Michele DesRochers

At the beginning of 1996 Adams released a new album 18 'Til I Die. The album featured the flamenco-tinged "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" from the Johnny Depp/Marlon Brando film Don Juan DeMarco.

Black Sabbath quickly followed its debut album with a second album, Paranoid, in September 1970. The title track, released as a single in advance of the LP, hit the Top Five in the U.K., and the album went to number one there. In the U.S., where the first album had just begun to sell, Paranoid was held up for release until January 1971, again preceded by the title track, which made the singles charts in November; the album broke into the Top Ten in March 1971 and remained in the charts over a year, eventually selling over four million copies, by far the band's best-selling effort. (Its sales were stimulated by the belated release of one of its tracks, "Iron Man," as a U.S. single in early 1972; the 45 got almost halfway up the charts, the band's best showing for an American single.)
 

But with fame came death-defying drug and alcohol abuse among all five bandmembers (as well as last-minute tour/concert cancellations) -- it appeared as though the more successful they became, the more problems arose. To fill the void for a new GNR album, Geffen put out the eight-track stopgap EP G N' R Lies in late 1988, amid widespread rumors of an impending band breakup. The album was another big seller (on the strength of the hit acoustic ballad "Patience"), but Axl Rose came under immense fire and criticism for the song "One in a Million," in which Rose had derogatory comments for gays, blacks, and immigrants. Undeterred, Rose and co. regrouped and worked on their much-anticipated follow-up to Appetite, which seemed to always miss its numerous projected release dates. Adler was sacked during the recording, while 1991 finally saw the release of the two-part sophomore effort Use Your Illusion. Both discs were massive hits, but the band appeared to have reinvented itself as a bombastic and indulgent rock act, often recalling the music that their punk rock idols attempted to destroy in the mid-'70s. A mammoth two-year tour followed (with Stradlin leaving the band mid-tour) in which GNR found themselves losing their validity as a streetwise rock act in the face of the stripped-down grunge movement (which included such acts as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, et al.).

In September 2000, seeking a place in that year's Latin pop boom, the part-Ecuadorian Aguilera recorded a Spanish-language album called Mi Reflejo, learning the lyrics phonetically since she didn't speak Spanish. It was followed quickly by the holiday album My Kind of Christmas; both sold extremely well, a testament to Aguilera's popularity. In the spring of 2001, Aguilera was featured -- along with Pink, Mya, and Lil' Kim -- on the chart-topping blockbuster remake of Patti LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" featured on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Aguilera was by now a fixture at music industry awards shows; as she enjoyed her celebrity, a collection of old demos -- recorded when she was 14 and 15 -- was released under the title Just Be Free, despite Aguilera's vehement objections.

Anybody who rises to the ranks of a Hollywood superstar clearly has an angel on his shoulder. Anyone who walks away from a car crash like the one Shia LaBeouf was in this past July is lucky to be alive. Now, it seems, fortune has once again smiled upon the "Eagle Eye" star.

TMZ is reporting that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has decided to drop LaBeouf's driving-under-the-influence charge on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The actor, who recently referred to the accident as "one of the biggest things that's happened in my life," is still dealing with a seriously injured left hand.

But perhaps his luck isn't running as hot as some might think. LaBeouf still faces a California DMV hearing Friday, during which he'll most likely have his driver's license suspended as a result of refusing a blood-alcohol test the night of the accident. According to the state's Web site: "A first offense will result in a one-year suspension."

Michele DesRochers

The third generation cassette sounded like crap and the recording methods were far from professional. However, his unique voice (brooding pop to primal scream) and keen ear for a jaw-droppingly catchy tune was evidence enough that this boy was the real deal. >/p>

Nic didn't win the contest but the tape fell into the right hands and within days, he had gone from scratching a living to picking up a recording contract with respected British indie, One Little Indian, and a management contract with Quest (home to Bjork). After years of accruing an enviable armory of songs and assembling a fabulous band called 'The Thieves' (Shane Lawlor on bass and Jonny Aitken on drums), there was no hanging about. They were promptly dispatched to Toe Rag Studios in London, the analogue bastion of producer Liam Watson (The White Stripes, The Zutons, The Kills) who immediately understood what Nic and the band were hoping to achieve. A couple of weeks later, Nic Armstrong & The Thieves' debut album, The Greatest White Liar was born. Originally released in the U.K. during the spring of 2004, the album garnered ecstatic reviews. The Sunday Times wrote "A 14-track stunner ... a truly exceptional singer." The Guardian raved, "Melodies so instant they could arrive in a jar."

The group was formed by four teenage friends from Aston, near Birmingham, England: Anthony "Tony" Iommi (b. Feb 19, 1948), guitar; William "Bill" Ward (b. May 5, 1948), drums; John "Ozzy" Osbourne (b. Dec 3, 1948), vocals; and Terence "Geezer" Butler (b. Jul 17, 1949), bass. They originally called their jazz-blues band Polka Tulk, later renaming themselves Earth, and they played extensively in Europe. In early 1969, they decided to change their name again when they found that they were being mistaken for another group called Earth. Butler had written a song that took its title from a novel by occult writer Dennis Wheatley, Black Sabbath, and the group adopted it as their name as well. As they attracted attention for their live performances, record labels showed interest, and they were signed to Phillips Records in 1969. In January 1970, the Phillips subsidiary Fontana released their debut single, "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games With Me)," a cover of a song that had just become a U.S. hit for Crow; it did not chart. The following month, a different Phillips subsidiary, Vertigo, released Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album, which reached the U.K. Top Ten. Though it was a less immediate success in the U.S. -- where the band's recordings were licensed to Warner Bros. Records and appeared in May 1970 -- the LP broke into the American charts in August, reaching the Top 40, remaining in the charts over a year, and selling a million copies.

Like Spears (who Timberlake became romantically involved with), Aguilera, and *NSYNC's JC Chasez, Timberlake got his start on the Disney Channel's '90s version of The Mickey Mouse Club. Timberlake and Chasez were on The Mickey Mouse Club simultaneously in their pre-*NSYNC days, and they kept working together when *NSYNC was formed. *NSYNC got started in Orlando, FL, in 1996, when Timberlake and Chasez teamed up with Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Joey Fatone. Released by RCA/BMG in 1998, the vocal quintet's self-titled debut album sold millions of copies in both the United States and Europe and contained the smash hits "I Want You Back" and "Tearing Up My Heart." *NSYNC's second album, No Strings Attached, was released on Jive in 2000 and was even more commercially successful; No Strings Attached went double platinum in only one week, and the singles "Bye Bye Bye" and "This I Promise You" became major hits.