Via Scoop.it – Transmedia Music Icons
Michael Jackson videos were some of the most innovative in music history. More than just promotional clips, they were short films that pushed the limits of the art form, showcasing … Take the poll and let us know what products would you purchase from Music Videos and what specifically would you buy or like to see in a Michael Jackson Videos? Thanks for your participation. Leave your Comments.
LINK TO OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
World Colours Transmedia Group in association with The Africa Heritage Society presents incredible stories never told. In accordance with United Nations Resolution 64/169 which celebrates 2011 as THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT we congratulate Airline Captain Michele Jones, First Officer Stephanie Grant, Flight Attendants Diana Gallaway and Robin Rogers, modern day Living Legends.
We are WCN are particularly excited about this story which lifts up Women and is a prime example of what hard work determination and a Media willing to highlight Role Models in STEM Instruction.
Ladies we deem it an honor to tell your story of the Wild Blue Yonder, Up Up & Away. May this post reach a girl struggling with direction. It takes a lot to entrust that equipment to any crew. Given our history isn’t it time we succeed again and again and leave a legacy of this kind of success for our sons and daughters.
Delta Airlines a modern Day Red Tails Airline because of the example of our honored Aviators. As a Delta Customer for more than 20 years it is indeed a great fact to know as people of African Descent and their buying power become more sophisticated about that 1.1 Trillion in buying power predicted for 2015 for people of African Descent.
Now for some fun. Can anyone tell me what Aircraft this is and if you think Delta should create a RED TAILS Retro Fleet to Honor The Tuskegee Airmen COMMENT, CLICK LIKE AND SHARE WITH OTHERS.
Lets Take this story viral. And please support RED TAILS COMING TO THEATERS JANUARY 20th, in The United States.
And stay tuned to WCN Transmedia Group Publications. We are organizing Transmedia Revenue Share Communities to support Profits and Non Profits. Main Street and Wall Street, the 1% and the 99%. Yes 100% Prosperity is more than possible its Heritage Time.
Coming Soon 2011 Songs for Africa:
Last week after Oprah’s Life Class Miss Representation was aired on OWN. Being a Dad First then a Media Executive I called one of my daughters and asked her to watch the special. The other daughter is old enough to read this Post and join the organization to create a Platform that women can indeed support.
I want to thank the following women for responding so far to my invitation because as a man I am fatally flawed when it comes to understanding Women and rather than give up, I throw up my hands that I would facilitate the means for discussion.
As I was combing through my LinkedIn Network for women executives . in media, I could see that there were far more men which is what the Documentary said very effectively.
First everyone knows Oprah Winfrey and she is doing television her way, which is why OWN must live despite the critics and naysayers because without it I would not have seen this documentary most likely nor would be Blogging about it now asking for direction on how to shape WCN’s Fashion, Music, and Sports programing policies
We all know that T&A Sells and to keep the lights on is an easy route for a networks success for Males 18 – 35. I think I am smart enough to know that with the Transmedia Brandcasting Technology with Commercial Free Viewing that it’s the Content that will draw and keep viewers. And of course the ability to buy instantly what you see will appeal more to women who control the household purse strings (PUN Intended).
HERE IS THE QUESTION? WHAT DO WOMEN WANT FROM A SINGLE TELEVISION NETWORK THAT COULD BE AN EXAMPLE TO ALL THE ENTIRE MEDIA INDUSTRY?
Please join the Transmedia Women’s Council on LinkedIn and give me your feedback. I want to thank the following Women for joining so far.
CLICK TO JOIN THE TRASNEMDIA WOMAN'S COUNCIL
Maya Zuckerman
Transmedia Producer, Entrepreneur, visual strategist San Francisco Bay Area Media Production
Patricia Robinson, PHR
Director of Personnel & Administration at Emmis Communications Greater New York City Area Broadcast Media
Sheila Hardy
Owner/Executive Producer at Eve’s Lime Productions Greater Los Angeles Area Motion Pictures and Film
Kandy Phillips
Brand Marketing | Communications Strategy | Social Media Systems | Creative and Technical Writing | Creative Resources
Click to Take the Pledge
Jennifer L. Pozner is Founder and Executive Director of Women In Media & News, a media analysis, education and advocacy group, and the author of Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV. We are honored to have her as a guest blogger today.
In Miss Representation, actress-activist Rosario Dawson talks about how important it is for women to write their own stories. This is equally important in entertainment and in journalism alike.Yet as I discuss in the film, today’s media climate is extremely toxic for women and girls, and for people of color. That’s because the main purpose of TV programming today is not to entertain, engage or inform us. Sad but true: the purpose is generate sky-high profits for the six major conglomerates (Disney, Time Warner, NewsCorp, Viacom, CBS and General Electric) that own and control the vast majority of what we’re given to watch, see, hear and play in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, movies, billboards and video games.
As a result, women are misrepresented and marginalized as op-ed writers, front-page news sources, lead anchors, and broadcast journalism commentators… that is, when they aren’t missing entirely (as decades of research document). Scripted entertainment isn’t much better. As filmmaker Nia Vardalos wrote at WIMN’s Voices, Hollywood studios ignore data that show that audiences actually do want to support films with strong female leads, calling the success of Sex and the City and Mamma Mia “a fluke.” When Nia tried to follow up her hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding with a new script, studio execs pressured her to change female leads to male characters—exactly the opposite of the kind of climate Rosario Dawson is rightly calling for.
And as I discuss in Miss Representation and write in Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, reality TV pretends to be about “real people” acting on “real emotions,” but is beyond inauthentic. Viewers think they’re listening to the voices and witnessing the experiences of “real women,” but what we’re really consuming are regressive, 1950 stereotypes that product-placement advertisers and networks script through editing and production tricks. A decade of these hyperedited, manipulative reality shows have used real girls’ and women’s voices as props to portray us all as stupid, bitchy, pathetic golddiggers desperate for men—and to portray women of color in particular as ignorant, hypersexual, “ghetto” “hos.” (If this were truly “reality” TV, we’d see far more smart, self-assured, passionate young women like “Miss Representation’s” Devanshi Patel starring in their own shows, and far fewer young women like Snooki from “Jersey Shore.”)
This would all be really depressing if there wasn’t something you could do about it. Luckily, there are many ways to change the media for the better. So, after you watch Miss Representation and leave the theater or turn off OWN, you shouldn’t simply get angry— you should get active.
First, you can find and support positive, challenging, critical journalism and entertainment that represents women in all their diversity. There is a vibrant independent media community in America where women and people of color are reflected as experts, and speak in their own voices — just like Rosario Dawson encouraged. Put down People and Us Weekly, and pickup non-commercial magazines like Ms., ColorLines, World Pulse and Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. To counteract to the damaging news media content discussed in the film, don’t rely only on mainstream newspapers and TV for your news – also seek out non-commercial alternative journalism sources you such as GRITtv with Laura Flanders, Free Speech TV and WINGS radio. Read online media and blogs such as Women’s Enews, WIMN’s Voices, Feministing, Racialicious, Feminist.com and Duly Noted, to name just a few, and watch video remixes at Pop Culture Pirate and Feminist Frequency.
Next, you can get involved with a dynamic, emerging media justice movement in America that needs your energy, support and participation to transform the media for the better. In 2001, I founded Women In Media & News, the first national women’s media analysis, education and advocacy group working to increase women’s presence and power in the public debate. A lot has changed in the decade since I founded WIMN, giving you even more opportunities than ever before to make a difference. Programs like Seattle’s Reel Grrls and New York’s People’s Production House teach journalism, radio and filmmaking to girls, people of color, and low-income people, to help silenced communities tell their stories… just like Rosario Dawson encouraged. The Media Literacy Project in New Mexico can help you get media literacy education in K-12 schools, and has online toolkits adults and kids alike can use to become active, critical media consumers. And the Center for Media Justice in Oakland and the Media Justice League in San Antonio are fighting to hold media companies accountable to your needs, advocating for fair media policies such as net neutrality, so that the internet and other information communication technologies are equally accessible to all, and remain a forum where each of us can write, podcast, videoblog, and communicate our realities on our own terms.
From all the organizations and indy media outlets above, to the national Media Action Grassroots Network, women and people of color have spent decades working to combat media bias and to create better, broader, more diverse media. Now that “Miss Representation” has shined a mainstream spotlight on this crucial advocacy, it’s time for you to join the movement. Welcome!
Bio: Jennifer L. Pozner is a journalist, media critic and public speaker. She is the founder and Executive Director of Women In Media & News, and author of Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV. She has conducted multimedia lectures and workshops on gender, race, class and sexuality in the media for more than 100 high schools, non-profits, and conferences across the U.S. and Canada (if you’d like her to a media literacy event in your town, be in touch!)
WCN Transmedia Group Music Review “Mr. Cordell Harris” I was touched by Country Music maybe for the First Time. First let me say I have absolutely no Country Music in my IPhone, Computer are around me but today I got a LinkedIn Message from Cordell Harris. I don’t think he will mind if I share it.
From LinkedIn: To Jay O’Conner Chairman & CEO WCNTV
I have a new cd for sale online, two new music videos on YouTube. How can you help in this new career path I’m on. I don’t quite understand the work you do but, would like to learn.
Thanks Cordell
Well Cordell what we do is monetize streaming video so Indpendent Artist like you can make additional revenue from your Music Videos. Right now you can see your Video on YouTube anywhere in the world but what is the incentive for anyone to buy it, if it’s up on YouTube for Free. The Music Industry at large has been overlooking the greatest opportunity since selling music for a residual was created.
Transmedia Brandcasting you as an Artist is to monetize the videos making them interactive for anything seen in them. We live in a global world and IPTV Streaming allows for borderless viewing however walls are up because there are very few to make money on television without a 30 second commercial. WCN is creating the first Interactive television Network which will allow viewers to instantly purchase what is seen during your video. So if you look at my blog you will see that I write about artists and people who are using video with the hopes that we can catch fire and get that call from Google and YouTube asking us to monetize it so a Revenue share can be had on the Product Placement for the Artists, Agents, Producers, Directors and the entire Entertainment Supply Chain with the Convergence to IPTV or what we can TV Everywhere. Hope this answers your question. I also am a blogger and love serving others so its my pleasure to lift you up with hopes you will do the same for me. Random Acts of Kindness is just a great way to live and do not charge at this time for blogging.
WCN is looking to partner with great Content like yours. Now back to my Music Review of your work. I had a few moment to listen to “The Little Ones”. As a Divorced Dad my goodness do I remember facing the issues covered by your video. And isn’t that what Country Music is supposed to accomplish. You have picked a tough Genre for a person of African Descent and that is why I believe that at the same time have a natural gift that makes it the perfect Genre for you.
I give it 5 Stars to you and your Director and should you need my help. Begin to identify the Brands shown in the Video and lets put together a plan to get them to use the Product Placement opportunity for what you have accomplished. So imagine if you will the ability to take your mouse and Click and Buy what is in your video and we partner to revenue share on every click made. We are cutting deals now and plan to launch early 2012 24 hours a day 7 days a week with monetized content and discounts in Sports, Music and Fashion programming.
Biography
Cordell loves to entertain. Given the audience response, he is definitely on the right track by pursuing his passion for being a country music entertainer.
Since being introduced to country music as a teenager, Cordell Harris has made a steady, consistent effort to pursue his dream of being a country music performer. The driving force in Cordell’s love of country music was his cousin, Rodney Goss. He was the one who introduced Cordell to the sounds of George Strait, Randy Travis, Alabama, and Hank Williams. Listeners are sure to hear these influences in Cordell’s music today.
Cordell has always been a fan of all genres of music and in 2006, he joined a band called Fuzion Of Elements. The band included several lead singers that sang everything from R&B to rap to pop. Cordell was the country singer in the band. Cordell has since left the band and is currently pursuing a solo career as a country music artist.
It has been a long road to get to this point in his career, but Cordell believes people
shouldn’t let obstacles stand in the way of their dreams and the vision for their life because everyone can achieve their dreams with persistence, hard work, and spiritual guidance. That is a philosophy that he hopes comes across in his latest music project which was recorded at The Project room with producer Jerry Webb in Nashville, Tennessee. The songs on this CD were chosen because they speak of experiences that he and his listeners can relate to in one way or another. One of the songs included on the CD, “Cowboy On”, is an upbeat dance song about letting go of the workplace drama of that nine-to-five job and being able to be yourself and doing what you love to do. This music is fun and will have everybody on their feet.
Enter Site
Cordell spent years performing in venues across southeast Texas and Louisiana. His biggest performance so far was with the Texas State Fair. He also performed at the Boomtown Film and Music Festival. If you go to one of Cordell’s performances expecting to see someone just standing on stage and singing, you may be in for a shock. Cordell doesn’t just sing. He puts on a performance that will entertain any crowd that comes to see him. It’s all about filling the dance floor and having a good time. His motto is “Keeping It Sexy”. He says this refers to everything from the way you dress to the way you parent your children. Life doesn’t have to be serious.
Cordell makes his home in Beaumont, Texas, with his wife Lisa and five children. “I love country music and I love what it stands for – God, Family, Country. I have been blessed with tremendous support from my family. Three of my five children are learning to play various instruments. My wife, Lisa, jumped right in there with them and has taken up keyboards. This is truly a family affair. Who knows what the future holds. We may have the Harris Family Band in a few years.”
Contact Information:
Cordell Harris
P. O. Box 22515
Beaumont TX 77720-2515
PHONE: (409) 454-0051
E-mail us: info@cordellharris.com
| Marvin Gaye | |
|---|---|
 Marvin Gaye, 1973 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.[1] |
| Also known as | Prince of Soul |
| Born | April 2, 1939 Washington, D.C., U.S.A. |
| Died | April 1, 1984 (aged 44) Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. |
| Genres | R&B, soul, doo-wop, funk, quiet storm |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, composer, musician, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, clavinet, synthesizers, piano |
| Years active | 1958–1984 |
| Labels | Motown (Tamla-Motown), Columbia |
| Associated acts | The Moonglows, Martha and the Vandellas, Tammi Terrell, The Originals, Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Diana Ross, Harvey Fuqua, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, Don Hussein |
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a four-octave vocal range.[2] Starting as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late fifties, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960 signing with the Tamla Records subsidiary of Motown Records. After starting off as a session drummer, Gaye ranked as the label’s top-selling solo artist during the sixties.
