Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
Name	Old English
Nativename	Ænglisc, Anglisc, Englisc
Familycolor	Indo-European
Region	England (except the extreme southwest and northwest), parts of modern Scotland south-east of the Forth, and the eastern fringes of modern Wales.
Extinct	mostly developed into Middle English by the 13th century
Fam2	Germanic
Fam3	West Germanic
Fam4	Anglo-Frisian
Script	Runic, later Latin alphabet (Old English variant).
Iso2	ang|iso3ang
Notice	IPA}}

Old English (''Ænglisc, Anglisc, Englisc'') or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary register of Anglo-Saxon.

It is a West Germanic language and is closely related to Old Frisian. Old English had a grammar similar in many ways to Classical Latin, and was much closer to modern German than modern English in most respects, including its grammar. It was fully inflected with five grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and instrumental), two grammatical numbers (singular and plural) and three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). First and second person personal pronouns also had dual forms for referring to groups of two people, in addition to the usual singular and plural forms. The instrumental case was somewhat rare and occurred only in the masculine and neuter singular; it could typically be replaced by the dative. Adjectives, pronouns and (sometimes) participles agreed with their antecedent nouns in case, number and gender. Finite verbs agreed with their subject in person and number.

Nouns came in numerous declensions (with deep parallels in Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit). Verbs came in nine main conjugations (seven ''strong'' and two ''weak''), each with numerous subtypes, as well as a few additional smaller conjugations and a handful of irregular verbs. The main difference from other ancient Indo-European languages, such as Latin, is that verbs can be conjugated in only two tenses (vs. the six "tenses" — really tense/aspect combinations — of Latin), and have no synthetic passive voice (although it did still exist in Gothic).

Note that gender in nouns was grammatical, as opposed to the natural gender that prevails in modern English. That is, the grammatical gender of a given noun did not necessarily correspond its natural gender, even for nouns referring to people. For example, ''sēo sunne'' (the Sun) was feminine, ''se mōna'' (the Moon) was masculine, and ''þat wīf'' "the woman/wife" was neuter! (Compare modern German ''die Sonne'', ''der Mond'', ''das Weib''.) Pronominal usage could reflect either natural or grammatical gender, when it conflicted.

From the 9th century, Old English experienced heavy influence from Old Norse, a member of the related North Germanic group of languages.

History

Old English was not static, and its usage covered a period of approximately 700 years, from the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century to the late 11th century, some time after the Norman invasion.

Old English is a West Germanic language, developing out of common Ingvaeonic or "North-Sea Germanic" from the 5th century. Anglo-Saxon literacy develops after Christianisation in the late 7th century. The oldest surviving text of Old English literature is ''Cædmon's Hymn'', composed between 658 and 680. There is a limited corpus of runic inscriptions from the 5th to 7th centuries, but the oldest coherent runic texts (notably Franks Casket) date to the 8th century.

The history of Old English can be subdivided in:

Prehistoric Old English (c. 450 to 650); for this period, Old English is mostly a reconstructed language as no literary witnesses survive (with the exception of limited epigraphic evidence).

Early Old English (ca. 650 to 900), the period of the oldest manuscript traditions, with authors such as Cædmon, Bede, Cynewulf and Aldhelm.

Late Old English (c. 900 to 1066), the final stage of the language leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent transition to Early Middle English.

The Old English period is followed by Middle English (12th to 15th century), Early Modern English (ca. 1480 to 1650) and finally Modern English (after 1650).

Influence of other languages

In the course of the Early Middle Ages, Old English assimilated some aspects of a few languages with which it came in contact, such as the two dialects of Old Norse from the contact with the Norsemen or "Danes" who by the late 9th century controlled large tracts of land in northern and eastern England which came to be known as the Danelaw.

Latin influence

A large percentage of the educated and literate population of the time were competent in Latin, which was the scholarly and diplomatic ''lingua franca'' of Europe at the time. It is sometimes possible to give approximate dates for the entry of individual Latin words into Old English based on which patterns of linguistic change they have undergone. There were at least three notable periods of Latin influence. The first occurred before the ancestral Angles and Saxons left continental Europe for Britain. The second began when the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity and Latin-speaking priests became widespread. See Latin influence in English: Dark Ages for details.

The third and largest single transfer of Latin-based words happened after the Norman Conquest of 1066, when an enormous number of Norman words began to influence the language. Most of these Oïl language words were themselves derived from Old French and ultimately from classical Latin, although a notable stock of Norse words were introduced or re-introduced in Norman form. The Norman Conquest approximately marks the end of Old English and the advent of Middle English.

One of the ways the influence of Latin can be seen is that many Latin words for activities came to also be used to refer to the people engaged in those activities, an idiom carried over from Anglo-Saxon but using Latin words. This can be seen in words like ''militia'', ''assembly'', ''movement'', and ''service''.

The language was further altered by the transition away from the runic alphabet (also known as ''futhorc'' or fuþorc) to the Latin alphabet, which was also a significant factor in the developmental pressures brought to bear on the language. Old English words were spelled, more or less, as they were pronounced. Often, the Latin alphabet fell short of being able to adequately represent Anglo-Saxon phonetics. Spellings, therefore, can be thought of as best-attempt approximations of how the language actually sounded. The "silent" letters in many Modern English words were pronounced in Old English: for example, the ''c'' and ''h'' in ''cniht'', the Old English ancestor of the modern ''knight'', were pronounced. Another side-effect of spelling Old English words phonetically using the Latin alphabet was that spelling was extremely variable. A word's spelling could also reflect differences in the phonetics of the writer's regional dialect. Words also endured idiosyncratic spelling choices of individual authors, some of whom varied spellings between works. Thus, for example, the word ''and'' could be spelt either ''and'' or ''ond''.

Norse influence

The second major source of loanwords to Old English were the Scandinavian words introduced during the Viking invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries. In addition to a great many place names, these consist mainly of items of basic vocabulary, and words concerned with particular administrative aspects of the Danelaw (that is, the area of land under Viking control, which included extensive holdings all along the eastern coast of England and Scotland).

The Vikings spoke Old Norse, a language related to Old English in that both derived from the same ancestral Proto-Germanic language. It is very common for the intermixing of speakers of different dialects, such as those that occur during times of political unrest, to result in a mixed language, and one theory holds that exactly such a mixture of Old Norse and Old English helped accelerate the decline of case endings in Old English.

Apparent confirmation of this is the fact that simplification of the case endings occurred earliest in the north and latest in the southwest, the area farthest away from Viking influence. Regardless of the truth of this theory, the influence of Old Norse on the English language has been profound: responsible for such basic vocabulary items as ''sky'', ''leg'', the pronoun ''they'', the verb form ''are'', and hundreds of other words.

Celtic influence

Traditionally, and following the Anglo-Saxon preference prevalent in the nineteenth century, many maintain that the influence of Brythonic Celtic on English has been small, citing the small number of Celtic loanwords taken into the language. The number of Celtic loanwords is of a lower order than either Latin or Scandinavian. However, a more recent and still minority view is that distinctive Celtic traits can be discerned in syntax from the post-Old English period, such as the regular progressive construction and analytic word order in oppostition to the Germanic languages. Why these traits appear to be restricted to syntax and do not include vocabulary is not clear. However many common English words with early attestation in Britain, such as 'dog', 'bird', 'pig', have no apparent cognate in the West Germanic languages, leading some to speculate that their origin lies in the extinct Brythonic dialects of the 'contact' period. Due to the remoteness of the period, etymological attribution in modern dictionaries is generally given simply as 'Old English'.

Dialects

Old English should not be regarded as a single monolithic entity just as Modern English is also not monolithic. It emerged over time out of the many dialects and languages of the colonising tribes, and it was not until the later Anglo-Saxon period that they fused together into Old English. Even then it continued to exhibit local language variation, the remnants of which continue to be found in dialects of Modern English. Thus it is misleading, for example, to consider Old English as having a single sound system. Rather, there were multiple Old English sound systems. Old English has variation along regional lines as well as variation across different times. For example, the language attested in Wessex during the time of Æthelwold of Winchester, which is named Late West Saxon (or Æthelwoldian Saxon), is considerably different from the language attested in Wessex during the time of Alfred the Great's court, which is named Early West Saxon (or Classical West Saxon or Alfredian Saxon). Furthermore, the difference between Early West Saxon and Late West Saxon is of such a nature that Late West Saxon is not directly descended from Early West Saxon (despite what the similarity in name implies).

The four main dialectal forms of Old English were Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish, and West Saxon. Each of those dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island. Of these, all of Northumbria and most of Mercia were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century. The portion of Mercia that was successfully defended and all of Kent were then integrated into Wessex.

After the process of unification of the diverse Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in 878 by Alfred the Great, there is a marked decline in the importance of regional dialects. This is not because they stopped existing; regional dialects continued even after that time to this day, as evidenced both by the existence of Middle and Modern English dialects later on, and by common sense—people do not spontaneously adopt another dialect when there is a sudden change of political power.

However, the bulk of the surviving documents from the Anglo-Saxon period are written in the dialect of Wessex, Alfred's kingdom. It seems likely that with consolidation of power, it became necessary to standardise the language of government to reduce the difficulty of administering the more remote areas of the kingdom. As a result, documents were written in the West Saxon dialect. Not only this, but Alfred was passionate about the spread of the vernacular, and brought many scribes to his region from Mercia to record previously unwritten texts.

The Church was affected likewise, especially since Alfred initiated an ambitious programme to translate religious materials into English. To retain his patronage and ensure the widest circulation of the translated materials, the monks and priests engaged in the programme worked in his dialect. Alfred himself seems to have translated books out of Latin and into English, notably Pope Gregory I's treatise on administration, ''Pastoral Care''.

Because of the centralisation of power and the Viking invasions, there is little or no written evidence for the development of non-Wessex dialects after Alfred's unification.

