Official name	Ma'an
Native name	مدينة معان
Nickname	Capital of the Great Arab Revolt
Settlement type	City
Dot x	|dot_y =
Pushpin map	Jordan
Pushpin label position	bottom
Pushpin map caption	Location in Jordan
Coordinates region	JO
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Jordan
Subdivision type1	Governorate
Subdivision name1	Ma'an Governorate
Government type	Municipality
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Khalid Alshummary
Leader title1
Established title	Municipality established
Established date	1898
Established title2
Established title3
Unit pref	Imperial
Area total km2	7.5
Area land km2
Area metro km2	100
Population as of	2007
Population total	50,350
Population blank1 title	Ethnicities
Population blank2 title	Religions
Timezone	GMT +2
Timezone dst	+3
Elevation footnotes
Postal code type
Area code	+(962)3
Website	http://www.maan.gov.jo

is still operational until today.]] Ma'an () is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existed since at least Nabatean times - the modern city is to the north and west of the ancient town. The city is an important transport hub situated on the ancient King's Highway and also on the modern Desert Highway. Ma'an was the site of clashes between the Jordanian army and Islamic groups in 2002 after the death of a U.S. diplomat.

History

in the pre-Islamic times Ma'an was inhabited by the Ghassanids, who installed Farwa Al-Juthamiyy as Emir on Ma'an. The Ghassanide kingdom was under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, and followed the Christian faith. After the Battle of Mu'tah, Farwa was accused of being muslim, the Ghassanids arrested Farwa and crucified him, near the Afra hot springs, in response, the newly formed muslim state in Medina, sent an army led by Ussama bin Zaid, who conquered Ma'an.

When the Umayyads took control of the muslim empire, Ma'an flourished, and is until today a major hub and a rest area for the pilgrims coming from Syria and Turkey on their way to Mecca. In 1559, the Ottomans built the Saraya fort in Ma'an, to be a rest area for the pilgrims going to Mecca. In 1902 the Ma'an train station connected the city to Damascus in Syria, and Medina in the Hejaz. Following the fall of Damascus to the French in 1920 after the Battle of Maysaloon, Emir Abdullah arrived to Ma'an to gather support and reorganize the Arab forces to reclaim Syria, on 5 January 1920, he issued a statement to call for war against the occupation of Syria, later in that year a small force was organized and named the Arab Army, and was the nucleus of the later to be known the Arab Legion.

Education

Al-Hussein Bin Talal University is the only university in Ma'an, it offers undergraduate degrees in engineering, arts, science, business administration, archaeology, education and nursing. The university is located on the outskirts of the City of Ma'an in the southern part of Jordan , 214 kilometers from the capital Amman . As such, a considerable part of AHU's mission is devoted to providing appropriate specializations and training programs that are desperately needed in the southern region, in general and Ma'an Governorate, in particular. Moreover, the university provides local community institutions with well-trained and qualified human resources, who are, in turn, expected to act effectively in the development of all sectors of their communities. Further and above all, the university attaches utmost priority to academic research and the educational process, which come at the heart of the university's mission.آ AHU, established in 1999 on a campus that was once a branch of Mu'tah University, was relocated to the new campus, 9 kilometers west of the City of Ma'an, in September 2004. The Master Plan of the permanent campus, which has adopted the international construction measures, was awarded the ISO accreditation in Spring, 2007.آ AHU comprises seven distinguished colleges which confer the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees in (38) academic specializations in addition to the postgraduate Diploma in both Education and Higher Administration. In addition to the currently working academic centers, namely, the Computer Center, Academic Faculty Professional Development Center and Nabataean Studies Center, the university is planning to establish a number of research centers concerned with the studies ofآ environment, desertification, mining, badia & rural affairs. In addition to the academic affairs, the university excels in sport, social and cultural activities. Such activities, which enrich students' experience and prepare them for future life, are carried out by numerous state-of-the-art facilities available at the campus. No doubt, these activities provide comprehensive student-welfare services that aim to enhance the trust-building measures between the university and the students so as to achieve the university's main mission in providing the local market with qualified personnel.

Economy

A new economic zone was established to encourage new industries to operate in the Ma'an Special Economic Zone. It is already bearing fruit.

Famous People From Ma'an

Bahjat Talhouni. Former Prime Minister

Suliman Arar سليمان_عرار. Former Minister of Interior

Yousef AlAthem يوسف_العظم. Poet. Former Member of Parliament

Tawfiq Kreishan. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs

Omar Maani. Mayor of Amman

Saad Abudayeh. Author. Chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Jordan

Professor Arafat Awajan, Author of more than 60 international scientific research papers in ICT. Dean of the King Hussein School of Information Technology and former Director of the ICT center in the Royal Scientific Society - Amman - Jordan

Clans and Families from Ma'an

Ma'an has two main groups of clans, Al-Hejazeen (from Hejaz in Saudi Arabia) and Al-Shameen (from Sham or modern day Syria).

Al-Hejazeen

Kreishan(Al-Karasheen)clan is the largest in number of members

*Al-Hawarieen

*Abu Helalah [Al-Helalat]

*Al-Mar'ay

Talhouni

Al-Khatab

*Al khawaldah

*Abu khadigah

*Abu shanab

*Al Abatah

*Al nassar

*Al Matrook

Dwene'

Abaid

*Al-Shomry

*'Aledy

*Akleel

*Za'ary

**Al-Sharary

**Al-Shawish

**Kaba'a

**Al-Khawaldah

**Al-Sa'aidah

**Abu 'Audah

**Al-Shelby

**Al-Yaseen

**Jarar

**Shamut

**Al-Taweel

**Akhu 'Amerah

**Al-Khury

**Al-Kahwajy

Al-Sharfa clan, which is divided to:

*Zeen Al-'Abedeen

*Al-Khatab

*Al-Hejazy

Al-Bazai'a

Harara

Al-Bawab

Abu Rkhya

'Alian

Dwerj

Abdal Ghany

Al-Salahat clan, which is divided to:

*Al-Musa

*Al-Dauud

*Ramadan

Al-Fanatsah clan, which is divided to:

Abu Thwabah

Al-Maghreby

Al-Sakallah

Al-Maani

Abudayyeh

Abu Tawelah

Abu Saleh

Matouq

Al-Khateeb

Al-Shameeh

This is the second biggest clan where more than 50% of them are living now outside Maan mainly in Amman and Zarqa. It is divided into the following tribes

Al-Karamsah: including the families

* Al Awajan

* Al Tahhan

*aljamal

* Abu Zeit

* Al Rashaideh

* Al Marei

Al-Mahameed: Including the families

* Abu Karaki

* AL BAhari

Al-Hesaan: Including

* Al Assaf

* Abu Haianeh

* Al Fraij

* Al Matar

Al-Tahan

Al-Khurah

References

External links

Ma'an Discussion Forum

maani.info

MSN Map

Category:Populated places in Jordan

Name	Meredith Brooks
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Meredith Ann Brooks
Born	June 12, 1958
Origin	Oregon City, Oregon, United States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Rock, pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
Years active	late 80's–present
Label	CapitolGold CircleKissing Booth

Meredith Ann Brooks (born June 12, 1958) is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. She is best known for her 1997 hit song "Bitch", for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Early life

Meredith Brooks was born in Oregon City, Oregon. Her parents divorced while she was still a child. She and her brother and sister grew up in Corvallis, Oregon and were raised by their mother. At age eleven, Brooks became fascinated with the guitar and she soon learned how to play it.

Career Beginnings; See It Through My Eyes [1984] and The Graces [1989]

In the early 1980s, Brooks performed at a number of clubs in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and in Washington, where she was popular to a broad range of fans. She often performed at the Last Hurrah, and Eli's Hard Rock Cafe in Downtown Portland. She was managed by Denny Herman of Pacific Talent, who was also her boyfriend. She recorded Meredith Brooks and The Angels of Mercy: Recorded Live at the Starry Night, a one-hour TV show. The video production was headed up by Mark de Leon Martinez, an established young music video producer from Portland. She performed that night as the opening act for Jack Charles. She then moved to Los Angeles to further her career in music. At that time, she recorded the songs that later appeared on See It Through My Eyes. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was a member of The Graces, who recorded one album, Perfect View, in 1989.

Blurring The Edges [1997] and Bitch

In 1995, Brooks landed a major label contract with Capitol Records. Her first hit single, "Bitch", garnered her nominations for the 1998 Grammy Awards for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song. The song was Brooks' only major hit on the charts. Her album Blurring the Edges achieved platinum sales and peaked at 22 on the Billboard 200 and 5 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was produced by David Ricketts, formerly of David and David (with David Baerwald). Ricketts also played keyboards, among other instruments, on the album. Brooks toured in the US and Europe in 1997 and 1998 to support the album. On March 30th in Argentina, whilst opening for the Rolling Stones, the crowd demanded to see the Stones during her set and threw bottles and other objects at the stage. Brooks abandoned her set after 2 songs as the crowd yelled "come on Stones". The next day Brooks showed reporters bruises to her eye and ankle and stated: "They have taken away my greatest moment. I was playing with the Stones, something I never imagined I would do... and now I think I'll cancel the rest of my shows in Latin America. I have no intention of continuing to expose myself to this kind of barbaric behavior... not me, not my band, not my crew." In 1998 she divorced her husband, Russell Jackson, after seven years of marriage.

Deconstruction [1999] and Lilith Fair

Brooks recorded her second major album Deconstruction in 1999. It was a stylistic and thematic shift away from Blurring the Edges. She only toured in Europe and the album sold poorly. She originally wrote the song "Sin City", which appears on this album, for the movie Snake Eyes, directed by her friend Brian De Palma. She toured with Sarah McLachlan's successful Lilith Fair.

Bad Bad One [2002] and Label Independence

In 2002, Brooks worked on her third solo album Bad Bad One on Gold Circle Records, an independent label. Immediately after releasing the album, the label folded and prevented the record from getting promoted or achieving significant sales. Track 11 - 'Shine' - was released as the lead single. The label's demise also interrupted her tour with Melissa Etheridge that summer, causing her and the band to return early to Los Angeles. Also in 2002, Brooks produced Jennifer Love Hewitt's album, BareNaked, and appeared on the VH1 Divas Las Vegas program as a guest guitar soloist with Celine Dion and Anastacia.

Shine [2004]

In 2003, Brooks remarried and the next year gave birth to her son, Troy. She also signed a new record deal with the SLG Records label and released the material of Bad Bad One as Shine. Television psychologist Dr. Phil chose the song "Shine" as the theme for his show.

If I Could Be... [2008] and Becca

Most recently, Brooks has completed a new children's album titled If I Could Be... and continuing to develop new artists as a producer and songwriter. In particular, she is producing Sony Music Entertainment artist Becca, a pop/rock singer/songwriter from Portland, Oregon.

Currently [2010 onwards]

Meredith is currently in the studio recording a new rock album, as yet untitled, and regularly blogs on her official website.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Kissing Booth, Brook's blog

Meredith Brooks Top 40 Mainstream Page

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American female singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American female guitarists Category:Musicians from Oregon Category:People from Corvallis, Oregon Category:People from Oregon City, Oregon

Born	August 05, 1981
Origin	Geneva, New York, U.S.
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Travis Lazarus McCoy
Alias
Instrument	Vocals, drums, guitar
Voice type	Rapping, screamo, singing
Genre	Alternative hip-hop, alternative rock, hip-hop
Occupation	Singer, rapper, songwriter
Years active	2006–present
Label	Decaydance, Fueled by Ramen, Nappy Boy Entertainment
Associated acts	Gym Class Heroes, Tyga, T-Pain, Fall Out Boy, Bruno Mars
Url

Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy (born August 5, 1981) is an American singer and rapper. He is the lead vocalist of the alternative hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes. He released his first solo album, Lazarus, on June 8, 2010. The lead single from the album, "Billionaire", peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Early life

McCoy was born and raised in Geneva, New York. In high school, he met future bandmate Matt McGinley in his gym class and the two bonded over a common interest in music, mostly punk rock, indie rock and hip hop. They decided to start a band and played with other musicians until Gym Class Heroes was formed in 2001. When he was fifteen, McCoy worked in a tattoo parlor as an apprentice, and shortly after, he began tattooing his friends.

As a teenager, McCoy was a fan of punk bands such as Snapcase and Earth Crisis, as well as underground rap acts such as Company Flow and the Arsonists. He says of his musical tastes "I was never a typical hip-hop kid. I didn’t want to be pigeonholed." He frequently took buses to Manhattan throughout high school to participate in battle raps at the indie rap club Fat Beats.

After graduating from high school, McCoy attended art school at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute and majored in fine arts and illustration.

Career

Travis made his MTV debut in the summer of 2002, as he appeared on stage at the beach house, winning a standard nation-wide MC Battle that was held on the MTV show Direct Effect.

Gym Class Heroes

After the addition of guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts, Gym Class Heroes was signed to Fueled By Ramen and Decaydance Records, Fall Out Boy's bassist, Pete Wentz's, own independent record label. On the label, the band released the gold-selling album As Cruel as School Children. Since that release, the band's single "Cupid's Chokehold" reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Clothes Off!!" and "Cookie Jar" peaked at #5 and #6 on the UK Singles Chart. They have collaborated with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on numerous occasions, notably for providing backing vocals on the song "Cupid's Chokehold". Stump also produced the majority of their album The Quilt, which was released on September 9, 2008 and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and #41 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 2009, McCoy remixed the Bring Me the Horizon song "Chelsea Smile" for their remixes album, .

McCoy and Gym Class Heroes plan to release the Papercut Chronicles II in late 2011.

Solo career

In July and August 2010, Travie supported Rihanna on some of the North American dates of her Last Girl on Earth Tour.

In early May 2010, Travie McCoy released the hit single 'Billionaire' with Bruno Mars, which has been successful in Europe and the U.S since its release. McCoy released his first solo album, Lazarus on June 8, 2010. The album debuted at number 25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with sales of 15,000 copies. On 21 August 2010 Lazarus was released in Europe and entered the UK Album Charts at number 69, this is the albums peak position as far. "Need You" was the second single from the album in the U.S, released in September 2010. "We'll Be Alright" was released on October 25, 2010 as the second single in the U.K, and has already been featured in the trailer of Yogi Bear. McCoy will be part of the Summerbeatz tour held in Australia alongisde, Flo Rida, Jay Sean and Soulja Boy in November 2010.

"Billionaire" was performed on the September 21, 2010 episode of Glee.

McCoy is featured on the teen-pop female singer Jessica Jarrell's debut single "Up and Running" official remix, which will be featured on the singer upcoming debut album under Island Records.

Travie Mccoy is also featured on Livin's "City Of Brotherly Love" album, scheduled to be released in early 2011 on 700 Level Entertainment. The track "When I Approach" features Livin, Travie Mccoy and Joe Budden, and is produced by Sev-One. There was a video released on You Tube showing Travie recording this song and it will finally be available in 2011.

In middle 2010 he worked with producer Starsmith and British singer Cheryl Cole for her upcoming album. However he is featured on the track "Yeah Yeah" of Cheryl Cole's upcoming album Messy Little Raindrops, set to be released on November 1.

Also McCoy runs his own music imprint called "The Bat Squad" which consists of Tim William, Nicholas Scimeca, Tequila Mockingbird, and himself. McCoy with Nicholas Scimeca formed the duo "Tequila Mockingbird" which is also signed under Decaydance Records, and they are working in a project, recently they released two songs titled "Brooklyn Basement" and "Snow Globe".

Personal life

In early March 2008, McCoy opened up about his battles with opioids. He stated that he had been addicted to pharmaceuticals since he was 15 years old.

McCoy was arrested on July 2, 2008, after hitting a man on the head with his microphone. The man had been in the crowd at a concert in St. Louis when he shouted racial slurs at McCoy. McCoy asked the man, "What did you just call me?" As security was removing the man from the venue, McCoy brought the man on stage to call him out in front of the crowd. In a statement, McCoy's publicist said that the man hit McCoy's knee, which was in a brace after he had suffered a recent strain. He later posted a picture of the artwork on his Twitter account. He had given a promise ring to Perry, and when asked if this was rehearsal for an actual proposal, McCoy shrugged with a grin. The two broke up in December 2008. They began dating again in April 2009. However, they broke up once more a few months later. McCoy is allegedly the subject of Perry's song "Circle The Drain", from her 2010 Teenage Dream album. McCoy says of the relationship "I'm over it. There's no bad blood. I wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. I'm not the type to hold grudges. Why would I? Our time together was awesome and it's time to move on. And we both have gone our separate ways so it is what it is."

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Featured singles

Album appearances

References

External links

Travis McCoy's tumblr

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American people of Haitian descent Category:American rappers of European descent Category:American rock singers Category:American vegetarians Category:Gym Class Heroes members Category:Native American rappers Category:People from Geneva, New York Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Rappers from New York

Name	Ozzy Osbourne
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	John Michael Osbourne
Born	December 03, 1948Aston, Birmingham, England
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock, blues-rock
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, actor
Years active	1968–present
Label	Epic, CBS, Jet
Associated acts	Black Sabbath, Kelly Osbourne, Black Label Society, Alice Cooper, Iommi, Rob Zombie, Slash, Firewind
Url

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer-songwriter and occasional actor, whose career has spanned over 40 years. As of December 2010, Osbourne has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

Osbourne rose to prominence as lead vocalist of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, a band whose radically different, intentionally dark, doom sound spawned the heavy metal genre. In his subsequent solo career Osbourne achieved a multi-platinum status in addition to the one he had earned with Black Sabbath. These things are what led Osbourne to become known as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal". It was during his Sabbath days that, due to their dark style of music, Osbourne became known as the "Prince of Darkness". Osbourne has over 15 tattoos, the most famous of which are the letters O-Z-Z-Y across the knuckles of his left hand. This was his first tattoo, created by himself as a teenager with a sewing needle and pencil lead. John was the fourth of six children. Ozzy had 2 brothers (Paul and Tony) and 3 sisters (Jean, Iris and Gillian); they lived in a small two bedroom home at 14 Lodge Road in Aston, England. The nickname "Ozzy" was first used when he was in primary school. Although called "John" by his first wife Thelma, Osbourne states that it has been a long time since he's recognised himself when called by his formal name. Osbourne grew up dealing with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. General abuse from teachers at Prince Albert Road Junior School, and Birchfield Road Secondary Modern School in Perry Barr made his childhood difficult for him. Drawn to the stage, Osbourne took part in school plays such as The Pirates of Penzance. Upon hearing their first hit single at age 14, he became a great fan of The Beatles. The band had noticed how people enjoyed being frightened, and, inspired, Iommi and his partners decided to play a heavy blues style of music laced with gloomy sounds and lyrics. While recording their first album in a castle, Geezer read an occult book and had a dream of a dark figure at the end of his bed. Butler told Osbourne about the dream and together they wrote the lyrics to "Black Sabbath", one of their first songs in a darker vein.

Musical career

Black Sabbath

Despite only a modest investment from their US record label Warner Bros. Records, Black Sabbath met with swift and enduring success. Built around Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, Geezer Butler's lyrics, Bill Ward's dark tempo drumbeats, and topped by Osbourne's eerie vocals, early records such as their debut album Black Sabbath and Paranoid sold huge numbers, as well as getting considerable airplay. Osbourne's recalls a band lament, "in those days, the band wasn't very popular with the women." In the 1980s it received platinum certification Black Sabbath's Volume 4 was released in September 1972. Critics were again dismissive of the album, yet it achieved gold status in less than a month. It was the band's fourth consecutive release to sell a million copies in the US. In November 1973, Black Sabbath released the critically acclaimed Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. For the first time, the band received favourable reviews in the mainstream press. Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone called the album "an extraordinarily gripping affair", and "nothing less than a complete success". AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia call the album a "masterpiece, essential to any heavy metal collection," while also claiming the band displayed "a newfound sense of finesse and maturity". The album marked the band's fifth consecutive platinum selling album in the US, Sabotage was released in July 1975. Again there were favourable reviews. Rolling Stone stated, "Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever." Allmusic was not so favorable. They noted that "the magical chemistry that made such albums as Paranoid and Volume 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate". Technical Ecstasy, released on 25 September 1976, was also met with mixed reviews. AllMusic gave the album two stars, and noted that the band was "unravelling at an alarming rate".

Departure from Black Sabbath

In 1978, Osbourne left the band for three months to pursue interest in a solo project he called Blizzard of Ozz. Three members of the band Necromandus, who had supported Black Sabbath in Birmingham back in the day when they were called Earth, did backup for Osbourne in the studio and briefly became the first incarnation of his solo band. At the request of the other members, Osbourne rejoined Sabbath. The band spent five months at Sounds Interchange Studios in Toronto, Canada, writing and recording what would become Never Say Die! "It took quite a long time," Iommi said. "We were getting really drugged out, doing a lot of dope. We'd go down to the sessions, and have to pack up because we were too stoned, we'd have to stop. Nobody could get anything right, we were all over the place, everybody's playing a different thing. We'd go back and sleep it off, and try again the next day." Touring in support of Never Say Die! began in May 1978 with openers Van Halen. Reviewers called Black Sabbath's performance "tired and uninspired," in stark contrast to the "youthful" performance of Van Halen, who were touring the world for the first time. The band filmed a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in June 1978, which was later released on DVD as Never Say Die. The final show of the tour, and Osbourne's last appearance with the band (until later reunions) was in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 11 December.

In 1979, back in the studio tensions and conflict were present continually. Osbourne recalls being asked to record his vocals numerous times over and over, and tracks being manipulated endlessly by Iommi. This was a point of contention between Osbourne and Tony. With the support of Geezer and Bill Ward, Osbourne was again fired from Black Sabbath. The reasons provided to him were that he was unreliable and had excessive substance abuse issues as compared to the other band members. Osbourne claims his drug use and alcohol consumption at that time was no better nor worse than the other band members. posted in a record store, Iommi and Ward arrived at the address listed to speak with Ozzy Zig. When Osbourne answered the door, Iommi left upon discovering it was him. He knew of and disliked Osbourne from back in their school days.

Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman

In 1980, under the management of Sharon Osbourne, the Ozzy Osbourne Band formed again as The Blizzard of Ozz. The first line-up of the band featured drummer Lee Kerslake (of Uriah Heep), bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley (of Rainbow and later Uriah Heep), keyboardist Don Airey, and guitarist Randy Rhoads (of Quiet Riot). The record company would eventually title the record Blizzard of Ozz credited simply under Osbourne's name. Co-written with Daisley and Rhoads, the album brought Osbourne considerable success on his first solo effort. The debut sold very well with hard rock/heavy metal fans. This album is known for the singles "Over the Mountain, "Flying High Again," "Believer," and of course "Diary of a Madman." Osbourne explains in his autobiography that Diary is his own personal favourite album. Experiencing firsthand the horrific death of his close friend and band mate, Osbourne fell into a deep depression.

Ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme was the first guitarist to replace Randy once the tour resumed. Torme's tenure with the band would last less than one month. During an audition for guitarists in a hotel room, Osbourne selected Brad Gillis (who went on to be one of two guitarists in Night Ranger) to finish the tour. The tour culminated in the release of the 1982 live album, Speak of the Devil recorded at the Ritz in New York City. A live tribute album for Rhoads was also later released. This album would also feature studio outtakes from a song by Randy taken from "Blizzard of Ozz" called "Dee." It was a song Randy had written for his mother.

Speak of the Devil

Although difficult, Osbourne moved on after Rhoads' death. Speak of the Devil, known in the United Kingdom as Talk of the Devil, was originally planned to consist of live recordings from 1981, primarily from Osbourne's solo work. Under contract to produce a cover album of Black Sabbath material, however, the album ended up consisting entirely of Black Sabbath covers, recorded with Brad Gillis, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Osbourne later commented (inside the cover of "Tribute") "I don't give a fuck about that album. It was just a bunch of bullshit Sabbath covers."

In 1982, Osbourne appeared as lead vocalist on the Was (Not Was) pop dance track "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)." Madonna performed backing vocals. Osbourne's cut was remixed and re-released in the early 1990s for a Was (Not Was) greatest hits album in Europe, and it cracked the UK pop chart. Madonna asked that her vocal not be restored for the hits package, so new vocals by Kim Basinger were added to complement Osbourne's lead.

Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin

In 1983 a new guitarist was recruited to play with Osbourne. Jake E. Lee, formerly of Ratt and Rough Cutt, joined the band to record Bark at the Moon. The album, co-written with Bob Daisley, featured Tommy Aldridge, and former Rainbow keyboard player Don Airey. The album contains the fan favourite "Bark at the Moon." The music video for "Bark at the Moon" was partially filmed at the Holloway Sanitorium outside of London, England. Within weeks the album became certified gold. To date it has sold three million copies in the U.S.

1986's The Ultimate Sin followed (with bassist Phil Soussan and drummer Randy Castillo), and touring behind both albums with ex-Uriah Heep keyboardist John Sinclair joining prior to the Ultimate Sin tour. A rich, bold album, it features "Shot in the Dark" and fan favourites "Killer of Giants," "Lightning Strikes," and "Secret Loser." At the time of its release, The Ultimate Sin was Osbourne's highest charting studio album. The RIAA awarded the album Platinum status on 14 May 1986, soon after its release; it was awarded Double Platinum status on 26 October 1994.

Jake E. Lee and Osbourne parted ways in 1987. Osbourne continued to struggle with chemical dependency. That year he commemorated the fifth anniversary of Rhoads' death with Tribute, live recordings from 1981 that had gone unreleased for years. In 1988, Osbourne appeared in The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years and told the director, Penelope Spheeris, that "sobriety fucking sucks." Meanwhile, Osbourne found Zakk Wylde, who was the most enduring replacement for Rhoads to date. Together they recorded No Rest for the Wicked with Castillo on drums, Sinclair on keyboards, and Daisley co-writing lyrics and playing bass. The subsequent tour saw Osbourne reunited with erstwhile Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler on bass. A live EP (entitled Just Say Ozzy) featuring Geezer was released two years later. Butler continued to tour with Osbourne for the subsequent four tours, and was a major stage presence throughout. In 1989, Ozzy Osbourne performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival.

No More Tears

While very successful as a heavy metal act through the 1980s, Osbourne sustained commercial success into the 1990s, starting with 1991's No More Tears. The album enjoyed much radio and MTV exposure. It also initiated a practise of bringing in outside composers to help pen Osbourne's solo material instead of relying solely upon his recording ensemble to write and arrange the music. The album was mixed by veteran rock producer Michael Wagener. Osbourne was awarded his only Grammy for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from live album Live and Loud for Best Metal Performance of 1994.

Wagener also mixed the live album Live and Loud released in 28 June 1993. At the time, it was to be Osbourne's final album. The album went platinum four times over, and ranked at number 10 on that year's Billboard rock charts.

At this point Osbourne expressed his fatigue with the process of touring, and proclaimed his "retirement tour" (which was to be short-lived). It was comically called "No More Tours", a pun on his No More Tears album. Prior to the tour Mike Inez took over on bass and Kevin Jones on keyboards as Sinclair was touring with The Cult. Osbourne's entire CD catalogue was remastered and reissued in 1995.

Ozzmosis

In 1995, Osbourne released Ozzmosis and returned to touring, dubbing his concert performances "The Retirement Sucks Tour". The album reached number 4 on the US Billboard 200. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold and platinum in that same year, and 2x platinum in April 1999. The album features the hard rocking fan favourites "Perry Mason," "Ghost Behind My Eyes," "Thunder Underground," and the power ballad "See You on the Other Side."

The line-up on "Ozzmosis" was Zakk Wylde, Geezer Butler (who had just quit Black Sabbath again) and ex-Bad English, Steve Vai and Hardline drummer Deen Castronovo, now in Journey. Keyboards were played by Yes's Rick Wakeman and producer Michael Beinhorn. The tour maintained Butler and Castronovo and saw Sinclair return, but a major line-up change was the introduction of ex-David Lee Roth guitarist Joe Holmes. Wylde was debating on an offer to join Guns N' Roses. Unable to wait for a decision on Wylde's departure decision, Osbourne replaced him. In early 1996, Butler and Castronovo left. Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) and Randy Castillo (Lita Ford, Motley Crue) filled in. Ultimately, Faith No More's Mike Bordin and ex-Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo joined on drums and bass respectively. A greatest hits package, The Ozzman Cometh was issued in 1997.

Ozzfest

Osbourne's biggest financial success of the 1990s was a venture named Ozzfest, created and managed by his wife/manager Sharon and assisted by his son Jack. The first Ozzfest was held in Phoenix, Arizona on 25 October 1996 and in Devore, California on 26 October. Ozzfest was an instant hit with metal fans, spiralling many up-and-coming groups who were featured there to broad exposure and commercial success. Some acts shared the bill with a reformed Black Sabbath during the 1997 Ozzfest tour, beginning in West Palm Beach, Florida. Osbourne reunited with the original members of Sabbath in 1997 and has performed periodically with them ever since. Ozzfest reinstated the integrity in and familiarity with the band name Black Sabbath.

Since its start, five million people have attended Ozzfest, which has grossed over US$100 million. The festival also helped promote many new hard rock and heavy metal acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ozzfest helped Osbourne to become the first hard rock and heavy metal star to hit $50 million in merchandise sales.

In 2005, Osbourne and his wife Sharon starred in an MTV competition reality show entitled "Battle for Ozzfest". A number of yet unsigned bands send one member to compete in a challenge to win a spot on the 2005 Ozzfest and a possible recording contract.

Shortly after Ozzfest 2005, Osbourne announced that he will no longer headline Ozzfest. Although he announced his retirement from Ozzfest, Osbourne came back for one more year, 2006, albeit only closing for just over half the concerts, leaving the others to be closed by System of a Down. He also played the closing act for the second stage at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA on 1 July as well as Randall's Island, NY on 29 July. After the concert in Bristol, Virginia, Osbourne announced he would return for another year of Ozzfest in 2007. Tickets for the were offered to fans free of charge, which led to some controversy. In 2008, Ozzfest was reduced to a one-day event in Dallas, Texas, where Osbourne played, along with Metallica and King Diamond.

Osbourne says he is looking forward to the return of Ozzfest for six dates this summer and is also looking at an 18-month world tour starting at The Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone on 29 June to promote his new album, "Scream."

Down to Earth

Down to Earth, Osbourne's first album of new studio material in seven years, was released on 16 October 2001. A live version filmed in Japan, Live at Budokan followed. Down to Earth went gold in 2001, and platinum in 2003. The album features the fan favourite "Dreamer," a song which peaked at number 10 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks. In 2003, Osbourne recruited former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted after he left the band in 2000 (and Trujillo replaced him on Metallica's line-up). Both Newsted and Osbourne were enthusiastic about recording an album together.

On 8 December 2003, Osbourne was rushed into emergency surgery at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, England when he had an accident with his all-terrain vehicle on his estate in Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. Osbourne broke his collar bone, eight ribs, and a neck vertebra. An operation was performed to lift the collarbone, which was believed to be resting on a major artery and interrupting blood flow to the arm. Sharon later revealed that Osbourne had stopped breathing following the crash and was resuscitated by Osbourne's then personal bodyguard, Sam Ruston. While in hospital, Osbourne achieved his first ever UK number one single, a duet of the Black Sabbath ballad, "Changes" with daughter Kelly. In doing so, he broke the record of the longest period between an artist's first UK chart appearance (with Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", number four in August 1970) and their first number one hit: a gap of 33 years. Since the quad accident, aside of some short-term memory problems he fully recovered and headlined the 2004 Ozzfest, in the reunited Black Sabbath.

Prince of Darkness

In 2005, Osbourne released a box set called Prince of Darkness. The first and second discs are collections of live performances, B-sides, demos and singles. The third disc contained duets and other odd tracks with other artists, including "Born to Be Wild" with Miss Piggy. The fourth disc is entirely new material where Osbourne covers his favourite songs by his biggest influences and favourite bands, including The Beatles, John Lennon, David Bowie and others.

Black Rain

In March 2006, he said that he hopes to release a new studio album soon with long time on-off guitarist, Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society. In October 2006, it was announced that Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, and Geezer Butler would be touring together again, though not as Black Sabbath, but under the moniker Heaven and Hell (the title of Dio's first Black Sabbath album). The response to the news on Osbourne's website was that Osbourne wished Tony and Ronnie well and that there is only one Sabbath.

Osbourne's album, titled Black Rain, was released on 22 May 2007. Osbourne's first new studio album in almost six years, it featured a more serious tone than previous albums. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation...But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go (to pieces)'", Osbourne stated in a Billboard interview.

Scream

Osbourne revealed in July 2009 that he was currently seeking a new guitar player. While he states that he has not fallen out with Zakk Wylde, he said he felt his songs were beginning to sound like Black Label Society and fancied a change. In August 2009, Osbourne performed at the gaming festival BlizzCon with a new guitarist in his line-up, Gus G (Firewind, ex-Nightrage, ex-Dream Evil). Osbourne also provided his voice and likeness to the video game Brütal Legend character The Guardian of Metal. In November, Slash featured Osbourne on vocals in his single "Crucify The Dead," and Osbourne with wife Sharon were guest hosts on WWE Monday Night Raw. In December, Osbourne announced he would be releasing a new album with Gus G, Tommy Clufetos (formerly supporting Rob Zombie, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper) on drums, and Blasko (formerly supporting Rob Zombie) on bass titled Soul Sucka. Negative fan feedback was brought to Osbourne's attention regarding the album title. In respect of fan opinion, on 29 March Osbourne announced his album would be renamed Scream.

On 13 April 2010, Osbourne announced the release date for Scream would be 15 June 2010. The release date was later changed to 22 June. A single from the album, "Let Me Hear You Scream," debuted on 14 April 2010 episode of . The song spent 8 weeks on the Billboard Rock Songs, peaking at #7. Other songs from the album include "Let it Die," "Digging Me Down," "Fearless," and "I Want it More."

Osbourne held a Meet-And-Greet album signing at the main branch of HMV in his home-town Birmingham, followed later that day by an intimate show in the Birmingham Town Hall. The first four hundred fans that arrived at the store earlier in the day were given wrist bands, enabling free access to the show.

On 9 August, Ozzy announced that the second single from the album would be "Life Won't Wait" and the video for the song would be directed by his son Jack.

Awards

.]] Ozzy Osbourne has been awarded several times for his contributions to the music community.

In 1994, he was awarded a Grammy Award for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from Live & Loud for Best Metal Performance of 1994.

In 2008, Osbourne was crowned with the prestigious Living Legend award in the Classic Rock Roll of Honor. Past recipients include Alice Cooper, Lemmy, Jimmy Page and Slash, the former Guns N' Roses guitarist, presented the award.

In 2010, Osbourne won the "Literary Achievement" honour for his memoir, I Am Ozzy, at the Guys Choice Awards at Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California. Osbourne was presented with the award by Sir Ben Kingsley. The book debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times' hardcover non-fiction best-seller list.

Osbourne was also a judge for the 6th and 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Personal life

Osbourne has been married twice and is the father of six children total (five biological, and one adopted). He was first married to Thelma Riley (now a teacher in Leicestershire) and adopted her son, Elliot Kingsley (1966); together they had Jessica Starshine Osbourne Hobbs (20 January 1972) and Louis John Osbourne (1975). He later married Sharon Arden and had three children with her. They are Aimee Osbourne (2 September 1983), Kelly Osbourne (27 October 1984) and Jack Osbourne (8 November 1985). They also took in family friend Robert Marcato after his mother died, but never legally adopted him. Osbourne also has four grandchildren, Isabelle and Harry from his daughter Jessica, and granddaughter Mia and grandson Elijah from son Louis. He wrote a song for his daughter Aimee, which appeared as a b-side on the album Ozzmosis. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Buckinghamshire, England.

It was reported by the New York Times in 1992 that Osbourne was a member of the Church of England and prayed before each show.

Osbourne achieved greater celebrity status by the unlikely success of his own brand of reality television. The Osbournes, a series featuring the domestic life of Osbourne and his family (wife Sharon, children Jack and Kelly and special guest appearances from his son Louis, but not their eldest daughter Aimee, who declined to participate). The program became one of MTV's greatest hits. It premiered on 5 March 2002, and the final episode aired 21 March 2005. To this day Osbourne refuses to watch any episodes, claiming he was stoned during the entire filming.

The success of The Osbournes led Osbourne and the rest of his family the opportunity to host the 30th Annual American Music Awards in January 2003. The night was marked with constant "bleeping" due to some of the lewd and raunchy remarks made by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Presenter Patricia Heaton walked out midway in disgust.

In 2002, Osbourne and wife Sharon were invited to the White House Correspondents' Association dinner by Fox News Channel correspondent Greta Van Susteren for that year's event. President Bush noted Osbourne's presence by joking: "The thing about Ozzy is, he's made a lot of big hit recordings – 'Party with the Animals', 'Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath', 'Facing Hell', 'Black Skies' and 'Bloodbath in Paradise'. Ozzy, Mom loves your stuff."

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are one of the UK's richest couples, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. They ranked at number 458 in 2005, with an estimated £100 million earned from recording, touring and TV shows.

Ozzy Osbourne appears in a commercial for the online video game World of Warcraft. Osbourne is a supporter of English association football club Aston Villa, as he grew up in the Aston area close to Villa Park.

Osbourne published a humorous autobiography in October 2009, titled I Am Ozzy. Osbourne says ghost writer Chris Ayres told the singer he has enough material for a second book. A movie adaptation of I Am Ozzy is also in the works, and Osbourne says he hopes "an unknown guy from England" will get the role over an established actor. Meanwhile, his son Jack is working on a documentary about Osbourne's life and career. Although clean and sober now, Osbourne has frequently commented on his former wild lifestyle, puzzled at how he has survived 40 years of abuse.

Upon being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Osbourne spent the next three months locked in his hotel room taking vast amounts of drugs and alcohol all day, every day. He claims that he would certainly have died if his future wife Sharon Osbourne (formerly Sharon Arden), had not offered to manage him as a solo artist.

In 1982 while wearing his future wife Sharon's dress because she had hidden his clothes, Osbourne drunkenly urinated on a cenotaph erected in honour of those who died at the Alamo in Texas, across the street from the actual building. A police officer arrested him, He was later arrested May 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee, again for public intoxication.

In 1984, Osbourne toured with Mötley Crüe. The tour is known as one of the "craziest drug and alcohol-fuelled tours in the history of rock and roll".

Osbourne experienced tremors for some years and linked them to his continuous drug abuse. In May 2005 he found out it was actually Parkin Syndrome, a genetic condition, the symptoms of which are very similar to Parkinson's disease. Osbourne will have to take daily medication for the rest of his life to combat the involuntary shudders associated with the condition. Osbourne has also shown symptoms of mild hearing loss, as depicted in the television show, The Osbournes, where he often asks his family to repeat what they say. At the TEDMED Conference in October 2010, scientists from Knome joined Osbourne on stage to discuss their analysis of Osbourne’s whole genome, which shed light on how the famously hard-living rocker has survived decades of drug abuse.

Condemnation and lawsuits

on Jan. 27, 2010.]] Early on in his career, many Christian groups accused Osbourne of being a negative influence for teenagers, and that messages on his songs, his actions, and his stage decorations were portrayals of devil worship used only to glorify Satanism. At least one scholar has compared the controversy surrounding Osbourne and accusations of Satanism to those levelled against the renowned occultist Aleister Crowley. Both were demonised by the media and some religious groups for their antics. Osbourne tempts the comparison with his song "Mr. Crowley". Both Osbourne and Crowley enjoyed the infamy of being labelled Satanists, though Osbourne firmly denies the charge. Some critics condemn both men as anti-Christian.

In 1981, after signing his first solo career record deal, Osbourne bit the head off a dove during a meeting with some record-company executives in Los Angeles. Apparently he had planned to release doves into the air as a sign of peace, but due to being intoxicated at the time, he instead grabbed a dove and bit its head off. He then spat the head out, with blood still dripping from his lips. Despite its controversy, this act has been parodied and alluded to several times throughout his career and is part of what made Ozzy Osbourne famous.

On 20 January 1982, Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. Rolling Stone magazine in 2004 ranked this incident number two on its list of "Rock's Wildest Myths." While the Rolling Stone article stated the bat was alive, the teen who threw it onto the stage said it was brought to the show dead. According to Osbourne himself in the booklet to the 2002 edition of Diary of a Madman, the bat was not only alive but also managed to bite him, resulting in his having to take rabies shots.

In 1985, California teenager John McCollum committed suicide while listening to Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution." The song deals with the dangers of alcohol abuse. McCollums' suicide led to allegations that Osbourne promoted suicide in his songs. Despite knowing McCollum suffered clinical depression, his parents sued Ozzy Osbourne (McCollum v. CBS) for their son's death, claiming the lyrics in the song, "Where to hide, suicide is the only way out. Don't you know what it's really about?" convinced McCollum to commit suicide. The family's lawyer suggested that Osbourne should be criminally charged for encouraging a young person to commit suicide, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favor, saying there was no connection between the song and McCollum's suicide. Osbourne was sued for the same reason in 1991 (Waller v. Osbourne), by the parents of Michael Waller, for $9 million, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour in that case as well. One critic claims that Osbourne sings "Get the gun, get the gun, shoot, shoot, shoot," a charge firmly denied by him.

In lawsuits filed in 2000 and 2002 which were dismissed by the courts in 2003, former session musicians Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, and Phil Soussan claimed that Osbourne was delinquent in paying them royalties and had denied them due credit on albums they played on. In November 2003, a Federal Appeals Court unanimously upheld the dismissal by the United States District Court in Los Angeles of the lawsuit brought by Daisley and Kerslake. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Osbourne does not owe any royalties or credit to the former session musicians, who were let go in 1981. To resolve further issues, management chose to replace Daisley and Kerslake's contributions on the original masters, replacing them with Robert Trujillo on bass and Mike Bordin on drums. The albums were then reissued.

In July 2010, Osbourne and Iommi decided to discontinue the court proceedings over ownership of the Black Sabbath trademark. As reported to Blabbermouth, "Both parties are glad to put this behind them and to cooperate together for the future and would like it to be known that the issue was never personal, it was always business."

Band members

; Current members (as of 2010)

Gus G. – lead guitar (2009–present)

Rob "Blasko" Nicholson – bass (2003, 2006–present)

Adam Wakeman – keyboards, rhythm guitar (2004–present)

Tommy Clufetos – drums, percussion (2010–present)

; Recording timeline

Discography

Blizzard of Ozz (1980)

Diary of a Madman (1981)

Bark at the Moon (1983)

The Ultimate Sin (1986)

No Rest for the Wicked (1988)

No More Tears (1991)

Ozzmosis (1995)

Down to Earth (2001)

Black Rain (2007)

Scream (2010)

See also

References

External links

The Official Ozzy Osbourne Website

Ozzfest Information

Category:1948 births Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Black Sabbath members Category:British harmonica players Category:English male singers Category:English rock singers Category:English heavy metal singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Music from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:The Ozzy Osbourne Band members Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:English expatriates in the United States

Name	Owl City
Landscape	Yes
Background	group_or_band
Genre	Synthpop Alternative
Origin	Owatonna, Minnesota, United States
Years active	2007–present
Label	Universal Republic
Associated acts	Sky Sailing, Swimming With Dolphins, Breanne Duren, Relient K, Port Blue, Armin van Buuren
Url
Current members	Adam Young

Owl City is an American synthpop musical project by Adam Young. Owl City was born from Young's musical experiments in his parents' basement in Owatonna, Minnesota. As Owl City, Young developed a following through MySpace before signing with Universal Republic.

Young claims that his influences are disco and European electronic music. His music has also been compared to The Postal Service. After two independent albums, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album Ocean Eyes, which spawned the hit single "Fireflies".

History

Early years (2007–08)

Suffering from insomnia while working in a Coca-Cola Factory in his hometown, Owatanna, Young turned to composing music. He began receiving attention for songs he had uploaded to MySpace, the "viral popularity" of which would later result in his signing to a major label. In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of June reached #20 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at #16.

Ocean Eyes (2009-2010)

Owl City's third album, Ocean Eyes, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City has released three official singles: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight",and "Fireflies". "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts and became the most-downloaded song on iTunes in the US. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts and topped the US electronic charts and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By December 2009, it was certified Gold in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the number 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations.

Young is joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most noted being "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Duren (background vocals/keyboards), Matthew Decker (drums), Laura Musten (violin), and Hannah Schroeder (cello).

Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Matt can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song "Terminals". Thiessen stated that it is very likely that he and Young will produce a side project called "Goodbye Dubai" in the future.

"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the iPod/iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.

Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with a song titled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009. Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with a song that had already been featured in his debut album, "The Technicolor Phase".

All Things Bright & Beautiful (2010–present)

Young has revealed a new musical project known as Sky Sailing, moving away from his usual electronica genre of music and introducing acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments into his work. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2007 before he began making music as Owl City. His first album under this new project is entitled An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, and was released July 13, 2010 via iTunes.

He also recently announced via Twitter that more music will soon be released under his main project, Owl City.

In May, 2010, Adam Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on 1 August 2010 featuring Adam Young on vocals. This will be the first single from the upcoming fourth Chicane album Giants.

He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the forthcoming van Buuren album Mirage on September 10, 2010.

On August 2, 2010, it was announced that Owl City would not open for Maroon 5 on the first three concerts of the American Leg of their tour due to a kidney stone.

He also stated on his Twitter, that he will release a song for the upcoming film, Legend of the Guardians, titled "To the Sky" which hit the Internet on September 1.

On September 1, 2010, Adam Young opened Owl City University as an interactive fan site with projects and homework including the integration with Facebook and Twitter. It is an area where other fans can join groups and communicate. It contains "projects" to complete to get credits. It includes messages directly from Adam Young as video blogs.

On September 21, 2010 "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.

Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming mp3 on his website, , on October 25, 2010.

Concertgoers at Adam's halloween homecoming show were treated to a new song "Halloween in Owatonna", played by Matt Thiessen. Matt also announced that he is working with Adam on a song titled "Plant Life" for Owl City's upcoming album, confirmed by Adam Young and the Owatonna People's Press to be on track for a Spring 2011 release.

On November 13, 2010, a new album was also released for one of his other musical projects, "Windsor Airlift", called "Flight" on iTunes.

In the November 15, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone, Owl City announced the title of his third studio album, "All Things Bright & Beautiful". He also stated to "expect more guitar," and revealed the names of 3 tracks, "Deer in the Headlights," "The Honey and the Bee," and "Astronauts." The song "Deer in the Headlights" is expected to have "power chord blasts." The album is due to be released in Spring 2011.

On November 23, 2010, a new Christmas single called "Peppermint Winter" was released. A preview had been released the previous week on Facebook.

Musical styles and influences

Owl City has been stated to play within the musical genres of indietronica and alternative. Young has stated that he is inspired by disco and European electronic music.

Owl City also has been compared to The Postal Service, with a number of publications going as far as accusing Owl City of "ripping off" The Postal Service.

Ben Gibbard, lead singer/writer of both The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie has not stated anything about the musical resemblance in public. However, Chris Walla, the guitarist from Death Cab For Cutie, has stated that "Owl City should really consider buying Ben a pony."

Adam Young suggested in a 2009 interview with The New York Times that Owl City is perhaps the "next chapter" after The Postal Service: }}

Other projects

Young also produces music under a wide variety of other projects, some of which contain only a single song. These projects include Port Blue, Windsor Airlift, Dolphin Park, Insect Airport, Keehar, Seagull Orchestra, Sky Sailing and Swimming With Dolphins, among others.

Most of these projects were started before Owl City propelled Young to fame. Some are current side projects Adam is involved in. Some were formed alongside Adam's college friends as musical projects for a music course Young was studying at the time.

Concert tours

Discography

;Studio albums

Maybe I'm Dreaming (2008)

Ocean Eyes (2009)

All Things Bright & Beautiful (2011)

References

External links

Category:Musical groups from Minnesota Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American indie rock groups Category:Living people Category:American electronic music groups Category:American New Wave musical groups Category:American Christians

Name	George Carlin
Caption	Carlin in Trenton, New Jersey on April 4, 2008
Birth name	George Denis Patrick Carlin
Birth date	May 12, 1937
Birth place	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Death date	June 22, 2008
Death place	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books, radio
Nationality	American
Active	1956–2008
Genre	Character comedy, observational comedy, Insult comedy, wit/word play, satire/political satire, black comedy, surreal humor, sarcasm, blue comedy
Subject	American culture, American English, everyday life, recreational drug use, death, philosophy, human behavior, American politics, parenting, children, religion, profanity, psychology, Anarchism, race relations, old age, pop culture, self-deprecation, childhood, family
Influences	Danny Kaye, Richard Pryor, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Hicks,Jim Norton, Sam Kinison, Louis C.K., Bill Cosby, Lewis Black, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Denis Leary, Patrice O'Neal, Adam Carolla, Colin Quinn, Steven Wright, Russell Peters, Jay Leno, Ben Stiller,
Spouse	Brenda Hosbrook(August 5, 1961 — May 11, 1997) (her death) 1 childSally Wade (June 24, 1998 — June 22, 2008) (his death)
Name	Carlin, George
Alternative names	Carlin, George Denis Patrick
Short description	Comedian, actor, writer
Date of birth	May 12, 1937
Place of birth	Manhattan
Date of death	June 22, 2008
Place of death	Santa Monica, California

Category:1937 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Actors from New York Category:Writers from New York Category:American atheists Category:American film actors Category:American humorists Category:American political writers Category:American social commentators Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:American television actors Category:Atheism activists Category:Deaths from heart failure Category:Disease-related deaths in California Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Free speech activists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:Mark Twain Prize recipients Category:Obscenity controversies Category:People from Manhattan Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Actors from California Category:Writers from California Category:United States Air Force airmen Category:Comedians

{{Infobox Musical artist | Name = Easton Corbin | Img = Eastoncorbin.jpg | Img_capt = Easton Corbin being interviewed. | Landscape = yes | Background = solo_singer | Born = April 12 | Origin = Trenton, Florida, USA Joe Fisher, senior director of A&R; at Universal Music Group Nashville, signed Corbin to the Mercury Nashville label in 2009. shortly before the single entered Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Corbin's self-titled debut album was released in March 2010, under the production of Carson Chamberlain. The album had first-week sales of 43,000 copies, making for the highest first-week sales on the Mercury Nashville label in seven years.

"A Little More Country Than That" peaked at Number One on the country charts dated for the week ending April 3, 2010, making Corbin the first solo male country artist to send a debut single to Number One since Dierks Bentley's "What Was I Thinkin'" in 2003. "Roll with It" was released as the album's second single, which hit #1 in October 2010. Corbin has also signed onto Brad Paisley's H20 World Tour, which began in May 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

;Notes

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Florida Category:People from Gilchrist County, Florida Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Name	Charlie Sheen
Caption	Sheen in March 2009
Birth name	Carlos Irwin Estevez
Birth date	September 03, 1965
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Donna Peele (1995–1996)Denise Richards (2002–2006)Brooke Mueller (2008–December 2009, Separated)

Carlos Irwin Estevez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor.

His character roles in films have included Chris Taylor in the 1986 Vietnam War drama Platoon, Jake Kesey in the 1986 film The Wraith, and Bud Fox in 1987 film Wall Street.

His career also included more comedic films, such as Major League, the Hot Shots! films, and Scary Movie 3 and 4. On television, Sheen is known for his roles on two sitcoms: as Charlie Crawford on Spin City, and as Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men.

Early life

Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estevez in New York City in 1965, the youngest son and third of four children born to actor Martin Sheen and artist Janet Templeton. Martin adopted his stage name in honor of the Catholic archbishop and theologian, Fulton J. Sheen, with Charlie also taking this as his stage name. His parents moved to Malibu, California, after Martin Sheen's Broadway turn in The Subject Was Roses. Sheen has two brothers and one sister, all of whom are actors: Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez, and Renée Estevez. Sheen attended Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where he was a star pitcher and shortstop for the baseball team. He also showed an early interest in acting, making several Super-8 films with his brother Emilio, schoolmates Rob and Chad Lowe, and early friend Chris Penn. Just a few weeks before graduation, Sheen was expelled from the school for poor grades and bad attendance.

Career

Sheen started acting in 1973 at the age of eight, appearing in a small role alongside his father in the television movie The Execution of Private Slovik. Sheen's film career began in 1984 with a role in the Cold War teen drama Red Dawn with Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, and Jennifer Grey. Sheen and Grey reunited in a small scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). He also appeared in an episode of the anthology series Amazing Stories. Sheen had his first major role in the Vietnam War drama Platoon (1986). In 1987, he starred with his father in Wall Street. Both Wall Street and Platoon were directed by Oliver Stone; however, in 1988, Stone approached Sheen about starring in his new film Born on the Fourth of July (1989), only to later re-cast Tom Cruise in place of Sheen. Sheen was never notified by Stone, and only found out when he heard the news from his brother Emilio. Sheen did not take a lead role in Stone's subsequent films, although he does have a cameo role in Stone's sequel to Wall Street.

In 1987, Sheen was cast to portray Ron in the unreleased , the sequel to the 1976 low budget horror movie Grizzly. In 1988, he starred in the baseball film Eight Men Out as outfielder Happy Felsch. Also in 1988, he appeared opposite his brother Emilio Estevez in Young Guns and again in 1990 in Men at Work. Also in 1990, he starred alongside his father Martin Sheen in Cadence as a rebellious inmate in a military stockade and Clint Eastwood in the buddy cop action film The Rookie.

Sheen appeared in several comedy roles, including the Major League films, Money Talks, and the spoof Hot Shots! films. In 1999, Sheen appeared in a pilot for A&E; Network, called Sugar Hill, which wasn't picked up. In 1999, Sheen played himself in Being John Malkovich. He also appeared in the spoof series Scary Movie 3 and follow up Scary Movie 4. In 2000, he was cast to replace Michael J. Fox on the sitcom Spin City; the series ended in 2002. In 2003, Sheen was cast as Charlie Harper in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, which followed the popular Monday night time slot of Everybody Loves Raymond. Sheen's role on Two and a Half Men was loosely based on Sheen's bad boy image. Sheen appears as Dex Dogtective in the unreleased Lionsgate animated comedy Foodfight. In addition to his financial support, he has volunteered to act as a celebrity judge for several years for their annual fundraiser, Best In Drag Show, which raises around one-quarter of a million dollars He has brought other celebrities to support the event, including his father, actor Martin Sheen. Sheen's interest in AIDS was first reported in 1987 with his support of Ryan White—an Indiana teenager who became a national spokesperson for AIDS awareness after being infected with AIDS through a blood transfusion for his hemophilia.

Sheen also launched a clothing line for kids, called Sheen Kidz, in 2006.

September 11 attacks

On March 20, 2006, Sheen stated that he questions the US government's account of the September 11 attacks. Sheen said during the interview that the collapse of the World Trade Center towers looked like a controlled demolition. He urged critics not to attack him personally, but to challenge him on the facts.

Charlie Sheen has since become a prominent advocate of the 9/11 Truth movement. On September 8, 2009, Sheen appealed to US President Barack Obama to set up a new investigation into the attacks. Presenting his views as a transcript of a fictional encounter with Obama, he was characterized by the press as believing the 9/11 commission was a whitewash and that the administration of former US President George W. Bush may have been responsible for the attacks.

Personal life

Sheen and his then girlfriend, Paula Profit, had a daughter, Cassandra Jade Estevez (born December 12, 1984). In 1990, Sheen accidentally shot his then-fiancee, Kelly Preston, In 1995, Sheen married Donna Peele. He was named as one of many clients who visited brothels owned by Heidi Fleiss in her court case in 1995. Sheen's long-term relationship with former pornographic actress Ginger Lynn in the late 1990s garnered much media attention. He was also involved for a time with former pornographic actress Heather Hunter.

On June 15, 2002, he married actress Denise Richards, two years after meeting her on the set of Good Advice. They have two daughters, Sam J. Sheen (born March 9, 2004) and Lola Rose Sheen (born June 1, 2005). In March 2005, while she was still pregnant with their daughter Lola, Richards filed for divorce from Sheen, accusing Sheen of abusing drugs and alcohol and threatening Richards with violence. Sheen and Richards' divorce was made official on November 30, 2006. Sheen and Richards were engaged in an acrimonious custody dispute over their two daughters, but have since made peace with each other, with Sheen stating in April 2009 that "we had to do what's best for the girls."

On May 30, 2008, Sheen married Brooke Mueller, a real estate investor. This was the third marriage for Sheen and the first for Mueller. The couple's twins, Bob and Max, were born on March 14, 2009.

Sheen was arrested on charges of domestic violence, including second-degree assault and menacing, against Mueller on December 25, 2009 and the couple has not been seen together in public since this altercation. He was released from jail after posting an $8,500 bond. In a court appearance on February 8, 2010, Sheen was formally charged with felony menacing, and third-degree assault and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors. On August 2, 2010, Charlie Sheen plead guilty to misdemeanor assault as part of a plea bargain where the other charges against him were dismissed, and according to a story written by Associated Press reporter Solomon Banda he was "sentenced to 30 days in a rehabilitation center, 30 days of probation, and 36 hours of anger management." As this conviction stemmed from a domestic violence charge made by his wife, Brooke Mueller, Sheen will fall under the Lautenberg Amendment, which means that he will be barred from possessing guns for the rest of his life.

In February 2010, Sheen announced that he would take a break from Two and a Half Men to voluntarily enter a rehab facility. CBS expressed support. The decision to check himself into the facility for treatment followed his wife's treatment in a different rehab facility. Sheen's rehabilitation was considered "preventive." In March, Sheen's press representatives announced that he was preparing to leave rehab and return to work on the popular sitcom. On May 18, 2010, Sheen signed an agreement to return to the sitcom for another two years for a reported $1.88 million per episode.

During the early morning of October 26, 2010, Sheen was removed from his hotel room at the Plaza Hotel after Sheen caused damaged to the room and admitted to having been drinking and taking cocaine. According to NYPD sources he caused more than $7,000 in damages to his room. There was also a woman locked in the bathroom of the room. He was taken to a hospital for observation and released.

On November 1, 2010, Sheen filed for divorce from his third wife, Brooke.

Awards and honors

In 1989, Sheen, along with John Fusco, Christopher Cain, Lou Diamond Phillips, Emilio Estevez, and Kiefer Sutherland, was honored with a Bronze Wrangler for their work on the film Young Guns. In 1994, Sheen was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. For his work on the political sitcom Spin City, Sheen gained two ALMA Award nominations and won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy. Sheen also won an ALMA Award, gained three Emmy Award nominations, and two Golden Globe award nominations for his role in the sitcom Two and a Half Men.

Filmography

Films

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1974 | The Execution of Private Slovik | Kid at Wedding | NBC TV-movie; uncredited part. |- | 1979 | Apocalypse Now | Extra | |- |rowspan="2"| 1984 | Red Dawn | Matt Eckert | |- | Silence of the Heart | Ken Cruze | CBS TV-movie |- |rowspan="3"| 1985 | The Fourth Wise Man | Captain (Herod's Soldiers) | TV-movie |- | Out of the Darkness | Man Shaving | CBS TV-movie |- | The Boys Next Door | Bo Richards | |- |rowspan="5"| 1986 | Lucas | Cappie | |- | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Garth Volbeck-Boy in Police Station | Cameo |- | Platoon | Private Chris Taylor | |- | The Wraith | Jake Kesey | |- | Wisdom | Hamburger Restaurant Manager | Cameo |- |rowspan="4"| 1987 | Wall Street | Bud Fox | |- | No Man's Land | Ted Varrick | |- | Three for the Road | Paul | |- | | Ron | Unreleasedfilmed in 1983 |- |rowspan="3"| 1988 | Never on Tuesday | Thief | Uncredited Cameo |- | Eight Men Out | Oscar 'Happy' Felsch | |- | Young Guns | Richard "Dick" Brewer | Bronze Wrangler Award |- |rowspan="3"| 1989 | Tale of Two Sisters | Narrator | also writer (poems) |- | Major League | Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn | |- | Catchfire | Bob | Cameo |- |rowspan="5"| 1990 | Cadence | Pfc. Franklin Fairchild Bean | |- | Courage Mountain | Peter | |- | Men at Work | Carl Taylor | |- | Navy SEALs | Lt. (j.g.) Dale Hawkins | |- | The Rookie | David Ackerman | |- | 1991 | Hot Shots! | Lt. Sean Topper Harley | |- |rowspan="2"| 1992 | Beyond the Law | William Patrick Steaner/Daniel "Dan" Saxon/Sid | |- | Oliver Stone: Inside Out | Himself | Documentary |- |rowspan="4"| 1993 | National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 | Gern, Parking Valet | Cameo |- | Deadfall | Morgan "Fats" Gripp | Cameo |- | Hot Shots! Part Deux | Lt. Sean Topper Harley | |- | The Three Musketeers | Aramis | |- |rowspan="4"| 1994 | Charlie Sheen's Stunt Spectacular | Himself | TV-movie |- | Terminal Velocity | Richard 'Ditch' Brodie | |- | The Chase | Jackson Davis "Jack" Hammond | also executive producer |- | Major League II | Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn | |- |rowspan="4"| 1996 | Loose Women | Barbie Loving Bartender | Cameo appearance |- | Frame by Frame | | |- | All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 | Charles B. "Charlie" Barkin | (only voice) |- | The Arrival || Zane Zaminsky || |- |rowspan="3"| 1997 || Money Talks || James Russell || |- | Shadow Conspiracy || Bobby Bishop || |- | Bad Day on the Block || Lyle Wilder || also known as Under Pressure |- |rowspan="5"| 1998 || Postmortem || James McGregor || |- | A Letter from Death Row || Cop #1 || Cameo |- | No Code of Conduct || Jacob "Jake" Peterson || also executive producer and writer |- | Free Money || Bud Dyerson || |- | Junket Whore || Himself || Documentary |- |rowspan="3"| 1999 || Lisa Picard is Famous || Himself || |- | Five Aces|| Chris Martin || |- | Being John Malkovich || Himself || Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast |- | 2000 || Rated X || Artie Jay "Art" Mitchell || Showtime TV-movie |- |rowspan="2"| 2001 || Good Advice || Ryan Edward Turner || |- | Last Party 2000 || Himself || Documentary, uncredited |- | 2002 || The Making of Bret Michaels || Himself || Documentary |- | 2003 || Scary Movie 3 || Tom Logan || |- |rowspan="2"| 2004 || The Big Bounce || Bob Rogers Jr. || |- | Pauly Shore Is Dead || Himself || Cameo |- | 2005 || Guilty Hearts || Charlie Sheen || segment "Spelling Bee" |- | 2006 || Scary Movie 4 || Tom Logan || Uncredited Cameo |- |rowspan="2"| 2010 || || Bud Fox || Uncredited Cameo |- | Due Date || Charlie Harper || Cameo |}

Short films

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1986 || A Life in the Day || || |- | 1989 || Comicits || Himself || also producer |- | 2003 || Deeper Than Deep || Charles "Chuck" E. Traynor || |- | 2004 || Spelling Bee || Himself || from Guilty Hearts |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1986 || Amazing Stories: Book Three || Casey || Episode: "No Day at the Beach" |- | 1996 || Friends || Ryan || Episode: "The One with the Chicken Pox" |- | 1999 || Sugar Hill || Matt || unsold pilot |- | 2000–2002 || Spin City || Charlie Crawford || Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2002) Nominated - ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Series (2001) Nominated - ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Series (2002) |- | 2003–present || Two and a Half Men || Charlie Harper || Golden Icon Award for Best Actor - Comedy Series (2006) ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Television Series (2008) Nominated - Kids Choice Awards for Favorite Television Actor (2002) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2005) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2005) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2006) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006) Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2008) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2008) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2009) $1.78 million per episode. |- | 2006 || Overhaulin' || Himself || Episode: "LeMama's Boy" |- | 2008 || The Big Bang Theory || Himself || Episode: "The Griffin Equivalency" |- | 2009 || The Tonight Show with Jay Leno || Himself || |- | 2009 || Lopez Tonight || Himself || |- | 2010 || Family Guy || Himself || Episode: "Brian Griffin's House of Payne" |- |}

References

External links

Charlie Sheen biography at CBS.com - Two and a Half Men

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from New York City Category:American activists Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Spanish descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:California Democrats

Category:Estevez family Category:Galician people Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:People from Santa Monica, California Category:People from Staten Island

Name	Bruno Mars
Born	October 08, 1985 Honolulu, Hawaii
Origin	Los Angeles, California,
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Peter Gene Hernandez
Instrument	Vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, bass
Voice type	Falsetto
Genre	Pop, alternative hip hop, soul, rock, R&B;
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Years active	2007–present
Label	Atlantic, Elektra
Associated acts	The Smeezingtons, B.o.B, Cee Lo Green, Travie McCoy
Url

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age. After performing in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood, he decided to pursue a musical career. Mars began producing songs for other artists, joining production team The Smeezingtons.

He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy. He also co-wrote the hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Kesha, "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, and "Fuck You!" by Cee Lo Green. In October 2010, he released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Anchored by the singles "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", the album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. He has been nominated for seven Grammys at the 53rd Grammy Awards, which will be held on February 13, 2011.

Life and career

1985–2008: Early life and beginnings

Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez and raised in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii by parents Pete and Bernadette "Bernie" Hernandez, of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent. His mother emigrated to Hawaii from the Philippines as a child and his father moved to the island from Brooklyn, New York. The two met when performing in a show where his mother was a hula dancer and his father played percussion. Mars was one of six children and came from a musical family who exposed him to a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.; From a young age, he was impersonating and performing songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations. He later reflected on the influence Elvis had on his music, saying "I watch the best. I'm a big fan of Elvis. I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls would go nuts! You can say the same thing for Prince or The Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show, so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan." In 2010 he also acknowledged his Hawaiian roots and musical family as an influence, saying "Growing up in Hawaii made me the man I am. I used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band. Everybody in my family sings, everyone plays instruments. My uncle's an incredible guitar player, my dad's an incredible percussionist, my brother's a great drummer, he actually plays in our band. I've just been surrounded by it." In 2003, shortly after graduating from President Theodore Roosevelt High School at the age of seventeen, Mars moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a musical career.

In 2006, Mars was introduced to his future manager at Atlantic Records, Aaron Bay-Schuck, by his new songwriting partner Philip Lawrence. After hearing him play a couple of songs on the guitar, Bay-Schuck wanted to sign him immediately, but it took about three years for Atlantic records to finally sign Mars to the label. He also co-wrote the Sugababes' hit song "Get Sexy" and provided backing vocals on their album Sweet 7. His first musical appearance as a singer was in Far East Movement's second studio album Animal, featured on the track "3D". He was also featured on pastor and hip hop artist Jaeson Ma's debut single "Love" in August 2009. He reached prominence as a solo artist after being featured on and co-writing B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire"; both songs peaked within the top ten of many charts worldwide. He said of them, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung songs. If I'd sung all of "Nothin' on You", it might've sounded like some '90s R&B;." Following this success, Mars released his debut extended play (EP), titled It's Better If You Don't Understand, on May 11, 2010. The EP peaked at the ninety-ninth position on the Billboard 200 and produced one single: "The Other Side", featuring rappers Cee Lo Green and B.o.B. Mars collaborated with Cee Lo Green once more in August 2010 by co-writing his single "Fuck You!". He performed a medley of "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes" with B.o.B and Hayley Williams at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.

Mars' debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, was released digitally on October 4, and saw its physical release on October 5, 2010. The lead single, "Just the Way You Are", was released on July 19, 2010, and has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The music video was released on September 8, 2010. Two songs from the album, "Liquor Store Blues" featuring Damian Marley and "Grenade" were released to the iTunes Store as promotional singles. He opened for Maroon 5 on the fall leg of the Hands All Over Tour starting October 6, 2010. Mars will co-headline with Travie McCoy on a European tour starting October 18, 2010. The album also received generally positive reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly Leah Greenblatt praised Mars for his "instant-access melodies" and "sly snatches of dance-floor swagger", but noted weaknesses in songs deviant from his conventional pop and soul genres.

On September 19, 2010, Mars was arrested in Las Vegas for possession of cocaine. When talking to a police officer, Mars reportedly stated that what he did was "foolish" and that "he has never used drugs before". The court date, postponed for the second time until February 4, 2011, could see Mars face up to four years in prison and a $50,000 fine for possession of an alleged 2.6g of the drug.

Musical style

Although Mars has been referenced as "soft" because of his light falsetto voice, his co-producer says, "What people don't know is there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars." Mars himself says, "I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called him "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced voice that’s an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor."

Mars also claims that his work with other artists influenced his musical style, saying that "'Nothing on You' had a Motown vibe, 'Billionaire' was a reggae acoustic guitar-driven song, though one of my favorites is the Cee-Lo song [Fuck You!]. I don't think anyone else could've sung that song. And there's 'Just the Way You Are.' If you know my story, you know I love all different genres of music." He cites doo-wop as a major influence on his music, referring to the genre as "just straightforward love songs — so charming and simple and romantic." |Best Collaboration | |- |Video of the Year | |- |rowspan="3"|BET Hip Hop Awards |Best Hip Hop Video | |- |Reese's Perfect Combo Award | |- |Verizon People's Champ Award | |- |MTV Video Music Awards |Best Pop Video | |- |MTV2 Sucker Free Summit Awards |Instant Classic | |- |Soul Train Music Awards |Song of the Year | |- |Teen Choice Awards''' |Best Single | |- |rowspan="8" align="center"|2011 |rowspan="7"|Grammy Awards |Best Rap Song | |- |Best Rap/Sung Collaboration | |- |rowspan="2"|Record of the Year | |- |rowspan="2"|"Fuck You!" | |- |Song of the Year | |- |"Just the Way You Are" |Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | |- |The Smeezingtons |Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | |- |Himself |NAACP Image Awards |Outstanding New Artist | |}

References

External links

Official website

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:American male singers Category:American musicians of Filipino descent Category:American singers of Puerto Rican descent Category:Elektra Records artists Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Honolulu, Hawaii