Curated playlist

Arista Records artists

Whitney HoustonWhitney Houston sold more than 220 million records and carried a nickname that needed no first name: "the Voice". She was born in 1963 and died in 2012. In between, she became one of the most awarded performers in history. In 2023, Rolling…
Aretha FranklinOtis Redding said Aretha Franklin took his song "Respect" away from him. Her version hit number one in 1967.
Prince (musician)Prince once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol to protest his record label.
Monty PythonMonty Python's surviving members staged a 2014 reunion to pay a legal bill.
Brand NubianBrand Nubian's name came from a book Lord Jamar read at a demo session. The word "Nubian" jumped out at him.
The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.'s second album hit number one sixteen days after he was shot dead. He was twenty-four.
Grateful DeadIn August 1991, a television crew from PBS watched the Grateful Dead play at Shoreline Amphitheatre, and guitarist Jerry Garcia offered a strange confession about his own band. "We didn't really invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented…
Run-DMCRun-DMC turned unlaced sneakers into a $1,600,000 Adidas deal. The rap group's look came from jail rules on shoelaces.
TLC (group)The group TLC filed for bankruptcy in 1995 at the height of its fame. Each member was clearing under $50,000 a year.
Sean CombsSean Combs founded Bad Boy Records, which launched the Notorious B.I.G. He was later sentenced to four years in prison.
Iggy PopIggy Pop, born James Newell Osterberg Jr., built a reputation on rolling around in broken glass while a crowd watched. Admirers eventually called him the "Godfather of Punk". His first band sold few records, yet its songs outlasted much of…
Patti SmithPatti Smith, the American singer, songwriter, poet and author, lost her place in the middle of a song at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm. The date was the 10th of December 2016. She was standing in for Bob Dylan, winner of the…
Alicia KeysAlicia Keys was fifteen years old when Columbia Records tried to win her signature with a $26,000 white baby grand piano. She took the deal. It began a long struggle over who would decide what her music sounded like. Years later she summed…
Avril LavigneIn November 2000, Avril Lavigne stood in a Manhattan recording studio and sang for Antonio "L.A." Reid, then the head of Arista Records. The audition ran for just 15 minutes. Lavigne, a Canadian singer and songwriter, was 16 years old. She…
Pink (singer)Pink, the American singer and songwriter born Alecia Beth Moore, once walked out to sing the US national anthem before Super Bowl LII while fighting influenza. For her it was the fulfilment of a childhood dream. As a girl in 1991, she had…
Usher (musician)Usher, the American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor, drew 123 million viewers within the United States to his Super Bowl LVIII halftime show in 2024. Very few performers ever stand in front of a crowd that size. Fewer still get there…
Carly SimonCarly Simon, an American singer, songwriter and author, recorded a line that strangers still sing back at her: "You're so vain, I bet you think this song is about you." Listeners have argued about the target of that accusation ever since.…
Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-Heron preferred the word "bluesologist" even as critics called him a rap progenitor.
Meat LoafMeat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, and by his own account he was bright red for days afterward. His father took one look at the baby and said he resembled "nine pounds of ground chuck." The father then talked hospital…