Portal:Pop music

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Thirsty Merc are an Australian pop rock band formed in 2002 by Rai Thistlethwayte, Phil Stack (bass guitar), Karl Robertson (drums), and Matthew Baker (guitar). In 2004, Baker was replaced by Sean Carey, who was, in turn, replaced by Matt Smith in 2010. Thirsty Merc have released one extended play, First Work (September 2003), and five studio albums: Thirsty Merc (August 2004), Slideshows (April 2007), Mousetrap Heart (June 2010), Shifting Gears (September 2015), and Celebration (June 2022). The band have sold over 200,000 albums, toured extensively around Australia, and received national radio airplay for their tracks.

In June 2005, Billboard's Christie Eliezer felt their debut album showed "electric rock-, classical- and jazz-influenced pop [that] appealed to Australian radio programmers". The work reached the top-20 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by ARIA for shipment of 70,000 units by the end of 2005. Slideshows peaked at No. 4 in Australia—their highest position. It reached No. 38 on the New Zealand Albums Chart; however, Thirsty Merc had attained No. 29 in that market. The group were nominated for four ARIA Awards in 2005, and the Thistlethwayte-written track "20 Good Reasons" was nominated for Song of the Year at the APRA Music Awards of 2008. From 2006, their song "In the Summertime" was the opening theme for the Australian TV reality show Bondi Rescue. (Full article...)

Music of the Sun is the debut studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on August 29, 2005, by Def Jam Recordings. Prior to signing with Def Jam, Rihanna was discovered by record producer Evan Rogers in Barbados, who helped Rihanna record demo tapes to send out to several record labels. Jay-Z, the former chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Def Jam, was given Rihanna's demo by Jay Brown, his A&R at Def Jam, and invited her to audition for the label after hearing the song that would become her first single, "Pon de Replay". She auditioned for Jay-Z and L.A. Reid, the former CEO and president of record label group The Island Def Jam Music Group, and was signed on the spot to prevent her from signing with another record label.

After Rihanna was signed by Jay-Z, she continued to work with Rogers and his production partner Carl Sturken, as well as other music producers such as Poke and Tone, D. "Supa Dups" Chin-quee, and Stargate. Music of the Sun features vocals from Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, music group J-Status, and Jamaican singer Vybz Kartel. Music of the Sun is a dance-pop, dancehall, and R&B album; it also incorporates elements of pop, hip hop, Latin-pop and other Caribbean music genres such as reggae and soca music. (Full article...)