The second (SI symbol: s), sometimes abbreviated sec., is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units (SI) base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.

Early definitions of the second were based on the apparent motion of the sun around the earth. The solar day was divided into 24 hours, each of which contained 60 minutes of 60 seconds each, so the second was of the mean solar day. However, 19th- and 20th century astronomical observations revealed that this average time is lengthening, and thus the sun/earth motion is no longer considered a suitable basis for definition. With the advent of atomic clocks, it became feasible to define the second based on fundamental properties of nature. Since 1967, the second has been defined to be periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.}}

SI prefixes are frequently combined with the word ''second'' to denote subdivisions of the second, ''e.g.'', the millisecond (one thousandth of a second), the microsecond (one millionth of a second), and the nanosecond (one billionth of a second). Though SI prefixes may also be used to form multiples of the second such as kilosecond (one thousand seconds), such units are rarely used in practice. The more common larger non-SI units of time are not formed by powers of ten; instead, the second is multiplied by 60 to form a minute, which is multiplied by 60 to form an hour, which is multiplied by 24 to form a day.

The second is also the base unit of time in the centimetre-gram-second, metre-kilogram-second, metre-tonne-second, and foot-pound-second systems of units.

International second

Under the International System of Units (via the International Committee for Weights and Measures, or CIPM), since 1967 the second has been defined as the duration of periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom. In 1997 CIPM added that the periods would be defined for a caesium atom at rest, and approaching the theoretical temperature of absolute zero, and in 1999, it included corrections from ambient radiation.

This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K (absolute zero). Absolute zero implies no movement, and therefore zero external radiation effects (i.e., zero local electric and magnetic fields). The second thus defined is consistent with the ephemeris second, which was based on astronomical measurements. (See History below.)

The realization of the standard second is described briefly in a special publication from the National Institute of Science and Technology, and in detail by the National Research Council of Canada.

Equivalence to other units of time

1 international second is equal to:

1/60 minute (but see also leap second)

1/3,600 hour

1/86,400 day (IAU system of units)

1/31,557,600 Julian year (IAU system of units)

History

Before mechanical clocks

The Egyptians subdivided daytime and nighttime into twelve hours each since at least 2000 BC, hence the seasonal variation of their hours. The Hellenistic astronomers Hipparchus (''c.'' 150 BC) and Ptolemy (''c.'' AD 150) subdivided the day sexagesimally and also used a mean hour day)}}, simple fractions of an hour (, , etc.) and time-degrees ( day or four modern minutes), but not modern minutes or }}

The day was subdivided sexagesimally, that is by , by of that, by of that, etc., to at least six places after the sexagesimal point (a precision of less than 2 microseconds) by the Babylonians after 300 BC, but they did not sexagesimally subdivide smaller units of time. For example, six fractional sexagesimal places of a day was used in their specification of the length of the year, although they were unable to measure such a small fraction of a day in real time. As another example, they specified that the mean synodic month was 29;31,50,8,20 days (four fractional sexagesimal positions), which was repeated by Hipparchus and Ptolemy sexagesimally, and is currently the mean synodic month of the Hebrew calendar, though restated as 29 days 12 hours 793 halakim (where 1 hour = 1080 halakim). The Babylonians did not use the hour, but did use a double-hour lasting 120 modern minutes, a time-degree lasting four modern minutes, and a barleycorn lasting 3 modern seconds (the ''helek'' of the modern Hebrew calendar).

In 1000, the Persian scholar al-Biruni gave the times of the new moons of specific weeks as a number of days, hours, minutes, seconds, thirds, and fourths after noon Sunday. In 1267, the medieval scientist Roger Bacon stated the times of full moons as a number of hours, minutes, seconds, thirds, and fourths (''horae'', ''minuta'', ''secunda'', ''tertia'', and ''quarta'') after noon on specified calendar dates. Although a ''third'' for of a second remains in some languages, for example Polish (''tercja'') and Turkish (''salise''), the modern second is subdivided decimally.

Seconds measured by mechanical clocks

The earliest clocks to display seconds appeared during the last half of the 16th century. The earliest spring-driven timepiece with a second hand which marked seconds is an unsigned clock depicting Orpheus in the Fremersdorf collection, dated between 1560 and }} During the 3rd quarter of the 16th century, Taqi al-Din built a clock with marks every 1/5 minute. In 1579, Jost Bürgi built a clock for William of Hesse that marked }} In 1581, Tycho Brahe redesigned clocks that displayed minutes at his observatory so they also displayed seconds. In 1587 he complained that his four clocks disagreed by plus or minus four }}

The second first became accurately measurable with the development of pendulum clocks keeping ''mean time'' (as opposed to the ''apparent time'' displayed by sundials), specifically in 1670 when William Clement added a seconds pendulum to the original pendulum clock of Christian Huygens. The seconds pendulum has a period of two seconds, one second for a swing forward and one second for a swing back, enabling the longcase clock incorporating it to tick seconds. From this time, a second hand that rotated once per minute in a small subdial began to be added to the clock faces of precision clocks.

Modern measurements

In 1956 the second was defined in terms of the period of revolution of the Earth around the Sun for a particular epoch, because by then it had become recognized that the Earth's rotation on its own axis was not sufficiently uniform as a standard of time. The Earth's motion was described in Newcomb's Tables of the Sun (1895), which provide a formula estimating the motion of the Sun relative to the epoch 1900 based on astronomical observations made between 1750 and 1892. The second thus defined is

This definition was ratified by the ''Eleventh General Conference on Weights and Measures'' in 1960. The ''tropical year'' in the definition was not measured, but calculated from a formula describing a mean tropical year that decreased linearly over time, hence the curious reference to a specific ''instantaneous'' tropical year. This definition of the second was in conformity with the ephemeris time scale adopted by the IAU in 1952, defined as the measure of time that brings the observed positions of the celestial bodies into accord with the Newtonian dynamical theories of their motion (those accepted for use during most of the 20th century being Newcomb's Tables of the Sun, used from 1900 through 1983, and Brown's Tables of the Moon, used from 1923 through 1983).

With the development of the atomic clock, it was decided to use atomic clocks as the basis of the definition of the second, rather than the revolution of the Earth around the Sun.

Following several years of work, Louis Essen from the National Physical Laboratory (Teddington, England) and William Markowitz from the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) determined the relationship between the hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium atom and the ephemeris second. Using a common-view measurement method based on the received signals from radio station WWV, they determined the orbital motion of the Moon about the Earth, from which the apparent motion of the Sun could be inferred, in terms of time as measured by an atomic clock. They found that the second of ephemeris time (ET) had the duration of 9,192,631,770 ± 20 cycles of the chosen caesium frequency. As a result, in 1967 the Thirteenth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined the second of atomic time in the International System of Units as

This SI second, referred to atomic time, was later verified to be in agreement, within 1 part in 10¹⁰, with the second of ephemeris time as determined from lunar observations. (Nevertheless, this SI second was already, when adopted, a little shorter than the then-current value of the second of mean solar time.)

During the 1970s it was realized that gravitational time dilation caused the second produced by each atomic clock to differ depending on its altitude. A uniform second was produced by correcting the output of each atomic clock to mean sea level (the rotating geoid), lengthening the second by about 1. This correction was applied at the beginning of 1977 and formalized in 1980. In relativistic terms, the SI second is defined as the proper time on the rotating geoid.

The definition of the second was later refined at the 1997 meeting of the BIPM to include the statement

The revised definition seems to imply that the ideal atomic clock contains a single caesium atom at rest emitting a single frequency. In practice, however, the definition means that high-precision realizations of the second should compensate for the effects of the ambient temperature (black-body radiation) within which atomic clocks operate, and extrapolate accordingly to the value of the second at a temperature of absolute zero.

Today, the atomic clock operating in the microwave region is challenged by atomic clocks operating in the optical region. To quote Ludlow ''et al.'', “In recent years, optical atomic clocks have become increasingly competitive in performance with their microwave counterparts. The overall accuracy of single trapped ion based optical standards closely approaches that of the state-of-the-art caesium fountain standards. Large ensembles of ultracold alkaline earth atoms have provided impressive clock stability for short averaging times, surpassing that of single-ion based systems. So far, interrogation of neutral atom based optical standards has been carried out primarily in free space, unavoidably including atomic motional effects that typically limit the overall system accuracy. An alternative approach is to explore the ultranarrow optical transitions of atoms held in an optical lattice. The atoms are tightly localized so that Doppler and photon-recoil related effects on the transition frequency are eliminated.”

The NRC attaches a "relative uncertainty" of 2.5 (limited by day-to-day and device-to-device reproducibility) to their atomic clock based upon the ¹²⁷I₂ molecule, and is advocating use of an ⁸⁸Sr ion trap instead (relative uncertainty due to linewidth of 2.2). See magneto-optical trap and Such uncertainties rival that of the NIST F-1 caesium atomic clock in the microwave region, estimated as a few parts in 10¹⁶ averaged over a day.

SI multiples

SI prefixes are commonly used to measure time less than a second, but rarely for multiples of a second. Instead, the non-SI units minutes, hours, days, Julian years, Julian centuries, and Julian millennia are used.

Other current definitions

For specialized purposes, a second may be used as a unit of time in time scales where the precise length differs slightly from the SI definition. One such time scale is UT1, a form of universal time. McCarthy and Seidelmann refrain from stating that the SI second is the legal standard for timekeeping throughout the world, saying only that "over the years UTC [which ticks SI seconds] has become either the basis for legal time of many countries, or accepted as the ''de facto'' basis for standard civil time".

See also

Atomic clock

Becquerel

Coordinated Universal Time

Hertz

International Atomic Time

International System of Units

Leap second

Magneto-optical trap

Time standard

References

External links

National Physical Laboratory: ''Trapped ion optical frequency standards''

''High-accuracy strontium ion optical clock''; National Physical Laboratory (2005)

National Research Council of Canada: ''Optical frequency standard based on a single trapped ion''

NIST: ''Definition of the second''; notice the cesium atom must be in its ground state at 0 K

Official BIPM definition of the second

Seconds and leap seconds by the USNO

The leap second: its history and possible future

''What is a Cesium atom clock?''

Category:Centimetre gram second system of units Category:Orders of magnitude (time) Category:SI base units Category:Units of time

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background	group_or_band
name	78violet
alias	Aly & AJ (2002–2009)
origin	Torrance, California, United States
instrument	Vocals, Guitars, Pianos
genre	Pop rockTeen popAdult alternative
years active	2002–present
associated acts	Miley CyrusAshley Tisdale
label	Hollywood (2002-2010)
website	Official website
current members	Alyson MichalkaAmanda Michalka

78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) is a pop rock band consisting of sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka. They were born in Torrance, California, but spent part of their childhood in Seattle, Washington. They are both actresses, singer-songwriters, and guitarists. They signed a record deal with the Disney-owned label, Hollywood Records in 2004. They released their debut studio album ''Into the Rush'' on August 17, 2005. The album debuted at number thirty six in the United States, selling over 24,000 copies in its first week and was later certified Platinum by the RIAA. ''Into the Rush'' earned them the "Contemporary Inspirational Artists of the Year" nomination at the 2006 American Music Awards. ''Into the Rush'' later sold over one million records worldwide.

Their second studio album ''Insomniatic'' debuted at number fifteen in the United States, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week on the Billboard 200; this is their highest debut to date. Their second album's lead single "Potential Breakup Song" is their most successful single to date, it was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales over 1,000,000 copies. The duo said that once they were done filming their separate movies, they plan to get back to working on their third studio album for a release in 2009. On September 30, 2009, 78violet announced their third release date for the upcoming self-titled 78violet album is going to be in early 2010 instead. With many rumors going around of the band changing their name, the duo announced that they will be changing their name to 78violet. The duo have also launched a franchise line which includes a doll series and book series.

On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they were "no longer a part of Hollywood Records" and that the album they recorded for Hollywood Records probably won't be released. However, they are "continuing to write and record new songs".

History

2005–06: ''Into the Rush'' and ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter''

Aly & AJ's debut studio album, ''Into the Rush'', was released on August 16, 2005 and certified Gold by the RIAA in March 2006. One of the album's singles, "No One" was featured in the Walt Disney Pictures feature film, ''Ice Princess'' and its soundtrack. The song "Do You Believe In Magic", written and originally recorded by The Lovin' Spoonful, added a rock edge. This cover was used in the soundtrack of the made-for-TV Disney Channel original movie, ''Now You See It...'', in which Aly had a starring role as Allyson Henlen. "Do You Believe in Magic" became their first single to enter the top twenty of the Canadian Hot 100 chart, peaking at #23 and peaked at #2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Singles Sales. ''Into the Rush'' had sold 808,000 copies by December 2007, and over 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

The album received mixed reviews from critics. Fran Grauman from About.com gave the album a 4 star rating, praising Aly and AJ's "ton of talent" and "experience." Allmusic gave the album a mixed review, saying it "doesn't venture further than offering a few empowering ballads", to hand them 2.5 stars after. AMG does praise them for having a real singing ability, citing "Aly & AJ can actually sing — their vocals have more way personality than prefab Disney hopefuls like Hayden Panettiere or Caleigh Peters — and the arrangements are slick without resorting to flashily empty pap". The review finishes with "''Into the Rush'' is listenable, likeable, and more about being memorable than being Disney product." The album became the 112th best-selling album in the United States in 2006, earning it a place as #112 on the Billboard 200 end of year chart of 2006.

They have been involved in various Walt Disney Records projects. The "Aly & AJ Concert" took place on July 24, 2005 at the Henry Fonda theater in Hollywood, California. The aired concert was cut to five songs and interviews. The concert included songs from ''Into the Rush''. The band has also opened for The Cheetah Girls in December 2005 on the girls' Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour. The album was re-released in August 2006 with three new songs, including the hit, "Chemicals React", and two new versions of "Collapsed" and "Something More"; it was also released in the UK. Their first Christmas themed album, ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' was released on September 26, 2006. On the album, Aly & AJ recorded traditional Christmas songs. In late 2007, the band had recorded three more Christmas originals. ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' debuted at #78 on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', selling over 19,000 copies in its first week. The album also topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top Holiday Albums debuting at #14. The holiday album later sold over 136,000 copies in the United States.

2007–08: ''Insomniatic''

The duo's second studio album, ''Insomniatic'' was released on July 10, 2007. The album features a more electropop, electronic rock and dance-pop influenced sound different from their debut with the use of synthesizers, synth-rock guitars, vocoder, and electronic instruments. The album peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week and becoming Aly & AJ's highest debut to date. By early December 2007, the album had sold over 215,000 copies in the United States. The album's electropop lead single, "Potential Breakup Song" preceded their second studio album ''Insomniatic'' which was written by them, was released on June 25, 2007. "Potential Breakup Song" peaked at number 17 at ''Billboard'''s Hot 100, becoming their first top 20 single in the United States. The single was later also certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales surpassing 1,000,000 copies.

In October 2007, both the single and the album were released in the United Kingdom; "Potential Breakup Song" reached a peak position of #22 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Ireland. The girls toured for a short while in the UK, opening for McFly twice and performing at several television shows and nightclubs. ''Time'' magazine named "Potential Breakup Song" one of the 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #9. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised the authenticity of its having been written by the teenage sisters who sing it. The track also went to chart solely on digital download in several countries like the Netherlands, Norway and Canada.

Subsequently after the success of the album's first single, ''Insomniatic'' was praised by numerous music critics. The United States publication ''USA Today'' wrote "for Insomniatic, the sisters had a hand in writing every song. The single Potential Breakup Song sounds somewhat like Del Shannon's "Runaway" run through a processor, but there's a lot more going musically than on your average teen-pop album." Hollywood Records general manager Abbey Konowitch said, "they write their material; they play their instruments. They aren't in any way manufactured. That's very important." Fraser McAlpine of BBC Radio stated, "Aly and AJ's previous album was rock-pop, some of it light and bubbly, some of it bordering on heaviness. Staccato, often angry pop but still definitely pop. Their second offering, 'Insomniatic,' with this as the lead single seems to have kept the staccato and the venom but added more layers of pop, to create something that sounds like My Chemical Romance going through a blender with some soft-hearted Angry Girl Music." adding, "Don't let the tango at the start fool you, even as the synths and the vocoder cut in, this is a rock song playing with electronics. Chirpy keyboards flag up the growl of their voices as they deliver self-conscious lines like 'it took too long, it took too long, it took too long for you to call back and normally I would just forget that, except for the fact it was my birthday, my stupid birthday', kicking a guy to the curb for being a forgetful loser amid a glorious barrage of seething rhythms, clicky noises and general madness, as the Michalka sisters swing between honeyed murmurs and psychosis, making for the most danceable mental breakdown I've heard in quite some time."

In December 2007, the news revealed that the band would be replacing the Jonas Brothers as the opening act for the extension of the Hannah Montana's Best of Both Worlds Tour from January 11 – January 24. The band also confirmed their second single "Like Whoa", which reached number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and charted later in Australia and Canada. In early January 2008, Aly & AJ performed a cover of KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Yahoo's Pepsi Smash video site. The cover is also featured on the Japanese re-release of ''Insomniatic'', recorded at Abbey Road. Also, the girls covered the song "We're an American Band" for Randy Jackson's ''Music Club, Vol. 1'', serving as a bonus track.

2009–present: Name change, departure from Hollywood Records, and new music

In early 2008, ''Billboard'' confirmed that the girls are working on a third studio album which was due to be released in late 2009. They mentioned in an interview on Radio Disney on April 23, 2008 that they are going for a rockier sound, and this time they want to sing separately, not harmonizing their voices as they did on their previous albums, to let fans identify who is singing. On October 7, 2008, the up-to-then-yet-untitled album had been confirmed for a April 2009 release by a Hollywood Records representative, however, a month later, the duo revealed in an interview that the album had been delayed until the summer of 2009. In later interviews though, the duo mentioned a release date of fall 2009, and lastly, on September 30, 2009, the duo claims an early 2010 release of the record.

