Gloria Estefan

Gloria Estefan's family fled Cuba for Miami in 1959. She began her singing career in 1975 with the group Miami Sound Machine, and in 1978 married the group's keyboardist, Emilio Estefan. After several Spanish-language albums the group began releasing material in English, their breakthrough album coming in 1985 with Primitive Love, which included the catchy single "Bad Boys." The "Miami Sound Machine" label faded away as Estefan became the band's attraction. The 1987 album Let It Loose included pop hits like "Betcha Say That" and the uptempo "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," and with Emilio Estefan as her producer and promoter, she became for a time America's leading Latin recording artist. Cuts Both Ways was another big hit album in 1989. Gloria's career was interrupted in 1990 when she was seriously injured in a bus accident. She bounced back, winning a 1993 Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album. In the 21st century she embraced her Latin roots with Spanish-language albums like Alma Carribena (2000 -- in English, "Caribbean Soul") and 90 Millas ("90 Miles," 2007).

Jackie Evancho

Jackie Evancho was born April 9, 2000 and started singing since she was just eight years old. She found her interest in music after watching musical "The Phantom of the Opera". She later competed in a local singing contest in his native Pennsylvania, winning the runner-up place. Living in the suburb area of Pittsburg, she then took vocal lessons, took part in other contests to enrich her experience and uploaded her rendition of music on YouTube.

In 2009, Jackie released an indie album called "Prelude to a Dream" which covered songs from the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Martina McBride. It debuted at No. 2 on iTunes and Billboard Classical Albums Chart.

A year later, Jackie entered "America's Got Talent" after winning the YouTube competition sponsored by the TV show. She received the most votes from fans to be advanced to the next round and continued to become one of the audience favorites until the finale. Making a duet with Sarah Brightman in "Time to Say Goodbye" and singing solo in "Ave Maria", she finished at the second place.

Following her win as the runner-up on "AGT", Jackie signed a record deal with Columbia Records. She dropped a mini album called "O Holy Night" in October 2010. It was ranked the first on Amazon's bestseller pre-order list and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Classical chart. Also, it landed at No. 2 on Hot 200, making her the youngest female solo artist to debut in the top 10.

Michael Feinstein

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. He is nationally recognized for his commitment to celebrating America's popular song and preserving its legacy for the next generation.

Ella Fitzgerald

Dubbed "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.

Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.)

She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them to the hilt. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common - they all loved her.

Roberta Flack

Roberta Cleopatra Flack is an American singer and musician. She is best known for her classic #1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and "Feel Like Makin' Love", and for "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of her many duets with Donny Hathaway.

Flack was the first, and remains the only, solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year on two consecutive years: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won at the 1973 Grammys as did "Killing Me Softly with His Song" at the 1974 Grammys.

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer and songwriter. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at the church of her father, minister C. L. Franklin's church. In 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Spanish Harlem" and "Think". By the end of the 1960s decade she had gained the title "The Queen of Soul".

Lady Gaga

Gaga is inspired by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. She is also inspired by fashion, which she has said is an essential component to her songwriting and performances. To date she has sold over 20 million digital singles and more than four million albums worldwide.

It's been a while since a new pop artist has made her way in the music industry the old-fashioned/grass roots way by paying her dues with seedy club gigs and self-promotion. This is one rising pop star who hasn't been plucked from a model casting call, born into a famous family, won a reality TV singing contest, or emerged from a teen cable TV sitcom. "I did this the way you are supposed to. I played every club in New York City and I bombed in every club and then killed it in every club and I found myself as an artist. I learned how to survive as an artist, get real, and how to fail and then figure out who I was as singer and performer. And, I worked hard."

Judy Garland

One of the brightest, most tragic movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Era, Judy Garland was a moved-loved character whose warmth and spirit, along with her rich and exuberant voice, kept theatre-goers entertained with an array of delightful musicals. She is still an icon to this day with her famous performances in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948) and A Star Is Born (1954).

Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in A Star is Born and for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1961 film, Judgement at Nuremberg.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Gaye helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of hits, including "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and duet recordings with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Diana Ross and Tammi Terrell, later earning the titles "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul".

During the 1970s, he recorded the concept albums What's Going On and Let's Get It On and became one of the first artists in Motown (joint with Stevie Wonder) to break away from the reins of a production company.

Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (Hot 100 number 1, 1979), "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Hot 100 number 9, 1974), "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (Hot 100 number 42, 1980) and "I Am What I Am" (R&B number 82, 1983). After almost 30 years of its release, Gaynor continues to ride the success of "I Will Survive", touring the country and the world over and performing her signature song on dozens of TV shows. A few successful remixes of the song during the 1990s and 2000s along with new versions of the song by Lonnie Gordon, Diana Ross, Chantay Savage, rock group Cake and others as well as constant recurrent airplay on nearly all Soft AC and Rhythmic format radio stations have helped to keep the song in the mainstream.

Ellie Goulding

Ella Jane Goulding is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who later became her manager and A&R. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, later that year.

In 2010, she became the second artist to top the BBC's annual Sound of... poll and win the Critics' Choice Award at the Brit Awards in the same year. She released her debut studio album, Lights, in 2010; it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and has sold over 850,000 copies in the UK. Her cover of Elton John's "Your Song" reached number two in the UK in December 2010 and on 29 April 2011 she performed the song at the wedding reception of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Buckingham Palace. The album's title track, "Lights", was released in the US in March 2011, and peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 10

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande-Butera, better known as Ariana Grande is an American singer and actress. She began her career in 2008 in the Broadway musical 13, before playing the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious, and in the spinoff Sam & Cat until 2014. She has also appeared in other theatre and television roles and has lent her voice to animated television and films.

Grande's music career began in 2011 with the soundtrack Music from Victorious. In 2013, she released her first studio album Yours Truly, which entered atop the US Billboard 200. The album's lead single, "The Way", opened in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with critics comparing her wide vocal range to that of Mariah Carey.

Amy Grant

Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop". As of 2009, Grant remains the best-selling contemporary Christian music singer ever, having sold over 30 million units worldwide.

Grant has won six Grammy Awards, 25 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, and had the first Christian album ever to go Platinum. Heart in Motion is her highest selling album, with over five million copies sold in the United States alone. She was honored with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005 for her contributions to the entertainment industry.

CeeLo Green

Thomas DeCarlo Callaway better known by his stage name CeeLo Green (sometimes rendered as Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor.

Green came to initial prominence as a member of the Southern hip hop group Goodie Mob and later as part of the soul duo Gnarls Barkley, with record producer Danger Mouse. Subsequently he embarked on a solo career, partially spurred by YouTube popularity.

Josh Groban

Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in this country. To date, he has sold over 24 million albums worldwide.

Groban originally studied acting but as his voice changed, it developed into a "significant instrument". The event that changed Groban's life was when his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, submitted a tape of Josh singing, "All I Ask of You", from The Phantom of the Opera, to Riggs' friend, renowned producer, composer and arranger David Foster. Foster called him to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, "The Prayer," with Celine Dion at the rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1998. Groban, being shy, reluctantly agreed. Rosie O'Donnell was so impressed that she immediately invited him to appear on her daytime talk show. He got another big break when Foster asked him to sing at the California Governor's Gray Davis' 1999 inauguration.

Faith Hill

Faith Hill (born Audrey Faith Perry; September 21, 1967) is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated 8 number-one singles and 3 number-one albums on the U.S. Country charts.

Hill has been honored by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association, the American Music Awards and the People's Choice Awards. Her Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 with husband McGraw became the highest-grossing country tour of all time.(1) In 2001, she was named one of the "30 Most Powerful Women in America" by Ladies Home Journal. In 2008, Faith Hill released her first Christmas album, titled Joy to the World. In 2009 Billboard named her as the #1 Adult Contemporary artist of the decade 2000-2009. Hill was ranked the 39th best artist of the 2000-10 decade by Billboard.

Billie Holiday

Considered by many to be the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, Billie Holiday lived a tempestuous and difficult life. Her singing expressed an incredible depth of emotion that spoke of hard times and injustice as well as triumph. Though her career was relatively short and often erratic, she left behind a body of work as great as any vocalist before or since.

Born Eleanora Fagan in 1915, Billie Holiday spent much of her young life in Baltimore, Maryland. Raised primarily by her mother, Holiday had only a tenuous connection with her father, who was a jazz guitarist in Fletcher Henderson's band. Living in extreme poverty, Holiday dropped out of school in the fifth grade and found a job running errands in a brothel. When she was twelve, Holiday moved with her mother to Harlem, where she was eventually arrested for prostitution.

Peter Hollens

Peter Hollens is an American entrepreneur, educator, and is best known as a classically trained vocal artist specializing in a cappella music on Youtube and Facebook. With over 5 million followers and subscribers on his content and over a billion total views since 2011. Hollens has collaborated and performed with several outstanding artists including David Archuleta, Brian Wilson, Jason Mraz, Hunter Hayes, Gladys Knight, Lindsey Stirling, George Watsky, Jackie Evancho, and ThePianoGuys.

Marilyn Horne

Horne was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, but moved with her parents to Long Beach, California, when she was 11. At the age of 13, she became part of the newly formed Los Angeles Concert Youth Chorus. She attended the University of Southern California where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi fraternity. She is an alumna of Long Beach Polytechnic High School and returned in 1995 in a performance to benefit its music program. As a high school student, Marilyn was part of the St. Luke's Choir of Long Beach under the direction of William Ripley Dorr. This prestigious choir often worked for the movie studios and recorded on Capitol Records. Marilyn and her sister Gloria were part of St. Luke's Quartet along with tenor, Bob James and Baritone, Philip D. Haynes.

She studied voice under William Vennard at the University of Southern California School of Music and participated in Lotte Lehmann's vocal master classes.

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all-time.(1) Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, with 200 million records sold worldwide.(2)(3) She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.

Houston made her screen acting debut as Rachel Marron in the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992). She performed the lead single from the film's original soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You", which received the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the soundtrack, which received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1994. Houston made other high-profile film appearances and contributed to their soundtracks, including Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). The latter's soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.

Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (born May 8, 1975), better known as Enrique Iglesias, is a Spanish pop music singer-songwriter. Iglesias started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa. This helped turn him into one of the most popular artists in Latin America and in the Hispanic or Latino market in the United States, and the biggest seller of Spanish language albums of that decade. Before the turn of the millennium, he made a crossover into the mainstream English language market, signing a unique multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for an unprecedented US$48,000,000, with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope to release English albums. In 2010, he parted with Interscope and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Universal Republic.

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson is the younger sister of the singing Jackson brothers, including the late "King of Pop" Michael Jackson. She released her first album in 1982; her career really took off with the 1986 album Control, which included the hit single "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" She quickly became a regular fixture in pop music and on MTV, known for her smartly sexy songs and high-energy dancing (the choreography in her videos was done by Paula Abdul). In 1999 she was a guest artist with Busta Rhymes on his hit "What's It Gonna Be." She also ventured into the movies, starring with Tupac Shakur and Maya Angelou in the 1993 film Poetic Justice. Her other albums include Damita Jo (2004, with a title taken from Jackson's middle name), 20 Y.O. (2006) and Discipline (2008).

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson, one of the most widely beloved entertainers and profoundly influential artists of all-time, leaves an indelible imprint on popular music and culture.

Five of Jackson's solo albums - "Off the Wall," "Thriller," "Bad," "Dangerous" and "HIStory," all with Epic Records - are among the top-sellers of all time and "Thriller" holds the distinction as the largest selling album worldwide in the history of the recording industry with more than 70 million units sold. Additionally, singles released from the Thriller album sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, another all time record.

