Legacy of Don McLean

Heikki Veikko Harma is a Finnish singer-songwriter who has also distinguished himself as a translator of song lyrics, but has written popular lyrics of his own too. To the public he is better known by the name Hector, which he has used since the release of his 1965 debut single "Palkkasoturi", a Finnish translation of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier". His 1974 album Hectorock I became the fastest-selling record in Finnish history, selling 50,000 units within a few months. Hector was at the height of his popularity in the first half of the 1970s, but his steady string of recordings provided occasional hits well into the 1990s. In the 2000s he made a strong return to popularity with Ei selityksiä, which became one of his most successful albums. In 2007 he made a farewell tour on big arenas, but has performed occasionally after that too. In 2011 he made a massive comeback tour and released a new album Hauras (Fragile) in 2014, ten years after his previous album.

The Persuasions were an American a cappella group that formed in Brooklyn, New York in 1962, singing under corner streetlights and in subway corridors. Their style combined gospel, soul, early rock, and jazz into melodic five-part harmonies. Since being discovered by Frank Zappa, the Persuasions have released 23 studio albums to date.

"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eighth studio album Music (2000). It was released as the third and final single from the album on April 9, 2001, by Maverick Records and Warner Bros. Records. It was written and produced by Madonna and Guy Sigsworth, with David Torn as co-writer, and Mark "Spike" Stent as a co-producer. A mid-tempo electronic, synth-pop and glitch pop song, it lyrically conveys society's double standard toward women, addressing hurtful myths about female inferiority. To emphasize the message, the song opens with a spoken word sample by actress Charlotte Gainsbourg from the 1993 British film The Cement Garden. A Spanish version of the track, "Lo Que Siente la Mujer", was translated by Alberto Ferreras and included in the Latin American edition of Music.

English singer Ellie Goulding has released five studio albums, two remix albums, eight extended plays, 50 singles, 13 promotional singles and 60 music videos. She had sold over 2.6 million albums and over 15 million singles in the United Kingdom alone as of August 2024. According to Recording Industry Association of America, Goulding has sold 28.5 million digital singles and 4.5 million albums in the United States. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, in December of that year. It was followed by the release of her debut studio album, Lights, in February 2010. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and subsequently earned a double platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It spawned four singles: "Under the Sheets", "Starry Eyed", "Guns and Horses" and "The Writer", which reached numbers 53, four, 26 and 19 on the UK Singles Chart, respectively. In November 2010, the album was re-released as Bright Lights; it featured seven new songs, including a cover version of Elton John's "Your Song", which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. The sixth single to be lifted from the album, "Lights", peaked at number 49 in the United Kingdom, while becoming Goulding's highest-charting single to date in the United States and Canada, where it reached numbers two and seven, respectively.

James Blake Litherland is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Known for his emotive, soulful light head voice and use of falsetto, he first gained recognition following the release of three extended plays—The Bells Sketch, CMYK and Klavierwerke—in 2010. He signed with A&M Records to release his self-titled debut album (2011) the following year, which was met with critical praise and peaked within the top ten of the UK Albums Chart.