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

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.

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.

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).