Etta James

Etta James was an American singer who performed in various genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz and gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch.

Daria Jazz

Acclaimed vocalist, DARIA, an innovative singer and songwriter with a beautiful voice, unerring pitch and wide vocal range, blends Jazz, Brazilian music, Afro Cuban and world rhythms to create her own powerful and expressive style. Growing up in San Francisco, Daria was part of a uniquely creative family. Her mother spoke five languages, taught creative writing and is a published author. Her father was a first violinist with the San Francisco Symphony. Daria began to sing at age six. In her teens she fell in love with Jazz. She went on to study with Bobby McFerrin, Mark Murphy and Brazilian musician, Celia Malheiros. Daria has 2 critically acclaimed CDs, Just the Beginning, produced by Ian Dogole and Feel The Rhythm, produced by Frank Martin and seven-time Grammy Nominee, Wayne Wallace. The title track, Feel The Rhythm, a beautiful Brazilian style song, received Honorable Mention at the Billboard World Music Competition.

Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actress. She performed in several lead roles in her high school's musical productions, eventually pursuing musical theatre at the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Upon completing her studies, Jepsen moved to Vancouver's west side where she honed her songwriting craft. In 2007, she placed third on Canadian Idol - season five and subsequently recorded her folk-influenced debut, Tug of War.

Her breakthrough came in 2012 with her second studio album, Kiss, which marked a greater shift into mainstream pop music and was a moderate seller worldwide. Its single "Call Me Maybe" became a viral sensation, reaching number one in 18 countries and culminating as the year's best-selling single globally.

Billy Joel

Joel recorded many popular hit songs and albums from 1973 (beginning with the single "Piano Man") to his retirement from recording pop music in 1993. He is one of the very few rock or even pop artists to have Top 10 hits in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he has sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide and is the sixth best selling artist in the United States, according to the RIAA. Joel's induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame (Class of 1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Class of 1999), and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (Class of 2006) has further solidified his status as one of America's leading music icons. He has continued to tour occasionally (sometimes with Elton John) in addition to writing and recording classical music.

Sir Elton John

Sir Elton John is one of pop music's great survivors. Born 25 March, 1947, as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he started to play the piano at the early age of four. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. His first band was called Bluesology. He later auditioned (unsuccessfully) as lead singer for the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Gentle Giant. Dwight teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin and changed his name to Elton John (merging the names of saxophonist Elton Dean and Long John Baldry). The duo wrote songs for Lulu and Roger Cook. In the early 1970s, he recorded the concept album "Tumbleweed Connection." He became the most successful pop artist of the 1970s, and he has survived many different pop fads including punk, the New Romantics and Britpop to remain one of Britain's most internationally acclaimed musicians.

Norah Jones

She was born Geetali Norah Jones Shankar to legendary Indian musician, Ravi Shankar, and Sue Jones in New York City. Fittingly, her birth name, Geetali, carries the meaning of "song" or "melodious", and was bestowed on her by her father. No one could have possibly imagined how fully she would embody that name, even while circumstances removed her from the influences of her father's musical gifts.

Norah Jones was raised by her mother in a Dallas suburb, and that's where her musical talents began to reveal themselves. She performed in church choirs, learned to play the piano and guitar, and even briefly tried her hand at the alto saxophone. She attended Interlochen Arts Camp, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, and the University of North Texas, where she majored in jazz piano, and won Best Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist (twice, in 1996 and 1997) and Best Original Composition (1996). At the age of sixteen, she officially shortened her name to Norah Jones, no longer carrying the Indian, "Geetali". Nonetheless, the "melodious song" was very much alive, and moving full-steam ahead.

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin grew up in Port Arthur, Texas listening to the blues. In high school, she started singing them, first at coffee houses, and eventually in southern California and around New York's Greenwich Village. She returned to Texas to give college a try, and became heavily involved with drugs and alcohol. She was an excellent student, but continued to be drawn to the musician's life.

