John Legend is the first African American man to earn an EGOT and one of only seventeen people in the prestigious EGOT club. He is a critically acclaimed, multiplatinum singer-songwriter that has garnered 12 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award, among others.
Legend has released eight celebrated albums over the course of his career, including, Get Lifted (2004), Once Again (2006), Evolver (2008), Love in the Future (2013), Darkness and Light (2016), A Legendary Christmas Deluxe (2019), Bigger Love (2020) and most recently, LEGEND (2022).
Late last year, Legend launched his critically acclaimed Las Vegas Residency entitled, "Love In Las Vegas" which began in April 2022 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Legend starred as Jesus in NBC's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE IN CONCERT in April 2018. That year, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and won an Emmy as a producer in the category of Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for the show. Legend joined THE VOICE for Season 16 (2019) and was a coach on Season 22 (2022).
Beyond his music career, John, along with partners Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius, is a principal of Get Lifted Film Co. Their upcoming projects include the film adaptation of S.A. Cosby's novel BLACKTOP WASTELAND, Al Sharpton's documentary LOUDMOUTH, and the highly anticipated second season of the IFC/AMC comedy series SHERMAN'S SHOWCASE. Get Lifted produced the Netflix films JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY and MONSTER, documentary films CITIZEN ASHE, THE LEGEND OF THE UNDERGROUND, A CRIME ON THE BAYOU, 40 YEARS A PRISONER and GIVING VOICE, the HBO docu-series ATLANTA'S MISSING AND MURDERED: THE LOST CHILDREN, SHERMAN'S SHOWCASE: BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPECTACULAR, and RHYTHM + FLOW. Get Lifted and Universal Studio Group's UCP inked a first-look deal for unscripted series and an exclusive multi-year overall deal for scripted content. Aside from film/TV, they have partnered with Zando to form Get Lifted Books, under which they will publish brilliant authors, who have the ability to transform the conversation, in both adult fiction and nonfiction as well as titles for young readers.
As an activist, Legend launched HUMANLEVEL in 2021, an initiative to uplift communities disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism. Legend also initiated the #FREEAMERICA campaign in 2015 to change the conversation surrounding criminal justice policies and to end mass incarceration. In addition to Legend's signature initiatives, he serves on the Board of Directors of Harlem Village Academies and Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and on the Advisory Board for The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and Teach for All.
Keith Urban is a Grammy-award winning country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. Urban has won four Grammy Awards, ten Country Music Association Awards, eleven Academy of Country Music Awards, a People’s Choice, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe nomination, and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
In 2017, Urban celebrated his 22nd #1 song, his 6th consecutive, with “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which also received two Grammy nominations, in addition to Album of the Year for RIPCORD, his fifth consecutive platinum or multi-platinum album.
A groundbreaking album for Urban, RIPCORD marked the second time that one of his albums debuted simultaneously atop the all-genre charts in the U.S., Canada and Australia. He is the only male Country artist to achieve this mark, not just once, but twice.
In 2012, he was chosen as a new judge for season 12 of the American Idol, and he remained on the program through the end of its original run.
The Country Music Association honored Urban with its Horizon Award. He was the first Horizon Award winner in history to go on to win the CMA’s Male Vocalist of the Year, a title he’s captured three times, and the coveted Entertainer of the Year. Since then, Urban’s career has seen a long list of groundbreaking firsts and accomplishments reserved for the music industry’s elite.
Jennifer Hudson is an EGOT, award-winning singer, actress, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a finalist on the third season of American Idol.
She can be seen as the host of The Jennifer Hudson Show where she brings fun, uplifting, and empowering conversations to the forefront and shines a light on extraordinary stories, talents, and passions.
TIME named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World and she was honored with the NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year and named one of People Magazine's People of the Year in 2022.
She made her film debut as "Effie White" in Dreamgirls, for which she received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Hudson released her self-titled debut studio album, which was certified gold in the United States, sold over a million copies worldwide, and received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.
In 2013, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Chainsmokers, Grammy Award-winning and Billboard Chart topping artist/producer duo, have evolved into a dominating musical force with a diverse repertoire of songs that have led them to become one of music’s hottest recording artists.
In 2016, the group catapulted to worldwide stardom with 3 Multi-Platinum certified hits - “Roses,” featuring Rozes, “Don’t Let Me Down” featuring Daya and “Closer,” featuring Halsey, which went on to become the longest running #1 single of 2016 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has achieved Diamond certification.
Comprised of Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, their signature sound deftly reaches across indie, progressive and pop realms and has seen them develop some of the biggest breakthrough songs over the course of the last few years.
