SILVER WINGS

IT’S SO EROTIC

I WANT MORE

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

BORN TO BLOSSOM

NOTHING ELSE COMPARES

EX FACTOR

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by Lauryn Hill, released August 25, 1998. Recording sessions for the album took place from late 1997 to June 1998, and were held primarily at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica. The album’s lyrics deal with Hill’s pregnancy at the time, the turmoil in her former group the Fugees, and also love and God, while it incorporates musical elements of R&B, hip hop, soul, reggae, and gospel. The album’s title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson, and Carter G. Woodson’s The Mis-Education of the Negro.

Upon release, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 422,624 copies in its first week, which broke a record for first week sales by a female artist. The album spent 81 weeks on the Billboard 200 and topped the Billboard Year-End Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 1999, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill garnered ten Grammy nominations at the 41st Grammy Awards, winning five, making Hill the first female recording artist to receive that number of nominations, as well as awards in one night. The album was certified Gold on September 29, 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of over 500,000 copies, and on December 17, 2001, it was certified 8x Platinum in the United States. According to Soundscan, the album surpassed 7 million sales in the U.S. in September 2010.

Initially, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill received a great amount of critical praise for its lyric themes and genre variance. Since its release, the album has perpetuated its acclaim from most music critics and publications, and has been widely recognized as a crucial and influential component of the neo soul sub-genre. The album has appeared on numerous accolades, with many regarding it as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003, it was ranked number 312 on Rolling Stone magazine’s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

FINEST INSPIRATION

Backed by her Blond Ambition Tour dancers, Madonna closed the 1990 “MTV Video Music Awards,” reminding people that the M in MTV stood for Madonna. Decked out in full Marie Antoinette garb, the pop queen lip-synced her massive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single before being carried out on a chaise lounge. Regarding nominations, Madonna also had the distinction of being the most nominated artist of the night, as her video for “Vogue” received nine nominations, taking home three awards, making it also the most nominated video of 1990.

CELEBRATE

MISS YOU MUCH

BURN IT DOWN

POOLS OF LOVE

ON A CLEAR DAY

QUEEN OF POP

She came, she saw, she conquered! She said she had to put on ‘the greatest show on earth, during the greatest show on earth’ and Madonna certainly didn’t disappoint. She entered the field of last night’s Super Bowl XLVI halftime show on an Egyptian thrown, carried by an army of chiseled Roman gladiators, dripping in a gold lamé Givenchy Haute Couture cape and headpiece. She has never been big on looking back, but this was a pitch-perfect mix of eras. A regal “Vogue” gave way to “Music,” and it’s impossible to deny the impact of pop classics “Open Your Heart,” “Express Yourself” and joyous finale “Like a Prayer.” All in all a very well done performance from the undisputed Queen of Pop. The stage and effects were beautiful, pure pop Madge-sty and really put us all on edge for her new album “MDNA” to drop.

L-U-V MADONNA!

MDNA

iTunes will offer an exclusive global pre-order of an 18 track Deluxe Edition of MDNA including one exclusive remix from Madonna’s new album. The bonus remix will be available from Friday February 3rd through Monday February 6th only. During this time period the album will be available for $9.99 and fans will also receive the digital single “Give Me All Your Luvin'” immediately. This single is also exclusive to iTunes during this limited time. At launch, the offer can be found at www.iTunes.com/Madonna.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR LUVIN’

MDNA – THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Madonna will be releasing her new single “Give Me All Your Luvin'” featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A. on February 3rd, three days before her highly anticipated Bridgestone Super Bowl halftime performance, it was officially confirmed by Interscope Records. “Give Me All Your Luvin'” is the first single from Madonna’s upcoming album MDNA , her 12th studio album and follow up to 2008’s Hard Candy which debuted at No. 1 in 37 countries. The song was written by Madonna, Martin Solveig, Nicki Minaj and M.I.A, composed by Martin Solveig and Michael Tordjman and produced by Madonna and Martin Solveig.

iTunes will offer an exclusive global pre-order of an 18 track Deluxe Edition of MDNA including one exclusive remix from Madonna’s new album. The bonus remix will be available from Friday February 3rd through Monday February 6th only. During this time period the album will be available for $9.99 and fans will also receive the digital single “Give Me All Your Luvin'” immediately. This single is also exclusive to iTunes during this limited time. At launch, the offer can be found at www.iTunes.com/Madonna.

The video for “Give Me All Your Luvin'” directed by Megaforce, is football and cheerleader themed – inspired by her upcoming Super Bowl appearance. In an AMERICAN IDOL exclusive, Madonna will world preview the video for her new single “Give Me All Your Luvin'” featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., during IDOL Thursday, Feb. 2 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The full video for “Give Me All Your Luvin'” will premiere on Madonna’s YouTube channel on February 3rd at 9am EST/6am PST.

MDNA, recorded in New York and LA, reunites Madonna with former collaborator William Orbit (“Ray of Light”) who co wrote and co produced several cuts on the new album. Other co producers include Martin Solveig, The Demolition Crew, Marco “Benny” Benassi and Alessandro “Alle” Benassi, Hardy “Indiigo” Muanza, Michael Malih and Madonna.

The Golden Globe Award winning song “Masterpiece” from the Madonna directed Weinstein Company film “W.E.” which opens in February is also included on MDNA as well as on W.E. – Music From the Soundtrack which is scheduled to be released on January 31st at digital retailers on Interscope as well. The Compact Disc version of the soundtrack is scheduled to be released exclusively at Amazon.com on February 14th. The score was composed, orchestrated and produced by Abel Korzeniowski.

Madonna is scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Show on January 30th.

SAY GOODBYE

TOO HOT INSIDE

“Red Blooded Woman” was released in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2004. The song became Minogue’s twenty-third top five single when it debuted at number five on the singles chart, beaten to number one by Britney Spears, who debuted at the top spot with “Toxic”. The hit song spent a total of nine weeks in the top seventy-five in the UK. Outside of the United Kingdom, the song was also successful.

Due to favorable reception of Minogue’s previous releases, “Red Blooded Woman” was released in the United States. Minogue had previously found success in the dance clubs with 2001’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and 2003’s “Slow”. “Red Blooded Woman” became her sixth consecutive release to reach the top forty on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, where it peaked at number twenty-four. It also performed well on the Hot Dance Airplay chart, where it reached the top spot. The song however was not a success of the Billboard Hot 100, failing to make an impact outside of the dance market. However, several key Top 40 stations, including KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, embraced the track and gave it heavy airplay thanks to the song’s more “urban” sound.

SLOW DOWN