BUCKINGHAM NICKS

When Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks released their musical collaboration, "Buckingham Nicks" back in 1973, their debut album didn't really receive much attention. They had first met while attending high school in Northern California, both aspiring to become musicians. They began working together after school when Buckingham asked Nicks to join his band, Fitz. During this time, Nicks and Buckingham drifted into a romantic relationship. Fitz achieved some moderate success yet soon disbanded.

Buckingham and Nicks continued on as a duo, attracting the attention of producer, Keith Olsen who worked with them to record some demos. This lead to them getting signed with Polydor Records in 1972.

The album, "Buckingham Nicks" showcased the emerging talents of both of these young musicians, giving them their first taste of professional recording sessions and working with some great musicians. The duo hit the road to promote the album, generating some interest from audiences, but their label failed to give their record much of a promotional push. The couple would have to find other means of financial support following the album's lackluster performance and being let go by their management company.

But their fortunes changed after Mick Fleetwood happened to hear some of their songs while visiting Olsen at the recording studio. Bob Welch had just left his band, Fleetwood Mac and he was intrigued by the sounds of Buckingham and Nicks. Fleetwood invited the couple to meet the other members of his band, Christine and John McVie for dinner and they all seemed to click. And a new band was born that evening. With Olsen on board as co-producer, the self-titled album from this newly formed rock group was released in 1975, reaching number one on the US Billboard Album chart the following year thanks to the hit singles, "Over My Head", "Rhiannon", and "Say You Love Me".

Now over fifty years later, after not being available to hear in any format, "Buckingham Nicks" has just been reissued and remastered on CD, vinyl and streaming. This ten song collection will certainly be more appreciated now as the album reveals their burgeoning artistry and clear indications of what they would go on to contribute to Fleetwood Mac.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC OF 2020

I know I'm not the only one glad to see 2020 come to an end. It was a rough and difficult year in many ways but thankfully we had music to help us get through.

And to bring an official end to 2020, here are a few songs that I loved from last year that I didn't get a chance to highlight:

2019 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

The artists inducted in to this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be the British Goth band, The Cure; heavy metal rockers, Def Leppard; soul siren, Janet Jackson; gypsy queen, Stevie Nicks, the English alt-rock band, Radiohead, the elegant art rock outfit, Roxy Music and the psychedelic pop band, the Zombies. In order to be considered, at least twenty-five years must have passed since the musician’s first recordings were released in order to ensure that their contribution to music has stood the test of time.

The induction dinner and ceremony will be held March 29th at the Hall in Cleveland, Ohio with highlights of the speeches and performances honoring the inductees will be later shown on an HBO special on April 27th.

THE CURE

The Cure emerged during the end of the punk rock revolution and the rise of the new wave movement. The founding members of this band were school friends in Crawley, England and first played locally as Easy Cure. There were some conflicts over the direction of the band and eventually only bassist, Michael Dempsey, drummer, Lol Tolhurst and guitarist, writer and vocalist, Robert Smith remained. They decided to rename themselves "The Cure" and were signed to Fiction record label and released a still very controversial single, “Killing an Arab” in 1978. It certainly brought the band attention and their debut album, “Three Imaginary Boys” was released the following year. The band became known as leaders in the Gothic rock genre but Smith soon grew tired of their gloomy rock sound and decided to move the band in to a more distinctive pop direction after their 1982 album, “Pornography”. And The Cure found commercial success with their singles, “Let’s Go To Bed”, “Just Like Heaven”, “Lovesong” and “Friday I’m in Love”. There have been several line-up changes over the years yet Smith has remained the only constant member and there are plans for a new album sometime this year in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of The Cure’s first release.



DEF LEPPARD

Def Leppard is one of the most successful hard rock bands of all time with sales of over one hundred million records sold. This English band formed while classmates in school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. In 1978, Pete Willis on guitar, Rick Savage on bass guitar, Rick Allen on drums and Joe Elliott on lead vocals, released the three-track, "The Def Leppard E.P.". After BBC Radio 1 DJ, John Peel gave their song, "Getcha Rocks Off" some heavy rotation, the record took off which lead to a major recording deal with Mercury Records. Def Leppard soon developed a loyal following among heavy metal fans and their major breakthrough came with their third album, "Pyromania" in 1983. With the singles, "Photograph", "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'", the album was a massive success and would go on to sell ten million copies in the U.S. alone. Their follow-up, "Hysteria" in 1987 continued their winning streak and would become Def Leppard's biggest selling album with twenty-five million copies sold worldwide. While Pete Willis was fired in 1982 due to his serious drinking problem and replaced by Phil Collen and drummer, Allen lost his left arm in a car accident and now uses a custom electronic drum kit to play, Def Leppard are still rocking around the globe and plan to embark on a world tour this summer.



