March 8, 2021
Hazel Scott (1920 – 1981) was a Trinidadian-born jazz and classical pianist, singer, and actor. She was a critically acclaimed performing artist and an outspoken critic of racial discrimination and segregation. She used her influence to improve the representation of Black Americans in film.
Born in Port of Spain, Scott moved to New York City with her mother at the age of four. Scott was a child musical prodigy, receiving scholarships to study at the Juilliard School when she was eight. In her teens, she performed in a jazz band. She also performed on the radio.
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February 8, 2021
Neil Cicierega [sis-uh-ree-guh] (b. 1986) is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, singer, musician, songwriter, puppeteer, artist, and animator.
He is best known as the creator of a genre of Flash animation he termed ‘Animutation,’ the ‘Harry Potter’ puppet parody series ‘Potter Puppet Pals,’ and several music albums under the name Lemon Demon. He also released a series of mashup albums under his own name that have since gained a cult following.
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March 16, 2020
Weird Al Yankovic (b.1959) is an American musical comedian whose humorous songs make light of popular culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts; original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts; and polka medleys of several popular songs, featuring his favored instrument, the accordion.
Since his first-aired comedy song in 1976, he has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007), recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him five Grammy Awards and a further eleven nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the United States. Yankovic’s first top ten Billboard album (‘Straight Outta Lynwood’) and single (‘White & Nerdy’) were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career.
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April 25, 2016
Prince Rogers Nelson (1958 – 2016), known as Prince, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was a musical innovator and known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, extravagant dress and makeup, and wide vocal range. His music integrates a wide variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, soul, psychedelia, and pop.
Prince was born in Minneapolis and developed an interest in music as a young child. He secured a recording contract with Warner Bros at the age of 18, and released his album ‘For You’ in 1978. His 1979 album ‘Prince’ went platinum, and his next three records—’Dirty Mind’ (1980), ‘Controversy’ (1981), and ‘1999’ (1982)—continued his success, showcasing Prince’s trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and blending of funk, dance, and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as ‘The Revolution’ and released ‘Purple Rain,’ which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name and was met with widespread acclaim.
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August 9, 2013
Angelyne is an American singer, actress and model who is known for purchasing billboards advertising herself. Her billboards became a trademark of Los Angeles and made her an icon who is considered one of the pioneers of the term ‘famous for being famous.’
A significant part of her ‘mystique’ comes from her refusal to answer questions (and giving contradictory information when she does). Consequently, much of Angelyne’s actual biographical information is unknown or doubtful.
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July 3, 2012
Linda Perhacs is an American psychedelic folk singer, who released her only album ‘Parallelograms’ in 1970 to scant notice or sales. The album was rediscovered by record enthusiasts and grew in popularity with the rise of the New Weird America movement (a subgenre of psychedelic and indie music) and the Internet. Her songs have been featured in soundtracks to many films, most recently and notably in Daft Punk’s ‘Electroma.’
Perhacs also sang backing vocals on ‘Freely’ from Devendra Banhart’s ‘Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon’ and features in Prefuse 73’s track ‘Rain Edit (Interlude)’ from the album ‘Surrounded by Silence.’ Encouraged by the newfound attention to her work, she has reportedly recorded two new albums with Ben Watt (British producer and half of Everything but the Girl) as of 2007.
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June 21, 2012
Sébastien Tellier (b. 1974) is a French singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is currently signed to Record Makers, a French independent record label. He sings in English, French, and Italian. Tellier’s first album, ‘L’incroyable Vérité’ (‘The Incredible Truth’), was released in 2001.
Tellier’s sophomore album ‘Politics’ was released in 2005. A particularly popular song from Politics was ‘La Ritournelle,’ a string-led tune, which featured Nigerian drummer, Tony Allen of Fela Kuti fame. ‘La Ritournelle’ was remixed by various artists, notably in Britain by Metronomy. Tellier has also recorded an acoustic album of his more popular songs, ‘Sessions’ in 2006. His third studio album ‘Sexuality’ was produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk.
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December 30, 2011
Ivan Neville (b. 1959) is a multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers. While it was never a huge charting song, Neville’s ‘Why Cant I Fall In Love’ become a sleeper fan-favorite, gaining fame from the 1990 Soundtrack to the Christian Slater film, ‘Pump Up the Volume.’ Neville has played with and appeared on several Neville Brother records, as well as his father’s solo records.
He performed in Bonnie Raitt’s band from 1985 to 1987. He also contributed keyboards to two Rolling Stones albums, 1986’s ‘Dirty Work’ and 1994’s ‘Voodoo Lounge’ as well as being a member of Keith Richards’ solo band the X-Pensive Winos. In 1988, he toured with Richards. In 2003, he formed his own band Dumpstaphunk. When the levees failed in New Orleans in 2005, Neville joined The New Orleans Social Club and recorded the benefit album ‘Sing Me Back Home’ with producers Leo Sacks and Ray Bardani at Wire Studios in Austin, Texas.
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November 21, 2011
Ilona Staller (b. 1951), also known by her stage name la Cicciolina, is a Hungarian-born Italian porn star, politician, and singer. She continued to make hardcore pornographic films while in office. She is famous for delivering political speeches with one breast exposed. In 1964 she began working for a Hungarian modeling agency; in her memoirs she claimed that she had provided Hungarian authorities with information on American diplomats staying at a Budapest luxury hotel where she worked as a maid in the late 1960s.
Staller married American sculptor Jeff Koons in 1991. Koons produced a series of sculptures and photographs of them having sex in many positions, settings and costumes, which were exhibited under the title ‘Made In Heaven.’ The marriage broke up in 1992, and their son Ludwig Maximillian was born shortly afterwards. Staller left the US with the child, and a lengthy custody battle ensued. Koons won custody in 1998 but Ludwig remains with Staller in Italy.
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August 1, 2011
Billy Preston (1946 – 2006) was an African American rhythm and blues musician from Houston, Texas, raised mostly in Los Angeles. In addition to his career as a solo artist, Preston collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, and Johnny Cash. He played the Fender Rhodes electric piano and the Hammond organ on the Get Back sessions in 1969.
Preston began playing piano while sitting on his mother’s lap at age three, and he was considered something of a child prodigy on piano and organ. By the age of 10 he was performing in the bands of gospel singers Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland, and Andrae Crouch. In the 1960s he performed with Little Richard and Ray Charles, and in 1963, aged just 16, he played organ on the Sam Cooke album ‘Night Beat.’ He also began a recording career as a solo artist with the 1965 album ‘The Most Exciting Organ Ever.’
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July 29, 2011
Grace Jones (b. 1948) is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress. She secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes. Jones is a contralto, the deepest female classical singing voice. Although her image became equally as notable as her voice, she is a highly stylized vocalist. She sings in two modes: in her monotone speak-sing as in songs such as and in an almost-soprano mode in songs such as ‘La Vie en rose’ and ‘Slave to the Rhythm.’ Her voice spans two and a half octaves.
In 1981, her ‘Pull Up to the Bumper’ became a Top 5 single on the US R&B chart. Jones is also an actress. Her acting occasionally overshadowed her musical output in America; but not in Europe, where her profile as a recording artist was much higher. She appeared in some low-budget films in the 1970s and early 1980s. Her work as an actress in mainstream film began in the 1984 fantasy-action film ‘Conan the Destroyer’ alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 1985 James Bond movie ‘A View to a Kill.’
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June 29, 2011
Sun Ra (1914 – 1993), born Herman Poole Blount, was a prolific jazz artist and philosopher known for his ‘cosmic’ music and philosophies. His eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle made him controversial. Claiming that he was of the ‘Angel Race’ and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona using ‘cosmic’ philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of afrofuturism. He preached awareness and peace above all.
He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the Egyptian God of the Sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sonra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying ‘That’s an imaginary person, never existed … Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym.’
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