The Caribbean region is buzzing with talent, some of you may not know that these two ladies hail from the island of Barbados!
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| Photo Courtesy - ShontelleOnline.com |
Shontelle Layne known professionally as Shontelle, was born on the Caribbean island of Barbados on October 4, 1983. She released her debut album
Shontelligence in November 2008. Her sophomore album,
No Gravity, was released in September 2010. Her singles, "T-Shirt", and "Impossible", achieved modest international success.
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| Photo Courtesy - ShontelleOnline.com |
Shontelle later became a student of entertainment law at the University of the West Indies campus in Barbados and was on her way to becoming a lawyer when Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers heard "Roll It Gal" on the radio, a song that Shontelle had co-written for Alison Hinds, a fellow Bajan artist.
This prompted the two to find her to create a cover version of the song, but later brought her to the US in late 2007 and signed her to SRC Records.
Later, Shontelle moved to America so she could fulfill her dream in being a singer and songwriter.
The singer is also known for her involvement in some charity work. She has lent her talent in raising funds for patients with Alzheimer's in the Together for Care concert,
girl's education for She's the First,
VH1 Save the Music Foundation,
and breast cancer research charities.
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| Photo Courtesy - RihannaDaily.com |
Robyn Rihanna Fenty, better known as simply
Rihanna, was born in Saint Michael, Barbados on February 20, 1988, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z.
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| Photo Courtesy - RihannaDaily.com |
In 2005, Rihanna released her debut studio album,
Music of the Sun, which peaked in the top ten of the
Billboard 200 chart and features the
Billboard Hot 100 hit single "Pon de Replay." Less than a year later, she released her second studio album,
A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top five of the
Billboard albums chart, and produced her first Hot 100 number one single, "SOS". Rihanna's third studio album,
Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), spawned four chart-topping singles "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Disturbia" and "Don't Stop the Music", and was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella," which features Jay-Z. Her fourth studio album
Rated R, released in November 2009, produced the top 10 singles "Russian Roulette", "Hard" and "Rude Boy", which achieved the number-one spot on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Loud (2010), her fifth studio album, contains the number-one hits "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?" and "S&M".
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| Photo Courtesy - RihannaDaily.com |
Rihanna has sold more than 20 million albums and 60 million singles which makes her one of the best selling artists of all time. She is the youngest artist in
Billboard charts history to achieve ten number-one singles on the Hot 100. As of March 2010, Rihanna has sold approximately 5.4 million album units and over 33.7 million digital singles in the United States.
Billboard named Rihanna the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade, and ranked her as the 17th Artist of the 2000s decade. She has received several accolades, including the 2007 World Music Awards for World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year, and the 2011 Brit Award for Best International Female Solo Artist. She has also amassed a total of four Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, and eighteen Billboard Music Awards. Rihanna has also been appointed the official ambassador of youth and culture for Barbados.