Because of solo hits such as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)“, “Ain’t That Peculiar“, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, he was crowned “The Prince of Motown”[3] and “The Prince of Soul”.[4]
His work in the early and mid-1970s, including the albums What’s Going On, Let’s Get It On, and I Want You, helped influence the quiet storm, urban adult contemporary, and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early eighties, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, “Sexual Healing” and the Midnight Love album before his death. Gaye was shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984. He was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.[5]
In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Gaye at number 6 on its list of the Greatest Singers of All Time,[6] and ranked at number 18 on 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[7]
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.[1] was born on April 2, 1939 at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.. His father, Marvin Gay, Sr., was a minister at the House of God (the House of God headquarters is located in Lexington, Kentucky), which advocated strict conduct and taught and believed in both the old and new Testament. His mother, Alberta Gay (née Alberta Cooper), was a domestic and schoolteacher. Gaye was the second eldest of four children. His younger brother, Frankie (1941–2001), would be one of the main sources of Gaye’s musical development and later served as a soldier in the Vietnam War and embarked on a singing career upon his return to civilian life to follow in his elder brother’s footsteps. His youngest sister, Zeola “Sweetsie” Gay (b. 1945), would later become the main choreographer of her brother’s live shows. As a child, Gaye was raised in the Benning Terrace projects in southeast D.C.[8]
Gaye’s father was minister of a local Seventh-day Adventist Church for a time. By the time his eldest son was five, Marvin Sr. was bringing Gaye with him to church revivals to sing for church congregations. Gaye’s father was assured all four of his children would follow him into the ministry and would later use his strict domineering to get his children to avoid secular activities including sports and secular music. Gaye’s early home life consisted of violence as his father would often strike him for any shortcoming. Gaye and his three siblings were bed-wetters as children.[9] Gaye would later call his father a “tyrannical and powerful king” and said he was depressed as a child, convinced that he would eventually “become one of those child statistics that you read in the papers” had he not been encouraged to pursue his dreams by his mother.[9] By age fourteen, Gaye’s parents moved to the Deanwood neighborhood of northeast D.C. The following year, Gaye’s father quit the ministry after a disappointment over not being promoted as the Chief Apostle (head overseer) of the House of God Inc. Gaye said his father later developed alcoholism, which furthered tension between father and son.
Developing a love for music at an early age, Gaye was already playing instruments including piano and drums. Upon arriving to Cardozo High School, Gaye discovered doo-wop and harder-edged rhythm and blues and began running away from home to attend R&B concerts and dance halls defying his father’s rules. Gaye joined several groups in the D.C. area including the Dippers with his best friend, Johnny Stewart, brother of R&B singer Billy Stewart. He then joined the D.C. Tones, whose members included another close friend, Reese Palmer, and Sondra Lattisaw, mother of R&B singer Stacy Lattisaw.[9] Gaye’s relationship with his father led him to run away from home and join the United States Air Force in hopes of becoming an aviator. However, discovering his growing hatred for authority, he began defying orders and skipped practices. Faking mental illness, he was discharged.[9] His sergeant stated that Gaye refused to follow orders.[10] Upon returning to his hometown, Gaye worked as a dishwasher to make ends meet. Gaye still dreamed of a show-business career, and rejoining Reese Palmer, the duo formed a four-member group calling themselves the Marquees.
A 1959 promotional picture of Harvey and the Moonglows. Gaye is located in the right of a seated Fuqua.
In 1958, the Marquees were discovered singing at a D.C. club by Bo Diddley, who signed them to Okeh Records, where they recorded “Wyatt Earp”, with “Hey Little Schoolgirl” as its B-side. It received moderate success, but not the success Gaye and his band mates had hoped for. Later that year Harvey Fuqua, founder and co-lead singer of the landmark doo-wop group The Moonglows, recruited them, after the breakup of the original members, to be “The New Moonglows” which moved the formerly-named Marquees from Okeh to Chess Records. While there, the “new Moonglows” recorded background vocals for Chess recording stars Chuck Berry and Etta James. After “The Twelve Months of the Year”, which featured a spoken monologue by Gaye, became a regional hit, the group issued “Mama Loochie”, which was the first time Gaye sang lead on a record. The record was issued in late 1959 and became a hit in Detroit. Following a concert performance there, Gaye and other band members were arrested for small possession of marijuana. Afterwards, Fuqua decided to disband the group, keeping Gaye with him, as he favored him over the other members. In 1960, Harvey Fuqua had met Gwen Gordy and the couple embarked on both a personal and professional relationship. That year, the couple formed two record labels, the self-named Harvey Records, and Tri-Phi Records. Gaye was signed to the former label, whose other members including a young David Ruffin and Junior Walker. Gaye provided drums for The Spinners‘ first hit, “That’s What Girls Are Made For“, which was released on Tri-Phi. Stories on how Gaye eventually met Berry Gordy and how he signed to Motown Records vary. One early story stated Gordy discovered Gaye singing at a local bar in Detroit and that he had offered to sign him on the spot. Gaye’s recollection, and also a story Gordy later reiterated, was that Gaye invited himself to Motown’s annual Christmas party inside the label’s Hitsville USA studios and played on the piano singing “Mr. Sandman“. Gordy saw Gaye from afar and upon noting that Gaye was connected with Fuqua began to make arrangements to absorb Fuqua’s labels to Motown bringing all of the labels’ acts to Motown. Gordy said he immediately wanted to bring Gaye to Motown after seeing him perform, impressed by his vocals and piano playing. While working out negotiations, Fuqua would sell fifty percentage interest in Gaye to Gordy, which Gaye would find out later.[11] After Gordy absorbed Anna and Harvey in March 1961, Gaye was assigned to Motown’s Tamla division.
Gaye and Motown immediately clashed over material. While Motown was yet a musical force, Gaye set on singing standards and jazz rather than the usual rhythm and blues that fellow label mates were recording. Struggling to come to terms with what to do with his career, Gaye worked mainly behind the scenes, becoming a janitor, and also settled for session work playing drums on several recordings, which continued for several years. One of Gaye’s first professional gigs for Motown was as a road drummer for The Miracles. Gaye developed a close friendship with the label’s lead singer Smokey Robinson and they’d later work together. Though already a seasoned veteran of the road and almost exempt from Gordy’s Artist Development, which began operating in 1961, Gaye was still required to attend schooling, which he refused. He eventually took advice from grooming director Maxine Powell to keep his eyes open while performing because “it looks like you’re sleeping when you’re performing”.[9] Gaye would later regret skipping the school saying he could’ve benefited more from it.[9] Before releasing his first single in May 1961, he altered his last name to “Gaye”, later stating that he added the ‘e’ because “it sounded more professional” and to emulate what Sam Cooke had done before releasing his first secular record following his split from the Soul Stirrers. A famous story about the name change came from author David Ritz, Gaye’s confidant in later years, who said Gaye had said that he wanted to “quiet the gossip” of his last name and to distance himself from his father.[12]
In May 1961, Tamla released Gaye’s first single, “Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide“. The single flopped as a national release but was a regional hit in the Midwest, as was a follow-up single, the cover of “Mr. Sandman” (titled as just “Sandman” in Gaye’s release in early 1962). In June 1961, Motown issued Gaye’s first album, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye compromising Gaye’s jazz interests with a couple of R&B songs. The album tanked and no hit single came of it. A third regional hit, “Soldier’s Plea“, an answer to The Supremes‘ “Your Heart Belongs to Me“, was the next release in the spring of 1962. Gaye had more success behind the scenes than in front. Gaye applied drumming on several Motown records for artists such as the Miracles, Mary Wells, The Contours and The Marvelettes. Gaye was also a drummer for early recordings by The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas and Little Stevie Wonder. Gaye drummed on the Marvelettes hits, “Please Mr. Postman“, “Playboy” and “Beechwood 4-5789” (a song he co-wrote). Later on, Gaye would be noted as the drummer in both the studio and live recordings of Wonder’s “Fingertips” and as one of two drummers behind Martha and the Vandellas’ landmark hit, “Dancing in the Street“, which was another composition by Gaye, originally intended for Kim Weston. Gaye said he continued to play drums for Motown acts even after gaining fame on his own merit. For Gaye’s fourth single, the singer was inspired to write lyrics to a song after an argument with his wife, Anna Gordy Gaye (née Anna Gordy). While working out the song, Gaye mentioned he had his first “major” power struggle with Motown head Berry Gordy over its composition. Gordy insisted on a chord change though Gaye was comfortable with how he wrote it, eventually Gaye changed the chord and the song was issued as “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” in September 1962. The song became a hit on the Hot Rhythm and Blues Sides chart reaching number eight and eventually peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1963. A parent album, That Stubborn Kinda Fellow, was released in December 1962, the same month that Gaye’s fifth single, “Hitch Hike“, was released. That song reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, bringing Gaye his first top forty single. Gaye’s early success confirmed his arrival as a hit maker, and he landed on his first major tour as a performer on Motown’s Motortown Revue.
Gaye’s career following his performances with the Motortown Revue assured him success. Gaye’s next single, “Pride & Joy“, became a major hit in the spring of 1963, reaching number-ten on the Billboard Hot 100, selling nearly one million copies. Later that year, Gaye repeated the success with the top thirty hit, “Can I Get a Witness“, which found some leverage in the United Kingdom upon its release on Motown’s UK label Stateside Records. Many of Gaye’s early hits would later be heavily covered by acts such as The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and The Who, performers who admired Gaye and American R&B music in general. Gaye’s hits also was a big influence on the UK’s mod scene with several mod groups including the future Elton John‘s Bluesology and Rod Stewart‘s Steampacket covering Gaye’s hits there. Gaye’s early hits were also a big influence on American producers, including Phil Spector, who nearly had a car accident while pulling over upon hearing “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” for the first time.
Gaye’s hits continued throughout 1964. Several top twenty pop hits from this period included “You Are a Wonderful One“, “Try It Baby” and “Baby Don’t You Do It” kept Gaye’s momentum building. Gaye made his first public TV performance on American Bandstand in 1964 and later became a fixture on the show and on other programs such as Shindig! and Hullaballoo. Gaye’s popularity further increased after Motown released his first duet project, an album with Mary Wells titled Together. The duo had two hit singles, “Once Upon a Time” and “What’s the Matter with You Baby“. In late 1964, Gaye also appeared in the concert film, The T.A.M.I. Show where he performed his hits to an enthusiastic audience (with backing vocals by The Blossoms). Gaye reached the top ten in early 1965 with “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)“, which sold close to a million copies. Gaye eventually scored his first immediate million-sellers in 1965 with the Smokey Robinson compositions, “Ain’t That Peculiar” and “I’ll Be Doggone“. These songs and other singles released during the 1965–1966 period would be the result of Gaye’s next release, Moods of Marvin Gaye.
Gaye struggled with his success. While deemed a “smooth song-and-dance ladies’ man”, he still aspired to perform more jazz work in his catalog. Because of his success, Motown allowed him to work on such recordings including When I’m Alone I Cry, Hello Broadway and a Nat King Cole tribute album, A Tribute to the Great Nat “King” Cole. All three albums flopped. Gaye tried performing the songs onstage but soon stopped once he discovered that the crowds weren’t too appreciative of the material. One proposed standards project, which took over two years to record, was shelved due to session problems. Gaye’s performances at the Copacabana in 1966 also led to conflict between Gaye and Gordy as Motown had recorded the album for purposes of releasing it in early 1967. However due to a struggle, Motown eventually shelved it until it was later released three decades later. In early 1967, Gaye scored his first international hit with the duet, “It Takes Two“, with Kim Weston, who ironically had already left the label when it became a hit. Only one televised performance of the song showed Gaye singing the song to a puppet. That year, Motown hooked Gaye up with veteran Philadelphia-based singer Tammi Terrell, who had an early stint with James Brown. Gaye would later say of Terrell that she was his “perfect partner” musically.
A screenshot of a 1967 performance by Gaye and Terrell during taping of the Today Show.
Terrell and Gaye’s first major hit was the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson composition, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough“. The duo quickly followed up with the top five hit ballad, “Your Precious Love“. Despite rumors of a romantic relationship – Gaye was married to Anna Gordy and Terrell was dating Temptations lead vocalist David Ruffin – both singers denied such a relationship with Gaye saying later that they had a brother-and-sister relationship, a statement reiterated by Ashford & Simpson. Other hit singles the duo scored within an eighteen-month period included “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You“, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “You’re All I Need to Get By“. Other hits such as “You Ain’t Livin’ till You’re Lovin’” and “The Onion Song” found success in Europe. The duo’s recording of “If This World Were Mine“, the b-side of “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You”, found modest success on the charts, the first sole Gaye composition to do so. The song later found major R&B success when Luther Vandross covered it with Cheryl Lynn over a decade later.
The duo was also a success together onstage with Terrell’s easy-going nature with the audience contrasting from Gaye’s laid-back approach. However, that success was short-lived. On October 14, 1967, while performing at Virginia’s Hampden-Sydney College, Terrell collapsed in Marvin’s arms. Terrell had been complaining of headaches in the weeks leading up to the concert, but had insisted she was okay. However, after being rushed to Southside Community Hospital, doctors found that Terrell had a malignant brain tumor.[13]
The diagnosis ended her performing career, though she still occasionally recorded, often with guidance and assistance. Terrell ceased recordings in 1969 and Motown struggled with recording of a planned third Gaye and Terrell album. Gaye initially had refused to go along with it saying that he felt Motown was taking unnecessary advantage of Terrell’s illness. Gaye only reluctantly agreed because Motown assured him recordings would go to insure Terrell’s health as she continued to have operations to remove the tumor, all of which were unsuccessful. In September 1969, the third Gaye and Terrell duet album, Easy was released, with many of the songs subbed by Valerie Simpson, while solo songs recorded years earlier by Terrell, had overdubbed vocals by Gaye.
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“I Heard It through the Grapevine” was recorded by Gaye in April 1967, several months before Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded it. The song features an horror-based Wurlitzer piano solo, percussion and horns. Gaye’s recording of it paved the way for what later became “psychedelic soul“.
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Terrell’s illness put Gaye in a depression; at one point he attempted suicide but was stopped by Berry Gordy’s father.[citation needed] He refused to acknowledge the success of his song “I Heard It Through the Grapevine“, released in 1967 by Gladys Knight & The Pips (his was recorded before, but released after theirs), his first number-one hit and the biggest selling single in Motown history to that point, with four million copies sold.[citation needed] His work with producer Norman Whitfield, who produced “Grapevine”, resulted in similar success with the singles “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” and “That’s the Way Love Is“. Meanwhile, Gaye’s marriage was crumbling and he was bored with his music. Wanting creative control, he sought to produce singles for Motown session band The Originals, whose Gaye-produced hits, “Baby I’m For Real” and “The Bells“, brought success.
Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor on March 16, 1970. Gaye was so emotional at her funeral that he talked to her lying in state as if she was going to respond. Gaye insisted, following Terrell’s death, that he would no longer record duets with any other female performer nor was he ever going to perform on stage again since Terrell’s collapse and subsequent death had spooked him. He already had apprehensions of performing, suffering bouts of stage fright throughout his performing career. Prior to Terrell’s death, he had withdrawn from a scheduled performance citing an illness and was later sued for failure to appear. After Terrell’s death he stopped doing any more live gigs and never really recovered completely from her passing. He had an inspiration, going back to 1968, to try out for the Detroit Lions football team. After a tryout in early 1970, he wasn’t allowed to join the team though he gained friendships with two of its teammates, Mel Farr and Lem Barney. After helping to collaborate what became “What’s Going On“, he returned to Hitsville on June 1, 1970 to record the song, which was inspired by Gaye’s brother’s accounts of his experience at the Vietnam War and co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson of the Four Tops‘ disgust of police brutality after seeing anti-war protesters attacked in San Francisco.
Despite releases of several anti-war songs by The Temptations and Edwin Starr, Motown CEO Berry Gordy prevented Gaye from releasing the song, fearing a backlash against the singer’s image as a sex symbol and openly telling him and others that the song “was the worst record I ever heard”. Gaye, however, refused to record anything that was Motown’s or Gordy’s version of him. He later said that recording the song and its parent album “led to semi-violent disagreements between Berry and myself, politically speaking.” Eventually the song was released with little promotion on January 17, 1971. The song soon shot up the charts topping the R&B chart for five weeks.[14][15] Eventually selling more than two million copies, an album was requested, and Gaye again defied Gordy by producing an album featuring lengthy singles that talked of other issues such as poverty, taxes, drug abuse and pollution. Released on May 21, 1971, the What’s Going On album instantly became a million-seller crossing him over to young white rock audiences while also maintaining his strong R&B fan base. Because of its lyrical content and its mixture of funk, jazz, classical and Latin soul arrangements which departed from the then renowned “Motown Sound“, it became one of Motown’s first autonomous works, without help of Motown’s staff producers. Based upon its themes and a segue flow into each of the songs sans the title track, the concept album became the new template for soul music.
Other hit singles that came out of the album included “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” and “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)“, making Gaye the first male solo artist to have three top ten singles off one album on the Billboard Hot 100. All three singles sold over a million copies and were all number-one on the R&B chart. International recognition of the album was slow to come at first though eventually the album would be revered overseas as a “landmark pop record”. It has been called “the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices”.[16] The success of the title track influenced Stevie Wonder to release an album with similar themes, Where I’m Coming From, in April of that year. Following the release of the album and its subsequent success, Wonder rejected a renewing offer with Motown unless he was allowed creative control on his recordings, which was granted a year later. Gaye’s independent success not only related to Motown recording artists, other R&B artists of the era also began to rebel against labels to produce their own conceptual albums. The Jackson 5, one of Motown’s final acts to benefit from the label’s “glory years” (1959–1972), tried unsuccessfully to get creative control for their own recordings and as a result left in 1975 for CBS Records.
Gaye’s success was nationally recognized: Billboard magazine awarded him the Trendsetter of the Year award, while he won several NAACP Image Awards including Favorite Male Singer. Rolling Stone named it Album of the Year, and was nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards though inexplicably wasn’t nominated for Album of the Year. In 1972, Gaye reluctantly stepped out of his stage retirement to perform selected concerts, including one at his hometown of Washington, D.C. performing at the famed Kennedy Center, a recording of the performance was issued on a deluxe edition re-release of the What’s Going On album. Also in 1972, Gaye performed for Jesse Jackson‘s PUSH organization and also for a Chicago-based benefit concert titled Save the Children aimed at removing the plight of urban violence in Chicago’s inner city. The latter performance was issued as part of a concert film released in early 1973, also titled Save the Children. Following its success, Gaye signed a new contract with Motown Records for a then record-setting $1 million, then the most lucrative deal by a black recording artist.[9] With creative control, Gaye attempted to produce several albums throughout 1972 and early 1973 including an instrumental album, a jazz album, another conceptually-produced album of social affairs (the canceled You’re the Man project) and an album with Willie Hutch co-producing. In late 1972, Gaye produced the score for the Trouble Man film and later produced the soundtrack of the same name. The title track was the only full vocal work of the album and was released as a single in the fall of 1972 eventually reaching number seven on the pop chart in the spring of 1973.
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“Let’s Get It On” was written by Gaye and producer Ed Townsend, originally as a gospel song, and later as a protest song before eventually turning into a funk-oriented love anthem. It became Gaye’s second number-one hit in 1973.
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Gaye performing live at the Oakland Coliseum during his 1973–1974 tour
In late 1972, Gaye left Detroit and moved to Los Angeles but relocated to an area where he was far away from Motown, purchasing a house at the so-called “bohemian hippie” Topanga Canyon Boulevard district, which was a hotbed for musicians looking to get away from the trappings of the music industry and Hollywood itself. He continued to record music at Los Angeles’ Motown studios (Hitsville West) and on March 18, 1973, recorded “Let’s Get It On“, reputedly inspired by Gaye’s new-found independence, after separating from Anna Gordy the previous year. The single was released as a single in June of the year and became Gaye’s second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. It also was a modest success internationally reaching number thirty-one in the United Kingdom. With the success of its recording, Gaye decided to switch completely from the social topics that were on What’s Going On to songs with sensual appeal.
Released in August 1973, Let’s Get It On consisted of material Gaye had initially recorded during the sessions of What’s Going On. It was hailed as “a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy.”[17] Other singles from the album included “Come Get to This“, which recalled Gaye’s early Motown soul sound of the previous decade, while the then-controversial “You Sure Love to Ball” reached modest success but was kept from being promoted by Motown due to its sexually explicit nature. With the success of What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On, Motown demanded a tour. Gaye only reluctantly agreed when demand from fans reached a fever pitch. After a delay, Gaye made his official return to touring on January 4, 1974 at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. The recording of the performance, held by several music executives as “an event”, was later issued as the live album, Marvin Gaye Live!. Due to Gaye’s growing popularity with his increasing crossover audience and the reaction of the performance of “Distant Lover“, which Motown later released as a single in late 1974, the album sold over a million copies. Gaye’s subsequent 10-city tour, which took off that August, was sold-out and demand for more dates continued into 1975 while Gaye had struggled with subsequent recordings. A renewed contract with Motown in 1975 gave Gaye his own custom-made recording studio.
To keep up with demand and hype, Motown released Gaye’s final duet project, Diana & Marvin, an album with Diana Ross, which helped to increase Gaye’s audience overseas with the duo’s recording of “You Are Everything” reaching number-five in the UK, number-thirteen on the Dutch chart, and number-twenty in Ireland, while the album itself sold over a million copies overseas with major success in the UK. The recording of Diana & Marvin had started in late 1971 and overdubbed sessions took place in 1972 but was shelved from a release until late 1973 following the release of Let’s Get It On. Gaye toured throughout 1975 without new releases and collaborated in the studio producing songs for the likes of The Miracles (now without Smokey Robinson) and Yvonne Fair, helping to produce her version of Norman Whitfield‘s “Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On”, featured on Fair’s The Bitch is Black, while also assisting her in the background with his vocals. Later in 1975, Gaye shaved his head bald in protest to Rubin Carter‘s prison sentence. Gaye initially insisted to keep it bald until Carter’s release though Gaye’s hair and beard returned within a few months.
In 1976, Gaye released his first solo album in three years with I Want You. The title track became a number-one R&B hit while also reaching the top twenty of the national pop chart. The first of his albums to embrace the then popular disco sound of the time, Motown released a double-A 12′ of “I Want You” alongside another smooth dancer, “After the Dance“. The songs found success as a unit on the Billboard Hot Disco chart, reaching number-ten. By itself “After the Dance”, which wasn’t intended as a second single, eventually reached number fourteen on the R&B chart with minor pop traction, eventually reaching number seventy-four. That year, Gaye faced several lawsuits with former musicians and also faced prison time for falling behind on alimony payments ordered by law following his first wife Anna Gordy filing legal separation after a 15-year marriage. Gaye avoided imprisonment after agreeing to do a tour of Europe, his first tour of such in little over a decade. His first stop was at London’s Royal Albert Hall and then at the city’s London Palladium, where a recording was later released in early 1977 as Live at the London Palladium. Gaye performed in France, Holland, Switzerland and Italy to packed audiences and then returned for several U.S. tour dates though he often suffered from exhaustion from some of the U.S. dates. Between 1975 and 1976, Gaye was recognized by major corporations including the United Nations for charitable work dedicated to children and to affairs related to black culture.
In the spring of 1977, Gaye released “Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1“, which gave him his third number-one US pop hit, the final one Gaye released in his lifetime. The song also topped the R&B and dance singles chart and also found some international success reaching the top ten in England. Released as the only studio track from the Palladium album, its success kept Palladium on the charts for a year eventually selling over two million copies. It was recognized by Billboard as one of the top-ten selling albums of all time that year.
In March 1977, his long, drawn-out court battle with former wife Anna Gordy ended. As a compromise to settle matters between the ex-couple over issues of alimony payments for their adopted son, Gaye’s attorney until his death, Curtis Shaw, advised Gaye to remit a portion of the revenue that he was to get for his next studio album. Gaye entered the recording studio intending to produce a “lazy” album, but ended up with the sprawling double-album set, Here, My Dear, which was held up from release for over a year. Finally released after Motown’s demand for new product in late 1978, the album was initially a flop, tanking after only a couple months on the charts. Its only single, “A Funky Space Reincarnation“, peaked at number twenty-three on the R&B chart, in early 1979, becoming Gaye’s first single since “Soldier’s Plea” 17 years earlier to not hit the Billboard Hot 100.
Gaye became a figure on talk show circuits for most of 1979, mostly appearing on Dinah Shore‘s Dinah & Friends. He also toured in 1979, first in the United States, then in England and in Japan, the latter being the first time (and, as it turned out, the only time) he ever toured that country. As the year continued, Gaye found himself in trouble financially, and at home with second wife, Janis Hunter. The couple split up in 1979, nearly eighteen months after marrying, and by that fall, following a performance in Hawaii, Gaye decided to remain in the state, fearing he might be imprisoned for failing to pay the IRS millions in back taxes; in court, his attorney claimed that several items within the singer’s luggage, including tax returns, were stolen from him while at an airport. Meanwhile, Gaye, now heavily in the throes of drug addiction, struggled to record. Reports stated that while in Hawaii, Gaye lived inside a bread truck. He initially had planned to release a standards album titled The Ballads but discarded it, fearing fans would be disappointed by no recognizable hits on it. The singer then intended to release an album of love songs aimed for the disco audience titled Love Man, but within a year, however, Gaye thought of expressing his feelings about a possible Armageddon, as well as his battles of the heart. Gaye changed the titles of all the songs, rewrote lyrics, and retitled the album, In Our Lifetime?, recording the album tracks while living in London in the middle of his exile.
A 1980 European tour followed, after Gaye made a deal with British promoter Jeffrey Kruger, who had looked after Gaye’s 1976–1977 European tour and his Japanese engagement in 1979. Almost immediately, controversy arose, after Gaye failed to make the stage for Princess Margaret at the Royal Gala Charity Show. While Kruger recalls that Gaye showed up just as audiences were leaving, Gaye’s musicians recalled that Gaye performed to the few that stayed for the performance though Princess Margaret had already left. Though Princess Margaret denied it, the international press printed the news as an “embarrassing snub”, claiming that Gaye had deliberately arrived late. This led to a lawsuit between Gaye and Kruger that eventually settled out of court. While still in London, Gaye ran into problems when recordings of In Our Lifetime? were sent to Motown’s offices back in Los Angeles, initially as rough mixes, to get Motown’s response rather than intending to release it. However, desperate to release Marvin Gaye product, the label rushed the album out on January 15, 1981. Gaye was upset at the news, and accused the label of editing and remixing the album without his consent, putting out an unfinished song (“Far Cry”), altering the album art he requested, and removing the question mark from the title, muting its irony. Gaye vowed to never record another record for Motown. That summer, negotiations began to be made to release Gaye from the label. After several offers landed, Gaye accepted a deal for CBS Records, a deal that was finalized in March 1982.
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“Sexual Healing” was written by Gaye alongside Odell Brown and David Ritz. Ritz said Gaye advised him to write a poem after telling the singer he needed “sexual healing” while living in Europe. The song became an international hit after its release in 1982.
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On the advice of Belgian concert promoter Freddy Cousaert, Gaye moved to Ostend, Belgium, in February 1981 where for a time he cut down on drugs and began to get back in shape both physically and emotionally. While in Belgium, Gaye began to make plans to renew his declining fortunes in his professional career, starting with a tour he titled “The Heavy Love Affair Tour” in England where he was greeted more warmly by the same London press that had criticized him of the Princess Margaret snub the previous year. The tour ended with two concert dates in Ostend. A documentary leading up to his Belgian concert performances titled Transit Ostend was initially released to just Belgian fans, and was later issued on VHS in bootleg copies following Gaye’s death.
After signing with CBS’ Columbia Records division in 1982, Gaye worked on what became the Midnight Love album. Gaye reconnected with Harvey Fuqua while recording the album and Fuqua served as a production adviser on the album, which was released in October 1982. The parent single, “Sexual Healing“, was released to receptive audiences globally, reaching number-one in Canada, New Zealand and the US R&B singles chart, while becoming a top ten U.S. pop hit and hitting the top ten in three other selected countries including the UK. The single became the fastest-selling and fastest-rising single in five years on the R&B chart staying at number-one for a record-setting ten weeks. Gaye wrote “Sexual Healing” while at the village Moere, near Ostend. Curtis Shaw later said that Gaye’s Moere period was “the best thing that ever happened to Marvin.” The now-famous video of “Sexual Healing” was shot at the Casino-Kursaal in Ostend.[18] “Sexual Healing” won Gaye his first two Grammy Awards including Best Male Vocal Performance, in February 1983, and also won Gaye an American Music Award for Favorite Soul Single. It was called by People magazine as “America’s hottest musical turn-on since Olivia Newton John demanded we get “Physical“.
“ I don’t make records for pleasure. I did when I was a younger artist, but I don’t today. I record so that I can feed people what they need, what they feel. Hopefully, I record so that I can help someone overcome a bad time. ”
The following year, he was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance again, this time for the Midnight Love album. In February 1983, Gaye performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the NBA All-Star Game, held at The Forum in Inglewood, California, accompanied by Gordon Banks who played the studio tape from stands.[20] In March 1983, he gave his final performance in front of his old mentor Berry Gordy and the Motown label for Motown 25, performing “What’s Going On”. He then embarked on a U.S. tour to support his album. The tour, ending in August 1983, was plagued by Gaye’s returning drug addictions and bouts with depression.