JANET JACKSON

We first met Janet Jackson as a cute eight year old appearing with her famous musical brothers, The Jackson 5 on their television variety program back in 1976. She had initially intended to become an actress and appeared on the sitcoms, "Good Times" and "Different Strokes" but her father eventually pulled her in to the family business. Jackson's first two albums featured polished r&b yet lacked a distinctive sound and failed to generate much interest. But it was when she was teamed-up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for her third album, "Control" in 1986 that Jackson found her own voice. The record was an incredible success with six hit singles including her first number one pop song, "When I Think of You" and a Grammy nomination for Album of The Year. Jackson would go on to become a beloved and prominent figure in pop music with sales of over one hundred million records and ranked number seven on Billboard's list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists.



STEVIE NICKS

With her earthy voice, gypsy style and poetic lyrics, Stevie Nicks had already achieved great success and fame as a member of the rock/pop group, Fleetwood Mac (who were inducted to the Hall in 1998) before deciding to begin a solo career. She released her debut, "Bella Donna" in 1981 which was met with critical and commercial acclaim with four hit singles (including a duet with Tom Petty on "Stop Dragging My Heart Around") and reaching the top of the Billboard 200 Album chart. Nicks would record eight studio albums including "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault" from 2014 which featured new recordings of demos that Nicks had made over the years. And she is still performing with Fleetwood Mac and currently on tour with them.



RADIOHEAD

Radiohead is another popular British band who came together while meeting in school. While attending Abingdon Boarding School in Oxfordshire, England, guitarist Ed O'Brien, drummer Philip Selway, guitarist and singer Thom Yorke, bassist Colin Greenwood and his brother, multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood formed a rock group called, On a Friday in 1985. They credit their music teacher for exposing them to a variety of different music like jazz, film scores, avant-garde and classical that would help shape and influence their future sound as a band. After they graduated from school, the band toured around Oxford until they drew attention by record labels. On a Friday were signed to EMI Records and the group agreed to change their name to "Radiohead" per the label's request. Their debut album, "Pablo Honey" was released in 1993 but the record and the singles failed to make much of an impact in their home country. However, the single, "Creep" would unexpectedly become a hit in Israel and the U.S. Radiohead's third album, "OK Computer" was their major breakthrough that went on to become a landmark record of the 1990's. The band's subsequent albums continued to experiment with various sounds and textures leading to Radiohead finding worldwide acclaim and a frenzied cult following.



ROXY MUSIC

Roxy Music was a popular and highly influential act in the 1970's largely in Europe and Australia. Formed by lead vocalist and chief songwriter, Bryan Ferry and bassist Graham Simpson, this stylish band brought sophistication to glam rock and would help inspire the future punk and new wave movements. They released their self-titled debut in 1972 and the eclectic album was well received reaching the top-ten on the UK Album chart. One of Roxy Music's biggest albums was their fifth, "Siren" in 1975 which featured Ferry's then-girlfriend, model, Jerry Hall on the cover and the single, "Love Is The Drug" was a substantial International hit which includes the U.S. Over the years, there were several musicians that came and went in Roxy Music (including musician and record producer, Brian Eno who was with the band during the first two albums) mostly due to creative differences with Ferry and the band would disband a few times as well. Roxy Music released their last studio album, "Avalon" in 1982 and performed together for the last time in 2011 for a series of 40th anniversary concerts.



