跟许多灵魂歌手一样，Otis Redding也是在教堂的唱诗班里得到音乐启蒙教育的。他出生于1941年九月，父亲是浸信会的牧师。喜爱音乐的他，高中都没有毕业就辍学了。有一次，他在一家医院里打工，还因为忘情的在大厅里歌唱而遭到开除。
为了能够接近他所喜爱的音乐，他在家乡找了一份工作，替当地一支合唱团担任打杂的小弟，偶尔也客串演唱。1962年，他开车送合唱团的成员到曼斐斯的某家唱片公司去试音，由于主角不是他，在录音的过程中，他只好乖乖的坐在角落里，合唱团录完之后，他忍不住表示自己也很希望能有机会录音。在录音时间还剩余二十分钟的情况下，唱片公司老板同意让他试试看。
他录了两首歌，第一首让老板觉得太像他从小崇拜的老牌黑人摇滚歌手Little Richard，第二首则是一首抒情的歌谣曲「These Arms of Mine」，老板虽然并不是特别的欣赏，还是决定予以发行，结果却意外的成了他的第一首进榜单曲。
其后的几年间，Otis Redding陆续又有了其他几首R&B的畅销曲，包括「Pain in My Heart」、「Security」、「I've Been Loving You Too Long」、「Respect」以及替他赢得更多注意的歌曲，翻唱自滚石合唱团经典的「(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction」等等。其中发表于1965年的「Respect」在1967年由Aretha Franklin成功的翻唱并且夺得冠军，轰动了歌坛。
只是当时他的知名度仅限于黑人，对于绝大多数的白人来说，仍然没有几个人认识他。为了替他宣传，唱片公司安排了巡回演唱的行程，把他的名声传到了欧洲，尤其是英国和法国，接著他们回到美国，参加蒙特利流行音乐节的演出。他是最后上场的，也是那次活动中唯一的灵魂歌手，而在他上台的时候，已经过了午夜，疲累的白人观众很多都在打瞌睡了，根本无心注意这位他们几乎毫不认识的黑人歌手。
Otis Redding以一首充满活力的「Shake」，炒热了现场，使得他在那次演唱会中的表现成了传奇。而由于他也是第一次接触到那种嬉皮听众，他颇有感触，演唱结束之后，他在停靠在旧金山附近的一艘游艇上写下了「(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay」这首歌。1967年十二月七号，他进入录音室，把这首歌曲录制下来，在歌曲的开头，他加上了海浪和海鸥的声音，用柔和的节奏，唱出了一个孤独男人心中的渴望。
三天之后，十二月十号，他结束了威斯康辛的一场演唱之后，登上了他刚刚购买的双引擎小飞机，准备前往康乃狄格去演出。当时的他，可以说是志得意满，因为不但他的「Respect」被灵魂歌后Aretha Franklin唱红，他本人也刚被英国著名的Melody Maker读者票选为全世界最佳的男歌手，取代了过去八年由猫王所霸占的宝座。
那天的气候十分不利于飞行，空中弥漫著浓雾。起飞之后不久，飞机就在离机场四英里的地方失事坠毁，很快的沉没在冰冷的湖水中，Otis Redding就这样结束了他短短的一生，只活了二十六岁。跟他一起丧生的，还包括了飞机的驾驶员、他的仆从和Bar-Keys乐队的四名团员。
四千五百位歌迷和亲友参加了他的丧礼。在他过世之后，唱片公司发行了「(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay」，很快的就直冲榜首，成为他一生之中唯一的冠军曲，可惜他自己却享受不到那些荣誉了。1980年，他的两个儿子跟一个表弟组成了「The Reddings」合唱团，翻唱了「(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay」，并且得到第五十五名，成为有史以来第一首由原唱者的后人重新唱红的冠军曲。

Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE, professionally known as Dusty Springfield, was an English pop singer and record producer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s.

Expanded and remastered reissue of the 1962 classic album and its successful follow-up. Packaged together for the very first time, volume 2 has never-before been available on CD! For Ray Charles, this music represented the culmination of a lifelong love affair he shared for Country & Western music. It vastly expanded his pop demographic and made countless new country converts by giving these 24 songs a soul-steeped urban dimension.

Remastered reissue in a digipak. Originally released in 1959. Contains the songs 'Am I Blue', 'Tell Me You'll Wait For Me', 'Indeed I Do' & 'Come Rain Or Come Shine'. Warner. 2005.