Joplin had become friends with Chet Helms in Austin in the early '60s. By 1966, Helms was in San Francisco promoting groups like Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead. Helms convinced Joplin to move to San Francisco and hook up with a band he was managing, Big Brother and the Holding Company. After appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the group rocketed to national prominence, and Joplin was established as a major musical star.

Joplin was the first bona fide female rock star, breaking the "girl singer" mold that existed in pop and folk music. She was smart and funny. Her lifestyle, her outfits and her vocal style were "over the top." Although she recorded only a few albums and was not a prolific songwriter, She fused blues and rock in ways that were unique among both male and female singers and her personal style opened the door to a generation of female rock singers.

Sammy Davis Jr

Singer, actor, and dancer. Born December 8, 1925 in New York City. After his parents split up when he was three, Davis lived with his father and soon began a career tap-dancing in vaudeville. He, his father and Will Mastin performed as the Will Mastin Trio until Davis left to serve in the United States Army during World War II. During his time in the service, he overcame racial prejudice by joining the entertainment unit.

Uupon returning home, Davis resumed his showbiz career, with solo performing and recording success in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1956 he starred on Broadway in Mr Wonderful, and in 1964 in Golden Boy. His refusal to appear in any clubs that practiced racial segregation led to the integration of several venues in Miami Beach and Las Vegas.

Davis' films include Porgy and Bess (1959), Robin and the Seven Hoods with fellow Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (1964), Sweet Charity (1968), and Taps (1980). He continued to entertain and record until the early 1980s.

Davis married Swedish-born actress May Britt in 1960, when interracial marriages were forbidden by law in 31 states. The couple had one daughter and adopted two sons and divorced in 1968. Davis was married to dancer Altovise Gore from 1970 until his death in 1990.

Anna Kendrick

Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a child actor in theater productions. Her first prominent role was in the 1998 Broadway musical High Society, which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She made her film debut in the musical comedy Camp (2003).

Kendrick rose to prominence for her supporting role as Jessica Stanley in The Twilight Saga (2008-12). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the comedy-drama Up in the Air (2009). She achieved further recognition for starring as Beca Mitchell in the musical comedy film series Pitch Perfect (2012-2017).

Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs by age 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. After disputes with the label, she signed with Arista Records and later released her debut album, Songs in A Minor, with J Records in 2001. The album was critically and commercially successful, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Fallin'", and earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was also a critical and commercial success, selling eight million copies worldwide, and producing the singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You", and "Diary". The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards.

Diana Krall

Diana Krall was born in British Columbia, Canada. She was raised in Nanaimo, a small community on Vancouver Island, where she began performing professionally at age 15 as a jazz pianist. In 1981, Diana won a Vancouver Jazz Festival scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston and, after a year and a half of serious study, she returned to British Columbia. Renowned bassist Ray Brown heard her playing one night in Nanaimo and convinced Diana to move to Los Angeles where she obtained a Canadian Arts Council grant to study with Jimmy Rowles. Jimmy encouraged Diana to explore her vocals to supplement her already blossoming piano skills. With several successful CDs to her credit, Diana has won numerous awards including Canada's Juno Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album (2000) and a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance (2000). She received the Order of British Columbia in 2000 for being a good-will ambassador for British Columbia and epitomizing Canadian culture. The greatest talent in the jazz field to come along in a generation, she frequently acknowledges her roots in Nanaimo where she began . She epitomizes Canadian culture and is an outstanding citizen and good-will ambassador for British Columbia.

