Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Synopsis

Katy Perry was born October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. After having three record deals fall apart, she signed with Capitol in 2007. Later that year, she released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl". Her album Teenage Dreams was released in August 2010.

Conservative Upbringing

Singer, songwriter, and musician. Born Katheryn Hudson on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. Known for her over-the-top fashions, quirky stage props, and catchy songs, Katy Perry has become a pop music sensation. 

Fans might be surprised to learn that the singer who writes about sexual exploration in "I Kissed a Girl" grew up in a very conservative family. Both of her parents are pastors, and they refused to let her listen to any rock or popular music. "The only things I was allowed to listen to were the Sister Act 1 and 2soundtracks," Perry toldEntertainment Weekly. She and her two siblings were also not permitted to watch such cable channels as MTV and VH1. 

Perry started taking singing lessons around the age of 9 and learned to play guitar when she was 13. Around this time, she began rebelling against her strict upbringing by piercing her own nose. She soon became interested in pursuing a career in music. With her mother, Perry made several trips to Nashville to record a gospel album, Katy Hudson, which was released in 2001. "It reached literally maybe 100 people, and then the label went bankrupt," Perry explained to Entertainment Weekly. 

Early Musical Influences

As a teenager, Perry was exposed to other musical influences. One friend introduced her to the music of Queen, which remains one of her favorite groups. "I'm very inspired by Freddie Mercury and how flamboyant and theatrical he was," she told fashion magazine WWD. In high school, she strove to be her own person, choosing not to limit herself to one social group. "I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids," she told Seventeen magazine.

Focused on her music, Perry got her GED and moved to Los Angeles to work with producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, who had worked with such artists as Christina Aguilera and Alanis Morissette. She was only 17 years old at time, and being on her own proved tough. "It was five years of living in L.A. with no money, writing bad checks, selling my clothes to make rent, [and] borrowing money," she told Seventeen magazine. Perry also experienced a string of disappointments before getting her big break. She and Ballard were unable to find a record company willing to take them on, and her 2004 collaboration with music producers-turned-performers The Matrix was scrapped shortly before the project was to be released. After having three record deals fall apart, Perry finally signed with Capitol in 2007. 

Breakout Songs

Later that year, Perry released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Pop superstar Madonna became a fan of the song, calling it one of her favorites of the moment. The song drew comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen, another singer known for her quirky, cheeky lyrics. Perry said the single was inspired by the emo scene, and the "guys with guy-liner who use flatirons." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl," which reached the top of the charts during the summer of 2008. With that song's success, her debut album, One of the Boys, made it into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also earned Perry a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. 

Katy Perry also became famous for her theatricality. On the Warped Tour, she performed "I Kissed a Girl" with a giant tube of lip balm, referencing a line in the song. Perry has also jumped into a larger-than-life cake and appeared in a number of wild outfits while onstage. She has described her style as "Lucille Ball meets Bob Mackie. It's about innuendo. I want everybody to get the joke, but I want them to think about it for a minute," she explained to Esquire magazine. 

Continued Success

In 2009, Perry appeared in her own acoustic special on MTV. The soundtrack from the show, Katy Perry: MTV Unplugged, was released around the same time. That same year, Perry made tabloid headlines for her relationship with British comedian Russell Brand. The couple became engaged over the New Year's holiday while on a trip to India. On October 23, 2010, the couple married in India in a traditional Hindu ceremony. According to The Times of India, the wedding featured a procession of camels, elephants and horses, plus fire jugglers, snake charmers, dancers and musicians. Perry had previously dated Travis McCoy from the band Gym Class Heroes. 

The young pop star has great ambitions for her future. "Ultimately I want Katy Perry to be as much of a household name as Madonna," she told Entertainment Weekly. Her album Teenage Dreams was released in August 2010. The single from the album, "California Gurls," quickly rose through the charts to #1 on the Billboard charts. With a signature perfume and film role opportunities heading her way, she may just make her dream come true. 

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Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

Synopsis

Lady Gaga was born as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in Yonkers, New York. She attended New York University's Tisch School for the Arts but left to find creative expression. She wrote songs for other artists until being discovered by R&B singer Akon. Her debut album, The Fame, was a huge success, and the single "Poker Face" topped charts in almost every category, in almost every country.

Early Life

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986 in Yonkers, New York, to Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta. Germanotta, now known as Lady Gaga (she has attributed the inspiration for her name to the Queen song "Radio Ga-Ga"), went on to become an international pop star.

Gaga learned to play the piano by the age of 4. At the age of 11, she was accepted to the Juilliard School in Manhattan, but instead attended a private Catholic school in the city. She continued studying music and performing, writing her first piano ballad at the age of 13, and she held her first performance in a New York nightclub at the age of 14.

A few years later, Gaga was granted early admission to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts—she was one of only 20 students in the world to receive the honor of early acceptance. While there, she studied music and worked on her songwriting skills. She later withdrew from school to find creative inspiration. To make ends meet, she took three jobs, including a stint as a gogo dancer, while she honed her performance-art act.

Professional Debut

In 2005, Lady Gaga was briefly signed by Def Jam Records, but was dropped just months later. Being dropped by the label propelled the singer to perform on her own in clubs and venues on New York City's Lower East Side. There, she collaborated with several rock bands, and began her experimentation with fashion.

In 2007, at the age of 20, Gaga began work at Interscope Records as a songwriter for other artists on the label, including Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, and The Pussycat Dolls. R&B singer Akon discovered Gaga while she was performing a burlesque show that she created, called "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue." Impressed, Akon signed the performer to his label under the Interscope umbrella, Kon Live. Through 2007 and 2008, Gaga wrote and recorded her debut album, The Fame. The record was received positive reviews and popular success in the United States. With the help of her own creative team, "Haus of Gaga," the performer also began to make a name for herself internationally.

Commercial Breakthrough

Lady Gaga's debut single, "Just Dance," was released to radio in early 2008, and received both popular and commercial acclaim. The song was then nominated for a Grammy Award (for best dance recording) in 2008. The song lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," but this didn't keep Gaga from reaching No. 1 on the mainstream pop charts in January 2009. The second single off of The Fame, "Poker Face," earned Gaga even more success. 

The song topped singles charts in almost every category, and in almost every country. Both songs were produced by Akon's affiliate RedOne, who co-wrote most of Lady Gaga's album.

Later in 2008, Lady Gaga opened for the newly reformed New Kids on the Block. She also collaborated with the group on the song "Big Girl Now" from New Kids on the Block's album The Block. The following year, Gaga released an album of eight songs, The Fame Monster, followed by 2011's Born This Way.

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Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz

Synopsis

Cameron Diaz was born August 30, 1972, in San Diego, California. She began modeling at age 16 and worked in ad campaigns for Calvin Klein and Coca-Cola. Her first film role was in "The Mask" with Jim Carreyand she's starred in a number of acclaimed smaller films including the existential black comedy "Being John Malkovich." Diaz also provides the voice of Princess Fiona in the Shrek films.

Early LifeActress. Born August 30, 1972, in San Diego, California. The daughter of Emilio Diaz, a second-generation Cuban-American oil company foreman, and his wife Billie, who is of Native American, Italian, and German descent, Diaz began modeling when she was 16 years old. Her successful modeling career took her to Japan, Australia, Morocco, and Paris, among other locales, landed her in such magazines as Mademoiselle and Seventeen, and in advertising campaigns for such companies as Calvin Klein, Coca-Cola, and Levi's.

Breakthrough Roles

In 1994, Diaz won her first film role in the blockbuster action-comedy The Mask, starring rubber-faced comic Jim Carrey. With no previous acting experience, she had originally auditioned for a supporting character in the film. Twelve callbacks later, however, she was hired to play torch-singing mob moll Tina Carlyle, the female lead. After the success of The Mask, Diaz was touted as the next big thing in Hollywood and wooed by a number of prominent filmmakers to appear in their projects.

While training to star in the live-action film version of the popular martial-arts video game Mortal Kombat, Diaz sustained a wrist injury, which caused her to back out of the film. Instead she made a string of smaller, independent films, including The Last Supper(1995); Feeling Minnesota (1996), costarring Keanu Reeves; She's the One (1996), costarring Ed Burns and Jennifer Aniston; and Head Above Water (1996), costarring Harvey Keitel. She made a successful return to mainstream movies in 1997, winning raves for her portrayal of a sweet bride-to-be opposite Julia Roberts in the playful comedy hit My Best Friend's Wedding.

After starring opposite Ewan McGregor in the uneven romantic comedy A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Diaz made the leap to A-list Hollywood stardom with her savvy comic turn in the unapologetically crude surprise summer blockbuster There's Something About Mary, costarring Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon, and written and directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly. In 1999, audiences saw two very different sides of Diaz first, she camouflaged her blond beauty to play a dowdy pet-shop worker and puppeteer's wife in the much talked-about existential comedy Being John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze and costarring John Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Malkovich. Later that year, she turned in a brazen performance as the glamorous, hard-nosed new owner of a professional football team in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, costarring Al Pacino and Dennis Quaid.

Big Screen Star

Despite her undeniable box office appeal, Diaz continued to appear in relatively low-budget independent film - including the black comedyVery Bad Things (1998), Malkovich, and the ensemble film Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), which aired on Showtime cable television in 2001 and costarred Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, and Calista Flockhart-as well as more mainstream projects. In the fall of 2000, she starred alongside Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as one of the three female detectives at the heart of the hit big-screen remake of Aaron Spelling's campy 1970s television show, Charlie's Angels.

In early 2001, Diaz appeared as a free-spirited older sister in The Invisible Circus. She also provided the voice for the spirited Princess Fiona in that summer's animated hit Shrek, also featuring the voices of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy. The trio revived their roles for the blockbuster sequel in 2004. In 2001, she starred inMartin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, co-starring Tom Cruise. The following year, she joined Liu and Barrymore for the sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. In 2005, she starred in the film In Her Shoes with Toni Colette.

Showing her more serious side, Diaz starred in the 2009 family drama My Sister's Keeper. She played the mother of three in the film who finds herself at odds with her youngest child Anna (Abigail Breslin) over her middle child's medical needs. The film is based on the best-selling novel by Jodi Picoult. 

Personal Life

In addition to her work onscreen, Diaz is often in the news for her personal life. Diaz's five-year relationship with video producer Carlos de La Torre ended in 1995. She dated her There's Something About Mary costar Matt Dillon from 1996 to 1998. Diaz became involved with actor Jared Leto in 1999. The couple broke up in 2003, and she started dating singer Justin Timberlake. Diaz and Timberlake dated for several years before calling it quits in 2007. Most recently, she has been linked to Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

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Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys

Synopsis

Alicia Keys was born on January 25, 1981, in New York, NY and began piano lessons at age 7. After graduating from the Professional Performance Arts School, she signed a deal with Clive Davis, the head of Arista Records. Davis left Arista to start J Records and Keys followed. Her debut album "Songs in A Minor" went platinum five times over and earned her five Grammys.