When the tour ended, he attempted to isolate himself by moving into his parents’ house in Los Angeles. As documented in the PBS “American Masters” 2008 exposé, several witnesses claimed Marvin’s mental and physical condition spiraled out of control. Groupies and drug dealers hounded Marvin night and day. He threatened to commit suicide several times after bitter arguments with his father. On April 1, 1984, Gaye’s father fatally shot him when Gaye intervened in an argument between his parents over misplaced business documents. The gun had been given to his father by Marvin Jr. four months previously. Marvin Gaye would have celebrated his 45th birthday the next day. Doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor but he was deemed fit for trial and was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped when it was revealed that Gaye had beaten Marvin Sr. before the killing. Spending his final years in a retirement home, he died of pneumonia in 1998.[21]
In 1987, Marvin Gaye Jr. was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also honored by Hollywood’s Rock Walk in 1989 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990. In 2005, Marvin Gaye Jr. was admitted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2007, two of Gaye’s most important recordings, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “What’s Going On”, were voted Legendary Michigan Songs.
Gaye and second wife Janis
Gaye married twice. His first marriage was to Berry Gordy Jr.’s sister, Anna Gordy, who was 18 years his senior. Marvin and Anna were married on January 8, 1964 when Gaye was 24 and Gordy was 42. The marriage imploded after Marvin began courting Janis Hunter, the daughter of Slim Gaillard, in 1973. Anna filed for divorce in 1975; the divorce was finalized in March 1977. Gaye’s erotic and disco-tinged studio album I Want You was based on his relationship with Hunter. In his book Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye, author and music writer Michael Eric Dyson elaborated on the relationship between I Want You and the relationship Gaye had with Hunter, which influenced his music:
“I Want You” is unmistakably a work of romantic and erotic tribute to the woman he deeply loved and would marry shortly, Janis Hunter (Janis Gaye). Gaye’s obsession with the woman in her late teens is nearly palpable in the sensual textures that are the album’s aural and lyrical signature. Their relationship was relentlessly passionate and emotionally rough-hewn; they played up each other’s strengths, and played off each other’s weaknesses.[22]
In October 1976, he married Janis, who was 17 years old when they met. However, the marriage dissolved within a year. After attempts at reconciliation, Janis filed for divorce in 1979. The divorce was finalized in February 1981. During this time, Marvin began dating a model from the Netherlands named Eugenie Vis. In 1982 Gaye became involved with Lady Edith Foxwell, former wife of the British movie director Ivan Foxwell, and spent time with her at Sherston, her Wiltshire estate. Foxwell ran the fashionable Embassy Club and was referred to in the media as “the queen of London cafe society.” The story of their affair was told by Stan Hey in the April 2004 issue of GQ. The report quoted writer/composer Bernard J. Taylor as saying he was told by Foxwell that she and Gaye had discussed marriage.
Gaye had three children. Marvin Pentz Gaye, III (b. 1965), by Denise Gordy, the niece of his first wife Anna Gordy. Marvin III was also adopted by his first wife Anna. The singer disclosed this in David Ritz‘s biography on Gaye, Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, saying he was afraid of being criticized for not producing a child. Later, Gaye had two children with Janis Hunter, Nona Marvisa, nicknamed “Pie” by her dad (born September 4, 1974) and Frankie “Bubby” Christian Gaye (born November 16, 1975). Gaye introduced his daughter to a national audience during a show in 1975. Nona would do the same eight years later when her father was given a tribute by Soul Train. Nona has gone on to find success as a singer and actress. Gaye’s eldest son was a music producer. Frankie is said to have taken work as an artist. Gaye also has two grandchildren: Marvin Pentz Gaye IV (b. 1995), born on the anniversary of his grandfather’s death;[23] and Nolan Pentz Gaye (b. 1997).
Marvin Gaye’s musical style changed in various ways throughout his 26-year career. Upon his early recordings as member of The Marquees and Harvey & the New Moonglows in the late 1950s, Marvin recorded in a doo-wop vocal style. After signing his first solo recording contract with Motown, Marvin persuaded Motown executives to allow him to record an adult album of standards and jazz covers. His first album, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, conveyed those genres including several doo-wop and blues songs.
Starting with his first charted hit, 1962’s “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” through 1967’s “Your Unchanging Love”, Marvin’s music featured a blend of black rhythm and blues and white pop music that came to be later identified as the “Motown Sound“. Marvin’s 1962–1964 hits reflected a dance-pop/rock ‘n’ roll approach while his 1965–1969 recordings reflected a pop-soul style. Backed by Motown’s in-house band The Funk Brothers, pre-1970 Marvin Gaye recordings were built around songs with simple, direct lyrics supported by an R&B rhythm section with orchestral strings and horns added for pop appeal. Marvin’s early hits were conceived by Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Mickey Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland.
Marvin’s sound started to change slightly in 1967 after he began working with producers Norman Whitfield, Ashford & Simpson and Frank Wilson. Whereas Marvin’s early sound reflected a youthful exterior, later songs during that period including “You”, “Chained”, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” and “That’s the Way Love Is” were all recorded under the psychedelic soul sound of the late sixties and early seventies. “Psychedelic soul” mixed guitar-driven rock with soul-based grooves. Marvin’s vocal style also changed during that period where he began singing in a gospel texture that had been only hinted at in previous recordings.
In 1971, Marvin issued his landmark album, What’s Going On. The album and its tracks were responsible in the changing landscape of rhythm and blues music as the album presented a full view of social ills in America, including war, police brutality, racism, drug addiction, environmentalism, and urban decay. Beforehand, recordings of social unrest had been recorded by the likes of (Curtis Mayfield &) The Impressions, The Temptations, Sam Cooke, Sly & the Family Stone and James Brown, but this was the first album fully devoted to those issues. The album was produced under what is called a song cycle and because of its theme of “what’s going on” was considered one of the first concept albums to be released in soul music. Marvin’s 1972 soundtrack Trouble Man, based on the blaxploitation film of the same name, mainly featured instrumentals with a few vocal runs, including songs with social commentary. Marvin’s 1972 recordings outside that album – including “Where Are We Going”, “Piece of Clay”, “You’re the Man” and “The World Is Rated X” – also raised social issues and was personal in nature. The songs were to be included in the unreleased 1972 album, You’re the Man, which was canceled after the modest reception of the title single. Marvin issued his next “concept album” with 1973’s Let’s Get It On, based on the spiritual and erotic side of love and sex. Marvin released a similarly themed funk album in 1976, I Want You, before switching to personal issues with the albums Here, My Dear (1978) and In Our Lifetime (1981). The former album focused on Marvin’s problems in his first marriage, while the latter focused on his own life struggles. Marvin’s albums between 1971 and 1981 reflected a period where, as an Allmusic writer said, his music “not only redefined soul music as a creative force but also expanded its impact as an agent for social change”.[24]
Starting in the early-seventies, Marvin’s sound began to reflect the emerging sounds of funk and the later disco movement of the late 1970s. Marvin’s double-sided 1976 single, “I Want You/After the Dance” and his 1977 hit, “Got to Give It Up” were his only successful attempts at recording disco-styled dance music whereas the 1978 single “A Funky Space Reincarnation”, 1979’s “Ego Tripping Out” and the 1981 singles “Praise” and “Heavy Love Affair” aimed at the funk-based urban audience. By itself, “I Want You“, mixed funk with disco, soul and lite rock elements. With the release of 1982’s triple-platinum Midnight Love and the massive platinum selling smash hit, “Sexual Healing”, Marvin mixed the styles of funk and post disco with Caribbean and European-flavored pop music creating a mix that influenced the modern R&B sound. “Sexual Healing” was the biggest R&B hit of the 1980s – No.1 for 10 consecutive weeks. Some of Marvin’s posthumous releases have been varied in nature: 1985’s Dream of a Lifetime was produced mostly in an electro funk sound mostly in the first half of the album, while his posthumous “featuring” on rapper Erick Sermon‘s 2001 hit, “Music” brought him to a younger hip-hop audience.
According to several historians, Marvin Gaye’s career “spanned the entire history of rhythm and blues from fifties doo-wop to eighties contemporary soul.” [25] Critics stated that Gaye’s music “signified the development of black music from raw rhythm and blues, through sophisticated soul to the political awareness of the 1970s and increased concentration on personal and sexual politics thereafter.”[26] Marvin’s usage of multi-tracked vocalizing, recording songs of social, political and sexual issues, and producing albums of autobiographical nature have influenced a generation of recording artists of various genres. As an artist who broke away from the controlled atmosphere of Motown Records in the 1970s, he influenced the careers of label mates such as Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers and, later in Epic Records, Michael Jackson to gain creative control and produce/co-produce their own albums. The careers of later R&B stars such as Rick James, Prince, R. Kelly, D’Angelo, Raheem DeVaughn, Maxwell, Janet Jackson, George Michael, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Bobby V and J. Holiday also were influenced by the music of Marvin Gaye. Marvin’s erotically concept albums such as Let’s Get It On and I Want You inspired similar albums released by Smokey Robinson, Barry White and his co-producer on I Want You, Leon Ware. Modern-day artists such as Teena Marie and Mary J. Blige have also referenced Marvin in their own songs. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him No.18 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.[27]
In 1983, Spandau Ballet recorded the single “True” as a tribute to Marvin and the Motown sound he helped established. That same year, electro-funk group R. J.’s Latest Arrival mentioned him with their dance hit, “Shackles on My Feet”. DeBarge‘s 1983 hit, “All This Love” was musically influenced by Marvin’s sound and was rumored that they had wanted Marvin to record the song himself. However, Marvin had left the label before they could approach him.
On April 2, 1984, the day after Marvin’s death, Duran Duran dedicated their live performance of “Save a Prayer” while on their Sing Blue Silver tour and appearing on their Arena album to him. Tribute songs to the singer included Diana Ross‘ “Missing You” and The Commodores‘ “Nightshift” became hits with each song reaching number-one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Other artists who have either paid tribute to Marvin in a song or referenced him have included close friend and former Motown label-mate Edwin Starr, who released “Marvin” the month after his death, Teena Marie‘s “My Dear Mr. Gaye”, Todd Rundgren‘s “Lost Horizon”, the Violent Femmes‘ 1988 single “See My Ships”, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly‘s 1989 R&B hit, “Silky Soul”, ABC‘s 1987 single “When Smokey Sings” (Gaye’s “What’s Going On (song)” is sampled for the Miami Mix) and George Michael‘s “John and Elvis Are Dead” where Marvin is mentioned in one the final lines from the repeated chorus. Stevie Wonder wrote the song “Lighting Up the Candles” as a tribute to Gaye following his death and performed the song originally at Gaye’s funeral service. Wonder later recorded the song for the Jungle Fever soundtrack.
In 1992, Israeli artist Izhar Ashdot dedicated his song “Eesh Hashokolad” to Gaye. Two tribute albums, 1995’s Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye (which featured Nona’s version of “Inner City Blues“) and 1999’s Marvin Is 60 featured covers of Marvin’s most famous material. Since the 1960s, Marvin’s songs have been covered by a variety of artists. The Rolling Stones recorded “Baby Don’t You Do It” early in their career. The Band also recorded “Baby Don’t You Do It” numerous times under the Order of the Black title “Don’t Do It”; the different versions, both studio and live, appear on several of their albums and box sets (the only one to be released as a single came from Rock of Ages), as well as in their 1976 concert film The Last Waltz. Rod Stewart during his early tenure with Steampacket covered “Can I Get a Witness”. His 1965 hit, “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” was covered three times by Junior Walker in 1966, again in 1975 by James Taylor, and again in 2002 by gospel singer Helen Baylor. In Baylor’s version she substituted the word “baby” for Jesus.
Gaye’s 1968 hit “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” has been frequently covered with versions recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Roger Troutman, Edwin Starr and The California Raisins. Donny Hathaway performed a live version of “What’s Going On” for his 1972 Live album while Cyndi Lauper recorded a top forty version of “What’s Going On” in 1987, the song was re-recorded by a variety of contemporary pop, R&B and rap artists in 2001(again, including Nona) for AIDS benefit and was later dedicated to the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks. A few years after that, rock band A Perfect Circle covered the song in their own hard rock version. The singer’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” was covered by rock band The Strokes which featured Eddie Vedder on lead vocals. R&B singer Angela Winbush covered “Inner City Blues” in 1994 and was recorded in a slightly different version by Gil-Scott Heron in the 1970s. Aaliyah covered “Got to Give It Up” on her album One in a Million.
Gospel–soul legends Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin have each covered “Wholy Holy” from the What’s Going On album while “Let’s Get It On” was famously sampled by Shaggy on his breakthrough single, 1994’s “Boombastic”. Versions of “Sexual Healing” have been recorded by Soul Asylum, Ben Harper, Max-A-Million, Kate Bush, Neil Finn, Sarah Connor and Ne-Yo. Michael McDonald, Diana Ross and Amy Winehouse have all covered or redone their own versions of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, Marvin’s 1967 hit with Tammi Terrell while Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn reinterpreted the Marvin/Tammi single, “If This World Were Mine” in 1982. Mary J. Blige and Method Man, with permission, sampled an interpolation of “You’re All I Need to Get By” for their 1995 hit, “You’re All I Need/I’ll Be There for You”. In June 2008, D’Angelo alongside Erykah Badu recorded Gaye’s hit duo with Terrell, “Your Precious Love” for his “The Best So Far“…compilation album.
On April 2, 2006, on what would have been the singer’s 67th birthday, a park near the neighborhood where Marvin grew up at in Washington, D.C. was renamed after him after a discussion with the City Council. “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” was covered by John Mayer in his Album As/Is, released in 2004. The cover also featured DJ Logic. Elton John‘s song “Club at the End of the Street” also mentions Marvin Gaye. On the 25th anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s death, the singer’s hometown of Washington, D.C. again honored the singer by renaming a street he grew up on called “Marvin Gaye Way”.
Gaye scored 41 Top 40 hit singles on Billboard‘s Pop Singles chart between 1963 and 2001, 60 Top 40 R&B singles chart hits from 1962 to 2001, 18 Top Ten pop singles on the pop chart, 38 Top 10 singles on the R&B chart,[28] three number-one pop hits and thirteen number-one R&B hits and tied with Michael Jackson in total as well as the fourth biggest artist of all-time to spend the most weeks at the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart (52 weeks). In all, Gaye produced a total of 67 singles on the Billboard charts in total, spanning five decades, including five posthumous releases.
The year a remix of “Let’s Get It On” was released to urban adult contemporary radio, “Let’s Get It On” was certified gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000, making it the best-selling single on Motown in the United States. Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” is the best-selling international Motown single, explained by a re-release in Europe following a Levi 501 Jeans commercial in 1986.
On June 19, 2007, Hip-O Records reissued Gaye’s final Motown album, In Our Lifetime as an expanded two-disc edition titled In Our Lifetime?: The Love Man Sessions, bringing back the original title with the question mark and included a different mix of the album, which was recorded in London and also including the original songs from the Love Man album, which were songs later edited lyrically for the songs that made the In Our Lifetime album. The same label released a deluxe edition of Gaye’s Here, My Dear album, which included a re-sequencing of tracks from the album from producers such as Salaam Remi and Bootsy Collins.
