http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Toni%20Verticelli

I am also being copyrighted and published in a national poetry book!!!! So excited right now!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Toni%20Verticelli

Check them out, buy them and tell everyone else to do the same!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?ref_=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Toni%20Verticelli&rd=1

Check them out, buy if you like them and give me some feedback! Thanks guys!!!!

It’s been very exciting so far, so fingers crossed! =D

 I know this is 2011 and all, but I think a proper tribute must be made to the 80′s. So here I am dedicating my all time faves of movies and music from the 80′s to those of you who may not be that familiar.

First up, Movies! Yes, if you are wondering I have pathetically seen every single movie on this list and these are just my favorites from the 80′s, not all that I have seen!

1980

1. The Empire Strikes Back – (1980, Irvin Kershner) (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford)

Fantastic movie and if I have to explain it to you then you should be imidiately sent to your room right now!

2. The Elephant Man – (1980, David Lynch) (John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins)
The real life true story of Joseph Merrick A.K.A The Elephant Man. Heart breaking really.

 3. The Shining – (1980, Stanley Kubrick) (Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall)Holy crap this movie scared the bejeezas out of me as a kid!

4. Airplane! – (1980, Jim Abrahams) (Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty)

Funny, crazy humer that will leave you in giggles!

5. Raging Bull – (1980, Martin Scorsese) (Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci)
Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, need I say more? Really?

6. Caddyshack – (1980, Harold Ramis) (Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield)
One of the funniest movies ever written!

1981

1. The Road Warrior – (1981, George Miller) (Mel Gibson, Syd Heylen)
The begining of Mad Max baby!

2. Arthur – (1981, Steve Gordon) (Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli)
CLASSIC!!!

3. Chariots of Fire – (1981, Hugh Hudson) (Ben Cross, Ian Charleson)
One of the most famous musical scores ever!

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark – (1981, Steven Spielberg) (Harrison Ford, Paul Freeman)
I can still watch this movie without getting bored it’s so good!

1982

1. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial – (1982, Steven Spielberg) (Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace)
“Ouch” and “E.T. phone home” the two most famous lines in the whole movie and the humble beginings of Drew Barrymore! Still fantastic!

2. Blade Runner – (1982, Ridley Scott) (Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer)
It’s a must see, total classic.

3. Tootsie – (1982, Sydney Pollack) (Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange)
I still laugh my butt off everytime I see this movie!

4. Gandhi – (1982, Richard Attenborough) (Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen)
The true life portrayal of Gandhi. It will change you.

5. Poltergeist – (1982, Tobe Hooper) (Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams)
“They’re HERE” That little girl became one of the creepiest kids of the decade with just those two words.

6. National Lampoon’s Class Reunion – (1982, John Hughes) (Gerritt Graham, Michael Lerner, Fred McCarren, Miriam Flynn, Stephen Furst)

Anything National Lampoon from the late 70′s and the 80′s is some of the  funniest stuff you will ever watch.

1983

1. Scarface – (1983, Brian De Palma) (Al Pacino, Steven Bauer)
Are you a man or have you met one? Then you know Scarface. “Say hello to my little freind”

2. A Christmas Story – (1983, Bob Clark) (Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon)
Such a great Christmas movie cable tv still plays it every year to this day!

3. Terms of Endearment – (1983, James L. Brooks) (Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine)
Very sentimentle movie, bring tissues.

4. Return of the Jedi – (1983, Richard Marquand) (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford)
Again, if I have to explain it then you are so grounded mister!

1984 

1. Amadeus – (1984, Milos Forman) (F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce)
Loose biographical protrayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

2. The Terminator – (1984, James Cameron) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton)
Spawned a life time “I’ll be back”

3. This Is Spinal Tap – (1984, Rob Reiner) (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest)
Holy cow I love this movie!!! A satire of fictional rocok band Spinal Tap that is so funny you’ll have to rent it so you can pause to pee you’ll be laughing so hard!

4. The Killing Fields – (1984, Roland Joffe) (Sam Waterston, John Malcovich)
My personal first John Malcovich movie that made me a fan!

5. Places in the Heart – (1984, Robert Benton) (Sally Field, John Malcovich)
My second Malcovich. You will see him a lot in my favorite movies lists, he is just that good!