The duo wrote a song (later confirmed to be titled "The Next Worst Thing") with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. The girls also worked with Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, AFI, Sum 41) and Rob Cavallo (Green Day, The Goo Goo Dolls, Paramore), both producers in the rock genre. Throughout 2009, various songtitles were added to the database of Broadcast Music Incorporated, written by the duo, and co-written with Daniel James and Leah Haywood. Rumors of Aly & AJ touring in the summer of 2009 surfaced the internet, but were later denied by Aly Michalka on their official website. They stated that they were finalizing the record and wanted to focus on that at the moment. They also revealed that they wanted to tour in early 2010 to promote the new album.

On July 8, 2009, the duo announced that they changed their name to 78violet. A week later, on July 16, 78violet announced that their third album will be self-titled. On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they had officially parted ways with Hollywood Records, and their new self-titled album, ''78violet'' probably will not be released. However, the duo stated that they are continuing to write and record for a new album.

On December 1, 2010 78violet's first song under the name of 78violet was released with the ''Hellcats'' soundtrack EP. 78violet recorded the theme song to ''Hellcats'' entitled "Belong Here". On January 24, 2011 a video of 78violet in the studio was released where a clip of a new song "Suspended" was played. 78violet tweeted on June 2, 2011 "18 songs deep into the writing for this record. A few more to go and we will officially start production" Some of the titles for 78violets third album will be ''8 Hours '' and ''53rd floor''

Other work

Acting

Aly also had a role in Disney's ''Phil of the Future''. Before acting in films separately, the duo were featured in two made-for-television films; the Disney Channel original movie ''Cow Belles'' (2006) and the MTV special ''Super Sweet 16: The Movie'' (2007). Before this, Aly Michalka also fulfilled a main role in the 2005 Disney Channel original movie ''Now You See It...'', alongside Johnny Pacar. Aly has made an acting career for herself in the new CW hit drama ''Hellcats'', and starring alongside Vanessa Hudgens in the movie ''Bandslam'', as well as playing Rhiannon in the movie ''Easy A'' - released in 2010. With regard to AJ’s acting career, in 2009 she had a role in ''The Lovely Bones'', a film by Peter Jackson with Mark Wahlberg and Saoirse Ronan, in which AJ played the best friend of the main character Susie Salmon. In 2010 Amanda appeared as Kate Tweedy in ''Secretariat'', a film from a true story about the horse which won the Triple Crown in 1973. Next AJ has been chosen for the new film by J.J. Abrams, ''Super 8'', which was released on June 10, 2011. AJ has been tapped for a recurring role on ''Hellcats'', where Aly works as one of the principal characters. AJ's first appearance took place on the 18th episode called "Woke Up Dead", of the first season. Her name in the show is Deidre. She plays a girl who works in a music store near the Lancer University, where Aly goes to learn more about her dad. In the 20th episode "Warped Sisters", Deidre and Aly's character, revealed to be half-sisters, sing together.

Merchandise

Huckleberry Toys released Limited Edition Hello Kitty Aly & AJ dolls to selected Target stores. Toys R Us is currently selling a line of the dolls which have been available since November 15, 2007. On November 20, 2007, ''The Aly & AJ Adventure'' game was brought out, for use on the Nintendo DS. In the game, the player plays their assistant, helping them record songs, direct music video etc.

As of June 12, 2008, the duo started releasing their own paperback adventure books, called ''Aly & AJ's Rock 'n' Roll Mysteries'', each part describing Aly & AJ on tour, every book describing a mystery in a different city. The drawings in the books were done by Aly. The first two (''First Stop, New York'' and ''Mayhem in Miami'') were released on June 12, the third installment (''Singing in Seattle'') on September 2, and the last (''Nashville Nights'') went to stores on October 4, 2008.

Performance Designed Products released Aly & AJ-designed guitars on November 10, 2008. Aly's guitar features a heart-and-crossbones print in pink (PlayStation 2) and AJ's guitar is in the shape of the Aly & AJ heart logo featuring bright pink and purple zebra print (Wii, PS2). The duo launched the guitars on October 11, 2008 during event at Universal Studios CityWalk in California. The duo also have clothing, accessories, jewelry and cosmetics lines. According to ''Forbes'' and AOL, they are one of Hollywood's highest earning singers under the age of 30.

Charity work

The duo are the spokeswomen for Samsung's Hope for Education, which provides technology products to needy schools, and are the co-chairpersons for the Children's Advisory Board of the AmberWatch Foundation, and have performed at a benefit concert to raise money for the charity. The song "I Am One of Them", which was featured the in the debut album ''Into the Rush'' is dedicated to work with AmberWatch. The duo also walked a fashion show for the Race to Erase MS show in early May 2008, showing their support.

Stalking incidents

On June 26, 2008, an Ohio man named Rex Mettler was arrested for stalking the duo. The Lancaster man "obtained contact information for the acting and singing duo and made threats online, by phone and handwritten notes" as stated by the police. The duo was scheduled to perform June 27, 2008 in Cincinnati, where the man was present, after which the police couldn't confirm that any of the threats involved the Ohio show. The police later stated that "the charge against Mettler stems from incidents that began Dec. 15 [2007]" and that "Rex displayed a pattern of activity over that time that reflected multiple attempts, if not numerous attempts, at stalking these females."

Two years later, on June 17, 2010, Caesar Brantley (25), was arrested on suspicion of stalking the duo. He pleaded not guilty. Aly claimed Brantley is an "obsessed fan" who is determined to marry her "no matter what" in filings for the restraining order. Another court hearing was scheduled on June 30.