Profile

Musician. Born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25, 1981, in New York, New York. Blending pop, gospel, R&B and soul, Keys burst onto the music scene in 2001 with her debut album Songs in A Minor.

Keys was raised by her mother, Nikki Augello, a part-time actress and paralegal. Keys began piano lessons at age 7 and Augello's dogged insistence that her daughter stick with the instrument led Keys to attend Manhattan's prestigious Professional Performance Arts School where she majored in choir. She excelled academically and was allowed to graduate at the age of 16. Keys had already attracted the attention of record company executives during her high school years, and after what amounted to a bidding war for her talents, she signed with Arista Records in 1998.

While she was accepted to Columbia University on a full scholarship, after a four-week stint at the school, Keys departed to devote herself fully to her music.

In 1999, Clive Davis, the head of Arista Records, left the company to start J Records. Keys decided to follow Davis, who had engineered the careers of such soul luminaries as Aretha Franklin, to his new label. Unlike many of her pop-music contemporaries, the precocious Keys not only sings, but writes and produces her own music. At J Records, Keys found the freedom to complete her debut effort, which included material she had started work on years prior.

Davis carefully orchestrated a media blitz before the release of the album, including a series of television and small venue appearances. When it was finally released, Songs in A Minor went platinum five times over. Critics roundly praised the album not only for its musical polish, but also for its lyric maturity.

At the 2002 Grammy Awards, Keys took home awards for Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Keys fronted for fellow R&B sensation Maxwell in 2001. Her album "Diary" won her four Grammys in 2005.

In addition to her music career, Alicia Keys has acted in several films, including Smokin' Aces (2006), The Nanny Diaries (2007), and The Secret Life of Bees (2008).

In July 2010, Keys married Swizz Beatz (real name: Kasseem Dean) and the couple welcomed their first child together in October 2010, a baby boy named Egypt Daoud Dean.

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Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart

Synopsis

Actress Kristen Stewart was born on April 9, 1990, in Los Angeles, California. A talent scout discovered her while acting in a grade school Christmas play. Shortly after, she was cast in a Disney movie and has had steady work ever since. She starred with Jodie Foster in 2002's Panic Room andDennis Quaid and Sharon Stone in 2003's Cold Creek Manor. Her most notable role, however, has been playing Bella in The Twilight Saga films from 2008 to 2012.

Breakthrough Role

Actress. Born Kristen Jaymes Stewart on April 9, 1990, in Los Angeles, California. Her father John—a stage manager, producer and director—and mother Jules—a scriptwriter—immersed their daughter in the Hollywood scene at an early age. She made her first television appearance at the age of eight after her performance in a grade school Christmas play caught the eye of a talent scout. Shortly after, she landed a bit role on the Disney Channel TV movie, The Thirteenth Year (1999).

Two years later, Stewart landed a more substantial in the independent film The Safety of Objects (2001). But the actress' big break didn't come until 2002, when she was cast as the lead in the blockbuster drama, Panic Room, starring with film veterans Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Jared Leto. Stewart's role as the diabetic, troubled teen caught the attention of critics, who praised her understated and solid performance. Fans also resonated with Stewart, and the film raked in a respectable $95 million at the box office.

Early Film Roles

Stewart next signed on to play the daughter of Dennis Quaid andSharon Stone in another suspense drama, Cold Creek Manor (2003). Although Stewart and her co-stars turned out solid performances in the film, the plot was lambasted by reviewers and fans and performed poorly at the box office. Stewart followed up with two more low-performing films in the next year: the light-hearted teen film, Catch That Kid (2004), and the adventure film Undertow(2004) which, despite decent reviews, went almost straight to video.

Stewart showed her versatility as a performer in the Showtime special feature, Speak (2005), about a teen who stops speaking after a sexual assault. That same year, she appeared in the sci-fi filmZathura, followed by the drama Fierce People (2006). After appearing in several more mild box-office successes, Stewart landed a the role of a teenage commune dweller in the critically acclaimed biopic Into the Wild (2007). The role brought Stewart back to the spotlight, and that same year she landed in Mary Stuart Masterson'sThe Cake Eaters.

Twilight Saga

The year 2008 was a big one for Stewart, who starred acrossRobert De Niro in the Hollywood satire What Just Happened?(2008), then landed the starring role across from teen heartthrobRobert Pattinson in the film version of the successful Stephenie Meyer book series, Twlight (2008). The novels, about a teen who falls in love with a charming vampire, already had a legion of fans. Soon Stewart became the romantic icon for thousands of teens, launching her to A-List actor status. In fact, her popularity in the role overshadowed other projects in the works, including a starring part in the comedy Adventureland(2009), and her role in Welcome to the Rileys (2009), starring James Gandolfini.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon came out in 2009, and it proved to be an even bigger hit than the first installment. The film earned more than $290 million at box office in the United States alone, and Stewart and her co-star Pattinson found themselves with an ever growing young fan base. There was also much media speculation about an off-screen relationship between the pair. In an attempt to break out of the Bella mold, Stewart played rocker Joan Jett in the 2010 biopic The Runaways with Dakota Fanning.

Three more Twilight films followed, ending with its finale in 2012. The last film, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, brought in more than $140 million in its opening weekend alone. In all, theTwilight movies earned more than $3 billion worldwide, according to the Box Office Mojo website.