Nancy Lamott

Nancy LaMott was born December 30, 1951, in Midland, MI, or as she termed it, a suburb of the Dow Chemical Corporation. Clearly a gifted musician, she learned music in public schools and started publicly singing with the big jazz dance band of her father, trumpeter Jack LaMott, in 1966 at age 15 while dreaming of a professional career. As a teenager she worked at the local Sears outlet. But in her late teens, Nancy developed Crohn's disease, a serious bowel disorder that often caused her to be hospitalized. Feeling a need to leave Michigan at the age of 19, she and her drummer/brother Brett left for San Francisco, CA. LaMott quickly became a popular cabaret singer, but her continued affliction frequently interrupted regular work. Overwhelming medical bills summarily plagued her, but a loyal friend and fan paid for a plane ticket, and she headed for New York City. The burgeoning cabaret scene in the Big Apple adopted LaMott, and in 1989 she met composer/conductor David Friedman, who offered to produce her recordings, the debut album being Beautiful Baby. A close-knit team developed around her, including pianist/arranger Chris Marlowe.

k.d lang

Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC, known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. She gives her name in lowercase letters, with the given names contracted to initials and no space between these initials.

Lang has won both Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances; hits include "Constant Craving" and "Miss Chatelaine". She has contributed songs to movie soundtracks and has teamed with musicians such as Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, Elton John and Anne Murray. Lang is also known for being a vegan as well as an animal rights, gay rights and Tibetan human rights activist. She performed Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" live at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza's life, sadly, has all the markings of an epic Shakespearean tragedy. The story is truly incredible: a wild, incendiary Philadelphia kid who can sing better than Caruso, sets out to become the greatest dramatic opera singer who ever lived, is detoured by Louis B. Mayer and vixen Hollywood, is remade into a fiercely handsome box office champ with 50 inch chest, his own national radio show, 1951 TIME Magazine cover idol, and king of the pop record world.

He was besieged on cross-country concert tours and appearances years before Elvis and the Beatles, a true 'superstar' before the word was invented and the first singer to ever earn Gold Records with million sellers in both classical and popular categories.

Cyndi Lauper

Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. Her career has spanned over 30 years.Her debut solo album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut female album to chart four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100-"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"-and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number 3.

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada on September 27, 1984. At 16, she moved to Manhattan and began work on her debut album. She dropped out of high school after the 11th grade when she secured a record deal. When Avril was almost 18, she released "Complicated" from her debut album titled: "Let Go," which went 6x platinum. As a petite skater girl from a small town, Avril has shown she is independent, full of confidence and determination, providing a good combination to make "Complicated" and Avril a musical breakthrough. "Complicated" went to number #1 on Billboards Top 100 while also earning her 5 Grammy nominations, MTV music awards, MTV European music awards and many more.

Peggy Lee

As a blues-influenced jazz singer, Lee's restrained yet soulful subdued singing style has been compared to Billie Holiday. Her long singing career virtually encompassed the history of American popular music between 1940 and 1970. In addition, she acted in films and revealed herself to be an accomplished songwriter.

Born on a farm, Lee sang with the Four of Us in small clubs in the Midwest and California before being discovered by Benny Goodman in Chicago in 1941 and joining his band as replacement for Helen Forrest. Her first recordings with Goodman, including Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean" (Columbia, 1941), were merely competent, but her 1942 recording of "Why Don't You Do Right?" revealed an individual style. Written by Lee herself (sic), it was based on a blues song by Lil Green. In 1943, after her marriage to Goodman's guitarist David Barbour, she left the band and retired to raise a family, only occasionally recording (sic). Among her first solo hits were "Manana" (Capitol, 1948), written with Barbour; "Bali Ha'i" (Capitol, 1949) and "Lover" (Decca, 1952), her spectacular mambo version of Lorenz Hart's and Richard Rodgers' waltz with an orchestra backing supplied by Gordon Jenkins.

John Legend

John Roger Stephens known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor.

Prior to the release of Legend's debut album, he collaborated with already established artists. At various points in his career, Legend has sung in Magnetic Man's "Getting Nowhere," Kanye West's "Blame Game," on Slum Village's "Selfish," and Dilated Peoples' "This Way". Other collaborative appearances include Jay-Z's "Encore", backing vocals on Alicia Keys' 2003 song "You Don't Know My Name," the Kanye West remix of Britney Spears' "Me Against the Music," and Fort Minor's "High Road". Legend played piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything".