Rank 'em how you like, Rubber Soul is an undeniable pivot point in the Fab Four's varied discography no matter where, or how, you first heard it. The album was softened up in its original 12-song American edition to jibe with the Dylan/Byrds folk-rock sound, as well as squeeze money from the Parlophone catalog. The 14-song U.K. edition--the version now available on compact disc--is a different, more dynamic, and ultimately more accomplished achievement. So many classics: "Drive My Car" and "Nowhere Man" (both omitted from the U.S. edition) merge the early combustible Beatifics to a burgeoning studio consciousness; "The Word" can be read as a pre-psych warning shot; the sitar-laden "Norwegian Wood" and the evocative "Girl" (the latter written on the last night of the sessions) stand as turning points in John Lennon's oeuvre. George finally emerges too, with the McGuinn-ish "If I Needed Someone." EMI. 2005.

DARKNESS AND LIGHT is the new album from acclaimed, multi-platinum selling, Oscar, Golden Globe and 10x Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter John Legend. This new 12 song collection is produced by Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes), and features multiple guest collaborations including Chance the Rapper, Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, and Miguel. The lead single and video from DARKNESS AND LIGHT, is the anthemic track, "Love Me Now," written and produced by John Legend with Blake Mills and John Ryan (One Direction).
John Legend's work to date has garnered him ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, the BET Award for Best New Artist and the special Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, among others. His debut album, Get Lifted, was released in December of 2004 through Columbia Records. The critically acclaimed album spawned the artist's first hit single, "Ordinary People," and scored Legend multiple Grammy Awards in 2006, including Best R&B Album, Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The follow up was 2006's platinum-selling Once Again, which brought Legend another Grammy, Best Male R&B Performance, for his single "Heaven," and included collaborations with Kanye West, will.i.am and Raphael Saadiq. Legend's next release was 2008's Evolver, led by the hit single "Green Light" featuring Andre 3000. His 2010 collaboration with the Roots, Wake Up, won the Grammy for Best R&B Album a year later. Legend s highly acclaimed fourth studio album Love In the Future arrived in 2013, and featured the worldwide hit "All of Me," his highest selling and charting song to date. Following the success of the platinum album Love In The Future, Legend won his first Academy Award, first Golden Globe Award, his 10th Grammy award, and a Critic's Choice Award for his song "Glory," that he wrote and performed with Common, for the film SELMA.
The next chapter of John Legend's continually building career is DARKNESS AND LIGHT. The music on this new album not only reflects Legend's continued evolution as an artist, but also his role as a husband and a new father. John married his longtime girlfriend, model Chrissy Teigen, in September of 2013. In 2016, the couple had a daughter named Luna.

Marvin Gaye 把 1971 年专辑《What’s Going On》的标题曲拿给摩城音乐创始人 Berry Gordy 时，据传后者曾表示，那是他听过的最糟糕的东西。音乐太松散，歌词则太政治化。但就连 Elvis Presley 都唱起了抗议歌曲（1969 年的《In the Ghetto》），Marvin Gaye 为什么不可以？<br /><br />
这张专辑的奥妙就在于那份轻盈。歌曲自在呼吸，演绎自然松弛，甚至有些漫不经心，例如标题曲中负责演奏萨克斯的 Eli Fontaine 录音时甚至以为自己不过是在热身。Sly & The Family Stone 在苦涩的放克里倾泻怒火的同时（1971 年的《There’s a Riot Goin’ On》），Gaye 则用华丽的弦乐和拉丁鼓点表达着他的不满，柔和而且显得老练。哪怕是触及毒品（《Flyin’ High [In the Friendly Sky]》）和贫困问题（《Inner City Blues [Make Me Wanna Holler]》）等严肃主题时，他也轻盈得如同御风而行。这张专辑让我们明白，政治音乐不一定要剑拔弩张，也可以温暖怡人。

The Thrill of It All is the second studio album by English singer Sam Smith. It will be released on 3 November 2017 through Capitol Records. "Too Good at Goodbyes" was released as the album's lead single on 8 September 2017. On 6 October 2017, Smith released "Pray", a gospel-tinged ballad in collaboration with Timbaland, prompted by time spent in Iraq with the charity War Child.

Stephen Bruner, bka as Thundercat returns with his follow up to 2015s The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam . The latest album titled Drunk is released on Flying Lotus Brainfeeder label and features production from Flying Lotus himself. After attaining national attention following his Grammy award winning collaborations on Kendrick Lamar s To Pimp A Butterfly , Bruner delivers arguably his most ambitious work to date. Vocal features include Michael McDonald & Kenny Loggins, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and Pharrell. In addition to Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat has worked with a wide range of artists including Erykah Badu, Childish Gambino, Mac Miller, Ty Dolla $ign, Bilal, Suicidal Tendencies, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin and more making him one of the most in demand musicians of our time.

雷·查尔斯，美国灵魂音乐家、钢琴演奏家，他开创了节奏布鲁斯音乐。他是第一批被列入摇滚名人堂的人物之一，《滚石杂志》亦把他列为“100个最伟大的艺人”中的第10位。法兰克·辛纳屈称他为“音乐界唯一的天才”。2004雷·查尔斯去世后，按照其生平拍摄记影片《灵魂歌王》。