What does it take to make a historically relevant rock song? The recipe seems to include an instantly recognizable guitar riff, a loud anthem backdrop and a kick ass band to perform it to a crowd of natural born rock lovers.

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1. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love


Listed as one of the greatest songs of all time, it ranks highly in all the relevant rock accolades, winning a Grammy Hall of Fame award among many others. When this single hit the charts it stayed there for an incredible 15 consecutive weeks, peaking at Nº4. It was the band’s only song to become a top 10 singles hit in the US.


2. Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine

This was their 3rd single off the ’87 debut studio album Appetite for Destruction. The bands then bassist, explains how the song came about:
“The thing about ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine,’ it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, ‘What is this song? It’s gonna be nothing, it’ll be filler on the record.’ And except that vocal-wise, it’s very sweet and sincere, Slash was just fuckin’ around when he first wrote that lick” – Duff McKagan, 1988


3. The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

This 1965 mega hit written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards refers to sexual frustration and commercialism. That world famous three-note guitar riff was intended to be replaced by horns, good thing they kept the guitar in! The single held strong for 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, taking the Nº1 spot for four of those weeks. In an interview for Rolling Stones Magazine, Jagger states:
“It sounded like a folk song when we first started working on it and Keith didn’t like it much, he didn’t want it to be a single, he didn’t think it would do very well. That’s the only time we have had a disagreement.”


4. Cream – Sunshine of Your Love


As Cream’s only gold-selling single in the United States, this 1967 release was one of their proudest accomplishments. Jimi Hendrix performed an instrumental version as a setlist staple throughout his concerts in the late ’60s and the legacy lives on in the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, as well as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fames’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

5. Layla – Derek and the Dominos

Written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, it is considered one of rock music’s definitive love songs. Layla was inspired by the persian story of Layla and Majnun by 12th century poet Nizami Ganjavi. A tale of a moon princess who was married off by her father to someone who was not in love with her, resulting in her madness. This struck a deep chord with Clapton and the result was a chart peaking ”Greatest Ever” list surfer.


6. The Kinks – You Really Got Me

A two-week straight running Nº1 on the UK singles chart, it was the group’s breakthrough hit. Prior to this the group had released two singles which had flopped. As a result they were under tremendous pressure from their record company Pye. 14 years later, hard rock band Van Halen recorded a cover for their 1978 debut album. Safe to say the song helped jump-start the band’s success.


7. Dire Straits – Money For Nothing

The video to this song was considered ground breaking as it was one of the first uses of computer-animated human characters back in 1986. Band member Mark Knopfler never wanted to use music videos of any kind. His opinion was that videos would destroy the purity of the songwriters. All he wanted to do was perform. However, after it won Video of the Year award (among many other nominations) at the MTV Video Music Awards, we are guessing Mark might have had a change of heart. The track dominated the charts across the globe, reaching Nº1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, US Billboard Top Rock Tracks, US Cash Box, and Canada Top Singles.


8. Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water

Off their 1972 album Machine Head, it made it to the Rolling Stone magazine’s famous list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Perhaps the most epic use of the song has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1994 – in Canada 1,322 guitarists gathered to play the world-famous riff all at the same time. Then in Kansas City 2007, the record was topped by 1,721 guitarists. Then again in Germany with over 1,800 people! It goes on… In 2009 Poland out numbered all the previous record holders when 6,346 guitar players, joined by current Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, performed the song during the Thanks Jimi Festival.


9. Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

After Hendrix’s death in 1970, Voodoo Child, using the title Voodoo Chile was released in the UK, becoming his only Nº1 single in the British Record Charts. In an AllMusic song review the track was described as ‘The perfect example of how Hendrix took the Delta blues form and not only psychedelicized it, but cast an even more powerful spell by delivering the lyric in the voice of a voodoo priest’.


10. AC/DC – Back in Black



The song was written for AC/DCs former singer Bon Scott. Brian Johnson, his replacement, was asked by the band members to write a lyric for this song. The band had said to him ‘It can’t be morbid – it has to be for Bon and it has to be a celebration’. Brian recalls to Mojo magazine:

 “I just wrote what came into my head, which at the time seemed like mumbo, jumbo. ‘Nine lives. Cats eyes. Abusing every one of them and running wild.’ The boys got it though. They saw Bon’s life in that lyric.” 

The song got to Nº1 on the UK Singles Charts and US Hard Rock Digital Songs (Billboard). We won’t even begin to go into the explosive success of the album which was named after it.


11. Metallica – Enter Sandman [Official Music Video]

The single achieved platinum certification for over 1 million copies which were shipped in the US. Sales of 30 million+ copies, slingshot the band into global popularity. AllMusic critics declared it ‘One of Metallica’s best moments. A burst of stadium level metal that, once away from the buildup intro, never let’s up’.


12. Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train

Certified double platinum, by September 2010 the song had sold over 1.75 million downloads. Rated 9th Greatest Guitar Solo ever by over 25 million readers of Guitar World magazine, also 9th on the list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs by VH1. In 2009 it was named the 23rd Greatest Hard Rock Song of all time, also by VH1 which is the highest placement by a solo artist on the list.



