Name	Johnny Cash
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	J. R. Cash
Born	February 26, 1932
Origin	Kingsland, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	September 12, 2003Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Country, Rock and Roll , Folk , Rockabilly , Gospel , Blues
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Voice type	Bass-baritone
Years active	1955–2003
Label	Sun, Columbia, Mercury, American, House of Cash, Legacy Recordings
Associated acts	The Tennessee Three, The Highwaymen, June Carter Cash, The Statler Brothers, The Carter Family, The Oak Ridge Boys, Area Code 615
Url
Notable instruments	Martin Acoustic Guitars

John R. "Johnny" Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003), born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter, actor, Although he is primarily remembered as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. Late in his career, Cash covered songs by several rock artists, among them the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails and the synthpop band Depeche Mode.

Johnny Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice; for the "boom-chicka-boom" freight train sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for his rebelliousness, coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor; for providing free concerts inside prison walls; and for his dark performance clothing, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black". He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." and usually following it up with his standard "Folsom Prison Blues."

Much of Cash's music, especially that of his later career, echoed themes of sorrow, moral tribulation and redemption. His signature songs include "I Walk the Line", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", "Get Rhythm" and "Man in Black". He also recorded humorous numbers, such as "One Piece at a Time" and "A Boy Named Sue"; a duet with his future wife, June Carter, called "Jackson"; as well as railroad songs including "Hey, Porter" and "Rock Island Line".

Cash, a devout but troubled Christian, has been characterized as a "lens through which to view American contradictions and challenges." A Biblical scholar, he penned a Christian novel entitled Man in White, and he made a spoken word recording of the entire New King James Version of the New Testament. Even so, Cash declared that he was "the biggest sinner of them all", and viewed himself overall as a complicated and contradictory man. Accordingly, Cash is said to have "contained multitudes", and has been deemed "the philosopher-prince of American country music".

Personal life

Heritage

Cash learned, upon researching his ancestry, that he was of Scottish royal descent. After the opportunity of meeting with former Falkland, Fife laird, Major Michael Crichton-Stuart, he traced the Cash family tree to 11th-century Fife, Scotland. Scotland's Cash Loch bears the name of his family. the third of seven children to Ray Cash (13 May 1897, Kingsland, Arkansas – 23 December 1985, Hendersonville, Tennessee) and Carrie Cloveree Rivers (13 March 1904, Rison, Arkansas – 11 March 1991, Hendersonville, Tennessee). Cash was given the name "J.R." because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials. When he enlisted in the United States Air Force, the military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he took Johnny Cash as his stage name.

The Cash children were, in order: Margaret Louise, Jack, J. R., Joanne, Reba, Roy and Tommy. His younger brother, Tommy Cash, also became a successful country artist.

In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas. J.R. was working in cotton fields beginning at age five, singing along with his family simultaneously while working. The family farm was flooded on at least two occasions, which later inspired him to write the song "Five Feet High and Rising". His family's economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.

Cash was very close to his older brother, Jack. In May 1944, Jack was pulled into a whirling head saw in the mill where he worked, and almost cut in two. He suffered for over a week before he died on May 20, 1944, at age 15.

Cash enlisted in the United States Air Force. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Brooks Air Force Base, both in San Antonio, Texas, Cash was assigned to a U.S. Air Force Security Service unit, assigned as a code intercept operator for Soviet Army transmissions at Landsberg, Germany "where he created his first band named The Landsberg Barbarians." After he was honorably discharged as a sergeant on July 3, 1954, he returned to Texas.

Cash became close friends with a man named John Rollins. Rollins, who grew up in Georgia, had a similar childhood as Cash, having grown up on cotton fields. Rollins later became a successful business man selling umbrellas. Cash later became the godfather of his son Michael.

Marriages

On July 18, 1951, while in Air Force training, Cash met 17-year-old Vivian Liberto at a roller skating rink in her native San Antonio. They dated for three weeks, until Cash was deployed to Germany for a three year tour. During that time, the couple exchanged hundreds of pages of love letters. On August 7, 1954, one month after his discharge, they were married at St. Anne's Catholic church in San Antonio. The ceremony was performed by her uncle, Father Vincent Liberto. They had four daughters: Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy and Tara. Cash's drug and alcohol abuse, constant touring, and affairs with other women, and his close relationship with future wife June Carter, led Liberto to file for divorce in 1966.

In 1968, 13 years after they first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Cash proposed to June Carter, an established country singer, during a live performance in London, Ontario, marrying on March 1, 1968 in Franklin, Kentucky. They had one child together, John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970). They continued to work together and tour for 35 years, until June Carter died in 2003. Cash died just four months later. Carter co-wrote one of Cash's biggest hits, "Ring of Fire," with singer Merle Kilgore. She and Cash won two Grammy awards for their duets.

Vivian Liberto claims a different version of the origins of "Ring of Fire" in I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny, stating that Cash gave Carter the credit for monetary reasons.

Career

Early career

In 1954, Cash and Vivian moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he sold appliances while studying to be a radio announcer. At night he played with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. Perkins and Grant were known as the Tennessee Two. Cash worked up the courage to visit the Sun Records studio, hoping to get a recording contract. After auditioning for Sam Phillips, singing mostly gospel songs, Phillips told him that gospel was unmarketable. It was once rumored that Phillips told Cash to "go home and sin, then come back with a song I can sell," though Cash refuted that Phillips made any such comment in a 2002 interview. Cash eventually won over the producer with new songs delivered in his early frenetic style. His first recordings at Sun, "Hey Porter" and "Cry! Cry! Cry!", were released in 1955 and met with reasonable success on the country hit parade.

On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley dropped in on studio owner Sam Phillips to pay a social visit while Carl Perkins was in the studio cutting new tracks, with Jerry Lee Lewis backing him on piano. Cash was also in the studio and the four started an impromptu jam session. Phillips left the tapes running and the recordings, almost half of which were gospel songs, survived and have since been released under the title Million Dollar Quartet.

Cash's next record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made the country Top 5, and "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts and entered the pop charts Top 20. "Home of the Blues" followed, recorded in July 1957. That same year Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. Although he was Sun's most consistently best-selling and prolific artist at that time, Cash felt constrained by his contract with the small label. Presley had already left Sun, and Phillips was focusing most of his attention and promotion on Lewis. The following year Cash left the label to sign a lucrative offer with Columbia Records, where his single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" became one of his biggest hits.

In the early 1960s, Cash toured with the Carter Family, which by this time regularly included Mother Maybelle's daughters, Anita, June and Helen. June, whom Cash would eventually marry, later recalled admiring him from afar during these tours. In the 1960s he appeared on Pete Seeger's short lived Rainbow Quest.

He also acted in a 1961 film entitled Five Minutes to Live, later re-released as Door-to-door Maniac. He also wrote and sang the opening theme.

Outlaw image

As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. For a brief time, he shared an apartment in Nashville with Waylon Jennings, who was heavily addicted to amphetamines. Cash used the uppers to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his "nervousness" and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction. In a behind-the-scenes look at The Johnny Cash Show, Cash claims to have "tried every drug there was to try."

Although in many ways spiraling out of control, Cash's frenetic creativity was still delivering hits. His rendition of "Ring of Fire" was a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the country charts and entering the Top 20 on the pop charts. The song was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore. The song was originally performed by Carter's sister, but the signature mariachi-style horn arrangement was provided by Cash, who said that it had come to him in a dream.

In June 1965, his truck caught fire due to an overheated wheel bearing, triggering a forest fire that burned several hundred acres in Los Padres National Forest in California. When the judge asked Cash why he did it, Cash said, "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it." He said he was the only person ever sued by the government for starting a forest fire.

Cash curtailed his use of drugs for several years in 1968, after a spiritual in the Nickajack Cave, when he attempted to commit suicide while under the heavy influence of drugs. He descended deeper into the cave, trying to lose himself and "just die", when he passed out on the floor. He reported to be exhausted and feeling at the end of his rope when he felt God's presence in his heart and managed to struggle out of the cave (despite the exhaustion) by following a faint light and slight breeze. To him, it was his own rebirth. June, Maybelle, and Ezra Carter moved into Cash's mansion for a month to help him conquer his addiction. Cash proposed onstage to June at a concert at the London Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada on February 22, 1968; the couple married a week later (on March 1) in Franklin, Kentucky. June had agreed to marry Cash after he had 'cleaned up'. He rediscovered his Christian faith, taking an "altar call" in Evangel Temple, a small church in the Nashville area, pastored by Rev. Jimmy Rodgers Snow, son of country music legend Hank Snow.

According to longtime friend Marshall Grant, Cash's 1968 rebirth experience did not result in his completely stopping use of amphetamines. However, in 1970, Cash ended all drug use for a period of seven years. Grant claims that the birth of Cash's son, John Carter Cash, inspired Cash to end his dependence. Cash began using amphetamines again in 1977. By 1983, he was once again addicted, and entered the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, CA for rehabilitation. Cash managed to stay off drugs for several years, but by 1989, he was dependent again and entered Nashville's Cumberland Heights Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center. In 1992, he entered the Loma Linda Behavioural Medicine Centre in Loma Linda, CA for his final rehabilitation (several months later, his son followed him into this facility for treatment).

Folsom Prison Blues

Cash felt great compassion for prisoners. He began performing concerts at various prisons starting in the late 1950s. His first ever prison concert was held on January 1, 1958 at San Quentin State Prison. These performances led to a pair of highly successful live albums, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

The Folsom Prison record was introduced by a rendition of his classic "Folsom Prison Blues", while the San Quentin record included the crossover hit single "A Boy Named Sue", a Shel Silverstein-penned novelty song that reached No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the U.S. Top Ten pop charts. The AM versions of the latter contained a couple of profanities which were edited out. The modern CD versions are unedited and uncensored and thus also longer than the original vinyl albums, though they still retain the audience reaction overdubs of the originals.

In addition to his performances at U.S. prisons, Cash also performed at the Österåker Prison in Sweden in 1972. The live album På Österåker ("At Österåker") was released in 1973. Between the songs, Cash can be heard speaking Swedish, which was greatly appreciated by the inmates.

"The Man in Black"

at his July 1972 meeting with United States President Richard Nixon.]] From 1969 to 1971, Cash starred in his own television show, The Johnny Cash Show, on the ABC network. The Statler Brothers opened up for him in every episode; the Carter Family and rockabilly legend Carl Perkins were also part of the regular show entourage. However, Cash also enjoyed booking more contemporary performers as guests; such notables included Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (who appeared a record four times on his show), James Taylor, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton (then leading Derek and the Dominos), and Bob Dylan.

Cash had met with Dylan in the mid 1960s and became closer friends when they were neighbors in the late 1960s in Woodstock, New York. Cash was enthusiastic about reintroducing the reclusive Dylan to his audience. Cash sang a duet with Dylan on Dylan's country album Nashville Skyline and also wrote the album's Grammy-winning liner notes.

Another artist who received a major career boost from The Johnny Cash Show was songwriter Kris Kristofferson, who was beginning to make a name for himself as a singer/songwriter. During a live performance of Kristofferson's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", Cash refused to change the lyrics to suit network executives, singing the song with its references to marijuana intact: "On a Sunday morning sidewalk / I'm wishin', Lord, that I was stoned."

By the early 1970s, he had crystallized his public image as "The Man in Black". He regularly performed dressed all in black, wearing a long black knee-length coat. This outfit stood in contrast to the costumes worn by most of the major country acts in his day: rhinestone suit and cowboy boots. In 1971, Cash wrote the song "Man in Black", to help explain his dress code: "We're doing mighty fine I do suppose / In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes / But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back / Up front there ought to be a man in black."

, Northern Germany, in September 1972]] He wore black on behalf of the poor and hungry, on behalf of "the prisoner who has long paid for his crime", and on behalf of those who have been betrayed by age or drugs.

In the mid 1970s, Cash's popularity and number of hit songs began to decline, but his autobiography (the first of two), titled Man in Black, was published in 1975 and sold 1.3 million copies. A second, Cash: The Autobiography, appeared in 1997. His friendship with Billy Graham led to the production of a film about the life of Jesus, The Gospel Road, which Cash co-wrote and narrated.

He also continued to appear on television, hosting an annual Christmas special on CBS throughout the 1970s. Later television appearances included a role in an episode of Columbo (Swan Song). He also appeared with his wife on an episode of Little House on the Prairie entitled "The Collection" and gave a performance as John Brown in the 1985 American Civil War television mini-series North and South.

He was friendly with every President of the United States starting with Richard Nixon. He was closest with Jimmy Carter, with whom he became a very close friend.

Highwaymen

, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, who formed the country music supergroup, The Highwaymen]] In 1980, Cash became the Country Music Hall of Fame's youngest living inductee at age forty-eight, but during the 1980s his records failed to make a major impact on the country charts, although he continued to tour successfully. In the mid 1980s, he recorded and toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen, making two hit albums.

During this period, Cash appeared in a number of television films. In 1981, he starred in The Pride of Jesse Hallam, winning fine reviews for a film that called attention to adult illiteracy. In the same year, Cash appeared as a "very special guest star" in an episode of the Muppet Show. In 1983, he appeared as a heroic sheriff in Murder in Coweta County, based on a real-life Georgia murder case, which co-starred Andy Griffith as his nemesis. Cash had tried for years to make the film, for which he won acclaim.

Cash relapsed into addiction after being administered painkillers for a serious abdominal injury in 1983 caused by an unusual incident in which he was kicked and wounded by an ostrich he kept on his farm.

At a hospital visit in 1988, this time to watch over Waylon Jennings (who was recovering from a heart attack), Jennings suggested that Cash have himself checked into the hospital for his own heart condition. Doctors recommended preventive heart surgery, and Cash underwent double bypass surgery in the same hospital. Both recovered, although Cash refused to use any prescription painkillers, fearing a relapse into dependency. Cash later claimed that during his operation, he had what is called a "near death experience". He said he had visions of Heaven that were so beautiful that he was angry when he woke up alive.

Cash's recording career and his general relationship with the Nashville establishment were at an all-time low in the 1980s. He realized that his record label of nearly 30 years, Columbia, was growing indifferent to him and was not properly marketing him (he was "invisible" during that time, as he said in his autobiography). Cash recorded an intentionally awful song to protest, a self-parody. "Chicken in Black" was about Cash's brain being transplanted into a chicken. Ironically, the song turned out to be a larger commercial success than any of his other recent material. Nevertheless, he was hoping to kill the relationship with the label before they did, and it was not long after "Chicken in Black" that Columbia and Cash parted ways.

In 1986, Cash returned to Sun Studios in Memphis to team up with Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins to create the album Class of '55. Also in 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Saul and his conversion to become the Apostle Paul. He also recorded Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament in 1990.

American Recordings

After Columbia Records dropped Cash from his recording contract, he had a short and unsuccessful stint with Mercury Records from 1987 to 1991 (see Johnny Cash discography).

His career was rejuvenated in the 1990s, leading to popularity with an audience not traditionally interested in country music. In 1991, he sang a version of "Man in Black" for the Christian punk band One Bad Pig's album I Scream Sunday. In 1993, he sang "The Wanderer" on U2's album Zooropa. Although no longer sought after by major labels, he was offered a contract with producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings label, better known for rap and hard rock.

Under Rubin's supervision, he recorded American Recordings (1994) in his living room, accompanied only by his Martin dreadnought guitar – one of many Cash played throughout his career. The album featured covers of contemporary artists selected by Rubin and had much critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Cash wrote that his reception at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival was one of the highlights of his career. This was the beginning of a decade of music industry accolades and commercial success. Cash teamed up with Brooks & Dunn to contribute "Folsom Prison Blues" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. On the same album, he performed the Bob Dylan favorite "Forever Young".

Cash and his wife appeared on a number of episodes of the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman starring Jane Seymour. The actress thought so highly of Cash that she later named one of her twin sons after him. He lent his voice for a cameo role in The Simpsons episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)," as the "Space Coyote" that guides Homer Simpson on a spiritual quest. In 1996, Cash enlisted the accompaniment of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and released Unchained, which won the Best Country Album Grammy. Believing he did not explain enough of himself in his 1975 autobiography Man in Black, he wrote Cash: The Autobiography in 1997.

Last years and death

In 1997, Cash was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Shy-Drager syndrome, a form of Parkinson's disease. The diagnosis was later altered to autonomic neuropathy associated with diabetes. This illness forced Cash to curtail his touring. He was hospitalized in 1998 with severe pneumonia, which damaged his lungs. The albums (2000) and (2002) contained Cash's response to his illness in the form of songs of a slightly more somber tone than the first two American albums. The video that was released for "Hurt", a cover of the song by Nine Inch Nails, fits Cash's view of his past and feelings of regret. The video for the song, from American IV, is now generally recognized as "his epitaph," and received particular critical and popular acclaim. June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at the age of 73. June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record and even performed a couple of surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. At the July 5, 2003 concert (his last public performance), before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written shortly before taking the stage:

Cash died of complications from diabetes fewer than four months after his wife, at 2:00 a.m. CT on September 12, 2003, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. He was buried next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

His stepdaughter, Rosie (Nix) Adams and another passenger were found dead on a bus in Montgomery County, Tennessee, on October 24, 2003. It was speculated that the deaths may have been caused by carbon monoxide from the lanterns in the bus. Adams was 45 when she died. She was buried in the Hendersonville Memory Gardens, near her mother and stepfather.

On May 24, 2005, Vivian Liberto, Cash's first wife and the mother of Rosanne Cash and three other daughters, died from surgery to remove lung cancer at the age of 71. It was her daughter Rosanne's 50th birthday.

In June 2005, his lakeside home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville was put up for sale by his estate. In January 2006, the house was sold to Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb and wife Linda and titled in their Florida limited liability company for $2.3 million. The listing agent was Cash's younger brother, Tommy Cash. The home was destroyed by fire on April 10, 2007.

One of Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, entitled , was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted in the #1 position on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006.

On February 26, 2010, what would have been Cash's 78th birthday, the Cash Family, Rick Rubin, and Lost Highway Records released his second posthumous record, entitled .

Legacy

From his early days as a pioneer of rockabilly and rock and roll in the 1950s, to his decades as an international representative of country music, to his resurgence to fame in the 1990s as a living legend and an alternative country icon, Cash influenced countless artists and left a large body of work. Upon his death, Cash was revered by the greatest popular musicians of his time. His rebellious image and often anti-authoritarian stance influenced punk rock.

Among Cash's children, his daughter Rosanne Cash (by first wife Vivian Liberto) and his son John Carter Cash (by June Carter Cash) are notable country-music musicians in their own right.

Cash nurtured and defended artists on the fringes of what was acceptable in country music even while serving as the country music establishment's most visible symbol. At an all-star TNT concert in 1999, a diverse group of artists paid him tribute, including Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Dom DeLuise and U2. Cash himself appeared at the end and performed for the first time in more than a year. Two tribute albums were released shortly before his death; contains works from established artists, while contains works from many lesser-known artists.

In total, he wrote over 1,000 songs and released dozens of albums. A box set titled Unearthed was issued posthumously. It included four CDs of unreleased material recorded with Rubin as well as a Best of Cash on American retrospective CD.

In recognition of his lifelong support of SOS Children's Villages, his family invited friends and fans to donate to that charity in his memory. He had a personal link with the SOS village in Diessen, at the Ammersee Lake in Southern Germany, near where he was stationed as a GI, and also with the SOS village in Barrett Town, by Montego Bay, near his holiday home in Jamaica. The Johnny Cash Memorial Fund was founded.

In 1999, Cash received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Cash #31 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In a tribute to Cash after his death, country music singer Gary Allan included the song "Nickajack Cave (Johnny Cash's Redemption)" on his 2005 album entitled Tough All Over. The song chronicles Cash hitting rock bottom and subsequently resurrecting his life and career.

The main street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Highway 31E, is known as "Johnny Cash Parkway".

The Johnny Cash Museum is located in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

On November 2–4, 2007, the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival was held in Starkville, Mississippi. Starkville, where Cash was arrested over 40 years earlier and held overnight at the city jail on May 11, 1965, inspired Cash to write the song "Starkville City Jail". The festival, where he was offered a symbolic posthumous pardon, honored Cash's life and music, and was expected to become an annual event.

JC Unit One, Johnny Cash's private tour bus from 1980 until 2003, was put on exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum in 2007. The Cleveland, Ohio museum offers public tours of the bus on a seasonal basis (it is stored during the winter months and not exhibited during those times).

Portrayals

In 1998, country singer Mark Collie portrayed Cash for the first time in a short film, I Still Miss Someone.

