FEATURED Artists
Verna A. Gray
Miss Verna Gray had a drive to always continue to strive for excellence in order to truly educate disadvantaged inner-city children. After 24 years teaching in the Newark Public School System, Miss Gray felt that it did not offer enough to the children. So, she started and opened a public school herself. Miss Gray founded and opened The Gray Charter School in Newark, New Jersey on September 5, 2000. The Gray Charter School has been nominated as a NJ Distinguished Title I school. Miss Gray and the Gray Charter School’s students have appeared twice on News 12 Spotlight NJ to discuss and display their outstanding achievement.
Leroy Chiao
Leroy Chiao is a former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander. He works in business, consulting, executive coaching and space education. He is a professional international speaker, and a co-founder and the CEO of OneOrbit, providing keynotes and training to companies and schools. Chiao also holds appointments at Rice University and the Baylor College of Medicine and is an advisor to the Houston Association for Space and Science Education. In 2009, he served on the White House appointed Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, and currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council.
Charlie Midnight
Charlie Midnight is a Multi-Grammy® award winning and Golden Globe® nominated Record Producer and Songwriter who has been involved in the writing, conceptualization and production of albums throughout his career that have sold in excess of 50 million copies world-wide. Among his many achievements are: a Golden Globe® nomination for "Why Should I Worry,” sung by Billy Joel for Walt Disney’s classic film "Oliver and Company,” a Golden Globe® nomination for "A Woman Loves A Man," sung by Joe Cocker for the feature film "Bull Durham,” a Grammy® Award for Best Pop Album for the Joni Mitchell "Turbulent Indigo” Album and “My Way To You” with Jamey Johnson for his “The Guitar Song” Album. “The Guitar Song” earned a Grammy® Award for Best Country Album.
Nile Rodgers
As the co-founder of CHIC and the newly elected Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Rodgers pioneered a musical language that generated chart-topping hits like "Le Freak," (the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records!) and sparked the advent of hip-hop with "Good Times". Nile Rodgers transcends all styles of music across every generation with a body of work that's garnered him inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2017) and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2016).
His work in the CHIC Organization and his productions for artists like David Bowie, Diana Ross, and Madonna have sold over 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide while his innovative, trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Avicii, Sigala, Disclosure, and Sam Smith reflect the vanguard of contemporary music.
André Cymone
While his current outpouring of creativity has added a significant new chapter to his story, Cymone's musical life began decades ago. He found a kindred spirit in his schoolmate Prince, and the two began playing in bands together in their teens, laying the groundwork for the revolutionary Minneapolis sound that would alter the face of popular music in the '80s.
In the early '80s Cymone broke away from Prince’s band to launch a solo career, releasing three well-received albums - Livin' in the New Wave, Survivin' in the '80s and AC - whose visionary new wave/funk fusion spawned half a dozen hit R&B singles. Cymone also established himself as an in-demand producer, overseeing a series of successful releases by a diverse array of acts including Jody Watley, Tom Jones, Pebbles, Adam Ant, Jermaine Stewart and Evelyn "Champagne" King.