The tumultuous hitmaking career of Sly and The Family Stone continues to reverberate in every single genre of contemporary music - from pop and R&B to hip-hop and jazz - more than three decades after the group's last appearance on the Top 40 charts.

Multiple Grammy Award nominees singer/songwriter James Blunt, rapper T.I. and legendary funk band Earth, Wind and Fire together with Mary J. Blige and Ludacris are set to perform on "The 49th Annual Grammy Awards," live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Sunday, Feb. 11 (8:00-11:30 PM live, ET/delayed PT) on CBS.

Mary J. Blige and Ludacris will team up with funk legends Earth Wind & Fire to fill the final performance slot at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. The three acts will join forces to present a tribute to funk and hip-hop at the star-studded show, which will also feature collaborations between Shakira and Wyclef Jean, Lionel Richie, Chris Brown and Smokey Robinson and Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts.

Five New "Beautiful Ballads" Titles Arrive In Time For Valentine's Day The Columbia, Epic, BMG and associated label archives that represent the deep resources of Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, now provide the repertoire for Beautiful Ballads, a series of single CD collections that arrived in stores the day after Christmas - just in time for consumers to start making plans for Valentine's Day gift-giving.

Anyone paying attention to the upper echelon of soul music's ever changing face knows the name Incognito. More than the moniker of a great band, Incognito is a brand - a guaranteed one-stop for sophisticated, uplifting U.K.-spun soul-jazz, stamped by a cavalcade of top-notch vocal talent, sweeping arrangements for rhythm section, horns and strings, substance-fueled lyrical content and the unflagging leadership of guitarist/songwriter Jean-Paul Maunick, affectionately known as "Bluey."

Embracing an effortless eloquence and cocoa butter smooth persona, the music of Brian McKnight has defined the true meaning of American soul man since 1991. Like his spiritual Motown godfathers, this upstate New York native has a velvety voice and silky style that captures the vibe of vintage soul without being old fashion. On his latest disc Ten, that blend can be clearly heard.

Right on. Right on. Nothing puts a dip in your hip and a glide in your stride quite like a gritty funk groove that hits the beat hard on the one. The polyrhythmic kissing cousin of classic soul and R&B, funk's sinuous slap-bass lines and booming kick drums from its heyday in the late '60s through the late '70s went on to inspire a generation of hip-hop heads.

Slapbak is the brazenly category-defying love child of singer/songwriter Jara Harris, who also happens to play drums, bass, guitar and keyboards extremely well. He’s a Mission Viejo native who has painstakingly nurtured his rainbow-shaded band through the sunniest of times to the pitch-black bleakest.

Shalamar Shalamar’s fans didn’t just want to buy their albums. They wanted to BE them – traveling the globe, singing, dancing, closing down clubs, shopping, even stopping to ride some dolphins along the way. It takes one-of-a-kind chemistry to effect that kind of ardor, and it can’t be manufactured (as the beginning and end of their story proves).

This spring sees the return of the UK’s hottest soul singer, Terri Walker. 'I Am' is a fusion of intelligent styles, blended into an accessible and commercial sound. The album features ten stunning tracks which are sure to capture the imaginations of all generations. Terri signed with London based independent label Dekkor Records directly after coming out of her deal with Universal.