Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
Name	Sarajevo
Official name	City of Sarajevo''Grad Sarajevo''''Град Сарајево''
Settlement type	City
Image seal	Coat of arms of Sarajevo.svg
seal size	75px
Map caption	Bosnia and Herzegovina surrounding Sarajevo (dark green, center)
Coordinates region	BA
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	Entity
Subdivision name1	Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Subdivision type2	Canton
Subdivision name2
Subdivision type3	Municipalities
Subdivision name3	4
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Alija Behmen
Leader party	SDP
Established date	1461
Area footnotes
Area magnitude	1 E8
Area urban km2	1041.5
Population as of	30 June 2010
Population total	310,605
Population urban	436000
Population metro	664000
Population density km2	2202.9
Population blank1 title	Demonym
Population blank1	Sarajevan
Timezone	CET
Utc offset	+1
Timezone dst	CEST
Utc offset dst	+2
twin1	Zagreb
twin1 country
twin2	Ljubljana
twin2 country
twin3	Salt Lake City
twin3 country
twin4	Cairo
twin4 country
twin5	Dubrovnik
twin5 country
twin6	Skopje
twin6 country
twin7	Barcelona
twin7 country
Elevation m	500
Elevation ft	1640
Website	City of Sarajevo
Postal code type	Postal code
Postal code	71000
Area code	+387 (33)
Footnotes	}}

Sarajevo () is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of just over 310,000 people within its administrative limits. The urban area of Sarajevo extends beyond the administrative municipal city limits, with estimated population of 436,000 people, and agglomerated metro area population of 664,000. It is also the capital of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, as well as the center of the Sarajevo Canton (465,000). Sarajevo is located in the Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.

Sarajevo is the leading business and cultural centre of Bosnia and Herzegoivna, and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts contribute to its status as Bosnia and Herzegovina's major economic centre.

The city is historically famous for its traditional religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism coexisting there for centuries. Due to this long and rich history of religious diversity, Sarajevo is often being called the "Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans".

Although settlement in the area stretches back to prehistoric times, the modern city arose as an Ottoman stronghold in the 15th century. Sarajevo has attracted international attention several times throughout its history. In 1885 Sarajevo was the first city in Europe and the second city in the world to have a full-time electric tram network running through the city, the first being San Francisco, California. In 1914 it was the site of the assassination of the Archduke of Austria that sparked World War I. Seventy years later, it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. For nearly four years, from 1992–1996, the city suffered from a siege during the Bosnian War for independence.

Today the city is undergoing post-war reconstruction, and is the fastest growing city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The travel guide series, ''Lonely Planet'', has named Sarajevo as the 43rd best city in the world, and in December 2009 listed Sarajevo as one of the top ten cities to visit in 2010.

In 2011 Sarajevo was the first city outside the European Union to be nominated for the European Capital of Culture in 2014.

Etymology

The earliest name for a major city in the region of today's Sarajevo is ''Vrhbosna''. ''Vrhbosna'' appears to have been destroyed well before the Ottomans dominated the region. The city of Sarajevo as it is known today was built directly on top of the Bosnian village of ''Brodac''.

Sarajevo is the only true historical name for the city. It is a Bosnian word based on ''Saray'', the Persian word for the governor's palace. The letter Y does not exist in the Bosnian version of the Latin alphabet. The "evo" portion comes from ''Ova'' (''Saray Ovası'') meaning "The field around the palace".

Sarajevo has had many nicknames. The earliest is ''Šeher'', which is the term Isa-Beg Ishaković used to describe the town he was going to build. It is a Turkish word meaning an advanced city of key importance (''şehir'') which in turn comes from Persian شهر ''shahr'' (city). As Sarajevo developed, numerous nicknames came from comparisons to other cities in the Islamic world, i.e. "Damascus of the North". The most popular of these was "European Jerusalem".

Some argue that a more correct translation of ''saray'' is government office or house. ''Saray'' is a common word in Turkish for a palace or mansion; a fortified government office, or house, would still be called a saray, if it maintained the general look of an office. Otherwise it would be called ''kale'' (castle).

History

Ancient times

Archeologists have found that the Sarajevo region has been continuously inhabited by humans since the Neolithic age. The most famous example of a Neolithic settlement in the Sarajevo area is that of the Butmir culture. The discoveries at Butmir were made on the grounds of the modern-day Sarajevo suburb Ilidža in 1893 by Austro-Hungarian authorities during the construction of an agricultural school. The area’s richness in flint was no doubt attractive to Neolithic man, and the settlement appears to have flourished. The settlement developed unique ceramics and pottery designs, which characterize the Butmir people as a unique culture. This was largely responsible for the International congress of archeologists and anthropologists meeting in Sarajevo in 1894.

The next prominent culture in Sarajevo were the Illyrians. The ancient people, who considered most of the West Balkans as their homeland, had several key settlements in the region, mostly around the river Miljacka and Sarajevo valley. The Illyrians in the Sarajevo region belonged to the ''Daesitiates'', a war-like people who were probably the last Illyrian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina to resist Roman occupation. Their defeat by the Roman emperor Tiberius in 9 A.D. marks the start of Roman rule in the region. The Romans never built up the region of modern-day Bosnia that much, but the Roman colony of Aquae Sulphurae was located near the top of present-day Ilidža, and was the most important settlement of the time. After the Romans, the Goths settled the area, followed by the Slavs in the 7th century.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages Sarajevo was part of the Bosnian province of Vrhbosna near the traditional center of the kingdom. Though a city called ''Vrhbosna'' existed, the exact settlement of Sarajevo at this time is debated. various documents of the high Middle Ages note a place called ''Tornik'' in the region. By all indications, Tornik was a very small marketplace surrounded by a proportionally small village, and was not considered very important by Ragusan merchants.

Other scholars say that ''Vrhbosna'' was a major city located at the site of modern-day Sarajevo. Papal documents say that in 1238, a cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul was built in the city. Disciples of the notable saints Cyril and Methodius stopped by the region, founding a church at ''Vrelobosna''. Whether or not the city was located at modern-day Sarajevo, the documents attest to its and the region's importance. VrhBosna was a Slavic citadel from 1263 until it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1429.

Ottoman era

Sarajevo was founded by the Ottoman Empire in the 1450s upon its conquest of the region, with 1461 used as the city’s founding date. The first Ottoman governor of Bosnia, Isa-Beg Ishaković, transformed the cluster of villages into a city and state capitol by building a number of key structures, including a mosque, a closed marketplace, a public bath, a hostel, and of course the governor’s castle (“Saray”) which gave the city its present name. The mosque was named “Careva Džamija” (the Tsar’s Mosque) in honor of the Sultan Mehmed II. With the improvements Sarajevo quickly grew into the largest city in the region. Many Christians converted to Islam at this time. The settlement was established as a city, named ''Bosna-Saraj'', around the citadel in 1461. The name Sarajevo is derived from Turkish ''saray ovası'', meaning ''the field around saray''.

Under leader such as the second governor Gazi Husrev-beg, Sarajevo grew at a rapid rate. (Husrev-beg greatly shaped the physical city, as most of what is now the Old Town was built during his reign.) Sarajevo became known for its large marketplace and numerous mosques, which by the middle of the 16th century numbered more than 100. At the peak of the empire, Sarajevo was the biggest and most important Ottoman city in the Balkans after Istanbul. By 1660, the population of Sarajevo was estimated to be over 80,000. By contrast, Belgrade in 1838 had 12,963 inhabitants, and Zagreb as late as 1851 had 14,000 people. As political conditions changed, Sarajevo was the site of warfare.

In 1699 Prince Eugene of Savoy led a successful raid on the city. After his men looted thoroughly, they set the city on fire and destroyed nearly all of it in one day. Only a handful of neighborhoods, some mosques, and the orthodox church were left standing. Numerous other fires weakened the city as well, so that by 1807 it only had some 60,000 residents.

In the 1830s several battles of the Bosnian rebellion took place around the city, led by Husein Gradaščević. Today, a major city street is named ''Zmaj od Bosne'' (Dragon of Bosnia) in his honor. The rebellion failed and the crumbling Ottoman state remained in control of Bosnia for several more decades.

Austria-Hungary

In 1697, during the Great Turkish War, a raid was led by Prince Eugene of Savoy of the Habsburg Monarchy against the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Sarajevo and left it plague-infected and burned to the ground. The city was later rebuilt, but never fully recovered from the destruction. The Ottoman Empire made Sarajevo an important administrative centre by 1850, but the ruling powers changed as the Austria-Hungarian Empire conquered Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 as part of the Treaty of Berlin, and annexed it completely in 1908.

Sarajevo was industrialized by Austria-Hungary, who used the city as a testing area for new inventions, such as tramways, established in 1885, before installing them in Vienna. Architects and engineers wanting to help rebuild Sarajevo as a modern European capital rushed to the city. A fire that burned down a large part of the central city area (''čaršija'') left more room for redevelopment. The city has a unique blend of the remaining Ottoman city market and contemporary western architecture. Sarajevo has some examples of Secession- and Pseudo-Moorish styles that date from this period.

The Austria-Hungarian period was one of great development for the city, as the Western power brought its new acquisition up to the standards of the Victorian age. Various factories and other buildings were built at this time, and a large number of institutions were both Westernized and modernized. For the first time in history, Sarajevo’s population began writing in Latin script.

In the event that triggered World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, along with his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by a self-declared Yugoslav, Gavrilo Princip. In the ensuing war, however, most of the Balkan offensives occurred near Belgrade, and Sarajevo largely escaped damage and destruction.

Following the war, after the Balkans were unified under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Sarajevo became the capital of Drina Province. During World War II, the Axis powers invaded and occupied Yugoslavia, creating the Independent State of Croatia, where Sarajevo was located. The city was bombed by the Allies from 1943 to 1944.

Yugoslavia

After World War I and contributions from the Serbian army alongside rebelling Slavic nations in Austria-Hungary, Sarajevo became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Though it held some political importance, as the center of first the Bosnian region and then the Drinska Banovina, it was not treated with the same attention or considered as significant as it was in the past. Outside of today's national bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, virtually no significant contributions to the city were made during this period.

During World War II the Kingdom of Yugoslavia put up an inadequate defense. Following a German bombing campaign, Sarajevo was captured on the 15 April 1941 by the 16th Motorized infantry Division.

Shortly after the fall, the city, like many other Yugoslav areas, formed a strong Yugoslav Partisan movement. Sarajevo's resistance was led by a NLA Partisan named "Walter" Perić. He died while leading the final liberation of the city on the 6 April 1945 and became famous for his actions shortly afterwards. Many of the WWII shell casings that were used during the attacks have been carved and polished in Sarajevo tradition and are sold as art.

Following the liberation, Sarajevo was the capital of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The communists invested heavily in Sarajevo, building many new residential blocks in Novi Grad Municipality and Novo Sarajevo Municipality, while simultaneously developing the city's industry and transforming Sarajevo once again into one of the Balkans' chief cities. From a post-war population of 115,000, by the end of Yugoslavia Sarajevo had 429,672 people. Sarajevo grew rapidly as it became an important regional industrial center in Yugoslavia. Modern communist-city blocks were built west of the old city, adding to Sarajevo's architectural uniqueness. The Vraca Memorial Park, a monument for victims of World War II, was dedicated on 25 November, the "Day of Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina" when the ZAVNOBIH held their first meeting in 1943.

The crowning moment of Sarajevo’s time in Socialist Yugoslavia was the 1984 Winter Olympics. Sarajevo beat out Sapporo, Japan; and Falun/Göteborg, Sweden for the privilege. They were followed by an immense boom in tourism, making the 1980s one of the city's best decades in a long time.

Present

Today Sarajevo is one of the fastest developing cities in the region. Various new modern buildings has been built, significantly the Bosmal City Center and the Avaz twist tower which is tallest skyscraper in the Balkans. A new highway was recently completed between Sarajevo and the city of Kakanj. The near-future for Sarajevo is hoped to hold continued development of the city, including construction of impressive modern buildings and population growth. The Sarajevo City Center will be one of the biggest and most modern Shopping and Business centers is South-East Europe when its gets completed 2012. If current growth trends continue, the Sarajevo metropolitan area should return to its pre-war population by 2020, with the city following soon after. At its current pace, Sarajevo won’t surpass the million resident mark until the second half of the 21st century. The most widely accepted and pursued goal was for the city to hold the Winter Olympics in 2014; that bid failed, so they will try again perhaps in 2022 or 2026.

Bosnian War

The Bosnian war resulted in large scale destruction and dramatic population shifts during the Siege of Sarajevo between 1992 and 1995. Thousands of Sarajevans lost their lives under the constant bombardment and sniper shooting at civilians by the Serb forces during the siege.

The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.

After Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared independence from Yugoslavia, the Serbs, whose strategic goal was to create a new Serbian State of Republika Srpska (RS) that would include part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, encircled Sarajevo with a siege force of 18,000 stationed in the surrounding hills, from which they assaulted the city with weapons that included artillery, mortars, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, heavy machine-guns, multiple rocket launchers, rocket-launched aircraft bombs, and sniper rifles. From 2 May 1992, the Serbs blockaded the city. The Bosnian government defence forces inside the besieged city were poorly equipped and unable to break the siege.

It is estimated that nearly 10,000 people were killed or went missing in the city, including over 1,500 children. An additional 56,000 people were wounded, including nearly 15,000 children. The 1991 census indicates that before the siege the city and its surrounding areas had a population of 525,980.

Geography

Sarajevo is located near the geometric center of the triangular-shaped Bosnia-Herzegovina and within the historical region of Bosnia proper. It lies in the Sarajevo valley, in the middle of the Dinaric Alps. The valley itself once formed a vast expanse of greenery, but gave way to urban expansion and development in the post-World War II era. The city is surrounded by heavily forested hills and five major mountains. The highest of the surrounding peaks is Treskavica at , then Bjelašnica at , Jahorina at , Trebević at , with Igman being the shortest. The last four are also known as the Olympic Mountains of Sarajevo (see also 1984 Winter Olympics). On average, Sarajevo is situated above sea level. The city itself has its fair share of hilly terrain, as evidenced by the many steeply inclined streets and residences seemingly perched on the hillsides.

The Miljacka river is one of the city's chief geographic features. It flows through the city from east through the center of Sarajevo to west part of city where eventually meets up with the Bosna river. Miljacka river is "The Sarajevo River", with its source in the town of Pale, several kilometers to the east of Sarajevo. The Bosna's source, Vrelo Bosne near Ilidža (west Sarajevo), is another notable natural landmark and a popular destination for Sarajevans and other tourists. Several smaller rivers and streams also run through the city and its vicinity.

Cityscape

Sarajevo is located close to the center of the triangular shape of Bosnia and Herzegovina in southeastern Europe. It consists of four municipalities (or "in Bosnian and Croatian: općina, in Serbian: opština"): Centar (Center), Novi Grad (New City), Novo Sarajevo (New Sarajevo), and Stari Grad (Old City). Greater Sarajevo includes these and the neighbouring municipalities of Ilidža and Vogošća. The city has an urban area of 1041.5 square kilometres (154.6 sq mi)

Climate

Sarajevo's climate exhibits influences of oceanic, humid continental and humid subtropical zones, with four seasons and uniformly spread precipitation.The proximity of the Adriatic Sea moderates Sarajevo's climate somewhat, although the mountains to the south of the city greatly reduce this maritime influence. The average yearly temperature is , with January ( avg.) being the coldest month of the year and July ( avg.) the warmest.

The highest recorded temperature was on 19 August 1946, while the lowest recorded temperature was on 25 January 1942. On average, Sarajevo has 85 summer days per year (temperature greater than or equal to 30.0 °C). The city typically experiences mildly cloudy skies, with an average yearly cloud cover of 45%.

The cloudiest month is December (75% average cloud cover) while the clearest is August (37%). Moderate precipitation occurs fairly consistently throughout the year, with an average 75 days of rainfall. Suitable climatic conditions have allowed winter sports to flourish in the region, as exemplified by the Winter Olympics in 1984 that were celebrated in Sarajevo.Sarajevo is very windy city. Avreage winds are . Sarajevo has 2,173 hours of sunshine (2007–2010).

Administration

Capital of Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo is the capital of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its sub-entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as of the Sarajevo Canton. It is also the ''de jure'' capital of another entity, Republika Srpska. Each of these levels of government has their parliament or council, as well as judicial courts, in the city. In addition many foreign embassies are located in Sarajevo.

Sarajevo is home to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Parliament office in Sarajevo was damaged heavily in the Bosnian war. Due to damage the staff and documents were moved to a nearby ground level office to resume the work. In late 2006 reconstruction work started on the Parliament and is to be finished in early 2007. The cost of reconstruction is supported 80% by the Greek Government through the Hellenic Program of Balkans Reconstruction (ESOAV) and 20% by Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Municipalities & city government

The city comprises four municipalities Centar, Novi Grad, Novo Sarajevo, and Stari Grad. Each operate their own municipal government, united they form one city government with its own constitution. The executive branch () consists of a mayor, with two deputies and a cabinet. The legislative branch consists of the City Council, or ''Gradsko Vijeće''. The council has 28 members, including a council speaker, two deputies, and a secretary. Councilors are elected by the municipality in numbers roughly proportional to their population. The city government also has a judicial branch based on the post-transitional judicial system as outlined by the High Representative's “High Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils”.

Sarajevo's Municipalities are further split into "local communities" (Bosnian, ''Mjesne zajednice''). Local communities have a small role in city government and are intended as a way for ordinary citizens to get involved in city government. They are based on key neighborhoods in the city.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Sarajevo is twinned with: {| style="background:none;" |- |valign="top"| Barcelona, Spain ''(since 2000)'' Zagreb, Croatia ''(since 2001)'' Ljubljana, Slovenia ''(since 2002)'' Salt Lake City, United States ''(since 2002)'' Cairo, Egypt ''(since 2006)'' Dubrovnik, Croatia ''(since 2006)'' Skopje, Macedonia ''(since 2006)'' Konya, Turkey ''(since 2007)'' |}

Fraternity Cities

Sarajevo's fraternity cities include:

{|style="width:100%" |- | style="width:33.3%;"| Bursa in Turkey ''(since 1979)'' Akhisar in Turkey Istanbul in Turkey ''(since 1997)'' Ankara in Turkey ''(since 2007)'' Tianjin in China ''(since 1981)'' Shanghai in China Venice in Italy ''(since 1994)'' Collegno in Italy ''(since 1994)'' Ferrara in Italy ''(since 1978)'' Naples in Italy ''(since 1976)'' Prato in Italy ''(since 1995)'' | style="width:33.3%;"| Budapest in Hungary ''(since 1995)'' Karlovac in Croatia Coventry in England, United Kingdom ''(since 1957)'' Wolfsburg in Germany ''(since 1985)'' Magdeburg in Germany ''(since 1972)'' Friedrichshafen in Germany ''(since 1972)'' Madrid in Spain ''(since 2007)'' Barcelona in Spain ''(since 1986)'' Innsbruck in Austria ''(since 1980)'' Amsterdam in Netherlands Serre Chevalier in France ''(since 1995)'' | style="width:33.3%;"| Skopje in Macedonia ''(since 2007)'' Stockholm in Sweden ''(since 1997)'' Tábor in Czech Republic Tirana in Albania ''(since 1996)'' Dayton in United States ''(since 1999)'' Baku in Azerbaijan ''(since 1972)'' Kuwait City in Kuwait ''(since 1998)'' Algiers in Algeria Tlemcen in Algeria ''(since 1964)'' Tripoli in Libya ''(since 1976)'' |}

Economy

After years of war, Sarajevo's economy has been subject to reconstruction and rehabilitation programs. Amongst other economic landmarks, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina opened in Sarajevo in 1997 and the Sarajevo Stock Exchange began trading in 2002. The city's large manufacturing, administration, and tourism base, combined with a large informal market, makes it one of the strongest economic regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

While Sarajevo had a large industrial base during its communist period, only a few pre-existing businesses have successfully adapted to the market economy. Sarajevo industries now include tobacco products, furniture, hosiery, automobiles, and communication equipment. Companies based in Sarajevo include B&H; Airlines, BH Telecom, Bosnalijek, Energopetrol, Sarajevo Tobacco Factory, and Sarajevska Pivara (Sarajevo Brewery).

Sarajevo has a strong tourist industry and was named by Lonely Planet one of the top 50 "Best City in the World" in 2006. Sports-related tourism uses the legacy facilities of the 1984 Winter Olympics, especially the skiing facilities on the nearby mountains of Bjelašnica, Igman, Jahorina, Trebević, and Treskavica. Sarajevo's 600 years of history, influenced by both Western and Eastern empires, is also a strong tourist attraction. Sarajevo has hosted travellers for centuries, because it was an important trading center during the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian empires. Examples of popular destinations in Sarajevo include the Vrelo Bosne park, the Sarajevo cathedral, and the Gazi Husrev-beg's Mosque. Tourism in Sarajevo is chiefly focused on historical, religious, and cultural aspects.

In 1981 Sarajevo's GDP per capita was 133% of the Yugoslav average.

Demographics

The last official census in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place 1991 and recorded 527,049 people living in city of Sarajevo (ten municipalities). In the settlement of Sarajevo itself were 416,497 inhabitants. The war displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have not returned.

Today, Sarajevo's population is not known clearly and is based on estimates contributed by the United Nations Statistics Division and the Federal Office of Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other national and international non-profit organizations. , the population of the city's four municipalities is estimated to be 310,605, whereas the Sarajevo Canton population is estimated at 465.000. With an area of , Sarajevo has a population density of about . The Novo Sarajevo municipality is the most densely populated part of Sarajevo with about , while the least densely populated is the Stari Grad, with . Population of urban area of Sarajevo (including parts of City of East Sarajevo) is estimated to be 436.000. (municipalities: Old City, Center, New Sarajevo, New City, Ilidža, Vogošća, East New Sarajevo and East Ilidža). The agglomerated metro area population of Sarajevo is 664,000 (Sarajevo Canton, City of East Sarajevo, Kiseljak, Kreševo, Visoko, Breza, Vareš and Olovo)

War changed the ethnic and religious profile of the city. It had long been a multicultural city, and often went by the nickname of "Europe's Jerusalem".

Public transport

Sarajevo's electric tramways, in operation since 1885, are the oldest form of public transportation in the city. Sarajevo had the first full-time (dawn to dusk) tram line in Europe. Opened on New Years Day in 1885, it was the testing line for the tram in Vienna and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and operated by horses. Originally built to 760mm narrow gauge (Bosnian gauge), the present system in 1960 was upgraded to standard gauge (1435 mm). The trams played a pivotal role in the growth of the city in the 20th century. There are seven tramway lines supplemented by five trolleybus lines and numerous bus routes. The main railroad station in Sarajevo is located in the north-central area of the city. From there, the tracks head west before branching off in different directions, including to industrial zones in the city. Sarajevo is currently undergoing a major infrastructure renewal; many highways and streets are being repaved, the tram system is undergoing modernization, and new bridges and roads are under construction.

Aviation

Sarajevo International Airport , also called Butmir, is located just a few kilometers southwest of the city. During the war the airport was used for UN flights and humanitarian relief. Since the Dayton Accord in 1996, the airport has welcomed a thriving commercial flight business which includes the new Sarajevo International on March 2008 221 Countries, cities and airlines. In 2010, 563.266 passengers travelled through Sarajevo airport which is a 6,2% increase from 2009, whereas only 25,000 in 1996 after the end of the war. The airport of Sarajevo has an annual growth rate between 5-10% and due to this an extension of the airport is now under planning.

Train

Sarajevo is connected to the Zagreb - Ploče line that goes through Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Sarajevo - Belgrade line. There are also local and regional train lines between cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sarajevo has also a direct train line to Budapest 7 days a week.

Communications and media

As the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo is the main center of the country's media. Most of the communications and media infrastructure was destroyed during the war but reconstruction led by the Office of the High Representative have helped modernize the industry. For example, internet was first made available to the city in 1995.

''Oslobođenje'' (Liberation), founded in 1943, is Sarajevo longest running newspaper and the only one to survive the war. However, this long running and trusted newspaper has fallen behind the ''Dnevni Avaz'' (Daily Voice), founded in 1995, and ''Jutarnje Novine'' (Morning News) in circulation in Sarajevo. Other local periodicals include the Croatian newspaper Hrvatska riječ and the Bosnian magazine Start, as well as weekly newspapers ''Slobodna Bosna'' (''Free Bosnia'') and ''BH Dani'' (''BH Days''). ''Novi Plamen'', a monthly magazine, is the most left-wing publication currently.

The Radiotelevision of Bosnia-Herzegovina is Sarajevo's public television station, one of three in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Other stations based in the city include NRTV “Studio 99”, NTV Hayat, TV 1, Open Broadcast Network, TV Kantona Sarajevo and Televizija Alfa.

Sarajevo is also the headquarter of Al Jazeera for the Balkans with a broadcasting studio at the top of the BBI Center in the heart of Sarajevo. The Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language news channel is covering Bosnia and Hercegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro, plus the surrounding Balkan states.

Many small independent radio stations exist, included established stations such as Radio M, Radio Stari Grad (Radio Old Town), Studentski eFM Radio, Radio 202, Radio BIR, and RSG. Radio Free Europe, as well as several American and West European stations, are available in the city, too.

Education

Higher education has a long tradition in Sarajevo. The first institution that can be classified as such was a school of Sufi philosophy established by Gazi Husrev-beg in 1531; numerous other religious schools have been established over time. In 1887, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Sharia Law School began a five-year program. In the 1940s the University of Sarajevo became the city's first secular higher education institute. In the 1950s post-bachelaurate graduate degrees became available. While severely damaged during the war, it was rebuilt in partnership with more than 40 other universities.

For providing better education, some of international universities are located in Sarajevo. Those are: Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, International University of Sarajevo, American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo Graduate School of Business, International Burch University.

University of Sarajevo has a partial partnership with Griffith College Dublin, offering a joint BA in Business Studies. First two years of the degree take place in Sarajevo, and the third and final year, takes place in Dublin. After finishing this course, students receive academic degrees from both universities. Also, one-year MBA in International Business Management is offered at University of Sarajevo, after finishing this course students receive masters degrees from the University of Sarajevo, Griffith College Dublin and Nottingham Trent University.

, in Sarajevo there are 46 elementarys (Grades 1–9) and 33 highs (Grades 10–13), including three schools for children with special needs,

'Druga gimnazija' provides the MYP and International Baccalaureate diploma. 'Prva bošnjačka gimnazija' provides the IGCSE and GCE Advanced Level.

There are also several international schools in Sarajevo, catering to the expatriate community; some of which are Sarajevo International School and The French International School of Sarajevo, established in 1998.

Culture

Sarajevo has been home to many different religions for centuries, giving the city a range of diverse cultures. In the time of Ottoman occupation of Bosnia, Muslims, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Sephardi Jews all shared the city while maintaining distinctive identities. They were joined during the brief occupation by Austria-Hungary by a smaller number of Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs and Ashkenazi Jews.

Historically, Sarajevo was home to several famous Bosnian poets, scholars, philosophers, and writers during the Ottoman Empire. To list only a few; Nobel Prize-winner Vladimir Prelog is from the city, as is Academy Award-winning director Danis Tanović. Nobel Prize-winner Ivo Andrić attended high school in Sarajevo for two years. Sarajevo is also the home of the East West Theatre Company, the only independent theatre company in Bosnia and Herzegovina and The Sarajevo National Theatre. The Sarajevo National Theatre is the oldest professional theatre in Bosnia-Herzegovina established in 1921.

Museums

The city is rich in museums, including the Museum of Sarajevo, the Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Museum of Literature and Theatre Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (established in 1888) home to the Sarajevo Haggadah, an illuminated manuscript and the oldest Sephardic Jewish document in the world issued in Barcelona around 1350, containing the traditional Jewish Haggadah, is held at the museum.

Museum Alija Izetbegović as a depandance Museum Sarajevo was open on 19th October 2007. It is located in the old town fort, more specific in the Vratnik kapi (gates) towers Ploča and Širokac. The museum is a commemoration to the character and work of Alija Izetbegović, The first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The city also hosts the National theatre of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established in 1919, as well as the Sarajevo Youth Theatre. Other cultural institutions include the Center for Sarajevo Culture, Sarajevo City Library, Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Bosniak Institute, a privately owned library and art collection focusing on Bosniak history.

Demolitions associated with the war, as well as reconstruction, destroyed several institutions and cultural or religious symbols including the Gazi Husrev-beg library, the national library, the Sarajevo Oriental Institute, and a museum dedicated to the 1984 Olympic games. Consequently, the different levels of government established strong cultural protection laws and institutions. Bodies charged with cultural preservation in Sarajevo include the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina (and their Sarajevo Canton counterpart), and the Bosnia and Herzegovina Commission to Preserve National Monuments.

Music

The Sarajevo school of pop rock developed in the city between 1961 and 1991. This type of music began with bands like Indexi, Pro Arte and singer/song writer Kemal Monteno. It continued into the 1980s, with bands such as Plavi Orkestar, Crvena Jabuka and Vatreni Poljubac ending with the war in 1992. Sarajevo was also the birthplace of the most popular Yugoslav rock band of all time, Bijelo Dugme, somewhat of a Bosnian parallel to the Rolling Stones, in both popularity and fame. Sarajevo was also the home of a very notable post-punk urban subculture known as the New Primitives, which began during the early 1980s and was brought into the mainstream through bands such as Zabranjeno Pušenje and Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors, as well as the Top Lista Nadrealista radio, and later television show. Other notable bands considered to be part of this subculture are Bombaj štampa and Šume i Gore. Besides and separately from the ''New Primitives'', Sarajevo is the hometown of one of the most significant ex-Yugoslavian alternative industrial-noise bands, SCH (1983–current).

Sarajevo also greatly influenced the pop scene of Yugoslavia with Hari Mata Hari and Dino Merlin.

Several new bands have been established in Sarajevo after 1992 some of them being Regina who also had two albums out in Yugoslavia and Letu štuke who actually formed their band in Yugoslavia including the famous Bosnian-American writer Aleksandar Hemon and got their real breakthrough later in the 2000s.

Festivals

The Sarajevo Film Festival, established in 1995 during the Bosnian war and has become the premier film festival in the Balkans and South-East Europe. The Sarajevo Winter Festival, Sarajevo Jazz Festival and Sarajevo International Music Festival are well-known, as is the Baščaršija Nights festival, a month-long showcase of local culture, music, and dance.

The Sarajevo Film Festival has been hosted at the National Theater, with screenings at the Open-air theater Metalac and the Bosnian Cultural Center, all located in downtown Sarajevo and has been attended by celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Steve Buscemi, Bono Vox (Bono holds Bosnian citizenship and passport in addition to Irish and is an honorary citizen of Sarajevo), Nick Cave, Coolio, Stephen Frears, Michael Moore, Gérard Depardieu, Darren Aronofsky, Sophie Okonedo, Gillian Anderson, Kevin Spacey.

In the past sixteen years, the festival has entertained people and celebrities alike, elevating it to an recognized international level. The first incarnation of the Sarajevo Film Festival was hosted in still-warring Sarajevo in 1995, and has now progressed into being the biggest and most significant festival in south-eastern Europe. A talent campus is also held during the duration of the festival, with numerous world-renowned lecturers speaking on behalf of world cinematography and holding workshops for film students from across South-Eastern Europe.

The Sarajevo Jazz Festival has been entertaining jazz connoisseurs for over ten years and has hosted such artists as Richard Bona, The John Butler Trio, Cristina Branco, Dhafer Youssef, Bugge Wesseltoft and many more. The festival takes place at the Bosnian Cultural Center (aka "Main Stage"), just down the street from the SFF, at the Sarajevo Youth Stage Theater (aka "Strange Fruits Stage", at the Dom Vojske Federacije (aka "Solo Stage"), and at the CDA (aka "Groove Stage").

Sports

The city was the location of the 1984 Winter Olympics. Yugoslavia won one medal, a silver in men's giant slalom awarded to Jure Franko. Many of the Olympic facilities survived the war or were reconstructed, including Olympic Hall Zetra and Asim Ferhatović Stadion. After co-hosting the Southeast Europe Friendship games, Sarajevo was awarded the 2009 Special Olympic winter games, but cancelled these plans. The ice arena for the 1984 Olympics, Zetra Stadium, was used during the war as a temporary hospital and, later, for housing NATO troops of the IFOR.

In 2011 Sarajevo was the host city of the 51st World Military Skiing Championship with over 350 participants from 23 different nations. This was the first international event of such standing since the 1984 Olympics.

Football (soccer) is popular in Sarajevo; the city hosts ''FK Sarajevo'' and ''FK Željezničar'', which both compete in European and international cups and tournaments and are have a very large trophy cabinet in the former Yugoslavia as well as independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. Other notable soccer clubs are ''FK Olimpik'' and ''SAŠK''. Another popular sport is basketball; the basketball club KK Bosna Sarajevo won the European Championship in 1979 as well as many Yugoslav and Bosnian national championships making it one of the greatest basketball clubs in the former Yugoslavia. The chess club, ''Bosna'' Sarajevo, has been a championship team since the 1980s and is the third ranked chess club in Europe, having won four consecutive European championships in the nineties. RK Bosna also competes in the European Champions League and is considered one of the most well organised handball clubs in South-Eastern Europe with a very large fan base and excellent national, as well as international results. Sarajevo often holds international events and competitions in sports such as tennis and kickboxing. Rock climbing is popular; rock-climbing events and practices are held at Sarajevo's Dariva area, where there is also an extensive network of biking trails.

Popularity of tennis has been picking up in recent years. Since 2003, BH Telecom Indoors is an annual tennis tournament in Sarajevo.

Club	Leagues	Venue	Established
FK Sarajevo	Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium	1946
FK Željezničar Sarajevo	Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Grbavica Stadium	1921
	Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina		1993
	Handball Championship of Bosnia and Herzegovina		1948
KK Bosna		NLB League>Adriatic Basketball Association		1951
HK Bosna	Bosnia and Herzegovina Hockey League	Bosnia and Herzegovina Ice Hockey Federation	Olympic Hall Zetra	1980
VK Bosna	Bosnia and Herzegovina Waterpolo League	Olimpijski Bazen Otoka	1984

See also

List of Sarajevans

Folklore of Sarajevo

Sites of interest in Sarajevo

Sarajevo International Culture Exchange

Sarajevo Tunnel

Istočno Sarajevo

Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Music of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna

Historical Sarajevo gallery

Modern Sarajevo gallery

References

Notes

Bibliography

Donia, Robert J. ''Sarajevo: A Biography''. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, (2006).

Maniscalco, Fabio (1997). Sarajevo. Itinerari artistici perduti (Sarajevo. Artistic Itineraries Lost). Naples: Guida

Prstojević, Miroslav (1992). Zaboravljeno Sarajevo (Forgotten Sarajevo). Sarajevo: Ideja

Valerijan, Žujo; Imamović, Mustafa; Ćurovac, Muhamed (1997). Sarajevo. Sarajevo: Svjetlost

My Life in Fire (a non-fiction story of a child in a Sarajevo war)

Mehmedinović, Semezdin (1998). Sarajevo Blues. San Francisco: City Lights

External links

Sarajevo's Official Website National Theater's Official Website Sarajevo's Bilingual City Guide / Sarajevo's Top City Guide

Sarajevo's landmarks photo gallery

Your local travel guide Sarajevo International Airport / Interactive Map of Sarajevo Tourism Association of Sarajevo / TurizamPLUS – extensive tourism and travel information Sarajevo Guide – City Guide to Sarajevo Back to Sarajevo – Documentary Film /

– Sarajevo Spring 2009

Sarajevo Region – Bosnia-Herzegovina Tourism Association

Sarajevo Summer/Winter 07

Photos of Sarajevo in 2007

Local Bosnian Cultural Programs – Tourism Development Portal setup by IFC of World Bank group to promote tourism in local villages.

Virtual City of Sarajevo /

Chronology of the battle and siege of Sarajevo

Sarajevo in Encyclopedia Britannica

Sarajevo public transport GRAS

Category:1461 establishments Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Host cities of the Winter Olympic Games Category:Populated places established in the 1460s Category:Populated places in the Sarajevo Canton Category:IOC Session Host Cities

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Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
{{infobox musical artist| image	Sara Bareilles Alice Fest.png
name	Sara Bareilles
background	solo_singer
birth name	Sara Beth Bareilles
alias	Serina
born	December 07, 1979Eureka, California, United States
instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
genre	Pop soul, pop rock, baroque pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	2003–present
label	Epic
associated acts	Ingrid Michaelson, Weezer, Maroon 5, OneRepublic, Marc Broussard
website	www.sarabmusic.com }}

Sara Beth Bareilles ( ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the ''Billboard'' Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records worldwide and has been Grammy-nominated three times. Starting in the third season of NBC's The Sing Off, Bareilles will be a celebrity judge alongside Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men.

Early life

Bareilles was born and raised in Eureka, California, the youngest of three daughters of Bonnie Halvorsen (née Capellas), a funeral home worker, and Paul Bareilles, an insurance adjuster. She was raised Catholic and participated in the high school choir, Limited Edition, and local community theater musical productions, including her high school's production of ''Little Shop of Horrors'' as Audrey.

Bareilles attended the Communication Studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a member of the co-ed a cappella group Awaken A Cappella, and can be heard on their ''Dysfunktional Family'' album singing "Gravity" and "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5. The group's rendition of Bareilles' "Gravity" was featured on the ''Best of College A Cappella 2004'' compilation CD. Sara also stated on MTV's ''TRL'' that she and the band Maroon 5 have been acquainted since their younger days in California when the band was known as Kara's Flowers. She performed in the annual student concert UCLA Spring Sing, winning twice.

