Jose Carreras, Robbie Williams, The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Ann Wilson, Darren Hayes, Natalie Imbruglia, SHEPPARD, Katherine Jenkins, Mark Vincent, und Queensland Symphony Orchestra

As part of the highly successful group Take That, Williams stood out from the crowd, with an edgy, tougher look than his pretty-boy bandmates. Following in-fighting and William's dislike for the demands made by their management, he left the band in 1995, pursuing a solo career that would lead to brighter success than what had come before.

After leaving the band, Williams befriended Oasis, joining in with the drug-fueled parties that came along with their success, This lifestyle took its toll, with Williams becoming increasingly overweight and the subject of much discussion in tabloid gossip columns, distracting Williams from focusing on his own music. In 1996, he released his first single, a cover of George Michael's "Freedom '90," which was largely a disaster. However, his second single, "Old Before I Die" in 1997 showed more promise, displaying a prominent Oasis influence. His debut album arrived the same year, "Life Thru a Lens," finding huge success in the UK. This was followed by the multi-Platinum release, "I've Been Expecting You," in 1998, establishing Williams' solo career.

His third album, 2000's "Sing When You're Winning" found even greater popularity, bolstered by the hit single "Rock DJ," with Williams also recording a big-band album of standards, "Swing When You're Winning" shortly after. Robbie Williams had by now established himself as one of the leading pop stars in Europe, through an endless string of hits, as well as his larger-than-life persona, selling more copies than he had previously with Take That.

Williams continued this high-flying success with 2002's "Escapology," although despite being one of the biggest stars in the UK and Europe, he failed to break into the American pop market. Despite this, his 2005 record, "Intensive Care" topped the charts in many European countries and his 2006 world tour sold over 1.5 million tickets in just one day. "Rudebox" followed, going double-Platinum in the UK, although it was his lowest selling album in his solo career.

In 2010, news of Take That's reunion brought forth much speculation as to Robbie Williams' involvement, recording a number of new songs with Gary Barlow although he did not become as involved as the other members of Take That. Williams' ninth album, "Take the Crown" arrived in 2012, featuring the production of Jacknife Lee, who has worked with Snow Patrol, R.E.M and Bloc Party, returning to the sound of his earlier work. He again found a number one single with "Candy," reaching the top spot in a number of European countries. In 2013, he again looked towards standards for inspiration, recording "Swing Both Ways," which also featured some originals. The album also featured appearances from star guests including Lily Allen, Olly Murs, Rufus Wainwright, Kelly Clarkson and Michael Bublé.

Prior to the formation of the Coors, siblings Jim and Sharon Corr began playing music together at their aunt’s pub, McManus’s. Fellow siblings Caroline and Andrea Corr subsequently joined and the Corrs was born. The group’s breakthrough came when they landed roles in the 1991 film, “The Commitments”, and secured John Hughes as their manager. Following a successful show at Whelan’s Bar in Dublin, the group were invited by the U.S. ambassador for Ireland to play at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in Boston.

After singing with Atlantic Records, the Corrs released their debut studio album “Forgiven, Not Forgotten” in September 1995. Combining the traditional celtic fiddle work and vocals with folk and alternative rock, the album spawned the singles “Runaway”, “Forgiven, Not Forgotten”, “The Right Time”, and “Love to Love You”. In support of the record, which charted in over 18 countries, the Corrs embarked on a world tour from April 1996 which included Europe, Australia, Asia, America, and Canada.

The band’s sophomore album “Talk On Corners” was released in 1997 and produced by Glen Ballard, known for his work with Alanis Morissette. Aided by the Top 10 singles “Only When I Sleep”, “I Never Loved You Anyway”, “What Can I Do”, and “Dreams”, the record catapulted the group to UK success, topping the Irish and the UK Albums Chart. The Corrs’ third full-length to date, “In Blue”, followed in July 2000, marked by a move towards mainstream pop and away from celtic traditions. Toping the charts in nine countries including the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Australia, the record produced the singles “Breathless”, “Irresistible”, and “Give Me a Reason”.