THE ZOMBIES

The timing of The Zombies coming together was perfect as they managed to get swept in during the era of the musical British invasion of the 1960's. As teenagers, multi-instrumentalist, Rod Argent, guitarist, Paul Atkinson and drummer, Hugh Grundy decided they wanted to form a band. They later met bassist, Paul Arnold and Colin Blunstone who became lead vocalist to join them to become The Mustangs in 1962. However, after realizing there were other bands with this name, Arnold came up with "The Zombies". Arnold soon lost interest in the band and was replaced with Chris White. The Zombies won a music competition and were signed to a recording contract with Decca Records. They recorded their first single, "She's Not There" in 1964 and just missed reaching the top-ten on the UK pop chart. But the song became a bigger hit in the U.S. selling a million copies and going to number two on the chart. The Zombies found greater success in America with the singles, "Tell Her No" in 1965 and "Time of the Season" in 1969 becoming top-ten pop hits. The group had actually broken-up near the end of 1967 after struggling to get their music played with "Time of the Season" only getting a U.S. release due to the advise of musician, Al Kooper who formed Blood, Sweat & Tears. The Zombies reunited in 1990 and have continued to perform and record together with their sixth album, "Still Got That Hunger" released in 2015.

TOM PETTY (1950 - 2017)

It has been sadly confirmed that Tom Petty, the hard-driving rock performer and songwriter, has actually passed away at the age of sixty-six after suffering from full cardiac arrest early on October 2nd. It had been reported that he had died when he had been initially found at his home in Malibu but that was inaccurate at that time. Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers had just completed a fortieth anniversary tour, which he had stated would be their last major cross-country tour, with the final shows held at the Hollywood Bowl near the end of September.

Petty was born on October 20th in Gainesville, Florida and first became interested in rock-n-roll as a child after meeting Elvis Presley when the singer was in town shooting a movie and later when catching The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, Petty decided he was going to be a rock performer. He dropped out of school at seventeen to play bass with the band, Mudcrutch. The group found minor local success but eventually disbanded with Petty deciding to go solo. With former Mudcrutch members, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench by his side, he found additional players to form an early version of The Heartbreakers.

The first self-titled album by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers  in 1976 didn't get much attention in the States but it broke through in Britain with the single, "Breakdown". U.S. audiences soon came around and Petty and the band would have many hits here with  "Refugee", "Don't Do Me Like That", "American Girl" and "The Waiting". Petty would also release three solo albums, was a member of the supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys which included George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan and had a smash hit duet with Stevie Nicks with the single,  "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" in 1982.

Tom Petty was inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, won three Grammy Awards and has sold over eighty million records throughout his impressive career. Petty is survived by wife, Dana York and three children. Let's look back on some musical highlights from this incredibly gifted musician who will truly be missed:

STREETS OF FIRE

Did anyone ever see "Streets of Fire"? It was a 1984 film by Walter Hill that was a crazy mix of action, comedy, drama and musical and featured a retro-futuristic look. Self-described as "a rock & roll fable",  Michael Paré (a rising star at the time that never really got off the ground) plays as an ex-solider who is called on to save famous rock singer (and former girlfriend), Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) who was kidnapped by a biker gang lead by Willem Dafoe in an early film role. The film also featured Amy Madigan and Rick Moranis.



"Streets of Fire" is a hot mess of a movie but still a thoroughly watchable and entertaining mess. One bright spot is the music soundtrack. The film's title comes from a Bruce Springsteen song from his 1978 album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and was supposed to be sung by the Ellen Aim character at the end of the film. However, negotiations broke down and the song was dropped. Jim Steinman, best known for his theatrical rock ballads performed by such artists as Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler, was brought in to provide new material. He wrote "Nowhere Fast", the thrilling opening number and the ballad, "Tonight Is What It Means To be Young" for the finale. Diane Lane did not actually sing so professional vocalists, Laurie Sargent and Holly Shepard performed the songs with their voices blended together and were called Fire, Inc.





The biggest hit from the movie was "I Can Dream About You", written by Dan Hartman. In the film, the song was sung by session singer, Winston Ford and performed by the fictional doo-wop-soul group, The Sorels that featured Mykelti Williamson (recently seen in the film, "Fences") and future director, Robert Townsend ("Hollywood Shuffle", "Eddie Murphy Raw"). Hartman recorded his own version and was released as a single where it reached number six on the pop charts.

BUCKINGHAM + MCVIE: TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME?

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the release of one of the biggest selling albums of all-time; Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours". Recorded during a difficult time of personal upheaval within the group with the divorce of bass guitarist John McVie from keyboard player/vocalist Christine McVie along with the romantic break-up between guitarist and vocalist, Lindsey Buckingham and singer/songwriter, Stevie Nicks. Even Fleetwood Mac's co-founder and drummer, Mick Fleetwood was dealing with martial problems as his wife at the time was having an affair.

Yet despite all of the emotional chaos for each member of the band, somehow all of this tension set off a profound creative spark. While all four singles, "Go Your Own Way", "Don't Stop", "You Make Loving Fun" and the number one hit, "Dreams",  made it to the top-ten on the U.S. pop chart, every song from this near-perfect album received some radio play. "Rumours" would become a world-wide massive hit, go on to win a well-deserved Grammy Award for Album of The Year and to date, has sold more than forty million copies.

Now two members of the group, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have just released a self-titled album. After coming out of semi-retirement to rejoin Fleetwood Mac in 2014, McVie hit the recording studio with Buckingham to help get herself back in to the groove. This proved to be successful sessions with new material coming together for a potential new Fleetwood Mac album. The project was put on hold to start the Fleetwood Mac On With The Show tour. Stevie Nicks was going to contribute songs for the Fleetwood Mac album after their tour but decided to pursue her own career retrospective project, "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault" and tour for that album. Deciding not to wait for Nicks, Buckingham and McVie continued on with the project as a duo.

"Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie" is a solid album bringing a familiar, comfortable vibe by merging Buckingham's experimental style and McVie's smooth pop sound. While it's just the two musicians' name of the project, two other members of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie participated on a number of the tracks. This duo will be hitting the road this summer starting on June 21st in Atlanta to promote the record. Listen to the first single, "In My World", a Buckingham lead song and "Feel About You" which features McVie on vocals:

THE INFLUENCE OF PRINCE

The world is still reeling from the shocking loss of the musical genius, Prince. He was a consistent creative force with an inimitable talent and boundless energy. With an impressive body of work that ranged from politically charged anthems, tender love ballads, funky dance tunes and raunchy sex ditties, it's no surprise that other artists were attracted to his material.

Here are some of the amazing covers of songs written by the Purple One or they were created by him for that specific performer. There is even a hit song by Stevie Nicks that was inspired simply by his presence in the recording studio.

"When You Were Mine" - Cyndi Lauper (1983) mp3

"Sugar Walls" - Sheena Easton (1984) mp3

"Do Me Baby" - Meli'sa Morgan (1985) mp3







"Yo Mister" - Patti Labelle (1989) mp3

"Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinéad O’Connor (1990) mp3

"Round and Round" - Tevin Campbell (1990) mp3

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" - Corinne Bailey Rae (2011) mp3

IT TAKES TWO

One great voice is good but two great voices can be so much better. I don't think there's anything more wonderful than that magical sound when two really terrific artists come together and harmonize. There have been many outstanding musical duos, professional acts and one-time collaborations, throughout pop music history.

Listen and enjoy a few of my favorites:

"I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" - England Dan and John Ford Coley (1976) mp3

"You Don't Have To Be a Star (To Be In My Show)" - Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. (1977) mp3

"It Takes Two" - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston (1966) mp3

"If I Could Build My World Around You" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (1967) mp3

"Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" - Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross (1973) mp3

"Leather & Lace" - Stevie Nicks & Don Henley (1981) mp3

"Walking With a Ghost" - Tegan and Sara (2004) mp3

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" - Deniece Williams & Johnny Mathis (1978) mp3

"(You're My) Soul And Inspiration" - The Righteous Brothers (1966) mp3

"The Sound of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel (1965) mp3

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

TAYLOR SWIFT - "1989"

Country superstar, Taylor Swift has made a risky move by making her fifth album, "1989" a pure pop record. This could potentially be career suicide as country music fans are notoriously unforgiving when a beloved artist abandons their loving arms. I don't think Ms Swift has much to fear as the album looks poised to becoming one of the biggest sellers of the year.

For her official foray in to pop music, Swift has wisely decided against relying on current trends and looks back to the sounds of the 1980's for inspiration. The title of this record comes from the year of her birth and with production assistance from pop-hit makers, Max Martin, Ryan Tedder and Shellback as well as Jack Antonoff of the indie band, Fun and alt-rocker, Imogen Heap, she has crafted a collection that evokes a feeling of the past but remains quite modern. And considering she hasn't done much living at only twenty-four, Swift also shows great maturity as a songwriter.

