Official name	Kharkiv (Харків)
Native name	Kharkov (Харьков)
Image shield	KharkovTownflag.png
Shield size	90px
Map caption	Map of Ukraine with Kharkiv highlighted.
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	Oblast
Subdivision name1	Kharkiv Oblast
Subdivision type2	Municipality
Subdivision name2	Kharkiv City Municipality
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Gennady Kernes
Established title	Founded
Established date	1654
Established title2	City rights
Established date2	1552-1654
Parts type	Raions
Parts style
Parts	List of 9
P1	Dzerzhynsky Raion
P2	Zhovtnevy Raion
P3	Kyivsky Raion
P4	Kominternіvsky Raion
P5	Leninsky Raion
P6	Moskovsky Raion
P7	Frunzensky Raion
P8	Ordzhonikidzevsky Raion
P9	Chervonozavodsky Raion
Area total km2	310
Population as of	2010
Population total	1,449,000
Population metro	1,732,400
Population density km2	4500
Timezone	EET
Utc offset	+2
Timezone dst	EEST
Utc offset dst	+3
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates type	type:city_region:UA
Elevation m	152
Postal code type	Postal code
Postal code	61001—61499
Blank name	Licence plate
Blank info	ХА, 21 (old)
Blank1 name	Sister cities
Blank1 info	Belgorod, Bologna, Cincinnati, Kaunas, Lille, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Nuremberg, Poznań, St. Petersburg, Tianjin, Jinan, Kutaisi, Varna, Rishon LeZion, Brno, Daugavpils
Website	http://www.city.kharkov.ua

Kharkiv (, ;) or Kharkov () is the second largest city in Ukraine.

Founded in 1654, Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Soviet power was proclaimed and Soviet government was formed. Now it is the administrative centre of the Kharkiv oblast (province), as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion (district) within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast of the country. As of 2006, its population is 1,461,300.

Kharkiv is a major cultural, scientific, educational, transport and industrial centre of Ukraine, with 60 scientific Institutes, 30 establishments of higher education, 6 museums, 7 theatres and 80 libraries. Its industry specializes mostly in machinery. There are hundreds of industrial companies in the city. Among them are world famous giants like the Morozov Design Bureau and the Malyshev Tank Factory, leaders in tank production since the 1930s; Khartron (aerospace and nuclear electronics); and the Turboatom turbines producer.

There is an underground rapid-transit system (metro) with about of track and 29 stations. A well-known landmark of Kharkiv is the Freedom Square (Maidan Svobody formerly known as Dzerzhinsky Square), which is currently the sixth largest city square in Europe, and the 12th largest square in the world.

Geography

Kharkiv is located in the northeastern region of Ukraine at around . Historically, Kharkiv lies in the Sloboda Ukraine region (Slobozhanshchyna also known as Slobidshchyna), in which it is considered the main city. The city rests at the confluence of the Kharkiv, Lopan, and Udy rivers, where they flow into the Seversky Donets watershed.

Climate

Kharkiv's climate is humid continental (Köppen climate classification Dfb), with cold and snowy winters, and hot summers. The seasonal average temperatures are not too cold in winter, not too hot in summer: in January, and in July. The average rainfall totals per year, with the most in June and July.

History

Archeological evidence discovered in the area of present-day Kharkiv indicates that a local population has existed in that area since the 2nd millennium BC. Cultural artifacts date back to the Bronze Age, as well as those of later Scythian and Sarmatian settlers. There is also evidence that the Chernyakhov culture flourished in the area from the 2nd to the 6th century.

Founded in the middle of 17th century by the eponymous, near-legendary character called Kharko (a diminutive form of the name Chariton, ), the settlement became a city in 1654. Kharkiv became the centre of the Sloboda cossack legion. The city had a fortress with underground passageways.

Within the Russian Empire

belltower dominating the downtown.]] Kharkiv university was established in 1805. The streets were first cobbled in the city centre in 1830. RA system of running water was established in 1870. In 1912 the first sewerage system was built. Gas lighting was installed in 1890 and electric lighting in 1898. In 1869 the first railway station was constructed. In 1906 the first tram lines.

From 1800-1917 the population grew 30 times.

Kharkiv became a major industrial centre and with it a centre of Ukrainian culture. In 1812 the first Ukrainian newspaper was published there. One of the first Prosvitas in Eastern Ukraine was established in Kharkiv. A strong political movement was also established there and the concept of an Independent Ukraine was first declared there by the lawyer M. Mykhnovsky in 1900.

Soviet period

Prior to the formation of the Soviet Union, Bolsheviks established Kharkiv as the capital of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (from 1919–1934) in opposition to the Ukrainian People's Republic with its capital of Kiev.

building.]]

As the country's capital, it underwent intense expansion with the construction of buildings to house the newly established Ukrainian Soviet government and administration. Derzhprom was the second tallest building in Europe and the tallest in the Soviet Union at the time with a height of 63 m. In the 1920s, a 150 m wooden radio tower was built on top of the building. The radio tower was destroyed in World War II.

In 1928, the SVU (Union for the Freedom of Ukraine) process was initiated and court sessions were staged in the Kharkiv Opera (now the Philharmonia) building. Hundreds of Ukrainian intellectuals were arrested and deported.

In the early 1930s, the Holodomor famine drove many people off the land into the cities, and to Kharkiv in particular, in search of food. Many people died and were secretly buried in mass graves in the cemeteries surrounding the city.

in Kharkiv]]

In 1934 hundreds of Ukrainian writers, intellectuals and cultural workers were arrested and executed in the attempt to eradicate all vestiges of Ukrainian nationalism in Art. The purges continued into 1938. Blind Ukrainian street musicians were also gathered in Kharkiv and murdered by the NKVD. In January 1935 the capital of the Ukrainian SSR was moved from Kharkiv to Kiev.

in 1937-38]] massacre]] During April and May 1940 about 3,800 Polish prisoners of Starobelsk camp were executed in the Kharkiv NKVD building, later secretly buried on the grounds of an NKVD pansionat in Pyatykhatky forest (part of the Katyn massacre) on the outskirts of Kharkiv. The site also contains the numerous bodies of Ukrainian cultural workers who were arrested and shot in the 1937-38 Stalinist purges.

Nazi occupation

During World War II, Kharkiv was the site of several military engagements. The city was captured and recaptured by Nazi Germany on 24 October 1941; there was a disastrous Red Army offensive that failed to capture the city in May 1942; the city was successfully retaken by the Soviets on 16 February 1943, captured for a second time by the Germans on 16 March 1943 and then finally liberated on 23 August 1943. Seventy percent of the city was destroyed and tens of thousands of the inhabitants were killed. Kharkiv, the third largest city in the Soviet Union, was the most populous city in the Soviet Union captured by Nazis, since in the years preceding World War II, Kiev was by population the smaller of the two.

The significant Jewish population of Kharkiv (Kharkiv's Jewish community prided itself with the 2nd largest synagogue in Europe) suffered greatly during the war. Between December 1941 and January 1942, an estimated 30,000 people (slightly more than half Jewish) were killed and buried in a mass grave by the Germans in a ravine outside of town named Drobitsky Yar.

During World War II, four battles took place for control of the city:

First Battle of Kharkov

Second Battle of Kharkov

Third Battle of Kharkov

Fourth Battle of Kharkov (See also Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev)

Before the occupation, Kharkiv's tank industries were evacuated to the Urals with all their equipment, and became the heart of Red Army's tank programs (particularly, producing the legendary T-34 tank earlier designed in Kharkiv). These enterprises returned to Kharkiv after the war, and continue to produce some of the world's best tanks.

Post War

In the post-war period many of the destroyed homes and factories were rebuilt. Gas lines were installed for heating in government and later private homes. An airport was built in 1954.Following the war Kharkiv was the third largest scientific-industrial centre in the former USSR (after Moscow and Leningrad).

In independent Ukraine

In 2007, the Vietnamese minority in Kharkiv built the largest Buddhist temple in Europe on a 1 hectare plot with a monument to Ho Chi Minh.

Government and administrative divisions

While Kharkiv is the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast (province), the city affairs are managed by the Kharkiv Municipality. Kharkiv is a city of oblast subordinance. The territory of Kharkiv is divided into 9 administrative raions (districts): # Leninsky () # Dzerzhynsky () # Kyivsky () # Moskovsky () # Frunzensky () # Ordzhonikidzevsky () # Kominternіvsky () # Chervonozavodsky () # Zhovtnevy ()

Demographics

According to the 1989 Soviet Union Census, the population of the city was 1,593,970. In 1991, the population decreased to 1,510,200, including 1,494,200 permanent city residents. Kharkiv is currently the second-largest city in Ukraine after the capital, Kiev.

According to the census of 2001 done on the Kharkiv region 53.8% consider Ukrainian as their native tongue, (3.3 % more than in the 1989 census). The Russian language is considered native for 44.3% of the population (a decline of 3.8% since 1989).

Notes

1660 year - approximated estimation

1788 year - without the account of children

1920 year - times of the Russian Civil War

1941 year - estimation on May 1, right before the WWII

1941 year - next estimation in September varies between 1,400,000 and 1,450,000

1941 year - another estimation in December during the occupation without the account of children

1943 year - August 23, liberation of the city; estimation varied 170,000 and 220,000

1976 year - estimation on June 1

1982 year - estimation in March

Economy

During the Soviet era Kharkiv was the capital of industrial production in Ukraine and the third largest centre of industry and commerce in the USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the largely defence-systems-oriented industrial production of the city decreased significantly. In the early 2000s the industry started to recover and adapt to market economy needs. Now there are more than 380 industrial enterprises concentrated in the city, which have a total number of 150,000 employees. The enterprises form machine-building, electro-technologic, instrument-making, and energy conglomerates.

State-owned industrial giants, such as Turboatom and Elektrotyazhmash occupy 17% of the heavy power equipment construction (e.g., turbines) market worldwide. Multipurpose aircraft are produced by the Antonov aircraft manufacturing plant. The Malyshev factory produces not only armoured fighting vehicles, but also harvesters. Khartron is the leading designer of space and commercial control systems in Ukraine and the former CIS.

Science and Education

Kharkiv is one of the most prolific centres of higher education and research of Eastern Europe. The city has 13 national universities and numerous professional, technical and private higher education institutions, offering its students a wide range of disciplines. Kharkiv National University (12,000 students), National Technical University “KhPI” (10,000 students), Kharkiv National Aerospace University "KhAI" are the leading universities in Ukraine. A total number of 150,000 students attend the universities and other institutions of higher education in Kharkiv. About 9,000 foreign students from 96 countries study in the city. More than 17,000 faculty and research staff are employed in the institutions of higher education in Kharkiv.

The city has a high concentration of research institutions, which are independent or loosely connected with the universities. Among them are three national science centres: Kharkіv Institute of Physics and Technology, Institute of Metrology, Institute for Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine and 20 national research institutions of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, such as Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering and Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine. A total number of 26,000 scientists are working in research and development. A number of world renowned scientific schools appeared in Kharkiv, such as the theoretical physics school and the mathematical school.

In addition to the libraries affiliated with the various universities and research institutions, the Kharkiv State Scientific V. Korolenko-library is a major research library. Kharkiv has 212 (secondary education) schools, including 10 lyceums and 20 gymnasiums.

Modern Kharkiv

Of the many attractions of the Kharkiv city are the: Derzhprom building, Memorial Complex, Freedom Square, Taras Shevchenko Monument, Mirror Stream, Dormition Cathedral, Militia Museum, Annunciation Cathedral, T. Shevchenko Gardens, funicular, Children's narrow-gauge railroad and many more. is one of the tallest Orthodox churches in the world.]]

Sport

Kharkiv is Ukraine's second largest city and as in the whole country sports are taken seriously. The most popular sport is football. The city has several football clubs playing in the Ukrainian National competitions. The most successful is Metalist that also participated in international competitions on numerous occasions.

Metalist Kharkiv, which plays at the Metalist Stadium

FC Kharkiv, which plays at the Dynamo Stadium

FC Helios, which plays at the Helios Arena

FC Arsenal Kharkiv, which plays at the Arsenal-Spartak Stadium (currently participates in regional competitions)

HC Kharkiv, which play in the Ukrainian Hockey League

Kharkiv also has a hockey club and a female football club Zhytlobud-1. The last one represented Ukraine in the European competitions and constantly is the main contender for the national title.

RC Olimp' is the city's rugby union club. They are recently the strongest in Ukraine and provide many players for the national team.

Culture

Literature

In the 1930s Kharkiv was referred to as a Literary Klondike. It was the centre for the work of literary luminaries such as: Les Kurbas, Mykola Kulish, Mykola Khvylovy, Mykola Zerov, Valerian Pidmohylny, Pavlo Filipovych, Marko Voronny, Oleksa Slisarenko. Over 100 of these writers were executed during the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. This tragic event in Ukrainian history is called the "Executed Rennaisance" (Rozstrilene vidrodzhennia).

In the 1930s most of these literary figures were repressed. Today a literary museum located on Chervonoprapirna Street marks celebrates their work and achievements.

Kharkiv is the unofficial capital of Ukrainian Science fiction and Fantasy. It is the home to popular writers like H. L. Oldie, Alexander Zorich, Andrey Dashkov, Yuri Nikitin and Andrey Valentinov. Annual science fiction convention "Star Bridge" (Звёздный мост) is held in Kharkiv since 1999.

Music

Kharkiv sponsors the prestigious Hnat Khotkevych International Music Competition of Performers of Ukrainian Folk Instruments which takes place every 3 years. Since 1997 four tri-annual competitions have taken place. The 2010 competition was cancelled by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture 2 days before its opening.

Twin towns - Sister cities

Kharkiv is currently twinned with: {| cellpadding="10" |- valign="top" | Moscow, Russia St.Petersburg, Russia Brno, Czech Republic (since 2008) Bologna, Italy Lille, France Nürnberg, Germany Poznań, Poland Cincinnati, United States Tianjin, China Varna, Bulgaria Kaunas, Lithuania Belgorod, Russia Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Kutaisi, Georgia Jinan, China Rishon LeZion, Israel Daugavpils, Latvia |}

Nobel and Fields prize winners

Vladimir Drinfel'd (mathematics)

Simon Kuznets (economics)

Lev Landau (physics)

Ilya Mechnikov (biology)

Famous people from Kharkiv

Nikolai P. Barabashov - Astronomer, co-author of the first pictures of the far side of the Moon

Igor Vovchanchyn - Mixed martial artist

Vladimir Bobri — Illustrator, author, composer, educator and guitar historian

Sergei Bortkiewicz — Russian Romantic composer and pianist

Maria Burmaka - Ukrainian singer, musician and songwriter

Leonid Bykov - a Soviet actor, film director, and script writer

Adolphe Mouron Cassandre — Ukrainian-French painter, commercial poster artist, and typeface designer

Valentina Chepiga - Female Bodybuilder and 2000 Ms. Olympia Champion

Juliya Chernetsky (Mistress Juliya) - television host, actress, model, and music promoter in the United States

Andrey Denisov - former Russian diplomat

Vladimir Drinfel'd — Mathematician, was awarded Fields Medal in 1990

Isaak Dunayevsky — a Soviet composer and conductor

Konstanty Gorski — Polish composer, violist, organist, and music teacher

Valentina Grizodubova — One of the first female pilots in the Soviet Union

Lyudmila Gurchenko (Hurchenko) - Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer

Mikhail Gurevich - Soviet aircraft designer, a partner (with Artem Mikoyan) of the famous MiG military aviation bureau

Mikhail Gurevich— Ukrainian chess player

Leonid Haydamaka - bandurist, conductor, founder of first orchestra of Ukrainian folk instruments.

Maksym Kalynychenko - Ukrainian football player

Vasily Karazin - the founder of Kharkiv University, which now bears his name.

Hnat Khotkevych - Ukrainian writer, ethnographer, composer, bandurist

Mikhail Koshkin - chief designer of Soviet tank T-34

Olga Krasko - Russian actress

Mykola Kulish - Ukrainian playwright

Les Kurbas - Ukrainian dramtist

Simon Kuznets - was a Russian American economist

Lev Landau - prominent Soviet physicist, Nobel Prize winner

Evgeny Lifshitz — Leading Soviet physicist

Eduard Limonov - Writer, poet and controversial politician.

Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy - lead developer of the Soviet Shuttle Buran programme

Aleksandr Lyapunov - Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist. Inventor of motion stability theory

Boris Mikhailov — photographer / artist

Valerian Pidmohylny - Ukrainian poet

Irina Press — Ukrainian athlete who won two Olympic gold medals

Tamara Press — Soviet shot putter and discus thrower

Alexander Shchetynsky — Composer

Eugen Schauman - Finnish nationalist who killed Russian general Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov in 1904

Klavdiya Shulzhenko — was the most popular female singer of the Soviet Union.

Alexander Siloti — Russian pianist, conductor and composer

Hryhorii Skovoroda - was a Ukrainian poet, philosopher and composer.

Karina Smirnoff - Ukrainian professional world champion dancer, starring on Dancing with the Stars

Jura Soyfer — Austrian political journalist and cabaret writer

Otto Struve — Russian-American astronomer

Sergei Sviatchenko - Ukrainian artist

Mark Taimanov — Leading Ukrainian chess player and concert pianist

Nikolai Tikhonov — Premier of the Soviet Union

Galina Vale — Leading British concert guitarist of Ukrainian origin

Vladimir Vasyutin — Soviet cosmonaut of Ukrainian descent

Vasyl Yermylov – Painter and Designer

Serhiy Zhadan - Ukrainian poet, novelist, and translator.

Irina Zhurina – opera singer, People's Artist of Russia

Yevgeniy Timoshenko – professional poker player.

Transport

The city of Kharkiv is one of the largest transportation centres in Ukraine, which is connected to numerous cities of the world by air, rail and road traffic. The city has many transportation methods, including: public transport, taxis, railways, and air traffic.

Local transport

Being an important transportation centre of Ukraine, Kharkiv itself contains many different transportation methods. Kharkiv's Metro is the city's rapid transit system, operating since 1975, it includes three different lines with 28 stations in total. The Kharkiv buses carry about 12 million passengers annually, trolleybuses, tramways (which celebrated 100 years of service in 2006), and marshrutkas (private minibuses).

Railways

The first railway connection of Kharkiv was opened in 1869. The first train to arrive in Kharkiv came from the north on 22 May 1869, and on 6 June 1869, traffic was opened on the Kursk–Kharkiv–Azov line. Kharkiv's passenger railway station was reconstructed and expanded in 1901, to be later destroyed in the Second World War. A new railway station was built in 1952.

Various railway transportation methods available in the city are the: inter-city railway trains, and elektrichkas (regional electric trains).

Air travel

Kharkiv is served by an international airport which used to have about 200 flights a day, almost all of them being passenger flights. The Kharkiv International Airport was only recently granted international status. The airport itself is not large and is situated within the city boundaries, south from the city centre. Flights to Kiev and Moscow are scheduled daily. There are regular flights to Vienna and Istanbul, and several other destinations. Charter flights are also available. The former largest carrier of the Kharkiv Airport — Aeromost-Kharkiv — is not serving any regular destinations as of 2007. The Kharkiv North Airport is a factory airfield and was a major production facility for Antonov aircraft company.

Gallery

Footnotes and references

External links

* Category:Kharkiv Oblast Category:Cities in Ukraine Category:Populated places established in 1654

Name	Paul Rodgers
Background	solo_singer
Born	December 17, 1949, Middlesbrough, England
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Genre	Blues-rock, hard rock, blues
Years active	1968–present
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums, bass, harmonica, synthesizer, flute
Label	Atlantic RecordsVictor EntertainmentSPV GmbHVelvel Records
Associated acts	Free, Bad Company, The Firm, The Law, Queen + Paul Rodgers
Url	Official website

Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949, Middlesbrough) He is ranked number 55 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rodgers was also ranked by Hit Parader as the ninth greatest heavy metal singer of all time, despite Rodgers not typically being associated with the genre.

1960s: Free

He played bass (he later moved onto vocals) in local band The Roadrunners, which just before leaving Middlesbrough for the London music scene changed its name to The Wildflowers. Other members of this band were Micky Moody (later of Whitesnake) and Bruce Thomas (later of Elvis Costello and The Attractions). Rodgers appeared on the British music scene in 1968 as singer/songwriter for bluesy rockers Free. In 1970, they shot up the international radio charts with "All Right Now", which Rodgers wrote with the group's bassist Andy Fraser. It was a number one hit in more than 20 territories and recognised by ASCAP in 1990 for receiving more than a million radio plays in the US alone. The song played a pivotal role in introducing Rodgers's stylistic metier, while helping to establish the sound of the British blues/rock invasion. At the time, Free and Led Zeppelin were the biggest grossing British acts. Free released four top five albums with a combination of blues, ballads and rock. The Multi Million Award was given to Paul Rodgers in 2000 by the British Music Industry when "All Right Now" passed two million radio plays in the UK. After the break of Free, Rodgers briefly formed a three-piece band called Peace in which he played guitar and sang lead vocal. Although Peace rehearsed and recorded demo tracks, it is not known whether any recordings were ever published before Rodgers formed Bad Company.

1970s: Bad Company

Rodgers formed his next band, Bad Company, with Mick Ralphs, former guitarist of Mott the Hoople. Rodgers said: "Mick and I were trying to come up with names for the band. When I called him and said 'Bad Company', he dropped the phone."

Bad Company toured successfully from 1973 to 1982, and had several hits such as "Feel Like Making Love", "Can't Get Enough", "Shooting Star", "Bad Company", and "Run With The Pack". Rodgers also showcased his instrumental talents on several tracks: "Bad Company" and "Run With The Pack" featured him on piano; "Rock And Roll Fantasy" on guitar; and on the ballad "Seagull" Rodgers played all of the instruments. Bad Company earned six platinum albums until Rodgers left in 1982 at the height of their fame to spend time with his young family.

1980s: Solo career and The Firm

In the early 1980s, it was rumoured that Rodgers would sing with The Rossington-Collins Band (made up of the survivors of Lynyrd Skynyrd), In October 1983, Rodgers released his first solo LP Cut Loose. He composed all of the music and played all of the instruments. The album peaked at a disappointing number 135 on the Billboard's Pop Albums chart.

When his friend Jimmy Page started to come around to his house, guitar in hand and Led Zeppelin at an end, the duo's first live pairing was on the US ARMS (Action Research into Multiple Sclerosis) Tour (rock music's first big charity fundraiser) which had first been mooted by Eric Clapton and, besides Rodgers and Page, would include Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood and others. The inspiration behind ARMS had been former Small Faces/Faces member Ronnie Lane's own struggle with M.S. This led to Rodgers and Page's further teaming in the group The Firm , which resulted in two albums and two tours. Both Firm world tours managed only average attendance. Despite being panned by critics The Firm's two albums, The Firm and Mean Business, achieved moderate sales success and produced the radio hits "Radioactive" on which Rodgers played the guitar solo, "Satisfaction Guaranteed", and, in the UK, "All The King's Horses". (Correction - Rogers did not play the solo on Radioactive -Stuart Epps)

1990s: The Law and solo career

The Law, Rodgers's 1991 musical venture with former The Who and Faces drummer Kenney Jones, produced Billboard's number one AOR chart hit "Laying Down The Law" written by Rodgers, but the album peaked at number 126 on the Billboard 200 chart. A never-released second album can be found on the bootleg market. The album is often referred to as The Law II.

Rodgers acknowledged the influence of Jimi Hendrix by collaborating with Steve Vai, Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys (Buddy Miles and Billy Cox) and the London Metropolitan Orchestra and recorded the track "Bold As Love", on the Hendrix tribute album In From The Storm. Then Rodgers teamed with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and released The Hendrix Set, a live 5-track CD, recorded in 1993 with Rodgers' interpretations of Hendrix songs. A Canadian and US tour followed.

His Grammy-nominated solo CD, was released in 1993. Rodgers wrote the title track and was backed by guitarists Brian May, Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, Buddy Guy, Richie Sambora, Brian Setzer, Slash and Trevor Rabin.

For Woodstock's 25th anniversary in 1994, Rodgers pulled together drummer Jason Bonham, bassist Andy Fraser (from Free), guitarists Slash and Schon at the last moment to perform as the Paul Rodgers Rock and Blues Revue.

In 1995 he formed a new band consisting of Jaz Lochrie on bass, Jimmy Copley on drums and Geoff Whitehorn on guitar. The band (The Paul Rodgers Band) toured extensively in Europe, US and in the UK until 1998 and spawned three albums - Now, Now and Live and Electric. Now charted internationally in the Top 40. The single "Soul Of Love" remained in rotation on more than 86 US radio stations for six months. His 1997 world tour included Russia, Japan, Canada, US, UK, Germany, France, Romania, Bulgaria, Israel, Brazil, Greece and Argentina.

Rodgers and Bad Company hit Billboard's US BDS charts with the number one single "Hey, Hey" in 1999, one of four new tracks off Bad Company's The Original Bad Company Anthology. The second single release, Rodgers's "Hammer Of Love", reached number two. For the first time in 20 years, all the original members of Bad Company toured the US.

2000s: Solo career and Queen + Paul Rodgers

Rodgers focused on his solo career in 2000 and released Electric, his 6th solo CD. In its debut week, the single "Drifters" was US rock radio's number one on the Most Added FMQB Hot Trax list, number two on Most Added R&R; Rock and number three on Most Added Album Net Power Cuts. "Drifters" remained in the top 10 for eight weeks on Billboard's Rock charts. That year, he played sold-out concerts in England, Scotland, Australia, United States and Canada. After his appearance on TV's Late Show with David Letterman in New York, he met and jammed with B.B. King. Rodgers said: "The thrill was definitely not gone... for me. B.B. is a blues giant." That same year, Paul Rodgers, Jimmie Vaughan, Levon Helm, bluesmen Hubert Sumlin, Johnnie Johnson, James Cotton and others performed a sold out concert in Cleveland as a .

The spring of 2001, Rodgers returned to Australia, England and Scotland for the second run of sold-out shows. That summer he toured the US with Bad Company.

Paul Rodgers and Bad Company released their first live CD and DVD in 2002. It included all the hits and a new single "Joe Fabulous" penned by Rodgers which hit number one at Classic Rock Radio and Top 20 on mainstream rock radio in the US. In its debut week, the DVD sales sound scanned at number three Canada, and number four in the US. The Joe Fabulous Tour kicked off in the US and sold out in the UK. While in London, Rodgers performed with Jeff Beck at the Royal Festival Hall. Rodgers was invited by long-time fan Tony Blair to perform at the Labour Party Conference. "I had the entire Labour Party singing the chorus of "Wishing Well", a song I wrote and shared with Free, ...'love in a peaceful world'. 'Love in a peaceful world'... over and over and over hoping the words would sink in but we went to war" recalled Rodgers. Twice in 2002, Rodgers performed on Britain's TV show Top of the Pops 2.

In 2003, Rodgers toured as a solo artist for the first time in two years playing 25 exclusive US dates. In his solo band are guitarist Howard Leese (formerly of Heart), bassist Lynn Sorensen and drummer Jeff Kathan. Jools Holland invited Rodgers to record "I Told The Truth" for Holland's album Small World Big Band. The CD also featured Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Peter Gabriel, Michael McDonald, Ringo Starr and others. This led to Rodgers performing two sold-out nights at London's Royal Albert Hall with Holland and his 18-piece rhythm and blues orchestra, and several UK TV appearances.He also appeared with Jeff Beck, performing some songs from Beck's back catalogue (along with several other notable musicians, including John Mclaughlin, Roger Waters and the White Stripes) for part of a week-long series of charity concerts put on by Jeff Beck at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

In autumn 2004, Rodgers took part in an all-star line-up of some of the world's greatest guitarists and thousands of fans gathered at London's Wembley Arena to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. In 2005, he took part in the 50th anniversary celebration of the Four Tops.

Early in 2004, Rodgers joined Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox (Hendrix's Cry of Love), Buddy Guy, Joe Satriani, Kid Rock's Kenny Olson, Alice in Chain's Jerry Cantrell, Double Trouble, Indigenous, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and blues legend Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters) and performed three sold-out shows in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco as "Experience Hendrix". Once again, Rodgers only played 25 concerts in the US and Canada. He performed at Wembley for the fiftieth anniversary celebration for the Fender Stratocaster, along with David Gilmour who played Strat #001, Ronnie Wood, Brian May, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Rodgers sang and played a custom designed Jaguar Fender Strat. Rodgers was invited by The Four Tops to be part of their fiftieth anniversary TV/DVD concert celebration at Motown's Opera House and performed alongside Aretha Franklin, Dennis Edwards & The Temptations Revue, Sam Moore, Mary Wilson, Ashford and Simpson and The Four Tops. "The call from The Tops' Duke Fakir just about knocked me out. I've been a fan since I was a boy and had no idea that they even knew I existed!" exclaimed Rodgers. For years the media and fellow musicians have referred to Rodgers as "The Voice"'. But The Four Tops' Duke Fakir said, "Paul Rodgers is the soul of rock!" , Birmingham, 6 May 2005.]]

In late 2004, after a successful live television performance, two of the four members of the British rock group Queen proposed a collaboration with Rodgers, in which he would sing lead vocals on a European tour. Rodgers thus joined Brian May and Roger Taylor (former bassist John Deacon retired in the late 1990s), with the group billed as Queen + Paul Rodgers and they subsequently toured worldwide in 2005 and 2006. The participants clearly stated, including on Brian May's own website, "that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as: "Queen + Paul Rodgers", not replacing the late Freddie Mercury". The group subsequently released a live album with songs from Queen, Bad Company and Free, called Return of the Champions, and a DVD of the same name. Both featured live recordings from their Sheffield Hallam FM Arena concert on 9 May 2005. The DVD features "Imagine" from Hyde Park. "For one glorious summer" opined music critic Sean Michaels "we were all Paul Rodgers". Another DVD was released in 2006 from a live performance in Japan, called Super Live in Japan.

Queen + Paul Rodgers also released a single featuring "Reaching Out", "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Fat Bottomed Girls".

The summer of 2006 saw Rodgers again focused on his solo career with a world tour, which commenced in Austin, Texas, US in June, then on to Japan, finishing in Glasgow, Scotland, in October 2006.

On 15 August 2006, Brian May confirmed through his website that "Queen + Paul Rodgers" will begin producing a new studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at Roger Taylor's home.

In April 2007 Rodgers released a live album of his 2006 tour, recorded in Glasgow, Scotland 13 October 2006, with a DVD of the same show released the following month.

On 27–28 December 2007, Rodgers surprised many by joining the Trans-Siberian Orchestra during their Winter 2007 Tour in Houston, Texas and Dallas, Texas. Unannounced, he joined the band at the end of their show to sing "Bad Company" and "All Right Now".

Rogers was a judge for the sixth and seventh annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

On 27 June 2008, Rodgers and Queen performed at the Concert for Nelson Mandela to celebrate Mandela's 90th birthday.

On 8 August 2008, Rodgers and original members Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke reunited as Bad Company to perform a one-night only, sold-out performance at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. The live performance was released on Blu-Ray, DVD, and CD on 9 February 2010 and the tracks included seventeen Bad Company hits. Rodgers dedicated "Gone, Gone, Gone" to original bassist Boz Burrell, who died in 2006.

On 14 May 2009, Rodgers announced he was ending his five year long collaboration with Queen, although did not rule out the possibility of working with them again. On 17 November 2009, it was announced he would join the other surviving members of Bad Company for an eight date UK tour in April 2010.

2010s: Solo career and Bad Company reunion

On 5 June 2010 he began a mini-California tour by performing at the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival. One week later, on 12 June, Rodgers and his band appeared as headliners on the Grandstand Stage at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California, followed by casino shows in Lemoore on 17 June and in Santa Ynez on 18 June.

It was recently announced that Rodgers would be taking part in a Paul McCartney tribute album that would also feature contributions by Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, BB King, and KISS. Planned for a late 2010 release, no other information has been leaked.

On November 15, 2010, Paul Rodgers announced a 2011 UK tour in April with special guest Joe Elliots Down 'n' Outz.

Personal life

Paul Rodgers married Machiko Shimizu in 1971, and has two children by that marriage, Steve and Jasmine. The two children are also musicians and singers who formed a band, Bôa, in the 1990s. Paul and Machiko divorced in 1996.

On 26 September 2007, Rodgers married former Miss Canada, exercise physiologist and artist Cynthia Kereluk in a surprise outdoor wedding ceremony on their 10th anniversary in Canada's Okanagan Valley.

Discography

Solo

Cut Loose (1983)

(1993)

The Hendrix Set (live EP, 1993)

(live album, 1996)

Now (1997)

Now and Live (2CD compilation, 1997)

Electric (2000)

Live in Glasgow (2007)

with Free

Tons of Sobs (1968)

Free (1969)

Fire and Water (1970)

Highway (1970)

Free Live! (live album, 1971)

Free at Last (1972)

Heartbreaker (1973)

The Free Story (1973)

The Best of Free (1991)

with Bad Company

Bad Company (1974)

Straight Shooter (1975)

Run With the Pack (1976)

Burnin' Sky (1977)

Desolation Angels (1979)

Rough Diamonds (1982)

The Original Bad Company Anthology (compilation CD, 1999, produced by Paul Rodgers for Bad Company)

(2002)

Hard Rock Live (2010)

with The Firm

The Firm (1985)

Mean Business (1986)

The Firm Live at Hammersmith 1984 (DVD, 1984, limited release video)

Five From the Firm (DVD, 1986)

with The Law

The Law (1991)

with Queen + Paul Rodgers

Live albums

Return of the Champions (CD/LP/DVD, 2005)

Super Live in Japan (DVD, 2006; Japan only)

Live in Ukraine (CD/DVD, 2009)

Studio albums

''The Cosmos Rocks (CD 2008)

Singles

"Reachin' Out" / "Tie Your Mother Down" (CD single, 2005, Europe only)

"Say It's Not True" (Download/CD single, 2007)

"C-lebrity" (Download/CD single, 2008)

Other albums

The A-Z of Queen, Volume 1 (Two DVD tracks only)

References

External links

Official Paul Rodgers site including tour dates

MSS Magazine interview

QUEEN + Paul Rodgers - Live In Moscow 15.09.2008 DVD - сайт, где можно приобрети неофициальные двд групы.

Fan website

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:English male singers Category:English rock singers Category:English blues singers Category:English tenors Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English songwriters Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:Bad Company members Category:Free (band) members Category:People from Middlesbrough

Ridername	Serguei Klimov
Fullname	Serguei Alexandrovich Klimov
Dateofbirth	July 07, 1980
Country	Russia
Currentteam	Katusha
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Proyears	2001–20022003–200520062007–20082009–
Proteams	IteraLokomotivTinkoff RestaurantsTinkoff Credit SystemsKatusha
Updated	May 18, 2008

Serguei Alexandrovich Klimov (; born July 7, 1980 in Saint Petersberg) is a Russian professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Katusha.

Palmarès

; 2001 : 1st, Stage 3, Tour de Normandie ; 2002 : 2002 Track Cycling World Cup :: 1st, Team Pursuit, Moscow (with Alexei Markov, Alexander Serov and Denis Smyslov) ; 2003 : 2003 Track Cycling World Cup :: 1st, Team Pursuit, Moscow (with Alexei Markov, Alexander Serov and Nikita Eskov) : 1st, Stage 5b Volta Tarragona, Reus ; 2005 : 2004–2005 Track Cycling World Cup :: 3rd, Team Pursuit, Moscow (with Nikolay Trusov, Anton Mindlin and Alexander Serov) : 2005–2006 Track Cycling World Cup :: 2nd, Team Pursuit, Moscow (with Nikolay Trusov, Anton Mindlin and Alexander Serov) ; 2006 : 2005–2006 Track Cycling World Cup :: 1st, Team Pursuit, Los Angeles (with Nikolay Trusov, Ivan Rovny and Alexander Serov) ; 2007 : 2006–2007 Track Cycling World Cup :: 1st, Points race, Manchester :: 3rd, Manchester Manchester, Madison (with Nikolay Trusov) : 2nd, Eindhoven Team Time Trial (Tinkoff Credit Systems, with Nikolay Trussov, Ivan Rovny, Mikhail Ignatiev, Yevgeni Petrov, Pavel Brutt and Vasil Kiryienka) ; 2008 : 1st, Stage 1, Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, Brignano (team time trial; with Alexander Khatuntsev, Vasil Kiryienka, Alberto Loddo, Walter Fernando Pedraza Morales, Ivan Rovny and Yauheni Sobal)

External links

Category:Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg Category:Russian cyclists Category:Olympic cyclists of Russia Category:Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:1980 births Category:Living people