Kenny Iwunwa

Kenny Iwunwa
That didn't happen -- yet. Instead, Dio
and Appice left again, and Iommi replaced them by bringing back Tony Martin and
adding drummer Bob Rondinelli. Cross Purposes (February 1994) was a modest
seller, and, with Iommi apparently maintaining a Rolodex of all former members
from which to pick and choose, the next album, Forbidden (June 1995), featured
returning musicians Cozy Powell, Geoff Nichols, and Neil Murray, along with
Iommi and Martin. The disc spent only one week in the British charts, suggesting
that Black Sabbath finally had exhausted its commercial appeal, at least as a
record seller. With that, the group followed the lead of the Eagles and
Fleetwood Mac, putting the most popular lineup of the band back together for a
live album with a couple of new studio tracks on it. Recorded in the band's
hometown of Birmingham, England, in December 1997, the two-CD set Reunion --
featuring all four of Black Sabbath's original members, Iommi, Osbourne, Butler,
and Ward -- was released in October 1998. It charted only briefly in the U.K.,
but in the U.S. it just missed reaching the Top Ten and went platinum. The track
"Iron Man" won Black Sabbath its first Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
The band toured through the end of 1999, concluding their reunion tour on
December 22, 1999, back in Birmingham. In February 2001, Black Sabbath announced
that it would reunite once again to headline the sixth edition of Ozzfest,
Osbourne's summer concert festival, playing 29 cities in the U.S. beginning in
June. More surprisingly, the group also announced its intention to record a
studio album of all-new material, the original lineup's first since 1978. By the
end of the year, a failed recording session with producer Rick Rubin proved what
an unreasonable idea this was, and the band laid dormant while Osbourne enjoyed
scoring a hit TV series the following spring. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music
Guide

Teaming with producer and disc jockey Little Louie Vega, Anthony
recorded his debut album, When the Night Is Over, in 1991. The Latin
hip-hop-style album, which featured guest appearances by Tito Puente and Eddie
Palmieri, included the single "Ride on the Rhythm," which reached the top slot
on Billboard's dance music charts. On November 22, 1991, Anthony was the opening
act on a show at Madison Square Garden that celebrated Puente's 100th album
release. Anthony's second album, Otra Nota (produced and arranged by Sergio
George), was a better representation of Anthony's salsa roots and included the
original tune "Juego o Amor." Todo a Su Tiempo, released in 1995, was a
continuation of Anthony's collaboration with George.

Kenny Iwunwa

One of the most recognizable characters in
modern-day R&B, Beyoncé first rose to fame as the siren-voiced centerpiece
of Destiny's Child before embarking on a multi-platinum solo career in 2001.
Booming record sales, Grammy awards, movie roles, and a romance with rapper/CEO
Jay-Z combined to heighten her profile in the 2000s, making the singer a virtual
mainstay in the entertainment world. While some media outlets derisively
championed Paris Hilton as "the next Marilyn Monroe," Beyoncé was a much better
contender for the role, her glittering pop culture persona only matched by her
success onscreen and on record.

But with fame came death-defying drug
and alcohol abuse among all five bandmembers (as well as last-minute
tour/concert cancellations) -- it appeared as though the more successful they
became, the more problems arose. To fill the void for a new GNR album, Geffen
put out the eight-track stopgap EP G N' R Lies in late 1988, amid widespread
rumors of an impending band breakup. The album was another big seller (on the
strength of the hit acoustic ballad "Patience"), but Axl Rose came under immense
fire and criticism for the song "One in a Million," in which Rose had derogatory
comments for gays, blacks, and immigrants. Undeterred, Rose and co. regrouped
and worked on their much-anticipated follow-up to Appetite, which seemed to
always miss its numerous projected release dates. Adler was sacked during the
recording, while 1991 finally saw the release of the two-part sophomore effort
Use Your Illusion. Both discs were massive hits, but the band appeared to have
reinvented itself as a bombastic and indulgent rock act, often recalling the
music that their punk rock idols attempted to destroy in the mid-'70s. A mammoth
two-year tour followed (with Stradlin leaving the band mid-tour) in which GNR
found themselves losing their validity as a streetwise rock act in the face of
the stripped-down grunge movement (which included such acts as Nirvana, Pearl
Jam, Soundgarden, et al.).

Kenny Iwunwa With
rumors running rampant that he had become a bloated, bald, and drug-addled
hermit (due to the fact that he did not grant a single interview between
1994-1999, staying completely out of the spotlight), Rose continued to work on
GNR's next release himself. 1999 saw GNR's first new song released in nearly
eight years, the industrial rocker "Oh My God" from the End of Days soundtrack,
as well as a live compilation of old-school GNR tracks, Live Era: '87-'93, yet
both came and went without much fanfare. But all that changed when Rose and his
new cohorts (which included ex-Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck,
mask-wearing solo guitarist Buckethead, ex-Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson,
ex-Primus drummer Brian Mantia, plus longtime GNR keyboardist Dizzy Reed) played
their first live shows together in early 2001, receiving unanimously favorable
reviews. With a world tour booked and album nearing completion (reportedly to be
titled Chinese Democracy), the GNR/Axl Rose hype machine appeared to be building
up to a feverish pitch once again. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

Spears'
public image was dealt more blows in early 2008, when she lost custody of her
children, made several court appearances, and was placed on involuntary
psychiatric hold two times in one month. Blackout nevertheless won several
MTV-sponsored awards, including "Album of the Year" from the Europe Music Awards
in November 2008. That same fall, the leadoff single from Spears' next record,
"Womanizer," became her first number one single in nearly a decade. The
full-length Circus arrived in December, featuring a mix of syrupy ballads and
uptempo dance numbers that were designed to fuel Spears' comeback. ~ Steve Huey,
All Music Guide

For more information visit: Kenny Iwunwa
or Kenny Iwunwa