Thomas Spencer Baynes claimed in 1856 that, due to its position at the heart of the Kingdom of Wessex, the relics of Anglo-Saxon accent, idiom and vocabulary were best preserved in the Somerset dialect.

Phonology

The inventory of classical Old English (i.e. Late West Saxon) surface phones, as usually reconstructed, is as follows.

!	bilabial consonant>Bilabial	labiodental consonant>Labiodental	dental consonant>Dental	alveolar consonant>Alveolar	postalveolar consonant>Postalveolar	palatal consonant>Palatal	velar consonant>Velar	glottal consonant>Glottal

The sounds marked in parentheses in the chart above are allophones: is an allophone of occurring after and when geminated is an allophone of occurring before and are allophones of respectively, occurring between vowels or voiced consonants are allophones of occurring in coda position after front and back vowels respectively is an allophone of occurring after a vowel, and, at an earlier stage of the language, in the syllable onset.

{|class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan=2 | Monophthongs ! colspan=2 | Short ! colspan=2 | Long |- ! Front ! Back ! Front ! Back |- | Close | align=center | | align=center | | align=center | | align=center | |- | Mid | align=center | | align=center | | align=center | | align=center | |- | Open | align=center | | align=center | | align=center | | align=center | |}

The front mid rounded vowels occur in some dialects of Old English, but not in the best attested Late West Saxon dialect.

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Diphthongs ! Short (monomoraic) ! Long (bimoraic) |- | First element is close | align=center | | align=center | |- | Both elements are mid | align=center | | align=center | |- | Both elements are open | align=center | | align=center | |}

Grammar

Morphology

Unlike modern English, Old English is a language rich with morphological diversity. It maintains several distinct cases: the nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and (vestigially) instrumental. The only remnants of this system in modern English are in a few pronouns.

Syntax

Old English syntax was similar in many ways to that of modern English. However, there were some important differences. Some were simply consequences of the greater level of nominal and verbal inflection — e.g., word order was generally freer. In addition:

The default word order was verb-second and more like modern German than modern English.

There was no ''do''-support in questions and negatives.

Multiple negatives could stack up in a sentence, and intensified each other (negative concord).

Sentences with subordinate clauses of the type "When X, Y" did not use a ''wh-''type word for the conjunction, but instead used interrogative pronouns asa word related to "when", but instead a ''th-''type correlative conjunction (e.g. ''þā X, þā Y'' in place of "When X, Y").

Orthography

Old English was first written in runes (''futhorc'') but shifted to a (minuscule) half-uncial script of the Latin alphabet introduced by Irish Christian missionaries from around the 9th century. This was replaced by insular script, a cursive and pointed version of the half-uncial script. This was used until the end of the 12th century when continental Carolingian minuscule (also known as ''Caroline'') replaced the insular.

The letter ðæt ‹ð› (called ''eth'' or ''edh'' in modern English) was an alteration of Latin ‹d›, and the runic letters thorn ‹þ› and wynn ‹ƿ› are borrowings from futhorc. Also used was a symbol for the conjunction ''and'', a character similar to the number seven (, called a Tironian note), and a symbol for the relative pronoun ''þæt'', a thorn with a crossbar through the ascender (›). Macrons over vowels were rarely used to indicate long vowels. Also used occasionally were abbreviations for following ''m''’s or ''n''’s. All of the sound descriptions below are given using IPA symbols.

Conventions of modern editions

A number of changes are traditionally made in published modern editions of the original Old English manuscripts. Some of these conventions include the introduction of punctuation and the substitutions of symbols. The symbols ‹e›, ‹f›, ‹g›, ‹r›, ‹s› are used in modern editions, although their shapes in the insular script are considerably different. The long s is substituted by its modern counterpart ‹s›. Insular is usually substituted with its modern counterpart ‹g› (which is ultimately a Carolingian symbol).

Additionally, modern editions often distinguish between a velar and palatal ‹c› and ‹g› with diacritic dots above the putative palatals: , . The ''wynn'' symbol is usually substituted with ‹w›. Macrons are usually found in modern editions to indicate putative long vowels, while they are usually lacking in the originals. In older printed editions of Old English works, an acute accent mark was used to maintain cohesion between Old English and Old Norse printing.

The alphabetical symbols found in Old English writings and their substitute symbols found in modern editions are listed below:

! Symbol !! Description and notes
! a	Short . Spelling variations like ‹land› ~ ‹lond› "land" suggest it may have had a rounded allophone before in some cases)
! ā	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹a› in modern editions.
! æ	Short . Before 800 the digraph ‹ae› is often found instead of ‹æ›. During the 8th century ‹æ› began to be used more frequently was standard after 800. In 9th century Kentish manuscripts, a form of ‹æ› that was missing the upper hook of the ‹a› part was used. Kentish ‹æ› may be either or although this is difficult to determine.
!	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹æ› in modern editions.
! b	Represented . Also represented in early texts before 800. For example, the word "sheaves" is spelled ‹scēabas› in an early text but later (and more commonly) as ‹scēafas›.
! c	Except in the digraph (orthography)
! cg	(the surface pronunciation of [[geminate ); occasionally also for
! d	Represented . In the earliest texts, it also represented but was soon replaced by ‹ð› and ‹þ›. For example, the word meaning "thought" (lit. mood-i-think, with -i- as in "handiwork") was written ‹mōdgidanc› in a Northumbrian text dated 737, but later as ‹mōdgeþanc› in a 10th century West Saxon text.
! ð	Represented and its allophone . Called ''ðæt'' in Old English (now called eth in Modern English), ‹ð› is found in alternation with thorn ‹þ› (both representing the same sound) although it is more common in texts dating before Alfred. Together with ‹þ› it replaced earlier ‹d› and ‹th›. First attested (in definitely dated materials) in the 7th century. After the beginning of Alfred's time, ‹ð› was used more frequently for medial and final positions while ‹þ› became increasingly used in initial positions, although both still varied. Some modern editions attempt to regularise the variation between ‹þ› and ‹ð› by using only ‹þ›.
! e	Short .
!	Either Kentish or although this is difficult to determine. A modern editorial substitution for a form of ‹æ› missing the upper hook of the ‹a› found in 9th century texts.
! ē	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹e› in modern editions.
! ea	Short ; after , sometimes or .
! ēa	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹ea› in modern editions. After , sometimes .
! eo	Short ; after , sometimes
! ēo	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹eo› in modern editions.
! f	and its allophone
! g	and its allophone ; and its allophone (when after ‹n›). In Old English manuscripts, this letter usually took its insular G
! h	and its allophones . In the combinations ‹hl›, ‹hr›, ‹hn›, ‹hw›, the second consonant was certainly voiceless.
! i	Short .
! ī	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹i› in modern editions.
! ie	Short ; after , sometimes .
! īe	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹ie› in modern editions. After , sometimes .
! k	(rarely used)
! l
! m
! n	and its allophone
! o	Short .
! ō	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹o› in modern editions.
! oe	Short (in dialects with this sound).
! ōe	Long (in dialects with this sound). Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹oe› in modern editions.
! p
! qu	A rare spelling of , which was usually written as (= ‹cw› in modern editions).
! r	; the exact nature of is not known. It may have been an [[alveolar approximant as in most modern accents, an alveolar flap , or an alveolar trill .
! s	and its allophone .
! sc	or occasionally .
! t
! th	Represented in the earliest texts but was soon replaced by ‹ð› and ‹þ›. For example, the word meaning "thought" was written ‹mōdgithanc› in a 6th century Northumbrian text, but later as ‹mōdgeþanc› in a 10th century West Saxon text.
! þ	An alternate symbol called thorn (letter)
! u	and in early texts of continental scribes. The ‹u› was eventually replaced by outside of the north of the island.
! uu	in early texts of continental scribes. Outside of the north, it was generally replaced by .
! ū	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹u› in modern editions.
! w	. A modern substitution for .
!	Runic ''[[wynn''. Represents , replaced in modern print by ‹w› to prevent confusion with ‹p›.
! x	(but according to some authors, )
! y	Short .
!	Long . Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short ‹y› in modern editions.
! z	. A rare spelling for ‹ts›. Example: "best" is rarely spelled ‹bezt› for more common ‹betst›.

Doubled consonants are geminated; the geminate fricatives ‹ðð›/‹þþ›, ‹ff› and ‹ss› cannot be voiced.

Literature

Old English literature, though more abundant than literature of the continent before AD 1000, is nonetheless scant. In his supplementary article to the 1935 posthumous edition of Bright's ''Anglo-Saxon Reader'', Dr. James Hulbert writes:

In such historical conditions, an incalculable amount of the writings of the Anglo-Saxon period perished. What they contained, how important they were for an understanding of literature before the Conquest, we have no means of knowing: the scant catalogs of monastic libraries do not help us, and there are no references in extant works to other compositions....How incomplete our materials are can be illustrated by the well-known fact that, with few and relatively unimportant exceptions, all extant Anglo-Saxon poetry is preserved in four manuscripts.

Some of the most important surviving works of Old English literature are ''Beowulf'', an epic poem; the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', a record of early English history; the Franks Casket, an early whalebone artefact; and Caedmon's Hymn, a Christian religious poem. There are also a number of extant prose works, such as sermons and saints' lives, biblical translations, and translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers, legal documents, such as laws and wills, and practical works on grammar, medicine, and geography. Still, poetry is considered the heart of Old English literature. Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous, with a few exceptions, such as Bede and Caedmon.

Text samples

''Beowulf''

The first example is taken from the opening lines of the epic poem ''Beowulf''. This passage describes how Hrothgar's legendary ancestor Scyld was found as a baby, washed up on the shore, and adopted by a noble family. The translation is quite literal and represents the original poetic word order. As such, it is not typical of Old English prose. The modern cognates of original words have been used whenever practical to give a close approximation of the feel of the original poem. The words in brackets are implied in the Old English by noun case and the bold words in parentheses are explanations of words that have slightly different meanings in a modern context. Notice how ''what'' is used by the poet where a word like ''lo'' or ''behold'' would be expected. This usage is similar to ''what-ho!'', both an expression of surprise and a call to attention.

