Colombian-born US popstar, Shakira, African-American R&B rising star, John Legend and British iconic group, UB40, are among 12 Nigerian and international artistes who have confirmed participation at the second edition of THISDAY Music Festival scheduled to hold on July 14 and 15 at THISDAY's brand new event centre in Lagos. The centre has a seating capacity of 15,000.

The celebrated international music stars will be following in the footsteps of Beyonce, Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Ciara, En Vogue and Missy Elliot who graced the first edition of the festival last year in an event described in the entertainment circle as unprecedented in the world's history.

Shakira, born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll on February 2, 1977, is a two-time Grammy Award-winning and eight-time Latin Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, dancer and occasional actress. She has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s.

Six years ago, she broke through into the English-speaking market with the release of her first album in the language, Laundry Service, which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Shakira has sold around 15 million albums worldwide. She is also the only artiste from South America to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart and the UK Singles Chart. Shakira is also known for her intelligence, having an IQ of 140, and her ability to speak five languages.

On Sunday, May 27, 2007, she made history by giving the largest concert ever in Mexican history. Over 200,000 people gathered in Plaza del Zocalo, the town square of Mexico City, for the final Mexican stop on the Oral Fixation Tour. The previous record was held by the Mexican group Cafe Tacuba with 165,000 in attendance.

John Legend, born John Stephens on December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio, is a five-time Grammy Award winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. His debut studio album, the platinum selling Get Lifted, was released in late 2004. It features collaborations with rapper and producer Kanye West as well as rapper Snoop Dogg. The album featured the singles "Used to Love U" (US top 100, UK top 30) and "Ordinary People" (US and UK top 30). He also collaborated with Slum Village on the song "Selfish" (US top 100), also featuring Kanye West. Legend also played the piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything is Everything" and sang background vocals on Jay-Z's "Encore," Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name," and Fort Minor's "High Road." His brother, Vaughn Anthony, is also a singer.

UB40 is a Birmingham, England-based Reggae and pop group which has been on the music scene since 1979. The band was named after the paper form issued by the UK government's Depar-tment of Employment at the time of the band's formation for claiming unemployment benefit (UB40 = Unemplo-yment Benefit, Form 40).

Despite great success in the UK, UB40's popularity in the United States was only established after they released Labour of Love, an album of cover songs, in 1983. The album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 8 on the Billboard Top 200 in the US. The album featured the song, "Red Red Wine", a cover version of a Neil Diamond song .

Their most successful single release is the cover of the Elvis Presley ballad "(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You" which was intended to be the main title to the 1992 Sharon Stone movie Sliver and was a number one hit across Europe and in the U.S.

UB40 will also be touring South Africa in July 2007 and has been announced to participate in the Live Earth concert at the Cradle of Humankind, near Johanne-sburg.

More artistes billed to perform in the star-studded music festival are expected to confirm their participation next week.

Tickets for the two-day event will go on sale at all branches of GTBank on June 14. The classic ticket will cost N10,000 per day, while the VIP ticket will go for N25,000 per day. Tickets for the exclusive but limited state box will go for N50,000 per day.

This Day (Lagos)

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