Music Charts Magazine News
Harvey Lavan “Van” Cliburn, Jr., (pron.: /ˈklaɪbɜrn/; July 12, 1934 – February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 at the age of 23, when he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War. Van Cliburn toured domestically and overseas.
He played for royalty, heads of state, and every U.S. president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama.
His recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was the first album by a classical artist to sell more than 1 million copies.
Cliburn received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003 by then President George W. Bush, and, in October 2004, the Russian Order of Friendship, the highest civilian awards of the two countries. He was also awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award the same year and played at a surprise 50th birthday party for United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He was a member of the Alpha Chi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and was awarded the fraternity’s Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award in 1962. He was presented a 2010 National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Cliburn
Malinda Gayle “Mindy” McCready ( November 30, 1975 – February 17, 2013) was an American country music singer. Active from 1995 until her death in 2013, she recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996’s Ten Thousand Angels, was released on BNA Records and was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA, while 1997’s If I Don’t Stay the Night was certified Gold. 1999’s I’m Not So Tough, her final album for BNA, was less successful, and she left the label. A self-titled fourth album followed in 2002 on Capitol Records.
Overall, McCready’s four studio albums accounted for twelve singles on the Billboard country singles charts.
This figure includes the Number One hit “Guys Do It All the Time”.
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindy_McCready
James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the Director Emeritus of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School and Laureate Music Director of the Oregon Symphony at the time of his death.
In 2005, President George W. Bush presented James DePreist with the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_DePreist
The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxine Angelyn “Maxene” (January 3, 1916 – October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie “Patty” Andrews (February 16, 1918 – January 30, 2013). Throughout their long career, the sisters sold well over 75 million records (the last official count released by MCA Records in the mid-1970s). Their 1941 hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” can be considered an early example of rhythm and blues or jump blues.
The Andrews Sisters’ harmonies and songs are still influential today, and have been covered by entertainers such as Bette Midler, The Puppini Sisters, Christina Aguilera, and The Three Belles.
Patty Andrews died of natural causes at her home in Northridge, California on January 30, 2013, just 17 days before her 95th birthday. Walter Wechsler, her husband of 60 years, died on August 28, 2010, at the age of 88. Patty and Walter were parents to foster daughter Pam Dubois. The sisters were interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, close to their parents.
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andrews_Sisters
LADY ANTEBELLUM, WILLIE NELSON AND FAMILY, TRACE ADKINS, HUNTER HAYES, AND MORE ANNOUNCED AS INAUGURAL TASTE OF COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL PERFORMERS
more are available online.
The Taste of Country Music Festival will be held the weekend following the ninth annual Mountain Jam Music Festival that is scheduled for June 6-9, 2013. Mountain Jam is one of the top music festivals in the country and will feature Phil Lesh & Friends, Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, Primus, Dispatch, The Avett Brothers and more. Additional information can be found on www.MountainJam.com.
also the sister company of Radio Woodstock.
RANDY HOUSER’S NEW ALBUM HOW COUNTRY FEELS NOW AVAILABLE
cred writing, “Nashville’s country music insiders have known for some time that Randy Houser is one of the finest male vocalists the community has ever welcomed.”