13. Iron Man – Black Sabbath

Their 1970 release off their second studio album Paranoid turned out to be one of their greatest ever hits. It was the second Black Sabbath single in the US, getting very little radio play but that didn’t stop the development of a cult following, which led to enough sales to give it a chart position. Funnily enough, the track was originally named Iron Bloke by vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. Osbourne remarked that “It sounded like a big iron bloke walking about”. Later it was changed to Iron Man, with Geezer Butler writing the lyrics around the title. 

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The superstar releases a new album and the hype around it is as epic as the disc itself. First, Eminem gives the fans a clue by appearing on the Monster tour with Rihanna in August wearing a T-Shirt depicting the words Shady XV. He then also tweeted a photo of himself wearing the same shirt. The next clue was on the night of the MTV VMAs, when he again used Twitter to build up the mystery. Eminem tweeted a trailer for Shady XV and noted the project would arrive on Black Friday. The trailer didn’t exactly reveal what Shady XV actually was, but it did flip through images from Eminem’s past, including some D-12 snapshots and a 50 Cent cameo or two.

Eminem’s camp soon confirmed that Shady XV would be the two-disc compilation spanning the greatest hits of Eminem’s Shady Records. The Roman numeral title represents that it is the fifteenth release from the label on its fifteenth anniversary.

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The next lure and snippet to keep the fans on their toes came two weeks before the album’s release when Eminem made headlines for a lyric he dropped as part of a promotional cypher featuring himself, Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf. The cypher was a nearly nineteen minute long video of the stars giving us a cappella lyrics with the backdrop of their home towns. The rough and ready Shady Cxvher includes Eminem talking about punching singer Lana Del Rey like he was Ray Rice, (the Baltimore Ravens running back who was suspended for domestic abuse) amidst a lot of other tumultuous insults and lyrical mastery. His talents run riot here as he runs rings around his counterparts for delivery, timing and flow. See for yourself…

Eminem – Shady CXVPHER (A capella verse)

Eminem also sent out a series of short videos to promote the album which depicted old black and white cartoon like clowns juggling chainsaws and little girls wielding machine guns! Not your average cartoons to say the least. Coordinating with the new album title the series is appropriately (or inappropriately if you like) named Shady XV Quinceañera, which means the celebration of a girl’s fifteenth birthday – Shady Records turns fifteen this year.

Leading up to Shady XV’s release, Eminem also shared a demo version of his iconic track Lose Yourself where the rapper revealed that he can’t even recall recording it. “I don’t remember where I was at when I recorded it,” he said. “I don’t remember any of the first verse.” Dr. Dre had to remind him of the song’s existence! This is the one they didn’t release…

Eminem – Lose Yourself (Demo version)

Never has a greatest hits album been so highly anticipated, as this one comes with a whole disc of original music to boot. To add to this Eminem is currently the second-highest selling male artist of the modern era (second to the talents of, believe it or not, Garth Brooks!) and therefore anything new coming from the house of Shady is going to be met with seriously high expectations. The album was released on November 24th; Shady XV is a two-disc compilation that features both new and classic tracks from Eminem and members of his Shady Records label roster.

All of the new music on Shady XV lives on the first disc featuring twelve tracks from Eminem, Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse, D12 and more. Eminem serves as the executive producer of the entire project and features on most of the tracks on Disc one. There are many collaborative moments on the first disc; the debut single from this was Guts over Fear starring the haunting vocals of Sia. The track was released on the same day as the album and features on Denzel Washington’s new film The Equalizer. Hear it now…

Eminem – Guts Over Fear ft. Sia

The track Detroit vs Everybody has Big Sean, Danny Brown, Royce da 5’9”, Trick Trick, Dej Loaf alongside Eminem…

Eminem – Detroit vs. Everybody

Paul Rosenberg (Eminem’s manager and co-founder of Shady Records) commented on the idea behind the new album in a recent interview with Music Times; “One day we were sitting talking about what we were gonna do this year. We’ve starting rolling out the Yelawolf album, that’s going to continue this year, and Slaughterhouse is still working on their project, so we were like, ‘Alright, we want to get something out this year because it’s the 15th anniversary of the label,’ and then it dawned on us that this would actually be the 15th project we’d be releasing, which just sort of lined up nicely. So we thought it would be a good time to go back and do a retrospective on the ‘greatest hits.’ They’re not gonna all just be hits like, Lose Yourself and In Da Club, these massive songs, but some of the sort of favorites of the fans and ourselves as well. And then also the chance to put out some new music, as well, because we just want to keep releasing stuff. So there’s gonna be a compilation of new music from the artists on the label as well.”

The second disc is a showcase of the best artists on the Shady Records label including some classic tracks by Eminem, 50 Cent, Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, D12, and more. Joe Budden (Slaughterhouse member) expressed gratitude for being included on the album. “We’re all really happy to be a part of it,” he said “I, for one, am extremely blessed to be a part of such a consistent, dominant label with a label head who’s one of the greatest MCs who has ever graced the microphone.”

