March 8 - INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, the day we devoted entirely to female musical artists who accomplished something on this date, March 8. Here are two video montages to get us in the mood. The first is a video montage, 500 years of female portraits in Western art. The second, a montage of famous, inspiring female actors.
1966 - LULU became the first British female singer to appear behind the Iron curtain, when she began a tour of Poland today, with The Hollies. Scottish-born Lulu is singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day. She is internationally identified, especially with North American audiences, with the song To Sir, With Love from the film of the same name. In European countries and Australia, she is also widely known for her Eurovision Song Contest winning entry Boom Bang-a-Bang and in the UK for her first hit Shout. Beginning with a French performance of her global hit song, To Sir With Love, here is a series of videos for Lulu.
1970 - DIANA ROSS made her first performance as a solo act when she appeared in Framingham, Massachusetts, 42 years ago today. After leaving the Supremes, Diana Ross' solo career included successful ventures into film and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, for which she won a Golden Globe award. She won eight American Music Awards, garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977. With a career total of 18 #1 records, Diana Ross is considered the most successful female recording artist of the twentieth century, though Barbra Streisand would no doubt disagree. Diana Ross has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Here she is with her Ashford and Simpson composition, Ain't No Mountain High Enough. The song was an international hit, and gave Ross her first #1 pop single and gold record award as a solo artist. The following is a 1983 version of her first solo single, filmed at Central Park.
1975 - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN went to #! on charts in America today, with the song, Have You Ever Been Mellow, the Australian singer's second American #1 song, although it stayed in the top chart position for just one week. The record also received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and aided her cross-ever audience efforts at this time, with the song peaking at #3 on the Hot Country Singles chart. It was Newton-John's fourth straight single to be certified gold for sales of one million copies. Have You Never Been Mellow also reached number one in Canada and peaked at number 10 in Australia and number 26 in Japan, but was not much of a success elsewhere in the world, failing to chart altogether in the United Kingdom. Olivia'
s career has been a shining example of what a young woman can achieve in the world of entertainment, with dreams aplenty.
1986 - WHITNEY HOUSTON went to #1 on the album charts around the world today, with her self-titled album. It spent a total of 14 weeks on top of some charts. The debut album of the American R&B and pop singer had been released February 14, 1985, on Arista Records. The album initially had a slow commercial response but began getting more popular in the summer of 1985. The album generated three #1 singles; Saving All My Love for You, How Will I Know and Greatest Love of All, making it the first debut album and the first album by a female artist to achieve that feat. The album was one of those very rare cases that enjoyed global success by a new black female artist, topping the albums chart in many countries such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, peaking at #2 in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. The album was certified Diamond for shipments of 10 million units or more on March 16, 1999, eventually selling sold over 25 million copies worldwide, thus making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nominations including Album of the Year and won Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for Saving All My Love for You. The album was ranked # 254 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Here are two songs from that record-breaking album.
1990 - CHER won the worst dressed female, and worst video, 22 years ago today for her attire in the video, If I Could Turn Back Time. The American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist has sometimes been referred to asthe Goddess of Pop, and has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in film, music and television. She is the only person in history to have received all of these awards. Cher began her career as a backup singer and later came to prominence as one half of the pop rock duo Sonny & Cher with the success of their song I Got You Babe in 1965. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, and became a television star in 1971 with The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, a variety show for which she won a Golden Globe. Following are videos of Cher from some of her movies, plus the song Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves.
2008 - BJORK caused a ruckus today, in China, after the Iceland singer caused controversy by shouting,"Tibet, Tibet", at a Shanghai concert following a powerful performance of her song Declare Independence. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk. Her 1990s singles It's Oh, So Quiet, Army of Me and Hyperballad charted in some charts, especially the UK. She has reputedly sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, and acquired a high level of critical acclaim. She has won four BRIT Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, one MOJO Award, three UK Music Video Awards and in particular, she received, in 2010, the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, in recognition for her "deeply personal music and lyrics, her precise arrangements and her unique voice". Additionally, Björk has been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, one Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. For her performance in Dancer in the Dark, Björk won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and has been ranked # 36 on VH1's "The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll", # 8 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music", and # 60 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers". Following is some of her music, including her performance in China.
