Name	50 Cent
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Curtis James Jackson III
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States
Born	July 06, 1975
Genre	Hip hop, gangsta rap
Occupation	Rapper, actor, entrepreneur, executive producer
Years active	1997–present
Label	G-Unit records/Shady Records/Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records
Associated acts	G-Unit, Game, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Sha Money XL, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo
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Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005). Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. His album The Massacre has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA

Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.

Jackson has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Cam'ron, Rick Ross, and former G-Unit members The Game and Young Buck. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008. 50 Cent was ranked as the 6th best artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard magazine. The magazine also ranked him as the 4th Top male artist and as the 3rd Top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly. Billboard magazine also ranked him as the 6th best and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000-2009 decade and as the #1 Rap Song Artist of the 2000-2009 decade. Billboard ranked his album Get Rich or Die Tryin' as the 12th best album of the 2000-2009 decade and his album The Massacre as the 37th best album of the 2000-2009 decade.

Life and music career

Early life

Curtis Jackson III grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, in New York City. He grew up without a father and was raised by his mother, Sabrina, who gave birth to him at the age of fifteen. Sabrina, a cocaine dealer, raised Jackson until the age of twelve, when she was murdered in 1988. Twenty-seven at the time, she became unconscious after someone drugged her drink. She was then left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed. After her death, Jackson moved into his grandparents' house with his eight aunts and uncles. He recalls, "My grandmother told me, 'Your mother's not coming home. She's not gonna come back to pick you up. You're gonna stay with us now.' That's when I started adjusting to the streets a little bit".

, August 23, 1994]] Jackson began boxing around the age of eleven. At fourteen, a neighbor opened a boxing gym for local kids. "When I wasn't killing time in school, I was sparring in the gym or selling crack on the strip", he recalled. In the mid 1980s, he competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur boxer. He recounts, "I was competitive in the ring and hip-hop is competitive too... I think rappers condition themselves like boxers, so they all kind of feel like they're the champ". At the age of twelve, Jackson began dealing narcotics when his grandparents thought he was at after-school programs. He also took guns and drug money to school. In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School. He later stated, "I was embarrassed that I got arrested like that... After I got arrested I stopped hiding it. I was telling my grandmother [openly], 'I sell drugs.'" He adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change". The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent". Jackson chose the name "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means".

1996–2000: Early career

Jackson started rapping in a friend's basement where he used turntables to record over instrumentals. In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who was organizing his label Jam Master Jay Records. Jay taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and how to make a record. Jackson's first official appearance was on a song titled "React" with the group Onyx on their 1998 album Shut 'Em Down. He credited Jam Master Jay as an influence who helped him improve his ability to write hooks. He also started the now-defunct Hollow Point Entertainment with former G-Unit affiliate Bang 'Em Smurf.

Jackson's popularity started to increase after the successful but controversial underground single, "How to Rob", which he wrote in half an hour while in a car on the way to a studio. The track comically explains how he would rob famous artists. He explained the reasoning behind song's content as, "There's a hundred artists on that label, you gotta separate yourself from that group and make yourself relevant".

2000–01: Shooting

On April 24, 2000, Jackson was attacked by a gunman, alleged to be Darryl "Hommo" Baum, outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica, Queens. He went into a friend's car, but was asked to return to the house to get jewelry. His son was in the house, while his grandmother was in the front yard. The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice. His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where Jackson spent thirteen days. Baum, the alleged shooter, was killed three weeks later. Baum was also Mike Tyson's close friend and bodyguard.

Jackson recalled the incident saying, "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh shit, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'"

While in the hospital, Jackson signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records. However, he was dropped from the label and "blacklisted" in the recording industry because of his song "Ghetto Qu'ran". Unable to find a studio to work with in the U.S, he traveled to Canada. Along with his business partner Sha Money XL, he recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes, with the purpose of building a reputation. According to Shady Records A&R; Marc Labelle in an interview with HitQuarters, Jackson shrewdly used the mixtape circuit to his own advantage saying, "He took all the hottest beats from every artist and flipped them with better hooks. They then got into all the markets on the mixtapes and all the mixtape DJs were messing with them." Jackson's popularity rose and in 2002, he released material independently on the mixtape, Guess Who's Back?. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by G-Unit, Jackson continued to release music including 50 Cent Is the Future. The mixtape revisited material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq. Rolling Stone noted the album for its "dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce" with Jackson complementing the production in "an unflappable, laid-back flow". It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 copies in the first four days. The lead single, "In da Club", which The Source noted for its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps", broke a Billboard record as the most listened-to song in radio history within a week. Interscope granted Jackson his own label, G-Unit Records in 2003. He signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. The Game was later signed under a joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. In March 2005, Jackson's second commercial album, The Massacre, sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days-the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno", and "How We Do". Rolling Stone noted that "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur-sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus".

, Lloyd Banks, and Young Buck in Bangkok, Thailand, February 2006]] After The Game's departure, Jackson signed singer Olivia and rap veterans Mobb Deep to G-Unit Records. Spider Loc, M.O.P., 40 Glocc and Young Hot Rod later joined the label. Jackson expressed interest in working with rappers outside of G-Unit, such as Lil' Scrappy of BME, LL Cool J from Def Jam, Mase from Bad Boy, and Freeway of Roc-A-Fella, some of whom he recorded with. In September 2007, he released his third album Curtis, which was inspired by his life before Get Rich or Die Tryin'. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 691,000 units in the first week, behind Kanye West's Graduation, whom he had a sales competition with, as both albums were released on the same day. He confirmed on TRL on September 10, 2008 that his fourth studio album, Before I Self Destruct, will be "done and released in November". On May 18, 2009, Jackson released a song entitled "Ok, You're Right". The song was produced by Dr. Dre and will be included in Before I Self Destruct. In Fall 2009, 50 Cent appeared in the new season of VH1's Behind The Music. On September 3, 2009 months upon the release of his "Before I Self Destruct" album 50 Cent posted a video for the Soundkillers' Phoenix produced track "Flight 187" which introduced his mixtape, the 50th LAW, and was also featured as a bonus track on his iTunes release of Before I Self Destruct. The song ignited speculation that there was tension between rapper 50 Cent and Jay Z for Jackson's comments in the song.

2010–present: New direction

In an interview with the British entertainment website ContactMusic, 50 Cent announced that he was working on a dance (primarily Eurodance) album named Black Magic. 50 Cent said he was inspired by the European nightclubs. "First they played hip-hop which suddenly changed to uptempo songs, known as Eurodance". Later however, he confirmed that he had shelved Black Magic in favor of writing new material that did not fit the concept of Black Magic. He did confirm that he is working on his yet-to-be-titled fifth studio album.

He went on The Invitation Tour in the summer of 2010, in support of Before I Self Destruct album, and the shelved Black Magic album. On September 3, 50 Cent showed support to longtime mentor Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Crack A Bottle," alongside his longtime mentors Eminem and Dr. Dre, amidst rumors that 50 was no longer working with Dre.

50 Cent appeared on Michael Jackson's posthumous album Michael. He co-wrote and rapped on the song "Monster."

50 Cent recently discussed his next album while on the set of Jeremih's new music video. Referring to recent leaks as "ideas," the G-Unit leader says the new project is his "Detox Album" and it "may take ten years." He also says that he "recorded 20 songs to a whole different album concept" before he put those to the side and did something different. Planning to record and write until it feels perfect, 50 says that "its important to put out the right sound for that moment." 50 Cent finished up with a little self-confidence saying simply, "there is no one in Hip Hop that possesses the ability to do what I do."

Non-musical projects

Jackson has established himself in a variety of fields. In November 2003, he signed a five year deal with Reebok to distribute a "G-Unit Sneakers" line as part of his G-Unit Clothing Company. He provided the voice-over as the protagonist in the video game, , which was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the PlayStation Portable. Its sequel, , was released in early 2009. He worked with Glacéau to create a Vitamin Water drink called Formula 50. In 2007, Coca-Cola purchased Glacéau for US$4.1 billion. Forbes estimated Jackson, who owns a stake in the company, earned $100 million from the deal after taxes. He has teamed up with Right Guard to launched a body spray called Pure 50 RGX Body Spray and a condom line called Magic Stick Condoms, in which he planned to donate part of the proceeds to HIV awareness. Jackson has signed a multi-year deal with Steiner Sports to sell his memorabilia.

In 2005, Jackson made a cameo appearance on The Simpsons episode "Pranksta Rap", in which he makes light of his legal troubles. The same year, he starred alongside Terrence Howard in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin'. He starred in the 2006 film, Home of the Brave, as a soldier returning home from the Iraq War, traumatized after killing an Iraqi woman. Jackson is working on a role as a fighter in an Angola State Prison in Spectacular Regret alongside Nicolas Cage, and starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 2008's Righteous Kill, a movie regarding a police death. He also started the film production companies G-Unit Films in 2007 and Cheetah Vision in 2008. In August 2007, Jackson announced plans to launch a dietary supplement company in conjunction with his movie Spectacular Regret. at the AMAs 2009]] In August, 2005, shortly before appearing in Get Rich or Die Tryin', Jackson published an autobiography entitled From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens. In it Jackson explores the cultural and economic forces that led him to sell cocaine and crack, details his entrepreneurship as a drug-dealer and then as a rapper, and reflects on his own ethos and on society. On January 4, 2007, Jackson launched his G-Unit Books imprint at the Time Warner Building. He also co-wrote The Ski Mask Way, a novel about a small-time drug dealer who attempts to rob his employers, which is to be turned into a film. In May 2008, Jackson met billionaire Patrice Motsepe to forge a joint venture selling 50 Cent-branded platinum.

In 2008, Jackson started a reality television show on MTV titled ; the winning contestant, Ryan Mayberry, won a $100,000 investment from Jackson.

In 2010, Jackson's film company Cheetah Vision landed $200 million in funding.

Personal life

On October 13, 1997, Jackson's then-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins gave birth to a son, Marquise Jackson. Tompkins later sued Jackson for $50 million dollars, claiming that he said that he would take care of her for life; the suit, which includes 15 claims was later dismissed by a judge, calling it "an unfortunate tale of a love relationship gone sour." As of February 2009, Tompkins' and her lawyer are considering an appeal.

The birth of his son changed Jackson's outlook on life: "When my son came into my life, my priorities changed, because I wanted to have the relationship with him, that I didn't have with my father." He credited his son for inspiring his career and being "motivation to go in a different direction".

Jackson has a tattoo of "Marquise" with an axe on his right biceps. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though,"

In 2005, Jackson expressed support for President George W. Bush after rapper Kanye West criticized him for the slow response in assisting the Hurricane Katrina victims. If his felony convictions did not prevent him from voting, he claimed he would have voted for Bush. He later stated that Bush "has less compassion than the average human. By all means, I don't aspire to be like George Bush."

In 2007, Forbes recognized Jackson for his wealth, placing him second behind Jay-Z in the rap industry. He resides in Farmington, Connecticut, in the former mansion of ex-boxer Mike Tyson. He put the mansion for sale at $18.5 million to move closer to his son who lives in Long Island with his ex-girlfriend. On October 12, 2007, the Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut declared it "50 Cent Curtis Jackson Day". He was honored with a key to the city and an official proclamation. One of his homes in New York purchased for 2.4 million dollars in January 2007 and at the center of a lawsuit between Jackson and ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins caught fire on May 31, 2008 while he was out of town filming for a movie in Louisiana.

In December 2008 50 told the Canadian press that he had been affected by the recession, losing several million dollars on the stock market. He also went on to say that he had been unable to sell his Connecticut mansion and pushed Before I Self-Destruct back because of the recent economic downturn.

In November 2009, 50 Cent won in a lawsuit against Taco Bell over the fast food chain using his name to promote the brand without his permission.

Feuds

How To Rob

50 Cent said that he intended the single to be a joke, and not meant to disrespect anybody. Nevertheless, a number of rappers mentioned on the song responded on record. The comments made towards the Wu-Tang Clan were responded to on the Ghostface Killah album Supreme Clientele on a track called "Ghost Deini" and even more directly on a skit called "Clyde Smith" which included one of the Wu-Tang Clan members talking about how they intended to harm the rapper, which is identifiable as Raekwon when the track is sped up. A supposed diss song, "Who the Fuck Is 50 Cent", which circulated the web in the beginning of 2001 was rumored to be by the Clan, but was proven to be recorded by Polite of American Cream Team (Raekwon's then-side project).

Jay-Z also reacted to the comments in the track called "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)", off the album :

"Go against Jigga yo' ass is dense I'm about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cents?"

Sticky Fingaz responded to the diss with the track "Jackin' for Beats."

"The real 50 from Brooklyn god bless he got outed You just a fake clown who front and rout about it."

Big Pun responds to this track on his album Yeeeah Baby, in the song "My Turn."

"And to the 50 Cent Rapper, very funny -- get your nut off, 'cuz in real life, we all know I'd blow your motherfucking head off...If I'm gonna write a song, it'll be about how I had to beat your mothafuckin' ass. And that'll be the name of the motherfucker: 'That's Why I Had To Beat Your Motherfucking Ass', featuring Tony Sunshine."

Kurupt responded on the diss track "Callin' Out Names."

"Now it's 50 mc's that ain't worth shit Get ya ass kicked 50 times, beat to 10 cent"

Wyclef Jean responded on the song "Low Income", from his 2000 album, The Ecleftic.

"I stay so hungry that if 50 Cent came to rob me he'd be part of my charity."

Murder Inc.

Before signing with Interscope, Jackson engaged in a well-publicized dispute with rapper Ja Rule and his label The Inc. Records. Jackson claims that a friend robbed Ja Rule of his jewelry and that Ja Rule accused him of setting it up. In March 2000, while at The Hit Factory studio in New York, Jackson had an altercation with Murder Inc. associates. He was treated for three stitches after receiving a stab wound. Rapper Black Child claimed responsibility for the stabbing, saying he acted in self-defense because he thought someone reached for a gun.

An affidavit by an IRS agent suggested that Murder Inc. had ties to Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a New York drug lord who was suspected of being involved in the murder of Jam Master Jay and the shooting of Jackson. An excerpt of the affidavit read:

The exchange of insultive tracks released from both parties culminated into Ja Rule releasing Blood in My Eye, which was an album that mostly insulted Jackson and Eminem. Ja Rule eventually tried to squash the feud with Jackson by using minister Louis Farrakhan in a televised interview. However, the attempt at peace lost credibility as the interview was scheduled a day before Blood in My Eye was released. As a result, most fans, along with Jackson, dismissed the interview as a blatant publicity stunt.

Ja Rule later released R.U.L.E. with the successful single, "New York", featuring Jadakiss and Fat Joe in which Ja Rule took subliminal shots at Jackson. This single prompted Jackson to enter a feud with the two featured artists. The feud died down in late 2004, when Eminem released "Like Toy Soldiers" which explains the recent feuding with Ja Rule and Benzino, to which Eminem ends the song offering a truce to his enemies. Although the feud was later resurrected in early 2005.

New York rappers

Before releasing The Massacre, Jackson recorded a song "Piggy Bank", a response to Ja Rule's song "New York", which was leaked before the album's release. The song takes aim at rappers including Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss. Fat Joe responded with a song, "My Fofo", accusing Jackson of taking steroids, hiding in his home, and being jealous of The Game. Jadakiss also responded with a song, "Checkmate", and said that Jackson was trying to "create a buzz for his new album". The "Piggy Bank" music video portrays animated caricatures of Jadakiss (as a Ninja turtle), Fat Joe (as an overweight boxer who receives a knockout), Nas (as a kid chasing a "milkshake" truck in a Superman costume), and The Game (as Mr. Potato Head). He also disses all of them on the beef version of his single "Window Shopper" Kelis, Nas's wife, responded to the song on her single "Bossy". Nas later responded with "Don't Body Ya Self (MC Burial)." Nas later dissed 50 on the song "Street Ridaz" on Game's mixtape "Brake Lights".

Jackson spoke negatively about Bad Boy Entertainment mogul Sean Combs and recorded a song, "Hip-Hop", revealing the reasons behind his negative feelings: primarily, a contract dispute over Mase. In the song, he implied that Diddy knew about The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder and threatened to expose him through former associates. The feud was resolved, with both rappers appearing on MTV's TRL and Sucker Free, respectively, stating that there were no longer problems. The feud reignited in 2010 with 50 Cent dissing Diddy, saying his music "sucks".

On February 1, 2007, Cam'ron and Jackson had a live argument on The Angie Martinez Show on Hot 97 radio. Jackson commented that Koch Entertainment was a "graveyard", meaning major record labels would not work with their artists. Cam'ron then ridiculed the record sales of G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Mobb Deep by stating that Jim Jones outsold their albums despite being signed to an independent label and that his group, The Diplomats, had a distribution deal from several labels. Jackson responded by releasing "Hold On" with Young Buck.

The Game

Although he was close with The Game, before The Game released his debut album The Documentary, they soon became at odds. After its release, Jackson felt The Game was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feuds with other rappers and even wanting to work with artists they were feuding with. He also claimed that he wrote six songs on the album and was not receiving proper credit for his work, which The Game denied.

Jackson later dismissed The Game from G-Unit on Hot 97 radio. After the announcement, The Game, who was a guest earlier in the evening, attempted to enter the building with his entourage. After being denied entry, one of his associates was shot in the leg during a confrontation with a group of men leaving the building. When the situation escalated, both rappers held a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the albums they had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation deflated, G-Unit criticized The Game's . The group denounced The Game and announced that they will not be featured on his albums. During a Summer Jam performance, The Game launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".

After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with "300 Bars and Runnin'", an extended "diss" aimed at G-Unit as well as members of Roc-A-Fella Records on the mixtape You Know What It Is Vol. 3. Jackson responded through his "Piggy Bank" music video, which features The Game as a Mr. Potato Head doll and also parodies other rivals. Since then both groups continued to attack each other. The Game released two more mixtapes, Ghost Unit and a mixtape/DVD called Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin.

Jackson posted a cover of The Game's head on the body of a male stripper for "Hate It or Love It (G-Unit Radio Part 21)" mixtape, as a response to The Game displaying pictures of G-Unit dressed as Village People. Although he was signed to Aftermath Entertainment, The Game left the label and signed with Geffen Records to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit (although others claim Jackson pressured Dr. Dre to kick him off). G-Unit member Spider Loc had also began to insult The Game on various songs. In addition, The Game released "240 Bars (Spider Joke)" and "100 Bars (The Funeral)" both attacking G-Unit, Spider Loc and others. Jackson's response was "Not Rich, Still Lyin'" where he mocks The Game. Lloyd Banks replied to the Game on a Rap City freestyle booth session. The Game quickly released a "diss" record called "SoundScan" where The Game pokes fun at Lloyd Banks' album Rotten Apple falling thirteen spots on the Billboard 200 chart and disappointing second week sales. Lloyd Banks replied on his mixtape Mo' Money In The Bank Pt. 5: Gang Green Season Continues with a song called "Showtime (The Game's Over)". Lloyd Banks states that Jackson wrote half of The Game's first album The Documentary and pokes fun at The Game's suicidal thoughts.

In October 2006, The Game extended a peace treaty to Jackson, which was not immediately replied to. However, a couple days later, on Power 106, he stated that the treaty was only offered for one day. On The Game's album, Doctor's Advocate, he claims that the feud is over on a few of the songs.

In July 2009, The Game stated the beef was squashed with help from Michael Jackson and Diddy, and he apologized for his actions during the beef. Tony Yayo said that neither Jackson or G-Unit would accept his apology. Since then, The Game continued his old "G-Unot" ways at live concerts. Jackson released "So Disrespectful" a diss song on Before I Self Destruct targeting Jay-Z, The Game and Young Buck. Game later responded with the song "Shake", poking fun of the music video for 50's single "Candy Shop", quote, "Me and 50 aint agreeing on shit so I had to (Shake) Aint no telling what he putting in that protein (Shake) Seen the candy shop video look at this nigga (Shake) And thats the same shit that made the nigga Young Buck (Shake)". He also takes shots at Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, in which he says, "I'm surprised that Lloyd Banks and Yayo didn't (Shake) Wasn't selling no records Jimmy Iovine said (Shake)". Game also dissed G-Unit several times on the song "400 Bars".

Rick Ross

In January 2009, Rick Ross started a feud with 50 Cent because he supposedly looked at him the wrong way at the BET Awards. However, Jackson told news sources that he did not even remember seeing Rick Ross there. In late January, a track entitled "Mafia Music" by Rick Ross, leaked onto the Internet. There were several lines that seem to diss Jackson. Days later, Jackson released "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)" in response to Rick Ross's disparaging remarks on his "Mafia Music" song. The next day Rick Ross appeared on Shade 45, and told Jackson to come up with something better in 24 hours.

Before going to Venezuela, Jackson uploaded a video entitled "Warning Shot", where he warns Rick Ross: "I'ma fuck your life up for fun". In addition, Jackson released the first of a series of "Officer Ricky" cartoons. Early February, Jackson once again made a video which he uploaded to YouTube where he interviews "Tia", the mother of one of Rick Ross's children. She verifies his being a correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent. On Thursday, February 5, 2009, The Game, who Jackson has a long-standing "beef" with, called up Seattle's KUBE 93 Radio Station. When asked about the beef between Jackson and Rick Ross, The Game sided with Jackson and said that things are not looking good for Rick Ross. However, he offered to help Rick Ross get out of this situation, stating "Rick Ross, holla at your boy, man," and "50 eating you, boy."

On his album Deeper Than Rap, Ross references Jackson in the song "In Cold Blood". A video for the song was released that portrayed Jackson's mock funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended Jackson's career.

In an interview, Jackson said: "Rick Ross is Albert From CB4. You ever seen the movie? He's Albert," he added. "It never gets worse than this. You get a guy that was a correctional officer come out and base his entire career on writing material from a drug dealer's perspective such as "Freeway" Ricky Ross."

Lil Wayne

After hearing word that Lil Wayne had prepared a song for him after 50 made some unkind remarks, 50 lashed out at Wayne first on August 17, 2007 with the song "Part Time Lover". Wayne never really responded to the song, although a 50 Cent diss track called "Louisianimal" did leak much later on November 17, 2008. Jackson responded to Lil Wayne in January 2009 in a song entitled "Play This On The Radio". As of August 14, 2009, the controversy between Jackson and Lil Wayne seems to have ended after Jackson appeared and performed at Lil Wayne's America's Most Wanted Musical Festival stop in Anaheim, California.

Young Buck

After numerous rumors of a "beef" within G-Unit, Jackson officially dismissed Young Buck from the group, in 2008. He later assured that he was still signed with the label. Numerous slander songs then arose on the internet from both camps, with Young Buck appearing in a music video of former rival The Game. Jackson then leaked a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck, which showed one of the true reasons for the falling out; Jackson was owed money by the Southern rapper. Young Buck later stated the conversation took place over a year before the leak. The two camps have since released a multitude of songs against each other, with the feud settling down by 2009, with Young Buck stating he's been working on his latest album, which is still to be released under the G-Unit label.

Lawsuit

On July 21, 2007, Jackson filed a $1 million lawsuit against advertising company Traffix Inc. of Pearl River, New York for using his image in a promotion which he claims threatens his safety. He became aware of the internet ad after one of his staff members saw it on a MySpace page. According to court documents, the ad features a cartoon image of the rapper and the message: "shoot the rapper and you will win $5000 or five ring tones guaranteed". Though the ad did not use his name, the image allegedly intended to resemble him, suggesting he endorsed the ad. The lawsuit calls it a "vile, tasteless and despicable" use of 50 Cent's image that "quite literally calls for violence against him". The lawsuit seeks for unspecified punitive damages and a permanent injunction against the use of his image without permission.

Discography

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003)

The Massacre (2005)

Curtis (2007)

Before I Self Destruct (2009)

Black Magic (2011)

Awards and nominations

Filmography

References

External links

50 Cent at AOL Sessions

*| Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:Actors from New York City Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American shooting survivors Category:American video game actors Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Businesspeople from New York Category:American music industry executives Category:G-Unit members Category:G-Unit Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Queens Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Shady Records artists Category:Survivors of stabbing Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Snoop Dogg
|img	Snoop Dogg Hawaii.jpg
Born	October 20, 1971Long Beach, California, United States
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Cordozar Calvin Broadus
Alias	Snoop Doggy Dogg
Occupation	Rapper, actor, producer
Genre	Gangsta rapG-funkHip hopWest Coast hip hop
Years active	1991–present
Label	Death Row, No Limit, Capitol, Doggystyle, Geffen, EMI, Priority
Associated acts	Dr. Dre, B-Real, R. Kelly Cypress Hill, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Nate Dogg, Pharrell, Tha Dogg Pound, Tha Eastsidaz, 213, Xzibit, Wiz Khalifa
Url

Cordozar Calvin Broadus (born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American entertainer, rapper, record producer and actor. Snoop is best known as an MC in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school. Shortly after graduation, he was arrested for cocaine possession and spent six months in Wayside County Jail. His music career began in 1992 after his release when he was discovered by Dr. Dre. He collaborated on several tracks on Dre's solo debut, The Chronic and on the titular theme song to the film Deep Cover.

Snoop's debut album, Over the Counter, was released in 1991 and his second Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records. Doggystyle went quadruple platinum and spawned several hit singles, including "What's My Name" and "Gin & Juice". In 1996, Snoop Dogg was cleared of charges over his bodyguard's 1993 murder of Philip Woldemariam. His third album, 1996's Tha Doggfather, was his last release for Death Row before he signed with No Limit Records, where he recorded three albums from 1998 to 2001. Snoop then signed with Priority/Capitol/EMI Records in 2002, which released his album Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss, and then he signed with Geffen Records in 2004 for his next three albums.

In addition to music, Snoop Dogg has starred in motion pictures and hosted several television shows: Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood and Dogg After Dark. He also coaches a youth football league and high school football team. He has run into many legal troubles, some of which caused him to be legally banned from the UK and Australia, the UK ban was later reversed after a long legal battle. He is the cousin of emcees Nate Dogg, Daz Dillinger, RBX and Lil' ½ Dead and the cousin of R&B; singers Brandy and Ray J. Starting September 2009, Snoop was hired by EMI as the chairman of a reactivated Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland was released December 8, 2009.

Snoop Dogg collaborated with Rap Artist Mr. Capone-E in 2009 to produce the song 'Light My Fire'.

Life and career

Early life

Named after his step-father, Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Sr. (December 10, 1948 - November 9, 1985, Los Angeles, California), Calvin Broadus was born October 20, 1971 at the Los Altos Hospital in Long Beach, California, the second of three sons of Beverly Broadus (née Tate; born April 27, 1951, McComb, Mississippi). His father, Vernall Varnado (born December 13, 1949, Magnolia, Mississippi), Broadus' parents nicknamed him "Snoopy" as a child because of his appearance, but usually addressed him as Calvin at home. His mother and stepfather divorced in 1975. At an early age, Broadus began singing in Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church and playing piano; when he was in sixth grade, he began rapping. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and was convicted for cocaine trafficking and served six months at the Wayside County Jail.

Snoop Dogg is a member of the Rollin' 20 Crips gang in the Eastside of Long Beach, although he stated in 1993 that he never joined a gang.

Doggystyle (1992–1995)

When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound. The huge success of Snoop Dogg's debut Doggystyle was partially because of this intense exposure. Doggystyle, much like The Chronic, featured a host of rappers signed to or affiliated with the Death Row label including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Nate Dogg and others. Rolling Stone music critic Touré asserted that Snoop had a relatively soft vocal delivery compared to other rappers: "Snoop's vocal style is part of what distinguishes him: where many rappers scream, figuratively and literally, he speaks softly."

Tha Doggfather (1996-1997)

After Snoop Dogg was acquitted of murder charges on February 20, 1996, he and the mother of his son and their kennel of 20 pit bulls moved into a 5,000-square-foot home in the hills of Claremont, California and by August 1996 Doggy Style Records, a subsidiary of Death Row Records, signed The Gap Band's Charlie Wilson as one of the record label's first artists.

However, by the time Snoop Dogg's second album, Tha Doggfather, was released in November 1996, the price of living (or sometimes just imitating) the gangsta life had become very evident. Among the many notable hip hop industry deaths and convictions were the death of Snoop Dogg's friend and labelmate 2Pac and the racketeering indictment of Death Row co-founder Suge Knight.

Tha Doggfather, No Limit Top Dogg and Tha Last Meal (1998-2000)

Snoop signed with Master P's No Limit Records (distributed by Priority/EMI Records) in 1998 and debuted on the label with Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told that year. His other albums from No Limit were No Limit Top Dogg in 1999 (selling over 1,503,865 copies) and Tha Last Meal in 2000 (selling over 1,000,000).

Snoop Dogg has ventured into singing for Bollywood with his first ever rap for an Indian movie Singh Is Kinng; the title of the song is also "Singh is Kinng". The album featuring the song was released on June 8, 2008 on Junglee Music Records.

He released his ninth studio album, Ego Trippin' (selling 400,000 copies in the U.S.), along with the first single, "Sexual Eruption". The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, featuring Snoop using autotune. The album featured production from QDT (Quik-Dogg-Teddy).

filming the music video for "Mr. Romeo" (2010).]]

Malice n Wonderland and More Malice (2009-2010)

Snoop was appointed an executive position at Priority Records. His tenth studio album, Malice n Wonderland, was released on December 8, 2009. The first single from the album, "Gangsta Luv", featuring The-Dream, peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200, selling 61,000 copies its first week, making it his lowest charting album. His third single, "I Wanna Rock", peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Snoop features on the latest Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach. The fourth single from Malice n Wonderland, titled "Pronto", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, was released on iTunes on December 1, 2009. Snoop re-released the album under the name More Malice.

Doggumentary Music (2010-present)

Snoop collaborated with Katy Perry on the first single from her second mainstream album, "California Gurls", which was released on May 11, 2010. Snoop can also be heard on the track "Flashing" by Dr. Dre and on Curren$y's song Seat Change. He was also featured on a new single from Australian singer Jessica Mauboy, titled "Get 'em Girls" (released September 2010). Snoop's latest effort was backing American recording artist, Emii, on her second single entitled "Mr. Romeo" (released October 26, 2010 as a follow-up to "Magic").

Snoop Dogg's next studio album will be a sequel to his 1993 classic Doggystyle, and producer Swizz Beatz is already giving him "sounds" for the project. "I'm in the studio with Swizzle, and he just laced my boots up on my new record," Snoop Dogg said while sitting next to Swizz. "Motherfucker gave me some gangsta shit, some crip shit, some R&B; shit, some hip hop shit, some hard shit, some mean shit. And the name of the album is Doggystyle 2: The Doggumentary, be on the look out for it." The album was renamed to Doggumentary Music and will be released during March 2011.

Other ventures

Media appearances

Snoop Dogg has appeared on television and in films throughout his career. In 1998, Snoop had a cameo appearance in the film Half Baked as the "Scavenger Smoker". In 2000, Snoop (as "Michael J. Corleone") directed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, a pornographic film produced by Hustler. The film, combining hip hop with x-rated material, was a huge success and won "Top Selling Release of the Year" at the 2002 AVN Awards. Snoop then directed in 2002 (using the nickname "Snoop Scorsese").

In 2001, Snoop lent his voice to the animated show King of the Hill, in which he played a white pimp named Alabaster Jones. He played a lead character in the movie The Wash with Dr. Dre. He portrayed a drug dealer in a wheelchair in the film Training Day, featuring Denzel Washington. In 2001, Snoop starred in the horror film Bones, with him playing a murdered mobster who returns from the dead to exact his revenge against those who murdered him.

In 2002, Snoop hosted, starred in, and produced his own MTV sketch comedy show entitled Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. Snoop was filmed for a brief cameo appearance in the television movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), but his performance was omitted from the final cut of the movie. On November 8, 2004, Snoop Dogg was starred in the episode "Two of a Kind" of NBC's series Las Vegas.

In 2004, Snoop appeared on the Showtime series The L Word as the character "Slim Daddy". He also notably played the drug dealer-turned-informant character of Huggy Bear, in the 2004 remake film of the 1970s TV-series of the same name, Starsky & Hutch. He appeared as himself in the episode "MILF Money" of Weeds, and made an appearance on the TV shows Entourage and Monk, for which he recorded a version of the theme, in July 2007. with Ashley Massaro and tag team partner Maria]]

Snoop founded his own production company, Snoopadelic Films, in 2005. Their debut film was Boss'n Up, a film inspired by Snoop Dogg's album R&G;, starring Lil Jon and Trina.

In December 2007, his reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood premiered on the E! channel. Snoop Dogg joined the NBA's Entertainment League. On March 30, 2008 he appeared at WrestleMania XXIV as a Master of Ceremonies for a tag team match between Maria and Ashley Massaro as they took on Beth Phoenix and Melina.

On May 8 and May 9, 2008, Snoop appeared as himself on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, with a new opening theme recorded by the artist presented for both episodes. In the episodes, Snoop performs at the bachelorette party for character Adriana Cramer, and credits Bo Buchanan with helping him get his start in show business. On February 24, 2010, Snoop Dogg reprised his role, performing his song "I Wanna Rock" from his new album, Malice n Wonderland, as well as once again performing a special remixed, vocal rendition of the show's opening theme. In recent interviews he has explained that, as a child, One Life to Live was one of his favorite shows, and he still regards the show fondly. He has also stated that he has always been a particular fan of Robert S. Woods, who has portrayed the character of Bo Buchanan since 1979.

In 2009, Snoop Dogg appeared in Sacha Baron Cohen's film Brüno as himself performing a rap addition to the song "Dove Of Peace". On October 19, 2009, Snoop Dogg was the guest host of WWE Raw.

In July 2009, Snoop revealed his desire to appear in the popular soap opera Coronation Street whilst touring in the UK. However ITV bosses were said to be less keen.

In 2010, Snoop Dogg appeared in an episode of I Get That a Lot on CBS as a parking-lot attendant.

In June 2010, Snoop created a music video for True Blood accompanying a song he wrote for one of the main characters of the show entitled "Oh Sookie."

Endorsements

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St. Ides

Snoop Dogg 40 Oz Malt liquor

Boost Mobile cell phone

Chrysler 300

Orbit Gum

Cal Worthington's Ford dealership in Long Beach, California

"Snoop Doggs" – foot-long hot dogs manufactured in Massachusetts, a joint venture with Platinum One Media

"Snoop Dogg Board Company (SDBC)" – skateboards and Luggage fabrication company (with Pentagon Distribution)

"Snooperbowl" and "Snoop Youth Football league"

"Chronic Candy" – candy that tastes like marijuana (from Switzerland and is currently banned in some cities of US)

Love Don't Live Here No More, Doggy Tales Vol.1 – love novel (co-written by David E. Talbert, published by Atria and Snoopadelic Films) ISBN 0-7432-7363-X Tha Doggfather : The Times, Trials, And Hardcore Truths Of Snoop Dogg – autobiography (published by William Morrow) Hardcover ISBN 0-688-17158-3, Paperback ISBN 0-06-107607-4

Fear & Respect (project cancelled as of March 1, 2006) – PlayStation 2 video game (developed by Midway Games)

"Doggy Biscuitz" – shoe brand (in partnership with Pony International)

"Snoop Dogg Clothing" – streetwear (distributed at Macy's)

"WRFF" – unique design scooters (in cooperation with Salton, Inc.) "Hip Hop Gaming League" – a celebrity online gaming competition (hosted by Global Gaming League) "Snoop Dogg figures" (Vital Toys, SOTA Toys)

"Snoop Dogg Boxing" – mobile phone game (Sony Pictures Mobile)

"Snoop Dogg Pet Accessory Line" (in conjunction with Jakks Pacific) Snoop Dogg is a celebrity voice of a Tom Tom GPS navigation system. He stated on George Lopez's talk show Lopez Tonight that he is tired of hearing directions from the same woman. In August 2008, Snoop Dogg announced the launch of a new streetwear line called Rich & Infamous, via a partnership with Robert Thorne Co. The line was unveiled during the Magic Tradeshow in Las Vegas. "Hack is Wack" - Promoting Norton AntiVirus. "Coffee Cup With A Cause" with 7 Eleven. "Serious Pimp" clothing line. "iFizzle" iPhone Application. "Vybe Mobile" "Pepsi Max" - Zero Calories

Style and rap skills

Kool Moe Dee ranks Snoop at #33 in his book There's a God on the Mic, and says he has "an ultra-smooth, laidback delivery", and "flavor-filled melodic rhyming". Peter Shapiro describes Snoop's delivery as a "molasses drawl" and Allmusic notes his "drawled, laconic rhyming" style.

Snoop is known to freestyle some of his lyrics on the spot for some songs - in the book How to Rap, Lady of Rage says, "Snoop Dogg, when I worked with him earlier in his career, that's how created his stuff... he would freestyle, he wasn't a writer then, he was a freestyler," and D.O.C. states, "Snoop's [rap] was a one take willy, but his shit was all freestyle. He hadn't written nothing down. He just came in and started busting. The song was "The Shiznit" - [that was all freestyle]. He started busting and when we got to the break, Dre cut the machine off, did the chorus and told Snoop to come back in. He did that throughout the record. That's when Snoop was in the zone then."

Peter Shapiro says that Snoop debuted on "Deep Cover" with a "shockingly original flow - which sounded like a Slick Rick born in South Carolina instead of South London" and adds that he "showed where his style came from by covering Slick Rick's 'La Di Da Di'". as well as 'linking with rhythm' in his compound rhymes, using alliteration, and employing a "sparse" flow with good use of pauses.

Legal issues

While recording Doggystyle in August 1993, Snoop Dogg was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Woldermarian, a member of a rival gang who was shot and killed by Snoop's bodyguard, McKinley Lee; Snoop was charged with murder along with Lee as he was driving the vehicle from which the shooting had commenced. Snoop and Lee were defended by Johnnie Cochran. Both Snoop and Lee were acquitted; Lee was acquitted on grounds of self-defense, but Snoop Dogg remained entangled in the legal battles around the case for three years. In July 1993, Snoop was stopped for a traffic violation and a firearm was found by police while conducting a search of his car. In February 1997, he pled guilty to one count of being an ex-felon in possession of a handgun and was ordered to record three public service announcements, pay a $1,000 fine, and serve three years' probation. Twice, in May 1998 and October 2001, Snoop Dogg was fined and arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession. In 2002 he pleaded no contest to the charge from 2001 and was fined a total of $398.30 and received a suspended 30-day jail sentence.

Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and The Game were sued for assaulting a fan on stage at a May 2005 concert at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington. The accuser, Richard Monroe, Jr., claimed he was beaten by the artists' entourage while mounting the stage. He alleged that he reacted to an "open invite" to come on stage. Before he could, Snoop’s bodyguards grabbed him and he was beaten unconscious by crewmembers, including the rapper and producer Soopafly; Snoop and The Game were included in the suit for not intervening. The lawsuit focuses on a pecuniary claim of $22 million in punitive and compensatory damages, battery, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The concerned parties appeared in court in April 2009.

On April 26, 2006, Snoop Dogg and members of his entourage were arrested after being turned away from British Airways' first class lounge at Heathrow Airport. Snoop and his party were not allowed to enter the lounge because some of the entourage were flying first class, other members in economy class. After the group was escorted outside, they vandalized a duty-free shop by throwing whiskey bottles. Seven police officers were injured in the midst of the disturbance. After a night in prison, Snoop and the other men were released on bail on April 27, but he was unable to perform at the Premier Foods People's Concert in Johannesburg on the same day. As part of his bail conditions, he had to return to the police station in May. The group has been banned by British Airways for "the foreseeable future." When Snoop Dogg appeared at a London police station on May 11, he was cautioned for affray under Section 4 of the Public Order Act for use of threatening words or behavior. On May 15, the Home Office decided that Snoop Dogg should be denied entry to the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future due to the incident at Heathrow as well as his previous convictions in the United States for drugs and firearms offenses. Snoop Dogg's visa card was rejected by local authorities on March 24, 2007 because of the Heathrow incident. A concert at London's Wembley Arena on March 27 went ahead with Diddy (with whom he toured Europe) and the rest of the show. However the decision affected four more British performances in Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow and Budapest (due to rescheduling). As of March 2010, Snoop Dogg has been allowed back into the UK.

Snoop Dogg was arrested again on October 26, 2006 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California while parked in a passenger loading zone. Approached by airport security for a traffic infraction, he was found in possession of marijuana and a firearm, according to a police statement. He was transported to Burbank Police Department Jail, booked, and released on $35,000 bond. He faced firearm and drug possession charges on December 12 at Burbank Superior Court. He was again arrested on November 29, 2006, after performing on The Tonight Show, for possession of marijuana and a firearm.

Snoop was arrested again on March 12, 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden after performing in a concert with P. Diddy in Stockholm's Globe Arena after he and a female companion reportedly "reeked" of marijuana. They were released four hours later after providing a urine sample. Pending results on urine will determine whether charges will be pressed. However the rapper denied all charges.

On April 26, 2007, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship banned him from entering the country on character grounds, citing his prior criminal convictions. He had been scheduled to appear at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards on April 29, 2007. Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship lifted the ban in September 2008 and had granted him visa to tour Australia. DIAC said "In making this decision, the department weighed his criminal convictions against his previous behaviour while in Australia, recent conduct – including charity work – and any likely risk to the Australian community ... We took into account all relevant factors and, on balance, the department decided to grant the visa."

Snoop Dogg's many legal issues forced San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom to withdraw his plan to issue a proclamation to the rapper.

Snoop Dogg was banned from Parkpop, a festival in the Netherlands on June 27, 2010 which he was scheduled to perform at. The mayor and law enforcement officials asked organizers of the festival to find an artist more “open and friendly” to play the event.

Personal life

Broadus's father left the family when Broadus was three months old. Snoop married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, on June 12, 1997. On May 21, 2004, he filed for divorce from Shante, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple renewed their wedding vows on January 12, 2008. R&B; singers Brandy and Ray J are his first cousins. In 2002, the rapper announced he was giving up marijuana, one of his image trademarks, for good. According to his IMDb biography, Snoop is a fan of the thrash metal band Metallica and performed their song "Sad But True" on the band's 2003 MTV Icon Special which is available on YouTube. A DNA test read by George Lopez on Lopez Tonight revealed Snoop Dogg to be of 0% East Asian, 23% Native American, 6% European, and 71% African descent.

Snoop is an avid fan of hometown teams Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Lakers. Snoop is also an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan. and is often seen wearing Pittsburgh Steelers apparel. Snoop has mentioned that his love for the Steelers began in the 1970s during the team's dynasty years while watching the team with his grandfather growing up in L.A. In the 2005 offseason, Snoop mentioned that he wanted to be an NFL head coach, "probably for the Steelers". The following year, he was in attendance for the Steelers' victory in Super Bowl XL and later in Super Bowl XLIII. He was also a fan of the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, often wearing a #5 jersey, and has been seen in Raiders training camps. He did his own free style rap based on his similarities with Tony Romo. He has also shown affection for the New England Patriots, as he has been seen performing at the Gillette Stadium and picked the Patriots as the favorite to win Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles. On August 6, 2009, Snoop visited the training camp of the Baltimore Ravens at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He was invited by Ray Lewis the day after his concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

A certified football coach, Snoop Dogg has been head coach for his son's youth football teams and the John A. Rowland High School team.

Snoop Dogg is an avid hockey fan; he sported a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey (with the name and number 'GIN AND JUICE' 94 on the back) and a jersey of the now-defunct Springfield (MA) Indians of the American Hockey League in his 1994 music video, "Gin And Juice". On the E! show, Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, Snoop Dogg and his family received lessons on playing hockey from the Anaheim Ducks, then returning to the Honda Center to cheer on the Ducks against the Vancouver Canucks in the episode Snow in da Hood.

In 2009, it was revealed that Snoop Dogg was a member of the Nation of Islam. On March 1, 2009, he made an appearance at the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day holiday, where he praised controversial minister Louis Farrakhan. Snoop claimed to be a member of the Nation of Islam, but he declined to give the date on which he joined. He also donated $1,000 to the organization.

He popularized the catch-phrase suffix , which had been in use for decades, but not nearly to the extent that it is now, particularly in the pop and hip hop music industry.

Snoop claimed in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that unlike other hip hop artists who've superficially adopted the pimp persona, he was an actual professional pimp in 2003 and 2004, saying "That shit was my natural calling and once I got involved with it, it became fun. It was like shootin' layups for me. I was makin' 'em every time." He goes on to say that upon the advice on some of the other pimps he knew, he eventually gave up pimping to spend more time with his family.

Discography

Doggystyle (1993)

Tha Doggfather (1996)

Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998)

No Limit Top Dogg (1999)

Tha Last Meal (2000)

Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002)

(2004)

Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)

Ego Trippin' (2008)

Malice n Wonderland (2009)

Doggumentary Music (2011)

Filmography

1994: Murder Was the Case (Platinum)

1998: Caught Up

1998: Half Baked (cameo appearance)

1998: Da Game of Life

1998: Hot Boyz

1998: Ride

1999: Whiteboyz

1999: Urban Menace

2000: Tha Eastsidaz

2000: ''Up in Smoke Tour

2001: Baby Boy

2001: Training Day

2001: King of the Hill (voice)

2001: Bones

2001: The Wash

2003: Malibu's Most Wanted

2003: Old School

2004: Starsky & Hutch

2004: Soul Plane

2004: Volcano High

2005: Boss'n Up

2005: Racing Stripes (voice)

2006: The Tenants

2006: Weeds: Himself

2006: Hood of Horror

2007: Arthur and the Minimoys (voice)

2007: Monk

* During the opening credits, he covered the title song by Randy Newman "It's a Jungle out There".

2007: The Boondocks

2008: Singh Is Kinng (as Himself)

2008: Snoop Dogg's Father Hood (as Himself)

2009: (voice)

2009: Dogg After Dark: Himself

2009: (voice)

2009: Brüno (cameo appearance)

2009: Falling Up

2010: ''Down for Life

2010: ''One Life to Live as Calvin Broadus

2010: Straight Outta L.A. (as Himself)

2010:

2010: Big Time Rush

Awards

Snoop Dogg was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Music samples

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See also

Izzle

List of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom, a list Snoop Dogg is on

Further reading

References

External links

Official website

Snoop Dogg at Geffen Records

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2010s singers Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:Native American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American film producers Category:American male singers Category:American voice actors Category:Crips Category:Death Row Records artists Category:Geffen Records artists Category:G-funk Category:E1 Music artists Category:Members of the Nation of Islam Category:No Limit Records artists Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Priority Records artists Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California * Category:Star Trak Entertainment artists Category:American rappers of European descent Category:People acquitted of murder

Background	solo_singer
Born	September 26, 1948Cambridge, England
Instrument	Vocal, Piano
Genre	Pop, country
Occupation	Singer, actress, songwriter, entrepreneur
Years active	1963–present
Associated acts	Cliff Richard, John Travolta, Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb, Bee Gees, ELO, John Farrar, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Anni-Frid Lyngstad among others.
Url	olivianewton-john.com

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE (born 26 September 1948) is an English-born, Australian-raised singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles (including two platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two platinum and four double platinum) have been certified gold by the RIAA. Her music has been successful in multiple formats including pop, country and adult contemporary. She co-starred with John Travolta in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Grease, which became one of the most successful films and movie soundtracks in Hollywood history.

Newton-John has been a long-time activist for environmental and animal rights issues. Since surviving breast cancer in 1992, she has been an advocate for health awareness becoming involved with various charities, health products and fundraising efforts. Her business interests have included launching several product lines for Koala Blue and co-owning the Gaia Retreat & Spa in Australia.

Newton-John has been married twice. She currently lives with her second husband, John Easterling, in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida. She is the mother of one daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, with her first husband, actor Matt Lattanzi.

Beginnings

Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, to a Welsh father, Brinley ("Bryn") Newton-John, and a Jewish-German mother, Irene Born, the eldest child of the Nobel prize-winning atomic physicist Max Born. Newton-John's family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1954 where her father worked as a professor of German and as Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne.

At 14, Newton-John formed a short-lived all-girl band, Sol Four, with three classmates often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law. She became a regular on local Australian radio and television shows including HSV-7's The Happy Show where she performed as "Lovely Livvy." She also appeared on the Go Show where she met future duet partner, Pat Carroll, and future music producer John Farrar. (Carroll and Farrar would later marry.) She entered and won a talent contest on the television program, Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by 1960s Australian icon Johnny O'Keefe performing the songs "Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses." Newton-John was initially reluctant to use the prize she had won, a trip to England, but travelled there nearly a year later after her mother encouraged her to broaden her horizons. After Carroll's visa expired forcing her to return to Australia, Newton-John remained in England to pursue solo work until 1975. She became engaged to, but never married, The Shadows' guitarist Bruce Welch.

Newton-John was recruited for the group Toomorrow formed by American producer Don Kirshner who was also the music consultant for the earliest recordings of The Monkees. In 1970, the group starred in a "science fiction musical" film and recorded an accompanying soundtrack both named after the group. The project bombed and the group disbanded.

Early success

Newton-John released her first solo album, If Not For You (No. 158 Pop), in 1971. The title track, written by Bob Dylan and previously recorded by Beatle George Harrison for his 1970 album, All Things Must Pass, was her first international hit (No. 25 Pop, No. 1 AC). Her follow-up single, "Banks of the Ohio," was a Top 10 hit in England and Australia. She was voted Best British Female Vocalist two years in a row by the magazine Record Mirror. She made frequent appearances on Cliff Richard's weekly show, It's Cliff Richard, and starred with him in the telefilm, The Case.

In 1974, Newton-John represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song, Long Live Love. The song was chosen for Newton-John by the British public out of six possible entries. (Newton-John later admitted that she disliked the song.) Newton-John placed fourth at the contest held in Brighton behind ABBA's winning Waterloo. All six Eurovision contest song candidates were recorded by Newton-John and included on her Long Live Love album, her first for the EMI Records label.

In the United States, Newton-John's career floundered after If Not For You. Subsequent singles including "Banks of the Ohio" (No. 94 Pop, No. 34 AC) and remakes of George Harrison's "What Is Life" (No. 34 AC) and John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (No. 119 Pop) made minimal chart impact until the release of "Let Me Be There" in 1973. The song reached the American Top 10 on the Pop (No. 6), Country (No. 7), and AC (No. 3) charts and earned her a Grammy for Best Country Female and Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female. The success of both singles helped the album reach No. 1 on both the Pop (one week) and Country (eight weeks) Albums charts.

Newton-John's country success sparked a debate among purists who believed a foreigner singing country-flavored pop music did not belong in country music. This outrage led to the formation of the short-lived Association of Country Entertainers (ACE). Newton-John was eventually supported by the country music community. Stella Parton, Dolly's sister, recorded "Ode To Olivia" and Newton-John recorded her 1976 album, Don't Stop Believin', in Nashville. and "Please Mr. Please" (No. 3 Pop, No. 5 Country, No. 1 AC). The soundtrack spent 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and yielded three Top 5 singles for Newton-John: the platinum No. 1 "You're The One That I Want" (with John Travolta), the gold No. 3 "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and the gold No. 5 "Summer Nights" (with John Travolta and the film's cast). The former two songs were written and composed by Newton-John's long-time music producer, John Farrar, specifically for the film. ("Summer Nights" was written for the original play by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.) Newton-John became the second female (after Linda Ronstadt in 1977) to have two singles – "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights" – in the Billboard Top 5 simultaneously. Newton-John's performance earned her a People's Choice award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Musical and performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted To You" at the 1979 Academy Awards.

The film's popularity has endured through the years. It was re-released for its 20th anniversary in 1998 and ranked as the second highest grossing film behind Titanic in its opening weekend. It was most recently re-released in July 2010 as a sing-along version in select American theatres. The soundtrack still sells strongly enough to often appear on Billboard's Top Soundtracks chart.

New image

Newton-John's transformation in Grease from goody-goody "Sandy 1" to spandex-clad "Sandy 2" emboldened Newton-John to do the same with her music career. In November 1978, she released her next studio album Totally Hot, which became her first solo Top 10 (No. 7) album since Have You Never Been Mellow. Dressed on the cover all in leather, the album's singles "A Little More Love" (No. 3 Pop, No. 94 Country, No. 4 AC), "Deeper Than The Night" (No. 11 Pop, No. 87 Country, No. 4 AC), and the title track (No. 52 Pop) all demonstrated a more aggressive and more uptempo sound for Newton-John. Although the album clearly de-emphasized country, it still reached No. 4 on the Country Albums chart. Newton-John released the B-side, "Dancin' 'Round And 'Round," of the "Totally Hot" single to Country radio, where it peaked at No. 29 (as well as No. 82 Pop and No. 25 AC), becoming her last charted solo Country airplay single to date.

Newton-John began 1980 by releasing I Can't Help It (No. 12 Pop, No. 8 AC), a duet with Andy Gibb from his After Dark album, and by starring in her third television special, Hollywood Nights. Later that year, she appeared in her first film since Grease, starring in the musical Xanadu with Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. Although the movie was a critical failure, its soundtrack (No. 4 Pop) was certified double platinum boasting five Top 20 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Newton-John charted with Magic (No. 1 Pop, No. 1 AC), Suddenly with Cliff Richard (No. 20 Pop, No. 4 AC), and the title song with the Electric Light Orchestra (No. 8 Pop, No. 2 AC). The Electric Light Orchestra also charted with "I'm Alive" (No. 16 Pop, No. 48 AC) and "All Over The World" (No. 13 Pop, No. 46 AC). Magic was Newton-John's biggest Pop hit to that point (four weeks at No. 1) (A successful national tour of the show followed.)

In 1981, Newton-John released her most successful studio album, the double platinum Physical. The title track, written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick, spent ten weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, matching the record of most weeks at No. 1 held by Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life. The single was certified platinum and it ultimately ranked as the biggest song of the decade. (In 2008, Billboard ranked the song No. 6 among all songs that charted in the 50-year history of the Hot 100.) "Physical" even earned Newton-John her only placement ever on the R&B; Singles (No. 28) and Albums (No. 32) chart. The Physical album spawned two more singles, Make a Move on Me (No. 5 Pop, No. 6 AC) and Landslide (No. 52 Pop).

The provocative lyrics of the title track prompted two Utah radio stations to ban the single from their playlists. (In 2010, Billboard magazine ranked this as the most popular single ever about sex.) To counter its overtly suggestive tone, Newton-John filmed an exercise-themed video that turned the song into an aerobics anthem and made headbands a fashion accessory outside the gym. Newton-John became a pioneer in the nascent music video industry by recording a video album for Physical featuring videos of all the album's tracks and three of her older hits. The video album earned her a fourth Grammy and was aired as an ABC prime time special, Let's Get Physical, redeemed by its platinum soundtrack (No. 26 Pop) featuring Twist Of Fate (No. 5 Pop), The couple had met four years earlier while filming Xanadu. Their daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, was born in January 1986. (They divorced in 1995.) Newton-John's music career cooled again with the release of her next studio album, the gold Soul Kiss (No. 29 Pop), in 1985. The album's only charted single was the title track (No. 20 Pop, No. 20 AC). The album's second single, Toughen Up, failed to even chart. The video album for Soul Kiss featured videos of only five (two concept, three performance) of the album's ten tracks. Newton-John limited her publicity for the album due to her pregnancy.

Motherhood and advocacy

After a nearly three-year hiatus to raise Chloe, Newton-John resumed her recording career with the 1988 album, The Rumour. The album was promoted by an HBO special, Olivia Down Under, and its first single, the title track, was written and produced by Elton John. Both the single (No. 62 Pop, No. 33 AC) and the album (No. 67 Pop) fizzled as the nearly 40 year-old Newton-John seemed "old" when compared with the teen queens Debbie Gibson and Tiffany ruling the Pop charts at that time. (Ironically, this album was praised by critics as more mature with Newton-John addressing topics such as AIDS, the environment and single parent households.) The second single, the Sandy Linzer/Irwin Levine–penned Can't We Talk It Over In Bed, did not chart. (Grayson Hugh, the song's arranger, subsequently released his version of the song as Talk It Over in 1989 and it became a Top 20 Pop hit.) A year later, Newton-John recorded her self-described "self-indulgent" album, Warm and Tender. Inspired by her daughter, who appeared on the album cover, the album featured lullabies and love songs for parents and their children. Newton-John recovered and since became a tireless advocate for breast cancer research and other health issues. She is a product spokesperson for the Liv-Kit, a breast self-examination product. She is also partial owner of the Gaia Retreat and Spa in Byron Bay, Australia advertised as "the ideal place to renew, refresh, and restore your mind, body and soul."

Newton-John's advocacy for health issues was presaged by her prior involvement with many humanitarian causes. Newton-John cancelled a 1978 concert tour of Japan to protest the slaughter of dolphins caught in tuna fishing nets. (She subsequently rescheduled the tour when the Japanese government assured her the matter was being addressed.) She was a performer on the 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert for the United Nations' International Year of the Child televised worldwide. During the concert, artists performed songs for which they donated their royalties, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause. She was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme. In 1991, she became the National Spokesperson for the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund/CHEC (Children’s Health Environmental Coalition) following the death of four year old Colette Chuda, a family friend, from cancer. (Chuda was featured along with Newton-John and daughter Chloe on the cover of Newton-John's Warm and Tender album.)

Newton-John's cancer diagnosis also affected the type of music she recorded. In 1994, she released Gaia: One Woman's Journey which chronicled her ordeal. This was the first album on which Newton-John wrote and composed all of the songs encouraging her to become more active as a songwriter thereafter. In 2005, she released Stronger Than Before, sold exclusively in the United States by Hallmark. Proceeds from the album's sales benefited breast cancer research. The album featured the song Phenomenal Woman based on the poem by Maya Angelou that featured guest vocals from Diahann Carroll, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Delta Goodrem, Amy Holland, Patti LaBelle, and Mindy Smith - all survivors of or affected by cancer. The following year, Newton-John released a healing CD, Grace And Gratitude. The album was sold exclusively by Walgreens also benefitting various charities including Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. The CD was the "heart" of their "Body – Heart – Spirit" Wellness Collection which also featured a re-branded Liv-Kit and breast-health dietary supplements.

In 2008, Newton-John raised funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She led a three-week, 228 km. walk along the Great Wall of China during April joined by various celebrities and cancer survivors throughout her trek. The walk symbolized the steps cancer patients must take on their road to recovery. Newton-John released a companion CD, A Celebration In Song, the following month in Australia and later worldwide featuring new and previously recorded duets by "Olivia Newton-John & Friends." Her "Friends" included Jann Arden, Jimmy Barnes, John Farrar, Barry Gibb, Delta Goodrem, Sun Ho, Richard Marx, Cliff Richard, Melinda Schneider, Amy Sky and Keith Urban. In October, Newton-John helped launch the www.liv.com website and teamed with fitness franchise Curves to distribute one million Liv-Aid breast self-examination aids for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Newton-John collaborated with producer David Foster to record Hope Is Always Here for the November 2009 television special, Kaleidoscope. The song was written and composed for the show's performance by another breast cancer survivor, figure skater Dorothy Hamill. The song was released as a digital single after the show aired.

Newton-John's spirituality also extended to the release of several Christmas albums. In 2000, she teamed with Vince Gill and the London Symphony Orchestra for 'Tis The Season sold exclusively through Hallmark. The following year, she released The Christmas Collection which compiled seasonal music previously recorded for her Hallmark Christmas album, her appearance on Kenny Loggins's 1999 TNN Christmas special and her contributions to the Mother And Child and Spirit Of Christmas multi-artist collections. In 2007, she re-teamed with her Grace And Gratitude producer, Amy Sky, for Christmas Wish (No. 187 Pop) which was sold exclusively by Target in its first year of release.

Later career

Newton-John continued to record and perform pop-oriented music as well. In 1998, she returned to Nashville to record Back With A Heart (No. 59 Pop).

Newton-John's television work included starring in two Christmas movies, A Mom For Christmas (1990) and A Christmas Romance (1994) – both Top 10 Nielsen hits. Her daughter, Chloe, starred as one of her children in both A Christmas Romance and in the 2001 Showtime film The Wilde Girls. Newton-John guest-starred as herself in the sitcoms Ned and Stacey, Murphy Brown, and Bette, and made two appearances as herself on Glee. For her first Glee appearance, Newton-John re-created her "Physical" video with series regular Jane Lynch. The performance was released as a digital single, returning Newton-John to the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 89) for the first time since her 1998 re-release of I Honestly Love You. In Australia, Newton-John hosted the animal and nature series Wild Life and guest starred as Joanna on two episodes of the Australian series The Man From Snowy River.

Newton-John met gaffer/cameraman Patrick McDermott a year after her 1995 divorce from Matt Lattanzi. The couple dated on and off for nine years. McDermott disappeared following a 2005 fishing trip off the California coast. Various theories abounded regarding his disappearance ranging from his death by accident or foul play to McDermott staging his disappearance to avoid child support payments to his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar. Newton-John, who was in Australia at her Gaia Retreat & Spa at the time of his disappearance, was never a suspect in McDermott's disappearance and has refused to comment on any speculation. A US Coast Guard investigation released in 2008 "suggest[ed] McDermott was lost at sea," although some have claimed contact with McDermott since his disappearance. Newton-John returned to the tabloid headlines again in 2007 when it was revealed that her daughter Chloe was recovering from anorexia.

Newton-John released another concert DVD, Olivia Newton-John and the Sydney Symphony: Live at the Sydney Opera House, and a companion CD, Olivia's Live Hits, in January 2008. An edited version of the DVD premiered on PBS station, WLIW (Garden City, New York), in October 2007 and subsequently aired nationally during the network's fund-raising pledge drives. This was Newton-John's third live album after the 1981 Japanese release, Love Performance, and her 2000 Australian release, One Woman's Live Journey.

In June 2008, Newton-John secretly wed John ("Amazon John") Easterling, founder and president of natural remedy firm, Amazon Herb Company. The couple had first met 15 years earlier, but they only became romantically involved in 2007. (Like Newton-John, this was Easterling's second marriage.) The couple married alone in a private Incan spiritual ceremony in Cuzco, Peru on June 21 followed nine days later by a legal ceremony on the Jupiter Island beachfront in Florida. There were no guests at either service since the couple preferred to marry simply and privately. Only Newton-John's daughter, Chloe, was aware of the nuptials. The couple did not announce their marriage until a July 4th barbecue at Newton-John's Malibu, California home, where guests were surprised with the news. The wedding was confirmed thereafter by HELLO! Magazine which published exclusive pictures of both weddings. In June 2009, the Easterlings purchased a new $4.1 million home in Jupiter Inlet, and Newton-John sold her home in Malibu, California.

Current endeavors

Newton-John still occasionally tours. Most of her recent public performances have been at charitable functions or to promote products such as Zamu, produced by Amazon Herb, a company founded by John Easterling. Her tour schedule can be found at http://olivianewton-john.com/tour.html.

Newton-John joined Judy Brooks and Roy Walkenhorst as co-host of the health and well-being series Healing Quest, currently airing on PBS.

Newton-John re-recorded some tracks from her 2006 Grace And Gratitude album and re-released the album as Grace And Gratitude Renewed in September 2010 on the Green Hill music label. The Renewed CD includes a new track, "Help Me To Heal", which was not featured on the original album. Her 2001 The Christmas Collection was also re-released in October 2010 with different artwork. Green Hill will re-release Newton-John's 2008 CD, A Celebration In Song, with different artwork on January 25. The Renewed CD charted in Billboard as follows:

* Christian Albums (No. 36)

* Christian & Gospel Albums (No. 54)

* New Age (No. 2)

Newton-John starred in the film , released in Canada. Newton-John portrays Hope Gordon, the mother of a home-schooled hockey prodigy. The film opened the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2010, and it features a duet by Newton-John with her co-star, Marc Jordan.

Newton-John is featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama, 1 a Minute, released October 2010. The documentary was made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral, and it features breast cancer survivors Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith. The film also features brothers Daniel and William Baldwin, Morgan Brittany, Deepak Chopra, Priya Dutt, Barbara Mori and Lisa Ray.

Bluewater Productions released a comic book featuring Newton-John in October 2010 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Ten of Newton-John's albums were re-released separately and combined as a box set in October 2010 by Universal Music Japan. The albums include Long Live Love, Have You Never Been Mellow, Clearly Love, Come On Over, Don't Stop Believin', Making A Good Thing Better, Totally Hot, Physical, Soul Kiss, and The Rumour. Each studio album featured two additional bonus tracks not included on the original releases of each album. On the same day, Universal Music Japan also released a "40/40" compilation that included 40 of Newton-John's hits as voted for by her Japanese fans as well as a previously unreleased bonus track, "Come on Home". Newton-John promoted these re-releases with a five-date tour of Japan.

Discography and videography

;Studio albums

If Not For You (1971)

Olivia (1972)

Let Me Be There/Music Makes My Day (1973)

Long Live Love (1974)

If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974)

Have You Never Been Mellow (1975)

Clearly Love (1975)

Come On Over (1976)

Don't Stop Believin' (1976)

Making a Good Thing Better (1977)

Totally Hot (1978)

Physical (1981)

Soul Kiss (1985)

The Rumour (1988)

Warm and Tender (1989)

Gaia (1994)

Back With a Heart (1998)

'Tis the Season (2000)

The Christmas Collection (Olivia Newton-John album) (2001)

(2) (2002)

(2004)

Stronger Than Before (2005)

Grace and Gratitude (2006)

Christmas Wish (2007)

A Celebration in Song (2008)

Grace And Gratitude Renewed (2010)

;Main compilation albums

Greatest Hits (1977)

Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982)

(1992)

;Live albums

Love Performance (1981)

Highlights from The Main Event (1998)

One Woman's Live Journey (2000)

Olivia's Live Hits (2008)

;Soundtracks

Toomorrow (1970)

(1978)

Xanadu (1980)

Two of a Kind (1983)

Sordid Lives (2000)

(2008)

;DVDs

Olivia Physical (1982)

Olivia in Concert (1983)

Twist of Fate (1983)

Soul Kiss (1985)

Olivia Down Under (1988)

Live at the Sydney Opera House (2008)

Video Gold 1 (2005)

Video Gold 2 (2005)

Filmography

Tours

If Not For You Tour (1972)

Cliff Richard Japan tour w/Pat Carroll (1972)

Clearly Love Tour (1975)

Love Performance Tour (1976)

Totally Hot World Tour (1978)

Physical World Tour (1982)

The Main Event Tour (1998)

Greatest Hits Tour (1999)

One Woman's Live Journey Tour (1999)

Millennium Tour (2000)

30 Musical Years Tour (2001)

Heartstrings World Tour (2002)

Japan 2006 Tour (2006)

Live at the Sydney Opera House Tour (2006)

Grace and Gratitude Tour (2006)

Body Heart & Spirit Tour (2007)

Verona-Canadian 2007 Tour (2007)

United States 2009 Tour (2009)

Awards and honours

{| class=wikitable |- style="background:#ccc;" !Year !Category !Genre !Recording !Result |- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Grammy Awards |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1973 |Best Female Country Vocal Performance |Country |"Let Me Be There" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1974 |Record of the Year |General |"I Honestly Love You" | |- align=left |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"I Honestly Love You" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1975 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Have You Never Been Mellow" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1978 |Album of the Year |General |"Grease" (Soundtrack) | |- align=left |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Hopelessly Devoted to You" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1980 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Magic" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1981 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Physical" | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1982 |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |Pop |"Heart Attack" | |- align=left |Video of the Year |General |Olivia Physical | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1983 |Best Long Form Music Video |General |Olivia in Concert | |- align=left | style="text-align:left;"|1984 |Best Short Form Music Video |General |Twist of Fate | |}

See also

List of best-selling music artists

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

List of songs by Australian artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)

List of songs by British artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

References

Bibliography

Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Olivia Newton-John." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 380–1.

The Story of the Shadows by Mike Read. 1983. Elm Tree books. ISBN 0-241-10861-6.

Rock 'n' Roll, I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life – A Life In The Shadows by Bruce Welch ISBN 0-670-82705-3 (Penguin Books).

External links

Olivia Newton-John

Gaia Retreat

Great Walk To Beijing

ON-J Cancer Centre Appeal

Breast Health

Newton-John, Olivia (1948-) National Library of Australia, Trove, People and Organisation record for Olivia Newton-John

Category:1948 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Living people Category:Actors from Melbourne Category:ARIA Award winners Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:Australian country singers Category:Australian dance musicians Category:Australian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian people of English descent Category:Australian people of German descent Category:Australian people of Welsh descent Category:Australian pop singers Category:Australian television actors Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:British Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:English country singers Category:English dance musicians Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English female singers Category:English film actors Category:English immigrants to Australia Category:English pop singers Category:English people of German descent Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English television actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1974 Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Naturalised citizens of Australia Category:Officers of the Order of Australia Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Cambridge Category:Singers from Melbourne

Name	Nate Dogg
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nathaniel Dwayne Hale
Born	August 19, 1969 (age 41)
Origin	Long Beach, California, United States
Genre	West Coast hip hop, R&B;, g-funk
Occupation	Singer, Rapper
Years active	1992–present
Label	Death RowElektraDoggystyleAtlantic
Associated acts	213, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, 2Pac, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre, Game, Eminem, Tha Dogg Pound,

Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (born August 19, 1969), better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, is an American musician.

Life and career

Nate Dogg was born in Long Beach, California. He is the close friend and partner in the music game with rappers Snoop Dogg, Warren G, RBX, Daz Dillinger and is the cousin of Butch Cassidy and Lil' ½ Dead. He began singing as a child in the New Hope Baptist Church in Long Beach and Life Line Baptist Church in Clarksdale, Mississippi where his father (Daniel Lee Hale) was pastor. At the age of 16 he dropped out of high school in Long Beach, California and left home to join the United States Marine Corps, serving for three years. In 1991 Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg, and their friend Warren G, formed a rap trio called 213. 213 recorded their first demo in the back of the famed V.I.P record store in Long Beach, the demo was later heard by Dr. Dre at a house party and he was instantly hooked on the soulful voice of Nate.

Nate Dogg made his debut on The Chronic. Singing in what later become his trademark style, he was well-received by fans and critics alike, and would go on to sign with Death Row Records in 1993. Nate Dogg was also featured on Mista Grimm's "Indosmoke" with Warren G. Then in 1994 he produced his first hit single "Regulate" with Warren G. Nate Dogg was also featured in many Tupac releases, including his collaboration record Thug Life: Volume I. Then in 1998 after a tumultuous time at Death Row Records he released another album. The double album was titled G-Funk Classics Vol. 1 & 2 and was followed up in late 2001 with Music & Me on Elektra Records. Music & Me peaked at number three on the Billboard hip-hop charts in 2001.

In 2002, Nate Dogg appeared on a celebrity episode of the Weakest Link making it to the last three players before being eliminated by Xzibit and Young MC.

Nate Dogg was arrested in Arizona in April 2002 and was charged with firearms and drug offenses. He pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced to probation, community service, and ordered to attend drug counseling sessions.

Nate has found his greatest success not in solo projects, but in collaborations with other hip-hop artists. As of 2004, Nate Dogg has featured in and contributed to over 40 chart singles.

After a number of delays and an original release date of April 2004, his self-titled album Nate Dogg is set to be released on Affiliated Entertainment Group on June 3, 2008. Nate Dogg has already begun work on a new project.

On December 19, 2007, he suffered a stroke, according to a coordinator for his recently formed gospel choir, Innate Praise. Reports had circulated that Nate Dogg had been admitted to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California after suffering a heart attack. Erica Beckwith, however, confirmed to MTV News that Nate Dogg was released on December 26 after being treated for a stroke and is currently in a medical-rehab facility to assist him in his recovery. On January 18, 2008, it was officially reported that the stroke had rendered the left side of his body paralyzed. Doctors believe there will be a full recovery, and his voice was not affected. In September 2008, Nate suffered a second stroke and today is still recovering in a long term care facility. Warren G later confirmed that Nate did in fact suffer two strokes and is currently undergoing physical therapy to get back to how he was. It is currently unknown if he will be able to continue his singing career.

Discography

G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2 (1998)

The Prodigal Son (2000)

Music and Me (2001)

Essentials (2002)

Nate Dogg (2003)

Filmography

The Transporter song "I Got Love" (2002)

Doggy Fizzle Televizzle as singer of the theme song for the sketch "The Braided Bunch" (2002–2003)

Head of State as himself (also singer/composer of theme song) (2003)

song "Keep it Comin"

''The Boondocks (2008)

Awards/nominations

Nate Dogg has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, but has yet to win one.

Category	Genre	Song	Year	Result
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration(with Eminem)	Rap	"Shake That"	2007	Nominated
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration(with Ludacris)	Rap	"Area Codes"	2002	Nominated
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group(uncredited with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg)	Rap	"The Next Episode"	2001	Nominated
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group(with Warren G)	Rap	"Regulate"	1995	Nominated

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:African American actors Category:African American rappers Category:American film actors Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Death Row Records artists Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California Category:Stroke survivors Category:United States Marines Category:Crips

Name	Mobb Deep| Img =
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Queens, New York, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop, East Coast hip hop, mafioso rap, hardcore hip hop
Years active	1992–present
Label	4th & B'way (1992-1993)Infamous (2003-present)Loud (1995-2003)G-Unit (2005-2009)
Associated acts	Big Noyd, Nas, Raekwon, Kool G Rap, Infamous Mobb, The Alchemist, Littles, Capone-N-Noreaga, 50 Cent, G-Unit
Url	http://www.publicenemy.com/
Current members	HavocProdigy

Mobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queens, New York, USA,that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hard-core East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones Pt. II." Mobb Deep have become one of the most successful rap duos in hip hop, having sold over 3 million records. The majority of their albums have been critically acclaimed, in particular The Infamous, which is considered a classic. They are partially credited for the resurgence of East Coast rap in the early to mid-'90s.

Havoc and Prodigy were also judges for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Biography

Origins

Havoc and Prodigy started rhyming in 1986, then later they both attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Havoc took the role of producer and secondary MC, while Prodigy assumed the position of primary MC. Originally dubbing themselves the Poetical Profits, the duo later changed its name to Mobb Deep in order to "reflect their reputation on the streets.")) When Havoc and Prodigy were 18, they released their debut album as Mobb Deep, called Juvenile Hell, which was led by the single "Peer Pressure." The album sold poorly and was met with harsh reviews that dismissed the duo as just another hardcore group with little to distinguish it from the rest of the hip-hop world, despite production by DJ Premier and Large Professor. However, a few songs from Juvenile Hell did gain some recognition, such as "Hit It from the Back," "Locked in Spofford," and "Me and My Crew." Also in 1993, Havoc had a guest appearance on the critically acclaimed Black Moon album Enta Da Stage, on a song called "U Da Man."

Rise to success

The group saw its first major success with their second album, The Infamous, released in 1995. Mobb Deep catapulted to the top of the hardcore hip-hop scene through Havoc and Prodigy's straightforward narration of street life. Mobb Deep portrayed the struggles of living in New York City's Queensbridge Houses. Following its release, The Infamous became one of the most influential albums of the East Coast hardcore hip-hop genre. The duo's production stood out, as the beats were often hard-hitting and direct—a testament to Havoc, who produced the tracks almost exclusively throughout Mobb Deep's career. Furthermore, the smash hit single "Shook Ones Pt. II" received critical acclaim and was well-received within the hip-hop community. Mobb Deep's third album, Hell on Earth was released in 1996, debuting at number six on the Billboard album chart. The album continued the duo's portrayal of harsh street life, while further pushing them to the forefront of the hardcore hip-hop scene, along with contemporary East Coast rappers like The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan collective, Jay-Z, and fellow Queensbridge associate Nas.

In 1996, they appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine.

In 1998, the duo collaborated with reggae dancehall rapper Bounty Killer on the track "Deadly Zone" for the soundtrack to Blade. In 1999, they released the highly anticipated Murda Muzik album. Despite extensive bootlegging (nearly 30 songs of unreleased material leaked onto the Internet) and countless delays, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly received platinum certification—further highlighted by the popular single "Quiet Storm." Shortly afterward, Prodigy released his long-awaited solo album H.N.I.C, in which the MC collaborated with other artists (B.G. and N.O.R.E.) and producers (including The Alchemist, Rockwilder, and Just Blaze).

Changes

Mobb Deep released Infamy in 2001. The song "Burn" (featuring Vita) was perceived as a response to Jay-Z's "Takeover" on The Blueprint, as was "Crawlin'," in which Prodigy's two verses both mention Jay-Z. The album marked a major stylistic change in which the duo moved away from raw, minimalist, stripped-down beats and toward more commercial fare with such songs as "Hey Luv (Anything)." This transition fostered accusations of "selling out"—upsetting many long-time fans who did not wish to see them veer away from their original style.

Although these stylistic adjustments opened up Mobb Deep to a wider audience, many critics and fans consider their style change as a detriment to Mobb Deep's street image and record sales (most evident when comparing the platinum-selling Murda Muzik to Infamy, which struggled to attain gold-record status).

In 2003, the group split with Loud Records and released Free Agents: The Murda Mix Tape, in which Havoc and Prodigy proclaimed themselves "free agents" and addressed the group's split with its old label and its search for a new label. Jive Records signed the duo later in the year through a deal with the group’s own imprint. Mobb Deep then released Amerikaz Nightmare in 2004, which was seen by the general hip-hop audience as a weaker release, resulting in poor sales and the group’s subsequent departure from the label. Today, as a result of various mergers, all of Mobb Deep's studio albums from 1995 to 2004 are owned by Sony Music Entertainment.

Discography

Juvenile Hell (1993)

The Infamous (1995)

Hell on Earth (1996)

Murda Muzik (1999)

Infamy (2001)

Amerikaz Nightmare (2004)

Blood Money (2006)

The Safe Is Cracked (2009)

References

External links

Interview with Prodigy - 2006

2007 Interview with Prodigy

Category:American hip hop groups Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:G-Unit Records artists

Category:African American musical groups Category:Loud Records artists Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths Category:Musical duos

Name	Lloyd Banks
Background	solo_singer
Alias	The Boy Wonder, Blue Hefner, Punch Line King
Born	April 30, 1982New Carrollton, Maryland
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	1999–present
Label	G-Unit (2003 – present)Interscope (2003–2009)EMI (2010 – present)
Associated acts	G-Unit, Eminem, Young Buck, 50 Cent, Cashis
Url	www.lloydbanks.com

Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper and member of the rap group G-Unit. Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he dropped out of high school in 1998. G-Unit released two albums, Beg for Mercy in 2003 and T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight) in 2008. Banks released his first solo album The Hunger for More in 2004 with the top ten hit single "On Fire". He followed with Rotten Apple in 2006 and left Interscope Records 2009. In 2010 G-Unit signed with EMI to distribute Banks third studio album H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2), which was released on November 22, 2010.

Early life

Banks was born in New Carrollton, Maryland and raised in Queens, New York City; he is of mixed Puerto Rican and African American descent. His father spent most of Lloyd's childhood in prison, leaving his mother to raise him and his two siblings. Lloyd attended August Martin High School but dropped out at age 16.

50 Cent was soon granted his own record label by Dr. Dre and released the album Get Rich or Die Tryin'; Lloyd Banks was featured on the song "Don't Push Me", and the remixed version of "P.I.M.P". Soon after the group had established their own record label, G-Unit Records, G-Unit released their first official group album Beg for Mercy in November 2003, which went on to be certified double platinum.

During August 2005, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, and their entourage were traveling in a van, when the vehicle was pulled over after passing through a red light in midtown Manhattan. Officers said they discovered a loaded handgun and another weapon in the van. Prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the charges after an investigation determined that neither Lloyd Banks nor Young Buck was in possession of the weapons. Felony gun charges against Lloyd Banks and Young Buck were dropped on November 8, 2006.

In the early morning hours of January 9, 2010, in a Kitchener, Ontario hotel, an alleged altercation took place between Banks and a concert promoter over performance fees. Banks, and three of his associates, were later charged with forcible confinement, aggravated assault and robbery, and released on $50,000 bail.

Feud with The Game

The most well known feud involving Lloyd Banks is the feud between him and The Game, which started publicly after The Game left G-Unit. Lloyd Banks speculates that The Game had jealous insecurities involving the attention he received after the success of his debut album The Hunger for More and Banks winning a lyricist title.

Solo career

The Hunger for More (2004-2005)

Lloyd Banks released his solo debut album The Hunger for More in June 2004. The first single was the summer smash hit "On Fire" which featured 50 Cent, however he was uncredited. Banks explained the reasoning behind the album's title: The album was a commercial success, receiving positive reviews. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts with 500,500 copies sold in the first week. The album has since sold over 4 million copies and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA. During an interview, Lloyd Banks commented on his first week sales: Two other singles were also released from The Hunger For More, "I'm So Fly" and "Karma", the latter was a hit reaching number 17 on the Hot 100, number 9 on the R&B; charts and number 6 on the rap charts.

Rotten Apple (2006-2007)

The Big Withdraw was intended to be Lloyd Banks's second album. The album was leaked to the internet after Banks had a ménage à trois encounter with two women and left the CD album behind. The leaked version of the album contained 23 tracks. During an interview, Lloyd Banks commented on the issue, he said:

concert.]] Due to the leak, Lloyd Banks began work on Rotten Apple. "Rotten Apple" is a play on New York City's nickname "The Big Apple". It was released on October 10, 2006. The album debuted at #3, selling 143,000 copies in its first week. Rotten Apple was not considered as a commercial success because his debut album sold a significantly higher number of copies in its first week. He has released three singles from Rotten Apple: "Hands Up", "The Cake", and "Help".

Departure from Interscope

Banks was dropped from Interscope Records in 2009. He is still signed to G-Unit Records, which will release his new album.

The Hunger for More 2 and signing with EMI (2010-present)

In late January 2010, it was announced that Banks would release a new song, "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" featuring Juelz Santana, from his upcoming third studio album. "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" charted at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. In early June, Banks released the second single off the album The Hunger for More 2, called Any Girl and it featured R&B; singer Lloyd. Later on November 2, 2010 he released the third single Start It Up featuring Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, Ryan Leslie & Fabolous.

Lloyd Banks release info via his twitter announcing that the title for his third album has tentatively been called 'The Hunger for More 2' and will attempt to take him back to his best work. However, the G-Unit label later stated that the title is not set in concrete and still may be altered. The title of the album was confirmed by 50 Cent as The Hunger for More 2 in a interview with MTV News. According to Banks, Interscope is trying to get him back due to the success of the single "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley", but failed when Lloyd Banks revealed that he had signed a deal with EMI.

After being dropped by Interscope Records in 2009, Lloyd Banks announced on Friday, August 13, 2010 on MTV News that EMI Label Services has signed a deal with 50 Cent’s label, G-Unit Records, in which EMI will distribute and promote releases on the G-Unit roster in North America including Lloyd Banks third album The Hunger for More 2.

Banks' had this to say about the deal,

Awards

In 2004, Banks was awarded 2004's Mixtape artist of the Year at the Mixtape Awards. Lloyd Banks commented on this award in an interview with AOL Sessions:

In 2005, "On Fire" was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Rap Solo Performance. In 2006, "Touch It [Remix]" was nominated for Hip-Hop Video of the Year, and won for Best Collaboration at the BET Awards. The award was shared by Banks and his collaborators, Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Rah Digga, Missy Elliott, Papoose, and DMX. In 2010 with the excitement surrounding the release of H.M.F. 2 (Hunger for More 2) and his return to Hip-Hop's spotlight Hip-Hop news website HipHopDX wrote that Banks had the "Comeback of the Year" .

Discography

The Hunger for More (2004)

Rotten Apple (2006)

H.F.M. 2 (The Hunger for More) (2010)

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |Before I Self Destruct |School Teacher |2009 |uncredited |- |Morning Glory |Himself |2010 | |- |}

References

External links

Lloyd Banks Official website

G-Unit UK

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:G-Unit members Category:G-Unit Records artists Category:Hispanic and Latino American rappers Category:People from Queens Category:People from Prince George's County, Maryland Category:Rappers from New York City

Name	Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Realname	Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Nickname	Pretty BoyMoney
Weight	Super FeatherweightLightweightLight WelterweightWelterweightSuper Welterweight
Height
Nationality	American
Birth date	February 24, 1977
Birth place	Grand Rapids, Michigan
Home
Style	Orthodox
Total	41
Wins	41
Ko	25
Losses	0
Draws	0}}

}} Floyd Joy Mayweather, Jr. (born Floyd Sinclair on February 24, 1977), is an American professional boxer. He is a five-division world champion, where he won nine world titles in five different boxing weight classes. He is undefeated as a professional boxer, with 41 wins including 25 by way of knockout.

Mayweather is currently rated by The Ring as the number two pound-for-pound boxer in the world, but he is still widely recognized as the number one pound for pound boxer in the world by a majority of press sources including BoxRec, Fox Sports and BBC Sports.

Aside from Mayweather's achievements in boxing he is the co-founder of HBO 24/7. HBO alongside Mayweather produced a series of countdowns previewing their big pay-per-view fights. These shows are 30 minute specials designed to get undecided and casual fans excited enough to purchase and watch the fights live.

Background

Mayweather was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his mother's last name. His last name would change to Mayweather shortly thereafter. His father, Floyd Mayweather, Sr., is a former welterweight contender, while two of his uncles, Jeff Mayweather and Roger Mayweather, won championship titles.

Amateur career

Mayweather had an amateur record of 84-6 and won national Golden Gloves championships in 1993 (at 106 lb), 1994 (at 114 lb), and 1996 (at 125 lb). He was given the nickname "Pretty Boy" by his amateur teammates because he had relatively few scars, a result of the defensive techniques that his father (Floyd Mayweather, Sr.) and uncle (Roger Mayweather) had taught him. In his orthodox defensive stance, Mayweather—much like James Toney—often utilizes the 'shoulder roll'. The shoulder roll is an old-school boxing technique in which the right hand is held normally or slightly higher than normal, the left hand is down around the midsection, and the lead shoulder is raised high on the cheek in order to cover the chin and block punches. The right hand (from orthodox stance) is used as it normally would be to block punches coming from the other side, such as left hooks. From this stance, Mayweather blocks, slips, and deflects most of his opponents' punches, even when cornered, by twisting left and right to the rhythm of their punches.

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Mayweather won a bronze medal by reaching the semi-finals of the featherweight (57 kg) division's 31-boxer tournament. In the opening round, Mayweather led 10-1 on points over Bakhtiyar Tileganov of Kazakhstan before he won by round 2 referee stoppage. In the second round, Mayweather outpointed Artur Gevorgyan of Armenia 16-3. In the quarterfinals, Mayweather survived a late rally by Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba to win 12-11. In his semifinal bout against the eventual silver medalist, Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria, Mayweather lost by a controversial decision that the U.S. team officially protested. Many who saw the bout, including the referee (who mistakenly raised Mayweather's hand when the decision was read), believed that Mayweather had won.

Professional career

Super Featherweight division

Mayweather fought his first professional bout on October 11, 1996 against fellow newcomer Roberto Apodaca who was knocked out in round 2. Mayweather's trainer at the time was his uncle, Roger Mayweather, because Floyd Mayweather, Sr. was still imprisoned after having been convicted of illegal drug trafficking in 1993. Mayweather, Sr. took over as Mayweather, Jr.'s trainer when he was released from prison (after Mayweather, Jr.'s fourteenth fight—a second-round knockout of Sam Girard). From 1996 to early 1998, Mayweather won most of his fights by knockout or TKO.

In 1999, Mayweather won his first world title, the WBC junior lightweight (130 lb) championship, when the corner of Genaro Hernandez stopped the fight after round 8. Hernandez had never been defeated at the weight class. From there, Mayweather defended his title with performances against contenders such as Angel Manfredy and Carlos Gerena.

Before he fought against former WBC featherweight champion Gregorio Vargas in early 2000, Mayweather fired his father as his manager and replaced him with James Prince. A few months after the fight, the rift between the father and son became wide enough that Mayweather, Jr. fired Mayweather, Sr. as his trainer as well. Roger Mayweather returned to his role as Mayweather, Jr.'s trainer in his next bout—a non-title fight against Emanuel Burton. In an interview in 2004, Mayweather, Jr. said that he loves Mayweather, Sr. as his father but feels that he has better chemistry with Roger, and his father had put too much pressure on him to be perfect.

Mayweather's biggest fight as a junior lightweight was on January 20, 2001, against Diego Corrales. At the time, neither fighter had been defeated or knocked down. In the bout, Mayweather won every round and knocked down Corrales five times (three times in round 7 and twice in round 10). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales' cornermen climbed onto the apron and stopped the fight, thereby establishing Mayweather as one of the claimants to boxing's mythical pound-for-pound title. At the time of the stoppage, Mayweather was way ahead on the scorecards, leading by the official tallies of 89-79, 90-79, and 90-78.

In Mayweather's next bout, on May 26, 2001, future IBF champion Carlos "Famoso" Hernández knocked down Mayweather for the first time. Mayweather entered the bout with injured hands. When Mayweather hit Hernández with a left hook in round 6, the pain caused Mayweather to drop his left hand to the canvas, and the referee called it a knockdown. Nonetheless, Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision. In the award-winning documentary film More Than Famous, Hernández's bout against Mayweather was prominently featured.

Mayweather's last fight in the junior lightweight division was against future junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jesús Chávez. It was Mayweather's eighth defense of the WBC junior lightweight title, which he had held for more than three years. He won when Chávez's corner stopped the fight after round 9. Mayweather had such difficulty making weight for this fight that he did not eat for four days before the weigh-in.

Lightweight division

In 2002, Mayweather moved up to the lightweight (135 lb) division. Mayweather fought only four bouts at this weight, but they were all world championship fights. Mayweather won two bouts for the WBC and The Ring lightweight belts against José Luis Castillo. In their first bout, Castillo had success when he cut off the ring and used his strength to wear down Mayweather. But it was not enough to make up for his slow start in the fight. Still, many analysts and fans feel that Mayweather should have lost the fight, but he won by unanimous decision. In the rematch, Mayweather used his quick footwork, combinations and his jab specialty to coast to another unanimous decision victory, this time with no controversy. The smaller Mayweather was outweighed by Castillo on the night of the fight, as Castillo weighed 147 and Mayweather weighed 138.

On April 19, 2003, Mayweather dominated the Dominican Victoriano Sosa and won by unanimous decision. Mayweather's next fight (on November 1, 2003) was in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He fought against the promising South African knockout specialist Phillip Ndou, whose record was 31-1 with 30 KOs. Uncharacteristically, Mayweather was offensively oriented from the beginning of the fight. Round 5 was one of 2003's most action-packed. In the middle of the round, Mayweather landed a barrage of powerful punches. Ndou endured and threw wild punches that forced Mayweather into the ropes, but Mayweather demonstrated his rhythmic defensive technique and let Ndou wear himself out further. In round 6, Ndou wobbled and was pushed down. In round 7, a combination of three straight right hands knocked down Ndou and caused a TKO, when N'Dou's trainers - Nick Durandt and Tommy Brooks - contemplated throwing in the towel. However, the ref stopped the fight as Ndou did not move forward (as part of a test to ensure he was okay from the knockdown).

Light Welterweight division

Mayweather then moved up to the junior welterweight (140 lb) division. His first fight in this division was against southpaw DeMarcus Corley. Mayweather used his speed and jabs to win the early rounds. In the first minute of round 4, Corley landed a solid left hand and drove Mayweather into the ropes, but Mayweather recovered and fought back ferociously. After that round, Mayweather mostly controlled Corley. Mayweather knocked down Corley in rounds 8 and 10, but Corley was able to continue until the end. Mayweather won by unanimous decision. The fight was Mayweather's only one in 2004.

On January 22, 2005, Mayweather fought against Henry Bruseles of Puerto Rico in a WBC junior welterweight title eliminator bout. Mayweather easily outclassed Bruseles throughout the first seven rounds. In round 8, Mayweather knocked down Bruseles twice, and the fight was stopped.

The win over Bruseles made Mayweather the mandatory challenger for Arturo Gatti's WBC Super Lightweight Championship. Before the fight, Mayweather was supremely confident. He described Gatti with terms such as "a C+ fighter", "a fake", and "a blown-up club fighter." The pay-per-view fight occurred on June 25, 2005 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the fans heavily supported Gatti. Near the end of round 1, Mayweather pushed Gatti's head down in close and the referee instructed the fighters to "Stop punching." Gatti broke and left himself vulnerable while Mayweather either deliberately or indeliberately disobeyed the referee's command and continued to land punches. Gatti turned to the referee to complain and Mayweather capitalised, sending Gatti to the canvas with more shots for what was scored a knockdown, despite Gatti's complaints. Throughout the next five rounds, the much faster Mayweather landed with nearly every big shot against Gatti, who had no offense with which he could return fire. Gatti's corner stopped the fight after round 6—giving Mayweather his third world title. It was one of the most one-sided and most impressive contests in boxing history. In the post-fight interview, Mayweather praised Gatti and claimed that his pre-fight comments "were just to sell tickets." Among many boxing experts, Mayweather's one-sided dominance over Gatti solidified his position as one of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Compubox had Mayweather outlanding Gatti by a total of 168 to 41.

One month after the Gatti fight, Mayweather went to trial for a domestic violence charge. He faced a minimum of one year in prison if he was convicted. Mayweather had been accused of violence against his former girlfriend, Josie Harris. Harris had claimed that Mayweather had punched and kicked her during an argument in Mayweather's Bentley, outside a Las Vegas nightclub in 2003. During the trial, however, Harris admitted that she had lied on the initial police report and testified that Mayweather never hit her. The jury acquitted Mayweather.

Welterweight division

On November 19, 2005, Mayweather fought a non-title bout at against welterweight Sharmba Mitchell. In round 3, Mayweather knocked down Mitchell with a straight right hand to the head. In round 6, another straight right hand—this one to Mitchell's body—dropped Mitchell again and ended the fight. On April 8, 2006, Mayweather defeated Zab Judah for the IBF and vacant IBO world welterweight titles by unanimous decision. Beforehand, the fight had been jeopardized after Judah lost the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine welterweight titles to Carlos Manuel Baldomir on January 7, 2006, but Mayweather's and Judah's camps reworked the contract and decided that the fight would go on. In the fight, Mayweather stayed calm during Judah's aggressive early rounds. Mayweather began to dominate Judah in round 5, and Judah eventually bled. Near the conclusion of the tenth round, Judah hit Mayweather with a left hand that was clearly below the belt and followed up with a right-handed rabbit punch. After referee Richard Steele called time with five seconds remaining in the round, Roger Mayweather entered the ring and approached Judah, but Steele restrained him. Judah's father and trainer, Yoel Judah, entered the ring as well. Floyd remained in the neutral corner while both Yoel and Zab scuffled with Roger (and others who had entered the ring) until police and security managed to restore order. Roger was thrown out, but the fight continued and went the scheduled 12 rounds. Mayweather won by the official scores of 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109. Compubox statistics showed Mayweather as landing 188 punches to 82 for Judah.

Five days after the fight, the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided not to overturn the result of the bout, but Roger Mayweather was fined US$200,000 and suspended for one year. The suspension entails that Roger can train Mayweather, Jr. in the gym but cannot work the corner during fights. On April 17, 2006, the IBF ordered a rematch between Mayweather and Judah, but the NSAC suspended Judah for one year on May 8, 2006. Mayweather vacated the IBF title on June 20, 2006.

Mayweather rejected an offer of US$8 million to fight Antonio Margarito and split with promoter Bob Arum. Oscar De la Hoya, however, postponed his decision until 2007, leaving Mayweather to choose his next opponent. Mayweather considered moving up in weight again to fight junior middleweight champion Cory Spinks, but because of negative publicity and Spinks' impending mandatory defense of his title, he finally decided to face WBC and The Ring welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir on November 4, 2006 in Las Vegas.

Mayweather would ultimately defeat Baldomir by unanimous decision for both titles. Ringside punch statistics showed Mayweather landing 199 of 458 punches, while Baldomir landed just 79 of 670. Mayweather earned $8 million for the fight, while Baldomir was paid $1.6 million. Both were career highs in earnings for each fighter at the time.

During the fight, Baldomir chased Mayweather, unable to land any meaningful shots but trying to remain the busier fighter, while Mayweather picked away with sharp jabs and hooks, even managing to cut Baldomir over his left eye in the first round. This pattern continued throughout the fight. The defensive-minded Mayweather put on what many witnesses and Mayweather himself called a "boxing clinic" to take Baldomir's WBC and Ring welterweight titles in a lopsided 12 round decision. Two judges had Mayweather winning all 12 rounds, with the other giving all but two rounds to Mayweather. After the fight Mayweather called out for a fight with Oscar De la Hoya.

Super Welterweight division

Mayweather's next match was the long-anticipated superfight against six-division champion and current WBC Super Welterweight titleholder Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, 2007. De La Hoya's belt was on the line, which required Mayweather to move up in weight from 147 pounds to 154.

Despite De La Hoya's insistence that money was not a factor, the Mayweather-De La Hoya bout set the record for most PPV buys for a boxing match with 2.7 million households, shattering the record of 1.95 million for Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson II. Around $120 million in revenue was generated by the PPV, which set another record. With the percentages factored in, Oscar De La Hoya ended up earning $58 million for the bout, the highest purse ever for a fighter. The previous record was $35 million, held by Tyson and Holyfield. Floyd Mayweather earned about $25 million for the fight.

At one time, Floyd Mayweather, Sr., Mayweather, Jr.'s father, was in talks to train Oscar De La Hoya and be in his corner during the fight but he decided to train with Freddie Roach. Mayweather won by split decision in 12 rounds, capturing the World Boxing Council (WBC) title though most saw the fight as being fairly one-sided on his behalf.

Return to Welterweight division

Mayweather decided to relinquish his WBC junior middleweight championship and kept his WBC welterweight championship. On July 28, 2007, it was announced that Mayweather would come out of his short retirement to fight light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton which was promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's promotion company Golden Boy Promotions and Floyd Mayweather's "Mayweather Promotions." The bout was labelled "Undefeated" and took place on December 8, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, in a fight which was the biggest welterweight showdown of two undefeated fighters since Oscar De La Hoya and Félix Trinidad met in their 1999 superfight. In the build up to their fight, Mayweather claimed that he was the greatest boxer ever, saying: "I respect what Robinson and Ali did for the sport. But I am the greatest, and this is my time."

Mayweather controlled the fight from the start and knocked Hatton out in the 10th round to retain the welterweight championship. Hatton suffered a cut over his right eye in round three from the punches of Mayweather, and it seemed that it was at this point that his pace and movement began to slow. In round six Hatton lost a point for punching the back of Floyd's head as he was caught draped on the ropes. Mayweather had a huge eighth round, landing a number of clean, effective power shots.

In the 10th round Hatton was caught with a check left hook thrown from Mayweather's hip, and as a result he fell forward head first into the turnbuckle and hit the deck. Hatton managed to make it to his feet, but was clearly dazed. Two more big lefts in a flurry put Ricky down again and Cortez stopped it at 1:35 of round 10.

After the fight, Mayweather said that Hatton was one of the toughest fighters he had ever fought, that he just kept coming and coming, and that he wants to promote fights, with Hatton being his first client. Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing to concentrate on his promotional company.

Comeback from retirement

On March 18, 2009, it was reported that Mayweather was "ready to dance again" according to a source from within the Mayweather camp. Announcing his return to the ring seemed to be somewhat of a formality at this point, as even his estranged father, current trainer of Ricky Hatton, Floyd Mayweather Sr. stated, "He's gonna fight again."

On May 2, 2009, it was confirmed that Mayweather was coming out of a 21-month retirement to fight lightweight champion Juan Manuel Márquez at a catchweight of 144 lb on July 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on HBO PPV. The fight was postponed due to a rib injury Mayweather received during training. HBO's reality series 24/7 was also postponed to start on August 29. The fight took place on September 19, 2009 in conjunction with Mexican Independence Day, traditionally a big boxing weekend. During the official weigh in for their 144 lb bout, Mayweather failed to meet the required limit by weighing in at 146 lb, two pounds heavier than Marquez. He was subsequently fined as a result. However it was later revealed that the contract was changed so that Mayweather could make weight within the welterweight limit of 140-147 lb as long as Marquez received a large guaranteed sum of money. Mayweather won a unanimous decision after 12 rounds in one of the most statistically lop sided fights between 2 world class opponents. Marquez only managed to land 12% of his total 583 punches while Mayweather landed 59% of 490 total punches. This fight marks only the fifth time in boxing history that a non-heavyweight fight sold more than 1 million pay-per-views, with the official HBO numbers coming in at over 1 million buys equalling a total of approximately $52 million. Four of those fights all featured Oscar De La Hoya as the main event, making this fight the one of two events where a non-heavyweight fight sold over 1 million PPVs without Oscar De La Hoya. The other fight was Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto which sold 1.25 million PPVs.

Seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao had reportedly agreed to fight Mayweather on March 13, 2010 for a split of $50 million which the promoters of both camp already agreed. However, the fight has been called off due to disagreements about Olympic style drug tests. Floyd Mayweather's camp wanted blood tests by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which will conducts the tests anytime from training up to the fight date. However the Pacquiao camp refused to provide these samples, only willing to allow blood to be taken from Pacquiao if the test were scheduled. On the other hand, Pacquiao's coach, Freddie Roach, has commented that he would allow a blood sample to be taken from Pacquiao if there was a cut-off date for the blood testing or at least one week before the fight. In an attempt to resolve their differences, the two camps went through a process of mediation before a retired judge. After the mediation process Mayweather agreed to a 14-day no blood testing window. However, Pacquiao refused and instead only agreed to a 24-day no blood testing window. Consequently, on January 7, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum declared that the fight was officially off and he has offered the chance to fight Pacquiao instead to Joshua Clottey.

Negotiations for a proposed matchup between Mayweather and Shane Mosley immediately began after Andre Berto pulled out of his scheduled January 30 unification bout with the latter, due to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Both sides eventually agreed to fight on May 1, 2010 for Mosley's WBA World Welterweight title. It was later revealed that Floyd Mayweather refused to pay sanctioning fees required by WBA, Mayweather said "all belts do is collect dust". However, the belt was only on the line for Mosley to defend against Mayweather. Both Mayweather and Mosley agreed to Olympic-style testing for this bout. Mosley started the fight well, landing two solid right hands in Round 2 which caused Mayweather's knees to buckle. Mayweather recovered well, and went on to dominate the remainder of the fight, soundly outboxing Mosley and showing more aggression than in his recent fights. Mayweather eventually won a unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight 119-109, 119-109, and 118-110. In round 4, Compubox picked up Mosley throwing seven power punches without landing any, making Mayweather the second boxer after Roy Jones, Jr to go an entire round without being hit by a power punch. After the fight, the president of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, stated that he believes Mayweather is the best in the game right now.

The fight was the second highest selling non heavyweight pay-per-view bout in the history of boxing, with 1.4 million buys. HBO officially released that the fight generated $78.3 million in revenue. After the fight Mayweather expressed interest in moving up in weight to capture a world title in six different weight classes and to challenge newly crowned middleweight champion Sergio Martinez.

It has been reported that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank Chief Bob Arum are trying to work out again the failed negotiation for a fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather has asked Pacquiao to undergo random blood and urine testing up until the fight day. Pacquiao said he will undergo blood and urine testing up until 14 days before the fight, which is closer to the fight day than the 18-day cut-off in Mayweather's previous bout against Mosley. Pacquiao said that giving blood too close to the fight day will weaken him. On June 12, 2010, the President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, stated during an interview with a Spanish network that the deal for the fight was very close and the negotiation process has been very difficult. On June 30, 2010, Arum announced that the management of both sides had agreed to terms, that all points had been settled (including Pacquiao agreeing to submit to both blood and urine testing) and only the signature of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was needed to seal the deal that could have earned both fighters at least $40 million each. Arum also announced that Pacquiao accepted the terms of the random drug testing, blood and urine, leading up to the fight. Mayweather was then given a two-week deadline for the fight contract to be signed.

On July 15, 2010, Mayweather was given until Friday midnight to sign the fight. The next day the Top Rank website embedded a countdown clock on their website with the heading "Money" Time: Mayweather's Decision. On July 17, 2010, Arum announced that there was no word from Mayweather's camp and the deal for a November 13, 2010 fight with Mayweather was not reached.

On July 19, 2010, after waiting for Mayweather's response, Leonard Ellerbe, one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s closest advisers, denied that negotiations for a super fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao had ever taken place. Ellerbe stated that Bob Arum was not telling the truth. Bob Arum later criticized Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer for denying that negotiations took place, when De La Hoya himself had previously stated that they were "very, very close in finalizing the contracts". Arum revealed that HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg acted as the mediator between Mayweather’s handlers and those of Pacquiao’s from Top Rank Promotions. On July 26, 2010, Ross Greenburg said in a statement that he has been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2, 2010, carefully trying to put the fight together and he did in fact act as a go-between in negotiations with the two sides, but they were unable to come to an agreement. Floyd Mayweather Jr., after the second negotiation had been officially declared off, told the Associated Press that he had fought sixty days ago, and that he was in no rush to fight Pacquiao and was not really thinking about boxing at the moment.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|41 Wins (25 knockouts, 16 decisions), 0 Losses, 0 Draws |- |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponnent |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center |Win |align=center|41-0||align=left| Shane Mosley | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|40-0||align=left| Juan Manuel Márquez | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|39-0||align=left| Ricky Hatton | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|38-0||align=left| Oscar De La Hoya | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|37-0||align=left| Carlos Baldomir | | | |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|36-0||align=left| Zab Judah | | | |align=left| Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|35-0||align=left| Sharmba Mitchell | | | |align=left| Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|34-0||align=left| Arturo Gatti | | | |align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|33-0||align=left| Henry Bruseles | | | |align=left| American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|32-0||align=left| DeMarcus Corley | | | |align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|31-0||align=left| Phillip N'dou | | | |align=left| Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|30-0||align=left| Victoriano Sosa | | | |align=left| Selland Arena, Fresno, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|29-0||align=left| José Luis Castillo | | | |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|28-0||align=left| José Luis Castillo | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|27-0||align=left| Jesús Chávez | | | |align=left| Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|26-0||align=left| Carlos Hernández | | | |align=left| Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|25-0||align=left| Diego Corrales | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|24-0||align=left| Emanuel Augustus | | | |align=left| Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|23-0||align=left| Gregorio Vargas | | | |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|22-0||align=left| Carlos Gerena | | | |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|21-0||align=left| Justin Juuko | | | |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|20-0||align=left| Carlos Rios | | | |align=left| Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|19-0||align=left| Angel Manfredy | | | |align=left| Miccosukee Indian Reservation, Miami, Florida}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|18-0||align=left| Genaro Hernandez | | | |align=left| Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|17-0||align=left| Tony Pep | | | |align=left| Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|16-0||align=left| Gustavo Cuello | | | |align=left| Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|15-0||align=left| Miguel Melo | | | |align=left| Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|14-0||align=left| Sam Girard | | | |align=left| Bally's Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|13-0||align=left| Hector Arroyo | | | |align=left| Grand Casino Biloxi, Biloxi, Mississippi}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|12-0||align=left| Angelo Nuñez | | | |align=left| Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|11-0||align=left| Felipe Garcia | | | |align=left| Qwest Arena, Boise, Idaho}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|10-0||align=left| Louie Leija | | | |align=left| El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|9-0||align=left| Jesús Chávez | | | |align=left| Grand Casino Biloxi, Biloxi, Mississippi}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|8-0||align=left| Larry O'Shields | | | |align=left| Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|7-0||align=left| Tony Duran | | | |align=left| Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|6-0||align=left| Bobby Giepert | | | |align=left| Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|5-0||align=left| Kino Rodriguez | | | |align=left| DeltaPlex Arena, Walker, Michigan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|4-0||align=left| Edgar Ayala | | | |align=left| Swiss Park Hall, Chula Vista, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|3-0||align=left| Jerry Cooper | | | |align=left| Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|2-0||align=left| Reggie Sanders | | | |align=left| Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |align=center|1-0|| align=left| Roberto Apodaca | ||| |align=left| Texas Station Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left|

Titles in boxing

Major Sanctioning Bodies:

WBC World Super Featherweight Champion (130 lbs)

WBC World Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)

The Ring World Lightweight Champion (135 lbs)

WBC World Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)

IBF World Welterwight Champion (147 lbs)

The Ring World Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

WBC World Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

WBC World Super Welterweight Champion (154 lbs)

Minor Sanctioning Bodies:

IBO World Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

IBA World Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

Lineal Championship titles:

World Lightweight Champion (130 lbs)

World Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

World Wrestling Entertainment

Mayweather appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s No Way Out pay-per-view on February 17, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was involved in a storyline physical altercation with The Big Show, after Mayweather jumped a security barricade and attacked him with a punching combination, in an attempt to help Rey Mysterio, whom Show threatened to chokeslam. Originally, Mayweather took on a babyface role in the storylines, though met with some reluctance from the fans. The attack resulted in Big Show receiving an actual broken nose, reportedly not part of the storyline. The following night on Raw, Big Show challenged Mayweather to a one on one No Disqualification match at WrestleMania XXIV, which Mayweather accepted. At WrestleMania, Mayweather turned heel by using various underhanded tactics and defeated Big Show by knockout using brass knuckles to maintain his unbeaten record. Mayweather claimed that he was paid $20,000,000 USD for the fight, but WWE's financial statements do not show the number.

Mayweather was the guest host for WWE Raw in Las Vegas on August 24, 2009. He interfered with a tag team match that resulted in a loss for the Big Show (now heel again) and his partner Chris Jericho as Mayweather gave Montel Vontavious Porter brass knuckles to use to knock Jericho out, giving Porter and his new tag team partner Mark Henry the win and a shot at the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles at WWE Breaking Point against Big Show and Jericho. He then celebrated with Henry and Porter, thus turning face. Later on in the night he was involved in a backstage segment with Mr. McMahon, D-Generation X, and Carlito where he helped Mr. McMahon get ready for his 6 Man Tag Team Match against Legacy along with DX. During the segment, McMahon knocked out Carlito.

Dancing with the Stars

Mayweather appeared on the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars. His partner was the famous Ukrainian American born professional ballroom dancer Karina Smirnoff. On October 16, 2007, Karina and Floyd were the fourth couple to be eliminated from the competition and came in 9th place.

Domestic violence cases

On September 9, 2010, it was reported that Mayweather was being sought by police for questioning after his former girlfriend, Josie Harris, filed a domestic battery report against him. Harris has accused Mayweather of battery in the past, but those charges were later dropped in July 2005 after Harris testified that she had lied and that Mayweather had not, in fact, assaulted her. Mayweather was taken into custody on September 10, 2010, but was released after posting $3000 bail. Initially, Mayweather was charged with felony theft stemming from the disappearance of Harris's iPhone, but on September 16, 2010, two felony coercion charges and one felony robbery charge were added to the case, along with one misdemeanor domestic battery charge and three misdemeanor harassment charges. If convicted of all charges, Mayweather could face up to 34 years in prison.

Honours, awards and recognitions

1996 Atlanta Olympics Bronze medalist

1998 and 2007 International Boxing Award (Muhammed Ali Boxing Award) Fighter of the Year

1998 and 2007 The Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year

2010 Forbes Magazine, Ranked "Number 2" Richest and Powerful athlete in the world 2000-09 Yahoo Sports, Best of the Decade, ranked "Number 1"

2007 Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the year

2007 ESPN Fighter of the Year 2007 Forbes Magazine, Ranked "Number 14" Richest Celebrity paydays

2007 The Ring Magazine event of the year (The World Awaits)

2007, 2008 and 2010 Best Fighter ESPY Award

2008 The Ring Magazine event of the year (Retirement of Mayweather)

2008 Yahoo Sports, Ranked "Number 6" Most Powerful People in Boxing

2009 The Ring Magazine comeback of the year

See also

List of current world boxing champions

List of The Ring world champions

List of WBC world champions

List of IBF world champions

List of IBO world champions

List of Super Featherweight boxing champions

List of lightweight boxing champions

list of light welterweight boxing champions

List of welterweight boxing champions

List of super welterweight boxing champions

List of boxing triple champions

List of boxing quadruple champions

List of boxing quintuple champions

Notes

External links

Floyd Mayweather Jr. victorious over Shane Mosley in welterweight bout (post fight interview) by Alex Alonso, May 1, 2010, Streetgangs.com.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Video Interview @ FightFan.com

bio * file interview with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Estrangement of Mayweather, Jr. and Sr. by Jon Saraceno, June 26, 2005, USA Today.

Olympic article on Mayweather, Jr. by Andy Johnston, July 6, 1996, Augusta Chronicle.

A new chapter begins for Floyd Mayweather by Jeff Mayweather, November 1, 2005, BraggingRightsCorner.com.

Can Mayweather become the new De La Hoya? by Brent Matteo Alderson, May 1, 2006, BoxingScene.com.

Floyd Mayweather, Sr. Speaks Out, by David A. Avila, www.thesweetscience.com

Philthy Rich Records Home page of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s record label

Mayweather Returns In September by Brian O. Blake

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Category:Boxers from Michigan Category:African American boxers Category:People from Grand Rapids, Michigan Category:Junior-welterweights Category:Welterweights Category:Junior-lightweights Category:Lightweights Category:WBC Champions Category:IBF Champions Category:Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Olympic boxers of the United States Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) participants Category:American boxers Category:1977 births Category:Living people