Walk the Line, an Academy Award-winning biopic about Cash's life starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny and Reese Witherspoon as June (for which she won the 2005 Best Actress Oscar), was released in the United States on November 18, 2005 to considerable commercial success and critical acclaim. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon have won various other awards for their roles, including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, respectively. They both performed their own vocals in the film, and Phoenix learned to play guitar for his role as Cash. Phoenix received the Grammy Award for his contributions to the soundtrack. John Carter Cash, the first child of Johnny and June, served as an executive producer on the film.

Ring of Fire, a jukebox musical of the Cash oeuvre, debuted on Broadway on March 12, 2006 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but closed due to harsh reviews and disappointing sales on April 30, 2006.

Million Dollar Quartet, a musical portraying the early Sun recording sessions involving Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, debuted on Broadway on April 11, 2010. Actor Lance Guest portrayed Cash. The musical was nominated for three awards at the 2010 Tony Awards, and won one.

Discography

: See Johnny Cash discography, and Johnny Cash Sun Records discography.

Awards and honors

: For detailed lists of music awards, see List of Johnny Cash awards.

Cash received multiple Country Music Association Awards, Grammys, and other awards, in categories ranging from vocal and spoken performances to album notes and videos.

In a career that spanned almost five decades, Cash was the personification of country music to many people around the world. Cash was a musician who was not tied to a single genre. He recorded songs that could be considered rock and roll, blues, rockabilly, folk, and gospel, and exerted an influence on each of those genres. Moreover, he had the unique distinction among country artists of having "crossed over" late in his career to become popular with an unexpected audience, young indie and alternative rock fans. His diversity was evidenced by his presence in three major music halls of fame: the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992). Only thirteen performers are in both of the last two, and only Hank Williams Sr., Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, and Bill Monroe share the honor with Cash of being in all three. However, only Cash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the regular manner, unlike the other country members, who were inducted as "early influences." His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996. Cash stated that his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, in 1980, was his greatest professional achievement. In 2001, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography for "Hurt" and was supposed to appear, but died during the night.

In 2007, Cash was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Sources

Notes

References

D'Ambrosio, Antonino (2009). A Heartbeat and A Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears. With Original Art by Shepard Fairey and Photos by Jim Marshall. Perseus Books/Nation Books ISBN 9781568584072

Millier, Bill. (retrieved September 7, 2004). Johnny Cash Awards. JohnnyCash.com.

Streissguth, Michael. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Da Capo Press (2004). ISBN 0-306-81338-6.

Urbanski, Dave. The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash. New York: Relevant Books. ISBN 0-9729276-7-0.

Turner, Steve. The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend. Nashville, W Publishing Group, 2004. (The Authorized Biography).

Published works

Cash, Johnny. Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975. ISBN 99924-31-58-X.

Cash, Johnny, with Patrick Carr. . New York: Harper Collins, 1997. ISBN 0-06-101357-9.

Cash, Johnny, with June Carter Cash. Love liner notes. New York: Sony, 2000.

Cash, Johnny, The Man in White, 1986.

External links

Johnny Cash Official Label Website

Johnny Cash Radio Webcast

Official Johnny Cash Lost Highway Artist Page

Johnny Cash at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Johnny Cash at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Johnny Cash at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame

Johnny Cash at the Hit Parade Hall of Fame

Larry King's November 26, 2002 interview With Johnny Cash on CNN

Johnny Cash: Best Photos – slideshow by Life magazine

Category:1932 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Actors from Arkansas Category:American autobiographers Category:American composers Category:American country guitarists Category:American country singers Category:American country songwriters Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:American baritones Category:American performers of Christian music Category:American Protestants Category:Burials in Tennessee Category:Charly Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Deaths from diabetes Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:People from Cleveland County, Arkansas Category:People from Sumner County, Tennessee Category:People with Parkinson's disease Category:Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:The Highwaymen (country supergroup) members Category:Sun Records artists Category:United States Air Force airmen Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers

Name	Stat Quo
Born	July 24, 1978 (age 32)
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stanley Benton
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genre	Hip hopGangsta rap
Instruments	Guitar, Keyboard
Associated acts	Dr. Dre, Eminem, Bobby Creekwater, Chamillionaire, 50 Cent, Young Buck, Obie Trice, The Alchemist, DJ Whoo Kid,
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	2003–present
Label	Shady/Aftermath/Interscope (2003-2008)Dream Big Ventures (2009-current)
Url	www.statquo.com

Stanley Benton, better known as Stat Quo, is an American rapper. Benton attended University of Florida, where he majored in economics and international business in 2000. Benton was contemplating law school, until veteran Southern rapper Scarface encouraged him to rap professionally.

Biography

Early life

Stanley Benton was born in Thomasville Heights, a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, at the Grady Hospital. In his early life, he lived with his mother and grandmother. Benton started freestyle rapping at around the age of 12. Later, his mother bought him a radio, and he would record himself rapping. In 1997, Benton started taking rap seriously, but continued with his education. Benton worked his way to college and attended University of Florida, where he majored in economics and international business in 2000.

His debut album Statlanta was originally slated to be released in 2003, but was repeatedly pushed back until finally being released in 2010. Stat Quo is also featured on Young Buck's Straight Outta Cashville, the compilatation Eminem Presents the Re-Up and on the track "Spend Some Time" on Eminem's Encore. Stat has also appeared on tracks with artists such as Jermaine Dupri, The Alchemist, The Game, Disturbing tha Peace, and Chamillionaire. Stat Quo has said that his "number one goal is to bring a respect, and bring a voice to this whole southern movement around the world."

In 2005, Stat Quo shot a video for his single Like Dat. The song was made to be a buzz single, in order to help the artist become more exposed. The video was shot in Atlanta's Zone 3 near the Thomasville Heights projects where Stat Quo was raised and explained his reason for choosing the location in an interview, stating "It's the beginning of my career, so I wanted to start where I began life, […] Plus, [the city of Atlanta] is supposed to be tearing the projects down, so I wanted to showcase the area I grew up in and capture it before it was gone forever."

He was featured on the summer 2005 Anger Management Tour, which also included Eminem, 50 Cent, G-Unit, Obie Trice, D12, and others. On July 13, 2005, a tour bus carrying Eminem's entourage for the summer's Anger Management tour swerved off the road and turned over. Stat Quo was taken to Independence Regional Health Center in Independence, Missouri, where he was treated and released.

On April 21, 2009, Stat Quo released Smokin Mirrors, a street album, through EMI.

In October 2008, he left Aftermath Entertainment, unhappy with the release status of Statlanta. Stat Quo hoped to release the album in 2009, and promoted the album by releasing multiple mixtapes for free download in 2009, including Quo City, Checks & Balance, and The Invisible Man. It ended up being released on July 13, 2010. He has already started working on an untitled second album.

In 2009, with distribution from The Orchard, producer Sha Money XL founded a new record label, Dream Big Ventures. Quickly upon its creation, Stat Quo was signed to the label. Statlanta was released on the label.

In March 2010 Stat Quo appeared in a HP commercial alongside Dr. Dre promoting HP Beats Audio Laptops.

Discography

;Studio albums

2010: Statlanta

;Independent albums

2009: Smokin Mirrors

2009: Great Depression

References

External links

Official Stat Quo website

Stat Quo's New Producer "Lyr1kz" Website

The Stat Quo Interview with DJ Polique on Aftermath Music.com

Stat Quo Interview, 08/07/09

Quo, Stat Category:African American rappers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:Shady Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:1978 births

Name	Spank Rock
Landscape	yes
Background	non_performing_personnel
Origin	Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Genre	Dirty rap
Label	Downtown Records
Associated acts	Amanda Blank
Current members	MC Spank Rock, Chris Devlin, Alex Epton, DJ Ronnie Darko

Spank Rock is an American hip-hop group consisting of rapper Naeem Juwan (MC Spank Rock) and producer Alex Epton (XXXChange). Their style is generally described as a mix of underground alternative rap and electro and rock.

Biography

Spank Rock began performing in Philadelphia and Phoenixville, where their reputation quickly increased. They later toured with Hollertronix and M.I.A.. They also toured with Beck in 2006. Spank Rock's debut album YoYoYoYoYo was released in 2006 on the Big Dada record label. Spank Rock is soon to record their second full length album.

Their single, "Bump", was named Single of the Year by Xfm London breakfast DJ Lauren Laverne in 2006. "Bump" was also played at the beginning of an episode in season three of Entourage. A remixed version of "Bump" is currently playing on a Wish-Bone salad dressing commercial.

In the video game , the song "What It Look Like" appears. In Madden NFL 07, "Backyard Betty" is featured. Also, an instrumental version of "Loose" is in the game NBA 2K9.

In June 2007, Spank Rock signed a deal with Downtown Records. Spank Rock's first Downtown Records release came in the form of fall 2007's Benny Blanco & Spank Rock Present: Bangers & Cash EP , a 2 Live Crew inspired 5 song EP.

In 2010 MC Spank Rock was featured along with The View's Kyle Falconer on "The Bike Song" by Mark Ronson, which featured on Ronson's 2010 album Record Collection. He was also the touring rapper on the album's 2010 UK tour.

Discography

Albums

YoYoYoYoYo (2006)

Singles

"Put That Pussy on Me" (2005)

"Rick Rubin" (2006)

"Sweet Talk" (2006)

"Bump" (2006)

EPs

''Benny Blanco & Spank Rock Present: Bangers & Cash (2007)

Other releases

Couche Tard (2006)

FabricLive.33 (2007)

Appearances

"D.A.N.C.E." (Remix featuring Mos Def and Spank Rock) (2007)

"Kick Drum" from Noise Won't Stop by Shy Child (2007)

"Back It Up" from Ed Rec Vol. 3 by Feadz (2008)

"Keep My Composure" from Brotherhood by The Chemical Brothers (2008)

"Heart Beat Rock" (Benny Blanco Mix featuring Spank Rock) from X by Kylie Minogue (2008)

"Shove It" from Santogold by Santogold (2008)

"Trick or Treat" from Stainless Style by Neon Neon (2008)

"Radical Businessman" from Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt by Japanther (2008)

"Roll That Shit" from Booty Breaks Vol. 3 by Deekline & Wizard (2008)

"Ultraviolence" (Remix featuring Spank Rock) by Heartsrevolution (2009)

"Wachadoin" (featuring Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold, & Nick Zinner) from The Spirit of Apollo by N.A.S.A. (musical group) (2009)

"My Eyes" (featuring Spank Rock, Theophilus London, Melo-X & Zakee) from Mishka and Ninjasonik present Darth Banhao by Mishka and Ninjasonik (2009)

"Backseat" (featuring Spank Rock, Lady Tigra & Damien Adore) from Backseat - Single by Staygold (2010)

"Park The Truck" (featuring Spank Rock) from Tons Of Friends by Crookers (2010)

"The Bike Song" (feat. Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock) from Record Collection (album) by Mark Ronson (2010)

References

External links

Spank Rock on MySpace

Category:American hip hop groups Category:Rappers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Living people

Name	Russell Simmons
Birth date	October 04, 1957
Birth place	Queens, New York, United States
Occupation	Media and Fashion Mogul
Networth	$340 million (2007)
Spouse	Kimora Lee (1998-2009)(divorced)
Website	Rush Communications

Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, the co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam, and creator of the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and American Classics. .

Russell Simmons is the younger brother of Daniel Simmons, Jr., and he is the older brother of Rev. Joseph Simmons, better known as "Run" of Run-DMC, and son of Daniel Simmons, Sr, a public school administrator and Evelyn Simmons, a New York City park administrator. His brother Daniel Simmons, Jr., is an accomplished abstract artist.

Russell Simmons is the third richest figure in hip-hop, having a net-worth estimate of $340 million.

Personal life

Simmons met model Kimora Lee in November 1992 at New York's fashion week. They dated for six years and married on December 20, 1998 on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy. Officiating was Russell's brother, the Reverend Run, now an ordained minister. They have 2 daughters together, Ming Lee (born 2000) and Aoki Lee (born 2002). Before the couple's divorce, they owned a , , 10-bedroom marital home located in Saddle River, New Jersey. The home includes both indoor and outdoor pools, a wine cellar and a movie theater. Just down the road is the home of his brother, Joseph Simmons, a.k.a. Rev Run.

In March 2006, Lee and Simmons announced that they would be getting a divorce. Their divorce finalized in January 2009. They would continue to work together on Phat Farm and Baby Phat clothing lines. As of January 2009 Russell has begun dating Sports Illustrated model Julie Henderson.

Russell Simmons has been vegan since 1998 and advocates the adoption of practicing Ahimsa and veganism citing animal rights along with the environmental and health benefits. He is also a Buddhist.

In May 2009, Simmons was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Slavery Memorial at the United Nations to Honor the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Simmons is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and a supporter of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, which was established to ensure that any child in America who wants to learn and practice TM can do so.

Def Jam

Def Jam became just one piece in Simmons' corporation. Rush Communications, which included a management company, a clothing company called Phat Farm, a movie production house, television shows such as Def Comedy Jam, a magazine and an advertising agency. His nephew Jamal "Redrum" Simmons and his group Flatlinerz released the highly controversial album U.S.A. in 1994 on Def Jam but was dropped from the label soon after. Simmons sold his stake in the record company for $100 million to Universal Music Group in 1999. The up-and-coming component of Rush Communications is the sneaker company Run Athletics, which was started in 2003, a company that produces both the Legacy and Arthur Ashe shoes.

References

External links

Bio and photo of Russell Simmons — Crain's New York Business 40 under 40 — 1992

Russell Simmons' Written Portrait Of His Family

Current information on Def Poetry Jam

Biography from Salon

Russell and his brothers featured in the documentary film, Lemonade Stories.

Russell Simmons Interview on CBC

Russell Simmons Interview on Soundslam

Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Russell Simmons & Marc Schneier from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Run Athletics

Category:American music industry executives Category:American television producers Category:American fashion designers Category:American vegans Category:People from Queens Category:American Buddhists Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:African-American fashion designers Category:African-American businesspeople Category:African American writers

Name	Ray Stevens
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Harold Ray Ragsdale
Born	January 24, 1939Clarkdale, Georgia
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Genre	Country, pop, novelty
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, arranger, pianist
Years active	1958–present
Label	NRC, CBS Records, Janus Records, Mercury, Warner Bros., MCA, RCA, Curb Records
Url	RayStevens.com
Notable instruments	PianoBanjo

Ray Stevens (born Harold Ray Ragsdale, January 24, 1939) is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty song as well as his recent involvement in the Tea Party movement. He was born in Clarkdale, Georgia, a small town west of Atlanta.

Career

Early career

Stevens' recording career began in the mid-1950s with two singles released on Prep Records. He then signed a contract with Capitol Records with the help of Atlanta, Georgia music maven Bill Lowery. In 1958, Stevens joined Lowery's National Recording Corporation (NRC), playing numerous instruments, arranging music, and performing background vocals for its band. After NRC filed for bankruptcy, he signed with Mercury Records with whom Stevens recorded a series of hit records in the 1960s that included songs such as "Ahab the Arab", "Harry the Hairy Ape", "Funny Man," the original recording of "Santa Claus Is Watching You", and "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills". Most of the Boomer generation remembers a shortened version of "Ahab the Arab" reaching No. 1 on the American pop-rock charts in the summer of 1962, which was the song that introduced Stevens to most of his fan base.

In 1966, Stevens signed with Monument Records and started to release serious material such as "Mr. Businessman" in 1968, a Top 30 hit, and "Have a Little Talk With Myself" and the original version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" in 1969, which became Stevens' first two singles to reach the country music charts. Stevens continued releasing novelty songs, and in 1969 he had a Top 10 pop hit with "Gitarzan". Stevens also became a regular on The Andy Williams Show during the 1969–1970 season, and he even hosted his own summer show, The Ray Stevens Show, in 1970.

As an A&R; man, music producer, songwriter, and music arranger he assisted countless artists in the recording studio during his years at Mercury Records and Monument Records, 1961 through early 1970. Some of the acts he was associated with during that time period were Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, Patti Page, Joe Dowell, Dusty Springfield, and Dolly Parton. Stevens was a writer or co-writer of several songs those particular acts recorded. My True Confession, a Top-10 on the R&B; chart in 1963 for Brook Benton, was written by Stevens and Margie Singleton. Stevens was the arranger for an obscure Doyle Holly recording titled My Heart Cries For You which had been recorded previously by Stevens during the late 1950s.

The 1970s

Starting in the 1970s, Stevens became a producer and well-known studio musician on the Nashville scene. He recorded songs for Barnaby Records and Warner Brothers during 1970–1979. Stevens' biggest hit in the US was his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" (1970). The single won a Grammy Award, was the theme song for his summer 1970 TV show, hit #1 on both the pop and Adult-Contemporary charts, and marked his first time in the Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at #39. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. His other 1970 singles were "America, Communicate With Me" and "Sunset Strip". Each of those songs made a big impact with adults, reaching the Top-20 on the Adult-Contemporary lists. His novelty song "Bridget the Midget (The Queen of The Blues)" made #2 on the UK chart in 1971 and in the US it reached #50. Stevens had a gospel/country hit single in early 1972 with Albert E. Brumley's "Turn Your Radio On", reaching the country Top 20. Two more of Stevens' songs in 1971 were also minor pop hits, "A Mama and a Papa" and "All My Trials," but both crossed over to the Top 10 Adult-Contemporary lists. Stevens' success was not confined to the United States, of course, and he frequently toured Canada and even went overseas to the United Kingdom. A rock-infected gospel arrangement accompanied his version of "Love Lifted Me" and it became a hit single in Bangkok in the fall of 1972...finding it's way into the Top-5 for the week ending September 30. In 1973, Stevens had a top 40 country hit with the title track of his album, "Nashville", and increased his exposure on television by performing on a variety of prime-time programs of the era. In 1974, Stevens recorded perhaps his most famous hit, "The Streak", which poked fun at the early-1970s fad of running nude in public, known as "streaking". It made No. 1 in both the UK and the USA and No. 3 on the country chart. Stevens' tenure with Barnaby came to an end in early 1976. In 1975, he released the Grammy-winning "Misty", which became his biggest country hit (reaching #3 on the country charts and #14 on the pop charts); he also entered the country Top 40 with a doo-wop version of "Indian Love Call", "Everybody Needs a Rainbow", and a ballad version of "Young Love" in early 1976.

Stevens joined Warner Brothers in 1976, where his debut was a strong showing with three hit singles in a row. The first was the up-tempo version of "You Are So Beautiful", which reached the country Top 20, then "Honky Tonk Waltz", which reached the Top 30. He then released a novelty single: under the pseudonym "Henhouse Five Plus Too," Stevens recorded a version of Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" in the style of a clucking chicken; it became a Top 40 hit in the US and UK in early 1977. In 1978 he had a hit with "Be Your Own Best Friend" on the country charts, and in 1979 he had a hit on the Hot 100 pop chart with the novelty "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow", which he released from the album The Feeling's Not Right Again. He joined RCA in late 1979, releasing new material in 1980.

The 1980s

After joining RCA in 1980, Stevens continued having hit singles, but with somewhat less success than in the previous decade. His debut single, the Top 10 "Shriner's Convention" and then the Top 20 love ballad "Night Games" performed relatively well on the charts. In 1981, only one single made the charts, the Top 40 hit "One More Last Chance." In 1982, after he had released a few more singles, notably the Top 40 "Written Down in My Heart", Stevens left RCA and returned to Mercury Records, the label that made him a star in the early 1960s. This resulted in only one album, the 1983 project Me, and only one chart hit, "My Dad", in early 1984.

Stevens then joined MCA in 1984 as a "country comedy" act and thereafter released only novelty song albums. The fan-voted Music City News awards named Stevens Comedian of the Year annually for nine consecutive years from 1986 to 1994. However, Stevens' singles were no longer making the Top 40 charts as they were considered comedy–novelty...and country radio resisted playing songs that were not serious. A few of Stevens' commercial singles charted on the Single Sales charts during this time, but only one single, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival", actually made it to the radio-dominated Top 40. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" reached the Top 20, making that his final single to hit the Top-40 portion of the country singles chart. "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" is the only single during his 1984–1989 stint on MCA that came close to reaching the Top 40, stalling at #41 in 1987. Second to that, the other single close to hitting the Top 40 on the country chart was the #45 hit "The Haircut Song" in 1985.

