show name	Saved by the Bell
genre	Teen sitcom
creator	Sam Bobrick
starring	Mark-Paul GosselaarMario LopezDustin DiamondTiffani-Amber ThiessenElizabeth BerkleyLark VoorhiesEd Alonzo (season 1)Leanna Creel (season 4)Dennis Haskins
country	United States
language	English
num seasons	5
num episodes	86 (+ 2 TV films)
list episodes	List of Saved by the Bell episodes
executive producer	Peter Engel
company	Peter Engel ProductionsNBC Productions
distributor	Rysher Entertainment (1991-2008)NBC Universal Television Distribution (2008-present)
theme music composer	Scott Gale
camera	Videotape; Multi-camera
runtime	22–24 minutes
network	NBC
picture format	NTSC (480i)
first aired
last aired
status	Ended
preceded by	Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1988-1989)
followed by	Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993-1994)Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993-2000) }}

Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell. The series followed the exploits of several students along with their principal at Bayside High School.

The show stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dustin Diamond, Lark Voorhies, and Dennis Haskins, who appeared in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, as well as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez, who joined the cast for Saved by the Bell. The show brought fame to the cast members and launched most of their careers; however, many were typecast into their Saved by the Bell roles for many years.

The show often incorporated dramatic elements into episodes by dealing with real teen social issues, such as friendship, drug use, driving under the influence, homelessness, financial issues, divorce, graduation, college, sibling rivalry, taking responsibilities for one's actions, bullying, death, and environmental issues. This made it a precursor (with other teen sitcoms of the time like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) for networks of more recent shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Dawson's Creek and The O.C. to introduce young target audiences to critical moral matters. Notably, sexual relationships were alluded to but not actually dealt with.

The show's popularity allowed for two spin-off series: Saved by the Bell: The College Years, a prime time series which followed several of the original characters' college experiences, and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, a Saturday Morning series which followed a new group of students at Bayside High School. The series also spawned two TV movies and a short-lived comic book series.

History

Good Morning, Miss Bliss

Saved by the Bell originated in an NBC pilot entitled Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was inspired by then NBC president Brandon Tartikoff's teachers from his past. The show was set in Indianapolis, Indiana. NBC decided not to pick up the pilot, but Disney Channel did and aired the series for one season. Unlike the series that followed, the intention was to focus on the life of the teacher Miss Bliss, played by Hayley Mills, as the main character. The characters of Zack Morris, Samuel "Screech" Powers, Lisa Turtle, and Mr. Richard Belding all originated on the series; other main characters, including other classmates Nikki Coleman (Heather Hopper), Mikey Gonzalez (Max Battimo), and maintenance supervisor Mylo Williams (T. K. Carter) were discontinued when the show changed direction. Jaleel White, Brian Austin Green, and Jonathan Brandis all had roles in the pilot episode.

The show was canceled after 13 episodes and the rights were acquired by NBC, which had reconsidered the matter. Seeing that it had merit, they decided to revamp and recreate the series (their second live-action youth series in a five-year period). Executive Producer Peter Engel wanted the show to be called When the Bell Rings, but Tartikoff convinced him to go with the title Saved by the Bell.

NBC rebirth – Saved by the Bell

Three of the teens from the original cast – Gosselaar, Diamond, and Voorhies – remained on the show, playing the same characters with only minor changes to their backstories. Haskins also stayed on as Mr. Belding. However, the setting was changed from Indianapolis, Indiana to the fictional Bayside High School in the Palisades in Los Angeles, California. The two students dropped from the original series were replaced by three new additions. Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) and Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley) were introduced as longtime friends of the original three characters and new transfer student A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) rounded out the group. Max (Ed Alonzo), the proprietor of the local restaurant hangout "The Max," was also a cast member in early episodes.

The focus of the show was shifted toward the exploits of the students themselves and Zack Morris became the show's lead character. Several teachers recurred over the course of the series, but Mr. Belding was the only school authority figure ever to be in the main cast.

After the show's second season, NBC sold the series off into syndication with the Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes included to pad out the syndication package, despite the continuity problems and production changes. The Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes were edited to include openings to match the Saved by the Bell episodes. These episodes are sometimes billed as Saved by the Bell: The Junior High Years. Mark-Paul Gosselaar would do in-character commentaries addressed to viewers before each of the earlier episodes, explaining that the episodes occurred in junior high.

The show performed extremely well for NBC and despite being trashed by TV critics, quickly became the highest rated show on Saturday mornings. At the height of its popularity, the cast of the show did many road tours to malls and other places where they would interact with fans and sign autographs. The show's popularity on Saturday morning is what led NBC to shift from airing cartoons to live action teen-oriented shows (California Dreams, Hang Time, etc.) under the TNBC banner. Each season of the series essentially represented a year of high school for the students, culminating in their graduation.

In the fall of 1991 at the start of the third season, the series was expanded to an hour with all new back-to-back episodes.

In the show's final season, NBC doubled the number of episodes ordered, despite the fact that they would have to re-sign the entire cast to new contracts in order to film them. Thiessen and Berkley refused to sign a new contract for these new episodes, resulting in a block of episodes that feature a new character, Tori Scott (Leanna Creel) in their place.

The final episode of the series aired in prime time on May 22, 1993. The episode, in which the cast graduated from high school, was filmed before Thiessen and Berkley left the show. No mention is made as to what happened to Tori Scott. The series finale was followed by a special airing of the Saved by the Bell: The College Years pilot episode, to set up the next phase of the characters' lives.

Saved by the Bell also aired in Australia from 1990 until 2004 on Nickelodeon.

Today, reruns air weekday mornings on TBS, as well as in local syndication, either once or twice a week depending on market.

Characters

Main characters

Zachary "Zack" Morris

Zack, played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, is often referred to as "Preppy" by his friend AC Slater. He is a charming schemer who often breaks the fourth wall by addressing the audience, sometimes temporarily freezing all of the characters around him in the process by calling, "Time out!". Zack's schemes, though amusing, often backfire, resulting in unexpected outcomes.

Zack's best friends since grade school have been Lisa Turtle and next-door neighbor Jessie Spano; Samuel "Screech" Powers has also been tagging along with Zack since they were little.

Zack was also constantly pining for Kelly, coming up with new ways to try to win her over in many episodes and often battling for her affections with his on-again, off-again best friend A.C. Slater. This rivalry ended as the show decided that Zack and Slater were better suited as good friends, not least because of the close friendship between the actors who played them.

Zack's father is a hot-shot computer salesman (with whom his relationship was, for a time, rather distant) who has been played by two different actors. His mother is a kind, but overly permissive homemaker. Upon graduation, Zack was slated to go to Yale, having scored 1502 on the SAT, the highest of the gang (despite his slacker reputation) but he ultimately attended Cal U with Slater, Screech, and Kelly.

Kelly Kapowski

Played by Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (now known as Tiffani Thiessen), Kelly is a cheerleader and has been described by creator Peter Engel as the quintessential "All-American Girl." She served as a love interest for both Zack and Slater in the first season, but it was Zack who would eventually win her heart and end up marrying her. Much of the show's storylines revolved around their on-and-off relationship. Considered the most popular girl in school and despite the stereotypes of cheerleaders, Kelly was one of the kindest and most squeaky clean (though she did have to serve a couple of detentions during high school). She was introduced as an outsider to the show's core clique.

At times, Kelly and Jessie had arguments due to their differences. Jessie believed that cheerleading was demeaning to women although she was a cheerleader in several episodes. Zack had been obsessively in love with Kelly for years, as evidenced by a cardboard cutout of her in his bedroom. His pursuit of Kelly led to her eventually joining the gang. She is on the volleyball, cheerleading, and swim teams and is also a trained lifeguard. Upon graduation, she did not have enough money for college so she attended community college, but later transferred to Cal U with Zack, Slater, and Screech. Both Elizabeth Berkley and Thiessen, as well as Jennie Garth, auditioned for the role of Kelly Kapowski. Thiessen and Garth would later work together on Beverly Hills, 90210 as unfriendly rivals Valerie Malone and Kelly Taylor, respectively (the actresses became best friends in real life).

Lisa Marie Turtle

Played by Lark Voorhies, Lisa is trendy and talkative. She is the clique's fashion expert and the gossip queen of Bayside High. She comes from a wealthy family; her father and mother are surgeons. Originally, her character was written to be white and Jewish; however, Lark aced the audition and they awarded her the role. Because of her upbringing, Lisa always has access to the latest fashions and knows when something is in and when it is not. Like Jessie and Screech, Lisa has been Zack's friend since grade school and some episodes hinted that she harbored a small crush on him. Lisa's goal is to become a world famous fashion designer (Voorhies would later play fashion designer Jasmine Malone on The Bold and the Beautiful). For the majority of the gang's years at Bayside, one of the running gags was Screech's fruitless attempts to woo Lisa. While his romantic feelings for her were never returned and often rejected with insults and jokes, eventually she realized she had developed a soft spot for Screech and even attended the Bayside Senior Prom with him. Upon graduation, she receives acceptance into the Fashion Institute of Technology after a successful fashion show.

Samuel "Screech" Powers

Played by Dustin Diamond, Screech Powers (whose given name is Samuel) is the school nerd who has an undying love for Lisa Turtle. Screech has been tagging along with Zack since they were in elementary school and is extremely loyal to him. In exchange for doing Zack's homework and being roped into Zack's various stunts, Screech receives protection from school bullies and a general boost in his confidence; but Zack's affection for Screech is evident in spite of this. Screech is very comfortable with his geekiness and fancies himself a ladies' man. The rest of the gang simultaneously picks on and humors Screech for his eccentricities (e.g. hiding in his locker, wearing extremely loud and mismatched clothes, and obsessing over science and chess). A recurring storyline in the series is his unrequited love for Lisa Turtle. During the show, Screech had a girlfriend named Violet (played by Tori Spelling); it was never made clear why the two broke up. He also dated Kelly Kapowski briefly in one episode of Season 1 as he helped her study for a science test. In several early episodes of the series, Screech has an anthropomorphized robot named Kevin, which he programmed. Screech was class valedictorian, but gave that title to Jessie as he knew how much it meant to her. However, Jessie learned what Screech had done for her and returned the honor on graduation day. He received acceptance to The Barbizon School of Modeling and Acting, Duke University; Emerson College; Clemson University; University of California, Berkeley; the California Institute of Technology; Emory University; University of Southern California; and Princeton University. He is rejected from an all-women school that was his number one choice. He chose to go to the fictional Cal U after graduation and shared a dormitory suite with Zack, Slater, and Kelly. He also became the only character to appear as a series regular in every incarnation of Saved by the Bell when he joined the cast of The New Class as an aide to Mr. Belding. Diamond was three years younger than most of the cast though his character was the same age as them.

Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater

Played by Mario Lopez, Slater is the token "jock" of the group. An army brat, he was an outsider, having transferred to Bayside in the first filmed episode (which aired later as a flashback). A.C. mentions that he has been to Bolivia, Italy, Iceland, and Berlin among other places. He becomes the school's star athlete, excelling as a wrestler and the quarterback of the football team. He is on the basketball team in one episode, even though the basketball season coincides with the wrestling season. Slater was originally written as Zack's rival for Kelly's affection before becoming Zack's best friend in the show's second season and developing an attraction to strong-willed feminist Jessie Spano. A common theme occurs when Jessie constantly bickers with A.C. over his insensitive remarks, particularly about women.

He refers to Zack as "Preppy" and when he starts dating Jessie, calls her "Mama". Lopez is a drummer and dancer and some episodes include Slater showcasing these "hidden talents." His father (a Major) appears in two episodes, but his mother, though mentioned throughout the series, never appears. He also has a younger sister named JB whom Zack briefly dated, much to Slater's chagrin. In the season 4 episode "Love Machine," his ex-girlfriend from Berlin visits and calls him by his real name, "Albert Clifford", but the meaning of the abbreviation "A.C." periodically served as comedic fodder during the show's run. During an episode in which Zack was dealing with Gem Diamond to purchase class rings, the A.C. was stated as meaning "abnormally cruel." During an episode where the six core characters used fake I.D.'s to get into an "over 18" dance club called "The Attic," the A.C. was stated as meaning "absolutely charmed."

Much like Voorhies, Lopez was able to captivate the show's producers into casting him into a role that was originally written to be Caucasian. This issue of Slater's ethnicity is addressed in an episode from The College Years, where it is revealed that 25 years earlier A.C.'s father changed his last name from Sanchez to Slater so he could get into the military academy. Although the episode reveals that A.C. does not fluently understand Spanish, he is seen speaking broken Spanish to the kitchen staff of the Malibu Sands Beach club. Slater receives a wrestling scholarship to the University of Iowa, but ends up going to Cal U. with Zack, Screech, and Kelly.

Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano

Played by Elizabeth Berkley, Jessica Myrtle ("Jessie") Spano is the show's resident know-it-all crusader. She's often seen pursuing a variety of environmental and generally liberal causes while keeping up her position as class president and one of the smartest students in her class. Like Lisa and Screech, Jessie is Zack's childhood friend (despite the lack of continuity with Good Morning, Miss Bliss). She and Zack live next door to each other and he routinely climbs into her room via a tree outside her window. From the second season onward, her main love interest is A.C. Slater, who disagrees with her feminist views. Jessie's parents are divorced and both are remarried during Season 3. Her mother's remarriage introduces a conniving stepbrother from New York named Eric (played by Joshua Hoffman) in a 2-part episode, although neither her mother nor stepfather are featured. In another 2-part episode, her father marries a much younger aerobics instructor named Leslie, whom Jessie initially disfavors. Jessie also struggled with drug addiction at one point on the series, taking caffeine pills in order to stay awake for longer study hours. Jessie fully expected to be crowned valedictorian, but finished a fraction of a point behind Screech. The race between the two figured as a significant plot point in the episode, with Screech yielding the honor to Jessie, knowing its significance to her. Jessie, however, finds out about her second-place status and uses the opportunity to highlight the caring relationships between the show's core group of characters. Upon graduation, Jessie attends Columbia University, although she long expressed a desire to attend Stanford University and likewise displayed interest in the fictional Stansbury College, as well as various other elite universities.

Richard Belding

Played by Dennis Haskins, Richard Belding is the principal of Bayside High School and the show's resident authority figure. However, when he attended high school he was an anti-authority hippie whom, in one episode, Jessie described as "The Zack Morris of the 60s". According to an old copy of the school paper, he once mooned the school board. He once mentioned that had he been allowed to return for a fourth tour of duty, "the war would've been won in a week". He's known for his catchphrase "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?" as well as his high-pitched laugh. Belding has frequent run-ins with Zack and his friends as either a foe to be outwitted or a friend to turn to for help. Despite being a responsible authority figure, Mr. Belding is unique as he genuinely seems to care what his students, particularly Zack, think of him. He is married to Rebecca "Becky" Belding (née Flugelman) and has an irresponsible younger brother Rod. Rod Belding appeared in one episode, volunteering to take the class on a rafting trip but backing out at the last minute to go on a date with a stewardess. The resulting argument was overheard by Zack, who had initially liked Rod's lighthearted manner, but came to appreciate Richard's more responsible manner more than before. Belding remained the principal at Bayside (along with Screech as his assistant) until he left to become dean of students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Haskins' alma mater in real life) in the final episode of Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

===Other characters===

Max, played by magician/comedian Ed Alonzo, is the owner of The Max, the favorite hangout of the gang. He acted as a sort of liaison between the adult and kid worlds—serving as both a guide and a friend to the gang. Max is known for his quirky sense of humor and his array of magic tricks. He starred in the first season and appeared only once in the second and then stopped appearing due to The Max being bought by a new owner. Under this new management two new Max employees were introduced: Jeff, who split up Zack and Kelly, and James, the actor. The Max burned down in the New Class episode Fire at The Max.

Violet Anne Bickerstaff, played by Tori Spelling had a recurring role as Screech's girlfriend during Seasons 2 and 3. She played Violet for only three episodes on the show: episode #21, "House Party", wherein Screech's parents leave for Graceland and the gang accidentally breaks his mother's Elvis statue, episode #34, "Glee Club" and her last episode, #41, "Check Your Mate".

Tori Scott, played by Leanna Creel, was introduced near the end of the series as the new girl at Bayside High. She is initially portrayed as a "tough girl" who rides a motorcycle to school and is seldom seen without her leather jacket. At first, she is an antagonist to Zack, often getting the better of him, but the two eventually develop romantic interest in each other. Tori only appears in approximately half the episodes of the final season.

Stacey Carosi, played by Leah Remini, was introduced in the Malibu Sands Beach Club episodes where the gang took jobs over the summer (except Lisa, who was a club member). Stacey attends school on the East Coast and the owner of the club is her father, Leon Carosi, played by Ernie Sabella. Stacey is initially disgusted by Zack and refers to him sarcastically as "Dude" and often remarks that his being "Californian" is quite annoying, yet later becomes Zack's love interest. They must hide their affair from Leon, as Zack and Leon are at odds from the beginning of the summer. Their romance ends when Stacey must go back to New York for school and in the final summer episode, even Leon, who finds out about the romance, grows to like Zack.

Spin-offs

The show was popular enough to warrant two spin-offs, both of which premiered in 1993.

Saved by the Bell: The College Years

Saved by the Bell: The College Years continued with several of the characters dealing with college life.

Saved by the Bell: The New Class

Saved by the Bell: The New Class was created to continue the story of Bayside High School in the Saturday morning timeslot after the original cast graduated. The series featured a new set of students anchored by Dennis Haskins and later Dustin Diamond, whose character Screech became Principal Belding's administrative assistant on a work-study program from California University (a reference to Screech's college in The College Years). While Saved by the Bell: The New Class ran for seven seasons, it suffered numerous cast changes (including a second season cast purge that only left Haskins and three other cast members) and never gained the popularity of the original series. The New Class aired from September 11, 1993 to January 8, 2000. Many of the New Class episodes were actually "recycled" plots from the original Saved by the Bell. Slater, Lisa, and Zack had a cameo in one episode in Season 2 while trying to keep Bayside from being bought and destroyed. Mr. Belding was given a new, bigger office. The Max remained as the hangout for the Bayside High students, although a fire burned it down in one episode and it was given a new look.

Syndication

The series is syndicated on individual television stations around the U.S. (depending on the market) and is shown for one hour daily starting at 8:00 a.m. ET/PT on TBS with the College Years episodes airing on Fridays in the same time slot. (moving to Sundays), The series has aired on TBS nonstop since November 2, 1992. On August 1, 2011, It was announced that the series was originally to be leaving syndication on TBS on September 23, 2011. But it was announced on August 18, 2011 that the series will be moving to Sundays on TBS. WGN also aired reruns of the series in the mid-to-late 1990s.

The show premiered on The N with a six-hour marathon on January 14, 2008 to July 14, 2009 starting at 6pm EST. It was normally seen on weekday afternoons. The series returned to the channel on May 9, 2011, under The N's rebranded channel name TeenNick.

Reunion

On April 9, 2006, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim announced that Saved by the Bell would air at midnight as a two week special starting April 17. On April 19, 2006, Adult Swim also posted on their website that Saved by the Bell was back in production. A week later, the announcement was exposed as a joke.

On March 27, 2009, NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon launched a campaign to get the cast to have a Saved by the Bell reunion. Fans can sign the online petition and pledge their support for the cast to reunite on the show. As of now Dennis Haskins, Lark Voorhies, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley and Mark-Paul Gosselaar have agreed to a reunion. Gosselaar reprised his role as Zack Morris on Late Night on June 8, 2009, while promoting his then current TNT drama, Raising the Bar. The spoof interview closed with a performance of "Friends Forever" originally by Zack Attack, where Zack played guitar and sang with backing from Fallon's house band, The Roots. Tiffani Thiessen posted a parody video to the online website Funny or Die where she said she was just too busy to join in a reunion.

The cast reunited in August 2009 for a photo shoot in People. Diamond was not invited to participate in the photo shoot because of the bad relationship between himself and the rest of the cast; in fact, Diamond was edited out of the 1989 cast photo that was the cover's inset contrast to how the cast (Diamond excluded) look 20 years later. In September 2009, Diamond published Behind the Bell, a "dirt-dishing" memoir about his time with the show (ISBN 0-9812396-9-2), and presently, only Dennis Haskins is on speaking terms with Diamond.