In 2001, the band issued the compilation “Best of The Corrs” before contributing to Josh Groban’s debut album “Canto Alla Vita”. The Corrs subsequently performed a successful show at Ardmore Studios in which U2’s Bono and the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood made appearances, which culminated in the live album, “VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin”. Returning to their folk rock roots, the band’s fourth studio album “Borrowed Heaven” arrived in May 2004. Led by the singles “Summer Sunshine”, “Angel”, and “Long Night”, the record didn’t prove as popular with mainstream audiences however was seen as a return to form.

Completely dropping the mainstream pop influences, released exactly 10 years after “Forgiven, Not Forgotten”, the Corrs’ fifth studio album “Home” arrived in September 2005. Earning a string of positive reviews, the record went on to sell over a million copies, led by the single “Heart Like a Wheel/Old Town”.

From humble beginnings in Dublin, Ireland, Keating’s graceful journey to pop super stardom began after seeing an advertisement for an Irish Take That in the shoe shop where he worked. After a gruelling audition process with over 300 hopefuls, 14-year-old Keating impressed pop mogul Louis Walsh, and was offered the role of lead vocalist in the band Boyzone. With the recent fall of Take That, British pop was due to new poster-boy band and Boyzone gladly filled those shoes. Over five years Boyzone released four UK No. 1 Albums, 16 UK Top Three singles, and eventually sold over 27 million records before disbanding in 1999.

Just prior to Boyzone’s seperation, Keating recorded a cover of “When You Say Nothing At All”, which appeared on the 1999 film “Notting Hill”. The single subsequently debuted at No. 1 on the UK singles chart, paving the way for Keating’s successful solo career. A year later, in 2000, the singer-songwriter issued his debut solo album “Ronan”, which topped the UK Albums Chart with sales of over 1.2 million. The album showcased Keating’s classy yet sensual delivery and spawned the further singles “Life Is a Rollercoaster”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, and “Lovin’ Each Day”.

“Destination” arrived in 2002, Keating’s second studio effort, in a collaboration with ex-New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander. The album represented a more developed songwriter and singer, and produced the hits “I Love It When We Do” and “I’ve Got My Hear on You”. Keating’s third full-length “Turn It On” appeared in 2004 led by the Terence Trent D’Arby single “Let Her Down Easy”. The singer-songwriter subsequently released the compilation album “10 Years of Hits” in 2005, the full length “Bring You Home” in 2006, and the tribute album “Songs for My Mother”, following his mother’s battle with breast cancer. A compilation of duets aptly titled “Duet” earned its release in 2010 and featured the likes of LeAnn Rimes, Cat Stevens, Lulu, and Elton John. The fruits of a collaboration with composer Burt Bacharach were issued on the record “When Ronan Met Burt” in 2011, followed a year later with Keating’s fifth studio album “Fires”.

Born and raised in Berkeley Vale, New South Wales prior to moving to Sydney at 15, Imbruglia left school at 16 to focus on her acting career. Following a few high-profile television commercials, she landed a role in the infamous Australian soap opera “Neighbours”, however left the show after two seasons. Imbruglia subsequently moved to London, England and recorded a four-track demo which resulted in the singer signing a four-year deal with BMG publishing.

Ahead of releasing her debut album, Imbruglia issued the single “Torn”, the result of which could not have been anticipated. The Ednaswap cover topped the Billboard Airplay chart for 14 weeks, broke the record for most UK airplay in history, and sold over a million copies. Imbruglia was subsequently catapulted to international notoriety, which she rode the wave of by releasing her debut full-length “Left of the Middle” in December 1997. Selling over 350,000 units in three weeks, the record was another hit, and ended up selling more than similar acts Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, and Meredith Brooks combined. Subsequent singles included the No. 2 “Big Mistake”, No. 19 “Wish I Was There”, and No. 5 “Smoke”, after which the singer embarked on an extensive world wide tour.