Career

2002–2006: Career beginnings and ''Careful Confessions''

After graduating from college in 2002, Bareilles performed at local bars and clubs (such as the Hotel Café and Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles), building a following before performing in larger venues. She issued two demos of mostly live tracks in 2003: ''The First One'' in April and ''The Summer Sessions'' in October. In 2004, she appeared as a singer in a bar in the indie film ''Girl Play'', performing the song "Undertow".

In January 2004, Bareilles released her first studio album, ''Careful Confessions''. She signed a contract with Epic Records on April 15, 2005. The remainder of the year and early 2006 were spent writing and reworking songs for her upcoming album. Her song, "Gravity," appears briefly in the 2006 independent film ''Loving Annabelle''.

In mid-2004 she opened for Rocco DeLuca and the Burden during their inaugural headline tour, supported Guster on their first UK tour and co-headlined a tour with Jon McLaughlin. She toured as the opening act in 2006 for Marc Broussard's "Carencro" tour. In 2007, Bareilles toured as the opening act for Aqualung and Mika, and later that year opened for several shows on both Maroon 5 and Paolo Nutini's U.S. tours. She also opened for James Blunt on his U.S. Tour in association with VH1 You Oughta Know.

2007–2008: ''Little Voice''

In June 2007, iTunes featured Bareilles' single "Love Song" as the free single of the week. The following month, her major-label debut ''Little Voice'' shot to #1 on the list of most downloaded albums of the music store in its first week of release, and debuted at #45 on the Billboard 200 chart. After being featured on a Rhapsody commercial in 2007, "Love Song" began climbing the pop charts, jumping from #73 to #16 in one week. It entered the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 27, 2007, and peaked at #4. On other charts, such as the Pop 100 and Hot AC, "Love Song" hit #1. Bareilles performed the song on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on Thursday, January 17, 2008, and on the ''Today'' show on Thursday, February 21, 2008. Soon after that, the song entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #4. The music video was directed by Josh Forbes and stars British actor Adam Campbell.

As of 2010, ''Little Voice'' has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album peaked in the Billboard 200 at #7, and the UK Top 40 at #9. Bareilles' breakthrough single, "Love Song" has since been certified 3x platinum.

On October 28, 2008, Bareilles released "Between the Lines: Sara Bareilles Live at the Fillmore" on DVD and CD. The package is a recording of her first headlining tour at the famous Fillmore in San Francisco. She concluded the tour in her home town of Eureka, California on December 19, 2008, at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts.

She toured with Counting Crows and Maroon 5 between July 22 and August 26, 2008. The first stop was Virginia Beach, Virginia and the last stop Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Bareilles was selected as MTV artist of the week for July 7–11 and appeared again on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on Wednesday, July 9, 2008; and on December 9, 2008 (with Ingrid Michaelson).

During the spring of 2009, Bareilles was on her second headlining tour, the "Gravity Tour," to promote the third and final single from her album ''Little Voice''. She made her third appearance in Charlottesville, VA during UVA's annual Springfest on March 28, her first as the opener for Marc Broussard in 2005 and the second being an opening for Maroon 5. Bareilles also played multiple college shows in April and May. Some were for college students only and others were open to the public.

She sent out a special holiday message to fans on her mailing list and gave out a free live acoustic EP recorded during her Gravity Tour last Spring. The EP contains 7 acoustic songs, including a new song "Free Ride," "I'm On Fire" a Bruce Springsteen cover duet with Tony Lucca, and two speaking segments.

In early 2010, Bareilles recorded video of what she called "An Ode To Jersey Shore" and posted it to her official website as a gag for fans.

2009–present: ''Kaleidoscope Heart'' and ''The Sing Off''

Bareilles began work on the follow-up to her major label debut in the summer of 2009, collaborating with the likes of Amir "Questlove" Thompson, members of Weezer, and Pharrel Williams. As the songs began to take their final shape, Neal Avron was assigned to produce, record, and mix the entire album. The album was recorded at The Village Recorder and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles.

The first single from her second album, "King of Anything," began receiving radio airplay in the US in May 2010, and was released for sale in June. "King of Anything" had its first play on the UK radio airwaves on Paul Kay's "Album Download" show on Mid-Wales commercial radio station "Radio Maldwyn - The Magic 756" in August 2010. King of Anything has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

In anticipation of the new album, Bareilles released a series of webisodes, featuring the making of select songs from "Kaleidoscope Heart," including "King of Anything," "Uncharted," "Gonna Get Over You," "Bluebird," and a strings only version of "King of Anything." The first webisode also contains Sara writing the chorus for "Hold My Heart". She was selected as VH1's Posted Artist of the Month for July 2010, chronicling her life leading up to the album's release.

Kaleidoscope Heart was released on September 7, 2010 and debuted at number 1 in the United States, selling 90,000 copies. Interestingly, her previous album ''Little Voice'' re-entered the charts at number 200 in the same week, bookending the charts.

She toured in support of ''Kaleidoscope Heart'' from September to December 2010, with most of the shows being sold out. Bareilles toured Europe and parts of Asia and Australia with Maroon 5 throughout spring 2011. She embarked on a small headline "Uncharted" tour in April 2011 with openers Elizabeth & the Catapult and Ximena Sariñana in support of the second single from Kaleidoscope Heart "Uncharted", which concluded April 23, 2011 in Memphis, TN. She will also be opening select shows for country music duo Sugarland on their Summer 2011 Incredible Machine Tour.

On May 13, 2011 her song Breathe Again was used in the Smallville series finale for the wedding of Iconic comic book couple Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

It was announced in July 2011 that Bareilles will star in the third season of the NBC television series The Sing Off as a celebrity judge, alongside Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men. The third single off of Kaleidoscope Heart is "Gonna Get Over You," with a music video directed by Jonah Hill. Bareilles also guest-starred on ''Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures''.

On August 13, 2011 the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand stage at the Indiana State Fair collapsed right after Bareilles finished performing as the opening act for Sugarland. She was uninjured, tweeting "I'm speechless and feel so helpless," "My heart aches for the lives lost." Five people died and more than 45 were injured in the collapse.

Influences and musical style

Bareilles' vocal range registers from contralto to mezzo-soprano, and is often compared to artists such as Fiona Apple, Billy Joel,Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones due to her vocal ability and incorporation of piano in her music. Her musical influences include Sarah McLachlan, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera and Joni Mitchell.

Her sound is described as "slightly edgy, stompy piano-based pop rock" that incorporates jazz and soul, with Bareilles finding inspiration from singers such as Etta James and Sam Cooke.

She is often praised for her songwriting abilities, with critics stating she "conveys vulnerability and wisdom in lyrics that speak honestly about relationships from a woman's point of view", and that her "writing voice is uniquely her own."

She plays the piano, guitar, ukulele, and harmonium.

Band members

Bareilles tours with regular band members Javier Dunn (guitar and vocals), Daniel Rhine (bass) and Joshua Day (percussion and vocals). Other musicians who have toured with her as part of her band include Eric Robinson (guitar and keys), Holly Conlan (backing vocals), and Philip Krohnengold (guitar and keys).

Collaborations with other artists

In December 2008, a single with Ingrid Michaelson titled "Winter Song" was released off the compilation ''The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs''. The two performed it on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', and an animated video was released. She also recorded a song "Come Home," a duet with OneRepublic, which was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009.

Bareilles performed with many other singers on the season 3 finale of ''30 Rock'', alongside Mary J. Blige, Rachael Yamagata, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones and Elvis Costello. She also appeared with Jim Radley on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' and AOL Sessions guest performing "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" as well for a special performance on YouTube.

She has performed for the First Family numerous times. Bareilles was first invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to play at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009. Here she performed songs for the First Ladies of 20 nations and afterward dined with Michelle Obama. The Obamas again invited her to perform at the Easter Egg Roll in 2010. On October 20, 2010, it was announced that Bareilles would open for President Obama at a Las Vegas rally for the Democratic midterm elections. In December, Bareilles and fellow singer Ingrid Michaelson performed "Winter Song" for the Obamas and many spectators at the National Christmas Tree Lighting.

In December 2010, Bareilles appeared with The Backbeats on the season finale of ''The Sing-Off''. She will perform a duet "Love Won't Let You Get Away" at Club Nokia with Seth MacFarlane on March 26, 2011.

Discography

;Studio albums

2004: ''Careful Confessions''

2007: ''Little Voice''

2010: ''Kaleidoscope Heart''

;Live albums

2008: ''Between the Lines: Sara Bareilles Live at the Fillmore''

2011: ''Live From Soho''

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Bareilles has received three nominations.

|- |rowspan="2"| |rowspan="2"| "Love Song" || Song of the Year || |- | Best Female Pop Vocal Performance || |- | || "King of Anything" || Best Female Pop Vocal Performance || |-

References

External links

Official website

Category:1979 births Category:American contraltos Category:American female singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American female guitarists Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Eureka, California Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Living people Category:Blue-eyed soul musicians Category:American pop singer-songwriters

da:Sara Bareilles de:Sara Bareilles es:Sara Bareilles fa:سارا بارالز fr:Sara Bareilles id:Sara Bareilles it:Sara Bareilles he:שרה ברליס hu:Sara Bareilles nl:Sara Bareilles ja:サラ・バレリス no:Sara Bareilles pl:Sara Bareilles pt:Sara Bareilles ru:Бареллис, Сара simple:Sara Bareilles fi:Sara Bareilles sv:Sara Bareilles tl:Sara Bareilles vi:Sara Bareilles zh:莎拉·芭瑞黎絲

Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
Name	Sara Evans
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Sara Lynn Evans
Birth date	February 05, 1971
Birth place	Boonville, Missouri, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Country
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1992–present
Label	RCA Nashville
Associated acts	Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Mindy McCready
Website	saraevans.com }}

Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country singer and songwriter.

Evans was one of the few traditional-styled singers to emerge from Nashville in the late 1990s, according to Allmusic. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Evans has made five No. 1 Country hits and Gold and Platinum-certified albums by the RIAA, like 2003's ''Restless'' and 2005's ''Real Fine Place''. Her 2000 album, ''Born to Fly'' was certified Double-Platinum.

Biography

Early life and the rise to fame

Evans was born in Boonville, Missouri, in 1971, and is of Welsh, English, and Irish descent. She was raised on a farm near New Franklin, MO, the eldest girl of seven children. By five she was singing weekends in her family's band. At age eight, she was struck by an automobile in front of the family home, and her legs suffered multiple fractures. Recuperating for months in a wheelchair, she continued singing to help pay her medical bills. When she was 16, she began performing at a nightclub near Columbia, Missouri, a gig that lasted two years.

Evans moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1991 to be a country music artist. She met fellow musician Craig Schelske and left Nashville with him in 1992, moving to Oregon. They married in 1993. She returned to Nashville in 1995 and began recording demos. Nashville songwriter Harlan Howard was impressed by her demo of his song "Tiger by the Tail". He decided to help her music career, leading to a signed contract with RCA Nashville.

In 1997, Evans released her first album for RCA, ''Three Chords and the Truth''. Critics praised the album for returning to traditional country and included it in many of their yearly "Top 10" lists. The video for "Three Chords and the Truth", directed by Susan Johnson, was nominated for awards from ''Billboard'' Magazine, CMT, and the MVPA. The album included a cover version of an older Country song, Patsy Cline's "Imagine That", which originally reached No. 21 for Cline on the country charts in 1962. None of the three singles made the top 40. It would be another year before Evans gained full popularity. In 1998 Evans released her second album, ''No Place That Far''. Critics slammed her on choosing a more pop-country sound. Her first single, "Cryin' Game", hardly made a ripple on the charts but the music video, which re-teamed Evans with director Susan Johnson, did very well in rotation. However, it was her next single, "No Place That Far", a duet with Vince Gill, that brought her massive success, reaching #1 on the Country charts, as well as the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top 40. Because of its success, the album was certified "Gold" by the RIAA.

Breakthrough: the ''Born to Fly'' and ''Restless'' albums

In 2000, Evans worked on a third album to be released later that year. The album, ''Born to Fly'', was released to stores on October 10, 2000, and later became another major-selling album. She insisted on hiring Seattle-based rock drummer Matt Chamberlain (The Wallflowers, Edie Brickell), who brought a different sound to her music. The album became Evans' first album to receive a "Platinum" rating by the RIAA, and spawned four country hits, including the title track ("Born to Fly") which was the first single released from the album, reaching the No. 1 spot on the Country charts, Evans' first No. 1 as a solo artist. Hits continued from the album all the way into 2002. After "Born to Fly", the second single, "I Could Not Ask for More", was released in 2001, the country version of Edwin McCain's big pop–rock hit from the year before. Evans' version reached No. 2 on the country charts and was a No. 35 Pop hit, ironically an even bigger Pop hit than McCain's version on Billboard's Hot 100 (McCain's version reached No. 37). In 2002, songs continued to be released from the album; "Saints and Angels" and "I Keep Looking" were the last two singles released from the album. "I Keep Looking" reached No. 5 and "Saints and Angels" reached No. 16. In 2004, the ''Born to Fly'' album was officially certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA.

In 2001, Evans was the most-nominated artist at the Country Music Association awards with seven nominations overall, and she won her first CMA award when "Born to Fly" won the award for ''Video of the Year'', her first major award from Country music.

In 2003, Evans recorded a long-awaited fourth album, which was titled ''Restless''. The album was released August 19, 2003 to stores. The first single released from the album in 2003, "Back Seat of a Greyhound Bus", was a Top 20 Country hit, reaching No. 16 on the Hot Country Songs list that year, but it did not hit the Billboard Hot 100, peaking outside it on the Bubbling Hot 100. Despite the album's first single not reaching the Top 10, the album still sold fairly well, debuting at No. 3 on the "Top Country Albums" list and the No. 20 on the "Billboard 200" list, and sold over 40,000 copies within its first week. However it was the album's next single, "Perfect" that broke Country's Top 10, eventually peaking in the top 5 at No. 2, barely missing Country's top spot. The third single from the album, "Suds in the Bucket", was the album's most successful single; it became Evans' third Number One hit and was also a Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Additionally, it was Evans' first ever Gold-certified single by the RIAA. The album's fourth and final single, "Tonight", failed to reach the Top 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

''Restless'' received a nomination in the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards.

Success of the ''Real Fine Place'' album and ''Greatest Hits''

After 2003's ''Restless'' album, Evans re-emerged with a fifth studio album titled ''Real Fine Place'', released October 4, 2005. The album's lead single, "A Real Fine Place to Start," reached No. 1 on the Country charts in 2005, as well as reaching the Pop Top 40 at No. 38. The single marked the first time Evans charted on Billboard's "Pop 100" and "Hot Digital Songs" chart, reaching No. 67 and No. 62 respectively. "A Real Fine Place" was another Gold-certified single by the RIAA. The album sold 130,000 copies within its first week, becoming Evans' first album to reach the No. 1 spot on the "Top Country Albums" chart, while also becoming her most successful album on the "Billboard 200" to date, reaching No. 3. The album sold three times more copies than her previous album had done in their first weeks. On December 6, 2005, Evans released the compilation album ''Feels Like Home'' through Cracker Barrel stores. The album contains remixes of some of her most popular songs, including a live version of "Born to Fly" and an acoustic version of "No Place That Far". In 2005 the album's follow-up single "Cheatin'" was a top 10 Country hit, peaking at No. 9 there. The third single released from the album, "Coalmine", was the least successful single, just about breaking Billboard's Country Top 40 chart in early 2006.

In 2006, R&R; announced Evans as the "Female Vocalist of the Year" in its 2006 Readers' Poll. In spring 2006, Evans released ''Always There'' through Hallmark stores for Mothers' Day. The album has six of her favorite already-released songs, including a live version of "Suds in the Bucket" and an acoustic version of "Born to Fly". Two new songs are on the disc: "You Ought to Know by Now" and "Brooklyn & Austin". In 2006, the last significant single from the ''Real Fine Place'' album was released, titled "You'll Always Be My Baby", which was a Top 20 Country hit, but missing Billboard's Hot 100, reaching a peak position on the Bubbling Hot 100 at #105. An album cut released from the album in 2006, "Missing Missouri", reached No. 52 on the Country charts that year. On May 23, 2006, Evans competed and performed at the 2006 ACM awards show in Las Vegas, where she won her first ACM for the "Top Female Vocalist". Evans also became a spokesperson for National Eating Disorders Association, and has spoken out widely on this subject, as she has been personally affected by it. She also hosted a charity event, Fashion for Every Body, which featured a fashion show, silent auction and performance by Evans.

On October 9, 2007, Evans released her first ''Greatest Hits'' collection. The compilation features four new songs, including the lead-off single "As If", which was a Top 20 hit on the country charts. Evans released the gift book ''You'll Always Be My Baby'' (based on her song). It was written by Evans, Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro. It was announced on October 15, 2007, that Evans would host the 41st annual CMA Awards show with LeAnn Rimes on November 7, 2007.

A libertarian Republican, Evans also showed support for Texas Congressman Ron Paul in the 2008 Presidential election and was the headliner at his "Rally For The Republic" on September 2, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the same day as the Republican National Convention in neighboring St. Paul.

''Stronger'' and career today

The single "Low" (sung by Sara Evans) was released to radio on September 29, 2008, to promote ''Billy: The Early Years'' (for the movie released October 10). The song is featured on the movie's soundtrack which was released on October 7, 2008, and also includes other big name country artists. "Low" debuted (and peaked) on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart at No. 59 on October 12, 2008. It only remained on the chart for one week before returning for a second week in January 2009 at the same position.

A book called ''Sweet By and By'', written by Evans with author Rachel Hauck, was released on January 5, 2010. It is the first release of a four-book deal inked with Thomas Nelson Fiction. The second book is ''Softly and Tenderly'', and was released January 14, 2011, with the following third and fourth books to be released 2012 and 2013.

Evans stated in a video posting to her fan club on December 23, 2008, that she was working with her brother Matt Evans and producer Nathan Chapman on her sixth studio album. "Feels Just Like a Love Song", was released on July 20, 2009. The song debuted and peaked at No. 59 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart; after spending two weeks on the chart, it fell off. It was intended as the lead-off single to Evans' sixth studio album, ''Stronger'', but was later cut from the final track listing.

In 2009, ABC Daytime and SOAPnet sponsored a tour, headlined by Evans, that featured performances throughout the summer. Additionally, soap performers made appearances at her shows. Evans participated in performances on the networks, as well as on-air interstitial campaigns and online promotions.

In late 2009, Evans released a four-song Christmas EP, ''I'll Be Home for Christmas'', to coincide with her 2009 Christmas tour. The EP includes the title track as well as "O' Come All Ye Faithful", "Go Tell It on the Mountain", and "New Again" (a duet with Brad Paisley). It was released on November 3, 2009 to digital retailers.

During Evans' 2010 fanclub party on June 10, 2010, she debuted the first single from her sixth studio album, ''Stronger'', which was released on March 8, 2011. The song, titled "A Little Bit Stronger," was released to radio on September 27, 2010. One of the few songs on the album not co-written by the artist, it was pitched to Evans by its songwriter, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum. Additionally, the song was included on the soundtrack to the 2010 film ''Country Strong''. It debuted at No. 56 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 2, 2010 and hit No. 1 in May 2011. The video for "A Little Bit Stronger" hit number one on the GAC top 20 country video countdown on May 20, 2011. Evans sang the song on the finale of season 12 of the American ABC TV show ''Dancing with the Stars'' on May 24, 2011.

She released "My Heart Can't Tell You No", her second single from ''Stronger'', to radio on June 20, 2011.

Television work

In April 2004, Evans appeared as a special guest on "Nashville Star". She appeared on the game show "Million Dollar Password" in June 2008.

In September 2006, Evans began competing with other celebrities on the third season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars with (professional) partner Tony Dovolani. Evans launched a new fan web site to provide behind-the-scenes material from her participation on the program. Evans was the first country music singer to ever participate in the show. However, she chose to withdraw from the competition due to her divorce.

Also in 2006, Evans guest starred on Jeff Foxworthy's TV show, ''Foxworthy's Big Night Out''.

Evans made an appearance judging on ''HGTV Design Star'' in which she chose which of two redesigned rooms at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center was most like her own style. This aired on July 6, 2008

In October 2008, Evans also hosted a charity skating fundraiser, "Skating for Life". Olympic skaters skated to Evans' songs.

In March 2009, Evans hosted the ''ACM GAC Top New Artist Special'', which launched the fan voting for the ACMs three new categories: Top New Female Vocalist, Top New Male Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group.

Evans sang "God Bless America" during the All Star Game in St Louis, Missouri on July 12, 2009.

In June 2011 Evans appeared on the Flatts Fest 2011 Tour with Rascal Flatts, Justin Moore, and Easton Corbin.

Sara Evans' Band

Current band:

Sara Evans - Lead Vocals

Jim Bloodgood - Drums

Matt Evans - Bass/Band Leader/Harmony Vocals (Sara's brother)

Lesley Evans Lyons - Harmony Vocals (Sara's sister)

Ashley Evans Simpson - Harmony Vocals (Sara's sister)

Jonathan Lawson - Fiddle/Acoustic Guitar/Harmony Vocals

Justin Butler - Lead Guitar/Acoustic Guitar

Brent Wilson - Lead Guitar/Acoustic Guitar/Mandolin/Harmony Vocals

Personal life

Evans married Craig Schelske, an aspiring politician, on September 25, 1993, and divorced in September 2007. Evans and Schelske have three children: Avery Jack (born August 21, 1999), Olivia Margaret (born January 22, 2003) and Audrey Elizabeth (born October 6, 2004).

On June 14, 2008, Evans married Jay Barker, a former University of Alabama quarterback, national championship winner and current radio show host. They married in Franklin, Tennessee, with their children as their attendants. Evans and her three children now live in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, with Barker and his children.

Divorce

On October 12, 2006, Evans left ''Dancing with the Stars'', citing personal reasons, and the following day it was revealed that Evans had filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years, Craig Schelske. Documents filed by Evans' husband accused the singer of having close to a dozen affairs, including singer/songwriter Richard Marx, country star Kenny Chesney, ''Dancing with the Stars'' partner Tony Dovolani, various members of Evans' band, and four of the five members of the rock band 3 Doors Down. A representative for Chesney called the allegations "ridiculous," and Kirt Webster, a spokesman for the rock band 3 Doors Down, stated that the accusations are "ludicrous" and "untrue" and that the band members "are saddened by what she's going through."

On September 28, 2007, the divorce between Evans and Schelske became final. Evans will pay him a minimum of $500,000 in alimony over a ten-year period. Evans was awarded custody of their three children with visitation rights to Schelske.

An ex-nanny of Evans', Alison Clinton Lee, sued her for $3 million, claiming that Evans has smeared her name by including it in her divorce papers as one of the many women Evans claims her husband had affairs with. The case was settled in July 2009, for $500,000.

On February 25, 2010, Evans obtained a restraining order against Schelske. Documents say Schelske is not allowed to make any derogatory statements about Evans to the media or make allegations about what led to their divorce.

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Result |- | 1997 | Billboard Music Video Awards | Best Country New Artist Video of the Year | |- | rowspan="2"|1999 | rowspan="2"|Country Music Association Awards | Vocal Event of the Year | |- | Horizon Award | |- | 2000 | Country Music Association Awards | Horizon Award | |- | rowspan="5"|2001 | rowspan="5"|Country Music Association Awards | Video of the Year for "Born to Fly" | |- | Single of the Year for "Born to Fly" | |- | Song of the Year for "Born to Fly" | |- | Album of the Year for ''Born to Fly'' | |- | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="2"|2002 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | |- | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="3"|2004 | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | CMT Flameworthy Awards | Female Video of the Year for "Perfect" | |- | BMI Country Awards | 50 Most Performed Country Songs Award for "Perfect" | |- | rowspan="5"|2005 | CMT Music Awards | Hottest Video of the Year for "Suds in the Bucket" | |- | rowspan="2"|Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | |- | Album of the Year for ''Restless'' | |- | rowspan="2"|Country Music Association Awards | Musical Event of the Year for "New Again" (with Brad Paisley) | |- | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="4"|2006 | CMT Music Awards | Female Video of the Year for "A Real Fine Place To Start" | |- | R&R; | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | Academy of Country Music Awards | Top Female Vocalist | |- | Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | rowspan="2"|2007 | CMT Music Awards | Female Video of the Year for "You'll Always Be My Baby" | |- | BMI Country Awards | 50 Most Performed Country Songs Award for "You'll Always Be My Baby" | |- | 2008 | BMI Country Awards | 50 Most Performed Country Songs for "As If" | |- | 2010 | Dove Awards | Special Event Album for ''Glory Revealed II: The Word of God In Worship'' | |- | rowspan="3"|2011 | CMT Music Awards | Female Video of the Year for "A Little Bit Stronger" | |- | rowspan="2"|Country Music Association Awards | Female Vocalist of the Year | |- | Single of the Year for "A Little Bit Stronger" | |- |}

Discography

;Studio Albums

1997: ''Three Chords and the Truth''

1998: ''No Place That Far''

2000: ''Born to Fly''

2003: ''Restless''

2005: ''Real Fine Place''

2011: ''Stronger''

;Compilation album

2007: ''Greatest Hits''

References

External links

SaraEvans.com (Official site)

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Boonville, Missouri Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American female singers Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:American libertarians Category:Tennessee Republicans Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:RCA Records artists

pdc:Sara Evans de:Sara Evans nl:Sara Evans pl:Sara Evans pt:Sara Evans ru:Эванс, Сара Линн simple:Sara Evans fi:Sara Evans sv:Sara Evans

Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
name	Stevie Nicks
background	solo_singer
birth name	Stephanie Lynn Nicks
birth date	May 26, 1948
origin	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
genre	Pop, Pop Rock, Soft Rock
instruments	Vocals, Piano, Keyboard instrument
occupation	Singer-Songwriter, Musician, Performer
years active	1967–present
label	Modern, Atlantic, Reprise
associated acts	Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham Nicks, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, David A. Stewart, Sheryl Crow
website	}}

Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums. She has been noted for her ethereal visual style and symbolic lyrics.

Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac on December 31, 1974, along with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, 1977's ''Rumours'', produced four U.S. Top 10 singles (including Nicks's song "Dreams", which was the band's first and only U.S. number one) and remained at No.1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks, as well as reaching the top spot in various countries around the world. To date the album has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the tenth highest selling album of all time.

Nicks began her solo career in 1981 with the 8 million selling album ''Bella Donna'', and she has produced six more solo studio albums to date. Her seventh solo studio album entitled ''In Your Dreams'', and her first in ten years, was produced largely by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame, and was released on May 3, 2011.

After the release of her first solo album, ''Rolling Stone'' deemed her "The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll". Having overcome cocaine addiction, and dependency on tranquilizers, Nicks remains a popular solo performer. As a solo artist, she has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations and, with Fleetwood Mac, a further five, of which one was the 1978 award for Album of the Year for ''Rumours'', which they won. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

History

Early life

Nicks was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, to Jess Nicks, a corporate executive, and Barbara Nicks, a homemaker. Nicks's grandfather, Aaron Jess Nicks, a struggling country music singer, taught Nicks to sing, performing duets with her by the time she was four years old. Nicks's mother was very protective of her, keeping her at home "more than most people were" and fostering in her a love of fairy tales. As a young child, Nicks had difficulty pronouncing her given name Stephanie, instead pronouncing it "tee-dee", which became the nickname "Stevie". Nicks's father Jess's career as a food business executive necessitated frequent moves, and the family lived in Phoenix, Albuquerque, El Paso, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco during Nicks's youth. With the Goya guitar that she received for her sixteenth birthday, Nicks wrote her first song called "I've Loved and I've Lost, and I'm Sad But Not Blue". She joined her first band "The Changing Times" while attending Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.

Nicks first met her future musical and romantic partner Lindsey Buckingham during her senior year at Menlo Atherton High School. She attended a Young Life Christian social event, saw Buckingham playing "California Dreamin'", and joined in with the harmony. Buckingham contacted Nicks a few years later and asked her to join him and his bandmates Javier Pacheco and Calvin Roper in a band called Fritz. Fritz became popular as a live act from 1968 until 1972, opening for popular musicians Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, among others, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both Nicks and Buckingham attended San Jose State University in Northern California, where Nicks majored in Speech Communication. They dropped out in 1968 and moved to Los Angeles together to pursue a career in music when Nicks's family moved to Chicago.

Buckingham Nicks: 1972–1974

After Fritz disbanded in 1972, Nicks and Buckingham continued to write and record as a duo, producing demo tapes at the coffee plant belonging to Buckingham's father Morris. They secured a deal with Polydor Records. Polydor used tracks from the demo tapes to release the album ''Buckingham Nicks'' in 1973. The album was not a commercial success, despite the live shows that Nicks and Buckingham performed together to support it, and Polydor dropped the pair from the label. To support herself and Buckingham, who wrote music while recovering from mononucleosis, Nicks worked a variety of jobs, which included waiting tables and a stint cleaning engineer/producer Keith Olsen's house, where Nicks and Buckingham lived for a time. Nicks says that she first used cocaine during this time.

Nicks and Buckingham briefly relocated to Aspen, Colorado. While there, Buckingham landed a guitar-playing gig with the Everly Brothers, and toured with them while Nicks stayed behind. During this time, Nicks wrote "Rhiannon" after seeing the name in the novel ''Triad'' by Mary Leader, unaware at the time of the Mabinogi legend of Rhiannon. She also wrote "Landslide", inspired by the scenery of Aspen and her inner turmoil over her decision to pursue music.

''Fleetwood Mac'' and ''Rumours'': 1975–1978

Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac on December 31, 1974, after Keith Olsen played their track "Frozen Love" for drummer Mick Fleetwood, who had come to Studio City in California, in search of a studio to record Fleetwood Mac's next album. Fleetwood remembered Buckingham's guitar work after guitar player Bob Welch's departure to pursue a solo career. Initially extending the offer only to Buckingham, Fleetwood later included Nicks in the offer when Buckingham insisted that they were "a package deal".

In 1975 the band achieved success with the album ''Fleetwood Mac''. That same year, Nicks worked with clothing designer Margi Kent to develop Nicks's unique onstage look, with costumes that featured flowing skirts, shawls and platform boots.

Following the success of ''Fleetwood Mac'', increasing tension between Nicks and Buckingham began to take its toll on their creativity, and Nicks ended the relationship. Fleetwood Mac began recording their follow-up album, ''Rumours'', in early 1976 and continued until late in the year. Also, Nicks and Buckingham sang back-up on Warren Zevon's debut album.

Among Nicks's contributions to ''Rumours'' was "Dreams", which became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hit single to date. Nicks had also written and recorded the song "Silver Springs", but it was ultimately not included on the album because of space limitations for studio albums on vinyl records, which were limited to 24 minutes per side. Instead, it was released as a B-side of the "Go Your Own Way" single, and would remain in some obscurity until it appeared on the 4-disc Fleetwood Mac retrospective ''25 Years – The Chain'' in 1992. The song, the rights to which are owned by Nicks's mother Barbara, has always been very special to Nicks, and she was devastated when told about the omission after the decision had been made.

In November 1977, after a New Zealand concert for the Rumours tour, Nicks and Fleetwood, who was married to Jenny Boyd, secretly began an affair. The pair mutually decided to end the affair, because, according to Nicks, "we knew it would be the end of Fleetwood Mac." Soon after, in October 1978, Mick Fleetwood left his wife for Nicks's best friend Sara Recor. After the success of the ''Rumours'' album and tour in 1977–78, Fleetwood Mac began recording their third album with Buckingham and Nicks, ''Tusk'', in the spring of 1978. That year, Nicks sang back-up on Walter Egan's "Magnet & Steel".

''Tusk'', ''Bella Donna'' and ''Mirage'': 1978–1982

By 1978, Nicks had amassed a large backlog of songs dating back to her Buckingham Nicks days that she had been unable to record and release with Fleetwood Mac because of the constraint of having to accommodate three songwriters on each album. Nicks wrote and recorded demos for the solo project during ''Tusk'' sessions in 1979 and the ''Tusk'' world tour of 1979–80. Nicks, Danny Goldberg, and Paul Fishkin founded Modern Records to record and release Nicks's material. Nicks recorded the hit duets "Whenever I Call You Friend" with Kenny Loggins in 1978, and "Gold" with John Stewart in 1979.

Fleetwood Mac's ''Tusk'' was released on October 19, 1979. During 1981, Nicks toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and New Zealand band Split Enz as a guest.

Nicks released ''Bella Donna'' on July 27, 1981 to critical and commercial acclaim. ''Bella Donna'' was the first album to feature Nicks's back-up singers, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, who have contributed vocals to all of Nicks's solo albums since then.

The day that ''Bella Donna'' reached No.1 on the Billboard 200, Nicks's best friend Robin Anderson was diagnosed with leukemia. Robin gave birth to a son, appointing Nicks as the child's godmother. Following Robin's death in 1982, Nicks married Robin's widower Kim Anderson. They divorced eight months later.

In October 1981 Nicks embarked on the White Winged Dove tour, which she had to cut short to record the ''Mirage'' album with Fleetwood Mac. After the ''Mirage'' tour in 1982, Nicks prepared to record her second solo album.

''Wild Heart'' and ''Rock a Little'': 1983–1986

Nicks released ''The Wild Heart'' on June 10, 1983. The album introduced songwriter and performer Sandy Stewart as co-writer, vocalist, and musician. ''The Wild Heart'' went double platinum, reached No.5 on the Billboard album chart, and featured three hit singles. Nicks performed at the second US Festival at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California, and later toured the U.S. from June 1983 to November 1983. Nicks appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1983, performing "Stand Back" and "Nightbird".

Following the tour for ''The Wild Heart'', Nicks commenced work on her third solo album. Originally titled ''Mirror Mirror'', Nicks recorded songs for the album during 1984. However, Nicks was unhappy with the title track, and opted to record a new batch of songs in 1985. ''Rock a Little'', as it was re-titled, was released November 18, 1985 to commercial success, supported by two hit singles.

Nicks toured in 1986 with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. The tour ended on October 10, 1986 in Sydney when Nicks was threatened by Australian authorities with expulsion from the country for not carrying a work permit.

The tour marked a turning point in Nicks's career: although she had achieved significant critical acclaim, drugs were taking a toll on her performing, affecting her vocals and changing her on-stage persona. In 1986, a plastic surgeon warned her of severe health problems if she did not stop using cocaine. At the end of the Australian tour, Nicks checked herself into the Betty Ford Center to overcome her cocaine addiction. Later that year, a doctor prescribed the sedative Klonopin to help her avoid a cocaine relapse.

''Tango in the Night'' and ''The Other Side of the Mirror'': 1987–1990

In 1985, Fleetwood Mac began work on ''Tango in the Night'', which was released in April 1987. Nicks joined in the later stages of production in late 1986 after her stay in at the Betty Ford Clinic.

Creative differences and unresolved personal issues within the band led Buckingham to quit the group right before their world tour. According to bassist John McVie, a "physically ugly" confrontation between Nicks and Buckingham ensued when Nicks angrily challenged Buckingham's decision to leave the band.

The band embarked on the ''Shake the Cage'' tour in September 1987, with Buckingham replaced by Rick Vito and Billy Burnette. The tour was suspended during Nicks's bout with chronic fatigue syndrome and developing addiction to tranquilizers, though it resumed in 1988. ''Tango in the Night'' met with commercial success and was followed in 1988 by Fleetwood Mac's ''Greatest Hits'' album in November 1988.

Also in 1988, Nicks began work on a fourth solo album with British producer Rupert Hine. ''The Other Side of the Mirror'' was released on May 11, 1989 to commercial success. Nicks became romantically involved with Hine.

Nicks toured the U.S. and Europe from August to November 1989, the only time she has toured Europe as a solo act. She has famously been quoted since as stating that she has "no memory of this tour" due to her increasing dependancy on the tranquillizer Klonopin, prescribed in ever increasing amounts by a psychiatrist between 1987 and 1994 in an attempt to keep Nicks from regressing to her former abuse of cocaine.

In 1989, Nicks set to work with Fleetwood Mac on a new album, ''Behind the Mask'', which was released in 1990 to moderate commercial success in the U.S. In the UK, however, the album entered the chart at No.1 and has been certified Platinum there. The band went on a world tour to promote the album, on the last night of which Buckingham and Nicks reunited on stage to perform "Landslide". After the tour concluded, Nicks left the group over a dispute with Mick Fleetwood, who would not allow her to release the 1977 track "Silver Springs" on her album ''Timespace – The Best of Stevie Nicks'', because of his plans to release it on a forthcoming Fleetwood Mac box set.

''Timespace'' and ''Street Angel'': 1991–1996

On the tenth anniversary of her solo career debut, Nicks released ''Timespace – The Best of Stevie Nicks'' on September 3, 1991.

Fleetwood Mac also released a four-disc box set, ''25 Years – The Chain'', which included "Silver Springs".

During the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign, Bill Clinton used the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don't Stop" as his campaign theme song, and Nicks joined her band mates to perform the song at Clinton's 1993 Inaugural Gala. No plans for an official reunion were made at that time. Nicks was criticized for her weight gain.

In late 1993, while Nicks held a baby shower at her house, she tripped and cut her forehead near a fireplace. Not feeling any pain from the injury, Nicks realized she needed help and endured a painful 47-day detox from Klonopin in a hospital. Her weight had also reached a peak at 175 lb (79.4 kg).

Nicks used material written mostly in previous years to record a solo album in 1992 and 1993 entitled ''Street Angel'', which was ultimately released following her detox in May 1994. Nicks has expressed major disappointment with the album, claiming that a lot of production work took place during her second stint in rehab, meaning she had little to no say over the final product.

