Curated playlist

Echo (music award) winners

ColdplayColdplay's first release was 500 copies of a self-financed EP. The band later grossed a billion dollars on one tour.
Pink FloydRoger Waters went to the High Court in 1985 to dissolve Pink Floyd. He called the band "a spent force creatively."
Lady GagaLady Gaga's name may have come from a phone typo. Producer Rob Fusari said autocorrect turned "Radio Ga Ga" into "Lady".
EminemEminem performed with Elton John at the 43rd Grammy Awards while GLAAD protested outside.
AC/DCAC/DC is an Australian rock band, and its name began as a label on a household appliance. When Malcolm and Angus Young were hunting for a name, their sister Margaret pointed to a symbol printed on the AC adapter of her sewing machine.…
AdeleA friend posted Adele's three-song class demo on Myspace, and a record label phoned.
Red Hot Chili PeppersThe Red Hot Chili Peppers played their first show on the 16th of December 1982, at the Grandia Room, a club on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of roughly 30 people. They did not yet have that name. The poster billed them as Tony Flow and the…
ShakiraAt age four, Shakira climbed onto a restaurant table and danced to a doumbek. It happened in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Linkin ParkLinkin Park formed in 1996 in Agoura Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, and went on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide. Its founders were high school friends with a bedroom studio and no record deal. Years of…
CherCher, the American singer and actress born Cheryl Sarkisian, first reached radio in 1964 with a record that programmers misjudged. The single was “Ringo, I Love You,” produced by Phil Spector and released under the name Bonnie Jo Mason.…
Alanis MorissetteAlanis Morissette recorded a demo cassette in August 1989 and sent it to Geffen Records. The tape has never been heard. It was stolen, along with other records, in a burglary of the label's headquarters in October 1989. Whatever it held is…
50 Cent50 Cent was shot nine times in 2000, then blacklisted by the music industry. He built his comeback on mixtapes.
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…
Phil CollinsPhil Collins is the only artist who performed at both Live Aid concerts on the 13th of July 1985. He crossed between London and Philadelphia by helicopters and a Concorde to do it. Born Philip David Charles Collins, he went on to sell an…
EnyaThe Fugees first sampled Enya's "Boadicea" without permission. She took legal action and got about 3 million dollars.
Ricky MartinRicky Martin once played a new song for a record executive and was told he had ruined his career. The Puerto Rican singer, born Enrique Martín Morales in San Juan, had walked away from the ballads that filled his first two albums. In their…