Sex, melodrama, and a raunchy, dark comedy -- audiences can expect to find excesses of all these types in the works of Pedro Almodovar, a Spanish filmmaker whose homegrown popularity rivals that of Luis Bunuel. Born poor and unable to afford tuition to film school (all of which were, at any rate, clo
In 1981, New York witnessed the formation of the first successful white hip-hop group. Mike D, Ad-Rock, and MCA emerged from the hard-core punk scene of the late 1970s and fought for our right to party to a different sound. Their "Licensed to Ill" sold 720,000 copies in six weeks, making it Columbia'
The two-pronged talent of Louis Armstrong was one of the more joyous treasures to have come out of jazz -- his warm, jubilant vocals were as intricate and charismatic as his trumpeting. Raised in New Orleans in loving poverty by his grandmother, Armstrong organized a street performance group at ag
For more than 20 years, Gianni Versace's sexy, outrageous, theatrical Couture has captured the hearts -- and the purse strings -- of fashion-followers around the globe. Versace used fashion to reshape public opinion about exhibitionism, sensuality, and taste. His style was influenced in equal parts b