Due to there being extensive material on the label, a lot of tracks could not be included on the second disc of the Shady XV album. This gave rise to the release of the Shady Classics compilation; a 66-track, three-hour mix-tape of previously released material that is now mixed together for the first time. This archive of the Shady Record label’s legacy is also available now.

Shady XV Tracklist Disc 1 1. Eminem, “ShadyXV” 2. Slaughterhouse, “Psychopath Killer” (feat. Eminem and Yelawolf) 3. Eminem, “Die Alone” (feat. Kobe) 4. Bad Meets Evil, “Vegas” 5. Slaughterhouse, “Y’all Ready Know” 6. Eminem, “Guts Over Fear” (feat. Sia) 7. Yelawolf, “Down” 8. D12, “Bane” 9. Eminem, “Fine Line” 10. Skylar Grey, Eminem, & Yelawolf, “Twisted” 11. Eminem, “Right for Me” 12. Eminem, Royce Da 5’9″, Big Sean, Danny Brown, DeJ Loaf & Trick Trick, “Detroit Vs. Everybody”

Disc 2 1. 50 Cent, “I Get Money” 2. D12, “Purple Pills” 3. Eminem, “Lose Yourself” 4. Obie Trice, Kuniva, Bobby Creekwater, Ca$his & Stat Quo, “Cry Now (Shady Remix)” 5. Yelawolf, “Let’s Roll” (feat. Kid Rock) 6. Slaughterhouse, “Hammer Dance” 7. 50 Cent, “P.I.M.P.” 8. Eminem, 50 Cent, Ca$his & Lloyd Banks, “You Don’t Know” 9. D12, “My Band” 10. Obie Trice, “Wanna Know” 11. 50 Cent, “Wanksta” 12. Obie Trice, “The Setup” (feat. Nate Dogg) 13. 50 Cent, “In Da Club” 14. D12, “Fight Music” 15. Yelawolf, “Pop the Trunk” Bonus: Eminem, “Lose Yourself” (Original Demo Version)

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Kina Grannis burst into the world of YouTube in 2007, when her video for debut single Message From Your Heart won the Doritos Crash Superbowl contest and aired to nearly 100 Million viewers during Superbowl XLII.  Shortly after, Grannis released her first full-length album Stairwells and on the strength of the record, played sold-out across the globe.  In the fall of 2011, Grannis was catapulted into the limelight again when she released a stop-motion music video for In Your Arms off of Stairwells.  Made with more than a quarter of a million Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, the video went viral and has since amassed more than 11 million views.  This May, Kina returned with her sophomore full-length effort Elements.  Elements landed in the Top 50 on the Billboard 200,  #4 Folk Albums (Billboard), and #2 Singer-Songwriter Album (iTunes). Recently, Kina broke the 1 million subscriber mark on YouTube and boasts an incredible 150,000,000+ views.

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Kina, you’ve just wrapped up the first leg of your Elements tour. You’ve been all over Europe meeting fans and giving intimate performances. You’re now back in the states and gearing up for more shows. Tell us what shows you have lined up for this last month of 2014 and what you loved about your tour time in Europe?
December should be a great month! I’ve got a short run of shows down the west coast of North America that I’m really looking forward to. After that, it’s basically straight into Christmas time! I’m very much looking forward to having some down time at the end of the year with my family.

The Europe tour was one of my favourites yet. We had just enough time to wander and explore in all the cities, which was amazing, and the crowds were just the best I’ve ever had. So much fun!

The Fire

Our most favourite thing we’ve read about you is that you first debuted your performance skills in front of stuffed animals at the adorable age of 4. Now you’re touring the world and practically becoming your own brand. When did what you love doing turn into a career?
Haha, yes, that was certainly a favourite pastime. Music didn’t become my career, however, until about a year after I graduated from college when I started sharing my music on YouTube for the first time. From there, things really took off.

Your YouTube channel has some crazy numbers going on. Right now you’re at almost 159 million video views and over 1 million subscribers. How long has it taken for these numbers to get to where they are today?
It’s definitely been a slow and steady. I started my YouTube channel just over 7 years ago. For my first 2 months on YouTube I did a video a day, and then switched to a video a week for a long time.

Kina Grannis – In Your Arms

How many original songs have you made since you were first capable of creating, writing and recording your own material?
There must be a few hundred at this point. (Most of which no one will ever hear.)

Out of all of these songs, which is your favourite at this point?
Can never pick a favourite. They’re all just parts of me.

Kina Grannis – Valentine

It’s interesting that your new album is available on vinyl. Why did you decide to have this option available to fans, and do you plan on releasing more material on vinyl in the future?
People had been requesting vinyls for some time, and I personally had always wanted to release something on vinyl as well – it just seemed like the right time. The problem is that pressing to vinyl is a lot more expensive. I hope I get to offer more music on vinyl in the future.

Can you tell us a bit about the triangles featured in the artwork of your new album Elements, how the album title came about, and how it all relates?
The triangles are the symbols for the 4 elements – earth, air, water, fire. The album logo is actually a combination of all 4 (and just so happens has a K in the middle of it as well). The name Elements came to me very naturally when I was driving one day. I was thinking about the song titles – winter, dear river, the fire, write it in the sky, and I realized that there were a lot of natural and elemental themes in the songs. On top of that, these songs are really about what’s most important – love, loss, future, past, growth, beginnings, endings – all the many elements of life.

Kina Grannis – Write In The Sky

How would you sum up your new album in just three words?
Honest, emotional, hopeful.

Kina Grannis – Dear River

Speaking of your music videos, the emotion filled vid to your song My Dear shows beautiful clips of your wedding day. We are assuming the song was written about your husband, Jesse Epstein. When you wrote the song, had you already planned out how it would be filmed? Or was it the other way around? Also, how did Jesse react to it all?
The idea for the music video for My Dear actually didn’t come to be until long after the wedding. We’d had all that footage taken for ourselves to look back on, and at some point it just seemed like it would be a really special thing to get to share it with everyone. Jesse and I made the decision together, he’s always been very supportive of me, whether it’s wanting to keep things private or share things.

Kina Grannis – My Dear

It’s pretty cool that Jesse is also very musically talented and you two have collaborations together. Is this how you met?

We actually met in high school at a community service event. I later taught him how to play guitar (and he quickly became better at it than me).

Kina Grannis & Jesse Epstein – Riptide (Cover)

Speaking of collabs, you’ve done many which can be seen on YouTube with different artists. Do you have anyone on your wish list that you haven’t paired up with yet?
The #1 collab of my dreams would be with Imogen Heap. I admire and respect her so much as a musician and I would just about die to be able to collaborate with her in some way or another.

Your song Little Worrier off of your new album is very nurturing. What inspired the lyrics to this song?
To make a long story short, I went on a writing retreat by myself in the woods, the sun went down, I realized I am by no means brave enough to be alone in the woods at night, I heard footsteps downstairs, I was paralyzed and thought I was about to be murdered, and then… it was a mouse. The next day, I realized I’ve always been a worrier – whether about the past, future, friends, what other people are thinking, etc–so this song is a reminder to myself and other worriers out there to just let it go. Worrying doesn’t change anything, it just makes now more sad/stressful/scary.

Kina Grannis – Little Worrier

Going back to your younger years, what were your earliest musical influences, and do you remember when you first discovered Indie music?
My biggest early influence was a Belgian band called K’s Choice. None of my friends knew them, but they felt like my little secret. They taught me how important music could be to people (namely, me).

Your style seen on tour and in music videos is so trendy and wacky, yet entirely unique and simplistic. Where do you get your clothes and accessories?
My current favourites are Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Madewell.



You have your own clothes/Kina merchandise available in your online store. Would it be a dream of yours to have your own clothing line some day?
I think that would be incredibly fun.

2014 has kept you pretty busy with a new album release, loads of YouTube videos and touring. What is in store for Kina in 2015?
That is something I am very interested in finding out, myself 🙂 I guess we’ll just see how it unfolds.

Elements (Deluxe Version) tracklist 1. Dear River 2. The Fire 3. My Dear 4. Winter 5. Oh Father 6. Little Worrier 7. Throw It Away 8. Forever Blue 9. Maryanne 10. Write It in the Sky 11. My Own 12. This Far 13. Sorry (bonus) 14. Home (bonus) Elements Extended Trailer Digital Booklet

Buy Elements (Deluxe Version) on iTunes, Google Play or her website.

Kina Grannis chose our Sunday Sessions this week. Click here for the playlist.

Follow Kina Grannis on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or become a Patron.

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The 27 Club became a well known group of famous musicians in the late 60’s including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, but really hit the mainstream when twenty-five years later Kurt Cobain (then once again in 2011 with Amy Winehouse’s death), joined the long line of famous musicians that have died at the tender age of twenty-seven. Generally, the main causes of death were drugs, alcohol, suicide or a violent end. Welcome to the 27 Club.

It’s a phenomenon and a mystery… Why were these young people so troubled? What is the significance of the age 27, if any? There are plenty of theories as to why this age seems to be so unusually common for these performers to only reach this young age. Some consider that the psychological problems concerned with fame, fortune and a cocktail of drugs and alcohol take their toll at this age between youth and maturity consequently affecting their decision-making and luring them down the path of destruction before being able to get a grip on their own true being and reality.

Some theories go as far as reading in to the moon and the stars and their alignment during the times these people died or were killed. Many theories are simpler and look into the similarities of the psyches between those who died similar deaths. The following is a brief look into the most famous musicians on the list of FIFTY stars that joined the 27 Club over the last 122 years.

1. Brian Jones – July 3rd 1969, Cotchford Farm, Hartfield, East Sussex

Brian Jones; excellent guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, was the founder and original bandleader of the Rolling Stones. Once fellow band members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger formed a strong bond and songwriting relationship between them, Jones’ position in the band flagged. He developed a serious drug dependency resulting in his eventual expulsion from the Stones in 1969. Jones was found drowned a month later in his swimming pool at his home. The bassist for the Stones Bill Wyman quoted, “He formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs… Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it – highly intelligent – and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away.” The cause of death was concluded as and remains to be, death by misadventure, despite later claims that murder was a possibility.

