Led Zeppelin formed out of the ashes of the Yardbirds. Jimmy Page had joined the band in its final days, playing a pivotal role on their final album, 1967’s Little Games, which also featured string arrangements from John Paul Jones. During 1967, the Yardbirds were fairly inactive. While the Yardbirds decided their future, Page returned to session work in 1967. In the spring of 1968, he played on Jones’ arrangement of Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” During the sessions, Jones requested to be part of any future project Page would develop. Page would have to assemble a band sooner than he had planned. In the summer of 1968, the Yardbirds’ Keith Relf and James McCarty left the band, leaving Page and bassist Chris Dreja with the rights to the name, as well as the obligation of fulfilling an upcoming fall tour. Page set out to find a replacement vocalist and drummer. Initially, he wanted to enlist singer Terry Reid and Procol Harum’s drummer B.J. Wilson, but neither musician was able to join the group. Reid suggested that Page contact Robert Plant, who was singing with a band called Hobbstweedle.

After hearing him sing, Page asked Plant to join the band in August of 1968, the same month Chris Dreja dropped out of the new project. Following Dreja’s departure, John Paul Jones joined the group as its bassist. Plant recommended that Page hire John Bonham, the drummer for Plant’s old band, the Band of Joy. Bonham had to be persuaded to join the group, as he was being courted by other artists who offered the drummer considerably more money. By September, Bonham agreed to join the band. Performing under the name the New Yardbirds, the band fulfilled the Yardbirds’ previously booked engagements in late September 1968. The following month, they recorded their debut album in just under 30 hours. Also in October, the group switched its name to Led Zeppelin. The band secured a contract with Atlantic Records in the United States before the end of the year. Early in 1969, Led Zeppelin set out on their first American tour, which helped set the stage for the January release of their eponymous debut album. Two months after its release, Led Zeppelin had climbed into the U.S. Top Ten. Throughout 1969, the band toured relentlessly, playing dates in America and England. While they were on the road, they recorded their second album, Led Zeppelin II, which was released in October of 1969. Like its predecessor, Led Zeppelin II was an immediate hit, topping the American charts two months after its release and spending seven weeks at number one. The album helped establish Led Zeppelin as an international concert attraction, and for the next year, the group continued to tour relentlessly. Led Zeppelin’s sound began to deepen with Led Zeppelin III. Released in October of 1970, the album featured an overt British folk influence. The group’s infatuation with folk and mythology would reach a fruition on the group’s untitled fourth album, which was released in November of 1971. Led Zeppelin IV was the band’s most musically diverse effort to date, featuring everything from the crunching rock of “Black Dog” to the folk of “The Battle of Evermore,” as well as “Stairway to Heaven,” which found the bridge between the two genres. “Stairway to Heaven” was an immediate radio hit, eventually becoming the most played song in the history of album-oriented radio; the song was never released as a single. Despite the fact that the album never reached number one in America, Led Zeppelin IV was their biggest album ever, selling well over 16 million copies over the next two and a half decades.

Led Zeppelin did tour to support both Led Zeppelin III and Led Zeppelin IV, but they played fewer shows than they did on their previous tours. Instead, they concentrated on only playing larger venues. After completing their 1972 tour, the band retreated from the spotlight and recorded their fifth album. Released in the spring of 1973, Houses of the Holy continued the band’s musical experimentation, featuring touches of funk and reggae among their trademark rock and folk. The success of Houses of the Holy set the stage for a record-breaking American tour. Throughout their 1973 tour, Led Zeppelin broke box-office records — most of which were previously held by the Beatles — across America. The group’s concert at Madison Square Garden in July was filmed for use in the feature film The Song Remains the Same, which was released three years later. After their 1973 tour, Led Zeppelin spent a quiet year during 1974, releasing no new material and performing no concerts. They did, however, establish their own record label, Swan Song, which released all of Led Zeppelin’s subsequent albums, as well as records by Dave Edmunds, Bad Company, the Pretty Things, and several others. Physical Graffiti, a double album released in February of 1975, was the band’s first release on Swan Song. The album was an immediate success, topping the charts in both America and England. Led Zeppelin launched a large American tour in 1975, but it came to a halt when Robert Plant and his wife suffered a serious car crash while vacationing in Greece. The tour was canceled and Plant spent the rest of the year recuperating from the accident.

Led Zeppelin returned to action in the spring of 1976 with Presence. Although the album debuted at number one in both America and England, the reviews for the album were lukewarm, as was the reception to the live concert film The Song Remains the Same, which appeared in the fall of 1976. The band finally returned to tour America in the Spring of 1977. A couple of months into the tour, Plant’s six-year-old son Karac died of a stomach infection. Led Zeppelin immediately canceled the tour and offered no word whether or not it would be rescheduled, causing widespread speculation about the band’s future. For a while, it did appear that Led Zeppelin was finished. Robert Plant spent the latter half of 1977 and the better part of 1978 in seclusion. The group didn’t begin work on a new album until late in the summer of 1978, when they began recording at ABBA’s Polar studios in Sweden. A year later, the band played a short European tour, performing in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Austria. In August of 1979, Led Zeppelin played two large concerts at Knebworth; the shows would be their last English performances.

In Through the Out Door, the band’s much-delayed eighth studio album, was finally released in September of 1979. The album entered the charts at number one in both America and England. In May of 1980, Led Zeppelin embarked on their final European tour. In September, Led Zeppelin began rehearsing at Jimmy Page’s house in preparation for an American tour. On September 25, John Bonham was found dead in his bed — following an all-day drinking binge, he had passed out and choked on his own vomit. In December of 1980, Led Zeppelin announced they were disbanding, since they could not continue without Bonham.

Following the breakup, the remaining members all began solo careers. John Paul Jones returned to producing and arranging, finally releasing his solo debut, Zooma, in 1999. After recording the soundtrack for Death Wish II, Jimmy Page compiled the Zeppelin outtakes collection Coda, which was released at the end of 1982. That same year, Robert Plant began a solo career with the Pictures at Eleven album. In 1984, Plant and Page briefly reunited in the all-star oldies band the Honeydrippers. After recording one EP with the Honeydrippers, Plant returned to his solo career and Page formed the Firm with former Bad Company singer Paul Rogers. In 1985, Led Zeppelin reunited to play Live Aid, sparking off a flurry of reunion rumors; the reunion never materialized. In 1988, the band re-formed to play Atlantic’s 25th anniversary concert. During 1989, Page remastered the band’s catalog for release on the 1990 box set Led Zeppelin. The four-disc set became the biggest-selling multi-disc box set of all time, which was followed up three years later by another box set, the mammoth ten-disc set The Complete Studio Recordings.

In 1994, Page and Plant reunited to record a segment for MTV Unplugged, which was released as No Quarter in the fall of 1994. Although the album went platinum, the sales were disappointing considering the anticipation of a Zeppelin reunion. The following year, Page and Plant embarked on a successful international tour, which eventually led to an all-new studio recording in 1998, the Steve Albini-produced Walking Into Clarksdale. Surprisingly, the album was met with a cool reception by the record-buying public, as Page and Plant ended their union shortly thereafter, once again going their separate ways (Page went on to tour with the Black Crowes, while Plant resumed his solo career). Further Zeppelin compilation releases saw the light of day in the late ’90s, including 1997’s stellar double-disc BBC Sessions, plus Zep’s first true best-of collections — 1999’s Early Days: The Best Of, Vol. 1 and 2000’s Latter Days: The Best Of, Vol. 2. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

The legendary rapper’s prior chart-topping entries came as a featured vocalist on Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker” (1999), his now-wife’s “Crazy In Love” (2003) and Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (2007). “Empire” is also Keys’ fourth overall No. 1, as she previously scaled the list with her debut single “Fallin’” (2001), her duet with Usher, “My Boo,” (2004) and “No One” (2007).

“Empire” takes Hot 100 Airplay Gainer honors as it rises 6-1 on the Radio Songs chart (up 15 million listener impressions to 109.5 million), the largest climb to No. 1 on that chart since Kanye West’s “Stronger” jumped 7-1 on the chart dated Oct. 6, 2007.

Also noteworthy in the Hot 100 top 10 is the 22-5 jump of Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” The act, which won Vocal Group of the Year and Single of the Year (for “I Run To You”) on ABC’s “Country Music Awards” Nov. 11, performed “Need” on the highly rated broadcast. As a result, digital downloads soared 162% to 157,000, the highest one-week sum for a song by a country group since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital sales in 2003. Among all country acts, only Taylor Swift has moved more downloads for a track in a single week.

Albert L. Ortega/PR Photos After rocking 2009 over the weekend, there is a chance that Jay-Z will make a live performance at next year’s BRIT Awards. The rapper reportedly will deliver a medley of his hit singles and share stage with a fellow musician whose name is yet to be disclosed.

“Jay-Z is confirmed as one of the key performers,” a source told The Sun. “In weak years there have been problems securing the big international artists. But knowing Jay-Z is there will help to secure other big acts now.”

2010 BRIT Awards will take place at London’s Earls Court on February 16. Actor Peter Kay will be taking the hosting duty, while Take That’s former member Robbie Williams is set to receive Outstanding Contribution to Music Award and close the event afterwards.

(Jay-Z Talking)
Blueprint trios

[Verse 1]
Yeah Yeah What we talkin’ bout real shit?
Or we talkin’ bout ryhmes
You talkin’ bout millions Or you talking’ bout mine
What we talkin’ bout Cuz I ain’t got time
For what people be talkin’ bout all the time
What we talkin’ bout fiction Or we talkin bout fact
You talkin’ bout fiction? Hold up pardon my back
I’m talkin’ bout life And all I hear is
Oh yeah he keeps talkin’ bout crack
I ain’t talkin’ bout profit I’m talkin’ bout pain
I’m talkin’ bout despair I’m talkin’ bout shame
I ain’t talkin’ bout gossip I ain’t talkin’ bout Game
I ain’t talkin bout Jimmy I ain’t talkin’ bout Dame
I’m talkin’ bout real shit Dem people playin’
What is you talkin’ bout I don’t know what y’all sayin’
People keep talkin’ bout Hov take it back
I’m doin’ better than before Why would I do that?
Ain’t nothing cool bout carryin’ a strap
Bout worryin’ your moms And buryin’ your best cat
Talkin’ bout revenge While carryin’ his casket
All teary-eyed Bout to take it to a matress
I’m talkin’ bout music I ain’t talkin’ bout rap
You talkin’ bout who’s hot I ain’t talkin’ bout that
The conversation is changed Lets yap about that
I don’t run rap no more I run the map

(Hook)
They Talk, We Live, We see what They say, They say, They say
They Talk, We Did, Who cares what They say, They say, They say

[Verse 2]
Still they can’t’ focus on them They be talkin’ bout me
Talkin’ bout what I wear Talkin’ bout where I be
Check out my hair These ain’t curls these is peas
Peasey head still get paid I’m combin’ through G’s
Please, We ain’t focused on naps
Cuz I don’t run rap no more I run the map
A small part of the reason the President is black
I told him I got him when he hit me on the jack
Talkin’ bout progress I ain’t lookin back
You know I run track Try not to get lapped
People keep talkin’ bout Hov left em flat
Try to re-write history Lets talk about facts
Dame made millions Even Jaz made some scraps
He could’ve made more But he didn’t sign his contract
As far as street guys We was dealin’ crack
That’s just how the game goes I don’t owe nobody jack
Grown men want me to sit em on my lap
But I don’t have a beard and Santa Claus ain’t black
I repeat, You can’t sit on my lap
I don’t have a beard Now get off my sack
Scream at me

(Repeat Hook)

[Verse 3]
Blueprint 3
And now that that’s that Lets talk about the future
We have just seen the dream as predicted by Martin Luther
Now you could choose ta Sit in front of your computa
Posin’ with guns Shootin YouTube up
Or you could come with me to the White House get your suit up
You stuck on being hardcore I chuck the duece up
Peace out Medusa
Welcome to the Blue-ah-Print-ah Tre piece Jay-Z your tutor
Toota of my own horn Beep beep move-ya
Ras clot when rude boy come through with the roof up
So I could see the sky
Cause everybody talkin’ Hov I think we know why

The album officially includes only 12 tracks, but the versions released on CD and cassette also include the 4 tracks from the Sweet Children EP. One of those 4 tracks is a cover of The Who’s “My Generation”. Another notable track on the album is “Welcome to Paradise”, which the band would re-record for their next album Dookie.

As of November 2006, Kerplunk! has sold 699,001 units in the United States, and over 4 million worldwide.

In August 2005, Green Day pulled this album, as well as all of their other material released through the label, from Lookout! due to unpaid royalties^. It was reissued on CD by Reprise Records, who Green Day has been with since leaving Lookout!, on January 9, 2007. Note that in Europe, the album was released by Epitaph Europe, and has remained in print.

Track listing
1.     ”2000 Light Years Away”       Billie Joe Armstrong     2:24
2.     ”One for the Razorbacks”       B. J. Armstrong     2:30
3.     ”Welcome to Paradise”       B. J. Armstrong     3:30
4.     ”Christie Road”       B. J. Armstrong     3:33
5.     ”Private Ale”       B. J. Armstrong     2:26
6.     ”Dominated Love Slave”       Tré Cool     1:42
7.     ”One of My Lies”       B. J. Armstrong     2:19
8.     ”80″       B. J. Armstrong     3:39
9.     ”Android”       B. J. Armstrong     3:00
10.     ”No One Knows”       B. J. Armstrong     3:39
11.     ”Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?”       B. J. Armstrong     2:44
12.     ”Words I Might Have Ate”       B. J. Armstrong     2:32
33:58
Bonus tracks (CD only)
#     Title     Writer     Length
13.     ”Sweet Children”       B. J. Armstrong, Mike Dirnt     1:41
14.     ”Best Thing in Town”       B. J. Armstrong, Mike Dirnt     2:03
15.     ”Strangeland”       B. J. Armstrong     2:08
16.     ”My Generation”       Pete Townshend     2:1

The album included one cover, “Knowledge“, which was originally by influential California punk band Operation Ivy.

The album was re-released in 2007 with special limited packaging and all new CD-rom features, incl. live performances and pictures.

Track listing

1. “At the Library” by  Billie Joe Armstrong

2. “Don’t Leave Me” by B. J. Armstrong

3. “I Was There” by John Kiffmeyer

4. “Disappearing Boy” by B. J. Armstrong

5. “Green Day” by  B. J. Armstrong

6. “Going to Pasalacqua” by  B. J. Armstrong

7. “16″ by B. J. Armstrong

8. “Road to Acceptance” by B. J. Armstrong

9. “Rest” by B. J. Armstrong

10. “The Judge’s Daughter” by B. J. Armstrong

11. “Paper Lanterns” by B. J. Armstrong

12. “Why Do You Want Him?”  byB. J. Armstrong

13. “409 in Your Coffeemaker” by B. J. Armstrong

14. “Knowledge [A]“ by Jesse Michaels

15. “1,000 Hours” by B. J. Armstrong

16. “Dry Ice” by B. J. Armstrong

17. “Only of You” by B. J. Armstrong

18. “The One I Want” by B. J. Armstrong

19. “I Want to Be Alone” by B. J. Armstrong

1. “Come Back to Me”  by Utada, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate, Utada, Sking U
2. “Me Muero”  by Utada, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate, Utada and Sking U
3. “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI” that composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto Stargate, Utada and Sking U
4. “Apple and Cinnamon”   by Utada, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate, Utada and Sking U
5. “Taking My Money Back”  by  Utada, C. Stewart C. “Tricky” Stewart, Utada and Sking U
6. “This One (Crying Like a Child)” by  Utada, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate, Utada and Sking U
7. “Automatic Part II” by  Utada, S. Hall, C. Stewart C. “Tricky” Stewart, Sean K., Utada and Kuk Harrell
8. “Dirty Desire”  by Utada, C. Stewart C. “Tricky” Stewart, Utada, Kuk Harrell and Sking U
9. “Poppin’”   Utada, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate, Utada and Sking U
10. “On and On” by  Utada, S. Hall, C. Stewart Sean K., C. “Tricky” Stewart,and Utada

Additional Bonus Track

1. Come Back to Me (Seamus Haji and Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)
2. Come Back to Me (Quentin Harris Radio Edit)

U.S. bonus tracks

1. Simple and Clean(Physical release only)
2. Sanctuary (Opening)” (Physical release only)
3. Sanctuary (Ending)” (Physical release only

At first, Green Day was part of the California punk scene. Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass; born Mike Pritchard) formed their first band, Sweet Children, in Rodeo, California when they were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added drummer Al Sobrante and changed their name to Green Day. That year, the band independently released their first EP, 1,000 Hours, which was well-received in the punk scene. Soon, the group had signed a contract with the local independent label, Lookout! Records. 39/Smooth, Green Day’s first album, was released later that year. Shortly after its release, the band replaced Kiftmeyer with Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright, III); Tre Cool became the band’s permanent drummer.

Throughout the early ’90s, Green Day continued to cultivate a cult following, which only gained strength with the release of their second album, 1992’s Kerplunk. The underground success of Kerplunk led to a wave of interest from major record labels; the band eventually decided to sign with Reprise. Dookie, Green Day’s major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994. Thanks to MTV support for the initial single “Longview,” Dookie became a major hit. The album continued to gain momentum throughout the summer, with the second single “Basket Case” spending five weeks on the top of the American modern rock charts. At the end of the summer, the band stole the show at Wo odstock ‘94, which helped the sales of Dookie increase.

By the time the fourth single “When I Come Around” began its seven-week stay at number one in the modern rock charts in early 1995, Dookie had sold over five million copies in the US alone; it would eventually top eight million in America, selling over eleven million copies internationally. Dookie also won the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.

Green Day quickly followed Dookie with Insomniac in the fall of 1995; during the summer, they hit number one again on the modern rock charts with “J.A.R.,” their contribution to the Angus soundtrack. Insomniac performed well initially, entering the US charts at number two, and selling over two million copies by the spring of 1996, yet none of its singles — including the radio favorite “Brain Stew/Jaded” — were as popular as those from Dookie. In the spring of 1996, Green Day abruptly canceled a European tour, claiming exhaustion. Following the cancellation, the band spent the rest of the year resting and writing new material. The end result is what is called by many, the best album of their career, Nimrod.

Nimrod was well recieved by most critics and fans. The album sold 80,000 copies in it’s first week to land at #10 on the Billboard charts. The first single from Nimrod was “Hitchin’ A Ride”.  The single made it to No.5 on the modern rock charts and was in heavy rotation on MuchMusic and MTV. The next single the band released would not make it to number one (it’s highest position was #2), but it is now probably the most well known songs Green Day ever wrote. Featuring Billie Joe on accoustic guitar and vocals, “Time Of Your Life” became the song to play in any remotely sad situation. The song was even used on the last ever episode of the hit TV show Seinfeld (it was also the most watched finale in the history of TV). Along with Seinfeld, the song was also played on E.R on two different shows.

Nimrod has sold about two million copies, the lowest sales total out of their three major label albums, but it probably garnered the band more respect than they could have expected with another Dookie or Insomniac. The band also vastly improved their live show and even one “Best Live Performance” at the Kerrang awards.

After nearly two years with barely any mention of the band, Green Day returned in late 1999 to play Neil Young’s “Bridge School Benefit Concert”, their first live accoustic performance. Green Day began recording their follow-up to “Nimrod” shortly after, which would eventually become “Warning:”. Early in the recording process, the band decided to fire their new producer, Scott Litt, and produce the album themselves, marking the first time since “Kerplunk” that anyone but Rob Cavallo produced the bands recording. After they finished recording, Green Day decided to do something else they hadn’t done before headline the 2000 Vans Warped Tour. Green Day played an amazing set and brought more fans to the tour than any other year in Warped’s history (their Toronto performance alone attracted 7,000 more fans than they had any other year).

“Warning:” was released in the fall of 2000, and is by far Green Day’s most ambitious album to date. If its first singles, “Minority” and the album’s title track, are any indication, the album could prove to be extremely successful. Just four weeks after the release of “Minority”, it sat atop Billboard’s Modern Rock chart; no other Green Day song has hit the top that fast.

In September of 2004 Green Day  released “American Idiot”, an album which lashes out against the American government and the media. “American Idiot” was the first Green Day record ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts, and other music charts around the world. The album’s title track, was an instant success. The follow up single, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” experienced a must greater success. “American Idiot” was nominated for seven Grammy awards, and took home one, “Best Rock Album”. In August of 2005, Green Day took home 7 Video Music Awards from MTV.

Utada Hikaru born in January 19, 1983. The same birthday is shared by writer/poet Edgar Allan Poe, with whom she fell in love during my junior-high years; Ogai Mori, one of Japan’s literary geniuses; cute Udo Suzuki-san; and even cuter Rika Ishikawa-chan.  Her height about 158cm and hobbies are literature. This is because books are assets to be treasured by her. In terms of her favorite movie star, she like Amadeus, Crash, Munich, Brazil, Tasogare Seibei, Lost Highway, The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather Part II, The Jerk, Orlando, works by Hayao Miyazaki.

In her career life, she actually prefer to be become a writer and  open a small bookshop and become a clerk there and also work part-time at a cafe. However, thing changes after she he made her first professional recording at the age of twelve, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U. The album led to her career overseas.

It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9 in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. In an MTV interview, Utada said: “There really aren’t any completely Asian people singing right now. For …

THIS IS THE ONE is the latest English-language album for New York-born Utada, the follow-up to Exodus, her Island Records English-language debut (released 2004). It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9 in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. In an MTV interview, Utada said: “There really aren’t any completely Asian people singing right now. For …

THIS IS THE ONE debuted at #3 on the Oricon Japanese national chart, giving Utada a total of eight consecutive debuts in the top 3!! In support of the release of THIS IS THE ONE last May, Utada made a memorable early-morning interview appearance on New York’s Z-100 with Elvis Duran, setting the scene for jam-packed album signing events at Sephora Stores in New York, Los Angeles and Miami!

26-year old singer-songwriter, arranger, and producer Utada, who writes all her own music, has achieved record-breaking success since her 8-million selling premiere solo album First Love was issued in 1999 – holds the all time record for biggest-selling album ever for a Japanese-American pop artist-male or female.

THIS IS THE ONE extended her run to the U.S., when it debuted here at #20 on the iTunes overall Album chart and #2 on the iTunes Pop Album chart – making Utada the first Japanese-American artist to break the Top 20 Album chart on iTunes.  Utada also claimed her first debut on the R&R Rhythmic chart and her first ever debut on any R&R format chart with her single “Come Back to Me.”

As Island Records celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2009, Utada  fits in perfectly with the label’s long-standing tradition of introducing unique artists with international followings.  Born and raised in Manhattan and educated at Columbia University, the bi-lingual Utada is closely tied to Japan: Her mother, Keiko Fuji, was a successful Japanese enka (ballad) singer, and her father, Utada Teruzane, an accomplished musician who is now his daughter’s manager and co-producer (as ‘Sking U’).  Living between New York and Tokyo, Utada had written and recorded her first song by age 11, and signed a major label deal and released her first Japanese album (as ‘Cubic U’) by the time she’d graduated from junior high.  In the decade to follow,  she became one of the most successful and acclaimed pop singers in Japanese music history.

The singer — who took a break from music after being dropped by her former record label, having her first child with and divorcing rapper Nas — is reemerging with a new sound, new look, and a new place to call her label home.

She leaked the new single today via her twitter page and followed it up with a message to fans, saying she’s wrote it with “love and life in mind.”

Kelis compares her life to a song being sung in acapella and once love enters it, it’s brimming with pulsating beats and synthesis as illustrated by production by David Guetta. Although the overall sound is nothing new, the sincerity in the lyrics mixed with the danceable beat makes it pretty refreshing.

Kelis’ as-yet-untitled album is, she says, “pretty much done” and will be released in 2010.

However, different story go for her lifestyle. There is some rumors have swirled for nearly a year over the current status of the marriage between one of hip hop’s royal couples, Nas and Kelis.

Reports began surfacing that the couple had broken up after a blind item about an R&B singer being caught in a sex tape with someone other than her rapper husband appeared on several gossip blogs. The gossip seemed to quiet down a bit when Nas announced his wife was pregnant with their first child together in February, but the lack of public appearances together did nothing to keep the rumors at bay.

Vibe magazine confirmed today that Nas and Kelis are no more. According to the papers obtained by the publication, Nas and Kelis have been officially separated since April 20 with Kelis filing for divorce today (April 30).

“I can confirm that she has filed for divorce,” a spokesperson told Vibe. “We request the media to respect her privacy during this very difficult time.”

The pair had been married for over five years; they tied the knot in July of 2003 in an intimate ceremony in Atlanta.

Their unborn child, a boy, is due July 21.

1. Pronounce all consonants – This is very important. Consonants like “b, c, d, g, j, k, l, p, q, s, t, v, w, x, and z” are what are called “voiced consonants.” Pronounce their sounds and you will see that they have a sound you can pronounce. Other consonants, like “f, h, m, n, and r” are imploded consonants. This means that the sounds can’t really be said. For example, the “f” sound is like “fff,” while g, a voiced consonant sounds like “guh.” You must emphasis all consonant sounds when you are singing, whether they are voiced or imploded. If you have a word that ends with a “t” or “k,” you must pronounce it. For example, say you were singing “I want to take it to the end of the rainbow,” you would sing, “I wanT To TaKe iT To thee enD of the rainbow,” which the capitalized letters being clearly pronounced and slightly emphasized. Don’t overemphasize or you will hurt your vocal cords.
2. Vowel sounds are also very important. Some vowel sounds are “dipthongs,” which means they have more than one pure vowel sound in them. The pure vowel sounds are “Ah, eh, ee, o, ooh.” Some vowels, like the long “I” sound, are a combination of these sounds – in that case, “Ah – ee.” When you run into dipthongs, you must pronounce both vowel sounds. You must also pronounce the vowel sounds clearly and by the pure sounds, NOT the same as you would in general speaking. For example, the sentence “Night has gone and day has come” would be “N-ah-ee-ght hAHs gone AHnd dAHy hAHs cUHm.”|
3. Relax your mouth – Singers can’t be tense. Let your jaw drop and remain slack. Let your tongue fall forward in your mouth and rest, flat, against your front teeth. Don’t move it too much when you are pronouncing words, and don’t try to use your jaw to control pronunciation or volume. Stay loose and relaxed, with everything falling forward.
4. When singing, feel like you are always on the edge of a yawn – this will create the correct tone in your voice. It will feel weird, and probably sound weird at first, but that’s how the professionals do it. Make yourself yawn, and then talk in a “sing-song” voice. This is how you will feel and sound (sort of) when you have the correct tone to your voice.
5. Posture is very important for singers. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart (some singers put one foot slightly in front of the other). Your shoulders should be relaxed and down. Your body should be loose – not tense, but not hunched over, either.
6. Breathing is also very important. Always take a deep breath from your stomach, NEVER your chest. A low breath will push your diaphragm down and help you control your air. The idea is to have enough air to sustain a phrase. You will learn how to control your air as you sing. Don’t let too much of it out at once or your tone will sound breathy. Always practice taking a deep breath from low in your stomach, and learn to control from there. Take a deep breath, then try pretending you’re blowing through a straw. This will help you develop breath control. If you’re not sure where you’re breathing from, lay down on the floor and place a folder or notebook on your stomach. It should rise as you breathe – your chest should not. When you’re standing, your shoulders should remain down when you breathe.
7. To create vibrato, you must keep your jaw very relaxed and dropped, and allow the vibrato to develop naturally. If you clench your jaw or try to force vibrato, it won’t happen. You will feel vibrations in your throat, around where your tonsils are when you begin to develop vibrato.
   
8. Practice a lot. You will begin to notice where each pitch lies in your voice, and how your throat and mouth feel when you hit that pitch. Use this to memorize where specific pitches are, which will improve your accuracy.
9. Find your best tone. Tone is strongly affected by your state of mind. You may find that you sound better when you imitate someone else, like an opera singer, pop diva or rock star. Have fun experimenting and don’t hold back! You may be surprised at just how good you can sound.  Find your natural volume. Many people sing too softly, out of shyness or embarrassment. This keeps them from being able to support a good tone. Others sing as loudly as possible, which can result in sharp or flat notes, as well as body tension. Singing at your natural volume should feel good, not forced or constricted.

Enjoy yourself! If you take all these tips to heart, singing could become a habit and better.

If you implement these tips into your singing, you will notice an immediate improvement in the quality of your voice.

These tips will help you to sing with more vocal range, better tone, and much more flexibility. It took me many years to discover these tips, so pay attention, because you’re about to learn them all at once!

The first tip on improving singing is an exercise called the “lip roll”. If you religiously practice this exercise and nothing else, you will notice a large improvement in your voice in a matter of weeks.

The reason it works so well is it does a magnificent job of balancing out your voice as you sing. You see, when you sing there are three main things that need to be in balance for your voice to sound great.

These three things are your air pressure, your vocal resonance and your vocal chord coordination.

Now, these topics are all fairly big, so I’m not going to cover them all in this article. You can however get excellent training at this website , which will help you master these important areas of singing.

For now though, just know that the “lip roll” exercise I’m about to show you balances these three areas, which is exactly what you need to happen to develop an excellent singing voice.

Ok, the lip roll is fairly simple to do, but you need to actually hear what it sounds like to get a good idea of how it’s done.

A little while back I recorded a tutorial demonstrating how to do this very effective exercise. I highly recommend you check out the tutorial, because this exercise can help your singing tremendously.

The second tip on improving singing is to experiment singing in your upper vocal range using a very squeaky “waaa” sound. (Sort of like a baby crying)

When you use this very squeaky sound, you should be able to sing in your upper vocal range with much less vocal strain, because it “forces” your vocal chords to form the correct vocal coordination for your upper vocal range.

Many singers have trouble with singing in their upper vocal registers because they “pull” much of the weight from their lower vocal register up too high. By keeping things really squeaky you should be able to “drop” much of this weight and sing correctly in your upper vocal registers (known as your mixed voice and your head voice).

The answer I came up with is this: you must practice exercises that teach your voice to sing correctly… to sing with correct technique.

You see, anyone can make a sound with their voice and call it singing. But not everyone can sing with good technique, which ultimately sounds FAR better in the end!

If you are not entirely happy with your voice, it’s probably a technique issue. Once you master good vocal technique, you can bet that your voice will sound fantastic. And when you start singing with good vocal technique, there are some great bonuses…

Firstly, you will be able to sing over a large vocal range. Most singer voices are capable of singing three octaves at least if they are functioning properly. You can do this because with correct technique you will be “thinning” out your vocal cords as you sing high into your range.

This is a technique that isn’t that common in most singers, because most singing instructors don’t know how to teach it properly!

But it can be learned, quite easily too. You see, there are exercises that encourage this behavior in your vocal cords. They are simple exercises, but the way they have been created, they quickly teach your vocal cords to thin out as you sing higher.

It is this way that you can quickly learn how to increase your vocal range in a big way.

In other issues such as how to sing with no tension, how to sing with sweet tone quality, how to perfect your vibrato, how to do faster licks and trills… it’s the same situation.

It’s the vocal exercises that you practice are the vital key to mastering all these issues.

There are great vocal exercises that can quickly teach your voice what it must do to master all the points I just mentioned. And there are also vocal exercises that encourage your voice to NOT do these things well at all!

That’s the different between good vocal instruction and bad vocal instruction. That’s the reason why so many singers never end up with the voice of their dreams.

It’s not that their voice isn’t capable of doing great things. It’s because they are practicing exercises that are ineffective at teaching their voice to function properly.

Back to the initial question, what’s the best way to learn to sing?

And the answer is: practice exercises that teach your voice to function with correct technique.

The public taste for and appreciation of formal music of this type waned in the late 20th century, in the United States and United Kingdom in particular. This period has seen classical music falling behind the immense commercial success of popular music, although the number of CDs sold is not the only indicator of the popularity of classical music.
The term “classical music” did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to “canonize” the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age.The earliest reference to “classical music” recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.