"Blank Space", the latest single from the album looks sure to be another smash:

"Blank Space" - Taylor Swift (2014)

STEVIE NICKS - "24 KARAT GOLD: SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

One of Taylor Swift's idols, Stevie Nicks has also looked to the past for her latest release, "24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault". Nicks had a large collection of unrecorded songs she had written that went as far back as when she was dating Lindsey Buckingham before they joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975. They are now seeing the light of day as Nicks went to Nashville with producers, Waddy Wachtel and Dave Stewart (formerly of The Eurythmics) to record these lost treasures. The majority of the songs are by the singer but there are a few covers including "Carousel" by Vanessa Carlton which was one of her mother's favorites.

This is one of the tracks I really like:

"Starshine" - Stevie Nicks (2014)

PRINCE - "ART OFFICIAL AGE"

After being musically silent for far too long, the iconic Prince has returned with not one but two new releases. "Plectrumelectrum" and "Art Official Age" are being released by his former label, Warner Bros Records which he claimed at one time that they treated him like nothing more than a slave but clearly time has healed those old wounds. The former CD is an avant-garde, hard-edged rock album with his all-female backing band, 3rdeyegirl but I'm going to focus on the later which delivers more of the funky sound that I love. Prince seems to be in a more playful, sensual mood these days which is reflected in this new music. Along with the expected idiosyncratic touches scattered throughout, this is one of his most accessible albums in years.

"Clouds" - Prince (2014)

ANNIE LENNOX - "NOSTALGIA"

As is the trend these days for record labels to have veteran artists travel down a musical memory lane, Annie Lennox has just released her version with the appropriately titled, "Nostalgia". Ms Lennox had previously recorded a covers album of pop songs that inspired her back in 1995 with "Medusa" but this time the dynamic vocalist has gone back even further. This collection features songs from the Great American Songbook and some jazz tunes. She has taken on such classics ranging from Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" and "Strange Fruit", "Summertime" from Gershwin and "Georgia On My Mind" made famous by Ray Charles. Ms Lennox convincingly performs each song with warmth, style and class. "Nostalgia" has even made it to the top of the Billboard jazz chart.

Here is a clip of the singer performing "Summertime":


TINASHE - "AQUARIUS"

One of my favorite songs of the year is "2 On" by the twenty-one year old Tinashe and after releasing several popular mixtapes, her debut, "Aquarius" is now out. Although this singer/actress brings to mind the late Aaliyah, the Zimbabwe born, L.A. raised artist moves further out of the realm of traditional r&b or hip-hop. Tinashe had a hand on the writing of most of the songs along with top producers DJ Mustard, Mike Will Made-It and Stargate to help expand her sound and together they created a work that is sexy, experimental and highly innovative.

Enjoy this sample of the sounds of Tinashe:

"Cold Sweat" - Tinashe (2014)

Dawn Richard, a former member of the female pop singing group formed by Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, Danity Kane, has dropped the music video for her new single, "Blow". Richard is part of the alt-r&b movement and this pulsating clip is equally offbeat:

THE FIRST TIME: PART ELEVEN

"BELLADONNA"- STEVIE NICKS (1981)

She was born Stephanie Lynn Nicks in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. Her father, Jess was an executive for a food company, so the family moved frequently while her mother, Barbara was a homemaker who was over protective of their only child. She kept her young daughter in with her and entertained her by reading her fairy tales.

Stephanie's grandfather, Aaron, an aspiring country singer, taught her how to play the guitar and they were soon performing duets when she was four. She was called "Stevie" because as a child, she had difficulty pronouncing her birth name.

At sixteen, Stevie received her first guitar and began writing songs. She joined her first band called The Changing Times during high school while the family lived in Los Angeles. She met Lindsey Buckingham while a senior in high school and he soon became her romantic and musical partner. After graduation, they both attended San Jose State University in 1968 and asked her to join his band, Fritz that he had formed. Fritz became a popular live act in San Francisco, even opening for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. They both soon dropped out of college to move to Los Angeles so they could pursue their music career full time.