2. Jimi Hendrix – September 18th 1970, Notting Hill, London

The most influential time of Jimi Hendrix’s short career spans only four years but he managed to become one of the most influential instrumentalists and electric guitarists ever. At the time of his death there was much speculation as to the cause of death. At one point it was thought he committed suicide, due to struggles with his management, his rock and roll lifestyle and consequently poor health. After some dispute it was claimed that the cause of death was asphyxia due to choking on his own vomit after taking an overdose of sleeping tablets. An overworked, overstressed accidental death? Or, a plea for peace?

3. Janis Joplin – October 4th 1970, Hollywood, L.A., California

Janis Joplin was a big name in the psychedelic acid-rock scene in the late 60’s becoming better known as the “Queen of Psychedelic Soul” and “Pearl” to her friends and was described as having a “devastatingly original voice”. Joplin was one of the stars to grace the stage at Woodstock warbling out the opening number (and shockingly her only number one hit) Mercedes Benz. Janis joined the 27 Club just a few weeks after Jimi Hendrix after being found dead on the floor alone in the hotel room in which she was staying. Cause of death was listed as heroin overdose, possibly compounded with alcohol. Intentional overdose or just a lonely way out?

4. Jim Morrison – July 3rd 1971, Paris, France

Jim Morrison, lead singer of the power band The Doors, a self-confessed poet, singer songwriter and eclectically wild performer was pronounced dead in Paris aged 27. Being labeled one of the most iconic and influential frontmen in rock music history Morrison was the embodiment of the hippie counterculture rebellion.  Morrison was apparently found dead in the bath in a Paris apartment. The cause of death was allegedly a heroin overdose yet is still under dispute. There was no postmortem or autopsy on his body due to French law at the time claiming no sign of foul play. Morrison was also an alcoholic and a troubled soul that dabbled in many illegal substances over his short life; his long term companion Pamela Courson claimed that he accidentally snorted the heroin that killed him believing it to be cocaine.

5. Kurt Cobain – April 5th 1994, Seattle, Washington, USA

Best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for the band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain became a 90’s icon for Generation X and “the spokesman of a generation”. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the US, and over 75 million worldwide. During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. After a tumultuous few months of alleged suicide attempts, sickness, rehab attempts and disappearance from the detox programme, he was found dead at his home by an electrician. He had apparently been lying dead for almost five days with a gunshot wound to the head plus heroin and diazepam in his blood system. He left a note to his imaginary childhood friend “Boddah” which claimed that he had not “felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing…for too many years now”.

6. Amy Winehouse – July 23rd 2011, Camden, London, UK

The multi-award winning singer songwriter Amy Winehouse was the biggest female artist of her time when she met her maker in 2011. She was only on her second album but had achieved world-wide success and a huge acknowledgement from the world of music. Her music stretched over the genres of Reggae, Soul, Ska, Jazz and R&B producing hit after hit and touring frequently over her short-lived career. Her blast to fame and fortune alongside an alcohol and drug problem plus a volatile, attention grabbing relationship led Amy’s demeanor to change as well as a dramatic alteration in her physical appearance (something which was prominent for her, see the beehive hairstyle and many many tattoos for example) and consequently her ability to stay focussed on her career faltered. She was often incapable of singing, on occasion of even being able to stand when about to go onstage. Her fame became as much of a problem for her as her alcohol and drug dependencies. Those close to her claimed that Amy just wanted to go down to the pub and hang out with the locals and that her new found fame could not permit such a simplistic outing causing her to go on a downward spiral. It was a sad day when this talented young lady let it all get flushed away. She was found dead in her home in Camden, due to alcohol poisoning. Following her death was the revival of the media attention to the 27 Club, of which three years earlier she had expressed a fear of joining.

People identified as being in the 27 Club

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No matter where you are in the world there are some weird and wonderful things to be doing in this joyful month. From burning devils to whirling dervishes or some seriously demonic beats there are some religious, musical, artistic and simply mind blowing spectacles out there to get your festive spirits flowing. Here is our list of the not-to-be-missed festivals going on around the world this December.

Budapest Christmas Fair

WHERE: Budapest, Hungary
WHEN:  28 November – 1 January
WHY: At the end of November Vörösmarty Square turns into a festive market place. The location is ideal; the Square is in the heart of the city at the end of Váciutca. Cottage-style wooden stalls and two outdoor stages take over one of Budapest’s most attractive spots during the couple of weeks preceding the end-of-the-year holidays. You can smell the scent of traditional honey cookies, mulled wine, cinnamon and fir from afar. The rich fragrant simply lures you to the market.

Programs on two stages every day from 17.00 till 20.00: folk, jazz, world music concerts, dance house performances entertain visitors to the fair. On weekend mornings puppet show will be on stage; sure to delight families with children. 122 stalls offer high-quality products (selected and approved by special a jury of folk art experts).
Gastronomy: besides the usual fair delicacies (kürtös kalács, bread pizza baked in clay oven, roasted chestnut) you can taste traditional Hungarian Christmas dishes: stuffed cabbage in, roasted goose thigh, pork knuckle, grilled sausage and meat.

