Philip David Ochs December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and 1970s and released eight albums.
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released eight solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations.
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb is a British-American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the group the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popular music. With his younger brothers, twins Robin and Maurice Gibb, he formed a songwriting partnership beginning in 1955. He has lived in Britain, Australia, and the United States, holding dual UK–US citizenship.
Nicholas Rodney Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. Though he never found a wide audience during his lifetime, his work has gradually achieved wider notice and recognition. Drake signed to Island Records when he was 20 years old and a student at the University of Cambridge. He released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. He recorded two more albums—Bryter Layter (1970) and Pink Moon (1972). Neither sold more than 5,000 copies on initial release. His reluctance to perform live, or be interviewed, contributed to his lack of commercial success. There is no known video footage of the adult Drake; he was only ever captured in still photographs and in home footage from his childhood.
Jón Þór 'Jónsi' Birgisson is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his 'angelic' falsetto or countertenor voice. He is blind in his right eye from birth as a result of a broken optic nerve from the brain. Apart from Sigur Rós, Jónsi also performs together with his ex-partner Alex Somers as an art collaboration called Jónsi & Alex. They released their self-titled first book in November 2006, which was an embossed hardcover limited to 1,000 copies. The two also released the album Riceboy Sleeps, in July 2009. They announced their separation in 2019, after having been together for 16 years.
Harry Edward Nilsson III, known professionally as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experiments, returns to the Great American Songbook, and fusions of Caribbean sounds. A tenor with a 3+1⁄2 octave range, Nilsson was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists to achieve significant commercial success without ever performing major public concerts or undertaking regular tours. The craft of his songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians.
Annie Erin Clark, known professionally as St. Vincent, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. She began her music career as a member of the Polyphonic Spree. She was also a member of Sufjan Stevens's touring band before forming her own band in 2006. Her debut album is Marry Me (2007), followed by Actor (2009), Strange Mercy (2011), St. Vincent (2014), Masseduction (2017) and Daddy's Home (2021).
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its stylized, cinematic quality and exploration of themes of sadness, tragic romance, glamor, and melancholia, containing many references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana.