Artist Index How to use Artist INDEX

James Brown　

Soul Brother Number One, the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Mr. Dynamite -- those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James Brown earned them more ..more

Jennifer Lopez　

Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 24, 1969; after starting out in musical theater as a child, she made her film debut at age 16 in the little-seen My Little ..more

JAY-Z　

Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to eventually become the reigning rapper of New York City and, in turn, a major-label executive followin ..more

Jamiroquai　

Active beginning in the early ’90s, Jamiroquai has amassed a steady stream of hits in its native U.K. and experienced chart success in just about every other area of the world, with an irresistible ..more

Janet Jackson　

Few celebrity siblings can emerge from the shadows of their already famous relations to become superstars in their own right and with their own distinct personalities. That’s exactly what Janet Jack ..more

Seal　

Seal emerged from England’s house music scene in the early ’90s to become the most popular British soul vocalist of the decade. Although his earliest material still showed signs of {\acid hou ..more

Jackson 5　

The Jackson 5 were one of the biggest phenomenons in pop music during the early ’70s, and the last great group to come out of the Motown hitmaking machine before Marvin Gaye and Stevie W ..more

Sade　

When singer Sade and her band of the same name were establishing themselves, their record company, Epic, made a point of printing Pronounced Shar-day on the record labels of their releases. So ..more

Justin Bieber　

Pop singer Justin Bieber was barely into his teens when he released his platinum-selling debut, My World, and became one of 2009’s youngest success stories. An Ontario native, Bieber had plac ..more

Joss Stone　

British singer Joss Stone was only 16 years old when she hit the mainstream in 2003, armed with a powerful voice and a vintage, soul-based sound. Smartly aligning herself with a number of soul lege ..more

Jazztronik　

Simian Mobile Disco　

Producers/remixers James Ford and James Shaw formed Simian Mobile Disco in 2005, following their departure from the experimental electronic rock band Simian. The two had originall ..more

Jazzanova　

Berlin’s Jazzanova collective formed in 1995, after DJing with one another at a club called Delicious Doughnuts. Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler, Roskow Kretschmann, Stefan Leisering, ..more

Jacksons　

Johnnie Taylor　

Young gospel phenom, gritty Stax/Volt soulster, lady-killing balladeer, chart-topping disco king, Southern soul-blues stalwart -- Johnnie Taylor somehow always managed to adapt to th ..more

J Dilla (Jay Dee)　

Frequently and rightly placed in the same context as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Kanye West, J Dilla (aka Jay Dee) built and sustained a high standing as a producer’s producer while main ..more

Chic　

There can be little argument that Chic was disco’s greatest band; and, working in a heavily producer-dominated field, they were most definitely a band. By the time Chic appeared in the ..more

George Clinton　

The mastermind of the Parliament/Funkadelic collective during the 1970s, George Clinton broke up both bands by 1981 and began recording solo albums, occasionally performing live with his form ..more

Jeff Mills　

Jeff Mills, along with Robert Hood, Carl Craig, and Joey Beltram, is one of the biggest American names in techno. Championed for his music’s relentless pursuit of hardness and his strip ..more

Rick James　

In the late ’70s, when the fortunes of Motown Records seemed to be flagging, Rick James came along and rescued the company, providing funky hits that updated the label’s style and saw it through ..more