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street – (1984, Wes Craven) (John Saxon, Robert Englund)
1, 2 Freddy’s coming for you. 3, 4 Better lock the door. 5, 6 Get your crusifix. 7, 8 Gonna stay up late. 9, 10 Never sleep again! And my first Jonny Depp to top it off.

7.  Ghostbusters – (1984, Ivan Reitman) (Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray)
Who ya gonna call?

8. Sixteen Candles – (1984, John Hughes) (Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack)

Another one of those brilliant John Hughes flicks that stays with you!

1985

1. Back to the Future – (1985, Robert Zemeckis) (Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd)
The first appearnce of Marty McFly!!!!

2. The Color Purple – (1985, Steven Spielberg) (Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg)
I was so proud of Whoopi, Oprah and Danny for doing this movie such good justice! It’s a rare thing when a book and movie are both on my favorites list and The Color Purple was so great it did it.

3. The Breakfast Club – (1985, John Hughes) (Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez)
Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain… and an athlete…and a basket case…a princess…and a criminal…
Does that answer your question?… Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

4. Out of Africa – (1985, Sydney Pollack) (Meryl Streep, Robert Redford)
“A dingo ate my baby”

5. Better Off Dead – (John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby, Demian Slade, Scooter Stevens, Diane Franklin, Amanda Wyss)

“I want my two dollars!!!”

6. Weird Science – (1985, John Hughes) ( Anthony Michael Hall, Kelly LaBrock)

Teen boys create a cyber genie and bring her to life and she totally messes it all up so they can learn life lessons. A total crack up a minute.

1986

1. Platoon – (1986, Oliver Stone) (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen)
My first Willem Defoe and I have never regretted it. Just go get it and watch it now.

2. Blue Velvet – (1986, David Lynch) (Kyle MacLachlin, Dennis Hopper)
One of the single most messed up Dennis Hopper movies ever!

3. Hoosiers – (1986, David Anspaugh) (Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper)
One of those rare and great movies about basketball that won’t bore you to tears.

4. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – (1986, John Hughes) (Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck)
Another great John Hughes directed movie! One of the greats!

5. Stand By Me – (1986, Rob Reiner) (River Phoenix, Corey Feldman)
It’s Stand By Me, you have to see it at least once.

6. Pretty in Pink – (1996, John Hughes) (Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Annie Potts, James Spader)

DUCKY!!!

7. The Labrinth – ( 1986, Jim Hensen) (David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Malcolm)

My favorite movie of all time to this day! I oen the movie and soundtrack and have worn both out so many times I stopped counting.

1987

1. Full Metal Jacket – (1987, Stanley Kubrick) (Mathew Modine, Adam Baldwin)
Loved it!

2. The Untouchables – (1987, Brian De Palma) (Kevin Costner, Sean Connery)
Fan-fucking-tastic!

3. The Last Emperor – (1987, Bernardo Bertolucci) (John Lone, Joan Chen)
This is one of those great epics that not enough people have seen but should. Right now in fact, go watch it.

4. Raising Arizona – (1987, Joel Coen) (Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter)
So funny, another classic!

5. The Princess Bride – (1987, Rob Reiner) (Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn)
“Assss……yyyooouuu…..wwwiiisssshhhh” “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

6. Moonstruck – (1987, Norman Jewison) (Cher, Nicolas Cage)
*smack* Snap out of it!

7. Fatal Attraction – (1987, Adrian Lyne) (Michael Douglas, Glenn Close)
I have yet to see anyone place a crazy bitch like Glen Close does in this movie!

1988

1. Die Hard – (1988, John McTiernan) (Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman)
The first time I realised action movies meant something totally diferant to me then it does to other people was because of Bruce Willis in Die Hard =)

2. Rain Man – (1988, Barry Levinson) (Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise)
Dustin Hoffman has got to be one of the greatest actors of all times. Seriously!

3. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – (1988, Robert Zemeckis) (Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd)
“I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way” Jessica Rabbit is one of the best animated characters ever drawn and sexy as hell.

4. A Fish Called Wanda – (1988, Charles Crichton) (Kevin Kline,Jaime Lee Curtis, John Cleese)
Another funny freaking movie!