His 1983 NBA All-Star performance[29] of the national anthem was used in a Nike commercial featuring the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Also, on CBS Sports’ final NBA telecast to date (before the contract moved to NBC) at the conclusion of Game 5 of the 1990 Finals, they used Gaye’s 1983 All-Star Game performance over the closing credits. Most recently, it was used in the intro to Ken Burn’s “Tenth Inning” documentary on the game of baseball.
In 2008, Gaye earned $3.5 million, and took 13th place in ‘Top-Earning Dead Celebrities’ in Forbes Magazine.[30]
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” one of his most famous songs, voted No.1 and greatest Motown song and his “What’s Going On” is on the top five.[31]
A documentary about Gaye – What’s Going On: The Marvin Gaye Story – was a UK/PBS USA co-production, directed by Jeremy Marre and was first broadcast in 2006; two years later, the special re-aired with a different production and newer interviews after it was re-broadcast as an American Masters special. Gaye is referenced as one of the supernatural acts to appear in the short story and later television version of Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes in “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band“.
A play by Caryl Phillips called A Long Way from Home, focusing on Gaye’s relationship with his father and his last years in Ostend, was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 in March 2008. It featured O. T. Fagbenle as Gaye and Kerry Shale as Marvin Gay Sr., with Rhea Bailey, Rachel Atkins, Damian Lynch, Alibe Parsons, Ben Onwukwe and Major Wiley. It was directed by Ned Chaillet and produced by Chris Wallis.
So far, three movies are currently being planned on Marvin’s life. One movie, Sexual Healing, is based on the post-Motown career of Marvin Gaye’s later years with Jesse L. Martin playing Marvin and James Gandolfini playing Marvin’s Belgium-based mentor, concert promoter Freddy Cousaert.[32] Another film, simply titled, Marvin, is also in plans for production with F. Gary Gray in helm to direct the film.[33] This film, unlike Sexual Healing, will focus on Marvin’s entire life story because unlike Sexual Healing, the second film was allowed rights to Marvin’s Motown catalog. Musicians Common and Usher and actor Will Smith have either been rumored to or have aspired to play the singer possibly in the second film. A third film on Gaye is reportedly being produced by Motown with director Cameron Crowe.[34]
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Book: Marvin Gaye |
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This page was last modified on 12 August 2011 at 19:25.
WCN Transmedia Group has learned that LL Cool J will join Senator Malcolm A. Smith for Jump And Ball 7. In my home town of St Alban‘s and Hollis Queens. The world will be taking notice soon at the innovation, creativity, comedy and global music from all the movers and shakers that come out of Queens, NYC. Baby. Family Get the word out that its time for what would appear an OLD SCHOOL BLOCK PARTY. Volunteers Wanted, I bet Corporate Sponsors are Wanted. Calling on Retailers bring your time talent and giveaways to make this a great event. Now we all remember how we do this. Bring A Dish, Meet new and old friends and be prepared for the 2012 Election. We all know that America is facing its greatest challenges. It takes Leadership. Its Time to learn and teach our Children about our heritage. The United Nations adopted UN Resolution 64/169 The International Year for People of African Descent. Yet Have you heard about this. Do you understand what your Heritage is? Its time for We The People to take a stand. It’s time to go from CIVIL RIGHTS TO PLATINUM RIGHTS. subscribe to this Blog to keep up with the latest information including the”2011 SONGS FOR AFRICA Tour” which will be brought to your by The Africa Heritage Society.
Check out some of the greatest music on earth in this post and I hope at this event. LL Cool J Take it away!!
LL Cool J was born and raised in Queens, New York City, the son of Ondrea (née Griffith) and James Smith.[2] He started rapping at the age of nine. His DJ later was known as Cut Creator. In his youth, LL Cool J performed in the church choir, participated in the Boy Scouts, and delivered newspapers. At age 16, by using a mixing table purchased by his grandfather at Sears,[3] Smith produced and created demos and sent them to various record companies, including Def Jam Recordings.[4] Under his new stage name, LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James),[5] Def Jam released his first record, the 12″ single “I Need a Beat“.[6] The single sold over 100,000 copies. The success of “I Need a Beat” helped lead to a distribution deal with Def Jam and Columbia Records in 1985.[7] Soon after, he dropped out of Andrew Jackson High School to record his debut album.
{{Main|Radio (LL Cool J al Radio was released to critical acclaim, as LL was one of the first rappers to use conventional song structure to make pop oriented rap.[8] “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” and “Rock the Bells” were singles that helped the album go platinum with 1,500,000 sales.[citation needed]
In 1987, he released Bigger and Deffer which included “I Need Love“. Also featured on the album was “Go Cut Creator Go“, which pays homage to the DJ. The album sold about 2,300,000 copies.[citation needed] In 1998, The Source Magazine named it as one of the top 100 albums ever.[citation needed]
“I Need Love” was the second single from LL Cool J’s second album, Bigger and Deffer. The song, released in the fall of 1987, reached #1 on the R&B/Hip Hop charts, #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and #8 in the UK Singles Chart. The single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap – Single in 1987.[2] “I Need Love” was ranked #13 on the 100 Greatest Rap Songs.[3]
LL Cool J’s third album was 1989’s Walking with a Panther. The album featured the singles “Going Back to Cali“, “I’m That Type of Guy“, “Jingling Baby“, and “Big Ole Butt” and went platinum with 1,100,000 sales.[citation needed]
Following this, LL Cool J released Mama Said Knock You Out, which contained three singles, “The Boomin’ System“, “Around the Way Girl“, and the title track, which he performed during an episode of MTV Unplugged. It was also featured in the film The Hard Way. The album went on to sell over 2,700,000 copies.[citation needed]
After acting in The Hard Way and Toys, LL Cool J released 14 Shots to the Dome. The album had three singles (“How I’m Comin'”, “Back Seat” and the strangely titled “Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed by Buildings”) and guest-featured labelmates Lords of the Underground on “NFA-No Frontin’ Allowed”. The album went gold.
LL Cool J starred in In the House, an NBC sitcom, before releasing Mr. Smith (1995), which went on to sell over two million copies. Its singles included “Doin’ It” (that samples “My Jamaican Guy” by Grace Jones) and “Loungin” (that samples “Who Do You Love?” by Bernard Wright). Another of the album’s singles, “Hey Lover“, featured Boyz II Men sampling Michael Jackson‘s “The Lady in My Life,” which eventually became one of the first hip hop music videos to air on VH1[citation needed]. The song also earned him a Grammy Award. Yet another single from the album, “I Shot Ya Remix”, included vocal work by Foxy Brown.
In 1997, he released the album Phenomenon. The singles included “Phenomenon” and “Father”. The official second single from Phenomenon was “4, 3, 2, 1,” which featured Method Man, Redman & Master P and introduced DMX and Canibus.
In 2000, LL Cool J released the album G.O.A.T., which stood for the “greatest of all time.” It debuted at number one on the Billboard album charts,[9] and went platinum. LL Cool J thanked Canibus in the liner notes of the album, “for the inspiration”.
LL Cool J’s next album 10 from 2002, was his 9th studio (10th overall including his greatest hits compilation All World), and included the singles “Paradise” (featuring Amerie), “Luv U Better“, produced by The Neptunes and the 2003 Jennifer Lopez duet, “All I Have“. The album reached platinum status.
LL Cool J’s 10th album The DEFinition was released on August 31, 2004. The album debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts. Production came from Timbaland, 7 Aurelius, R. Kelly, and others. The lead single was the Timbaland-produced “Headsprung,” which peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single was the 7 Aurelius – produced, “Hush,” which peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
LL Cool J’s 11th album, Todd Smith, was released on April 11, 2006. It includes collaborations with 112, Ginuwine, Juelz Santana, Teairra Mari and Freeway. The first single was the Jermaine Dupri produced “Control Myself” aka the “zzz song” which was with singer Jennifer “J-Lo” Lopez. They shot the video for “Control Myself” on January 2, 2006 at Sony Studios, New York. The second video, directed by Hype Williams, was “Freeze” featuring Lyfe Jennings.
LL Cool J performing in Wilmington, Delaware in August 2008.
LL Cool J in concert at the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix, Arizona.
In July 2006, LL Cool J announced details about his final album with Def Jam recordings, the only label he has ever been signed to. The album is titled Exit 13. The album was originally scheduled to be executively produced by fellow Queens rapper 50 Cent.[10] Exit 13 was originally slated for a fall 2006 release, however, after a 2 year delay, it was released September 9, 2008 without 50 Cent as the executive producer. Tracks that the two worked on were leaked to the Internet and some of the tracks produced with 50 made it to Exit 13.
LL Cool J partnered with DJ Kay Slay to release a mixtape called “The Return of the G.O.A.T.“. It was the first mixtape of his 24 year career and includes freestyling by LL Cool J in addition to other rappers giving their rendition of his songs. A track entitled “Hi Haterz” was leaked onto the internet on June 1, 2008. The song contains LL Cool J rapping over the instrumental to Maino’s “Hi Hater“. He toured with Janet Jackson on her Rock Witchu tour, only playing in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, and Kansas City.
In September 2009, LL Cool J released a song about the NCIS TV series. It is a single and is available on iTunes. The new track is based on his experiences playing special agent Sam Hanna. “This song is the musical interpretation of what I felt after meeting with NCIS agents, experienced Marines and Navy SEALs,” LL Cool J said. “It represents the collective energy in the room. I was so inspired I wrote the song on set.”[11]
While LL Cool J first appeared as a rapper in the movie Krush Groove (performing “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”), his first acting part was a small role in a high school football movie called Wildcats. He continued to work in movies from then until 1995 when he landed his own television sitcom, In the House. He starred as an ex-Los Angeles Raiders running back who finds himself in financial difficulties and is forced to rent part of his home out to a single mother and her two children.
In 1998 he had a role in the film Halloween H20. In 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, he played the wise-cracking cook on a top-secret sea base besieged by genetically-enhanced sharks. Later that year, he had a starring role in Any Given Sunday, in which he played Julian Washington, the talented but selfish running back on the dysfunctional Miami Sharks. Since then, LL Cool J has appeared in a variety of films, such as the 2002 remake of Rollerball, Deliver Us from Eva, and S.W.A.T..
In 2005, he returned to television in a guest starring role on the Fox medical drama House as a death row inmate felled by an unknown disease.
LL Cool J also appeared as Queen Latifah‘s love interest in the 2006 movie Last Holiday.
He also guest starred on 30 Rock in the 2007 episode “The Source Awards” as the hip hop producer Ridiculous, who Tracy Jordan fears is going to kill him.
LL Cool J appeared in Sesame Street’s 39th season where he introduced the word of the day, “Unanimous”, in episode 4169 (Sept. 22, 2008) and performing “The Addition Expedition” in episode 4172 (Sept. 30, 2008).
LL Cool J is currently a series regular on the CBS police procedural NCIS: Los Angeles, a spin-off of NCIS (which itself is a spin-off of the naval legal drama JAG). He portrays NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna, an ex–Navy SEAL who is fluent in Arabic and an expert on West Asian culture. The series debuted in autumn of 2009, but the characters were introduced in an April 2009 crossover episode on the parent show.
LL Cool J worked behind the scenes with the mid-eighties Hip-Hop sportswear line TROOP.[12] In the mid 90’s, he also helped to launch the clothing line FUBU.
LL Cool J launched a clothing line (called Todd Smith).[13] The brand produces popular urban apparel. Designs include influences from LL’s lyrics and tattoos, as well as from other icons in the hip-hop community.[14]
LL Cool J has written four books, including 1998’s I Make My Own Rules, an autobiography co-written with Karen Hunter. His second book was the children-oriented book called And The Winner Is… published in 2002. In 2006, LL Cool J and his personal trainer, Dave “Scooter” Honig wrote a fitness book, The Platinum Workout. His fourth book LL Cool J (Hip-Hop Stars) was co-written in 2007 with hip-hop historian Dustin Shekell and Public Enemy’s Chuck D.
LL Cool J at MyCokeFest at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
LL Cool J started his own businesses in the music industry such as the music label in 1993 called P.O.G. (Power Of God) and formed the company Rock The Bells to produce music. With the Rock The Bells label, he had artists such as Amyth,[15][unreliable source?] Smokeman, Natice, Chantel Jones and Simone Starks. Rock the Bells Records was also responsible for the Deep Blue Sea soundtrack for the 1999 movie of the same name. Rufus “Scola” Waller was also signed to the label, but was released when the label folded.[16]
LL Cool J founded and launched Boomdizzle.com, a record label / social networking site launched in September 2008. The website accepts music uploads from aspiring artists, primarily from the hip hop genre, and the site’s users rate songs through contests, voting, and other community events.[17]
LL Cool J married his wife, Simone in 1995. The couple have four children. One son, Najee (1989) three daughters, Italia (1990), Samaria (1995) and Nina Simone (2000).
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Krush Groove | Himself | |
| 1986 | Wildcats | Rapper | |
| 1991 | The Hard Way | Detective Billy, NYPD | |
| 1992 | Toys | Captain Patrick Zevo | |
| 1995 | Out-of-Sync | Jason St. Julian | |
| 1995–1999 | In The House (TV) | Marion Hill | |
| 1997 | B*A*P*S | Himself | Cameo appearance |
| 1998 | Caught Up | Roger | |
| All That (TV) | Himself | Guest appearance | |
| Oz (TV) | Jiggy Walker | Guest appearance | |
| Woo | Darryl | ||
| Caught Up | Roger | ||
| Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Ronald “Ronny” Jones | ||
| 1999 | Deep Blue Sea | Sherman “Preacher” Dudley | |
| In Too Deep | Dwayne Gittens/god | ||
| Any Given Sunday | Julian Washington | ||
| 2000 | Charlie’s Angels | Mr. Jones | Cameo appearance |
| 2001 | Kingdom Come | Ray Bud Slocumb | |
| 2002 | Rollerball | Marcus Ridley | |
| 2003 | Deliver Us from Eva | Raymond “Ray” Adams | |
| S.W.A.T. | Officer Deacon “Deke” Kaye | ||
| 2004 | Mindhunters | Gabe Jensen | |
| 2005 | Edison | Officer Rafe Deed | |
| Slow Burn | Luther Pinks | ||
| House (TV) | Clarence | Guest appearance | |
| 2006 | Last Holiday | Sean Williams | |
| 2007 | The Man (TV) | Manny Baxter | |
| 30 Rock (TV) | Ridikulous | Guest appearance | |
| 2008 | The Deal | Bobby Mason | |
| 2009 | WWII in HD[18] (TV) | Shelby Westbrook | Voice |
| NCIS (TV) | Special Agent Sam Hanna[19] | Guest appearance (2 episodes) | |
| 2009–present | NCIS: Los Angeles (TV) | Special Agent Sam Hanna[19] | starring role, alongside Chris O’Donnell and Daniela Ruah |
| 2011 | Sesame Street (TV) | himself |
Grammy Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | “Going Back To Cali” | Best Rap Performance | Nominated |
| 1992 | “Mama Said Knock You Out” | Best Rap Solo Performance | Won |
| 1993 | “Strictly Business” | Best Rap Solo Performance | Nominated |
| 1994 | “Stand By Your Man” | Best Rap Solo Performance | Nominated |
| 1997 | “Hey Lover” | Best Rap Solo Performance | Won |
| 1997 | Mr. Smith | Best Rap Album | Nominated |
| 1998 | “Ain’t Nobody” | Best Rap Solo Performance | Nominated |
| 2004 | “Luv U Better” | Best Rap/Sung Collaboration | Nominated |
| 2005 | The DEFinition | Best Rap Album | Nominated |
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
The New York Music Awards
Rock The Vote Award
Long Island Music Hall of Fame
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: LL Cool J |
| Al Green | |
|---|---|
 Al Green in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California on July 27, 2006. |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Albert Greene |
| Also known as | The Reverend Al Green |
| Born | April 13, 1946 (age 65) |
| Origin | Forrest City, Arkansas |
| Genres | R&B Gospel Soul |
| Occupations | Reverend Vocalist Producer Songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals Guitar |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels | Hi Myrrh Records The Right Stuff Records |
| Associated acts | The Creations Willie Mitchell |
| Website | algreenmusic.com |
Albert Greene (born April 13, 1946),[1] better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as “You Oughta Be With Me”, “I’m Still In Love With You”, “Love and Happiness”, and “Let’s Stay Together”.[2] In 2005, Rolling Stone named him #65 in their list of the ‘100 Greatest Artists of All Time’. The nomination, written by Justin Timberlake, stated that “people are born to do certain things, and Al was born to make us smile.”[3] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Green in 1995, referring to him as “one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music.” Green has sold more than 20 million records.[2]
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Green was born in Forrest City, Arkansas.[1] He was the sixth of ten children born to Robert and Cora Greene.[4] The son of a sharecropper, he started performing at age ten in a Forrest City quartet called the Greene Brothers; he dropped the final “E” from his last name years later as a solo artist. They toured extensively in the mid-1950s in the South until the Greenes moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, when they began to tour around Michigan.[5] His father kicked him out of the group because he caught Green listening to Jackie Wilson.[6]
Green formed a group called Al Greene & the Creations in high school. Curtis Rogers and Palmer James, two members of the Creations, formed an independent label called Hot Line Music Journal. In 1967, under the new name Al Greene & the Soul Mates, the band recorded “Back Up Train” and released it on Hot Line Music; the song was an R&B chart hit. The Soul Mates’ subsequent singles did not sell as well. Al Green’s debut LP Back Up Train was released on Hot Line in 1967. The album was upbeat and soulful but didn’t do well in sales. This was the only album on the Hot Line label. Green came into contact with band leader Willie Mitchell of Memphis‘ Hi Records in 1969, when Mitchell hired him as a vocalist for a Texas show with Mitchell’s band and then asked him to sign with the label.
Mitchell predicted stardom for Green, coaching him to find his own, unique voice at a time when Green had previously been trying to sing like his heroes Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Sam Cooke. Green’s debut album with Hi Records was Green Is Blues, a slow, horn-driven album that allowed Green to show off his powerful and expressive voice, with Mitchell arranging, engineering and producing. The album was a moderate success. The next LP, Al Green Gets Next to You (1970), included a hit remake of the Temptations classic “I Can’t Get Next to You”, and more significantly, Green’s first of seven consecutive gold singles, “Tired of Being Alone“. Let’s Stay Together (1972) was an even bigger success, as was I’m Still In Love With You (1972). Call Me was a critical sensation and just as popular at the time; it is one of his most fondly remembered albums today. Al Green Explores Your Mind (1974) contained his own song “Take Me to the River“, which was later turned into an R&B hit (#7) by label-mate Syl Johnson and also covered by Talking Heads (#26 Pop) on their second album.
On October 18, 1974, Mary Woodson White, a girlfriend of Green’s, assaulted him before committing suicide at his Memphis home.[7] Although she was already married, White reportedly became upset when Green refused to marry her,[8] some four months after he peaked at #32 on the Hot 100 with the ironically titled “Let’s Get Married”. At some point during the evening, White doused Green with a pan of boiling grits while he was showering, causing burns on Green’s back, stomach and arms.[9] The police found in her purse a note declaring her intentions and her reasons. “The more I trust you,” she’d written, “the more you let me down.”
Green cited the incident as a wake-up call to change his life.[7] He became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976 and continues to serve in this capacity, delivering services down the street from Graceland.[10] Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and drew mixed reviews from critics.[11] 1977’s The Belle Album was critically acclaimed but did not regain his former mass audience.[12] In 1979 Green injured himself falling off the stage while performing in Cincinnati and interpreted this as a message from God. He then concentrated his energies towards pastoring his church and gospel singing,[10] also appearing in 1982 with Patti Labelle in the Broadway musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.[13] According to Glide Magazine, “by the late 70s, he had begun concentrating almost exclusively on gospel music.” [14] His first gospel album was The Lord Will Make a Way. From 1981 to 1989 Green recorded a series of gospel recordings, garnering eight “soul gospel performance” Grammys in that period. In 1985, he reunited with Willie Mitchell along with Angelo Earl for He Is the Light, his first album for A&M Records. In 1984, director Robert Mugge released a documentary film, Gospel According to Al Green, including interviews about his life and footage from his church.[15] In 1989, Green released “I Get Joy”, again with producer/guitarist Angelo Earl. In 2001, he appeared in the movie and soundtrack of On the Line featuring Lance Bass.
After spending several years exclusively performing gospel, Green began to return to R&B (Rhythm & Blues). First, he released a duet with Annie Lennox, “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” for Scrooged, a 1988 Bill Murray film. In 1989 Green worked with producer Arthur Baker writing and producing the international hit “The Message Is Love”. In 1991 he created the introductory theme song for the short-lived television series Good Sports featuring Ryan O’Neal and Farrah Fawcett.[7] In 1992, Green recorded again with Baker, the Fine Young Cannibals, and reunited with his former Memphis mix engineer (this time functioning as producer) Terry Manning, to release the album Don’t Look Back. His 1994 duet with country music singer Lyle Lovett blended country with R&B, garnering him his ninth Grammy, this time in a pop music category. Green’s first secular album in some time was Your Heart’s In Good Hands (1995), released to positive reviews but disappointing sales, the same year Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[16]
In 2000, Green published Take Me to the River, a book discussing his career. Green received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.[16]
In 2001, Green’s live cover of Sam Cooke‘s “A Change Is Gonna Come” was released on the soundtrack to Will Smith‘s film Ali (the song plays when Muhammad Ali learns of the death of close friend Malcolm X).
By 2003 Green released a non-religious (secular) album entitled I Can’t Stop, his first collaboration with Willie Mitchell since 1985’s He is the Light. In March 2005 he issued Everything’s OK as the follow-up to I Can’t Stop. Green also collaborated with Mitchell on this secular CD.
In 2004, Green sang a duet, “Simply Beautiful“, with Queen Latifah on her The Dana Owens Album. In 2006, Green worked on his latest studio album for Blue Note Records with The Roots‘ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.[17] The album, Lay It Down, was released May 27, 2008 and includes tracks featuring John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae and Anthony Hamilton.[18] Green said in an interview that he would have liked to duet with Marvin Gaye: “In those days, people didn’t sing together like they do now,” he said.[19]
In 2008, Green’s album Lay It Down marked his full return to chart success, reaching number nine on the Billboard hit album chart. It was his most successful album release in 35 years.
In 2009, Al Green, along with Heather Headley, released a version of the song “People Get Ready” on the compilation album Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration.[20]
In June 2010 Al Green appeared on the BBC show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and sang “Let’s Stay Together” accompanied by David Gilmour and Jools Holland.
In 2004, Green was inducted into the Gospel Music Association‘s Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Also in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #65 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[3] He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 BET Awards on June 24, 2009 .[21]
On August 26, 2004, Green was honored as a BMI Icon at the annual BMI Urban Awards. He joined an impressive list of previous Icon honorees including R&B legends James Brown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley[22]
In 2009, Al Green was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Green’s biggest hit, “Let’s Stay Together”, was voted a Legendary Michigan Song that same year.
19 http://afgen.com/al_green.html
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| Patti LaBelle | |
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 LaBelle performing at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Centennial Celebration in July 2008. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Patricia Louise Holt |
| Also known as | Patricia Edwards |
| Born | May 24, 1944 (age 67) |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Genres | R&B, pop, soft rock |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, actress |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Labels | Epic (1977-1980) Philadelphia Int’l (1981-1984) MCA (1984-2001) Def Soul Classics (2003-2005, 2007-present) Umbrella / Bungalo (2006) |
| Associated acts | Labelle, Michael McDonald |
| Website | pattilabelle.com |
Patricia Louise Holt Edwards (born May 24, 1944), better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is an American singer, author and actress. LaBelle spent sixteen years as lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, who changed their name to Labelle in the early 1970s and released the disco song, “Lady Marmalade“.
LaBelle started her solo career shortly after the group disbanded in 1977 and crossed over to pop music with “On My Own“, “If Only You Knew“, “If You Asked Me To“, “Stir It Up” and “New Attitude“. She has also recorded R&B ballads such as “You Are My Friend” and “Love, Need and Want You“.
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Patricia Louise Holt was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 24, 1944. Her father, Henry Holt,[1] was a railroad worker and lounge singer. Her mother, Bertha Holt, was a domestic and housewife. Holt was one of four daughters (Vivian, Barbara, Patricia and Jacqueline). Holt recalls having a happy childhood but said being sexually molested at the age of seven led her to be shy and withdrawn. Holt’s parents had an unhappy marriage. When Holt was twelve, her parents split up and Bertha Holt raised her daughters as a single mother. Holt’s mother later adopted Claudette Grant, who would become one of Holt’s closest friends.
Despite her shyness, Holt was known for her gifted voice even as a child. After first joining her church choir at ten, she sung her first solo at the Beulah Baptist Church at the age of twelve. Growing up, Holt listened not only to gospel, but jazz and rhythm and blues. By her teens, “Patsy”, as friends and family called her, also began listening to doo-wop and was encouraged to form a girl group in the late fifties. In 1958, she formed The Ordettes with three other friends. The following year, when two members of the group dropped out, singers Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, from a former rival group, joined them. Eventually with Cindy Birdsong included in the lineup by 1961 and with respected music impresario Bernard Montague managing them, the group gained a reputation around Philadelphia and soon caught the eye of a record scout, who introduced them to Newtown Records president Harold Robinson.
After hearing Holt’s voice during an audition, Robinson, who nearly ditched the group due to their looks – he allegedly thought Holt was “too plain and dark” to lead a singing group, agreed to sign the group, renaming them The Blue Belles (the name would simply be The Bluebelles by the mid-1960s), after a Newtown subsidiary label.
Not long after signing, the group was credited for the hit single, “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman“, though the song was recorded by another girl group, the Chicago-based The Starlets. This led to a lawsuit by a manager of the group and its record label boss, later resulting in the group winning $5,000 in damages. “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman” eventually reached the Billboard top 20. Despite this credited success, the group couldn’t follow up with any other hit. The Blue Belles supported themselves by constantly touring including an appearance at the Apollo Theater.
In 1963, a record label executive sued Harold Robinson for use of the name Blue Belles, since another group was using the name. As a result, Robinson gave Holt the nickname, Patti La Belle (La Belle is French for “the beautiful one”) and the group’s name was altered to Patti La Belle And Her Blue Belles. A year later, the group left Newtown switching over to Cameo-Parkway Records. Their first hit for Cameo-Parkway was the top 40 hit, “Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)“. Their follow-ups included “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Danny Boy“.
In 1965, Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun signed the group to the label, working with the group for a year. The group issued their first studio album (as Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles) titled Somewhere Over the Rainbow in 1966. While they had a modest pop charted hit with “All or Nothing” and its b-side, a pop cover of Judy Garland‘s “Over The Rainbow“, the group wasn’t as successful as the label predicted. In 1967, their second release, Dreamer, issued two singles, “Take Me For A Little While” and the Curtis Mayfield standard, “I’m Still Waiting”. In the middle of touring for that album, Cindy Birdsong suddenly left the group to join The Supremes after replacing Florence Ballard. The remaining trio of LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash struggled with subsequent recordings and by 1970, Atlantic had dropped the group from its roster, as had longtime manager Bernard Montague, who had by now focused his full energy on more successful Philly groups such as The Delfonics and The Stylistics.
After almost signing a management deal with Frankie Crocker and Herb Hamlett, the group settled on British manager Vicki Wickham (producer of the UK pop show, Ready, Steady, Go!) after Dusty Springfield had mentioned signing them. Wickham advised the group to perform in London and work on a brand new image and sound. LaBelle would later have disagreements with Wickham over changes often saying in interviews that she liked things the way they were. This led to some musical disagreements between LaBelle and Nona Hendryx.
In late 1970, the group returned to the U.S. changing their name to Labelle and signing a contract with Warner Bros imprint, Track Records. Wickham then had the group open for rock group The Who. In mid-1971, the group released their Warner debut, Labelle. The record mixed harder-edged soul music with rock music elements, a marked departure from the pop sound of the Blue Belles. The album failed to catch on, as did their 1972 follow-up, Moon Shadow. The group, however, did find success singing alongside Laura Nyro on her acclaimed album, Gonna Take a Miracle. The group would tour with Nyro off and on for the next couple of years.
In 1973, Wickham had the group signed to RCA Records, where they recorded the Pressure Cookin’ album. In the middle of recording, LaBelle gave birth to her only child, Zuri. While promoting the album opening for The Rolling Stones, Wickham advised the group to adapt the same flamboyant costumes of rock artists such as T. Rex, Elton John and David Bowie. Soon, their own stage entrances started to take a life on its own, at one point the group members flew into the concert stage, while singing. Despite this change in direction, their third album failed to become a success. However, a scout for Epic Records advised the group to sign with them in 1974 at the end of the Rolling Stones tour.
Later that year, Labelle issued their most acclaimed album, Nightbirds. In October 1974, the group made history by becoming the first pop group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House.[2] In late December, Epic issued the single, “Lady Marmalade“. Within six months, the record became a smash and reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, the group’s first to do so. This helped their album sell over a million copies. Their fame was so massive during this time that they made the cover of Rolling Stone later in 1975.
