Everyone - from pop stars to Popeye - has a past, a past that can't be changed. While many of us know the past of certain pop stars - we all know that Michael Jackson used to be in the Jackson Five, we all know that Justin Timberlake used to be in the Mickey Mouse Club, and we all know that Britney Spears used to have hair - there are also pop stars with pasts that are not common knowledge. Though none of the following pop stars have pasts worthy of blackmail, they do have an interesting tidbit or two.
Jennifer Lopez: Now known as J-Lo or Jenny from the Block, Jennifer Lopez began her career performing at stage musicals. She also had a role in the 1986 movie My Little Girl. In 1990, one of her bigger breaks came when she was cast as a Fly Girl for the show In Living Color. This was when JLo - and her ass(ets) - sauntered into the spotlight.
Madonna: Before gaining her crown as the "Queen of Pop," Madonna went to the University of Michigan to study dance. She eventually moved on to New York to study with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company and then onto Paris to perform in a disco revue. When she got back to the US, she joined rock groups and coupled her dancing with her singing. From her Michigan/New York/Paris background, does it strike anyone else as strange that Madonna sometimes has a British accent?
Whitney Houston: In her youth, Whitney Houston and her vocal group served as backup singers for Aretha Franklin. She also served as a fashion model and continued backup singing for Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan. Going from a backup to center stage (Melinda Doolittle, eat your heart out), she signed with Arista Records when she was 19. It's fair to say that her cousin, Dionne Warwick of Psychic Friends Network fame, probably saw all of Whitney's enormous success coming.
Article comments
1 - Mack
It was NOT Whitney Houston's vocal group which performed background for Aretha Franklin and other stars, it was Whitney's MOTHER's group, The Sweet Inspirations, who backed everyone from Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Arthur Conley, Carmen McRae to Herbie Mann to Elvis Presley.
The Sweet Inspirations were the BEST female group of the 60s, but didn't get the recognition. But, they were also the BEST backup singers in the business.
2 - JC Mosquito
The greatest thing about rock 'n roll (or pop) is that it gives you the ability to recreate yourself.
3 - Paul Nicholas
Mariah Carey is damn good! You got it right when you said she has one of the best sets of vocal chords in the history or music.
You mention her fall with glitter but you fail to mention her rise again with the biggest selling album of 2006.
she is a living legend and im not sure she gets the respect she deserves sometimes! Her name will go down in history. She is one of the biggest influences in how music has been shaped over the past 17 years.
4 - zingzing
feh.
anyway, just wanted to point out that one of the first places you can hear whitney houston is on a fairly obscure album by a group called material. the song is called "memories," which was written by soft machine. material was a loose group put together by bill laswell in the late 70s and "memories" is on their third album, "one down," (1982) which features players from the new york's jazz community playing with members of the disco community, but it doesn't come out as jazz or disco... it's just pure pop. it's quite an amazing album.
5 - bill jones jr
Prince was a little (alot) more than just a regular on the block. I went to high school with him, and when he and his fella's would show up for music in Mr. Beckmans class at Central High (Mpls.) he would get all the preferencial treatment a person of his musical standing deservered. Even then he was more than just one of the guys.
Prince if you read this, my Dad (Willard Jones Sr.)says Hi, I guess he knew your Dad also, Minneapolis (Southside)was a smaller, and quieter place back then...
6 - daryl d
Oh no, just wait for the lambs to hit you down for making a comment about "Glitter." Anyway, good job on your article. Many of these pop stars worked really hard to become what they have. It's such a shame that JLO is looked down upon so much these days, but perhaps she should concentrate on being an actree rather than a pop star.