5. Big – (1988, Penny Marshall) (Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins)
Ok, I have actually worn out 2 VHS’s and 1 DVD watching this movie I love it so much!

6. The Last Temptation of Christ – (1988, Martin Scorsese) (Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel)
So not what you think it’s gonna be!

1989

1. sex, lies, and videotape – (1989, Steven Soderbergh) (James Spader, Andie MacDowell)

2. When Harry Met Sally – (1989, Rob Reiner) (Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan)
Still thought of as one of the most romantic films ever made!

3. Henry V – (1989, Kenneth Branagh) (Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi)
Another loose biographical portrayal of King Henry V, well worth the watching.

4. The Little Mermaid – (1989, Ron Clements, John Musker) (Jodi Benson, Sam Wright)
Everyone knows The Little Mermaid!

5. Glory – (1989, Edward Zwick) (Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman)
This is another one of those trues stories you just have to go out, buy and watch.

6. Driving Miss Daisy – (1989, Bruce Beresford) (Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy)
This is a great movie, I don’t care who you are.

7. Field of Dreams – (1989, Phil Alden Robinson) (Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones)
“If you build it, they will come.”

8. Say Anything… – (1989, John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor, Amy Brooks)

Seriously one of THE most romantic comedies films ever!!! I don’t do romantic comedies for the most part, but this one totally got to me. “In your eyes… the light, the heat… in your eyes… I am complete..”

9. Uncle Buck – (1989, John Hughes) (John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffmann, Macaulay Culkin)

I have seen this movie so many times I can quote it! LOVE IT!!

80′s Music.

I’m not gonna do videos, this time because the list would just be to damned long to get through. It’s very easy to look them up online at your own lesuire so go down the list and if you like it look it up! And with the music I am gonna go by album because the list of singles would go on forever!

Hip Hop

1980

  1. 8th Wonder – The Sugarhill Gang
  

2. Freedom – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

They just brought the sound off the street and made everyone take notice.

1981

    1. The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel
      – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
    

2. Feel the Heartbeat – The Treacherous Three
   

 3. Apache – The Sugarhill Gang
  1982

1. The Message  – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious FiveThe Message 

Considered one of the defining hip-hop albums, and the first to address the issues of urban poverty and crime.

  1984

  1.  Run-D.M.C. –  Run-D.M.C.

“Containing the early singles that saw off the old school, this is considered a superior rap album to any that preceded it.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. 

1985

  1. Radio - LL Cool J

1986

  1. Raising Hell – Run-D.M.C

  2. Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys

1987

   1. Criminal Minded – Boogie Down Productions

   2. Paid in Full – Eric B & Rakim

1988

   1. Goin’ Off – Biz Markie

   2. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick – Slick Rick

   3. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back – Public Enemy

   4.  Lyte as a Rock – MC Lyte

   1. 3 Feet High & Rising – De La Soul   2. Paul’s Boutique – Beastie Boys

   3. All Hail The Queen – Queen Latifah

Rock/Pop songs

1980

 1. Call Me – Blondie
2. Celebration – Kool & The Gang
2. Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
3. You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
4. Whip It – Devo
5. Back In Black – AC/DC
6. (Just Like) Starting Over – John Lennon

 1981

1. I Love Rock N Roll – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
2. Don’t You Want Me? – Human League
3. Tainted Love – Soft Cell
4. Super Freak Part I – Rick James
5. Start Me Up – Rolling Stones
6. Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes

1982

1. Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
2. Beat It – Michael Jackson
3. Little Red Corvette – Prince
4. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Eurythmics
5. 1999 – Prince
6. Rock the Casbah – Clash
7. Come on Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners

1983

1. Every Breath You Take – Police
2. Jump – Van Halen
3. Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
4. Flashdance…What a Feeling – Irene Cara
5. Holiday – Madonna
6. Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
7. Let’s Dance – David Bowie

1984

1. When Doves Cry – Prince
2. Like a Virgin – Madonna
3. What’s Love Got To Do With It? – Tina Turner
4. Born In the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen
5. Dancing In the Dark – Bruce Springsteen
6. The Boys of Summer – Don Henley
7. Careless Whisper – Wham! feat. George Michael
8. Pride (In the Name of Love) – U2

1985

1. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits
2. Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer
3. We Are the World – U.S.A. for Africa
4. Word Up! – Cameo
5. West End Girls ’85 – Pet Shop Boys
6. Walk Like An Egyptian – Bangles
7. Happy to be Stuck With You - Huey Lewis & The News

1986

1. Walk This Way – Run-D.M.C.
2. Kiss – Prince
3. (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) – Beastie Boys
4. Nasty – Janet Jackson
5. Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel
6. Livin’ On a Prayer – Bon Jovi
7. Take My Breath Away – Berlin
8. Push It – Salt-N-Pepa

1987

1. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses
2. With or Without You – U2
3. Faith – George Michael
4. Bad  Michael Jackson
5. Welcome To the Jungle - Guns N’ Roses
6. Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard

1988

1. One – Metallica
2. Fuck Tha Police – N.W.A
3. It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
4. Straight Up – Paula Abdul
5. She Drives Me Crazy – Fine Young Cannibals
6. Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler
7. Parents Just Don’t Understand – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

1989

2. Like a Prayer – Madonna
3. Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
4. Love Shack – B-52s
5. Back To Life – Soul II Soul
6. Pump Up the Jam – Technotronic feat. Felly
7. Bust a Move – Young MC

Now these are just to name a few from each year. There are tons more out there, you just gotta get out there and look!

Related Articles

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• Top 100 Dance Songs of the 80s (averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com)

• Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s, Part 35 (popdose.com)

PIC: Breakfast Club Cast Reunites After 25 Years

All right my Freaks, Geeks, Guys and Dolls I need a little help from you guys!

I want to enter one of MY poems from my “Poetry, Mine and Others” page here on my blog but I need you guys to vote on which one it should be! Anything by Toni Jenean Verticelli can be chosen so vote away in my comment box and let’s see which one gets entered!

Here’s a little Bio:

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed by Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Flea, and Jack Irons while they attended Fairfax High School in California. Originally under the moniker of Tony Flow & the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, their first performance was at the Rhythm Lounge to a crowd of approximately thirty people, opening for Gary and Neighbor’s Voices. One song had been created for the occasion, which involved the band improvising music while Kiedis rapped a poem he had written called “Out in L.A.”. Since Slovak and Irons were already committed to another group, What Is This?, it was intended to be a one time performance. However, the performance was so lively that the band was asked to return the following week. Due to this unexpected success, the band changed its name to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, playing several more shows at various LA clubs and musical venues. Six songs from these initial shows were recorded onto the band’s first demo tape.

Several months after their first performance Red Hot Chili Peppers were noticed by EMI and was signed with the record label. Two weeks earlier, What Is This? had also obtained a record deal but with MCA. Slovak and Irons still considered the Red Hot Chili Peppers as only a side project and so they quit to focus on What Is This? Instead of dissolving the band, Kiedis and Flea decided to recruit new members. Cliff Martinez, a friend of Flea’s, was asked to join the Chili Peppers shortly thereafter. Auditions for a new guitarist produced Jack Sherman.

Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill was hired to produce their first album. Despite Kiedis and Flea’s misgivings, he pushed the band to play with a cleaner, crisper and more radio-friendly sound. Their first album titled  The Red Hot Chili Peppers was released on August 10, 1984. Though the album did not set sales records, college radio and MTV airplay helped to build a growing fan base. The album ultimately sold 300,000 copies. During the ensuing tour, continuing musical and lifestyle tension between Kiedis and Sherman complicated the transition between concert and daily band life. Sherman was fired soon after, with Slovak returning to the Chili Peppers after growing tired of What is This?.

The band’s current line-up is Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Michael “Flea” Balzary (bass), Chad Smith (drums), and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar, not shown). Their musical style has fused traditional funk with elements of other genres including jazz fusion, punk rock, and psychedelic rock. The group originally featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. Slovak, however, died of a heroin overdose in 1988, resulting in Irons’ departure. Irons was replaced briefly by former Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro before the band found a permanent replacement in Smith, while Slovak was replaced by guitarist John Frusciante. This lineup recorded the band’s fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth albums, Mother’s Milk (1989), Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), Californication (1999), By the Way (2002), and Stadium Arcadium (2006), their five most successful. They are hoping their new album will be out sometime before they start touring in the summer of 2011.

The band, along with Klinghoffer on guitar, made their live comeback on January 29, 2010, paying tribute to Neil Young with a cover of “A Man Needs a Maid” at MusiCares. On February 8, 2010, Klinghoffer was officially confirmed by Chad Smith as a full-time replacement for Frusciante.

On May 6, 2010, Chad Smith said that the band had around twenty songs written and he expected that recording on the next album would commence in July 2010. Rick Rubin will once again return as producer. Smith commented on their new sound saying “Klinghoffer would also sing and play keyboards for the band. Smith also mentioned that as a result of having studied music theory at USC, Flea would incorporate a lot of piano-driven melodies.

Discography:

• The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984)
• Freaky Styley (1985)
• The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987)
• Mother’s Milk (1989)
• Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
• One Hot Minute (1995)
• Californication (1999)
• By the Way (2002)
• Stadium Arcadium (2006)

Awards and Nominations:

 Californication

Can’t Stop

By the Way

Around the World

Give it away

Suck my kiss

Aeroplane

The Zephyr Song

Under The Bridge

Snow (Hey Oh)

My Friends

Dani California

Around The World

Warped

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• Red Hot Chili Peppers Halfway Through New Album (silentuproar.com)
• Chili Peppers Add Afro-Pop Songs to New Album (spin.com)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers Halfway Done With New Album (spinner.com)
• Damon Albarn Says Album With Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea Almost Done (spinner.com)
• Rumor: Guitar Hero: Red Hot Chili Peppers In The Works [Activision] (kotaku.com)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Snow Patrol Headlining Rock in Rio 2011 (spinner.com)

Rihanna, what’s not to like? Innovative and cutting edge, she brings a lot of flare to the R&B/Pop genre of music and is one of the most beautiful people in celebrity right now. She throws a little something out there for everyone to love, myself included and keeps us all moving and dancing. Here’s a little Bio:

Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty  known as simply Rihanna  is a Barbadian R&B recording artist and songwriter. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z.

In 2005, Rihanna released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart and features the Billboard Hot 100 hit single “Pon de Replay.” Less than a year later, she released her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top five of the Billboard albums chart, and produced her first US number one hit single, “SOS”, as well as Billboard Hot 100 top ten entries “Unfaithful” and “Break It Off”. Rihanna’s third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, featured five top ten hits including three US number one hit singles—”Umbrella”, “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia”—and the worldwide hit “Don’t Stop the Music”. The album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Umbrella,” which features Jay-Z.

Her fourth studio album, Rated R, was released in November 2009, and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. Its first three singles, “Russian Roulette”, “Hard” and “Rude Boy” peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, with “Rude Boy” peaking at number one. She released her fifth studio album, Loud, in November 2010, that features the US number one singles, “Only Girl (In the World)” and “What’s My Name?”.

Rihanna has sold more than 15 million albums and 45 million singles worldwide. She has achieved nine number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since first appearing on the chart on June 11, 2005, which is the most by any artist during that time span. As of July 23, 2010, Rihanna has sold around 5,563,000 albums in the US. She has received several accolades, including the 2007 World Music Awards for World’s Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year, as well as the 2008 American Music Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. She serves as one of Barbados’s honorary cultural ambassadors. In January 2010, Rihanna received two Grammy Awards for Jay-Z’s 2009 single “Run This Town”.

Rihanna created the Believe Foundation in 2006 to help terminally ill children. Rihanna explained her reasons for starting the Foundation saying, “When I was young and I would watch television and I would see all the children suffering, I always said: when I grow up, I want to help.” Rihanna is also heavily involved in the marketing of her native country of Barbados. She began by including the flag and broken trident in many of her videos, shooting her album packaging for A Girl Like Me there. In September 2007, she became the official face of tourism for Barbados, being included in many of their ad campaigns. She holds the honorary title of Ambassador for Culture and Youth in Barbados. She additionally was honored by the Prime Minister David Thompson, who presented her with several gifts at a national concert on February 20, 2008, in Barbados, called “Rihanna Day”. In February 2008, Rihanna thanked and honoured her country during the acceptance speech for her win of “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration” at the Grammy Awards.

