Biography | Artist Actors Biography

Nickelback is a post-grunge rock band founded in western Canada in 1995. The name derived from the nickel in change Mike Kroeger frequently had to give customers back in his job at a Starbucks coffee shop.

The core of the band hails from Hanna, Alberta. They are now based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Nickelback’s climb to mainstream was helped by Cancon, the Canadian law that requires a certain percentage of music played on Canadian radio to be from Canadian bands. Their second album, The State, propelled them to mainstream status even before Silver Side Up.

Nickelback has achieved major success on rock radio, scoring ten Top 10 hits since 1999. They have also crossed over to mainstream radio, scoring multi-format smashes on their last two albums. Coincident with the release of the first Spiderman film’s soundtrack was the single “Hero,” sung by band leader Chad Kroeger and Saliva singer Josey Scott.

Nickelback released their Silver Side Up album on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. On that morning, they were on their tour bus traveling across Pennsylvania less than 10 miles from where Flight 93 crashed. To some, the first single, “How You Remind Me”, became an anthem of sorts in memory of the fallen Americans on 9/11 and became one of the most played songs in the U.S in 2001 and much of 2002.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelback

Goo Goo Dolls are a modern rock band, formed in 1986. They are perhaps most famous for the hit Iris, featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Currently, the band consists of three members:

* Johnny Rzeznik - Vocals, guitar (Founding member)
* Robby Takac - Vocals, bass (Founding member)
* Mike Malinin - Drums (Hired in 1995, made official member in 1998)

Background

Founded in Buffalo, New York, the Goo Goo Dolls initially consisted of John Rzeznik, Robby Takac, and George Tutuska, and were known as the “Sex Maggots.” The band changed their name to the Goo Goo Dolls (the name was picked out from an ad in a True Detective magazine) at the request of a local club owner who refused to let them play otherwise. They were signed early on by Metal Blade Records and they released their self-titled debut album in 1987.

In their early career, they were often dismissed by critics as Replacements wannabes. While they were embraced by college radio, especially after the release of their third album, Hold Me Up (1990), it was not until 1995, when their single “Name” (from the album A Boy Named Goo) hit the airwaves that the Goo Goo Dolls realized commercial success at last. After a lengthy legal battle with Metal Blade records over royalties that were being withheld from the band, the Goos switched to Metal Blade’s parent company, Warner Brothers. In 1998, “Iris” was released on the City of Angels soundtrack and the Goos were propelled to stardom, as the song stayed on the Billboard charts at number one for 18 weeks and was nominated for three Grammys that year.

Other important people

* George Tutuska, drummer from 1986 to New Year’s Eve 1994. He was dismissed and was replaced by Malinin. George had said that he had not received any royalty checks from the albums he had played on, providing a reason as to why he is no longer part of the band.
* Lance Diamond a Buffalo, New York entertainer who has played with GGD live on many occasions, as well as recording with them on the tracks Down On The Corner, Never Take The Place of your Man, My Girl, Do You Believe, and Bitch.
* Nathan December played as a touring guitarist for the Dizzy Up the Girl album tour.
* Dave Schulz also toured with the band on the Dizzy Up The Girl tour. He currently works as a producer and session player in Los Angeles.
* Greg Suran touring guitarist for the Gutterflower tour, working as a session player in Los Angeles.
* Jason Freese touring keyboardist/saxophonoist for the Gutterflower tour, now on tour with Green Day.
* William Howell Was the uncredited A&R scout who helped sign the band to Metal Blade in 1987.

sosurce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goo_Goo_Dolls

Black Eyed Peas are an American hip-hop (musical styles Crossover Rap/Hip-Hop and Alternative Rap/Hip-Hop) group from Los Angeles, who have enjoyed massive international pop success. The group is currently composed of will.i.am, Apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie.

History

As Atban Klann, the group signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E), but their album was never released because Ruthless did not consider the positive themes reflected in the group’s music to be marketable to their audience.

After Eazy-E died of AIDS in 1995 (see 1995 in music), Atban Klann reformed as the Black Eyed Peas and released a debut, Behind the Front (1998, 1998 in music) that earned the group (and their accompanying live band) critical acclaim. The hit single from the album was “Joints and Jams”, and featured on the Bulworth soundtrack. Their second album was 2000’s Bridging the Gap (2000 in music). Their breakthrough album, Elephunk, was released in 2003, featuring a new female vocalist, Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, previously a cast member of Kids Incorporated and a member of teen pop band Wild Orchid. She is the replacement of background singer Kim Hill, who departed the band during 2000.

From Elephunk came the anti-war anthem “Where is the Love?“, which became their first major hit, peaking at #8 on the US Hot 100, but topping the charts practically everywhere else, including six weeks at #1 in the UK where it became the biggest-selling single of 2003. The album subsequently spawned “Shut Up“, which peaked at UK #2 (despite being referred to by one reviewer as “the single most vacuous, pointless, vile and generally loathsome song in a generation”) and topped the charts in many other European countries including France and Germany. Indeed the band have enjoyed greater mainstream success in Europe than in the US with Elephunk going Top 10, gold and (sometimes multi-)platinum in the UK, Germany and many other European markets, yet ultimately failing to break the US Top 10, although it did go platinum there. The third single from the album, “Hey Mama” hit the Top 10 in the UK, Germany and several other European countries, and reached the Top 30.

During Black Eyed Peas’ concert tour in Asia in 2004, Apl.de.ap’s life story was featured in a weekly Filipino TV drama special called Maalaala Mo Kaya (Do You Think You Can Remember), which explained his childhood with his poor family in Pampanga, Philippines, back then when he was teased “baluga” (a derogatory word for Negro), before sadly parting with them to live a better life in the US at the age of 14. “The Apl Song”, with the chorus written in Tagalog (Filipino), from their album Elephunk, tells the story of Apl.de.ap. The Tagalog lyrics and backing melody were based on the song “Balita”, an original composition of the 1970s Filipino folk rock group Asin. The group eventually produced an exclusive video of the song in the Philippines while touring the country as part of their album promotion.

The Black Eyed Peas’ song “Let’s Get Retarded” was restyled as “Let’s Get it Started” for an NBA Finals worldwide commercial. New, less offensive, lyrics gave the tune a basketball theme, as opposed to the original’s theme dealing with getting heavily intoxicated and partying, and the spot featured Carlos Santana. The revised song had great success as a single, particularly on the iTunes music download service.

Their next album, Monkey Business, was released on June 7, 2005. The album’s first single, “Don’t Phunk With My Heart”, was a major hit in the US peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. This is the highest peak yet of their career. The song is also at #3 in the UK, and #5 in Canada, and #1 in Australia. (Some radio stations skittish about complaints of obscenity, play an alternate version, “Don’t Mess With My Heart.”) “My Humps”, another song from the album, immediately achieved commercial success in the U.S. and fairly substantial radio play despite the sexually suggestive content. The album Monkey Business itself debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, selling over 295,000 copies in its first week.

Some commentators have noted the consistent theme of black men and blonde women in Black Eyed Peas videos, raising the question of racial fetishes or jungle fever. Whether or not it has been a conscious decision, more recent videos have featured a wider range of racial groups.

In September 2005, The Black Eyed Peas released an iTunes Essentials playlist of their greatest hits, as well as some that were re-recorded especially for purchase through iTunes. The playlist includes popular songs such as “Don’t Lie”, “Shut Up” and a new version of “Where is the Love?”. It also has small stories containing info and commentary about the songs and how the group first met.