{| cellspacing="10" |- ! Line || Original || Translation |- | [1] || Hwæt! wē Gār-Dena in ġeār-dagum, | What! We of Gare-Danes (lit. Spear-Danes) in yore-days, |- | [2] || þēod-cyninga, þrym ġefrūnon, | of thede(nation/people)-kings, did thrum (glory) frayne (learn about by asking), |- | [3] || hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon. | how those athelings (noblemen) did ellen (fortitude/courage/zeal) freme (promote). |- | [4] || Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum, | Oft did Scyld Scefing of scather threats (troops), |- | [5] || monegum mǣġþum, meodosetla oftēah, | of many maegths (clans; cf. Irish cognate Mac-), of mead-settlements atee (deprive), |- | [6] || egsode eorlas. Syððan ǣrest wearð | [and] ugg (induce loathing in, terrify; related to "ugly") earls. Sith (since, as of when) erst (first) [he] worthed (became) |- | [7] || fēasceaft funden, hē þæs frōfre ġebād, | [in] fewship (destitute) found, he of this frover (comfort) aboded, |- | [8] || wēox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þāh, | [and] waxed under welkin (firmament/clouds), [and amid] worthmint (honour/worship) threed (thrived/prospered) |- | [9] || oðþæt him ǣġhwylc þāra ymbsittendra | oth that (until that) him each of those umsitters (those "sitting" or dwelling roundabout) |- | [10] || ofer hronrāde hȳran scolde, | over whale-road (''kenning'' for "sea") hear should, |- | [11] || gomban gyldan. Þæt wæs gōd cyning! | [and] yeme (heed/obedience; related to "gormless") yield. That was [a] good king! |}

A semi-fluent translation in Modern English would be:

Lo! We have heard of majesty of the Spear-Danes, of those nation-kings in the days of yore, and how those noblemen promoted zeal. Scyld Scefing took away mead-benches from bands of enemies, from many tribes; he terrified earls. Since he was first found destitute (he gained consolation for that) he grew under the heavens, prospered in honours, until each of those who lived around him over the sea had to obey him, give him tribute. That was a good king!

The Lord's Prayer

This text of the Lord's Prayer is presented in the standardised West Saxon literary dialect.

{| cellspacing="10" style="white-space: nowrap;" |- ! Line || Original || Translation |- | [1] ||Fæder ūre þū þe eart on heofonum, | Father of ours, thou who art in heaven, |- | [2] || Sī þīn nama ġehālgod. | Be thy name hallowed. |- | [3] || Tōbecume þīn rīċe, | Come thy riche (kingdom), |- | [4] || ġewurþe þīn willa, on eorðan swā swā on heofonum. | Worth (manifest) thy will, on earth as also in heaven. |- | [5] || Ūrne ġedæġhwāmlīcan hlāf syle ūs tō dæġ, | Our daily loaf do sell (give) to us today, |- | [6] || and forgyf ūs ūre gyltas, swā swā wē forgyfað ūrum gyltendum. | And forgive us of our guilts as also we forgive our guilty |- | [7] || And ne ġelǣd þū ūs on costnunge, ac ālȳs ūs of yfele. | And do not lead thou us into temptation, but alese (release/deliver) us of (from) evil. |- | [8] || Sōþlīċe. | Soothly. |}

Charter of Cnut

This is a proclamation from King Cnut the Great to his earl Thorkell the Tall and the English people written in AD 1020. Unlike the previous two examples, this text is prose rather than poetry. For ease of reading, the passage has been divided into sentences while the pilcrows represent the original division.

{| cellspacing="10" style="white-space: wrap;" |- ! Original || Translation |- | ¶ Cnut cyning gret his arcebiscopas and his leod-biscopas and Þurcyl eorl and ealle his eorlas and ealne his þeodscype, twelfhynde and twyhynde, gehadode and læwede, on Englalande freondlice. | ¶ Cnut, king, greets his archbishops and his lede'(people's)'-bishops and Thorkell, earl, and all his earls and all his ''people''ship, ''greater'' (having a 1200 shilling weregild) and ''lesser'' (200 shilling weregild), hooded(ordained to priesthood) and lewd(lay), in England friendly. |- |And ic cyðe eow, þæt ic wylle beon hold hlaford and unswicende to godes gerihtum and to rihtre woroldlage. |And I kithe(make known/couth to) you, that I will be [a] hold(civilised) lord and unswiking(uncheating) to God's rights(laws) and to [the] rights(laws) worldly. |- | ¶ Ic nam me to gemynde þa gewritu and þa word, þe se arcebiscop Lyfing me fram þam papan brohte of Rome, þæt ic scolde æghwær godes lof upp aræran and unriht alecgan and full frið wyrcean be ðære mihte, þe me god syllan wolde. | ¶ I nam(took) me to mind the writs and the word that the Archbishop Lyfing me from the Pope brought of Rome, that I should ayewhere(everywhere) God's love(praise) uprear(promote), and unright(outlaw) lies, and full frith(peace) work(bring about) by the might that me God would(wished) [to] sell'(give). |- | ¶ Nu ne wandode ic na minum sceattum, þa hwile þe eow unfrið on handa stod: nu ic mid godes fultume þæt totwæmde mid minum scattum. | ¶ Now, ne went(withdrew/changed) I not my shot(financial contribution, cf. Norse cognate in scot-free) the while that you stood(endured) unfrith(turmoil) on-hand: now I, mid(with) God's ''support'', that [unfrith] totwemed(separated/dispelled) mid(with) my shot(financial contribution). |- |Þa cydde man me, þæt us mara hearm to fundode, þonne us wel licode: and þa for ic me sylf mid þam mannum þe me mid foron into Denmearcon, þe eow mæst hearm of com: and þæt hæbbe mid godes fultume forene forfangen, þæt eow næfre heonon forð þanon nan unfrið to ne cymð, þa hwile þe ge me rihtlice healdað and min lif byð. |Tho(then) [a] man kithed(made known/couth to) me that us more harm ''had'' found(come upon) than us well liked(equalled): and tho(then) fore(travelled) I, meself, mid(with) those men that mid(with) me fore(travelled), into Denmark that [to] you most harm came of(from): and that[harm] have [I], mid(with) God's ''support'', afore(previously) forefangen(forestalled) that to you never henceforth thence none unfrith(breach of peace) ne come the while that ye me rightly hold(behold as king) and my life beeth. |}

See also

Anglo-Frisian nasal spirant law

Anglo-Saxon literature

Beowulf

Dictionary of Old English

Exeter Book

Go (verb)

History of the English language

History of the Scots language

I-mutation

List of generic forms in British place names

List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents

Old English grammar

Notes

Bibliography

Sources

Whitelock, Dorothy (ed.) (1955) ''English Historical Documents; vol. I: c. 500–1042''. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode

General

Baugh, Albert C; & Cable, Thomas. (1993). ''A History of the English Language'' (4th ed.). London: Routledge.

(Reissue of one of 4 eds. 1877–1902)

Hogg, Richard M. (ed.). (1992). ''The Cambridge History of the English Language: (Vol 1): the Beginnings to 1066''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hogg, Richard; & Denison, David (eds.) (2006) ''A History of the English Language''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jespersen, Otto (1909–1949) ''A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles''. 7 vols. Heidelberg: C. Winter & Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard

Lass, Roger (1987) ''The Shape of English: structure and history''. London: J. M. Dent & Sons

Quirk, Randolph; & Wrenn, C. L. (1957). ''An Old English Grammar'' (2nd ed.) London: Methuen.

Strang, Barbara M. H. (1970) ''A History of English''. London: Methuen.

External history

Bremmer Jr, Rolf H. (2009). ''An Introduction to Old Frisian. History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary''. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Stenton, F. M. (1971). ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (3rd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Orthography/Palaeography

Bourcier, Georges. (1978). ''L'orthographie de l'anglais: Histoire et situation actuelle''. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Campbell, A. (1959). ''Old English Grammar''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Elliott, Ralph W. V. (1959). ''Runes: An introduction''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Keller, Wolfgang. (1906). ''Angelsächsische Paleographie, I: Einleitung''. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.

Ker, N. R. (1957). ''A Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Ker, N. R. (1957: 1990). ''A Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon''; with supplement prepared by Neil Ker originally published in ''Anglo-Saxon England''; 5, 1957. Oxford: Clarendon Press ISBN 0198112513

Page, R. I. (1973). ''An Introduction to English Runes''. London: Methuen.

Scragg, Donald G. (1974). ''A History of English Spelling''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Phonology

Anderson, John M; & Jones, Charles. (1977). ''Phonological structure and the history of English''. North-Holland linguistics series (No. 33). Amsterdam: North-Holland.

Brunner, Karl. (1965). ''Altenglische Grammatik (nach der angelsächsischen Grammatik von Eduard Sievers neubearbeitet)'' (3rd ed.). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

Campbell, A. (1959). ''Old English Grammar''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Cercignani, Fausto (1983). "The Development of */k/ and */sk/ in Old English". ''Journal of English and Germanic Philology'', 82 (3): 313–323.

Girvan, Ritchie. (1931). ''Angelsaksisch Handboek''; E. L. Deuschle (transl.). (Oudgermaansche Handboeken; No. 4). Haarlem: Tjeenk Willink.

Halle, Morris; & Keyser, Samuel J. (1971). ''English Stress: its form, its growth, and its role in verse''. New York: Harper & Row.

Hogg, Richard M. (1992). ''A Grammar of Old English, I: Phonology''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Kuhn, Sherman M. (1970). "On the consonantal phonemes of Old English". In: J. L. Rosier (ed.) ''Philological Essays: studies in Old and Middle English language and literature in honour of Herbert Dean Merritt'' (pp. 16–49). The Hague: Mouton.

Lass, Roger; & Anderson, John M. (1975). ''Old English Phonology''. (Cambridge studies in linguistics; No. 14). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Luick, Karl. (1914–1940). ''Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache''. Stuttgart: Bernhard Tauchnitz.

Moulton, W. G. (1972). "The Proto-Germanic non-syllabics (consonants)". In: F. van Coetsem & H. L. Kufner (Eds.), ''Toward a Grammar of Proto-Germanic'' (pp. 141–173). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

Sievers, Eduard (1893). ''Altgermanische Metrik''. Halle: Max Niemeyer.

Wagner, Karl Heinz (1969). ''Generative Grammatical Studies in the Old English language''. Heidelberg: Julius Groos.

Morphology

Brunner, Karl. (1965). ''Altenglische Grammatik (nach der angelsächsischen Grammatik von Eduard Sievers neubearbeitet)'' (3rd ed.). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

Campbell, A. (1959). ''Old English grammar''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Wagner, Karl Heinz. (1969). ''Generative grammatical studies in the Old English language''. Heidelberg: Julius Groos.

Syntax

Brunner, Karl. (1962). ''Die englische Sprache: ihre geschichtliche Entwicklung'' (Vol. II). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

Kemenade, Ans van. (1982). ''Syntactic Case and Morphological Case in the History of English''. Dordrecht: Foris.

MacLaughlin, John C. (1983). ''Old English Syntax: a handbook''. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

Mitchell, Bruce. (1985). ''Old English Syntax'' (Vols. 1–2). Oxford: Clarendon Press (no more published)

* Vol.1: Concord, the parts of speech and the sentence

* Vol.2: Subordination, independent elements, and element order

Mitchell, Bruce. (1990) ''A Critical Bibliography of Old English Syntax to the end of 1984, including addenda and corrigenda to "Old English Syntax" ''. Oxford: Blackwell

Timofeeva, Olga. (2010) ''Non-finite Constructions in Old English, with Special Reference to Syntactic Borrowing from Latin'', PhD dissertation, Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki, vol. LXXX, Helsinki: Société Néophilologique.

Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. (1972). ''A History of English Syntax: a transformational approach to the history of English sentence structure''. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Visser, F. Th. (1963–1973). ''An Historical Syntax of the English Language'' (Vols. 1–3). Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Lexicons

;Bosworth-Toller

Bosworth, J; & Toller, T. Northcote. (1898). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Based on Bosworth's 1838 dictionary, his papers & additions by Toller)

Toller, T. Northcote. (1921). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Supplement''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Campbell, A. (1972). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Enlarged addenda and corrigenda''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

;Clark Hall-Merritt

Clark Hall, J. R; & Merritt, H. D. (1969). ''A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

;Toronto

Cameron, Angus, et al. (ed.) (1983) ''Dictionary of Old English''. Toronto: Published for the Dictionary of Old English Project, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto by the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1983/1994. (Issued on microfiche and subsequently as a CD-ROM and on the World Wide Web.)

External links

Old English/Modern English Translator

The Electronic Introduction to Old English

Learn Old English with Leofwin

Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet

Bosworth and Toller, ''An Anglo-Saxon dictionary''

Downloadable Bosworth and Toller, ''An Anglo-Saxon dictionary Application''

''Old English Made Easy''

Old English – Modern English dictionary

Old English Glossary

Old English Letters

Shakespeare's English vs Old English

Downloadable Old English keyboard for Windows and Mac

Another downloadable keyboard for Windows computers

Guide to using Old English computer characters (Unicode, HTML entities, etc.)

The Germanic Lexicon Project

An overview of the grammar of Old English

The Lord's Prayer in Old English from the 11th century

Category:Articles with images not understandable by color blind users Category:English languages English, Old

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Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
name	Cheryl Cole
birth name	Cheryl Ann Tweedy
background	solo_singer
birth date	June 30, 1983
origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
instrument	Vocals
genre	Pop, R&B;
occupation	Singer-songwriter, dancer, model
years active	2002–present
label	Fascination, will.i.am music
associated acts	Girls Aloud, will.i.am, Taio Cruz
website	}}

Cheryl Ann Cole (née Tweedy; born 30 June 1983) is an English pop and R&B; recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television sho, ''Popstars: The Rivals'' on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as one-fifth of the girl group, Girls Aloud. During her time in the group, Cole released twenty consecutive top-ten singles (including four number one singles) in the UK and five platinum albums (two of which went to number one) and earned five BRIT Award nominations from 2005 to 2010. In 2009, Girls Aloud won "Best Single" with their song "The Promise". In 2009, Girls Aloud announced their musical hiatus and Cole went on to release two solo albums, which both went to number one in the UK: ''3 Words'' (2009) and ''Messy Little Raindrops'' (2010). She achieved a number of hits, including two number one singles: "Fight for This Love" and "Promise This".

Cole became a judge on the British televised singing competition ''The X Factor'' in 2008. While on the show, Cole became the winning judge twice out of the three series she judged on, with Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry winning respectively. It was announced that Cole would leave the UK version of ''The X Factor'' for the upcoming American version of the show. However, just weeks into filming the auditions, it was reported that Cole had been sacked from the show with it being confirmed by Fox, Freemantle North America and Syco TV on 6 June. Mike Darnell, president of Alternative Entertainment for the Fox Broadcasting Company, confirmed Cheryl Cole left USA ''X Factor''.

Cole has become a recognised and photographed style icon; referred to as a fashionista by the press. She has been photographed for the covers of ''British Vogue'', ''Elle'' and ''Harper's Bazaar'', while also becoming the new face of cosmetic company L'Oréal. Cole was married to England footballer Ashley Cole from July 2006 until September 2010, when she divorced him.

Early life

Cole was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England and grew up on council estates in the districts of Walker and Heaton. She is the fourth of five children of Joan Callaghan, and the eldest child of Gary Tweedy. Cole's parents never married each other; they separated when she was 11. She has a brother, Garry (born 1987, Newcastle) and three elder maternal half-siblings: Joseph, Gillian and Andrew.

As a small child in the late 1980s, she appeared in a television advert for British Gas.

As she was interested in dancing from an early age, Cole started sequence dancing at the age of four, before joining The Royal Ballet's summer school at the age of nine. At a young age, Cole enrolled in The Royal Ballet's summer school. She won many modelling competitions, including the titles of Boots Group's "bonniest baby", Mothercare's Happy Faces Portrait competition, "Best Looking Girl of Newcastle", The ''Evening Chronicle'''s "Little Miss and Mister", and "Most Attractive Girl" at the MetroCentre. She also appeared in two British Gas adverts, an SCS advert, and an Eldon Square Christmas advert with younger brother Garry as well as appearing in dance recitals on some television shows. She attended Walker Comprehensive School in Newcastle, and left at 16 with few qualifications. During her time there, she was suspended twice: once for fighting with another pupil and again for swearing on a bus. After school, she took a job as a waitress in a restaurant.

Music career

2002–2008: Girls Aloud

Cole auditioned for the reality television show ''Popstars The Rivals'' in 2002 with the song "Have You Ever". Several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hope of being selected. Ten girls and ten boys were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. These finalists then took to the stage, participating in weekly Saturday night live performances which alternated weekly between the girls and boys. Each week, the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated, until the final line-ups of the groups emerged. Cole joined Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh to form the new girl group Girls Aloud, as determined by a public vote administered through the show on 30 November 2002.

The group's debut single "Sound of the Underground" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the 2002 Christmas number one. Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and reaching number one. The group released their debut album ''Sound of the Underground'' in May 2003, which entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) later the same year. Since 2003, Girls Aloud have released twenty additional singles, with all but one charting within the top ten, and 15 reaching top five positions. Their singles "I'll Stand by You", "Walk This Way", and "The Promise" have charted at number one. Two of their albums have reached the top of the UK Albums Chart: their greatest hits album ''The Sound of Girls Aloud'' and 2008's ''Out of Control'', both of which entered the chart at number one, with over one million copies of the former being sold. All five of their studio albums have been certified platinum by the BPI. They have been nominated for five Brit Awards, and in 2009 won "Best British Single" at that year's Brit Awards for "The Promise". The group has sold ten million records worldwide. Girls Aloud have become one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, and had amassed a fortune of £25 million by May 2009. The 2007 edition of Guinness World Records listed them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group", while they also hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition.

In July 2009, Girls Aloud announced they would take a year-long hiatus in the pursuit of solo projects, but would reunite for a new studio album in 2010. In August 2010, bandmate Nicola Roberts revealed that she wasn't anticipating a reunion of the band until 2012.

2009–2010: ''3 Words''

Cole's first solo performance was on American rapper will.i.am's "Heartbreaker" in 2008. She was picked to appear as a dancer in the video after taking streetdancing classes during the filming of the ITV2 series ''The Passions of Girls Aloud'', in which the members of the band achieve something they had always wanted to do, other than sing. She was later asked, by will.i.am, to sing additional vocals on the track. In April 2009, Cole started working on solo material. Her debut album, ''3 Words'', was released in the UK on 26 October 2009. Cole was reunited with will.i.am for the album, in addition to collaborating with Fraser T. Smith, Syience, Danish production team Soulshock & Karlin, singer-songwriter Taio Cruz, Wayne Wilkins, and Steve Kipner. Recorded in Los Angeles and London, Cole mainly collaborated with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, the executive producer of ''3 Words''. It crosses from contemporary R&B;, dance pop, house and a more general pop sound. Cruz was asked to write two songs for Cole, the first of which, "Break Your Heart", was written specially for Cole but Polydor label boss Ferdy Unger-Hamilton felt the song was too similar to Heartbreaker, the track Cole did with Will.i.am. When asked about the album's title Cole revealed she had already contemplated an album title which contained the phrase ''3 Words'' before the title track was recorded. She had considered titles like ''Three Syllables'', although the strongest contender was ''Unveiled'' as Cole "felt like she didn't have any protection without the girls [Girls Aloud]" and because it correlated with the veil on the album cover. The album begins with its title track, a duet with will.i.am and Cole's favourite song on the album. She said the song was "totally different from anything I've done [with Girls Aloud] or liked before" and took its inspiration from Cole's newly acquired love for dance music on the charts, especially David Guetta & Kelly Rowland's "When Love Takes Over".

''3 Words'' spent two weeks at number one. On 6 November 2009, BPI certified the album Platinum, denoting shipments of over 300,000 units. It later tripled this feat. The first single from the album, "Fight for This Love", was written by Andre Merritt, Steve Kipner and Wayne Wilkins, and produced by Steve Kipner and Wayne Wilkins. According to Cole, it was released as the lead single because she "connected with the song so well". Following a performance on ''The X Factor'' live results show, "Fight for This Love" became the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK. It charted at number one on both the Irish and UK Singles Chart. In 2010, "Fight For This Love" went to number one in Denmark, Norway and Hungary. "Fight for This Love" gained positive to mixed reviews. Ruth Harrison from 'Female First' was impressed by the song after initially being worried that Cole would not be able to cope going solo. She said "Whilst it does sound just a little big Girls Aloud-y, we still love it, and can see it being a huge hit on the club circuit up and down the country ... we think this is going to send her well on her way to global superstardom." The single was later certified silver in the UK. Cole's second single "3 Words", which features will.i.am, went to number 4 in the UK and seven in Ireland. In 2010, the single was released in Australia and charted at number 5 and was certified platinum. The third single, "Parachute", charted in the top five in both the UK and Ireland. The single was certified silver in the UK. From May to July 2010, Cole was the opening act for The Black Eyed Peas at the British shows (as well as some European dates) of The E.N.D. World Tour. Chris Johnson of the ''Daily Mail'' wrote, "she was supposed to be the support act. But as it turned out, Cheryl Cole ended up being the main event".

2010–2011: ''Messy Little Raindrops''

In March 2010, Cole stated that she had begun working on a follow up album to ''3 Words'', which she hoped to release "later on in the year". Cole's second solo album, titled ''Messy Little Raindrops'', was released on 1 November 2010. The album's first single, "Promise This", was released on 24 October 2010 and became her second number-one hit in the UK. "Promise This" is an up-tempo dance-pop song written by American songwriter Priscilla Hamilton, British music producer Wayne Wilkins, who was responsible for Cole's debut single "Fight for This Love", and Christopher Jackson. It is written in the music key of C minor with a time signature in common time and a tempo of 151 beats per minute. Cole's vocal range spans from G₃ to E♭₅. The basic chord progression of the song is Cm, Cm⁷, Cm⁶, Cm, E♭, B♭, F, Cm, E♭, B♭ and F. The song sees Cole singing some of the lyrics in French, referencing the children's song "Alouette".

The album was largely produced by Wayne Wilkins, but Cole also reunited with will.i.am, with collaboration from J. R. Rotem, Starsmith, Al Shux, and Free School for the first time. The album also features guest vocals from August Rigo, Dizzee Rascal, Travie McCoy, and will.i.am. Cole started recording sessions for her second album in February 2010 though in an interview on ''Alan Carr: Chatty Man'' she admitted that some of the songs submitted for the record dated back to ''3 Words'' (2009). The album's title is taken from a lyric in the song "Raindrops". Cole said, "when it rains, everything she's washed [...] it feels hopeful." Cole is seen in a bright pink and orange off-the-shoulder dress and five-inch animal print Christian Louboutin heels on the album cover, which was unveiled on 14 October 2010. It also features the album title and her name scrawled in orange text. Cole's barbed-wire and rose tattoo, located on her right thigh, was airbrushed out of the shot. ''Messy Little Raindrops'' has received generally mixed reviews from music critics. A predominantly positive review came from Jon O'Brien of Allmusic who awarded it four out of five stars, saying that "''Messy Little Raindrops'' is a cohesive and adventurous follow-up that will undoubtedly continue [Cole's] ascent into pop's premier league", and praising the songs "Promise This", "Amnesia" and "Happy Tears". Johnny Dee of Virgin Media noticed that with ''Messy Little Raindrops'' Cole is "returning to base" and described it as "good, clean, family-friendly fun". Promotion of the album; In addition to her role as a judge on ''The X Factor'', she performed her single "Promise This" on the show. Cheryl Cole made a high-profile appearance on ''Piers Morgan's Life Stories'', in which she discussed her marriage and divorce with Ashley Cole and her life-threatening battle with malaria. The show's ratings reached an all-time high. Polydor Records worked with advertising firm MediaCom to create various marketing strategies to promote the album, such as the usage of Facebook Places.

2011–present: Third album

In July 2011, it was reported that Cole had begun work on her third studio album. The same month, Far East Movement stated that they had been in the studio with both Cole and Will.i.am. In late July 2011, MTV reported seeing Cole meeting up with singer Usher where they were spotted outside her hotel, also Perez Hilton said that Cole and Christina Aguilera were spotted having dinner together and they had been discussing a collaboration. Producer David Guetta is working on the album.

Other endeavours

Television career

Cole was given a one-off television programme for ITV1 titled ''Cheryl Cole's Night In'', which aired on 19 December 2009. The programme, hosted by Holly Willoughby, featured music and interviews with Cole and some of her favourite performers. Alexandra Burke, Rihanna, Will Young, Snow Patrol and will.i.am made appearances. Cole told the press, "I couldn't be happier that ITV have asked me to round off the year with my own show, working with some of my favourite artists". The programme attracted 5 million viewers on its first airing, substantially less than the 8.1 million viewers that ''Strictly Come Dancing'' received during the same time slot. Cole was interviewed during an episode of the fourth series of ''Piers Morgan's Life Stories''. The show, which aired on 23 October 2010, drew an audience of 7.2 million: the highest figure in the chat show's history. As a member of Girls Aloud, Cole has also appeared in the fly on the wall documentary ''Girls Aloud: Home Truths'', the E4 documentary series ''Girls Aloud: Off the Record'', an episode of ''Ghosthunting With...'', and a one-off variety show entitled ''The Girls Aloud Party''. In June 2008, it was announced Cole would replace Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of ''The X Factor''. Cole was given the girls category (made up of female contestants between 16 and 25) and subsequently ended up as the victorious judge when Alexandra Burke was crowned the fifth winner of ''The X Factor'' on 13 December 2008. Cole returned for the sixth series in 2009 and was given the boys category (made up of male contestants aged 16 to 25). Cole emerged as the winning judge for a second consecutive year after Joe McElderry was crowned the sixth winner of ''The X Factor''. Simon Cowell, the show's creator, said, "I knew she was going to be good because she speaks like normal people speak. People can relate to that. And I think that is the best sign of a judge." Cowell has referred to Cole as "one of the best I've ever worked with." She returned for a further series in 2010 to mentor the girls category (made of female contestants aged 16 to 28). On 5 May 2011, it was officially announced after months of speculation that Cole would appear as a judge alongside Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, and Paula Abdul on the upcoming first season of the American version of ''The X Factor''. However, after only three weeks as a judge and completing the auditions in Los Angeles and Chicago, Cole was fired from the show by Fox. Additionally, it has since been confirmed that she won't be returning to the UK version of the show either, as Kelly Rowland and Tulisa Contostavlos have taken her and Dannii Minogue's places on the judging panel.

Merchandise and sponsorship deals

Cole contributed to the book ''Dreams that Glitter – Our Story'', an autobiography with her Girls Aloud bandmates, in October 2008. The book was written with a ghostwriter and published by the Transworld imprint Bantam Press. The book featured unseen photographs, included insights into the members' personal lives, their success together, style tips, and "everything [they]'ve learned about life, love and music." The book was previewed and serialised by ''OK!'' prior to its release. Girls Aloud held a book signing at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London to promote the release. The title ''Dreams that Glitter'' comes from a line in the group's 2007 single "Call the Shots". Cole's first official book, entitled ''Through My Eyes'', was published on 30 September 2010 by Bantam Press. The book is described as "a series of stunning exclusive new photos plus informal shots from her own personal collection ... a revealing and intimate portrait of the world of Cheryl Cole". ''Through My Eyes'' offers a glimpse of Cole in the recording studio, backstage on tour, behind-the-scenes at ''The X Factor'', at photo shoots and at award ceremonies. She said the book is "filled with pictures that capture those moments, [her] memories and the people [she's] closest to". Cole is the subject of several unauthorised biographies, as well as books detailing her relationship with and divorce from Ashley Cole. In February 2009, Cole appeared on the cover of ''British Vogue''. The media coverage of her appearance in the magazine boosted the magazine's circulation to 240,000: its best ever February figure. She also appeared on the November 2009 cover of the UK's ''Elle'' magazine. In late 2009, Cole became the new face of L'Oréal. However, her recent advertising campaign promoting the L'Oréal Elvive shampoo and conditioner range attracted criticism amid claims that she had deliberately deceived persons wishing to buy the product, since it shows Cole with hair extensions. As a member of Girls Aloud, Cole has endorsed Barbie, Kit Kat, Nintendo DS, Samsung, and Sunsilk.

Philanthropy

In March 2009 Gary Barlow, Cole, Kimberley Walsh, and some other celebrities climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Comic Relief. The trek raised £3.4 million for the charity. Between 3 February and 23 March 2009, Cole, Walsh, and other celebrities also raised money for Comic Relief by providing the voice for the BT Speaking Clock. In February 2011, Cole launched her own charitable foundation with The Prince’s Trust following a meeting with The Trust’s President, HRH Charles, Prince of Wales. The Cheryl Cole Foundation will provide vital funds for The Trust in the North East, helping disadvantaged young people from Cole’s region. On 13 June 2011, she auctioned 20 dresses with ASOS to raise funds for the foundation.

Film

Cole is set to star in a small cameo, alongside Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez, in ''What to Expect When You're Expecting''. This was confirmed by her her management via, social networking site, Twitter. Diaz plays Jules who auditions in an X Factor-style contest in front of the TV talent show judge - Cole’s character.

Personal life

On 11 January 2003, Cole was involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant, Sophie Amogbokpa, at The Drink nightclub in Guildford, Surrey. Cole was subsequently charged with racially aggravated assault (she had allegedly called Amogbokpa a "Caribbean jigaboo" and a "black bitch") and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. During her trial, Cole claimed she acted in self-defence (claiming she had been punched first) and denied using racially abusive language. The jury found her guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but cleared her of racially aggravated assault. The judge sentenced her to 120 hours of community service and ordered her to pay her victim £500 in compensation, as well as £3,000 prosecution costs.

Cole began dating England and Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole (then her neighbour in a London apartment block) in September 2004, announcing their engagement after he proposed in Dubai in June 2005. The couple were married at a ceremony at Barnet, North West London on 15 July 2006. They signed an exclusive deal with ''OK!'', reportedly worth £1 million, regarding the rights of the photographs. In January 2008, a hairdresser named Aimee Walton alleged in a kiss-and-tell interview with ''The Sun'' that she had engaged in drunken extramarital sex with Ashley Cole. Subsequently, glamour model Brooke Healy claimed that she had spent the night and had sexual relations with Ashley Cole in December 2006. Promotion for Girls Aloud's "Can't Speak French" was put on hold, and Cole also stopped wearing her wedding ring. The couple, however, reconciled. Following tabloid reports of marital problems in November 2009, Cole posted a picture with her wedding ring in plain sight on Twitter, with the message "3 words. Diamonds Are Forever." In early February 2010, news broke that her husband had cheated on her with five more women. On 23 February, Cole announced she was separating from her husband and asked the media to respect their privacy. On 26 May 2010, Cole filed for divorce at London's High Court citing "unreasonable behaviour" of estranged husband Ashley as the reason for their break-up. Later that day Cole's PR company confirmed the divorce, posting a message on social networking site Twitter stating: "We can confirm the divorce. We have no further comment." She was granted a decree nisi on 3 September, effectively ending the couple's four year marriage. She has continued to use the surname Cole, but during an X Factor audition at ExCeL London on 22 June 2010, Simon Cowell introduced her as "Cheryl Tweedy". A spokesperson for the singer then said that no decision on her name has yet been made. In October of that year, Cole stated in an interview with ''The Guardian'' that she would continue to use her married name, saying that changing it back would make her seem "ashamed" of her marriage.

In 2009, Cole announced her support for the Labour Party in 2010's general election, referring to the Tory leader David Cameron as "slippery". She went on to say, "we've always been Labour in our family, it just feels wrong not to be". In the aftermath of the election (which resulted in a hung parliament in which the Conservatives had the most seats and ultimately formed a government through coalition with the Liberal Democrats), Cole reportedly had a fall-out with fellow X Factor judge Simon Cowell (a Conservative supporter) during a telephone conversation about politics.

On 3 July 2010, Cole was admitted to hospital with suspected acute malaria. This was shortly after a visit to Tanzania, where it is believed she may have contracted the disease. During an ''X Factor'' photoshoot in Cardiff, Cole has said that she noticed her lips were blue and has said "I thought, 'You're getting the flu'. Not for one second did malaria cross my mind." She has said that during the auditions she asked to lie down and this was when she collapsed, was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with malaria. Her collapse was televised and she was forced to miss the rest of the auditions as well as bootcamp. Cole returned for the 'judges houses' stage of the show but had to film this at a country house in Berkshire as she was still too ill to travel.

References in Media

Cole was referenced in Lily Allen's "Cheryl Tweedy", a b-side to her 2006 debut single "Smile". Cole took the song as a compliment to her, although Allen later pointed out that it had been tongue-in-cheek. Allen has since retracted her comments.

Cole was briefly mentioned in the novel "The Family" by British crime writer Martina Cole, and "The Newsagent's Window" by John Osborne. In the popular British TV Drama ''Waterloo Road'', the character Janeece Bryant named her daughter "Cheryl" after her, and had intended to name the boy "Cole" had it been a boy.

Discography

''3 Words'' (2009)

''Messy Little Raindrops'' (2010)

Tours

With Girls Aloud

As solo supporting act

The Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. World Tour (Europe, 2010)

Awards and nominations

! Year	! Award-giving body	! Award	! Result
	Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards	Best Female Singer
	Most Fanciable Female
	Hottest Female
rowspan="2"	Sexiest Female
Best Reality TV Judge
		TV Personality
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World	#1 Sexiest Woman in the World
	Best Dressed Women
Style icon of the decade
BBC Switch Live Awards	Switch's Prom Queen
	Hottest Female
Legend Of the Year
rowspan="1"	Best Dressed
	2010 BRIT Awards	British Single (Fight for This Love)
rowspan="2"	Best Dressed
Woman of the Year
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World	#1 Sexiest Woman in the World
	Best Female Artist
Best Single (Fight for This Love)
Best Video (Fight for This Love)
Best British Female
Elle Style Awards	Musician Of The Year
TRL Awards (Italy)	Best New Act
	Best Dressed Woman

References

External links

Official Australian website

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:British people convicted of assault Category:English female singers Category:English television personalities Category:Fascination Records artists Category:Footballers' wives and girlfriends Category:Girls Aloud members Category:Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Reality show winners Category:Reality television judges Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:The X Factor (U.S.)

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Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
Name	Connie Talbot
Background	solo_singer
Born	November 20, 2000
Origin	Streetly, Aldridge, West Midlands, England, UK
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2007–present
Genre	Pop
Occupation	Singer
Label	Rainbow Recording Company
Website	connietalbot.com }}

Connie Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is an English child singer from Streetly, Aldridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands. She rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the television talent show ''Britain's Got Talent'', where she was runner-up to Paul Potts. Talbot was supposed to sign with Sony BMG but the label pulled out of the deal due to her age.

Talbot signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album ''Over the Rainbow'' in the UK on 26 November 2007. The album was re-released 18 June 2008 with a new track listing, and the first single from the album, a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", was released on 10 June.

Despite its negative critical reception, ''Over the Rainbow'' has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and reached number one in three countries. Since the initial album release, Talbot has performed publicly and on television in Europe, the U.S. and across Asia, where her music had gained recognition through YouTube. Her second album, ''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album'', was released on 24 November 2008; her third, ''Holiday Magic'', was released in late 2009. On top of her musical career, Talbot continues to attend primary school and lives in Streetly with her family.

History

''Britain's Got Talent'' and Sony BMG

Talbot initially auditioned for the first series of television reality show ''Britain's Got Talent'' for fun, but her confidence increased when Simon Cowell, whom she is said to have idolised, described her as "pure magic" and said that he would make her earn "£1 million-plus this year". The judges expected a "joke" performance and she had never taken singing lessons, but Talbot's initial performance received international press coverage. She reached the final round after winning her semi-final with a live performance of "Ben" by Michael Jackson. On the night of the final, she sang ''The Wizard of Oz'''s "Over the Rainbow", but lost to Paul Potts as a result of the call-in vote. Talbot and Potts had been joint favourites to win the series. According to journalist and ''Britain's Got Talent'' judge Piers Morgan, Talbot's performances resulted in many children, including Faryl Smith, auditioning for the second series of the show. After his victory, Series 2 winner George Sampson spoke of his participation in the first series, where he was knocked out before the live shows, saying "I don't think I had any shot of winning last year ... When you look at the standard of Paul Potts and Connie Talbot. Paul Potts is out of this league, and Connie is out of this league – I wasn't good enough." Talbot voted for Sampson, saying "I liked his dancing – he was good on the lamppost".

Cowell had preliminarily agreed to sign Talbot with his own record label, Sony BMG. After recording two songs in London with Talbot ("Over the Rainbow" and "Smile"), the label pulled out of the deal. Talbot's mother, Sharon, said she was told that her daughter "...was too young to be their sort of artist", adding "We have been told to look for a company which looks after children." In a statement, the label said "there was some deliberation over the possibility of recording with Connie ... However, the decision not to proceed was made with the best intentions for Connie, taking into consideration her age and that it would not be right to do so at this time." Cowell himself said that "when the time is right, [he would] be delighted to see if [they could] make it work". The Talbot family decided to search for another label, saying "while [Talbot] loves what she's doing it would be cruel to stop her. Fame and money will never matter."

''Over the Rainbow''

In October 2007 Talbot signed with the Rainbow Recording Company for a six-figure deal. Rainbow Recording Company, an offshoot of record label Rhythm Riders made specifically for Talbot, was due to release Talbot's first album on 26 November 2007. It was later reported that the album was named ''Over the Rainbow'', and the first single, "Over the Rainbow"/"White Christmas", would be released on 3 December 2007. Experts predicted that she had a good chance of getting the Christmas number one, but the single was cancelled in favour of an album-first release. Before the album was released, there was much speculation about Talbot and the album, with music experts describing her as potentially being "the next Charlotte Church". The team behind the album consisted of John Arnison, who also managed Gabrielle and Billy Ocean, and Marc Marot, former managing director of Island Records. It was produced and mixed by Simon Hill and Rob May. Arnison revealed that he and his team "are not going to give [Talbot] singing lessons – we don't need to", and said that when he met Talbot, he was "blown away". A schedule was worked out allowing Talbot to continue with her normal school activities while recording the album in her aunt Vicky's spare bedroom, which her mother described as "a better solution [than Sony BMG offered] which has not robbed her of her childhood". Although Arnison claimed he did not "want to put her through the promotional grind which most artists go through because she is too young", plans were made for an appearance on daytime television programme ''This Morning'', as well as an appearance on ''Children in Need'' on 16 November 2007. The album was released on 26 November 2007 and Talbot's mother said that "All the family is really excited, but Connie is quite blase about it." The album was certified gold in early December, with Talbot being presented a gold disc by Phillip Schofield on ''This Morning''. Initially, 50,000 copies of the album were pressed, but an additional 120,000 had to be made after the album sold out in days.

In late 2007, public appearances by Talbot included headlining the Great Bridge Christmas and Winter Festival, which local police threatened to cancel unless crowds clamouring to reach the tent in which Talbot was performing could be brought under control. At the event, on 7 December 2007, Talbot said "I love it here, it’s brilliant, really fun", but had to be ushered off-stage by the police. Talbot performed publicly in Walsall's HMV store, and in Birmingham's Centenary Square. TV appearances included GMTV and Channel 5 news, both on 26 November 2007. According to her mother, Talbot has received offers for film roles. Sharon said "[Talbot]'s been sent a script, I haven't had a good look at it yet but it's really exciting ... Connie's a singer, not an actress, so we'll see what happens. It's completely up to her whether or not she wants to do it. I can't believe it, though."

Sharon Mawer of Allmusic praised ''Over the Rainbow'' by saying "She can sing, for a seven year old, and most of the notes (if not all of them) are in the right order and sung to the right pitch; the timing is fine too". However, she criticised the album, saying "there's no feeling, no emotion, no realisation of what each song is about; they're just pretty little songs", giving the album 2/5. Nick Levine, of Digital Spy, said in a review of the album that Talbot had a "sweet, pure voice", but that there is "no nuance or depth to her performance". However, he said that "There's something inherently wrong about awarding a star rating to a seven-year-old", and that "the decidedly adult concept of musical merit should have nothing to do with [her music]", awarding the album 2/5.

The album was rereleased on 16 June 2008, but was available for pre-order in May, with three new tracks to replace its Christmas-themed songs. The first single from the album, "Three Little Birds", was released in June 2008, and a video for the song was shot in Jamaica. In April and May 2008, Talbot toured Asia to promote ''Over the Rainbow''. Asian press attributed her success to her videos on YouTube, with the ''Sun.Star'' mentioning that her most viewed video had been watched over 14 million times, and ''The Straits Times'' saying that videos of Talbot's performances have been watched over 30 million times. The tour made stops in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Talbot and her family returned to England in late May. Following the tour, it was reported that the album had reached number one on the charts in Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, as well as reaching number three in Singapore. After the tour, Talbot travelled to Poland, where she performed on television.

It was also revealed that ''Over the Rainbow'' was due for release in America in September, resulting in attention from American press sources including Fox Business Network and MarketWatch. The U.S. version was eventually released on 14 October, with Talbot appearing on American television shows including ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' to publicise the release.

In August 2008, it was announced that Talbot had signed a contract with Data Design Interactive for production of a video game on the Wii console. The game was to feature 15 songs from ''Over the Rainbow'', allowing players to sing along with a computer-generated image of Talbot or against other players in a karaoke mode. Talbot rerecorded the album for the game. The game was scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009, and is called ''Connie Talbot: Over the Rainbow''. The game hasn't been released yet as of 2011, citing copyright issues on the songs used for it.

''Christmas Album'' and ''Holiday Magic''

In November 2008, it was announced that Talbot had produced a series of new songs for an album. Recorded in her bedroom studio, ''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album'' was released on 24 November. It is a Christmas themed album, featuring, according to Talbot's official website, "a mix of classics and modern Christmas tunes". News was also released of a one-off Christmas special to be shown on ITV1 in the days leading up to Christmas, featuring footage of Talbot's journey to America and a "secret concert" at her primary school. The documentary, ''Christmas with Connie'', was shown on ITV Central on 18 December. Talbot appeared at Walsall's HMV branch shortly after the release of her ''Christmas Album'' to sign copies and meet fans. She then embarked on a promotional tour making stops around the world, which included a performance at Ewha Womans University in Korea, and a performance on the A Heart for Children television charity gala in Berlin, Germany. She returned home in mid December, to have "a quiet family Christmas". There are plans for a promotional trip to the U.S. in 2009.

''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album'' was difficult to obtain in Britain after the distributor, Pinnacle Entertainment, went into administration. Talbot's mother, Sharon, was quoted as saying "We don't really know what's going to happen at the moment ... We think they'll probably wait and promote the album later this year. It's a shame, but they can still get the album in Asia and the US." Reviewing the album for ''FemaleFirst'' magazine, Ruth Harrison gave it 4/5, saying that Talbot has "a great voice when it comes to swing, but lets us down in parts".

In April 2009, Talbot again travelled to the U.S. in order to publicise her new single, a cover of "I Will Always Love You". The single was released in the U.S. on 7 April, along with a newly recorded "You Raise Me Up". Talbot then travelled to the U.S. on 30 April, and returned on 2 May. Appearances included a performance on ''Good Day New York'' on Fox Broadcasting Company's WNYW. The single peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Singles Sales.

Talbot's third album, ''Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic'', was released on 20 October 2009 in the United States and on 30 November 2009 in the United Kingdom. The United States album is dedicated to the Toys for Tots campaign, of which Talbot has been named the child ambassador. In a statement, Bill Grein, Vice President of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, said-

Personal life

Talbot lives in Streetly, in the West Midlands, and currently attends a state primary school. She lives with her mother, Sharon, her father Gavin, a self-employed property maintenance engineer, her brother Josh, and her sister, Mollie. Talbot sang "Over the Rainbow", her signature song, at her grandmother's funeral, because she and her grandmother had enjoyed watching ''The Wizard of Oz'' together. Talbot drew confidence in ''Britain's Got Talent'' from the belief that her grandmother was watching, and vowed to win the show in her memory. Despite Talbot speaking positively of the effects of her fame, her parents spoke of a darker side, including having to change their phone number and hire a bodyguard for their daughter.

Discography

Albums

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center; ! rowspan=2| Year ! rowspan=2| Album ! colspan=8| Peak chart positions ! rowspan=2| Sales ! rowspan=2| Certifications |- style=font-size:smaller; ! width=25| UK ! width=25| HON ! width=25| SIN ! width=25| KOR ! width=25| TAI ! width=25| U.S. Heat ! width=25| U.S. Kid ! width=25| U.S. Indie |- | 2007 | align=left| ''Over the Rainbow''

Released: 26 November 2007

Labels: Rainbow Recording Company

| 35 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 43 | align=left|

UK: 100,000+ (rated gold by BPI)

South Korea: 30,000+ Worldwide: 250,000+ | align=left|

UK: Gold

Taiwan: Platinum Hong Kong: Platinum Korea: Double platinum |- | 2008 | align=left| ''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album''

Released: 24 November 2008

Labels: Rainbow Recording Company

| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |- | 2009 | align=left| ''Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic''

Released: 20 October 2009

Labels: AAO Music

| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |}

Singles

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center; ! rowspan=2| Year ! rowspan=2| Single ! colspan=2| Peak chart positions ! rowspan=2| Album |- style=font-size:smaller; ! width=30| UKIndie ! width=30| U.S.HSS |- | 2008 | align=left| "Three Little Birds" | 3 | 1 | rowspan=2| ''Over The Rainbow'' |- | 2009 |align=left| "I Will Always Love You" | – | 4 |}

References

External links

Official website

Official channel on YouTube (Former)

[ Connie Talbot] at Allmusic

Connie Talbot on MySpace

Category:2000 births Category:Living people Category:English child singers Category:English female singers Category:Britain's Got Talent contestants Category:People from Aldridge Category:English pop singers

bg:Кони Талбот de:Connie Talbot es:Connie Talbot fr:Connie Talbot ko:코니 탤벗 it:Connie Talbot hu:Connie Talbot nl:Connie Talbot ja:コニー・タルボット no:Connie Talbot pl:Connie Talbot pt:Connie Talbot ru:Телбот, Конни fi:Connie Talbot sv:Connie Talbot th:คอนนี ทัลบอต zh:康妮·塔波特

Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
name	Simon Cowell
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Simon Phillip Cowell
birth date	October 07, 1959
birth place	Lambeth, London, England
origin	Elstree, Hertfordshire, England
occupation	A&R; executive, television producer, entrepreneur, television personality
years active	1979–present
label	EMIE&S; MusicFanfare RecordsBMGS RecordsSony Music EntertainmentSyco
associated acts	Westlife, Sinitta, Leon Jackson, Jai McDowall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Robson & Jerome, Ultimate Kaos, WWF Wrestlers, Zig and Zag, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Shayne Ward, Il Divo, Susan Boyle, Paul Potts, JLS
notable instruments	}}

Simon Phillip Cowell (born 7 October 1959) is an English A&R; executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as ''Pop Idol'', ''The X Factor'', ''Britain's Got Talent'' and ''American Idol''. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' and the fifth series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. In September 2011, he will feature as a judge on the first season of the American version of ''The X Factor''.

In 2010, the British magazine ''New Statesman'' listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".

Early life

Cowell was born in Lambeth, London and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His father, Eric Philip Cowell (1918–1999), was an estate agent developer and music industry executive; his mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish), is a former ballet dancer and socialite. Cowell's paternal grandparents, Joseph Cowell and Esther Malinsky, were English Jews, and his maternal grandfather was Scottish. He has one brother and three half-brothers; younger brother Nicholas Cowell, half-brother John Cowell, half-brother Tony Cowell and half-brother Michael Cowell. Michael is the oldest, followed by John, Tony, Simon and Nicholas respectively.

Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed in English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College where he gained another GCE in Sociology. At the age of 17, he dated model Paula Hamilton. Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's ''The Shining''—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father who was executive at the recording giant EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.

Career

Cowell's father's connections originally got him rehired as the assistant to an A&R; man. From there onwards, Simon worked his way up and eventually got promoted to a music publishing position but left during the early 1980s to form E&S; Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich (later Chairman of the Performing Right Society). The company had several hit records at one point with five singles in the UK top 40. The offices were in a converted gentleman's washroom in the NCP car park on Brewer Street in London's Soho district. Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. He worked for Iain Burton, manager of choreographer Arlene Phillips, co-founder of dance group Hot Gossip and of nascent independent record label Fanfare Records. Cowell worked with Burton for eight years at Fanfare where he achieved his first real success in the music industry, becoming a partner and building Fanfare into a highly successful 'indie' pop label. Fanfare had numerous top ten hits with various pop artists and particularly Sinitta, selling more than 500,000 copies of her debut single "So Macho", and more than 500,000 copies of her album ''Rondo Veneziano''. Next in 1984, Cowell and Burton met up with Pete Waterman for the first time.

Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman formed the songwriting and record producing trio known as Stock Aitken Waterman. Stock Aitken Waterman helped Fanfare during the second half of the 1980s producing several hit singles for Sinitta and licensing ''The Hit Factory'' SAW Compilation Albums to Fanfare. Next in 1989, Fanfare's parent, Public Company, found itself in difficulties, forcing Fanfare into the hands of BMG, and an in-debt Cowell was forced to move back in with his parents. Later that year, he became an A&R; consultant for BMG.

Subsequently, Cowell signed up a number of acts to ''S-Records'' that became successful, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Westlife, Robson & Jerome, and Ultimate Kaos. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of wrestlers of the World Wrestling Entertainment, Teletubbies, Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes. Cowell set up another label, Syco Music, in 2002 which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from ''The X Factor'' and ''America's Got Talent'' are released on Syco. Cowell explained, "There has to come a point when I will step down from being on camera and remain behind the scenes because you can't keep doing this forever...I think by [the end of my contract] that the public will be sick to death of me anyway and it will be time to go."

In 2006, Cowell signed to two more record-breaking deals. In the USA, he agreed to remain as a judge on ''American Idol'', earning £20 million (US$33 million) per season for another five years. He also has a deal with FOX which allows his production company to broadcast ''Got Talent'' and ''American Inventor'' on other networks, but he may not appear on them. In the UK, he signed a "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV, worth approximately £6.5 million a year for three years, which gave ITV rights to his talent show ''The X Factor'', a British singing talent show, and ''Grease Is the Word'', a musical talent show to find the stars of a ''Grease'' production in London's West End. In late 2005, he signed a new contract to remain working for Sony BMG.

In 2010, Cowell finalised a deal which secures the long-term business future of Syco with Sony Music Entertainment. The deal will also see him launching a US version of X Factor on 21 September 2011.

''Idol'' franchise and ''Il Divo''

Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities, such as Judge Judy, and ''Weakest Link'''s Anne Robinson. Though comparable to Anne Robinson, Cowell has expressed his dislike for her and has commented in an interview, "I hate her and I hate her show because it's just an act". Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford. Cowell also appeared on the one-off ''World Idol'' programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the ''Idol'' had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of ''Pop Idol'', Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits. Efforts begun in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from ''American Idol'' was made official. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. It was also announced that Fox has acquired the rights to an American version of Cowell's popular British show, ''The X Factor'', which is slated to begin production in autumn 2011.

''The X Factor''

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition ''The X Factor'', which he created using his production company, Syco. ''The X Factor'' was an instant success with the viewers and will begin its eighth series in 2011.

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of ''The X Factor'', was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has gone on to become an international star, with number one singles and album sales around the world. Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on ''Grease Is the Word''. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Sharon Osbourne decided to quit before the show began.

''The X Factor'' has been confirmed to return to Australian television in 2010 on the Seven Network with Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia as judges. Matthew Newton will host the show. Auditions will begin in May 2010.

Cowell will also launch the U.S. version of ''The X Factor'' in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and US editions of the show, which will air at similar times of the year, but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell will no longer be a judge in the UK version., but instead will be an enormous presence backstage.

In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both ''Britain's Got Talent'' and ''The X Factor''.

''Got Talent'' franchise

Following the success of the ''Idol'' and ''X-Factor'' franchises, Cowell, his company Syco, and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on. The origins of the ''Got Talent'' format can be traced to the British show ''Opportunity Knocks'', which began as a radio programme in the 1940s and later transferred to television, where it was an ITV staple for several decades. Looking further back, ''Opportunity Knocks'' had its roots in the variety show traditions of British music hall and American vaudeville.

Cowell is the executive producer of ''America's Got Talent'', which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the ''Idol'' series, but he does not appear on the show due to the terms of his ''American Idol'' contract. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating ''So You Think You Can Dance'' on FOX (produced by rival and ''Idol'' creator Simon Fuller).

''Britain's Got Talent'' debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle made a global media impact with her regional audition performance comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner.

''American Inventor''

On 16 March 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, ''American Inventor'', debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.

''Celebrity Duets''

In 2006, Cowell executive-produced ''Celebrity Duets'', which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster.

''Grease Is the Word''

Cowell was also the executive producer of ''Grease Is the Word'' for ITV. This show set out to find performers to play Danny and Sandy in the 2007 West End revival of Grease. It was hosted by Zoe Ball and judged by Britons David Ian and Sinitta and Americans David Gest and Brian Friedman. The musical theatre casting concept had already been introduced by the BBC with the ratings hit ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'', but Cowell's show was not the hoped for success. He himself said, "It has been slaughtered by the critics – and rightly so. It is far too similar to our other formats."

''Rock Rivals''

Cowell collaborated with UK production company Shed Media to produce 2008 ITV drama series ''Rock Rivals'', which is based on an ''X Factor'' type show.

Other activities

Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years. He supports children from The Association Of Children's Hospices and invites them backstage to the screenings of ''The X Factor''. When he can, he stops by some of the hospices to visit the children. He also supports animal rights and has appeared in a video for PETA in which he reminds drivers of the cruelty to animals that can occur when their pets are locked in cars in the summer. In view of his charitable works, particularly the production of the charity single ''Everybody Hurts'' in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, as well as his services to the music industry, there was considerable media speculation as to whether Cowell would receive a knighthood in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours, a proposal allegedly put forward by former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Cowell stated that he believed his chances of receiving the honour were "zero" following what he described as being a "royal row"; ultimately Cowell did not receive an honour in the list.

In December 2003, Cowell published his autobiography titled ''I Don't Mean to be Rude, but...''. In it, he told the whole story of his childhood, his years working in music and experiences on ''Pop Idol'', ''Pop Stars Rivals'', and ''American Idol'', and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.

Cowell has appeared as a guest voice in an episode of ''The Simpsons'' ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer Simpson (while criticising Homer's punches). His voice was also heard on an episode of ''Family Guy'' ("Lois Kills Stewie"), in which he told Stewie that his singing was so awful that he should be dead. He made an MTV Movie Award-winning cameo appearance as himself in ''Scary Movie 3'', where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and subsequently gets killed by gunfire for criticising the rappers). He also appears in the DVD version of ''Shrek 2'' as a judge in ''Far Far Away Idol'', and also provided the voice.

He appeared on an episode of ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'' (the original British version) and ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2004. Cowell has also guest-starred (filling in for Regis Philbin) in the popular talk show ''Live with Regis and Kelly'' during ''American Idol'''s finalist week in early 2006. Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show ''Top Gear'', driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When ''Top Gear'' retired the Liana along with its rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver. On 11 November 2007 Cowell yet again appeared on Top Gear, achieving a time of 1:45.9 thus putting him ahead of Gordon Ramsay and back at the top of the table. Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. He was seen on ''Comic Relief Does The Apprentice'' where he donated £25,000 for a fun fair ticket. Cowell has also appeared on the MTV shows Cribs and Punk'd. On Punk'd, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson set him up to believe his $400,000 Rolls Royce was stolen and had caused an accident by using a nearly identical car.

Cowell was chosen as the first subject of the re-launched ''This Is Your Life'' in an episode broadcast on 2 June 2007. He was presented with the Red Book by Sir Trevor McDonald while presenting ''American Idol''.

On 1 July 2007 Cowell appeared alongside Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest as a speaker at the Concert For Diana, held at Wembley Stadium.

Simon Cowell was a partner in the Royal Ascot Racing Club, a thoroughbred horse racing syndicate which owned the 2005 Epsom Derby winner, Motivator.

In May 2010, he portrayed himself again, in another episode of ''The Simpsons'', "Judge Me Tender".

In December 2010, he was added as a new entry to the latest edition of ''Who's Who''.

Personal life

In late 2002, Cowell started dating longtime friend Terri Seymour. In November 2008, ''TV Guide'' reported that Cowell and Seymour had since broken up.

Cowell is the godfather of pop singer Sinitta's adopted children.

Upon his appearance on ''Top Gear'', it was revealed that Cowell pays more than £21.7m per year in income tax, suggesting that his taxable income is over £54.25m per year with income tax at the time approximately 40%. (NB: UK Income Tax 40% for earnings over £34,600). Cowell was estimated to have a fortune of £200 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2011, making him the sixth richest person in the British music industry.

Cowell has admitted to using Botox.

Cowell has a $22 million, home in Beverly Hills.

In May 2009, in the ''Daily Mail'' tabloid newspaper, Cowell revealed that he is often plagued by "dark moods and miserable thoughts". He claims that he has considered seeking therapy for this, stating that it would be a 'long session'.

Cowell became engaged to make up artist Mezhgan Hussainy in February 2010. They met on the set of ''American Idol''.

Cowell endorsed David Cameron to be Prime Minister and claimed that he has the 'substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times'. In the aftermath of the election, it was reported that he had fallen out with fellow X Factor judge Cheryl Cole (who had declared her support for Labour and Gordon Brown) in a telephone conversation about politics.

References

External links

Simon Cowell at itv.com/xfactor

Simon Cowell for PETA

Simon Cowell on World Top 100 A&R; Chart

New York Times: How a Hit Almost Failed Its Own Audition

Reviews and short bio of Simon Cowell

Playboy Interview: Simon Cowell, February 2007

Interview, HitQuarters Oct 2001

2011 radio interview with Simon Cowell

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Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:American Idol participants Category:American music industry executives Category:Anglo-Scots Category:A&R; people Category:British music industry executives Category:British people of Jewish descent Category:British racehorse owners and breeders Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English memoirists Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English record producers Category:Got Talent series Category:Idol series judges Category:Old Dovorians Category:Pop Idol Category:Reality television judges Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:People educated at Licensed Victuallers' School

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