Rihanna has performed a number of concerts to raise funds for both charities and the Foundation and is a 2008 Cartier Love Charity Bracelet Ambassador. She performed at Madonna’s Raising Malawi fundraiser on February 6, 2008, in New York City. After becoming an honorary cultural ambassador for Barbados, Rihanna became involved with DKMS, an international donor network based in Tübingen, Germany, to try to find a donor for Lisa Gershowitz Flynn. The Manhattan attorney had been diagnosed in November with acute myelogenous leukemia. In January 2008, Rihanna contributed in the fight against AIDS when she visited the H&M in New York to support Fashion Against AIDS by presenting her t-shirt design and signing autographs for a limited time with slogans like “Believe” and “Stop and Think.” The collection features t-shirts and hoodies designed by Rihanna, Timbaland and other well-known designers, musicians and artists. The line, called Fashion Against AIDS, was launched in February 2008 to raise awareness of the disease among teens and spread awareness about HIV/AIDS. In August 2008, Rihanna and other pop, rock, R&B and country singers such as Carrie Underwood, Ciara, Beyoncé Knowles, Leona Lewis, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, and Fergie recorded the charity single, “Just Stand Up!”, the theme song to the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer and its theme song. The singers performed the song live on September 5, 2008. Rihanna was also selected as the spokeswomen for Gucci’s first United Nations Children’s Fund ad campaign. She appeared in the fashion house’s Tattoo Heart campaign, which premiered in December 2008. Rihanna was photographed in series of special edition print ads with United Nations Children’s Fund items, twenty-five percent of sales will benefit the children’s charity.

On November 19, 2008, Rihanna was enlisted by Gucci’s Frida Giannini along with Madonna to light the United Nations Children’s Fund Christmas snowflake in New York City at the Grand Army Plaza. In 2008, she became the global representative and the face of the 4th annual Gucci Campaign to Benefit United Nations Children’s Fund. The campaign aimed to raise funds for children in Africa through the sale of its Tattoo Heart collection of bags, which launched worldwide on November 19, 2008. Rihanna has been a part of many benefit concerts to help raise money for various illnesses, such as cancer for Hope Rocks. Rihanna performed on January 20, 2009, at the Recording Industry Association of America’s Presidential Inauguration Charity Ball to raise money for the world largest anti-hunger organization. On April 2, 2009, Rihanna visited the NYU Medical Center to help look for another bone marrow donor for a young girl named Jasmina Anema. Rihanna first learned about Anema’s plight in February 2009, when she saw the moving video Anema’s best friend, Isabelle Huurman, and her mother, Karen Detrick, made appealing for donors to save Anema. Rihanna honored Anema’s best friend, Isabella, for her efforts for trying to save her best friend at a DKMS Gala on May 7, 2009. Jasmina Anema eventually received her transplant on June 11, 2009, but died on January 27, 2010. In September 2009, Rihanna performed at Jay-Z’s “Answer to Call” concert, which paid tribute to the police officers and firefighters who died on the September 11 attacks.

Discography:

Studio Albums

Collaborations

Awards and Nominations:

Award	Wins	Nominations
American Music Awards	4	4
BET Awards	2	8
Billboard Awards	14	14
BRIT Awards	0	2
German Echo Awards	0	2
Grammy Awards	3	11
Image Awards	0	2
International Dance Music Awards	1	2
Japan Gold Disc Award	1	1
Juno Awards	1	1
MOBO Awards	2	3
MTV Video Music Awards Latin America	1	2
MTV Video Music Awards Japan	1	2
MTV Europe Music Awards	2	11
MTV Video Music Awards	2	6
MTV Australia Awards	1	2
MuchMusic Video Awards	3	5
Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards	0	2
NRJ Music Awards	4	11
People’s Choice Awards	2	9
Premios Principales	1	1
Teen Choice Awards	5	13
World Music Awards	4	4
Totals
Awards won	53
Nominations	117

“Pon de Replay”

“S.O.S.”

“Unfaithful”

“We Ride”

“Break It Off” ft Sean Paul

“Shut Up and Drive”

“Te Amo”

“Umbrella” ft Jay Z

“Take a Bow”

“Disturbia”

“Don’t Stop The Music”

“Russian Roulette”

“Hard” ft Jeezy

“Rude Boy”

“Hate That I  Love You” ft Neeyo

“ROCK STAR 101″ ft Slash

“Rehab” ft Justin Timberlake

“Wait Your Turn”

“Love the way you lie” w/ Eminem

“What’s My Name” ft Drake

“Only Girl In The World”

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I Just wanted to wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! Have a safe and happy holiday guys!!!