National Finals Rodeo Las Vegas

WHERE: Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, USA
WHEN: The first full week of December
WHY: Get stuck in and attend the hoedown and gift show (and hope for the rare chance to attend the rodeo).
It could be argued that Las Vegas is a never-ending festival, a glorified fairground where the lights never go down. But there are moments when even Vegas outshines itself, and the 10-day National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is prime among them. Go to watch the most entertaining show of cowboys doing what they do best in the most vibrant and exhilarating atmosphere going.

Quema del Diablo (Burning of the Devil)

WHERE: Guatemala City & Antigua
WHEN: 7 December
WHY: If you want some brownie points ahead of Christmas, there are few better ways than to help the Guatemalans burn the devil. In local traditions, the devil lurks in the corners of homes, beneath beds and among garbage. Each year, as a prelude to Christmas, homes are cleaned and on 7 December the rubbish is collected in the streets. Often, an effigy of the devil is thrown on top, just to really sort him out. At 6pm the piles of garbage are set alight, chasing out the evil spirits and ushering in a devil-free Christmas season. To accompany the burn there might be marimba bands and there will certainly be fireworks…another rocket up the fleeing devil’s behind.

Mevlâna Festival – Whirling Dervishes

WHERE: Turkey
WHEN: 10-17 December
WHY: To be mesmerised as the dervishes whirl..In the Islamic world the 13th-century Sufipoet Celaleddin Rumi, or Mevlâna (Our Guide), is all but considered a saint. One of the world’s great mystic philosophers, his poetry and religious writings are among the most beloved and respected in Islam and beyond. Madonna is an unabashed fan, and Mevlâna is said to be one of the biggest-selling poets in the USA. He also believed that union with God was possible through dance.

SantaCon

WHERE: San Francisco, California, United States
WHEN: 13 December
WHY: SantaCon is a bar crawl in which participants dress as Santa or other Christmas characters. It is also known as Santarchy, Santa Rampage, the Red Menace, and Santapalooz which originated in San Francisco, USA. It has been critiqued as being nonsensical and rowdy but it’s quite a spectacle seeing thousands of red Santas roaming the streets and getting into the festive mood.
It began in San Francisco in 1994 and has since spread to 44 countries around the world. In 2013 it was scheduled in 300 cities, including New York City, London, Vancouver, Belfast, and Moscow. The New York SantaCon is the largest, with an estimated 30,000 people participating in 2012. The authorities are getting wise to the event and additional security is added each year to keep the Santas on their best behavior!

Burning the Clocks

WHERE: Brighton, UK
WHEN: 21 December
WHY: Burning the Clocks is a unique community event in which local people make their own paper and willow lanterns. After carrying them through the city in a lantern parade they pass them into the fire on Brighton beach, as a token of the year’s end. Then a dazzling fire show is set in motion, in which a massive fire sculpture is ignited, live music plays, and fireworks light up the sky!

Burning the Clocks was created in 1994 as a way to celebrate the festive season regardless of faith or creed. It is free and the route is suitable for all ages and abilities. Over 2,000 people now take part in the parade and over 20,000 spectators turn out to watch.

Junkanoo Parade

WHEN: 26 December
WHERE: Nassau, Bahamas.
WHY: Long before the spectacular ‘rush-out’, the exuberant Junkanoo dance troupes – groups of up to 1,000 – will have been busy rehearsing their dazzling routines. The musicians will have perfected the hypnotic rhythms they’ll perform day and night on a cacophony of goatskin drums, cowbells, whistles and horns, and the imaginative costume designers will have worked non-stop to weave their own special magic with beautifully coloured crepe paper and cardboard.

As the Junkanoo parade moves through the streets of downtown Nassau in the early hours of the morning (generally from 2am to 10am), the energy of the dancers and the beat of the music motivates the vast crowds of supporters and spectators to start moving in their seats, or on their feet, or in the trees, or on balconies – wherever they have found a spot from which to watch this soul-stirring festival!

Sunburn Festival

WHERE: Goa, India
WHEN: 27 – 30 December
WHY: Sunburn, Asia’s largest music festival, is a three day electronic dance Festival held in the beach and party destination of Goa. This massive festival is an amazing blend of the best dance music, entertainment, world class food and multi-cultural shopping and was ranked by CNN in 2009 as the 9th Best Festival in the World. Last year the Sunburn Festival in Goa took place in Vagator and witnessed around 120 Artists and over 200 hours of Music. it had over 10,000sq.m. of exotic festival area with seven gigantic stages. The 8th edition (December, 2014) will witness 150 DJ’s including Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Knife Party, Sander van Doorn, Sasha, Krewella, Baauer, Danny Avila, Head Hunterz, Deniz Koyu, Dubvision, Paul Oakenfold, Matthew Koma, MAKJ, New World Sound, Michael Woods and many more in the phase one international line- up. Not to be missed this life time!