Released May 23, 1994, ''Street Angel'' was poorly received. Despite praise from critics and fans for her vocals on the three-month ''Street Angel'' tour, Nicks was crushed by the focus on her weight and the poor reception of the album itself. Disgusted by the criticism she received during the tour for being overweight, Nicks vowed to never set foot on a stage again unless she slimmed down.

In 1995, Nicks was reunited with Lindsey Buckingham and contributed the duet "Twisted" to the ''Twister'' movie soundtrack, while in 1996 the Sheryl Crow penned "Somebody Stand By Me" featured on the ''Boys on the Side'' soundtrack, and Nicks also remade Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" for Fox's TV hit ''Party of Five''.

''The Dance'': 1997–1998

In 1996 Lindsey Buckingham, working on a planned solo album, enlisted the help of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, which eventually led to a reunion of the entire band. A newly invigorated and slimmed down Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac for ''The Dance'', a highly successful 1997 tour that coincided with the 20th anniversary of the release of ''Rumours''. Prior to the tour, Nicks started work with a voice coach, to lend her voice more control and protect it from the stress of lengthy touring schedules.

The live CD release, ''The Dance'', was released to commercial and critical acclaim, earning the group several Grammy nominations. In 1998, Nicks joined the group for its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This same year, she won the Outstanding Contribution at the BRIT Awards.

Nicks put work on a new solo album on hold when she was approached by Warner Music to release a solo career-spanning box set, to finish her contract with Atlantic Records in the US. After the culmination of the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour, Nicks settled down in Los Angeles and Phoenix with close friends and colleagues to devise a track list for this three-disc collection.

''Enchanted'' and ''Trouble in Shangri-La'': 1998–2001

The box set ''Enchanted'' was released to acclaim on April 28, 1998 with liner notes from Nicks, as well as exclusive rare photographs, and pages from her journals. Nicks supported the box set with a successful US tour. In 1998, Nicks contributed to the ''Practical Magic'' soundtrack and performed in Don Henley's benefit concert for the Walden Woods Project.

Nicks had begun writing actively for ''Trouble in Shangri-La'' in 1994 and 1995 as she came out of her Klonopin dependency. According to Nicks, friend and former musical partner Tom Petty was responsible for convincing her to write music again when he rebuffed her request that he write a song with her. Nicks resumed recording songs for the ''Trouble in Shangri-La'' album with Sheryl Crow, who produced and performed on several tracks. When a scheduling conflict forced Crow to drop out of the project, Nicks first approached R&B; producer Dallas Austin, but these sessions have never surfaced. Nicks finally called on John Shanks to produce the remainder of the album, with additional contributions from David Kahne, Rick Nowels, Pierre Marchand, and Jeff Trott. Artists Natalie Maines, Sarah McLachlan, and Macy Gray contributed to some of the tracks.

Released May 1, 2001, ''Trouble in Shangri-La'' restored Nicks's solo career to critical and commercial success. "Planets of the Universe" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and Nicks was named VH1's "Artist of the Month" for May 2001. Nicks was named one of ''People'' magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People, was featured in a well-received ''Behind The Music'' episode, and performed an episode of the VH1 Storytellers Concert Program. Nicks made several television appearances in support of the album and performed at the 2001 Radio Music Awards.

Nicks supported the album with a successful tour, although some shows were canceled or postponed because of Nicks's bout with acute bronchitis. Shows were also canceled because of the September 11 attacks in the U.S.

''Say You Will'': 2001–2004

In 2001, Fleetwood Mac began work on a new studio album. After the end of her solo tour, Nicks convened with the other members of the band for recording during 2002.

''Say You Will'' was released in April 2003 and met with commercial success but mixed reviews. Nicks joined the group to support the album with a world tour lasting until September 2004.

Nicks has subsequently stated in several interviews that she was not happy with the album or the successful world tour that followed, citing production disputes with Buckingham as a core factor, as well as the absence of fellow female band member Christine McVie. A documentary of the making of the album, ''Destiny Rules'', was released on DVD in 2004 and chronicles the sometimes turbulent relationships between band members, especially Buckingham and Nicks, during that time in the studio.

''Crystal Visions'' and ''Soundstage Sessions'': 2007–2009

On March 27, 2007, Reprise Records released ''Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks'' in the U.S. The album debuted at No.21 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart.

The compilation includes her hit singles, a dance remix, and one new track, a live version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll". There are two versions of this album, one with just the audio CD and another version with an included DVD featuring all of Nicks's music videos with audio commentary from Nicks, as well as rare footage from the ''Bella Donna'' recording sessions.

A tour with Chris Isaak, opening in Concord, California on May 17, 2007 supported the release.

Reprise Records initially released two radio only promos, the live version of "Landslide" with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and "Rock and Roll". Both tracks failed to garner much airplay and made no impact on the charts. Reprise Records released "Stand Back" (issued with club mixes) on May 29, 2007. "Stand Back", which peaked at No.5 on the pop singles chart in 1983, reached No.2 on the "Billboard Club Chart". Nicks previously reached No.1 on this chart, with "Planets Of The Universe" (from ''Trouble in Shangri-La'') in 2001. The remix single of "Stand Back" debuted on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart on September 15, 2007 at No.10 peaking at No.4 the following week. It also debuted on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart at No.3 peaking at #1.

On March 31, 2009, Stevie released the album, ''The Soundstage Sessions'', via Reprise Records. The album debuted at No.47 on the ''Billboard'' 200 Albums Chart. The first single from the album was "Crash Into Me" and was released as a digital download, along with "Landslide" (orchestra version) as a B-side, on March 17, 2009.

Along with the CD, Nicks also released a DVD titled ''Live In Chicago''. Both are of her October 2007 ''Soundstage'' performance which was filmed and recorded before an intimate audience at Grainger Studio in Chicago. The DVD features special guest Vanessa Carlton.

''In Your Dreams'': 2010–present

After completing the Unleashed Tour with Fleetwood Mac, Stevie began work on her first solo album in a decade with David A. Stewart (musician and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics), who announced this via his Twitter in February 2010. During 2010, Dave used Twitter to confirm various facts about the album; In one of the tweets, Stewart stated that he, Nicks, Waddy Wachtel, Mike Campbell (of the Heartbreakers), Mike Rowe, and Steve Ferrone were all working on the album, and that Mick Fleetwood has also contributed drums to at least one track. Waddy Wachtel has been Nicks's lead guitarist for most of her solo career, featuring prominently on all of her albums to date. It was also later confirmed that Lindsey Buckingham would appear on the track “Soldiers Angel”.

Stevie performed in a series of shows she did in August ("it's not really a tour," she said). They did not contain any of her new music, because she doesn't want it to end up on YouTube. The Santa Barbara show will benefit a little girl she knows in Los Angeles with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer.

On January 13, 2011, Reprise announced Stevie's upcoming album ''In Your Dreams'' would be released on May 3, and the lead single, "Secret Love", would be released on February 8. Reprise provided a free download of the single to fans who pre-ordered the album via certain websites. Nicks originally wrote "Secret Love" in 1976 and recorded a demo of it for Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, ''Rumours''. It did not make the final cut for the album. The demo version had been circulating among fans for many years prior to its inclusion on ''In Your Dreams''. Nicks promoted the song with a video directed by Dave Stewart. Nicks' goddaughter Kelly appears in the video wearing a vintage dress that Nicks wore on stage in 1976. According to Nicks, Kelly portrays the young Stevie Nicks blending with the soul of Nicks' 62 year-old self. On the U.S. Billboard Charts, "Secret Love" was a modest hit on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, peaking at #20, and at #25 on the Triple A Singles Chart.

''In Your Dreams'' received overwhelmingly positive reviews, rivaling that of Stevie's 1981 debut. Rolling Stone commented "It's not just her first album in 10 years, it's her finest collection of songs since the Eighties", which mirrored the reception from most other critics and music industry members. The album debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 giving Nicks her fifth top ten album on that chart, with 52,000 copies sold in the first week. Elsewhere, the album has made numerous Top 50 debuts, including #24 on the Australian ARIA Chart and #22 in Canada.

The same day that Nicks' new album was released, Fox Network broadcast the ''Glee'' episode (Season 2, Episode 19) "Rumours" that featured six songs from Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, including Stevie's song ''Dreams'' (the band's only #1 song on the US charts). The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and ''Rumours'' reentered the Billboard 200 chart at #12, the same week that ''In Your Dreams'' debuted at #6. (Nicks was quoted by ''Billboard'' saying that her new album was "my own little ''Rumours''.").

Stevie has recently contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" for the upcoming tribute album, ''Listen to Me: Buddy Holly'' to be released in September 2011.

Tours

After a few months' respite from the ''Say You Will'' tour, Nicks did a four-night stint in May 2005 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and then did a 10-show tour with Don Henley. During the summer of 2005, Nicks continued the tour solo with pop singer Vanessa Carlton as the opening act, playing over 20 dates nationwide.

In October 2005, she attended the Melbourne Cup Week in Australia, and one of the horse racing stakes was named after her: ''The Stevie Nicks Plate''. She used this opportunity to launch her promotion of an Australian/New Zealand extension to her ''Gold Dust Tour'' in February and March 2006. Nicks toured in Australia and New Zealand with popular Australian performer John Farnham. She also appeared in concert with Tom Petty in June near Manassas, Virginia and at the Bonnaroo Music Festival that same month.

In 2006, Nicks performed with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first leg of their tour in the summer, and later in the year returned as a guest performer for a number of songs on the tour celebrating Petty's 30th anniversary since his debut album. Tom Petty's Homecoming Concert in Gainesville, FL, which contained performances with Stevie Nicks, was filmed for PBS ''Soundstage'' as well as DVD release for March 2007. Nicks was also the featured performer for Bette Midler's benefit function, Hullaween, in October 2006.

Beginning in May 2007, Nicks began touring with pop/rock artist Chris Isaak. The last Stevie Nicks/Chris Isaak show was June 17, 2007 at the Tweeter Center in Boston, MA. Nicks continued the tour solo, with Vanessa Carlton opening on some dates. The tour finished at The Borgata in Atlantic City on August 24, 2007.

In 2009, Fleetwood Mac embarked on a global hits tour. The ''Unleashed Tour'' took place in arenas on multiple continents. The tour ended in December with two sell-out shows of 35,000 people at the New Plymouth TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Zealand.

Rod Stewart and Nicks will be co-headlining The Heart & Soul Tour. Launching March 20, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour will unite the two singers for a series of arena concerts throughout North America – with performances already confirmed in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, Montreal and more.

A solo tour for ''In Your Dreams'' begins August 9, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Stevie announced on her July 27 appearance on ''America's Got Talent'' that Michael Grimm will be going on tour with her.

Solo tours

Buckingham Nicks Tour: 1974–1975 (with Lindsey Buckingham)

White Winged Dove (Bella Donna) Tour: 1981

The Wild Heart Tour: 1983 (with Joe Walsh)

Rock A Little Tour: 1986

The Other Side of the Mirror Tour: 1989

Whole Lotta Trouble (Timespace) Tour: 1991

Street Angel Tour: 1994

Enchanted Tour: 1998

Holiday Millenium Tour: 1999–2000

Trouble In Shangri-La Tour: 2001 (on select dates with Sheryl Crow)

Two Voices Tour: 2005 (with Don Henley)

Gold Dust Tour: 2005–2006 (with Vanessa Carlton)

Highway Companion Tour: 2006 (on select dates as guest of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)

Crystal Visions Tour: 2007–2008

Soundstage Sessions Tour: 2008 (with Chris Isaak)

Heart & Soul Tour: 2011 (with Rod Stewart)

In Your Dreams Tour: 2011

Stevie Nicks's Band of Soldiers

In late 2004, Nicks began visiting Army and Navy medical centers in Washington, D.C. While visiting wounded service men and women, Nicks became determined to find an object she could leave with each soldier that would raise their spirits, motivate, and give them something to look forward to each day. She eventually decided to purchase hundreds of iPod Nanos, load them with music, artists, and playlists which she would hand select, and autograph them. She now regularly delivers these tokens of her appreciation, bringing her closest friends to share the experience.

In 2006, Nicks held a get-together to raise money for her charity work. Many of her peers made contributions. Nicks continues to develop this philanthropic endeavor.