Life After Twilight

The same year that the Twilight series concluded, Stewart enjoyed some box office success in another famous role. She portrayed the famed fairy tale heroine in Snow White and the Huntsman with Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron. The film, which transformed the Snow White character into a warrior of sorts, proved to be one of the summer's most popular hits.

Stewart, however, experienced a tremendous personal backlash later that year when it was revealed that she had been involved with theSnow White and the Huntsman's married director Rupert Sands. Stewart publicly apologized to her boyfriend and Twilight co-starRobert Pattinson about this indiscretion.

While plans are in the works for Snow White and the Huntsmansequel, most reports indicate that a new director will be used for the project. Stewart has a challenging road ahead her as she struggles to find new roles after Twilight. Audiences embraced her as one-half of a popular fiction power couple, but it remains unclear how far she can propel herself out of Twilight's shadow.

This transitional time in her film career has not slowed interest in her personal life. She continues to be under a media microscope. Stewart's appearance at the 2013 Academy Awards ceremony, for instance, became a hot topic of discussion. She limped on stage to serve as a presenter, and it was later revealed that she had cut her foot on a piece of glass. The status of her relationship with Pattinson also gets frequent coverage in the weekly tabloids.

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Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson

Synopsis

Born on May 13, 1986 in London, England, Robert Pattinson began acting in school but first became widely known for his role as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Soon after, his turn as the vampire Edward Cullen in the movie Twilightcatapulted him to heart-throb status. Also a musician, he contributed songs to the Twilight, soundtrack as well as that of his 2008 film,How to Be. Pattinson's other notable films include 2010's Remember Me, 2011's Water for Elephants and 2012's Cosmopolis.

Early Years

Robert Thomas Pattinson was born on May 13, 1986 in London, England. Pattinson is the youngest of three children, and the only son born to Robert and Clare Pattinson. During his childhood, his father ran a car-importing business and his mother worked for a modeling agency.

Despite his sometimes shy personality, Robert Pattinson wanted to be a performer from an early age; first as a musician like his older sister Lizzy Pattinson. It was his father who strongly encouraged him to try out acting. During one memorable night out for dinner with his dad, the two found themselves sitting next to a group of young girls who told Pattinson they'd just returned from the Barnes Theater Club, a renowned theater program at the Harrodian School, a private school in Barnes, England, just outside of London.

"Since then, he had nagged me about attending," Pattinson once said. "At one point he said he would pay me." Pattinson didn't bite on the payment offer, but did end up attending Harrodian as a teenager and joined its theater program. There, he took on starring roles in plays such as Out Town, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Anything Goes.

Acting Career

Pattinson's performances drew notice and in 2003, at the age of 17, he jumped from the stage to the screen, nabbing a role in the TV movie, Ring of the Nibelungs. The work required him to move to South Africa for several months, where the movie was being filmed. An unaccredited role in the movie Vanity Fair (2004) followed.

Around the same time that he was finishing up work on those two projects, Pattinson met with Mike Newell, the eventual director of 2005's, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The meeting and subsequent audition earned Pattinson the role of Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter's friend and a fellow wizard.

The movie and the role propelled Pattinson's life and career forward in unimaginable ways. Teen People magazine called him "the nextJude Law" while Screen International magazine labeled him a "British Star of Tomorrow." It was heady stuff and, as Pattinson freely admits, it did indeed go to his head a bit.

A big Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson fan, Robert Pattinson's post-Potter plan was to take on smaller roles in plays or films that could let him explore unique characters. But things did not follow course. He did go on to play a shell-shocked World War II veteran in the BBC thriller, The Haunted Airman (2005); a student with a teacher crush in The Bad Mother's Handbook (2006); and make a small cameo as Diggory in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). But he was also fired from a play in London and, before Pattinson knew it, he was in Los Angeles sleeping on his agent's couch and trying to figure out his next step. What followed was a shot at the film Twilight. His audition for the role of Edward Cullen, a century-old vampire in love, took place in the bedroom of the movie's director Catherine Hardwicke. Pattinson wowed both Hardwicke and his future co-star, Kristen Stewart, with his performance. "Everybody came in doing something empty and shallow and thoughtless," Stewart told GQ. "But Rob understood that it wasn't a frivolous role."

And yet, for the legions of Twilightreaders??17 million and counting since the book's debut in 2005??who had waited breathlessly for the movie adaptation, Robert Pattinson's casting as the perfectly gorgeous Cullen struck a nerve. There were calls for a boycott of the film and 75,000 fans signed a petition asking he be removed from the cast.

Pattinson, who admits he was anxious about the part, seemed to take the criticism in stride. "They had this picture from a Viking film [I did]," he said. "I looked like somebody beat me in the face. I was wearing this disgusting wig, and they were like, 'This is Edward.'"

To live up to the expectations, Pattinson poured himself into his character. He showed up in Oregon, where the movie was filmed, months in advance of the shooting to work out with a trainer and dissect the script and other work from Twilight's author, Stephenie Meyer. In the end, the hard work and the original choice to go with Pattinson paid off. In the movie's first weekend, box office receipts totaled nearly $70 million and its leading man was catapulted into heartthrob status among the film's most adoring fans.

The film also served as a reminder that Pattinson, a guitar and keyboard player who loves Van Morrison, hasn't quite given up on his music aspirations. The Twilight soundtrack includes two songs by the actor. And there's additional Pattinson music on the soundtrack to another recent film of his, How To Be.

Still, the screen seems to be where Pattinson's true future lies. On the heels of his Twilight success came the film, Little Ashes, which stars the actor in a meaty role as a young Salvador Dali. Pattinson then reunited with his Twilight cast for New Moon (2009), as well as three more films, 2010's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and parts 1 and 2 of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

Between filming the Twilight series' later films, Pattinson worked on such notable films as 2010's Remember Me and 2011's Water for Elephants, in which he stars alongside Reese Witherspoon. In 2012, Pattinson landed one of his most challenging roles yet, playing young billionaire Eric Packer in the drama Cosmopolis, which met with early success from audiences and critics alike. The film, directed byDavid Cronenberg, also stars Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti andSamantha Morton.

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Taylor Lautner

Taylor Lautner

Synopsis

Taylor Lautner was born on February 11, 1992, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He studied karate from a young age and won several championships. Lautner made his film debut in Robert Rodriguez's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. In 2008, he first played Jacob Black in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight film series. Lautner was voted one of People magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" in 2009.

Early Life

Taylor Daniel Lautner was born on February 11, 1992, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has one sibling: a sister named Makena. Lautner is best known as an actor in the role of Jacob Black inStephenie Meyer's Twilight movie series.

Lautner began studying karate at the age of six, and began winning tournaments within a year. After, Lautner began training with seven-time world karate champion Mike Chat. In 2004, at the age of 12, Taylor represented the United States in the 12 years and under division in the World Karate Association. Lautner went on to win the Junior World Forms and Weapons championship during the competition, as well as three gold medals. In 2003, Taylor Lautner was ranked No. 1 in the world for NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms. By the age of 12, Lautner had won three Junior World Championships.

Foray into Show Business

Taylor Lautner got his show business start at the age of seven, when he auditioned for a part in a Burger King advertisement in Los Angeles, which he did not get. He would continue to audition, unsuccessfully, for other roles over the next three years. At the age of 10, Taylor and his family relocated to Los Angeles in order to pursue his acting career. Since then, he has landed roles on television shows My Wife and Kids and The Bernie Mac Show in 2001, and Summerland and The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour in 2004.

In addition to acting, Lautner also did voiceover work during this time. He landed a recurring voice role as Youngblood on the cartoonDanny Phantom and recorded two episodes on What's New, Scooby-Doo? and He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. He is also a series regular onWhich Way Is Up? and as the voice of Silas on Silas and Britany.

Commercial Breakthrough

Lautner got his big break when he landed the role of Shark Boy inThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. The film was a full-length feature directed by the famous Robert Rodriguez. Lautner spent nearly three months on location for the film in Austin, Texas. Months after wrapping his first film, Lautner auditioned and won the part of Eliot, the son in Steve Martin's family in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The film was released in 2005. In 2008, Lautner landed the role of Jacob Black, a Native-American character in the teen hit Twilight, based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer. Also in 2008, Taylor played the son of Christian Slater's character in the short-lived television series My Own Worst Enemy. The show was canceled after only nine episodes.

Twilight Saga

After the success of 2008'sTwilight, Lautner enjoyed near instant celebrity status along with his co-stars Kristen Stewart andRobert Pattinson. Stewart plays Bella in the films who finds herself in a love triangle with Jacob Black (Lautner), a werewolf, and Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a vampire. Many fans lobbied their support behind Lautner's character, calling themselves "Team Jacob." Other fans formed "Team Edward."

This epic story of love and conflict between humans, vampires and werewolves spanned five hugely successful films. In total, theTwilight movies made more than $3 billion worldwide, according to the Box Office Mojo website. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 was released in 2012, marking the end of this popular series.

During his Twilight years, Lautner tried to branch out into other roles. He appeared in the 2010 ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, which stars Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Gardner. The following year, Lautner starred in the action drama Abduction. Unfortunately, this film didn't make much of an impression on critics or movie-goers.

More recently, Lautner began working on the 2013 Adam Sandlercomedy Grown Ups 2.

Personal Life

Lautner has been romantically linked to such other celebrities asSelena Gomez and Taylor Swift. In his free time, he has been known to make home movies with his friend and Shark Boy co-star, Taylor Dooley. Lautner was voted one of People magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" in 2009.

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Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Synopsis

Born on December 13, 1989, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Taylor Swift started crafting songs at age 5, and at age 16, released her debut album. Hits like "Love Song" and "You Belong With Me" appealed to country and pop fans alike and helped fuel the multiplatinum success of her albums, with Fearless the 2009 top-seller. She has won many awards, including several Grammys, and modeled for Cover Girl.

Country Crooner

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Swift spent her early years on her family's Christmas tree farm. Her grandmother had been a professional opera singer, and Swift soon followed in her footsteps. By the age of 10, Swift was singing at a variety of local events, including fairs and contests. She sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Philadelphia 76ers game at the age of 11, and began writing her own songs and learning guitar at 12 years old.

To pursue her music career, Swift often visited Nashville, Tennessee, the country music capital. There she co-wrote songs, and tried to land a recording contract. Noting her dedication, Swift and her family moved to nearby Hendersonville, Tennessee, in an attempt to further Swift's career.

A stellar performance at The Bluebird Café in Nashville helped Swift get a contract with Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Records. She released her first single, "Tim McGraw," in 2006, and the song became a Top 10 hit on the country charts. It also appeared on her self-titled debut album in October of that same year, selling more than 2.5 million copies. More popular singles soon followed, including "Our Song," a No. 1 country music hit. "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Picture to Burn," and "Should've Said No" were also successful tracks.

In addition to commercial success, Swift received a lot of critical praise for her debut effort. She won the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Female Vocalist in 2007. Swift next released Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in 2007. Her renditions of "Silent Night" and "Santa Baby" were modest hits on the country charts.

Pop Stardom

In 2008, Swift was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best New Artist category, and won the Academy of Country Music's "Female Vocalist of the Year" Award, the American Music Awards "Favorite Female Country Artist" award, and the American Music Association's "Horizon" award. Around this same time, Swift released her next album, Fearless (2008), which hit the top of both the country and pop charts and stayed there for 11 weeks. By the end of the year, Swift had become the highest-selling country artist of 2008.

In 2009, Swift netted several awards for her work on Fearless, including "Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year" for "Love Story" at the CMT Music Awards. On September 13, 2009, Swift also won the MTV Video Music Award for "Best Female Video," making her the first country music star to win an MTV Video Music Award. The win stirred controversy when rapper Kanye West leaped to the stage during Swift's speech, took the microphone, and declared that R&B singer Beyoncé should have won Swift's award. The stunned Swift was unable to make her acceptance speech, and West was removed from the show. When Beyoncé accepted her award for "Best Video of the Year" later in the show, she called Swift to the stage to finish her speech. West later apologized to Swift privately, and made a public apology on TheJay Leno Show.

If possible, the attention has made Swift an even hotter commodity. Her concert tickets now sell out in less than two minutes, and she is currently ranked as the 69th most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine, with more than $18 million in earnings this year alone. She recently made her second appearance on comedy show Saturday Night Live, this time as both the host and musical guest. She has also been tapped for four CMA nominations in 2009—"Female Vocalist", "Music Video of the Year", "Best Album" and "Entertainer of the Year"— as well as six American Music Award nominations.

During much of 2008, reports circulated that Swift was dating Joe Jonas from the popular musical group The Jonas Brothers. Neither Swift nor Jonas has ever acknowledged the relationship. "He's an amazing guy, and anyone would be lucky to be dating him," Swift said at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Whatever their relationship, it seemed to turn sour by the time Fearless was released. The song, "Forever & Always," is reportedly about Jonas. Swift was romantically linked to actor Taylor Lautner, one of the stars of the successful Twilight saga. The pair reportedly met while filming Swift's big screen debut Valentine's Day, which hit theaters in February 2010.

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Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is a singer/songwriter currently signed under Atlantic Records. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, before moving to Framlingham, Suffolk. He learned guitar at a very young age, and began writing songs during his time at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham. Many of his early childhood memories that he referred to in a interview on the Zane Lowe show included listening to Van Morrison on his countless trips to London with his parents and going to an intimate gig with Damien Rice in Ireland when he was 11.

Sheeran began recording in 2005, which led to the release of his first EP, The Orange Room EP. Sheeran also released two albums, a self-titled one in 2006 and Want Some? in 2007. He moved to London in 2008 to play gigs, starting off in very small venues, playing every day. Also in 2008, Sheeran auditioned for ITV 1′s “Britannia High”. He was unsuccessful, despite the tutors and judges being impressed with him.

In 2009, he played 312 gigs. Ed said that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that James had done 200 gigs in a year, so Ed said he wanted to beat him on this number. When he ran out of money, he left his flat he was renting and started ‘sofa surfing’ around London, he has been doing this ever since, even after he signed his deal. Also in 2009, he released another EP, You Need Me, just before going on tour with Just Jack, and in February 2010 began to get noticed after he posted a video through SB.TV, which led to mainstream rapper Example asking Sheeran to tour with him. Also in February 2010 he released his second indie release, his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which features one of his most popular songs “The A Team”. A video was made for the song, and famously cost only £20 to make.

In April 2010, after leaving his old management company, he bought a ticket to LA, with no contacts other than one poetry night. He played open mic nights all over LA, before being spotted at ‘The Foxxhole’ by Jamie Foxx, who invited him to stay at his house and record for the rest of his stay. Throughout 2010, Sheeran began to be seen by more and more people over the internet through YouTube and his fan-base grew incredibly, with him also getting credit from The Independent newspaper, England football captain Rio Ferdinand and even Elton John.

Sheeran released three more EPs in 2010, including Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford, a live EP and Songs I Wrote With Amy which is a collection of love songs he wrote in Wales with fellow singer songwriter Amy Wadge. On 9 January 2011, Sheeran released his final independent EP, No.5 Collaborations Project featuring appearances by grime artists including Wiley, JME, Devlin and Ghetts. With this EP, Sheeran gained mainstream attention for reaching number 1 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, selling over 7,000 copies in its first week. He was listed as a ‘special guest’ on Devlin’s 2011 Bud, Sweat and Beers mini-tour alongside Griminal and Tinchy Stryder

On 12 April 2011, Ed put on a free show to fans at the Barfly in Camden. Over 1000 fans turned up to see the show, so Ed Sheeran ended up playing 4 different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, including a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Sheeran underestimated the amount of people that turned up and was overwhelmed.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Synopsis

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, near Graz, Austria. He rose to fame as the world's top bodybuilder, launching a career that would make him a giant Hollywood star. After years of blockbuster movie roles, Schwarzenegger went into politics, becoming governor of California in 2003. In 2012, he returned to his acting career, starring with Jean-Claude Van Damme,

Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone in the film The Expendables 2. Within just one week, the movie had climbed to the No. 1 spot at the box office, bringing in nearly $28.6 million.

Early Years

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, near Graz, Austria. Schwarzenegger's childhood was far from ideal. His father, Gustav, was an alcoholic police chief and one-time member of the Nazi Party, who clearly favored Arnold's brother over his gangly, seemingly less athletic younger son.

