Fullname	State of New York
Name	New York
Flag	Flag of New York.svg
Seal	Seal of New York.svg
Nickname	The Empire State
Motto	Excelsior (Latin)Ever upward
Demonym	New Yorker
Officiallang	None
Map	Map_of_USA_NY.svg
Capital	Albany
Largestcity	New York City
Largestmetro	New York metropolitan area
Arearank	27th
Totalareaus	54,556
Totalarea	128,403
Widthus	285
Width	455
Lengthus	330
Length	530
Pcwater	13.3
Latitude	40° 30′ N to 45° 1′ N
Longitude	71° 51′ W to 79° 46′ W
2000pop	19,378,102 (2010 Census)
Poprank	3rd
2000densityus	408.7
2000density	157.81
Densityrank	7th
Highestpoint	Mount Marcy The New York state constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at White Plains, New York on July 10, 1776, and after repeated adjournments and changes of location, terminated its labors at Kingston, New York on Sunday evening, April 20, 1777, when the new constitution drafted by John Jay was adopted with but one dissenting vote. It was not submitted to the people for ratification. On July 30, 1777, George Clinton was inaugurated as the first Governor of New York at Kingston.

New York covers and ranks as the 27th largest state by size. The Great Appalachian Valley dominates eastern New York, while Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River flowing southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged Adirondack Mountains, with vast tracts of wilderness, lie west of the valley.

Most of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny Plateau, which rises from the southeast to the Catskill Mountains. The western section of the state is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact, signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks.

New York's borders touch (clockwise from the west) two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario, which are connected by the Niagara River); the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada; Lake Champlain; three New England states (Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut); the Atlantic Ocean, and two Mid-Atlantic States, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In addition, Rhode Island shares a water border with New York. New York is the only state that touches both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.

In contrast with New York City's urban atmosphere, the vast majority of the state is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the United States. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic National Parks combined. New York established the first state park in the United States at Niagara Falls in 1885. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction.

The Hudson River begins at Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining Lakes George or Champlain. Lake George empties at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end extends into Canada, where it drains into the Richelieu and then the St. Lawrence Rivers. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island; Staten Island; and Long Island, which contains Brooklyn and Queens on its western end.

Upstate and downstate are often used informally to distinguish New York City or its greater metropolitan area from the rest of New York state. The placement of a boundary between the two is a matter of great contention. Unofficial and loosely defined regions of Upstate New York include the Southern Tier, which often includes the counties along the border with Pennsylvania, and the North Country, which can mean anything from the strip along the Canadian border to everything north of the Mohawk River.

Climate

is a major contributor to snowfall totals in western New York.]] In general, New York has a humid continental climate, though under the Köppen climate classification, New York City has a humid subtropical climate. Weather in New York is heavily influenced by two continental air masses: a warm, humid one from the southwest and a cold, dry one from the northwest.

The winters are long and cold in the Plateau Divisions of the state. In the majority of winter seasons, a temperature of or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and or colder in the southwestern and east-central highlands (Southern Plateau). The summer climate is cool in the Adirondacks, Catskills and higher elevations of the Southern Plateau.

The New York City/Long Island area and lower portions of the Hudson Valley have rather warm summers by comparison, with some periods of high, uncomfortable humidity. The remainder of New York State enjoys pleasantly warm summers, marred by only occasional, brief intervals of sultry conditions. Summer daytime temperatures usually range from the upper 70s to mid 80s °F (25 to 30 °C), over much of the state.

New York ranks 46th among the 50 states in the amount of greenhouse gases generated per person. This efficiency is primarily due to the state's higher rate of mass transit use.

State parks

and Catskill Park.]]

New York has many state parks and two major forest preserves. Adirondack Park, roughly the size of the state of Vermont and the largest state park in the United States, was established in 1892 and given state constitutional protection to remain "forever wild" in 1894. The thinking that led to the creation of the Park first appeared in George Perkins Marsh's Man and Nature, published in 1864. Marsh argued that deforestation could lead to desertification; referring to the clearing of once-lush lands surrounding the Mediterranean, he asserted "the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon."

The Catskill Park was protected in legislation passed in 1885, which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of of land,

New York State is sometimes divided into eight major regions:

Cities

There are 62 cities in New York. The largest city in the state and the most populous city in the United States is New York City, which comprises five counties, the Bronx, New York (Manhattan), Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Richmond (Staten Island). New York City is home to more than two-fifths of the state's population.

The following are the ten largest cities in New York:

The location of these cities within the state stays remarkably true to the major transportation and trade routes in the early 19th century, primarily the Erie Canal and railroads paralleling it. Today, Interstate 90 acts as a modern counterpart to commercial water routes.

Grouped by metropolitan statistical area, the following are the twelve largest population centers in the state are:

The smallest city is Sherrill, New York, located just west of the Town of Vernon in Oneida County. Albany is the state capital, and the Town of Hempstead is the civil township with the largest population. If it were a city, it would be the second largest in the state with over 700,000 residents.

The southern tip of New York State—New York City, its suburbs including Long Island, the southern portion of the Hudson Valley, and most of northern New Jersey—can be considered to form the central core of the Northeast megalopolis", a super-city stretching from the northern suburbs of Boston south to the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C..

Demographics

{|style="float:right; clear:left;" | | |}

Population

As of 2006, New York was the third largest state in population after California and Texas, with an estimated population of 19,541,453 as of July 1, 2009. This represents an increase of 513,481, or 2.7%, since the last census in 2000. It includes a natural increase since the last census of 803,680 people (that is 2,072,765 births minus 1,269,085 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 698,895 people out of the state.

New York is a slow growing state with a large rate of domestic migration to other states. In 2000 and 2005, more people moved from New York to Florida than from any one state to another. However, New York state is one of the leading destinations for international immigration and thus has the second largest immigrant population in the country (after California) at 4.2 million as of 2008. Although Upstate New York receives considerable immigration, most of the state's immigrants settle in and around New York City, due to its more vibrant economy and cosmopolitan culture.

The center of population of New York is located in Orange County, in the town of Deerpark. New York City and its eight suburban counties (excluding those in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania) have a combined population of 13,209,006 people, or 68.42% of the state's population.

Racial and ancestral makeup

The major ancestry groups in New York state are African American (15.8%), Italian (14.4%), Irish (12.9%), German (11.1%) and English (6%). According to a 2004 estimate, 20.4% of the population is foreign-born.

New York is home to the largest African American population and the second largest Asian American population in the United States. In addition it is home to the largest Puerto Rican, Dominican and Jamaican American populations in the continental United States. The New York City neighborhood of Harlem has historically been a major cultural capital for African-Americans of sub-Saharan descent, and Bedford Stuyvesant is the largest such population in the United States.

Queens, also in New York City, is home to the state's largest Asian-American population, and is also the most diverse county in the United States. The second concentration of Asian-Americans is in Manhattan's Chinatown. Queens is home to the largest Andean population (Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Bolivian) population in The United States of America.

In the 2000 Census, Italian Americans made up the largest ancestral group in Staten Island and Long Island, followed by Irish Americans. Albany and southeast-central New York also have populations with many of Irish-American and Italian-American descent. In Buffalo and western New York, German Americans are the largest group; in the northern tip of the state, French Canadians are. Americans of English ancestry are present throughout all of upstate New York. New York State has a higher number of Italian Americans than any other U.S. state.

6.5% of New York's population were under 5 years of age, 24.7% under 18, and 12.9% were 65 or older. Females made up 51.8% of the population.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 13.61% of the population aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, while 2.04% speak Chinese (including Cantonese and Mandarin), 1.65% Italian, and 1.23% Russian.

Religion

Catholics comprise more than 40% of the population in New York. Protestants are 30% of the population, Jews 8.4%, Muslims 3.5%, Buddhists 1%, and 13% claim no religious affiliation. The largest Protestant denominations are the United Methodist Church with 403,362; the American Baptist Churches USA with 203,297; and the Episcopal Church with 201,797 adherents.

Economy

, the largest stock exchange in the world]] in New York City, the largest central business district in the United States]] in Brunswick]]

New York's gross state product in 2007 was $1.1 trillion, ranking third in size behind the larger states of California and Texas. If New York were an independent nation, it would rank as the 16th largest economy in the world behind Turkey. Its 2007 per capita personal income was $46,364, placing it sixth in the nation behind Maryland, and eighth in the world behind Ireland. New York's agricultural outputs are dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, and apples. Its industrial outputs are printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment, machinery, chemical products, and tourism.

A recent review by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found 13 states, including several of the nation's largest, face budget shortfalls for FY2009. New York faces a deficit that could be as large as $4.3 billion.

New York exports a wide variety of goods such as foodstuffs, commodities, minerals, computers and electronics, cut diamonds, and automobile parts. In 2007, the state exported a total of $71.1 billion worth of goods, with the five largest foreign export markets being Canada ($15 billion), United Kingdom ($6 billion), Switzerland ($5.9 billion), Israel ($4.9 billion), and Hong Kong ($3.4 billion). New York's largest imports are oil, gold, aluminum, natural gas, electricity, rough diamonds, and lumber.

Canada is a very important economic partner for the state. 21% of the state's total worldwide exports went to Canada in 2007. Tourism from the north is also a large part of the economy. Canadians spent US$487 million in 2004 while visiting the state.

New York City is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar volume. Many of the world's largest corporations are based in the city.

The state also has a large manufacturing sector that includes printing and the production of garments, furs, railroad equipment and bus line vehicles. Many of these industries are concentrated in upstate regions. Albany and the Hudson Valley are major centers of nanotechnology and microchip manufacturing, while the Rochester area is important in photographic equipment and imaging.

New York is a major agricultural producer, ranking among the top five states for agricultural products such as dairy, apples, cherries, cabbage, potatoes, onions, maple syrup and many others. The state is the largest producer of cabbage in the U.S. The state has about a quarter of its land in farms and produced US$3.4 billion in agricultural products in 2001. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for many apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach orchards. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain.

New York is the nation's third-largest grape-producing state, behind California, and second-largest wine producer by volume. The south shore of Lake Erie and the southern Finger Lakes hillsides have many vineyards. In addition, the North Fork of Long Island developed vineyards, production and visitors' facilities in the last three decades of the 20th century. In 2004, New York's wine and grape industry brought US$6 billion into the state economy.

The state has of vineyards, 212 wineries, and produced 200 million bottles of wine in 2004. A moderately sized saltwater commercial fishery is located along the Atlantic side of Long Island. The principal catches by value are clams, lobsters, squid, and flounder. These areas of the economy have been increasing as environmental protection has led to an increase in ocean wildlife.

As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate was 8.8%.

Transportation

{| class="userboxes" style="float:left;" |- | |} carries I-87 over the Mohawk River]] serves more than 5 million rides on a given week day]]

New York has one of the most extensive and one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the country. Engineering difficulties because of the terrain of the state and the unique issues of the city brought on by urban crowding have had to be overcome since the state was young. Population expansion of the state generally followed the path of the early waterways, first the Hudson River and then the Erie Canal. Today, railroad lines and the New York State Thruway follow the same general route. The New York State Department of Transportation is often criticized for how they maintain the roads of the state in certain areas and for the fact that the tolls collected along the roadway have long passed their original purpose. Until 2006, tolls were collected on the Thruway within The City of Buffalo. They were dropped late in 2006 during the campaign for Governor (both candidates called for their removal).

In addition to New York City's famous mass transit subway, four suburban commuter railroad systems enter and leave the city: the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, Port Authority Trans-Hudson, and five of New Jersey Transit's rail lines. Many other cities have urban and regional public transportation. In Buffalo, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority runs the Buffalo Metro Rail light-rail system; in Rochester, the Rochester Subway operated from 1927 until 1956 but has fallen into disuse.

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYSDMV or DMV) is the governmental agency responsible for registering and inspecting automobiles and other motor vehicles as well as licensing drivers in the State of New York. As of 2008, the NYSDMV has 11,284,546 drivers licenses on file and 10,697,644 vehicle registrations in force. All gasoline powered vehicles registered in New York State must get an emissions inspection every 12 months. Diesel powered vehicles with a Gross Weight Rating over 8 500 lb that are registered in the NY Metropolitan Area must get an annual emissions inspection. All vehicles registered in NYS must get an annual safety inspection.

Portions of the transportation system are intermodal, allowing travelers to easily switch from one mode of transportation to another. One of the most notable examples is AirTrain JFK which allows rail passengers to travel directly to terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In May 2009 the New York City Department of Transportation under the control of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan banned cars from Times Square. The move designed to reduce pollution and pedestrian accidents looks likely to be implemented permantly, and will last at least until the end of the year.

Politics and government

building in Albany.]] Under its present constitution (adopted in 1938), New York is governed by the same three branches that govern all fifty states of the United States: the executive branch, consisting of the Governor of New York and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch, consisting of the bicameral New York State Legislature (senate and assembly); and the judicial branch, consisting of the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, and lower courts. The state has two U.S. senators, 29 members in the United States House of Representatives, and 31 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a drop from its 47 votes during the 1940s).

New York's capital is Albany. The state's subordinate political units are its 62 counties. Other officially incorporated governmental units are towns, cities, and villages. New York has more than 4,200 local governments that take one of these forms. About 52% of all revenue raised by local governments in the state is raised solely by the government of New York City, which is the largest municipal government in the United States, whereas New York City houses only 42% of the state population.

The state has a strong imbalance of payments with the federal government. New York State receives 82 cents in services for every $1 it sends in taxes to the federal government in Washington. The state ranks near the bottom, in 42nd place, in federal spending per tax dollar.

Many of New York's public services are carried out by public benefit corporations, frequently called authorities or development corporations. Well known public benefit corporations in New York include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees New York City's public transportation system, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bi-state transportation infrastructure agency.

New York's legal system is explicitly based upon English common Law.

Federal representation

As of the 2000 census and the redistricting for the 2002 elections, the state has 29 members in the United States House of Representatives, and two U.S. senators. Two seats in the House will be lost in 2013 due to a decline in the state's rate of population growth. New York has 31 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a drop from its 47 votes during the 1940s).

New York is represented by Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in the United States Senate and has 29 representatives to the United States House of Representatives, behind California's 53 congressional districts and Texas' 32 congressional districts.

Capital punishment

Capital punishment was reintroduced in 1995 under the Pataki administration but the statute was declared unconstitutional in 2004, when the New York Court of Appeals ruled in People v. LaValle that it violated the state constitution. The remaining death sentence was commuted by the court to life imprisonment in 2007, in People v. John Taylor, and the death row was disestablished in 2008, under executive order from Governor Paterson. No execution has taken place in New York since 1963. Legislative efforts to amend the statute have failed, and death sentences are no longer sought at the state level, though certain crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.

Politics

(D) is the current Governor of New York.]]

In the last few decades, New York State has generally supported candidates belonging to the Democratic Party in national elections. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won New York State by 25 percentage points in 2008, a bigger margin than John Kerry in 2004. New York City is a major Democratic stronghold with liberal politics. Many of the state's other urban areas, such as Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are also Democratic. Rural upstate New York, however, is generally more conservative than the cities and tends to favor Republicans. Heavily populated Suburban areas such as Westchester County and Long Island have swung between the major parties over the past 25 years, but more often than not support Democrats.

New York City is the most important source of political fund-raising in the United States for both major parties. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Education

of the State University of New York in Albany]] The University of the State of New York oversees all public primary, middle-level, and secondary education in the state, while the New York City Department of Education manages the public school system in New York City.

At the college level, the statewide public university system is the State University of New York (SUNY). The City University of New York (CUNY) is the public university system of New York City. The SUNY system consists of 64 community colleges, technical colleges, undergraduate colleges and universities. The four university centers are University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo and SUNY Stony Brook.

In addition there are many notable private universities, including the oldest Catholic institution in the northeast, Fordham University. New York is home to both Columbia University and Cornell University, making it the only state to contain more than one Ivy League school. West Point, the service academy of the U.S. Army is located just south of Newburgh, NY on the banks of the Hudson River.

During the 2007–2008 school year, New York spent more per pupil on public education than any other state.

Sports

New York hosted the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, the Games known for the USA–USSR hockey game dubbed the "Miracle on Ice" in which a group of American college students and amateurs defeated the heavily favored Soviet national ice hockey team 4–3 and went on to win the gold medal against Finland. Lake Placid also hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria, it is one of the three places to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games.

New York is the home of one National Football League team, the Buffalo Bills (based in the suburb of Orchard Park). Although the New York Giants and New York Jets represent the New York metropolitan area and were previously located in New York City, they play in New Meadowlands Stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Meadowlands stadium will host Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. There has been much controversy over several proposals for a new New York Jets football stadium. The owners of the New York Jets were willing to split the $1.5 billion cost of building a new football stadium over Manhattan's West Side rail yards, but the proposal never came to fruition.

New York also has two Major League Baseball teams, the New York Yankees (based in the Bronx) and the New York Mets (based in Queens). New York is home to three National Hockey League franchises: the New York Rangers in Manhattan, the New York Islanders on Long Island and the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo. New York has a National Basketball Association team, the New York Knicks, in Manhattan. The former New York Nets from 1968 to 1977 is now titled as a New Jersey team; however, plans to relocate to New York City are in the works. There are a variety of minor league teams that can be found all through the State of New York, such as the Long Island Ducks.

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See also

List of New York state symbols

Naval vessel namesakes

References

Further reading

External links

General Government

State Government website

Governor

New York State Senate

New York State Assembly

New York State Unified Court System

Constitution of New York (or see Wikisource)

Tourism and recreation

I ♥ New York

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation

Culture and history

New York State Historical Association

New York State Cultural Education Center

New York State Guide from the Library of Congress

Over 350 Photos of Old New York City (1890 - 1990)

Maps and Demographics

USGS geographic resources of New York

New York State Climate Office (NOAA and Cornell University)

New York State Fact Sheet

2000 Census of Population and Housing for New York, U.S. Census Bureau

Category:Former British colonies Category:States of the United States

Name	Alicia Keys
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Alicia Augello Cook
Alias	Lellow
Born	January 25, 1981
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, cello, synthesizer, vocoder, guitar, bass guitar
Genre	R&B;, soul, pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, record producer, actress, music video director, author, poet
Years active	1997–present
Label	Columbia, Arista, J
Url

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American recording artist, musician and actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began to play classical music on the piano. She attended Professional Performing Arts School and graduated at 16 as valedictorian. She later attended Columbia University before dropping out to pursue her music career. Keys released her debut album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia and then Arista Records.

Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, was a commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. She became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B; artist of 2001. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'". Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and was also another success worldwide, selling eight million copies. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005. Later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, which debuted at number one in the United States. She became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album to debut at number one and the highest since Nirvana in 1994.

Keys made guest appearances on several television series in the following years, beginning with Charmed. She made her film debut in Smokin' Aces and went on to appear in The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Her third studio album, As I Am, was released in the same year and sold six million copies worldwide, earning Keys an additional three Grammy Awards. The following year, she appeared in The Secret Life of Bees, which earned her a nomination at the NAACP Image Awards. She released her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, in December 2009, which became Keys' first chart-topping album in the United Kingdom. Throughout her career, Keys has won numerous awards and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Billboard magazine named her the top R&B; artist of the 2000–2009 decade, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time. In 2010, VH1 included Keys on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Life and career

1981–96: Early life

Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25, 1981, in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, in New York City, New York. She is the only child of Teresa Augello, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Keys' mother is of Scottish, Irish and Italian descent, and her father is African American; Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her biracial heritage because she felt she was able to "relate to different cultures". Her parents separated when she was two and she was subsequently raised by her mother during her formative years in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. In 1985, Keys made an appearance on The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtable's sleepover guests in the episode "Slumber Party". Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother. She began playing the piano when she was seven and learned classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin. She graduated in three years as valedictorian at the age of 16.

In 1994 Keys met long-term manager Jeff Robinson after she enrolled in his brother's after-school program. The following year Robinson introduced Keys to her future A&R; at Arista Records, Peter Edge, who later described his first impressions to HitQuarters: "I had never met a young R&B; artist with that level of musicianship. So many people were just singing on top of loops and tracks, but she had the ability, not only to be part of hip-hop, but also to go way beyond that." Edge helped Robinson create a showcase for Keys and also got involved in developing her demo material. He was keen to sign Keys himself but was unable to do so at that time due to being on the verge of leaving his present record company. Keys signed to Columbia Records soon after.

1997–2000: Career beginnings

Keys signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri and So So Def Recordings, where she appeared on the label's Christmas album performing "The Little Drummer Girl". She also co-wrote and recorded a song entitled "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black. Following Davis to his newly formed J Records label, she recorded the songs "Rock wit U" and "Rear View Mirror", which were featured on the soundtracks to the films Shaft (2000) and Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), respectively.

2001–02: Songs in A Minor

Often considered her signature song, it describes the "ins and outs" of being in a relationship.|format=Ogg|pos=right}} , Germany, 2002]] Keys released her first studio album, Songs in A Minor, in June 2001. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 236,000 copies in its first week. The album sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States, where it was certified six times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide, establishing Keys' popularity both inside and outside the United States, where she became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B; artist of 2001. The album's lead single, "Fallin'", spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, "A Woman's Worth", peaked at number three on the same chart. The following year, the album was reissued as Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor, which included eight remixes and seven unplugged versions of the songs from the original.

Songs in A Minor led Keys to win five awards at the 2002 Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance, and Best R&B; Song for "Fallin'", Best New Artist, and Best R&B; Album; "Fallin'" was also nominated for Record of the Year. Keys became the second female solo artist to win five Grammy Awards in a single night, following Lauryn Hill at the 41st Grammy Awards. That same year, she collaborated with Christina Aguilera for the latter's upcoming album Stripped on a song entitled "Impossible", which Keys wrote, co-produced, and provided with background vocals. During the early 2000s, Keys also made small cameos in television series Charmed and American Dreams. It sold 4.4 million copies in the United States and was certified four times Platinum by the RIAA. It sold eight million copies worldwide, becoming the sixth biggest-selling album by a female artist and the second biggest-selling album by a female R&B; artist. The singles "You Don't Know My Name" and "If I Ain't Got You" both reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the third single, "Diary", entered the top ten. The fourth single, "Karma", was less successful on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 20. "If I Ain't Got You" became the first single by a female artist to remain on the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart for over a year.

Keys won Best R&B; Video for "If I Ain't Got You" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards; she performed the song and "Higher Ground" with Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder. Later that year, Keys released her novel Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics, a collection of unreleased poems from her journals and lyrics. The title derived from one of her poems, "Love and Chains" from the line: "I don't mind drinking my tears for water." She said the title is the foundation of her writing because "everything I have ever written has stemmed from my tears of joy, of pain, of sorrow, of depression, even of question". The book sold over US$500,000 and Keys made The New York Times bestseller list in 2005. The following year, she won a second consecutive award for Best R&B; Video at the MTV Video Music Awards for the video "Karma". Keys performed "If I Ain't Got You" and then joined Jamie Foxx and Quincy Jones in a rendition of "Georgia on My Mind", the Hoagy Carmichael song made famous by Ray Charles in 1960 at the 2005 Grammy Awards. That evening, she won four Grammy Awards: Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance for "If I Ain't Got You", Best R&B; Song for "You Don't Know My Name", Best R&B; Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys, and Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for "My Boo" with Usher.

Keys performed and taped her installment of the MTV Unplugged series in July 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. During this session, Keys added new arrangements to her original songs and performed a few choice covers. The session was released on CD and DVD in October 2005. Simply titled Unplugged, the album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 196,000 units sold in its first week of release. The album sold one million copies in the United States, where it was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and two million copies worldwide. The debut of Keys' Unplugged was the highest for an MTV Unplugged album since Nirvana's 1994 MTV Unplugged in New York and the first Unplugged by a female artist to debut at number one. It remained at number one on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B; Airplay for 11 weeks.

Keys opened a recording studio in Long Island, New York, called The Oven Studios, which she co-owns with her production and songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers. The studio was designed by renowned studio architect John Storyk of WSDG, designer of Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studios. Keys and Brothers are the co-founders of KrucialKeys Enterprises, a production and songwriting team who assisted Keys in creating her albums as well as create music for other artists.

2006–08: Film debut and As I Am

In 2006, Keys won three NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Song for "Unbreakable". She also received the Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In October 2006, she played the voice of Mommy Martian in the "Mission to Mars" episode of the children's television series The Backyardigans, in which she sang an original song, "Almost Everything Is Boinga Here". That same year, Keys nearly suffered a mental breakdown. Her grandmother had died and her family was heavily dependent on her. She felt she needed to "escape" and went to Egypt for three weeks. She explained: "That trip was definitely the most crucial thing I've ever done for myself in my life to date. It was a very difficult time that I was dealing with, and it just came to the point where I really needed to—basically, I just needed to run away, honestly. And I needed to get as far away as possible."

Keys made her film debut in early 2007 in the crime film Smokin' Aces, co-starring as an assassin named Georgia Sykes opposite Ben Affleck and Andy García. Keys received much praise from her co-stars in the film; Reynolds said that Keys was "so natural" and that she would "blow everybody away". In the same year, Keys earned further praise for her second film, The Nanny Diaries, based on the 2002 novel of the same name, where she co-starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans. She also guest starred as herself in the "One Man Is an Island" episode of the drama series Cane.

Keys released her third studio album, As I Am, in November 2007; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 742,000 copies in its first week. It gained Keys her largest first week sales of her career and became her fourth consecutive number one album, tying her with Britney Spears for the most consecutive number-one debuts on the Billboard 200 by a female artist. The week became the second largest sales week of 2007 and the largest sales week for a female solo artist since singer Norah Jones' album Feels like Home in 2004. The album has sold nearly four million copies in the United States and has been certified three times Platinum by the RIAA. It has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. Keys received five nominations for As I Am at the 2008 American Music Award and ultimately won two. The album's lead single, "No One", peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, becoming Keys' third and fifth number-one single on each chart, respectively. The album's second single, "Like You'll Never See Me Again", was released in late 2007 and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's third single, "Teenage Love Affair", peaked at number three on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

in Tokyo, Japan]]

"No One" earned Keys the awards for Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance and Best R&B; Song at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Keys opened the ceremony singing Frank Sinatra's 1950s song "Learnin' the Blues" as a "duet" with archival footage of Sinatra in video and "No One" with John Mayer later in the show. Keys also won Best Female R&B; Artist during the show. She starred in "Fresh Takes", a commercial micro-series created by Dove Go Fresh, which premiered during The Hills on MTV from March to April 2008. The premiere celebrated the launch of new Dove Go Fresh. She also signed a deal as spokesperson with Glacéau's VitaminWater to endorse the product, and was in an American Express commercial for the "Are you a Cardmember?" campaign. Keys, along with The White Stripes' guitarist and lead vocalist Jack White, recorded the theme song to Quantum of Solace, the first duet in Bond soundtrack history. In 2008, Keys was ranked in at number 80 the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. She also starred in The Secret Life of Bees, a film adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's acclaimed 2003 bestseller novel of the same name alongside Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, released in October 2008 via Fox Searchlight. Her role earned her a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards. She also received three nominations at the 2009 Grammy Awards and won Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance for "Superwoman".

In an interview with Blender magazine, Keys allegedly said "'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other, 'gangsta rap' didn't exist" and went on to say that it was created by "the government". The magazine also claimed she said that Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were "essentially assassinated, their beefs stoked by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing". Later that year, Keys was criticized by anti-smoking campaigners after billboard posters for her forthcoming concerts in Indonesia featured a logo for the A Mild cigarette brand sponsored by tobacco firm Philip Morris. She apologized after discovering that the concert was sponsored by the firm and asked for "corrective actions". In response, the company withdrew its sponsorship.

2009–present: The Element of Freedom, marriage and motherhood

.]] Keys and manager Jeff Robinson signed a film production deal to develop live-action and animated projects with Disney. Their first film will be a remake of the 1958 comedy Bell, Book and Candle and will star Keys as a witch who casts a love spell to lure a rival's fiancé. Keys and Robinson also formed a television production company called Big Pita. Keys and Robinson will develop live-action and animated projects from their company, Big Pita and Little Pita, with Keys as producer, thespian, banner spearheading soundtrack and music supervision.

Keys collaborated with record producer Swizz Beatz to write and produce "Million Dollar Bill" for Whitney Houston's seventh studio album, I Look to You. Keys had approached Clive Davis for permission to submit a song for the album. Keys also collaborated with recording artist Jay-Z on the song "Empire State of Mind" from his 2009 album, The Blueprint 3. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became her fourth number-one single on that chart. Swizz Beatz announced in May 2009, that he and Keys have been romantically involved. The Boston Globe reported "Swizz and his estranged wife, Mashonda, are currently embroiled in a bitter divorce. He has always denied reports Alicia was to blame for the breakdown of his marriage".

The following month, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Keys with the Golden Note Award, an award given to artists "who have achieved extraordinary career milestones". She collaborated with Spanish recording artist Alejandro Sanz for "Looking for Paradise", which topped the Hot Latin Songs chart. Keys released her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom, in December 2009. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 417,000 copies in its first week. As part of the promotional drive for the album, she performed at the Cayman Island Jazz Festival on December 5, the final night of the three day festival which will be broadcast on Black Entertainment Television (BET). The album's lead single, "Doesn't Mean Anything", has peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, The Element of Freedom became Keys' first album to top the UK Albums Chart.

In May 2010, a representative for Keys and Swizz Beatz confirmed that they were engaged and expecting a child together. During the time of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the couple took part of a union and had the unborn child blessed in a Zulu ceremony, which took place in the Illovo suburb of South Africa. Keys and Swizz Beatz held a wedding celebration on the French island of Corsica on July 31, 2010. Keys gave birth to a son, Egypt Daoud Dean, on October 14, 2010 in New York City.

Musical style

An accomplished pianist, Keys incorporates piano into a majority of her songs and often writes about love, heartbreak and female empowerment. Keys' style is rooted in gospel and vintage soul music, supplemented by bass and programmed drumbeats. She heavily incorporates classical piano with R&B;, soul and jazz into her music. She began experimenting with other genres, including pop and rock, in her third studio album, As I Am, transitioning from neo soul to a 1980s and 1990s R&B; sound with her fourth album, The Element of Freedom. Patrick Huguenin of the New York Daily News stated that her incorporation of classical piano riffs contributed to her breakout success. The Independent described her style as consisting of "crawling blues coupled with a hip-hop backbeat", noting that her lyrics "rarely stray from matters of the heart". Blender magazine referred to her as "the first new pop artist of the millennium who was capable of changing music."

Keys has a vocal range of a contralto, which spans three octaves. Often referred to as the "Princess of Soul", others feel that her voice is "emotionally manufactured" at times and that she pushes her voice out of its natural range. Hunkin characterized Keys' opening performance as a "headbanging, hip-gyrating performance" and her energy as "high-octane energy most bands save for their closing finale". At the end of her two-hour performance, fans "screamed, stomped and begged for a second encore". Throughout her career, Keys has won numerous awards and is listed on the Recording Industry Association of America's best-selling artists in the United States, with 15 million certified albums. She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and has established herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time.

Philanthropy

concert]] Keys is the co-founder and Global Ambassador of Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that provides medicine to families with HIV and AIDS in Africa. Keys and U2 lead singer Bono recorded a cover version of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's "Don't Give Up", in recognition of World AIDS Day 2005. Keys and Bono's version of the song was retitled "Don't Give Up (Africa)" to reflect the nature of the charity it was benefiting. She visited African countries such as Uganda, Kenya and South Africa to promote care for children affected by AIDS. Her work in Africa was documented in the documentary Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland and was available in April 2008.

Keys has also donated to Frum tha Ground Up, a non-profit organization that aids children and teenagers with scholarships. She performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the worldwide Live 8 concerts to raise awareness of the poverty in Africa and to pressure the G8 leaders to take action. In 2005, Keys performed on and , two benefit programs that raised money for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In July 2007, Keys and Keith Urban performed The Rolling Stones' 1969 song "Gimme Shelter" at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the American leg of the Live Earth concerts.

Keys performed Donny Hathaway's 1973 song "Someday We'll All Be Free" at the televised benefit concert following the September 11 attacks. She participated in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert which took place at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 2007, along with other various artists. She recorded a theme song for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. She joined Joss Stone and Jay-Z on the effort, which served as a theme song for Obama's campaign. For her work, Keys was honored at the 2009 BET Awards with the Humanitarian Award. Keys performed the song "Prelude to a Kiss", retitled "Send Me an Angel", from her 2007 album As I Am for the "" telethon in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Discography

;Studio albums

Songs in A Minor (2001)

The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003)

As I Am (2007)

The Element of Freedom (2009)

;Live albums

Unplugged (2005)

Tours

Songs in A Minor Tour (2001–2002)

Verizon Ladies First Tour (2004)

The Diary Tour (2005)

As I Am Tour (2008)

The Freedom Tour (2010)

Filmography

{|border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" !colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Television |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1985 |The Cosby Show |Maria |"" (season 1, episode 22) |- |2001 |Charmed |P3 VIP Patron (uncredited) |"Size Matters" (season 4, episode 5) |- |rowspan="2"|2003 |American Dreams |Fontella Bass |"Rescue Me" (season 2, episode 6) |- |The Proud Family |Herself (voice) |"" (season 3, episode 46) |- |2005 |Sesame Street |Herself |Season 36 |- |2006 |The Backyardigans |Mommy Martian (voice) |"Mission to Mars" (season 2, episode 1) |- |rowspan="2"|2007 |Cane |Herself |"One Man Is an Island" (season 1, episode 7) |- |Elmo's Christmas Countdown |Herself |Christmas television special |- |2008 |Dove "Fresh Takes" |Alex |Starred in all five episodes |- |2010 |American Idol (season 9) |Herself |Mentor |- |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" !colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Film |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |rowspan="2"|2007 |Smokin' Aces |Georgia Sykes | |- |The Nanny Diaries |Lynette | |- |2008 |The Secret Life of Bees |June Boatwright | |}

See also

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of awards and nominations received by Alicia Keys

List of honorific titles in popular music

References

Further reading

External links

Alicia Keys at Billboard.com

Category:1981 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Actors from New York City Category:African American female singers Category:African American singer-songwriters

Category:American composers Category:American contraltos Category:American film actors Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American music arrangers Category:American music video directors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American pianists Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues keyboardists Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American soul keyboardists Category:American soul singers Category:American television actors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:J Records artists Category:Living people

Category:Neo soul singers Category:People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Category:Rhythm and blues pianists Category:Singers from New York City Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Patsy Gallant
Background	solo_singer
|born	August 15, 1948
Origin	Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada
Genre	Rock, Blues, Disco
Occupation	Singer/Songwriter, Actress
Years active	1965 — present
Label	Trilogie Musique

Patsy Gallant (born August 15, 1948, Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada) is a Canadian pop singer and musical theatre actress. Of Acadian ancestry, she has recorded and performed in both English and French.

Biography

Gallant released her first single in 1967, earning appearances on a number of television variety shows. She later performed at Montreal's Place des Arts with Charles Aznavour, later appearing on her own weekly variety show on SRC. She released her first major French-language album, Toi l'enfant, in 1971, and followed up the following year with Tout va trop vite and her English-language debut, Upon My Own. Although her French albums were hits in Quebec, her English album spawned only the minor hit "Get That Ball".

Gallant recorded her 1973 album Power in Nashville, Tennessee with an eye to cracking the American market. Although the album spawned four moderately popular singles ("Save the Last Dance For Me", "Make My Living", "Doctor's Orders" and the title track), it was not a commercial breakthrough.

Her biggest popular success came with her next album, 1976's Are You Ready For Love?, and the disco single "From New York to L.A.". The latter took its melody from Gilles Vigneault's nationalistic Quebec anthem "Mon Pays", earning Gallant severe criticism from within Quebec for what was perceived as a trivialization of that province's nationalistic anthem by the English lyrics written by Gene Williams. Gallant also recorded "Mon Pays" in French with the original lyrics.

"From New York to L.A." was Gallant's only recording to attract notice outside Canada; although overlooked by radio in the U.S. - the country where the song's singer is supposedly a star - "From New York to L.A." became a hit in the UK (#6), Ireland (#5), Australia (#10), the Netherlands (#15), Norway (#7), South Africa (#5) and Sweden (#17). |- | 1972 | "Get That Ball" |align="center"| 32 |align="center"| 27 |align="center"| - |- | 1973 | "I Don't Know Why" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 47 |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="2"| 1974 | "Save the Last Dance for Me" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 97 |align="center"| - |- | "Raconte" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 42 |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="2"| 1975 | "Doctor's Orders" |align="center"| 83 |align="center"| - |align="center"| - |- | "Makin' Love in My Mind" |align="center"| 66 |align="center"| - |align="center"| - |- | 1976 | "From New York to L.A." |align="center"| 6 |align="center"| 1 |align="center"| 6 |- |rowspan="2"| 1977 | "Are You Ready for Love?" |align="center"| 16 |align="center"| 4 |align="center"| - |- | "Sugar Daddy" |align="center"| 9 |align="center"| 6 |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="3"| 1978 | "Back to the City" |align="center"| 69 |align="center"| - |align="center"| - |- | "Stay Awhile with Me" |align="center"| 77 |align="center"| 28 |align="center"| - |- | "Every Step of the Way" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 26 |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="2"| 1979 | "O Michel" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 22 |align="center"| - |- | "We'll Find a Way" |align="center"| 94 |align="center"| - |align="center"| - |- |rowspan="2"| 1980 | "How Many Lonely Nights" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 27 |align="center"| - |- | "Ce matin-la" |align="center"| ? |align="center"| - |align="center"| - |- | 1981 | "Don't Forget About Me" |align="center"| - |align="center"| 24 |align="center"| - |}

JUNO Awards

1975 Female Vocalist of the Year (Nomination)

1977 Best Selling Single: "From NY to LA" (Nomination)

1977 Female Vocalist of the Year (Win)

1977 Producer of the Year: "From NY to LA" (Nomination)

1978 Best Selling Single: "Sugar Daddy" (Win)

1978 Female Vocalist of the Year (Win)

1978 Producer of the Year: "Sugar Daddy" (Nomination)

1979 Female Vocalist of the Year (Nomination)

Carlisle Miller nominated for Composer of the Year (1978) for "Sugar Daddy"

Gilles Vigneault nominated for Composer of the Year and Gene Williams for lyrics (1977) for "From New York to L.A."

References

External links

Patsy Gallant at DiscoMuseum.com

Patsy Gallant's Myspace

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian musical theatre actors Category:Juno Award winners Category:People from Campbellton, New Brunswick Category:Acadian people Category:Musicians from New Brunswick

Name	Natalie Tran
Birth name	Natalie Tyler Tran
Birth date	July 23, 1986
Birth place	Sydney, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Years active	2006-present
Known for	Sketch comedy, vlogging
Website	CommunityChannel
Web alias	communitychannel, natalietran
Web host service	YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter
Phrase	Hi, your mum rates me!

}} Natalie Tyler Tran is a prominent video blogger on YouTube from Sydney, Australia, using the nickname communitychannel.

Biography

Tran's mother and father, refugees who left Vietnam to go to Australia in 1981, were originally a lawyer and literature professor respectively in Vietnam, became a postal worker and a public school teacher in Australia. Tran grew up in Sydney and taught for two years after high school before attending the University of New South Wales to study digital media.

Popularity

, Tran has 263 videos available on her YouTube channel and is the most-subscribed of all time in Australia, the 26th most subscribed of all time on YouTube, and the 7th-most subscribed director worldwide. She is also the number one most-subscribed for the categories of Director and Partners for Australia, and manages the 58th most viewed channel on YouTube of all time. She was the first runner up in the Miss YouTube contest created by Michael Buckley of What The Buck. Her first video was created on September 25, 2006. Tran vlogs about awkward and humorous situations in her daily life, often involving skits.

Tran has more than 852,148 subscribers and more than 330 million views. This popularity has led to media coverage and appearances in The Sydney Morning Herald, B&T; Magazine, Venus Zine. Der Spiegel, Báo Viêt Luận Online, Việt Tribune, VnExpress, Triple J, and the Hot30 Countdown. Her defence of Vegemite in response to a YouTube video by Ben Going was featured on the Australian television programme A Current Affair on February 2007, as part of the Vegemite wars segment. Tran's most viewed video had over 20 million views in March, 2010 and the number of views has grown significantly since then.

Tran has been recognized for her creative work and popularity on the Internet in various ways. Tran was one of the Australian YouTube celebrities invited to talk about the site at the launch of YouTube Australia in 2007. She is presently enlisted by The Sydney Morning Herald as a contributor and Real World Correspondent to their technology vlog Digital Life, complementing main presenter and journalist Séamus Byrne. Although her original skits are specifically written and created for Digital Life, they are produced almost entirely in the same manner and style as her YouTube material. Tran was a presenter at "Creative Sydney" in May, 2009 at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Tran was nominated for "Best YouTube Channel or Personality" and "Funniest YouTube Channel" by Mashable in their 2009 Open Web Awards. Tran was one of the presenters at the 2010 Entertainment Gathering (EG) convention in Monterey, California. In 2010, Tran was a presenter at ideaCity in Toronto, Canada. In 2010, the analytics firm TubeMogul placed Tran at #10 on their list of top ten earners from YouTube advertising. According to TubeMogul, Tran earned $101,000 and had 138,871,829 views. Tran was included on the TC Candler "Most Beautiful Faces 2010" list.

Videos

Her videos include observational and self-deprecating humour, as well as stream-of-consciousness commentary on social dilemmas, such as how much money to spend on gifts for friends and appropriate telephone etiquette. Other videos include multi-role skits, where (with occasional exceptions) Tran plays most roles, combining multiple takes using split-screen compositing. Examples include dialogue between the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy, and a practical joke by an ultrasound technician. More serious topics have included Tran's responses to the February 2009 Victorian bushfires.

References

External links

Communitychannel at YouTube.com

Natalie Tran at Myspace.com

Natalie Tran at Twitter.com

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Australian people of Vietnamese descent Category:People from Sydney Category:University of New South Wales alumni Category:Video bloggers Category:YouTube video producers

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American pop musician. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents; Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her freshman year of high school, she began to pursue a career in music. As Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel album in 2001, which due to the closing of her record label, was deemed unsuccessful. She later recorded an album with production team The Matrix and completed the majority of a solo album from 2004–5; neither of which were released.

After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry and released her first Internet single "Ur So Gay" that November, which garnered public attention; but failed to chart. She rose to fame with the release of her second single "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008, which went on to top international charts. Perry's first mainstream studio album One of the Boys followed later that year and subsequently, became the thirty-third best selling album worldwide of 2008. It was accredited platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, while "I Kissed a Girl" and her second single "Hot n Cold" both received multi-platinum certifications. Her sophomore studio album Teenage Dream was released in August 2010 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album included hit singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream" and "Firework", all of which topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100 and worldwide.

Perry was credited as a guest judge on the seventh series of the British television show The X Factor; has released a fragrance called "Purr"; and will appear in the upcoming 2011-film The Smurfs. Perry had a long relationship with Travie McCoy; she married Russell Brand on October 23, 2010.

Biography

1984–2006: Early life and career beginnings

Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California on October 25, 1984 to Mary (née Perry), an evangelist who grew up in Southern California and had "a tempestuous first marriage in Zimbabwe", She has an older sister and younger brother. Perry's maternal aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry, through whom she is also related to Charles M. Schwab, the founder of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry She grew up listening to gospel music, was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music", and attended Christian schools and camps. She took her GED after her freshman year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music. Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, while Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of her parents, who suggested she take vocal coaching. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen. She later enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short period of time. In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and play guitar. Performing as Katy Hudson, she released the self-titled Gospel-rock album in 2001. The album was due for release in 2005,

Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat". She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly".

2007–09: One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged

Before being dropped by Columbia, its then publicity executive Angelica Cob-Baehler recommended Perry to Capitol A&R; Chris Anokute while at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Keen to hear more, Anokute was sent a DVD, featuring a video of "Simple", and a three-song demo. It was after hearing the demo of "Waking Up in Vegas" that Anokute became convinced of Perry's star talent. He showed the demo to his boss Jason Flom, then head of Capitol Music Group, telling him, "I've found the next Avril Lavigne meets Alanis Morissette." Flom proved to be less enthusiastic, however; he wasn't convinced the demos were good enough and was wary about an artist that had already been dropped by two major labels. Anokute refused to give up and eventually his persistence together with that of new Virgin employee, Cob-Baehler, paid off. Perry was signed to Capitol Music in early 2007.

She went on the next step of promoting the album, undertaking a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. Perry's A&R;, Chris Anokute, told HitQuarters how, despite being himself convinced it was a "career record", the song and its controversial theme met with strong resistance at the label, "People said, 'This is never going to get played on the radio. How do we sell this? How’s this going to be played in the bible belt?'" On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008 to mixed critical reviews. The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears. She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted, and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards. On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.

The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, "I Kissed a Girl" had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store. In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke. Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happen[ed] to know for a fact that she [Perry] was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her.

On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria. In June 2009, lawyers acting for Katy Perry opposed the recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry who uses her own name to market loungewear. Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Katy Perry has denied on her blog. Katie Perry the designer reports on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on July 10, 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark. During the summer of 2009 Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek; her scene, in which she kisses her future fiancé Russell Brand was cut, and does not appear in the final film. Discussing the issue with MTV, Perry hypothesized there may have been some fear that seeing the two make out would have taken viewers out of the experience. In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" in August (the idea for the collaboration came after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act). The song was released over iTunes on September 8, 2009; and "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single off Timbaland's album Shock Value II in December. In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack". The album was released on November 17, and includes both a CD and a DVD.

2010–present: Teenage Dream

Perry appeared as a guest judge alongside Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh during the Dublin audition stage of the seventh series of the British television show The X Factor on June 28, 2010 (later televised on August 28). She was one of the many celebrities chosen to fulfil the role of judge whilst Dannii Minogue was on maternity leave. She later returned to the show on October 17 to perform "Firework". Perry's second mainstream studio album was titled Teenage Dream and was released in August 2010. The first single from the album was titled "California Gurls". The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the fastest rising single from a Capitol Records artist since Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967. The cover art for Teenage Dream is a painting by Will Cotton in which depicts Perry lying naked on clouds of cotton candy; resembling the shots of Perry in the video for "California Gurls". The booklet of the physical edition of the album, in keeping with the theme of cotton candy, has a cotton candy scent. The album's second single "Teenage Dream" was released in July 2010. "Firework" is the album's third single.

Katy Perry appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. She was nominated for two awards and presented the award of "Best Male Video" with Nicki Minaj to Eminem. On September 14, she returned to her old high school, Dos Pueblos High School, where she performed a short set for the school's students. Perry performed "Hot n Cold" with Elmo from Sesame Street, which was originally to appear on the forty-first-season premiere of the educational children's program on September 27, 2010. However, four days before the scheduled airing, Sesame Workshop announced, "In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video ... we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on YouTube." The main reason was that parents complained about what appeared to be a great amount of cleavage shown by her dress. Perry shot the video for Firework in Budapest in September 2010. An open casting call drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants. She proceeded to perform at a concert in Budapest on October 1, her first concert in Central and Eastern EuropePerry has announced her own fragrance to be released in autumn of this year, named "Purr". It will come in a cat-shaped bottle, and will be available through Nordstrom stores.

Musical style and themes

Perry has a contralto vocal range. Among Perry's musical influences are Alanis Morissette, pop rockers Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Shirley Manson, and Freddie Mercury, Perry expects to record more pop songs for her next album.

Perry is artistically involved in her projects, especially in the writing process. Since she could play guitar, she would start writing songs at home and present it to her producers. Perry is mostly inspired by specific moments of her life. She said it is easy for her to write songs about heartbreak. The songs have been respectively labeled as being homophobic and promoting homosexuality, as well as "lez ploitational".

Public image

Perry is known for her unconventional style of dress. Her fashion has caught the attention of designers, who were giving her nearly as much attention as fans of her music. The picture was defended as only an effort to give Perry a "sexy, harder edge". She has appeared in FHM Magazine's 100 Sexiest Women poll twice, ranking at #23 in 2009 and #37 in 2010.

Personal life

Perry dated Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy, whom she met in a recording studio in New York, on and off for several years. After more than a year of friendship and casual dating, they became serious with their relationship right before they embarked on the 2008 Warped Tour. Perry and McCoy broke up in December 2008. The two began dating again in early 2009 and broke up again a few months later. Perry first met British comedian Russell Brand in the summer of 2008 when Perry filmed a cameo for Brand's film Get Him to the Greek. Perry and Brand began dating after meeting again in September 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Brand, as host, remarked, "Katy Perry didn't win an award and she's staying at the same hotel as me, so she's gonna need a shoulder to cry on. So in a way, I'm the real winner tonight." The couple became engaged in December 2009 when Brand proposed to Perry while vacationing in India. In a July 2010 YouTube interview, Perry said Brand would be a "perfect" father. Perry has stated that she plans to take dual British citizenship when she marries Brand. "One of the first things I'll do is apply for dual citizenship. I'm not too sure if I have to take a test as I've not had time to look into it. But England is like my second home". Perry and Brand married on October 23, 2010 near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, India, the same location where Brand had proposed. They were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony.

Discography

Katy Hudson (2001)

One of the Boys (2008)

Teenage Dream (2010)

Tours

Hello Katy Tour (2009)

California Dreams Tour (2011)

Filmography

Television

{| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role !class="unsortable"|Notes |- |2008 | |Herself |Episode 8914 |- |2008 |Wildfire |Herself |"" (Season 4, episode 8) |- |2010 | American Idol |Guest judge |"Season 9, episode 5" |- |2010 |The X Factor |Guest judge |"Series 7, episode 2" |- |2010 |Sesame Street | Herself | Online special (deleted from televised episode) |- |2010 | The Simpsons | Herself | 1 episode, "The Fight Before Christmas" |- |2011 | How I Met Your Mother | Zoey's cousin | 1 episode, "Oh Honey" |}

Films

{| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role ! class="unsortable"|Notes |- |2011 | |Smurfette |Voice |- |2011 | |TBA |Cameo |- |}

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from California Category:American bloggers Category:American Christians Category:American contraltos Category:American dance musicians Category:American female guitarists Category:American female pop singers Category:American film actors Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American people of Portuguese descent Category:American pop rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American voice actors Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Capitol Records artists Category:English-language singers Category:Female rock singers Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Santa Barbara, California Category:The X Factor judges

Name	Genki Sudo
Other names	Neo-Samurai (UFC) Transforming Trickster (K-1/Hero's)
Birth name	Sudō Genki 須藤 元気
Birth date	March 08, 1978
Birth place	Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Residence	Hokkaido, Japan
Height
Weight
Weight class	Middleweight(Hero's)
Style	Greco-Roman wrestling Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Stance	Unorthodox
Fighting out of	Tokyo, Japan
Team	Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club
Rank	black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active	1999 - 2006
Mma win	16
Mma kowin	1
Mma subwin	11
Mma decwin	3
Mma loss	4
Mma koloss	1
Mma decloss	3
Mma draw	1
Kickbox win	2
Kickbox kowin	2
Kickbox loss	4
Kickbox koloss	2
Url	http://crnavi.jp/sudogenki/blog/
Sherdog	http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Genki-Sudo-1227
University	Takushoku Junior College Takushoku University Graduate School
Updated	September 1, 2010

is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and a kickboxer who, up until December 31, 2006 competed in the Japanese based fight organization K-1 HERO'S and before that UFC and Pancrase. He is notable for his elaborate ring entrances and unorthodox fighting style. His philosophy is "We are all one". Signature moves include the flying triangle and spinning backfist. He is also an essayist, a musician, an actor and a dancer. In MMA competition, he holds notable submission victories over former WEC Featherweight champion Mike Brown, top UFC Middleweight Nathan Marquardt, and a knockout victory over Royler Gracie.

Biography

Amateur era

Genki Sudo was born in Koto Ward in Tokyo, Japan on March 8, 1978 as a son of a chef. His father is a chef and manager of his Seafood restaurant "Isokou"(磯幸).

He started practicing Greco-Roman wrestling during high school life.

After graduation of high school, he went to Takushoku Junior College in 1996, and graduated in 1998. During his campus life, he won JOC Cup All Japan Junior Wrestling Championship.

In April 1998, he moved to USA and started going to Santa Monica College, but he dropped out. During his life in Los Angeles, he joined Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club and practiced Brazilian jiu jitsu.

Professional MMA

On December 21, 2001, Sudo fought against Kenichi Yamamoto at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, and won by Rear Naked Choke. Sudo and Yamamoto promised to bet Yamamoto's championship belt of UFC personally before this bout. For this reason, Sudo was given it by Yamamoto after this bout, and Sudo was introduced as "UFC Japan Champion" by media after this bout. As this promise was personal, he is not sanctioned as champion by Zuffa.

K-1

Sudo participated the tournament of K-1 in 2002. He lost in the semi finals.

A fighter with good striking ability, he has won fights by flashy knockout in both mixed martial arts and kickboxing. Among the rather unorthodox techniques that he favors and can use effectively are the spinning backfist, a flying leg-triangle choke and flying armbar, as well as dancing and turning his back to opponents in order to taunt or distract them.

Hero's

Genki Sudo was defeated by K-1 HERO's lightweight champion Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto. The fight was won by a controversial referee stoppage after Sudo was knocked down by a right hand which was followed by some punches.

Retirement

At K-1 Dynamite! on December 31, 2006 he defeated Damacio Page by submission. After his win, and to the shock of the crowd, Sudo announced his retirement.

After Retirement

Prior to his retirement on New Year's Eve Sudo fought for K-1 HERO's, the mixed martial arts branch of the most popular Japanese combat sports circuit. Sudo is well known for his particularly flashy choreographed ring entrances that often include costumed dancers. One entrance featured Sudo doing the robot and operating levers that released a column of smoke from the top of his head while wearing a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket as a hat and a white plastic mask, in an homage to the musician Buckethead.

On August 1, 2009,　Genki Sudo and his office made an official statement to say information on Wikipedia was wrong. According to their statement, the bout between Sudo and Tiki Ghosn was originally declared a draw which was overturned after Sudo’s corner man, Bas Rutten, objected, at which point Sudo was declared the winner and given a medal.

Sudo is a practicing Buddhist.

Sudo has written eight books, is married, started an amateur baseball team for people 30 and over, and has finished filming his part of the movie The R246 Story.

Sudo also takes part in singing in a group called "WORLD ORDER". The lyrics, song, and choreography are all done by him.

In 2008, he accepted the position of Manager for Takushoku University’s wrestling team. In the 2009 Eastern Japan University League Games, the 2009 All Japan University Greco-Roman Championship Tournament, and the 2010 All Japan University Wrestling Conference, he was awarded the prize for Best Manager. In addition, he led the team to victory in the 2010 All Japan Student Wrestling Championship, and in his second year as manager Takushoku University was victorious at all four of the biggest student wrestling tournaments. In 2010, he was made the Japanese representative manager for the World University Championship.

Graduate school

On January 25, 2010, he had an entrance examination of Takushoku University Graduate School and he was admitted to enter the school on January 29. He entered the Local Government Course (Master’s Program) of the Graduate School of Local Government.

On April 8, he received his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Yoshinao Watanabe at Triforce Academy. |align='left'|UFC 42 – Sudden Impact |align='left'| |align='center'|3 |align='center'|5:00 |align='left'| Florida, United States |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|8-2–1 |align='left'| Leigh Remedios |align='left'|Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |align='left'|UFC 38 – Brawl at the Hall |align='left'| |align='center'|2 |align='center'|1:38 |align='left'| London, England |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|7-2–1 |align='left'| Kenichi Yamamoto |align='left'|Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |align='left'|Rings – World Title Series 5 |align='left'| |align='center'|2 |align='center'|1:46 |align='left'| Yokohama, Japan |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|6-2–1 |align='left'| Brian Lo-A-Njoe |align='left'|Submission (Triangle Choke) |align='left'|Rings – Battle Genesis Vol. 8 |align='left'| |align='center'|1 |align='center'|2:17 |align='left'| Tokyo, Japan |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|5-2–1 |align='left'| Craig Oxley |align='left'|Submission (Achilles Lock) |align='left'|Pancrase – Trans 6 |align='left'| |align='center'|1 |align='center'|3:14 |align='left'| Tokyo, Japan |- |-align=center |style='background: #c5d2ea'|zDraw |align='center'|4-2–1 |align='left'| Andre Pederneiras |align='left'|Draw |align='left'|C2K – Colosseum 2000 |align='left'| |align='center'|1 |align='center'|15:00 |align='left'| Japan |- |-align=center |Loss |align='center'|4-2 |align='left'| Kiuma Kunioku |align='left'|Decision (Unanimous) |align='left'|Pancrase – Trans 2 |align='left'| |align='center'|2 |align='center'|3:00 |align='left'| Osaka, Japan |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|4-1 |align='left'| Nathan Marquardt |align='left'|Submission (Armbar) |align='left'|Pancrase – Breakthrough 11 |align='left'| |align='center'|1 |align='center'|13:31 |align='left'| Yokohama, Japan |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|3-1 |align='left'| Victor Hunsaker |align='left'|Submission (Elbows) |align='left'|Pancrase – Breakthrough 9 |align='left'| |align='center'|1 |align='center'|1:43 |align='left'| Tokyo, Japan |- |-align=center |Loss |align='center'|2-1 |align='left'| Minoru Toyonaga |align='left'|Decision (Unanimous) |align='left'|Pancrase – 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2 |align='left'| |align='center'|2 |align='center'|3:00 |align='left'| Tokyo, Japan |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|2-0 |align='left'| Kousei Kubota |align='left'|Decision (Unanimous) |align='left'|Pancrase – 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 |align='left'| |align='center'|2 |align='center'|3:00 |align='left'| Tokyo, Japan |- |-align=center |Win |align='center'|1-0 |align='left'| Tiki Ghosn |align='left'|Decision (Unanimous) |align='left'|ES 2 – Extreme Shoot 2 |align='left'| |align='center'|N/A |align='center'| |align='left'| California, United States |- |}

{| class="toccolours" width=95% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;" |- ! colspan=2 style="background:#A9A9A9" | Professional kickboxing record |- valign="top" | Legend: |}

Bibliography

The following books are all essays.

Discography

Titles

JOC Cup All Japan Junior Wrestling Championship Winner(1996)

Hero's Middleweight Tournament Runner-up

Awards

Martial arts

*UFC38 Tap Out Award

*UFC38 Best Fighter Award

*UFC47 Tap Out Award

*UFC47 Best Fighter Award

Movie

Spotlight Award (Short Short Film Festival & Asia 2008)

Japanese calligraphy

Newcomer Encouragement Award (15th Taisho exhibition)

See also

List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

(Japanese)

Management office

Sherdog.com - professional MMA record

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese mixed martial artists Category:Lightweight mixed martial artists Category:Sportspeople from Tokyo Category:Japanese Buddhists

Name	French Montana
Background	solo_singer
Caption	Evil Empire Presents: The Laundry Man
Alias	French Montana, Young French, Young Mali
Birth name	Karim Kharbouch
Born	November 09, 1984 Rabat, Morocco French emigrated with his mother and little brother in 1996, when he was 13, to the Bronx in New York City.
Name	Montana, French
Date of birth	November 9, 1984

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Underground rappers Category:People from the Bronx Category:Rappers from New York Category:Rappers from New York City Category:American people of Moroccan descent Category:American people of Somali descent

Name	Frank Sinatra
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Francis Albert Sinatra
Alias	Ol' Blue EyesThe Chairman of the Board
Death date	May 14, 1998
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Death cause	Heart attack
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Traditional pop, jazz, swing, big band, vocal
Occupation	Singer,
Years active	1935–1995
Label	Columbia, Capitol, Reprise
Associated acts	Rat Pack, Bing Crosby, Nancy Sinatra, Quincy Jones, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Dean Martin
Url
Spouse	Nancy Barbato (1939-1951)Ava Gardner (1951–57)Mia Farrow (1966-1968)Barbara Marx (1976-1998)

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor.

Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (for his performance in From Here to Eternity).

He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records (finding success with albums such as Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special , and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

With sales of his music dwindling and after appearing in several poorly received films, Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971. Two years later, however, he came out of retirement and in 1973 recorded several albums, scoring a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980. Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally, until a short time before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a successful career as a film actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, a nomination for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm, and critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life

Born in December 1915, Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della Garaventa and Antonino Martino Sinatra. Sinatra was raised Catholic. He left high school without graduating, having attended only 47 days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct. His mother, known as Dolly, was influential in the neighborhood and in local Democratic Party circles, but also ran an illegal abortion business from her home; she was arrested several times and convicted twice for this offense. Sinatra was arrested for carrying on with a married woman, a criminal offense at the time. Sinatra's father, often referred to as Tony, served with the Hoboken Fire Department as a Fire Captain. During the tough years of the 1930s, when the Great Depression hit North America, Dolly nevertheless provided ready pocket money to their son for outings with friends and fancy clothes. Sinatra then worked for some time as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper, and as a riveter at the Tietjan and Lang shipyard. Sinatra began singing for tips at the age of eight, standing on top of the bar at a local nightclub in Hoboken. He began singing professionally as a teenager in the 1930s.

1935–40: Start of career, work with James and Dorsey

Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group, The Three Flashes, to let him join. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four,

On March 18, 1939, Sinatra made a demo recording of a song called "Our Love", with the Frank Mane band. The record has "Frank Sinatra" signed on the front. The bandleader kept the original record in a safe for nearly 60 years. In June, Harry James hired Sinatra on a one year contract of $75 a week. It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July, 1939 - US Brunswick #8443 and UK Columbia #DB2150.

Fewer than 8,000 copies of "From the Bottom of My Heart" (Brunswick #8443) were sold, making the record a very rare find that is sought after by record collectors worldwide. Sinatra released ten commercial tracks with James through 1939, including "All or Nothing At All" which had weak sales on its initial release but then sold millions of copies when re-released by Columbia at the height of Sinatra's popularity a few years later.

In November 1939, in a meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago, Sinatra was asked by bandleader Tommy Dorsey to join his band as a replacement for Jack Leonard, who had recently left to launch a solo career. This meeting was a turning point in Sinatra's career, since by signing with Dorsey's band, one of the hottest bands at the time, he got greatly increased visibility with the American public. Though Sinatra was still under contract with James, James recognized the opportunity Dorsey offered and graciously released Sinatra from his contract. Sinatra recognized his debt to James throughout his life and upon hearing of James's death in 1983, stated: "he [James] is the one that made it all possible."

On January 26, 1940, Sinatra made his first public appearance with the Dorsey band at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, Illinois. In his first year with Dorsey, Sinatra released more than forty songs, with "I'll Never Smile Again" topping the charts for twelve weeks beginning in mid-July.

Sinatra's relationship with Tommy Dorsey was troubled, because of their contract, which awarded Dorsey ⅓ of Sinatra's lifetime earnings in the entertainment industry. In January 1942, Sinatra recorded his first solo sessions without the Dorsey band (but with Dorsey's arranger Axel Stordahl and with Dorsey's approval). These sessions were released commercially on the Bluebird label. Sinatra left the Dorsey band late in 1942 in an incident that started rumors of Sinatra's involvement with the Mafia. A story appeared in the Hearst newspapers that mobster Sam Giancana coerced Dorsey to let Sinatra out of his contract for a few thousand dollars. This story was famously fictionalized in the movie The Godfather. According to Nancy Sinatra's biography, the Hearst rumors were started because of Frank's Democratic politics. In fact, the contract was bought out by MCA founder Jules Stein for $75,000.

His appeal to bobby soxers, as teenage girls of that time were called, revealed a whole new audience for popular music, which had been recorded mainly for adults up to that time.

On December 31, 1942, Sinatra opened at the Paramount Theater in New York.

during World War II.]]

During the musicians' strike of 1942–44, Columbia re-released Harry James and Sinatra's version of "All or Nothing at All" (music by Arthur Altman and lyrics by Jack Lawrence), recorded in August 1939 and released before Sinatra had made a name for himself. The original release didn’t even mention the vocalist's name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra's name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.

Sinatra signed with Columbia on June 1, 1943 as a solo artist, and he initially had great success, particularly during the 1942-43 musicians' strike. And while no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on Your Hit Parade), and on stage. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra convinced them to hire Alec Wilder as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.

Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was classified 4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") for a perforated eardrum by his draft board. Additionally, an FBI report on Sinatra, released in 1998, showed that the doctors had also written that he was a "neurotic" and "not acceptable material from a psychiatric standpoint." This was omitted from his record to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service." Active-duty servicemen, like journalist William Manchester, said of Sinatra, "I think Frank Sinatra was the most hated man of World War II, much more than Hitler", because Sinatra was back home making all of that money and being shown in photographs surrounded by beautiful women. His deferment would resurface throughout his life and cause him grief when he had to defend himself. There were accusations, including some from noted columnist Walter Winchell, that Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid the service — but the FBI found no evidence of this.

When Sinatra returned to the Paramount Theater in October 1944, 35,000 fans caused a near riot outside the venue because they were not allowed in.

In 1945, Sinatra co-starred with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh. That same year, he was loaned out to RKO to star in a short film titled The House I Live In. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this film on tolerance and racial equality earned a special Academy Award shared among Sinatra and those who brought the film to the screen, along with a special Golden Globe for "Promoting Good Will." 1946 saw the release of his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, and the debut of his own weekly radio show.

By the end of 1948, Sinatra felt that his career was stalling, something that was confirmed when he slipped to No. 4 on Down Beat's annual poll of most popular singers (behind Billy Eckstine, Frankie Laine, and Bing Crosby).

The year 1949 saw an upswing, as Frank co-starred with Gene Kelly in Take Me Out to the Ball Game. It was well received critically and became a major commercial success. That same year, Sinatra teamed up with Kelly for a third time in On the Town.

1950–60: Rebirth of career, Capitol concept albums

After two years' absence, Sinatra returned to the concert stage on January 12, 1950, in Hartford, Connecticut. His voice suffered and he experienced hemorrhaging of his vocal cords on stage at the Copacabana on April 26, 1950.

Also in 1953, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio program Rocky Fortune. His character, Rocko Fortunato (aka Rocky Fortune) was a temp worker for the Gridley Employment Agency who stumbled into crime-solving by way of the odd jobs to which he was dispatched. The series aired on NBC radio Tuesday nights from October 1953 to March 1954, following the network's crime drama hit Dragnet. During the final months of the show, just before the 1954 Oscars, it became a running gag that Sinatra would manage to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into each episode, a reference to his Oscar-nominated performance.

In 1953, Sinatra signed with Capitol Records, where he worked with many of the finest musical arrangers of the era, most notably Nelson Riddle,

1960–70: Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Reprise records, Basie, Jobim, "My Way"

Sinatra started the 1960s as he ended the 1950s. His first album of the decade, Nice 'n' Easy, topped Billboard's chart and won critical plaudits. Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol and decided to form his own label, Reprise Records. His first album on the label, Ring-A-Ding-Ding (1961), was a major success, peaking at #4 on Billboard and #8 in the UK.

His fourth and final Timex TV special was broadcast in March, 1960, and earned massive viewing figures. Titled It's Nice to Go Travelling, the show is more commonly known as . Elvis Presley's appearance after his army discharge was somewhat ironic; Sinatra had been scathing about him in the mid fifties, saying: "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." Presley had responded: "... [Sinatra] is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... [rock and roll] is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago." Later, in efforts to maintain his commercial viability, Sinatra recorded Presley's hit "Love Me Tender" as well as works by Paul Simon ("Mrs. Robinson"), The Beatles ("Something", "Yesterday"), and Joni Mitchell ("Both Sides Now").

Following on the heels of the film Can Can was Ocean's 11, the movie that became the definitive on-screen outing for "The Rat Pack".

From his youth, Sinatra displayed sympathy for African Americans and worked both publicly and privately all his life to help them win equal rights. He played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1960s. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. He often spoke from the stage on desegregation and repeatedly played benefits on behalf of Dr. King and his movement. According to his son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at a concert in 1963 as Sinatra sang Ol' Man River, a song from the musical Show Boat that is sung by an African-American stevedore.

On September 11 and 12, 1961, Sinatra recorded his final songs for Capitol.

In 1962, he starred with Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey in the political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, playing Bennett Marco. That same year, Sinatra and Count Basie collaborated for the album Sinatra-Basie. This popular and successful release prompted them to rejoin two years later for the follow-up It Might as Well Be Swing, which was arranged by Quincy Jones. One of Sinatra's more ambitious albums from the mid-1960s, The Concert Sinatra, was recorded with a 73-piece symphony orchestra on 35mm tape.

Sinatra's first live album, Sinatra at the Sands, was recorded during January and February 1966 at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

In June, 1965, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin played live in Saint Louis to benefit Dismas House. The concert was broadcast live via satellite to numerous movie theaters across America. Released in August, 1965, was the Grammy Award–winning album of the year, September of My Years, with a career anthology, A Man and His Music, following in November, itself winning Album of the Year at the Grammys in 1966. The TV special, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, garnered both an Emmy award and a Peabody Award.

In the spring, That's Life appeared, with both the single and album becoming Top Ten hits in the US on Billboard's pop charts. Strangers in the Night went on to top the Billboard and UK pop singles charts, winning the award for Record of the Year at the Grammys. The album of the same name also topped the Billboard chart and reached number 4 in the UK.

Sinatra started 1967 with a series of important recording sessions with Antônio Carlos Jobim. Later in the year, a duet with daughter Nancy, "Somethin' Stupid", topped the Billboard pop and UK singles charts. In December, Sinatra collaborated with Duke Ellington on the album Francis A. & Edward K..

During the late 1960s, press agent Lee Solters would invite columnists and their spouses into Sinatra's dressing room just before he was about to go on stage. The New Yorker recounted that "the first columnist they tried this on was Larry Fields of the Philadelphia Daily News, whose wife fainted when Sinatra kissed her cheek. 'Take care of it, Lee,' Sinatra said, and he was off." The professional relationship Sinatra shared with Solters focused on projects on the west coast while those focused on the east coast were handled by Solters' partner, Sheldon Roskin of Solters/Roskin/Friedman, a well-known firm at the time.

Back on the small-screen, Sinatra once again worked with Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald on the TV special, A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim.

Watertown (1970) was one of Sinatra's most acclaimed concept albums but was all but ignored by the public. Selling a mere 30,000 copies and reaching a peak chart position of 101, its failure put an end to plans for a television special based on the album.

With Sinatra in mind, singer-songwriter Paul Anka wrote the song "My Way", inspired from the French "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual"), composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. (The song had been previously commissioned to David Bowie, whose lyrics did not please the involved agents.) "My Way" would, ironically, become more closely identified with him than any other song over his seven decades as a singer even though he reputedly did not care for it.

1970–80: Retirement and comeback

On June 13, 1971 — at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund — at the age of 55, Sinatra announced that he was retiring, bringing to an end his 36-year career in show business.

In 1973, Sinatra came out of retirement with a television special and album, both entitled Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. The album, arranged by Gordon Jenkins and Don Costa, was a great success, reaching number 13 on Billboard and number 12 in the UK. The TV special was highlighted by a dramatic reading of "Send in the Clowns" and a song and dance sequence with former co-star Gene Kelly.

In January, 1974, Sinatra returned to Las Vegas, performing at Caesars Palace despite vowing in 1970 never to play there again after the manager of the resort, Sanford Waterman, pulled a gun on him during a heated argument. With Waterman recently shot, the door was open for Sinatra to return.

In Australia, he caused an uproar by describing journalists there — who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference — as "fags", "pimps", and "whores." Australian unions representing transport workers, waiters, and journalists went on strike, demanding that Sinatra apologize for his remarks. Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world press."

Also in 1981, Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a ten-day engagement for $2 million in Sun City, South Africa, breaking a cultural boycott against Apartheid South Africa. See Artists United Against Apartheid

He was selected as one of the five recipients of the 1983 Kennedy Center Honors, alongside Katharine Dunham, James Stewart, Elia Kazan, and Virgil Thomson. Quoting Henry James in honoring his old friend, President Ronald Reagan said that "art was the shadow of humanity" and that Sinatra had "spent his life casting a magnificent and powerful shadow."

In 1984, Sinatra worked with Quincy Jones for the first time in nearly two decades on the album, L.A. Is My Lady, which was well received critically. The album was a substitute for another Jones project, an album of duets with Lena Horne, which had to be abandoned. (Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, could not wait to record.)

1990s: Duets, final performances

In 1990, Sinatra celebrated his 75th birthday with a national tour, and was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles–based Society of Singers. At the award ceremony, he performed for the final time with Ella Fitzgerald.

In December, as part of Sinatra's birthday celebrations, Patrick Pasculli, the Mayor of Hoboken, made a proclamation in his honor, declaring that "no other vocalist in history has sung, swung, crooned, and serenaded into the hearts of the young and old ... as this consummate artist from Hoboken." The same month Sinatra gave the first show of his Diamond Jubilee Tour at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In 1993 Sinatra made a surprise return to Capitol and the recording studio for Duets, which was released in November.

The other artists who added their vocals to the album worked for free, and a follow-up album (Duets II) was released in 1994 that reached #9 on the Billboard charts.

Still touring despite various health problems, Sinatra remained a top concert attraction on a global scale during the first half of the 1990s. At times during concerts his memory failed him and a fall onstage in Richmond, Virginia, in March, 1994, signaled further problems.

Sinatra's final public concerts were held in Japan's Fukuoka Dome in December, 1994. The following year, on February 25, 1995, at a private party for 1200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. Esquire reported of the show that Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control." His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come".

Sinatra was awarded the Legend Award at the 1994 Grammy Awards, where he was introduced by Bono, who said of him, "Frank's the chairman of the bad attitude.... Rock 'n roll plays at being tough, but this guy is the boss--the chairman of boss.... I'm not going to mess with him, are you?" Sinatra called it "the best welcome...I ever had." But his acceptance speech ran too long and was abruptly cut off, leaving him looking confused and talking into a dead microphone.

In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, the Empire State Building glowed blue. A star-studded birthday tribute, Sinatra: 80 Years My Way, was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was Sinatra's last televised appearance.

In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.

Personal life

Sinatra had three children, Nancy, Frank Jr., and Tina, all with his first wife, Nancy Barbato (married 1939-1951). He was married three more times, to actresses Ava Gardner (1951–1957) and Mia Farrow (1966–1968) and finally to Barbara Marx (married 1976), to whom he was still married at his death.

Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression. He acknowledged this, telling an interviewer in the 1950s: "Being an 18-karat manic-depressive, and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation." In her memoirs My Father's Daughter, his daughter Tina wrote about the "eighteen-karat" remark: "As flippant as Dad could be about his mental state, I believe that a Zoloft a day might have kept his demons away. But that kind of medicine was decades off."

Death

Sinatra began to show signs of senility in his last years and after a heart attack in February 1997, he made no further public appearances. After suffering a further heart attack,The official cause of death was listed as complications from senility, heart and kidney disease, and bladder cancer. His death was confirmed by the Sinatra family on their website with a statement accompanied by a recording of the singer's version of "Softly As I Leave You." The next night the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed for 10 minutes in his honor. President Bill Clinton, as an amateur saxophonist and musician, led the world's tributes to Sinatra, saying that after meeting and getting to know the singer as President, he had "come to appreciate on a personal level what millions of people had appreciated from afar." Elton John stated that Sinatra, "was simply the best - no one else even comes close." Tony Curtis,

Discography

Awards and recognitions

.]]

Legacy

The U.S. Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honor of Sinatra on May 13, 2008. The design of the stamp was unveiled Wednesday, December 12, 2007 — on the anniversary of what would have been his 92nd birthday — in Beverly Hills, California, with Sinatra family members on hand. The Hoboken Post Office was renamed in his honor in 2002.

To commemorate the anniversary of Sinatra's death, Patsy's Restaurant in New York City, which Sinatra frequented, exhibited in May 2009 fifteen previously unseen photographs of Sinatra taken by Bobby Bank. The photos are of his recording "Everybody Ought to Be in Love" at a nearby recording studio. Memorabilia in the restaurant includes his Oscar for "From Here to Eternity", his Emmy for "", his Grammy for "Strangers in the Night", photographs and a gold album he received for "Classic Sinatra".

There is a residence hall at Montclair State University named for him in recognition of his status as an iconic New Jersey native.

The Frank Sinatra International Student Center at Israel's Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus campus, was dedicated in 1978 in recognition of Sinatra's charitable and advocacy activities on behalf of the State of Israel.

Film portrayals

Main article: Sinatra (TV miniseries)

In 1992, CBS aired a TV mini-series about the entertainer's life called Sinatra, directed by James Steven Sadwith and starred Philip Casnoff as Sinatra. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's rise to the top in the 1940s, through the dark days of the early 1950s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-1950s, to his status as pop culture icon in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Tina Sinatra was executive producer. Casnoff received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

In 1998, Ray Liotta portrayed Sinatra in the HBO movie The Rat Pack, alongside Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin and Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr. It depicted their contribution to John F. Kennedy's election as U.S. president in 1960.

In 2003, Sinatra was portrayed by James Russo in "Stealing Sinatra", which revolved around the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963

Also in 2003, he was portrayed by Dennis Hopper in "The Night we Called it a Day", based upon events that occurred during a tour of Australia where Frank had called a member of the news media a "two-bit hooker" and all the unions in the country came crashing down on him.

Sinatra was also portrayed by Sebastian Anzaldo in the film Tears of a King, who also impersonated Sinatra in a TV episode of The Next Best Thing.

Brett Ratner is currently developing a film adaptation of George Jacobs' memoir Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra. Jacobs, who was Sinatra's valet, will be portrayed by Chris Tucker.

Alleged organized crime links

Sinatra garnered considerable attention due to his alleged personal and professional links with organized crime, including figures such as Carlo Gambino, Lucky Luciano, The FBI kept Sinatra under surveillance for almost five decades beginning in the 1940s. The documents include accounts of Sinatra as the target of death threats and extortion schemes. They also portray rampant paranoia and strange obsessions at the FBI and reveal nearly every celebrated Sinatra foible and peccadillo.

For a year Hoover investigated Sinatra's alleged Communist affiliations, but found no evidence. The files include his rendezvous with prostitutes, and his extramarital affair with Ava Gardner, which preceded their marriage. Celebrities mentioned in the files are Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, and Giancana's girlfriend, singer Phyllis McGuire.

The FBI's secret dossier on Sinatra was released in 1998 in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Political views

Sinatra held differing political views throughout his life.

Sinatra's parents had immigrated to the United States in 1895 and 1897 respectively. His mother, Dolly Sinatra (1896–1977), was a Democratic Party ward boss.

in 1960, was an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party until 1968.]]

Sinatra remained a supporter of the Democratic Party until the early 1970's when he switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.

Political activities 1944-1968

In 1944 after sending a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sinatra was invited to meet Roosevelt at the White House, where he agreed to become part of the Democratic party's voter registration drives.

He donated $5,000 to the Democrats for the 1944 presidential election, and by the end of the campaign was appearing at two or three political events every day.

After World War II, Sinatra's politics grew steadily more left wing, and he became more publicly associated with the Popular Front. He started reading liberal literature, and supported many organizations that were later identified as front organizations of the Communist party by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, though Sinatra was never brought before the Committee.

Sinatra spoke at a number of New Jersey high schools in 1945, where students had gone on strike in opposition to racial integration. Later that year Sinatra would appear in The House I Live In, a short film that stood against racism. The film was scripted by Albert Maltz, with the title song written by Earl Robinson and Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym of Lewis Allen).

In 1948, Sinatra actively campaigned for President Harry S. Truman. In 1952 and 1956, he also campaigned for Adlai Stevenson. a rival singer and a Republican, for Kennedy's visit to Palm Springs in 1962. Kennedy had planned to stay at Sinatra's home over the Easter holiday weekend, but decided against doing so, because of problems with Sinatra's alleged connections to organized crime, President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was intensifying his own investigations into organized crime figures at the time, such as Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who had earlier stayed at Sinatra's home.

Despite his break with Kennedy, however, he still mourned over Kennedy after he learned he was assassinated.

During Nixon's Presidency, Sinatra visited the White House on several occasions.

by President Ronald Reagan.]]

In the 1980 presidential election, Sinatra supported Ronald Reagan, and donated $4 million to Reagan's campaign. Sinatra said he supported Reagan as he was "the proper man to be the President of the United States... it's so screwed up now, we need someone to straighten it out." Reagan's victory gave Sinatra his closest relationship with the White House since the early 1960s. as he had done for Kennedy 20 years previously.

In 1984 Sinatra returned to his birthplace in Hoboken, bringing with him President Reagan, who was in the midst of campaigning for the 1984 presidential election. Reagan had made Sinatra a fund-raising ambassador as part of the Republicans' 'Victory 84'' get-the-vote-out-drive.

President Clinton never met Sinatra before taking office. They had dinner after Clinton's inauguration. Clinton later said that he was glad "to appreciate on a personal level what hundreds of millions of people around the world, including me, appreciated from afar."

See also

Rat Pack

Sinatra Doctrine

1920 US Census with Sinatras

1930 US Census with Sinatras

List of jazz musicians

Best selling music artists

Frank Sinatra discography

Frank Sinatra filmography

The Frank Sinatra Show (CBS)

The Frank Sinatra Show (ABC)

Anthony Martin Sinatra

Further reading

Biographies

Freedland, Michael. (2000) All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra. St Martins Press. ISBN 0-7528-1662-4

Grudens, Richard (2010) Sinatra Singing. Celebrity Profiles Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9763877-8-7

Havers, Richard. (2004) Sinatra. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-4053-1461-3

Kaplan, James. (2010) Frank: The Voice. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385518048

Kelley, Kitty. (1986) His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra. Bantam Press. ISBN 0-553-26515-6

Lahr, John. (1987) Sinatra. Random House. ISBN 0-7538-0842-0

Munn, Michael. (2002) Sinatra: The Untold Story. Robson Books Ltd. ISBN 1-86105-537-4

Rockwell, John. (1984) Sinatra: An American Classic. Rolling Stone. ISBN 0-394-53977-X

Rojek, Chris. (2004) Frank Sinatra. Polity. ISBN 0-7456-3090-1

Santopietro, Tom. (2008) Sinatra In Hollywood. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-36226-3

Summers, Antony and Swan, Robbyn. (2005) Sinatra: The Life. Doubleday. ISBN 0-552-15331-1

Taraborrelli, J. Randall. (1998) Sinatra: The Man Behind the Myth. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-119-2

Wilson, Earl. (1976) Sinatra.

Memoirs

Ash, Vic. (2006) I Blew it My Way: Bebop, Big Bands and Sinatra. Northway Publications. ISBN 0-9550908-2-2

Jacobs, George and Stadiem, William. (2003) Mr. S.: The Last Word on Frank Sinatra. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-330-41229-9

Falcone, Vincent. (2005) Frankly - Just Between Us: My Life Conducting Frank Sinatra's Music Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-0634094989

Criticism

Fuchs, J. & Prigozy, R., ed. (2007) Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Music, the Legend. The Boydell Press. ISBN 1-58046-251-0

Granata, Charles L. (1999) Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-509-4

Hamill, Pete. (2003) Why Sinatra Matters. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-73886-7

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. (1998) Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96495-7

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. (1997) The Frank Sinatra Reader. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511389-6

Pugliese, S., ed. (2004) Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture ". Palgrave. ISBN 1-4039-6655-9

Smith, Martin. (2005) When Ol' Blue Eyes Was a Red. Redwords. ISBN 1-905192-02-9

Zehme, Bill. (1997) The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-093175-2

Jazz Times Magazine, May 1998">"Frank Sinatra — Through the Lens of Jazz", Jazz Times Magazine, May 1998

Friedwald, Will. (1999) Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-684-19368-X

Granata, Charles L. (1999) Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-509-5

McNally, Karen. (2008) When Frankie Went to Hollywood: Frank Sinatra and American Male Identity University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-03334-5

Sinatra family publications

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Frank Jr. and Jones, Quincy. (2004) The Sinatra Treasures. Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-184-1

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Amanda. (2007) Frank Sinatra: The Family Album Little Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-00349-2

Sinatra, Julie. (2007) Under My Skin: My Father, Frank Sinatra The Man Behind the Mystique iuniverse.com, ISBN 0-595-43478-9

Sinatra, Nancy. (1986) Frank Sinatra, My Father. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23356-9

Sinatra, Nancy. (1998) Frank Sinatra 1915-1998: An American Legend. Readers Digest. ISBN 0-7621-0134-2

Sinatra, Tina. (2000) My Father's Daughter. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-87076-2

Cultural criticism

Gigliotti, Gilbert L. A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit. Greewood, 2002.

Hamill, Pete. Why Sinatra Matters. Back Bay Books, 2003.

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture. Praeger, 1998.

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. The Frank Sinatra Reader. Oxford University Press, 1997.

Pugliese, S., ed. Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture ". Palgrave, 2004.

Smith, Martin. When Ol' Blue Eyes was a red. Redwords, 2005.

Zehme, Bill. The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'. Harper Collins, 1997.

Other

Gigliotti, Gilbert L., ed. (2008) Sinatra: But Buddy I'm a Kind of Poem. Entasis Press ISBN 978-0-9800999-0-4

Havers, Richard. (2004) Sinatra. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-4053-1461-3

Ingham, Chris. (2005) The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-414-2

Knight, Timothy. (2010) Sinatra - Hollywood His Way. Running Press. ISBN 9780762437436

Lloyd, David. (2003) The Gospel According to Frank. New American Press. ISBN 1-930907-19-2

O'Neill, Terry, ed. Morgan, Robert. (2007) Sinatra: Frank and Friendly. Evans Mitchell Books. ISBN 1-901268-32-2

The New Rolling Stone Record Guide, Rolling Stone Press, 1983.

Tom and Phil Kuntz. (2000) The Sinatra Files: The Secret FBI Dossier. Three Rivers Press ISBN 0-8129-3276-5

Giordmaina, Diane [McCue]. (2009) "Sinatra and The Moll". iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-53234-6

References

External links

Watch

The House I Live In (1945)

The Frank Sinatra Show (1950-1952)

Listen

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