Annie Lennox

Ann "Annie" Lennox, OBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician David A. Stewart went on to achieve major international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. With a total of eight Brit Awards, including Best British Female Artist six times, Lennox has won more than any other female artist. She has also been named the "Brits Champion of Champions".

Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). Aside from her eight Brit Awards, she has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Leona Lewis

Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer-songwriter. Lewis was a contestant in third series of the British television series The X Factor, which she won.

Lewis is a multi-platinum selling artist and three time Grammy Award nominee. Her most successful single, "Bleeding Love", reached number one in over thirty countries around the world. She was proclaimed 'Top New Artist' by Billboard magazine in 2008. Lewis has released two albums to date, Spirit and Echo, in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Spirit became the fastest-selling debut album and the biggest seller of 2007 in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, and made Lewis the first British solo artist to top the Billboard 200 with a debut album. It has sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide.

Lewis's debut single "A Moment Like This" became the fastest selling UK single after being downloaded over 50,000 times within thirty minutes of its release. In November 2008 she set a record in the UK for the fastest selling download-only release with her cover version of the Snow Patrol song "Run" which sold 69,244 copies in two days(citation needed). Lewis's debut tour, The Labyrinth, took place in 2010.

Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Her mezzo-soprano vocal range and disco-influenced production have received critical acclaim and media coverage. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career including six Brit Awards, three Grammy Awards, and two Guinness World Records. She was included on the Time 100 Next list in 2021.

Lisa Loeb

Lisa Anne Loeb is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her career in 1994 with the song, "Stay (I Missed You)". She was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract.

Loeb's efforts now include music, film, television, voice-over work and children's recordings. Her five studio CDs include her major label debut, the gold-selling Tails and its follow-up, the Grammy-nominated, gold-selling Firecracker. Loeb has appeared in two television series, Dweezil & Lisa, a weekly culinary adventure for the Food Network and Number 1 Single, a dating show on the E! Network in 2006.

In conjunction with Camp Lisa, she launched her own non-profit, The Camp Lisa Foundation, designed to help underprivileged kids attend summer camp through its partnership with Summer Camp Opportunities Provide an Edge, Inc. (SCOPE).

Kenny Loggins

Kenneth Clark Loggins is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His early songwriting compositions were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970 which led to seven albums, performing as the group Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. As a solo artist, Loggins experienced a string of soundtrack successes, including an Academy Award nomination for "Footloose" in 1984. His early soundtrack contributions date back to the film A Star Is Born in 1976, and for much of the 1980s and 1990s, he was known as "The Soundtrack King". Finally Home was released in 2013, shortly after Loggins formed the group Blue Sky Riders with Gary Burr and Georgia Middlema

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer and television producer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller Money Train.

Her first leading role was in the biographical film Selena (1997), in which she earned an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress. She earned her second ALMA Award for her performance in Out of Sight (1998). She has since starred in various films, including The Wedding Planner (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005), and The Back-up Plan (2010).

Lorde Lorde

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, better known by her stage name Lorde, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and record producer. Born in Takapuna and raised in Devonport, Auckland, she became interested in performing as a child. In her early teens, she signed with Universal Music Group and was later paired with songwriter and record producer Joel Little. At the age of sixteen, she released her first extended play, The Love Club EP (2012), reaching number two on the national record charts in both New Zealand and Australia.

Darlene Love

Darlene Wright, known by her stage name, Darlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a No. 1 American single in 1962, and was one of the artists who performed on the celebrated Christmas album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, produced by Phil Spector in 1963. She is ranked number 84 among Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers.

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage. She studied songwriting at New York University with Paul Simon. Manchester played the Manhattan club scene where she was discovered by Barry Manilow who introduced her to Bette Midler. In 1971 she became a member of the Harlettes, the back-up singers for Midler.