Ironically, even with the lack of airplay for his comical songs, his comedy albums were enjoying widespread success. His first series of albums for MCA all made the country charts with several of them remaining on the charts for months at a time. His first two albums for MCA reached the Top-5...with I Have Returned hitting the top spot in early 1986. Afterward his albums routinely peaked in the middle of the charts. A 1987 Greatest Hits album became a platinum seller while several other releases achieved gold status. One of the trademarks of Stevens' string of comedy albums were the photo shoots. For example...on one album he's dressed up as Napoleon Bonaparte, on another he's humpty dumpty, and on another he's dressed as General MacArthur. It was quite obvious that Stevens' lack of airplay wasn't affecting his ability to sell records nor was it diminishing his popularity. It was also beneficial that there were national shows like Hee-Haw and a variety of programs on The Nashville Network that frequently gave exposure to all forms of country music, commercial or not.

1990s

Stevens left MCA in 1989 for Curb/Capitol Records. His first release arrived in 1990. The two labels would split up soon after and Curb Records would continue releasing material on Stevens. His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits, a compilation project released by Curb in 1990, became a gold album by mid decade. Lend Me Your Ears and #1 With a Bullet were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The latter featured the satirical hit "Working for the Japanese" in which Stevens sings about the American economy and how dollars are boosting overseas economies instead of its own. 1991 marked the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

The decade of the '90s was marked with a lot of new directions for Stevens. The most ambitious was the opening of his own theater in Branson, Missouri in 1991 which had been under construction since early 1991. The theater business had been steadily growing in the small Missouri town of Branson for a period of years and by the time Stevens began building his theater the area was reaching its peak. Stevens benefited from the theater boom largely because his stage show was vastly different from everyone else. His reputation as a comedian and as an all-around entertainer meant that for most tourists his show was one of the destination spots. Stevens also embarked on a music video career during his early years in Branson. The idea to sell home videos began when he became aware that a home video being sold only at his theater was becoming popular. Some of the music videos were played on a large jumbo screen at his theater and the crowd reaction indicated that there may be a future in selling music videos which had never really been considered a profitable avenue.

The spring and summer of 1992 marked the explosion of Stevens' idea when his Comedy Video Classics became a million-selling home video accomplished through direct marketing and television advertisements. Commercials for Stevens' home video aired countless times throughout 1992, mostly in the morning hours and often during late-night. Branson was also experiencing its highest commercial peak in the summer and fall of both 1992 and 1993 and all of the sudden Ray Stevens was back in the national media once again with his enormously successful home video and music theater. In the midst of all the success, though, Stevens closed down his theater after the 1993 season citing exhaustion and monotony. The daily grind got the best of him what with doing two shows a day, six days a week, for five to six months at a time. Several of his performances at his theater were filmed and surfaced in home video form. Ray Stevens Live! became another home video mail-order success in 1993 following the same path of Comedy Video Classics.

Meanwhile, Comedy Video Classics had become available for retail distribution and it became a big seller all over again. It became so huge during 1993 that it was named Home Video of the Year by Billboard magazine in their annual end of the year publication which cites the most popular artists, songs, CDs, and video items of the year.

Classic Ray Stevens was issued around the early fall of 1993. This was the first audio release from Stevens since early 1991. The album's use of the word classic didn't mean that the material contained were previously recorded songs; instead, the album's title was a reference to the classical-looking photo shoot which features a bust of Ray Stevens mocking Beethoven. The home video of Ray Stevens Live! was released to retail stores in 1994 and it became a Top-5 success on Billboard's Home Video chart. The concert video often ranked above or below Comedy Video Classics on the charts. The most ambitious project from Stevens in the video genre came along in the late summer of 1995 with the release of the direct-to-home video movie, Get Serious!.

The movie, which runs 1 hour and 50 minutes, offers several plots as well as a collection of newly produced music videos which act as commentary to the action. One plot point of the movie centers around a fictional record company that Ray records for being bought out by a Japanese conglomerate. This is a reference to the over-the-top consolidation practices taking place in the music industry. Another plot-point deals with Ray's reputation as a comical singer and how the new executive of the fictional record company, based vocally on Paul Lynde, wants Ray to change his image from comedy to classical opera. Ray refuses and this brings to the surface another plot-point of the movie: political correctness. Seeking revenge on Ray, the executive hatches a plan to ruin Ray's career by labeling him politically incorrect. The specific charge of political incorrectness is something that often comes up by those who take objection to any form of humor that uses stereotypes as gags or punchlines...either through verbal or visual use. The last plot-point centers around character defamation as numerous characters from several Ray Stevens songs turn out to really exist and they want to sue the singer for defamation. This plot is based on a song that Ray recorded in 1986 entitled "Dudley Dorite of the Highway Patrol" where a local policeman stops Ray for speeding and afterward informs the singer that he's in a whole lot of trouble for using easily identifiable people as characters in his songs. The song was re-recorded specifically for the movie as Dudley Dorite is one of the main characters in the movie. He's portrayed by Stevens' long-time songwriting partner, C.W. Kalb, Jr..

The home video became another mail-order success throughout 1995 and was released to retail stores, via MCA, late in 1996. The video hit the Top-5 on Billboard's Home Video chart early in 1997 during what would become a more than 20 week chart run. Stevens had by this point exited Curb Records in what would have to be described as a successful tenure, 1990-1996.

Stevens, as mentioned, found a new home with his previous label, MCA. It was the MCA label responsible for the retail distribution of Get Serious! and it was MCA which was responsible for marketing Ray as a comical singer for the first time in the mid 1980's.

The reunion with MCA was short-lived, however, and it consisted of the retail release of Get Serious! in late 1996 and two new audio CD's in 1997: Hum It and Christmas Through a Different Window, the latter release being a collection of Christmas novelty songs. After the MCA contract ended Stevens became exclusive to his own label, Clyde Records, for a period of years.

It was at this point in his career that on-line rumors originally swirled about his death. The entire confusing mess came about in the summer of 1996 following the death of a wrestler who went by the name of Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. It was reported that some only read the headline of Ray "The Crippler" Stevens passing away and immediately assumed the papers were referring to the singer, Ray Stevens, who once recorded a wrestling song entitled "The Blue Cyclone". In short, people thought the papers were nicknaming the singer "The Crippler" in reference to that wrestling song. In reality, though, Ray Stevens the singer was still alive and well...reporting to the mainstream media that his office had received thousands of sympathy cards due to the confusion. Apparently not everyone got the memo in 1996 that singer Ray Stevens was still among the living because years later, circa 2010, some still think he died in the 1990s and are stunned to realize the truth. You can see these kinds of Ray Stevens is Still Alive??? comments littered all over the internet.

In April 1999 Stevens was diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer and had to cancel his series of concerts at the Acuff Theatre that summer. Stevens received a clean bill of health upon successful surgery and returned to the stage in time to deliver his Christmas concert series.

The 2000s

After the partnership with MCA evaporated he remained active on his own label, Clyde Records, until he found another home with Curb Records, returning to the label in 2001 and debuting early in 2002 with "Osama Yo' Mama", which made the country Top 50, reached the Top-5 on the country single sales chart, achieved Gold selling status, and the album of the same name reached the country Top-30. After the release of this album Stevens returned to Branson, Missouri and re-opened his theater. The grand re-opening took place in 2004 and he remained active there for three more seasons. He shut the theater down for good after the 2006 season. Meanwhile, an obscure release called "The New Battle of New Orleans" came along in 2005 as a response to the vandals and looters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Much in the same manner that the general public confused the death of Ray "The Crippler" Stevens with the singer named Ray Stevens in 1996, the general public this time around confused the version of The New Battle of New Orleans by its principal writer, Chuck Redden, with the version by Ray Stevens. The recording by the writer features much more pointed accusations and assertions and it's this version which appears on various web-sites specializing in lyric re-printing. The confusion arises when these web-sites credit Ray Stevens as the singer of that version; therefore, it creates this false belief, for those who've never even heard Ray's take on the song, that he holds those same feelings expressed by the main writer, Redden.

Ray, along with his songwriter friend, Buddy Kalb, removed a lot of the original lyrics in the song and supplied new lyrics in a more G-rated setting. In spite of the various lyrical re-writes from Ray and Buddy, the overall point of the song that the locals expected and demanded too much from their Government, is still crystal clear. The song was issued as a single-only in 2005 and has never appeared on any compilation CD as of 2010.

Curb Records, in the meantime, continued to release music video collections on Ray during this time period as well, notably in the form of DVD due to the reality of the VHS video tape becoming obsolete. The music videos were of the animated variety, featuring limited animation.

Stevens returned to releasing music once again in 2007 with the CD New Orleans Moon, released on his own label. This CD contains various songs in tribute and honor to New Orleans and Louisiana. Ray covers "Louisiana Man", "Louisiana", "The Battle of New Orleans", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", "New Orleans", and several more. The following year Stevens issued the album Hurricane, also on his own label. It was released in February 2008 at Stevens' on-line music store at his website then was released nationally in November of that year to a wider audience. This particular CD featured a wide array of comical songs including a pair of redneck anthems, "Hey Bubba, Watch This!" and "Bubba the Wine Connoisseur". The CD also marked the debut of "Sucking Sound", a political/economic song about Ross Perot and how his warnings of the flaws in a global economy, which were mocked in 1992, became somewhat of a reality by 2008 resulting in massive lay-offs and job losses.

Concurrently in 2008, a tribute to the songs of Frank Sinatra that Stevens recorded was also being offered at the web-site store during the latter half of 2008. The album is titled Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?? and it became nationally distributed in February 2009. Stevens didn't promote or publicize the tribute album and it's anyone's guess as to why. Later in 2009 he released One for the Road, a CD aimed primarily at truckers. It was sold exclusively at the Pilot truck stops for several weeks prior to its release nationally. The CD contains a mixture of material ranging from truck driver oriented songs to somber ballads. There are also several re-recordings of his greatest hits added into the equation. There are fifteen tracks featured on the trucker CD in which the first three tracks, in addition to track seven, specifically deal with situations while on the road: "Concrete Sailor", "Convoy", "Right Reverend Road Hog McGraw", and "Hang Up and Drive". "Mary Lou Nights" and "Oh, Lonesome Me" convey moods one might experience while away from home. "Retired" fits in with the stereotypical forty-five and older demographic of most truckers. The song originated as a duet between Stevens and Brent Burns but for this CD it's delivered solo.

In 2009 Stevens found himself being inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and he appeared on the PBS series Legends and Lyrics. A television show that Stevens stars in, We Ain't Dead Yet, became available to subscribers at his web page. The subscription is to an exclusive section of his web-page called Ray Stevens Backstage and each month a different episode becomes available. The series focuses on senior citizens and it usually features a special guest each episode stopping by the main set, a retirement home, to perform songs.

In the early fall of 2009 Stevens released a holiday collection of songs simply titled Ray Stevens Christmas. Late in November an EP became available featuring a couple of his serious Christmas songs but the main attraction was his cover of Seymour Swine's (a fictional group that recorded a stuttering rendition of "Blue Christmas") "Blue Christmas", complete with stutter. Stevens had also recorded a non-comical version of this song for his Ray Stevens Christmas release. The stuttering version can only be found on the EP release.

The 2010s

In December 2009, Stevens issued the single and on-line video "We The People", which quickly became a viral video and surpassed a million hits in a month's time on You Tube. The video skewers health care reform and it thrust Stevens back into the mainstream spotlight once again. Stevens followed this music video with "Caribou Barbie" in March 2010. This music video is about Sarah Palin. The video uses a Palin impersonator and through the help of sight-gags it takes aim at several high-profile personalities on cable television. Stevens issued another music video on YouTube, "Throw the Bums Out!", as a direct response to the March 2010 passage of health care reform legislation in the House of Representatives.

In April 2010 Stevens released a collection that includes a CD and a DVD, entitled We The People. The project features 22 political songs. The four music videos on the DVD are "We The People", "Caribou Barbie", "Throw the Bums Out!", and "Thank You". Stevens appeared in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2010, as part of the tax day rally associated with the Tea Party. On April 24, 2010 the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored the career of Ray Stevens in the recurring series "Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians". The special focused mostly on Stevens' career as a Nashville-session musician during the 1960s and 1970s.

May 13, 2010 marked the music video release of "Come to the USA", a song dealing with the hot button issue of illegal immigration. The song uses exaggeration and small doses of satire to comment on illegal immigration acceptance internationally compared with the United States more passive policy. The song was written and recorded well before the Arizona illegal immigration bill, SB 1070, was introduced to the nation. The music video became Stevens' second to surpass a million hits on You Tube; the first being "We The People". Following the release of the "Come to the USA" music video Stevens found himself being spotlighted again on the Fox News Channel and then by The New York Times. Stevens' We The People CD made its Top-10 debut on the Billboard Comedy Album chart for the week ending June 26, 2010, and it moved into the Top-5 for the week ending July 3, 2010. Meanwhile, a new music video had become available on You Tube on June 29 in the form of "The Global Warming Song". The song, the sixth release from his We The People CD, is a broad exaggeration on the global warming topic, drawing inspiration from the concept of the Earth's temperature rising beyond control. The song depicts a couple of brothers who hold fort in a frozen wasteland with a money-making scheme of awaiting the arrival of climate change. The song is purposely silly and plays on the fears of global warming.

Starting in July 2010 and running through August most PBS stations aired a special titled Marvin Hamlisch Presents The 1970s: The Way We Were during pledge drive fundraisers. The special celebrates the music of the 1970s and Ray Stevens participated in the proceedings. Stevens' contributions include "Everything Is Beautiful", "The Streak", and "Misty". On July 31 Stevens made a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

On August 4, 2010 a new music video from Stevens made its debut on You Tube. This time around the subject matter is the Federal Government and the on-going war of words with Arizona over immigration. The song, "God Save Arizona", criticizes the policies of the Federal Government and it questions the competence of Eric Holder, the United States Attorney General with regards to the Federal lawsuit brought against Arizona. The beginning of the song starts out as a tribute to the U.S.S. Arizona during World War Two before switching to a look at a modern-day verbal war between Arizona's State Government and the Federal Government.

Given the overall on-line popularity of his music videos on You Tube it enabled Stevens to reach a milestone in early September 2010. This milestone refers to the collective number of plays that all of his music videos had obtained up until that point in time. When the play totals for each officially-released music video were tallied the collective total reached ten million. "Come to the USA" has obtained over four million You Tube hits while "We The People" has obtained over three million hits.

Stevens returned to Branson, Missouri once again in mid September to kick off a nearly month-long engagement at The Welk Resort which ran through October 23. On the last date of his concert series at the Welk Theatre he participated in a Tea Party rally held in Branson earlier in the day. The rally was billed as The Pre-Election Pink Slip Rally and Concert and it took place throughout most of the morning and into the afternoon. Stevens performed "We The People" and "Throw the Bums Out!" at the rally and that night wrapped up his concert series at The Welk Theatre.

Ironically, on November 3, the day after the 2010 mid-term elections, Stevens uploaded a new music video on You Tube entitled "Nightmare Before Christmas". The song has nothing to do with politics or elections but instead deals with political correctness gone amuck as Santa Claus gets arrested and is charged with crimes against a politically correct society. In the video Stevens portrays himself, Santa, the prosecutor, and the Judge. Political correctness and the mockery of liberal-progressive special interest groups is at the crux of the song. The video obtained over 13,000 You Tube hits within its first three days on-line.

On November 29 Stevens alerted his audience via the social network site Twitter that he would be recording ten new political comedy songs. Several days prior, on November 23, Stevens announced on his Facebook page that he's in the process of recording a huge project of one hundred songs to be released at some point entitled The Encyclopedia of Musical Comedy Recordings.

Videos

Stevens' songs have been showcased in several videos. "Gitarzan" was featured on Disc 1 of "The Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection." Stevens videos were frequently offered via television commercials. 1992's "Comedy Video Classics" contained 8 music videos, winning the Home Video of the Year in 1993 as well as other awards. Two videos filmed at his Branson, Missouri theatre "Ray Stevens Live!" and "More Ray Stevens Live!" were released in 1993, although the second collection was only available to fan club members at the time. In 1995 he released a movie, "Get Serious!" which contained 10 music videos inserted at appropriate times throughout the spoken dialogue. The video collection "Latest and Greatest" was released in 1996. In 2000 he released "Funniest Video Characters" including the video to his 1985 song "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone." In 2004 "Greatest Video Characters" was released; this was a large collection of 1990s Stevens music videos. Stevens' video albums are released by mail order on his own label, Clyde Records.

Grammy Awards

Stevens has won two Grammy Awards: one for "Everything Is Beautiful" and one for the arrangement of his country and western version of the jazz standard "Misty" (1975). Stevens was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 as well as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

Other awards and accomplishments

1969: Gold Single — "Gitarzan"

1970: Gold Single — "Everything Is Beautiful"

1970: Grammy — "Everything Is Beautiful" (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance)

1974: Gold Single — "The Streak"

1975: Grammy — "Misty" (Best Arrangement of the Year)

1980: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

1980: Georgia Music Hall of Fame

1984: Gold Album — "He Thinks He's Ray Stevens"

1985: Gold Album — "I Have Returned"

1986: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1986: #1 Country Album Plaque from Billboard — "I Have Returned" (week ending March 15, 1986)

1987: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1987: Platinum Album — "Greatest Hits"

1987: Gold Album — "Greatest Hits, Volume Two"

1988: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1989: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1990: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1990: Gold Album — "All-Time Greatest Comic Hits"

1991: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1992: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1992: #1 Home Video Plaque from Billboard — "Comedy Video Classics"

1992: Ten Times-Platinum Home Video — "Comedy Video Classics"

1993: Billboard Home Video of the Year

1993: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1993: Platinum Home Video — "Ray Stevens Live!"

1994: Music City News Comedian of the Year

1995: Platinum Home Video — "Get Serious!"

1995: Country Weekly Golden Pick Award "Best Comedian"

2002: Gold Single — "Osama Yo' Mama"

2009: Christian Music Hall of Fame

2010: Ray Stevens' officially released You Tube music videos reach a combined total of 10,000,000 plays.

Music City News was a monthly subscription magazine which reported on the latest happenings among country music celebrities. The magazine's subscribers for the most part voted in the annual awards. Years later fans from all over the country could call and vote for their favorite acts in addition to the subscribers who used voting ballots. The winners of the fan voted awards were showcased nationally in an elaborate awards gala broadcast on CBS and later, The Nashville Network. Stevens won in the Comedian of the Year category nine consecutive years and performed on their awards telecasts on a consistent basis.

In July 2009 Stevens began uploading music videos onto You Tube for the first time. Much of the uploads were of music videos that were made in the early and mid '90s. His user name, raystevensmusic, has since released quite a few music videos on You Tube and by the late summer of 2010 a combined total of 10,000,000 plays were obtained. This total has since risen to over 12,000,000 plays of his music video uploads.

Discography

See Ray Stevens discography

References

Roy, Don (1998). "Ray Stevens". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music, Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 507.

External links

Official website

Video magazine and subscriber's website

Category:1939 births Category:American comedy musicians Category:American country keyboardists Category:American country pianists Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American novelty song performers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:Georgia State University alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:National Recording Corporation artists Category:People from Cobb County, Georgia Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)

Name	KRS-One
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Lawrence Parker
Alias	KRS, Teacha
Origin	South Bronx, New York, U.S.
Born	August 20, 1965Flatbush, Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, actor, record producer, author
Years active	1981–present
Instrument	Rapping, vocals, turntables
Label	B-Boy, Jive, RCA, Duck Down
Associated acts	Boogie Down Productions, Scott La Rock, Marley Marl, Diamond D, LL Cool J, Chuck D, Public Enemy, Buckshot, Talib Kweli, Immortal Technique
Url	http://www.krsoneinc.com/

Lawrence Kris Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage name KRS-One is an MC and producer. Over his career, he has been known by several pseudonyms including "Kris Parker," "The Blastmaster," "The Teacha," and "The Philosopher." At the 2008 BET Awards, KRS-One was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for all his work and effort towards the Stop the Violence Movement as well as the overall pioneering of hip hop music and culture.

Biography

Born Lawrence Parker in Park Slope, Brooklyn in the fall of 1965, the MC left home at 14 to become an MC and Philosopher. He came to live in a homeless shelter in the South Bronx, where he was dubbed Krishna by residents because of his interest in the Hare Krishna spirituality of some of the antipoverty workers. By the time he met youth counselor Scott Sterling, he was also writing graffiti as KRS-One (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone). Together he and Sterling, a.k.a. DJ Scott La Rock eventually created Boogie Down Productions, releasing their debut album, Criminal Minded, in 1987. KRS-One has been a vegetarian since his youth.