Additionally, the duo was honored with a win at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards and two wins at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. The duo maintained their extended Wynn Nightlife Residency in Las Vegas throughout 2019.
Mantis VC is a partnership between Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, that invests opportunistically in early-stage technology-enabled startups. By combining the knowledge of our 100+ prolific industry leaders as limited partners and our deep understanding and influence on a wide variety of markets, Mantis pursues the most disruptive and defensible early-stage companies that adopt emerging technologies.
Dan + Shay 3x GRAMMY-winning duo Dan + Shay continue to etch a permanent mark on country music – and beyond – with the release of the duos highly anticipated fifth studio album, Bigger Houses, co-produced by the band’s Dan Smyers and Scott Hendricks, releasing worldwide September 15th via Warner Music Nashville.
The long-awaited new music follows the duo’s record shattering, critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning album, Good Things. Also co-produced by Smyers, the highly imaginative LP featured their most recent country radio No. 1’s – the Platinum-certified hits “I Should Probably Go To Bed” and 2x Platinum “Glad You Exist,” which marked the duo’s sixth consecutive No.1 and ninth career No.1, as well as the 5x Multi-Platinum global smash “10,000 Hours” with Justin Bieber.
In addition, the Platinum-certified album Good Things was the first country album in the streaming era to achieve RIAA Gold certification at release and is one of the only 12 albums all-genre to be released and go Gold in 2021.
Recently announced as coaches for season 25 of NBC’s Emmy-winning program The Voice, Dan + Shay will join Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper in Spring 2024 as the first-ever coaching duo in the show’s history. The pair will bring a wealth of experience to their team, with a long list of impressive accolades that include becoming the first and only artist to win the GRAMMY Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance 3x consecutively since the category’s inception (2021 – “10,000 Hours,” 2020 – “Speechless,” 2019 – “Tequila”). The reigning Favorite Country Duo or Group winners also recently claimed their 3rd consecutive win for the category at the American Music Awards, where they had swept their categories in 2020, becoming the first country artist ever to win Collaboration of the Year. In addition, the 2x CMA Awards Duo of the Year and 3x ACM
Awards Duo of the Year were named Top Country Duo/Group at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.
In the ten years since they formed, Dan + Shay have become global superstars, amassing more than 11 billion streams globally, multiple international no. 1 singles and 49 total RIAA Platinum and Gold certifications in the U.S. alone.
Christina Aguilera is an iconic singer who emerged during the teen pop explosion of the late 1990s and experienced almost instant commercial success.
Aguilera got her musical start on the Disney Channel’s The New Mickey Mouse Club. After recording the song “Reflection” for the Disney movie Mulan (1998), Aguilera signed a recording deal and released a self-titled debut album of dance-oriented pop music in 1999. Both the album and Aguilera’s first single, “Genie in a Bottle,” quickly climbed to the top of the Billboard pop charts, and she won the Grammy Award for best new artist in 1999.
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Aguilera’s next albums took varying paths but revolved around her powerful voice and exploited her looks and charisma. Emphasizing her Ecuadoran ethnic heritage, she capitalized on the Latin pop music boom by mastering enough Spanish to release Mi reflejo (2000). My Kind of Christmas (2000) followed. In 2001 Aguilera collaborated with fellow singers Pink, Mya, and Lil’ Kim on a popular cover version of LaBelle’s 1974 funk classic “Lady Marmalade.” Soon after, Aguilera released Stripped (2002), on which she cast off her ingenue image and took on a more provocative sexualized persona, epitomized by her hit single “Dirrty.” Reminiscent of the work of Etta James and Billie Holiday, Back to Basics (2006) paid tribute to Aguilera’s jazz and blues influences.
Aguilera returned to dance pop with Bionic (2010), though the album was considered a commercial disappointment, as was its follow-up, Lotus (2012). Her 2018 release, Liberation, earned glowing reviews. She later contributed the songs “Haunted Heart” and “Loyal Brave True” to the soundtracks for Addams Family (2019) and Mulan (2020), respectively. In 2019 she began a residency show titled Xperience at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Aguilera received numerous accolades and awards for her music, including several Grammy Awards.
In 2010, after appearing in various cameo roles on film, Aguilera starred opposite Cher in the musical drama Burlesque, as a young small-town woman with dreams of becoming an entertainer. The following year she became a judge on the television singing competition The Voice; she remained with the show until 2016. During this time Aguilera continued to act. Her notable TV credits included a guest role (2015) on Nashville. She also appeared in such films as Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and Life of the Party (2018) and voiced the character of Akiko Glitter in The Emoji Movie (2017).
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