Singers

Peter Andre is a pop singer and television personality known for his 90's hit singles Mysterious Girl and Flava. Although his music career faltered in the new millennium, an appearance in the third series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! brought him back to public recognition - especially after a burgeoning romance with model Katie Price in the jungle led to a real-life relationship.

The two had a son, who they named Junior, in 2005 and got married in a lavish ceremony later in the year. The marriage led to a number of opportunities for Andre and Price - including fly-on-the-wall documentaries, recording deals and a chat show fronted by the pair.

Andre is of Greek-Cypriot descent. He was born in London but raised in Australia.

Biography/Timeline

1973 - Born Peter James Andrea on 27 February 1973 in London.

1983 - The Andrea family move to Australia.

Alice Cooper is one of the truly iconic rockers of the 60's and 70's who continues to make music to the present day. Clad in black, Cooper (whose real name is Vincent Damon Furnier) wore distinctive black make-up on stage and his theatrical live performances included scenes where his murderous stage persona would be hung, impaled or beheaded.

Billie Piper (real name Lianne Paul Piper) is a former British pop singer who later carved out a successful career as an actress thanks to starring roles in Doctor Who and the ITV2 drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

Biography / Timeline

1982 - Born on 22 September in Swindon, Wiltshire to parents Paul Piper and Mandy Kent. Initially registered as Lianne, her name was changed to Billie three weeks later.

1998 - Launches a solo pop career as "Billie", going to Number 1 with her first two singles, Because We Want To and Girlfriend. Wins the Smash Hits Princess Of Pop award in the same year.

Lea Michele is an American singer and actress, currently best known for her portrayal of Rachel Berry in the high school comedy-drama Glee. She is also a well-known Broadway actress, especially her starring role as Wendla Bergman in Spring Awakening.

Biography / Timeline

1986 - Born Lea Michele Sarfati on 29 August 1986 in The Bronx, New York.

1995 - Made her Broadway debut in the role of Young Cosette in the original production of Les Miserables.

2000 - Takes on the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening.

2006 - Spring Awakening debuts on Broadway with Michele in the role of Wendla Bergman.

2009 - Pilot episode of Glee airs in America on 19 May 2009, with Michele as one of the lead characters, Rachel Berry.

Leon Jackson is a Scottish singer who became famous when he won the 2007 series of The X Factor. Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of the show in Glasgow and was mentored in the Under 25 group by Dannii Minogue.

After winning the series, he released his debut single, a cover of Whitney Houston's when You Believe. This single went to #1 in the UK and Ireland pop charts.

On 12 October 2008, Jackson released his follow-up single Don't Call This Love, which went to #3 in the pop chart. Subsequent downlod-only singles failed to make an impact on the charts and in March 2009, Jackson was dropped from Sony BMG.

Useful links

• Official Leon Jackson website.

Dannii Minogue is an Australian pop star, actress and television personality, and the younger sister of Kylie Minogue. She's best known for a string of dance hits and is mostly famous in the UK for her role as a judge on The X Factor.

Biography

Dannii Minogue was born Danielle Jane Minogue on 20th October 1971, the youngest child of Ron and Carol Minogue. She has an older brother and sister, Brendan and Kylie.

Dannii was a successful child actress, securing a role in the Australian soap opera Skyways in 1978 and later a role on The Sullivans.

Neil Young is a singer/songwriter, musician and film director from Canada. He was born on 12 November 1945 to parents Rassy and Scott Young. He is known for his work as a solo artist and with the seminal bands Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Despite living in the USA since the 1970's, Young remains a Canadian citizen.

Robert Plant is a rock singer, who originally found fame as the frontman for Led Zeppelin. He was with the band for 12 years, until the death of John Bonham in 1980 resulted in the band splitting up. Following the demise of Led Zeppelin, Plant went on to have a successful solo career and other collaborations with bands such as The Honeydrippers. In 2007, he teamed up for an award-winning record, Raising Sand, and tour with singer Alison Krauss.

Useful links

• Robert Plant official website
• The Robert Plant/Alison Krauss MySpace page

Alesha Dixon is a singer, dancer and television presenter from London. She initially found fame with the girl group Mis-Teeq in the early 2000's. The group disbanded in early 2005 after their record label, Telstar, closed. Shortly after this, Alesha announced her decision to embark on a solo career.

Dixon signed to Polydor and was due to release an album titled Fired Up. Although her first solo single, Lipstick charted well, the follow-up (Knockdown) peaked at number 45. Soon after, Dixon and Polydor parted company, although the label gave her full rights to the unreleased album. Fired Up was eventually released in Japan on 20 February 2008.

In 2007, Alesha took part in and won the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing with her professional dance partner Matthew Cutler.

James Hetfield is a singer and guitarist and one of the founding members of Metallica. As the band's frontman, Hetfield's snarling vocal delivery and unique rhythm guitar playing helped to popularise the Thrash Metal genre in the early 1980's.

Biography

Hetfield was born in Downey, California, in a suburb of Los Angeles on 3rd August 1963. He began to play guitar and was influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, and later responded to an advert for musicians posted by drummer Lars Ulrich. Ulrich was looking for other musicians to form a band with and so the beginnings of Metallica were formed.

Hetfield and Ulrich relocated to San Francisco in 1983, with Cliff Burton and future Megadeth frotnman Dave Mustaine. Mustaine was quickly dropped in favour of Kirk Hammett, who joined the band as lead guitarist just before they released their debut album, Kill 'Em All.