Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). Today, the temperature scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries, but it is still used in a handful of nations such as the United States, Belize and alongside Celsius in the United Kingdom.

Definition and conversions

On the Fahrenheit scale, the freezing point of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) and the boiling point (at standard atmospheric pressure), placing the boiling and freezing points of water exactly 180 degrees apart. A degree on the Fahrenheit scale is of the interval between the freezing point and the boiling point. On the Celsius scale, the freezing and boiling points of water are 100 degrees apart. A temperature interval of 1 Fahrenheit degree is equal to an interval of degrees Celsius. The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales converge at −40 °F (i.e. and represent the same temperature). The zero point is determined by placing the thermometer in brine: he used a mixture of ice, water, and ammonium chloride, a salt. This is a frigorific mixture which automatically stabilizes its temperature at . (A mixture of ice and water also stabilizes, either freezing or melting at 32 °F though Fahrenheit did not use this point in defining his temperature scale). The second point, 100 degrees, was the level of the liquid in the thermometer when held in the mouth or under the armpit of his wifesubsequent refinements. Fahrenheit noted that, using this scale, water boils at about 210 degrees. It is for this reason that normal human body temperature is 98.6 on the revised scale (whereas it was 100 on Fahrenheit's original scale).

According to a letter Fahrenheit wrote to his friend Herman Boerhaave, his scale was built on the work of Ole Rømer, whom he had met earlier. In Rømer’s scale, the two fixed reference points are that brine also freezes at 0 degrees and water boils at 60 degrees. He observed that, on this scale, water freezes at 7.5 degrees. Fahrenheit multiplied each value by four in order to eliminate fractions and increase the granularity of the scale (resulting in 30 and 240 degrees, respectively). He then re-calibrated his scale between the freezing point of water and normal human body temperature (which he observed to be 96 degrees); he adjusted the scale so that the melting point of ice would be 32 degrees, so that 64 intervals would separate the two, allowing him to mark degree lines on his instruments by simply bisecting the interval six times (since 64 is 2 to the sixth power).

Usage

The Fahrenheit scale was the primary temperature standard for climatic, industrial and medical purposes in some English-speaking countries until the 1960s. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the Fahrenheit scale was replaced by the Celsius (known until 1948 as centigrade) scale in most of these countries as part of a standardization called metrication.

The Fahrenheit scale is still used in the United States, Jamaica, Palau, Belize, and Liberia for everyday applications. For example, U.S. weather forecasts, food cooking, and freezing temperatures are typically given in degrees Fahrenheit. It may be noted, however, that scientists in these countries commonly use Celsius or Kelvin.

Various reasons are given for the resistance to the Celsius system in the U.S., including the larger size of each degree Celsius (resulting in the need for decimals where integer Fahrenheit degrees were adequate for much technical work). For example, 68 °F, 69 °F, and 70 °F correspond to 20 °C, 20.6 °C, and 21.1 °C, respectively. Another reason is the lower zero point in the Fahrenheit system which reduces the number of negative signs when measurements such as weather data were averaged. Nonetheless, most countries which formerly used the Fahrenheit system (of which New Zealand and Australia are examples) have switched entirely to the Celsius system.

In some countries, both systems are fairly prominent, if not used equally. In the United Kingdom and Canada, Celsius is mainly used in the news, weather forecasts, books, magazines and daily conversations, but many outdoor thermometers display temperatures in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Likewise, indoor thermometers, including both digital and analogue, may be in Fahrenheit, Celsius or both. Due to its physical proximity to the United States, and the continuing dominance of Imperial measurements in Canadian kitchens, home appliances used in Canada usually employ the Fahrenheit scale.

Unicode representation of symbol

The Fahrenheit symbol has its own Unicode character: "℉" (U+2109). This is a compatibility character encoded for roundtrip compatibility with legacy CJK encodings (which included it to conform to layout in square ideographic character cells) and vertical layout. Use of compatibility characters is discouraged by the Unicode Consortium. The ordinary degree sign (U+00B0) followed by the Latin letter F ("°F") is thus the preferred way of recording the symbol for degree Fahrenheit.

Temperatures and intervals

The Fahrenheit scale uses (in the same manner as the later Celsius scale) the symbol ° to denote a point on the temperature scale and the letter F to indicate the Fahrenheit scale is being used (e.g. "Gallium melts at "), as well as to denote a difference between temperatures or an uncertainty in temperature (e.g. "The output of the heat exchanger experiences an increase of " and "Our standard uncertainty is ").

See also

Comparison of temperature scales

External links

NOAA web site: Fahrenheit to Celsius converter

References

Category:Imperial units Category:Units of temperature

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

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Warren Haynes
Background	solo_singer
Born	April 06, 1960 Asheville, NC
Genre	Southern rock Hard rock Blues Blues-rock Jam rock Roots rock
Instrument	Guitar
Occupation	Musician, Singer-songwriter
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, The Warren Haynes Band, The Dead, David Allan Coe
Url	Official website,
Notable instruments	Gibson Les Paul Gibson ES-335 Non-reverse Firebird

Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of Gov't Mule and long time member of the Allman Brothers Band. Haynes also founded and runs Evil Teen Records, and is a member of the Dead.

Gov't Mule

Haynes is primary singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the band Gov't Mule, which he founded with fellow Allman Brother Allen Woody and Band drummer and bandmate Matt Abts. In addition to the Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule, Haynes has recorded and toured extensively with former members of the Grateful Dead, while also maintaining a solo career. In 2003, he was ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, along with fellow Allman Brothers Band guitarists Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks. The current Gov't Mule line-up is Warren Haynes (Guitar & Vocals), Matt Abts (Drums), Danny Louis (Keyboards) & Jorgen Carlsson (Bass).

David Allan Coe and the early years

Warren Haynes got his first break when he had just turned 20 years old, joining David Allan Coe's touring and recording band in 1980. Coe's bass guitarist Mickey Hayes had first seen Haynes performing at a nightclub called "The Brass Tap" in Asheville, NC. Coe and the band had just finished a movie called "Lady Grey", and Coe had decided to drop his current lead guitarist at the time, so Hayes went to Coe and told him of a promising guitarist he'd seen play, recommended Haynes be hired to join the band and fill the spot. Upon Hayes advice, Coe called and asked Haynes join the band. He joined that night and played his first gig with the band in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

For several years Haynes toured with Coe's band throughout America, as well as tours overseas through Norway, Denmark, and Britain, amongst others. While recording a David Allan Coe X-rated album in the studio in Nashville, Tennessee late one night, Coe left and came back with friends Dickey Betts, Gregg Allman, and Don Johnson (who was acting in the television show Miami Vice, but who also sang with the Allman Brothers upon occasion). This was Haynes' first introduction to Dickey Betts.

After playing with Coe for years, Warren Haynes and Mickey Hayes left Coe and relocated to Nashville, where they shared an apartment and worked together to form the band "Rich Hippies" which consisted of: Dennis Robbins on slide guitar and backing vocals, Mickey Hayes on Bass guitar and backing vocals, Mark Dever on drums and Warren Haynes on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Tommy Irwin on steel guitar. The band lasted over a year from 1984 to late 1985, with them performing various clubs around the Nashville area.

After the Rich Hippies, Haynes got a gig with The Nighthawks. On the side he continued to play with local musicians and did both various guitar and vocal studio work. One notable achievement while in the studio is a song he co-wrote with Dennis Robbins and Bobby Boyd for the famed country-rock musician Garth Brooks, titled "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" from the album No Fences, which remained the No. 1 single in the United States for twenty weeks.

Dickey Betts and The Allman Brothers Band

Around 1987, Warren got a call to perform back up vocals on a studio album by Dickey Betts, along with Dennis Robbins. Dickey saw Warren and remembered him from his days with Coe. Dickey decided to add Warren to his band as his guitarist after this meeting. With Matt Abts on Drums (future drummer of Gov't Mule) and Johnny Neel on keyboards (future member of The Allman Brothers Band) the now formed Dickey Betts Band released the 1988 album "Pattern Disruptive".

Soon after in 1989, The Allman Brothers Band had decided to reunite. In Florida, the band met and discussed how to proceed. Dickey Betts recommended Warren for a slot in the band and he got the job. Also joining the band were Johnny Neel on keyboards who had been a member of The Dickey Betts Band. And after auditions for bass guitar, Allen Woody was hired. The line up was set for the newly reformed Allman Brothers Band.

Haynes has since played on four well-received studio albums, including the gold certified Where It All Begins (1994). He also has played on four official live releases from the band, including the 2003 DVD Live At the Beacon Theatre (certified platinum 2004). Although he and bassist Allen Woody left the group in March 1997 so that they could focus solely on Gov't Mule, Haynes began appearing with the Allman Brothers Band again in 2000 alongside young guitar prodigy Derek Trucks shortly after Woody's untimely death on August 26, 2000. He returned to the band as a full time member a few months later. Haynes has only missed a handful of Allman Brothers shows since his hiatus. tenor saxophonist Ron Holloway, Allman alumni Chuck Leavell and Jack Pearson played in Haynes' absence.

The Christmas Jam

Starting in 1989, Haynes began inviting local musicians to come and play once a year for charity. The first show was dubbed, "The Christmas Jam: Musician's X-Mas Reunion" in Asheville, North Carolina. The first Jam was held at 45 Cherry, a local club in Asheville, on December 29, 1989. Some of the artists at the first Christmas Jam were Warren Haynes, Mike Barnes, Crystal Zoo, The Stripp Band and the McBad Brothers Band. This event has continued to grow every year and is now dubbed "Warren Haynes Presents: The Christmas Jam". The show sells out in a matter of hours every year. Because of the fantastic growth, it is now held at the Asheville Civic Center, and features artists and friends he has played with over the years. Some past performers include The Allman Brothers Band, Blues Traveler, Jackson Browne, Johnny Winter, The Drive-By Truckers, DJ Logic, Peter Frampton, Gov't Mule, John Hiatt, Bruce Hornsby, Hot Tuna, John Paul Jones (musician), Ray LaMontagne, Phil Lesh & Friends, Little Feat, Living Colour, Branford Marsalis, Dave Matthews, Neville Brothers, New Orleans Social Club, North Mississippi Allstars, Phish's Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, John Scofield, Dr.Ralph Stanley, Marty Stuart, Taj Mahal Trio, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks Band, Bob Weir, Widespread Panic's John Bell, Dave Schools, John (Jo Jo) Herman, Todd Nance & Jimmy Herring, Kevn Kinney from Drivin' N Cryin', Edwin McCain, and many, many others. Haynes's annual Jam benefits Habitat for Humanity, a charity that builds houses for the disadvantaged. In 2008, for its special 20th year anniversary, The Christmas Jam consisted of two nights of music. However it went back to only one night in 2009.