Religion

Along with making music for the mainstream audience, Aly & AJ, who are both very open about their faith, have become significant in the Christian music rock scene. "Never Far Behind" was only released on Christian rock radio. It went to #1 on Radio & Records (R&R;) Christian CHR. Although Aly and AJ are both very open about their Christian faith, they do not want to be labeled as Christian music artists. In an interview with ''Blender'' magazine in June 2006, the girls said that their music comes from a Christian perspective. "We don't ever wanna preach or shove anything down people's throats, but we want our music to be inspiring." AJ added, “If we have a Muslim fan or an atheist fan, that’s their thing — I’m gonna love them no matter what.”

In an interview with ''Blender'' magazine, the two expressed their denial of evolution, with the interviewer asking what their thoughts were. When asked if they accepted evolution, AJ responded, "No," and Aly responded, "Are they teaching that in schools now?" When told that it had been taught for the better part of a century, she replied, "I think that's kind of disrespectful, anything that has to do with anybody's beliefs on religion, that should stay out of the classroom. I mean, I think people should be able to pray in school, if people were into that. Everybody should just do their own gig", and AJ added "Evolution is silly. Monkeys? Um, no."

In 2010, Aly Milchalka stated in an interview with ''Seventeen'' magazine, "My faith is definitely a big part of my life, but not part of my career. It is something that guides me. But I feel like when you make a declaration of your religion, people automatically go after you when that purity ring comes off. So I don't want to set myself up for that kind of judgment."

Discography

''Into the Rush'' (2005)

''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' (2006)

''Insomniatic'' (2007)

''78violet'' (2011)

Tours

; Main

2005: ''Mini Mall Tour''

2006: ''Living Room Tour''

2006: ''Holiday Season Tour''

2008: ''Insomniatic Tour''

2008: ''Mini Summer Tour''

; Supporting

2005: ''The Cheetah Girls Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour''

2008: ''Best of Both Worlds Tour''

Awards and nominations

+ 78violet (a.k.a Aly & AJ)
! Year !! Award !! Category !! Nominated work !! Result
2005			Aly Michalka as Keely Teslow in ''Phil of the Future''
2006			''Into the Rush''

References

External links

Official site

Category:American people of German descent Category:American pop music groups Category:Family musical groups Category:Girl groups Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California Category:Sibling musical duos

da:Aly & AJ de:78violet et:Aly & AJ es:78violet fr:Aly & AJ id:78violet it:78violet lv:78violet nl:78violet ja:Aly & AJ no:78violet pl:78violet pt:78violet ru:78violet simple:78violet sl:78violet fi:Aly & AJ sv:Aly & AJ th:อัลลี แอนด์ เอเจ tr:78violet uk:Aly & AJ vi:Aly & AJ zh:78violet

name	The Edge
background	solo_singer
birth name	David Howell Evans
born	August 08, 1961Barking, London, England
origin	County Dublin, Ireland
instrument	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
genre	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, activist
years active	1976–present
label	Island (1980–2006)Mercury (2006–present)
associated acts	U2, Passengers
website	U2.com
notable instruments	Gibson ExplorerFender StratocasterGibson Les PaulFender TelecasterGretsch Country GentlemanGretsch White FalconRickenbacker 330/12 }}

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's ''The Joshua Tree'' and 1991's ''Achtung Baby''. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record ''Zooropa'', and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical ''Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of ''A Clockwork Orange''. In 2011, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital, Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans. When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band. The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change). U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, ''Boy'', was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay. During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved. Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983. The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989. The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996. In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999), before marrying on 22 June 2002.

He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film ''It Might Get Loud''.

The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California. The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location." The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.

Music style

Guitar playing

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.

On 1987's ''The Joshua Tree'', The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique. His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument. He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that." The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the ''Achtung Baby'' era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, ''Under a Blood Red Sky'' and ''Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky'' are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, ''U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle'' and ''Elevation 2001: Live from Boston''). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Other technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, for instance in "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug". He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday). He also does a solo version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary DVD "From the Sky Down".

Other instruments

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song.

Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna.

The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film ''Captive'' (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of ''The Batman''. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye''. The Edge, along with fellow bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled ''Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge'' was released digitally. The music video was released on July 28, 2011.

Musical equipment

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar.

Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.

Philanthropy

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.

See also

List of people on stamps of Ireland

Timeline of U2

References

;Footnotes

;Bibliography

External links

U2.com, official U2 site

Music Rising

The Edge – Album Credits

A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay

The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'

Food Bank For New York City public service announcement

Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound

Category:Irish male singers Category:Irish rock guitarists Category:Irish people of Welsh descent Category:People from County Dublin Category:People from Dalkey Category:Lead guitarists Category:Slide guitarists Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Golden Globe Award winning musicians Category:Backing vocalists Category:U2 members Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Pseudonymous musicians

bg:Дейв "Едж" Евънс ca:The Edge cs:The Edge da:The Edge de:The Edge et:The Edge es:The Edge eu:The Edge fr:The Edge ga:The Edge gl:The Edge hr:The Edge is:The Edge it:The Edge he:דה אדג' ka:ეჯი (მუსიკოსი) lv:The Edge lt:The Edge hu:The Edge nl:The Edge (U2) ja:ジ・エッジ no:The Edge pl:The Edge pt:The Edge ro:The Edge ru:Эдж sq:The Edge simple:The Edge sl:David Howell Evans fi:The Edge (muusikko) sv:The Edge tr:The Edge uk:Едж zh:The Edge

name	Neneh Cherry
background	solo_singer
birth name	Neneh Mariann Karlsson
born	March 10, 1964Stockholm, Sweden
genre	Hip hop, trip hop, alternative hip hop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, rapper, DJ
years active	1987–present
label	Virgin, Tent Music
associated acts	Eagle-Eye Cherry, Titiyo, Don Cherry, Massive Attack, Gorillaz
website	}}

Neneh Mariann Cherry (born Neneh Mariann Karlsson; 10 March 1964) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and occasional DJ and broadcaster. Blending hip hop with other influences, Cherry experienced mainstream success with several of her recordings.