Boogie Down Productions

In the summer of 1984, KRS-One hit the music scene with a rap group called "Scott La rock and the Celebrity Three" with a record called "Advance". And that was, in a time when most rappers rhymed about cars, jewelry, alcohol, and the latest dance, KRS-One was rhyming about nuclear war prevention. Scott La Rock and the Celebrity Three was composed of Scott La Rock, Levi167, MC Quality, and KRS-One. After legal problems with the head of the label, Scott La Rock and the Celebrity Three were released from their contract. In the winter of 1984, KRS-One wrote a song called "Stop The Violence" although by this time The Celebrity Three had broken up and only KRS-One and Scott La Rock remained. Both realized they had to change the name of the group and they did: the new group was called The Boogie Down Crew.

In 1985, Scott La Rock, a friend of producer/writer Kenny Beck (2 The Limit, Octavia - Pow Wow Records and Mine All Mine, Cashflow - Polygram Records) asked Beck to do a record he had written for his brother Kevin Goldbeck. Since the record was not quite finished being produced yet for [Sleeping Bag Records] and Scott had a real affinity for the sty-lings of Krs-one, Kenny Beck decided to form a group around the three, Kevin (freshly released from New York State Prison), Scott and Krs-one. Their name was 12:41, given that moniker by Beck as that was the time they had completed the final mix. All three plus Beck can be heard rapping on the record. Scott, ever the social worker asked Beck to do this as a way out of the shelter for his friend Krs-one. Of course Kris and Scott wanted to concentrate on their own Boogie Down Crew but first they had to go through this. No one was paid for this project and the small amount budgeted by the label for the product prior to Scott La Rock's and Krs-one's involvement barely covered recording costs. This is why producer David Eng, Snow (Informer) and Inspector Gadget writer and studio owner of Bayside Sound (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, UTFO was brought in. The original song was written, produced and recorded by Kenny Beck and royalties and claims are being pursued for all parties involved. It was this project that educated Kris and Scott as to the importance of being producers of their music, as well as the artists, so at this point they decided to change the name of their own Boogie Down Crew to Boogie Down Productions.

At the close of 1987, the B.D.P lifestyle got real and Scott La Rock was killed trying to settle a dispute in the Bronx. This shocked the Hip Hop community and as a result rap and violence became a topic in the mainstream press. The rap community thought Boogie Down Productions was over but this only led to new plans for KRS-One. In 1988, KRS-One left B. Boy Records to sign with Jive Records and "By All Means Necessary" was released. Rap music was under a mainstream microscope and KRS-One now was able to release what he and Scott always dreamed about, an album that gave rap a different image. His first video on Jive Records was for "My Philosophy", a song that re-established his presence in the rap world.

KRS-One began his recording career as one third of the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, or BDP, alongside DJ Scott La Rock and Derrick "D-Nice" Jones. They met during a stay KRS-One had at the Bronx Franklin Avenue Armory Shelter. La Rock (real name Scott Sterling) worked as a social worker there. The duo would begin to create music. After being rejected by radio DJs Mr. Magic and Marley Marl, KRS-One would go on to diss the two and those associated with them, sparking what would later be known as The Bridge Wars. Additionally, KRS had taken offense to "The Bridge", a song by Marley Marl's protege, MC Shan (later on, KRS One produced an album with Marley Marl in 2007); the song could be interpreted as a claim that Queensbridge was the monument of Hiphop, though MC Shan has repeatedly denied this claim. Still, KRS "dissed" the song with the BDP record "South Bronx"; next, a second round of volleys would ensue with Shan's "Kill That Noise" and BDP's "The Bridge Is Over". KRS-One, demonstrating his nickname "The Blastmaster", gave a live performance that devastated MC Shan, and many conceded he had won the battle. Many believe this live performance to be the first MC battle where rappers attack each other, instead of a battle between who can get the crowd more hyped.

Parker and Sterling decided to form a rap group together, initially calling themselves "Scott La Rock and the Celebrity Three". That was short-lived, however, as the two peripheral members quit, leaving Parker (now calling himself KRS-One) and Sterling. They then decided to call themselves "Boogie Down Productions", "Success is the Word", a 12-inch single produced by David Kenneth Eng and Kenny Beck was released on indie Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records (under the group name "12:41") but did not enjoy commercial success. Boogie Down Productions released their debut album Criminal Minded in 1987. The album, whose cover pictured BDP draped in ammunition and brandishing guns, is often credited with setting the template for the burgeoning genres of hardcore and gangsta rap. Scott La Rock was killed in a shooting later that year, after attempting to mediate a dispute between teenager and BDP member Derrick "D-Nice" Jones and local hoodlums.

During this time KRS-One also gained acclaim as one of the first MCs to incorporate Jamaican style into hip-hop. Using the Zungazung melody, originally made famous by Yellowman in Jamaican dance halls earlier in the decade. While KRS-One used Zunguzung styles in a more powerful and controversial manner, especially in his song titled "Remix for P is Free", he can still be credited as one of the more influential figures to bridge the gap between Jamaican music and American hip-hop.

Following the fatal shooting of Scott La Rock in 1987, KRS was determined to continue Boogie Down Productions through the tragedy, releasing the album By All Means Necessary in 1988. He was joined by beatboxer D-Nice, rapper Ramona "Ms. Melodie" Parker (whose marriage to Kris would last from 1988 to 1992), and Kris's younger brother DJ Kenny Parker, among others. However Boogie Down Productions would remain Kris's show, and their content would become increasingly political through their subsequent releases , Edutainment, Live Hardcore Worldwide and Sex and Violence.

KRS-One was the primary initiator behind the H.E.A.L. compilation and the Stop the Violence Movement; for the latter he would attract many prominent MCs to appear on the 12-inch single "Self Destruction". As Parker adopted this "humanist", less defensive approach, he turned away from his "Blastmaster" persona and towards that of "The Teacha", although he has constantly used "Blastmaster" throughout his career.

Solo career

in May 2006.]] After five largely solo albums under the name "Boogie Down Productions," KRS-One decided to set out on his own. On his first solo album, 1993's Return of the Boom Bap, Parker worked together with producers DJ Premier, Kid Capri and Showbiz, the latter providing the catchy-yet-hardcore track "Sound of da Police". His second album, 1995's KRS-One, featured Channel Live on "Free Mumia", a song in which they criticize Black Civil Rights Activist C. Delores Tucker among others. Other prominent guest stars on KRS One included Mad Lion, Busta Rhymes, Das EFX and Fat Joe.

In 1991, KRS-One appeared on the alternative rock group R.E.M.'s single "Radio Song", which appeared on the band's album Out of Time, released the same year.

In 1992, Bradley Nowell from Sublime featured an acoustic song named "KRS-One" with his voice and DJ's samplers.

In 1995, KRS organized a group called Channel Live, whose album Station Identification he produced most of, along with Rheji Burrell and Salaam Remi.

In 1997, Parker surprised many with his release of the album I Got Next. The album's lead single "Step into a World (Rapture's Delight)", containing a sample of punk and New Wave group Blondie, was accompanied by a remix featuring commercial rap icon Puff Daddy; another track was essentially a rock song. While the record would be his best-selling solo album (reaching #3 on the Billboard 200), such collaborations with notably mainstream artists and prominent, easily recognizable samples took many fans and observers of the vehemently anti-mainstream KRS-One by surprise. However, in August 1997, Parker appeared on Tim Westwood's BBC Radio 1 show and vociferously denounced the DJ and the radio station more generally, accusing them of ignoring his style of hip hop in favor of commercial artists such as Puff Daddy. Although having not been in the UK since 1991, due to the fact he does not fly, he claimed "to be in touch with the people", and said that "they weren't feeling Westwood, he's a sell out and has sold his soul to the dark side." This sparked controversy in the UK since Radio One was one of the main supporters of the single "Step Into My World" and caused the album to be his best selling. Parker has since visited the UK, most notably in May 2007, in a performance at the Royal Albert Hall where he once again dissed Tim Westwood in a freestyle.

In 1999, there were tentative plans to release Maximum Strength; a lead single, "5 Boroughs", was released on The Corruptor movie soundtrack. However, Parker apparently decided to abort the album's planned release, just as he had secured a position as a Vice-President of A&R; at Reprise Records. The shelved album was again scheduled to be released in 2008, but ultimately an unrelated album entitled "Maximum Strength 2008" was released in its place. He moved to southern California, and stayed there for two years, ending his relationship with Jive Records with A Retrospective in 2000.

Parker resigned from his A&R; position at Reprise in 2001, and returned to recording with a string of albums, beginning with 2001's The Sneak Attack on Koch Records. In 2002, he released a gospel-rap album, Spiritual Minded, surprising many longtime fans; Parker had once denounced Christianity as a "slavemaster religion" which African-Americans should not follow. During this period, KRS founded the Temple of Hiphop, an organization to preserve and promote "Hiphop Kulture". Other releases have since included 2003's Kristyles and D.I.G.I.T.A.L., 2004's Keep Right, and 2006's Life.

The only latter-day KRS-One album to gain any significant attention has been Hip-Hop Lives, his 2007 collaboration with fellow hip hop veteran Marley Marl, due in large part to the pair's legendary beef, but also the title's apparent response to Nas' 2006 release Hip-Hop Is Dead. While many critics have commented they would have been a lot more excited had this collaboration occurred twenty years earlier, the album has been met with positive reviews. KRS One has appeared on several songs with other artists, due to this he has received 9 Gold and 7 Platinum plaques.

KRS One has collaborated with several artists including Canadian Rap group Hellafactz, Jay-Roc N' Jakebeatz and New York producer Domingo among other. He and Domingo publicly squashed their beef that started over financial issues and released a digital single to iTunes on November 25. The single titled "Radio" will also feature Utah up and comer Eneeone and is dedicated to underground MC's that don't get the radio airplay they deserve. In 2009 KRS One guest starred on several albums including Arts & Entertainmen on the song "Pass the Mic" by fellow Hip Hop veterans Masta Ace & Ed O.G and featured on the posse cut "Mega Fresh X" by Cormega (alongside with DJ Red Alert, Parrish Smith, Grand Puba, & Big Daddy Kane) on his album Born and Raised.

KRS One and Buckshot announced that they would be collaborating on an album set to be released in 2009. The first single, ROBOT, was released on May 5, 2009. The music video was directed by Todd Angkasuwan and debuted as the New Joint of the Day on 106 & Park on September 4, 2009. The album leaked on the Internet on September 9, 2009 and released album was released on September 15, 2009. It debuted at #62, making it on The Billboard 200 selling around 8,500 copies its first week and was met with generally positive reviews. Steve Juon of RapReviews.com gave the album a flawless 10 out of 10, claiming "Buckshot and KRS have achieved something rather remarkable here - an album I can't find a single fault with. There's not a bad beat, there's not a whack rhyme, there's not a collaborator on a track that missed the mark, and the disc itself is neither too short nor too long."

In 2010 KRS One was honored along with Buckshot by artists Ruste Juxx, Torae & Skyzoo, Sha Stimuli, Promise, J.A.M.E.S. Watts and Team Facelift to name a few on their mixtape 'Survival Kit' which is an ode to the 2009 album Survival Skills by KRS One and Buckshot. The mixtape was released for free download on DuckDown.com. The album features new version of KRS classics 'South Bronx', 'Sound Of Da Police' and 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' as well as new versions of well known Buckshot songs and 'Past Present Future' from the Survival Skills album. The MC Fashawn stated in his verse on MC's Act Like They Don't Know that 'I did it to make Kris smile I figured he'd appreciate it'

Most recently, KRS One was featured as the voice of Chris Cringle in the new Nike Most Valuable Puppets commercials. KRS One performed in May 2010 at SUNY New Paltz for their annual "Rock Against Racism" concert,

Stop the Violence Movement

The Stop the Violence Movement was formed by KRS-One in 1988/1989 in response to violence in the hip hop and black communities.

During a concert by Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy a young fan was killed in a fight. Coming soon after the shooting death of his friend and fellow BDP member Scott La Rock, KRS-One was galvanized into action and formed the Stop the Violence Movement. Composed of some of the biggest stars in contemporary East Coast hip hop, the movement released a single, "Self Destruction", in 1989, with all proceeds going to the National Urban League. A music video was created, and a VHS cassette entitled Overcoming Self-Destruction - The Making of the Self-Destruction Video was also released.

"Self-Destruction" was produced by KRS-One and D-Nice of Boogie Down Productions (Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad is credited as an associate producer).

Temple of Hip Hop

The Temple of Hip Hop is a ministry, archive, School, and Society (M.A.S.S.) founded by KRS-One. Its goal is to maintain and promote Hiphop Kulture. The Temple of Hip Hop maintains that Hip Hop is a genuine political movement and culture, as it has been accepted by the United Nations as a culture. The Temple of Hiphop calls on all Hip Hop fans to celebrate Hip Hop Appreciation Week, occurring in the third week of May. It encourages DJs and MCs to teach people about the culture of Hiphop, to write more socially conscious songs, and radio stations to play more socially conscious hip hop. Hip Hop Appreciation Week is celebrated on the third week of May each year. Hip Hop History Month (November), founded by the Universal Zulu Nation, is also recognized.

September 11 comments

In 2004, KRS engendered a controversy when he was quoted in a panel discussion hosted by The New Yorker magazine as saying that "we cheered when 9/11 happened". The comment drew criticism from many sources, including a pointed barb by the New York Daily News that called Parker an "anarchist" and said that "If Osama bin Laden ever buys a rap album, he'll probably start with a CD by KRS-One." Parker responded to the commotion surrounding his comments with an editorial written for AllHipHop.com, stating:

In late 2005, KRS was featured alongside Public Enemy's Chuck D on the remix of the song "Bin Laden" by Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern, which blames American neo-conservatives, the Reagan Doctrine and U.S. President George W. Bush for the World Trade Center attacks, and indicates a parallel to the devaluation, destruction, and violence of urban housing project communities.

On April 29, 2007, KRS-One again defended his statements on the September 11 attacks when asked about them during an appearance on Hannity's America on the Fox News network stating that he meant that people cheered that the establishment had taken a hit, not that people were dying or had died. He also discussed amongst other things, the Don Imus scandal and the use of profanity in hip-hop.

Gospel of Hip Hop comments

In an interview with AllHipHop about his book "The Gospel of Hip Hop", KRS-One said:

"I’m suggesting that in 100 years, this book will be a new religion on the earth... I think I have the authority to approach God directly, I don’t have to go through any religion [or] train of thought. I can approach God directly myself and so I wrote a book called The Gospel of Hip Hop to free from all this nonsense garbage right now. I respect the Christianity, the Islam, the Judaism but their time is up. ...In a hundred years, everything that I’m saying to you will be common knowledge and people will be like, 'Why did he have to explain this? Wasn’t it obvious?'"

These comments have been referred to by numerous media outlets such as the AV Club who comment that "KRS-One writes 600-page hip-hop bible; blueprint for rap religion" and "KRS-One has never been afraid to court controversy and provoke strong reactions. Now the Boogie Down Productions legend has topped himself by writing The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument, a mammoth treatise on the spirituality of hip-hop he hopes will some day become a sacred text of a new hip-hop religion". Parker was a graphic designer and fashion entrepreneur. A private memorial service was held on July 18 , which would have been his 24th birthday.

Benefit for first responders

KRS-One spoke at a hip hop benefit concert on September 12, 2009 to benefit the first responders of 9/11 he spoke of non violence to take back the country. The event was presented by the 9/11 group We Are Change based in New York City and SMT Studios.

Awards

VH1

2004, VH1 Hip Hop Honors

BET Hip Hop Awards

2007, I am Hip Hop

2007, Lifetime Achievement

Urban Music Awards

2009, Living Legend Award

Discography

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Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Film ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role |- | 1988 | I'm Gonna Git You Sucka | himself |- | 1993 | Who's the Man? | Rashid |- | 1997 | Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground | Vendor |- | 1997 | Rhyme & Reason | himself |- | 2000 | Boricua's Bond | |- | 2000 | Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme | himself |- | 2002 | The Freshest Kids | himself |- | 2003 | 2Pac 4 Ever | narrator |- | 2003 | Beef | himself |- | 2003 | Hip-Hop Babylon 2 | himself |- | 2003 | Soundz of Spirit | himself |- | 2003 | 5 Sides of a Coin | himself |- | 2003 | MuskaBeatz | himself |- | 2004 | War on Wax: Rivalries In Hip-Hop | himself |- | 2004 | The MC: Why We Do It | himself |- | 2004 | Beef II | himself |- | 2004 | And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop | himself |- | 2004 | Hip-Hop Honors | himself |- | 2004 | Keep Right | himself |- | 2005 | Zoom Prout Prout | himself |- | 2006 | A Letter to the President | himself |- | 2008 | | himself |- | 2009 | Good Hair | himself |- |}

Books

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" !align="center"|Book !align="center"|Year |- |Break the Chain KRS-ONE | 1994 |- |The Science of Rap (self published, 1996, out of print) | 1996 |- |Ruminations (Welcome Rain Publishers, July 25, 2003, out of print) | 2003 |- |The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument | 2009 |}

See also

Suicide, it's a suicide

References

External links

KRS-One Official Site

KRS-One MySpace Profile

Rolling Stone bio

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:American graffiti artists Category:American vegetarians Category:Hip hop activists Category:Jive Records artists Category:Koch Records artists Category:American rappers of Jamaican descent Category:People from the Bronx Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Rappers from New York City Category:1990s rappers

Name	Kid Rock
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Robert James Ritchie
Born	January 17, 1971Romeo, Michigan, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, banjo, dobro, synthesizer, drums, harmonica, turntables, organ
Genre	Southern rock, rap metal, hard rock, country, hip hop
Occupation	Musician, Singer-songwriter, Actor, Rapper
Years active	1987–present
Associated acts	Uncle Kracker, Sheryl Crow, Hank Williams Jr., Run D.M.C., Eminem, Trick Trick
Label	Atlantic, Jive, Top Dog, Continuum Records
Url	www.KidRock.com

Robert James "Bob" Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter and rapper with five Grammy Award nominations. Kid Rock released several studio albums that mostly went unnoticed before his 1998 record Devil Without a Cause, released with Atlantic Records, sold 11 million albums behind the hits, "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy", and "Only God Knows Why". In 2000, he released The History of Rock which was a compilation of remixed and remastered versions of songs from his previous albums as well as the hit single, "American Bad Ass". In 2001, he released the follow up, Cocky.

After a slow start, his country-flavored hit "Picture" with Sheryl Crow resurrected the album and it went gold as a single and pushed the album's sales to more than 5 million. It was followed by 2003's self-titled release, which failed to chart a major hit. In 2006 he released Live Trucker, a live album. In 2007 Kid Rock released Rock n Roll Jesus, which produced a hit in "All Summer Long". It was his first worldwide smash hit, charting #1 in eight countries across Europe and Australia. Rock N Roll Jesus would go on to sell 5 million albums worldwide including being certified triple platinum in the US. He released Born Free on November 16, 2010.

Biography

Early life

Robert Ritchie was born on January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan to William "Bill" Ritchie, a car dealer, and Susan Ritchie. His family owned a six-acre orchard and Ritchie regularly helped pick apples and cared for the family's horses. He has three siblings: two are older, brother William "Billy" Ritchie and sister Carol Ritchie; and one is younger, sister Jill Ritchie who is an actress. Ritchie found small-town life to be dull; he became interested in rap music, learning how to breakdance and participating in talent shows in the Detroit area. At age eleven he joined a breakdance crew called the Furious Funkers, teaching himself how to work a cheap belt-driven turntable. In high school, Ritchie DJed at parties for beer. He eventually joined Bo Wisdom of Groove Time Productions, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to perform basement parties for thirty dollars a night. It was then that he was given his stage name; club goers dubbed him "Kid Stone" after they had enjoyed watching "that white kid rock."

Rock started rapping and joined a local hip hop group, The Beast Crew. They were composed of The Blackman, Champtown, KDC, Chris "Doc Roun-Cee" Pouncy. Rock became friends with producer D-Nice of the legendary hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions. When Rock opened for BDP one night, D-Nice invited an A&R; representative from Jive Records to see him perform. This meeting led to a demo deal, which developed into a full record contract.

Against his parents' wishes, Rock signed the deal at the age of seventeen. Despite his new record deal, he had a falling out with The Beast Crew when he signed over fellow member Champtown (the two have become friends again since). They left his vocals on the tracks of their debut underground album "Chapter 1: He Don't Want Us No More," against his wishes. Rock later became part of the Straight From The Underground Tour, where he found himself alongside several heavyweights of rap including Ice Cube, Too Short, D-Nice, Mac Dre, and Yo-Yo.

