WAlphaville is a German synth-pop band which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were lead singer Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. They achieved chart success with the singles "Forever Young", "Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody", "The Jet Set" and "Dance with Me".
WBlue System was a German pop group that was founded by Dieter Bohlen in 1986 after the break-up of Modern Talking.
WBoney M. was a Euro-Caribbean vocal group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell, a performing artist from Aruba. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with different personnel.
WDavid Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, and released eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone placed him among its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and named him the "Greatest Rock Star Ever" following his death in 2016.
WCaroline Catherine Müller, known professionally as C. C. Catch, is a Dutch-born German pop singer, also known for her collaboration with Dieter Bohlen in the 1980s.
WDennie Christian is a German singer of schlager music popular in Germany and the Netherlands; he sings in both languages. His breakthrough song was "Rosamunde" in 1974, and one of his biggest Dutch hits was "Wij zijn twee vrienden". In 2017, he participated in the Dutch TV show Beste Zangers.
WThe Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1978. The band members have changed several times, and guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith is the only constant member. The band's debut album was Three Imaginary Boys (1979) and this, along with several early singles, placed the band in the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the United Kingdom. Beginning with their second album, Seventeen Seconds (1980), the band adopted a new, increasingly dark and tormented style, which, together with Smith's stage look, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock as well as the subculture that eventually formed around the genre.
WDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon in 1980. The group consists of a trio of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).
WBrian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno is an English musician, record producer, visual artist, and theorist best known for his work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop and electronica. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unique conceptual approaches and recording techniques to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures.
WJohann "Hans" Hölzel, better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian singer, musician, and songwriter.
WFrank Farian is a German record producer and songwriter, best known as the founder and voice behind the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M. and the Latin pop band No Mercy, and for being the mastermind behind the group Milli Vanilli. His tendency to create bands with visual images distinct from their recorded performances has led to controversy throughout his career, with Milli Vanilli being the most notable. He owns the record label MCI and several subsidiaries.
WThe Hollies are a British rock group formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid 1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type music group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north in East Lancashire. Graham Nash left the group in 1968 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash.
WJapan were an English new wave band formed in 1974 in Catford, South London by David Sylvian, Steve Jansen (drums) and Mick Karn, joined by Richard Barbieri (keyboards) and Rob Dean the following year. Initially an alternative glam rock-inspired band, Japan developed their sound and androgynous look to incorporate electronic music and foreign influences, eventually becoming an influence on the UK's early-1980s New Romantic scene, though the band themselves were not a part of it.
WSir Elton Hercules John is an English singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967 on more than 30 albums, John has sold over 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including seven number ones in the UK and nine in the US, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. His tribute single "Candle in the Wind 1997", rewritten in dedication to Diana, Princess of Wales, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts. He has also produced records and occasionally acted in films. John owned Watford F.C. from 1976 to 1987 and from 1997 to 2002. He is an honorary life president of the club.
WLeslie Richard McKeown is a Scottish pop singer who was the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers during their most successful period.
WMilli Vanilli was a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, All or Nothing in Europe, reconfigured as Girl You Know It's True in the United States, achieved international success and brought them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990.
WElizabeth Rebecca Mitchell is a Jamaican-born British vocalist, best known as the former lead singer of the 1970s disco/reggae band Boney M.
WModern Talking was a German duo consisting of singer Thomas Anders and arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen, with the participation of Luis Rodríguez in the production. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the top five in many countries. Some of their most popular and widely known singles are "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "You Can Win If You Want", "Cheri, Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie", "Atlantis Is Calling " and "Geronimo's Cadillac".
WGiovanni Giorgio Moroder is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music, and his work with synthesizers had a huge influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, new wave, house and techno music.
WMünchener Freiheit is a German pop and rock band that had released seventeen albums by 2007, six of which have gone gold and have sold over five million copies in Europe. They are named after a square in the city of Munich in Germany, meaning "Munich liberty". It is considered part of the Neue Deutsche Welle musical movement.
WNew Celeste are a folk rock band from Scotland, originally formed in 1975, releasing seven albums over five decades, the most recent in 2016.
WNickolas Laurien, known professionally as Nick Nicely, is an English singer-songwriter who records psychedelic and electronic music. He is best known for his 1982 single "Hilly Fields (1892)". Nicely released only one other record in the early 1980s, the single "D.C.T. Dreams", before retreating from the music industry. The influence of "Hilly Fields" has been noted on Bevis Frond, Robyn Hitchcock, Robert Wyatt, and XTC's psychedelic alter egos the Dukes of Stratosphear, as well as the hypnagogic pop movement of the 2000s.
WJohn Parr is a Grammy-nominated English musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for his 1985 US #1 single "St. Elmo's Fire " and for his 1984 US #1 Rock single "Naughty Naughty". He has written and performed ten major motion picture themes including Three Men and a Baby and The Running Man. Parr has sold over 10 million albums and was nominated for a Grammy award for "St. Elmo's Fire" in 1985.
WJames Newell Osterberg Jr., better known as Iggy Pop, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Designated the "Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of influential proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1967 and have disbanded and reunited multiple times since.
WDie Prinzen is a German music group. The band is made up of former members of the Thomanerchor and a former member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor.
WRicky Shayne is a pop singer and an actor of French and Lebanese descent who was popular in Europe in the 1960s, especially in Germanophone countries.
WSiouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band, formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q included John McKay's guitar playing on "Hong Kong Garden" in their list of "100 Greatest Guitar Track Ever", while Mojo rated guitarist John McGeoch in their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" for his work on "Spellbound". The Times cited the group as "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
WAmy Paulette "Amii" Stewart is an American Disco and soul singer and dancer most famous for her 1979 U.S. Billboard number 1 hit cover of Eddie Floyd's song "Knock on Wood", an all-time classic of the Disco genre. Stewart is the stepsister of actress-singer Miquel Brown and aunt to Brown's actress-singer daughter Sinitta.
WThe Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. This was the trio's only U.S. hit, though they did have further success in Europe until the mid-1980s. The trio reformed in 1999 and did a world tour in 2016.
WThe Troggs are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. They had a number of hits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs. "Wild Thing" is ranked #257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.
WThe Twins are a German synth-pop and new wave duo. They were popular in the 1980s. Their most successful singles include "Face to Face – Heart to Heart", "Not the Loving Kind", "Ballet Dancer" and "Love System."
WBonnie Tyler (born Gaynor Hopkins; 8 June 1951) is a Welsh singer, known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album The World Starts Tonight and its singles "Lost in France" and "More Than a Lover". Her 1978 single "It's a Heartache" reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.