Early life and family

Cherry was born in Stockholm to a Sierra Leonean father, drummer Amahdu Jah, and a Swedish mother, painter and textile artist Monica Karlsson, later known as Moki Cherry. Her stepfather Don Cherry, an American jazz musician, helped raise her since birth and she took his surname. Through her father, she is the half-sister of singer Titiyo and record producer Cherno Jah, and through her mother, she is the half-sister of musician Eagle-Eye Cherry. She has a stepsister, violinist Jan Cherry, and a stepbrother, jazz musician David Ornette Cherry.

During the first years of her life, Cherry lived in a hippie commune just outside the small town of Hässleholm. The family later moved to Pudsey, England, and in the early 1970s, they lived in an apartment on East Ninth Street in New York. At the age of 14, Cherry dropped out of school and moved to London.

Career

Early work

In London, Cherry joined the punk rock band The Cherries. She moved through several bands, including New Age Steppers, Rip Rig + Panic, and Float Up CP. She also DJ'd, playing early rap music on the reggae pirate Dread Broadcasting Corporation.

''Raw Like Sushi''

She began a solo career with "Stop the War", a protest song about the Falkland Islands. She also worked with The The and musician Cameron McVey (a.k.a. Booga Bear), who co-wrote most of her debut album ''Raw Like Sushi'', and whom she would eventually marry. She was intimately involved in the Bristol Urban Culture scene, working as an arranger on Massive Attack's ''Blue Lines'' album and helping out in various other ways in the scene. Both Robert Del Naja and Andrew Vowles of Massive Attack contributed to ''Raw Like Sushi''.

The single "Buffalo Stance" was an international blockbuster. "Buffalo Stance" eventually peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 1 on the US Dance chart. More singles released between 1988 and 1990 included "Manchild," "Kisses on the Wind," "Heart," and "Inna City Mama." She also found success with "I've Got You Under My Skin" (produced by Morris Temple of The Guards fame), a reworking of the Cole Porter song, which appeared on the ''Red Hot + Blue'' AIDS fundraising album. The single reached number 25 in the UK. Cherry was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990 in the Best New Artist Category; she lost out to Milli Vanilli, who later had their Grammy revoked when it was discovered that they had not performed on their recording. She won a Brit Award in 1990 for ''Raw Like Sushi''.

''Homebrew''

Cherry's second album was ''Homebrew'', but it was not as commercially successful as its predecessor. The album had some success on the dance charts with songs "Buddy X" and "Trout." "Buddy X" was a bigger hit years later in a remix by Dreem Teem and on college radio the "Trout" duet with Michael Stipe was popular. ''Homebrew'' included the work of Geoff Barrow (on "Somedays"), who would later become part of Portishead.

''Man''

Her most recent solo album, 1996's ''Man'', was led by the track "Woman", her take on James Brown's 1966 track "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." It featured the worldwide hit single, "7 Seconds", featuring Youssou N'Dour; and "Trouble Man" a cover of a Marvin Gaye track. "7 Seconds" remained at number 1 in France for a record seventeen weeks in 1994. Another track, "Together Now", featured Tricky. Cherry received her second Grammy nomination in 1994 for "7 Seconds". In the MTV Europe Music Awards in 1994, "7 Seconds" won the Best Song title.

''Neneh Chérie Remixes'', a remix album of ''Man'' songs, was released in 1997.

CirKus

In 2006, Cherry announced the formation of a new band, cirKus. In addition to Cherry, cirKus members are Cameron McVey, Lolita Moon (Neneh and Cameron's daughter Tyson) plus Karmil. CirKus has toured Europe, with a single North American performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival in July 2006 plus a few dates in Brazil in 2008. The band's first album, ''Laylow'', was released in France in 2006. A remixed/recorded version was released in 2007. A second CirKus album, ''Medicine'', was released in France in March 2009.

Other collaborations

Although Cherry has only released a handful of albums, she has frequently collaborated with other artists. She performed a duet with Matt Johnson of The The on the track Slow Train To Dawn from The The's 1986 album ''Infected''. Slow Train To Dawn reached #64 in the UK and received sporadic airplay on US alternative radio stations. She rapped on the B-side of the Morgan/McVey single "Looking Good Diving With The Wild Bunch" (1987). Cherry worked with Jon Marsh of The Beloved on a new version of their single "You've Got Me Thinking". Although the track was never officially released, two demo versions were available from The Beloved's website. Cherry also contributed guest vocals on Pulp's UK #1 album ''This Is Hardcore'', singing on the track "Seductive Barry". In 1990, Cherry contributed "I've Got You Under My Skin" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Cherry collaborated with Edward Kowalczyk the lead singer of the band Live. They contributed a duet entitled "Walk into this Room" written by Kowalczyk for the soundtrack to the movie ''Playing by Heart'' (1998). In 1999 she covered the ESG song "Moody" on Christian Falk's debut ''Quel Bordel''. Also in 1999, "Twisted Mess", a collaboration with Craig Armstrong, was recorded for the soundtrack of the film ''Best Laid Plans''. It was also included on the soundtrack to ''The Dancer'' (2000) and released as a promotional single on France's Delabel label. Cherry appeared on Peter Gabriel's 11th album ''OVO'' in 2000.

In addition she contributed vocals alongside Speech and Ulali on 1 Giant Leap's 2003 song "Braided Hair". In the 2005 release of Gorillaz's ''Demon Days'', she contributed vocals to the tracks "Kids With Guns". She performed the song in the Demon Days Live concerts in 2006. The same year she appeared with the Swedish rapper Petter on his album ''P'', singing in Swedish. She contributed vocals to the Groove Armada tracks, "The Groove Is On" and "Think Twice", featured on the band's album ''Love Box''. In 2006 she was featured in the song "Yours to Keep", by the Stockholm outfit Teddybears on their album ''Soft Machine''. In 2007 she again duetted with Youssou N'Dour on one track, "Wake Up Africa", released on his 2007 album ''Rokku Mi Rokka''.

In 2006 she was featured in the song "High Drama", by the German DJ Timo Maas on his album ''Pictures''.

In 2008 she appeared on Swedish producer Kleerup's self-titled album, contributing vocals to the track "Forever".

Other work

Cherry appeared in a non-singing capacity in Big Audio Dynamite's 1986 video for "C'mon Every Beatbox", dancing onstage with others during the band's performance. In early 2004, Cherry presented ''Neneh Cherry's World of Music'', a six-part series broadcast on BBC Radio 2.

In the late 1980s, Cherry helped to bankroll the band Massive Attack.

In April 2007, Cherry presented a six-part cookery show ''Neneh and Andi – Dish it Up'' with her friend Andrea Oliver for BBC Two. The pair would later appear on Gordon Ramsay's ''The F-Word'' as part of the amateur brigade.

Personal life

Cherry married The Bank drummer Bruce Smith in 1983 and their daughter Naima was also born that year. They divorced in 1984. Their daughter Naima is a London-based photographer, who in 2004 had son Louis Clyde Flynn Love. In 1987 Cherry met producer Cameron McVey at Heathrow Airport. Cherry and McVey were en route to Japan, as fashion models as part of London designer Ray Petri's Buffalo Posse. Cherry proposed, and the two married in 1990. Together they have daughters Tyson, born in 1989, and Mabel, born in 1996. Their relationship is also work-related, as McVey produced and co-wrote ''Raw Like Sushi''; together they have supported a variety of British acts; and they are in the group cirKus together. Her stepson Marlon Roudette fronts the British duo Mattafix.

The Cherry-McVeys have lived throughout Europe. In 1993 they moved to Spain. In 1992, they briefly attempted to live in New York. They bought a home in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York. Soon after moving in, the couple was held up at gunpoint and robbed by a teenage bandit. The entire family packed up again and headed back to London's Primrose Hill. They next returned to Cherry's childhood home in Sweden; living in the same schoolhouse turned home (featured in ''Homebrew'' album artwork) that Cherry studied in as a child. For many years they split their time between the UK and Sweden, but made Sweden their permanent base around 2003. They have a country house near Birmingham and Wolverhampton, apartments in London and Stockholm plus the old schoolhouse in Skåne County.

Discography

;Solo

''Raw Like Sushi'' (1989)

''Homebrew'' (1992)

''Man'' (1996)

;With CirKus

''Laylow'' (2006)

''Medicine'' (2009)

See also

Swedish hip hop

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

References

External links

Neneh Cherry Online

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People from Stockholm Category:Swedish people of Sierra Leonean descent Category:English-language singers Category:Female rappers Category:Swedish DJs Category:Swedish female singers Category:Swedish hip hop musicians Category:Swedish rappers Category:Swedish singer-songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Trip hop musicians Category:Virgin Records artists

cs:Neneh Cherry da:Neneh Cherry de:Neneh Cherry es:Neneh Cherry fr:Neneh Cherry it:Neneh Cherry nl:Neneh Cherry ja:ネナ・チェリー pl:Neneh Cherry pt:Neneh Cherry ru:Нене Черри simple:Neneh Cherry fi:Neneh Cherry sv:Neneh Cherry tr:Neneh Cherry

name	André Rieu
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu
birth date	October 01, 1949
origin	Maastricht, Holland
instrument	Violin
genre	Waltz
occupation	Conductor, violinist
years active	1978–present
label	Denon Records , Philips
website	www.andrerieu.com
notable instruments	Stradivarius violin (1667) }}

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (born 1 October 1949) is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.

Early life and studies

The name Rieu is of French Huguenot origin. He began studying violin at the age of five. His father, of the same name, was conductor of the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra. From a very young age he developed a fascination with orchestra. He studied violin at the Conservatoire Royal in Liège and at the Conservatorium Maastricht, (1968–1973). His teachers included Jo Juda and Herman Krebbers. From 1974 to 1977, he attended the Music Academy in Brussels, studying with André Gertler, getting his degree "Premier Prix" from the Brussels Royal Conservatory.

Career

At University he performed the ''Gold And Silver Waltz'' by Franz Lehár. Encouraged by the audience reaction he decided to pursue the waltz form. Rieu formed the Maastricht Salon Orchestra and performed as a violinist with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. In 1987, he created the Johann Strauss Orchestra and his own production company. Since then, his melodramatic stage performances and rock-star demeanor have for some been associated with a revival of the waltz music category. André Rieu plays a 1667 Stradivarius violin.

In April 2009 (Australia)/June 2009 (UK), he made a cameo appearance as himself on "Ramsay Street" in the long-running Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''.

Johann Strauss Orchestra

The Orchestra began in 1987 with 12 members but now performs with between 40 and 50 musicians. At the time the Orchestra first toured Europe, there emerged a renewed interest in waltz music. The revival began in the Netherlands and was ignited by their recording of the ''Second Waltz'' from Shostakovich's ''Jazz Suites''. As a result, Rieu became known as the waltz King.

Rieu and his orchestra have performed throughout Europe, in North America, and Japan. Winning a number of awards including two World Music Awards, their recordings have gone gold and platinum in many countries, including 8-times Platinum in the Netherlands. In September 2007 Rieu performed in Australia for the first time solo, without his Orchestra at the Eastland shopping centre in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood playing "My Way" and "Waltzing Matilda"—and the next day appeared at Sydney's Arena Cove, Warringah Mashopping with the same set. Rieu and orchestra returned to Australia in November as part of his world tour. Rieu and his orchestra played 3 concerts at Melbourne's Telstra Dome from 13–15 November and continued their tour throughout Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, through to December 2008. The concert theme is 'A Romantic Vienna Night' and the set comprises a life-size reproduction of the Viennese imperial Schönbrunn Palace, complete with 2 ice-skating rinks, 2 Fountains, and a ballroom dance floor situated above and behind the Orchestra. Rieu's largest concert attendance to date in Australia was 38,000 on Saturday 15 November in Melbourne. The Perth concert did not feature the replica of the Viennese Palace as it was stated in the press because it would not fit into the front doors of Subiaco Oval.

He records both DVD and CD repertoire at his own recording studios in Maastricht in a wide range of classical music as well as popular and folk music plus music from well-known soundtracks and musical theatre. His lively orchestral presentations, in tandem with incessant marketing, have attracted worldwide audiences to this subgenre of classical music.

Some of his orchestra's performances have been broadcast in the United Kingdom and the United States on the PBS television network such as the 2003 airing of ''Andre Rieu Live in Dublin'', filmed in Dublin, Ireland, and 2005's ''André Rieu Live in Tuscany'' filmed in the Piazza Della Repubblica in the village of Cortona in Tuscany.

Reception

Rieu's recorded music and live performances have been a cause of controversy in the music and popular press. He has attracted criticism from the artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti, who called Rieu's music Schlagermusik, among other things.

Eamon Kelly writing in ''The Australian'' newspaper, in an article that discusses the controversy that Rieu engenders, said: "He depicts his critics as members of a stuffy musical elite with narrow aesthetic tastes, yet regularly demeans in interviews music that is not to his taste and classical musicians who choose not to perform in his manner."

Of Rieu's popularity and the debate in the media over criticism of him, Eamon Kelly says:

It is disappointing to see professional journalists indulging in cheap, inaccurate stereotypes to dismiss criticism of Rieu.

But he goes on to add:

Equally misguided are those who cursorily dismiss Rieu. Rieu's live and recorded performances have brought joy to millions of people. Few in his audiences are regular classical music attendees and it could be seen as promising that, via Rieu, they are listening to standards of the classical canon. The fact that Rieu's focus is on highly accessible, enjoyable repertoire is not an argument against his musical credentials.

Eamon Kelly further adds, after hearing the orchestra perform, that there is "no cause" for Rieu's boast his orchestra was "superior to the many other orchestras that specialise in ... Viennese and popular classical repertoire." Additionally, he found that in musical terms "the performance did not surpass playing standards in Australia's major symphony orchestras". He did add that the "oboist, Arthur Cordewener, provided the most impressive musical performance with a sublime introduction to an otherwise unremarkable performance of [Ravel's] ''Boléro''."

David Templeton, writing in the magazine ''All Things Strings'' says:

Ironically, it is Rieu’s own success that has earned him a horse-drawn carriage full of criticism, a pot-shot laden backlash aimed chiefly at the calculated emotionalism and theatrical flourishes of his performances, which, according to many, only cheapen the classical-music experience. Classical radio stations avoid his music as they might avoid a leper in the mall, though—let’s just say it plain and clear—Rieu is a superb violinist.

Chris Boyd, a critic writing for Melbourne's ''Herald Sun'' newspaper, finds that he could not give a general criticism of the playing of Rieu, as, except for "a clean and lyrical solo in ''Waltzing Matilda''", his main stage function was apparently "blarney and delegation". However, Boyd also comments that the quality of the artists that Rieu works with is "extraordinary". Boyd assesses the low points of the concert as the "Three Tenors-style" rendition of "Nessun dorma" which he finds was an "abomination", while saying the concert's highlights included "a sugar-shock sweet rendition" of "O mio babbino caro" as well as Strauss's ''Emperor Waltz'' and ''Blue Danube'', Clarke's ''Trumpet Voluntary'' and the ''Boléro''.

Personal life

He is married to Marjorie, who works with him full-time as production manager, and has two sons, Marc and Pierre. He speaks (in order of fluency) Dutch, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

Honours

Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands, 2002)

Honorary Medal of the Province of Limburg (Netherlands, 2009)

Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 2009)

== Selected discography ==

''And the Waltz Goes On'' (2011)

''Moonlight Serenade'' (2011) – Australian Albums: No.17

''You Raise Me Up – Songs for Mum'' (2010) – Australian Albums: No.8

''Forever Vienna'' (2009) – UK: #2, IRE: No.4

''The Best of André Rieu'' (2009) – Australian Albums: No.23

''Masterpieces'' (2009) – Australian Albums: No.9

''You'll Never Walk Alone'' (2009) – Australian Albums: No.2

''Live in Australia'' (2008) – Australian Albums: No.14

''Waltzing Matilda'' (2008) – Australian Albums: No.1

''The 100 Most Beautiful Melodies'' (2008) – Australian Albums: No.2

''Live in Dresden: The Wedding at the Opera'' (2008)

''In Wonderland'' (2007)

''Live in Vienna'' (2007)

''Auf Schönbrunn'' (2006)

''New York Memories'' (2006)

''Songs from My Heart'' (2005)

''Christmas Around the World'' (2005)

''Live in Tuscany'' (2004)

''The Flying Dutchman'' (2004)

''New Year's Eve in Vienna'' (2003)

''André Rieu at the Movies'' (2003)

''Live in Dublin'' (2003)

''Romantic Paradise'' (2003)

''Maastricht Salon Orkest – Serenata'' (2003)

''Love Around the World'' (2002)

''Dreaming'' (2002)

''Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' (2001)

''Musik Zum Träumen'' (2001)

''La Vie Est Belle'' (2000)

''Fiesta!'' (1999)

''100 Years of Strauss'' (1999)

''Romantic Moments'' (1998)

''Waltzes'' (1998, re-edited in November 1999)

''The Christmas I Love'' (1997)

''The Vienna I Love'' (1997)

''In Concert'' (1996)

''Strauss gala'' (1995)

''D'n blauwen aovond'' (1995)

''Hieringe biete 1 & 2'' (1995)

''Strauss & Co'' (1994)

''Hieringe biete'' (1993)

''Merry Christmas'' (1992)

''Romeo and Juliet Love Theme''

References

External links

André Rieu (official website)

Official André Rieu Facebook page

André Rieu on Twitter

Official André Rieu YouTube Channel

André Rieu's Official Australian website

André Rieu (C Music TV Biography)

The Magic of Andre Rieu

Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch classical violinists Category:Dutch conductors (music) Category:Maastricht Academy of Music alumni Category:People from Maastricht Category:People of Huguenot descent Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Category:Dutch people of French descent

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