Birth of The Mule

In 1994, Haynes formed Gov't Mule with Dickey Betts Band's Matt Abts and The Allman Brothers' bassist Allen Woody. Initially Haynes and Woody split time between Gov't Mule and the Allman Brothers Band, but after the Allman Brothers' last show of the '97 run at NYC's Beacon Theatre on March 26, 1997, both left the Brothers to focus on Gov't Mule full-time. With that line-up the band released three albums, but the band was most known for their powerful live performances. Some of these performances can be heard on official live albums (Live At Roseland Ballroom, The Deepest End, Live in Concert and Live With A Little Help From Our Friends which captures one of their annual New Year's Eve shows) and the hundreds of authorized live audience recording CDs and DVDs that float around trading circles and BitTorrent websites.

In August 2000 Woody died, and a decision was made to finish the tour acoustically as the "Smile at Half-Mast" tour. Gov't Mule released 2 studio albums (The Deep End Vol. I and II) and 1 live album (The Deepest End) featuring many of Woody's favorite bass players. In 2003 Andy Hess (bass) and Danny Louis (keyboard/organ) were added as permanent members to the group and in late 2004 they released their first studio effort Deja Voodoo which later included an EP of newly recorded material titled Mo Voodoo. After recording 2006's High & Mighty, Gov't Mule also released a critically acclaimed dub EP titled Mighty High and a DVD titled Tail of 2 Cities that contained two full performances recorded on 10/15/04 and 12/09/06. The two shows on the DVD captured the first show of the Deja Voodoo Tour and the last show of the High & Mighty Tour serving to encapsulate what was created over those two years. In 2008, Andy Hess left Gov't Mule to pursue other projects and was replaced by relative unknown Jorgen Carlsson. By A Thread, the first studio album from Gov't Mule with Jorgen, was released in 2009 on Haynes' own label, Evil Teen Records.

The group often includes a revolving door of guests during their shows. While the band does not attract a roaming group of followers like the Grateful Dead, they do boast an extremely dedicated grassroots fanbase. It is often said that the band is a "musicians' band" and that many of their fans are musicians. One of the ongoing inside jokes of the band is a paper napkin with "WAR PIGS" written on it as a song request. The passionate fanbase is known for its extensive disagreements which even Haynes acknowledged in a song verse ("That's Why I'm Here") performed in July 2005.

The Dead

Though never a member of the Grateful Dead, over time Warren has performed and toured with many of the remaining members. In 1997 Warren and Matt came onstage to jam with Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman in a small club near the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame being filmed for the Robert Mugge film on Robert Johnson, Hell Hounds On My Trail. Then in 2000 Phil Lesh approached him to play lead guitar and sing for his solo group Phil Lesh & Friends, where he played for 3 years. Then in 2004 when The Dead (remaining members of The Grateful Dead) were in need of a new guitarist they called upon Haynes to come play lead and sing for that summer's "Wave That Flag Tour". His run with The Dead ended on a night where he came in with them, then performed a solo acoustic set, and then ended the night playing with the Allman Brothers Band and started out on his next tour with them. He played lead guitar for The Dead again in late 2008 when they performed at a benefit at Penn State for then presidential candidate Barack Obama and then toured with them in the Spring of 2009.

Solo projects

In 1993, Warren released his first solo album, Tales of Ordinary Madness, which was produced by former Allman Brother keyboardist Chuck Leavell. He then toured briefly in support of the record with various musicians.

In 2003 and 2004, Warren released two solo acoustic albums, The Lone EP, a collection of live performances and Live From Bonnaroo which documents his solo performance at the 2003 Bonnaroo Music Festival. When not touring with one of his electric bands, Warren will often take time out to do solo acoustic shows which include a variety of well-known and rare covers along with his own material. In 2004, Warren Haynes performed 5 full-length solo acoustic shows, 3 in NYC, 1 in San Francisco, and 1 in Philadelphia as well as opened 23 times for The Dead and once for the Allman Brothers Band.

He has also made 45 song appearances and 28 concert appearances with the Dave Matthews Band, including on two released live albums: Live at Central Park Concert in which he performed "Cortez the Killer", and "Jimi Thing", and Live at Piedmont Park where he performed "What Would You Say".

In 2005 Warren performed a one time only show under the name Warren Haynes & Friends. The band included Matt Abts on drums, Dave Schools of Widespread Panic and part-time Gov't Mule fame on bass, John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood, and Skerik the avant-garde sax player of cult-fame in bands such as Critters Buggin' (with ex-Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain) and Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. The group played a selection of blues songs, covers including songs of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Waits, and Gov't Mule standards. The band was also featured as the house band during a number of tapings of Carson Daly's late show in early February 2005. During one of these tapings, the scheduled musical act was absent, so Warren performed an acoustic rendition of U2's One. The song also appeared on his Live from Bonnaroo album.

In 2006, he appeared at New York City's Randall's Island Park (8/5 show) with the Dave Matthews Band, playing an extended version of the song "Cortez the Killer." He also performed live at Duke University as part of Joe College Day on October 20, 2007.

On 25 October 2008, Warren made a surprise appearance at the fourth night of Coheed and Cambria's Neverender tour in New York, playing "I Shall Be Released" and "Welcome Home" with Coheed.

After recording Gov't Mule's By A Thread album, Warren put together a group of musicians which will come to be known as The Warren Haynes Band. The core of the group includes George Porter Jr. on bass, Ivan Neville on keys and Raymond Weber on drums. Also joining them on keys is Ian McLagan, as well as vocalist Ruthie Foster and Ron Holloway on tenor sax. The album, due out in the spring of 2011, will be Haynes first venture into the soul genre. The Warren Haynes Band made their debut performance at Haynes' annual Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina on December 11, 2010.

Taping policy

For a time, all of Warren Haynes' projects (Allman Brothers exempted) were pro-audio taping/trading/online distribution. The Allman Brothers Band are pro-taping/trading, but against distribution of their shows via the Internet with programs such as BitTorrent. However, since 2000 Warren has been against video taping and soundboard recording in all bands he has a say in. It should be noted that all Gov't Mule shows are recorded by the band (from soundboard) and made available for purchase as a FLAC or MP3 file at the band's web site www.mule.net.

Charity work, personal background and style

In addition to playing both acoustic and electric guitar, Haynes, a major supporter of the Habitat for Humanity charity, also writes music. He spent his formative years in Asheville, North Carolina, where he lived with his two older brothers and his father, Edward Haynes. Warren began to play the guitar at age 12. His primary guitar is a Gibson Les Paul '58 Reissue Electric Guitar (he often plays a Gibson Firebird as well, though his choice of a '58 is most likely because of Duane Allman's famed '58 Les Paul and the tone he achieved with that, rather than a more so commonly used '59 Les Paul model, popularized by guitarists such as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page). Haynes is married to Stefani Scamardo, respectively, a DJ for Sirius radio, as well as being the long-time manager of Gov't Mule.

Every December, Warren Haynes hosts a Christmas Jam in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina; the proceeds from the concert are donated to Habitat for Humanity. Many musicians donate their time to create an evening of music. The Jam was started in 1988. Some of the musicians who regularly play are Edwin McCain, Kevin Kinney, Audley Freed, and Dave Schools. As a tribute to his financial support of Habitat for Humanity, a subdivision in Asheville, North Carolina has a street named after Warren Haynes. Mr. Haynes has also been awarded the key to the city of Asheville, being held in high regard for his service to the Asheville community.

Haynes' influences range from Jimi Hendrix to Cream to The Beatles to Muddy Waters. Haynes usually plays guitar in standard tuning, while using a slide/bottleneck or not, unlike Duane Allman and Derek Trucks who both play in Open E tuning. Haynes tells in a 2006 interview with Gibson his early influences: "When I first started—chronologically speaking—Hendrix and Clapton and Johnny Winter were the first three people I got turned on to. That was the Cream era of Clapton. Then eventually, I heard the Allman Brothers and everybody else from that era that I stole something from (laughs). Of course, I would read interviews with all these people and find out who they listened to. And they all listened to B.B. King and Freddie King and Albert King and Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters and Elmore James, so I would go back and discover that stuff."(1992 - Allman Brothers live at Great Woods VHS)

During the same 2006 interview Haynes mentions his influence of Jimmy Reed and Lighting Hopkins which he acquired from David Alan Coe.

Haynes has released two instruction videos with the Hot Licks company Electric Blues & Slide Guitar and Acoustic Slide and the art of Electric Improvisation. He discussed his influences and shows an array of techniques such as "call and response", string bending, vibrato, slide guitar in standard tuning and some acoustic opentuning licks in G and E tunings. For the examples of the Electric Improvisation section of the second video he is accompanied by Allen Woody and Matt Abts.

Discography

Allman Brothers Band

Seven Turns, 1990

Shades of Two Worlds, 1991

, 1992 (live)

Where It All Begins, 1994

, 1995 (live)

Hittin' the Note, 2003

One Way Out, 2004 (live)

Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule, 1995

Live at Roseland Ballroom, 1996

Dose, 1998

Live ... With A Little Help From Our Friends, 1998

Life Before Insanity, 2000

, 2000

The Deep End, Volume 1, 2001

The Deep End, Volume 2, 2002

The Deepest End, Live In Concert, 2003

Deja Voodoo, 2004

''Mo' Voodoo (EP), 2005

High & Mighty, 2006

Mighty High, 2007

Holy Haunted House, 2007 (live)

By a Thread, 2009

Mulennium, 2010

Dave Matthews Band

Live at Piedmont Park

The Central Park Concert

Warren Haynes

Tales Of Ordinary Madness - 1993

The Lone EP - 2003 (live)

Live at Bonnaroo - 2004 (live)

Phil Lesh & Friends

There and Back Again - 2002

Garth Brooks

No Fences, writing credits on song "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" - 1990

David Allan Coe

Live - If That Ain't Country... , 1997 (live)

Corrosion of Conformity

America's Volume Dealer - Stare Too Long - 2000

The Derek Trucks Band

Already Free, writing credits on song "Back Where I Started" - 2009

Compilation

- 2007 - Track #7 "The Pump"

Kevn Kinney (of Drivin' N Cryin' fame)

The Flower & The Knife - Producer, Backup Vocalist and Guitarist on most of the tracks - 2000

See also

Allman Brothers Band

Gov't Mule

Derek Trucks

Les Claypool

Phil Lesh

The Dead

Little Milton

Widespread Panic

Dave Matthews Band

Evil Teen Records

Corrosion of Conformity

References

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E1D91731F935A35755C0A9629C8B63

External links

Band links

Allman Brothers Band

Gov't Mule

Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes Christmas Jam Pre-Jam Photos

Warren Haynes at Rolling Stone

Article links

New York Times, March 18, 2004">Pareles, Jon. "A Night To Honor Bands That Jam" (Fourth Annual Jammy Awards), New York Times, March 18, 2004

David Fricke, Rolling Stone Issue 955, August 19, 2004">Warren Haynes Gets Around, David Fricke, Rolling Stone Issue 955, August 19, 2004

Warren Haynes Interview, 2006 - Modern Guitars magazine

Gibson Guitar on with excellent video interview segments">Warren Haynes Artist Page on Gibson Guitar on with excellent video interview segments

Mule Skinner Blues, Warren Haynes, The Gibson Interview

Audio interview with Warren Haynes on Guitar Jam Daily

Warren Haynes interview with MusiciansFriend where he discusses how he started out in music, his first bands, and Gov't Mule

Warren's surprise appearance at Hometown Holiday Jam VII at the Orange Peel, 12/13/07

NY Times 2009 article on the Beacon

Interview links

Interview with Warren Haynes on Trilogy Rock (Spain)

Miscellaneous Links

Warren Haynes Presents Annual X-Mas Jam

Category:American rock guitarists Category:American blues guitarists Category:Slide guitarists Category:The Allman Brothers Band members Category:Gov't Mule members Category:People from Asheville, North Carolina Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Lead guitarists

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Neil Young
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Neil Percival Young
Alias	Bernard Shakey, Joe Canuck OC, OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He then forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with a continual and uncompromising exploration of musical styles. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and secondly as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

The 1982 album Trans, which incorporated vocoders, synthesizers, and electronic beats, was Young's first for new label Geffen Records (distributed at the time by Warner Bros. Records, whose parent Warner Music Group owns most of Young's solo and band catalog) and represented a distinct stylistic departure. Young later revealed that an inspiration for the album was the theme of technology and communication with his son Ben, who has severe cerebral palsy and cannot speak. An extensive tour preceded the release of the album, and was documented by the video Neil Young in Berlin, which saw release in 1986.

Young's next album, 1983's Everybody's Rockin', included several rockabilly covers and clocked in at less than twenty-five minutes in length. Young was backed by the Shocking Pinks for the supporting U.S. tour. Trans had already drawn the ire of label head David Geffen for its lack of commercial appeal, and with Everybody's Rockin' following only seven months later, Geffen Records sued Young for making music "unrepresentative" of himself. The album was also notable as the first for which Young made commercial music videos – Tim Pope directed the videos for "Wonderin'" and "Cry, Cry, Cry". Also premiered in 1983, though little seen, was the eclectic full-length comedy film Human Highway, co-directed and co-written by Young, and starring Young and members of Devo.

1984 was the first year without a Neil Young album since the start of Young's musical career with Buffalo Springfield in 1966. Young's lack of productivity was largely due to the ongoing legal battle with Geffen, although he was also frustrated that the label had rejected his 1982 country album Old Ways. It was also the year when Young's third child, his second with wife Pegi was born; his daughter Amber Jean, a child who was later diagnosed with inherited epilepsy. Young spent most of 1984 and all of 1985 touring for Old Ways with his country band, the International Harvesters. The album was finally released in an altered form midway through 1985. Young also appeared at that year's Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, collaborating with Crosby, Stills and Nash for the quartet's first performance for a paying audience in over ten years.

Young's last two albums for Geffen were more conventional in genre, although they incorporated production techniques like synthesizers and echoing drums that were previously uncommon in Young's music. Young recorded 1986's Landing on Water without Crazy Horse, but reunited with the band for the subsequent year-long tour and final Geffen album, Life, which emerged in 1987. Young's album sales dwindled steadily throughout the eighties; today Life remains his all-time-least successful studio album, with an estimated four hundred thousand sales worldwide.

Switching back to his old label Reprise Records, Young continued to tour relentlessly, assembling a new blues band called The Bluenotes in mid-1987 (a legal dispute with musician Harold Melvin forced the eventual rechristening of the band as Ten Men Working midway through the tour). The addition of a brass section provided a new jazzier sound, and the title track of 1988's This Note's For You became Young's first hit single of the decade. Accompanied by a video that parodied corporate rock, the pretensions of advertising, and Michael Jackson, the song was initially unofficially banned by MTV for mentioning the brand names of some of their sponsors. Young wrote an open letter, "What does the M in MTV stand for: music or money?" Despite this, the video was eventually named best video of the year by the network in 1989. By comparison, the major music cable network of Young's home nation, Muchmusic, ran the video immediately.

Young reunited with Crosby, Stills and Nash to record the 1988 album American Dream and play two benefit concerts late in the year, but the group did not embark upon a full tour. The album was only the second-ever studio record for the quartet.

Re-return to prominence (1990s)

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Young's 1989 single "Rockin' in the Free World", which hit #2 on the U.S. charts, and accompanying album, Freedom, rocketed him back into the popular consciousness after a decade of sometimes-difficult genre experiments. The album's lyrics were often overtly political; "Rockin' in the Free World" deals with homelessness, terrorism, and environmental degradation, implicitly criticizing the government policies of President George H.W. Bush.

The use of heavy feedback and distortion on several Freedom tracks was reminiscent of the Rust Never Sleeps album, and foreshadowed the imminent rise of grunge. The rising stars of the genre, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, frequently cited Young as a major influence, contributing to his popular revival. A tribute album called was released in 1989, featuring covers by alternative and grunge acts including Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Soul Asylum, Dinosaur Jr, and the Pixies.

Young's 1990 album Ragged Glory, recorded with Crazy Horse in a barn on his Northern California ranch, continued this distortion-heavy aesthetic. Young toured for the album with Orange County, California country-punk band Social Distortion and alternative rock pioneers Sonic Youth as support, much to the consternation of many of his old fans. Weld, a two-disc live album documenting the tour, was released in 1991. Still enamored with the grunge scene, Young reconnected with Pearl Jam in 1995 for the live-in-the-studio album Mirror Ball and a tour of Europe with the band and producer Brendan O'Brien backing Young. 1995 also marked Young's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he was inducted by Eddie Vedder.

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Young's next collaborative partner was filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, who asked Young to compose a soundtrack to his 1995 black and white western film Dead Man. Young's instrumental soundtrack was improvised while he watched the film alone in a studio. The death of longtime mentor, friend, and producer David Briggs in late 1995 prompted Young to reconnect with Crazy Horse the following year for the album and tour Broken Arrow. A Jarmusch-directed concert film and live album of the tour, Year of the Horse, emerged in 1997. From 1996–97 Young and Crazy Horse toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, including a stint as part of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival's sixth annual tour.

In 1998, Young renewed his collaboration with rock band Phish, sharing the stage at the annual Farm Aid concert and then at Young's Bridge School Benefit, where he joined headliners Phish for renditions of "Helpless" and "I Shall Be Released." Phish declined Young's later invitation to be his backing band on his 1999 North American tour.

The decade ended with the release in late 1999 of Looking Forward, another reunion with Crosby, Stills and Nash. The subsequent tour of the United States and Canada with the reformed super quartet earned $42.1 million, making it the eighth largest grossing tour of 2000.

Renewed activism and brush with death (2000s)

Neil Young continued to release new material at a rapid pace through the first decade of the new millennium. The studio album Silver & Gold and live album Road Rock Vol. 1 were released in 2000 and were both accompanied by live concert films. His 2001 single "Let's Roll" was a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, and the effective action taken by the passengers and crew on Flight 93 in particular. At the "" benefit concert for the victims of the attacks, Young performed John Lennon's "Imagine" and accompanied Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready on the song "Long Road", a Pearl Jam song that was written with Young during the Mirrorball sessions. "Let's Roll" was included on 2002's Are You Passionate?, an album mostly composed of mellow love songs dedicated to Young's wife, Pegi.

In 2003, Young released Greendale, a concept album recorded with Crazy Horse members Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina. The songs loosely revolved around the murder of a police officer in a small town in California and its effects on the town's inhabitants. Young, under the pseudonym "Bernard Shakey", directed an accompanying film of the same name, featuring actors lip-synching to the music from the album. Young toured extensively with the Greendale material throughout 2003 and 2004, first with a solo, acoustic version in Europe, then with a full-cast stage show in North America, Japan, and Australia. Young began using biodiesel on the 2004 Greendale tour, powering his trucks and tour buses with the fuel. "Our Greendale tour is now ozone friendly,” Young said. “I plan to continue to use this government approved and regulated fuel exclusively from now on to prove that it is possible to deliver the goods anywhere in North America without using foreign oil, while being environmentally responsible.” Young spent the latter portion of 2004 giving a series of intimate acoustic concerts in various cities with his wife, who is a trained vocalist and guitar player.

In March 2005, while working on the Prairie Wind album in Nashville, Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He was treated successfully with a minimally invasive neuroradiological procedure, performed in a New York hospital on March 29. Two days afterwards, Young passed out on a New York street from bleeding from the femoral artery, which surgeons had used to access the aneurysm. The complication forced Young to cancel his scheduled appearance at the Juno Awards telecast in Winnipeg, but within months he was back on stage, appearing at the close of the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario on July 2. During the performance, he debuted a new song, a soft hymn called "When God Made Me". Young's brush with death influenced Prairie Wind's themes of retrospection and mortality. The album's live premiere in Nashville was immortalized by filmmaker Jonathan Demme in the 2006 film .

Young's renewed activism manifested itself in the 2006 album Living With War, which was hastily recorded and released in less than a month. The album's overtly political songs rebuked U.S. President George W. Bush and the War in Iraq and included the provocatively titled "Let's Impeach the President". Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunited for the supporting "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06". CSNY Déjà Vu, a concert film of the tour directed by Young was released in 2008, along with an accompanying live album.

While Young had never been a stranger to eco-friendly lyrics, themes of environmentalist spirituality and activism became increasingly prominent in his work throughout the 1990s and 2000s, especially on Greendale and Living With War. The trend continued on 2007's Chrome Dreams II, with lyrics exploring Young's personal eco-spirituality. Also in 2007, Young accepted an invitation to participate in , contributing his version of "Walking to New Orleans".

In 2008, Young revealed his latest project, the production of a hybrid-engine 1959 Lincoln called Lincvolt. A new album loosely based on the Lincvolt project, Fork in the Road, was released on April 7, 2009. Unfortunately, the car caught fire in November, 2010, in a California warehouse, and along the way it burned an estimated $850,000 worth of Young's rock and roll memorabilia collection. Initial reports suggest the fire might have been triggered by an error in the vehicle's plug-in charging system. Young blamed the fire on human error and said he and his team were committed to rebuilding the car. "The wall charging system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended. A mistake was made. It was not the fault of the car," he said.