However, Fritz disbanded in 1972, so the two became a musical duo known as "Buckingham/Nicks". The duo received a recording contract with Polydor Records and released their self-titled debut, "Buckingham Nicks" in 1973.  The album did manage to generate some buzz for the group but it was not much of a success and they were dropped from the label.

Mick Fleetwood heard a track of the duo and made an initial offer only for Lindsey Buckingham to join his band, Fleetwood Mac, however he extended it to Stevie Nicks only after Mr. Buckingham stated he would not join without her. Their first album with the group was in 1975 with the self-titled, "Fleetwood Mac", although it was the band's tenth album. This album was a major hit, eventually selling over five million copies with three top-twenty singles including Ms Nicks' contribution, "Rhiannon". Tension grew between Buckingham and Nicks following the success of this album and the couple soon broke-up but both decided to continue with the band. Fleetwood Mac's next album would take the group in to a whole new level.

"Rumours", released in 1977, would become a monster smash album with four top-ten singles that includes the Stevie Nicks' composition, "Dreams" which is the band's only number one single. The album would sell an astounding forty million copies worldwide which made it the ninth highest selling album of all time.

Stevie Nicks had amassed a large collection of songs, some dating back to her days with Buckingham/Nicks, and since she was limited to a small number to be included on a Fleetwood Mac album, she decided to record a solo album. She signed with Modern Records in 1978 and began work on it, while recording Fleetwood Mac's follow-up album, "Tusk" and by 1981, her album was completed. It was titled, "Bella Donna (US Release)" and it would go to number one on the Billboard Album charts and would sell four million copies. There were three top-ten hits including two duets, the first single,"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty and the next, "Leather And Lace" that features Don Henley of The Eagles.

Stevie Nicks has remained with Fleetwood Mac over the years while recording solo albums in between.  She has released a total of seven solo projects including the recently released, "In Your Dreams" which was her first in ten years and is enjoying rave reviews and brisk sales.

Ms Nicks has been romantically linked to rock stars, Don Henley, Mick Fleetwood and Joe Walsh but she was only married once to Kim Anderson in 1982. He was the widow of her good friend, Robin who recently had died of leukemia but the couple divorced eight months later as they realized they had come together more because they were grieving than because they were actually in love.

This is Stevie Nicks' first solo single:

"Stop Dragging My Heart Around" - Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers


"DESTINY'S CHILD" - DESTINY'S CHILD (1998)

In Houston, Texas, auditions were held in 1990 looking for young girls to join a singing group. Six girls were selected including eleven year old LaTavia Roberson, and Kelly Rowland and ten year old, Beyonce Knowles. The group was called Girl's Tyme and they sang r&b, hip-hop and gospel with dance routines. They performed all over the Houston area, creating some buzz for the group.

This lead to an opportunity to perform on the television talent show, "Star Search" but Girl's Tyme failed to advance on the program. This disappointment lead to a line-up change with three girls leaving the group and a new singer was added, LeToya Luckett.

Beyonce's father, Matthew Knowles, who was already managing his daughter as well as Kelly and LaTavia, took over for the group. Girl's Tyme went through several name changes but were not happy with any of them. Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mother and the group's stylist came upon a page in the Bible with the word, "destiny" catching her eye. Matthew added the word, "child" and Destiny's Child was born.

The next step was getting a record deal and Matthew managed to get the girls signed to Columbia Records in 1997. Their first album, the self-titled, "Destiny's Child" was released the following year and featured production by Jermaine Dupri, Wyclef Jean and Dwayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone!. The album had a hit single, "No, No, No Part 2 (featuring Wyclef Jean)" that went straight to number one on the r&b charts and number three on the Pop. That single and the album sold over a million copies each.

After this success, Destiny's Child quickly went back in to the studio to complete their second album. "The Writing's On The Wall" came out in 1999 with a new group of hot producers including Rodney Jerkins and Kevin "She'Kspere" Briggs. The album was a massive hit, yielding four top-ten singles; "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Bug A Boo (H-town Screwed Mix)", "Jumpin', Jumpin'" and  "Say My Name". This album would receive six Grammy Award nominations and sell well over sixteen million copies worldwide.