Later in 1975, the group issued their follow-up, Phoenix, which didn’t quite catch on as fast though it was critically raved. They had a little more success with the Chameleon album in 1976, with the songs, “Get You Somebody New” and “Isn’t It A Shame”, the latter song Patti LaBelle would say was “the last record we ever did together”. Despite her success, LaBelle wasn’t pleased at the group’s direction and by late 1976, neither LaBelle, Dash and Hendryx could agree on a musical direction. Following a concert in Baltimore in December 1976, LaBelle advised the others to break up. LaBelle began having anxiety attacks following the group’s split and was arguing constantly with her husband at the time. After seeing a shrink for psychological evaluation, LaBelle began to let her husband manage her affairs as she reluctantly soldiered on with a solo career.
LaBelle released her self-titled album in 1977 on Epic. The record was a critical success, with the highlights being the dance singles, “Joy To Have Your Love” and “Dan Swit Me” and the pop-R&B ballad, “You Are My Friend“, a song she and her husband co-wrote. Her subsequent follow-ups, however, 1978’s Tasty, 1979’s It’s Alright with Me and 1980’s Released, failed to be as successful. Though well-established in some circles, LaBelle never follow her live performance success with hit records, which was often the case with the Bluebelles. In 1981, she was switched to the CBS subsidiary, Philadelphia International Records, issuing the album, The Spirit’s In It. That record also proved to be unsuccessful.
LaBelle found success outside music, performing in the Broadway revival of Your Arm’s Too Short to Box with God, with Al Green. However, the play was criticized mainly because of what critics felt was vocal showboating by Green and LaBelle, criticism that LaBelle didn’t take lightly. In 1982, she recorded the Grover Washington ballad, “The Best Is Yet To Come“, which led to her first top 20 R&B hit and her first Grammy nomination in the spring of 1983. Later that year, LaBelle appeared in the PBS-produced play, Working. In October 1983, the mid-tempo love song, “If Only You Knew“, was released. The parent album, I’m In Love Again, was released the following month. In January 1984, “If Only You Knew” reached number-one on the Hot R&B Singles chart, where it stayed for four weeks. The song became LaBelle’s first charted hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, reaching the lower regions of the top fifty, peaking at number 46. The success of that single and its similar-sounding follow-up, “Love, Need and Want You“, which reached number ten on the R&B chart, helped I’m in Love Again, reached gold in the U.S.
Later in 1984, LaBelle appeared in her first film, A Soldier’s Story. Her appearance in the film later led to Steven Spielberg handpicking her for the role of Shug Avery on The Color Purple, but she turned it down due to hearing that there was a nude scene and same-sex kissing. LaBelle would later regret her decision to turn down the role, after Margaret Avery won an Academy Award nomination for her role as Shug. In the fall of 1984, LaBelle recorded the songs, “New Attitude” and “Stir It Up“, later issued for the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop, released in December 1984. The soundtrack became a hit, thanks to the releases of “New Attitude” and “Stir It Up”. The former single reached as high as number seventeen on the Hot 100 and was number-one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the spring of 1985, introducing LaBelle to pop audiences. In 1985, LaBelle left Philadelphia International signing a lucrative contract with MCA. PIR issued the final contractual LaBelle album, Patti. The album was not successful.
LaBelle garnered headlines in 1985 for her showstopping, and some say, purposely show-stealing performances, first at Motown Returns to the Apollo engaging in the so-called “infamous mic toss” between her and Diana Ross during the show’s finale, to the Foreigner song, “I Want to Know What Love Is“. LaBelle later alleged that Ross grabbed the microphone away from LaBelle following her taking over the lead, though someone else gave LaBelle another microphone where she finished singing. That same year, LaBelle was accused again of showboating, after singing in the finale of Live Aid to “We Are the World” so loud that she sounded as the only audible singer. Due to this press, she was given her own television special later that fall. In 1986, LaBelle released her eighth album, Winner in You, which peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the pop hit, “On My Own“, a duet with singer Michael McDonald. The song became LaBelle’s first number-one hit since “Lady Marmalade”. Winner in You eventually sold a million copies, becoming platinum. It remains her best-selling album. LaBelle took a break in 1988, re-emerging with Be Yourself, in 1989. The album failed to match the success of Winner in You though it eventually went gold thanks to LaBelle’s soft rock ballad, “If You Asked Me To“.
Her 1991 album, Burnin’, resulted in LaBelle’s first Grammy win for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and spawned three top ten hits on Billboard’s R&B chart also selling half a million copies becoming her third gold album. Her 1994 album, Gems and 1997 follow-up, Flame, also were certified gold and LaBelle’s 1990s singles, “The Right Kinda Lover” and “When You Talk About Love” hit number-one on the dance charts. She won a second Grammy in 1998 for her live album, For One Night Only! Following the announcement of the end of her marriage to her husband, Armstead Edwards, who also dismissed himself as LaBelle’s manager after more than 20 years, LaBelle released the ballad-heavy When A Woman Loves album in 2000. The album became her first since 1985’s Patti to not be certified gold due to poor response to its one single, “Call Me Gone”. LaBelle wouldn’t release another album until, after signing with the Def Jam Records imprint, Def Soul Classics, she released Timeless Journey, in 2004. The album became her highest-charted album in eighteen years though it also failed to become a success. The 2005 follow-up, Classic Moments, was another flop, and LaBelle abruptly left Def Jam Records in 2006 over a public dispute with Antonio “L.A.” Reid.[3] She released her first gospel album, The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle,[4] on the Bungalo label. She returned to Def Jam in 2007 and released her second holiday album, Miss Patti’s Christmas, which barely charted. As of 2011, LaBelle has yet to release a new solo album. In 2008, LaBelle briefly reunited with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash as Labelle on the group’s first new album in over thirty years, Back to Now.
Following her roles in A Soldier’s Story and Sing, LaBelle won a recurring role as Kadeem Hardison‘s mother on the hit show, A Different World. In 1992, following her success on the sitcom and responding to the success of rapper Will Smith‘s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, LaBelle starred in her own sitcom, Out All Night. The show was cancelled after only 19 episodes. In 1993, she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and two years afterwards, performed at the Super Bowl half time show. For a period, LaBelle’s theme song for The Oprah Winfrey Show, titled “Get With the Program”, proved to be popular along with its catchphrase. In 2003, she starred in her own lifestyle show, Livin’ It Up With Patti LaBelle, which aired for three years on the TV-One channel. In 1996, LaBelle issued her autobiography, Don’t Block the Blessings. She released her first of five cookbooks in 1997, and in 2006, released the book, Patti’s Pearls. In addition, LaBelle began to sell collections of spices, lipstick and even wigs on her website. Her “Patti Labelle”wig collection,-featured in Especially Yours wig catalogs-, discontinued in 2010.
On September 14, 2010, LaBelle made a return two decades after her last Broadway performance to star in the award-winning musical Fela![5] about Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. LaBelle replaced Tony Award-nominee Lillias White as Fela’s mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and remained with the production through the end of its run on January 2, 2011.[6]
On May 23, 2011, LaBelle appeared on “Oprah’s Farewell Spectacular, Part 1” the first show in a series of three shows constituting the finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing “Over the Rainbow” with Josh Groban.[7]
LaBelle was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards on June 26, 2011.[8]
A longtime resident of Philadelphia, LaBelle currently lives in the Philly suburb, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. In 1969, she married Armstead Edwards. In July 1973, their first and only child, Zuri Kye Edwards, was born. In the late 1970s, Labelle and Edwards adopted Stanley and Todd, the children of their next-door neighbor, after their mother died of cancer. Following the death of her youngest sister Jackie Padgett, Labelle raised Padgett’s teenage children. Following the disbanding of the group Labelle in 1976, Edwards, who was a schoolteacher, took over as his wife’s manager. In 2000, the couple announced their separation. Their divorce was finalized in 2001. LaBelle’s son Zuri has since taken over as her manager.
Her youngest sister Jackie Padgett became president of her sister’s fan club in the early 1980s. When Jackie later died of lung cancer in 1989, LaBelle dedicated her 1991 album, Burnin’, to Padgett and filmed the video for “If You Asked Me To” a day after her funeral. Her two other sisters, Vivian and Barbara preceded Jackie in death, dying of cancer themselves. LaBelle was diagnosed with diabetes in 1992. Prior to her marriage to Edwards, LaBelle was once engaged to Temptations singer Otis Williams breaking it off due to conflicting schedules.
In June 2011 a West Point cadet filed civil suit against LaBelle after he was allegedly assaulted by her bodyguards at Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston in March.[9] Houston police department is reviewing the conduct of officers responding to the incident after they posed for photographs with the singer,[10][11] but also filed assault charges against members of her entourage and warrants were issued. [12]
| Patti LaBelle Grammy Award History | ||||
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | “New Day” | R&B | Nominee |
| 2003 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | “Way Up There” | R&B | Nominee |
| 2003 | Grammy Hall of Fame | “Lady Marmalade“ | R&B | Inducted |
| 1998 | Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | Live! One Night Only | R&B | Winner |
| 1997 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | “When You Talk About Love“ | R&B | Nominee |
| Best R&B Album | Flame | R&B | Nominee | |
| 1993 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | “All Right Now (live)” | R&B | Nominee |
| 1991 | Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | “Superwoman” (with Gladys Knight & Dionne Warwick) | R&B | Nominee |
| Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | Burnin’ | R&B | Winner | |
| 1990 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | “I Can’t Complain” | R&B | Nominee |
| 1986 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | Winner in You | R&B | Nominee |
| Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | “On My Own” (with Michael McDonald) | Pop | Nominee | |
| 1985 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | “New Attitude“ | R&B | Nominee |
| 1983 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | “The Best Is Yet to Come” | R&B | Nominee |
| Patti LaBelle Awards | ||||
| Year | Category | Title | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Lifetime Achievement Award | BET Awards | Winner | |
| 2009 | Legends Hall of Fame | Apollo Theater | Winner | |
| 2009 | UNCF Award of Excellence | UNCF Evening of Stars | Winner | |
| 2008 | Legend Award | World Music Awards | Winner | |
| 2006 | Outstanding Actress – Television, Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy |
| 2006 | Outstanding Gospel Artist | NAACP Image Awards | Nominee | |
| 2004 | Outstanding Female Artist | NAACP Image Awards | Nominee | |
| 2003 | Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award | Songwriter’s Hall of Fame | Winner | |
| 2001 | Walk of Fame Award | BET Walk of Fame | Winner | |
| 2001 | Lena Horne Lifetime Achievement Award | Lady of Soul Awards | Winner | |
| 1998 | Triumphant Spirit Award – Career Achievement | The Essence Awards | Winner | |
| 1998 | Outstanding Performance – Variety Series/Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | Live! One Night Only |
| 1996 | Outstanding Performance – Variety Series/Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | The Essence Awards |
| 1995 | Heritage Award – Career Achievement | Soul Train Music Awards | Winner | |
| 1992 | Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist | American Music Awards | Winner | |
| 1986 | Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist | American Music Awards | Nominee | |
| 1986 | Outstanding Individual Performance, Variety or Music Program | Emmy Awards | Nominee | Sylvia Fine Kaye’s Musical Comedy Tonight III |
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WCN Transmedia Group Sports Communique; Jay O’Conner Chairman & CEO WCNTV
Image via Wikipedia
As a Transmedia Catalyst I am privy to insights that if applied to Major League Sports Globally, can drastically assist in solving the Lock out of the NFL and NBA.
The Free Enterprise Systems and Sports is a Cash Machine that has not been rivalled, yet there is a problem that many are overlooking. The Economy: The Ticket Prices and Merchandising to support the salaries, rents, maintenance and local economies of each sports franchise.
Whether NASCAR Concerts, Movies or sporting events families are struggling to keep the lights, gas and cable TV paid, not to mention things like rent, food and the necessities of life. So what must be done as billionaire owners and millionaire athlete’s posture and fans who can afford to participate are locked out of the next season or so it seems.
First it is more important than ever, for Sports Franchises as well as individual players to understand the Transmedia Story behind the Game and their contribution to the game.
For those clubs who are struggling to pay particular attention to this post, as in it may be some answers to get more butts in the seats – while your Mastermind Coaching Staffs, and Front Office develop that strategy to win the Championship of whatever sport you choose.
Social Media and Transmedia Brandcasting provides viewers with the opportunity to instantly click and buy anything seen from a video clip, music video, feature film and yes even Sporting Events.
Fan Participation in both the consumption and the Transmedia Revenue opportunities for merchandising streaming video has never been suggested before, however, could be the answer to even a fans ability to financially participate in the sports.
Recently a few things happened in the Social Media World that you may want to take note of. Facebook reaches the 750 Million Friends marked globally. Both Google and Facebook have entered the Groupon Online Coupon Deal.
In addition to major networks in 
the US. Fans want access to Sports Content even live via Mobile and Tablet Devices, however without the commercial interruptions just being mirrored like TV Catchup operates in the UK.
Instead a Transmedia Brandcasted NBA.Com or NFL.Com or for that matter FIFA, PGA, NASCAR you name it and it can be made interactive so that viewers can instantly purchase anything seen or programmed as part of the promotional viewing of the content.. And with some proper planning both Live and Rebroadcasts made available on the web can be made interactive.
The Free Enterprise System allows people to make whatever they are able to accomplish. So if you are able to get a NIKE Endorsement Deal then every time you are seen, a fan can click on your shoes and the shoes are dropped in a shopping cart, prepared for your payment and delivery to your home or office.
Well, if you get the shoes, you need the Jersey, shorts, wrist bands and tickets to the next event you want to attend. If the star has a Rap Album you can click and get the download. You get the idea!
This revenue does not exist but can mean millions if not billions to the franchise owners and the players. I challenge the stakeholders to examine this concept and take it to the test phase. The additional revenue could mean the difference for profitability and could be a win win for all parties especially the Fans whose tax dollars paid for the stadium. Whose cable Bill allows for the TV contracts and deals that take place.
Examine how the Social Dish and The Customer Advantage can be used to allow athletes the opportunity to increase recurring income that will last longer than their knees and bodies ever will.
From the College Athlete who participates in creating wealth for the college system, but, it precluded from profiting from putting their bodies at risk for conferences like NCAA to Professional Athletes. There must be a way to create Transmedia Revenue Share Communities to bring prosperity to Fans which will produce the ability to show up in the stands with their Loyalty Merchandise.
From organizing the Second Screens to Jumbotrons Screens at Nascar its time to make the experience interactive, creating new revenue that can save the sports themselves!