Haskins, Diamond, Gosselaar, Voorhies, and Lopez did their own voices in a Saved by the Bell/Saw parody, "Sawed By The Bell", as part of a skit on episode 56 "Boo Cocky" of Season 3, of Robot Chicken, on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

Merchandise

DVD releases

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released all 5 seasons of Saved by the Bell on DVD in Region 1. Several episodes from the first two seasons are the syndicated versions and not the original broadcast versions. Lionsgate released the two feature-length TV movies on DVD, in Region 1, on August 7, 2007.

Season 1 was released on DVD in Region 2 by Fabulous Films on March 22, 2010 and in Region 4 by Shock Entertainment on February 10, 2010.

A three-disc DVD boxset is available on Region 2 with the two feature-length TV movies, as well as the episodes 'Dancing At The Max,' 'Graduation Day,' and 'The College Years: Wedding Plans.' Each disc is also available to buy separately.

To date, there has been no DVD or home video release of Good Morning, Miss Bliss.

{|class="wikitable"

!DVD name !Ep # !Release date |- |Saved by the Bell: Seasons One & Two | align="center"|33 | September 2, 2003 |- |Saved by the Bell: Seasons Three & Four | align="center"|29 | April 27, 2004 |- |Saved by the Bell: Season Five | align="center"|24 | July 19, 2005 |- |Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style / Wedding in Las Vegas | align="center"|2 | August 7, 2007 |}

Soundtrack

name	Saved by the Bell: Soundtrack To The Original Hit TV Series
cover	SBTB Soundtrack.jpg|thumb|200px
artist	Various artists
type	soundtrack
released	April 11, 1995
format	CD
recorded	1989–1992
genre	Rock/Pop

A CD and cassette tape soundtrack was released on April 11, 1995. It contained songs used throughout the series. The tracklisting is as follows:

# "Saved by the Bell" # "Don't Leave With Your Love" # "Go for It!" # "Love Me Now" # "Make My Day" # "Friends Forever" # "Did We Ever Have a Chance?" # "Deep Within My Heart" # "Surfer Dude" # "Gone Hawaiian" # "School Song" # "Saved By The Bell" with Michael Damian

See also

List of Saved by the Bell episodes

List of minor characters in Saved by the Bell

References

External links

Saved by the Bell on TeenNick.com

Saved by the Bell on TBS.com

Mr. Belding (Dennis Haskins) Interview

Category:1989 American television series debuts Category:1995 albums Category:1993 American television series endings Category:1980s American television series Category:1990s American television series Category:1990s American comedy television series Category:American television sitcoms Category:English-language television series Category:NBC network shows Category:High school television series Category:Saved by the Bell Category:Teen sitcoms Category:Television series by NBC Universal Television Category:Television shows set in California Category:Television series by CBS Paramount Television

ar:أنقذه الجرس (مسلسل) ca:Saved by the Bell de:California High School es:Saved by the Bell fr:Sauvés par le gong it:Bayside School he:הצלצול הגואל nl:Saved by the Bell no:Saved by the Bell pl:Byle do dzwonka pt:Saved by the Bell sv:Pang i plugget

name	The Fixx
background	group_or_band
origin	London, United Kingdom
genre	New WavePop rockRock
years active	1980–present
label	MCA, RCA, CMC, Rainman
website	Official website
current members	Cy CurninJamie West-OramRupert GreenallAdam WoodsDan K. Brown }}

The Fixx is an English rock band formed in London in 1979. Their hits include "One Thing Leads to Another," "Red Skies," "Stand or Fall," "Saved by Zero," "Sign of Fire," "Are We Ourselves?," "Secret Separation," "Driven Out," "How Much Is Enough?," and "Deeper and Deeper," which was featured on the soundtrack of Streets of Fire.

Biography

Formation and early years as The Portraits and The Fix (1979-1981)

College friends Cy Curnin on vocals and Adam Woods on drums formed the group in London in 1979, initially calling themselves The Portraits. The pair placed an ad for additional members, and recruited keyboardist Rupert Greenall, guitarist Tony McGrail and bassist Charlie Barret. Under the name The Portraits the band issued two singles for Ariola Records: "Little Women" (1979), and "Hazards In The Home" (1980). Neither single charted.

Later in 1980, McGrail left. At this point, the band added guitarist Jamie West-Oram (formerly of Phillip Rambow's band) and changed their name to The Fix. This iteration of the band recorded for 101 Records, releasing their first single ("Lost Planes") in February 1981. This track, along with several live tracks issued by 101 on various compilations, received some radio exposure on the BBC.

The Fix's raised profile eventually led to the group being offered a contract by MCA Records. Worried about the potential drug-user implication of the band's name, MCA insisted on a name change before signing them to the label. A compromise was reached as the band altered the spelling of their name to The Fixx, and a deal was duly inked.

The RCA and MCA years (1982-1991)

Barret left The Fixx just after the recording of their first album, Shuttered Room, in 1982. This album featured the band's initial hits, "Stand or Fall" and "Red Skies," both of which charted in the US and the UK, albeit outside of the top 50. (They would be the band's only charting singles ever in the UK.) The band found particular success in Canada, where "Stand or Fall" was a top 10 hit.

Barret was replaced on bass by Alfie Agius for the Shuttered Room tour. Agius' stay in the band was short-lived, though, as he left during the 1983 recording of their next album Reach the Beach, after having recorded three tracks. Agius is credited as co-writer on all the album's tracks, but the group for this album was officially credited as a quartet (Curnin, Greenall, West-Oram and Woods).

Reach the Beach became (and remains) the group's most commercially successful album. Agius' bass work is featured on the album's first two singles "Saved by Zero" and "One Thing Leads to Another." Both these singles cracked the US top 40, and "One Thing Leads To Another" became the band's biggest-ever hit (#3 Canada, #4 US, and #33 Australia). Bassist Dan K. Brown performed on one album track, which was also the third US top 40 single from the album: "The Sign of Fire." Brown filled the bass spot in the Fixx for the subsequent tour, and was promoted to full membership status in the band.

The 1984 album Phantoms contained the hits "Are We Ourselves" and "Sunshine In The Shade." Another song from the period, "Deeper And Deeper," was released as the B-side of "Are We Ourselves" (and also appeared in an edited version on the soundtrack for the film Streets of Fire). This track received substantial airplay on US modern rock radio stations.

In 1985 The Fixx recorded the song "A Letter to Both Sides" for the soundtrack of the film Fletch. The next year they released their fourth album Walkabout, containing "Secret Separation" (#1 on Billboard Magazine's "Album Rock" chart) and "Built for the Future." The 1987 album React, containing both live and new studio material, was the last for MCA Records.

1988 saw their return with a new album Calm Animals and a new label RCA Records. This album contained another U.S. hit "Driven Out" (another #1 on Billboard's "Album Rock" chart).

The band returned to MCA for their next album, 1991's Ink. The album featured "How Much Is Enough?" (#27 Canada, #35 US).

The post-major label years (1992-present)

Dan K. Brown left the band in 1994. Chris Tate was later hired to play the bass. This line up recorded 1998's Elemental and the 1999 album 1011 Woodland. This last album consisted of re-recordings of previous hits and album tracks.

In 2002, The Fixx performed a cover version of Nancy Sinatra's 1960s classic "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" for a special album called When Pigs Fly, which featured unique remakes of songs from the 1960s through the 1990s.

In 2003, the band released their ninth studio album, Want That Life, with Gary Tibbs, formerly a member of Roxy Music, The Vibrators and Adam and the Ants on bass, replacing Tate.

Long-time bassist Dan K. Brown re-joined the band in 2008. The Fixx regularly tour the U.S., and recently celebrated 25 years of making music together, accompanied by the release of the 2 CD set Twentyfifth Anniversary Anthology compilation.

With the classic lineup back intact, The Fixx are recording their 10th studio album "Beautiful Friction" due for release in late summer 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

1982 – Shuttered Room #106 US, #54 UK, #77 AUS

1983 – Reach the Beach #8 US, #91 UK, #9 CAN

1984 – Phantoms #19 US, #15 CAN

1986 – Walkabout #30 US

1989 – Calm Animals #72 US

1991 – Ink #111 US

1998 – Elemental

1999 – 1011 Woodland

2003 – Want That Life

2011 – Beautiful Friction (soon to be released 10th studio album)

Live albums

1987 – React #110 US (Also includes three new studio tracks and a remake of "Red Skies.")

1995 – In Concert (King Biscuit Flower Hour)

1997 – Real Time Stood Still

2002 – Stand or Fall (European reissue of In Concert (King Biscuit Flower Hour) with re-ordered track listing.)

Compilation albums

1989 – Greatest Hits - One Thing Leads To Another

1994 – Missing Links (Previously unreleased tracks and remixes.)

1999 – Ultimate Collection: The Fixx

1999 – Elemental + 1011 Woodland (German 3CD large jewel-cased reissue of both albums.)

2000 – 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Fixx

2000 – Extended Versions (Selected tracks from '1011 Woodland'.)

2001 – Happy Landings and Lost Tracks

2002 – Then and Now (Selected tracks from Elemental and 1011 Woodland.)

2004 – Stage One (New versions of hits and album tracks.)

2005 – The Twenty-fifth Anniversary Anthology

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Peak Position	Album
UK Singles Chart>UK	Kent Report>Australia	Canadian Singles Chart>Canada	Billboard Hot 100>US	Modern Rock Tracks chart>MOD	Mainstream Rock Tracks chart>MSR	Hot Dance Club Play>Dance
1979	"Little Women" (as The Portraits)
1980	"Hazards In The Home" (as The Portraits)
1981	"Lost Planes" (as The Fix)
	"Stand or Fall"
"Red Skies"
	"Saved by Zero"
"One Thing Leads to Another"
"The Sign of Fire"
	"Deeper And Deeper"								Streets of Fire Soundtrack §
"Are We Ourselves?"								rowspan="3"
"Sunshine in the Shade"
"Less Cities, More Moving People"
	"Secret Separation"								rowspan="2"
"Built for the Future"
1987	"Don't Be Scared"
	"Driven Out"
"Precious Stone"
1991	"How Much Is Enough?"
2000	"One Thing Leads to Another (J. Benitez Remix)"

§: Originally appearing on the "Streets of Fire" soundtrack, "Deeper and Deeper" can now also be found on the reissue of "Reach The Beach."

‡: The official Billboard web database has some errors in it and differs from the original print issues, including listing "Are We Ourselves?" as having peaked at #2 on the rock chart when in fact it spent two weeks at #1.

Ω: The 2000 "One Thing Leads To Another" remix was listed as #4 on the Top 5 Dance/Clubplay Breakouts List. This list features tracks with future potential to hit the Top 50 and can be considered a Bubbling Under chart for the Top 50.

Sources:

Australian charts at Australian-charts.com (see pre 1989 chart thread at australian-charts.com )

Canadian charts archived at [www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm]

US charts: All information taken from Billboard Magazine Archive Print Issues.

In popular culture

"One Thing Leads to Another" appears in an episode of the TV series Knight Rider, and the episode "Nobody Does It Better" features a FIXX poster framed in the background of an office.

"One Thing Leads to Another" appears in the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on Pop radio station Flash FM.

"One Thing Leads to Another" was featured in an advertisement for the television show Lie to Me.

"One Thing Leads to Another" appears in the horror film The House of the Devil.

Cy and Jamie both appear in Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me" music video, which is produced by Rupert Hine, who worked on early The Fixx albums.

"Saved by Zero" appears in a national American television commercial for Toyota.

All is Fair from the album Ink is featured in the soundtrack to the film If Looks Could Kill.

References

External links

Official Website

The Fixx Official FaceBook page

Cy Curnin Radio Interview

Category:British New Wave musical groups Category:English rock music groups Category:Musical groups from London Category:Musical groups established in 1980

de:The Fixx fr:The Fixx nl:The Fixx sv:The Fixx

Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kenneth Arnold Chesney
Birth date	March 26, 1968
Origin	Luttrell, Tennessee, U.S.
Instrument	vocals, guitar, bass
Height	5'7.5" (1.71 m)
Genre	Country
Occupation	singer-songwriter
Years active	1993–present
Label	Capricorn, BNA
Associated acts	Buddy Cannon, George Strait, Dave Matthews, Uncle Kracker, Gretchen Wilson
Website	Official website }}

Kenneth Arnold "Kenny" Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 20 of which climbed to the top of the charts.

Over the life of his career, Chesney has been honored with numerous awards from the Academy of Country Music (ACM), Country Music Association (CMA), American Music Awards (AMA), Country Music Television (CMT), Billboard Music Awards (BMA), People's Choice Awards (PCA), and the French Country Music Awards (FCMA).

Chesney recently produced and co-directed a film for ESPN, "The Boys Of Fall". Chesney has received six Academy of Country Music awards (including four consecutive Entertainer of the Year Awards from 2005 to 2008), as well as six Country Music Association awards. He is one of the most popular touring acts in country music, regularly selling out the venues at which he performs. His 2007 Flip-Flop Summer Tour was the highest-grossing country road trip of the year.

The Country Music Association honored Chesney with the Entertainer of the Year award in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Other notable awards include the Academy of Country Music's 1997 New Male Vocalist of the Year, 2002 Top Male Vocalist of the Year, and the Triple Crown Award in 2005. He was awarded his fourth consecutive Entertainer of the Year award from the Academy of Country Music on May 18, 2008.

Early life

Chesney was born on March 26, 1968, in Knoxville, Tennessee at St. Mary's Medical Center and raised in Luttrell, Tennessee, better known as the home of Chet Atkins. He is the son of David Chesney, a former elementary school teacher, and Karen Chandler, a hair stylist in the Knoxville area. Chesney has one sibling, a younger sister named Jennifer Chandler. In 1986 Chesney graduated from Gibbs High School where he played baseball and football. Chesney received his first guitar for Christmas and began teaching himself to play. Chesney studied advertising at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City TN, where he was a member of the ETSU Bluegrass Program and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. In 1989 Chesney recorded a self-released demo album at Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia. He sold 1,000 copies while performing at the local clubs in Johnson City and used the money from album sales to help buy a new guitar. Chesney graduated from East Tennessee State in December 1990 with a degree in advertising. After graduation he headed to Nashville and performed at several local clubs. He became the resident performer at The Turf, a honky tonk bar in the city's historic district.

Career and awards

Signing first publishing and record deals

In 1992, the head of publisher/writer relations at BMI, Clay Bradley, recommended Chesney to his friend at Opryland Music Group, Troy Tomlinson, by saying: "I met this kid today from East Tennessee. He’s a good singer, a good songwriter, and more than anything, I think you’re going to really like him as a person.” For the audition for Tomlinson, Chesney performed five songs. Tomlinson's reaction was enthusiastic, later telling HitQuarters:

"First of all I was attracted to the songs, because I thought that he painted great pictures in his lyrics, particularly for someone who had not been around the typical Music Row co-writes. I thought that he sang very well too. But more than anything there was a kind of this ‘I-will-do-it’ look in his eyes - I was really drawn in by the fact that he was so set on being successful in this business."

Chesney left the audition with a songwriter’s contract. An appearance at a songwriter’s showcase the following year led to a contract with Capricorn Records which had recently started a country division. He released his debut album In My Wildest Dreams in April 1994. When Capricorn closed its country music division in Nashville and moved to Atlanta, Georgia Chesney signed with BNA Records.

In My Wildest Dreams (1994)

Chesney's first album, In My Wildest Dreams, was released on the independent Capricorn Records label in 1994. The album's lead-off singles, "The Tin Man" and "Whatever It Takes", both reached the lower regions of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The album sold approximately 10,000 copies before Capricorn Records closed its country music division later that year.

All I Need to Know (1995)

After Capricorn's closure, Chesney signed with BNA Records, which released his album All I Need to Know in 1995. The album produced three hit singles. "Fall in Love" and "All I Need to Know" both reached the Top Ten, while "Grandpa Told Me So" peaked at #23. "The Tin Man" was also included on this album, although it was not released as a single at the time.

Me and You (1996-1997)

Released in 1996, Chesney's second major-label album was Me and You. Although its lead-off single peaked just outside the Top 40 on the country charts, the album's title track (which was reprised from All I Need to Know) and the single "When I Close My Eyes" (which was previously recorded by Larry Stewart on his 1993 debut album Down the Road) both peaked at #2 on the Billboard country charts. Me and You was also Chesney's first gold-certified album. A cover of Mac McAnally's 1990 single "Back Where I Come From" was also included on this album. Although Chesney's version was never released as a single, it has become a regular song played during his concerts. In recognition of his successful year, Chesney was honored with the 1997 Academy of Country Music's New Male Vocalist of the Year award.

I Will Stand (1997-1998)

I Will Stand, Chesney's third album for BNA, was released in 1997. "She's Got It All" was the album's lead-off single, becoming Chesney's first #1 single, spending three weeks at the top of the Billboard country charts. The album's second single, "A Chance", peaked just shy of the Top Ten. In 1998, "That's Why I'm Here" went to #2 on Billboard and reached the top of the charts on Radio & Records, giving Chesney his third #1 single overall.

Everywhere We Go (1999)

Everywhere We Go, released in 1999, was Chesney's fourth album for BNA. The album produced two consecutive #1 singles in "How Forever Feels" and "You Had Me from Hello" (the latter inspired by a line in the movie Jerry Maguire). The album also produced two more hits, including "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" and "What I Need to Do", which peaked at #11 and #8 on the country charts, respectively. Everywhere We Go was Chesney's first platinum-selling album.

Greatest Hits (2000)

By 2000, Chesney released his Greatest Hits compilation album. It included four new tracks, as well as updated versions of "Fall in Love", "The Tin Man", and "Back Where I Come From". The new version of "The Tin Man" was one of the disc's three singles, along with two of the new tracks, "I Lost It" and "Don't Happen Twice".

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems (2002-2003)

The album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems was released in 2002. The lead-off single, "Young", peaked at #2, while the follow-up "The Good Stuff" spent seven weeks at #1, becoming Billboard's #1 country song of the year for 2002. The video for "Young" was honored by CMT with the Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year awards for 2002. In 2003, ACM honored Chesney as Top Male Vocalist of the Year, while "The Good Stuff" received the award for Single Record of the Year. The following year, CMT recognized the video produced for "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" as the Hottest Video of the Year.

All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan (2003)

In 2003, Chesney recorded All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan. The album's title track peaked at #30 on the country charts from holiday airplay.

When the Sun Goes Down (2004-2005)

2004 saw the release of Chesney's album When the Sun Goes Down. Its lead-off single, "There Goes My Life", spent seven weeks at the top of the Billboard country charts. On April 21, 2004, the accompanying video was honored by CMT with the Male Video of the Year award. The album's title track, "When the Sun Goes Down", a duet with Uncle Kracker, was also a #1 single. The video from the third single from the album, "I Go Back", was honored on April 11, 2005, with the Male Video of the Year by Country Music Television.

When the Sun Goes Down was honored with the 2004 CMA award for Album of the Year, while Chesney was honored as the Entertainer of the Year. He was also presented with the American Music Award's 2004 Artist of the Year award.

Be as You Are and The Road and the Radio (2005-2006)

In January 2005, Chesney released the album Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair), supporting the album with his Somewhere in the Sun Tour.

In the spring of 2005, Chesney was honored with the prestigious Triple-Crown Award presented by the Academy of Country Music. This award was presented after Chesney's 2004 Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year award was combined with 1997's New Male Vocalist of the Year award and 2003's Top Male Vocalist of the Year award. The following year, on May 23, 2006, Chesney was honored with his second Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Chesney released his second album of the year in November, The Road and the Radio, producing three #1 singles. "Living in Fast Forward", "Summertime", and "Beer in Mexico" all hit #1, while "Who You'd Be Today" and "You Save Me" broke the Top Five.

Live: Live Those Songs Again (2006)

Live: Live Those Songs Again is Chesney's first live album. Released on September 19, 2006 on BNA Records, the album includes live renditions of 15 songs, including 11 singles. "Live Those Songs", "Never Gonna Feel Like That Again", "On the Coast of Somewhere Beautiful", and "Back Where I Come From" were never released by Chesney as singles, while "Back Where I Come From" had been released as a single from Mac McAnally's 1990 album Simple Life.

Collaborations

Chesney, along with Tim McGraw, contributed to a version of Tracy Lawrence's single "Find Out Who Your Friends Are", which can be found on Lawrence's album For the Love. The official single version, featuring only Lawrence's vocals, was released in August 2006, but did not reach the Top 40 on the country charts until January 2007, when For the Love was released. After the album's release, the version with McGraw and Chesney began receiving significant airplay, helping to boost the single to #1 on the country charts. The song became Lawrence's first #1 single in 11 years, as well as the second-slowest climbing #1 single in the history of the Billboard music charts.

Chesney also co-wrote Rascal Flatts' 2007 single along with Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley, "Take Me There", which served as the lead-off single to their album Still Feels Good.

Chesney also recorded a duet with Reba McEntire on her #1 2007 album, Reba: Duets. "Every Other Weekend" peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #104 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. The album has sold 2.1 million copies world-wide and is certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 1 million. "Every Other Weekend" was the final single from the album.

Super Hits (2007)

On November 7, 2007 Chesney was named the CMA Entertainer of the Year for the third time in four years. The following week, on November 15, 2007, the compilation Super Hits album was released as part of Sony BMG's Super Hits series.

Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (2007-2008)

On September 11, 2007, Chesney released the album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. The album represented a move to a more gulf and western sound with a number of "breezy, steel-drum island songs." Kanye West's album Graduation, as well as 50 Cent's album Curtis, were released on the same day. Kanye West and 50 Cent were in the midst of a competitive sales war, with 50 Cent claiming he would end his solo rap career if West sold more albums than he did (remarks he later retracted as terms with of contract conflicted with the promise). Kenny Chesney, however, decided he would give country music a place in the competition, claiming country artists were just as popular as rap artists. Chesney came in third place in the number of record sales between the three musical artists.

The album's lead-off single, "Never Wanted Nothing More", became Chesney's 12th song to hit the top of the Billboard country charts. On the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week ending September 15, 2007, Chesney's single "Don't Blink" debuted at #16, setting a new record for the highest debut on that chart since the inception of SoundScan electronic tabulation in 1990. This record was broken one week later by Garth Brooks' song "More Than a Memory", which debuted at #1 on the same chart, making it the first song ever to do so. The third single off of Just Who I Am album, "Shiftwork", a duet with George Strait peaked at #2 on the Billboard country chart. During the week of June 28, 2008, the fourth single, "Better as a Memory", became Chesney's 14th single to hit the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Chesney started his Poets and Pirates Tour on April 26, 2008 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina. During the introduction of his set, his boot was caught between a hydraulic lift and the lip of the stage surface, crushing his foot and causing a severe hematoma from the ankle down, with most of the damage centering in his toes. It took approximately 30 seconds to pry his foot loose as he squatted down on the stage while the band continued to play an extended introduction of the song. When Chesney finally freed himself, he stood up and kept holding his hand on his knee as he began to sing.

Chesney did not acknowledge the injury during the early part of his performance. However, he was visibly limping and seemed to rest near a drum riser while leaning over and holding his knee during the instrumental breaks of his hit songs. As he came offstage, a doctor from the University of South Carolina cut off Chesney’s cowboy boot and immediately began treating the foot injury. X-rays taken later revealed several crushed bones in his right foot.

The injury did not cause him to postpone any shows, saying "He (the doctor) told me it's going to hurt – though nothing could hurt worse than Saturday, I don't think – and they can give me something to deaden the pain when I get out there. I also have to have a doctor standing by should something give, but I'm going to tape it up, and I'm going to get out there."

On May 19, 2008, just a day after being honored as the ACM Entertainer of the Year at the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Chesney criticized the lack of choice in the producers' awarding the honor based on fan votes. "The entertainer of the year trophy is supposed to represent heart and passion and an amazing amount of sacrifice, commitment and focus," he said. "That's the way Garth won it four times, that's the way I won it, that's the way Strait won it, Reba, Alabama all those years. That's what it's supposed to represent."

Lucky Old Sun (2008-2009)

On July 24, 2008, Chesney announced that he would be releasing a new single off an upcoming album entitled Lucky Old Sun. The song was titled "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven", and for the chart week of August 16, 2008, it debuted at #22 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The album was released on October 14, 2008. "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" became a #1 hit. It was followed by a cover of Mac McAnally's 1990 single "Down the Road".

Chesney's 2009 tour was titled the Sun City Carnival Tour and featured both small and large venues in order to keep his ticket prices down. The tour included a performance at Gillette Stadium again, marking the fifth year in a row that he played at the Foxboro, Massachusetts football field.

Greatest Hits II (2010)

On May 19, 2010, Greatest Hits II was released with two new tracks. In February, "Ain't Back Yet" was sent to country music radio stations. The #1 hit "Out Last Night" was the lead single.

Hemingway's Whiskey (2010-present)

In July 2010, Chesney released "The Boys of Fall" as the lead-off single from his album Hemingway's Whiskey, which was released in September 2010. The song hit #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 9, 2010, marking Chesney's eighteenth number one hit.

He then appeared at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010.

The second single from Hemingway's Whiskey, "Somewhere with You", was released in November 2010. The song debuted at #35 on the country chart for the week of November 6, 2010. It then hit #1 in January 2011.

Chesney produced and narrated a biographical film, The Color Orange, on his favorite football player growing up, University of Tennessee quarterback and Canadian Football League hall-of-famer Condredge Holloway. The film was produced for ESPN's "Year of the Quarterback" series, and premiered on February 20, 2011.

Personal life

Chesney owns a 60' Sea Ray yacht and also has a home in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He spends time in the Caribbean and includes island-themed songs in some of his work, such as those on his 2005 album Be As You Are.

On May 9, 2005, Kenny Chesney married actress Renee Zellweger in a ceremony on the island of St. John. They had met in January at a tsunami relief benefit concert. On September 15 of that same year, after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an annulment. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason in the related papers, but after media scrutiny of her use of the word "fraud", she qualified the use of the term, stating it was "simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character". Chesney later suggested the failure of his marriage was due to "panic" from the intense media scrutiny surrounding it. In an interview by 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper, Chesney commented on the failed marriage. "The only fraud that was committed was me thinking that I knew what it was like…that I really understood what it was like to be married, and I really didn't." The annulment was finalized in late December 2005. Kenny Chesney's family still resides in east Tennessee.

Philanthropy

Chesney's most recent charity work includes working with the V Foundation. Founded by the late Jim Valvano, the V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer. Valvano, former coach of the North Carolina State Wolfpack Basketball team, died on April 28, 1993 following a year-long battle with cancer.

In 1998, Chesney recorded a limited-edition single titled "Touchdown Tennessee". The single was a tribute to John Ward, a former broadcaster for the University of Tennessee Volunteers' football team; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the John Ward Scholarship Fund received a portion of the single's sales.

Tours

Chesney has won the Billboard Touring Award for Top Package Tour four consecutive years between 2005 and 2008.

Greatest Hits Tour 2001

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems Tour 2002

Margaritas N' Senorita's Tour 2003

Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour 2004(w/Rascal Flatts)

Somewhere In The Sun Tour 2005 (w/Gretchen Wilson, Uncle Kracker, Pat Green)

The Road & The Radio Tour 2006 (w/ Dierks Bentley & others)

Flip-Flop Summer Tour 2007 (w/ Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland, Sara Evans & Pat Green)

The Poets & Pirates Tour 2008 (w/ Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan & Sammy Hagar)

Sun City Carnival Tour 2009 (w/ Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum & Montgomery Gentry)

2010 With A Two Tour 2010 (Festivels)

Goin' Coastal Tour 2011 (w/ Zac Brown Band, Uncle Kracker & Billy Currington)

Discography

;Studio Albums

1994: In My Wildest Dreams

1995: All I Need to Know

1996: Me and You

1997: I Will Stand

1999: Everywhere We Go

2002: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems

2003: All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan

2004: When the Sun Goes Down

2005: Be as You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair)

2005: The Road and the Radio

2007: Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates

2008: Lucky Old Sun

2010: Hemingway's Whiskey

;Compilation albums

2000: ''Greatest Hits

2006: ''Live: Live Those Songs Again

2008: Super Hits

2009: ''Greatest Hits II

Awards

1997 ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year

2002 CMT Male Video of the Year: Young

2002 CMT Video of the Year: Young

2003 ACM Single Record of the Year: The Good Stuff

2003 ACM Top Male Vocalist of the Year

2004 AMA Artist of the Year

2004 CMA Entertainer of the Year

2004 CMA Album of the Year: When The Sun Goes Down

2004 CMT Hottest Video of the Year: No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems

2004 CMT Male Video of the Year: There Goes My Life

2005 ACM Entertainer of the Year

2005 ACM Triple Crown Winner

2005 CMT Male Video of the Year: I Go Back

2006 CMA Entertainer of the Year

2006 ACM Entertainer of the Year

2006 CMT Male Video of the Year: Who You Be Today

2006 BMA Best Male Country Artist

2006 BMA Best Country Artist

2007 CMT Male Video of the Year: You Save Me

2007 PCA Favorite Male Singer

2007 ACM Entertainer of the Year

2007 CMA Musical Event of the Year: Find Out Who Your Friends Are

2007 CMA Entertainer of the Year

2008 ACM Entertainer of the Year

2008 ACM Vocal Event of the Year: Find Out Who Your Friends Are

2008 FACM Best Duo of the Year: Every Other Weekend

2008 CMA Entertainer of the Year

See also

List of best-selling music artists

References

External links

Official Website

Official Film Website for Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D

Kenny Chesney : News : 2010 With A Two Tour 2010 Tickets

Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American male singers Category:BNA Records artists Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:East Tennessee State University alumni Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee Category:LGBT Musicians from the United States

pdc:Kenny Chesney de:Kenny Chesney es:Kenny Chesney fr:Kenny Chesney it:Kenny Chesney nl:Kenny Chesney no:Kenny Chesney pt:Kenny Chesney ru:Чесни, Кенни simple:Kenny Chesney fi:Kenny Chesney sv:Kenny Chesney

Name	Sir Elton JohnCBE, Hon DMus
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Reginald Kenneth Dwight
Birth date	March 25, 1947
Birth place	Pinner, Middlesex, England
Instrument
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, humanitarian
Years active	1964–68 (Bluesology)1969–present (Solo)
Genre
Label	DJM, Uni, MCA, Geffen, Rocket/Island, Universal, Interscope, Mercury, UMG
Associated acts	Bernie Taupin, Tim Rice, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Kiki Dee, Billy Joel, George Michael, Eminem, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick,Neil Sedaka
Website	}}

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.

In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John received a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998. He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s, and In 1992, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a year later began hosting the annual Academy Award Party, which has since become one of the most high-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry. Since its inception, the foundation has raised over $200 million. John entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on 21 December 2005 and continues to be a champion for LGBT social movements. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him as the most successful male solo artist on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists" (third overall, behind only The Beatles and Madonna).

Life and career

Early life

John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947, the eldest child of Stanley and only child of Sheila Eileen Dwight (née Harris) and was raised in Pinner, Middlesex in a council house of his maternal grandparents. His parents did not marry until he was 6 years old, when the family moved to a nearby semi-detached house. He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School, until age 17, when he left just prior to his A Level examinations to pursue a career in the music industry.

When John began to seriously consider a career in music, his father, who served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking. John has stated that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after such a restrictive childhood. Both of John's parents were musically inclined, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band, a semi-professional big band that played at military dances. The Dwights were keen record buyers, exposing John to the popular singers and musicians of the day, and John remembers being immediately hooked on rock and roll when his mother brought home records by Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956.

John started playing the piano at the age of 3, and within a year, his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. After performing at parties and family gatherings, at the age of 7 he took up formal piano lessons. He showed musical aptitude at school, including the ability to compose melodies, and gained some notoriety by playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at school functions. At the age of 11, he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. According to one of his instructors, John promptly played back, like a "gramophone record", a four-page piece by Handel that he heard for the first time.

For the next five years he attended Saturday classes at the Academy in central London, and has stated that he enjoyed playing Chopin and Bach and singing in the choir during Saturday classes, but that he was not otherwise a diligent classical student. "I kind of resented going to the Academy", he says. "I was one of those children who could just about get away without practicing and still pass, scrape through the grades." He even claims that he would sometimes skip classes and just ride around on the Tube. However, several instructors have testified that he was a "model student", and during the last few years he was taking lessons from a private tutor in addition to his classes at the Academy.

John's mother, though also strict with her son, was more vivacious than her husband, and something of a free spirit. With Stanley Dwight uninterested in his son and often physically absent, John was raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandmother. When his father was home, the Dwights would have terrible arguments that greatly distressed their son. When John was 14, they divorced. His mother then married a local painter, Fred Farebrother, a caring and supportive stepfather who John affectionately referred to as "Derf", his first name in reverse. They moved into flat No. 1A in an eight-unit apartment building called Frome Court, not far from both previous homes. It was there that John would write the songs that would launch his career as a rock star; he would live there until he had four albums simultaneously in the American Top 40.

Pub pianist to staff songwriter (1962–1969)

At the age of 15, with the help of his mother and stepfather, Reginald Dwight became a weekend pianist at a nearby pub, the Northwood Hills Hotel, playing Thursday to Sunday nights for £35 a week and tips. Known simply as "Reggie", he played a range of popular standards, including songs by Jim Reeves and Ray Charles, as well as songs he had written himself. A stint with a short-lived group called the Corvettes rounded out his time.

In 1964, Dwight and his friends formed a band called Bluesology. By day, he ran errands for a music publishing company; he divided his nights between solo gigs at a London hotel bar and working with Bluesology. By the mid-1960s, Bluesology was backing touring American soul and R&B; musicians like The Isley Brothers, Major Lance, Billy Stewart, Doris Troy and Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles. In 1966, the band became musician Long John Baldry's supporting band and played 16 times at The Marquee Club.

After failing lead vocalist auditions for King Crimson and Gentle Giant, Dwight answered an advertisement in the New Musical Express placed by Ray Williams, then the A&R; manager for Liberty Records. At their first meeting, Williams gave Dwight a stack of lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, who had answered the same ad. Dwight wrote music for the lyrics, and then mailed it to Taupin, beginning a partnership that {{as of |2010 |alt=still continues }}. In 1967, what would become the first Elton John/Bernie Taupin song, "Scarecrow", was recorded; when the two first met, six months later, Dwight was going by the name "Elton John", in homage to Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.

The team of John and Taupin joined Dick James's DJM Records as staff songwriters in 1968, and over the next two years wrote material for various artists, like Roger Cook and Lulu. Taupin would write a batch of lyrics in under an hour and give it to John, who would write music for them in half an hour, disposing of the lyrics if he couldn't come up with anything quickly. For two years, they wrote easy-listening tunes for James to peddle to singers. Their early output included a contender for the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969, for Lulu, called "Can't Go On (Living Without You)". It came sixth of six songs. In 1969, John also provided piano for Roger Hodgson on his first ever musical recording.

During this period, John was also a session musician for other artists including playing piano on The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and singing backing vocals for The Scaffold.

Debut album to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1969–1973)

On the advice of music publisher Steve Brown, John and Taupin started writing more complex songs for John to record for DJM. The first was the single "I've Been Loving You" (1968), produced by Caleb Quaye, former Bluesology guitarist. In 1969, with Quaye, drummer Roger Pope, and bassist Tony Murray, John recorded another single, "Lady Samantha", and an album, Empty Sky.

For their follow-up album, Elton John, John and Taupin enlisted Gus Dudgeon as producer and Paul Buckmaster as musical arranger. Elton John was released in the April 1970 on DJM Records/Pye Records in the UK and Uni Records in the USA, and established the formula for subsequent albums; gospel-chorded rockers and poignant ballads. The first single from the album, "Border Song", made into the US Top 100, peaking at Number 92. The second single "Your Song" made the US Top Ten, peaking at number eight and becoming John's first hit single as a singer. The album soon became his first hit album, reaching number four on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Backed by ex-Spencer Davis Group drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray, John's first American concert took place at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in August 1970, and was a success.

The concept album Tumbleweed Connection was released in October 1970, and reached the Top Ten on the Billboard 200. The live album 17-11-70 (11-17-70 in the US) was recorded at a live show aired from A&R; Studios on WABC-FM in New York City. Sales of the live album were heavily hit in the US when an east coast bootlegger released the performance several weeks before the official album, including all 60 minutes of the aircast, not just the 40 minutes selected by Dick James Music. John and Taupin then wrote the soundtrack to the obscure film Friends and then the album Madman Across the Water, the latter reaching the Top Ten and producing the hit "Levon", while the soundtrack album produced the hit "Friends". In 1972, Davey Johnstone joined the Elton John Band on guitar and backing vocals. The band released Honky Chateau, which became John's first American number 1 album, spending five weeks at the top of the charts and spawning the hit singles "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)" (which is often compared to David Bowie's "Space Oddity") and "Honky Cat".

The pop album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player came out at the start of 1973, and produced the hits "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel"; the former became his first US Billboard Hot 100 number one hit. Both the album and "Crocodile Rock" were the first album and single, respectively on the consolidated MCA Records label in the USA, replacing MCA's other labels including Uni.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road gained instant critical acclaim and topped the chart on both sides of the Atlantic, remaining at Number 1 for two months. It also temporarily established John as a glam rock star. It contained the number 1 hit "Bennie and the Jets", along with the popular and praised "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Candle in the Wind", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and "Grey Seal" (originally recorded and released in 1970 as the B-side to the UK-only single, "Rock and Roll Madonna"). There is also a VHS and DVD as part of the Classic Albums series, discussing the making, recording, and popularity of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" through concert and home video footage including interviews.

Rocket Records to 21 at 33 (1974–1979)

John formed his own MCA-distributed label Rocket Records and signed acts to it – notably Neil Sedaka ("Bad Blood", on which he sang background vocals) and Kiki Dee – in which he took personal interest. Instead of releasing his own records on Rocket, he opted for $8 million offered by MCA. When the contract was signed in 1974, MCA reportedly took out a $25 million insurance policy on John's life.

In 1974 a collaboration with John Lennon took place, resulting in Elton John covering The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and Lennon's "One Day at a Time", and in return Elton John and band being featured on Lennon's "Whatever Gets You thru the Night". In what would be Lennon's last live performance, the pair performed these two number 1 hits along with the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There" at Madison Square Garden. Lennon made the rare stage appearance to keep the promise he made that he would appear on stage with Elton if "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" became a number 1 single.

Caribou was released in 1974, and although it reached number 1, it was widely considered a lesser quality album. Reportedly recorded in a scant two weeks between live appearances, it featured "The Bitch Is Back" and the lushly orchestrated "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Pete Townshend of The Who asked John to play a character called the "Local Lad" in the film of the rock opera Tommy, and to perform the song "Pinball Wizard". Drawing on power chords, John's version was recorded and used for the movie release in 1975 and the single came out in 1976 (1975 in the US). The song charted at number 7 in England. Bally subsequently released a "Captain Fantastic" pinball machine featuring an illustration of John in his movie guise.

In the 1975 autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, John revealed his previously ambiguous personality, with Taupin's lyrics describing their early days as struggling songwriters and musicians in London. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that is otherwise rare in John's music. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" was the hit single from this album and captured an early turning point in John's life.

The album's release signalled the end of the Elton John Band, as an unhappy and overworked John dismissed Olsson and Murray, two people who had contributed much of the band's signature sound and who had helped build his live following since the beginning. Johnstone and Ray Cooper were retained, Quaye and Roger Pope returned, and the new bassist was Kenny Passarelli; this rhythm section provided a heavier-sounding backbeat. James Newton-Howard joined to arrange in the studio and to play keyboards. John introduced the lineup before a crowd of 75,000 in London's Wembley Stadium. The rock-oriented Rock of the Westies entered the US albums chart at number 1 like Captain Fantastic, a previously unattained feat. Elton John's stage wardrobe now included ostrich feathers, $5,000 spectacles that spelled his name in lights, and dressing up like the Statue of Liberty, Donald Duck, or Mozart ,among others, at his concerts.

To celebrate five years since he first appeared at the venue, in 1975 John played a two-night, four-show stand at The Troubadour. With seating limited to under 500 per show, the chance to purchase tickets was determined by a postcard lottery, with each winner allowed two tickets. Everyone who attended the performances received a hardbound "yearbook" of the band's history. That year he also played piano on Kevin Ayers' Sweet Deceiver, and was among the first and few white artists to appear on the black music series Soul Train on American television.

In 1976, the live album Here and There was released in May, followed by the Blue Moves album in October, which contained the single "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". His biggest success in 1976 was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", a duet with Kiki Dee that topped both the American and British charts. Finally, in an interview with Rolling Stone that year entitled "Elton's Frank Talk", John stated that he was bisexual.

Besides being the most commercially successful period, 1970 - 1976 is also held in the most regard critically. Within only a three year span, between 1972-75 John saw seven consecutive albums reach Number 1 in the charts, which had not been accomplished before. Of the six Elton John albums to make the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in Rolling Stone'in 2003, all are from this period, with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ranked highest at number 91; similarly, the three Elton John albums given five stars by Allmusic (Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Château, and Captain Fantastic) are all from this period too.

During the same period, John made a guest appearance on the popular Morecambe and Wise Show on the BBC. The two comics spent the episode pointing him in the direction of everywhere except the stage in order to prevent him singing.

In November 1977 John announced he was retiring from performing; Taupin began collaborating with others. Now only producing one album a year, John issued A Single Man in 1978, employing a new lyricist, Gary Osborne; the album produced no singles that made the Top 20 in the US but the two singles from the album released in the UK, Part-Time Love and Song for Guy, both made the Top 20 in the UK with the latter reaching the Top 5. In 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper, John became the first Western solo artist to tour the Soviet Union (as well as one of the first in Israel), then mounted a two-man comeback tour of the US in small halls. John returned to the singles chart with "Mama Can't Buy You Love" (number 9, 1979), a song originally rejected in 1977 by MCA before being released, recorded in 1977 with Philadelphia soul producer Thom Bell. Elton reported that Thom Bell was the first person to give him voice lessons; Bell encouraged John to sing in a lower register. A disco-influenced album, Victim of Love, was poorly received. In 1979, John and Taupin reunited, though they would not collaborate on a full album until 1983's "Too Low For Zero". 21 at 33, released the following year, was a significant career boost, aided by his biggest hit in four years, "Little Jeannie" (number 3 US), although the lyrics were written by Gary Osborne.

The 80s:The Fox to Sleeping with the Past (1981–1989)

His 1981 album, The Fox, was recorded in part during the same sessions as 21 at 33, and also included collaborations with Tom Robinson and Judie Tzuke. On 13 September 1980, John, with Olsson and Murray back in the Elton John Band, performed a free concert to an estimated 400,000 fans on The Great Lawn in Central Park in New York City. His 1982 hit "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", came from his Jump Up! album, his second under a new US recording contract with Geffen Records.

He married his close friend and sound engineer, Renate Blauel on Valentine's Day 1984 - the marriage lasted three years. The Biography Channel Special detailed the loss of Elton's voice in 1986 while on tour in Australia. Shortly thereafter he underwent throat surgery, which permanently altered his voice. Several non-cancerous polyps were removed from his vocal cords, resulting in a change in his singing voice. In 1987 he won a libel case against The Sun which published allegations of sex with rent boys.

With original band members Johnstone, Murray and Olsson together again, John was able to return to the charts with the 1983 hit album Too Low for Zero, which included "I'm Still Standing" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", the latter of which featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and reached number 4 in the US, giving John his biggest hit there since "Little Jeannie". He placed hits in the US Top Ten throughout the 1980s – "Little Jeannie" (number 3, 1980), "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (number 5, 1984), "Nikita" boosted by a mini-movie pop video directed by Ken Russell (number 7, 1986), a live orchestral version of "Candle in the Wind" (number 6, 1987), and "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" (number 2, 1988). His highest-charting single was a collaboration with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder on "That's What Friends Are For" (number 1, 1985); credited as Dionne and Friends, the song raised funds for AIDS research. His albums continued to sell, but of the six released in the latter half of the 1980s, only Reg Strikes Back (number 16, 1988) placed in the Top 20 in the United States.

In 1985, Elton John was one of the many performers at Live Aid held at Wembley Stadium. John played "Bennie and the Jets" and "Rocket Man"; then "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Kiki Dee for the first time in years; and introduced his friend George Michael, still then of Wham!, to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". He enlisted Michael to sing backing vocals on his single "Wrap Her Up", and also recruited teen idol Nik Kershaw as an instrumentalist on "Nikita". John also recorded material with Millie Jackson in 1985. In 1986, he played the piano on two tracks on the heavy metal band Saxon's album Rock the Nations.

In 1988, he performed five sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden, giving him 26 for his career. Netting over $20 million, 2,000 items of John's memorabilia were auctioned off at Sotheby's in London.

The 90s: "Sacrifice" to Aida (1990–1999)

In 1990, John would finally achieve his first UK number one hit on his own, with "Sacrifice" (coupled with "Healing Hands") from the previous year's album Sleeping with the Past; it would stay at the top spot for six weeks. The following year, John's "Basque" won the Grammy for Best Instrumental, and a guest concert appearance he had made on George Michael's cover of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was released as a single and topped the charts in both the US and UK.

In 1992 he released the US number 8 album The One, featuring the hit song "The One". John and Taupin then signed a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music for an estimated $39 million over 12 years, giving them the largest cash advance in music publishing history. In April 1992, John appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, performing "The Show Must Go On" with the remaining members of Queen, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses and Queen. The following year, he released Duets, a collaboration with 15 artists including Tammy Wynette and RuPaul. This also included a new collaboration with Kiki Dee, entitled "True Love", which reached the Top 10 of the UK charts.

Along with Tim Rice, Elton John wrote the songs for the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King, which became the 3rd highest-grossing animated feature of all time. At the 67th Academy Awards ceremony, The Lion King provided three of the five nominees for the Academy Award for Best Song, which John won with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". Both that and "Circle of Life" became hit songs for John. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" would also win Elton John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 37th Grammy Awards. After the release of the The Lion King soundtrack, the album remained at the top of Billboard's charts for nine weeks. On 10 November 1999, the RIAA certified The Lion King "Diamond" for selling 15 million copies.

In 1995 John released Made in England (number 3, 1995), which featured the single "Believe". Also, a compilation called Love Songs was released the following year.

Early in 1997 John held a 50th birthday party, costumed as Louis XIV, for 500 friends. John also performed with the surviving members of Queen in Paris at the opening night (17 January 1997) of Le Presbytère N'a Rien Perdu De Son Charme Ni Le Jardin De Son Éclat, a work by French ballet legend Maurice Béjart which draws upon AIDS and the deaths of Freddie Mercury and the company's principal dancer Jorge Donn. Later in 1997, two close friends died: designer Gianni Versace was murdered; Diana, Princess of Wales died in a Paris car crash on 31 August. In early September, John contacted his writing partner Bernie Taupin, asking him to revise the lyrics of his 1973 song "Candle in the Wind" to honour Diana, and Taupin rewrote the song accordingly. On 6 September 1997, John performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey. The song became the fastest, and biggest-selling single of all time, eventually selling over 33 million copies worldwide. The best-selling single in UK Chart history, it sold 4.86 million copies in the UK. The best-selling single in Billboard history, and the only single ever certified Diamond in the United States, the single sold over 11 million copies in the U.S. The song proceeds of approximately £55 million were donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. It would win John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards ceremony in 1998. John has publicly performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" only once, at Diana's funeral, vowing never to perform it again unless asked by Diana's sons.

In the musical theatre world, in addition to a 1998 adaptation of The Lion King for Broadway, John also composed music for a Disney production of Aida in 1999 with lyricist Tim Rice, for which they received the Tony Award for Best Original Score at the 54th Tony Awards, and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards. The musical was given its world premiere in the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. It went on to Chicago and eventually Broadway. He also released a live compilation album called Elton John One Night Only - The Greatest Hits from the show he did at Madison Square Garden in New York City that same year.

2000 to present

In 2000, John and Tim Rice teamed again to create songs for DreamWorks' animated film The Road to El Dorado. In August 2003, John scored his fifth UK number one single when "Are You Ready for Love" topped the UK Charts. Returning again to musical theatre, John composed music for a West End Theatre production of Billy Elliot the Musical in 2005 with playwright Lee Hall. John's only theatrical project with Bernie Taupin so far is Lestat: The Musical, based on the Anne Rice vampire novels. However it was slammed by the critics and closed in May 2006 after 39 performances.

John was named a Disney Legend for his numerous outstanding contributions to Disney's films and theatrical works on 9 October 2006, by The Walt Disney Company. In 2006 he told Rolling Stone magazine that he plans for his next record to be in the R&B;/hip-hop genre. "I want to work with Pharrell {Williams}, Timbaland, Snoop {Dogg}, Kanye {West}, Eminem and just see what happens."

In March 2007 he performed at Madison Square Garden for a record breaking 60th time for his 60th birthday, the concert was broadcast live and a DVD recording was released as Elton 60 - Live at Madison Square Garden; a greatest-hits compilation CD, Rocket Man – Number Ones, was released in 17 different versions worldwide, including a CD/DVD combo; and his back catalogue - almost 500 songs from 32 albums - became available for legal download.

In a September 2008 interview with GQ magazine, John said: "I’m going on the road again with Billy Joel again next year," referring to "Face to Face," a series of concerts featuring both musicians. The tour began in March and will continue for at least two more years.

In October 2003, John announced that he had signed an exclusive agreement to perform 75 shows over three years at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. The show, entitled The Red Piano, was a multimedia concert featuring massive props and video montages created by David LaChapelle. Effectively, he and Celine Dion share performances at Caesars Palace throughout the year - while one performs, one rests. The first of these shows took place on 13 February 2004. On 21 June 2008, he performed his 200th show in Caesars Palace. A DVD/CD package of The Red Piano was released through Best Buy in November 2008. A two year global tour was sandwiched between commitments in Las Vegas, Nevada, some of the venues of which were new to John. The Red Piano Tour closed in Las Vegas in April 2009.

Elton John performed a piano duet with Lady Gaga at the 52nd Grammy Awards. On 6 June 2010, John performed at the fourth wedding of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh for a reported US$1 million fee. Eleven days later, and 17 years to the day after his last previous performance in Israel, he performed at the Ramat Gan Stadium; this was significant because of other then-recent cancellations by other performers in the fallout surrounding an Israeli raid on Gaza Flotilla the month before. In his introduction to that concert, Elton John noted he and other musicians should not "cherry-pick our conscience", in reference to Elvis Costello, who was to have performed in Israel two weeks after Elton did, but cancelled in the wake of the aforementioned raid, citing his [Costello's] conscience.

John's latest studio album is entitled The Union and was released on 19 October 2010. John says his collaboration with American singer-songwriter and sideman Leon Russell marks a new chapter in his recording career, saying: "I don't have to make pop records any more."

Elton John began his new show "The Million Dollar Piano" in Las Vegas on 28 September 2011 at Caesars Palace. John will be performing the show at Caesars for the next three years.

Elton John performed his 3000th concert on Saturday 8 October 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Artistry

Songwriting

John has written with his song-writing partner Bernie Taupin since 1967 when he answered an advertisement for talent placed in the New Musical Express by Liberty records A&R; man Ray Williams. The pair have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.

The 1991 film documentary Two Rooms described the writing style that John and Taupin use, which involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own, and John then putting them to music, with the two never in the same room during the process.

Music style

John's voice was once classed as tenor, it is now baritone. His piano playing is influenced by classical and gospel music. He used Paul Buckmaster to arrange the music on his studio albums during the 1970s.

Personal life

Family

In the late 1960s, John was engaged to be married to his first lover, secretary Linda Woodrow, who is mentioned in the song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight". He married German recording engineer Renate Blauel on 14 February 1984, in Darling Point, Sydney, with speculation that the marriage was a cover for his homosexuality. John had come out as bisexual in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone, but after his divorce from Blauel in 1988 he told the magazine that he was "comfortable" being gay.

In 1993, John began a relationship with David Furnish, a former advertising executive and now filmmaker. John and Furnish entered a civil partnership on 21 December 2005. They held a low-key ceremony at the Windsor Guildhall, followed by a lavish party at their Berkshire mansion, thought to have cost £1 million. Their son, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, was born to a surrogate mother on 25 December 2010 in California. John and Furnish chose Lady Gaga, magazine editor Ingrid Sischy, and Sichy's partner Sandy Brant as Zachary's godmothers.

In September 2009, John announced his intention to adopt a 14-month-old boy, Lev, from an AIDS orphanage in Ukraine, but he was denied due to his age and marital status. Furnish stated they would continue to financially support Lev and his brother and would campaign for a change in Ukrainian law. John has ten known godchildren, including Sean Lennon, David and Victoria Beckham's sons Brooklyn and Romeo, Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian Charles, and the daughter of Seymour Stein.

Wealth

In April 2009, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated John's wealth to be £175 million (US$265 million), and ranked him as the 322nd richest person in Britain. John was estimated to have a fortune of £195 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2011, making him one of the 10 richest people in the British music industry. Aside from his main home "Woodside" in Old Windsor, Berkshire, John owns residences in Atlanta, Nice, London's Holland Park, and Venice. John is an art collector, and is believed to have one of the largest private photography collections in the world.

In 2000, John admitted to spending £30 million in just under two years—an average of £1.5 million a month. Between January 1996 and September 1997, he spent more than £9.6m on property and £293,000 on flowers. In June 2001 John sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he didn't get the chance to drive them because he was out of the country so often. The sale, which included a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, and several Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly £2 million. In 2003, John sold the contents of his Holland Park home—expected to fetch £800,000 at Sotheby's—in a bid to create more room for his collection of contemporary art which includes many works of art by Young British Artists such as Sam Taylor-Wood and Tracy Emin. Every year since 2004, John has opened a shop called "Elton's Closet" in which he sells his second-hand clothes.

Other

Throughout his career, John has battled addictions to alcohol and cocaine. By 1975, the pressures of stardom had begun to take a serious toll on him. During "Elton Week" in Los Angeles that year, John suffered a drug overdose. He also battled the eating disorder bulimia. In a CNN interview with Larry King in 2002, King asked if John knew of Diana, Princess of Wales' eating disorder. John replied, "Yes, I did. We were both bulimic."

A longtime tennis enthusiast, John wrote the song "Philadelphia Freedom" in tribute to long-time friend Billie Jean King and her World Team Tennis franchise of the same name. John and King also co-host an annual pro-am event to benefit AIDS charities, most notably John's own Elton John AIDS Foundation, for which King is a chairwoman. John, who maintains a part-time residence in Atlanta, Georgia, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team when he moved there in 1991.

Watford Football Club

John became chairman and director of Watford Football Club in 1976, appointing Graham Taylor as manager and investing large sums of money as the club rose three divisions into the First Division. The pinnacle of the clubs' success was finishing runners up in the First Division and reaching the FA Cup Final a year later. He sold the club to Jack Petchey in 1987, but remained their life-long president. In 1997 he re-purchased the club from Petchey and once again became chairman. He stepped down in 2002 when the club needed a full-time chairman although he continued as president of the club. Although no longer the majority shareholder, he still holds a significant financial interest. In June 2005 he held a concert at Watford's Vicarage Road ground, donating the funds to the club, and another concert in May 2010. For a time he was also a part-owner of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League.

AIDS Foundation

John has been associated with AIDS charities since the deaths of his friends Ryan White and Freddie Mercury, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. For example, in 1986 he joined with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder to record the single "That's What Friends Are For", with all profits being donated to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The song won John and the others the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager). In April 1990, John performed "Skyline Pigeon" at the funeral of White, a teenage haemophiliac he had befriended.

John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 as a charity to fund programmes for HIV/AIDS prevention, for the elimination of prejudice and discrimination against HIV/AIDS-affected individuals, and for providing services to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. This cause continues to be one of his personal passions. In early 2006, John donated the smaller of two bright-red Yamaha pianos from his Las Vegas, Nevada show to auction on eBay to raise public awareness and funds for the foundation.

To raise money for his AIDS charity, John hosts annually a glamorous White Tie & Tiara Ball, to which many famous celebrities are invited. On 28 June 2007, the 9th annual White Tie & Tiara Ball took place. The menu consisted of a truffle soufflé followed by Surf and Turf (filet mignon with Maine lobster tail) and a giant Knickerbocker glory ice cream. An auction followed the dinner held by Stephen Fry. A Rolls Royce ‘Phantom’ drophead coupe and a piece of Tracey Emin's artwork both raised £800,000 for the charity fund, with the total amount raised reaching £3.5 million. Later on in the event, John sang "Delilah" with Tom Jones and "Big Spender" with Shirley Bassey. Tickets for the Ball cost £1,000 a head. The event raised £4.6 million for his AIDS Foundation in 2006.

Activism

On 1 April 2010, John joined Cyndi Lauper in the launch of her Give a Damn campaign to bring a wider awareness of discrimination of the LGBT community as part of her True Colors Fund. In the advertisement, John states: "Imagine walking down the street and wondering if this is the day you'll get beaten up, or even killed, simply because of who you are". The campaign is to bring straight people to stand up with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community and stop the discrimination. Other names included in the campaign are Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Judith Light, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Kardashian, Clay Aiken, Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, and Anna Paquin.

He is an occasional columnist in the Guardian.

Awards

John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1994. He and Bernie Taupin had previously been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. John was made a Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995. For his charitable work, John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 February 1998. In October 1975, John became the 1,662nd person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He became a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 2004, and a Disney Legends Award in 2006. In 2010, Elton John was awarded with the PRS for Music Heritage Award, which was erected, on The Namaste Lounge Pub in Watford, where Elton performed his first ever gig.

Music awards include the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from The Lion King (award shared with Tim Rice); the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1994 for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from The Lion King (award shared with Tim Rice); and the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2000 for Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (award shared with Tim Rice)

John has six Grammy Awards:

1987: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "That's What Friends Are For", performed by Dionne Warwick & Friends (award shared with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder)

1991: Best Instrumental Composition for "Basque", performed by James Galway

1994: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight"

1997: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Candle In The Wind" 1997

1999: Grammy Legend Award

2001: Best Musical Show Album for Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida (award shared with Guy Babylon, Paul Bogaev & Chris Montan (producers), Tim Rice (lyricist) and the original Broadway cast with Heather Headley, Adam Pascal, and Sherie Rene Scott)

Elton John Band

Since 1970, John has been the pianist and lead singer, as well as writer of music of the Elton John Band. The band had multiple line-up changes. Bernie Taupin has been the band's lyricist during their classic era and also to this day. In addition, Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson, and Ray Cooper are the only returning members of the band's original line-up since 1970 (Olsson), and 1972 (Johnstone and Cooper). Ray Cooper is on and off with the Elton John Band because he is working with other musicians as a session and road-tour percussionist. Furthermore, Elton John has also used a number of session musicians in the time of his career.

Discography

;Studio albums

Empty Sky (1969)

Elton John (1970)

Tumbleweed Connection (1970)

Madman Across the Water (1971)

Honky Château (1972)

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

Caribou (1974)

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)

Rock of the Westies (1975)

Blue Moves (1976)

A Single Man (1978)

Victim of Love (1979)

21 at 33 (1980)

The Fox (1981)

Jump Up! (1982)

Too Low for Zero (1983)

Breaking Hearts (1984)

Ice on Fire (1985)

Leather Jackets (1986)

Reg Strikes Back (1988)

Sleeping with the Past (1989)

The One (1992)

Duets (1993)

Made in England (1995)

The Big Picture (1997)

Songs from the West Coast (2001)

Peachtree Road (2004)

The Captain & the Kid (2006)

The Union (with Leon Russell) (2010)

TBA (2012)

;Soundtracks, scores & theatre albums

Friends (1971)

The Lion King (1994)

Aida (1998)

The Muse (1999)

The Road to El Dorado (soundtrack) (2000)

Billy Elliot (2005)

Lestat (2005)

Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

;Films

Elton John: Me, Myself & I (2007) autobiography as himself

The Country Bears, US (2002) as himself

Spice World, UK (1997) as himself

Tommy, UK (1975) as Pinball Wizard

Born to Boogie, US playing as himself with Marc Bolan and Ringo Starr

References

;Bibliography

Elton John: A Visual Documentary, Nigel Goodall, Omnibus Press, 1993 ISBN 0711930783

His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, Elizabeth Rosenthal, Billboard Books, 2001, ISBN 0823088928

External links

Elton John's official website

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