The safety fences are up, the tracks for the special lights are in place and the bleachers installed. These can only mean one thing: The 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix is on this weekend (Sept 15 to 17). While the race track is where all the action happens, ticket holders want the whole experience, too. That is why the off-track action is perhaps the most sought-after entertainment. Just look at some of Singapore’s past headlining acts: Kylie Minogue, Adam Lambert and John Legend. This year’s performers include Ariana Grande, Duran Duran, George the Poet, Lianne La Havas, Seal, The Chainsmokers, OneRepublic and Calvin Harris.
Ariana Grande, known for her powerful vocals, is a joy to watch live. The 23-year-old’s music career took off in 2013 with her first studio album, Yours Truly, which made its debut at No 1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum. Her second album, My Everything, saw similar success, enjoying the top spot in the US with five hit singles, which spent 34 continuous weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. This garnered her recognition as the artist with the most Top 10 singles in 2014. In 2016, her third studio album, Dangerous Woman, made its debut at No 2 on the Billboard 200.
Duran Duran made its debut in 1981 and has since released 14 albums, which have garnered sales of more than 100 million records. The band has been honoured with numerous prestigious accolades, including two Brit Awards, two Grammy Awards, seven Lifetime Achievement Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
George the Poet is a London-born spoken-word performer of Ugandan descent. His innovative brand of musical poetry has won him critical acclaim, both as a recording artist and a social commentator.
George took up spoken word while studying Social and Political Sciences at King’s College, Cambridge. It was here that George won a social enterprise competition by Barclays and Channel 4 called “The Stake”, earning him a £16,000 grant to deliver poetry workshops to disadvantaged young people. Shortly after graduating, George the Poet embarked on a music career, culminating in the 2014 release of his debut effort, The Chicken and the Egg EP. A critical success, the EP earned George a string of nominations, including the Brits Critics’ Choice Award, MTV Brand New Award and BBC Sound of 2015 Shortlist.
Lianne La Havas made a huge breakthrough with her top-five debut album in 2012, Is Your Love Big Enough?, which sold 200,000 copies and won Album of the Year at iTunes, as well as received nominations for Barclaycard Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello Best Album.
OneRepublic gained mainstream fame with its 2007 smash hit Apologize from its platinum debut album, Dreaming Out Loud. The single received the largest amount of airplay in radio history and was ranked Top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100’s All-Time Top Songs list. The second hit single, Stop and Stare, from the same album saw almost equal success.
The band has won several music awards and landed nominations for the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and World Music Awards.
Seal, the British multi-platinum singer-songwriter, has released nine studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, 28 singles and four video albums, with worldwide sales of his first eight studio albums exceeding 30 million.
On the heels of his stunning debut album, Seal, he went on to win the prestigious Brit Award for Best British Male in 1992. His hit single Kiss From a Rose — memorably included in the Batman Forever soundtrack — earned him four Grammy Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and global esteem. Seal’s ninth album, 7, released in November 2015, reunites him with super producer Trevor Horn. The artist’s focus remains where it has always been, on the many permutations of love.
The Chainsmokers made up of Drew Taggert and Alex Pall has garnered over five billion global streams and three multi-platinum singles. Their debut album, Bouquet, which was released in 2015, featured the hit single Roses, which reached the Top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Don’t Let Me Down became their first top-five single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while Closer became the first song to spend 26 weeks in the top five of the chart. The New York-based electronic dance music duo has also been recognised with a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, an American Music Award and five iHeartRadio Music Awards, with nominations for two Billboard Music Awards, two Teen Choice Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.
DJ Calvin Harris will be the headlining act this year. Having broken world records and dominated global music charts, he stands as the figurehead for modern dance music. Harris became the first British solo artiste to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify, and currently has over five billion streams across all major streaming services, five billion video views and 10 consecutive platinum singles.
As one of the most successful artistes of all time, he has collaborated with many international stars, including Rihanna, Florence and The Machine, Ellie Goulding and Pharrell Williams.
This article appeared in Issue 796 (Sep 11) of The Edge Singapore.
