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Leonard Cohen, (Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ, 21 September 1934 – 7 November 2016) was a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen was inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize. Cohen's first album was Songs of Leonard...

The Besnard Lakes are a band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek (vocals/guitar/keyboards) and Olga Goreas (vocals/Bass), and completed by Kevin Laing (drums) and Richard White (guitar). According to Songfacts, their name comes from Lake Besnard in North-Central Saskatchewan. The band gained critical attention with their second album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, that was nominated for a Polaris Prize in 2007. It was recorded at Lasek's own Breakglass Studios, with members of fellow Canadian bands Stars, The Dears, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor/A Silver Mt. Zion making guest appearances....

The Communards formed in 1985 after singer Jimmy Somerville left his earlier band Bronski Beat to team up with classically-trained musician Richard Coles. Though mainly a pianist, Coles played a number of instruments and had been seen previously performing the clarinet solos on the Bronski Beat hit "It Ain't Necessarily So". They were joined by bass player Dave Renwick who had also played with Bronski Beat. Somerville was well-known for his falsetto singing style, and that he was openly gay during a period of increasing socio-political debate and conflict in the UK regarding homosexuality. The band had their first UK...

Leonard Bernstein, a unique source of creative energy in America’s music throughout his entire adult lifetime, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1918. He was given piano lessons as a boy and had his pre-college education at the Garrison and Boston Latin schools. Going on to Harvard University, he worked with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. By the time of his graduation, in 1939, he had made an unofficial conducting debut (his own incidental music to The Birds), and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock. Later, at the...

Conor Paul Maynard (born 21 November 1992 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom) is an English singer-songwriter and child actor from Brighton & Hove who is signed to EMI subsidiary, Parlophone. Maynard rose to success in 2012 when he was nominated for, and subsequently won, MTV's Brand New for 2012 award. His debut single, "Can't Say No", was released in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2012. In July 2012, Conor release his debut album, Contrast. .