Portal:Pop music
The Pop Music Portal
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible.
Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse–chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much of pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban, dance, Latin, and country. (Full article...)
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionized many aspects of the music industry and were often publicized as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.
Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen, and built their reputation by playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before inviting Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after they signed with EMI Records and achieved their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four". Epstein, Martin or another member of the band's entourage was sometimes informally referred to as a "fifth Beatle". (Full article...)Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984, by Sire Records. Following the success of her 1983 self-titled debut album, Madonna was eager to start working on its follow-up. She selected Nile Rodgers to produce the album due to his work on Let's Dance (1983) by David Bowie, which she was a fan of. To ensure it be exactly as she envisioned it, Madonna chose all the songs for the album: She penned six of her own, five of which were co-written with former boyfriend and collaborator Steve Bray, and six written by other artists. Recording sessions took place at Power Station Studio in New York City. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic bandmates Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson.
Upon release Like a Virgin received mixed reviews from music critics: Rodgers' production received praise, but Madonna's vocals were criticized. It became Madonna's first number one album on the Billboard 200, as well as the first female album to sell over five million copies in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) later certified it diamond for shipment of ten million units. Overseas, it reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. With sales of over 21 million copies worldwide, Like a Virgin remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. Four official singles were released from the album ―all reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, with the title track becoming Madonna's first number one, and "Material Girl" reaching number two. (Full article...)General images
"Grenade" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). The pop and power pop song was written and produced by the Smeezingtons (Mars, Phillip Lawrence, Ari Levine) with additional songwriting by Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, and Andrew Wyatt. The song was developed from an unreleased track with similar lyrical themes played by record producer Benny Blanco to Mars. "Grenade" was completely rearranged and re‑recorded two days before the album's release. The lyrics carry a message of unrequited love and how Mars's heart was broken, despite his best efforts to show her his love. Elektra Records released the song as the second promotional single and as the second official single, to contemporary hit and rhythmic contemporary stations in the United States in October 2010.
"Grenade" was well received by critics, praising the vocals, emotional lyrics of the song and considering it one of the stand-out tracks on Doo-Wops & Hooligans. The single reached number one in fifteen countries, giving Mars his third number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and topping the Canadian Hot 100 for three non-consecutive weeks. "Grenade" was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and seven times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), as well as six times by Music Canada (MC). It was the second best selling digital single of 2011 with 10.2 million copies. (Full article...)Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Eternal Blue, a metalcore album, was inspired in part by 1980s pop music?
- ... that the alt-pop musician Lucy Tun cites death metal and RuPaul's Drag Race as influences?
- ... that the lap steel guitar was the first "foreign" musical instrument to gain a foothold in American pop music?
- ... that 22-year-old singer Milena Warthon has created a new genre, pop andino, by fusing pop and Andean music?
- ... that the first episode of the British pop music TV show Top of the Pops was broadcast on 1 January 1964 from Dickenson Road Studios, a converted church in Manchester?
- ... that Yoko Ono considered her 1971 song "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" to be the first pop song she ever wrote?
Selected image -
Major topics
Subcategories
Related portals
Pop music by decade
WikiProjects
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Pop music was created with the purpose of assembling writers and editors interested in Pop music.
- The aim of this project is to standardize and improve articles related to the various genres of Pop music, as well as to create missing articles.
- To become a member of the WikiProject (anyone may join), simply click here and add your username.
FA | A | GA | B | C | Start | Stub | FL | List | Category | Disambig | Draft | File | Portal | Project | Redirect | Template | NA | ??? |
117 | 0 | 1,568 | 1,099 | 3,614 | 10,740 | 6,611 | 109 | 436 | 1,668 | 4 | 151 | 252 | 1 | 23 | 1,308 | 1,890 | 10 | 1,010 |
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus