attic,” “Janie’s Got A Gun,” “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” “Livin’ On The Edge,” “Cryin,” “Crazy,” “Amazing,” “Pink,” “Love In An Elevator,” “Dude (Looks Like A Lady) and “Mama Kin.”
Their trendsetting videos defined the video era, and the band has infiltrated rock history with their memorable film and TV appearances, including “Wayne’s World,” THE SIMPSONS and the Super Bowl XXXV Halftime Show in 2001, as well as with their own version of Guitar Hero, the smash hit video game.
Tyler’s autobiography, “Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?,” is set for release in mid-2011.
He lives in Los Angeles.