Gustav is reported to have beaten and intimidated Arnold and, when he could, pitted his two boys against one another. He also ridiculed Schwarzenegger's early dreams of becoming a body builder. "It was a very uptight feeling at home," Schwarzenegger later recalled. So uptight and uncomfortable, in fact, that Schwarzenegger would later refuse to attend the funeral of his father, who died in 1972, or his brother, who was killed in a car crash in 1971.

As an escape, Arnold turned to the movies, in particular Reg Parker, a body builder and star in B-level Hercules movies. The films also helped propel Schwarzenegger's own obsession with America, and the future he felt awaited him there. Getting to his new country was the issue. Schwarzenegger found his answer in Joe Weider, the man behind the International Federation of Body Building, an organization that sponsored contests such Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia.

Weider loved Schwarzenegger's bravado, sense of humor, and the potential he saw in the young body builder. Weider's instincts couldn't have been more dead-on. In all, Schwarzenegger would win an unprecedented five Mr. Universe titles and six Mr. Olympia crowns during his bodybuilding career.

Equally significant, Schwarzenegger, who had immigrated to the United States in 1968, helped propel the sport into the mainstream, culminating in the 1977 documentary, Pumping Iron, which tells the tale of Schwarzenegger's defense of his Mr. Olympia crown.

Making it in Hollywood

Since his first foray to the local movie house in his hometown of Graz, Arnold had dreamed of making it big in Hollywood. With his ascension to the top of the bodybuilding world, it was only a matter of time before he'd move over to the big screen.

After acting in a few small parts, Schwarzenegger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Newcomer for his performance in Stay Hungry (1976). With his intense physical strength and size, Schwarzenegger was a natural for action films. He became a leading figure in several popular 1980s action movies, including Conan the Barbarian (1982). Schwarzenegger also starred as a deadly machine from the future in The Terminator (1984). The science-fiction drama spawned two sequels—Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).Off-screen he continued his remarkable story, marrying into the Kennedy family by tying the knot with Maria Owings Shriver, daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her husband R. Sargent Shriver.

Schwarzenegger's American story sounded improbable, except to those who knew him. "This is a man of bottomless ambition," said George Butler, producer and director of Pumping Iron, in a 2003 interview. "It's always been there ... He sees himself as mystically sent to America."

The 'Governator'

In 2003, Schwarzenegger again showed his resolve to succeed when he threw his hat into the ring for the California governor's race and won a seat in a special election. In a state that was mired in severe budget woes, the newly elected Republican governor promised to bring economic stability to his adopted state.

As expected, Schwarzenegger brought his own unique brand of confidence to his new job. "If they don't have the guts, I call them 'girlie-men,'" he said of Democrats, early in his first term. "They should go back to the table and fix the budget."

Still, as governor, he worked to improve the state's financial situation, promote new businesses, and protect the environment. In 2006, Schwarzenegger won easily won his bid for re-election.

His second term in office did not run as smoothly, however. Schwarzenegger struggled to help the state through difficult financial times. After leaving office in January 2011, he sought to revive his career in the entertainment industry. In March of that year, Schwarzenegger announced plans to work with famed comic book creator Stan Lee on a new animated series inspired by his time in office.

Only a few months after leaving office, Schwarzenegger made another announcement. He and Maria Shriver made their decision to separate public in May. The news followed Schwarzenegger's acknowledgement that he'd fathered a baby with a member of the family's household staff. Schwarzenegger and Shriver have four children: Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher.

Recent Publicity

In 2010, Schwarzenegger starred alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone in the film The Expendables. In August 2012, he reunited with the film's cast for a follow-up film, The Expendables 2. Just one week after the film's premiere, it had climbed to the No. 1 spot at the box office, bringing in nearly $28.6 million.

Schwarzenegger made headlines again later in 2012, when he admitted for the first time to having an affair with his Red Sonja co-star, actress Brigitte Nielsen, in the mid-1980s—while he was dating and living with Maria Shriver, whom he later married. Nielsen had written about the adulterous relationship in her 2011 memoir, You Only Get One Life, but Schwarzenegger didn't publicly confirm Nielsen's account until the fall of 2012, when his memoir, Total Recall, was published.

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Will Smith

WILL SMITH

Synopsis

Will Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 25, 1968. At 16, Smith met a DJ at a party. The pair became friends, and the rapping duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince was born. In 1990, Smith moved into acting with his role in the TV show The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. in 1992 Smith crossed over into movies. He has been starring in popular films ever since.

Early Life

Actor, musician. Born Willard Christopher Smith Jr., to mother Caroline, a school board employee, and father Willard C. Smith, the owner of a refrigeration company. His middle class upbringing saw him attend the strict—and Catholic—Overbrook High School, despite his family's observation of the Baptist faith.

His West Philadelphia neighborhood was a melting pot of cultures where Orthodox Jews co-existed with a large Muslim population. Smith was a good student whose charming personality and quick tongue were renowned for getting him out of trouble, a trait for which he soon gained the nickname "Prince.''

Smith began rapping at age 12, emulating heroes like Grandmaster Flash but tingeing his rhymes with a comedic element that would later become his trademark. At 16, Smith met a DJ at a party by the name of Jeff Townes. The pair became friends, and the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince was born.

