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Madonna Louise Ciccone, better known as simply Madonna, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer.

Born 16^th August 1958 in Bay City, Michigan but raised in Detroit, Madonna’s first career ambition was to be a dancer. After studying ballet and going to the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship, she moved to New York and worked as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez. However, she soon became involved with the musician Dan Gilroy and they formed the dance-pop group Breakfast Club (who later scored a hit with the single Right On Track). This brought her to the attention of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, and he signed her as a solo artist in 1981.

The singer released her debut self-titled album in July 1983. It was an instant success, reaching the Top 10 in the US Billboard 200 chart and produced five hit singles, including the US Top 20s Holiday, Lucky Star and Borderline. This was followed by 1984’s Like a Virgin, which shot to number one on the Billboard 200 and spawned the number one single of the same name, the UK number one hit Into the Groove and the US Top 5 singles Material Girl, Angel and Dress You Up. It has sold over 21 million copies worldwide to date – making it one of the bestselling albums of all time.

Madonna released a further five albums during the late 1980s and 90s – True Blue, Like a Prayer, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Ray of Light – selling more than 68 million copies worldwide and producing nineteen US Top 5 hits including the number ones Live to Tell, Papa Don’t Preach, Open Your Heart, Who’s That Girl, Like a Prayer, Vogue, Justify My Love and Take a Bow.

Despite reaching her forties, the singer found a new generation of fans in the 2000s, releasing a further four US number one albums – Music, American Life, Confessions on a Dance Floor and Hard Candy – selling a further 35 million copies and spawning hits like American Pie, Music, Don’t Tell Me, Die Another Day, American Life, Hollywood, Hung Up, Sorry, 4 Minutes (ft. Justin Timberlake) and Give It 2 Me.

Madonna is currently working on material for her twelfth studio album.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, better known as simply Shakira, is a Columbian singer-songwriter and musician.

Born 2^nd February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira began writing poetry and playing the guitar from a young age. This led to her writing her first song at eight, called Your Dark Glasses (Tus gafas oscuras), and before long she was performing music regularly at local events. She also developed a passion for bellydancing that would later have a big influence on her career. At thirteen she auditioned for Sony Columbia executive Ciro Varga and earned herself a deal with the label.

Shakira’s debut album Magia was released in June 1991 – when she was just fourteen. This was followed by 1993’s Peligro and her 1996 Latin American breakthrough Pies Descalzos – which sold more than five million copies worldwide and produced the US Hot Latin Songs chart Top 10 hits Estoy Aqui, ¿Dónde Estás Corazón?, Un Poco De Amor and Se Quiere, Se Mata.

The singer then cemented her place as Latin American superstar with the release of 1998’s ¿Dónde están los ladrones? It reached number one in several countries, including hitting the top spot on the US Top Latin Albums chart, and sold over ten million copies. It also produced a total of eight singles, including the Latin chart number one hits Ciega, Sordomuda and Tú, and the Latin Grammy Award-winning singles Octavo Día and Ojos Así.

Next came Shakira’s English-language breakthrough album, 2001’s Laundry Service. It reached the top spot in charts around the world, as well as number two in the UK and number three in the US, and sold over thirteen million copies worldwide. It also produced a total of six singles, including the US and UK Top 10 hits Whenever, Wherever and Underneath Your Clothes. She supported the album with her Tour of the Mongoose, which reached a global audience of 1.2 million.

Since then the singer has released a further three studio albums – Fijación Oral Vol. 1, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 and She Wolf – scoring hits with singles like La Tortura (ft. Alejandro Sanz), Hips Don’t Lie (ft. Wyclef Jean), She Wolf and Give It Up to Me (ft. Lil Wayne).

Shakira’s ninth studio album Sale El Sol is due for release in September 2010.

Gorillaz is an pop/alternative rock/indie/hip hop ‘virtual band’ consisting of the comic book characters 2D on lead vocals and keyboard, Noodle on lead guitar and vocals, Murdoc Niccals on bass guitar and Russell Hobbs on drums and percussion.

The musical project was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn (known as the frontman of the British alternative rock band Blur) and Jamie Hewlett (known as the co-creator of the British comic book Tank Girl), when they were living together in London. After releasing the EP Tomorrow Comes Today in 2000, the duo decided to start work on their debut self-titled studio album.

Gorillaz was released in March 2001 and reached number three in the UK, as well as number fourteen in the US. Combining elements of rock, hip hop, punk, dub, acid and reggae, the release was critically acclaimed and went on to sell over seven million copies worldwide. It also produced four hit singles: the UK Top 20 hits Clint Eastwood and 19-2000, and the Top 40 singles Tomorrow Comes Today and Rock the House.

The group’s next release was 2005’s Demon Days. It shot to number one in the UK and number six in the US, selling over six million copies around the world. The lead single Feel Good Inc. reached number two in the UK and number fifteen in the US, while the follow-up DARE was the group’s first UK number one hit. The third single Dirty Harry also charted inside the UK Top 10.

The group’s third studio album Plastic Beach was released in March 2010. It debuted at number two in both the UK and the US, selling over 200,000 copies in its first week of release. It has produced two singles to date: Stylo and On Melancholy Hill. The album’s third single Superfast Jellyfish is due for release later in 2010.

Radiohead are a British alternative rock band from Abingdon, England, consisting of Thom Yorke (lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, pianist), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitarist, keyboardist), Ed O’Brien (rhythm guitarist), Colin Greenwood (bassist) and Phil Selway (drummer, percussionist). They are considered by many critics to be among the most important and influential rock groups of all time.

Formed in 1985, Radiohead shot to prominence with the release of their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey. It reached the Top 40 in the UK and the US and produced the single UK Top 10 hit Creep, as well as the Top 40 single Anyone Can Play Guitar. However, things were soon to get even better…

On 13^th March 1995 the group released their second studio album The Bends. Taking them away from their post-grunge sound and experimenting with alternative rock, the album shot to number four on the UK Albums Chart, enjoyed universal critical acclaim and spawned a total of four UK Top 30 singles: My Iron Lung, High and Dry/Planet Telex, Fake Plastic Trees, Just and Street Spirit (Fade Out) – their first UK Top 5 hit. Retrospectively, The Bends is now widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.

Just when things looked like they couldn’t get any better, along came OK Computer. Released on 16^th June 1997, the album shot to number one in the UK Albums Chart and number 21 on the Billboard 200. It also produced three UK Top 10 singles – Paranoid Android, Karma Police and No Surprises. Immediately after its release OK Computer was met with universal acclaim, with many critics claiming it was a landmark record that would have a far-reaching impact. Retrospectively, the album was voted the greatest of all time by Q magazine (with The Bends taking second place) in 1998 and it’s also appeared near the top of professional lists and public polls for NME, Virgin, Rolling Stone and many others.

Since the turn of the century Radiohead have released a further four studio albums – Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows – all of which have charted within the Top 5 in both the UK and the US (as well as a dozen other country charts). Between them the albums have sold millions of copies around the world and produced five UK Top 20 hits: Pyramid Song, Knives Out, There There, Go to Sleep and 2+2=5.

Linkin Park is an American alternative rock/metal band from Agoura Hills, California, consisting of Chester Bennington on vocals, Brad Delson on lead guitar, Mike Shinoda on rhythm guitar and keyboard, David Farrell on bass, Joseph Hahn on turntables and Rob Bourdon on drums and percussion.

Formed in 1996 as Xero, the group first changed their name to Hybrid Theory and then to Linkin Park – in homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park. After landing a contract with Warner Bros. Records in the late 90s they began work on their debut album, which they decided to name after their previous incarnation.

Hybrid Theory was released on 24^th October 2000 and was an instant, phenomenal success. It reached number two on the Billboard 200 and eventually went on to sell ten million copies in the US – and over 29 million copies worldwide (making it the second biggest selling album of the decade, behind The Beatles’ 1). It produced four hit singles in total: the US number two smash hit In the End, the Grammy Award-winning Crawling and the UK Top 30 releases Papercut and One Step Closer.

