name	Misaki Ito
birth name	Tomoko Anzai
birth date	May 26, 1977
birth place	Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan
occupation	Actress, model
yearsactive	2000—present
spouse	Yoshinori Enomoto (2009—present)
website	http://www.ken-on.co.jp/itou/index.html }}

(born May 26, 1977) is a Japanese actress and model. Her real name is .

Career

In 1999, Ito became the Asahi Beer "image girl" and a model under an exclusive contract to CanCam magazine. She also appeared in Gateway computers and Choya Umeshu commercials.

In 2005, she appeared in the TV drama series Densha Otoko as the love interest of the otaku protagonist.

She also appears in ads for Shiseido's MAQuillAGE line of cosmetics (along with Chiaki Kuriyama, Ryoko Shinohara and Yuri Ebihara) and Seiko watches, in addition to being the current Vodafone model in Japan, following on from Yu Yamada. She also provided the look and voice for Q's assistant Miss Nagai in the game ''James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing''.

Misaki Ito also starred in the 2002 movie ''"Ju-on"'' (a.k.a. ''"The Grudge"'') which is a Japanese horror film that was remade in the U.S.A. in 2004 under the name "The Grudge", starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Personal life

She and , the director of pachinko company Kyoraku Sangyo, registered their marriage on November 18, 2009 and held their wedding ceremony in Hawaii on November 24, 2009. The couple first met in Hawaii at a wedding of a friend in November 2008. Ito gave birth to a daughter on June 27, 2010.

Filmography

Movies

''Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara'' (2007)

''Last Love'' (2007)

''Tsubakiyama: Kachou no Nanoka-kan'' (2006)

''About Love'' (2005)

(2005) (2004)

''9 Souls'' (2003)

(2003) (2002) (2002) (2002)

TV Dramas

''Ejison No Haha'' (2008)

''Yama Onna Kabe Onna (2007)

''Maison Ikkoku'' (2007)

''Densha Otoko DX~Saigo no Seizen'' (2006)

''Sapuri'' (2006)

''Kiken na Aneki'' (2005)

''Densha Otoko'' (2005)

''Tiger & Dragon'' (2005)

''HOTMAN 2'' (2004 TBS)

''Itoshi Kimie'' (2004)

''Kunimitsu no Matsuri'' (2003)

''Ryuuten no ouhi - Saigo no koutei'' (2003)

''Tokyo Love Cinema'' (2003)

''Yoomigaeri'' (2003)

''Blackjack ni Yoroshiku'' (2003)

''You're Under Arrest'' (2002)

''Lunch no Joou'' (2002)

''Gokusen'' (2002)

''Suiyoubi no Jouji'' (2001)

''Beauty 7'' (2001)

''Shin Omizu no Hanamichi'' (2001)

''Love Complex'' (2000)

Commercials

Shiseido (2005)

Hitachi

Vodafone

Choya

Nestle Japan

Mazda

Seiko

All Nippon Airways

Daiwa Securities

Video games

James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004)

Awards and nominations

Awards

Best Smile of the Year (2003)

15th Japan Jewelry Best Dresser Prize

29th Erandol Newcomer Prize

28th Japan Academy Award Newcomer Prize

34th Best Dresser Prize

43rd Golden Arrow Prize - Broadcasting and drama section

19th DVD Best Talent Prize

1st Japan Golden Raspberry Award

24th Diamond Personality Prize

References

External links

Official home page

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:People from Fukushima Prefecture Category:Japanese actors Category:Japanese female models

de:Misaki Itō es:Misaki Itō fr:Misaki Itō ko:이토 미사키 ms:Misaki Ito nl:Misaki Ito ja:伊東美咲 ru:Ито, Мисаки tl:Misaki Ito zh-yue:伊東美咲 zh:伊東美咲

Name	Brian May
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Brian Harold May
Born	July 19, 1947Hampton, London, England, UK
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, astrophysicist, author, contributor (''The Sky at Night'')
Instrument	Guitar, vocals, piano
Genre	Rock
Years active	1965–present
Associated acts	Smile, Queen, Phenomena, G3, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Kerry Ellis
Label	Hollywood, Parlophone
Website	brianmay.com
Notable instruments	}}

Brian Harold May, CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen. As a guitarist he uses his home-built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "We Will Rock You", and "Fat Bottomed Girls".

He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for "services to the music industry". May earned a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College in 2007 and is currently the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. May lives in Surrey.

In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at #39 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Early life

Brian May, the only child of Harold and Ruth May, was born in Hampton, London and attended Hampton Grammar School (now Hampton School). During this time he formed his first band with vocalist and bassist Tim Staffell, named Nineteen Eighty-Four after George Orwell's novel of the same name. He left Hampton Grammar School with ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three Advanced Levels in Physics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.

May's father Harold worked as a draughtsman at the Ministry of Aviation and had been a long-time cigarette-smoker. As a result, May dislikes smoking, even to the point where he has prohibited smoking indoors at his more recent concerts.

From 1974 to 1988, May was married to Chrissie Mullen, who is the mother of his three children: Jimmy, who was born on 15 June 1978; Louisa, who was born on 22 May 1981 and Emily Ruth, who was born on 17 February 1987. Chrissie and Brian separated in 1988.

He has stated in interviews that he suffered from depression in the late 1980s, even to the point of contemplating suicide, for reasons having to do with his troubled first marriage and his perceived failure as a husband and a dad, his father Harold's death, and Freddie Mercury's illness.

May is now married to former ''Eastenders'' actress Anita Dobson, whom he met in 1986, and who gained fame in the 1980s for providing vocals to the theme tune to the aforementioned soap, entitled "Anyone Can Fall in Love". May himself produced the song, which reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1986. According to ''The Sunday Times'' Rich List he is worth £85 million .

Career

Smile

Brian May formed the band Smile in 1968. The group included Tim Staffell as singer and bassist, and later, drummer Roger Taylor, who also went on to play for Queen. The band lasted for only two years from 1968 to 1970, as Staffel left in 1970, leaving the band with a catalogue of only nine songs. Smile would reunite for several songs on 22 December 1992. Taylor's band The Cross were headliners and he brought May and Staffell on to play "Earth" and "If I Were a Carpenter". May also performed several other songs that night.

Queen

In Queen's three-part vocal harmonies, May's was generally the lower-range backing vocal. On some of his songs he sings the lead vocal, most notably the first verse of "Who Wants to Live Forever", the bridge on "I Want It All" and "Flash's Theme", and full lead vocals on "Some Day One Day", "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)", "'39", "Good Company", "Long Away", "All Dead, All Dead", "Sleeping on the Sidewalk", "Leaving Home Ain't Easy" and "Sail Away Sweet Sister".

Throughout Queen's career May frequently wrote songs for the band and has composed many significant songs such as the worldwide hit "We Will Rock You", as well as "Tie Your Mother Down", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "I Want It All". Typically, either Freddie Mercury or May wrote the most songs on every Queen album.

After the famous Live Aid concert in summer 1985, Mercury rang his bandmates and proposed writing a song together. The result was "One Vision", which was basically May on music (the ''Magic Years'' documentary shows how he came up with the opening section and the basic guitar riff) and Roger Taylor on lyrics, with Freddie Mercury being more a producer and arranger than a proper co-writer, and John Deacon mostly absent.

For their 1989 release album, ''The Miracle'', the band had decided that all of the tracks would be credited to the entire band, no matter who had been the main writer. Still, interviews and musical analyses tend to help identify the input of each member on each track.

May composed "I Want It All" for that album, as well as "Scandal" (based on his personal problems with the British press). For the rest of the album he did not contribute so much creatively, although he helped in building the basis of "Party" and "Was It All Worth It" (both being predominantly Mercury's pieces) and created the guitar riff of "Chinese Torture".

Queen's subsequent album was ''Innuendo'', on which May's contributions increased, although more in arrangements than actual writing in most cases; for the title track he did some of the arrangement for the heavy solo, then he added vocal harmonies to "I'm Going Slightly Mad" and composed the solo of "These Are the Days of Our Lives", a song for which the four of them decided the keyboard parts together. He changed the tempo and key of Mercury's song "The Hitman" and took it under his wing, even singing guide vocal in the demo. May also co-wrote some of the guitar lines in "Bijou".

Two songs that May had composed for his first solo album, "Headlong" and "I Can't Live With You", eventually ended up in the Queen project. His other composition was "The Show Must Go On", a group effort in which he was the coordinator and primary composer, but in which they all had input, Deacon and Taylor with the famous chord sequence.

In recent years, he has overseen the remastering of Queen albums and various DVD and greatest hits releases. In 2004, he announced that he and drummer Roger Taylor were going on tour for the first time in 18 years as "Queen", along with Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers. Billed as "Queen + Paul Rodgers", the band has played throughout 2005 and 2006 in South Africa, Europe, Aruba, Japan, and North America and released a new album with Paul Rodgers in 2008, entitled ''The Cosmos Rocks''. This album was supported by a major tour.

Solo work and The Brian May Band

During 1983, several members of Queen explored side projects. On 21 and 22 April in Los Angeles, May recorded his first solo work, a mini-album entitled ''Star Fleet Project'', on which he collaborated with Eddie Van Halen.

Following the death of Freddie Mercury in November 1991, May chose to deal with his grief by committing himself as fully as possible to work, first by finishing his solo album, ''Back to the Light'', and then touring worldwide to promote it. He frequently remarked in press interviews that this was the only form of self-prescribed therapy he could think of.

In late 1992, the Brian May Band was officially formed. An early version of the band was loosely formed for 19 October 1991, when May took part in the ''Guitar Legends'' guitar festival in Seville, Spain. The line-up for his performance was May (Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar), Cozy Powell (Drums & Percussion), Mike Moran (Keyboards), Rick Wakeman (Keyboards), Maggie Ryder (Backing vocals), Miriam Stockley (Backing vocals) and Chris Thompson (Backing vocals).

The original line-up was Brian May (Lead Vocals and Lead Guitar), Cozy Powell (Drums and Percussion), Mike Caswell (Guitar), Neil Murray (Bass), Maggie Ryder (Backing vocals), Miriam Stockley (Backing vocals) and Chris Thompson (Backing vocals). This version of the band lasted only during the South American support tour (supporting The B-52's and Joe Cocker) on only five dates. In Spain, a Catalan band called Sweet Sister supported the tour.

Afterwards, May made significant changes, feeling the group never quite gelled. Most significantly, May brought guitarist Jamie Moses on board to replace Mike Caswell. May considered Moses a perfect fit to the band. The other change made was in the backing vocal department. Ryder, Stockley and Thompson were replaced with Catherine Porter and Shelley Preston. On 23 February 1993, this new line-up of The Brian May Band began its world tour in the US, both supporting Guns N' Roses and headlining a few dates. The tour would take them through North America, Europe (support act: Valentine) and Japan.

After the tour ended on 18 December 1993, May returned to the studio with fellow surviving Queen band members Roger Taylor and John Deacon to work on tracks that became ''Made in Heaven'', the final Queen studio album. The band took Mercury's solo album demos and last recordings, which he managed to perform in the studio after the album ''Innuendo'' was finished, and completed them with their additions both musically and vocally. Work on the album after Mercury's death originally began in 1992 by Deacon and May, but was left until a later date due to other commitments.

In 1995, May began working towards a new solo album of covers tentatively named ''Heroes'', in addition to working on various film and television projects and other collaborations. May subsequently changed the approach of his second album from covers to focus on those collaborations and on new material. The songs recorded for that album, ''Another World'', would feature mainly Spike Edney, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray and Jamie Moses, who had become his core support/collaborative team.

On 5 April 1998, Cozy Powell was killed in a car accident on the M4 motorway near Bristol, England. This caused a huge, unexpected disruption to the upcoming tour for The Brian May Band, with the need for a new drummer on short notice. Steve Ferrone was brought on to help May finish recording drums for the title track "Another World" and to join the band for the early stage promotional tour of five dates in Europe before the world tour.

The line up was then May (Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar), Edney (Keyboards), Murray (Bass), Moses (Guitar), Ferrone (Drums & Percussion), Susie Webb (Backing vocals) and Zoe Nicholas (Backing vocals). Following the early promo tour, Eric Singer replaced Steve Ferrone for the full 1998 world tour.

Later solo work

From his last solo release in 1998 May has been performing as a solo artist, as part of an ensemble, and infrequently as Queen with Roger Taylor. On 22 October 2000, Brian May made a guest appearance at the Motörhead 25th Anniversary show at Brixton Academy along with Eddie Clarke (former Motörhead guitarist) for the encore song "Overkill". In the Queen's birthday honours list of 2005, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for services to the music industry". May is a friend of singer and musician Phil Collins and was a special guest at the Genesis reunion concert at Twickenham Stadium in 2007. On 17 November 2007, Brian May was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, taking over from Cherie Blair, and installed in 2008. May worked extensively with stage actress and singer Kerry Ellis after he cast her in the musical ''We Will Rock You''. He produced and arranged her debut studio album ''Anthems'' (2010), a follow-up to her extended play ''Wicked in Rock'' (2008), as well as appeared with Ellis at many public performances – playing guitar alongside her. He also contributed a guitar solo to Meat Loaf's ''Hang Cool, Teddy Bear'' album in exchange for the use of drummer John Miceli. Along with Elena Vidal, Brian May released a historical book in 2009 entitled ''A Village Lost and Found: Scenes in Our Village''. The book is an annotated collection of stereoscopic photographs taken by the Victorian era photographer T. R. Williams and it is sold with a focussing stereoscope. May became an enthusiast of stereoscope photographs as a child, and first encountered the work of Williams during the late 1960s. In 2003 May announced a search in order to identify the actual location of the ''Scenes in Our Village'' images. In 2004 May reported that he had identified the location as the village of Hinton Waldrist in Oxfordshire.

In November 2009, May appeared on the popular reality TV show ''The X Factor'' with band mate Roger Taylor as Queen mentoring the contestants, then later performing "Bohemian Rhapsody". In April 2010, May founded the "Save Me" 2010 project to work against any proposed repeal of the fox-hunting ban. In February 2011 it was announced that May will tour with Kerry Ellis, playing 12 dates across the UK in May 2011. On 18 April 2011 Lady Gaga confirmed that May would play the guitar on her track "Yoü and I" from her latest album Born This Way, released on 23 May 2011. On 26 August, May performed "We Will Rock You" and "Welcome To The Black Parade" with American rock band My Chemical Romance at the Reading Festival.

Queen + Paul Rodgers

At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Company). Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be "featured with" Queen as Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.

Between 2005 and 2006 Queen and Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, the first leg being Europe and the second, Japan and the US in 2006. On 25 May 2006, Queen received the inaugural VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and May and Taylor were joined on stage with the Foo Fighters to perform a selection of Queen songs. On 15 August 2006, May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a "secret location". The album, titled ''The Cosmos Rocks'', was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. Following the album the band again embarked on a tour through Europe and parts of the US, opening on Kharkov's freedom square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. The show in Ukraine was later released on DVD.

Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up on 12 May 2009. Rodgers does not rule out the possibility of working together again.

Highlights

Brian May began composing in 1968/1969, and through the years he has collaborated with other songwriters, including Frank Musker, with whom he wrote "Too Much Love Will Kill You", and with Elizabeth Lamers, whose music won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically & Lyrically in 1996. A meticulous arranger, he focuses on multi-part harmonies, often more contrapuntal than parallel—a rarity for rock guitar. Examples are found in Queen's albums ''A Night at the Opera'' and ''A Day at the Races'', where he arranged a jazz band for guitar mini-orchestra ("Good Company"), a vocal canon ("The Prophet's Song") and guitar and vocal counterpoints ("Teo Torriatte").

May explored a wide variety of styles in guitar, including sweep picking ("Was It All Worth It", "Chinese Torture"), tremolo ("Brighton Rock", "Stone Cold Crazy", "Death on Two Legs", "Sweet Lady", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Get Down Make Love", "Dragon Attack"), tapping ("Bijou", "It's Late", "Resurrection", "Cyborg", "Rain Must Fall", "Business", "China Belle", "I Was Born To Love You"), slide guitar ("Drowse", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Radio Ga Ga"), Hendrix sounding licks ("Liar", "Brighton Rock"), tape-delay ("Brighton Rock", "White Man") and melodic parts ("Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "These Are the Days of Our Lives"). Some of his solos and orchestral parts were composed by Freddie Mercury, who then asked May to bring them to life ("Bicycle Race", "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon", "Killer Queen", "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy"). May also performed notable acoustic works, including the acoustic guitar live version of "Love of My Life" from 1975's ''A Night at the Opera'', the finger-picked solo of "White Queen" and the skiffle-influenced "'39".

In January 2007, the readers of ''Guitar World'' voted May's guitar solos "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Brighton Rock" into the top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time ("Bohemian Rhapsody" was voted #20 and "Brighton Rock" was voted #41).

Aided by the uniqueness of his guitar—the Red Special—May was often able to create strange and unusual sound effects. For example, he was able to imitate an orchestra in the song "Procession"; in "Get Down, Make Love" he was able to create sound effects with his guitar that were so unusual that many thought a synthesiser was being used; in "Good Company" he used his guitar to mimic a trombone, a piccolo and several other instruments for the song's Dixieland jazz band feel. Queen used a "No synthesizers were used on this album" sleeve note on their early albums to make this clear to the listeners.

Other instruments

The first instrument Brian May learned to play was the banjolele, which he then played on Queen's song "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" (live and in the studio). For "Good Company", he used a regular baritone ukelele which he had bought in Hawaii on a holiday. Occasionally, May would also record on other string instruments such as harp (one chord per take, then copied and pasted by the engineer to make it sound like a continuous performance) and bass (on some demos and many songs in his solo career, and the Queen + Paul Rodgers album).

As a child, he was also trained on classical piano. Although Freddie Mercury was the band's main pianist, Brian would occasionally step in (once per album, on average). From 1979 onwards, he also played synthesisers, organ ("Wedding March") and programmed drum-machines for both Queen and outside projects (such as producing other artists and his own solo records).

May is also an accomplished singer. From Queen's ''Queen II'' to ''The Game'', May contributed lead vocals to at least one song per album.

May co-composed a mini-opera with Lee Holdridge, ''Il Colosso'', for Steve Barron's 1996 film, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio''. May performed the opera with Jerry Hadley, Sissel Kyrkjebo, and Just William. On-screen, it was performed entirely by puppets.

Musician

Brian May has been referred to as a virtuoso guitarist by many publications and musicians. Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar stated, "I thought Queen were really innovative and made some great sounding records.. I like the rockin' stuff. I think Brian May has one of the great guitar tones on the planet, and I really, really love his guitar work." May has used a range of guitars, most often the "Red Special", which he designed when he was only 16 years old. It was built with wood from an 18th century fireplace. His comments on this instrument, from ''Queen In Their Own Words'' (ed. Mick St. Michael, Omnibus Press, 1992, p. 62) are:

In addition to using his home-made guitar he prefers to use coins (especially a sixpence from the farewell proof set of 1970), instead of a more traditional plastic plectrum, on the basis that their rigidity gives him more control in playing. He is known to carry coins in his pockets specifically for this purpose.

May's early heroes were Cliff Richard and The Shadows, who he says were "the most metallic thing out at the time." Many years later he gained his opportunity to play on separate occasions with both Cliff Richard and Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin. He has collaborated with Cliff Richard on a re-recording of the Cliff Richard and The Shadows (then known as The Drifters) 1958 hit "Move It" on the Cliff Richard duets album ''Two's Company'' which was released on 6 November 2006. On Queen For An Hour 1989 Interview on BBC Radio 1 May listed Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton as his guitar heroes. In a 1991 interview for ''Guitar World magazine'', May referred to The Who as "my inspiration", and on seeing Led Zeppelin stated, "We used to look at those guys and think, "That's the way it should be done."

During the time in which Brian May and his father were building the Red Special, May also produced plans to build a second guitar. However, so successful was the Red Special, that May simply had no need to build another guitar. These plans were eventually given to guitar luthier Andrew Guyton in around 2004/05, some slight modifications were made and the guitar was built. It was named "The Spade", as the shape of the body resembled the form shown on playing cards. However the guitar also came to be known as "The Guitar That Time Forgot". As yet, this guitar has not been used in any recordings and remains in May's possession.

Equipment

Most of May's electric guitar work live and in the studio was done on the Red Special, which he built with his father during his teenage years. From 1975 onwards, he's also had some replicas made, some of which were also used for live and recording purposes, others were mainly spares. The most famous replicas were made by John Birch (in 1975—May actually smashed it during a concert in the States in 1982), Greco BM90 (featured in the promo video of "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" in 1977), Guild (back-up from 1984 to 1993) and Fryers (1997–1998, used both live and in the studio). On stage, Brian used to carry at least one back-up guitar (in case he broke a string) and occasionally would use others for certain songs or parts. Currently, May has his own company which makes guitars whose design is modelled after the original Red Special guitar.

July 1973 – May 1974: Fender Stratocaster Pre-CBS

October 1974 – May 1975: Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, and the Stratocaster from the previous tour.

November 1975 – May 1976: Same two guitars as before, plus a natural finish John Birch replica of the Red Special.

September 1976: Same three as before, plus a Martin D-18 acoustic for "'39".

January 1977 – August 1979: Just the Birch replica plus an Ovation Pacemaker 12-string acoustic on some numbers ("'39", "Love of My Life", "Dreamer's Ball").

November 1979 – June 1982: Birch replica (back-up), Fender Telecaster ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love" 2nd verse, middle-eight and solo), Ovation (acoustic numbers).

July – November 1982: Added a Gibson Flying V as second back-up. On 9 August 1982 Brian smashed the Birch guitar, so the Flying V became the only spare.

August to October 1984: The Flying V became a second back-up again as his main spare was the Guild replica. He also used Roger Taylor's Gibson Chet-Atkins Classical Electric.

July 1985 – August 1986: Gibson Flying V no longer used. The rest remained the same.

Some of the non-RS electric guitars he used in the studio included:

Burns Double Six on "Long Away" (1976) and "Under Pressure" (1981).

Fender Broadcaster on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1979). It was used for the video (but not the recordings) of "Back Chat" (1982).

Gibson Firebird on "Hammer to Fall" and "Tear It Up" (album versions only, not on stage).

Ibanez JS on "Nothing But Blue" (1991).

Parker Fly on "Mother Love" (1993–1995).

For acoustic, he favoured Ovation, Martin, Tōkai Hummingbird, Godin and Guild. On a couple of videos he also used some different electric guitars: a Stratocaster copy on "Play the Game" (1980) and a Washburn RR2V on "Princes of the Universe" (1986).

In 1984 Guild released the first official Red Special replica for mass production, and made some prototypes specifically for May. However the solid body construction (the original RS has hollow cavities in the body) and the pick-ups (DiMarzio) that were not an exact replica of the Burns TriSonic did not make May happy, so the production stopped after just 300 guitars. In 1993 Guild made a second replica of the RS, made in just 1000 copies, of which May has some and used as a backup. At the moment, he uses the two guitars made by Greg Fryer—the luthier who restored the Old Lady in 1998—as backup. They are almost identical to the original, except for the Fryer logo on the headstock (May's original one has a sixpence).

In the studio, May used Yamaha DX7 synths for the opening sequence of "One Vision" and the backgrounds of "Who Wants to Live Forever" (also on stage), "Scandal" and "The Show Must Go On". He mostly used Freddie Mercury's 1972 Steinway piano and reportedly now owns the instrument in question.

May was keen on using some toys as instruments as well. He used a Yamaha plastic piano in "Teo Torriatte", a "genuine George Formby Ukulele-Banjo" in "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" and in "Good Company", and a toy mini koto in "The Prophet's Song".

May has used Vox AC30 amplifiers almost exclusively since a meeting with his long time hero Rory Gallagher at a gig in London during the late '60s/early '70s. His choice is the model AC30TBX, the top-boost version with Blue Alnico speakers, and he runs the amp at full volume on the Normal channel. He also customises his amps by removing the circuitry for the Brilliant and Vib-trem channels (leaving only the circuitry for the Normal), and this alters the tone slightly, with a gain addition of 6–7 dB. He always used a treble booster built by Queen's former bass guitarist (John Deacon) which, along with the AC30, went a long way in helping to create many of his signature guitar tones. He used the Dallas Rangemaster for the first Queen albums, up to A Day at the Races. Effects guru Pete Cornish built for him the TB-83 (32 dB of gain) that was used for all the remaining Queen albums. He switched in 2000 to the Fryer's booster, which actually gives less boost than the TB-83.

Live, he uses banks of Vox AC30 amplifiers keeping some amps with only guitar and others with all effects such as delay, flanger and chorus. He has a rack of 14 AC30s, which are grouped as Normal, Chorus, Delay 1, Delay 2. On his pedal board, May has a custom switch unit made by Cornish and subsequently modified by Fryer that allows him to choose which amps are active. He uses a BOSS pedal from the '70s, the Chorus Ensemble CE-1, which can be heard in In The Lap of The Gods (Live at Wembley '86) or Hammer to Fall (slow version played live with P. Rodgers). Next in the chain, he uses a Foxx Foot Phaser (We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Keep Yourself Alive, etc.), and two delay machines to play his trademark solo in Brighton Rock.

May's lead vocals in Queen

"Keep Yourself Alive" – Vocal bridge with Taylor, rest sung by Mercury (1973)

"Some Day, One Day" (1974)

"She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)" (1974)

"'39" (1975)

"Good Company" (1975)

"Long Away" (1976)

"All Dead, All Dead" (1977)

"Sleeping on the Sidewalk" (1977)

"Fat Bottomed Girls" – Chorus lead vocals (1978)

"Leaving Home Ain't Easy" (1978)

"Sail Away Sweet Sister" – Mercury sings the bridge (1980)

"Flash" – with Freddie Mercury (1980)

''Put Out the Fire" - lead on falsetto lines.

"Las Palabras de Amor" – Lead harmony vocals on chorus (1982)

"I Go Crazy" – Lead Bridge Vocals (1984)

"Who Wants to Live Forever" – Intro verse, harmony and other lines throughout (1986)

"I Want It All" – with Mercury (1989)

"Lost Opportunity" (1991)

"Mother Love" – Lead vocals on final verse (1995)

"Let Me Live" – Lead vocals on third verse (1995)

"No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" – with Taylor (1997)

Astrophysics

May studied physics and mathematics at Imperial College London, graduating with a BSc (Hons) degree and ARCS in physics with Upper Second-Class Honours. He then proceeded to study for a PhD degree, also at the Imperial College London departments of Physics and Mathematics, and was part way through this PhD programme, studying reflected light from interplanetary dust and the velocity of dust in the plane of the Solar System. When Queen became successful he abandoned his physics doctorate but did co-author two scientific research papers: ''MgI Emission in the Night-Sky Spectrum'' (1972) and ''An Investigation of the Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles (Part I)'' (1973), which were based on his observations at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife. He is the co-author of ''Bang! – The Complete History of the Universe'' with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott, which was published in October 2006. In October 2007, more than 30 years after he started his research, he completed his PhD thesis in astrophysics, entitled ''A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud'', passed his ''viva voce'', and performed the required corrections. He officially graduated at the postgraduate awards ceremony held in the Royal Albert Hall, on the afternoon of Wednesday 14 May 2008.

On 17 November 2007, May was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, taking over from Cherie Blair, and installed in 2008.

Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named in his honour on 18 June 2008 on the suggestion of Sir Patrick Moore (probably influenced by the asteroid's provisional designation of ).

May appeared on the 700th episode of The Sky at Night hosted by Patrick Moore, along with Dr. Chris Lintott, Jon Culshaw, Prof. Brian Cox and the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees who on leaving the panel told Brian May, who was joining it, "I don't know any scientist who looks as much as like Isaac Newton as you do". May replied that "that could be my after dinner comment, thank you very much".

Activist

Brian May has formed a group to promote decent treatment for animals. Though a Conservative Party voter most of his life, he has stated that their policy on fox hunting and the culling of badgers turned him off voting for them. His group, Save Me, is a campaign group for the protection of all animals against unnecessary, cruel and degrading treatment; with a particular emphasis on preventing hunting of foxes and the culling of badgers.

The group's primary concern is to ensure that the Hunting Act 2004 and other laws protecting animals are kept in place.

In a September 2010 interview with Stephen Sackur for the BBC’s HARDtalk program, May said that he would rather be remembered for his animal rights work, than for his music or science.

Stereophotography

May has had a lifelong interest in collecting Victorian stereophotography. In 2009, with co-author Elena Vidal, he published his second book, ''A Village Lost and Found,'' on the work of English stereophotography innovator TR Williams.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

! Year	! Title	! UK	! US
1983	''Star Fleet Project''	35	125
1992	''Back to the Light''	6	159
1998		23	–
2000		–	–

Live albums

! Year	! Title	! UK	! US
1993		20	–

Bibliography

References

External links

Brian May's official homepage

Brian May World

Brian Interviews

Queenpedia – Brian May Complete Song List

Scientific paper with Brian May as co-author

Brian May's astronomy book

Five interview clips with Brian May

Brian May's Ph.D thesis

Brian May interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, 3 August 2010

''Brian May: the interview'', by Rachel Cooke, The Observer, Sunday 5 September 2010

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English male singers Category:English rock guitarists Category:English heavy metal guitarists Category:English tenors Category:English pianists Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:Old Hamptonians Category:Musicians from London Category:Queen (band) members Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Alumni of Imperial College London Category:People associated with Imperial College London Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:People from Hampton, London Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:English vegetarians Category:English astronomers Category:English agnostics Category:People associated with Liverpool John Moores University Category:Lead guitarists Category:Backing vocalists

az:Brayan Mey bs:Brian May bg:Брайън Мей ca:Brian May cs:Brian May da:Brian May de:Brian May et:Brian May el:Μπράιαν Μέι es:Brian May eo:Brian May fa:برایان می fr:Brian May ko:브라이언 메이 hr:Brian May id:Brian May is:Brian May it:Brian May he:בריאן מיי ka:ბრაიან მეი sw:Brian May ht:Brian May la:Brianus May lv:Braiens Mejs lt:Brian Harold May hu:Brian May nl:Brian May ja:ブライアン・メイ no:Brian May pms:Brian May pl:Brian May pt:Brian May ro:Brian May ru:Мэй, Брайан simple:Brian May sk:Brian May sl:Brian May sr:Брајан Меј fi:Brian May sv:Brian May tr:Brian May uk:Браян Мей vi:Brian May zh:布赖恩·梅

Name	Fiona Apple
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart
Born	September 13, 1977Manhattan, New York, United States
Genre	Baroque popAlternative rockExperimental rock Jazz Fusion
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument	Piano, optigan, vocals
Years active	1996–present
Label	Epic
Website	Fiona-Apple.com }}

Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released her debut album, ''Tidal'' in 1996 to commercial success. This was followed by critically acclaimed, but less commercially successful albums, ''When the Pawn...'' (1999) and ''Extraordinary Machine'' (2005). A perceived shelving of her third studio album was met with vocal protests from her fans, who campaigned against her record label in 2005. While her musical output has been praised and given her a "cult" following, she has also been noted for her erratic behavior early in her career. She received a Grammy Award for her single "Criminal" in 1998.

Early life and family

Born in New York City, Apple is the daughter of singer Diane McAfee and actor Brandon Maggart. Her older sister, Amber, sings cabaret under the stage name Maude Maggart. Her half brother Spencer is a director and directed the video for her single "Parting Gift". Her half brother Garett Maggart starred in the TV series ''The Sentinel''. In addition, her maternal grandparents were Millicent Green, a dancer with the George White's Scandals, a series of 1920s musical revues similar to the Ziegfeld Follies, and Johnny McAfee, a multireedist and vocalist of the big band era; her grandparents met while touring with Johnny Hamp and his orchestra. Apple was raped at the age of 12, a trauma she would later allude to in songs such as "Sullen Girl".

Apple was introduced to the music industry in 1994 when she gave a demo tape containing the songs "Never Is a Promise", "Not One of Those Times", and "He Takes A Taxi" to her friend who was the babysitter of music publicist Kathryn Schenker. Schenker then passed the tape along to Sony Music executive Andy Slater. Apple's contralto voice, piano skills and lyrics captured his attention, and Slater signed her to a record deal.

Career

1996–1998: ''Tidal''

In 1996, Apple's debut album, ''Tidal'', was released by Work. The album sold 2.7 million copies and was certified three times platinum in the U.S. "Criminal", the third single, became a hit and the song reached the top forty on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song's controversial Mark Romanek-directed music video — in which a scantily-clad Apple appeared in a '70s-era tract house — played on MTV. Apple later said: "I decided if I was going to be exploited, then I would do the exploiting myself." Other singles from ''Tidal'' included "Shadowboxer," "Sleep to Dream," and "Never Is a Promise." In 1997, while accepting MTV Video Music Award for "Best New Artist" for her song ''Sleep to Dream'', Apple said: 'This world is bullshit, and you shouldn't model your life on what we think is cool, and what we're wearing and what we're saying'. ''The New Yorker'' and NYRock characterized her MTV Award show speech as ungrateful and "ridiculous". Apple was unapologetic saying: "I just had something on my mind and I just said it. And that's really the foreshadowing of my entire career and my entire life. When I have something to say, I'll say it." Apple responded to these criticisms in an article in ''Rolling Stone'' in January 1998.

During this period, Apple also made recordings of The Beatles' "Across the Universe" and Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love" for the soundtrack of the film ''Pleasantville''. She later canceled the last twenty-one dates on a tour in support of her album due to "personal family problems".

1999–2003: When the Pawn

Apple's second album, ''When the Pawn...'', was released in 1999. Its full title is a poem Apple wrote after reading letters that appeared in ''Spin'' regarding an article that had cast her in a negative light in an earlier issue. The title's length earned it a spot in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' for 2001. However, as of October 2007, it is no longer the longest album title, as Soulwax released ''Most of the Remixes'', a remix album whose title surpasses ''When the Pawn...''s length by 100 characters. ''When the Pawn'' was cultivated during Apple's relationship with film director Paul Thomas Anderson. ''When the Pawn...'', which was produced by Jon Brion, used more expressive lyrics, experimented more with drum loops, and incorporated both the Chamberlin and drummer Matt Chamberlain. The album received a positive reception from publications such as ''The New York Times'' and ''Rolling Stone''. It did not fare as well commercially as her debut, though it was an RIAA-certified platinum album and sold 1 million copies in the U.S. The album's lead single, "Fast as You Can", reached the top 20 on ''Billboard'''s Modern Rock Tracks chart and became Apple's first Top 40 hit in the UK. The videos for two follow-up singles, "Paper Bag" and "Limp" (directed by then-boyfriend Anderson), received very little play.

After performing for 40 minutes in a set hampered by equipment issues to 3,000 fans at the New York City Roseland Ballroom, a frustrated Apple left the stage without returning. Her performance saw Apple appearing distraught at the sound quality, apologizing numerous times for the sound and crying. The incident was described by AOL as "music's most infamous on-stage meltdown". After completing a concert tour in support of her second album in 2000, Apple relocated to Los Angeles. During her hiatus, Apple contemplated retiring from her recording career. In spring 2002 Apple and Jon Brion, her longtime friend and producer on ''When the Pawn'', met for their weekly lunch meeting. Brion reportedly "begged" Apple to make another album. Apple agreed, and Brion went to Apple's label, Epic Records, with strict stipulations (including no deadline), which the label eventually agreed to. A tentative November 2002 release date was then set.

Apple sang with Johnny Cash on a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water" that ended up on his album ''American IV: The Man Comes Around'' and was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals". She also collaborated with Cash on Cat Stevens's "Father and Son", which was included in his 2003 collection ''Unearthed''.

2005–2007: Extraordinary Machine

Apple's third album, ''Extraordinary Machine'', was originally produced by Jon Brion. Recording sessions began in 2002 at Ocean Way studios in Nashville, Tennessee, but later moved to the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles. Work on the album continued until 2003, and in May of that year it was submitted to Sony executives. In 2004 and 2005, tracks were leaked on the Internet in MP3 format and played on U.S. and international radio. Subsequently, MP3s of the entire album went online. Although a website distributing the album was quickly taken offline, it soon reached P2P networks and was downloaded by fans. A fan-led campaign supported the album's official release. Mike Elizondo, who had previously played bass on ''Pawn'', was brought back as co-producer to complete the tracks he had begun with Brion and Apple. ''Spin'' later reported the following: "Fans erroneously thought that Apple's record label, Epic, had rejected the first version of ''Extraordinary Machine''... in reality, according to Elizondo, Apple was unhappy with the results, and it was her decision to redo the record, not her label's." In August 2005, the album was given an October release date. Production had been largely redone "from scratch" by Elizondo and was co-produced by Brian Kehew. Two of the eleven previous leaked tracks were relatively unchanged, and one new song was also included.

Despite suggestions that the album had caused a rift between Brion and Apple, they regularly perform together at Largo, a club in Los Angeles, including a joint appearance with Elizondo on bass just before the news broke of an official release. ''Extraordinary Machine'' debuted at number seven and was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Pop Vocal Album". It was eventually certified gold and sold 462,000 copies in the U.S., though its singles ("Parting Gift", "O' Sailor", "Not About Love" and "Get Him Back") failed to enter any ''Billboard'' charts. Apple went on a live tour to promote the album in late 2005.

In June 2006, Apple appeared on the joke track "Come Over and Get It (Up in 'Dem Guts)" by comedian Zach Galifianakis. Galifianakis previously appeared in the music video for Apple's "Not About Love". Apple recorded a cover of "Sally's Song" for the 2006 special edition release of the soundtrack for the Tim Burton film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''. In May 2006 Apple paid tribute to Elvis Costello on VH1's concert series ''Decades Rock Live'' by performing Costello's hit "I Want You"; her version was subsequently released as a digital single. Apple toured the East Coast during August 2007 with Nickel Creek.

2008-present

In 2008, Apple recorded a duet titled "Still I" with Christophe Deluy. In 2009, Apple covered "Why Try to Change Me Now" and "I Walk A Little Faster" for ''The Best Is Yet to Come - The Songs of Cy Coleman''. In January 2010 Fiona Apple and Jon Brion performed together at "Love and Haiti, Too: A Music Benefit", a charity concert for the people hurt by the Haiti earthquake. Fiona sang a cover of "(S)he's Funny That Way", composed by Neil Moret, lyrics by Richard Whiting, which is often associated with the singer Billie Holiday. In June 2010, Fiona released a song titled "So Sleepy" produced by Jon Brion written by children involved with the non-profit organization 826LA. The song will be included on a compilation album released by the organization titled ''Chickens in Love''. Apple collaborated with Margaret Cho on her album ''Cho Dependent'', which was released on August 24, 2010.

In late 2010, ''Billboard'' magazine reported that Apple would be releasing a new album in the spring of the next year, with a few people claiming to have heard the new material.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions								! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"
		1996	style="text-align:left;"			* First studio album	* Release date: July 23, 1996	* Label: Clean Slate/[[Epic Records">Music recording sales certifications
! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"	! style="width:30px;"
1996	style="text-align:left;"			* First studio album	* Release date: July 23, 1996	* Label: Clean Slate/[[Epic Records	15	1	—	43	22	48	21		RIAA>US: 3× Multi-Platinum	CRIA>CAN: Platinum
1999				* Second studio album	* Release date: November 9, 1999	* Label: Clean Slate/Epic Records	13	—	46	54	—	—	32		* US: Platinum
2005				* Third studio album	* Release date: October 4, 2005	* Label: Epic Records	7	—	—	53	—	—	61		* US: Gold

Extended plays

! Year	! EP details
2006	''iTunes Originals – Fiona Apple''			* First extended play	* Release date: February 14, 2006	* Label: iTunes

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		style="text-align:left;"	21	4	17	—
	—	—	—	—
		—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—	style="text-align:left;"
1999		—	20	29	33
		—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—
2005		—	—	—	—
		—	—	—	—
	—	—	—	—
2007		—	—	—	—

Other contributions

"Across the Universe" (Lennon/McCartney) - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture ''Pleasantville'' (1998, Sony), lead vocalist

"Please Send Me Someone to Love" (Percy Mayfield) - Soundtrack to the Motion Picture ''Pleasantville'' (1998, Sony), lead vocalist

''Magnolia'' (1999, New Line Cinema) - "additional instruments and odd pieces of musical business by jon brion and fiona apple" as stated in the film's credits

"Bridge over Troubled Water" (Paul Simon) - duet with Johnny Cash from ''American IV: The Man Comes Around'' (2002)

"Father and Son" (Cat Stevens) - duet with Johnny Cash from ''Unearthed'' (2003)

"Frosty the Snowman" - from ''Christmas Calling'' (2003)

"It's Only A Paper Moon" with Maude Maggart - available as a bonus track on some editions of Maggart's 2005 album "With Sweet Despair"

"I Want You" (Elvis Costello) - live version from VH1's Live for Decades Rock Live!, released as an iTunes single (2006)

"Sally's Song" (Catherine O'Hara) - from ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'' Special Edition Soundtrack (2006)

"Why Try to Change Me Now" (Cy Coleman) - recorded for the "Then Was Then and Now Is Now: A Tribute to Cy Coleman" CD/LP

"Angel Eyes" - a snippet of the song is available at Largo Film

"Still I" - a duet with Christophe Deluy, hear a snippet of the song available on Christophe Deluy's blog

"I Walk a Little Faster" (Cy Coleman) - recorded for "The Best Is Yet to Come" CD/LP

"Loveless" (David Garza) - track available from Garza's "Dream Delay"

"So Sleepy" included on a compilation album released by the organization 826LA, titled ''Chickens in Love''.

"Hey Big Dog" (Margaret Cho) from ''Cho Dependent'' (2010)

"Everyday" (Buddy Holly) with Jon Brion from ''Rave On Buddy Holly'' (June 2011)

Music videos

Year	!Song	Director	!Album
			style="text-align:left;"

Awards and nominations

References

Inline

External links

Fiona Apple at Sony Music

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:American contraltos Category:American female singers Category:American female pop singers Category:American jazz pianists Category:American jazz singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American rock pianists Category:American rock singers Category:American vegans Category:American singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Female rock singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Manhattan Category:Musicians from New York Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:Women in jazz

ca:Fiona Apple cs:Fiona Apple de:Fiona Apple es:Fiona Apple fa:فیونا اپل fr:Fiona Apple ko:피오나 애플 it:Fiona Apple he:פיונה אפל hu:Fiona Apple nl:Fiona Apple ja:フィオナ・アップル no:Fiona Apple pl:Fiona Apple pt:Fiona Apple ro:Fiona Apple ru:Эппл, Фиона simple:Fiona Apple sk:Fiona Apple fi:Fiona Apple sv:Fiona Apple tr:Fiona Apple vi:Fiona Apple

name	Ashlee Simpson
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ashlee Nicole Simpson
alias	Ashlee Simpson-Wentz
born	October 03, 1984Waco, Texas, United States
origin	Richardson, Texas, United States
genre	Pop, pop rock
occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress
years active	2001–present
label	Geffen
website	www.ashleesimpsonmusic.com }}

Ashlee Nicole Simpson (born October 3, 1984) is an American singer and actress. She rose to prominence in mid-2004 due to the success of her number-one debut album ''Autobiography'' and the reality series, ''The Ashlee Simpson Show''.

In October 2005, following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released her second number-one album, ''I Am Me''. Her third album, ''Bittersweet World'', was released almost three years later in April 2008. The following month, she married musician Pete Wentz and announced that they were expecting a child. On November 20, 2008, Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Simpson filed for divorce on February 8, 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences."

Life and career

1984–2002: Early life and career beginnings

Simpson was born in Waco, Texas and raised in Richardson, Texas. She is the daughter of Tina Ann (née Drew), a homemaker, and Joe Truett Simpson, a former Baptist youth minister who is now her manager. She attended Prairie Creek Elementary. She has an older sister, Jessica, who is also a singer. Simpson began studying classical ballet when she was three years old, eventually becoming an accomplished dancer. She was admitted to the School of American Ballet in New York City at the age of 11, a year in advance. During that time, Simpson suffered from an eating disorder; the condition lasted for about six months before her parents stepped in and got her the help she needed to overcome the issue. When Jessica landed a record deal, Tina and Joe Simpson made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles, California, where Ashlee began appearing in television commercials.

Following the success of Jessica's first album, Ashlee became one of her backup dancers. She later began appearing in films and television series, including a 2001 episode of the sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'', a minor role in the 2002 film ''The Hot Chick'', and a recurring role on the family drama series ''7th Heaven''. Simpson recorded a song entitled "Christmas Past, Present and Future" in 2002 for the holiday album ''School's Out! Christmas'', which was later re-released on ''Radio Disney Jingle Jams'' in 2004 and 2005. In the summer of 2003, she released a song called "Just Let Me Cry" for the soundtrack to the film ''Freaky Friday''. She occasionally appeared on ''Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica'', a reality show documenting the married life of her sister, Jessica, and her then-husband, Nick Lachey.

2003–04: ''Autobiography'' and ''Saturday Night Live'' incident

After her appearances on the ''School's Out! Christmas'' and ''Freaky Friday'' albums, Simpson signed a record deal with Geffen Records. As an accompaniment to her debut album and in order to create interest in the beginning of her own music career, she filmed and appeared on her own reality television series, ''The Ashlee Simpson Show'', which aired in the time slot following ''Newlyweds''. It ran in the United States for eight weekly episodes over the summer of 2004 (a second season of 10 episodes aired from January to March 2005). The show dealt with the processes of writing, recording and performing Simpson's music, as well as aspects of her personal life.

Her first album, ''Autobiography'', debuted at number one in the United States in July 2004, with first-week sales of around 398,000 copies. The album was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA in September 2004. Simpson co-wrote all of the album's tracks, describing it as "very true to my emotions", however, critical reviews were mixed. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's Peter Relic characterised the album as a "mundane melange of Avril-ish brat pop and Sheryl Crow cod rock." The single which preceded the album, "Pieces of Me", was one of the biggest hits of the summer in the United States and was certified gold by the RIAA. The follow-up singles, "Shadow" and "La La", were less successful, although the latter became an RIAA-certified gold seller. At the ''Teen Choice Awards'' on August 8, 2004, Simpson received the "Song of the Summer" Teen Choice Award for "Pieces of Me", as well as the "Fresh Face" Award. She also won the Billboard Award for New Female Artist of the Year in December, and in the same month, ''Entertainment Weekly'' named her one of its Breakout Stars of 2004.

Simpson appeared as a musical guest on episode 568 of ''Saturday Night Live'', and was scheduled to perform two songs. Her first song, "Pieces of Me", was performed without problems. However, when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the vocals for the song "Pieces of Me" were heard again before Simpson had the microphone to her mouth. She began to do an impromptu jig when she realized the embarrassing error, and then left the stage. During the closing of the show, Simpson appeared with the guest host, Jude Law, and said, "I'm so sorry. My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown." On October 25, Simpson called in to the music video show ''Total Request Live'' and explained that due to complications arising from severe acid reflux disease, she had completely lost her voice and been advised not to sing by her doctor. She said that because of the acid reflux, her father wanted her to use a vocal guide track for the performance. During the performance her drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played. Simpson said of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself."

2005–06: Touring and ''I Am Me''

On January 4, 2005, Simpson performed "La La" at the halftime show for the 2005 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. After her performance, many of the 72,000-plus spectators booed. Some viewers noted that Kelly Clarkson had performed in the show earlier to a much more positive reaction, and asserted that Simpson's performance was poor and very off-key. After the Orange Bowl performance, an internet petition was created at PetitionOnline.com, which requested that Simpson stop producing music. It soon became one of the most active of the site's petitions. In regards to the negativity towards her, Simpson said, "That's cool. You don't always have to be a fan of everybody's music", adding that she receives a great amount of support from her fans. Around the time of the petition, ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine chose Simpson to be on the cover of the February 2005 issue, naming her the "Fun Fearless Female of the Year". Simpson's first North American tour ran from mid-February to late April 2005. The tour was described as "stripped down" without pyrotechnics. As well as material from ''Autobiography'', Simpson performed her own unreleased song "Hollywood", The Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket", Blondie's "Call Me" and Madonna's "Burning Up". She had a supporting role as an aspiring actress named Clea in ''Undiscovered'', an independent film which was released in theaters in August 2005. While her performance was met with indifference, the film itself was panned by critics and failed to reach the top 10 in its opening weekend, earning just $676,048 during its theatrical run. Her performance in the film earned her a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

Simpson's second album, ''I Am Me'', was released on October 18, 2005. She wanted to incorporate the feel of music from the 1980s on the album, and unlike with her debut, she wanted to focus less on relationships and more on herself. The album debuted at number-one, selling around 220,000 copies in its first week, but sales fell quickly, and by April 2006, it had sold less than 900,000 copies in the United States and 3 million copies worldwide. Its lead single, "Boyfriend", became a top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 while the next two singles, "L.O.V.E." and "Invisible", reached the top 40. Simpson began a concert tour in late September in Portland, Oregon and appeared on the October 8, 2005 episode of ''SNL'' to promote the album. The first song she performed on the show was "Catch Me When I Fall", a ballad written about her previous ''SNL'' experience, and she thanked the crowd after her second performance. In mid-December, Simpson collapsed after performing in Japan, and was briefly hospitalized, consequently cancelling an appearance at the Radio Music Awards. The collapse and her subsequent hospitalization were attributed to exhaustion as a result of her busy work schedule. In March 2006, Simpson won an MTV celebrity surfing invitational competition, which also featured celebrities such as Meagan Good, Jack Osbourne, Ashley Parker Angel and Tony Hawk. On April 12, 2006, she hosted and performed at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, where she won "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Video" for the single "Boyfriend". She began a summer tour on June 5, 2006, with Ashley Parker Angel as the opening act. Simpson said that after the completion of the tour, she would look at film scripts and continue her acting career.

Simpson had a nose job in April 2006. In the May 2007 issue of ''Harper's Bazaar'', she said that she was not insecure about her appearance and had not been beforehand. She said that plastic surgery was a "personal choice" that one should only decide to do for oneself and not for others. In a September 2007 interview, her father, Joe Simpson said of the surgery: "There was a real problem with her breathing and that was cured". In mid-2006, Simpson gave an interview to ''Marie Claire'' magazine, in which she was said to have "had it with Hollywood's twisted view of feminine beauty" and was photographed painting a pro-female mural with a group of underprivileged girls from Los Angeles' Green Dot Public School. By the time the magazine hit newsstands, Simpson had already had her nose job, and some ''Marie Claire'' readers complained that this was hypocritical. The magazine received over 1,000 letters of complaint and the magazine's new editor expanded the letters section of the September issue of the magazine to give readers a chance to vent their frustrations. She played the role of Roxie Hart in the West End production of ''Chicago'' to rave reviews, from September 25 to October 28, 2006. Her performance in the show was described as "dazzling and near flawless."

2007–10: ''Bittersweet World'', marriage, motherhood and ''Melrose Place''

During 2007, Simpson worked on her third studio album, ''Bittersweet World'' with producers Timbaland, Kenna, and Chad Hugo. She described the album as being influenced by 1980s music—bearing similarities with ''I Am Me''—while still incorporating elements of rock and pop and described her intention to go on tour to support the album. Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair said in December 2006 that working on Simpson's next album would be "very tricky" because of press scrutiny and "prejudices", but that Geffen would work with her to overcome that, "because she deserves to be heard and she deserves a shot." ''Bittersweet World'' was released in the United States on April 22, 2008 to mixed reviews. The album's first single, the Timbaland-produced "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)", was released as a digital download in December 2007, but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Little Miss Obsessive", was released in March 2008 and performed marginally better, reaching number ninety-six on the Hot 100. A collection of tops designed by Simpson was launched by the clothing retailer Wet Seal on April 22, in connection with the album's release, and she also began appearing in commercials for Canadian retailer Zellers to promote their independent clothing line, ''Request'', in mid-2008. ''Bittersweet World'' has sold 126,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Simpson announced her engagement to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz on April 9, 2008. She had previously been wearing what she described as a "promise ring" from Wentz for several months. She chose not to confirm or deny reports that she was pregnant, saying that it was something to "keep personal." On May 17, 2008, Simpson and Wentz married at Simpson's parents' residence in Encino, California, where her father officiated the ceremony. Her surname changed from Simpson to Wentz and she was briefly known professionally as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. On May 28, 2008, Simpson and Wentz confirmed that they were expecting their first child. Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz, on November 20, 2008. Simpson appeared alongside her husband in the crime drama series ''CSI: NY'' in 2009.

Simpson returned full-time to television episodes by playing the role of Violet Foster in ''Melrose Place'', the CW's revamp of the '90s series of the same name. She was originally signed to the show as a regular, but producers and CW executives decided to write out her character, and she left the show after 13 episodes. Various rumors circulated as to the reason for her sudden departure, with theories including feuds with other cast members, lack of acting ability and financial issues. Her departure was generally attributed to the show needing a "face lift" because of the decreasing viewing figures. Simpson stated that she had known all along that her character would leave the show once the murder mystery storyline had concluded. After her departure from ''Melrose Place'', Simpson reprised her role in the Broadway musical production of ''Chicago''. She began her Broadway run on November 30, 2009 and performed in New York for six weeks. She played eight shows a week until February 7, 2010. When her run was completed, she stated that she was going to take a break to spend time with her son before beginning to work on her fourth studio album.

2011–present: Fashion line and fourth album

On February 9, 2011, it was announced that Simpson had filed for divorce from Pete Wentz, citing irreconcilable differences. In the filing, she requested joint legal custody with visitation for Wentz, but sole physical custody and spousal support. She also asked that her name be restored to her birth name of Ashlee Nicole Simpson.

Simpson has created a fashion line in collaboration with her sister's successful brand. She is the co-creative director of the line, aimed at girls aged 7–16, which is set to be in stores by the end of 2011. In an interview with Paper magazine, Simpson stated that her new album would have a "folk feel". However, on June 23, 2011, Ryan Seacrest confirmed on ''On Air with Ryan Seacrest'' that Simpson had been having meetings with record executives along with previous collaborator, John Shanks, to figure out the exact direction of her next album.

Music and influences

When Simpson first broke onto the music scene in 2004, she was set apart from her sister, Jessica's already established image due to a different music style, different fashion choices, and a more assertive personality. Simpson's songs have been characterized by rock elements absent from her sister's music, and, particularly during her early career, Simpson would often wear outfits highlighting a rock or punk-influenced sense of style. She cites her childhood as being the time when she began to sing, and admits that she dreamed of being on Broadway and did not expect to break into the pop music scene. She trains with a vocal coach, and studies Etta James and Aretha Franklin albums for vocal inspiration. She has cited Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, Joan Jett, The Runaways, Madonna, Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde, and Debbie Harry from Blondie as her musical influences.

Filmography

''Undiscovered''

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
2002	''The Hot Chick''	Monique
2005	|	Clea	Secondary Role

''7th Heaven'' ''The Ashlee Simpson Show'' ''CSI: NY'' ''Melrose Place (2009 TV series)

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	''Malcolm in the Middle''	High School Girl
2002—2004	|	Cecilia Smith
2004—2005	|	Herself	Reality television>Reality show
2009	|	Lila Wickfield	Point of No Return (CSI: NY)>Point of No Return" (episode 18, season 5)
2009—2010	Melrose Place'' ||	Violet Foster

Theater

''Chicago (musical)

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Chicago (musical)>Chicago''	''Roxie Hart''
2009	Chicago'' ||	''Roxie Hart''	Broadway

Discography

''Autobiography'' (2004)

''I Am Me'' (2005)

''Bittersweet World'' (2008)

Awards and nominations

'' List of awards and nominations received by Ashlee Simpson''

See also

List of Ashlee Simpson concert tours

References

External links

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Texas Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American pop singers Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American television actors Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Musicians from Dallas, Texas Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Dallas, Texas

ar:اشلي سيمبسون bg:Ашли Симпсън cs:Ashlee Simpson cy:Ashlee Simpson da:Ashlee Simpson de:Ashlee Simpson el:Άσλι Σίμπσον es:Ashlee Simpson fa:اشلی سیمپسون fr:Ashlee Simpson Wentz ko:애슐리 심슨 hr:Ashlee Simpson id:Ashlee Simpson it:Ashlee Simpson he:אשלי סימפסון ka:ეშლი სიმპსონი lv:Ešlija Simpsone lt:Ashlee Simpson nl:Ashlee Simpson ja:アシュリー・シンプソン no:Ashlee Simpson pl:Ashlee Simpson pt:Ashlee Simpson ru:Симпсон, Эшли simple:Ashlee Simpson sl:Ashlee Simpson fi:Ashlee Simpson sv:Ashlee Simpson-Wentz tl:Ashlee Simpson th:แอชลี ซิมป์สัน tr:Ashlee Simpson vi:Ashlee Simpson zh:艾希莉·辛普森

name	Maria Mena
background	solo_singer
birth name	Maria Viktoria Mena
born	February 19, 1986Oslo, Norway
spouse	Paul Fariss
instrument	Voice
genre	Alternative Rock, Pop, Folk-pop, Alt-Country
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2002–present
label	Sony Music Norway (2000-present)Columbia (2004)
website	Official web site }}

Maria Viktoria Mena (born February 19, 1986) is a Norwegian pop artist.

Biography

Maria Mena was born into an artistic family, her mother, a playwright and her father, a drummer. Both Maria and her brother, Tony, are named after characters from Leonard Bernstein's ''West Side Story''. Her mother is Norwegian and her father is Nicaraguan.

Her father played in several bands in Oslo, which influenced Mena to write and record her own music. When Mena was nine years old, her parents divorced. She suffered from depression and developed an eating disorder.

When Mena was 13 years old, she moved to live with her father. She sang and wrote lyrics as a form of self-soothing. "My Lullaby", a song from Mena's diary, expresses her pain from her parents' divorce. After pleading with her father to make a demo, he contacted some acquaintances in the music industry to record the demo. Presenting his daughter's demo to several record companies, Sony Music signed Mena to their label.

In 2002, she released her debut single "Fragile (Free)" in Norway, however it did not manage to chart there. "My Lullaby" was released as the second single and the song reached #5 on the Norwegian Singles Chart. It received heavy rotation on NRK P1, P3, P4, Radio 1, and Radio Oslo. The young singer quickly gained fans and soon earned her first platinum record. After the success of "My Lullaby", she released her debut album, ''Another Phase'' in Norway which reached #6 on the Norwegian Albums Chart.

On July 20, 2004, Mena made an appearance on ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' to promote her first international album, ''White Turns Blue'', which debuted at the top position on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseekers chart a week later and at #102 on the ''Billboard'' 200. She made a breakthrough into the worldwide singles charts that year with "You're the Only One", a single successful in multiple countries. The song was her only single to appear on a ''Billboard'' chart, making #25 on the U.S. Top 40 Mainstream. "You're the Only One" peaked at #30 on the Dutch Top 40 and #19 on the Dutch Mega Single Top 100. Two months earlier, in March 2004, Mena had released her second album in Norway. ''Mellow''. Less successful than her 2002 debut, it still managed to peak at #7 in Norway. The second single from both albums was "Just a Little Bit", which was a commercial flop, not managing to chart anywhere.

2005 saw the release of ''Apparently Unaffected'' in Norway and several other European countries, fronted by singles "Miss You Love", and "Just Hold Me". A significant success in Norway, the album has earned her three Spellemann nominations, Best Female Artist, Best Hit, and Best Music Video. In the Netherlands, the album was released in June 2006 and charted at #82. It slowly climbed the chart to reach its peak position in its 27th week at #11, as "Just Hold Me" was getting airplay again. "Just Hold Me" was released in May 2006, but then did not chart in the official Dutch Top 40, but did chart in the country's physical singles chart, the Mega Single Top 100, at #27. In October 2006, the song started getting heavy airplay again and this time it did managed to reach the official Dutch Top 40 and peaked at #26. In the Mega Single Top 100, it peaked at #7 in the beginning of November 2006. Mena performed at sold-out concerts in Utrecht and Amsterdam, following the success of "Just Hold Me". The album was at #48 at the Dutch year-end chart, outselling major artists such as Pink's ''I'm Not Dead'', Nelly Furtado's ''Loose'', and Beyoncé Knowles' ''B'Day''. "Miss You Love" was released as the album's second single in the Netherlands and reached #61 on the Mega Singles Top 100.

On July 7, 2007, she performed at the German leg of Live Earth in Hamburg.

Having worked on her three first studio albums with Norwegian producer Arvid Solvang, Mena started collaborating with Martin Sjølie in early 2008 on what would become her fourth studio album, ''Cause and Effect''. The album's first single, "Belly Up" had its radio premiere mid-June 2008 on Norwegian radio. ''Cause and Effect'' was released on September 17 in Norway. The first international single was "All This Time". The album was internationally released on September 26, 2008. This album garnered her a Spellemann for Best Female Artist.

Mena's song "Sorry" was featured on the third season of US ''So You Think You Can Dance'' and "What's Another Day" was featured during the fourth season. She released "All This Time" in the UK on April 11, 2010.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions						Certifications
		! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"
2002		* Debut album	* Released: April 22, 2002	6	—	—	—	—	—		Norway>NO: Platinum (30,000+)
2004	align="left"	* 2nd studio album	* Released: March 1, 2004	7	—	—	—	—	—		Norway>NO: Gold (20,000)+
2004		* International debut album	* Released: July 20, 2004	—	—	102	1	—	—
2005		* 3rd studio album	* Released: November 14, 2005	6	11	—	—	22	—		Germany>GER: Gold (100,000+)	Netherlands>NL : Platinum (50,000+)	Norway>NO : Platinum (30,000+)	Worldwide>WW : 250,000+
2008	align="left"	* 4th studio album	* Released: September 15, 2008	4	8	—	—	20	43		Germany>GER: Gold (100,000+)	Netherlands>NL : Gold (25,000+)	Norway>NO : Gold (23,000+)	Switzerland>SWI : Gold (15,000+)	Worldwide>WW : 200,000+
2011	align="left"	* 5th studio album	* Released: September 23, 2011	—	—	—	—	—	—

''

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions									Album
		! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"
align="left"

Notes ¹: "My Lullaby" is the only song that certified in Norway, becoming a gold single for selling over 5,000 copies in Norway.

²: The single was officially released in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Austria in 2007.

³: "Just Hold Me" gets gold in Germany in 2008 for selling more than 150,000 copies.

⁴: The single was officially released in the Netherlands in 2009.

⁵: Belly Up was only released in Norway.

References

External links

Maria's Official Blog

Official fanclub Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Official fanclub Netherlands

Last.fm Group

LiveJournal Community

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Norwegian female singers Category:Norwegian pop musicians Category:Norwegian pop singers Category:Norwegian songwriters Category:Norwegian singer-songwriters Category:People from Oslo Category:People of Nicaraguan descent Category:Spellemannprisen winners

af:Maria Mena da:Maria Mena de:Maria Mena et:Maria Mena es:Maria Mena fr:Maria Mena id:Maria Mena it:Maria Mena li:Maria Mena hu:Maria Mena nl:Maria Mena no:Maria Mena nn:Maria Mena pl:Maria Mena ru:Мена, Мария Виктория fi:Maria Mena sv:Maria Mena tr:Maria Mena zh:瑪莉亞·梅娜