Despite all of this success and acclaim, Destiny's Child was experiencing some internal turmoil. In December 1999,  LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett only wanted to end Matthew Knowles as their manager and had no desire to leave the group but then they saw Beyonce and Kelly on MTV's TRL to introduce the new music video for the song, "Say My Name", announcing that LaTavia and LeToya had left Destiny's Child and saw two other girls,  Farah Franklin and Michelle Williams performing in the video. The ladies took legal action against Matthew Knowles and the other members of the group and the case was eventually settled out of court  After five months, Farah Franklin was asked to leave the group, due to excessive absences and Destiny's Child permanently became a trio.

Destiny's Child released four more successful albums, "Survivor" (2001) and "Destiny Fulfilled" (2004) as well as a remix ("This Is The Remix") and a holiday album ("8 Days Of Christmas"), recorded the hit song for the 2000 film, "Charlie's Angels" ("Independent Woman") and selling over sixty million records before deciding to end the group and go their separate ways in 2006.

Kelly Rowland has released two moderately successful r&b albums but has found major success with dance music, teaming up with French DJ, David Guetta with the 2009 song, "When Love Takes Over" where it became an international smash and earned her a Grammy Award. She is due to release her third album sometime later this year.

Michelle Williams has recorded three solo albums including "Heart to Yours" (2002) which was a top seller on the gospel charts but her claim to fame right now is as an actress, performing in theater on Broadway in the musicals, "Aida", "Chicago", and "The Color Purple"

Beyonce Knowles has been in a few movies and sold some records.

This is the first hit for Destiny's Child:

"No, No, No pt. 2" - Destiny's Child featuring Wyclef Jean

Here is the video for the song, "Bootylicious" which features a sample of the Stevie Nicks' song, "Edge Of Seventeen" (and Stevie even makes a brief appearance):




"THE B-52'S" - THE B-52'S (1979)

In 1977, these five friends, guitarist, Ricky Wilson, his younger sister, Cindy on vocals, Kate Pierson on vocals and organ, Keith Strickland on drums and percussion and Fred Schneider on vocals and the cowbell, first performed together as a musical group at a Valentine's Day party in Athens, GA. They called themselves The B-52's which was a slang term for a beehive hairdo and their quirky sound combined dance, new-wave and surf music and they wore thrift store clothing on stage when they performed.

Their first recording was the song, "Rock Lobster" which was released by the Atlanta based, DB Records in 1978. The song became a local hit and garnered the attention of a major label, Warner Bros. which signed the group in 1979. The group's debut album, "The B-52's" was released later that year and was produced by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records. The album featured a new version of "Rock Lobster" with the song reaching only as high as number fifty-six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart but the album would sell well over a million copies in the US alone.

The follow-up album, "Wild Planet" was released in 1980 and included the song, "Private Idaho (Album Version)" which made it to only number seventy-four on the pop charts but reached number five on US Hot Dance Play charts. The B-52's also made their US television debut with a memorable appearance on "Saturday Night Live" later that year.

In July of 1985, during the recording of The B-52's fifth studio album, "Bouncing Off The Satellites", no one was aware that Ricky Wilson was suffering from AIDS related health issues. He did not tell his band mates because he did not want them to worry or fuss over him. On October 12, Ricky died from complications of the disease at the age of thirty-two. Everyone was devastated and did not think they could continue on as a band. The album was released the following year but they did not tour to promote the project although the album did have two single reach the top ten on the dance charts, "Summer Of Love [Summer Party Mix]" and "Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland".

During the hiatus, Keith Strickland switched from drums to guitar and began writing music. The other three members decided to come together with him and see what they might be able to do musically. "Cosmic Thing", produced by Don Was and Nile Rodgers, was completed and released in 1989 and would become their biggest commerical success. The first single, "Channel Z" would go to number one on the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts but the next song would become a world wide hit. "Love Shack" peaked at number three on the US pop charts while the group's next single, "Roam" would also reach that same position. The album made it to top five and sold over four million copies in the US.

The B-52's have completed eight albums with  "Funplex [+Digital Booklet]" being released in 2008, sixteen years after their last album, "Good Stuff" (1992) which was done without Cindy Wilson who had decided to take a break.

This is the single that started it all for the band:

"Rock Lobster" - The B-52's