1966 - LULU became the first British female singer to appear behind the Iron curtain, when she began a tour of Poland today, with The Hollies. Scottish-born Lulu is singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day. She is internationally identified, especially with North American audiences, with the song To Sir, With Love from the film of the same name. In European countries and Australia, she is also widely known for her Eurovision Song Contest winning entry Boom Bang-a-Bang and in the UK for her first hit Shout. Beginning with a French performance of her global hit song, To Sir With Love, here is a series of videos for Lulu.
1970 - DIANA ROSS made her first performance as a solo act when she appeared in Framingham, Massachusetts, 42 years ago today. After leaving the Supremes, Diana Ross' solo career included successful ventures into film and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues, for which she won a Golden Globe award. She won eight American Music Awards, garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross, in 1977. With a career total of 18 #1 records, Diana Ross is considered the most successful female recording artist of the twentieth century, though Barbra Streisand would no doubt disagree. Diana Ross has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Here she is with her Ashford and Simpson composition, Ain't No Mountain High Enough. The song was an international hit, and gave Ross her first #1 pop single and gold record award as a solo artist. The following is a 1983 version of her first solo single, filmed at Central Park.
1975 - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN went to #! on charts in America today, with the song, Have You Ever Been Mellow, the Australian singer's second American #1 song, although it stayed in the top chart position for just one week. The record also received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and aided her cross-ever audience efforts at this time, with the song peaking at #3 on the Hot Country Singles chart. It was Newton-John's fourth straight single to be certified gold for sales of one million copies. Have You Never Been Mellow also reached number one in Canada and peaked at number 10 in Australia and number 26 in Japan, but was not much of a success elsewhere in the world, failing to chart altogether in the United Kingdom. Olivia'
s career has been a shining example of what a young woman can achieve in the world of entertainment, with dreams aplenty.
1986 - WHITNEY HOUSTON went to #1 on the album charts around the world today, with her self-titled album. It spent a total of 14 weeks on top of some charts. The debut album of the American R&B and pop singer had been released February 14, 1985, on Arista Records. The album initially had a slow commercial response but began getting more popular in the summer of 1985. The album generated three #1 singles; Saving All My Love for You, How Will I Know and Greatest Love of All, making it the first debut album and the first album by a female artist to achieve that feat. The album was one of those very rare cases that enjoyed global success by a new black female artist, topping the albums chart in many countries such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, peaking at #2 in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. The album was certified Diamond for shipments of 10 million units or more on March 16, 1999, eventually selling sold over 25 million copies worldwide, thus making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nominations including Album of the Year and won Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for Saving All My Love for You. The album was ranked # 254 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Here are two songs from that record-breaking album.
1990 - CHER won the worst dressed female, and worst video, 22 years ago today for her attire in the video, If I Could Turn Back Time. The American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist has sometimes been referred to asthe Goddess of Pop, and has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in film, music and television. She is the only person in history to have received all of these awards. Cher began her career as a backup singer and later came to prominence as one half of the pop rock duo Sonny & Cher with the success of their song I Got You Babe in 1965. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, and became a television star in 1971 with The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, a variety show for which she won a Golden Globe. Following are videos of Cher from some of her movies, plus the song Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves.
2008 - BJORK caused a ruckus today, in China, after the Iceland singer caused controversy by shouting,"Tibet, Tibet", at a Shanghai concert following a powerful performance of her song Declare Independence. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk. Her 1990s singles It's Oh, So Quiet, Army of Me and Hyperballad charted in some charts, especially the UK. She has reputedly sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, and acquired a high level of critical acclaim. She has won four BRIT Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, one MOJO Award, three UK Music Video Awards and in particular, she received, in 2010, the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, in recognition for her "deeply personal music and lyrics, her precise arrangements and her unique voice". Additionally, Björk has been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, one Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. For her performance in Dancer in the Dark, Björk won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and has been ranked # 36 on VH1's "The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll", # 8 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music", and # 60 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers". Following is some of her music, including her performance in China.
