Smile (Charlie Chaplin song)

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder, and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias.

Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. He received numerous accolades including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960) and a Special Achievement Golden Globe Award. Posthumously, Cole has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1990), along with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award (1992) and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2000), and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame (2020).

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1954.

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture. Jackson influenced artists across many music genres; through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated dance moves such as the moonwalk, to which he gave the name, as well as the robot.

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is the ninth studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995. It was Jackson's fifth album released through Epic Records, and the first on his label MJJ Productions. It comprises two discs: HIStory Begins, a greatest hits compilation, and HIStory Continues, comprising new material written and produced by Jackson and collaborators. The album includes appearances by Janet Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Slash, and the Notorious B.I.G. The genres span R&B, pop, and hip hop, with elements of hard rock and funk rock. The themes include environmental awareness, isolation, greed, suicide, injustice, and Jackson's conflicts with the media.

Entertainment Weekly is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular culture. The magazine debuted on February 16, 1990, in New York City, and ceased print publication in 2022.

Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the Jackson 5, and played bass guitar. Since 1983 he rejoined the group, now known as the Jacksons.

Michael Jackson: One is the second Michael Jackson-based production in Cirque du Soleil's roster, after Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. It was announced to the public and media on February 21, 2013. In their continuing partnership with the Jackson estate, One evokes the entertainer's artistic style in several manners. The new production began previews on May 23, 2013 and the official world premiere was June 29, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Like The Immortal World Tour, this production was also written and directed by Jamie King. "Sneak peek" videos were released on the internet revealing numbers of the production, including "2 Bad", "Stranger in Moscow", "Bad", and "Smooth Criminal". However, unlike Immortal, the show only uses prerecorded tracks, with no live orchestra. This show is also the most dance-driven Cirque du Soleil show.

"Is It Scary" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. The song was originally written to have been featured in the 1993 film Addams Family Values, but the plans were canceled after contract conflicts. The song was later released on Jackson's 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. "Is It Scary" was written and produced by Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

"Off the Wall" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, from his fifth album of the same name (1979). It was written by English songwriter Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones, and released by Epic Records as the album's third single on November 17, 1979 in the UK and on February 2, 1980 in the U.S. The song was first offered to Karen Carpenter, while she was working on her first solo album, but she turned it down. Lyrically, the song is about getting over troubles.

Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and serves as a standalone origin story for the character. Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and aspiring stand-up comic whose descent into mental illness and nihilism inspires a violent countercultural revolution against the prosperous in a decaying Gotham City. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy appear in supporting roles. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Joker was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative and Joint Effort.

Joaquin Rafael Phoenix is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named him one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.

Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze.

Francis Charles Chacksfield was an English pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and conductor of popular light orchestral easy listening music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Jerry Lewis was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. His success made him a global figure in pop culture and earned him the nickname, "The King of Comedy".

Lucifer is an American urban fantasy television series developed by Tom Kapinos that premiered on January 25, 2016, and concluded on September 10, 2021. It is based on the DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg. The character was introduced in the comic book series The Sandman and later became the protagonist of a spin-off comic book series. Both series were published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The television series was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox network in the United States from May 19, 2009, to March 20, 2015. It centers on the New Directions, a glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School which competes as a show choir while its disparate members deal with social issues, especially regarding sexuality, race, family, teen relationships and teamwork.

Lea Michele Sarfati is an American stage and television actress, singer, and songwriter. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in productions of Les Misérables (1995–1996), Ragtime (1997–1999), Fiddler on the Roof (2004–2005), and Spring Awakening (2006–2008). Michele came to prominence playing Rachel Berry on the Fox series Glee (2009–2015), for which she received an Emmy Award nomination, two Golden Globe nominations and won four People's Choice Awards, three Teen Choice Awards and a Satellite Award. Michele and the rest of the Glee cast earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series from four nominations and three Grammy Award nominations for music recorded for the series, also spawning multiple hits on the Billboard charts. Michele subsequently starred as Hester Ulrich on the Fox series Scream Queens (2015–2016) and as Valentina Barella on the ABC sitcom The Mayor (2017).

Cory Allan Michael Monteith was a Canadian actor and musician. He portrayed Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee. As an actor based in British Columbia, Monteith had minor roles on television series before being cast on Glee. During his success on the show, he also acted in films. His film work included Monte Carlo and a starring role in Sisters & Brothers.

Amber Patrice Riley, sometimes known mononymously as RILEY, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee (2009–2015). For her performance on the series, she and the rest of the cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award, and have been nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, and a Grammy Award.

Kevin Michael McHale is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Formerly one of the two lead vocalists of the boy band NLT, McHale is best known for his role as Artie Abrams in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award, three Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and two Teen Choice Awards. From 2014 to 2016, he hosted the British panel show Virtually Famous on E4. In 2019, McHale and Glee co-star Jenna Ushkowitz began a podcast called Showmance, where they recap Glee episodes and interview Glee cast and crew members, as well as other people. The podcast was rebranded in 2022 as And That’s What You Really Missed on iHeartRadio.