Jessie J (Redbridge, London, England): Jessie J, born as Jessica Cornish in Redbridge, London, England began her music career touring as a back-up singer to the legendary Cyndi Lauper. Little do people know, she is an incredibly under-credited songwriter, writing hits for artists like Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus. Her most successful track, “Party in the U.S.A” sent the teen star going platinum.
The tedious process of perfecting her debut album Who You Are took almost six years. In late 2010, she finally released her first single “Do it Like a Dude,” which gained positive response from critics and quickly grabbed the number two spot on the U.K. Singles Chart. Her follow up single “Pricetag (featuring B.o.B)” gained her even more popularity not only in the U.K., but also right here in the States. The single soon climbed to #1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100, a great success for any artist.
Her debut album was eventually released in April 2011, and reached number 11 on iTunes. She recently made her first television debut in the U.S. on NBC’s well known series, Saturday Night Live. Be sure to check her out on tour when she announces one.
Adele (West Norwood, South England): 23-year-old Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, formally known as Adele, is a soul R&B singer from West Norwood, South England. Singing about relationships, break-ups, fighting and love, Adele definitely sings with variety. As a musician, Adele has been producing music since 2006, but is currently blowing up the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. In 2009, Adele was awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist after releasing her first album 19 in 2008. This year, Adele released her sophomore album, 21, and took it straight to the top, earning the #1 spot on the U,K. charts. Adele is currently touring the country on her Adele Live Tour with openers Wanda Jackson and Amos Lee. The tour covers 60 dates, 24 of which are in North America and 36 back home in Europe. Due to the overwhelming ticket sales and success of her music, Adele moved a handful of her shows to venues with a larger capacity to accommodate more fans. Unfortunately if you were hoping to see Adele on tour, she just played in Washington, DC at the 9:30 Club last week on May 12.
Mumford & Sons (London, England): If you are looking for a band whose new to the music scene, it could be Mumford & Sons. The band is made up of Marcus Mumford on guitar, mandolin and drums, Winston ‘Windog’ Marshall on banjo, Ben Lovett on keyboard and accordion, and Ted Dwane on bass and guitar. These indie-folk rock musicians have been playing music since 2006, releasing three EP’s titled Mumford & Sons (2008), Love Your Ground (2008), The Cave & The Open Sea (2009) and one full-length CD. They currently have only one album, their most recent release, Sigh No More.
As an indie folk-rock band from London, England, their sound is definitely unique. They have been compared to bands like Bon Iver, Band of Horses and Blind Pilot, but with more of a blue grass feel, folk sound and country twang. Using instruments like the banjo, the resonator guitar and the mandolin, they have a sound sometimes referred to as “Irish folk”. Their most recent album, titled Sign No More, has gone platinum, selling over one million copies in the United States. So you are interested in seeing them play live? They will be stopping by on their summer tour, on June 9 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. So hopefully you got tickets before it sold out!
JLS (London & Peterbourough, England): Whoever said boybands were gone forever obviously did not see London & Peterbourough heartthrobs JLS (also known as Jack the Lad Swing and formerly known as UFO) coming. The group, made up of Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, JB Gill and Ortisé Williams, got their name out when they entered Britain’s X-Factor. Hopeful to win, they advanced to the finals, finished as the fourth runner-up and were signed to Simon Cowell’s label, Syco. They quickly began working on their album, and released their first single, “Beat Again”. Only six months after signing, the single reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart in July of 2009.
In November of that year, the boys released their self-titled debut album, JLS. With great success, they hit the road on their first headline tour, visiting venues in the U.K. as well as Ireland. They later became the first contestants from X-Factor to receive a BRIT Award in 2010, in addition to selling over one million copies of their album. A new album titled Outta This World is currently in the works and is rumored to have a collaboration with Bruno Mars and one confirmed by Merrygold.
