Billboard mag 1

Taylor Swift

On Music andHer New Look

Adam Levine

The New King of Pop

Up Close With

Beyonce

Plus Top 20 Music Artists 2015

j a n i M Niki

s t n e t n Co e n i v e L 4 Adam e c n o y e 8B ft i w S r o l 16 Tay 0 2 p o T 20

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M ADAM

LEVINE

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aroon 5 lead vocalist and guitarist Adam Levine was born on March 18, 1979, in Los Angeles, CA. He began playing music with junior-high friends guitarist Jesse Carmichael and bassist Mickey Madden under the influence of groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and after the final 1994 addition of Ryan Dusick on drums, the alternative rock band Kara's Flowers were born. The quartet scored a record deal with Reprise, released a mediocre album, and was released from its contract all in a matter of years.

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ollowing the termination of its deal, the band went on hiatus and Levine headed to New York with Carmichael to attend Five Towns College on Long Island. While there, he was exposed to a whole new music scene and absorbed new influences like hip-hop, soul, gospel, and R&B that changed Levine’s whole perspective on songwriting, even altering the way in which he sang -- from a deeper, grunge-inspired delivery to a higher and more expressive one. Levine and Carmichael dropped out of school after a semester and headed back to California rejuvenated and inspired to add a new groove-based element to their band’s rock template. Hooking back up with the rest of the Kara’s Flowers guys, Levine began writing a bunch of songs that were directly inspired by his recently failed relationship, which was imploding as the band was entering the studio to record. After adding in new guitarist James Valentine (moving Carmichael over to keyboards) and scoring a new deal with Octone Records, the newly christened Maroon 5 were officially up and running; their debut album, the aptly titled Songs About Jane, was soon completed. Released in June 2002, the album sold steadily over the next couple of years and was certified platinum by 2004. Maroon 5 scored several hit singles, won two Grammy Awards, and toured constantly in support. During their rise in popularity, the pop/rockers managed to stir up a little bit of controversy when the music video for “This Love” included scenes of Levine and his then real-life girlfriend (not Jane) engaging in simulated sex. ~ Corey Apar, Rovi

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Beyonce

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One of the most recognizable figures in contemporary music, BeyoncĂŠ rose to fame as the central member of pop-R&B group Destiny's Child before embarking on a multi-platinum, record-breaking solo career in 2001. Booming record sales, Grammy awards, movie roles, and marriage to rapper/CEO Jay-Z combined to heighten her profile in the 2000s. Billboard named her female artist of the decade, while the RIAA acknowledged that, through 64 gold and platinum certifications, she was the decade's top-selling artist. Once she released her fifth solo album in 2013, it was evident that the singer, songwriter, and dancer wasn't merely an entertainer but a progressive artist as well.

Born in Houston in September 1981, BeyoncĂŠ Giselle Knowles began performing at age seven, winning over 30 local competitions for her dancing and vocal abilities. She joined her cousin Kelly Rowland and classmates LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett in forming an adolescent vocal group. Mathew Knowles, BeyoncĂŠ's father and Rowland's legal guardian, signed on to be the girls' manager, eventually quitting his full-time job to focus on their efforts. This situation would ultimately lead to the creation of one of the most popular female R&B groups of all time -- Destiny's Child.