David Bowie~ As the World Falls Down

David Bowie is my all time favorite male singer and performer as anyone that knows me knows. His voice in this particular song from The Labyrinth is just haunting and mesmerizing and after all these years still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.

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Queen~ I Want to Break Free

The first time I heard Freddie Mercury belting out this song I stopped in my tracks and asked my Dad who that was on the radio. He laughed at me and said it was his record and it was a band called Queen. A few days later he made me a cassette of it and I have been gratefully hooked ever since.

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Rihanna~ Take a Bow

I love this song on the merit that it says Fuck You without actually having to say Fuck You to those who choose to do something so stupid as cheat. That, and she has a fantastically unique voice.

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Tori Amos~ Silent All These Years

“Years go by
Will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand?Years go by, if I’m stripped of my beauty and the orange clouds
Raining in head. Years go by
Will I choke on my tears till finally there is nothing left? One more casualty
You know we’re too easy Easy Easy…”

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Nine Inch Nails~ Closer

If the guy I was seeing actually said things like this to me, especially while we were already having sex, I might just lose my ability to think altogether. “I wanna fuck you like an animal, I wanna feel you from the inside. I wanna fuck you like an animal, my whole existence is flawed. You get me closer to God”. If that isn’t one of the sexiest things a man can say to a woman, then I don’t know what is!

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KORN~ Freak on a Leash

Talk about a band with a fresh sound! Wen KORN came out, I about lost it just because it was something new for a change and they have proven that they can stand the test of time while still being original.

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Pink~ Just Like a Pill

This song resonated with me from the first time I heard it for several reasons and if you have heard it then I’m pretty sure you can figure out at least a few of them.

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Lit~ Completely Miserable

Holy crap, this song just makes me laugh because I have dated a few guys that have made me feel just like this and made me turn it up every time I had to dump one of them!

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Godsmack~ Voodoo

This is my favorite fuck-a-delic song ever! I can only listen to it in private and not have some, shall we say physical reactions? I love Godsmack in general, but this one is my fave by them.

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Lily Allen~ Fuck You

One of the sweetest fuck you tell off’s ever! Much and many thanks to Ms. Allen for the sadistic joy I get out of listening to this song!

We are at the halfway point and don’t seem to be slowing down!

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Huey Lewis and The News~ Happy to be Stuck With You

My favorite romantic song ever! Nothing says I love you like being told that with all the crap we have done to each other, all the times we could have given up and didn’t and all the the freakin time we have been together already, I’m happy to be stuck with you. Somehow that is just sweet to me.

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Melissa Ethridge~ Enough of Me

Total chick song, I’ll grant you that, but also very poignant in the fact that you can scream this song at the top of your lungs and just feel better when it’s over.

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Papa Roach~Scars

I don’t care how played out this song is to most people, I still love it! A dear friend of mine and I just belt it at the tops of our lungs and have a blast doing it because is strikes on some very tender subjects for us.

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Blue October~ Into the Ocean

This is just a great freakin song. That’s it, it’s just a great song. It’s fresh, original and everyone can try to sing with it.

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Beyonce~ Ring the Alarm

I love this song because Beyonce just goes all pissed off crazy fuck you in it. It’s not the normal R&B Beyonce that everyone was used to while she was still with Destiny’s Child and I was so glad of it!

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Gnarls Barkley~Transformers

Again, another original group that just comes out of left field and makes you wanna scratch you head at first until you really listen to them and realise they are freaking geniuses!

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Shakira~ Hips don’t lie

What better song to shake it to than this one? I’m really? Plus, if you put it on while cleaning the house you get one hell of a workout!

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The Killers~ All These Things That I’ve Done

“I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier…” Great song, I love singing this in the car with the windows down!

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Cage The Elephant~ Aint No Rest For The Wicked

Refreshing revamp of an old school sound.

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Chromeo~ Mama’s Boy

The first time I heard this, I almost fell off my chair! If you haven’t heard it then you need to go out and get the CD because the whole damn thing is great!