March 1: Canadian pop & R&B singer-songwriter Justin Bieber is 17 today.

Justin Drew Bieber was born in London, Ontario, and was raised in Stratford, Ontario. Bieber's mother, Patricia Lynn "Pattie" Mallette, was 18 years old when she gave birth. She worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raised Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. (Justin is in touch  with his father.)

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess. As he got older, he taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.

In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and placed second. His mother posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.

In 2008, while searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.

Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted his mother. Reluctant at first, but after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13, to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.


Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.

His debut single, "One Time," released worldwide in 2009, peaked in the top ten in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, My World, followed in November 2009, and was eventually certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

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His first full studio release, My World 2.0, was released on March 23, 2010 and has since received similar success; it debuted at number one and within the top ten of several countries, and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby," in January 2010. The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed, most discussed, and most disliked YouTube video.

Bieber followed-up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never - which had an opening weekend gross that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend for a concert-film.

The singer has been nominated and awarded numerous accolades over the past few years, winning Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and being nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards, among others.

He is dating singer and actress Selena Gomez. His hit song "Latin Girl" is believed to be a love song to Selena.





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March 1: Pop singer and rapper, Ke$ha is 24 today.

Born Kesha Rose Sebert in Los Angeles, CA. Her single mom, Pebe Sebert is a singer and songwriter. Ke$ha has said the dollar sign in her stage name is meant to be ironic, and she "actually stood for the opposite of putting a lot of emphasis on money."

Pebe moved the family to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991, after securing a publishing deal for her songwriting. Pebe frequently brought Ke$ha and her brothers along to recording studios and encouraged Ke$ha to sing. She also taught Ke$ha how to write songs and they would often write together when she returned home from school.

 The Seberts were featured in an episode of The Simple Life, as the host family to Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in 2005.

When she was 18, Ke$ha signed with Dr. Luke's record label and publishing company. An active musician since then, she sang background vocals and wrote songs for other artists. She appeared in the video for Katy Perry's single, "I Kissed a Girl" and sang background vocals for the Dr. Luke produced song, "Lace and Leather" by Britney Spears in 2008.

Her breakthrough came in early 2009 after appearing on Flo Rida's number one single, "Right Round." It was a case of being in the right pace, at the right time, and being ready. Ke$ha had walked into a recording session with Flo Rida and Dr. Luke. Flo Rida wanted a female voice for the song, and Dr. Luke then suggested Ke$ha for the part. Flo Rida liked the end result so much that they did two more tracks.

Soon after, Ke$ha signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records.

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Her debut single, "Tik Tok," released in late 2009, reached number one in eleven countries; in the US, the song topped the chart for nine consecutive weeks, becoming the longest chart topping single of the decade to date.

Her debut album, Animal, was released in January 2010 and debuted at number one in the U.S., Canada and Greece. By September 2010, Ke$ha had sold two million albums worldwide and released three more top ten singles from Animal. The album was re-released with a companion extended play, Cannibal, in November, preceded by the chart-topping lead single, "We R Who We R."

Her music incorporates elements of dance-pop, and she uses a spoken word rapping style on many songs. Ke$ha has cited artists such as Madonna, Debbie Harry, Queen, Johnny Cash, Aaron Neville, Bob Dylan and Beastie Boys as musical influences.

Her music and her party-girl image has often been criticized with emphasis being on her usage of autotune voice enhancement. The release of Cannibal however, has received positive reviews for her use of these techniques.

She has already been nominated for a slew of awards including Artist of the Year and Favorite Female Artist by American Music Awards. She won Best New Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

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