Rap Success

The pair began producing music, but steered clear of the Gangsta Rap sound that was emerging on the West Coast in groups like Public Enemy and NWA. The Fresh Prince rapped about teenage preoccupations in a clean, curse-free style that middle America found safe and entertaining. The pair's first single, "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," was a hit in 1986. Their debut album Rock the House (1990) hit the Billboard Top 200, and made Smith a millionaire before the age of 18. His early success put any thoughts of attending college out of Smith's mind.

Early on it was reported that Smith had turned down a scholarship to Boston's elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but Smith later dispelled the rumor when he told an interviewer: "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college."

In 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince continued their success with the album He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper featuring the radio-friendly singles "Parents Just Don't Understand," "Brand New Funk," and "Nightmare on My Street." The album won the first ever Grammy Award for a Rap Performance. That album was followed by And In This Corner... which continued the pair's rise to stardom.

Crossover into Acting

Two years later, Smith began his remarkable crossover into acting. Drawing on his experiences with fledgling stardom, NBC signed Smith to star in a sitcom about a street-smart kid from Philadelphia.

On the show, the character is shipped off to California to live with wealthy relatives in Bel-Air, California. Playing on his rapper persona, and at times featuring his friend Towne, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air was a huge success that ran for six seasons.

Meanwhile, Smith and Towne kept producing music. The 1991 album Homebase produced the hits "Summertime" and "Ring My Bell." Their final album together, 1993's Code Red, was notable for "Boom!Shake the Room."

While still making The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Smith began a second crossover into movies. Small roles in the drama Where The Day Takes You (1992) and the comedy Made In America(1993) were followed by a critically acclaimed lead in the drama Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Smith played a charming street-wise kid moving among the wealthy elite, who was also a psychologically complex gay hustler. The film enjoyed moderate success, but its title idea has become a household term for the closeness of human society.

Smith's first steps into super-stardom came with his next film, Bad Boys (1995). The high-budget cop movie saw him team up with comic Martin Lawrence, breaking away from the black-cop-white-cop formula that had been so successful for Beverly Hills Cop and the Lethal Weapon series. The two black leads proved an instant success and Smith—playing the smooth, serious, cop to Lawrence's clown—was established as leading man material.

Hollywood Star

The 1996, epic sci-fi disaster movie Independence Day was his next assignment. The role confirmed Smith as a major player in Hollywood and the go-to guy for summer blockbusters. Smith played an air force pilot leading the counter-attack against the invading alien forces, and his comedic talents effortlessly transformed into the pithy one-liners all action heroes need to be able to drop while dispatching their enemies.

Smith fought aliens again in his next blockbuster, the comic sci-fi action film, Men In Black (1997). Playing opposite Tommy Lee Jones, Smith chewed up the screen as the new recruit to Jones's old hand. Smith sang the theme song, and its inclusion on his solo album, Big Willie Style (1997) brought the multi-talented actor another success. Another Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster followed with the slick conspiracy thriller Enemy of the State (1998), which earned Smith an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

The string of hits came to an end in 1999 with Wild Wild West, a sci-fi cowboy Western co-starring Kevin Kline. Despite the film's lackluster box-office performance, the track Smith cut for the film became a hit on his album, Willennium (1999). The golf movie The Legend of Bagger Vance was his next big film, with Smith playing the caddie to Matt Damon's out-of-sorts swinger.

In 2001 the biopic Ali, based on boxing legend Muhammad Ali, saw Smith return to critical acclaim. His turn as the charismatic boxing great saw Smith put in the performance of his life, training and disciplining himself to extraordinary lengths to do justice to the athleticism, and ego, of the films main character.

The film under-performed at the box-office despite a record-breaking opening day. Smith's performance, however, was good enough to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.

Film Roles

A number of sequels were next, with Smith reprising his roles inMen In Black and Bad Boys. Neither were flops, but they were both nowhere near as successful as their predecessors. Staying with the sci-fi action theme, Smith moved on to I, Robot in 2004. The Isaac Asimov adaptation saw Smith playing a cop in 2035 investigating a murder by a robot and then battling a robot insurgency. The film performed well, grossing more than $144 million in U.S. box offices.

Smith's smooth-talking charmer persona was put to use in the 2005 romantic comedy, Hitch. Smith played a ladies' man and dating consultant who helps luckless guys with their romantic moves. Smith penned the theme song, and included it on his album Lost and Found (2005). Hitch was a massive success, and was followed by another critical and financial hit, the 2006 rags-to-riches tale, The Pursuit of Happyness. Starring alongside his real-life son Jaden, Smith captivated audiences with the story of a single father who has to build a life from scratch. He received his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance.

In 2007, Smith starred in I Am Legend, a remake of the Charlton Heston film Omega Man, where he battled blood-thirsty vampires. The film became a national and international hit.

The talented actor and musician has recently entered yet another arena, working as a film producer. Smith worked both sides of the camera for the film Hancock, in which he plays an alcoholic anti-superhero, and for Seven Pounds, about a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. He also helped produce the 2008 films Lakeview Terrace and The Secret Life of Bees. His most recent project, The Mark, is slated for release in 2009.

Personal Life

Smith has been married twice. His first marriage in 1992 lasted only three years but produced a son, Willard Smith III, who is also known as Trey. He has been married to actress Jada Pinkett Smithsince 1997. The couple has a son, Jaden, who was born in 1998 and a daughter, Willow, born in 2000.

The Smith family has homes in Florida, Sweden and Philadelphia. Like many in Hollywood, Smith is politically liberal and has made donations to the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama. He is a fan of chess and video games and is known to take his mother on vacation every year, usually to the Canyon Ranch spa in Tucson, Arizona.

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