Search Music Artists beginning with B for Artist Links, Information, Birthdays and more
B-52's
The B-52's originated as a New Wave rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, United States, in 1976. The band's name comes from a particular beehive hairdo resembling the nose cone of the aircraft of the same name. During their early years, wigs of that style were often worn by the band's female singers Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. The correct name for the band has long been "The B-52's", but in 2008 they dropped the apostrophe, with their official website and Funplex album and single covers reading "The B-52s". However, the file tags on the digital releases of both of these retain the apostrophe. Both spellings could now be considered correct. The B-52's' sound is marked by the vocals--the female harmonies of Wilson and Pierson, and the generally spoken-word or sprechgesang male vocal counterpoint of Fred Schneider. The resulting unique "guy vs. gals" vocals, sometimes used in call and response style (as in their songs "Private Idaho" and "Good Stuff"), are a trademark of the band. Presenting as a positive, enthusiastic, slightly wacky party band, the B-52's have focused on songs telling tall tales ("Rock Lobster", "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland"), glorifying wild youth ("Love Shack", "Deadbeat Club"), or celebrating wild romance ("Strobe Light", "Hot Pants Explosion"), all set to a danceable New Wave beat.
B.B. King
B. B. King (born Riley B. King, September 16, 1925) is an African American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter known for his expressive singing and inimitable guitar playing. As Komara has written, King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed. Critical acclaim and widespread popularity have cemented his reputation as possibly the most respected and successful of all blues musicians. B. B. King arrived in Memphis for the first time in 1946 to work as a musician, but after a few months of hardship he left, going back to Mississippi. There he decided to prepare himself better for the next visit and returned to Memphis two years later. Initially he worked at the local R&B radio channel WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, where he gained the nickname Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to B. B. It was there that he first met T-Bone Walker - "Once I'd heard him for the first time, I knew I'd have to have [an electric guitar] myself. Had to have one, short of stealing!" In 1949, King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-based RPM Records. Many of King's early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. Before his RPM contract, King had debuted on Bullet Records by issuing the single "Miss Martha King" (1949), which got a bad review in Billboard magazine and did not chart well.