Destiny’s Child gained momentum throughout the ‘90s. They appeared on Star Search in 1992 (under the name Girls Tyme) and weathered several lineup changes before signing to Columbia in 1997. Four studio albums later, the group had officially become the best-selling female group of all time, with such smash hits as “Jumpin’ Jumpin’,” “Bills, Bills, Bills,” “Say My Name,” and “Survivor” bolstering the young women’s momentum despite lawsuits from former members Roberson and Luckett (who contested Mathew Knowles’ management, claiming he withheld profits and unjustly favored his daughter and niece). In 2001, Beyoncé, Rowland, and replacement member Michelle Williams allowed themselves a break from the group to pursue individual solo careers. Before landing several movie roles, Beyoncé became the first African-American female artist and second woman ever to win the annual ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award. An appearance in the MTV drama Carmen: A Hip Hopera quickly followed, but it was her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in 2002’s Austin Powers in Goldmember that established her as a true Hollywood star. While her inclusion on the movie’s soundtrack failed to chart nationally, Beyoncé’s full-length solo debut, 2003’s Dangerously in Love, reached multi-platinum status. Featuring collaborations with Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, OutKast’s Big Boi, and romantic interest Jay-Z, the album spawned a total of four Top Ten singles and garnered the singer five Grammys. Destiny’s Child reconvened the following year to release Destiny Fulfilled; upon completing the resulting tour, the group issued one final album, a greatest-hits compilation entitled #1’s, and subsequently disbanded. Beyoncé turned her full attention to her burgeoning solo career. She released B’day in September 2006 and, three months later, turned in an award-winning performance for the movie musical Dreamgirls. The singer then embarked on the Beyoncé Experience concert tour and released a live DVD in November 2007. The following year proved to be another busy one as Beyoncé landed the role of Etta James in Cadillac Records, a musical biopic that explored the heyday of Chicago’s Chess label. Shooting commenced in February 2008, with Beyoncé also serving as co-executive producer. One month before the film’s December release, the singer released her third studio album, I Am...Sasha Fierce.

The double-disc effort emphasized her two distinct personalities, allowing Beyoncé to explore both mainstream sounds and traditional R&B. Some live releases followed. Released in 2009, I Am...Yours, a CD/DVD set, documented an August 2009 performance at Wynn Las Vegas, while 2010’s I Am...World Tour, available in separate audio and video formats, was recorded at London’s significantly larger O2 Arena (a few months after the Vegas program). She followed ten Grammy nominations with 2011’s 4, which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. One of her most energetic and empowering tracks, “Run the World (Girls),” was issued as the lead single, while “Love on Top” eventually won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

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Giving birth to Blue Ivy Carter in January 2012 didn’t slow her down. Within a few months, she was performing in Atlantic City, and she later appeared at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Joined by Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, she headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show. Life Is But a Dream, a documentary, first aired on HBO in February 2013, and was followed by appearances on albums by Rowland, the-Dream, and Jay-Z. New material, such as “Bow Down” and “Standing on the Sun,” trickled out without proper release. Then, on December 13 -- with no preceding announcement -- Beyoncé released a self-titled album with accompanying videos. Her husband and daughter, along with Drake, Frank Ocean, and writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (via a sampled TED talk), made guest appearances. Knowles, assisted by the likes of Hit-Boy, Pharrell, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Miguel, co-wrote and co-produced the majority of the album’s material. Like Beyoncé’s four previous solo albums, it went to number one, and quickly went platinum in the U.S. Three months after she completed the Mrs. Carter Show world tour, she and Jay-Z embarked on the On the Run tour, which reached the U.S., Canada, and France from June through September 2014. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi

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aylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomenona: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream. Other singers performed similar moves -- notably, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson both became enduring mainstream icons based on their '70s work -- but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest, populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist and turn it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse. These skills were evident on her earliest hits, especially the neo-tribute "Tim McGraw," but her second album, 2008's Fearless, showcased a songwriter discovering who she was and, in the process, finding a mass audience. Fearless wound up having considerable legs not only in the U.S., where it racked up six platinum singles on the strength of the Top 10 hits "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me," but throughout the world, performing particularly well in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Speak Now, delivered almost two years later in the autumn of 2010, consolidated that success and Swift moved into the stratosphere of superstardom, with her popularity only increasing on 2012's Red and 2014's 1989, a pair of records that found her moving assuredly from country into a pop realm where she already belonged.

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This sense of confidence had been apparent in Taylor Swift since the beginning. The daughter of two bankers -- her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, works at Merrill Lynch; her mother Andrea spent time as a mutual fund marketing executive -- Swift was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and raised in its suburb Wyoming. She began to show interest in music at the age of nine and Shania Twain wound up as her biggest formative influence. Swift started to work regularly at local talent contests, eventually winning a chance to open for Charlie Daniels. Soon, she learned how to play guitar and began writing songs, signing a music management deal with Dan Dymtrow; her family relocated to Nashville with the intent of furthering her music career. She was just 14 years old but on the radar of the music industry, signing a development deal with RCA Records in 2004. Swift sharpened her skills with a variety of professional songwriters, forming the strongest connections with Liz Rose.