Influence

Courtney Love, Michelle Branch, Belinda Carlisle, the Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Nadia Ali, Taylor Swift, Laura Branigan, Sarah McLachlan, Kelly Clarkson, Vanessa Carlton, Georgi Cussick, Tori Amos, Michelle Hotaling, Jennifer Hanson, Ruston Taylor and Delta Goodrem have all cited Nicks as an inspiration. She has participated in duets or provided guest vocals for several of their albums and some have returned the favour, notably Crow and the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks covered her 1975 classic "Landslide", which became a Top 10 hit (#1 on the Adult Contemporary chart) and a No.1 Hit on the Country Chart. Alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured on their 1994 B-side collection ''Pisces Iscariot''. The cover was a hit and made it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. that year. She recorded a duet of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with Chris Isaak on his 2004 Christmas album ''Chris Isaak Christmas'' and sang with Isaak on his PBS Christmas television special. Other successful covers have included The Corrs' "Dreams", and Courtney Love's band Hole with "Gold Dust Woman". "Edge Of Seventeen" was sampled on Destiny's Child's 2001 No.1 single "Bootylicious". Nicks appeared in the video for "Bootylicious" and in an episode of MTV's ''Making The Video'' that featured it, in which she expressed her admiration for both the song and the group. Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys has expressed extreme interest in working with Nicks. Lindsay Lohan covered "Edge of Seventeen" on her 2005 album, ''A Little More Personal''. Deep Dish fulfilled their "Dreams" of working with Nicks in 2005 when Nicks offered to re-record vocals on a remix of her No.1 penned song, "Dreams". The Deep Dish version went on to reach No.2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Airplay Chart, as well as providing Nicks with her third UK top 40 hit. Nicks provided additional vocals and writing on Vanessa Carlton's 2007 album ''Heroes and Thieves''. Carlton had previously been on tour with Nicks in 2005 and 2006.

The Dixie Chicks' cover of Nicks's 1975 song "Landslide" also earned her a BMI Songwriters Award in 2003 when it won "Song of the Year" (the award is given to the songwriter of the track, regardless of the performer). According to BMI, "Landslide" also earned Nicks the 35th Robert J. Burton Award as "Most Performed Country Song of the Year". This distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature US broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Included on the Dixie Chicks' platinum Monument album ''Home'', "Landslide" was a Country, Adult Top 40, Hot 100 and AC Billboard charts smash. Nicks previously collected a Pop Award in 1998 for Fleetwood Mac's recording of the song, which has achieved Million-Air status with over three million airplays.

On January 31, 2010, Nicks performed with Taylor Swift at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Swift, who describes Nicks as one of her childhood heroes, introduced her to the audience by saying "It's a fairy tale and an honor to share the stage with Stevie Nicks."

Personal life

During the ''Rumours'' tour, Nicks had a relationship with singer/songwriter Don Henley of the Eagles. Nicks ended her relationship with Henley at the beginning of the Tusk tour in 1979.

Her only marriage was to Kim Anderson, the widower of her friend Robin Anderson, soon after Robin died of leukemia while ''Bella Donna'' was on the top of the charts. Stevie and Kim were soon divorced: "We didn't get married because we were in love, we got married because we were grieving and it was the only way that we could feel like we were doing anything."

Until July 2007 Nicks lived in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix in a home she had built in 1981 and shared with brother Chris, his wife Lori and their daughter Jessica. She announced in mid-2007 that her Paradise Valley home would be put up for sale, citing her aspirations to "downsize" and focus more on her charity work, and the fact that in the last year she had only "spent about two weeks there." The house was put on the market for a reported $3.8 million, and many fans, feeling it was the end of a major era in her life and career, tagged it as a "Kingdom Up For Sale", a line from the song "Gold Dust Woman". She also owns a home in Pacific Palisades, California.

According to a September 2007 article in the ''Daily Telegraph'', Nicks says she is again selling her home, her recently purchased Pacific Palisades home (purchased two years before by Nicks, right down the street from a rental home she had for years in Pacific Palisades). She has said it is a "house for adults", "And even though I'm pushing 60 I don't feel that I'm that old yet." She will be moving to a penthouse apartment on the beach and the old house is already on the market.

Beginning in 2007, reports surfaced concerning Lindsay Lohan's interest in buying the rights to Nicks's life story and developing a motion picture in which she planned to play Nicks. In March 2007, while promoting her album ''Crystal Visions'', Nicks was asked about this rumor. Nicks told ''Access Hollywood'', "That is completely insane and crazy. There is no movie in the works on my life. Nobody can do a movie about my life without me being involved, because nobody knows what really happened in my life until I tell them. So, nobody can make a movie about my life. And if anybody ever went and made a movie about my life without my permission and my being involved, I would slam it so hard to the press that it would never do anything." Nicks has gone on record to the ''New York Times'' as being strongly opposed to the prospect, and was quoted in 2009 as saying "Over my dead body. She needs to stop doing drugs and get a grip. Then maybe we'll talk."

Image

Stevie Nicks is known for her mystical image, her billowing chiffon skirts, shawls, layers of lace and long blonde hair. Margi Kent, a designer from California, has worked with Nicks since the 1970s to perfect her style. Perhaps the most famous part of Nicks's wardrobe is her platform boots. Nicks has worn suede platform boots in various colors, usually black, cream, tan or maroon in almost all of her performances since 1975. Standing at , Nicks has stated she felt a little ridiculous standing next to the much taller Mick Fleetwood. For this reason she developed a penchant for platform boots. "Even when platforms went completely out of style, I kept wearing them because I didn't want to go back to being in heels", she told ''Allure'' magazine in 1995. Over the years, Nicks has developed a style which she calls her "uniform", which is best exemplified by the outfit worn on the cover of Fleetwood Mac's ''Rumours'', perhaps the base inspiration for many of her costumes. Another trademark of Nicks's is a Dickens-style gentleman's formal top hat, which she began wearing in the late 1970s. During the early 1980s she wore Renaissance poets' velvet berets with plume feathers (as shown in the vintage photo used on the cover of her March 2007 CD release ''Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks''). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she wore fashionable ladies hats on stage and to this day, often still sports a black top hat adorned with giant plumes.

Many of Nicks's shawls and capes also have an association with her songs in her live performances, many becoming as signature in live performances as the songs themselves. These include a red/crimson shawl for "Sara", white for "Edge of Seventeen", gold for "Gold Dust Woman" and black with round gold circles for "Stand Back". One of her trademarks is twirling across the stage with shawls flying during the interlude of her classic songs, notably "Stand Back" and "Gypsy".

Nicks has said that her vocal style and performance antics evolved from female singers like Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. She admitted inspiration when she saw Joplin perform live (and opened for with her first band "Fritz") shortly before Joplin's death. Nicks owns a strand of Joplin's stage beads. She also commented that she once saw a woman in her audience dressed in dripping chiffon with a Gibson Girl hairstyle and big boots and Nicks knew she wanted something similar. She took the look and made it her own. Another important part of Nicks's image is her jewelry. Nicks typically introduces one signature piece of jewelry during each tour. Such items have included silver bracelets, crescent moon pendant, pyramid-shaped pendant, winged-heart pendant, gold crosses and, most recently, a Tiffany pendant with diamonds meaning "longevity." The crescent moon pendant is arguably the most iconic of all Nicks's jewelry – the original was bought while she was in England on tour with Fleetwood Mac during the ''Tusk'' era. Nicks then had her personal jeweler, Henri David of Philadelphia, make replicas of the moon pendant which have become treasured gifts to her friends. In recent years, celebrity pals such as Bette Midler and ice-skating star Tai Babilonia have been photographed wearing their "Stevie moons".

Nicks has even commented in interviews recently that she never would have dreamed that her trademark "Bella Donna/Witchy Woman" image would have been taken so seriously by her fans, often joking that she doesn't live her private life in her stage clothes and "Stevie garb" as many people seem to think. However, she greatly credits her career/stage image for its role in giving her a trademark that has made her unique and "timeless."

Microphone and tambourine

Stevie Nicks is known for her use of the Sennheiser MD-441-U5 microphone. It was a frequent sight in Nicks's early tours. Also synonymous with Nicks's microphone are the items with which she chooses to decorate her microphone stand. Over the years, such items have included roses, ribbons, chiffon, crystal beads, scarves and small stuffed toys.

Upon being asked in a question forum on her official website about playing the tambourine, Nicks stated that she began playing the tambourine upon joining Fleetwood Mac in 1975, feeling the need to do something onstage during songs that featured Lindsey or Christine. Like her microphone, her tambourine usually features scarves and/or streamers. Nicks's trademark tambourine since the early 1980s is in the shape of a black half-moon. The tambourine is sometimes silenced using tape. She has spoken of being embarrassed about handing President Bill Clinton a silenced tambourine when he joined Fleetwood Mac on stage.

Rumors of witchcraft

A rumor that has trailed Nicks through the years is that she is a witch and is heavily involved in Wicca. While she admits to having a high regard for the mythic and gothic, she denies any solitary dedication to any one religion, including Wicca. She speaks about this erroneous image in a 2006 interview. Nicks's music is copyrighted under the name Welsh Witch Music, a reference to her song ''Rhiannon'', which she introduced as "a song about a Welsh witch" in concerts between 1975 and 1978. In a ''Yahoo!'' interview on April 28, 1998, Nicks said of the rumor: "I have no idea what precipitated those rumors… I am not a witch. Get a life!" Nicks also stated in a 1983 ''Entertainment Tonight'' interview: "I spent thousands of dollars on beautiful black clothes and had to stop wearing them for a long time because a lot of people scared me. And that's really unfair to me, I think, for people – other people – to conjure up their ideas of what I am or what I believe in." In a 1998 ''Redbook'' magazine article, Nicks spoke of her faith, stating that she believes in angels and knows that she is alive today because "there was a God looking out" for her during her years of addiction.

Discography

Solo

Studio albums

''Bella Donna'' (1981)

''The Wild Heart'' (1983)

''Rock a Little'' (1985)

''The Other Side of the Mirror'' (1989)

''Street Angel'' (1994)

''Trouble in Shangri-La'' (2001)

''In Your Dreams'' (2011)

Live album

''The Soundstage Sessions'' (2009)

Compilations

''Timespace – The Best of Stevie Nicks'' (1991)

''Enchanted'' (3 CD box set) (1998)

''Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks'' (2007)

Solo videos and DVDs

''Stevie Nicks: Live in Concert'' (VHS) (1984)

''I Can't Wait: The Music Video Collection'' (VHS) (1986)

''Live at Red Rocks'' (VHS) (1986)

''Crystal Visions - The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (Deluxe Edition with DVD)'' (2007)

''Soundstage: Stevie Nicks Live (Sears-exclusive Blu-Ray)'' (2008) (later released on DVD as ''Live in Chicago'' in 2009)

As Buckingham Nicks

''Buckingham Nicks'' (1973)

With Fleetwood Mac

''Fleetwood Mac'' (1975)

''Rumours'' (1977)

''Tusk'' (1979)

''Live'' (1980)

''Mirage'' (1982)

''Tango in the Night'' (1987)

''Greatest Hits'' (1988)

''Behind the Mask'' (1990)

''25 Years – The Chain'' (2 CD & 4 CD Boxset) (1992)

''The Dance'' (1997)

''The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac'' (2002)

''Say You Will'' (2003)

''Live in Boston'' (2004)

Awards & Nominations

Grammy Awards

Solo: Stevie has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as a solo artist, holding the record for most nominations for Best Female Rock Vocal without a win. Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Best Album of Original Score written for a Motion Picture or Television Special Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Best Performance Music Video Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Best Female Rock Vocal Performance

Year !! Category !! Recording !! Result
1982	Best Rock Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group	Stop Dragging My Heart Around (with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
1982	|	Edge of Seventeen	Nominated
1984	|	Stand Back	Nominated
1985	|	Against All Odds (with Various Artists)	Nominated
1987	|	Talk To Me	Nominated
1988	|	Stevie Nicks: Live At Red Rocks	Nominated
1991	|	Whole Lotta Trouble	Nominated
2002	|	Planets of the Universe	Nominated

With Fleetwood Mac: Stevie has been nominated for nine competitive Grammy Awards as a member of Fleetwood Mac, winning the 1978 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Rumours, and received the 2003 Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Best Engineered Recording Best Arrangement of Voices Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group Best Album Package Best Album Package Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Hall of Fame Award

Year !! Category !! Recording !! Result
1978	Album of the Year	Rumours
1978	|	Rumours	Nominated
1978	|	Rumours	Nominated
1978	|	Rumours	Nominated
1981	|	Tusk	Nominated
1991	|	Behind The Mask	Nominated
1998	|	The Chain	Nominated
1998	|	Silver Springs	Nominated
1998	|	The Dance	Nominated
2003	|	Fleetwood Mac	Won

See also

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

External links

The Nicks Fix: The Official Stevie Nicks Website

Reprise Records

Five audio interview segments with Stevie Nicks discussing her Bella Donna Album

Category:1948 births Category:American contraltos Category:American dance musicians Category:American diarists Category:American female singers Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Female musicians Category:Female rock singers Category:Fleetwood Mac members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Arizona Category:People from Phoenix, Arizona Category:People from Paradise Valley, Arizona Category:San Jose State University alumni Category:Living people Category:People with chronic fatigue syndrome

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