Hogmanay Festival

WHERE: Edinburgh, Scotland
WHEN: 29 December– 1 January
WHY: Because, there’s a wee party going on in Scotland. For Scots, the New Year has always been a more important celebration than Christmas, and largely they’ve managed to convince the world of the same through the enormous Hogmanay celebrations that engulf Edinburgh. Three days of spectacular events, incredible bands and amazing crowds from every corner of the globe. See Shetland Vikings bearing fire-lit torches, hear beautiful choral singing in St Giles’ Cathedral, enjoy birling to traditional Scottish music on the Mound, and watch top stars and incredible fireworks from Princes Street Gardens. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay shows the world how to party!

Highlighted as one of the ‘Top 100 things to do before you die’ and recently the only festival to appear in the ‘Discovery Channel – Top 25 World Travel Experiences’, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party is one of the world’s greatest New Year celebrations.

As the bells strike midnight, join hands with friends from across the globe in the world’s biggest rendition of Auld Lang Syne! Spend the first day of 2015 on a journey through Edinburgh’s Old Town and discover nine incredible new worlds, presenting the very best in music, art and theatre, created and curated by Scotland’s most innovative artists and musicians.

Reveillon

WHERE: Copacabana Beach, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
WHEN: 31 December
WHY: To party with the beautiful people and experience one of the best ways to see in the New Year is to join the party on Rio’s mighty Copacabana beach, where the spiritual and the secular come together for one amazing night. Rio’s biggest holiday after its spectacular and rowdy Carnaval sees around two million people pack the sands to welcome in the New Year – you won’t be laying out a towel and throwing a Frisbee on Copacabana beach this night.

From about 8pm, top bands perform on stages strung out along the 4km-long beach, pumping out a variety of Brazilian and international music. At midnight, a spectacular fireworks display lights up the night sky for up to 20 minutes. The hardiest of revelers keep things going all night long and watch the sun rise the next morning.

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Megan Davies is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At 24, she recently graduated from Belmont University, where she studied songwriting and classical guitar. Spending her days in classes and her nights recording in her room, she has amassed dozens of demos culminating in the release of two EP’s: Writing On The Walls in 2008, a collection of acoustic songs written during high school, and Apartment Sessions in 2011 which consisted of demos recorded in her dorm room while studying at Belmont University.

Tap a video title to open it in Creation 5.

In the summer of 2013, Megan began uploading covers to YouTube – collaborating with both her younger sister Jaclyn and other singer-songwriter friends in Nashville. Since then, she has amassed over ten million views and one hundred thousand subscribers. The Coffee House on XM Radio voted Megan and fellow artist Emily Hackett’s cover of Lorde’s Royals the Best Cover of 2013. Her covers have also been featured on websites such as RyanSecreast.com and Buzzfeed.

Lorde – Royals (Acoustic Cover)

Megan is inspired by everything from commercial pop to indie folk to experimental rock. Currently she is playing shows and working on writing and recording more songs. Most of which are posted on her SoundCloud and YouTube.

When did you first discover YouTube and how big of a part of your life has it become?
I’ve always been a fan of YouTube, way before I started posting videos. A lot of what I know on guitar came from watching my favorite players on YouTube and trying to learn what they were doing. It can be an incredible learning source for so many things. Nowadays it’s become a huge part of my life, in addition to adding this whole other visual component to what I do.

With almost 10.5 million video views, you’ve got yourself a huge internet fan base. Did you ever picture yourself taking off like this?
Never in a million years. I still remember being excited when Jaclyn and my mashup of Radioactive and Pumped Up Kicks hit 1,000 views.

Radioactive / Pumped Up Kicks (Mashup Cover)

Your sister Jaclyn can be seen in a lot of your videos singing with you. Were you two singing together growing up, or is this something you discovered later on?
Yeah we sang a lot together growing up. I was always writing songs and wanting her to sing them with me.

You’re currently living in Nashville, but originally from Pennsylvania. What sparked the move and how has Nashville living been treating you?
I originally came to Nashville to study guitar at Belmont University. I absolutely love the city. There are so many talented people around, it’s inspiring to live here as a young artist.

Along with posting videos to your channel, making music and everything else, you also do shows. Where can people go to catch one of your shows?
Right now the majority of my shows are in the Nashville area. However, I’m planning to do some out of state touring in 2015. The best place to stay up to date with those shows is on my Facebook.

Your enchanting song Dive In is a smooth mixture of melancholy piano, and heartfelt lyrics. Where did the inspiration for this song come from, and what came first; the words or the melody?
Thanks for the kind words. For that song the melody and lyrics came at the same time, which is a rare thing for me. But I think because I knew what I wanted to say, that made it a lot easier. The message is about taking risks and not fearing the unknown, which is something I’m trying to do more of these days.

Megan Davies – Dive In

If you could describe your own personal sound in three words, how would you describe it?
Raw, Passionate, Acoustic

Do you feel that your sound has fully formed with a strong, definite identity, or do you see yourself evolving?
Evolving, but towards a definitive identity. This past year has been the biggest growth for me musically. When you discover an audience, it gives you confidence to be who you are. You stop second guessing yourself, and you just create.