Taylor’s original songs earned her a deal with Sony/ ATV publishing but not long after that 2004 deal, she parted ways with Dymtrow and RCA, all with the intent of launching her recording career now, not later. lost to Amy Winehouse), stopgap EPs of Christmas songs -- but Swift concentrated on delivering her sophomore set, Fearless. Things started moving swiftly once Swift came to the attention of Scott Borchetta, a former DreamWorks Records exec about to launch Big Machine Records. “Tim McGraw,” the first song from the album, did well but “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Our Song” did better on both the pop charts and country, where she racked up five consecutive Top 10 singles. Other successes followed in the wake of the debut -- a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist

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Appearing in November 2008, Fearless was certified Gold by the RIAA in its first week of release and the record gained momentum throughout 2009, earning several platinum certifications as “Love Story,” “White Horse,” “You Belong with Me,” “Fifteen,” and “Fearless” all scaled the upper reaches of the country charts while “You Belong with Me” nearly topped Billboard’s Top 100. Along with the success came some headlines, first in the form of an infamous appearance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards where her acceptance speech was interrupted by Kanye West, who burst on-stage to declare that Swift’s rival Beyonce deserved the award more, but her romances also started gaining attention, notably a liaison with Twilight star Taylor Lautner, who appeared with the singer in the 2009 film Valentine Day. Her flirtation with the silver screen proved brief, as she then poured herself into her third album, Speak Now. Released in October 2010, Speak Now was another massive first-week smash that refused to lose momentum. Hit singles like “Mine” and “Mean,” which won two Grammys, played a big factor in its success not just on the country charts but on pop radio, as well. Following a 2011 live album called World Tour Live: Speak Now, Swift turned toward following a pop path on her fourth album, hiring such mainstream musicians as Dan Wilson, Butch Walker, and Britney Spears producer Max Martin. This mainstream pulse was evident on “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the first single from Red. Upon its October 2012 release, Red shattered expectations by selling over a million copies in its first week, a notable achievement that was doubly impressive in an era of declining sales. Once again, Swift’s album had legs: it was certified platinum four times in the U.S. and its international sales outstripped those of Speak Now. She supported Red with an international tour in 2013 and more hits came, including “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22.” ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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Top 20

8. WATCH ME (WHIP/NAE NAE) SILENTO

Title, Artist

1. CAN’T FEEL MY FACE WEEKND XO 2. DO IT AGAIN PIA MIA FT CHRIS BROWN & TYGA

3. LEAN ON MAJOR LAZER FT MO & DJ SNAKE

4. CHEERLEADER (FELIX JAEHN REMIX) OMI

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REPUBLIC RECORDS/

REPUBLIC RECORDS/XO

INTERSCOPE

BECAUSE MUSIC

ULTRA RECORDS

5. BODY ON ME RITA ORA FT CHRIS BROWN TION

COLUMBIA/ROC NA-

6. TRAP QUEEN FETTY WAP MENT

300 ENTERTAIN-

7.WANT TO WANT ME JASON DERULO

9.THE HILLS WEEKND

CAPITOL

10. NOT LETTING GO TINIE TEMPAH FT JESS GLYNNE

PARLOPHONE

11. UPTOWN FUNK MARK RONSON FT BRUNO MARS

COLUMBIA

12. SEE YOU AGAIN WIZ KHALIFA FT CHARLIE PUTH

ATLANTIC

13. WORTH IT FIFTH HARMONY FT KID INK

EPIC/SYCO MUSIC

14. I DON'T LIKE IT I LOVE IT FLO RIDA FT THICKE & WHITE

ATLANTIC

15. LOCKED AWAY R CITY FT ADAM LEVINE WARNER BROS

KEMOSABE/RCA

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16. FREAK OF THE WEEK KREPT & KONAN FT JEREMIH

VIRGIN

17. FIVE MORE HOURS DEORRO & CHRIS BROWN

RELENTLESS

18. THE PARTY (THIS IS HOW WE DO IT) JOE STONE & MONTELL JORDAN

POLYDOR

19. HEY MAMA DAVID GUETTA/N MINAJ/AFROJACK

PARLOPHONE

20. ALL EYES ON YOU MEEK MILL/BROWN/MINAJ

ATLANTIC

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