, England, on June 23 2009.]] A Jonathan Demme concert film from a 2007 concert at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, called the Neil Young Trunk Show premiered on March 21, 2009, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. It was featured at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2009 and was released in the US on March 19, 2010 to critical acclaim.

Young's most recent album appearance was on the album Potato Hole, released on April 21, 2009 by Memphis organ player Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & the MG's fame. Young plays guitar on nine of the album's ten instrumental tracks, alongside Drive-By Truckers, who already had three guitar players, giving some songs on the album a total of five guitar tracks. Jones contributed guitars on a couple of tracks.

Young continues to tour extensively. In 2009, he headlined the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England, at Hard Rock Calling in London (where he was joined onstage by Paul McCartney for a rendition of "A Day in the Life") and, after years of unsuccessful booking attempts, the Isle of Wight Festival in addition to performances at the Big Day Out festival in New Zealand and Australia and the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona.

New performances (2010s)

On January 22, 2010, Young performed "Long May You Run" on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. On the same night, he and Dave Matthews performed the Hank Williams song "Alone and Forsaken", for the charity telethon, in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Young performed "Long May You Run" at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Olympic winter games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In May 2010, it was revealed Young has begun working on a new studio album that will be produced by Daniel Lanois. This was announced by David Crosby, who said that the album "will be a very heartfelt record. I expect it will be a very special record." On May 18th 2010, Young embarked upon a North American solo tour to promote his upcoming album, Le Noise, playing a mix of older songs and new material. Although billed as a solo acoustic tour, Young has also played some songs on electric guitars, including Old Black.

Young currently lives in La Honda, California on the 1500-acre (6 km²) Broken Arrow Ranch, purchased in 1970 for $350,000 and named after one of his early Buffalo Springfield songs.

Archives project

As far back as 1988, Young spoke in interviews of his efforts to compile his unreleased material and to remaster his existing catalog. The first installment, entitled The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972, was originally planned for a 2007 release but was delayed, and released on June 2, 2009.

Three performances from the Performance Series of the archives were released individually before The Archives Vol. 1. Live at the Fillmore East, a selection of songs from a 1970 gig with Crazy Horse, was released in 2006. Live at Massey Hall 1971, a solo acoustic set from Toronto's Massey Hall, saw release in 2007. Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House 1968, an early solo performance and, chronologically, the first disc in the performance series, emerged late in 2008.

In an interview in 2008, Neil Young discussed Toast, an album originally recorded with Crazy Horse in San Francisco in 2000 but never released. The album will be part of the Special Edition Series of the Archives. No release date currently exists for Toast. Another album Young has mentioned as a possible release is Treasure, from 1985 sessions with the Harvesters.

On July 14, 2009, Young's first four solo albums were reissued as remastered HDCD discs and digital downloads as discs 1–4 of the Original Release Series of the Archives.

Awards and recognitions

Canadian Music Hall of Fame, 1982

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. First in 1995 for his solo work, with an induction speech given by Eddie Vedder, and again in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield.

As one of the original founders of Farm Aid, he remains an active member of the board of directors. For one weekend each October, in Mountain View, California, he and his wife host the Bridge School Concerts, which have been drawing international talent and sell-out crowds for nearly two decades with some of the biggest names in rock having performed at the event including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Tom Waits, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Sir Paul McCartney and Dave Matthews. The concerts are a benefit for the Bridge School, which develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of children with disabilities. Young's involvement stems at least partially from the fact that both of his sons have cerebral palsy and his daughter, like Young himself, has epilepsy.

Young was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for his song "Philadelphia" from the film Philadelphia. Bruce Springsteen won the award for his song "Streets of Philadelphia" from the same film. In his acceptance speech, Springsteen said that "the award really deserved to be shared by the other nominee's song." That same night, Tom Hanks accepted the Oscar for Best Actor and gave credit for his inspiration to the song "Philadelphia".

He was part owner of Lionel, LLC, a company that makes toy trains and model railroad accessories. In 2008 Lionel emerged from bankruptcy and his shares of the company were wiped out. At this time his status with Lionel is unknown, according to Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese he is still a consultant for Lionel. He was instrumental in the design of the Lionel Legacy control system for model trains

Young has twice received honorary doctorates. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1992, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from San Francisco State University in 2006. The latter honour was shared with his wife Pegi for their creation of the Bridge School. In 2006, Young was given Manitoba's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the Order of Manitoba. In 2009, he was then given Canada's highest civilian honour, when he was appointed to the Order of Canada.

Rolling Stone magazine in 2000, ranked Young thirty-fourth in its list of the 500 greatest artists of all time, and in 2003, included five of his albums in its list of 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2000, Young was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2006, Paste magazine compiled a "Greatest Living Songwriters" list; Young was ranked second behind Bob Dylan. (While Young and Dylan have occasionally played together in concert, they have never collaborated on a song together, or played on each others' records). He ranked thirty-ninth on VH1's 100 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock that same year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame explained that while Young has "avoided sticking to one style for very long, the unifying factors throughout Young’s peripatetic musical journey have been his unmistakable voice, his raw and expressive guitar playing, and his consummate songwriting skill." Dave Matthews lists Neil Young as one of his favorite and most inspirational songwriters and covers his songs on occasion. The British Indie band The Bluetones named their number one debut album after the song "Expecting to Fly" (written by Young when still with Buffalo Springfield and have covered the song while touring. Young also inspired Oasis singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher, with Gallagher covering "My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)" on the live album Familiar to Millions.

The Australian rock group Powderfinger named themselves after Young's song "Powderfinger" from Young's Rust Never Sleeps. The members of the Constantines have occasionally played Neil Young tribute shows under the name Horsey Craze. While in Winnipeg on November 2, 2008 during the Canadian leg of his tour, Bob Dylan visited Young's former home in River Heights, where Young spent his teenage years. Dylan was interested in seeing the room where some of Young's first songs were composed.

Jason Bond, an East Carolina University biologist, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider in 2007 and named it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi after Young, his favorite singer (a previous similar case was the dinousaur Masiakasaurus knopfleri named after the musician Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits).

In 2001, Young was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award from the civil liberties group People for the American Way. Young was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, 2010, two nights prior to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. In addition was also nominated for two Grammy Awards; Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance ("Fork In The Road") and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package ["Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963–1972)"]. Young won the latter Grammy Award. In 2010, Young was ranked #26 in Gibson.com’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

Juno Awards

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Category ! Nominated work ! Result |- | 2008 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Chrome Dreams II || |- | 2007 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Living With War || |- | rowspan=3 | 2006 || Adult Alternative Album of the Year || Prairie Wind || |- | Jack Richardson Producer of the Year || "The Painter" || |- | Songwriter of the Year || "The Painter", "When God Made Me", "Prairie Wind" || |- | rowspan=2 | 2001 || Best Male Artist || Neil Young || |- | Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo || Silver & Gold || |- | 1997 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | rowspan=2 | 1996 || Best Rock Album || Mirror Ball || |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | rowspan=3 | 1995 || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | Entertainer of the Year || Neil Young || |- | rowspan=2 | 1994 || Single of the Year || "Harvest Moon" || |- | Album of the Year || Harvest Moon || |- | rowspan=2 | 1993 || Songwriter of the Year || Neil Young || |- | Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1991 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1990 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1989 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1986 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1982 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1981 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1980 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1979 || Male Vocalist of the Year || Neil Young || |- | 1975 || Composer of the Year || Neil Young || |}

Instruments

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Guitars

In 2003, Rolling Stone listed Young as eighty-third in its ranking of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", describing him as a "restless experimenter...who transform[s] the most obvious music into something revelatory." Young is a collector of second-hand guitars, but in recording and performing, he frequently uses just a few instruments, as is explained by his longtime guitar technician Larry Cragg in the film . They include:

1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. Nicknamed "Old Black", this is Young's primary electric guitar and is featured on Rust Never Sleeps and other albums. Old Black got its name from an amateur paintjob applied to the originally gold body of the instrument, sometime before Neil acquired the guitar in the late 1960s. In 1972, a mini humbucker pickup from a Gibson Firebird was installed in the lead/treble position. This pickup, severely microphonic, is considered a crucial component of Neil's sound. A Bigsby vibrato tailpiece was installed as early as 1969, and can be heard during the opening of "Cowgirl in the Sand" from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

Martin D-45. His primary steel-string acoustic guitar, used to write "Old Man" and many other songs. It was one of four instruments bought by Stephen Stills for himself and his band-mates in CSNY in order to celebrate their first full concert at the Greek Theater in 1969.

Martin D-28. Nicknamed "Hank" after its previous owner, Hank Williams. Hank Williams, Jr., had traded it for some shotguns; it went through a succession of other owners until it was located by Young's longtime friend Grant Boatwright. The guitar was purchased by Young from Tut Taylor. Young has toured with it for over 30 years. A story about the guitar and the song it inspired, "This Old Guitar," can be seen about 50 minutes into the film . It is Young's primary guitar for Prairie Wind.

Vintage Martin D-18: Young used an old D-18 throughout his early days performing in coffee houses in Canada and on some early Buffalo Springfield work, before he received the D-45 from Stills. The guitar has often been used to carry "dropped standard tuning" (DGCFAD) which Young often uses in concert. This allowed him to perform songs such as "Ambulance Blues" and "Don't let it Bring You Down" live without having to tune all 6 strings onstage.

Other notable (or odd) instruments played by Young include:

On CMT live he is shown playing with Phish in which he plays a Languedoc G2

Vagabond Travel Guitar, used for "Let's Impeach the President" on The Colbert Report.

Taylor 855 12-string, used in the first half of Rust Never Sleeps.

1927 Gibson Mastertone, a six-string banjo tuned like a guitar, used on many recordings and played by James Taylor on "Old Man."

Gretsch 6120 (Chet Atkins model). Before Young bought Old Black, this was his primary electric guitar during his Buffalo Springfield days.

Gretsch White Falcon. Young purchased a late 1950s model near the end of the Buffalo Springfield era; in 1969 he bought a stereo version of the same vintage guitar from Stephen Stills, and this instrument is featured prominently during Young's early '70s period, and can be heard on tracks like "Ohio," "Southern Man," "Alabama," "Words (Between the Lines of Age)," and "L.A.". It was Young's primary electric guitar during the Harvest era, since Young's deteriorating back condition (eventually fixed with surgery) made playing the much heavier Les Paul difficult. This particular White Falcon is the stereo 6137, in which the signal from the three bass strings is separated from the signal from the three treble strings. Young typically plays this guitar in this stereo mode, sending the separate signals to two different amps, a Fender Deluxe and either a Fender Tremolux or a low-powered Tweed Fender Twin. The separation of the signals is most prominently heard on the Harvest song "Words."

Gibson Flying V, on the Time Fades Away tour.

Fender Broadcaster, on the Tonight's the Night album and tour.

Amplification

Young uses various vintage Fender Tweed Deluxe amplifiers. His preferred amplifier for electric guitar is the Fender Deluxe, specifically a Tweed-era model from 1959. He purchased his first vintage Deluxe in 1967 for $50 from the drummer of Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina, and has since acquired nearly 450 different examples, all from the same era, but he maintains that it's the original model that sounds superior and is crucial to his trademark sound. The Tweed Deluxe is almost always used in conjunction with a late-1950's Magnatone 280 (similar to the amp used by Lonnie Mack and Buddy Holly). The Magnatone and the Deluxe are paired together in a most unusual manner: the external speaker jack from the Deluxe sends the amped signal through a volume potentiometer and directly into the input of the Magnatone. The Magnatone is notable for its true pitch-bending vibrato capabilities, which can be heard as an electric piano amplifier on "See the Sky About to Rain". A notable and unique accessory to Young's Deluxe is the Whizzer, a device created specifically for Young, which physically changes the amplifier's settings to pre-set combinations. This device is connected to footswitches operable by Young onstage in the manner of an effects pedal.

Discography

:See also the discographies for Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

See also

Music of Canada

Canadian rock

Notes

References

External links

Neil's Garage – Official website

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young official website

Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum – Omemee, Ontario

Review of Crazy Horse at the Fillmore 1970

Sugar Mountain – a compilation of set lists from Neil Young's concert performances

"Neil Young: Don't be Denied", PBS, American Masters, TV documentary, 2009

Category:1945 births Category:Living people

Category:Anti-Iraq War activists Category:Anti-Vietnam War activists Category:Buffalo Springfield members Category:Canadian country guitarists Category:Canadian country rock musicians Category:Canadian country singers Category:Canadian film directors Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian people of American descent Category:Canadian people of French descent Category:Canadian people of Irish descent Category:Canadian rock guitarists Category:Canadian rock singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Canadian environmentalists Category:Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Category:Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young members Category:Juno Award winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:Musicians from Manitoba Category:Writers from Manitoba Category:Members of the Order of Manitoba Category:Neil Young and Crazy Horse members Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:Writers from Ontario Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People with epilepsy Category:People from Toronto Category:People from Winnipeg Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Alt	Head shot of Damon looking into the camera smiling slightly. He is wearing a black polo shirt.
Caption	Damon in 2009
Birth date	October 08, 1970
Birth name	Matthew Paige Damon
Birth place	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Spouse
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, producer
Alma mater	Harvard University (attended)
Years active	1988–present

Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting (1997), from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck. The pair won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for their work and Damon garnered multiple Best Actor nominations, including the Academy Award, for his lead performance in the film.

Damon has since starred in commercially successful films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), the Ocean's trilogy, and the Bourne series, while also gaining critical acclaim for his performances in dramas such as Syriana (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), and The Departed (2006). He garnered a Golden Globe nomination for portraying the title character in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and was nominated for an Academy Award as a supporting actor in Invictus (2009). He is one of the top forty highest grossing actors of all time. In 2007, Damon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.

Damon has been actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign, H2O Africa Foundation, and Water.org.

Early life

Matt Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Kent Telfer Damon, a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. Damon is of English, Scottish, Finnish, and Swedish ancestry, and is a distant cousin of actors Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck. He has a brother, Kyle, who is an accomplished sculptor and artist. He and his family moved to Newton and lived there for two years. After his parents divorced, Damon and his brother moved with their mother back to Cambridge, where they lived in a six-family communal house. Damon grew up near Ben Affleck, a close friend since childhood and collaborator on several films, and historian and author Howard Zinn, whose biographical film You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train and audio version of A People's History of the United States Damon later narrated. As a lonely adolescent, Damon has described feeling "such pain in wanting to belong somewhere and not belonging."

Damon attended Harvard University from 1988 to 1992 but did not graduate. While at Harvard, he studied English and lived in Lowell House. He took part in student theater, appearing in plays such as Burn This in Winthrop House and A... My Name is Alice (in one of the three male roles usually performed by women). Damon dropped out of the university to pursue his acting career in Los Angeles because he mistakenly expected to become a big success. "By the time I figured out I had made the wrong decision, it was too late. I was living out here with a bunch of actors, and we were all scrambling to make ends meet," Damon has said.

Acting career

Early years

Damon's first film role came in 1988 when he was eighteen, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza. As a student at Harvard University, he continued to pursue acting and performed small roles in projects such as the TNT original film Rising Son and the ensemble prep-school drama School Ties. In 1992, he landed a big part in with Gene Hackman and Jason Patric. Damon next appeared as an opiate-addicted soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire. He was required to lose in 100 days (for only two days of filming). After following a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen to lose the weight, Damon was told after filming that he was fortunate his heart did not shrink. He took medication for several years afterwards to correct the stress inflicted on his adrenal gland. Courage Under Fire gained him some critical notice, as The Washington Post labeled his performance "impressive"; Damon has stated that it was worthwhile to risk his health in order to properly portray his character and show the industry how committed he was to his work as an actor. Damon was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the same film, which also netted an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for co-star Robin Williams. The two later parodied their roles from the film in Kevin Smith's 2001 movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Also in 1997, Damon was the lead in the critically-acclaimed drama The Rainmaker, where he was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as "a talented young actor on the brink of stardom." After meeting Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting, director Steven Spielberg cast Damon as the titular character in the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan. to the low budget experimental film Gerry (2002), which he co-wrote with Casey Affleck and Gus Van Sant. Damon garnered generally positive critical reaction for his Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of Ripley, with Variety stating, "Damon outstandingly conveys his character's slide from innocent enthusiasm into cold calculation."

Damon's attempts at essaying leading characters in romantic dramas such as 2000's All the Pretty Horses and The Legend of Bagger Vance were commercially and critically unsuccessful. He was similarly deemed "uncomfortable being the center" of Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance.

From 2001 to 2007, Damon gained wider international recognition as part of two major film franchises. He co-starred as thief Linus Caldwell, alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts, in Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake of the Rat Pack's 1960 caper film Ocean's 11; the successful crime dramedy spawned two sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). In August 2007, financial magazine Forbes created a list of actors who generated the best box office performance related to their salaries; the list placed Damon as the most bankable star of the actors reviewed, revealing that Damon had averaged U.S.$29 at the box office for every dollar he earned for his last three films.

in Berlin in February 2007 for the premiere of The Good Shepherd]] Damon played a fictionalized version of Wilhelm Grimm in Terry Gilliam's fantasy adventure The Brothers Grimm (2005), which was a critically panned commercial failure; Later that year, he appeared as an energy analyst in Syriana. In 2006, Damon joined Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd as a career CIA officer, and played an undercover mobster working for the Massachusetts State Police in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, a remake of the Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs. The Departed was a success amongst critics and audiences alike.

Damon had an uncredited cameo in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth (2007) and another cameo in the 2008 Che Guevara biopic Che. He lent his voice to the English version of the animated film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, which was released in the United States in August 2009. He also made a guest appearance in 2009 on the sixth season finale of Entourage as himself, where he tries to pressure Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) into donating to his charity OneXOne—a real foundation for which Damon is an ambassador—and gets increasingly irritated when Chase does not seem to comply.

Damon next appeared in Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy, The Informant! (2009), in which his Golden Globe-nominated work was described by Entertainment Weekly as such: "The star – who has quietly and steadily turned into a great Everyman actor – is in nimble control as he reveals his character's deep crazies." Also in 2009, Damon portrayed South Africa national rugby union team captain François Pienaar in the Clint Eastwood-directed Nelson Mandela film Invictus, which is based on the 2008 John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation and features Morgan Freeman as Mandela. Invictus earned Damon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The New Republic observed, "It is not a demanding role, but the ever-more-actorly Damon brings it off with low-key charm and integrity."

In 2010, Damon re-teamed with director Paul Greengrass, who directed him in the Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum, for the action thriller Green Zone, which flopped commercially and received ambivalent reception from critics.

In motion pictures that feature him either as a leading actor or as a supporting co-star, his films have grossed a total of U.S.$1.94 to U.S.$2.42 billion (based on counting his roles as strictly lead or including supporting roles, respectively) at the North American box office, placing him in the top forty grossing actors of all time.

He has appeared as a guest star in an episode of Arthur, titled The Making of Arthur, as himself. During Season 5 of 30 Rock, he appeared as guest star in the role of Liz Lemon's boyfriend in the episodes "When It Rains, It Pours" and "Live Show".

Damon's 2010 projects included The Adjustment Bureau, Clint Eastwood's Hereafter, and the Coen Brothers' remake of the 1969 John Wayne-starring Western True Grit; the latter movie started filming in March 2010 and was released in December of that year.

Upcoming films

He will next work with frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh on two projects: as the longtime Liberace love interest, Scott Thorsen, opposite Michael Douglas in an upcoming film centered on the pianist's life and as part of an ensemble cast in Contagion. The company produced and founded the short-lived mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada, among other projects. Project Greenlight was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004, and 2005.

Humanitarian work

Damon has taken part in philanthropy since the age of 12, deciding what to do with his $5 allowance. Damon was the founder of H2O Africa Foundation, the charitable arm of the Running the Sahara expedition, which merged with WaterPartners to create Water.org in July 2009. He, along with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, is one of the founders of , an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in Darfur. Damon supports the ONE Campaign, which is aimed at fighting AIDS and poverty in Third World countries. He has appeared in their print and television advertising. Damon is also an ambassador for OneXOne, a non-profit foundation committed to supporting, preserving and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world. Damon is also a spokesperson for Feeding America, the largest USA-focused hunger-relief organization, and a member of their Entertainment Council, participating in their Ad Council PSAs.

Damon is a board member of Tonic Mailstopper (formerly GreenDimes), a company that attempts to halt junk mail delivered to American homes each day. Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 20, 2007, Damon promoted the organization's efforts to prevent the trees used for junk mail letters and envelopes from being chopped down. Damon stated: "For an estimated dime a day they can stop 70 per cent of the junk mail that comes to your house. It's very simple, easy to do, great gift to give, I've actually signed up my entire family. It was a gift given to me this past holiday season and I was so impressed that I'm now on the board of the company."

In the media

Kimmel and Damon

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel at some point started stating near the end of his ABC television show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, "My apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time." The line is a gag lampooning instances where shows cannot feature their last guest due to time constraints. On September 12, 2006, after a segment highlighting the running gag and a lengthy introduction by Kimmel, Damon finally appeared on the show, only for Kimmel to apologetically cut his interview and head to credits, as Damon cursed him. It was later determined that the skit was entirely planned by Kimmel and Damon. Kimmel's girlfriend at the time, comedian Sarah Silverman, also used this line at the end of the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Silverman then aired a clip of her singing a song entitled "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" on January 31, 2008, on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Damon appeared in the song with Silverman and at the end when she is apologizing to Jimmy, Damon interrupts her and says, "Jimmy, we're out of time. Sorry." Kimmel responded by airing his own music video in which he announced, through song, that he is "fucking Ben Affleck". The video aired on February 24, 2008, and featured Affleck along with a host of celebrities, including Don Cheadle, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford, and Robin Williams. After this Jimmy's sidekick, Guillermo, appeared in a spoof of The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Damon. He was then chased down by Damon as Matt cursed about Kimmel being behind all this. Guillermo also stopped Damon on the red carpet one time and before he could finish the interview he said "Sorry we are out of time. The most recent encounter was titled "The Handsome Men's Club" which featured Kimmel, along with other "Handsome Men" including Matthew McConaughey, Rob Lowe, Lenny Kravitz, and many more, speaking about being handsome and all the jobs that come with it. At the end of the skit Kimmel has a door slammed in his face by none other then Matt Damon stating that they had run out of time and then Damon continues with a sinister laugh.

Political views

Damon appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews in December 2006 and, while discussing the ongoing war in Iraq, he stated: "I don't think that it's fair, as I said before, that it seems like we have a fighting class in our country that's people who have to go for either financial reasons, or ... if you're gonna send people to war, then that needs to be shared by everybody."

On September 10, 2008, a video was released on YouTube by the Associated Press in which Damon criticized the Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whom he found unready to lead the country in case John McCain were to not make it through his first term. Damon referred to Palin as a "...bad Disney movie... 'I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska here to take on the White House'," and added, "It's absurd ... I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. Because she’s gonna have the nuclear codes."

Damon narrated the audiobook version of historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, published in 2003.

Personal life

Damon dated his Good Will Hunting co-star Minnie Driver. He later had a two-year relationship with actress Winona Ryder. Damon met Argentine-born Luciana Bozán Barroso (born 1976) in Miami, where she was working as a bartender. They married in a private civil ceremony on December 9, 2005, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau near New York City Hall. On August 20, 2008, Barroso gave birth to the couple's second child, Gia Zavala Damon, both girls born in Miami, Florida. On October 20, 2010, Barroso gave birth to their third daughter, Stella Zavala Damon, in New York. As of 2010, Damon and his family reside in Manhattan. After the team won the 2007 World Series, he narrated the commemorative DVD release of the event.

Damon enjoys playing poker and has competed in several World Series of Poker (WSOP) events including the 2010 World Series of Poker main event. He dropped $25,000 at the WSOP while researching his role as a professional poker player in Rounders (1998) and after filming the movie Damon was busted out of the 1998 WSOP by poker professional Doyle Brunson.

Awards and honors

Damon won multiple awards for Good Will Hunting, a film he co-wrote with Ben Affleck. He was nominated for the Academy Award as "Best Actor in a Leading Role" and won for "Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen". He reacted to the award by stating: "A few times in my life I've had these experiences that are just kind of too big to process and this looks like it's going to be one of those times." Damon has been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild awards and seven MTV Movie Awards for various films. Additionally, he has three Emmy nominations for his work as producer on three seasons of Project Greenlight. Damon was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 2007. Damon won 'Best Ass-Kicker' and 'Guy of the Year' at the Spike Guys' Choice Awards of 2008. On March 27, 2010, Damon received the 24th Annual American Cinematheque Award, which was presented to him by Ben Affleck at a ceremony comprising roasts from Damon's colleagues and friends in the entertainment industry.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan="2"| 1988 | Mystic Pizza | Steamer | |- | The Good Mother | Extra | |- | 1989 |Field of Dreams | Fenway Park extra | |- | 1992 | School Ties | Charlie Dillon | |- | 1993 | | 2nd Lt. Britton Davis | |- |rowspan="2"| 1996 | Glory Daze | Edgar Pudwhacker | |- | Courage Under Fire | Specialist Ilario | |- |rowspan="3"| 1997 | Good Will Hunting | Will Hunting | Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with Ben Affleck
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award with Ben Affleck |- | The Rainmaker | Rudy Baylor | |- | Chasing Amy | Shawn Oran | Cameo |- |rowspan="2"| 1998 | Rounders | Mike McDermott | |- | Saving Private Ryan | Private James Francis Ryan | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast |- |rowspan="2"| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Tom Ripley | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor |- | Dogma | Loki | |- |rowspan="4"| 2000 | Finding Forrester | Steven Sanderson | Cameo |- | All the Pretty Horses | John Grady Cole | |- | The Legend of Bagger Vance | Rannulph Junuh | |- | Titan A.E. | Cale Tucker | Voice |- |rowspan="3"| 2001 | The Majestic | Luke Trimble | Voice only |- | Ocean's Eleven | Linus Caldwell | |- | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back | Himself | Cameo |- |rowspan="5"| 2002 | Confessions of a Dangerous Mind | Matt, bachelor #2 | Cameo |- | The Bourne Identity | Jason Bourne | |- | | Spirit | Voice |- | Gerry | Gerry | Also co-writer |- | The Third Wheel | Kevin | Cameo |- | 2003 | Stuck on You | Bob Tenor | |- |rowspan="5"| 2004 | Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train | Narrator | Voice |- | Ocean's Twelve | Linus Caldwell | |- | The Bourne Supremacy | Jason Bourne | |- | Jersey Girl | PR Exec #2 | Cameo |- | EuroTrip | Donny | Cameo |- |rowspan="2"| 2005 | Syriana | Bryan Woodman | |- | The Brothers Grimm | Will (Wilhelm) Grimm | |- |rowspan="2"| 2006 | The Good Shepherd | Edward Wilson | |- | The Departed | Colin Sullivan | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast |- |rowspan="4"| 2007 | Ocean's Thirteen | Linus Caldwell | |- | The Bourne Ultimatum | Jason Bourne | |- | Youth Without Youth | Ted Jones, Life Magazine Reporter |Cameo |- | Arthur | Himself |Voice |- | 2008 | Che: Part Two | Fr. Schwarz |Cameo |- | rowspan="3"| 2009 | Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea | Koichi | Voice (English version) |- | The Informant! | Mark Whitacre | Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | Invictus | Francois Pienaar | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role |- | rowspan="5"| 2010 | Green Zone | Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller | |- | 30 Rock | Carol | TV series (episodes: "I Do Do," "The Fabian Strategy," and "Live Show") |- | Inside Job | Narrator | |- | Hereafter | George Lonegan | |- | True Grit | La Boeuf | Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor |- | rowspan="2"| 2011 | The Adjustment Bureau | David Norris | post-production |- | Contagion | Thomas Emhoff | pre-production |}

References

Further reading

Altman, Sheryl and Berk, Sheryl. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck: On and Off Screen. HarperCollins Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-06-107145-5.

Bego, Mark. Matt Damon: Chasing a Dream. Andrews Mcmeel Pub, 1998. ISBN 0-8362-7131-9.

Diamond, Maxine and Hemmings, Harriet. Matt Damon a Biography. Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 1998. ISBN 0-671-02649-6.

Nickson, Chris. Matt Damon: An Unauthorized Biography. Renaissance Books, 1999. ISBN 1-58063-072-3.

External links

Matt Damon on Moviefone

Category:1970 births Category:American film actors Category:American screenwriters Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:Harvard University people Category:Living people Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:People from Cambridge, Massachusetts

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Lady Gaga
Img alt	Portrait of a young, pale-skinned Caucasian female with blond hair
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Born	March 28, 1986 New York City, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, synthesizer, keytar
Genre	Pop, dance
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman
Years active	2005–present
Label	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Url

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American pop singer-songwriter. She began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side in 2003 and enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.

Gaga came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album The Fame (2008), which was a commercial success and achieved international popularity with the singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The album reached number one on the record charts of six countries, accomplished positions within the top-ten worldwide, and topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart while simultaneously peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Achieving similar worldwide success, the follow-up EP The Fame Monster (2009), produced a further two global chart-topping singles "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" and allowed her to embark on a second global headlining concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just months after having finished her first, The Fame Ball Tour. Her second studio album, Born This Way, is scheduled for release in 2011.

Inspired by glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson, Gaga is well-recognized for her outré sense of style as a recording artist, in fashion, in performance and in her music videos. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including two Grammy Awards, amongst twelve nominations; two Guinness World Records; and the estimated sale of fifteen million albums and fifty-one million singles worldwide. Billboard named her as the Artist of the Year in 2010 and ranked her as the 73rd Artist of the 2000s decade. Gaga has been included in Time magazine's annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as Forbes' list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world. Forbes also placed her at number seven on their annual list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

Life and career

1986–2004: Early life

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in New York City on March 28, 1986, the eldest child of Joseph Germanotta, an internet entrepreneur, and Cynthia (née Bissett). She learned to play piano from the age of four, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13 and began performing at open mike nights by age 14. Gaga was raised a Roman Catholic. At the age of 11, Gaga attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side, but has stressed that she does not come from a wealthy background, saying that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything – my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."

An avid thespian in high school musicals, Gaga portrayed lead roles as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure" as she told in an interview, "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate. Referring to her "expressive, free spirit", Gaga told Elle magazine "I'm left-handed!"

At age 17, Gaga gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and lived in a NYU dorm on 11th Street. There she studied music and improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion, social issues and politics. Gaga felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she withdrew from the school to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll for Tisch if she was unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she said. Shortly after, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", She also started the Stefani Germanotta Band with some friends from NYU. They recorded an extended play of their ballads at a studio underneath a liquor store in New Jersey, becoming a local fixture at the downtown Lower East Side club scene. Music producer Rob Fusari, who helped her write some of her earlier songs, compared some of her vocal harmonies to that of Freddie Mercury. He explained,

She was known thereafter as Lady Gaga. The pair began playing gigs at downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall, with their live performance art piece known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue." Billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", their act was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. In August 2007, Gaga and Starlight were invited to play at the American Lollapalooza music festival. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews.

Fusari sent the songs he produced with Gaga to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. She credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going." While Gaga was writing at Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. He then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M; Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live Distribution Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album The album peaked at number one in United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland, and the top-five in Australia, the United States and fifteen other countries. Worldwide, The Fame has sold over fourteen million copies. Its lead single "Just Dance" topped the charts in six countries – Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States – and later received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording. The following single "Poker Face" was an even greater success, reaching number-one in almost all major music markets in the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States. It won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards, over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The Fame was nominated for Album of the Year; it won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Although her first concert tour happened as an opening act for fellow Interscope pop group, the reformed New Kids on the Block, she ultimately headlined her own worldwide concert tour, The Fame Ball Tour, which was critically appreciated and began in March 2009; culminating in September of that year. The cover of the annual "Hot 100" issue of Rolling Stone in May 2009 featured a semi-nude Gaga wearing only strategically placed plastic bubbles. She was nominated for a total of nine awards at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, winning the award for Best New Artist, while her single "Paparazzi" won two awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. In October, Gaga received Billboard magazine's Rising Star of 2009 award. She attended the Human Rights Campaign's "National Dinner" the same month, before marching in the National Equality March for the equal protection of LGBT people in all matters governed by US civil law in Washington, D.C.

|alt= Profile of a young blond woman. Her hair falls in waves up to her shoulders. She wears a purple leotard with visible sequins attached. Ample bosom, arm and leg are visible.]] Written over the course of 2008–09, The Fame Monster, a collection of eight songs, was released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience while she travelled the world, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Its first single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries, while reaching the top-two in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. In the US, Gaga became the first artist in digital history to have three singles (along with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while its accompanying music video was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video. The album's second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number-one single while its accompanying music video, although controversial, was met mostly positive reception from contemporary critics: praising her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna." Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its idea and dark nature, but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her use of blasphemy. Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they have made Gaga one of the first artists to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube. Musically, The Fame Monster has also received abundant success. Equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received, The Fame Monster garnered a total of six – among them Best Pop Vocal Album and her second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year. The success of the album allowed Gaga to embark on her second headlining worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of The Fame Monster and months after having finished her first. Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished concert tour will have ran for over one and a half years. Additionally, Gaga has performed other songs from the album at international events like the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony.

Barbara Walters chose Gaga as one the "10 Most Fascinating People of 2009" for her annual ABC News special. When interviewed by the journalist, Gaga dismissed the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend. Responding to a question on this issue, she stated, "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." Excited about bringing back Polaroid and "combining it with the digital era", Gaga was named Chief Creative Officer for a line of imaging products for the international optic company in January 2010 with the intent of creating fashion, technology and photography products. Her production team, Mermaid Music LLC, was sued in March by Rob Fusari; claiming that he was entitled to a 20% share of its earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment, however, five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit. In April, Gaga was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of the year. While giving an interview to The Times, Gaga hinted at having Systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly referred to as lupus, which is a connective tissue disease. She later confirmed with Larry King that she does not have lupus but "the results were borderline positive".

2010–present: Born This Way

Gaga's second studio album and third major release Born This Way, whose title was announced during her acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, will be released on May 23, 2011. Its arrival will follow the release of its lead single on February 13, 2011. These dates were tweeted by Gaga at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, 2011. Described as "a marriage of electronic music with major [...] metal or rock 'n' roll, pop, anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats", Born This Way will be Gaga's third release in three years. She stated, "It came so quickly. I've been working on [the album] for months, and I feel very strongly that it's finished right now. Some artists take years. I don't. I write music every day." With two tracks already confirmed by Gaga – one she has been performing during The Monster Ball Tour, she has referred to the album as "the greatest" of the decade about "what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid." Likening Born This Way to "bad kids going to church" that are "having fun on a high level", Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she will take music to the "next level."

Lending her vocal talent elsewhere, Gaga also paired with Elton John to record an original duet for the soundtrack to the forthcoming animated Disney feature film Gnomeo and Juliet. The song, titled "Hello, Hello", is scheduled for release in February 2011.

Musical style and influences

Gaga has been influenced by glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop music artists such as Madonna, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name, "Lady Gaga". She commented: "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique – one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music."

Gaga's vocals have drawn frequent comparison to those of Madonna and Gwen Stefani, while the structure of her music is said to echo classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. While reviewing her debut album The Fame, The Sunday Times asserted "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, Lady GaGa evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now." Similarly, The Boston Globe critic Sarah Rodman commented that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in [her] girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Though her lyrics are said to lack intellectual stimulation, "[she] does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy naughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B;-ish beats.

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence. Her love of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." Entertainment Weekly put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."

Critical reception of Gaga's music, fashion sense and persona are mixed. Her status as a role model, trailblazer and fashion icon is by turns affirmed and denied. Gaga's albums have received mostly positive reviews, Her role as a self-esteem booster for her fans is also lauded, as is her role in breathing life into the fashion industry. Her performances are described as "highly entertaining and innovative"; in particular, the blood-spurting performance of "Paparazzi" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was described as "eye-popping" by MTV. She continued the "blood soaked" theme in The Monster Ball Tour, in which she wore a revealing leather corset and is "attacked" by a performer dressed in black who gnaws on her throat, causing "blood" to spurt down her chest, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene in Manchester, England triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of a local tragedy, in which a taxi driver had murdered 12 people. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence. Chris Rock later defended her flamboyant, provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," he said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?" She later returned to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards wearing a dress which was supplemented by boots, a purse and a hat—each fabricated from the flesh of a dead animal. The dress, named Time magazine's Fashion Statement of 2010 and more widely known as the "meat dress", was made by Argentinian designer Franc Fernandez and received divided opinions—evoking the attention of worldwide media but invoking the fury of animal rights organization PETA. Gaga, however, later denied any intention of causing disrespect to any person or organization and wished for the dress to be interpreted as a statement of human rights with focus upon those in the LGBT community.

Gaga's treatment of her fans as "Little Monsters" has inspired criticism, due to the highly commercial nature of her music and image. Camille Paglia wrote a cover story "Lady Gaga and the death of sex" on September 12, 2010, in The Sunday Times in which she asserts that Gaga "is more an identity thief than an erotic taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product who claims to be singing for the freaks, the rebellious and the dispossessed when she is none of those."

Public image

Contrary to her outré style, the New York Post described her early look as like "a refugee from Jersey Shore" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." She has another six known tattoos, among them a peace symbol, which was inspired by John Lennon whom she stated was her hero, Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Gaga and fellow recording artist Christina Aguilera that noted similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Comparisons continued into 2010 when Aguilera released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Gaga's video for "Bad Romance". There have also been similar comparisons made between Gaga's style and that of fashion icon Dale Bozzio from the band Missing Persons. Some have considered their respective images to be strikingly parallel although fans of Missing Persons note that Bozzio had pioneered the look more than thirty years earlier.

Gaga's influence on modern culture and society has provoked the University of South Carolina into offering a full-time course titled "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" in the objective of unravelling "the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga with respect to her music, videos, fashion, and other artistic endeavors".

Philanthropy

Besides her career in music, Gaga has enhanced her repertoire as a philanthropist who has contributed to various charities and humanitarianism works.

Although declining an invitation to record a benefit song, Gaga held a concert of The Monster Ball Tour following the 2010 Haiti earthquake and dedicated it to the country’s reconstruction relief fund. This concert, held at the Radio City Music Hall, New York, on January 24, 2010, donated any received revenue to the relief fund while, in addition, all profits from sales of products on Gaga’s official online store on that same day were donated. Gaga announced that an estimated total of $500,000 was collected for the fund.

Gaga also contributes in the fight against HIV and AIDS with the focus upon educating young women about the risks of the disease. In collaboration with Cyndi Lauper, Gaga joined forces with MAC Cosmetics to launch a line of lipstick under their supplementary cosmetic line, Viva Glam. Titled Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi for each contributor respectively, all net proceeds of the lipstick line were donated to the cosmetic company’s campaign to prevent HIV and AIDS worldwide. In a press release, Gaga declared, "I don't want Viva Glam to be just a lipstick you buy to help a cause. I want it to be a reminder when you go out at night to put a condom in your purse right next to your lipstick."

, October 11, 2009|alt=A blond woman speaking on a kiosk. She wears a white shirt and black glasses. Behind her, the balcony of a building is visible.]] Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a rising gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of The Fame, saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event.

After The Fame was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I'm into women, they're all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They're like, 'I don't need to have a threesome. I'm happy with just you'." She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009, National Equality March rally on the national mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," At the rally, she performed a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" declaring that "I'm not going to [play] one of my songs tonight because tonight is not about me, it's about you." She changed the original lyrics of the song to reflect the death of Matthew Shepard, a college student murdered because of his sexuality. In September 2010, she spoke at a rally in favor of repealing the US military's Don't ask, don't tell policy, which prohibits lesbian, gay and bisexual people from serving openly, and released an online video urging her fans to contact their Senators in an effort to get the policy overturned. Editors of The Advocate commented that she had become the "fierce advocate" for gays and lesbians that future president Barack Obama had promised to be during his campaign.

Discography

The Fame (2008)

The Fame Monster (2009)

Born This Way (2011)

Tours

The Fame Ball Tour (2009)

The Monster Ball Tour (2009–11)

Awards and nominations

See also

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

Further reading

External links

Year in Gaga: A Provocative 2010 — slideshow by Life magazine

Category:1986 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American dance musicians Category:American electronic musicians Category:American female pop singers Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Bisexual musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Keytarists Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Living people Category:New York University alumni Category:Singers from New York Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:Wonky Pop acts

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Dave Matthews
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	David John Matthews
Born	January 09, 1967 Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Origin	Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, accordion
Genre	Rock, pop, alternative rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Years active	1989–present
Label	RCA, Sony BMG
Associated acts	Tribe of Heaven, Dave Matthews Band, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Dave Matthews & Friends
Religion	Agnostic

David John "Dave" Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is a South African-born American musician and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. He performs with acoustic guitar and favors rhythm rather than solos in his playing.

Early life

Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the third of four children born to Americans John and Valerie Matthews. At two years old, Matthews' family moved to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working for IBM.

In 1974, the family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year before returning to New York, where his father died from lung cancer in 1977. Biographer Nevin Martell argues that Dave's father's death may be an impetus for his "carpe diem" lyrics. At some point while residing in New York, Matthews attended his first concert when his mother took him to a performance by Pete Seeger. The family moved back to Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1977. A Quaker (and consequently pacifist), Matthews left South Africa to avoid service.

Matthews moved to New York in 1986 where he worked for IBM for a short time, then joined his mother in Charlottesville, Virginia, the same year, a town Matthews' family had lived in before he was born. This eventually led to his first professional musical gig at a modern dance performance by the Miki Liszt Dance Company'', based at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, singing "Meaningful Love", composed by John D'earth and Dawn Thompson. In 1991 he hatched the idea to form his own band.

In 1994, Matthews' older sister, Anne, who lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband, who subsequently committed suicide, on or around January 27 of that year. The event had a drastic effect on Matthews' outlook on life and was referenced in a few of his songs (such as "Shotgun.") On January 29, 1994, he performed with Tim Reynolds at The Wetlands in New York where he dedicated that performance "to her memory". Dave Matthews Band's Under the Table and Dreaming, released later that year, was dedicated to her. Later that year he released a solo album, "Some Devil", which went platinum; its single, "Gravedigger", won a Grammy Award in 2004. To support the album, Matthews toured with a group of musicians (most of whom performed on "Some Devil") under the name Dave Matthews & Friends.

Matthews is also a close friend of Béla Fleck. Matthews appears as a guest vocalist on Béla Fleck and the Flecktones' 1998 release Left of Cool and both Fleck and Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten have made numerous appearances both live and studio with DMB (e.g. Wooten soloed in the second part of The Maker, and also in #41 on the 1998 live album Live in Chicago). The Flecktones also opened for DMB on several tours. Matthews performed a duet with Emmylou Harris on "My Antonia" on her 2000 album, Red Dirt Girl. They also appeared together on the musical television show CMT Crossroads, where the two performed Matthews' "Gravedigger" and the folk song "Long Black Veil".

Dave performed a cover of Neil Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done" at the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honoring recording artist Neil Young on January 29, 2010

Acting

Before he was known as a musician, Matthews was an amateur actor, appearing onstage in several productions at Charlottesville's Offstage Theatre and Live Arts theater in the early 1990s; the role for which he is best remembered is as a used car salesman in Offstage Theatre's "Just Say No," directed by John Quinn, co-starring Kylie Sicher . Dave Matthews has also acted in four feature films. He played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows. In 2005 he played in Because of Winn-Dixie as Otis, a man who works at a pet store and plays guitar. In 2007, Matthews appeared briefly in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where he plays a homosexual salesman. In 2008, he appeared in another Adam Sandler movie, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, as a racist redneck character named James. He also had a significant role in Lake City with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity, in which he portrays the character "Red." He is also in three upcoming movies, The Other Side with Giovanni Ribisi and Jason Lee, In The Woods, starring Debra Winger and Terrence Howard and the Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It.

In 2007, Matthews guest starred in the Fox drama series House in the episode "Half-Wit". He played a piano-playing musical savant who ended up having half of his brain removed in order to recover from his epilepsy, but at the expense of his musical abilities. Matthews had a piano double for the complex pieces, but played the simpler pieces himself. In the Season One episode of "House" -"Love Hurts"- the song "Some Devil" can be heard playing at the end. In another episode, one of the tracks from Stand Up, "You Might Die Trying" was played ("House M.D", Season Five -"Not Cancer"-) .

The fifth time Matthews appeared as musical guest on Saturday Night Live in November 2009 (which was also the fourth time the Dave Matthews Band appeared on the show), he made an appearance as Ozzy Osbourne in a skit called "The Mellow Show." Bill Hader impersonated Matthews in the same skit. With 5 official guest appearances on SNL, Matthews is officially a member of the "Five-Timers Club".

Matthews was also a cast member and performer in the popular music documentary Before the Music Dies.

Personal life

Matthews married longtime partner Jennifer Ashley Harper in 2000. The couple has twin daughters, Stella Busina and Grace Anne, born on August 15, 2001 and a son, August Oliver, born on June 19, 2007. As of the late 2000s, they reside in Seattle, Washington In a 2001 interview, Matthews stated that he was agnostic.

Charity

Matthews has been active in charity work, both on his own and with his bandmates. He has performed benefit concerts for music education, Hurricane Katrina victims, farmers, and victims of the Virginia Tech shooting. The band's charitable organization, the Bama Works Fund is administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, benefiting charitable programs in the region.

In 2008 he participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet, together with a number of other celebrities as an initiative to support Tibet and Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. Dave Matthews Band also donated to the Piedmont Park Conservancy, giving a portion of the profits to the park.

Matthews also participated in a special program for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. He performed a duet with Neil Young.

Also, On February 12, 2010, a short five-track album was released by the Dave Matthews Band entitled The Haiti Relief Project, with all proceeds benefitting the relief funds for the earthquake victims.

Matthews is on the board of directors of FarmAid, an organization created by Willie Nelson to help family farmers. Joining Matthews on the board are Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Willie Nelson.

In 2000 Reuters reported that a cancer hoax chain letter was being circulated online that promised that anyone who forwarded the chain letter would be rewarded by being sent Matthews AOL screen name.

Politics

Although his music has often explored political and social issues, Matthews refrained from public campaigning for Presidential candidates until 2004. He cast his support strongly with Democratic nominee John Kerry, performing at political events including the Vote for Change tour.

Matthews also supported Barack Obama for President in 2008, both in the primaries and in the general election. On April 6, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played a concert titled "Change Rocks" at Indiana University to encourage students to register to vote. The tickets were distributed by the Obama campaign. Questions regarding his citizenship were answered by advertisements and videos on YouTube, where he says he is a "real American" and a "real Virginian," stating that "real Virginians get out and vote." Even though he was recently bereaved by the loss of band co-founder and saxophonist, LeRoi Moore on August 19, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played for DNC delegates on Sunday, August 24 at Red Rocks, and again with Reynolds at the Virginia Commonwealth University, on October 26, 2008, among other places. Matthews has often supported environmental initiatives, such as biofuel availability and the fight against global climate change. On September 21, 2009, Matthews stated that some of President Barack Obama's harsher critics were motivated by his race, and stated that he "sees it [racism] everywhere" in the United States.

Lawsuit

On August 25, 2004, Dave Matthews Band was sued by the state of Illinois for dumping raw sewage from the band's tour bus over a bridge into the Chicago River on August 8, 2004, though the band was not on the bus at the time of the incident. The dumping of up to 800 pounds of human waste into the river, in addition to violating water pollution laws, also descended upon more than 100 people in a boat on a tour of Chicago architecture. The band settled the suit by paying $200,000 to an environmental fund. As a part of the settlement, for five years, the band was required to log every location, date, and time their tour buses' septic tanks were emptied. The bus driver, Stefan Wohl, was sentenced to probation and community service, and was fired by the band.

Past and present equipment

Past Equipment

Martin DM3MD Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar serial numbers 1, 2 and 3

Martin HD-28V Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

Martin D-35 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar

Martin D12-28 Steel 12-String Acoustic Guitar

Taylor 714 Steel 6-String Acoustic Guitar Taylor 914c 6-String Acoustic Guitar w/Florentine Cutaway (Drop D Tuning) (Don't Drink The Water, Crush, Shake Me Like A Monkey, Seven, Break Free)

Discography

Studio albums

Some Devil (2003)

Imagine We Were (2005) – as Tribe of Heaven; originally recorded in 1989

Live albums

Live at Luther College (1999) – with Tim Reynolds

Live at Radio City (2007) – with Tim Reynolds

Live in Las Vegas (2010) – with Tim Reynolds

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="3"| Chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="35"| US Mod ! width="35"| US Adult ! width="35"| US Pop |- | rowspan="2"| 2003 | align="left"| "Gravedigger" | 35 | 35 | — | align="left" rowspan="3"| Some Devil |- | align="left"| "Save Me" | — | 26 | — |- | 2004 | align="left"| "Oh" | — | — | — |- | 2007 | align="left"| "Eh Hee" | — | — | 73 | align="left"| Live at Radio City |- | colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |- |}

Other charted songs

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! Year ! Single ! width="45"| US Country ! Album |- | 2008 |align=left|"I'm Alive" (with Kenny Chesney) |54 |align=left|Lucky Old Sun |}

Guest singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! rowspan="2"| Artist ! colspan="3"| Chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |- ! width="45"| US Country ! width="45"| US ! width="45"| CAN |- | 2009 | align="left"| "I'm Alive"^A | Kenny Chesney | 6 | 32 | 73 | align="left"| Greatest Hits II |- |}

*^A "I'm Alive" charted as an album cut in 2008 before being released as a single in 2009

Collaborations

"Tomorrow Never Knows" (2010), off the Herbie Hancock album "The Imagine Project''

"You Should Know Me", "Oh, Bangladesh" & "And He Slayed Her" (2010) off the Liz Phair album Funstyle

"Caveman" & "Road" (2009) off the Danny Barnes album "Pizza Box"

"Fat Man In The Bathtub" (2008) off the Little Feat album "Little Feat & Friends: Join The Band"

"I'm Alive" (2008) off the Kenny Chesney album Lucky Old Sun

"Mamma Boulet" (2008) off the Dave Grant album "Bubbalon by Bass"

"Tremendous Brunettes" (2007) off the Mike Doughty album Haughty Melodic

"Work It Out" (2006) off the Jurassic 5 album Feedback

"Sing Along" (2003) off the Blue Man Group album The Complex with music video

"Love Is The Only Way" (2006) off the Robert Randolph and the Family Band album Colorblind

"Joyful girl"(2002) off the Soulive album - Next

"Iwoya" (2002) off the Angelique Kidjo album Black Ivory Soul

"For You"(2002) off the We Were Soldiers soundtrack with Johnny Cash

"My Antonia", (2000), off the (Emmylou Harris studio album) Red Dirt Girl, where Dave duets with Emmylou on her composition

"Love of My Life" (1999) & "Rain Down On Me" (2010), off the Santana album Supernatural

"Communication" & "Trouble and Strife" (1998), off the Béla Fleck and the Flecktones album Left of Cool

"Eleanor" (1994), off the Shannon Worrell album Three Wishes

Awards

Grammys

1997: Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group – "So Much to Say", Dave Matthews Band

2004: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance – "Gravedigger", Dave Matthews

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture – "Where Are You Going" (for Mr. Deeds)

Honorary degrees

Dave Matthews was awarded D.M.A. honoris causa by Haverford College on May 15, 2005; see here for his commencement speech.

Guitar

2002: Orville Gibson Award for Best Acoustic Guitarist

See also

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References

External links

The Warehouse: The Official Dave Matthews Band Fan Association

Charlie Rose Interview

Interview

Category:1967 births Category:American agnostics Category:American humanitarians Category:American male singers Category:American Quakers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:American people of British descent Category:Dave Matthews Band members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:Old Stithians Category:People from Charlottesville, Virginia Category:People from Johannesburg Category:People from Yorktown, New York Category:South African immigrants to the United States Category:South African people of British descent Category:Musicians from Virginia