We love your new cover of Heroes (We Could Be) featuring Landon Austin. How did you two meet each other and can we expect more collaborations with him in the future?
Thanks. Landon and I actually went to the same school, though he was a few years ahead of me. Being the YouTube newbie I am, I reached out to him when my channel started growing just to get some advice. A few months later we did two covers together, one for each of our channels. It was a fun experience, and I hope there will be more in the future.

Alesso ft. Tove Lo – Heroes (We Could Be) (Acoustic Cover)

Who in the music industry has influenced you the most throughout your musical growth?
So many. Musically I love Imogen Heap, Radiohead, and more recently Ed Sheeran. Some of my favorite guitarists are Tommy Emmanuel, Jerry Reed, and Kaki King.

What can fans expect from Megan Davies in 2015?
Lots of new music!

Finally, looking back over 2014, what memories make you the happiest?
Working with friends. I love creating on my own, but everything is more fun with friends.

Megan Davies chose our Sunday Sessions this week. Click here for the playlist!

Follow Megan Davies on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Google+ or check out her work on YouTube and SoundCloud.

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Ricky Martin Live at Viña del Mar, Chile, earlier this year, was a sensational show. The show was so good it’s one to keep in your collection – download it with Creation 5 and watch it when you’re traveling or off line.

Ricky opened the first day of the festival to an audience who were chanting, shouting, cheering – the atmosphere and anticipation was intense. Ricky did not disappoint with his performance – he had over 10 different costume changes, sang 18 hits and the choreography and lighting were absolutely brilliant.

During this 2 hour show he performed all his latest hits, plus a few of his old chart toppers, performing 3 songs in English “Come with Me”, “She Bangs” and “Shake Your Bon-Bon”.

The 42-year old Puerto Rican star was actually quite disarming with his sensual dancing and had both men and women fawning over him. He won two awards at the festival, a Silver Seagull and the coveted Golden Gull award. The press called his performance ’triumphant’.

The 55th International Festival of Viña del Mar, a town 120 kilometers northwest of Santiago, was transmitted to over 20 countries in Latin America by Chilevisión. Thanks to them we have this HD video to enjoy.

Set List
1-Come With Me
2-Shake Your Bon-Bon
3-It’s Alright
4-Vuelve
5-Livin’ la Vida Loca
6-She Bangs
7-Loaded
8-Fuego de noche nieve de día
9-María
10-Medley: El amor de mi vida / Fuego contra fuego / Te extraño te olvido te amo
11-Frío
12-Más
13-La Bomba / Lola, Lola
14-Pégate /Por Arriba, Por Abajo
15-The Cup of Life
16-Tu recuerdo
17-A medio vivir
18-Tal vez

Ricky Martin – Viña del Mar Performance 2014

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Happy thanksgiving to our popstars that top the bill of delivering the biggest fashion turkeys of recent years…Check out the badly dressed line up of pop & rock princesses doing their worst in the style wars. It’s one thing to go on stage in some crazy get up but when you decide what you’re going to wear to an event (or are even styled in a certain way) it is quite incredible some of the outfits the stars convince themselves are a good idea!

Britney Spears

Oh Britney, what did you do? This is one of her more demure outfit choices but it’s nasty and should never have happened.

Miley Cyrus

There were literally SO many to choose from when it comes to our Miley, but this one – in keeping with the theme of feathered birds – caught our fashion faux pas eyes.

Nicki Minaj

Yet another one of the music world’s fashion disasters who has supplied us with a whole host of outfit mishaps…however, we thought this one summed up her styling pretty well. This picture was taken at the MTV Music Awards in 2011.

Lady Gaga

She’s so famous for her crazy outfits but this one just took the biscuit, put the icing on the cake and almost the meat on the barbie. Her outfits often leave a lot to be desired and not much to the imagination, and remember the meat dress? That was a different kettle of fish, HOWEVER we decided to go for a worse, yes worse, get up which is in tune with our thanksgiving theme. It’s just HORRIBLE and let’s not even talk about the beak!

Katy Perry

Pop princess, popsicle type wardrobe…it’s just too sickly sweet. It was very, very hard to choose between these two, so we’ll leave this one for you to decide.

Kelis

It’s hard to believe this is actually Kelis, she looks scary, shiny, spikey and those shoes are practically extra terrestrial. What were you thinking Kelis?

Jessie J

She’s not the best when it comes to the style stakes, but this little number just hurts our eyes.

Madonna

The most famous pop chameleon of all time, Madonna, has changed her look more times than the Pope has prayed but when it comes to dressing herself for an event, this recent get-up just made us wonder…why?

Ke$ha

This one is classic. It’s neon, it’s a mess, it’s a horror story turned into an outfit and then dragged through a hedge backwards. Ke$ha; really? This looks like a Jane Fonda slasher movie gone wrong.

Rihanna

Last and definitely least here is Rihanna showing off a little more than necessary. No, the stole does not cover anything!

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