™ Eric Clapton, thought by many to be the preeminent guitar authority in the world, is returning to the stage in the summer of 2006. His story is one that relates directly to the decades of timeless music he has produced, and Clapton is revered by fans of several generations. His life is one of struggle and sadness, and his music is seen by many of his fans as his personal triumph over his circumstances. Early Life Clapton was born in 1945 in England, although he didnt really know who his parents were until later in childhood. His father was a Canadian service man who went back to Canada after World War II, and his natural mother left soon thereafter to join him. Eric was left to be raised by his grandparents, who he thought were his real parents until he was nine years old. Clapton knew his real mother as his sister, as his grandparents wanted to shield him from the stigma that came with being an illegitimate child. Clapton was first inspired by music as a young teenager when he watched Jerry Lee Lewis perform on television, and his life-long love of the blues was born that day. He attended school with the intent on becoming a stained glass designer was derailed when he was expelled at 17 for playing his guitar in class. Despite what was seen as a setback at the time, the incident propelled Clapton into music full time. Early Career Clapton proceeded to work a series of low-end jobs while continuing to learn and play Click here to find out more the blues with his guitar. In 1963, he joined a band called the Yardbirds, which just happened to boast of three enormously popular guitarists – Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. The band was an instant smash hit, and they were known for their bluesy style and riveting guitar melodies. However, Clapton became disillusioned with the bands progression towards mainstream rock and roll, and left the band in 1965. Clapton spent the next year making the band the Bluesbreakers extremely popular, but in 1966, he decided to form his own band, naming it Cream. Reaching Potential Cream was one of the most recognizable and loved bands in the world, and every one of their albums was a huge hit. Cream was mentioned in the same breath as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, and the trio recorded three albums before deciding to put together a farewell cut entitled Goodbye in 1969. There were many reasons for the bands break up, but drug abuse and clashing egos were seen as the primary reasons. Later that year, Clapton became a member of rocks first super group when he teamed with Steve Winwood, Ric Grech and Ginger Baker. Although the band released only one album which was named after the band, Blind Faith climbed to number one on the North American Billboard album charts, and the work is still selling well to this day. Going Solo After all of his experience in highly successful bands, Clapton decided to strike out on his own, and this would prove to be an extremely wise decision. However, Clapton first had to get past his drug addiction, which was no small task. Once he had, however, he got right back into what he loved most, and released an album entitled 461 Ocean Boulevard in 1974. The album included a cover of Bob Marleys I Shot the Sheriff, which not only experienced chart success, but brought exposure to the world of reggae that was seen as the boost to the genre in general. In the past 30 years, Clapton has released 15 studio albums which have contained songs that are considered by many to be anthems more than singles, including such mega-hits as “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” “Lay Down Sally,” “Cocaine” and “Wonderful Tonight.” Bringing It All Together The result of Claptons work goes beyond millions of records sold and tens of millions of loyal fans. He is the only artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, has won several Grammy Awards and is known for his guitar skill in every country in the world. He has never lost his love for the blues, and continues to thrill crowds with his heart-felt renditions of his and other songs that were written over the decades, and everyone who has a chance to see him live considers it a privilege and an honor.
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™ Big Brother is entering the half-way stage so here is a short round-up of five of the remaining nine established characters and how they fair in the betting market. Aisleyne Current Odds: 20/1 Aisleyne was voted into the house next door but will return to the main compound which will shock the other housemates as they thought they had got rid of her and her constant singing of hip hop songs that nobody has heard of. Aisleyne is the strongest female character but her fake ghetto speak and snapping at the other housemates will see her up for eviction more often than not. The House Next Door twist will see Aisleyne vote out four of the five new housemates, although they will actually be moved into the main house and face her when she returns herself. There could be a tricky few weeks in store for the promotions girl and aspiring pop star. Imogen Current Odds: 50/1 Imogen has been a disappointment and her character in the house is just a female version of Mikey. Dull, boring and nothing like the real-life serial footballer dater the tabloids would have us believe. Until recently, the only screen time she enjoyed was when she had tedious conversations in Welsh with fellow compatriot Glyn. For someone proud to be university educated, Imogen didnt know what malice meant nor saboteur before she was chosen to wreck the milk task in order for the housemates to win a luxury food budget. She passed the task, although all that was required was to let milk pour out of a giant vat without any of the other housemates noticing what she was up to. Yawn. Richard Current Odds: 66/1 The self-proclaimed sexual terrorist is another dullard who thinks he has a chance of winning. Since arguing with Imogen several weeks ago he has done very little since which unfortunately also seen his nominations by other housemates cease. Come on people, vote him out! Susie Current Odds: 80/1 Boring. Boring. Boring. Big Brother made a huge fuss about their Golden Ticket campaign in which a lucky member of the public would get the chance to enter the house. Instead, Susie, an ageing glamour model who had applied for Big Brother several times in the past was apparently chosen at random to Click for info join the rest of the housemates. Susie has found a role in the house as surrogate mother to little Nikki and lust object for granny fancier Glyn. Oh yes and she likes to drink tea. Lots and lots of tea. Lea Surgically enhanced Lea has found life difficult in the house thus far and is now giving Nikki a run for her money on who can shed the most tears. Lea has the hots for Pete, although she denies it and has found herself a prime target for Aisleyne who established herself as the alpha female of the house. Leas almost unhealthy interest in Pete and constant crying will see her fellow housemates put her up for eviction soon. And not before time, either. ™ Jay Jenkins was born on October 12, 1977. His stage name is Young Jeezy. He is a popular rapper who grew up in Macon, Georgia, and currently lives in Atlanta. Click to find out more Young Jeezy, who was formerly a member of Boyz N Da Hood from Bad Boy Records, is currently signed with Def Jam Records. He is often referred to as the Snowman by himself and others. This nickname is said to be related to his prior job as a cocaine dealer, though Young Jeezy says that it is just his alter ego. This nickname inspired Jeezy to produce his own t-shirt line with a simple picture of a snowman with an angry face. While the t-shirts have grown in popularity, some high schools have banned the shirts because of the drug connotation undertones. Young Jeezy has had a couple run-ins with the law. In 2005, Jeezy was charged for not making timely payments of child support for his ex-girlfriends child. In March 2006, Jeezy was put under arrest on two counts of carrying a concealed firearm without a permit. However, the charges were later dropped in May. Jeezy also allegedly has ties to a criminal group known as The Black Mafia Family. The FBI is currently investigating the group for organized crime and their relations with another gang, the Crips. Jeezy, though acknowledging his ties to the group, is not known to be under direct investigation. Jeezy has vocalized his disdain of commercialism and has tried to keep himself from becoming too commercial in order to maintain his street credibility. In June 2005, as part of Boyz N Da Hood, the groups self-titled album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. A month later, on July 26, 2005, Jeezy would release a solo album under Def Jam entitled, Lets Get It: Thug Motivation 101. The album would debut at #2 on the charts, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. Jeezy has appeared in many popular hip-hop songs in 2005 and has collaborated with artists such as Akon, Gucci Mane, Christina Milian, Jay-Z, and Fat Joe. His song with the latter two, Go Crazy, popularized Jeezy. Jeezy has his own record label called Corperate Thugz Entertainment (CTE), with several up and coming artists already singed on including himself, Slick Pulla, Lil Will, Bloodraw, and a group that goes by U.S.D.A. Jeezy is reportedly dating R&B singer Keyshia Cole. Jeezy reportedly plans to record a mix tape, Best of Both Hoods, with rapper Juelz Santana. ™ Grace Adams-Short became the fourth housemate evicted from Big Brother 7 in yet another no-shock result on Friday night. Grace polled 87.9% of votes in a head-to-head with Nikki Grahame, who survived eviction for two consecutive weeks. It was such a no-contest that host Davina McCall didnt even bother with her usual customary pause and instead immediately announced that Grace was evicted. Both Grace and Nikki were put up for eviction by newcomer Suzie Verrico as the model was the only contestant able to nominate during week four. Grace had take offence to being nominated by Suzie and threw a glass of water over her before she left the house. With one final hug for Mikey, Grace left the house to a chorus of boos from the eviction night crowd but took it on the chin, laughing and even encouraging the pantomime-esque booing. When later asked why she performed such a childish act she replied: Sorry guys, I just couldn’t help myself. She was just sat there like Lady Muck. Grace had been favourite to leave all week and had been odds-on well before her nomination was confirmed. One of the reasons she was trading so low was due to the Big Brother twist that only Suzie would be eligible to nominate and she had made her dislike of Grace known publicly before she entered the house. Grace was as short as 1/2 on Friday 9 June following the chants of Get Grace Out! heard clearly during Sams eviction, although she had risen to as large as 5/6 by the morning of Monday 11. Big Brother even gave Grace a chance to earn immunity from nominations when a task was set early in the week. The housemates had to stand still on a podium for as long as possible, with a mystery prize awaiting the last person standing. During the task, Graces price had reached 2/1 to be evicted fourth as she appeared determined to see the task through. After nine hours, Glyn and Mikey horizon mag gave up, leaving Lisa and Grace to draw straws to determine the winner as boredom set in. Lisa drew the longest straw and was rewarded with a prize of being immune from nominations. Graces failure to win the immunity saw her price plummet to 1/2 even though nominations were yet to be announced. When the nominations were announced on Tuesday 13 June, Grace was a short as 1.05 on the betting exchanges, then 1.03 and even as low as 1.02 by Wednesday in what appeared to be a certain eviction. Nikki was available at 33/1 and even 50/1 by comparison. The bookmakers were also not keen on opening a How much percentage of the vote will Grace receive market as at least 85% also looked likely and could even beat the record 86% two-way vote record held by Stuart from Big Brother II and Vanessa from Big Brother V. ™ His thirst to take over led him to start his own record label and clothing line, G-Unit, act in feature films and provide voice-over for popular video games. Not to mention owning 10% of Vitamin Water, later purchased by Coca Cola for $ 4.1 billion dollars. This man gets paid. A true survivor, 50 Cent grew up on the mean streets of South Jamaica Queens, New York where he sold drugs at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother was killed, and he was shot nine times in front of his home on May 14, 2000. His survival gave the rapper a controversial and somewhat mythical image. His remarkable story propels him to continue making hits and building his own fortune. In 2003, 50 Cent released his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. It was an instant success, selling over 870,000 copies within 4 days. Interscope quickly granted him his own record label, G-Unit Records, that same year. While working with the emerging artists on his label, 50 released his sophomore album, The Massacre. It featured hits like Just a Lil Bit and Candy Shop featuring Olivia, the only lady on G-Unit records. His sophomore album was a hit, selling over 5 million copies and garnering a Grammy nomination for rap album of the year in 2005. He lost that year to Kanye West, and the record breaking rappers did the legendary cover of “Rolling Stone.” Both rappers had albums that dropped on September 11th, and the release was played up by the media as a rivalry. However, they both have made it clear that it is nothing more than friendly competition. 50 Cent has been keeping busy traveling around to promote his new self-titled third album, Curtis. It is another club banging, story telling, boastful 50 Cent classic. This album was highly anticipated by fans everywhere who wanted to know what was on the rapper’s mind after letting go of Olivia, publicly beefing with rapper, Cameron, and competing with Kanye West in album sales. It alsoshows fans a different side of the rapper, a more sensual side, with songs like Amusement Park, which we can assure you is not a place for kids. 50 Cent promises fans that horizon mag this year will be a big year. In addition to promoting his album, he recently launched his own film production company, G-Unit Films. He has been working on a feature film with Nicolas Cage, called “The Dance,” and is set to star opposite Robert DeNiro in “Righteous Kill.” With a production company, a record deal and several other business ventures under his belt, it is plain to see that there is a lot more to this rapper than meets the eye. |
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