For the linguistically uninformed, a mononym is "a one-word name by which a person is known." The entertainment world, and the music industry in particular, is rife with notable mononymous persons. What follows is part one (of two) of a collection of songs by singers known only by one name. Sometimes it's their actual first name and sometimes it's a stage name – but it's always and only one name that they go by. Today, the ladies. Tomorrow, the guys. Enjoy! ~ JH
(NOTE: Apologies to Bjork, P!nk, Jewel, Orianthi, Plumb, Xenia, Meiko, Basia, Feist, Kimbra, and others whom I may have left off here. All of these ladies would have qualified, but I've featured their music prominently on my blog in the past, and this time I wanted to focus on some "new" singers. To be fair, Adele has appeared on the blog before also, but she was too good to be left off here.)
1) Cher ~ "Believe" (Contrary to popular belief, Cher is NOT a man in drag!)
2) Madonna ~ "Secret" (It's hard to find a Madonna video that isn't slutty...)
3) Beyoncé & Shakira ~ "Beautiful Liar" (Two mononymous singers for the price of one! – how 'bout them apples?)
4) Selena ~ "Dreaming Of You" (Rest in peace – 18 years ago, actually – to a wonderfully talented singer who was cut down in her prime.)
5) Ke$ha ~ "Your Love Is My Drug" (After all my previous ribbing regarding her stupidity, Ke$ha has finally made an actual "musical appearance" on the blog – will wonders never cease?)
6) Fergie ~ "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)" (I heard this song covered on Glee and really liked it, but I didn't know who originally sang it till now.)
7) Anjulie ~ "Love Songs" (A feel-good song by a unique-sounding singer.)
8) Poe ~ "Angry Johnny" (WARNING: Contains gleefully violent lyrics – if you don't have a twisted sense of humor, you might not appreciate it!)
9) Lenka ~ "Everything At Once" (Fact: Australian girl-pop is some of the quirkiest music you'll hear anywhere.)
10) Adele ~ "Someone Like You" (This is an absolutely perfect song by one of my all-time favorite singers.)
11) Rumer ~ "Am I Forgiven?" (Being a longtime fan of The Carpenters, I was awestruck when I first heard a song by Rumer – while she's an excellent singer in her own right, the similarity between her voice and Karen Carpenter's simply cannot be ignored!)
12) Lights ~ "Toes" (A toe-tapping – pun intended – tune by a tremendously talented young lady.)
13) Tiffany ~ "I Think We're Alone Now" (Years after I heard this song for the first time, it strikes me that Tiffany wasn't actually that great of a singer after all.)
14) Aaliyah ~ "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (The R & B genre lost a great talent in 2001 when this young lady – 22 years old at the time – died in a plane crash in 2001.)
15) Eowyn ~ "Cliché" (And now for some Christian hard rock by one of the more talented female singers in that niche...)
16) Rihanna ~ "Diamonds" (It's also hard to find a Rihanna video that isn't slutty...)
17) Enya ~ "Caribbean Blue" (I'm the only person I know who'd follow up a Rihanna song with one by Enya.)
18) Monica ~ "For You I Will" (In my opinion, this is one of the best R & B songs recorded in the last 20 years.)
19) Mandisa ~ "Stronger" (This video is of a live, in-studio performance of her hit song – amazing!)
20) Imaj ~ "Blush" (Is the country music industry ready for an African-American female singer? If this is song is any indication, I certainly think they should be...)