Following a short hiatus battling with writer’s block, Imbruglia returned in 2001 to release her sophomore album “White Lilies Island”. Led by the single “That Day”, the record was a stylistic advance on her debut however was unable to repeat its success. Having recorded a third album by November 2003, Imbruglia’s label refused to release the rock-influenced record, and the singer departed the label in early 2004. The Australian-born singer subsequently signed with Brightside Recordings, who ultimately issued her third full-length “Counting Down the Days” in April 2005. The record’s first single “Shiver” charted at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart representing her longest-running hit since “Torn”. Following the release Imbruglia embarked on a modest European tour, which for the most part was sold out.

In 2009 the singer began collaborating with Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the fruit of which was the singles “My God” and “Apologise”. A later single, “Want”, co-written my Martin, turned out to be the lead single from her independently-released fourth album “Come to Life”. Released in October 2009 excluding the UK, the album charted at No. 67 on the Australian Albums Chart and No. 25 on the Russian.

The band was formed by Amy and George Sheppard, siblings who both act as the bands lead singer. Back in 2009, Amy had been confronted with a school music assignment whose deadline seemed to rise from out of nowhere and the only person around to help her out with it was her brother, who was already musically gifted, luckily enough. The duo recorded a track together with George singing lead and playing the piano and Amy singing backup vocals, perhaps understandably, they had a massive amount of chemistry and decided to start writing and performing live together as a duo.

By 2012, they had formed a full six piece band, adding a third songwriter in the form of Jay Bovino on rhythm guitar, their younger sister Emma Sheppard on bass guitar, Michael Butler on lead guitar and Jared Tredly on the drums. The Sheppard parents also got involved too, their dad taking up management of the band and their mother tour managing them, they also set up their own record label in the form of Empire Of Song, with whom they still release their records in their native Australia. By August they had released their self-titled debut E.P, and with that one release they generated enough buzz to play festivals in places as far-flung as London and the United States.

It was also a hit back home, hitting number 18 on the ARIA singles chart and “Let Me Down Easy”, its first track, was nominated for the band’s first ARIA award for best independent release of the year in 2013, where they both performed and presented an award at the ceremony. If the band were any hotter at that point in time they would have been on fire, as they were still getting glowing critical notices and making waves all over the world, playing New York’s CMJ Music Marathon with only their debut E.P and its singles to their name. The band wisely decided to strike while the iron was hot, and in February of the following year, they released their breakthrough hit “Geronimo”.

If the band hadn’t been made yet for whatever reason, “Geronimo” made them for sure. It spent three weeks at number one in the Australian singles chart, and was a top five hit in Austria, Poland, Germany, New Zealand and Italy. With that song, the band managed to score a record contract with Decca for the UK release of their debut album and ever since the release of “Bomb’s Away”, the band have made themselves right at home at the top of the Australian music scene. They’re set to support the might Meghan Trainor at the time of writing and if anyone looks set for world domination, it’s absolutely them. They’re one to watch, and they come highly recommended.

For many classically trained musicians, the decision is between becoming a pop star and becoming a classical musician, and there is never any crossover between the two. Most of the time. Katherine Jenkins is the rebuttal to that, as a mezzo-soprano who has had records outsell the likes of the Spice Girls and Celine Dion in the same week. By her late teenage years, it became clear that Jenkins was destined for great things, winning the Welsh Choirgirl of the year contest twice and winning a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music when she was 17. She graduated with honours, receiving a music teachers diploma in the process, and after working as a freelance singing teacher, a model and even a tour guide on the London Eye, decided to pursue a career in music full time.

She made a demo that attracted the attention of Universal Classics and Jazz, and after a single audition where she sang Rossini's “Una Voce Poco Fa”, she signed what's reported to be the most lucrative record contract in the history of classical music in the UK, at £1 million. This would not be the last time she broke a record with the value of her record contract. Ever since then, she has remained one of the most popular classical musicians of her generation, releasing ten critically and commercially successful albums, regularly making live appearances in front of packed out stadiums, and becoming a genuine national treasure in the U.K to the extent where she was trusted with a major role in the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special without ever acting before. For taking the world of classical music and putting it into the mainstream with panache, Katherine Jenkins comes highly recommended.