Enter Site
| Quincy Jones | |
|---|---|
 Quincy Jones attending an after-party of a tribute to his work at Life Restaurant, Los Angeles, CA on October 1, 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. |
| Also known as | Leigh Warren |
| Born | March 14, 1933 (age 78) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, funk, soul, big band, swing, jazz, bossa nova, hip-hop, rock n roll |
| Occupations | Musician, conductor, producer, arranger, composer, film composer |
| Instruments | Trumpet, French Horn, Drums, Vocals, Piano synthesizer |
| Years active | 1951 – present |
| Labels | Columbia, Mercury, Qwest |
| Associated acts | Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Aaliyah,[1] Michael Jackson, Rod Temperton, The Brothers Johnson, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Van Halen, Dinah Washington, Dean Martin, Patti Austin, Tevin Campbell, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Will Smith, 2Pac, Trey Songz |
| Website | quincyjones.com |
Jones in 2004 at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American musician. As a conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations,[2] 27 Grammys,[2] including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is particularly recognized as the producer of the album Thriller, by pop icon Michael Jackson, which has sold more than 110 million copies worldwide,[3] and as the producer and conductor of the charity song “We Are the World”.
In 1968, Jones and his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song The Eyes of Love from the Universal Pictures film Banning (film). That same year, he became the first African American to be nominated twice within the same year when he was nominated for Best Original Score for his work on the music of the 1967 film In Cold Blood. In 1971, Jones would receive the honor of becoming the first African American to be named musical director/conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony. He was the first African American to win the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1995. He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the most Oscar-nominated African American, each of them having seven nominations. At the 2008 BET Awards, Quincy Jones was presented with the Humanitarian Award. He was played by Larenz Tate in the 2004 biopic about Ray Charles, Ray.
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Jones was born in Chicago, the oldest son of Sarah Frances (née Wells), an apartment complex manager and bank executive who suffered from schizophrenia, and Quincy Delightt Jones, Sr., a semi-professional baseball player and carpenter.[4] Jones discovered music in grade school at Raymond Elementary School on Chicago’s South Side and took up the trumpet. When he was 10, his family moved to Bremerton, Washington and he attended Seattle’s Garfield High School. It was in Seattle that Jones first met the three years older (but still teenage) Ray Charles.[5] He then attended Somerset Academy.[citation needed]
In 1951, Jones won a scholarship to the Schillinger House (now Berklee College of Music) in Boston, Massachusetts. However, he abandoned his studies when he received an offer to tour as a trumpeter with the bandleader Lionel Hampton. While Jones was on the road with Hampton, he displayed a gift for arranging songs. Jones relocated to New York City, where he received a number of freelance commissions arranging songs for artists like Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa, and his close friend Ray Charles.
In 1956, Jones toured again as a trumpeter and musical director of the Dizzy Gillespie Band on a tour of the Middle East and South America sponsored by the United States Information Agency. Upon his return to the United States, Jones got a contract from ABC-Paramount Records and commenced his recording career as the leader of his own band.
In 1957, Quincy settled in Paris where he studied composition and theory with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. He also performed at the Paris Olympia. Jones became music director at Barclay Disques, the French distributor for Mercury Records.
During the 1950s, Jones successfully toured throughout Europe with a number of jazz orchestras. As musical director of Harold Arlen‘s jazz musical Free and Easy, Quincy Jones took to the road again. A European tour closed in Paris in February 1960. With musicians from the Arlen show, Jones formed his own big band, called The Jones Boys, with 18 artists—plus their families—in tow. The band included jazz greats Eddie Jones and fellow trumpeter Reunald Jones, and organized a tour of North America and Europe. Though the European and American concerts met enthusiastic audiences and sparkling reviews, concert earnings could not support a band of this size, and poor budget planning made it an economic disaster; the band dissolved and the fallout left Jones in a financial crisis. Quoted in Musician magazine, Jones said about his ordeal, “We had the best jazz band in the planet, and yet we were literally starving. That’s when I discovered that there was music, and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two.” Irving Green, head of Mercury Records, got Jones back on his feet with a personal loan and a new job as the musical director of the company’s New York division, where he worked with Doug Moody, who would later go on to form Mystic Records . In 1964, Jones was promoted to vice-president of the company, thus becoming the first African American to hold such an executive position in a white-owned record company.[6]
In that same year, Quincy Jones turned his attention to another musical arena that had long been closed to blacks—the world of film scores. At the invitation of director Sidney Lumet, he composed the music for The Pawnbroker. It was the first of his 33 major motion picture scores.
Following the success of The Pawnbroker, Jones left Mercury Records and moved to Los Angeles. After his score for The Slender Thread, starring Sidney Poitier, he was in constant demand as a composer. His film credits in the next five years included Walk, Don’t Run, In Cold Blood, In the Heat of the Night, A Dandy in Aspic, Mackenna’s Gold, The Italian Job, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Lost Man, Cactus Flower, and The Getaway. In addition, he also composed The Streetbeater, which is the familiar theme song for the television sitcom Sanford and Son, starring close friend Redd Foxx.
In the 1960s, Jones worked as an arranger for some of the most important artists of the era, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Dinah Washington. Jones’s solo recordings also garnered acclaim, including Walking in Space, Gula Matari, Smackwater Jack, You’ve Got It Bad, Girl, Body Heat, Mellow Madness, and I Heard That!!.
He is well known for his 1962 tune “Soul Bossa Nova“, which originated on the Big Band Bossa Nova album. “Soul Bossa Nova” was a theme for the 1998 World Cup, the Canadian game show Definition, the Woody Allen film Take the Money and Run and the Mike Myers movie Austin Powers in Goldmember, and was sampled by Canadian hip hop group Dream Warriors for their song, “My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style”.
Jones was also responsible for producing all four million selling singles for Lesley Gore during the early and mid-sixties, including “It’s My Party” (UK #8; US #1}, “Judy’s Turn To Cry” (US #5}, “She’s A Fool” (also a US #5) in 1963, and “You Don’t Own Me” (US #2 for four weeks in 1964). He continued to produce for Lesley through to 1966.
Jones’s 1981 album The Dude yielded multiple hit singles, including “Ai No Corrida” (a remake of a song by Chaz Jankel), “Just Once” and “One Hundred Ways”, the latter two featuring James Ingram on lead vocals and marking Ingram’s first hits.
In 1985, Jones scored the Steven Spielberg film adaptation of The Color Purple. He and Jerry Goldsmith (from Twilight Zone: The Movie) are the only composers besides John Williams to have scored a Spielberg theatrical film. After the 1985 American Music Awards ceremony, Jones used his influence to draw most of the major American recording artists of the day into a studio to lay down the track “We Are the World” to raise money for the victims of Ethiopia‘s famine. When people marveled at his ability to make the collaboration work, Jones explained that he’d taped a simple sign on the entrance: “Check Your Ego At The Door”.
Starting in the late 1970s, Jones tried to convince Miles Davis to re-perform the music he had played on several classic albums that had been arranged by Gil Evans in the 1960s. Davis had always refused, citing a desire not to revisit the past. In 1991, Davis, then suffering from pneumonia, relented and agreed to perform the music at a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The resulting album from the recording, Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux, was Davis’ last released album (he died several months afterward) and is considered an artistic triumph.[7]
In 1993, Jones collaborated with David Salzman to produce the concert extravaganza An American Reunion, a celebration of Bill Clinton‘s inauguration as president of the United States. In 1994, Salzman and Jones formed the company Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment (QDE) with Time/Warner Inc. QDE is a diverse company which produces media technology, motion pictures, television programs (In the House, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and MADtv), and magazines (Vibe and Spin).
In 2001, he published his autobiography, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. On July 31, 2007, Jones partnered with Wizzard Media to launch the Quincy Jones Video Podcast.[8] In each episode, Jones shares his knowledge and experience in the music industry. The first episode features Jones in the studio, producing “I Knew I Loved you” for Celine Dion, which is featured on the Ennio Morricone tribute album, We All Love Ennio Morricone. Jones is also noted for helping produce Anita Hall’s CD, Send Love, which was released in 2009.
While working on the film The Wiz, Michael Jackson asked Jones to recommend some producers for Jackson’s upcoming solo record. Jones offered some names, but eventually asked Jackson if he would like for him to produce the record. Jackson replied that he would, and the result, Off The Wall, has sold approximately 20 million copies and made Jones the most powerful record producer in the industry. Jones’s and Jackson’s next collaboration Thriller has sold a reputed 110 million copies and has become the highest-selling album of all time.[9] Jones also worked on Michael Jackson’s album Bad, which has sold 32 million copies. After the Bad album, Jones recommended Jackson to New Jack Swing inventors Teddy Riley and Babyface so Jackson could “update” his sound.
In a 2002 interview, when Jackson was asked if he would ever work with Jones again he replied, “The door is always open”.[citation needed] However, in 2007, when NME.COM asked Jones a similar question, he said “Man, please! We already did that. I have talked to him about working with him again but I’ve got too much to do. I’ve got 900 products, I’m 74 years old.”[10]
Following Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, Jones said:
| “ | I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. Divinity brought our souls together on The Wiz and allowed us to do what we were able to throughout the ’80s. To this day, the music we created together on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all…talent, grace, professionalism and dedication. He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.[11] | ” |
Jones first worked with Frank Sinatra when he was invited by Princess Grace to arrange a benefit concert at the Monaco Sporting Club in 1958.[12] Six years later, Sinatra hired him to arrange and conduct Sinatra’s second album with Count Basie, It Might as Well Be Swing (1964). Jones conducted and arranged 1966’s live album with the Basie Band, Sinatra at the Sands.[13] Jones was also the arranger/conductor when Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Johnny Carson performed with the Basie orchestra in St. Louis, Missouri, in a benefit for Dismas House in June 1965. The fund-raiser was broadcast to a number of other theaters around the country and eventually released on DVD.[14] Later that year, Jones was also the arranger/conductor when Sinatra and Basie appeared on The Hollywood Palace TV show on October 16, 1965.[15] Nineteen years later, Sinatra and Jones teamed up for 1984’s L.A. Is My Lady, after a joint Sinatra-Lena Horne project was abandoned.[16]
Jones had a brief appearance in the 1990 video for The Time song “Jerk Out“. Jones was a guest star on an episode of The Boondocks in which he and the main character, Huey Freeman, co-produced a Christmas play for Huey’s elementary school. He appeared with Ray Charles in the music video of their song ‘One Mint Julep‘ and also with Ray Charles and Chaka Khan in the music video of their song “I’ll Be Good to You“.
Quincy Jones hosted an episode of the long-running NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live on February 10, 1990 (during SNL’s 15th season [the 1989–1990 season]). The episode was notable for having 10 musical guests[17] (the most any SNL episode has ever had in its 30-plus years on the air): Tevin Campbell, Andrae Crouch, Sandra Crouch, rappers Kool Moe Dee and Big Daddy Kane, Melle Mel, Quincy D III, Siedah Garrett, Al Jarreau, and Take 6, and for a performance of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Manteca” by The SNL Band (conducted by Quincy Jones himself).[17] Jones also impersonated Marion Barry in the then-recurring sketch, “The Bob Waltman Special”. Quincy Jones would later be producer for his own sketch comedy show, FOX’s MADtv.
Jones appeared in the Walt Disney Pictures film Fantasia 2000, introducing the set piece of George Gershwin‘s Rhapsody in Blue. Two years later he made a cameo appearance as himself in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember.
Jones during NASA‘s 50th anniversary gala, 2008.
On February 10, 2008, Jones presented at the Grammy Awards. With Usher he presented Album of The Year to Herbie Hancock.
On January 6, 2009, Quincy Jones appeared on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly to discuss various experiences within his prolific career. Also discussed was the informal notion of Jones becoming the first minister of culture for the United States — following the pending inauguration of the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama. Carson Daly indicated the U.S. as being one of the only leading world countries, along with Germany, to exclude this position from the national government. This idea has also been subject to more in-depth discussion on NPR[18] and the Chronicle of Higher Education.[19]
On December 12, 2009, Jones performed at a private reception for USAA employees at the Alamo Dome, in San Antonio, TX.
On February 5, 2011 Quincy Jones appeared on CBS’s Late night show with David Letterman.
Jones in December 2010
Jones has been married three times and has seven children:
For the 2006 PBS television program African American Lives, Jones had his DNA tested; the results found that on his paternal line (Y DNA) he was of European ancestry and on his maternal side (mt DNA) he was of West African/Central African ancestry of Tikar descent.[21] The series revealed plenty of surprises, including the fact that Quincey Jones’ family hails from an area in Cameroon known for its music. On hearing the information, Jones said: “I would have never guessed.”
Jones has never learned to drive, citing an accident in which he was a passenger (at age 14) as the reason.[22]
Jones’s social activism began in the 1960s with his support of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jones is one of the founders of the Institute for Black American Music (IBAM), whose events aim to raise enough funds for the creation of a national library of African American art and music. Jones is also one of the founders of the Black Arts Festival in his hometown of Chicago. In the 1970’s Jones formed The Qunicy Jones Workshops. Meeting at the Los Angeles Landmark Variety Arts Center, the workshops educated and honed the skills of inner city youth in musicianship, acting and songwriting. Among its Alumni were Alton Mc Clain who had a hit song with Alton Mc Clain and Destiny, and Mark Wilkins who co-wrote the hit song “Havin’ A Love Attack” with Mandrill and went on to become the National Promotion Director for Punk / Thrash record label Mystic Records. For many years, he has worked closely with Bono of U2 on a number of philanthropic endeavors. He is the founder of the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, a nonprofit that connects youths with technology, education, culture and music. One of the organization’s programs is an intercultural exchange between underprivileged youths from Los Angeles and South Africa.
In 2004, Jones helped launch the We Are the Future (WAF) project, which gives children in poor and conflict-ridden areas a chance to live their childhoods and develop a sense of hope. The program is the result of a strategic partnership between the Glocal Forum, the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation and Hani Masri, with the support of the World Bank, UN agencies and major companies. The project was launched with a concert in Rome, Italy, in front of an audience of half a million people.
Jones supports a number of other charities including the NAACP, GLAAD, Peace Games, AmfAR and The Maybach Foundation.[23] Jones serves on the Advisory Board of HealthCorps. On July 26, 2007, he announced his endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president. But with the election of Barack Obama, Quincy Jones said that his next conversation “with President Obama [will be] to beg for a secretary of arts,”[24] prompting the circulation of a petition on the Internet asking Obama to create such a Cabinet-level position in his administration.[25][26]
In 2001, he became an honorary member of the Board of Directors of The Jazz Foundation of America. Jones worked with The Jazz Foundation of America[27] to save the homes and the lives of America’s elderly jazz and blues musicians including those who survived Hurricane Katrina.
Jones is a great admirer of Brazilian culture and a film on Brazil’s Carnival is among his recent plans: “one of the most spectacular spiritual events on the planet”;[28] Simone, whom he cites as “one of the world´s greatest singers”,[29] Ivan Lins,[30] Milton Nascimento and Gilson Peranzzetta, “one of the five biggest arrangement producers of the world”[31] stand as close friends and partners in his recent works.
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