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Stephen Bray (judge)
Stephen Pate Bray (born December 23, 1956) is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Madonna, being a member of the band Breakfast Club, and for winning the 2017 Grammy Award for the Best Musical Theater Album of the Tony Award-winning revival of ''The Color Purple''. Bray owns and operates Saturn Sound recording studios and the Soultone Records label. Career Bray began studying music through private instruction in Detroit, attended Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor. He continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1978. Collaborations with Madonna Bray dated Madonna before her fame when she was attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for dance in 1976. He moved to New York after receiving a call from Madonna in November 1980; at that time she was a member of the band Breakfast Club in Queens. Madonna wanted to form a new band and invited Bray to play the drums. They formed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regina (American Singer)
Regina Richards is an American pop singer born in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for her hit song "Baby Love", which reached Number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1986. "Baby Love" was her only song to chart on the Hot 100, making her a one-hit wonder. The song also reached #50 on the UK Singles Chart that same year. Career Regina, who majored in theater at Marymount Manhattan College, began her music career in the late 1970s, recording and performing with the new wave band Regina Richards and Red Hot. The band regularly played New York City music venues such as CBGB, Max's Kansas City, and Irving Plaza. With the help of Richard Gottehrer, the band signed with A&M Records. The first single released was titled "Tyger", with "Tug of War" as the B side. The second single "Don't Want You Back", with "Company Girl" as the B side, was followed by a self-titled album; the records did not attain mainstream success. Subsequently, she dissolved the group and focused on wr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As of October 25, 2021. , president = Santa Ono , provost = Laurie McCauley , established = , type = Public research university , academic_affiliations = , students = 48,090 (2021) , undergrad = 31,329 (2021) , postgrad = 16,578 (2021) , administrative_staff = 18,986 (2014) , faculty = 6,771 (2014) , city = Ann Arbor , state = Michigan , country = United States , coor = , campus = Midsize City, Total: , including arboretum , colors = Maize & Blue , nickname = Wolverines , sporti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Snake Moan (film)
''Black Snake Moan'' is a 2006 American film written and directed by Craig Brewer and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Timberlake. The film focuses on a Mississippi bluesman who holds a troubled local woman captive in his house in an attempt to cure her of nymphomania after finding her severely beaten on the side of a road. The title of the film derives from the 1927 Blind Lemon Jefferson song. The film draws numerous references to the Mississippi Blues movement, particularly in its title and soundtrack. ''Black Snake Moan'' garnered mixed to positive reviews from critics, and was a box-office bomb, grossing only $10.9 million against a $15 million budget. Plot The film centers on two main characters: Lazarus Redd, a deeply religious farmer and former blues guitarist, and Rae Doole, a young sex addict. Lazarus' wife and his brother were having an affair, which has left him bitter and angry. Rae's boyfriend Ronnie Morgan leaves for deployment with the 196t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hustle & Flow
''Hustle & Flow'' is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton and Stephanie Allain. It stars Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler and pimp who faces his aspiration to become a rapper. It also stars Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji P. Henson, Paula Jai Parker, Elise Neal, DJ Qualls and Ludacris. ''Hustle & Flow'' was released in the United States on July 22, 2005, by Paramount Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the performances (particularly those of Howard and Henson), Brewer's script and direction, and the soundtrack. It was also a commercial success, grossing $23.5 million against a production budget of $2.8 million. The film received numerous accolades and nominations, and was nominated twice at the 78th Academy Awards for Best Actor (Howard) and Academy Award for Best Original Song for Three 6 Mafia's song " It's Hard out Here for a Pimp", winning the latter and becoming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephanie Allain
Stephanie Allain (born October 30, 1959) is an American producer of independent movies in Hollywood, California. Early life Stephanie Allain was born in New Orleans to an African-American father Dr. Charles Allain, a biochemist, and a white mother Gwen Allain Miller, an educator. Her family moved near Los Angeles, California, in 1965, and Allain attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Career She began her film career in 1985 at Creative Artists Agency, first as a script reader, then as a staff reader. As a story analyst, she worked for 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and finally in 1989, at Columbia Pictures. There, Allain was one of twelve readers at the studio, and one of only two African-American readers. She rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President of Production and was influential in encouraging and developing an African-American filmmaking community in Hollywood in the 1990s. During her te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Studio City, California
Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, now known as Radford Studio Center. History Originally known as Laurelwood, the area that Studio City occupies was formerly part of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando. Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando was a Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California, granted in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Eulogio F. de Celis. This land changed hands several times during the late 19th century, and was eventually owned by James Boon Lankershim (1850–1931), and eight other developers, who organized the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company. In 1899, however, the area lost most water rights to Los Angeles, so subdivision and sale of land for farming became untenable. Construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct began in 1908, and water ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards were founded by theatre producer and director Brock Pemberton and are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. The trophy consists of a spinnable medallion, with faces portraying an adaptation of the comedy and tragedy masks, mounted on a black base with a pewter swivel. The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Color Purple
''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction."National Book Awards – 1983" National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-26. (With essays by Anna Clark and Tarayi Jones from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) Walker won the 1983 award for hardcover Fiction. From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Awards history there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories. Most of the pap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel ''The Color Purple''."National Book Awards – 1983" National Book Foundation. Retrieved March 15, 2012. (With essays by Anna Clark and Tarayi Jones from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) Over the span of her career, Walker has published seventeen novels and short story collections, twelve non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry. She has faced criticism for alleged antisemitism and for her endorsement of the conspiracist |
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States. The weekly tracking period for sales was initially Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming, is readily available on a real-time basis, is also tracked on a Friday to Thursday cycle effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021 (previously Monday to Sunday and before July 2015, Wednesday to Tuesday). A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by ''Billboard'' on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday. The first number-one song of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 was " Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Like A Prayer (album)
''Like a Prayer'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989, by Sire Records. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and Prince on the album, with her co-writing and co-producing all the songs. Her most introspective release at the time, ''Like a Prayer'' is a confessional record. Madonna described the album as a collection of songs about her mother, father, and bonds with her family. It was dedicated to Madonna's mother, who died when she was young. ''Like a Prayer'' is a pop album and incorporates elements of rock, R&B, gospel, and funk. Madonna drew from her Catholic upbringing, as seen on the album's title track, which was also released as its lead single. The lyrics deal with themes from Madonna's childhood and adolescence, such as the death of her mother in "Promise to Try", the importance of family in " Keep It Together", and her relationship with her father in " Oh Father", as well as encouraging female em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Like A Virgin (album)
''Like a Virgin'' is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984, by Sire Records. Following the success of her self-titled debut album, Madonna wanted to become the record producer of her next album. However, her label was not ready to give her the artistic freedom and she chose Nile Rodgers instead to produce the album due to his work with David Bowie. Madonna wrote six songs on the record, five of which feature Steve Bray as a co-writer. The album was recorded at Power Station Studio in New York at a quick pace. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic bandmates Bernard Edwards, who was the bassist, and Tony Thompson, who played drums. Jason Corsaro, the record's audio engineer, persuaded Rodgers to use digital recording, a new technique introduced at that time. The album's photographs were shot by Steven Meisel. Madonna wanted the album title and the cover image to make a provocative link between her own religious na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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