name	Prince
background	solo_singer
birth name	Prince Rogers Nelson
born	June 07, 1958Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, clavinet, drums, percussion, saxophone, harmonica, Linn Drum
genre	Funk, R&B;, rock, pop, new wave, Minneapolis sound, synthpop
occupation	Musician, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor
years active	1976–present
label	Warner Bros., Paisley Park, NPG, EMI Records, Columbia Records, Arista Records
associated acts	The Revolution; Wendy & LisaThe New Power GenerationThe Time; Morris DaySheila E.Vanity 6; Apollonia 6MazaratiThe Family94 EastMadhouse
notable instruments	}}

Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7, 1958), better known as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He has also been known under the unpronounceable symbol, which he used between 1993 and 2000. During that period he was frequently referred to in the media as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince", often abbreviated to "TAFKAP", "AFKAP" or simply "The Artist".

Prince produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of the instruments on his recordings. In addition, Prince has been a "talent promoter" for the careers of Sheila E., Carmen Electra, The Time and Vanity 6, and his songs have been recorded by these artists and others (including Chaka Khan, The Bangles, and Sinéad O'Connor).

Prince also has several hundred unreleased songs in his "vault". He has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the first year he was eligible.

''Rolling Stone'' has ranked Prince No.27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Prince's music has been influenced by rock, R&B;, soul, funk, rap, blues, New Wave, electronica, disco, psychedelia, folk, jazz, and pop. His artistic influences include Sly & the Family Stone, Parliament-Funkadelic, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, the Isley Brothers, Duke Ellington, Curtis Mayfield, and Stevie Wonder. Prince pioneered the "Minneapolis sound", a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B; and New Wave that has influenced many other musicians.

Prince has a wide vocal range and is known for his flamboyant stage presence and costumes. He has sold over 80 million copies worldwide.

Early life

Prince Rogers Nelson was born June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw. Prince's father was a pianist and songwriter and his mother was a jazz singer. Prince was named after his father, whose stage name was ''Prince Rogers'', and who performed with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio. In a 1991 interview with ''A Current Affair'', Prince's father said, "I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do." Prince's childhood nickname was Skipper.

In a PBS interview Prince told Tavis Smiley that he was "born epileptic" and "used to have seizures" when he was young. During the interview Prince also said that "my mother told me one day I walked in to her and said, 'Mom, I'm not going to be sick anymore,' and she said 'Why?' and I said 'Because an angel told me so.' "

Prince's sister Tika Evene (usually called Tyka) was born in 1960. Both siblings developed a keen interest in music, and this was encouraged by their father. Prince wrote his first tune, "Funk Machine" on his father's piano when he was seven. Prince's parents then separated when Prince was ten years old. Following their separation, Prince constantly switched home: sometimes he lived with his father, and sometimes with his stepfather. Finally he moved into the home of a neighbor, the Andersons, and befriended their son, Andre Anderson who later became known as André Cymone.

Prince and Anderson joined Prince's cousin, Charles Smith, in a band called Grand Central while they were attending Minneapolis's Central High School. Smith was later replaced by Morris Day on the drums. Prince played piano and guitar for the band which performed at clubs and parties in the Minneapolis area. Grand Central later changed its name to Champagne and started playing original music influenced by Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Miles Davis, Parliament-Funkadelic, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and Todd Rundgren. Prince also played basketball in high school.

Career

In 1976, Prince created a demo tape with producer Chris Moon in Moon's Minneapolis studio. Unable to secure a recording contract, Moon brought the tape to Minneapolis businessman Owen Husney. Husney signed Prince, at the age of 17, to a management contract and helped Prince create a demo recording at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis using producer/engineer David Z. The demo recording, along with a press kit produced at Husney's ad agency, resulted in interest from several record companies including Warner Bros. Records, A&M; Records, and Columbia Records. With the help of Husney, Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Bros.. Warner Bros. agreed to give Prince creative control for three albums and ownership of the publishing rights. Husney and Prince then left Minneapolis and moved to Sausalito, California where Prince's first album, ''For You'', was recorded at Record Plant Studios. Subsequently, the album was mixed in Los Angeles and released in 1978.

Musical beginnings: 1974–80

In 1975, Pepe Willie, the husband of Prince's cousin, Shauntel, formed the band 94 East with Marcy Ingvoldstad and Kristie Lazenberry. Willie hired Andre Cymone and Prince to record tracks with 94 East. Those songs were written by Willie and Prince contributed guitar tracks. Prince also co-wrote, with Willie, the 94 East song, "Just Another Sucker". The band recorded tracks which later became the album ''Minneapolis Genius – The Historic 1977 Recordings''. Prince also recorded, but never released, a song written by Willie – "If You See Me" a.k.a. "Do Yourself A Favor". In 1995, Willie released the album ''94 East featuring Prince, Symbolic Beginning'' which included original recordings by Prince and Cymone.

Prince released the album ''For You'' on April 7, 1978. The album was written and performed by Prince, except for the song "Soft and Wet" which had lyrics co-written by Moon. According to the ''For You'' album notes, Prince produced, arranged, composed and played all 27 instruments on the recording.

The cost of recording the album was twice Prince's initial advance. Prince used the ''Prince's Music Co.'' to publish his songs. The single from the album reached No.12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No.92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Just as Long as We're Together" reached No.91 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

In 1979 Prince created a band which included André Cymone on bass, Dez Dickerson on guitar, Gayle Chapman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, and Bobby Z. on drums. Their first show was at the Capri Theater on January 5, 1979. Warner Bros. executives attended the show but decided that Prince and the band needed more time to develop his music.

In October 1979, Prince released a self-titled album, ''Prince'', which was No.4 on the Billboard Top R&B;/Black Albums charts, and No.22 on the Billboard 200, going platinum. It contained two R&B; hits: "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover". "I Wanna Be Your Lover" sold over a million copies, and reached No.11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No.1 for two weeks on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Prince performed both these songs on January 26, 1980 on ''American Bandstand''. On this album, Prince used ''Ecnirp Music – BMI''.

''Controversy'' era: 1980–84

In 1980 Prince released the album, ''Dirty Mind'', which he recorded in his own studio. The album was certified gold and the attendant single "Uptown" reached No.5 on the ''Billboard'' Dance chart and No.5 on the Hot Soul Singles charts. Prince was also the opening act for Rick James' 1980 ''Fire it Up'' tour. ''Dirty Mind'' contained sexually explicit material, including the title song, "Head", and the song "Sister". In February 1981, Prince made his first appearance on ''Saturday Night Live'', performing "Partyup".

In October 1981, Prince released the album, ''Controversy''. He played several dates in support of it, at first as one of the opening acts for The Rolling Stones, who were then on tour in the U.S. He began 1982 with a small tour of college towns where he was the headlining act. The songs on ''Controversy'' were published by ''Controversy Music'' – ''ASCAP'', a practice he continued until the ''Emancipation'' album in 1996.

In 1981, Prince formed a side project band called The Time. The band released four albums between 1981 and 1990, with Prince writing and performing most of the instrumentation and backing vocals, with lead vocals by Morris Day.

In late 1982, Prince released a double album, ''1999'', which sold over three million copies. The title track was a protest against nuclear proliferation and became his first top ten hit in countries outside the U.S. Prince's "Little Red Corvette" was one of the first two videos by a black artist played in heavy rotation on MTV, along with Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean".

The song "Delirious" also placed in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The Revolution and ''Purple Rain'': 1984–87

During this period Prince referred to his band as The Revolution. The band's name was also printed, in reverse, on the cover of ''1999'' inside the letter "I" of the word "Prince". The band consisted of Lisa Coleman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z. on drums, Brown Mark on bass, and Dez Dickerson on guitar. Jill Jones, a backing singer, was also part of The Revolution line up for the ''1999'' album and tour. Following the 1999 Tour, Dickerson left the group for religious reasons. In the 2003 book ''Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince'', author Alex Hahn says that Dickerson was reluctant to sign a three year contract and wanted to pursue other musical ventures. Dickerson was replaced by Wendy Melvoin, a childhood friend of Coleman. At first the band was used sparsely in the studio but this gradually changed during the mid-1980s.

Prince's 1984 album ''Purple Rain'' sold more than thirteen million copies in the U.S. and spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The film of the same name won an Academy Award and grossed more than $80 million in the U.S. Songs from the film were hits on pop charts around the world, while "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" reached No.1 and the title track reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100. At one point in 1984, Prince simultaneously had the number one album, single, and film in the U.S.; it was the first time a singer had achieved this feat. Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for ''Purple Rain'', and the album is ranked 72nd ''Rolling Stone'''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album is included on the list of ''Time'' magazine's All-Time 100 Albums.

After Tipper Gore heard her 12-year-old daughter Karenna listening to Prince's song "Darling Nikki", she founded the Parents Music Resource Center. The center advocates the mandatory use of a warning label ("Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics") on the covers of records that have been judged to contain language or lyrical content unsuitable for minors. The recording industry later voluntarily complied with this request. Of what is considered the Filthy Fifteen Prince's compositions appear no. 1 and no. 2, with the fourth position occupied by his protegee Vanity.

In 1985 Prince announced that he would discontinue live performances and music videos after the release of his next album. His subsequent recording ''Around the World in a Day'' held the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks.

In 1986 his album ''Parade'' reached No.3 on the Billboard 200 and No.2 on the R&B; charts. The first single, "Kiss", reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was originally written for a side project called Mazarati. That same year the song "Manic Monday", which was written by Prince and recorded by The Bangles, reached No.2 on the Hot 100 chart.

The album ''Parade'' served as the soundtrack for Prince's second film, ''Under the Cherry Moon''. Prince directed and starred in the movie, which also featured Kristen Scott Thomas. He received the Golden Raspberry Award for his efforts in acting and directing. In 1986, Prince began a series of sporadic live performances called the Hit n Run – Parade Tour. The European tour went to Europe in the summer and ended that September in Japan.

After the tour Prince abolished The Revolution, fired Wendy & Lisa and replaced Bobby Z. with Sheila E. Brown Mark quit the band while keyboardist Doctor Fink remained. Prince then recruited new band members Miko Weaver on guitar, Atlanta Bliss on trumpet, Eric Leeds on saxophone, Boni Boyer on keyboards, Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass and dancer Cat Glover.

Solo again and spiritual rebirth: 1987–91

Prior to the disbanding of The Revolution, Prince was working on two separate projects, The Revolution album ''Dream Factory'' and a solo effort, ''Camille''. Unlike the three previous band albums, ''Dream Factory'' included significant input from the band members and even featured a number of songs with lead vocals by Wendy & Lisa, while the ''Camille'' project saw Prince create a new persona primarily singing in a sped up, female-sounding voice. With the dismissal of The Revolution, Prince consolidated material from both shelved albums, along with some new songs, into a three-LP album to be titled ''Crystal Ball''. However, following the low sales of his previous two albums, Warner Bros. forced Prince to trim the triple album to a double album and ''Sign o' the Times'' was released on March 31, 1987.

The album peaked at No.6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. The first single, "Sign o' the Times", would chart at No.3 on the Hot 100. The follow-up single, "If I Was Your Girlfriend" charted poorly at No.67 on the Hot 100, but went to No.12 on R&B; chart. The third single, a duet with Sheena Easton, "U Got the Look" charted at No.2 on the Hot 100, No.11 on the R&B; chart, and the final single "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" finished at No.10 on Hot 100 and No.14 on the R&B; chart.

Despite receiving the greatest critical acclaim of any album in Prince's career, including being named the top album of the year by the Pazz & Jop critics' poll, and eventually selling 3.2 million copies, album sales steadily declined. In Europe, however, it performed well and Prince promoted the album overseas with a lengthy tour. Putting together a new backing band from the remnants of The Revolution, Prince added bassist Levi Seacer, Jr., Boni Boyer on keyboards, and dancer/choreographer Cat Glover to go with new drummer Sheila E. and holdovers Miko Weaver, Doctor Fink, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, and the Bodyguards (Jerome, Wally Safford, and Greg Brooks) for the Sign o' the Times Tour.

The tour was a huge success overseas, with Warner Bros. and Prince's managers wanting to bring it to the U.S. to resuscitate sagging sales of ''Sign o' the Times''; however, Prince balked at a full U.S. tour, as he was ready to produce a new album. As a compromise the last two nights of the tour were filmed for release in movie theaters. Unfortunately, the film quality was deemed subpar and reshoots were performed at his Paisley Park studios. The film ''Sign o' the Times'' was released on November 20, 1987. Much like the album, the film garnered more critical praise than the previous year's ''Under the Cherry Moon''; however, its box office receipts were minimal, and it quickly left theaters.

The next album intended for release was to be ''The Black Album''. More instrumental and funk and R&B; themed than recent releases, ''The Black Album'' also saw Prince experiment with rap on the songs "Bob George" and "Dead on It". Prince was set to release the album with a monochromatic black cover with only the catalog number printed, but after 500,000 copies had been pressed, Prince had a spiritual epiphany that the album was evil and had it recalled. It would later be released by Warner Bros. as a limited edition album in 1994. Prince went back in the studio for eight weeks and recorded ''Lovesexy''.

Released on May 10, 1988, ''Lovesexy'' serves as a spiritual opposite to the dark ''The Black Album''. Every song is a solo effort by Prince, with exception of "Eye No" which was recorded with his backing band at the time, dubbed the "Lovesexy Band" by fans. ''Lovesexy'' would reach No.11 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No.5 on the R&B; albums chart. The lead single, "Alphabet St.", peaked at No.8 on the Hot 100 and No.3 on the R&B; chart, but finished with only selling 750,000 copies.

Prince again took his post-Revolution backing band (minus the Bodyguards) on a three leg, 84-show Lovesexy World Tour; although the shows were well received by huge crowds, they lost money due to the expensive sets and incorporated props. In 1989, Prince appeared on Madonna's studio album ''Like a Prayer'', co-writing and singing the duet "Love Song" and playing electric guitar (uncredited) on the songs "Like a Prayer", "Keep It Together", and "Act of Contrition". He also began work on a number of musical projects, including ''Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic'' and early drafts of his ''Graffiti Bridge'' film, but both were put on hold when he was asked by ''Batman'' director Tim Burton to record several songs for the upcoming live-action adaptation. Prince went into the studio and produced an entire nine-track album that Warner Bros. released on June 20, 1989. ''Batman'' peaked at No.1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 4.3 million copies. The single "Batdance" topped the Billboard and R&B; charts.

Additionally, the single "The Arms of Orion" with Sheena Easton charted at #36, and "Partyman" (also featuring the vocals of Prince's then-girlfriend, nicknamed Anna Fantastic) charted at No.18 on the Hot 100 and at No.5 on the R&B; chart, while the love ballad "Scandalous!" went to No.5 on the R&B; chart. However, he did have to sign away all publishing rights to the songs on the album to Warner Bros. as part of the deal to do the soundtrack.

In 1990, Prince went back on tour with a revamped band for his stripped down, back-to-basics Nude Tour. With the departures of Boni Boyer, Sheila E., the horns, and Cat, Prince brought in Rosie Gaines on keys, drummer Michael Bland, and dancing trio The Game Boyz (Tony M., Kirky J., and Damon Dickson). The European and Japanese tour was a financial success with its short, greatest hits setlist. As the year progressed, Prince finished production on his fourth film, ''Graffiti Bridge'', and the album of the same name. Initially, Warner Bros. was reluctant to fund the film, but with Prince's assurances it would be a sequel to ''Purple Rain'' as well as the involvement of the original members of The Time, the studio greenlit the project. Released on August 20, 1990, the album reached No.6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and R&B; albums chart. The single "Thieves in the Temple" reaching No.6 on the Hot 100 and No.1 on the R&B; chart. Also from that album, "Round and Round" placed at number 12 on the U.S. charts and Number 2 on the R&B; charts. The song featured the teenage Tevin Campbell (who also had a role in the film) on lead vocals. The film, released on November 20, 1990, was a critical and box office flop, grossing just $4.2 million. After the release of the film and album, the last remaining members of The Revolution, Miko Weaver and Doctor Fink, left Prince's band.

The New Power Generation and name change: 1991–94

1991 marked the debut of Prince's new band, The New Power Generation. With guitarist Miko Weaver and long-time keyboardist Doctor Fink gone, Prince added bass player Sonny T., Tommy Barbarella on keyboards, and a brass section known as the Hornheads to go along with Levi Seacer (taking over on guitar), Rosie Gaines, Michael Bland, and the Game Boyz. With significant input from his band members, ''Diamonds and Pearls'' was released on October 1, 1991. Reaching No.3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, ''Diamonds and Pearls'' saw 4 hit singles released in the United States. "Gett Off" peaked at No.21 on the Hot 100 and No.6 on the R&B; charts, followed by "Cream" which gave Prince his fifth U.S. number one single. The title track "Diamonds and Pearls" became the album's third single, reaching No.3 on the Hot 100 and the top spot on the R&B; charts. "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" peaked at No.23 and No.14 on the Hot 100 and R&B; charts respectively.

1992 saw Prince and The New Power Generation release his twelfth album, 'Love Symbol Album', bearing only an unpronounceable symbol on the cover (later copyrighted as Love Symbol #2). The album, generally referred to as the ''Love Symbol Album'', would peak at No.5 on the ''Billboard'' 200. While the label wanted "7" to be the first single, Prince fought to have "My Name Is Prince" as he "felt that the song's more hip-hoppery would appeal to the same audience" that had purchased the previous album. Prince got his way but "My Name Is Prince" only managed to reach No.36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No.23 on the R&B; chart. The follow-up single "Sexy MF" fared worse, charting at No.66 on the Hot 100 and No.76 on the R&B; chart. The label's preferred lead single choice "7" would be the album's lone top ten hit, reaching #7. 'Love Symbol Album' would go on to sell 2.8 million copies worldwide.

After two failed attempts in 1990 and 1991, Warner Bros. finally released a greatest hits compilation with the three-disc ''The Hits/The B-Sides'' in 1993. The first two discs were also sold separately as ''The Hits 1'' and ''The Hits 2''. In addition to featuring the majority of Prince's hit singles (with the exception of "Batdance" and other songs that appeared on the ''Batman'' soundtrack), ''The Hits'' includes an array of previously hard-to-find recordings, notably B-sides spanning the majority of Prince's career, as well as a handful of previously unreleased tracks such as the Revolution-recorded "Power Fantastic" and a live recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" with Rosie Gaines. Two new songs, "Pink Cashmere" and "Peach", were chosen as promotional singles to accompany the compilation album.

1993 also marked the year in which Prince changed his stage name to the Love Symbol, which is a combination of the symbols for male (♂) and female (♀). In order to use the symbol in print media, Warner Bros. had to organize a mass mailing of floppy disks with a custom font. Because the symbol is unpronounceable, he was often referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince."

Increased output: 1994–2000

In 1994, Prince's attitude towards his artistic output underwent a notable shift. He began to view releasing albums in quick succession as a means of ejecting himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. The label, he believed, was intent on limiting his artistic freedom by insisting that he release albums more sporadically. He also blamed Warner Bros. for the poor commercial performance of the ''Love Symbol Album'', claiming that it was insufficiently marketed by Warner. It was out of these developments that the aborted ''The Black Album'' was officially released, approximately seven years after its initial recording and near-release. The "new" release, which was already in wide circulation as a bootleg, sold relatively poorly.

Following that disappointing venture, Warner Bros. succumbed to Prince's wishes to release an album of new material, to be entitled ''Come''. When ''Come'' was eventually released, it confirmed all of Warner's fears. It became Prince's poorest-selling album to date, struggling to even shift 500,000 copies. Even more frustrating was the fact that Prince insisted on crediting the album to "Prince 1958–1993".

Prince pushed to have his next album ''The Gold Experience'' released simultaneously with ''Love Symbol''-era material. Warner Bros. allowed the single "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" to be released via a small, independent distributor, Bellmark Records, in February 1994. The release was successful, reaching No.3 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No.1 in many other countries, but it would not prove to be a model for subsequent releases. Warner Bros. still resisted releasing ''The Gold Experience'', fearing poor sales and citing "market saturation" as a defense. When eventually released in September 1995, ''The Gold Experience'' failed to sell well, although it reached the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' 200 initially, and many reviewed it as Prince's best effort since ''Sign o' the Times''. The album is now out-of-print. ''Chaos and Disorder'', released in 1996, was Prince's final album of new material for Warner Bros., as well as one of his least commercially successful releases. Prince attempted a major comeback later that year when, free of any further contractual obligations to Warner Bros., he released ''Emancipation'', a 36-song, 3-CD set (each disc was exactly 60 minutes long). The album was released via his own NPG Records with distribution through EMI. To publish his songs on ''Emancipation'', Prince did not use ''Controversy Music'' – ''ASCAP'', which he had used for all his records since 1981, but rather used ''Emancipated Music Inc.'' – ''ASCAP''.

Certified Platinum by the RIAA, ''Emancipation'' is the first record featuring covers by Prince of songs of other artists: Joan Osborne's top ten hit song of 1995 "One of Us"; "Betcha by Golly Wow!" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and Linda Creed); "I Can't Make You Love Me" (written by James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid); and "La-La (Means I Love You)" (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and William Hart).

Prince released ''Crystal Ball'', a 5-CD collection of unreleased material, in 1998. The distribution of this album was disorderly, with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before it was eventually shipped to them; these pre-orders were eventually delivered months after the record had gone on sale in retail stores. The retail edition has only four discs, as it is missing the ''Kamasutra'' disc. There are also two different packaging editions for retail, one being in a 4-disc sized jewel case with a simple white cover and the Love Symbol in a colored circle; the other is all four discs in a round translucent snap jewel case. The discs are the same, as is the CD jacket. The ''Newpower Soul'' album released three months later failed to make much of an impression on the charts. His collaboration on Chaka Khan's ''Come 2 My House'', and Larry Graham's ''GCS2000'', both released on the NPG Records label around the same time as ''Newpower Soul'' met with the same fate, despite heavy promotion and live appearances on ''Vibe with Sinbad'', and the NBC ''Today'' show's Summer Concert Series.

In 1999, Prince once again signed with a major label, Arista Records, to release a new record, ''Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic''. In an attempt to make his new album a success, Prince easily gave more interviews than at any other point in his career, appearing on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (with his album cover on the front of the Virgin Megastore, in the background on ''TRL'' throughout the whole show), ''Larry King Live'' (with Larry Graham) and other media outlets. Nevertheless, ''Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic'' failed to perform well commercially. A few months earlier, Warner Bros. had also released ''The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale'', a collection of unreleased material recorded by Prince throughout his career, and his final recording commitment on his contract with Warner Bros. The greatest success he had during the year was with the EP ''1999: The New Master'', released in time for Prince to collect a small portion of the sales dollars Warner Bros. had been seeing for the album and singles of the original ''1999''.

The pay-per-view concert, ''Rave Un2 the Year 2000'', was broadcast on December 31, 1999 and consisted of footage from the December 17 and December 18 concerts of his 1999 tour. The concert featured appearances by many guest musicians including Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton, Jimmy Russell, and The Time. It was released to home video the following year. A remix album, ''Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic'' (as opposed to "Un2") was released exclusively through Prince's NPG Music Club in April 2000.

Turnaround: 2000–05

On May 16, 2000, Prince ceased using the Love Symbol moniker and returned to using "Prince" again, after his publishing contract with Warner/Chappell expired. In a press conference, he stated that, after being freed from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he would formally revert to using his real name. Prince still frequently uses the symbol as a logo and on album artwork and continues to play a Love Symbol-shaped guitar.

For several years following the release of ''Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic'', Prince primarily released new music through his Internet subscription service, NPGOnlineLtd.com (later NPGMusicClub.com). Two albums that show substantive jazz influence were available commercially at record stores: 2001's ''The Rainbow Children'', and the 2003 instrumental record ''N.E.W.S'' which was nominated for a Best Pop Instrumental Album Grammy Award. Another album of largely jazz-influenced music, ''Xpectation'', was released via download in 2003 to members of the NPGMusicClub. ''Xpectation'' is jazz themed along with new age and atmospheric themes.

In 2002, Prince released his first live album, ''One Nite Alone... Live!'', which features performances from the One Nite Alone...Tour. The 3-CD box set, which also includes a disc of "aftershow" music entitled ''It Ain't Over!'', failed to chart. During this time, Prince sought to engage more effectively with his fan base via the NPG Music Club, pre-concert sound checks, and at yearly "celebrations" at Paisley Park, his music studios. Fans were invited into the studio for tours, interviews, discussions and music-listening sessions. Some of these fan discussions were filmed for an unreleased documentary, directed by Kevin Smith. Smith discusses what happened during those days at length in his ''An Evening with Kevin Smith'' DVD. Performances were also arranged to showcase Prince's talents, as well as to collaborate with popular and well-established artists and guests including Alicia Keys, The Time, Erykah Badu, Nikka Costa, George Clinton, and Norah Jones.

On February 8, 2004, Prince appeared at the Grammy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles. In a performance that opened the show, Prince and Knowles performed a medley of "Purple Rain", "Let's Go Crazy", "Baby I'm a Star", and Knowles' "Crazy in Love" to positive reviews. The following month, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The award was presented to him by Alicia Keys along with Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast. As well as performing a trio of his own hits during the ceremony, Prince also participated in a tribute to fellow inductee George Harrison in a rendition of Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", playing a long guitar solo that ended the song.

On February 19, ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' broadcast included a performance of "Reflection" from Prince's ''Musicology'' album. Prince was accompanied by Wendy Melvoin, formerly of The Revolution.

In April 2004, Prince released ''Musicology'' through a one-album agreement with Columbia Records. The album rose as high as the top five on a number of international charts (including the U.S, UK, Germany and Australia). The U.S. chart success was assisted by the CD being included as part of the concert ticket purchase, and each CD thereby qualifying (as chart rules then stood) towards U.S. chart placement. ''Musicology'' is R&B; and soul themed along with funk, pop, quiet storm, and rock.

That same year, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine named Prince as the highest-earning musician in the world, with an annual income of $56.5 million, largely due to his Musicology Tour, which Pollstar named as the top concert draw among musicians in U.S. The artist played an impressive run of 96 concerts; the average ticket price for a show was U.S.$61. Further highlighting the success of the album, Prince's ''Musicology'' went on to receive two Grammy wins, for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance for "Call My Name" and Best Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance for the title track. ''Musicology'' was also nominated for Best R&B; Song and Best R&B; Album, while "Cinnamon Girl" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The album became the artist's most commercially successful since ''Diamonds and Pearls'', partly due to a radical scheme devised which included in Billboard's sales figures those that were distributed to each customer during ticket sales for the ''Musicology'' tour, with concert figures accounting for 25% of the total album sales.

''Rolling Stone'' magazine has ranked Prince No.27 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In April 2005, Prince played guitar (along with En Vogue singing backing vocals) on Stevie Wonder's single "So What the Fuss", Wonder's first since 1999.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, Prince offered a personal response by recording two new songs, "S.S.T." and the instrumental "Brand New Orleans", at Paisley Park in the early hours of September 2. Prince again performed all instrumental and vocal parts. These recordings were quickly dispersed to the public via Prince's NPG Music Club, and "S.S.T." was later picked up by iTunes, where it reached No.1 on the store's R&B; chart. On October 25, Sony Records released a version of the single on CD.

Move to Universal and ''3121'': 2005–06

In late 2005 Prince signed with Universal Records to release his album, ''3121'', on March 21, 2006 (3/21). The first single was the Latin-tinged "Te Amo Corazón", the video for which was directed by actress Salma Hayek and filmed in Marrakech, Morocco, featuring Argentine actress and singer Mía Maestro. The video for the second single, "Black Sweat", was nominated at the MTV VMAs for Best Cinematography. The immediate success of ''3121'' gave Prince his first No.1 debut on the ''Billboard'' 200 with the album.

To promote the new album, Prince was the musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'' on February 4, 2006, seventeen years after his last ''SNL'' appearance on the 15th anniversary special and nearly 25 years since his first appearance on a regular episode in 1981, making Prince the only ''SNL'' musical guest to have that long of a gap between appearances. He performed two songs from the album, "Fury" and "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed", with Támar. Prince also held a contest to win a trip to see a 'Purple Ticket Concert' at his private residence in Hollywood, California. Seven winning tickets were placed inside ''3121'' CD packages in the U.S., and other tickets were given away in various contests on the Internet and around the world. On May 6, 2006, twenty-four prize winners (with a guest each) attended a star-studded private party and performance at Prince's home.

On June 12, 2006, Prince received a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his "visionary" use of the Internet; Prince was the first major artist to release an entire album, 1997's ''Crystal Ball'', exclusively on the Internet (although he did take phone orders for it as well...1-800-NEW-FUNK).

Only weeks after winning a Webby Award, Prince abruptly shut down his then-official NPG Music Club website at 12:00 am on July 4, 2006 after over five years of operation. The NPG Music Club sent out an email, claiming that "in its current 4m there is a feeling that the NPGMC gone as far as it can go. In a world without limitations and infinite possibilities, has the time come 2 once again make a leap of faith and begin anew? These r ?s we in the NPG need 2 answer. In doing so, we have decided 2 put the club on hiatus until further notice." On the day of the music club's shutdown, a lawsuit was filed against Prince by the British company HM Publishing (owners of the Nature Publishing Group, also NPG). Despite these events occurring on the same day, Prince's attorney has called it pure coincidence and stated that the site did not close due to the trademark dispute.

Prince appeared at multiple award ceremonies in 2006. On February 15, 2006, Prince performed at the BRIT Awards along with Wendy & Lisa and Sheila E. He played "Te Amo Corazón" and "Fury" from ''3121'' and "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy" from ''Purple Rain''. On June 27, 2006, Prince appeared at the BET Awards, where he was awarded Best Male R&B; Artist. In addition to receiving his award, Prince performed a medley of Chaka Khan songs for Khan's BET Lifetime Award. Prince had previously written and performed several songs with the singer. In November 2006, Prince was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, appearing to collect his award but not performing. Also in November 2006, Prince opened a nightclub named 3121 in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. He performed weekly on Friday and Saturday nights until April 2007, when his contract with the Rio ended.

On August 22, 2006, Prince released ''Ultimate Prince''. The double disc set contains one CD of previous hits, and another of extended versions and mixes of material that had largely only previously been available on vinyl record B-sides.

Prince wrote and performed a song for the hit 2006 animated film ''Happy Feet''. The song, entitled "The Song of the Heart", appears on the film's soundtrack, which also features a cover of Prince's earlier hit "Kiss", sung by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. In January 2007, "The Song of the Heart" won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Prince arrived late, apparently due to traffic problems, and thus was unable to make an acceptance speech, but actor Hugh Grant prompted him later in the ceremony to take a bow.

Super Bowl XLI and ''Planet Earth'': 2007–08

On February 2, 2007, Prince played at the Super Bowl XLI press conference. He and the band played a set comprising Chuck Berry's hit, "Johnny B. Goode", "Anotherloverholenyohead" from ''Parade'' and "Get On the Boat" from ''3121''. Prince performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida on February 4, 2007. The performance consisted of three ''Purple Rain'' tracks ("Let's Go Crazy", "Baby I'm a Star" and the title track), along with cover versions of "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan, the Foo Fighters song "Best of You" and "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Coincidentally, Miami had rain on the day of the Super Bowl, which was lit purple during the performance of "Purple Rain". He played on a large stage shaped as his symbol. The event was carried to 140 million television viewers, the largest audience of his life. On February 4, 2010, Billboard.com ranked the performance as the greatest Super Bowl performance ever.

Prince played 21 concerts in London during the summer of 2007. The Earth Tour included 21 nights at the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena, with Maceo Parker in his band. Tickets for the O2 Arena were priced at £31.21 (including a free copy of Prince's latest album), in order to make the concerts "affordable for everybody". The residency at the O2 Arena was increased to 15 nights after all 140,000 tickets for the original seven sold out in just 20 minutes. It was then further extended to 21 nights.

On May 10, 2007, Prince performed a 'secret' gig at London's KOKO in front of a small crowd of fans and celebrities. Tickets went on sale that morning on a first-come-first-served basis (again at £31.21). A prelude to the forthcoming summer gigs in London, Prince played a relaxed set of classic hits ("Kiss", changing the lyric from "You don't have to watch ''Dynasty''" to ''Desperate Housewives'', "Girls & Boys", and "Nothing Compares 2 U") alongside more recent tracks, plus a well-received cover version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy".

Prince made an appearance at the 2007 ALMA Awards, performing with Sheila E. in June 2007. On June 28, 2007, the UK national newspaper ''The Mail on Sunday'' revealed that it had made a deal to give Prince's new album, ''Planet Earth'', away for free with an "imminent" edition of the paper, making it the first place in the world to get the album. This move sparked controversy among music distributors and also led the UK arm of Prince's distributor, Sony BMG, to withdraw from distributing the album in UK stores. The UK's largest high street music retailer, HMV, decided to stock the paper on release day due to the giveaway. ''Planet Earth'' is rock-oriented along with disco, and other various music styles.

On July 7, 2007 Prince returned to his hometown of Minneapolis to perform three shows in what was unofficially declared Prince Day in Minnesota. He performed concerts at the Macy's Auditorium (to promote his new perfume "3121") on Nicollet Mall, the Target Center arena, and First Avenue. It was the first time he had played at First Avenue (the club appeared in the film ''Purple Rain'') since 1987.

On April 25, 2008, Prince performed on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', where he debuted a new song, "Turn Me Loose". Days after, he headlined the Coachella Festival 2008. Prince was paid more than $5 million for his performance at Coachella, according to Reuters.

Prince cancelled a concert, planned at Dublin's Croke Park on June 16, 2008, at just 10 days' notice. In October 2009 promoters MCD Productions went to court to sue Prince for €1.6 million, after paying him $1.5 million, half his agreed fee of $3 million for the concert. MCD claim they had to refund 55,126 tickets purchased and its total losses exceeded $1.66 million. Prince's lawyers argued the MCD claim was "greatly inflated". Prince settled the case out of court in February 2010 for $2.95 million. During the trial, it was revealed that Prince had been offered $22 million for seven concerts as part of a proposed 2008 European tour.

In October 2008, Prince released a live album entitled ''Indigo Nights'', as well as ''21 Nights'', an accompanying book of poems, lyrics and photos. The book chronicled his record-breaking tenure at London's O2 Arena in 2007, while the album is a collection of songs performed live at aftershows in the IndigO2.

''LOtUSFLOW3R'' and beyond: 2008–10

On December 18, 2008, Prince premiered four songs from his new album on LA's Indie rock radio station Indie 103.1 . The radio station's programmers Max Tolkoff and Mark Sovel had been invited to Prince's home to hear the new rock oriented music. Prince then surprised the two by giving them a CD with 4 songs to premiere on their radio station. The music debuted the next day on Jonesy's Jukebox, hosted by Sex Pistol Steve Jones. The music comprised a cover of "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells, together with "Colonized Mind", "Wall of Berlin" and "4ever". The same day, another new Prince composition entitled "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" premiered on the now obsolete and defunct website, mplsound.com — replacing a shorter, instrumental version of the song which streamed several days previously.

On January 3, 2009, a new website LotusFlow3r.com was launched, streaming some of the recently-aired material ("Crimson and Clover", "(There'll Never B) Another Like Me" and "Here Eye Come") and promising opportunities to listen to and buy music by Prince and guests, watch videos and buy concert tickets for future events. On January 31, Prince released two more songs on LotusFlow3r.com: "Disco Jellyfish", and "Another Boy". "Chocolate Box", "Colonized Mind", and "All This Love" have since been released on the website.

Prince released a triple album set containing ''LOtUSFLOW3R'', ''MPLSoUND'', and an album credited to his new protege, Bria Valente, called ''Elixer'', on March 24, 2009, followed by a physical release on March 29. The release was preceded by performances on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''. It was released in other countries digitally, with official physical release dates yet to be announced. The album peaked at No.2 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and critics' opinions were mixed to positive.

On July 18, 2009, Prince performed two shows at the Montreux Jazz Festival, being backed by The New Power Generation including Rhonda Smith, Renato Neto, and John Blackwell. There he played "A Large Room with No Light" which had been in Prince's "vault" for some time.

On October 11, 2009, Prince gave two surprise concerts at the glass-and-iron Grand Palais exhibition hall after visiting the landmark Paris building on the banks of the Seine. On October 12, he gave another surprise gig at La Cigale. On October 24, Prince played a concert at his own Paisley Park complex in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

''20Ten'', rejection of the Internet and Welcome 2 America: 2010–present

In January 2010, Prince wrote a new song, "Purple and Gold", inspired by his visit to a Minnesota Vikings football game against the Dallas Cowboys. The song is a simple, drumline-driven track. The following month, Prince let Minneapolis-area public radio station 89.3 The Current premiere his new song "Cause and Effect" as a gesture in support of independent radio.

In a poll by BBC 6 Music listeners in April 2010, Prince was ranked the eighth-best guitarist of the previous 30 years. Prince was also listed in ''TIME'' magazine's 2010 annual ranking of the "100 Most Influential People in the World".

Prince released a new single on Minneapolis radio station 89.3 The Current called "Hot Summer" on June 7, his 52nd birthday. Also in June, Prince appeared on the cover of the July 2010 issue of ''Ebony'', and he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 BET Awards.

Prince released his album ''20Ten'' in July 2010 as a free covermount with publications in the UK, Belgium, Germany, and France. Prince has refused access to the album to digital download services. He also closed his official website, LotusFlow3r.com. In an interview with the ''Daily Mirror'', Prince said, "The Internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it... Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

On July 4, 2010 Prince began his 20Ten Tour, a concert tour in two legs with shows in Europe. The second leg began on October 15 and ended with a concert following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 14. The second half of the tour has a new band, John Blackwell, Ida Kristine Nielsen, and Sheila E. Prince let Europe 1 debut the snippet of his new song "Rich Friends" from the "new" album ''20Ten Deluxe'' on October 8, 2010. Prince started the Welcome 2 America Tour on December 15, 2010.

Prince was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame on December 7, 2010.

On February 12, 2011, Prince presented Barbra Streisand with an award and donated $1.5 million to charities. On the same day, it was reported that he was unimpressed about Glee covering his hit "Kiss", and that he had not authorised this.

On the May 18, 2011, it was announced that Prince would be headlining Hop Farm Festival on July 3, 2011, marking his first UK show since 2007 and his first ever UK festival appearance.

Personal life

Over the years Prince has been romantically linked with many celebrities, including Kim Basinger, Madonna, Vanity, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, Susanna Hoffs, Anna Fantastic, Sherilyn Fenn, and Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6.

Prince was engaged to Susannah Melvoin in 1985.

He married his backup singer and dancer, Mayte Garcia, on Valentine's Day, 1996. They had a son, Boy Gregory (born October 16, 1996), who was born with Pfeiffer syndrome and died a week after birth. Prince and Mayte divorced in 1999. In 2001, Prince married Manuela Testolini in a private ceremony. Testolini then filed for divorce in May 2006. He has been in a relationship with protégée Bria Valente since 2007.

Prince became a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 following a two-year-long debate with friend and fellow Jehovah's Witness, musician Larry Graham. Prince said he didn't consider it a conversion, but a "realization"; "It's like Morpheus and Neo in ''The Matrix''", he explained. He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall and occasionally knocks on people's doors to discuss his faith. Prince has reportedly needed double-hip-replacement surgery since 2005 but won't undergo the operation unless it is a bloodless surgery because Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions. The condition is rumored to be aggravated by repeated onstage dancing in high-heeled boots. However, when Prince was interviewed in 2010, journalist Peter Willis said he believed the rumors of Prince needing double hip surgery to be unfounded and untrue as Prince appeared to be agile.

Prince is a vegetarian. In 2006 he was voted the "world's sexiest vegetarian" in PETA's annual online poll. The liner notes for his album ''Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic'' featured a message about the cruelty involved in wool production.

Prince is a supporter of the Minneapolis football team Minnesota Vikings. He currently resides near Minneapolis, Minnesota and is considering buying a home in France.

In June 2011, Prince was quoted in ''The Guardian'' as saying "It's fun being in Islamic countries, to know there's only one religion. There's order. You wear a burqa. There's no choice. People are happy with that."

Stage names

In 1993, during negotiations regarding the release of Prince's album ''The Gold Experience'', a legal battle ensued between Warner Bros. and Prince over the artistic and financial control of Prince's output. During the lawsuit, Prince appeared in public with the word "slave" written on his cheek. Prince explained his name change as follows:

"Prince" is a trademark owned by Paisley Park Enterprises, Inc. It was initially filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2005 in the categories of printed materials, clothing, electronic commerce, and entertainment services based on first commercial in 1978. Various searches to the USPTO did not find any registrations or transfers of "Prince" or related names by Warner Bros. In 1991, PRN Music Corporation assigned the trademarks "Prince", "The Time", "Paisley Park", "New Power Generation", and "Prince and the Revolution" to Paisley Park Enterprises.

Prince has used pseudonyms to separate himself from the music (either his own or that of others) for which he has had input; "I was just getting tired of seeing my name," he said, "If you give away an idea, you still own that idea. In fact, giving it away strengthens it. Why do people feel they have to take credit for everything they do? Ego, that's the only reason." These pseudonyms include: Jamie Starr and The Starr Company (for the songs he wrote for The Time and many other artists from 1981–1984), Joey Coco (for many unreleased Prince songs in the late 1980s, as well as songs written for Sheena Easton & Kenny Rogers), Paisley Park (occasionally used in the early 1990s for his production credits on songs, including those written for Martika and Kid Creole), Alexander Nevermind (for writing the 1984 song "Sugar Walls" by Sheena Easton), and Christopher (used for his song writing credit of "Manic Monday" for The Bangles).

Copyright issues

On September 14, 2007, Prince announced that he was going to sue YouTube and eBay because they "are clearly able (to) filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success." Web Sheriff, the international Internet policing company he hired, told Reuters: "The problem is that one can reduce it to zero and then the next day there will be 100 or 500 or whatever. This carries on ad nauseam at Prince's expense."

In October 2007, Stephanie Lenz filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Publishing Group, claiming they were abusing copyright law, after the music publisher had YouTube take down Lenz's home movie in which the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy" played faintly in the background.

On November 5, 2007, several fan sites of Prince formed "Prince Fans United" to fight back against legal requests they claim Prince made to cease and desist all use of photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince's likeness. While Prince's lawyers claimed that the use of such representations constituted copyright infringement, the Prince Fans United claimed that the legal actions were "attempts to stifle all critical commentary about Prince." A few days later, Prince released a statement denying the fansites' claims, stating "The action taken earlier this week was not to shut down fansites, or control comment in any way. The issue was simply to do with in regards to copyright and trademark of images and only images, and no lawsuits have been filed." The statement from AEG, Prince's promoter, asserted that the only "offending items" on the three fansites were live shots from Prince's 21 nights in London at the O2 Arena earlier in the year.

On November 8, 2007, Prince Fans United received a song named "PFUnk", providing a kind of "unofficial answer" to their movement. The song, originally debuted on the PFU main site, was retitled "F.U.N.K." and is available on iTunes.

On November 14, 2007, it was reported that the satirical website b3ta.com had pulled their "image challenge of the week" devoted to Prince after legal threats from the star under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. B3ta co-founder Rob Manuel wrote on the site: "Under threat of legal action from Prince's legal team of 'potential closure of your web site' – We have removed the Prince image challenge and B3ta apologizes unreservedly to AEG / NPG and Prince for any offence caused. We also ask our members to avoid photoshopping Prince and posting them on our boards.

At the 2008 Coachella Music Festival, Prince performed a cover of Radiohead's "Creep", but immediately after he forced YouTube and other sites to remove footage that fans had taken of the performance, despite Radiohead's demand for it to remain on the website. Days later, YouTube reinstated the videos, while Radiohead claimed "it's our song, let people hear it." In 2009, Prince put the video of that Coachella performance on his then-official website LotusFlow3r.com.

Discography

This discography excludes compilations of previously-released material. Prince has sold about 100 million records worldwide in his career.

''For You'' (1978)

''Prince'' (1979)

''Dirty Mind'' (1980)

''Controversy'' (1981)

''1999'' (1982)

''Purple Rain'' (1984)

''Around the World in a Day'' (1985)

''Parade'' (1986)

''Sign o' the Times'' (1987)

''Lovesexy'' (1988)

''Batman'' (1989)

''Graffiti Bridge'' (1990)

''Diamonds and Pearls'' (1991)

''O(+>'' (1992)

''Come'' (1994)

''The Black Album'' (1994)

''The Gold Experience'' (1995)

''Chaos and Disorder'' (1996)

''Emancipation'' (1996)

''Crystal Ball'' (1998)

''The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale'' (1999)

''Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic'' (1999)

''Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic'' (2001)

''The Rainbow Children'' (2001)

''One Nite Alone...'' (2002)

''Xpectation'' (2003)

''C-Note'' (2003)

''N.E.W.S'' (2003)

''Musicology'' (2004)

''The Chocolate Invasion'' (2004)

''The Slaughterhouse'' (2004)

''3121'' (2006)

''Planet Earth'' (2007)

''Lotusflow3r / MPLSound'' (2009)

''20Ten'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Earning 33 nominations, Prince has won seven Grammys. He also has had two albums − ''1999'' and ''Purple Rain'' − awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

! Year	! Nominated work	! Award category	! Result
	''1999''	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male
"International Lover"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Male
	''Purple Rain''	Album Of The Year
''Purple Rain''	Best Rock Vocal Performance, Duo/Group
''Purple Rain''	Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special
"I Feel For You"	Best R&B; Song
	"Kiss"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Duo/Group
"Kiss"	Best R&B; Song
	''Sign O' The Times''	Album Of The Year
"U Got The Look"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Duo/Group
"U Got The Look"	Best R&B; Song
	''Batman''	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male
"Batdance"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Male
1991	"Nothin' Compares 2 U"	Song Of The Year
1992	"Get Off"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Duo/Group
1993	"Diamonds And Pearls"	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Duo/Group
1995	"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World"	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male
	"Eye Hate U"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Male
''The Gold Experience''	Best R&B; Album
2004	''N.E.W.S.''	Best Pop Instrumental Album
	"Cinnamon Girl"	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male
"Call My Name"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Male
"Call My Name"	Best R&B; Song
"Musicology"	Best Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance
''Musicology''	Best R&B; Album
	"Black Sweat"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Male
"Beautiful, Loved And Blessed"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Duo/Group
"3121"	Best Alternative/Urban Performance
"Black Sweat"	Best R&B; Song
''3121''	Best R&B; Album
	"Future Baby Mama"	Best R&B; Vocal Performance, Male
"The Song Of The Heart"	Best Song Written For Film/TV/Visual Media
2010	"Dreamer"	Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo

See also

List of best-selling music artists

List of best-selling music artists in the United States

Unreleased Prince projects

References

Further reading

External links

Prince at Billboard.com

Prince Live! Best Concert Shots – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Experience The Covers – Searchable database of covered Prince-songs

Prince Interview with Tavis Smiley on PBS

Category:1958 births Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:African American dancers Category:African American film actors Category:African American film directors Category:African American guitarists Category:African American male singers Category:African American rock musicians Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American dancers Category:American funk musicians Category:American funk singers Category:American Jehovah's Witnesses Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues guitarists Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:American soul singers Category:American tenors Category:American vegans Category:Arista Records artists Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Funk rock Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Keytarists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Minnesota Category:New Power Generation members Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters from Minnesota Category:The Revolution members Category:Warner Bros. Records artists

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name	Joss Stone
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jocelyn Eve Stoker
born	April 11, 1987Dover, Kent, England, United Kingdom
genre	Blue-eyed soul, R&B;, blues
associated acts	SuperHeavy
occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress
years active	2001–present
label	Relentless, S-Curve, Virgin, Stone'd
website	}}

Joss Stone (born Jocelyn Eve Stoker; 11 April 1987) is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Her second album, the equally multiplatinum ''Mind Body & Soul'', topped the UK Albums Chart for one week and spawned the top ten hit "You Had Me", Stone's most successful single on the UK Singles Chart to date. Both album and single each received one nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards, while Stone herself was nominated for Best New Artist, and in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2004 was ranked fifth as a predicted breakthrough act of 2004. She became the youngest British female singer to top the UK Albums Chart in history to have her first album at number one.

Stone's third album, ''Introducing Joss Stone'', released in March 2007, achieved gold record status by the RIAA and yielded the second-ever highest debut for a British female solo artist on the ''Billboard'' 200, which became Stone' first Top 5 album in the United States and first non-Top 10 album in the United Kingdom. Stone released her fourth album, ''Colour Me Free!'', on 20 October 2009, which did reach Top 10 on ''Billboard''. Stone released her fifth album, ''LP1'', on 22 July 2011, which did reach Top 10 on ''Billboard''. Throughout her career, Stone has sold eleven million albums, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time, best-selling soul artists of the 2000s and best-selling British artists of her time. Her first three albums have sold over 2,722,000 copies in the United States, while her first two albums have sold over 2,000,000 copies in United Kingdom. Stone has won two BRIT Awards and one Grammy Award. She also made her film acting debut in late 2006 with the fantasy adventure film ''Eragon'', and made her television debut portraying Anne of Cleves in the Showtime series ''The Tudors'' in 2009. Stone was the youngest woman on the 2006 ''Sunday Times Rich List''—an annual list of the UK's wealthiest people—with £6 million.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Stone was born at Buckland Hospital in Dover, Kent and spent her teenage years in Ashill, a small village near Cullompton in Devon. She is the third of four children born to Richard and Wendy Stoker. Her father owns a fruit and nut import/export business; her mother worked as Stone's manager until October 2004. Stone made her first public appearance at the Uffculme Comprehensive School—which she attended—in Uffculme, Devon, with a cover version of Jackie Wilson's 1957 song "Reet Petite". Stone blames her dyslexia for the fact that she left school at age sixteen with only three GCSE qualifications. "It wasn't that I was stupid. I'm just a little bit dyslexic and I wasn't very academic. I'm more artistic", she says.

Stone grew up listening to a wide variety of music including 1960s and 1970s American R&B; and soul music performed by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin. As a result, she developed a soulful style of singing like her idols. "My first CD that I owned was ''Aretha Franklin: Greatest Hits''. And I saw the advert on TV and it was just like little clips of her songs. I had no idea who she was—I was only like 10 so. I said, 'Oh yeah, that looks really good', so I wrote it down and I said to my mum, 'Can I have that for Christmas?' So she told my friend Dennis, who always gets me good music anyway, and he got that for me. So that was one of my first albums that I loved." She would later tell MTV News: "I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You've got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little."

2001–2005: ''The Soul Sessions'' & ''Mind Body Soul'' era

In 2001, at the age of thirteen, Stone auditioned for the BBC Television talent show ''Star for a Night'' in London singing Franklin's 1968 Goffin-King hit "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Whitney Houston's 1998 "It's Not Right but It's Okay". After passing her audition, she sang Donna Summer's 1979 "On the Radio" for the broadcast, and eventually won the contest. She also appeared on and won Steps To The Stars (A TV Programme Hosted By H & Claire). Stone then performed on a charity show, where she drew the attention of the Boilerhouse Boys, composed of London-based producers Andy Dean and Ben Wolfe, who contacted S-Curve Records founder and chief executive officer Steve Greenberg in December 2001 telling him that "they had just heard the greatest singer they'd ever heard from their country." In early 2002, Greenberg flew Stone to New York City for an audition, in which she sang to backing tracks of classic soul songs: Otis Redding's 1968 "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", Gladys Knight & the Pips' 1973 "Midnight Train to Georgia", and Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"; Greenberg instantly signed her to his label.

After being signed by S-Curve Records, her U.S. market album was released by the label S-Curve Records and in the international market her album was released by the label EMI Music. Stone flew to Miami and Philadelphia to start work on her debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', released on 16 September 2003. She collaborated with people with solid credentials in the Miami soul scene such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, and Little Beaver as well as contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots. The album consists of little-known soul tracks by Wright, Franklin, Laura Lee, Bettye Swann, and others. Released in late 2003, it reached the top five on the UK Albums Chart as well as the top forty of the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The lead single, "Fell in Love with a Boy", a reworking of The White Stripes' 2001 "Fell in Love with a Girl", reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart, as did the second single, a cover version of Sugar Billy's 1974 song "Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' on Me)". The album eventually went triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry in mid-April 2005 and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in late March 2004.

After achieving critical acclaim with ''The Soul Sessions'', Stone recorded her second album—this time with new material—''Mind Body & Soul'', released on 28 September 2004. She called the album her real debut. It proved to be an even bigger success than her previous album, as it debuted at number one in the UK (breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the UK Albums Chart, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne) and just missed the top ten of the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, after peaking at number eleven. The lead single, "You Had Me", became her biggest hit to date when it rose to number nine in the UK. Follow-up singles "Right to Be Wrong" and "Spoiled" both made the top forty, and "Don't Cha Wanna Ride", the top twenty. "Spoiled" landed just outside the top fifty of U.S. Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number fifty-four. In early September 2005, ''Mind, Body & Soul'' was certified triple platinum by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. In 2004, Stone began dating Beau Dozier, with whom she co-wrote the song "Spoiled". Dozier is the son of Motown producer Lamont Dozier, who is best known as part of Holland-Dozier-Holland. The two split up in November 2005.

Stone joined Band Aid 20 on 14 November 2004 in benefit of Sudan's troubled Darfur region. The group, consisting of such luminaries as Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, re-recorded the 1984 song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written by Band Aid organisers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Stone, born two years after the release of the original single, was not initially aware of who Bob Geldof was. The media gleefully reported that she repeatedly referred to him as Bob Gandalf. Despite some criticism, the single became the UK's biggest-selling single of 2004 as well as the 2004 Christmas number-one single. At the 2005 BRIT Awards, Stone won for British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act—entering the ''Guinness World Records'' as the youngest BRIT Award solo winner at age seventeen—, and was nominated for British Breakthrough Act. She also received a nomination for Best UK Act of the Year at the 2005 MOBO Awards, as well as three nominations for the 2005 Grammy Awards—Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "You Had Me", and Best Pop Vocal Album for ''Mind Body & Soul''—, where she sang with rock performer Melissa Etheridge, in tribute to blues-rock singer Janis Joplin. Their performance of "Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart" was released as a single, and through the aid of strong digital download sales, became Stone's first single to enter the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, when it debuted and peaked at number thirty-two the week of 2 April 2005. That same year, she was voted the World's Sexiest Vegetarian by peta2, alongside Chris Martin.

In March 2005, Stone was named the spokesperson for the Gap clothing company, replacing the actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She appeared in a television advertisement for that store chain singing a cover of Ray Charles's 1958 song "Night Time Is the Right Time" (retitled "The Right Time"). Stone also appeared in one of Gap's Fall 2005 "Favorites" commercials, singing The Beach Boys' 1966 song "God Only Knows". By that time, rumours circulated about her being dropped from the campaign because she was living with then-twenty-five-year-old songwriter and producer Beau Dozier (son of Motown producer and composer Lamont Dozier) in Los Angeles while she was only seventeen. However, Gap later denied the rumours, stating that they were very happy with Stone and telling BBC Radio 1 that the claims were "absolute tosh" and "a complete fabrication". On 11 April 2005, Stone performed "Spoiled", Rufus' 1974 song "Tell Me Something Good" with John Legend, Otis Redding's 1966 song "Try a Little Tenderness" with Donna Summer, and 1977's "Hot Legs" with Rod Stewart at "Save the Music: A Concert to Benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation", in benefit of VH1's Save the Music Foundation. Three months later, on 2 July 2005, Stone performed "Super Duper Love", "I Had a Dream", and "Some Kind of Wonderful" at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London.

2006–2008: Film debut and ''Introducing Joss Stone'' era

Stone performed a medley of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" with funk legend James Brown on BBC One's chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' on 1 July 2005. Stone collaborated with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and blues singer-guitarist Jonny Lang on a cover of U2's 1988 song "When Love Comes to Town" for Hancock's 2005 album ''Possibilities''. That same year, Stone was featured along with Sean Paul on Santana's "Cry Baby Cry", and worked with Patti LaBelle on a remake of the latter's 1985 song "Stir It Up" for the soundtrack to the Disney animated film ''Chicken Little''. She also collaborated with Lemar in 2006 on his third studio album, ''The Truth About Love'', on the track "Anniversary". On 5 February 2006, Stone joined Stevie Wonder, India.Arie, and John Legend during the Super Bowl XL pre-game ceremonies to perform a medley of Wonder's hits. Three days later, on 8 February, on the night of the 2006 Grammy Awards, she helped perform a medley of Sly & the Family Stone's hits alongside Legend, Ciara, Maroon 5, will.i.am, Robert Randolph, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry. Stone made her film debut in the fantasy adventure film ''Eragon'' (based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Christopher Paolini), directed by Stefen Fangmeier and released on 15 December 2006, playing the fortune teller Angela. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Stone shared the award for Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for her collaboration with John Legend and Van Hunt on their 2005 cover of Sly & the Family Stone's 1971 chart-topper "Family Affair".

Stone caused controversy at the 2007 BRIT Awards ceremony on 14 February 2007 while presenting the award for British Male Solo Artist (won by James Morrison). Speaking in a fake American accent, she gave a largely incoherent speech about Robbie Williams, who had been the target of earlier jokes made by host Russell Brand. Williams had been reported as going into rehabilitation that same week. As her speech continued, she made remarks about Brand, implying that he was heading for rehabilitation himself (while singing a passage of Amy Winehouse's hit "Rehab"). In response to the British media's reaction, Stone responded, "At the end of the day, I don't give a fuck if people have a problem with my accent. That's all I can say about it. The words I say do not change. If the way that it sounds is skew-wiff and you don't like it, don't listen. I'm not being a cruel person by sounding a different way. And I can't help it. I've been [in America working] since I was, like, 14." Stone, a vegetarian since birth—having been brought up as one by her parents — was photographed by Justin Borucki posing with a chicken in an advert for PETA in March 2007, whose tagline states, "I am Joss Stone and I am a vegetarian".

Stone began work on her third studio album, ''Introducing Joss Stone'', at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, in May 2006. Released on 12 March 2007, the album was coordinated by A&R; Chris Anokute, produced by Raphael Saadiq, and included collaborations with Lauryn Hill, Common, and Joi. Virgin Records describes the album as "an electrifying mix of warm vintage soul, '70s-style R&B;, Motown girl-group harmonies, and hip-hop grooves". Stone herself describes it as "truly me. That's why I'm calling it ''Introducing Joss Stone''. These are my words, and this is who I am as an artist." She also revealed on ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' that her break-up with Beau Dozier was a source of inspiration while writing ''Introducing Joss Stone''. The album debuted and peaked at number twelve on the UK Albums Chart, not managing to match the success of Stone's two previous albums. It nevertheless debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 selling 118,000 copies in its first week, becoming the highest debut for a British solo female artist on the U.S. chart, surpassing the record previously held by Amy Winehouse with ''Back to Black'' (which in turn would later be outdone by Leona Lewis, whose album ''Spirit'' debuted at number one the week of 26 April 2008).

"Tell Me 'Bout It", the album's lead single, debuted and peaked at number twenty-eight on the UK Singles Chart—where it stayed for three weeks only—, and peaked at number eighty-three on the U.S ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single, "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", a collaboration with rapper Common, failed to chart inside the UK top seventy-five, but made the top sixty-five of the U.S. Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. Stone and Common turned the single's music video into a Product Red, reverting 100% of the gains from copies of the video purchased from iTunes to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Stone is the first Product Red artist to do so. "Baby Baby Baby" was released digitally in December 2007 and physically in January 2008 as the third single. In support of the album, Stone embarked on a North American tour which began on 27 April at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut and ended on 13 June at the Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia, visiting sixteen cities in total including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, New York City, and Boston. Two months later, she went on a North American late-summer tour which kicked off on 27 August at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California and ended on 29 September at the Crossroads in Kansas City, Missouri, covering twelve cities—this time including Mexico City.

2009–present: ''Colour Me Free!'', ''LP1'' and ''SuperHeavy'' era

Stone was photographed by Canadian singer-guitarist and photographer Bryan Adams for Phonak's ''Hear the World'' initiative, whose main goal is to raise global awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss. "Being able to hear means that you can enjoy all the sounds of the world", she said. On 7 July 2007, Stone performed at the South African leg of the Live Earth concerts at the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg, to promote awareness of global warming. She sang the ''Introducing Joss Stone'' tracks "Girl They Won't Believe It", "Headturner", "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", "Music", and "Tell Me 'bout It", as well as ''Mind, Body & Soul'''s "Right to Be Wrong" and "Gimme Shelter", the latter with Angélique Kidjo. Stone covered Nat King Cole's 1965 classic "L-O-V-E" for an advertising campaign for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance. On 29 November 2007, Stone joined Jeff Beck on a duet of The Impressions's 1965 song "People Get Ready" as part of his series of concerts at London's Ronnie Scott's, documented on the DVD ''Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's''. In order to raise the awareness of AIDS, Annie Lennox joined forces with twenty-three female acts (including Stone) and recorded the song "Sing", which was released on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2007, when Lennox performed at one of Nelson Mandela's 46664 concerts at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium. In mid-December 2007, Stone was named the new Flake girl to star in a series of television adverts for the Cadbury Schweppes product in the spring of 2008. According to the company, she is the first non-model to take the role.

In March 2008, Stone signed up for the role of a lesbian named Stephanie in the British romantic comedy ''Snappers''. In addition to acting, she produced the film's soundtrack. The film, also starring Chloe Howman, Caroline Quentin, and Bruce Jones, premiered at the English Riviera Comedy Film Festival in September 2008. Stone made her television debut portraying Henry VIII's fourth wife Anne of Cleves in the third season of Showtime's series ''The Tudors'', Owing to her surprise popularity with the show's fanbase, she reprised the role in the show's final season in 2010, appearing in two episodes.

Stone launched a legal battle in a bid to leave her record label, EMI, and free her of her current three-album deal with the record label in April 2008. Stone performed at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on 26 April 2008. She also performed "Right to Be Wrong" at the LA PRIDE 2008—produced by Christopher Street West, a non-profit organisation—in West Hollywood, California, on 7 June 2008. On 26 October 2008, Stone sang the British national anthem, ''God Save the Queen'', before the NFL match between the San Diego Chargers and the New Orleans Saints, held at Wembley Stadium, London. On 7 December 2008, Stone performed The Who's 1965 song "My Generation" on CBS's Kennedy Center Honors TV special at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., honouring Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. In 2010, Stone also appeared on Ringo Starr's album, ''Y Not'' on the song "Who's Your Daddy" in which she sang and co-wrote with the ex-Beatle; appeared on Jeff Beck's album, ''Emotion and Commotion'' on the songs "I Put A Spell On You" and "There's No Other Me". In late 2010, Stone's voice and likeness were used for the "Bond girl" character of Nicole Hunter, a jewellery designer and MI6 agent, in the video game ''James Bond 007: Blood Stone''. In addition to portraying the character, she also performed the game's theme song, "I'll Take It All", which was co-written and performed with Dave Stewart.

Stone's fourth studio album was written and recorded in about a week in Devon in early 2008. "I kind of woke up one morning and wanted to make an album", she says. "It's very, very raw. It's a bunch of musicians, writers and myself, and we're just jamming, basically." In promotion of the album, entitled ''Colour Me Free!'', Stone played concerts throughout the United Kingdom in February and March. Originally scheduled for release in April 2009, ''Colour Me Free!'' was finally released on 20 October 2009, after EMI delayed the album's release. Joss revealed that her record company also fought her about the original cover of her new album, calling it "offensive". It was changed to simple text and no picture of the singer on the American edition, the original cover was used on the other editions worldwide. In late August 2010, it was reported that Stone had left EMI and formed her own independent record label, Stone'd Records. EMI announced in late December that they would be releasing a greatest hits album, ''Super Duper Hits: The Best of Joss Stone''. The compilation will be released on September 23, 2011. In 2010, She collaborated with Puerto Rican recording artist Ricky Martin for "The Best Thing About Me Is You", and peaked at number 74 on the U.S ''Billboard Hot 100'' and which topped the ''Hot Latin Songs'' and ''Latin Pop Songs'' chart, this was Stone' first number one on all two charts, which also made her the first British of non-Hispanic origin to reach #1 on the ''Hot Latin Tracks'' and ''Latin Pop Songs'' chart. On 14 June 2011, police arrested two men near Stone's home in Cullompton, Mid Devon, England, for plotting to rob and murder her.

Stone partnered with Surfdog Records to release ''LP1'' on July 26, 2011, through her own label Stone'd Records. The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in six days, where Stone co-wrote and co-produced the album with Eurythmics co-founder, David Stewart The lead single, "Somehow", and was released on June 24, 2011. Stone also joined the supergroup SuperHeavy which was formed by Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones, together with Dave Stewart, Damian Marley, youngest son of Bob Marley, and the Indian musician and producer A.R. Rahman. The album was recorded at Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles and will be released in 20 September 2011 by A&M; Records. The debut single, "Miracle Worker", was released on 19 July 2011.

Voice and live performances

Stone possesses a wide vocal range that has been classified as both contralto and mezzo-soprano by reviewers, and is noted for its soulful quality. She is also well-known for her trademark barefoot performances.

Discography

''The Soul Sessions'' (2003)

''Mind Body & Soul'' (2004)

''Introducing Joss Stone'' (2007)

''Colour Me Free!'' (2009)

''LP1'' (2011)

Filmography

''Snappers'' ''The Funeral Planner'' ''American Dad!'' ''Good Luck Charlie''

colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Film
Year	Film	Role	! Notes
2006	Eragon (film)>Eragon''	Angela (Inheritance)>Angela
2008	|	Stephanie	First Lead Role
2010	|	Eve Gardner	(Video short)
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2009–2010	''The Tudors''	Anne of Cleves
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Television guest appearances
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2005	''American Dreams''	Singer in the Lair
2009	|	Unattractive Girl #1/Hooker #2	"Stan's Night Out" (episode 20, season 4)
2010	|	Mary-Jane	Special guest appearance
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"	Video game appearances
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2010	''James Bond 007: Blood Stone''	Nicole Hunter (voice)

Awards

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Stone has received one award from five nominations.

|- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| 2007 || Joss Stone || Best New Artist || |- | "You Had Me" || Best Female Pop Vocal Performance || |- | ''Mind Body & Soul'' || Best Pop Vocal Album || |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2007 ||"Family Affair" (with John Legend and Van Hunt) || Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals || |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"| 2011||"I Put a Spell on You" (with Jeff Beck) || Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal || |- |}

Other awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
	Mercury Prize	Album of the Year	''The Soul Sessions''
	Newcomer of the Year
HUMO's Pop Poll de Luxe	Best International Female Singer
	rowspan="3"	British Female Solo Artist
British Urban Act
British Breakthrough Act
	Best UK Act of the Year
	London's Favourite UK Album	''Mind Body & Soul''
2007	MOBO Award	Best UK Female	Joss Stone
2011	Game Audio Network Guild Award	Best Original Vocal - Pop	"I'll Take It All"

References

External links

Official website

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1987 births Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Animal rights advocates Category:English blues singers Category:English child singers Category:English contraltos Category:English female singers Category:English film actors Category:English mezzo-sopranos Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English soul singers Category:English television actors Category:English vegetarians Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Neo soul singers Category:People from Dover Category:People from Mid Devon (district) Category:Virgin Records artists

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name	Pete Townshend
alias	Bijou Drains
birth name	Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend
born	May 19, 1945London, England
instrument	Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, harmonica, drums, keyboards, banjo, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele, violin, viola, cello, accordion, piano
background	solo_singer
genre	Rock, art rock, hard rock, power pop
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, musical arranger, author
years active	1962–present
label	Track, Polydor, Atlantic, Atco, Decca, Rykodisc
associated acts	The Who, Deep End, Ronnie Lane, Thunderclap Newman
website	The Who's official webpage
notable instruments	Rickenbacker 330Fender StratocasterGibson SG SpecialGibson Les PaulGretsch 6120Gibson J-200 }}

Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend (born 19 May 1945) is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career. His career with The Who spans more than forty years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the 1960s and 1970s, and, according to Eddie Vedder, "possibly the greatest live band ever."

Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who, having written well over one hundred songs for the band's eleven studio albums, including concept albums and the rock operas ''Tommy'' and ''Quadrophenia'', plus popular rock and roll radio staples like ''Who's Next'', and dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilations like ''Odds & Sods''. He has also written over one hundred songs that have appeared on his solo albums, as well as radio jingles and television theme songs. Although known primarily as a guitarist, he also plays other instruments such as keyboards, banjo, accordion, synthesiser, bass guitar and drums, on his own solo albums, several Who albums, and as a guest contributor to a wide array of other artists' recordings. Townshend has never had formal lessons in any of the instruments he plays.

Townshend has also been a contributor and author of newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts, as well as collaborating as a lyricist (and composer) for many other musical acts. Townshend was ranked #3 in Dave Marsh's list of Best Guitarists in ''The New Book of Rock Lists'', #10 in Gibson.com's list of the top fifty guitarists, and #50 in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Townshend was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Who in 1990.

Early life

Born in Chiswick, London into a musical family (his father Cliff Townshend was a professional saxophonist in The Squadronaires and his mother Betty (née Dennis) was a singer), Townshend exhibited a fascination with music at an early age. In the mid-1950s he was drawn to American rock and roll; his mother recounts that he repeatedly saw the 1956 film ''Rock Around the Clock''. When he was 12, his grandmother gave him his first guitar, which he has described as a "cheap Spanish thing". Townshend's biggest guitar influences include Link Wray, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and Hank Marvin of The Shadows.

Townshend's brother Simon (who also became a musician) was born in 1960. In 1961, Townshend enrolled at Ealing Art College, with the intention to become a graphic artist and a year later, he and his school friend from Acton County Grammar School John Entwistle founded their first band, The Confederates, a Dixieland duet featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns. From this beginning they moved on to The Detours, a skiffle/rock and roll band fronted by Roger Daltrey, another former schoolmate. With the encouragement and assistance of his old classmate Entwistle, Daltrey invited Townshend to join as well. In early 1964, because another band had the same name, The Detours renamed themselves The Who. Drummer Doug Sandom was replaced by Keith Moon not long afterwards. The band (now comprising Daltrey on lead vocals and harmonica, Townshend on guitar, Entwistle on bass guitar and french horn, and Moon on drums) were soon taken on by a mod publicist named Peter Meaden who convinced them to change their name to The High Numbers to give the band more of a mod feel. After bringing out one failed single ("I'm the Face/Zoot Suit"), they dropped Meaden and were signed on by two new managers, Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, who had paired up with the intention of finding new talent and creating a documentary about them. The band anguished over a name that all felt represented the band best, and dropped The High Numbers name, reverting to The Who.

Music career

Breakthrough

After The High Numbers once again became The Who, Townshend wrote several successful singles for the band, including "I Can't Explain", "Pictures of Lily", "Substitute", and "My Generation". Townshend became known for his eccentric stage style during the band's early days, often interrupting concerts with lengthy introductions of songs. He developed a signature move in which he would swing his right arm against the guitar strings in a style reminiscent of the vanes of a windmill. He became one of the first musicians known for smashing guitars on stage and would repeatedly throw them into his amplifiers and speaker cabinets. The first incident of guitar-smashing happened when Townshend accidentally broke the neck of his guitar on the low ceiling of an early concert venue at the Railway Tavern in Harrow. The stage, only about a foot high, nevertheless brought the ceiling to within 7 feet. After smashing the instrument to pieces, he carried on by grabbing another guitar and acting as if the broken guitar had been part of the act. Drummer Keith Moon was delighted; he loved attention and destruction on any level, and smashed his drum kit as well. The press sensationalised the incidents. The on-stage destruction of instruments soon became a regular part of The Who's performances. This was further dramatised with pyrotechnics, an idea which came from Moon, who incorporated it in his exploding drum kits. At a concert in Germany, a police officer walked up to Townshend, pointed his gun at him, and ordered him to stop smashing the guitar. Townshend, always a voluble interview subject, would later relate these antics to German/British artist Gustav Metzger's theories on auto-destructive art, to which he had been exposed at art school. However, on several occasions, he admitted that the destruction was a gimmick that set the band out apart from the others and gave them the publicity edge that they needed to be noticed.

The Who thrived, and continue to thrive, despite the deaths of two of the original members. They are regarded by many rock critics as one of the best live bands from a period of time that stretched from the mid-1960s to the 2000s, the result of a unique combination of high volume, showmanship, a wide variety of rock beats, and a high-energy sound that alternated between tight and free-form. The Who continue to perform critically acclaimed sets in the 21st century, including highly regarded performances at The Concert For New York City in 2001, the 2004 Isle of Wight Festival, Live 8 in 2005 and the 2007 Glastonbury Festival.

Townshend remained the primary songwriter and leader of the group, writing over one hundred songs which appeared on the band's eleven studio albums. Among his most well-known accomplishments are the creation of ''Tommy'', for which the term "rock opera" was coined, and a second pioneering rock opera, ''Quadrophenia''; his dramatic stage persona; his use of guitar feedback as sonic technique; and the introduction of the synthesiser as a rock instrument. Townshend revisited album-length storytelling throughout his career and remains the musician most associated with the rock opera form. Many studio recordings also feature Townshend on piano or keyboards, though keyboard-heavy tracks increasingly featured guest artists in the studio, such as Nicky Hopkins, John Bundrick or Chris Stainton.

Townshend is one of the key figures in the development of feedback in rock guitar. When asked who first used feedback, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore said, "Pete Townshend was definitely the first. But not being that good a guitarist, he used to just sort of crash chords and let the guitar feedback. He didn't get into twiddling with the dials on the amplifier until much later. He's overrated in England, but at the same time you find a lot of people like Jeff Beck and Hendrix getting credit for things he started. Townshend was the first to break his guitar, and he was the first to do a lot of things. He's very good at his chord scene, too." Similarly, when Jimmy Page was asked about the development of guitar feedback, he said, "I don't know who really did feedback first; it just sort of happened. I don't think anybody consciously nicked it from anybody else. It was just going on. But Pete Townshend obviously was the one, through the music of his group, who made the use of feedback more his style, and so it's related to him. Whereas the other players like Jeff Beck and myself were playing more single note things than chords."

Many rock guitarists have cited Townshend as an influence, among them Slash, Alex Lifeson and Steve Jones.

Solo career

In addition to his work with The Who, Townshend has been sporadically active as a solo recording artist. Between 1969 and 1971 Townshend, along with other devotees to Meher Baba, recorded a trio of albums devoted to his teachings: ''Happy Birthday'', ''I Am'', and ''With Love''. In response to bootlegging of these, he compiled his personal highlights (and "Evolution", a collaboration with Ronnie Lane), and released his first major-label solo title, 1972's ''Who Came First''. It was a moderate success and featured demos of Who songs as well as a showcase of his acoustic guitar talents. He collaborated with The Faces' bassist and fellow Meher Baba devotee Ronnie Lane on a duet album (1977's ''Rough Mix''). Townshend's solo breakthrough, following the death of Who drummer Keith Moon, was the 1980 release ''Empty Glass'', which included a top-10 single, "Let My Love Open the Door". This release was followed in 1982 by ''All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes'', which included the popular radio track "Slit Skirts". While not a huge commercial success, noted music critic Timothy Duggan listed it as "Townshend's most honest and introspective work since Quadrophenia." Through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s Townshend would again experiment with the rock opera and related formats, releasing several story-based albums including ''White City: A Novel'' (1985), ''The Iron Man: A Musical'' (1989), and ''Psychoderelict'' (1993). Townshend also got the chance to play with his hero Hank Marvin for Paul McCartney's "Rockestra" sessions, along with other respected rock musicians such as David Gilmour, John Bonham and Ronnie Lane.

Townshend has also recorded several concert albums, including one featuring a supergroup he assembled called Deep End, who performed just two concerts and a television show session for ''The Tube'', to raise money for a charity supporting drug addicts. In 1984 Townshend published a collection of short stories entitled ''Horse's Neck''. He has also reported that he is writing an autobiography. In 1993 he and Des McAnuff wrote and directed the Broadway adaptation of the Who album ''Tommy'', as well as a less successful stage musical based on his solo album ''The Iron Man'', based upon the book by Ted Hughes. McAnuff and Townshend later co-produced the animated film ''The Iron Giant'', also based on the Hughes story.

A production described as a Townshend rock-opera and titled ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' debuted as part of Vassar College's Powerhouse Summer Theater program in July 2007.

Recent Who work

From the mid-1990s through the present, Townshend has participated in a series of tours with the surviving members of The Who, including a 2002 tour that continued despite Entwistle's death.

In February 2006, a major world tour by The Who was announced to promote their first new album since 1982. Townshend published a semi-autobiographical story ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' as a serial on a blog beginning in September 2005. The blog closed in October 2006, as noted on Townshend's website. It is now owned by a different user and does not relate to Townshend's work in any way. On 25 February 2006, he announced the issue of a mini-opera inspired by the novella for June 2006. In October 2006 The Who released their first album in 26 years, ''Endless Wire''.

The Who performed at the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show on 7 February 2010, playing a medley of songs that included "Pinball Wizard", "Who Are You", "Baba O'Riley", "See Me Feel Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Hearing loss

Townshend suffers from partial deafness and tinnitus believed to be the result of noise-induced hearing loss; in other words, his extensive exposure to loud music. Some such incidents include a Who concert at the Charlton Athletic Football Club, London, on 31 May 1976 that was listed as the "Loudest Concert Ever" by the Guinness Book of Records, where the volume level was measured at 126 decibels 32 metres from the stage. Townshend has also attributed the start of his hearing loss to Keith Moon's famous exploding drum set during The Who's 1967 appearance on ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''. ''NME'' – April 1970

In 1989, Townshend gave the initial funding to allow the formation of the non-profit hearing advocacy group H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). After the Who performed at half-time at the Super Bowl XLIV, Townshend stated that he is concerned that his tinnitus has grown to such a point that he might be forced to discontinue performing with the band altogether. He told ''Rolling Stone'', "If my hearing is going to be a problem, we’re not delaying shows. We're ''finished''. I can’t really see any way around the issue." Neil Young introduced him to an audiologist who gave him the possible option of a hearing device to use, and although The Who have cancelled their spring touring schedule, Townshend planned a test run with the aid at their one remaining London concert on 30 March 2010, to ascertain the feasibility of continuing to perform with The Who.

In March 2011, Roger Daltrey said in an interview with the BBC that Townshend had recently experienced gradual but severe hearing loss and was now trying to save what remained of his hearing.

"Pete's having terrible trouble with his hearing. He's got really, really bad problems with it...not tinnitus, it's deterioration and he's seriously now worried about actually losing his hearing."

Interviews

From The Who's emergence on the British musical landscape, Pete Townshend could always be counted upon for a good interview. By early 1966 he had become the band's spokesman, interviewed separately from the band for the BBC television series ''A Whole Scene Going'' admitting that the band used drugs and that he considered The Beatles' backing tracks "flippin' lousy". In a 1967 interview, however, Townshend complimented one of The Beatles' songs: "I think "Eleanor Rigby" was a very important musical move forward. It certainly inspired me to write and listen to things in that vein." Throughout the 1960s Townshend made regular appearances in the pages of British music magazines, but it was a very long interview he gave to ''Rolling Stone'' in 1968 that sealed his reputation as one of rock's leading intellectuals and theorists.

Townshend gave interview after interview to the newly risen underground press, not only providing them with a star for their covers, but firmly establishing his reputation as a commentator on the rock 'n' roll scene. In addition, he wrote his own articles, starting a regular monthly column in ''Melody Maker'', and contributing to ''Rolling Stone'' with an article on his guru Meher Baba and a review of The Who's album ''Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy''.

Townshend has withdrawn from the press on occasion. On his 30th birthday, Townshend discussed his feelings that The Who were failing to journalist Roy Carr, making unflattering comments on fellow Who member Roger Daltrey and other leading members of the British rock community. Carr printed his remarks in the ''NME'' causing strong friction within The Who and embarrassing Townshend. Feeling betrayed, he stopped interviews with the press for over two years.

Nevertheless, Townshend has maintained close relationships with journalists, and sought them out in 1982 to describe his two-year battle with cocaine and heroin. Some of those press members turned on him in the 1980s as the punk rock revolution led to widespread dismissal of the old guard of rock, Townshend attacked two of them, Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons, in the song "Jools And Jim" on his album ''Empty Glass'' after they made some derogatory remarks about Who drummer Keith Moon. Meanwhile several journalists denounced Townshend for what they saw as a betrayal of the idealism about rock music he had espoused in his earlier interviews when The Who participated in a tour sponsored by Schlitz in 1982 and by Miller Brewing in 1989. Townshend's 1993 concept album ''Psychoderelict'' offers a scathing commentary on journalists in the character of Ruth Streeting, who attempts to scandalise the main character, Ray High.

On 25 October 2006, Townshend declined at the last minute to do a scheduled interview with Sirius Satellite Radio star Howard Stern after Stern's co-host Robin Quivers and sidekick Artie Lange made joking references to his 2003 arrest. Stern conducted an interview instead with Roger Daltrey and repeatedly expressed regret about the utterances of his on-air colleagues, stating that they did not reflect his own feelings of respect for Townshend.

Later in 2006, Townshend appeared on the ''Living Legends'' radio show in an exclusive interview with Opal Bonfante. The interview, broadcasted worldwide on Radio London, was his first live interview in 15 years. Townshend spoke about his forthcoming UK tour, his online novella and his memories of the old pirate radio stations.

Also in late 2006, Townshend granted an interview with author Mark Wilkerson, which led to Wilkerson's 2008 biography ''Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend''.

In a BBC Radio 4 interview, first broadcast on 27 October 2009, Townshend informed the audience that from the time he was involved in writing the music for the Who's first album, he has been influenced by the works of the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell.

Musical equipment

Throughout his solo career and his career with The Who, Townshend has played (and destroyed) a large variety of guitars – including various Gretsch, Gibson, and Fender models. He has also used Guild, Takamine and Gibson J-200 acoustic models.

In the early days with The Who, Townshend played an Emile Grimshaw SS De Luxe and 6-string and 12-string Rickenbacker semi-hollow electric guitars primarily (particularly the Rose-Morris UK-imported models with special f-holes). However, as instrument-smashing became increasingly integrated into The Who's concert sets, he switched to more durable and resilient (and sometimes cheaper) guitars for smashing, such as the Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster and various Danelectro models. On The Who's famous ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' appearance in 1967, Townshend used a Vox Cheetah guitar, which he only used for that performance; and the guitar was smashed to smithereens by Townshend and Moon's drum explosion. In the late 1960s, Townshend began playing Gibson SG models almost exclusively, specifically the Special models. He used this guitar at the Woodstock and Isle of Wight shows in 1969 and 1970, as well as the ''Live at Leeds'' performance in 1970.

By 1970, Gibson changed the design of the SG Special which Townshend had been using previously, and thus he began using other guitars. For much of the 1970s, he used a Gibson Les Paul DeLuxe, some with only two mini-humbucker pick-ups and others modified with a third pick-up in the "middle position" (a DiMarzio Superdistortion / Dual Sound). He can be seen using several of these guitars in the documentary ''The Kids Are Alright'', although in the studio he often played a '59 Gretsch 6120 guitar (given to him by Joe Walsh of The Eagles), most notably on the albums ''Who's Next'' and ''Quadrophenia''.

During the 1980s, Townshend mainly used Fenders, Rickenbackers and Telecaster-style models built for him by Schecter and various other luthiers. Since the late-1980s, Townshend has used the Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster, with Lace Sensor pick-ups, both in the studio and on tour. Some of his Stratocaster guitars feature a Fishman PowerBridge piezo pick-up system to simulate acoustic guitar tones. This piezo system is controlled by an extra volume control behind the guitar's bridge.

During The Who's 1989 Tour Townshend played a Rickenbacker guitar that was ironically smashed accidentally when he tripped over it. Instead of throwing the smashed parts away, Townshend reassembled the pieces as a sculpture. The sculpture was featured at the ''Rock Stars, Cars And Guitars 2'' exhibit during the summer of 2009 at The Henry Ford museum.

There are several Gibson Pete Townshend signature guitars, such as the Pete Townshend SG, the Pete Townshend J-200, and three different Pete Townshend Les Paul Deluxes. The SG was clearly marked as a Pete Townshend limited edition model and came with a special case and certificate of authenticity, signed by Townshend himself. There has also been a Pete Townshend signature Rickenbacker limited edition guitar of the model 1998, which was his main 6-string guitar in the Who's early days. The run featured 250 guitars which were made between July 1987-March 1988, and according to Rickenbacker CEO John Hall, the entire run sold out before serious advertising could be done.

He also used the Gibson ES-335, one of which he donated to the Hard Rock Cafe. Townshend also used a Gibson EDS-1275 double neck very briefly circa late 1967, and both a Harmony Sovereign H1270 and a Fender Electric XII for the studio sessions for ''Tommy'' for the 12-string guitar parts.

In 2006, Townshend had a pedal board designed by long-time gear guru Pete Cornish. The board apparently is composed with a compressor, an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal, as well as a T-Rex Replica delay pedal.

Over the years, Pete Townshend has used many types of amplifiers, including Vox, Fender, Marshall, Hiwatt etc., sticking to using Hiwatt amps for most of four decades. Around the time of ''Who's Next'', he used a tweed Fender Bassman amp, which he also used for ''Quadrophenia'' and ''The Who by Numbers''. Since 1989, his rig consisted of four Fender Vibro-King stacks and a Hiwatt head driving two custom made 2x12" Hiwatt/Mesa Boogie speaker cabinets. However, since 2006, he has only three Vibro-King stacks, one of which is a backup.

Townshend figured prominently in the development of what is widely known in rock circles as the "Marshall Stack". It has been recounted by others during the start of popularity of Jim Marshall's guitar amplifiers, that Townshend became a user of these amps.

He also ordered several speaker cabinets that contained eight speakers in a housing standing nearly six feet in height with the top half of the cabinet slanted slightly upward. These became hard to move and were incredibly heavy.

Jim Marshall then cut the massive speaker cabinet into two separate speaker cabinets, at the suggestion of Townshend, with each cabinet containing four 12-inch speakers. One of the cabinets had half of the speaker baffle slanted upwards and Marshall made these two cabinets stackable. The Marshall stack was born, and Townshend used these as well as Hiwatt stacks.

His amplifier rig currently usually consists of four Fender Vibro King amps with extension cabinets.

He has always regarded his instruments as being merely tools of the trade and has, in latter years, determinedly kept his most prized instruments well away from the concert stage. These instruments include a few vintage and reissue Rickenbackers, the Gretsch 6120, an original 1952 Fender Telecaster, Gibson Custom Shop's artist limited edition reissues of Townshend's Les Paul DeLuxe models 1, 3 and 9 as well his signature SG Special reissue.

Townshend also worked with synthesisers that made their debut on ''Who's Next'' that included the EMS VCS3, the ARP Instruments, Inc. ARP 2600, some of which modified a Lowrey TBO Berkshire organ. Current photos of his home studio also show an ARP 2500. Townshend was featured in ARP promotional materials in the early 1970s.

Literary work

Although known for his musical compositions and musicianship, Pete Townshend has been extensively involved in the literary world for more than three decades, writing newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts.

An early example of Townshend’s writing came in August 1970 with the first of nine installments of "The Pete Townshend Page", a monthly column written by Townshend for the British music paper ''Melody Maker''. The column provided Townshend’s perspective on an array of subjects, such as the media and the state of U.S. concert halls and public address systems, as well as providing valuable insight into Townshend’s mindset during the evolution of his ''Lifehouse'' project.

Townshend also wrote three sizeable essays for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the first of which appeared in November 1970. In Love With Meher Baba described Townshend’s spiritual leanings. "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy", a blow-by-blow account of The Who compilation album of the same name, followed in December 1971. The third article, "The Punk Meets the Godmother", appeared in November 1977.

Also in 1977, Townshend founded Eel Pie Publishing, which specialised in children's titles, music books, and several Meher Baba-related publications. A bookstore named Magic Bus (after the popular Who song) was opened in London. ''The Story of Tommy'', a book written by Townshend and his art school friend Richard Barnes (now the Who's official biographer) about the writing of Townshend’s 1969 rock opera and the making of the 1975 Ken Russell-directed film, was published by Eel Pie the same year.

In July 1983, Townshend took a position as an acquisitions editor for London publisher Faber and Faber. Notable projects included editing Animals frontman Eric Burdon’s autobiography, Charles Shaar Murray’s award-winning ''Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop'', Brian Eno and Russell Mills's ''More Dark Than Shark'', and working with Prince Charles on a volume of his collected speeches. Townshend commissioned Dave Rimmer’s ''Like Punk Never Happened'', and was commissioning editor for radical playwright Steven Berkoff.

Two years after joining Faber and Faber, Townshend decided to publish a book of his own. ''Horse's Neck'', published in May 1985, was a collection of short stories he’d written between 1979 and 1984, tackling subjects such as childhood, stardom and spirituality. As a result of his position with Faber and Faber, Townshend developed a friendship with the Nobel prize-winning author of ''Lord of the Flies'', Sir William Golding, and became friends with British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. His friendship with Hughes led to Townshend’s musical interpretation of Hughes's children's story, ''The Iron Man'', six years later, as ''The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend'', released in 1989.

Townshend has written several scripts spanning the breadth of his career, including numerous drafts of his elusive ''Lifehouse'' project, the last of which, co-written with radio playwright Jeff Young, was published in 1999. In 1978, Townshend wrote a script for ''Fish Shop'', a play commissioned but not completed by London Weekend Television, and in mid-1984 he wrote a script for ''White City: A Novel'' which led to a short film.

In 1989, Townshend began work on a novel entitled ''Ray High & The Glass Household'', a draft of which was later submitted to his editor. While the original novel remains unpublished, elements from this story were used in Townshend’s 1993 solo album ''Psychoderelict''.

In 1993, Townshend authored another book, ''The Who's Tommy'', a chronicle of the development of the award-winning Broadway version of his rock opera.

The opening of his personal website and his commerce site Eelpie.com, both in 2000, gave Townshend another outlet for literary work. Several of Townshend’s essays have been posted online, including "Meher Baba—The Silent Master: My Own Silence" in 2001, and "A ''Different'' Bomb", an indictment of the child pornography industry, the following year.

Townshend’s most recent literary contribution is ''The Boy Who Heard Music'', a novella which began a chapter-a-week online posting in September 2005. It is now available to read at his website. Like ''Psychoderelict'' this is yet another extrapolation of ''Lifehouse'' and ''Ray High & The Glass Household''.

Townshend signed a deal with Little, Brown and Company publishing in 1997 to write his autobiography. Reportedly half-complete and titled ''Pete Townshend: Who He?'' this is a work in progress. Townshend's creative vagaries and conceptual machinations have been chronicled by Larry David Smith in his book ''The Minstrel's Dilemma'' (Praeger 1999).

Religion

Townshend showed no predilection for religious belief in the first years of The Who's career. By the beginning of 1968, however, Townshend had begun to explore spiritual ideas. In January 1968, The Who recorded his song "Faith in Something Bigger" (''Odds & Sods''). Townshend's art school friend Mike McInnerney gave him a copy of C. B. Purdom's book ''The God-Man'', introducing him to the writings of the Indian "perfect master" Meher Baba, who blended elements of Vedantic, Sufi, and Mystic schools.

Townshend swiftly absorbed all of Baba's writings that he could find; by April 1968, he announced himself Baba's disciple. At about this time, Townshend, who had been searching the past two years for a basis for a rock opera, created a story inspired by the teachings of Baba and other Indian spiritualists that would ultimately become ''Tommy''.

''Tommy'' did more than revitalise The Who's career (which was moderately successful at this point but had reached a plateau); it also marked a renewal of Townshend's songwriting and his spiritual studies infused most of his work from ''Tommy'' forward, including the unfinished Who project ''Lifehouse''. The Who song "Baba O'Riley", written for ''Lifehouse'' and eventually appearing on the album ''Who's Next'', was named for Meher Baba and minimalist composer Terry Riley. His newfound passion was not shared by his bandmates, whose attitude was tolerant, but who were unwilling to become the spokesmen for a particular religion. Few of the thousands of fans who packed stadiums across Europe and the U.S. to see The Who noticed the religious message in the songs: that "Bargain" and the middle section of "Behind Blue Eyes" from ''Who's Next'' and "Listening To You" from ''Tommy'' were all originally written as prayers, that "Drowned" from ''Quadrophenia'' and "Don't Let Go The Coat" from ''Face Dances'' were based on Baba's sayings, that the "who are you, who, who, who, who" chorus from the song "Who Are You" was based on Sufi chants, or that "Let My Love Open The Door" was not a message from a lover but from God.

In interviews Townshend was more open about his beliefs, penning an article on Baba for ''Rolling Stone'' in 1970 and stating that following Baba's teachings, he was opposed to the use of all psychedelic drugs, making him one of the first rock stars with counterculture credibility to turn against their use.

His stardom quickly made him the world's most notable follower of Baba. Having missed out on meeting his guru with Baba's death 31 January 1969 (work on ''Tommy'' kept him from making the pilgrimage), Townshend made several trips to visit Baba's tomb in India as well as becoming a frequent visitor to the Meher Baba Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At home he recorded and released his most overtly spiritual songs on records assembled, pressed and sold by Baba organisations. When these records became widely bootlegged, Townshend put together a selection of the tracks for release as the solo album ''Who Came First''. One of the songs from that album, "Parvardigar", a Baba prayer set to music by Townshend, would gradually be accepted as a hymn by the Baba movement. In 1976 he opened the Oceanic Centre in London, using it as a haven for English Baba followers and Americans making a pilgrimage to Baba's tomb in Meherabad, India as well as a place for small concerts (one such in 1979 was released on CD in 2001 as ''Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd—The Oceanic Concerts'') and a repository for films made of Baba.

Townshend became a lower-profile member after 1982, having felt that his former addictions to cocaine and heroin made him a poor candidate for spokesman. Nevertheless, his discipleship continues to the current day.

Personal life

Townshend met Karen Astley (born 12 June 1947, daughter of composer Ted Astley and sister of record producer Jon Astley), while in art school and married her in 1968. The couple separated in 1994 and divorced in 2009. They have three children: Emma (b. 1969), who is a singer/songwriter, Aminta (b. 1971), and Joseph (b. 1990). Townshend currently lives with his long-time partner, musician Rachel Fuller, in The Wick, Richmond, England. He also owns a house in Churt, Surrey, England, and in 2010 purchased a lease on the historic National Trust property Ashdown House in Oxfordshire. According to ''The Sunday Times'' Rich List his assets are worth £40 million as of 2009.

Townshend has two younger brothers by nearly a generation, Paul Townshend (b. 1958) and Simon Townshend, (b. 10 October 1960). Simon is a guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. Simon initially has had a career as a solo artist, and has performed with other bands, but began to record with The Who in the studio as early as their work on the film version of ''Tommy'', and began to play with Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle on their solo efforts. By 1996, Simon joined The Who on their ''Quadrophenia'' support tour for two years as a backup guitarist and singer. He also returned again after the death of Entwistle as a part of their touring band. Paul played the voice of his brother, Pete, in ''The Simpsons'' episode, "A Tale of Two Springfields" as Pete was unavailable.

Charity work

Pete Townshend has woven a long history of involvement with various charities and other philanthropic efforts throughout his career, both as a solo artist and with The Who. His first solo concert, for example, was a 1974 benefit show which was organised to raise funds for the Camden Square Community Play Center.

The earliest public example of Townshend’s involvement with charitable causes was in 1968, when Townshend donated the use of his former Wardour Street apartment to the Meher Baba Association. The following year, the association was moved to another Townshend-owned apartment, the Eccleston Square former residence of wife Karen. Townshend sat on a committee which oversaw the operation and finances of the centre. "The committee sees to it that it is open a couple of days a week, and keeps the bills paid and the library full," he wrote in a 1970 ''Rolling Stone'' article.

In 1969 and 1972 Townshend produced two limited-release albums, ''Happy Birthday'' and ''I Am'', for the London-based Baba association. This led to 1972’s ''Who Came First'', a more widespread release, 15 percent of the revenue of which went to the Baba association. A further limited release, ''With Love'', was released in 1976. A limited-edition boxed set of all three limited releases on CD, ''Avatar'', was released in 2000, with all profits going to the Avatar Meher Baba Trust in India, which provided funds to a dispensary, school, hospital and pilgrimage centre.

In July 1976, Townshend opened Meher Baba Oceanic, a London activity centre for Baba followers which featured film dubbing and editing facilities, a cinema and a recording studio. In addition, the centre served as a regular meeting place for Baba followers. Townshend offered very economical (reportedly £1 per night) lodging for American followers who needed an overnight stay on their pilgrimages to India. "For a few years, I had toyed with the idea of opening a London house dedicated to Meher Baba," he wrote in a 1977 ''Rolling Stone'' article. "In the eight years I had followed him, I had donated only coppers to foundations set up around the world to carry out the Master’s wishes and decided it was about time I put myself on the line. The Who had set up a strong charitable trust of its own which appeased, to an extent, the feeling I had that Meher Baba would rather have seen me give to the poor than to the establishment of yet another so-called 'spiritual center'." Townshend also embarked on a project dedicated to the collection, restoration and maintenance of Meher Baba-related films. The project was known as MEFA, or Meher Baba European Film Archive.

Children's charities

Townshend has been an active champion of children’s charities. The debut of Pete Townshend’s stage version of ''Tommy'' took place at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse in July 1992. The show was earmarked as a benefit for the London-based Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation, an organisation which helps children with autism and mental retardation.

Townshend performed at a 1995 benefit organised by Paul Simon at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theatre, for The Children’s Health Fund. The following year, Townshend performed at a benefit for the annual Bridge School Benefit, a California facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments with concerts organised by Neil and Pegi Young. In 1997, Townshend established a relationship with Maryville Academy, a Chicago area children’s charity. Between 1997 and 2002, Townshend played five benefit shows for Maryville Academy, raising at least $1,600,000. His 1998 album ''A Benefit for Maryville Academy'' was made to support their activities and proceeds from the sales of his release were donated to them.

As a member of The Who, Pete Townshend has also performed a series of concerts, beginning in 2000, benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK, raising several million pounds. In 2005, Townshend performed at New York’s Gotham Hall for Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope, an annual children's charity fundraiser, and donated a smashed guitar to the Pediatric Epilepsy Project.

Drug rehabilitation

Townshend has also advocated for drug rehabilitation. In a 1985 radio interview, he said:

The "large clinic" Townshend was referring to was a plan he and drug rehabilitation experimenter Meg Patterson had devised to open a drug treatment facility in London; however, the plan failed to come to fruition. Two early 1979 concerts by The Who raised £20,000 for Patterson’s Pharmakon Clinic in Sussex.

Further examples of Townshend’s drug rehabilitation activism took place in the form of a 1984 benefit concert, an article he wrote a few days later for Britain’s ''Mail On Sunday'' urging better care for the nation’s growing number of drug addicts, and the formation of a charitable organisation, Double-O Charities, to raise funds for the causes he’d recently championed. Townshend also personally sold fund-raising anti-heroin T-shirts at a series of UK Bruce Springsteen concerts, and reportedly financed a trip for former Clash drummer Topper Headon to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment. Townshend's 1985–86 band, Deep End, played two benefits at Brixton Academy in 1985 for Double-O Charities.

Amnesty International

In 1979, Townshend donated his services to the human rights organisation Amnesty International when he performed three songs for its benefit show ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' – performances that were released on record and seen in the film of the show. Townshend's acoustic performances of three of his songs ("Pinball Wizard", "Drowned", and "Won't Get Fooled Again") were subsequently cited as having been the forerunner and inspiration for the "unplugged" phenomenon in the 1990s. Townshend had been invited to perform for Amnesty by Martin Lewis, the producer of ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' who stated later that Townshend's participation had been the key to his securing the subsequent participation for Amnesty (in the 1981 sequel show) of Sting, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins and Bob Geldof. Other performers inspired to support Amnesty International in future ''Secret Policeman's Ball'' shows and other benefits because of Townshend's early commitment to the organisation include Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, David Gilmour and U2 singer Bono who in 1986 told ''Rolling Stone'' magazine: "I saw ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed...."

Miscellaneous efforts

Highlights of Pete Townshend’s other public charitable efforts include the following:

A 1972 ''Tommy'' performance which raised nearly £10,000 for the Stars Organization for Spastics charity.

A 1979 Rock Against Racism benefit concert, organised to raise money to pay the legal costs of those arrested in a London area anti-racism demonstration. Townshend helped organise the show, topped the bill, and supplied the event lighting and equipment.

A 1981 Rock Against Unemployment benefit concert, part of the People’s March For Jobs campaign.

A 1982 Prince’s Trust Gala Benefit performance.

Performing with The Who at the 1985 Live Aid concert.

Involvement in fundraising supportive of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.

Performing in a 1986 Royal Albert Hall benefit show for the victims of a Colombian Volcano disaster which killed over 25,000 people.

A 2001 benefit show for San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse which raised approximately $100,000.

Performing in Rock the Dock, a 1998 benefit for striking Liverpool dock workers.

Organizing an online auction in 2000 to raise funds for Oxfam's emergency services to help those affected by floods in Mozambique and a combination of drought and food shortages in Ethiopia. Among the auctioned items were a selection of gold and platinum awards, letters from celebrities such as Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney, and musical instruments (including a smashed Rickenbacker guitar and the guitar on which Townshend composed the Who classic "Behind Blue Eyes"). The centerpiece of the auction, however, was a 1957 Fender Stratocaster which was given to Townshend as a gift by Eric Clapton after Townshend had helped arrange Clapton’s 1973 recovery from his own heroin addiction, and comeback show at the Rainbow. The guitar was ultimately purchased by Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and presented to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Performing with The Who at the 2001 all-star The Concert for New York City at Madison Square Garden, honouring policemen and emergency personnel killed in the 11 September attacks.

Performing at the Royal Albert Hall in a 2004 Ronnie Lane tribute show which served as a fundraiser for both Lane’s family and multiple sclerosis research.

Performing with The Who at the 2005 Live 8 concert.

In 1998, Townshend was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the UK Labour Party. He refused to let Michael Moore use "Won't Get Fooled Again" in ''Fahrenheit 9/11'', saying that he watched ''Bowling for Columbine'' and was not convinced.

Performing with The Who in Detroit in 2008, donating all profits to Focus: HOPE and Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Operation Ore investigation and police caution

Townshend was cautioned by the British police in 2003 as part of Operation Ore. Following a news leak that Townshend was among the subjects of the investigation, he publicly stated that on one occasion he had used a credit card to access a website advertising child pornography. Townshend, who had posted essays on his personal website in 2002 as part of his campaign against the widespread availability of child pornography on the internet, said that he had entered the site for research purposes and had not downloaded any images. A four-month police investigation, including forensic examination of all of his computers, established that Townshend was not in possession of any illegal downloaded images. Instead of pressing charges, the police elected to caution him, stating, "It is not a defence to access these images for research or out of curiosity." In a statement issued by his lawyer, Townshend said, "I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me."

Discography

Guest appearances

"Because You're Young" with David Bowie on ''Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'' (1980)

Acoustic guitar on "Ball and Chain" with Elton John on ''Jump Up!'' (1982)

"Lonely at the Top" and "Hard Women" with Mick Jagger on ''She's the Boss'' (1985)

Guitar on "Town of Plenty" with Elton John on ''Reg Strikes Back'' (1988)

Acoustic guitar with Prefab Sprout on "Hey Manhattan!" on ''From Langley Park to Memphis'' (1988)

"Substitute" with The Ramones on ''Acid Eaters'' (1993)

"Joy" and "Gun" with Mick Jagger on ''Goddess in the Doorway'' (2001)

"Slow Burn" with David Bowie on ''Heathen'' (2002)

In 1968 Townshend helped assemble a band called Thunderclap Newman consisting of three musicians he knew. Pianist Andy Newman (an old art school friend), drummer John "Speedy" Keen (who had written "Armenia City in the Sky" for The Who to record for their 1967 album ''The Who Sell Out'') and teenage guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (later to join Wings). Townshend produced the band and played bass on their recordings under the tongue-in-cheek pseudonym "Bijou Drains". Their first recording was the single "Something in the Air", which became a number one hit in the UK and a substantial hit elsewhere in the world. This was the only number one hit in the UK that Townshend performed on (The Who had none.) Following this success, Townshend produced their sole album, ''Hollywood Dream''.

Townshend also produced "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in 1968 that was No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US.

In 1971, Townshend, along with Keith Moon and Ronnie Lane, backed Mike Heron (of the Incredible String Band) on one song "Warm Heart Pastry" from Heron's first solo LP, ''Smiling Men with Bad Reputations''. On the album notes, they are listed as "Tommy and the Bijoux". Also present on the track was John Cale on viola.

In 1984, Townshend contributed lyrics to two songs ("Love on The Air" and "All Lovers are Deranged") on David Gilmour's solo album ''About Face''.

For albums Townshend composed as a member of The Who, see their entry. Not included are albums by other artists on which Townshend played as a session musician. Through much of 2005, Pete Townshend recorded and performed alongside his partner Rachel Fuller, a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter.

In 2006, Townshend opened a website for implementation of The Lifehouse Method based on his 1971 ''Lifehouse'' concept. This website was in collaboration with composer Lawrence Ball and software developer David Snowden. Applicants at the website could input data to compose a musical "portrait" which the musical team could then develop into larger compositions for a planned concert or series of concerts.

Awards

BRIT Awards 1983 – Life Achievement Award

Tony Award 1993 – Best Original Score (music & lyrics) – ''The Who's Tommy'' (tie)

Grammy Awards 1993 – Best Musical Show Album (as composer and lyricist of ''The Who's Tommy'')

Kennedy Center Honors 2008

See also

Guitar showmanship

Cliff Townshend

Simon Townshend

References

Further reading

''Horses Neck'' by Pete Townshend Mariner Books 1985, new edition, (21 May 1998) ISBN 0-395-90559-1 ISBN 978-0-395-90559-3

''The Who: Maximum R&B;'' by Pete Townshend and Richard Barnes Plexus Publishing; 5th edition (27 September 2004) ISBN 0-85965-351-X ISBN 978-0-85965-351-0

''Pete Townshend: A Minstrel's Dilemma'' by Larry David Smith Praeger Publishers (30 March 1999) ISBN 0-275-96472-8, ISBN 978-0-275-96472-6

''Who Are You: The Life Of Pete Townshend'' by Mark Ian Wilkerson Omnibus Press; 1st edition (30 November 2008) ISBN 1-84772-243-1 ISBN 978-1-84772-243-0

External links

The Who's official web site

Pete Townshend's commercial Eelpie web site

In Love With Meher Baba (Townshend's 1970 ''Rolling Stone'' article)

video of Townshend's 1996 Fillmore West performance of his song "O Parvardigar"

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:English rock musicians Category:English male singers Category:English tenors Category:English guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:English composers Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Tony Award winners Category:English-language singers Category:English songwriters Category:English rock singers Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Deaf musicians Category:Followers of Meher Baba Category:The Who members Category:Townshend family Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:People from Chiswick

an:Pete Townshend cs:Pete Townshend da:Pete Townshend de:Pete Townshend es:Pete Townshend fr:Pete Townshend ga:Pete Townshend gl:Pete Townshend it:Pete Townshend he:פיט טאונסנד hu:Pete Townshend nl:Pete Townshend ja:ピート・タウンゼント no:Pete Townshend nn:Pete Townshend pl:Pete Townshend pt:Pete Townshend ro:Pete Townshend ru:Таунсенд, Пит simple:Pete Townshend sk:Pete Townshend sl:Pete Townshend fi:Pete Townshend sv:Pete Townshend th:พีต ทาวน์เซนด์

name	Phil Collins
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Philip David Charles Collins
birth date	January 30, 1951
birth place	London, England, UK
instrument	Drums, vocals, piano, guitar, keyboards, percussion
genre	Progressive rock, rock, pop,jazz fusion, R&B;
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
years active	1968–2011
label	Virgin, Atlantic
associated acts	Genesis, Brand X, Flaming Youth, Philip Bailey, Eric Clapton, The Phil Collins Big Band, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
website	}}

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for English progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist.

Collins sang the lead vocals on several chart hits in the United Kingdom and the United States between 1978 and 1994, either as a solo artist or with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", dance pop of "Sussudio", piano-driven "Against All Odds", to the political statements of "Another Day in Paradise".

Collins's professional music career began as a drummer, first with Flaming Youth and then more famously with Genesis. In Genesis, Collins originally supplied backing vocals for front man Peter Gabriel, singing lead on only two songs: "For Absent Friends" from 1971's ''Nursery Cryme'' album and "More Fool Me" from ''Selling England by the Pound'', which was released in 1973. Following Gabriel's departure in 1975, Collins became the group's lead singer.

His solo career, heavily influenced by his personal life, brought both him and Genesis commercial success. According to Atlantic Records, Collins's total worldwide sales as a solo artist, as of 2000, were 150 million. He has won seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and two Golden Globes for his solo work. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.

Collins is one of only three recording artists (along with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson) who have sold over 100 million albums worldwide both as solo artists and (separately) as principal members of a band. When his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, Collins had more top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart during the 1980s than any other artist. In 2008, Collins was ranked the 22nd most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists".

Early life

Collins was born in Chiswick, London, England, the son of June, a theatrical agent, and Greville Collins, an insurance agent. He was given a toy drum kit for Christmas when he was five. Later, his uncle made him a makeshift one that he used regularly. As Collins grew older these were followed by more complete sets bought by his parents. He practiced by playing alongside the television and radio, and never learned to read and write conventional musical notation; instead, he uses a system he devised himself.

Early career

His professional training began at fourteen when he entered Barbara Speake Stage School. He began a career as a child actor and model, and won his first major role as The Artful Dodger in the London production of ''Oliver!''. He was an extra in The Beatles' ''A Hard Day's Night'', one of hundreds of screaming teenagers during the TV concert sequence and seen fleetingly in a close-up. He was also in ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' as one of the children who storms the castle at the end of the movie, but it was cut. He also auditioned for the role of Romeo in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1968), a role won by fellow Artful Dodger actor, Leonard Whiting. Collins was among the last three finalists for the role of I.Q. on the American children's television show ''The Bugaloos'' (he lost out to English actor/musician John McIndoe).

Despite the beginnings of an acting career, Collins continued to gravitate towards music. While attending Chiswick Community School he formed a band called The Real Thing and later joined The Freehold. With the latter group, he wrote his first song titled "Lying Crying Dying".

Collins's first record deal came as drummer for Flaming Youth who released a single album, ''Ark 2'' (1969). A concept album inspired by the recent media attention surrounding the moon landing, ''Ark 2'' (with Ronnie Caryl, Brian Chatton and Gordon (Flash) Smith), failed to make much commercial success despite positive critical reviews. ''Melody Maker'' featured the album as "Pop Album of the Month", describing it as "adult music beautifully played with nice tight harmonies". The album's main single, "From Now On", failed on the radio. After a year of touring, band tensions and the lack of commercial success dissolved the group. In 1970, the 19-year old Collins played percussion on the George Harrison song "The Art of Dying". Harrison credited him in the liner notes to the remastered CD version of the album released in 2000.

Genesis era

In 1970, Collins answered a ''Melody Maker'' classified ad for "...a drummer sensitive to acoustic music, and acoustic twelve-string guitarist". Genesis placed the ad after having already lost three drummers over two albums. The audition occurred at the home of Peter Gabriel's parents. Prospective candidates performed tracks from the group's second album, ''Trespass'' (1970). Collins arrived early, listened to the other auditions while swimming in Gabriel's parents' pool, and memorised the pieces before his turn.

Collins won the audition. ''Nursery Cryme'' was released a year later. Although his role remained primarily that of drummer and backing vocalist for the next five years, he twice sang lead vocals: once on "For Absent Friends" (from ''Nursery Cryme'') and once on "More Fool Me" (from ''Selling England by the Pound'').

In 1974, while Genesis were recording the concept album ''The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'', Brian Eno (who is credited with "Enossification" for electronic vocal effects on the track "Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging") needed a drummer for his album ''Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)''. Collins was sent to fill the gap, and played drums in lieu of payment for Eno's work with the band.

In 1975, following the final tour supporting the album ''The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'', Gabriel left the group to pursue a solo career. Collins became lead vocalist after a lengthy but ultimately fruitless search for Gabriel's replacement (where he sang back up with the over 400 hopefuls that reportedly auditioned). In the short term, the group recruited former Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford to play drums during live shows, although Collins continued to play during longer instrumental sections. Bruford's drumming can be heard on the track "The Cinema Show" on the live album ''Seconds Out''. He was soon replaced by ex-Frank Zappa band member Chester Thompson, who became a mainstay of the band's live line-up. Collins, however, continued to play drums on all of the band's studio recordings.

The first album with Collins as lead vocalist, 1976's ''A Trick of the Tail'', reached the American Top 40, and peaked high as #3 on the UK charts. Said ''Rolling Stone'', "Genesis has managed to turn the possible catastrophe of Gabriel's departure into their first broad-based American success." Following the recording of Genesis's next album ''Wind and Wuthering'' guitarist Steve Hackett left the group to pursue his own solo career. The group decided to continue as a trio for recording with Mike Rutherford playing guitar and bass in the studio, although the lineup was regularly augmented by Chester Thompson and American guitarist Daryl Stuermer for concert tours.

Collins simultaneously performed in a jazz fusion group called Brand X. The band recorded their first album, ''Unorthodox Behaviour'', with Collins as drummer, but because Genesis was Collins's priority, there were several Brand X tours and albums without him. Collins credits Brand X as his first use of a drum machine as well as his first use of a home 8-track tape machine.

Collins also performed on Steve Hackett's first solo album, ''Voyage of the Acolyte'', on which he sang lead vocals and played drums.

As the decade closed, Genesis began a shift from their progressive rock roots and toward more accessible, radio-friendly pop-rock music. The album ''...And Then There Were Three...'' featured their first UK Top 10 and U.S. Top 40 single, "Follow You Follow Me".

In the 1980s, while Collins developed as a songwriter and established a parallel career as a solo artist, Genesis recorded a series of highly successful albums including ''Duke'', ''Abacab'', ''Genesis'', and ''Invisible Touch''. The latter album's title track reached #1 on the American ''Billboard'' singles chart, the only Genesis song to do so. The group received an MTV "Video of the Year" nomination in 1987 for the single "Land of Confusion" (which featured puppet caricatures created by the British satirical team ''Spitting Image'') but lost out to Peter Gabriel's solo hit, "Sledgehammer". Reviews were generally positive, with ''Rolling Stone'''s J. D. Considine stating, "every tune is carefully pruned so that each flourish delivers not an instrumental epiphany but a solid hook."

Collins left Genesis in 1996 to focus on his solo career. The last studio album with him as the lead singer was 1991's ''We Can't Dance''. He and Gabriel reunited with other Genesis members in 1999 to re-record "The Carpet Crawlers" for Genesis's ''Turn It on Again: The Hits''. When in the mid-2000s discussions of a possible Genesis reunion arose, Collins stated that he would prefer to return as the drummer, with Gabriel handling the vocals. Eventually Turn It On Again: The Tour was announced for 2007, with the Collins/Rutherford/Banks lineup.

In March 2010, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio was asked to pay tribute to Genesis, one of his favourite bands, upon being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to Anastasio's speech, Phish appeared and performed two Genesis songs, "Watcher of the Skies" and "No Reply At All". Collins and his Genesis bandmates (minus Peter Gabriel) attended the ceremony but they did not perform.

Solo career

Early solo recordings (1981–1983)

The dominant theme running through Collins's early solo recordings (although never specifically mentioned in his songs) was the acrimonious breakdown of his first marriage and then-recent divorce. Two songs he wrote on the Genesis album ''Duke'', "Please Don't Ask", and the Top 20 hit "Misunderstanding", dealt with failed relationships. One year earlier, he had played drums and sung backing vocals on John Martyn's ''Grace and Danger'', an album whose main theme is also marriage break-up. With the recording of his first solo album, ''Face Value'', Collins attributed his divorce as his main influence, as can be inferred from songs such as "If Leaving Me Is Easy". Collins made his live debut as a solo performer, appearing at the invitation of producer Martin Lewis at the Amnesty International benefit show, ''The Policeman's Other Ball'' at the Theatre Royal in London in September 1981, performing two songs from ''Face Value'' including "In the Air Tonight" and "The Roof is Leaking" accompanying himself on piano. ''Face Value'' became a surprise international success topping the charts in at least seven countries and hitting the top ten of the Billboard 200 eventually going triple-platinum in the U.S. Hits from the album included "In the Air Tonight", "I Missed Again" and "If Leaving Me Is Easy". In 1982, he produced ABBA member Frida's solo album, ''Something's Going On'', which helped to spawn the title track, "I Know There's Something Going On", which became a hit.

Much like ''Face Value'', many of the songs from Collins's 1982 follow-up album, ''Hello, I Must Be Going!'', came from Collins's marital problems with his first wife such as "I Don't Care Anymore" and "Do You Know and Do You Care". Collins’s early albums had a dark presence, usually heavy on the drums. Regarding ''Face Value'', he says, "I had a wife, two children, two dogs, and the next day I didn't have anything. So a lot of these songs were written because I was going through these emotional changes." There were occasional poppier influences–''Face Value'''s "Behind the Lines", for example, was a jazzy remake of a Genesis song he co-wrote. ''Face Value'' was a critical and multi-platinum success, and saw Collins’s profile increase further. ''Hello, I Must Be Going!'' gave him a UK #1 for his cover of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love". The album went triple-platinum in the United States, like its predecessor. The Supremes' cover was his first Top 10 U.S. hit (it also hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart). The album also reached #2 on the UK album chart, spending well over a year there.

Two years before, Collins had played drums on Peter Gabriel's third self-titled record (often referred to as ''Melt''), the first record to feature the "gated reverb" sound, which was used on the song "Intruder". Gabriel reportedly "didn't want any metal on the record" and asked Collins to leave his cymbals at home, to concentrate on the sound of his kit more heavily than usual. Studio engineer Hugh Padgham augmented the drum sound by using a microphone normally intended for studio communication rather than recording and feeding it through a signal processor called a noise gate. This allowed the reverberation added to the drums to be suddenly cut off before it naturally decayed. The result was the arresting "gated reverb" which became Collins signature sound. This was the same 'big drum sound' used on such songs as "In The Air Tonight", "Mama" by Genesis, and Frida's "There's Something Going On".

Superstardom (1984–1992)

Collins changed his musical style with the release of the ballad, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)", which was the theme song to the movie of the same name in 1984. The more pop-friendly and radio-accessible single became Collins's first solo single to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, Collins contributed to production on Earth, Wind & Fire singer Phillip Bailey's debut album, ''''Chinese Wall'''', collaborating with Bailey on the hit duet, "Easy Lover". Collins featured on Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", he played drums and sang on the song. Collins released his most successful album, ''No Jacket Required'', in early 1985. It contained the hits "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Don't Lose My Number", and "Take Me Home", as well as the less known yet equally robust "Who Said I Would", and "Only You Know and I Know". The album featured Sting, Helen Terry and ex-bandmate Peter Gabriel as backing vocalists. He also recorded the successful song "Separate Lives", a duet with Marilyn Martin, and an American number one, for the movie ''White Nights''. Collins had three American number one songs in 1985, the most by any artist that year. ''No Jacket Required'' went on to win several Grammy awards including Album of the Year.

''No Jacket Required'' received criticism that the album was too safe, despite its upbeat reviews and commercial success. A positive review by David Fricke of ''Rolling Stone'' ended, "After years on the art-rock fringe, Collins has established himself firmly in the middle of the road. Perhaps he should consider testing himself and his new fans' expectations next time around." "Sussudio" also drew criticism for sounding too similar to Prince's "1999", a charge that Collins did not deny. Nevertheless, the album went straight to #1 in the U.S. and UK. In 1985, Collins was invited by Bob Geldof to perform at the Live Aid charity event. Collins had the distinction of being the only performer to appear at both the UK concert at Wembley Stadium and the US concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. He accomplished this by performing early in the day at Wembley as both a solo artist and alongside Sting, then transferring to a Concorde flight to the USA enabling him to perform his solo material, and drum for Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton in Philadelphia. While being a guest on major artists' hit recordings, Collins continued to enjoy solo success even while on tour with Genesis, besides from his number-one duet with Marilyn Martin in 1986, Collins would score two more hits from movies with the singles, "Two Hearts" (1988) and "Groovy Kind of Love" (1988), the latter two from the soundtrack of his feature film, ''Buster''.

In 1989, Collins produced another successful album, ''...But Seriously'', featuring the anti-homelessness anthem "Another Day in Paradise", with David Crosby on backing vocals. (Collins later went on to co-write, sing and play on the song "Hero" on Crosby's 1993 album ''Thousand Roads''.) "Another Day in Paradise" went to Number 1 on the Billboard Charts at the end of 1989 and won Collins a Grammy for Record of the Year (1990). In the process, it became the last #1 US pop hit of the 1980s. The album ''...But Seriously'' became the first #1 US album of the 1990s. Other songs included "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (#4 US, #15 UK), "Do You Remember?" (not released in the UK, but a #4 hit in the US), and "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (the latter featuring Clapton on guitar) (#3 US, #7 UK). Songs about apartheid and homelessness demonstrated Collins’s turn to politically-driven material. This theme recurred on his later albums. A live album, ''Serious Hits... Live!'', followed.

Later solo work and Genesis reunion (1993–2008)

Collins's record sales began to drop with the 1993 release of ''Both Sides'', a largely experimental album that, according to Collins, included songs that "were becoming so personal, so private, I didn't want anyone else's input". Featuring a less polished sound and fewer up-tempo songs than his previous albums, ''Both Sides'' was a significant departure. Collins used no backing musicians, performed all the vocal and instrumental parts at his home studio, and used rough vocal takes for the final product. The album was not well received by radio. Its two biggest hits were "Both Sides of the Story" and "Everyday". Collins worked on the album completely independently of his record company, and took them by surprise when he delivered them a completed album that they were unaware he was making.

Collins officially parted ways with Genesis in 1996 to focus on his solo career (Genesis would produce one album without Collins—''...Calling All Stations...''—before going on hiatus). Collins attempted a return to pop music with ''Dance into the Light'', which ''Entertainment Weekly'' reviewed by saying that "(e)ven Phil Collins must know that we all grew weary of Phil Collins". It included minor hits such as the title track and The Beatles-inspired "It's in Your Eyes". Although the album went Gold in the US, it sold considerably less than his previous albums. Despite this, the subsequent tour regularly sold out arenas.

In 1996, Collins formed The Phil Collins Big Band. With Collins as drummer, the band performed jazz renditions of various Collins and Genesis hits. The Phil Collins Big Band did a world tour in 1998 that included a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1999, the group released the CD ''A Hot Night in Paris'' including big band versions of "Invisible Touch", "Sussudio", and the more obscure "The Los Endos Suite" from ''A Trick of the Tail''. A compilation album ''...Hits'' was released in 1998 and sold very well, returning Collins to multi-platinum status in America. The album's sole new track, a cover of the Cyndi Lauper hit "True Colors", received considerable play on US Adult Contemporary stations while peaking at #2. Some of Collins's earlier hits (e.g. "I Missed Again", "If Leaving Me Is Easy", etc.) and other successes were not included in this compilation.

Collins's next single, "You'll Be in My Heart", from the Disney animated movie ''Tarzan'', spent 19 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart – the longest time ever up to that point. The song won Collins an Academy Award for Best Song. It was his third nomination in the songwriters category, after being nominated in 1985 and 1989. Collins was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on 16 June 1999.

In 2002 Collins released ''Testify''. Metacritic's roundup of album reviews found this record to be the worst-reviewed album at the time of its release, though it has since been "surpassed" by three more recent releases. The album's "Can't Stop Loving You" (a Leo Sayer cover) was yet another #1 Adult Contemporary smash hit for Collins. ''Testify'' sold 140,000 copies in the United States by year's end, although a successful worldwide tour followed.

That same year Collins accepted an invitation to drum for the "house band" at a concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. In 2003 announced his last solo tour – the "First Final Farewell Tour", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the multiple farewell tours of other popular artists. In 2006 he worked with Disney on a Broadway production of ''Tarzan'', a musical which received generally mixed reviews. In 2007 Collins reunited with his Genesis bandmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford for Turn It On Again: The Tour, a tour of Europe and North America. During the tour Genesis performed at the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium. Following the band's performance, presenter Jonathan Ross had to apologise to viewers watching the televised version as Collins had used a swear word while singing "Invisible Touch".

''Going Back'' and retirement (2009–2011)

In October 2009, it was reported that Collins was to record a Motown covers album. He told a German newspaper, "I want the songs to sound exactly like the originals", and that the album would feature up to 30 songs. In January 2010, Chester Thompson said that the album had been completed and would be released some time soon. He also revealed that Collins managed to play the drums on the album despite the adverse effects of his recent spinal operation. It was the first solo album Collins had recorded which consisted entirely of songs written by other people.

''Going Back'' was released on 13 September 2010, entering the UK charts at number 4, rising to number one the following week. In early summer 2010, Collins played six concerts entirely dedicated to the music from ''Going Back''. These included a special programme, ''Phil Collins: One Night Only'', which was broadcast on ITV1 on 18 September 2010.

As of January 2011, Collins has spent 1,730 weeks in German music charts – 766 weeks of them with Genesis albums and singles and 964 weeks with solo releases.

Citing health problems and other concerns, Collins announced on 4 March 2011 that he was taking time off from his career, prompting widespread reports of his retirement. Days later, on 7 March, his UK representative told the press, "He is not, has no intention of, retiring." However, later that day, Collins posted a message to his fans on his own website, confirming his intention to retire in order to focus on his family life.

Drums and other equipment

Phil Collins uses Gretsch drums and Sabian cymbals. Drums (all single headed concert toms except for the snare): 20" Bass Drum, 18" Floor Tom, 16" Floor Tom, 15" Mounted Tom, 12" Tom, 10" Tom, 8" Tom, 14"x4" Snare, 14" Phil Collins Special.

Cymbals: HH Medium Crash 20" – HH Extra Thin Crash 17" – Hi-Hats 15" – HH China 20" – HH Medium-Thin Crash 16" -HH China 22" – HH Raw Bell Dry Ride 21".

Until 1986, Collins played Paiste and Zildjian cymbals. Other drums he's used over the years are Premier, Noble & Cooley, Pearl, Simmons and Ludwig drums. He uses a Ludwig Speed King pedal and Pro Mark sticks.

Other instruments which have become synonymous with Collins's sound (particularly in his post-1978 Genesis and subsequent solo career) include the Roland CR-78 and Roland TR-808 drum machines, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer, and the Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano.

Films, theatre and television

The majority of Collins's film work has been through music. Four of his seven American number one songs came from film soundtracks, and his work on Disney's ''Tarzan'' earned him an Oscar. Collins even sang German, Italian, Spanish and French versions of the Tarzan soundtrack for the respective film versions. Collins's acting career has been brief. As a child, he appeared in three films, although two of the films were for brief moments as an extra. Besides the aforementioned ''A Hard Day's Night'' (1964), Collins's first lead role was in a children's film ''Calamity the Cow'' (1967).

Collins wrote and performed the title song to ''Against All Odds'' in 1984. The song became the first of his seven American number one songs and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. Collins was not invited to perform the song at that year's presentation, although he was in the audience as the song's composer. Collins had arranged his U.S. tour to accommodate the possibility of appearing on the telecast in the event his song was nominated for an Oscar. It is believed that the producers of that year's Academy Awards show were not aware of his prominence as a musical performer. A note to Collins's label from telecast co-producer Larry Gelbart explaining the lack of invitation stated, "Thank you for your note regarding ''Phil Cooper'' (emphasis added). I'm afraid the spots have already been filled". Collins instead watched Ann Reinking perform his song. For a long time afterwards, he would introduce his performance of "Against All Odds" at his concerts by saying: "Miss Ann Reinking's not here tonight, so I guess I'll have to sing my own song".

As a vocalist, Collins sang Stephen Bishop's composition "Separate Lives" for the film ''White Nights'' (1985) as a duet with Marilyn Martin. The single of the recording became another number one hit for Collins. The song itself was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song (a category that honours the composer, not the vocalists). Bishop's song had parallels to some of the songs on Collins's first two albums. Writer Stephen Bishop noted that he was inspired by a failed relationship and called "Separate Lives" "a song about anger". When the song was being nominated for an Academy Award, in interviews about the original snub by the Academy for "Against All Odds", Collins would jokingly say "the hell with him – I'm going up too," referring to if Bishop's song were to win the award.

Collins's first film role since becoming a musician came in 1988 with ''Buster'' about the Great Train Robbery, which took place in England in the 1960s. The movie received good reviews and Collins contributed four songs to the film's soundtrack. His rendition of "Groovy Kind of Love", originally a 1966 single by The Mindbenders, with lyrics by Toni Wine and music by Carole Bayer Sager, but with the melody of the Rondo section of Muzio Clementi's "Sonatina in G major", op. 36 no. 5 reached number one. The film also spawned the hit single "Two Hearts", which he wrote in collaboration with legendary Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier; the two artists would go on to win a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and receive an Oscar nomination in the same category, the second such honour for Collins; "Big Noise", written by Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier, which included Collins on vocals (although the song was not released as a single, an instrumental version of this song appeared as the B-side to the single version of "A Groovy Kind Of Love".) The final song, "Loco In Acapulco", was another collaboration between him and Dozier, with the vocals performed by the legendary Motown group The Four Tops. Movie critic Roger Ebert said the role of Buster was "played with surprising effectiveness" by Collins, although the film's soundtrack proved more successful than the movie did.

Collins had cameo appearances in Steven Spielberg's ''Hook'' (1991) and the AIDS docudrama ''And the Band Played On'' (1993). He starred in 1993's ''Frauds'', which competed for the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. He supplied voices to two animated features: Amblin's ''Balto'' (1995) and Disney's ''The Jungle Book 2'' (2003). A long-discussed but never completed project was a movie titled ''The Three Bears''; originally meant to star him alongside Danny DeVito and Bob Hoskins, he often mentioned the film, though an appropriate script never materialised.

Collins performed the soundtrack to the animated film ''Tarzan'' (1999) for The Walt Disney Company. Collins won an Academy Award for "You'll Be in My Heart", which he performed at that year's telecast as well as during a Disney-themed Super Bowl halftime show. The song, which he also recorded in Spanish among other languages, became his only appearance on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks. Disney hired him, along with Tina Turner, in 2003 for the soundtrack to another animated feature film, ''Brother Bear'', and had some airplay with the song "Look Through My Eyes".

On television, he twice hosted the ''Billboard Music Awards''. He also appeared in an episode of the series ''Miami Vice'', entitled "Phil the Shill", in which he plays a cheating con-man. He also guest starred in several sketches with ''The Two Ronnies''. Most recently, he had a cameo appearance on the television series ''Whoopi''.

In 2001, Collins was sought out by the satirist Chris Morris, and appeared in the Brass Eye 'Paedophile Special' endorsing a spoof charity called 'Nonce Sense'. At one point Collins, dressed in a matching baseball cap and t-shirt emblazoned with the name of this fictitious charity, stares into the camera and declares: "I'm talking Nonce-sense."

In 2005, Collins's work on ''Brother Bear'' was expanded as Disney used the song "Welcome" as the theme for Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams, the main parade celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland.

In 2006 Disney's ''Tarzan'' was adapted for Broadway. Collins contributed 11 new songs and instrumental pieces, and was deeply involved in the production. Unlike the movie, where Collins sang all the material, the characters sang on stage.

Collins made an appearance as himself in the 2006 PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 video game ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'', set in 1984. Joseph Martignette, also a left-handed drummer, plays the role of Phil Collins in the game. He appears in three missions in which the main character must save him from a gang that is trying to kill him, the final mission occurring during his concert, where the player must defend the scaffolding against saboteurs while Phil is simultaneously performing "In The Air Tonight." After this, the player is given the opportunity to watch this performance of 'In the Air Tonight.' "In The Air Tonight" was also featured in the soundtrack of ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'' and it was also featured in the movie ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters'', the 2009 movie ''The Hangover'' and the 2007 ''Gorilla'' commercial for Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate. The advertisement also helped the song re-enter the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart at number three in July 2008, the following week reaching number one, beating its original 1981 #6 peak. Phil Collins had several ties to the hit show ''Miami Vice'' with 5 songs used in the course of the series as well as having starred in the episode "Phil The Shill."

Phil Collins was portrayed in the hit cartoon ''South Park'' in the episode "Timmy 2000" holding his Oscar throughout, referring to his 1999 win for "You'll Be In My Heart", which defeated "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. He was seen again in the episode "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime".

Phil Collins appears briefly in the Finnish animated sitcom ''Pasila'' in the episode "Phil Collins Hangover". The music of this episode is a pastiche of Phil Collins' "Another Day In Paradise".

Personal life

Family

Collins has been married three times. He married Canadian Andrea Bertorelli in 1975. They met as students in a drama class in London. They had a son, Simon Collins, and Collins adopted Bertorelli's daughter Joely Collins, a Canadian actress. They divorced in 1980, after she started an affair with their painter and decorator. Collins later appeared on the BBC's ''Top of the Pops'' singing his 1981 solo hit "In The Air Tonight" with a pot of paint and brush positioned near his piano. Collins has since claimed that the presence of the paint and brush was coincidental.

Collins met his second wife, Jill Tavelman, in 1980. They were married from 1984 to 1996. They had one daughter, Lily Collins, born in 1989. Collins openly admits that some of their divorce-related correspondence was by fax (one, about access to their daughter, was reproduced in ''The Sun''), but denies that this took her by surprise. Collins paid Jill £17M as final settlement.

Collins married his third wife, Orianne Cevey, in 1999 after a five year romance. They have two sons, Nicholas and Matthew. They bought Sir Jackie Stewart's former house located in Begnins, Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva. Announcing their separation on 16 March 2006, they were divorced in January 2007. Collins reportedly paid Cevey £25M in settlement. Collins has said he will continue to live in Switzerland to be near the children. He is currently residing in Féchy, while also maintaining homes in New York City and Dersingham, England. In 2008, Collins was quoted in ''People Magazine'': "Marriage is a difficult proposition. But I haven't given up on it, either."

Fortune

Collins was estimated to have a fortune of £115 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2011, making him one of the 20 richest people in the British music industry.

Court case

On 29 March 2000, Phil Collins launched a case against two former musicians from his band to recoup $780,000 (£500,000) in royalties that were overpaid. Louis Satterfield, 62, and Rahmlee Davis, 51, claimed their contract entitled them to 0.5 per cent of the royalties from ''Serious Hits... Live!'', a live album recorded during Collins's Seriously, Live! World Tour tour in 1990. Their claim was they were an integral part of the whole album, but Collins responded the two should only receive royalties from the five tracks in which they were involved. Instead of asking for a return of what Collins considered overpayment, he sought to recoup the funds by withholding future royalties to Satterfield and Davis, which amounted to less than an annual sum of $20,000 (£12,500) each.

On 19 April 2000, the British High Court ruled that the two musicians would receive no more royalty money from Phil Collins. The amount that Collins was seeking was halved, and Satterfield and Davis (who originally brought the suit forward in California) would not have to repay any of it. The judge agreed with Collins's argument that Satterfield and Davis should have been paid for only the five tracks on which they performed, including the hit "Sussudio".

Health problems

Collins reported losing his hearing in his right ear in 2000 due to a viral infection. In September 2009, it was reported that Collins could no longer play drums, due to a recent operation to repair dislocated vertebrae in his neck. A statement from Collins on the Genesis band website said, "There isn't any drama regarding my 'disability' and playing drums. Somehow during the last Genesis tour I dislocated some vertebrae in my upper neck and that affected my hands. After a successful operation on my neck, my hands still can't function normally. Maybe in a year or so it will change, but for now it is impossible for me to play drums or piano. I am not in any 'distressed' state; stuff happens in life."

Activism

Collins was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in 1994 in recognition of his work on behalf of the Prince's Trust.

Collins has stated he is a supporter of animal rights and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In 2005, he donated an autographed drumstick in support of PETA's campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Collins also has a lifelong interest in the Alamo. He has collected hundreds of artefacts related to the famous 1836 battle in San Antonio, Texas, narrated a light and sound show about the Alamo, and spoken at related events.

Collins has often been mentioned erroneously in the British media as being a supporter of the Conservative Party and an opponent of the Labour Party. Shortly before the 2005 election (when Collins was living in Switzerland), Noel Gallagher is reported as saying: "Vote Labour. If you don't and the Tories get in, Phil is threatening to come back." However, Collins has since stated that although he did once claim many years earlier that he might leave Britain if most of his income was taken in tax, which was Labour Party policy at that time for top earners, he has never been a Conservative Party supporter and he left Britain for Switzerland in 1994 purely because he met a woman who lived there. He said of Gallagher: “I don’t care if he likes my music or not. I do care if he starts telling people I’m a wanker because of my politics. It’s an opinion based on an old misunderstood quote.” Despite his claim that he did not leave Britain for tax purposes, he was one of several super-rich figures living in tax havens who were singled out for criticism in a report by the charity Christian Aid in 2008. Questioned about his politics by Mark Lawson in an interview broadcast in 2009, Collins said: "My father was Conservative but it wasn't quite the same, I don't think, when he was alive. Politics never loomed large in our family anyway. I think the politics of the country were very different then."

Collins founded the Little Dreams Foundation in February 2000, which aims to "realise the dreams of children in the fields of sports and art" by providing future prodigies aged 4 to 16 years with financial, material, and mentoring support with the help of experts in various fields.

Collins supports the South African charity The Topsy Foundation, which provides relief services to some of South Africa's most under-resourced rural communities through a multi-faceted approach to the consequences of HIV and AIDS and extreme poverty. He donates all royalties earned in South Africa to the organization.

Collins is a patron of the charity Children in Hunger, a small UK based charity working to combat child poverty in Brazil.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Release date ! Title |- | 1981 | ''Face Value'' |- | 1982 | ''Hello, I Must Be Going!'' |- | 1985 | ''No Jacket Required'' |- | 1989 | ''...But Seriously'' |- | 1993 | ''Both Sides'' |- | 1996 | ''Dance into the Light'' |- | 2002 | ''Testify'' |- | 2010 | ''Going Back'' |}

Number one singles

"In the Air Tonight" re-entered the New Zealand charts in 2008 at #3 and then peaked at #1, after featuring in a Cadbury Gorilla advertisement.

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Phil Collins

Touring and studio musicians of Phil Collins

Brand X

Notes

References

Bronson, Fred ''The Billboard Book of Number One Hits''. Billboard Books, New York. 1998. p. 624. ISBN 0-8230-7641-5

Giammetti, Mario. ''Phil Collins – The Singing Drummer''. Edizioni Segno. Tavagnacco. 2005. ISBN 88-7282-836-8

Rosen, Craig. ''The Billboard Book of Number One Albums''. Billboard Books, New York. 1996. ISBN 0-8230-7586-9 (Two essays about Collins)

Thompson, Dave. ''Turn It On Again: Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Genesis''. Back Beat Books. San Francisco. 2004. ISBN 0-87930-810-9

External links

Phil Collins at Atlantic Records

Genesis' official website

Little Dreams Foundation, project of Phil Collins and his estranged wife Orianne, supporting young musicians

Category:1951 births Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Ballad musicians Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:British expatriates in Switzerland Category:English drummers Category:English film actors Category:English-language singers Category:English male models Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:English rock drummers Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Genesis (band) members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:MusiCares Person of the Year Honorees Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Living people Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Chiswick Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Silver Clef Awards winners Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees

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Name	Julian Lennon
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	John Charles Julian Lennon
Alias	Jules, Jude
Born	April 08, 1963 Liverpool, England
Instrument	Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, piano, drums, harmonica
Genre	Rock
Occupation	Musician, singer, songwriter, writer, producer, photographer, actor
Years active	1984–present
Label	Atlantic, Music From Another Room, Charisma, Virgin
Website	}}

John Charles Julian Lennon (born 8 April 1963) is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the older son of John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal grandmother, Julia. He remains close friends with his father's former bandmate Paul McCartney.

Julian directly inspired three Beatles songs, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Hey Jude" and "Good Night". He is also devoted to philanthropic endeavors, most notably his own White Feather Foundation and the Whaledreamers Organization, both of which promote the co-existence of all species and the health and well-being of the Earth.

Biography

Julian Lennon was born in Liverpool. Initially, the fact that John Lennon was married and had a child was concealed from the public, in keeping with the conventional wisdom of the era that female teenage fans would not be as enamoured of married male pop stars.

Lennon inspired one of his father's most famous songs, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", whose lyrics describe a picture the boy had drawn, a watercolour painting of his friend Lucy O'Donnell from preschool surrounded by stars. Another composition of his father inspired by him was the lullaby "Good Night", the closing song of the "White Album". In 1967, Julian attended the set of The Beatles' film ''Magical Mystery Tour''.

When he was five, Lennon's parents divorced, following his father's infidelity with Yoko Ono. Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to console him over the divorce; originally called "Hey Jules", McCartney changed the name because he thought "Jude" was an easier name to sing.

Lennon had almost no contact with his father after the divorce, until the early 1970s, at the instigation of his father's then girlfriend May Pang. Julian began to see his father more regularly, who bought him a Gibson Les Paul guitar and a drum machine for Christmas in 1973, and encouraged his interest in music by showing him some chords.

He made his musical debut at age 11 on his father's album ''Walls and Bridges'' playing drums on "Ya-Ya", later saying, "Dad, had I known you were going to put it on the album, I would've played much better!"

Following his father's murder, Lennon voiced anger and resentment toward him, saying

"I've never really wanted to know the truth about how dad was with me. There was some very negative stuff talked about me ... like when he said I'd come out of a whiskey bottle on a Saturday night. Stuff like that. You think, where's the love in that? Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit ... more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad."

He was not included in John Lennon's will, and was annoyed that he had to buy mementos of his father at auctions. A settlement was eventually reached wherein Julian was given "a large but undisclosed sum". By 2009 Lennon's feelings toward his father had mellowed. Recalling his renewed relationship with his father in the mid-1970s, he said,

"Dad and I got on a great deal better then. We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general when he was with May Pang. My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear — they were the happiest time I can remember with them."

Lennon has been quoted as having a "cordial" relationship with Ono while getting along very well with her son, his half-brother Sean, even spending time together on Sean's tour in 2007.

In commemoration of John Lennon’s 70th Birthday and as a statement for peace, 9 October 2010 saw Julian, alongside his mother Cynthia, unveil the John Lennon Peace Monument in his home town, Liverpool, England.

Musical career

Julian Lennon has had an inconsistent career as a musical artist. He enjoyed immediate success with his debut 1984 album ''Valotte''. The album was produced by Phil Ramone. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1985, and produced two top ten hits, the title track "Valotte", and "Too Late For Goodbyes". Lennon promoted the album with music videos for the two hits made by movie director Sam Peckinpah and producer Martin Lewis. The song "Valotte" has remained a staple on adult contemporary radio stations since its release. After the release, Paul McCartney sent him a telegram wishing him good luck. Later that year, the two met up backstage at the New York studios of the TV show ''Friday Night Videos''.

His second album, 1986's ''The Secret Value of Daydreaming'' was panned by critics, but reached number 32 on the ''Billboard Magazine'''s album chart, and produced the single "Stick Around", which was his first #1 single on the U.S. Album Rock Tracks chart. He recorded the song "Because", which was made famous by The Dave Clark Five, in the UK for Clark's 1986 musical, ''Time'' (the single is out of print). Lennon never reached the same level of success in the U.S. post-''Valotte'', but he hit number five in Australia with the 1989 single "Now You're In Heaven", which also gave him his second #1 hit on the Album Rock Tracks chart in the USA.

In 1991, George Harrison played on Lennon's album ''Help Yourself'' but was not directly credited. A song off the album, "Saltwater", reached number six in the UK and topped the Australian singles charts for four weeks. Also during this time he contributed a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" to the soundtrack of the television series ''The Wonder Years''. After 1991, Lennon left the music business for several years. He followed his interests in cooking, sailing, and sculpting during his leave from the music industry.

After he began his performing career there was occasionally unfounded media speculation that Julian would undertake performances with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. However, in the Beatles Anthology series in 1996, the three surviving Beatles confirmed that there was never an idea of having Julian sit in for his father as part of a Beatles reunion, with McCartney saying "why would we want to subject him to all of this?"

In May 1998, Lennon released the album ''Photograph Smile'' to little commercial success. In 2002, he recorded a version of the Beatles' classic "When I'm Sixty-Four", a song from ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', for an Allstate Insurance commercial.

In 2006 he ventured into Internet businesses, including MyStore.com with Todd Meagher and Bebo founder Michael Birch.

In 2009 Lennon created a new partnership with Todd Meagher and Micheal Birch called theRevolution, LLC. Through this company, Lennon released a tribute song and EP, "Lucy", honoring the memory of Lucy Vodden, the little girl who inspired the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, with 50% of the proceeds going to fund Lupus research.

Julian Lennon will be releasing a new album called ''Everything Changes'' on September 26, 2011.

Film

Lennon's first-ever tour in the spring of 1985 was documented as part of the film ''Stand By Me: A Portrait Of Julian Lennon'' — a film profile started by Sam Peckinpah, but completed by Martin Lewis after Peckinpah's death. Lennon has appeared in several other films including ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' (1996, but shot in 1968), ''Cannes Man'' (1996), ''Imagine: John Lennon'' (1988), ''Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll'' (1987) and a cameo in ''Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995) as a bartender. Julian provided the voice for the title role in the animated film ''David Copperfield''. He was also the voice of the main character Toby the Teapot in the animated special ''The Real Story of I'm a Little Teapot'' (1990).

Julian Lennon is also the producer of the documentary called ''WhaleDreamers'' about an aboriginal tribe in Australia and its special relationship to whales. It also touches on many environmental issues. This film has received many awards and was shown at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Sale of father's work

In 2007 Lennon sold off a "significant" share of his stake in his father's catalogue of work, in exchange for an undisclosed sum, and the agreement that the purchasing company, Primary Wave, would market and promote his new material. The stake entitles Primary Wave to a portion of all royalties on the catalogue.

The White Feather Foundation

In 2009, Lennon founded The White Feather Foundation, whose mission "embraces environmental and humanitarian issues and in conjunction with partners from around the world helps to raise funds for the betterment of all life, and to honour those who have truly made a difference." Its name came from a conversation Lennon once had with his father. “Dad once said to me that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be ok - that we were all going to be ok - the message would come to me in the form of a white feather. ... the white feather has always represented peace to me.”

Photographic work

After photographing his half-brother Sean's music tour in 2007, Lennon took up a serious interest in photography.

On 17 September 2010, Originally scheduled to run 17 September through 10 October, the Morrison Hotel Gallery has already extended it a week to end 17 October. The photographs include shots of his half-brother Sean, actress Kate Hudson, and U2 frontman Bono.

On 3 October 2010, CBS Sunday Morning aired an in-depth interview with Lennon that covered much of his life, including his relationship with his parents and sibling, his career, and his experience growing up as the son of one of the world's most famous celebrities.

Book

Shortly after the death of his father, Lennon began collecting Beatle memorabilia. In 2010, he published a book of his collection, "Beatles Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection".

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions	Certifications
!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"
1984	''Valotte''
1986	''The Secret Value of Daydreaming''
1989	''Mr. Jordan''
1991
1998	''Photograph Smile''
2001	''VH-1 - Behind the Music – The Julian Lennon Collection''
2011

Singles

Year	Title	Album	Chart positions
!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"	!width="40"
1984
"Say You're Wrong"
"Jesse"
"Because"	''Dave Clark's Time Soundtrack''
	"Stick Around"	''The Secret Value Of Daydreaming''
"Time Will Teach Us All"	''Dave Clark's Time Soundtrack''
"This Is My Day"
"Want Your Body"
"Midnight Smoke"	''Mike Batt's The Hunting of the Snark''
	"Now You're in Heaven"
"You're The One"
"Mother Mary"
"Help Yourself"
"Rebel King"
"Listen"
1992	"Get a Life"
1993	"Children Of The World"	''Coo – Soundtrack''
1995	"Cole's Song"	''Mr. Holland's Opus – Soundtrack''
	"All Alone" ''(with Bald)''	''Bald''
"Day After Day"
"I Don't Wanna Know"
"Photograph Smile"
2009		non-album single

Other releases

''''Dave Clark's'' Time: Original Soundtrack'' (1986)

''Mike Batt's The Hunting of the Snark'' (1986)

''Lennon... and Proud of It - A Conversation with Julian Lennon'' (1999)

Films

; Producer:

WhaleDreamers (2008)

References

External links

Julian's official website

White Feather Foundation website

Rare 1999 interview with Retro Rewind

Unveiling of ‘Peace & Harmony’, European Peace Monument – Dedicated to John Lennon

CBS Sunday Morning – interview (3 October 2010)

Timeless: Julian Lennon photo exhibition at the Morrison Gallery Hotel (17 September – 17 October 2010)

The watercolour painting that inspired ''Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds''

Category:1963 births Category:English composers Category:English guitarists Category:English male singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:John Lennon Category:Living people Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Musicians from Liverpool Category:English people of Irish descent

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