March 27: "The Divine One," Sarah Vaughan, was born on this date in 1924...

... she died on April 3, 1990 when she was 66 years-old.


Sarah Lois Vaughan was born in Newark, New Jersey. Her father, Asbury "Rat Fool" Vaughan, was a carpenter by trade and played guitar and piano. Her mother, Ada, sang in the church choir. Sarah began piano lessons at the age of seven, sang in the church choir and occasionally played piano for rehearsals and services.

Vaughan developed an early love for popular music from listening to records and the radio. In the 1930s, Newark had a very active live music scene and Vaughan frequently saw local and touring bands. By her mid-teens, Vaughan began venturing into Newark's night clubs and performing as a pianist and, occasionally, singer, most notably at the Piccadilly Club and the Newark Airport USO.

Vaughan transferred to Newark Arts High School, which opened in 1931 as the first arts "magnet" high school in the U.S. Vaughan dropped out of high school during her junior year to concentrate more fully on music. Around this time, Vaughan and her friends also began venturing across the Hudson River into New York City to hear big bands at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Vaughan was frequently accompanied by a friend, Doris Robinson, on her trips into New York City. Sometime in the fall of 1942 (when Sarah was 18 years old), Vaughan suggested that Robinson enter the Apollo Amateur Night contest. Vaughan played piano accompaniment for Robinson, who won second prize. Vaughan later decided to go back and compete herself as a singer. Vaughan sang "Body and Soul" and won. The prize, was US$10 and the promise of a week's engagement at the Apollo. In the spring of 1943 she returned to the Apollo and opened for Ella Fitzgerald.

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Sometime during her week of performances at the Apollo, Vaughan was introduced to bandleader and pianist Earl Hines. After a brief tryout at the Apollo, Hines officially replaced his existing female singer with Vaughan on April 4, 1943.

Vaughan spent the remainder of 1943 and part of 1944 touring the country with the Earl Hines big band that also featured baritone Billy Eckstine. Band pianist John Malachi is credited with giving Vaughan the moniker "Sassy," a nickname that matched her personality.

Vaughan officially left the Eckstine band in late 1944 to pursue a solo career, although she remained very close to Eckstine personally and recorded with him frequently throughout her life.

Vaughan began her solo career in 1945 by freelancing in clubs on New York's 52nd Street. In May 1945, Vaughan recorded "Lover Man" for the Guild label. After being invited by violinist Stuff Smith to record the song "Time and Again" in October, Vaughan was offered a contract to record for the Musicraft label.

While at Cafe Society an integrated club in New York's Sheridan Square, Vaughan became friends with trumpeter George Treadwell. He became her manager, musical director, and later, her first husband. Many of Vaughan's 1946 Musicraft recordings became quite well-known among jazz aficionados and critics, including "If You Could See Me Now," "Don't Blame Me," "I've Got a Crush on You," "Everything I Have Is Yours" and "Body and Soul."

Vaughan's recording success for Musicraft continued through 1947 and 1948. Her recording of "Tenderly" became an unexpected pop hit in late 1947. Her December 27, 1947, recording of "It's Magic" found chart success in early 1948 as did her later recording that year of "Nature Boy." Her chart successes continued with the charting of "Black Coffee" in the summer of 1949.

Through 1953, Vaughan recorded mostly commercial pop ballads, a number of which had chart success: "That Lucky Old Sun," "Make Believe (You Are Glad When You're Sorry)," "I'm Crazy to Love You," "Our Very Own," "I Love the Guy," "Thinking of You", "I Cried for You," "These Things I Offer You," "Vanity," "I Ran All the Way Home," "Saint or Sinner," "My Tormented Heart," and "Time," among others.

Vaughan also achieved substantial critical acclaim. She won Esquire magazine's New Star Award for 1947 as well as awards from Down Beat magazine continuously from 1947 through 1952, and from Metronome magazine from 1948 through 1953.

In 1989, Vaughan's health began to decline. While performing at New York's Blue Note jazz club in 1989, Vaughan received a diagnosis of lung cancer and was too ill to finish the final day of what would turn out to be her final series of public performances.