The group’s follow-up album Meteora was released in March 2003. Selling over ten million copies worldwide, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and also became the US Modern Rock Tracks chart’s most successful album ever. A total of six singles were released from the album, including the US number eleven hit Numb and the UK Top 40 singles Somewhere I Belong, Faint and Breaking the Habit.

Linkin Park’s third studio album Minutes to Midnight was released in May 2007 and again shot to number one in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and more than a dozen other countries around the world. It produced a total of five singles: What I’ve Done, Bleed It Out, Shadow of the Day, Given Up and New Divide.

The group’s fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, is due for release in September 2010.

Placebo are a British alternative rock group, currently consisting of Brian Molko on lead vocals and multiple instruments, Stefan Olsdal on guitars and keyboards and Steve Forrest on drums and percussion (formerly Steve Hewitt/Robert Schultzberg).

Formed in London, England in 1994, the group shot to fame with the release of their self-titled debut album Placebo in 1996. It reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and produced seven singles, including the Top 5 hit Nancy Boy and the Top 30 singles Bruise Pristine and Teenage Angst. It has since appeared on the list of 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by Q magazine (voted for by their readers).

The group’s follow-up album Without You I’m Nothing was released in October 1998. It reached the Top 10 in both the UK and France and produced two UK Top 5 hits – Pure Morning and You Don’t Care About Us – as well as the number eleven single Every You Every Me. This was followed by Black Market Music – the group’s third studio album. Released on 9^th October 2000, it was a Top 10 hit across Europe and produced another four successful singles, including the UK Top 20 hits Taste in Men and Slave to the Wage.

Next came 2003’s Sleeping with Ghosts, which produced the UK Top 30 singles The Bitter End, This Picture, Special Needs and English Summer Rain, and then 2006’s Meds, which reached number one in seven different European countries and became the group’s first album to chart inside the Billboard 200. It also produced four singles, including the UK number thirteen hit Because I Want You.

The group’s latest album, Battle for the Sun, was released in June 2009. It has produced a total of four singles to date: For What It’s Worth, The Never-Ending Why, Ashtray Heart and Bright Lights.

Brian Hugh Warner, better known as Marilyn Manson, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist – best known as the lead singer of the eponymous band Marilyn Manson.

Born 5^th January 1969 in Canton, Ohio, Manson originally aspired to a career in journalism, but soon took a more active interest in music. He formed Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids in Florida in 1989 – choosing the name Marilyn Manson as a portmanteau of the Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe and the serial killer Charles Manson – but this was later shortened to simply Marilyn Manson.

Manson and his band first came to fame with the release of their 1994 album Portrait of an American Family. Produced by Trent Raznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) and released on Manson’s own record label Nothing Records, the album produced the singles Get Your Gunn and Lunchbox, and earned the group a cult following. They then entered the mainstream with their next album Antichrist Superstar. Released in October 1996, it shot to number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell over 7.5 million copies worldwide. It also produced two Mainstream Rock Tracks chart Top 30 hits: The Beautiful People and Tourniquet.

Mechanical Animals, the group’s final album of the 1990s, hit the top spot of the Billboard 200 (and number eight in the UK) and spawned the UK number 12 hit The Dope Show, as well as the singles I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me) and Rock Is Dead. Since the turn of the century they have released four more US Top 20 albums – Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), The Golden Age of Grotesque, Eat Me Drink Me and The High End of Low – and scored hits with singles like Disposable Teens, Tainted Love, mOBSCENE, Personal Jesus and Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand).

In December 2009, Manson stated that fans “can expect a new record a lot sooner than they think”.

Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy) is a British singer-songwriter and television personality.

Born 30^th June 1983 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Cole rose to fame after appearing in the 2002 British talent show Popstars: The Rivals. She was one of the five female finalists – along with Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – and together they formed the group Girls Aloud. They released their debut single Sound of the Underground in December 2002 and scored a UK Christmas Number One. This was followed by their album of the same name, which went on to sell over 400,000 copies in the UK and produce the follow-up Top 5 singles No Good Advice and Life Got Cold.

Since then, Girls Aloud have released a further five albums – What Will the Neighbours Say?, Chemistry, Tangled Up and Out of Control – sold millions of records and released a total of eighteen singles, including the Top 5 hits The Show, Love Machine, I’ll Stand By You, Wake Me Up, Biology, Whole Lotta History, Something Kinda Ooooh, I Think We’re Alone Now, Walk This Way (ft. Sugababes), Sexy! No No No…, Call the Shots and The Promise. According to the Guinness World Records, they are the world’s ‘Most Successful Reality TV Group’ and also hold the record for ‘Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group’ with twenty.

In 2008 Cheryl Cole became a judge on the fifth series on the UK TV show The X Factor, and she quickly became a familiar face to almost everyone in the UK. This helped her launch her solo career, which began with an appearance on rapper will.i.am’s UK Top 5 single Heartbreaker, and soon led to her debut album 3 Words. Released in October 2009, the album shot to number one in the UK and produced the chart-topping lead single Fight for This Love, as well as the Top 5 singles 3 Words and Parachute.

Both Girls Aloud’s sixth album and Cheryl Cole’s second solo album are due for release later in 2010.

The Prodigy are a British hardcore dance/electro band consisting of vocalist Keith Flint, MC Maxim Reality and DJ and multi-instrumentalist Liam Howlett.

Formed in 1990, The Prodigy self-released a demo tape in February 1991. They sent this to a number of record companies and were soon signed to XL Recordings, who released a track from the demo call What Evil Lurks as the group’s first single. They immediately entered the studio to record new material and released their debut album Experience in September 1992. Containing the popular songs Charly, Out of Space and Fire, it reached number twelve in the UK Albums Chart and was soon certified platinum.

The group’s second album, Music for the Jilted Generation, followed in July 1994. It shot straight to number one in the UK, as well as charting inside the Billboard 200, and spawned the hit singles No Good (Start the Dance), Voodoo People and Poison. It has since been rated a classic album of the 1990s by the likes of Spin, NME and Mojo magazines.

However, the group’s first major international mainstream success was the 1997 album The Fat of the Land. Distributed by Maverick Records in America, it shot to number one on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy Award, as well as for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 1997. It was also a number one hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and several other countries, and spawned the UK and international number one smash hits Firestarter and Breathe, as well as the UK Top 10 single Smack My Bitch Up.

Since the turn of the century The Prodigy have released a further two albums – 2004‘s Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned and 2009’s Invaders Must Die – and have scored hits with singles like Girls, Omen and Warrior’s Dance.

Michael Jackson was an American singer-songwriter, often affectionately referred to as the ‘King of Pop’.

Born 29^th August 1958, the singer first gained fame in his pre-teens as a member of the phenomenally successful 1970s pop/R&B/disco band The Jackson 5. Appearing as the lead vocalist alongside his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, Michael quickly became a child superstar. The group released a total of thirteen albums between 1970 and 1976, selling in excess of 100 million records worldwide, and are best remembered now for catchy pop classics like I Want You Back, ABC and Rockin’ Robin.

Jackson released his debut solo album Got to Be There in 1972, at the age of fourteen, and it sold over five million copies in the US. This was followed by his second album in the same year, which produced the singer’s first solo US number one hit Ben, and a further two albums while still in his teens.

However, it was 1979’s Off the Wall that reinvented the singer and set him on the way to being a pop icon. It sold over twenty million copies worldwide and produced the number one hit Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough, as well as the Top 10 hits Rock with You, Off the Wall and She’s Out of My Life.

Since then, Jackson has rewritten the record books. His next album, 1982’s Thriller, sold over 110 million copies worldwide, making it the bestselling album of all time. He scored a record thirteen US number one hits during his career, including Billie Jean, Beat It, Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Dirty Diana and Black or White, won 15 Grammy Awards and a record 26 American Music Awards. He is officially recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by the Guinness World Records.

Sadly, Michael Jackson passed away on 25th June 2009. However, his success continues, and he has sold a further 35 million records since his death.