top artists of 2013

Tabasa, Alexia Petrina A.

A former Christian artist, Katy Perry rebranded herself as a larger-than-life pop star and rose to prominence during the summer of 2008. Before she topped the charts with songs like "I Kissed a Girl" and "California Gurls," though, she spent the better part of a decade recording music under a different name. Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (or Katy Hudson, as she billed herself on her 2001 gospel album) was born on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. Raised in a religious household as the daughter of two pastors, she was forbidden to listen to secular bands as a child, although a childhood slumber party introduced her to the music of Alanis Morissette and Freddie Mercury. Religious music remained at the forefront, however, and Katy released a self-


Lady Gaga has deep roots in drama. Born Stefani Germanotta on March 28, 1986, the future Gaga played piano as a child and pursued musical theatre in high school, regularly auditioning for New York-based television shows, notably landing a background role for a 2001 episode of The Sopranos. At the age of 17 she enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in their Collaborative Arts Project 21. As she studied, she continued to eke her way into show biz, winding up with an appearance on MTV's short-lived post-Punk'd reality show Boiling Points in 2005. Not long afterward, she left school so she could concentrate on her music, fronting a band called SGBand, which released two EPs prior to


Born Anton Zaslavski, German producer Zedd broke onto the European electronic scene in 2010 with a remix of Skrillex's "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites." Though known for his glitch, pulsing production, Zedd'smusical journey began in the acoustic realm. Born into a musical family, the future producer cut his teeth on the piano at four years old and eventually moved to drums and played in a rock band before being drawn into the digital world in 2009. Zedd built a name for himself with his remixes of artists like Lady Gaga, B.o.B, and Armand Van Helden while also releasing his own singles and EPs. In 2012, the young producer delivered his first full-length, Clarity, whose lead


Following the success of JLS and the Wanted, X Factor contestants One Direction were the next group of heartthrobs to help revive the previously dying concept of the boy band. Niall Horan from Mullingar, Ireland; Zayn Malik from Bradford; Harry Styles from Cheshire; Louis Tomlinson from Doncaster, and Liam Payne from Wolverhampton (the latter had previously reached the judge's house stages of The X Factor as a 14-year-old back in 2008) originally entered the 2010 seventh series of the talent show as individuals, but following a suggestion from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, they were grouped together to become One Direction. Mentored by Simon Cowell, they soon became one of the favorites to win the show, thanks to renditions of Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You," and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." However, despite receiving a standing ovation for their duet with


Miley Cyrus became an overnight sensation in 2006 as the star of Hannah Montana, a popular Disney Channel television series whose success allowed Cyrus to launch her own recording career several years later. Overnight popularity wasn't a new thing for the Cyrus family; Miley's father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, went from obscurity to stardom in a few short months in 1992, when "Achy Breaky Heart" became a crossover hit. The success of "Achy Breaky Heart" was hardly the only memorable event for Billy Ray that year, though, as he and his wife welcomed their daughter Destiny Hope Cyrus into the world on November 23, 1992. Destiny's cheerful disposition as a child earned her the


Justin Timberlake may be the quintessential pop star of the new millennium, a star who jumped from platform to platform on his way to establishing himself as something bigger than a star: he was a self-sustained empire. Timberlake began his rise as a TV star, performing on The New Mickey Mouse Club as a child in the '90s, but he earned his superstardom as one of the frontmen for *NSYNC, the most popular boy band of the turn of the millennium. Justin stepped away from the band just as its popularity crested, releasing the sleek Justified in 2002, its hit singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body" establishing him as a force outside the group and he consolidated that success in 2006 with FutureSex/LoveSounds, the album that generated his biggest hit, "SexyBack." After reaching this pop peak, he decided to pursue other ventures, choosing to concentrate on acting and entrepreneurship.


Born Marshall Mathers in the Kansas City suburb St. Joseph, Eminem spent his childhood between Missouri and Michigan, settling in Detroit by his teens. At the age of 14, he began rapping with a high-school friend, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem. Under this name, Mathers entered battle rapping, a struggle dramatized in the fictionalized 8 Mile. Initially, the predominantly African-American audience didn’ t embrace Eminem, but soon his skills gained him a reputation, and he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. This single also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form D-12, a six-member crew


Born Peter Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mars kicked off his career at the age of four by fronting his uncle’ sband, becoming Oahu's youngest Elvis impersonator in the process. Ten years later, he was impersonating the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, as part of the Legends in Concert show. After graduating high school in 2003, he took his uncle's advice and moved to California to pursue a music career. After months of frustration, he met songwriter Phillip Lawrence, who convinced Mars to try his hand at writing songs for other artists. The two dubbed themselves the Smeezingtonsand co-wrote “Long Distance,” which was recorded in 2008 by R&B singer Brandy. More offers arrived after that, and Mars and Lawrence scored their first number one hit in 2009, when they co-authored Flo Rida's


Born in 1969 and raised in the rough Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, NY, Jay-Z underwent some tough times after his father left his mother before the young rapper was even a teen. Without a man in the house, he became a self-supportive youth, turning to the streets, where he soon made a name for himself as a fledging rapper. Known as "Jazzy" in his neighborhood, he soon shortened his nickname to Jay-Z and did all he could to break into the rap game. As he vividly discusses in his lyrics, Jay-Z also became a street hustler around this time, doing what needed to be done to make money. Jay-Z subsequently decided to make an untraditional decision and start his own label rather than sign with an established label like Jazhad done. Together with friends Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, he created Roc-a-Fella Records, a risky strategy for cutting out the middleman and making money for himself. Once he


Cleverly using dance music blogs as the platform to launch his career, Tim Berg, aka Avicii, has since become one of the most prominent producers on the burgeoning Swedish house scene. Born in Stockholm in 1989, Berg only started making music at the age of 18, writing and remixing tracks in his bedroom and then leaking them onto various blogs. Influenced by Daft Punk and Steve Angello, his melodic house sound gained a huge following, and led to support from Tiësto, who invited him to perform a weekly residency at Privilege in Ibiza, and Pete Tong, who released first single "Manman" through his Bedroom Bedlam label. After he remixed tracks for Little Boots, Robyn, and Dizzee Rascal, Berg's first mainstream release, the Ministry of Sound instrumental "Seek Bromance," became a huge hit across Europe and later in the U.K., thanks to a vocal version featuring Amanda Wilson. In 2012 he released the song "2 Million" after reaching that number of followers on


top artists of 2013

Entertainment & Humor

alexia petrina

lady gaga tabasa

katy hudson

religious music

katy perrytabasa

future producer

future gaga played piano

musical theatre