Vaughan returned to her home in California to begin chemotherapy. She died on April 3, 1990, a week after her 66th birthday.

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Among her many honors, The National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its "highest honor in jazz," the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989.

Also, recordings of Sarah Vaughan were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

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March 27: Mariah Carey is 41 (or 42) today ...

... there have been various accounts for her year of birth.

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Did you know?
Carey was named after the song "They Call the Wind Mariah."

Her high school classmates gave Mariah the nickname "Mirage" because she was frequently absent because of her work as a demo singer for local recording studios.

Mariah  possesses a five-octave vocal range, and was ranked first in a 2003 MTV and Blender magazine countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, as voted by fans and readers in an online poll.

"I have nodules on my vocal cords," said Carey in 1998 interviews with Vibe Magazine and ShowBiz Spy. "My mother says I've had them since I was a kid. That's why I have the high register and the belting register and I can still be husky. My doctors showed me my vocal cords and why I can hit those high notes. It's a certain part of the cord that not many people use—the very top. My natural voice is low."

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In a career spanning over two decades, Carey has sold more than 200 million albums, singles and videos worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists.

Carey was cited as the world’s best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the 1998 World Music Awards and was also named the best-selling female artist of the millennium by the same organization in 2000.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of 63 million albums. In 2008, Carey earned her eighteenth number one single on the Hot 100, the most by any solo artist. She has earned five Grammy Awards and is known for her five-octave vocal range, power and versatile and unique style.

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Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York. Her mother is a former opera singer and vocal coach. Her paternal grandfather, Roberto Nuñez, changed his surname to Carey after moving to the U.S. from Venezuela.

After her parents' divorce, her mother worked several jobs to support the family and Mariah spent much of her time at home alone, and turned to music to occupy herself. She began to sing at around the age of three, when her mother began to teach her, after Carey imitated her mother practicing Verdi's opera Rigoletto in Italian.

Her work in the Long Island music scene provided opportunities to work with many professional musicians, who helped her co-write songs for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, she worked part-time jobs and completed 500 hours of beauty school. Eventually, she became a backup singer for Puerto Rican freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr.

In 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive (and her first husband) Tommy Mottola at a party. After giving him her demo tape, Mottola played it after leaving the party and liked it Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract.

Carey co-wrote the tracks on her 1990 debut album Mariah Carey and she has co-written most of her material ever since. Critics were mostly positive and the album reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for several weeks. It yielded four number-one singles and made Carey a star in the U. S.

Carey won Grammys for Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her debut single, "Vision of Love." Mariah Carey was also the best selling album of 1991 in the U.S.

Emotions, Carey's second album, was released soon after her debut album but was neither as critically or commercially successful. However, the title track "Emotions" made Carey into the only recording act whose first five singles have reached number one on the U.S. Hot 100 chart. (The album's follow-up singles failed to extend the streak.) Carey co-produced most of her material.

Although Carey performed live occasionally, stage fright prevented her from embarking on a major tour. Her first widely seen appearance was featured on the television show MTV Unplugged in 1992. Afterwards she remarked that her performance that night proved her vocal abilities were not, as some had previously speculated, simulated with studio equipment.

In 1997, she introduced elements of hip hop into her album work. After initial success, her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia, in 2001. She signed a record $80 million deal with Virgin Records, only to be dropped from the label and bought out of her contract in the following year.

The career downturn was largely due to the highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception that was given to Glitter, her film and soundtrack project.

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In 2002, Carey signed with Island Records, and, after a relatively unsuccessful period, returned to the top of pop music, in 2005, with her 10th studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi.

The album earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album and the single "We Belong Together" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. "We Belong Together" held the Hot 100's number-one position for fourteen weeks, her longest run at the top as a solo lead artist.

The single from the album, "Shake It Off," reached number two for a week, which made Carey the first female lead vocalist to have simultaneously held the Hot 100's top two positions.

In spring 2007, she had begun to work on her eleventh studio album, E=MC². Two weeks before the album's release, in April 2008, "Touch My Body," her first single from the album, became Carey's eighteenth number-one single on the Hot 100, pushing her past Elvis Presley into second place ( behind only The Beatles) for the most number-one singles among all artists in the rock era.

Carey's singles have collectively topped the charts for seventy-nine weeks, making her the artist with the most weeks atop the Hot 100. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked her at number six on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists," making Carey the second most successful female artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Mariah has also acted in films. In 2009, she appeared as a drab social worker in Precious.  In January 2010, Carey won the Breakthrough Actress Performance award for her role in Precious at the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Carey and husband, actor/comedian/rapper Nick Cannon are expecting twins in the spring of 2011.





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March 27: Jessie J - "Price Tag" - is 23 years-old today.

Jessie J was born Jessica Ellen Cornish in Redbridge, London, England. She attended Colin's Performing Arts School and as an eleven year old was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End production of Whistle Down the Wind.

Cornish has stated she was "never really that good at anything,." adding, "... Give me something to draw or an outfit to pick for someone, or hair, make-up, acting, write a song, I'm fine with it, but anything to do with sums – it was never my thing."

She also said she was always good at singing and it was her "thing." However, she got banished from the school choir, for being too loud. She stated "I was in it for a day and some of the adults were moaning that their kids were upset that I was too good. I was 11. Can you imagine? I was heartbroken."

At the age of 16 she began studying at the BRIT School, and joined an all girl group "Soul Deep."  Jessie J has had an irregular heartbeat since the age of 11, and suffered a minor stroke at the age of 18. As a result, she doesn't drink alcohol or smoke. Having bad health has made her realize she couldn't take anything for granted and must look after her body.

 

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In early 2011, she suffered from a panic attack on stage, after she was forced to perform in the dark.

She signed with Gut Records, recording an album for the label, but the company went bankrupt before releasing material. Jessie J then found success as a songwriter, gaining a Sony ATV publishing contract.

She was also the supporting singer for Cyndi Lauper during Lauper's UK dates of her 2008 Bring Ya To The Brink tour. Jessie began her career when she started to pen lyrics for the artists such as Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus. The biggest single she wrote was the Miley Cyrus song "Party in the U.S.A.."

Recording Jessie J's album Who You Are took six years, finally completed on January 19, 2011. In late 2010, Jessie J released her first single, "Do It Like a Dude." The single gained positive reception from critics. The single charted at number two on the UK Singles Charts, being held off the top-spot by Bruno Mars with "Grenade." In 2010, her single "Sexy Silk" was featured in the film Easy A.

Her follow-up single "Price Tag" was released in late January 2011. The single went straight to the top of the charts charting at number one. It remained at number one for two exclusive weeks, however was knocked off the top spot by school friend, Adele with "Someone Like You." "Price Tag" was released in the U.S. on February 1, 2011.

The single peaked at 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has since charted at number-one in New Zealand and Ireland. Her first American television appearance was as the musical guest on the 12 March 2011 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

On February 25, 2011, her debut album, Who You Are, was released. Due to high demand and interest from fans for the album, the release date was pushed ahead by a month, from its original March 2011 release date. The album charted 6 March 2011 at number two on the UK Album Charts. In April 2011 the album debuted at number 11 in the U.S. and its single "Price Tag" was at 23. The video for the song featrued singer B.o.B.

Jessie J went on tour as the opening act for fellow Capitol artist Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour in 2011.

Jessie J says she's bisexual.






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March 27: Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas is 36 today.

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Did you know?

In October 2009, Ferguson became a part owner of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins.

Fergie was a member of the children's television series Kids Incorporated, and provided the voice for Sally in two made-for-television Peanuts cartoons.

In addition to her success with The Black Eyed Peas, her own debut album spawned four Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, with three reaching number one.

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Stacy Ann Ferguson - better known by her stage name Fergie - Ferguson was born in Hacienda Heights, California, She studied dance and began to do voice-over work, providing the voice for Sally in two made-for-television Peanuts cartoons, (It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown in 1984, and Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown in  1985, as well as on four episodes of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. From 1984 to 1989, she starred on the TV show Kids Incorporated. All that time, she was a cheerleader, straight-A student, and spelling bee champion, as well as a Girl Scout.

Ferguson was a member of the female trio Wild Orchid, which she fronted with Stefanie Ridel and fellow Kids Incorporated star Renee Sandstrom. They eventually signed a music publishing deal with Sony Publishing before signing a record contract with RCA Records in 1994.

Their first single, "At Night I Pray," debuted on the Billboard charts in Fall 1996. In March 1997, Wild Orchid released their self-titled debut album. In September 1998, they released their second album, Oxygen. The record label decided against releasing their third album, and Ferguson left the group in September 2001.

In a 2006 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ferguson revealed that both frustrations with the band's image and personal drug problems led her to leave Wild Orchid.


The Black Eyed Peas were recording their third album, 2003's Elephunk, when will.i.am invited Ferguson to try out for a song called "Shut Up." She went to record five additional songs on the album.

The following spring, shortly before Elephunk came out, Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine offered Ferguson a permanent spot to take over vocal duties and fill the void left by background singer Kim Hill's departure in 2000.

From Elephunk came "Where is the Love?," which became The Black Eyed Peas' first major hit, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, but topping the charts in several other countries. The album also included "Shut Up," which also topped the charts in multiple markets. The third single from the album, "Hey Mama" hit top 10 in many European countries and later reached number twenty-three in the US.

Their next album, Monkey Business, released in June 2005, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. The album's first single, "Don't Phunk with My Heart," reached number three in the US and earned them a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

"Don't Lie," the second single from the album, saw success  reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. "My Humps," another song from the album, immediately reached number 3 on the Hot 100 in the U.S. and number one in Australia.

Ferguson's debut solo album, The Dutchess, was released in September 2006. It spawned six hits including "London Bridge," "Fergalicious," "Glamorous," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Clumsy," and "Finally." Ferguson scored her fifth consecutive Top 5 hit from The Dutchess after "Clumsy" reached a peak position of number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

On November 18, 2007, Ferguson won the Pop or Rock "Favorite Female Artist" at the American Music Awards.
In addition, her song "Big Girls Don't Cry" also earned Ferguson a Grammy nomination for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance." In December 2007, Blender picked Ferguson as their woman of the year.

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Ferguson returned to acting in 2006, appearing as a lounge singer in the Poseidon remake and later had supporting roles in 2007's Grindhouse and the 2009 musical film Nine filmed in 2008.

The Black Eyed Peas released "Boom Boom Pow" from the album The E.N.D. in late March 2009. It went to number one in the US, making it the group's first chart topper.

They subsequently released a second single from the album, "I Gotta Feeling," which moving from number 2 behind "Boom Boom Pow" to the top spot on July 11, and remained there for 14 straight weeks. The two hit singles back to back kept The Black Eyed Peas on the top for 26 consecutive weeks.

"Meet Me Halfway" was released as the third single from the album in September 2009. The single reached number one in the UK and Australia. It also peaked at seven on the Billboard Hot 100. "Imma Be" was released as the fourth single, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. "Rock That Body" was then released as the fifth single, and has reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Black Eyed Peas' sixth album, The Beginning, was released in November 2010 and is their fourth studio album to feature the singer. The first single from the album, "The Time (Dirty Bit)," topped the charts in various countries.

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March 26: Teddy Pendergrass was born on this date in 1950...

... he died on January 13, 2010.


Born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pendergrass often sang at church, and planned to become a pastor. At 10, he was ordained a minister. He also took up drums during this time and sang with the Edison Mastersingers. He dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to enter the music business, recording his first song "Angel With Muddy Feet," which did not sell well.
Pendergrass played drums for serveral local Philadelphia bands, eventually becoming the drummer of the The Cadillacs.

In 1970, Teddy was spotted by the Blue Notes' founder, Harold Melvin, who convinced Pendergrass to play drums in the group. However, during a performance, Pendergrass began singing along, and Melvin, impressed by Pendergass's vocals, made him the lead singer. Up until then, the Blue Notes had struggled, but that soon changed when they landed a recording deal with Philadelphia International Records in 1971.

In 1972, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes released their first single, a slow, solemn ballad titled "I Miss You." The song was originally written for The Dells but the group passed on the song. Since Pendergrass sounded like Dells lead singer Marvin Junior, the label decided to have Pendergrass, then only 21, sing the song in a raspy baritone that became his trademark. The became a major rhythm and blues hit and put the Blue Notes on the map.

The group's follow-up single, "If You Don't Know Me by Now," reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 while also reaching number-one on the soul singles chart. Like "I Miss You" before it, the song was originally intended for a different artist, fellow Philadelphian native Patti LaBelle. (Pendergrass and LaBelle developed a close lasting friendship.)

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The group rode to fame with several more releases over the years including "The Love I Lost," a song which predated the upcoming disco music scene; the ballad "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon," "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck." One of the group's important singles was their original version of the Philly soul classic, "Don't Leave Me This Way."

By 1975, Pendergrass and Harold Melvin were not getting along, mainly over monetary issues and personality conflicts. At one point, Pendergrass wanted the group to be renamed "Teddy Pendergrass and the Blue Notes" because fans kept mistaking him as Melvin. Pendergrass left the group in 1977 and the Blue Notes struggled with his replacements. By the early 1980s had disbanded for good.

In 1977, Pendergrass released his self-titled album, which went platinum and included the disco hit, "I Don't Love You Anymore." Its follow-up single, "The Whole Town's Laughing At Me," became a top 20 R&B hit. The album was quickly followed by Life Is a Song Worth Singing, in 1978. That album included the singles  "Only You" and "Close the Door." The disco single, "Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose" was popular in dance clubs.

In 1979 he had two hit albums, Teddy and Live Coast to Coast. Hits off Teddy included "Come and Go With Me" and "Turn Off the Lights."

His 1980 album, TP, included his signature song, "Love TKO" and the Ashford & Simpson composition, "Is It Still Good to You." Between 1977 and 1981, Pendergrass landed five consecutive platinum albums, which was a then-record setting number for a rhythm and blues artist.





Pendergrass' popularity became huge by 1977. With sold-out audiences at his shows, Pendergrass' manager soon noticed that a huge number of his audience consisted mainly women. Pendergrass' next tour to have it with just female audiences only, starting a trend called "women's only concerts." Pendergrass was soon being called "the black Elvis." By early 1982, Pendergrass was the leading R&B male artist of his day usurping competition including closest rivals Marvin Gaye and Barry White.

On March 18, 1982, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia Pendergrass was involved in an automobile accident. The brakes failed on his 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, causing the car to hit a guard rail, cross into the opposite traffic lane, and hit two trees. Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

In August 1982, his label released This One's for You, which failed to chart successfully, as did 1983's Heaven Only Knows. Both albums included material Pendergrass had recorded prior to his accident.

Pendergrass returned to the studio and released Love Language in 1984. The album included the pop ballad "Hold Me," featuring a then unknown Whitney Houston.

On July 13, 1985, Pendergrass returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in front of a live audience of over 99,000 and 2 billion television viewers. It was the 35-year-old's first live performance following his 1982 accident.

In 1988, Pendergrass scored his first R&B number-one hit in nearly a decade when the new jack swing-styled "Joy," off his album of the same name, was released. It was his final Hot 100 charted single, peaking at number 77.

Pendergrass kept recording through the 1990s. One of the singer's final hits was the hip-hop leaning "Believe in Love," released in 1994. In 1996, he starred alongside Stephanie Mills in the touring production of the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. In 1998, Pendergrass released his autobiography entitled, Truly Blessed.

In 2006, Pendergrass announced his retirement from the music business. In 2007, he briefly returned to performing to participate in Teddy 25: A Celebration of Life, Hope & Possibilities, a 25th anniversary awards ceremony that marked Pendergrass' accident date, but also raised money for his charity, The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, and honored those who helped Pendergrass since his accident.

On June 5, 2009, Pendergrass underwent successful surgery for colon cancer, but a few weeks later he returned to the hospital with respiratory issues. After seven months, he died of respiratory failure on January 13, 2010. He was 59 years-old.


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