Debut album to signing with Atlantic Records (1991–1997)

On November 11, 1990 Kid Rock released his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast. Jive Records ended up not pushing the album, after the failure of another white rapper at the time, Vanilla Ice. However the album still gained infamy when the radio station WSNY of Cortland, NY was fined $23,700 by the FCC for playing the song "Yo-Da-Lin In the Valley". At the time it was the largest fine ever placed on a radio station. Jive Records released Kid Rock from his contract in 1991. Once back in Detroit he would become friends with Uncle Kracker after battling his brother in a freestyle rapping competition. He would eventually become Kid Rock's DJ until he went solo full time in 2000.

In late 1991 Kid Rock was picked up by an independent record label called Continuum Records, which released his second album The Polyfuze Method in March 1993. The album was more rock oriented with Rock teaching himself how to play several different instruments including guitar, drums, keyboard and organ. The album saw some local college radio success at Central Michigan University with the tracks "Back From The Dead" and "Balls In Your Mouth". He would release "U Don't Know Me" as the first official single off the album, but it failed to chart, and the music video received little airplay on any major music video channels. Kid Rock re-released "Back From The Dead" as a single to mainstream radio, but that too failed as a single. The album has sold around 15,000 copies. In 1992 Kid Rock appeared in the song "Is That You?" of the Carnival of Carnage by the Insane Clown Posse.

He released an EP called Fire It Up later in 1993. The EP featured the song "I Am the Bullgod", which wouldn't be a hit until six years later. Continuum didn't see a future with Kid Rock after this and released him from his contract in 1994.

He moved back to Detroit where his on-again/off-again relationship with Kelly South resulted in the birth of his son, Robert James Ritchie, Jr. Kid Rock would release monthly demo tapes dubbed The Bootleg Series, which featured demos of him and other up-and-coming rappers and garage rock bands in the Detroit area. Around the same time, Kid Rock formed his back-up band Twisted Brown Trucker, later recruiting Joe C., who he met at a 1994 concert, as part of the group. In 1995, Rock took a job as a janitor at Whiterooms Studios in order to pay studio fees. When he wasn't working, Kid Rock recorded the material that would eventually make up his fourth album, Early Morning Stoned Pimp (which Rock released on his own label, Top Dog Records). During the recording process he met piano player Jimmie Bones, who joined the band soon after. The album was released January 9, 1996. A loan from his father aided the release. Kid Rock sold 6,000 copies out of the trunk of his car, including after his concerts. With EMSP local success he would re-release The Polyfuze Method as The Polyfuze Method Revisted in 1997 with "I Am The Bullgod", "Rollin On The Island" and "Rain Check" as additional tracks in March 1997.

Lava/Atlantic Records A&R; man Andy Karp was interested, after seeing Kid Rock in Cleveland in December 1996, and again in March 1997. Following a two song demo tape containing "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "I Got One For Ya", Jason Flom supported Karp in signing Kid Rock for $100,000. However when recording sessions began, Atlantic wanted more of a rock sound and didn't initially like "Cowboy", "Devil Without A Cause" and "Only God Knows Why". They asked Rock to take out "I'm going platinum" on Devil Without A Cause's chorus, but he refused. The conflict slowed down production, however the album was completed on schedule with Rock mostly playing all the instruments himself.

Devil Without a Cause (1997–2002)

In 1997, Kid Rock added drummer/vocalist Stefanie Eulinberg to his band, joining Kenny Olson, Jason Krause, Jimmie Bones, Uncle Kracker, Misty Love, Shirley Hayden and Joe C.. On August 18, 1998, Atlantic released Devil Without a Cause behind the single "Welcome 2 The Party." Kid Rock went on the Vans Warped Tour to support the album, performing one of his first New York City shows at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side during the CMJ convention. "Devil Without Cause Im Goin Platinum" Sales of "Welcome 2 The Party" and Devil were slow, though the 1998 Warped Tour in Northampton, Massachusetts stimulated regional interest in Massachusetts and New England. This led to substantial airplay in the summer and fall of 1998 on rock staples in Massachusetts WZLX and WAAF for the single "I Am The Bullgod." In December 1998, while dj'ing at a club he met and became friends with MTV host Carson Daly. He performed on MTV Fashionably Loud in Miami, then on MTV's Wanna B A VJ doing "My Name Is Rock" and was the DJ for TRL on the Spring Break Special as well as a judge on Say What Karaoke. This raised his profile so by April 1999 Devil Without a Cause had achieved a gold disc. In May 1999 the single "Bawitdaba" off the album was released to radio outlets, and by June, Devil had gone platinum. The song would chart at No 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No 17 on Country radio. The song remains his most successful pop song in the US to date.

On December 14, 2001, CMT aired an episode of Crossroads featuring Rock with Hank Williams, Jr. The episode drew 2.1 million viewers, a record on CMT. He would perform for troops in January 2002 on an MTV USO Special at Germany's Ramstein Air Base along with Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez.

At the end of 2002, Uncle Kracker left the band to pursue a solo career, and Detroit underground rapper Paradime replaced him. Kid Rock made his second movie, Biker Boyz, with Laurence Fishburne.

Kid Rock to Rock n Roll Jesus (2003–2009)

In 2003, Kid Rock returned with an eponymous album, almost stripping away the accustomed rap metal sound that he had created, opting for southern rock and several country ballads in the wake of "Picture"'s success. The album's lead single was a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love". A media blitz accompanied the single capped off by the VH-1 special called A Kid Rock Christmas, which aired on December 14, 2003. He would release "Cold and Empty", "Jackson, Mississippi" and "I Am" to minor success on radio. The David Allan Coe penned "Single Father", became his second charting country song, although like the other singles it was minor hit at #50.

He performed the theme song for Spike TV's Striperella, which featured Pamela Anderson in 2003, the song was entitled "Erotica".

On February 28, 2006, Kid Rock released his first live album, Live Trucker, comprising songs from his homestead performances in Clarkston (on September 1, 2000, and August 26 through August 28, 2004), and Detroit's Cobo Hall (March 26, 2004). The album contained the last two performances of Joe C. on "Devil Without a Cause" and "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp," as well as Kid dueting with country star Gretchen Wilson on "Picture."

He brought Bob Seger back from semi-retirement during his pre-Super Bowl concerts on February 2 and 3, 2006 in Detroit. The two performed a version of Seger's "Rock 'n' Roll Never Forgets" on both nights. Kid Rock would appear on Bob Seger's album, Face the Promise, on a Vince Gill cover of "Real Mean Bottle," a tribute to country legend Merle Haggard. He would make a cameo in the movie and was in an episode of CSI: New York in 2006.

He inducted Lynyrd Skynyrd into the 2006 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Sweet Home Alabama" with them.

Rock n Roll Jesus was released on October 9, 2007, becoming Kid Rock's first album to go number 1, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. He made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine for the second time, and appeared for the first time on Larry King Live to discuss the new album.

The album's first two singles were successful on rock radio in "So Hott" and "Amen". The album's third single "All Summer Long", became a global hit. It utilized a mash up of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London". "All Summer Long" would chart at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Rock n Roll Jesus" returned to the Top 10 for 17 straight weeks. Both "Roll On" and the title track were released as follow-up singles. The album's final single was "Blue Jeans and a Rosary" which was a minor country hit at No. 50.

In 2008, Kid Rock recorded "Warrior" for a National Guard advertising campaign.

Kid Rock performed on VH1 Storytellers on November 27, 2008, giving an insight to how he wrote some of his hit songs. On April 5, 2009 he performed a 5-song medley at WrestleMania XXV.

He was nominated for best rock album and best male pop/rock performance for "All Summer Long" at the 2009 Grammys. He lost to Coldplay's Viva La Vida for best Rock Album and John Mayer's "Say" for Best Male Pop/Rock Performance. He achieved his first country award winning for Best Wide Open Country Video for "All Summer Long" at the 2009 CMT Awards.

On May 22 Kid Rock's June 8, 2008 concert at Germany's Rock AM Festival was aired on every MTV affiliate around the world on their debut show "World Stage". On July 3, 2009 "Rock N Roll Jesus" was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.

Kid Rock held the largest headline concert of his career the weekend of July 17 and 18, 2009, at Comerica Park in Detroit. 80,000 people attended the two shows.

Born Free (2009–present)

Born Free is Rock's first album since Rock n Roll Jesus in 2007, The Detroit News noted. Originally slated to be three discs, Rock explained "it was just sensory overload, too many songs, too much to choose from live. In the end, it would've been kind of pretentious to release a triple album. I had four songs I didn't even like." While attending the Movement Festival in Detroit Saturday, Rock revealed Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow and T.I. will also lend their talents to his latest project. T.I. and Martina McBride will be featured on "Care", while Sheryl Crow will be featured on "Collide", with Bob Seger playing piano. Rock said the collaboration with Seger, on the piano, almost didn't happen. Other guest appearances include, Zac Brown on "Flying High".

He hosted the 2010 CMT Awards and released a digital live EP from his Comerica Park show last year with a free download of "Times Like These" in June as part of a promotion for Jim Beam's Operation Homefront.

Kid Rock launched and hosted his first annual cruise dubbed the "Chillin' the Most Cruise", a call back to his hit "Cowboy", on April 29, 2010. It ran 4 days through May 3 from Tampa, Florida to the Bahamas. It featured him and several other bands. The cruise was produced by Atlanta based events company, Sixthman.

Kid Rock took some of the wraps off his next album, "Born Free," during his three-night weekend homestand at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in suburban Detroit, debuting six of the songs and announcing the album's release date. At which point he revealed that "Born Free", while originally tipped for Sept. 7, will come out Nov. 16.

The album's title track was used for TBS' coverage of the 2010 Major League Baseball playoffs.

Kid Rock announced on the VH1 top 20 countdown during an interview with Jim Shearer that he will start touring for the new album after his birthday in 2011.

Personal life

and Kid Rock in 2003]]

Kid Rock has been involved with many charitable organizations but his main support has gone to Operation Homefront. Kid Rock has frequently partnered with Jim Beam to make large donations to the organization. He is close friends with Tony Stewart as he helps with charity events, and Kid Rock narrated "Tony Stewart: Smoke", a documentary of Stewart's 2002 championship season.

Kid Rock has been an outspoken supporter of the Republican Party and publicly expressed his support for George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and has attended many Republican events as well as performing for American service men and women in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo as well as performing for soldiers in Great Britain at R.A.F. bases such as RAF Lakenheath. In October, 2010 he performed at Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, DC.

Kid Rock has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement. In February 2005, he was arrested on assault charges for punching DJ Jay Campos in 'Christies Cabaret' strip club. Rock pleaded no contest and was sued for $575,000 by Campos.

Kid Rock was cited for assault on Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on September 9, 2007 at MTV's Video Music Awards, and plead guilty.

In October 2007, Kid Rock was involved in a brawl at a Waffle House in Atlanta and charged with simple battery. He pleaded nolo contendere ("no contest") to one count, was fined $1,000, required to perform 80 hours of community service and complete a 6-hour course on anger management.

In 2001 Kid Rock began dating actress Pamela Anderson, after the two met at a VH1 tribute to Aretha Franklin. By April 2002, he and Anderson were engaged, but the engagement was later called off. They later got married in a surprise wedding in July 2006 after it was reported Anderson was pregnant. They divorced 5 months later because Rock wanted to live in Detroit and Anderson wanted to stay in Los Angeles.

Musical style and influences

Kid Rock's musical style ranges from Midwest hip hop to country rock and rap rock. His influences include Jim Croce, Johnny Cash, Bob Seger, Run-DMC, Limp Bizkit, Beastie Boys, Whodini, Too Short, Eric B. & Rakim and Esham.

Twisted Brown Trucker

Twisted Brown Trucker is Kid Rock's band, formed in 1994 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The original lineup included Kenny Olson on lead guitar, Uncle Kracker on turntables, Andy Gould and George Metropolous on guitar, Paul Anthony on bass and Bob Ebeling on drums. The band's first involvement was on the 1994 demo of "Dark & Gray" on his Bootleg Series Tapes, they would make three more appearances on the tapes in Watch Me Come, Only a Dog and Box #10. Trucker became both Rock's studio and live band in 1997.

Chris Peters was the studio guitarist for The Polyfuze Method and Fire It Up. Matt O'Brien (Bass) and Kenny Tudrick (Guitar, Drums) were studio musicians for Devil Without a Cause.

Kenny Olson went on to form numerous bands for more creative outlets. A Pack of Wolves, The Flask, Five Star Carni, The Motorfly's, and most recent (2010) 7 Day Binge. He has also made appearances on many other recordings such as the song "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" which can be found on the Les Paul & Friends CD as well as a version of "Little Wing" with Chaka Khan on "The Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix" among numerous others.

Tudrick is with the band Detroit Cobras, who he was with before touring on Kid Rock's 'Live' Trucker tour.

Percussionist Larry Frantangelo won a Detroit Music Award in 2009 for Outstanding Urban/Funk Musician.

;Current members

Marlon Young – lead & rhythm guitar (1996–1997, 2007–present)

Jason Krause – rhythm & lead guitar(1997–present)

Aaron Julison – bass guitar, backing vocals (2003–present)

Jimmie "Bones" Trombley – keyboards, piano, organ, harmonica, backing vocals (1996–present)

Stefanie Eulinberg – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–present)

Paradime – turntables, programming, keyboards (2002–present)

with:

Larry Frantangelo – percussion (2007–present)

David McMurray – saxophone (2007–present)

Jessica Wagner;– backing vocals (2007–present)

Tyra Juliette -backing vocals(2007–present)

;Former members

Barbara Payton- backing vocals (2007–2009, on and off)

Stacy Michelle- backing vocals (2007–2009)

Kenny Olson – lead guitar (1994–2005)

Uncle Kracker – turntables (1994–2002)

Joe C – backing vocals (1994–2000)

Andy Gould – rhythm guitar (1994–1995)

George Metropolous – rhythm guitar (1994–1995)

Paul Anthony – bass (1994–1995)

Bob Ebeling – drums (1994–1995)

Bill Keros – drums (1995)

Eric Hogemeyer – drums (1995)

Jeff Hall – rhythm guitar (1995–1996)

Chris Zuccaro – drums (1995–1998)

Ray Echlin – bass (1996)

Lonnie Motley – bass (1996–1998)

Chris Lebroux – bongos (1997)

Thornetta Davis – backing vocals (1997–1998)

Mike Bradford – bass (1998–2001)

Misty Love – backing vocals (1998–2001)

Shirley Hayden – backing vocals (1998–2001)

Bobby East – bass (2001–2003)

Smith Curry – dobro (2004–2005)

Karen Newman – backing vocals (2004–2005)

Lauren Creamer – backing vocals (2004–2005)

Kenny Tudrick – lead guitar (2005–2006)

Discography

1990: Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast

1993: The Polyfuze Method

1996: Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp

1998: Devil Without a Cause

2000: The History of Rock

2001: Cocky

2003: Kid Rock

2006: Live Trucker

2007: Rock n Roll Jesus

2010: Born Free

2010: Racing Father Time (Meijer store exclusive)

Collaborations

Performed on the song "I Know How" from (2010).

Tours

1988: By All Means Necessary Tour ( opened for Boogie Down Productions )

1989: Straight From the Underground Tour (opened for Ice Cube, Too $hort, D Nice and Yo-Yo)

1998: Lollapalooza Tour

1998: Vans Warped Tour

1998–99: White Thrash on Dope Tour (with Monster Magnet and Hed PE)

1999: Destroy Your Liver Tour

1999: Limptropolis Tour (with Limp Bizkit and Staind)

1999: European Tour (with Blink-182)

1999: Between the Legs Tour (with Powerman 5000, Professional Murder Music)

1999-00: Millennium Tour (with Metallica, Sevendust and Creed)

2000: Summer Sanitarium Tour (with Metallica, Korn, System of a Down, Powerman 5000)

2000: The History of Rock Tour (with Dope)

2001: The American Bad Ass Tour (with Buckcherry, Fuel and David Allan Coe)

2002: The Cocky Tour (with Lit, Tenacious D and Saliva)

2002: Girls of Summer Tour (opening for Aerosmith with Run-D.M.C.)

2004: Rock n Roll Pain Train Tour (with Puddle of Mudd, Gov't Mule, Jerry Cantrell)

2005: Lazy Muthafuga Tour (only 6 concert dates)

2006: 'Live' Trucker Tour (with Ty Stone, Peter Frampton (opened in Auburn Hills, Michigan) and Whitestarr)

2007–2008: Rock n Roll Revival Tour (with Reverend Run, Dicky Betts, Duane Betts, Peter Wolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd, in a revue style)

2008: Rock n Roll Revival Tour: European Tour

2008: Rock n Rebels Tour (with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Backdoor Slam)

2008: European Tour (with Finger Eleven)

2008: All Summer Long Tour (4 nights at Pine Knob with Uncle Kracker & Rev Run)

2009: Rock n Rebels Tour II (with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, Black Stone Cherry, Alice in Chains, Cypress Hill, Robert Randolph and the Family Band)

2010: The Circle Tour (opening for Bon Jovi)

2011: Born Free Tour

Filmography

The Howard Stern Show (8 episodes, 1999–2008)

Saturday Night Live (Musical Guest, 2000)

The Simpsons (1 episode, 2000)

WWE Raw (Musical Guest, 2000)

Joe Dirt (2001)

Osmosis Jones (Voice, 2001)

Kid Rock: Lonely Road of Faith (2001)

King of the Hill (2002)

Punk'd (1 episode, 2003)

Biker Boyz (2003)

Stripperella (You Only Lick Twice, 2003)

CMT Outlaws (2003)

South Park (2004)

(1 episode, 2005)

(2005)

Motorcycle Mania 3 (2005)

Coors Light Mountain Jam (2005)

Stacked (1 episode, 2002)

The 2006 Billboard Music Awards (2006)

VH1 Storytellers (2008)

WrestleMania XXV (Musical Guest, 2009)

2010 Spike Guy Choice Awards (Presenter, 2009)

Top Gear (U.S. TV series) (1 episode, 2010)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

*2000 Best New Artist (Nominated)

*2000 Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bawitdaba" (Nominated)

*2001 Best Hard Rock Performance for "American Bad Ass" (Nominated)

*2009 Best Rock Album for Rock n Roll Jesus (Nominated)

*2009 Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "All Summer Long" (Nominated)

Academy of Country Music

*2003, Vocal Event of the Year: "Picture" (Nominated)

American Music Awards

*2008, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist (Nominated)

*2003, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist: (Winner)'''

*2003, Favorite Pop/Rock Album: Cocky (Nominated)

*2001, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist: (Winner)'''

*2000, Favorite Alternative Artist: (Nominated)

*2000, Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist: (Nominated)

Billboard Music Awards

*1999 Best New Artist (Winner)

*1999 Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bawitdaba" (Winner)

*1999 Best New Hard Rock Artist (Winner)

MTV Video Music Awards

*2001, Best Male Video: "Cowboy" (Nominated)

*2001, Best Rock Video: "Cowboy" (Nominated)

*2000, Best Male Video: "Bawitdaba" (Nominated)

*2000, Best New Artist: "Bawitdaba" (Nominated)

Teen Choice Awards

*2003, Choice Love Song: "Picture" (Nominated)

*2003 Choice Hookup Song: "Picture" (Nominated)

Detroit Music Awards

*1999

**Outstanding National Album for Devil Without a Cause (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "I Am the Bullgod" (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "Bawitdaba" (Nominee)

**Outstanding National Hip Hop Writer/Producer (Winner)

*2000

**Outstanding National Album for History of Rock (Nominee)

**Outstanding National Single for "American Bad Ass" (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "Cowboy" (Nominee)

**Outstanding National Duet for "Higher" with Robert Bradley (Winner)

**Outstanding National Spokesperson (Winner)

*2001

**Outstanding National Album for Cocky (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Forever" (Nominated)

*2003

**Outstanding National Single for "Picture" (Nominated)

*2004

**Outstanding National Album for Kid Rock (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Cold and Empty" (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Jackson, Mississippi" (Nominated)

*2006

**Outstanding National Album for Live Trucker (Nominated)

*2008

**Outstanding National Album for Rock n Roll Jesus (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "So Hott" (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Amen" (Nominated)

*2009

**Outstanding National Single for All Summer Long (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for Roll On (Nominated)

MTV European Music Awards

*2008 Most Attictive Track for "All Summer Long" (Nominated)

BMI Songwriting Award

*2002 "Picture" (Winner)

CMT Music Awards

*2003 Choice Male Video for "Picture" (Nominated)

*2009 Video of The Year for "All Summer Long" (Nominated)

*2009 Wide Open Country Video of the Year for "All Summer Long" (Winner)

World Music Awards

*2008 Worlds Best Male Pop Artist (Winner)

*2008 Worlds Best Pop/Rock Artist (Winner)

People's Choice Awards

*2009 Best Rock Song for "All Summer Long" (Winner)

Kid's Choice Awards

*2009 Favorite Male Singer (Current Nominee)

Echo Award (Germany)

*2009 Hit Of The Year for "All Summer Long" (Winner)

Other ventures and honors

He has his own clothing line called Made in Detroit which he purchased from its creator, Detroit designer Robert Stanzler, in 2003. Stanzler, a longtime friend of Kid Rock, is mentioned by name in Rock's song "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp". Wayne State University named a scholarship after Kid Rock for musicians. Kid Rock is using his clothing line to fund it. He was Grand Marshal of the Krewe of Endymion Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans on February 21, 2009 and was accompanied by The Chee-Weez, a local area cover band.

He released his own beer called Bad Ass Beer on July 17, 2009 released over the entire midwestern part of the U.S.

Kid Rock is a steadfast loyal supporter of the United States military. He gave proceeds of a concert to the families affected by the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. He has quietly made numerous trips with the USO, and on his own, to play concerts for soldiers overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

References

Sources

Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-81127-8

External links

Official site

Kid Rock : Born Free tour : Venues and Tickets

Kid Rock at Imeem.com

Kid Rock Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

UK Interview (11/8/2008)http://www.thrashhits.com/2008/08/kid-rock-%E2%80%9Ci-was-the-kid-with-the-vial-full-of-rocks%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D/

Category:1971 births Category:American rock singers Category:American male singers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Macomb County, Michigan Category:Rap rock musicians Category:Rappers from Detroit, Michigan Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Kanye West
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kanye Omari West
Born	June 08, 1977Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
Occupation	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
Years active	1996–present
Label	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
Associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Mr Hudson, Pusha T, Big Sean
Url

Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B;, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His five albums have received numerous awards, including a cumulative twelve Grammys, All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release. West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos. About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game." On 17 December 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV.

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career.

Music career

Early career (1996–2003)

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album Down to Earth. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album didn't attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998-1999 he produced for well known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000 however when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album . West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life" he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture. West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, The College Dropout, which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling. During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again. Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period The College Dropout was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy. Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics. Late Registration topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including USA Today, Spin, and Time. Rolling Stone awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic." The record earned the number one spot on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year. Late Registration was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the Billboard 200. Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, Late Registration was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales. The sophomore album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Gold Digger". The album is certified triple platinum.

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special All Eyes On Kanye West aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006: "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and Late Registration is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." The current status of this project is unknown. In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.

Graduation (2007)

.]] In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life. " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, Graduation, because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally. After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine Complex. On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth. West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.

In July 2007, West changed the release date of Graduation, his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album Curtis, September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if Graduation were to sell more records than Curtis, he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments. The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.

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On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show Entourage which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for Graduation and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from Graduation. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

Glow in the Dark Tour, 808s & Heartbreak (2008–09)

in Chicago]]

West kicked off the Glow In The Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that 808s & Heartbreak was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of Graduation with 450,145 sold.

Along with Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis, and others, West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23. That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Graduation and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by GQ. The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album This Is War, but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of This Is War, titled "Hurricane 2.0".

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch the Throne (2010–present)

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series The Cleveland Show (a spin-off of Family Guy) as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son. In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of Family Guy. Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of The Cleveland Show.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title "Good Ass Job", later named My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, released on November 22, 2010. West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with. The short film debuted consecutively on VH1, MTV, and BET on October 23, 2010.

Watch The Throne, an upcoming collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z, is scheduled to be released by Def Jam Recordings in 2011. It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010. West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop. He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from Watch the Throne would be a song called "H.A.M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011.

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had been straining, significantly influenced by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told People.

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation. TMZ reported that Beverly Hills physician Andre Aboolian had advised Donda West not to have surgery because of a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack. He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board. Adams appeared on Larry King Live on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves". The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007. West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.

Musical style and influences

(left)]] At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s . West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life". and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that." RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for Rolling Stone, "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him."

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section. Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis. This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He is due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.

Controversies

Media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

Award shows

Later in 2006, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead. Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane. He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right." West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears hasn't had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass" in an off the record comment. In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes. He posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on The Jay Leno Show, on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again. After Swift appeared on The View two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology. In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she didn't accept the song, he would perform it himself.

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras. West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009. West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009. West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at a hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside a nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.

Discography

; Studio albums

The College Dropout (2004)

Late Registration (2005)

Graduation (2007)

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

; Live albums

''Late Orchestration (2006)

(2010)

; Collaboration albums Watch The Throne (2011) (with Jay-Z)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Kanye West at Beatbuggy

Category:1977 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American bloggers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Chicago State University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Josh Groban
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Joshua Winslow Groban
Born	February 27, 1981Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, drums, percussions, flute
Genre	Classical, pop, vocal, Operatic pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor, record producer
Years active	1997–present
Label	143, Reprise
Url

Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number one best selling artist in the United States.

Groban originally studied acting but as his voice changed, it developed into a "significant instrument". The event that changed Groban's life was when his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, submitted a tape of Josh singing, "All I Ask of You", from The Phantom of the Opera, to Riggs' friend, renowned producer, composer and arranger David Foster. Foster called him to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, "The Prayer," with Celine Dion at the rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1998. Groban, being shy, reluctantly agreed. Rosie O'Donnell was so impressed that she immediately invited him to appear on her daytime talk show. His name and career soared with the public recognition he received, after being cast on Ally McBeal by the show's creator David E. Kelley, who asked him to perform "You're Still You" for the show's 2001 season finale. and Jack Groban, a businessman. His father is of Jewish background and a descendant of Russian and Polish immigrants. His mother is Norwegian American, the daughter of immigrants from the eastern Norwegian district of Toten. His parents joined the Episcopal Church after his father's conversion from Judaism to Christianity. Chris, his younger brother, shares the same birthday four years later.

Groban debuted as a singer in seventh grade. His music teacher chose the curly-headed, skinny kid for a solo of "S'wonderful" at the school's Cabaret Night, and Josh sang alone on stage for the very first time. When his mother, Lindy, heard his voice from outside the auditorium, she didn't even recognize the voice, and when she realized it was her son singing, it brought her to tears. David E. Kelley, creator of the television series Ally McBeal, created a character, Malcolm Wyatt, for Groban in the season finale aired in May 2001. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, prompting 8,000 emails from viewers, Under Foster's influence, Groban's first album focused more on classics such as "Gira Con Me Questa Notte" and "Alla Luce Del Sole."

Groban performed "There For Me" with Sarah Brightman on her 2000–01 La Luna World Tour, and was featured on her "La Luna" concert DVD. He recorded "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Groban performed in many benefit shows, including: "The Andre Agassi Grand Slam Event For Children," singing alongside Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Don Henley, and Robin Williams; "Muhammad Ali's Fight Night Foundation" which honored Michael J. Fox and others; "The Family Celebration" (2001), which was co-hosted by President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and David E. Kelley and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer; and Michael Milken's CapCure event, which raises funds for cancer research.

The singer's self-titled debut album Josh Groban was released on November 20, 2001. Over the next year, it went from gold to double-platinum.

On February 24, 2002, Groban performed "The Prayer" with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and by November, he had his own PBS special, "Josh Groban In Concert" (2002). In December 2002, he performed "To Where You Are" and sang "The Prayer" in a duet with Sissel Kyrkjebø at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. He joined The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Sting, Lionel Richie, and others for a Christmas performance at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. In 2003, Groban performed at the David Foster concert for World Children's Day, singing "The Prayer" with Celine Dion and the finale song, "Aren't They All Our Children?" with artists including Yolanda Adams, Nick Carter, Enrique Iglesias, and Celine Dion.

Recent years

in Manchester, NH|right]]

Groban's second album Closer, produced and written by Foster, was released on November 11, 2003. Groban said that he believed that this second album was a better reflection of him, and that his audience would be able to get a better idea of his personality from listening to it. "What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I've tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title." as well as on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Larry King Live, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Jay Leno Show, 20/20, The Today Show, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Super Bowl XXXVIII, the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, the Rockefeller Tree Lighting, and Glee (TV series).

During the first week of September 2006, Groban's single entitled "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" was released exclusively on AOL's First Listen. His third studio album Awake was officially released on November 7, 2006. Groban performed "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" as well as two other tracks from Awake at his recording session for Live from Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios on 26 October 2006. On that album, Groban also collaborated with British musician and songwriter Imogen Heap, on the single "Now or Never". He performed two tracks with the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, "Lullaby" and "Weeping." Groban's "Awake" world tour visited 71 cities between February and August 2007, and travelled further to Australia and the Philippines with Lani Misalucha as his special guest in October 2007. He performed a duet with Barbra Streisand ("All I Know of Love") and with Mireille Mathieu ("Over the Rainbow"). As to his future, Groban is open to a plethora of possibilities. He said, "I am fortunate enough to have had many really big moments in my career. I think the mistake a lot of people in my position make is to always search for the next big thing. I am looking forward to playing some small theaters. I'm looking forward to writing more. I want to delve further into my acting career and explore some of the film and TV opportunities that I haven't had time for. My outlook is to expect the unexpected. And when the next step comes, I'm prepared to take it."

Groban has twice appeared on hit British TV Music Quiz show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks. His first appearance was as a guest on Noel Fielding's team and the second appearance was as the host/quiz master of an episode.

(2010–present)

Groban finished his fifth studio album, entitled Illuminations and the album was released on November 15, 2010. Most of the songs on the album are about "specific situations that I've had where love has existed and ultimately failed," Groban told The New York Times, adding: "And other songs are about the quest, and it just not working out." Groban wrote 11 of the 13 songs on the album. The first single from the album, "Hidden Away," was made available for free download via Facebook on September 8. “For me to sit in a room with a piano in one take with some of Johnny Cash’s musicians — that was totally new for me.” Josh added. “and I think that excitement is on the record.” This song is sung in Brazilian Portuguese and was written by Brazilian artist Carlinhos Brown. The Washington Post said: "Illuminations" isn't a revelation, but it offers a perfectly fine, and often quite lovely, glimpse at a pop-classical crossover artist in the middle of crossing over." Josh plans on making one more record with Rubin.

Film

In a comedy called Crazy, Stupid, Love, an upcoming movie starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, scheduled for released on April 22, 2011, Groban plays a character named Richard, a caddish lawyer, much of the humor coming simply from the sheer unlikelihood of Groban in that role. Recently, Groban has received recognition for his skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he sings the tweets of controversial rap artist Kanye West.

Notable performances

On April 14, 2007, Groban joined Idina Menzel for a PBS Soundstage taping. The next day, he held his own taping for the same PBS TV series at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall at Jazz in New York City.

In June 2007, Groban recorded a Christmas album in London with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Magdalen College Choir, which he discussed on the DVD from "The Making of Noël". It was released on October 9, 2007 and is titled Noël. The album has been highly successful in the US breaking numerous records for a Christmas album, as well as becoming the best selling album of 2007 in only its tenth week of release, at sales of 3.6 million.

On July 1, 2007, Groban performed with Sarah Brightman at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium; it was broadcast to over 500 million homes in 140 countries.

On August 23, 2007, Groban performed "You Raise Me Up" on Episode 14 of the talent show Last Choir Standing.

Groban was nominated for the 2008 Juno Award for International Album of the Year for Noël. In collaboration with French legend Charles Aznavour, he recorded Aznavour's signature song La Bohème as a duet in English and French. It is due to be released on Aznavour's next album, titled Duets.

On February 10, 2008, Groban performed at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Andrea Bocelli in a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti.

On May 12 and 13, 2008, Groban performed as Anatoly Sergievsky in "Chess in Concert" at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

On July 15, 2008, Groban performed "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at the 79th All-Star Game in New York City at Yankee Stadium.

On August 29, 2008, Groban appeared on the final episode of The Charlotte Church Show for a brief interview. The show ended as Groban performed "The Prayer" with host Charlotte Church.

On September 21, 2008, Groban performed a comical medley of well-known TV theme songs at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

In December 2008, Groban appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He performed a duet with Only Men Aloud! at the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

On January 18, 2009, Groban performed as part of the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies, performing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in duet with Heather Headley.

On January 20, 2009, Groban performed at the Warner Theatre - Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball, Washington, DC

On March 28, 2009, Groban performed a duet of "Bridge over Troubled Water" with Jordin Sparks for the charity event Celebrity Fight Night.

In March 2009, Groban covered the hits of the late Casey Tatum and his brother on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. On September 14, 2009, Groban appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and surprised an audience member. Two days later he made a cameo appearance on Glee.

Groban was also featured in Nelly Furtado's song "Silencio", which was released on September 1, 2009. This song is from Nelly's first full length Spanish album Mi Plan.

At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, he performed the Star Spangled Banner on Jan. 7, 2010 with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, at the historic Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.

On November 30, 2010, Groban performed at the New York Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting.

On December 18, 2010, Groban performed at the Carols in the Domain in Sydney, Australia.

On December 21, 2010, Groban returned to BBC Two's Never Mind the Buzzcocks, this time as guest host and ending the show duetting with Michael Ball in a version of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

Vocal technique

Various music critics have described Groban's voice in different ways, with some referring to him as a tenor and others as a baritone. In performance, Groban's music goes as low as G2 (as in the song "To Where You Are") and extends up to at least B♭4 (as heard in "You Raise Me Up" or "February Song"). This places his voice lower than the tenor range on the low end, and just short of Tenor C, and therefore above the baritone range, on the high end. There is currently no authoritative system of voice classification in non-classical music. The problem lies in the fact that classical terms are used to describe not merely various vocal ranges, but specific vocal timbres each unique to those respective ranges, and produced by the classical training techniques with which most popular singers are not intimately familiar and which are not universally employed by the few that are. In a 2002 New York Times article, Groban described himself as a "tenor in training".

Charity

Under the guidance of his mentor David Foster, Groban performed for many charity events that included VH1 Save the Music (2005), Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope (2005), Fifth Adopt-A-Annual Minefield concert (2005), 2nd Annual Grammy Jam (2005), Live 8 (2005), The Heart Foundation Gala (2005), and David Foster and Friends Charity Gala (2006). He also sang a solo on the recording of We Are The World 25 for Haiti (2010). Inspired by a visit with Nelson Mandela during a 2004 trip to South Africa, he established the Josh Groban Foundation to help children in need through education, healthcare and the arts. Mandela appointed Groban as an Official Ambassador for Mandela's Project 46664, a campaign to help raise Global awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa. On April 25, 2007, Josh Groban performed with the African Children's Choir on American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" episode. Also on September 2, 2007, Groban donated $150,000 to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to fund music education. On February 28, 2008, he appeared in One Night Live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada with Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden and RyanDan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies Program. In honor of his 27th birthday, his fans set out to raise $27,000 in a project called "Raise 27". They ended up raising a total of $44,227 for the Josh Groban Foundation, to benefit the Noah's Ark children's orphanage called Siyawela in South Africa. Groban has since referred to this donation as "the best birthday present ever". For those who could afford the $1500 ticket, Josh Groban performed at the The Angel Ball on October 21, 2010. Proceeds went to the Gabrielles Angel Foundation for cancer research.

Impact

Some of Groban's musical influences have been Radiohead, Steve Perry, Paul Simon, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Freddie Mercury and Björk. He cites as vocal influences "anyone who told a story with their songs," including Mandy Patinkin, Klaus Nomi, George Hearn, and Luciano Pavarotti.

He was named the #1 Best Selling Artist of All Time on Barnes & Noble in 2007. Groban has sold more than 20 million albums in less than ten years.

In 2002, Groban was listed as "100 Sexiest Newcomer" and in 2008, he became one of People's "100 Most Beautiful People".

Personal Life

Groban dated January Jones from 2003–06. Although maintaining a home in Los Angeles, he recently moved his primary residence to New York to an apartment on a high floor of the Time Warner Center, where he indicates that "dating can be very easy or very tough".

Discography

2001: Josh Groban

2003: Closer

2006: Awake

2007: Noël

2010: Illuminations

References

External links

BroadwayWorld: Idina Menzel & Josh Groban to Star in 'Chess' Musical UK Concert?

Chess in Concert (2008)

Brown, Bob. "A Star in the Making: Who is Josh Groban?." ABCNews. com: 20/20

Category:1981 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American Christians Category:American Episcopalians Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:Christians of Jewish descent Category:American male singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni Category:English-language singers Category:Living people Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:American musicians of Russian descent Category:Warner Music Group artists Category:American performers of Christian music

Background	solo_singer
Birth name	James Alan Hetfield
Born	August 03, 1963Downey, California, USA
Genre	Heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock, speed metal
Instrument	Guitar, vocals, drums, piano, bass
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer
Years active	1978–present
Label	Warner Bros., Elektra, Megaforce
Associated acts	Metallica, Spastik Children, Leather Charm
Url	metallica.com
Notable instruments	ESP TrucksterKen Lawrence custom models

James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963 in Downey, California, United States) is the rhythm guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified ad by drummer Lars Ulrich in a Los Angeles newspaper, searching for band mates. Since then, Metallica has earned nine Grammy Awards and gone on to release nine studio albums, three live albums, four EPs, 24 music videos, and 45 singles. In 2009, Hetfield was ranked number 8 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. Hetfield was also ranked twenty-fourth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time.

Biography

Early life

James Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963. He is of German, English, Irish and Scottish descent. He has two older half-brothers from his mother's first marriage and one younger sister.

Hetfield's father, Virgil, was a truck driver who left the family when Hetfield was young. His mother, Cynthia, was a light opera singer. The two divorced in 1976. Virgil and Cynthia were very strict Christian Scientists, and in accordance with their beliefs, Hetfield's parents strongly disapproved of medicine or any other medical treatment and remained loyal to their faith even as Cynthia was dying from cancer. This upbringing became the inspiration for many of Hetfield's lyrics later in his career with Metallica.

Cynthia Hetfield died of cancer in 1979 when James was 16 years old. Virgil died in late 1996, during Metallica's Load tour. After the death of his mother, Hetfield went to go live with his older half-brother David.

Musical influences

Hetfield was nine years old when he first began piano lessons, after which he took on his brother David's drums and finally, at the age of fourteen, he began to play guitar. He also was in a few bands as a child - one being Leather Charm and another Obsession.

Hetfield identifies Aerosmith as having been his main musical influence as a child, and has said that they were the reason why he wanted to play guitar. He also cited Motörhead, Ted Nugent and Deep Purple as important influences.

Metallica (1981-present)

In the early days of the band, Metallica experimented with a few different vocals and guitar combinations, essentially creating a setup like that of Diamond Head. (Eventually, they would cover Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?") Some of the options considered included adding another guitar player, having John Roads play lead guitar, as well as asking John Bush from Armored Saint (who later joined Anthrax) to sing for the band. The finalized line-up of the band became Hetfield (rhythm guitar and vocals), Lars Ulrich (drums), Dave Mustaine (lead guitar), and Ron McGovney (bass).

From 1982 to 1983, Mustaine's alcoholism sparked heated altercations between himself and Hetfield. Mustaine also once poured beer onto Ron McGovney's bass Mustaine was sent home on a 4-day bus journey, and went on to form the heavy metal band Megadeth. Later, Mustaine would be quoted to wonder why Metallica did not send him to rehab.

Until the mid-1990s, Hetfield recorded all rhythm tracks and most harmony tracks. Since the recording of Load, Kirk Hammett is recording rhythm guitars as well. James occasionally plays guitar solos on songs such as "Nothing Else Matters", "My Friend of Misery", the outro solo on "The Outlaw Torn", the second solo on "To Live Is to Die", the first solo on "Suicide and Redemption", and the first interlude solo on "Master of Puppets" and the introduction harmonic solo in "The Day That Never Comes". He also writes the majority of the guitar harmonies, as well as writing the lyrics, vocal melodies, and co-arranging the songs with Ulrich.

Hetfield has been involved in many onstage accidents, the most famous one being an incident with pyrotechnics at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. While on the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992, James was the victim of a severe pyrotechnics accident during "Fade to Black", in which a pyro exploded. Hetfield's guitar protected him from the full force of the blast; however, the fire engulfed his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair. He suffered second and third-degree burns, but was back on stage 17 days later, although his guitar duties were delegated to former guitar tech and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall for four weeks while he made a full recovery.

Hetfield has also broken his arm several times while skateboarding, which prevented him from playing guitar on stage, and subsequently caused Hetfield's management company Q Prime to add a clause in James' contract forbidding him to ride a skateboard during a Metallica tour. During a concert on tour for the Black Album, James experienced complications with his vocals after performing a cover of the Anti-Nowhere League's "So What", forcing him to take vocal lessons for the first time. James did basic warm-up exercises to piano keys with his vocal coach who also gave him a cassette tape of the piano warm-up for future use. Hetfield still uses the same cassette he was given in the early nineties to this day before any show or any recording Metallica does. James talks about his vocal training endeavours in the Metallica documentary film, Some Kind of Monster produced & directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky. During the recording of the St. Anger album (2002–2003), Hetfield went into rehab to address his alcohol addiction. Hetfield rejoined the band after seven months in rehab and four months recovering with his family. He is now clean and sober and is determined to remain so, all of which is in Some Kind of Monster.

On April 4, 2009, Hetfield, along with remaining Metallica members Ulrich, Hammett, Trujillo, Newsted, as well as the late Cliff Burton were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In an interview after their nomination, Hetfield commented that everyone who had appeared on an album with the band would be inducted. This excluded original guitarist Dave Mustaine and original bassist Ron McGovney, as both had appeared only on the band's early demo tapes.

Hetfield was ranked 24th in the Hit Parader's Top Metal Vocalist of All Time. In 2009 he was listed at number 8 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.

Personal life

When he is not writing, singing or playing, Hetfield engages in a variety of outdoor activities including hunting, skateboarding, snowboarding, water and jet-skiing; sketching, working in his garage customizing cars and motorcycles, watching his favorite football team the Oakland Raiders, and going to hot-rod shows.

He also collects vintage guitars—particularly those from 1963—and enjoys working on classic automobiles. Among his favorites are a '74 Chevy Nova, which he helped restore, and "The Beast", an all-terrain four wheel drive Blazer.

He put his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro up for sale on eBay, with the proceeds going to a Music for Schools program. The car was used in the video for "I Disappear" and was given to him as a gift upon the video's completion. Years later, James donated the car to the Hard Rock Cafe which is featured in the movie Hard Rock Treasures.

"Slowburn," his 1936 Auburn boat tail speedster won the 2010 Goodguys West Coast Custom of the Year.

Hetfield has several tattoos, including one which shows flames encasing four cards, - ace (1), 9, 6 and 3 - representing the year of his birth, and the words "Carpe Diem" ("seize the day", also part of the title of the track "Carpe Diem Baby" of ReLoad). The flames from the tattoo are in reference to the pyrotechnic accident from which he suffered in 1992. He has also tattooed an 'M' on his right hand which stands for "Metallica" and 'F' on his left hand which stands for "Francesca".

Aside from these pursuits, Hetfield says he is often happiest spending time with his wife Francesca and their three children: on NPR's Fresh Air, Hetfield stated that his wife had helped him to mature and learn to deal with his anger issues more constructively, explaining that after they met, his destructive tendencies embarrassed both of them. He is also sober and has been since undergoing a rehab program in 2002 (documented in the Some Kind of Monster film), maintaining total abstinence from alcohol.

Hetfield has Tinnitus.

The first single he ever bought was Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

He and his family currently reside in Marin County, California.

Politics

While many of his lyrics (especially from the ...And Justice for All album) revolve around political or social themes, Hetfield has generally avoided speaking out about his political beliefs, especially in more recent years. In an August 4, 2008 interview with MTV, he states,

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In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, when James was asked what he considered himself to be politically, he replied, "I don't know what the isms are. I don't really fit into any political party. I'm pretty conservative on a lot of things. This new tax thing doesn't make sense to me. I don't know what the goal is. The middle-class people really suffer for it."

During Metallica's 2001 interview with Playboy Magazine, Hetfield, who is an avid hunter, claimed to be against gun control. In the aforementioned Rolling Stone interview, he also stated that he takes a pro-choice stance}}

The History Channel's 2009 presentation of "The People Speak" featured a piece on Dalton Trumbo's anti-war saga "Johnny Got His Gun" in the form of an excerpt reading by actor Josh Brolin. In 1988 Metallica's "One" music video utilized the film of the same name to emphasize their song's message. Also featured in this program were numerous well-known liberal actors and musicians such as Eddie Vedder and Matt Damon. Similar anti-war themes have been explored by James through Metallica in songs such as 1986's "Disposable Heroes" as well.

Equipment

Guitars

Hetfield has been a major endorser of ESP Guitars since the 1980s, and is best known for playing custom-made Explorer-style guitars with an EMG 81/EMG 60 set for pickups. Hetfield's main guitar from the early days was a Flying V copy made in Japan, used almost exclusively until 1984 when he switched to the Gibson Explorer model.

During the mid-1990s, ESP produced the first of his signature model guitars. To date, Hetfield has had six signature guitars (may soon be seven) with the company. However, Hetfield often uses guitars from Gibson and other companies instead of ESP despite his endorsement.

Some of James Hetfield's current tour guitars are:

ESP Truckster signature models in grey and black finishes

ESP "Iron Cross" - Has the Eclipse body shape; distressed black with gold hardware, with a gold racing stripe and a gold Iron Cross on the body. It is based on the design of his 70's Gibson Les Paul Custom.

ESP Explorer - distressed black finish with white pickguard

ESP Explorer - silver diamond plate

ESP Explorer - black diamond plate

ESP Explorer "Tattoo" - with a white finish and a "Papa Het" drawing by Dirty Donny on the body

ESP Explorer - black diamond plate with deer antler inlay

ESP Flying V - white finish (replica of his old Flying-V copy)

ESP LTD "The Grynch" - signature guitar, black with green flames on both the front and back of the body and neck, used for the song Frantic

ESP "Snakebite"- custom guitars in black and white finishes; feature a custom body and headstock designed by James. The retail model will be revealed to the public sometime in 2011, making this James' 7th signature ESP.

Gibson Explorer - silverburst with white pickguard

Gibson Explorer "Rusty" - black satin with tarnished metal pickguard

Gibson Flying V - sunburst

Gibson Flying V - silverburst

Gibson Flying V - white, chrome pickups

Gibson Les Paul Custom- 70's era Les Paul with distressed black finish, gold stripe and gold iron cross on body; referred to as "Uncle Milty" and was the inspiration for his ESP Iron Cross signature model

Gibson Les Paul Custom- purple satin finish

Gibson Les Paul Custom- natural finish with drawing on body that says "Cliff Burton RIP"

James Trussart metal Explorer

James Trussart Steel DeVille - Les Paul-shaped guitar with a perforated, rusted steel front

Ken Lawrence Explorer- The first of three custom made Explorer-type guitars made by Northern Californian luthier Ken Lawrence. It features a mahogany body with a chechen bark laminate top, modified Kenneth Lawrence headstock and custom "Tribal Hunting Scene" inlays.

Ken Lawrence Explorer- It features a mahogany body with a quilted bubinga top, modified Kenneth Lawrence headstock, chechen rear cover plate and custom "Sun-Ray" inlays.

Line 6 Variax Acoustic 700 - used live for songs featuring acoustic guitars, such as Fade to Black and The Unforgiven

"Dave of England custom aluminium engraved tattoo finish" - a Zemaitis guitar with an engraved metal top

Fender Telecaster - with B-Bender in butterscotch finish

Other guitars owned/previously used by Hetfield include:

1984 Gibson Explorer - white finish with "MORE BEER" written on white tape in the bottom left corner, the stock pickups were swapped for EMG 81/60 set

Gibson Explorer - black finish with EMG pickups, used as a warm-up guitar in the early '90s

Several Gibson Les Paul models - including Standard models in black, cherry sunburst, and lemon burst finishes

Gibson EDS-1275 - red finish

1963 Gibson SG - red finish with Gibson Vibrola vibrato system

Gibson Moderne - black finish, gold hardware

Gibson Firebird - seen in practice

ESP Explorer#1 - Hetfield's first ESP guitar: white finish, "EET FUK" on the body, "middle finger" inlays. The headstock broke many times and so the guitar was eventually retired.

ESP Explorer#2 - Hetfield's second ESP guitar: white finish, occasionally used live but Hetfield retired it for studio use

Numerous other ESP Explorer models - including models with black finishes and custom inlays (including the "man-to-wolf" inlays model and eagle inlay model); a double-neck model; a model with a custom "Burnt Elk Skull" finish; and a model with a black finish and EMG pickups in an H/S/S configuration.

ESP JH1 Flying V - signature guitar with flames over a black finish

ESP Flying V with green flames (similar to the JH1)

ESP Eclipse JH3 - Eclipse with black finish, with white "hot rod" pinstripe design, gold hardware, and checkered flag inlays

ESP Eclipse - "kustom kulture" graphic finish with iron cross inlays

Other ESPs include: a Viper with custom artwork, several Eclipses and F-series models (including 7-strings in standard and 6-strings in drop-C tuning)

Ken Lawrence Doubleneck Explorer

Ken Lawrence Dragon Les Paul

Zemaitis GZ Series GZV500MF-MBK - V-shaped guitar that has an engraved metal plate on the front of the body. Recently used by James in the World Magnetic Tour.

Fender Stratocaster - modified with natural finish, gold hardware and EMG pickups

Jackson King V - white finish with chrome hardware, used during the Master of Puppets tour

White Flying V copy - This guitar is not a Gibson Flying V, but a Japanese copy which Hetfield purchased for $200. It was retired after the neck broke twice and the guitar started to go out of tune easily. The stock pickups were replaced with Seymour Duncan Invaders for Kill 'em All, then EMGs after Ride the Lightning and, at some point, the machine heads were replaced with Sperzel locking tuners.

(This list is not exhaustive - he has a large collection of guitars, not all of which are listed.)

Amplifiers and cabinets

Throughout Metallica's career, Hetfield has used a wide range of different amplifiers. For the first two albums, he used Marshall heads and cabinets, with occasional effects. In 1986, for the recording of Master of Puppets, he and Kirk Hammett each bought a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ amplifier (the preamp sections of which were connected to Marshall power amps), and since then he has mostly used Mesa/Boogies, including the Triaxis and Rectifier models. Around the time of St. Anger, Hetfield began using the Diezel VH4 head. The majority of his clean tones come from a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier, although many different amplifiers have been used over the years.

The amplifiers currently used on tour by Hetfield are:

Mesa/Boogie TriAxis preamp (x4)

Mesa/Boogie Simul-Class 2:90 power amp (x2)

Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier heads

Diezel VH4 heads

Blackstar amplifiers

Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabinets with Celestion V30 speakers in isolation cabinets

Roland JC-120 combo amplifiers

Effects

To avoid problems with pedals being damaged during live performances, Hetfield keeps his effect pedals in a rack along with his amplifiers and his tech controls them through a pedalboard sidestage. The pedal controller allows him to change between different effect pedals and amplifiers.

Hetfield's live rig in 2008 included:

TC Electronics G-Major effects processor

Line 6 DM4

Mesa/Boogie Custom Graphic EQ

MXR Phase 100

ATI Nanoamp SUM 100

Klon Centaur Overdrive

Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro floorboard

Voodoo Lab GCX Audio Switcher (x2)

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus

DBX 1074 Quad Gate

Behringer Multigate Pro

In 2010, a Line 6 effects unit was added to the list, along with the TC Electronics unit, perhaps indicating that this had replaced his stompboxes.

Accessories

Ernie Ball RPS-11 strings (.11-.48)

Dunlop James Hetfield Black Fang 1.14mm picks

3" Levy's Straps

Peterson Strobe 420 Tuner

EMG 81 in bridge position, EMG 60 in neck position

Shure UR-4D Wireless Equipment

Furman AR Pro Power Conditioner

In addition, Hetfield uses Shure Super 55 microphones for vocals.

Guest appearances

Hetfield sang "Stone Cold Crazy" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, accompanied by the remaining members of Queen and Tony Iommi on rhythm guitar.

He sang the background vocals on "Man or Ash" on the Corrosion of Conformity album Wiseblood.

He sang the background vocals on "Twist of Cain" and "Possession" on the first Danzig album, Danzig.

He played guitar on "Eclectic Electric" from the Primus album Antipop.

Though previously believed to have been sung by Trey Parker, the song "Hell Isn't Good" from the motion picture was actually sung by Hetfield. He admitted to doing so in 2000, confirming what many Hetfield fans had already recognized as his trademark growling style.The Playboy Interview: Metallica (April 2001).

Hetfield sang on the Gov't Mule song "Driving Rain" with fellow guest Les Claypool, which appears on the compilation album Crank It Up with NASCAR.

He also performed at the Outlaws Concert in 2004, alongside Hank Williams Jr., Cowboy Troy, Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Kid Rock. Hetfield played one of close friend Waylon Jennings's songs, "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand," the very same he recorded on the tribute album to Jennings, I've Always Been Crazy. At this same event, he performed Metallica's "Mama Said" with Jesse Colter, the widow of Waylon Jennings, though this was cut from the television broadcast.

Hetfield, as well as Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, voiced characters in a number of episodes of the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse.

Hetfield, along with Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich, voiced a pair of teenage dragons in an episode of Disney's Dave the Barbarian, entitled "Here There Be Dragons".

He also appeared as a guest in an episode of entitled "Jacksonville" alongside fellow member Kirk Hammett.

Hetfield, along with the current Metallica lineup, appeared on an episode of Discovery's Time Warp, aptly titled "Metallica."

Hetfield appeared on an episode the MTV show, Celebrity Deathmatch in which he killed Limp Bizkit vocalist, Fred Durst.

A photo of Hetfield appeared on Rammstein's music video Haifisch, and was apparently "picked" to be the replacement for the "dead" Till Lindemann.

Hetfield and Metallica also appeared in a Simpson's episode, The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer.

Hetfield appeared onstage with Seattle grunge band Alice In Chains in 2006 at Rock Am Ring, singing deceased lead vocalist Layne Staley's vocal parts on the song Would?. Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell has also joined Metallica in concert, performing Nothing Else Matters.

Hetfield was invited by Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater to make a Guest appearance on the bands ninth studio album Systematic Chaos on the song Repentance to speak spoken apologies along with several other musicians, as part of Portnoy's Twelve-step Suite program, though Hetfield declined this invitation.

References

External links

NPR Interview With Metallica Guitarist and Vocalist James Hetfield (2004, audio)

Category:1963 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American baritones Category:American heavy metal guitarists Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American male singers Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:Musicians from California Category:American skateboarders Category:Former Christian Scientists Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:Metallica members Category:Living people Category:People from Downey, California Category:Rhythm guitarists Category:American hunters

Name	Ill Bill
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	William Braunstein
Born	14 July 1972
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
| genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper Producer Label CEO
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1991–present
Label	Uncle Howie Psycho+Logical
Associated acts	Non Phixion La Coka Nostra Circle of Tyrants Secret Society Injustice Necro DJ Muggs
Url	www.illbill.comwww.unclehowie.com

William Braunstein (born July 14, 1972), better known as Ill Bill, is an American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, New York. Having gained notoriety in the underground hip hop group Non Phixion, Ill Bill is known for his politically-themed lyrics and as the producer, founder and CEO of Uncle Howie Records. His brother Ron is also a rapper and producer, known as Necro.

Biography

Ill Bill was the main voice behind the now disbanded Non Phixion, and is currently involved with La Coka Nostra, along with Everlast, Slaine, Danny Boy and DJ Lethal of House of Pain & Limp Bizkit fame. In 2004 he released his debut solo album What's Wrong with Bill? and has since released various solo mixtapes and collaborations in anticipation for his second solo record and the upcoming La Coka Nostra album.

On September 16, 2008, he released his second album on Uncle Howie Records, entitled The Hour of Reprisal. The album includes appearances from Necro, Tech N9ne, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Everlast, Bad Brains, Max Cavalera of Soulfly, Jedi Mind Tricks, Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage, Immortal Technique and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan. It also features production by DJ Muggs, T-Ray, DJ Lethal, Necro, DJ Premier and Ill Bill himself.

He is also scheduled to release collaboration albums with Vinnie Paz and Sean Price. Possibly also a concept mixtape together with Raekwon. Ill Bill was supposed to release a collaboration album with rapper Crooked I and production team Blue Sky Black Death, but the project was cancelled.

During Spring 2008, Ill Bill joined Tech N9ne and Paul Wall on a nationwide tour. "The Hour of Reprisal" was released on September 16, 2008 by Uncle Howie Records and Fat Beats.

Ill Bill has said that his third album will be released in 2011, and that it will be wholly produced by Necro and himself.

In an October 31st 2010 interview on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, Ill Bill discussed his relationship with his brother Necro and his range of albums expected in 2011 including La Coka Nostra, The Pill album with Sean Price and his Heavy Metal Kings album with Vinnie Paz.

What's Wrong with Bill?

What's Wrong with Bill? is Ill Bill's debut studio album, released on May 4, 2004 by Psycho+Logical-Records. The album spawned one single, "The Anatomy of a School Shooting", and a music video for "Chasing the Dragon". This album never charted.

The album contains 14 studio tracks, one skit and one remix. Featured guests on the album include fellow Non Phixion members Goretex and Sabac Red, Ill Bill's brother Necro, Uncle Howie, Q-Unique and Mr. Hyde.

Discography

2004: What's Wrong with Bill?

2008: The Hour of Reprisal

2010: Kill Devil Hills (with DJ Muggs)

2011: Heavy Metal Kings (with Vinnie Paz) TBA : The Pill (with Sean Price)

2011: Third solo album

External links

www.illbill.com

References

Category:1972 births Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:American rappers of European descent Category:American musicians of Romanian descent Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish rappers Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Underground rappers

Name	Eminem|Img
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Marshall Bruce Mathers III
Born	October 17, 1972 Saint Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Origin	Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, record producer, actor, songwriter
Years active	1995–present
Label	Mashin' Duck, Web, Interscope, Aftermath, Shady
Associated acts	Dr. Dre, D12, Royce da 5'9", 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Lil Wayne
Url

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling solo album in United States history. It brought Eminem increased popularity, including his own record label, Shady Records, and brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition.

The Marshall Mathers LP and his third album, The Eminem Show, also won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs. He then won the award again in 2010 for his album Relapse, giving him a total of 11 Grammys in his career. In 2003, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself" from the film, 8 Mile, in which he also played the lead. "Lose Yourself" would go on to become the longest running No. 1 hip hop single. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the decade on the US Nielsen SoundScan, and has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide to date, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In 2010, Eminem released his seventh studio album Recovery. It became Eminem's sixth consecutive number-one album in the US and achieved international commercial success, charting at number one in several other countries. It stayed at number-one on the US Billboard 200 chart for five consecutive weeks and a total of seven weeks. Recovery was also reported by Billboard to be the best-selling album of 2010, making Eminem the first artist in Nielsen SoundScan history to have two year-end best-selling albums.

Eminem was ranked 79th on the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time. He was also ranked 82nd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was also named the Best Rapper Alive by Vibe magazine in 2008. Including his work with D12, Eminem has achieved nine No. 1 albums on the Billboard Top 200, 7 solo (6 studio albums, 1 compilation) and 2 with D12. Eminem has had 13 number one singles worldwide. In December 2009, Eminem was named the Artist of the Decade by Billboard magazine. His albums The Eminem Show, The Marshall Mathers LP, and Encore (in order) ranked as the 3rd, 7th, best-selling albums of the 2000–2009 decade by Billboard magazine. Also according to Billboard, Eminem has two of his albums among the top five highest selling albums of the 2000s. In the UK, Eminem has sold over 12.5 million records. Eminem has also sold more than 33 million track downloads and 39.6 million albums in the United States alone. In 2010, MTV ranked Eminem as the 7th biggest icon in pop music history. During 2010, Eminem's music generated 94 million streams, more than any other music artist. English, German, Swiss, Polish, and possibly Luxembourgian ancestry. His father abandoned the family when he was 18 months old, and he was raised solely by his mother in poverty. By the age of 12, Mathers and his mother had moved between various cities and towns in Missouri (including Saint Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City) before they settled in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

After procuring a copy of the Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill as a teenager, Mathers became interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age 14 under the pseudonym "M&M;" and joining the group called "Bassmint Productions" and released their first EP, Steppin' Onto The Scene. They later changed their name to "Soul Intent" and around 1995 they released their first single called "Fuckin' Backstabber" under the record label Mashin' Duck Records. Despite a well-documented struggle succeeding in a predominantly African-American industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences. After repeating the ninth grade twice due to truancy and near-failing grades,

Musical career

1992–1998: Early career and Infinite

Mathers was initially signed to FBT Productions in 1992, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass. Mathers also held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the restaurant Gilbert's Lodge at St. Clair Shores for some time. In 1996, his debut album Infinite, which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studio owned by the Bass Brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment. Eminem recalled, "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ. 'Infinite' was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like 'Infinite' was like a demo that just got pressed up." Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott while on limited funds and his strong desire to get rich. Early in his career, Eminem collaborated with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" under the stage name Bad Meets Evil. After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.

Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records, requested a demo tape of Eminem's after Eminem placed second at the 1997 Rap Olympics. Eminem had also won Wake Up Show's Freestyle Performer Of The Year award helping him acquire a record deal. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. The two began recording tracks for Eminem's upcoming major-label debut The Slim Shady LP, and Eminem made a guest performance on the album Devil Without a Cause by Kid Rock.

1997–1999: The Slim Shady LP

According to Billboard Magazine, at this point in his life Eminem had "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life". After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records in 1998, Eminem released his first major studio album, The Slim Shady LP, heavily based on the production by Dr. Dre, one year later in 1999. Billboard praised the album as "light years ahead of the material he had been writing beforehand". It went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year. With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his infant daughter, disposing of his wife's body. Another song, "Guilty Conscience", ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of the friendship and musical bond that Dr. Dre and Eminem would share. The two label-mates would later collaborate on a line of hit songs, including "Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" from Dr. Dre's album 2001, "Bitch Please II" from The Marshall Mathers LP, "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show, "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore and "Old Time's Sake" and "Crack a Bottle" from Relapse. Dr. Dre would go on to make at least one guest appearance on all of Eminem's studio albums under the label Aftermath. The album has now been certified 4 times platinum by the RIAA.

2000–2001: The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle as the fastest-selling hip hop album and Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time as the fastest-selling solo album in United States history. The first single released from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success and created some controversy by insulting celebrities and making dubious claims about them; he states, among other things, that Christina Aguilera performed oral sex on Fred Durst and Carson Daly. In his second single, "The Way I Am", he reveals to his fans the pressures from his record company to top "My Name Is" and sell more records. Although Eminem had parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the video "My Name Is", the artists are reportedly on good terms. They performed a remix of the song "The Way I Am" together in concert. In the third single, "Stan" (which samples Dido's "Thank You"), Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the persona of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend, mirroring "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on The Slim Shady LP. In the music video of "Stan", Eminem was shown writing with his left hand, ending the fan debate over his dominant hand. Q magazine named "Stan" the third-greatest rap song of all time, and the song came tenth in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com. The song has since become highly acclaimed and was ranked 290th in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In July 2000, Eminem became the first white person to be featured on the cover of The Source magazine. the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an organization that perceived Eminem's lyrics to be homophobic, condemned the openly gay John's decision to perform with Eminem. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "It was the hug heard 'round the world. Eminem, under fire for homophobic lyrics, shared the stage with a gay icon for a performance of "Stan" that would have been memorable in any context." On February 21, the day of the ceremony, GLAAD held a protest outside the Staples Center, the venue where the Grammy ceremony was held. Music tours that he participated in for 2001 included the Up In Smoke Tour with rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Ice Cube and Family Values Tour with the band Limp Bizkit.

2002–2003: The Eminem Show

Eminem's third major album, The Eminem Show, was released in summer 2002 and proved to be another hit for the rapper reaching number one on the charts and selling well over 1 million copies in its first week of release. However, L. Brent Bozell III, who previously criticized The Marshall Mathers LP for perceived misogynistic lyrics in the album, noted The Eminem Show for its extensive use of obscene language, giving Eminem the nickname "Eminef" for the of motherfucker, an obscenity prevalent in the album. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002.

2004–2005: Encore

The Media Research Center claims that on December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States. The lyrics in question: "Fuck money/I don't rap for dead presidents/I'd rather see the president dead/It's never been said, but I set precedents ..." The song in question, "We As Americans", wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album.

In 2004, Eminem released his fourth major album, Encore. The album was another chart-topper, as it was driven by the single "Just Lose It", notable for being disrespectful towards Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery, and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" refer to Jackson's legal troubles, however he does state in his song "... and that's not a stab at Michael/That's just a metaphor/I'm just psycho...." Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit", and Steve Harvey, who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back."

Regarding Jackson's protest, "Weird Al" Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" on a track titled "Couch Potato" on his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my "Lose Yourself" parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career. So the irony of this situation with Michael is not lost on me." Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced it would continue airing the video. The Source, through its CEO Raymond "Benzino" Scott, wanted not only the video to be pulled, but the song off the album, and a public apology to Jackson from Eminem. In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.

Despite the comedic theme of the lead single, Encore had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "Mosh". On October 25, 2004, a week before the 2004 US Presidential election, Eminem released the video for "Mosh" on the Internet. The song featured a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president". The video features Eminem gathering up an army of people, including rapper Lloyd Banks, presented as victims of the Bush administration and leading them to the White House. However, once the army breaks in, it is revealed that they are there to simply register to vote, and the video ends with the words "VOTE Tuesday November 2" on the screen. After Bush was re-elected, the video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading while Bush was giving a speech.

2005–2008: Musical hiatus

In 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several multi-platinum albums. Speculation began in early 2005 about a double-disc album to be released late that year, rumored to be titled The Funeral. The album later manifested itself as a greatest hits album under the name in December. In July 2005, the Detroit Free Press broke news of a potential final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inside circle who said that he will begin to fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. On the same day of the release of the compilation album, Eminem denied that he was retiring on Detroit-based WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" radio show, but implied that he would at least be taking a break as an artist, saying "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going ... This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call', because this could be the final thing. We don't know." He released The Re-Up with the members of his record label, Shady Records. It was released in 2006.

In 2005, Eminem was a subject of Bernard Goldberg's book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America; he ranked No. 58. Goldberg cited a 2001 column by Bob Herbert of The New York Times claiming, "In Eminem's world, all women are whores and he is eager to rape and murder them." Goldberg cited Eminem's song "No One's Iller" from The Slim Shady EP as an example of misogyny in his music. In summer 2005, Eminem embarked on his first US concert run in three years, the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring 50 Cent, G-Unit, Lil' Jon, D12, Obie Trice, The Alchemist, and others. In August 2005, Eminem canceled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".

Curtain Call: The Hits was released on December 6, 2005, under Aftermath Entertainment. In its first week it sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US and was Eminem's fourth straight No. 1 album on the Billboard Hot 200. The album has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.

2008–2009: Relapse and Relapse: Refill

In September 2007, Eminem called into New York radio station Hot 97 during an interview with 50 Cent and said he was "in limbo" and "debating" about when and if he would release another album. He said, "I'm always working – I'm always in the studio. It feels good right now, the energy of the label. For a while, I didn't want to go back to the studio ... I went through some personal things. I'm coming out of those personal things [and] it feels good."

Eminem made an appearance on his Sirius channel Shade 45 in September 2008 in which he said, "Right now I'm kinda just concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just banging out tracks and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep producing the better it seems like I get 'cause I just start knowing stuff." It was around this time that Interscope finally confirmed the existence of a new Eminem album, with Spring 2009 later being stated as the period span in which the album is due. In December 2008, he gave more details on the album, which he recently reported was being titled Relapse. He said, "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man. Dre will end up producing the majority of the tracks on 'Relapse'. We are up to our old mischievous ways ... let's just leave it at that."

On March 5, 2009, Eminem reported in a press release that he would be releasing two new albums that year. Relapse, the first album, was released on May 19, while "We Made You", the first official single and its music video, were released on April 7. While Relapse didn't manage to sell as well as Eminem's previous efforts, it was still a commercial success that received some critical acclaim, while also re-establishing his presence in the hip hop world. Relapse was named one of the top albums of 2009. Relapse has sold more than five million copies worldwide. During the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Sacha Baron Cohen descended upon the audience wearing an angel's costume and landed on top of Eminem with his buttocks facing towards Eminem's face, resulting in Eminem storming out of the awards ceremony in disgust. Three days later, Eminem stated it was a staged act that they had planned together. On October 30, Eminem performed at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans as a headliner in his first full performance in 2009. The performance included several songs from Relapse, as well as many of Eminem's older hits and an appearance by D12. On November 19, Eminem announced on his website that Relapse: Refill would be released on December 21. The album was a re-release of the Relapse album with seven bonus tracks, including "Forever" and "Taking My Ball". In a statement he described the forthcoming CD:

2010–present: Recovery

On April 13, 2010, Eminem tweeted, "There is no Relapse 2", to his followers. When he tweeted this, people started to believe that he was not releasing an album at all, but it simply meant that the album title would be changed to Recovery. He confirmed this by tweeting, "RECOVERY", with a link to his website. Eminem said, "I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year. But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse, and I think it deserves its own title." His seventh studio album, Recovery, was released on June 21. In the US, Recovery sold 741,000 in its first week to land atop the Billboard 200. The first single, "Not Afraid", was released on April 29, and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by a second single, "Love the Way You Lie," which debuted at number 2 and then rose. Despite some criticism towards its consistency, Recovery received positive reviews from most music critics. , the album had sold three million copies in the US.

Eminem appeared at the 2010 BET Awards, performing "Airplanes Part II" with B.o.B and "Not Afraid". He also performed at the Activison E3 concert. In June 2010, Eminem and Jay-Z announced they would perform together in a pair of concerts in Detroit and New York. The event was dubbed The Home & Home Tour. The first two concerts rapidly sold out, prompting the scheduling of an additional show at each venue. BET also named Eminem the #1 rapper of the 21st century.

Eminem opened the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010, by performing "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie", with Rihanna performing the chorus. Due to the success of Recovery and the Home & Home Tour, he was named the 2010 Hottest MC in the Game by MTV and "Emcee of the Year" by Hip-Hop news website HipHopDX.

Eminem and Rihanna collaborated once again to make "Love the Way You Lie, Part II", the sequel to their hit single "Love the Way You Lie". Rihanna is the lead singer, as opposed to Eminem being the main singer in the original "Love the Way You Lie". The song is said to be from the female perspective. Nicki Minaj has said that she has collaborated with rapper Eminem on a song titled "Roman's Revenge" that is expected to appear on her Pink Friday album. The song references Minaj's alter-ego Roman Zolanski and will feature Eminem's alter-ego Slim Shady.

Eminem is featured on the track "That's All She Wrote" on T.I.'s album No Mercy. A new track leaked titled "I Need a Doctor" that features Dr. Dre with production by Alex da Kid. It is rumored to be either on Detox or a new upcoming Eminem release. A track titled "Echo" also leaked featuring Royce Da 5'9 possibly indicating a "Bad Meets Evil" sequel.

In December, 2010, in Billboard's "The Top 25 Music Moments of 2010", The "Great Eminem Recovery" was named the number one music moment of 2010.

Other ventures

Shady Records and D12

As Eminem succeeded in multi-platinum record sales, Interscope granted him his own record label. He and his manager Paul Rosenberg created Shady Records in late 1999. He followed this by signing his own Detroit collective D12 and rapper Obie Trice to the label. In 2002, Eminem signed 50 Cent through a joint venture between Shady and Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. In 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre signed Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady/Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, the former DJ for Eminem, was signed to Shady Records until a dispute related to the 50 Cent and Jadakiss feud forced him to depart from the label; he is no longer associated with Eminem. The Alchemist is now officially Eminem's tour DJ. In 2005, Eminem signed another Atlanta rapper, Bobby Creekwater, to his label along with West Coast rapper Cashis.

On December 5, 2006, Shady Records released compilation album, . It started out as a mixtape but Eminem found that the material was better than expected and released it as a full album. It was meant to help launch the new artists under the roster, like Stat Quo, Cashis and Bobby Creekwater. Around the time of recording Infinite, Eminem and rappers Proof and Kon Artis gathered the group of rappers now collectively in the group D12, short for "Detroit Twelve" or "Dirty Dozen", performing in the manner of the multi-man group Wu-Tang Clan. In 2001, Eminem brought his rap group, D12, to the popular music scene, and the group's debut album Devil's Night came out that year. The first single released off of the album was "Shit on You", followed by "Purple Pills", an ode to recreational drug use. For radio and television, the censored version "Pills" was heavily rewritten to remove many of the song's references to drugs and sex and was renamed "Purple Hills". While that single was a hit, the album's second single, "Fight Music", was not as successful.

After their debut, D12 took a three-year break from the studio, later regrouping to release their second album, D12 World, in 2004, which featured the popular hit single release "My Band". D12 member Bizarre said that Eminem is not featured on his new album Blue Cheese & Coney Island because "he's busy doing his thing".

Acting career

Although he had a brief cameo in the 2001 film, The Wash, Eminem made his official Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 2002. He has said the movie is not an account of his life, but a representation of growing up in Detroit. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003. However, the song was not performed at the ceremony, due to Eminem's absence at the ceremony. His collaborator, Luis Resto, who co-wrote the song, accepted the award.

Eminem has participated in various voice acting roles. Some of these include the video game , where he voices an aging corrupt police officer who speaks in Ebonics and guest spots on the Comedy Central television show Crank Yankers, and a web cartoon called The Slim Shady Show, which has since been pulled off-line and is instead sold on DVD. He will be involved in either the soundtrack or scoring. He was also in the running for the part of David Rice in 2008's film Jumper after Tom Sturridge was dropped just two weeks before filming. Concerns over not having a more prominent actor prompted the director, Doug Liman, to consider other actors for the role. He eventually selected Hayden Christensen over Eminem. He also had a cameo appearance in the 2009 movie Funny People, in which he is involved in an argument with Ray Romano.

It was reported on November 8, 2009, that Eminem will star in the upcoming 3D horror anthology, Shady Talez, directed by John Davis. A four-issue comic book series based on the film is also expected to be published sometime in 2010.

Eminem appeared alongside Christina Aguilera on the Entourage Season 7 finale titled 'Lose Yourself' as himself. In December 2010, Deadline Hollywood announced that Eminem will star in the upcoming boxing drama, Southpaw, to be written by Kurt Sutter. Will be released on April 4, 2012. In January 2011, a report surfaced that Eminem will star in the upcoming thriller, Random Acts of Violence.

Memoir

On October 21, 2008, Eminem released a tell-all autobiography entitled The Way I Am, which details his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak and depression, along with stories about his rise to fame and commentary on past controversies. This book also contains some of the original lyric sheets from songs such as "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady."

Artistry

Influences and rapping technique

Eminem has named several MCs who influenced his rapping style – these include Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, In the same book, Eminem is praised for various aspects of his rapping technique by numerous other MCs – these techniques include: his varied and humorous subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums, complex rhyme schemes, his ability to bend words so that they rhyme, his use of multisyllabic rhymes, complex rhythms, clear enunciation, use of melody, and syncopation. He is also known to write the majority of his lyrics down on paper, as documented in his book The Way I Am, as well as taking a few days or a week to craft lyrics, being a “workaholic”, and “stacking” vocals.

Featurings and productions

Although he typically collaborates with various rappers under Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records, such as Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, D12, and Obie Trice, Eminem has collaborated with many other artists, including Redman, Kid Rock, DMX, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Method Man, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Sticky Fingaz, T.I. and others. Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006. Eminem was featured on Akon's single "Smack That" which appeared on Akon's album Konvicted. He was featured on Lil Wayne's hit song Drop the World.

Eminem is also an active rap producer. Besides being the executive producer of D12's first two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. In addition, Eminem has produced and appeared on several songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renagade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "On Fire", "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up", Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter", Trick Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me". Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass. He split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Eminem was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. He produced the UK No. 1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John. He has produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son. On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was featured in the song "There They Go". Eminem produced some tracks on the new Trick Trick album, The Villain. He is also featured in "Who Want It".

With regard to the productions on his own records, Eminem is seen as having an unusual style in that rather than write to beats he typically starts with an idea of how he wants his song to be structured based on the lyrics and then creates music according to that. A notable exception to this was the song "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by Mark the 45 King. The couple first divorced in 2001 but remarried in January 2006. Their second divorce was finalized in December of the same year, with the couple agreeing to share custody of their daughter, Hailie Jade Mathers (born December 25, 1995). Hailie Mathers has often been referenced or featured on various Eminem songs, such as "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", "Hailie's Song", "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Like Toy Soldiers", "Mockingbird", "Forgot About Dre", "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "When I'm Gone", "Deja Vu", "Beautiful", "Sing For The Moment", "Airplanes Part II", and "Going Through Changes". In early 2010, Eminem responded publicly to tabloid reports of his pending reunion with Kim with a firm denial.

Eminem adopted two other daughters: Alaina "Lainey" Mathers, the child of Kimberley Scott's sister,

Mathers was arrested on June 3, 2000 during an altercation at a car audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, with Douglas Dail, where he pulled out an unloaded gun and kept it pointed at the ground. The following day, in Warren, Michigan, he allegedly saw his then wife, Kim, kiss bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café, and he assaulted him.

In the summer of 2001, Mathers was sentenced to probation on weapons charges that stemmed from an argument with an employee of Psychopathic Records, giving him a fine around $2,000 as well as several hours of community service.

In 2007, his music publishing company, Eight Mile Style LLC, together with Martin Affiliated LLC, filed suit against Apple, Inc and Aftermath Entertainment claiming Aftermath did not have the appropriate authority to negotiate a deal with Apple for digital downloads of 93 Eminem songs on Apple's iTunes service. The case against Apple was settled shortly after trial began in late September 2009.

Drug issues

Eminem has spoken openly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien, Valium and Methadone. His group-mate Proof from D12 stated that Mathers "sobered up" in 2002 from drug and alcohol dependence. However, he did turn to zolpidem (Ambien) sleeping pills for relief from sleeping troubles. This caused Mathers to cancel the European leg of the Anger Management Tour in August 2005 and eventually go into rehab for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication". In a 2009 interview with British talk-show host Jonathan Ross, Mathers admitted that at the height of his addiction, he considered suicide, saying that, "I just wasn't taking care of myself, at times I wanted to just give it up." He also confirmed that he is now sober, commenting that, "[R]ap was my drug ... Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that. Now rap's getting me high again." She says that they hung out but nothing sexual or intimate occurred. Eminem has referenced her on many songs that include "Superman", "Jimmy Crack Corn", "Bagpipes From Baghdad", and "The Warning". While "Superman" was released in 2003, Carey released a song entitled "Clown" on her Charmbracelet album, released around the same time, which makes similar references in line with her 2009 hit "Obsessed".

Eminem's "Bagpipes From Baghdad" from his album Relapse may be his most well known reference to Carey due to the controversy it caused. The song disparages Carey and husband Nick Cannon's relationship. Cannon responded to Eminem by saying his career is based on "racist bigotry", and that he would get revenge on Eminem, joking that he may return to rapping. Eminem later stated that the couple misinterpreted the track and it was wishing the two the best.

In 2009, Carey released "Obsessed" in which she sings about an obsessed man who claims to be having a relationship with her. Cannon claimed that the song was not an insult directed at Eminem. However, Eminem responded in late July 2009 by releasing a track titled "The Warning". It contained samples of voice mail recordings which Eminem claimed were left by Mariah Carey when the two were together. Eminem also hinted that he had other evidence of their relationship in his possession. A little over a year later in September 2010 Nick Cannon responded with the song "I'm a Slick Rick" which in Slick Rick's flow he takes shots at Eminem.

Discography

Infinite (1996)

The Slim Shady LP (1999)

The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

The Eminem Show (2002)

Encore (2004)

Relapse (2009)

Recovery (2010)

Number-one singles

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Eminem has eleven Grammy Awards. He has been praised for having "verbal energy", high quality of lyricism and has been ranked at number nine on MTV's list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, In 2003 he was listed as number thirteen on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music and number 82 on Rolling Stone's "The Immortals". In 2008, the readers of Vibe Magazine voted him "The Best Rapper Alive". He was also named "Best Rapper Ever" taking down all opponents very easily in a poll which was conducted by music fans on the Vibe website.

Ironically, "The Real Slim Shady", one of the songs from his second Grammy-winning album, The Marshall Mathers LP, slammed the Grammy Awards in its second verse, and stated the opinion that negative feelings about his material would keep him from ever winning one.

Business ventures

Shady Records

Shade 45 Sirius

Shady Ltd. Clothing

Shady Games

Eight Mile Style LLC

See also

Artists with the most number-one European singles

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

List of best-selling music artists

List of best selling music artists in U.S.

List of best-selling singles worldwide

References

Literature

External links

Official website

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Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:Actors from Michigan Category:Actors who attempted suicide Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American film actors Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American male singers Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American people of Swiss descent Category:American rappers of European descent Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:Horrorcore artists Category:People from St. Joseph, Missouri Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Rappers from Detroit, Michigan Category:Shady Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners