name	Waiting for Godot
writer	Samuel Beckett
characters	VladimirEstragonPozzoLucky A Boy
mute	Godot
premiere
place	Théâtre de Babylone, Paris
orig lang	French
iobdb id	}}

''Waiting for Godot'' ( ) is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere. It was voted "the most significant English language play of the 20th century". ''Waiting for Godot'' is Beckett's translation of his own original French version, ''En attendant Godot'', and is subtitled (in English only) "a tragicomedy in two acts". The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. The première was on 5 January 1953 in the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. The production was directed by Roger Blin, who also played the role of Pozzo.

Plot

Act I

''Waiting for Godot'' follows two days in the lives of a pair of men who divert themselves while they wait expectantly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. They claim him as an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting that they would not recognise him were they to see him. To occupy themselves, they eat, sleep, converse, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide – anything "to hold the terrible silence at bay".

The play opens with the character Estragon struggling to remove his boot from his foot. Estragon eventually gives up, muttering, "Nothing to be done." His friend Vladimir takes up the thought and muses on it, the implication being that nothing is a thing that has to be done and this pair is going to have to spend the rest of the play doing it. When Estragon finally succeeds in removing his boot, he looks and feels inside but finds nothing. Just prior to this, Vladimir peers into his hat. The motif recurs throughout the play.

The pair discuss repentance, particularly in relation to the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus, and that only one of the Four Evangelists mentions that one of them was saved. This is the first of numerous Biblical references in the play, which may be linked to its putative central theme of the search for and reconciliation with God, as well as salvation: "We're saved!" they cry on more than one occasion when they feel that Godot may be near.

Presently, Vladimir expresses his frustration with Estragon's limited conversational skills: "Come on, Gogo, return the ball, can't you, once in a while?" Estragon struggles in this regard throughout the play, and Vladimir generally takes the lead in their dialogue and encounters with others. Vladimir is at times hostile towards his companion, but in general they are close, frequently embracing and supporting one another.

Estragon peers out into the audience and comments on the bleakness of his surroundings. He wants to depart but is told that they cannot because they must wait for Godot. The pair cannot agree, however, on whether or not they are in the right place or that this is the arranged day for their meeting with Godot; indeed, they are not even sure what day it is. Throughout the play, experienced time is attenuated, fractured or eerily non-existent. The only thing that they are fairly sure about is that they are to meet at a tree: there is one nearby.

Estragon dozes off, but Vladimir is not interested in hearing about his dream after rousing him. Estragon wants to hear an old joke about a brothel, which Vladimir starts but cannot finish, as he is suddenly compelled to rush off and urinate. He does not finish the story when he returns, asking Estragon instead what else they might do to pass the time. Estragon suggests that they hang themselves, but they quickly abandon the idea when it seems that they might not both die: this would leave one of them alone, an intolerable notion. They decide to do nothing: "It's safer," explains Estragon, before asking what Godot is going to do for them when he arrives. For once it is Vladimir who struggles to remember: "Oh ... nothing very definite," is the best that he can manage. from the wings heralds the initial entrance of Lucky, who has a rope tied around his neck. He crosses half the stage before his master appears holding the other end. Pozzo barks orders at his slave and frequently calls him a "pig", but is civil towards the other two. They mistake him at first for Godot and clearly do not recognise him for the self-proclaimed personage he is. This irks him, but, while maintaining that the land that they are on is his, he acknowledges that "the road is free to all".

Deciding to rest for a while, Pozzo enjoys a pre-packed meal of chicken and wine. Finished, he casts the bones aside, and Estragon jumps at the chance to ask for them, much to Vladimir's embarrassment, but is told that they belong to the carrier. He must first, therefore, ask Lucky if he wants them. Estragon tries, but Lucky only hangs his head, refusing to answer. Taking this as a "no", Estragon claims the bones.

Vladimir takes Pozzo to task regarding his mistreatment of his slave, but his protestations are ignored. When the original pairing tries to find out why Lucky does not put down his load (at least not unless his master is prevailing on him to do something else), Pozzo explains that Lucky is attempting to mollify him to prevent him from selling him. At this, Lucky begins to cry. Pozzo provides a handkerchief, but, when Estragon tries to wipe his tears away, Lucky kicks him in the shins.

Before he leaves, Pozzo asks if he can do anything for the pair in exchange for the company they have provided him during his rest. Estragon tries to ask for some money, but Vladimir cuts him short, explaining that they are not beggars. They nevertheless accept an offer to have Lucky dance and think.

The dance is clumsy and shuffling, and everyone is disappointed. Lucky's "think", induced by Vladimir's putting his hat on his head, is a lengthy and disjointed verbal stream of consciousness. The soliloquy begins relatively coherently but quickly dissolves into logorrhoea and only ends when Vladimir rips off Lucky's hat.

Once Lucky has been revived, Pozzo has him pack up his things and, together, they leave. At the end of the act (and its successor), a boy arrives, purporting to be a messenger sent from Godot, to advise the pair that he will not be coming that "evening but surely tomorrow." During Vladimir's interrogation of the boy, he asks if he came the day before, making it apparent that the two men have been waiting for an indefinite period and will likely continue to wait ''ad infinitum''. After the boy departs, they decide to leave but make no attempt to do so, an action repeated in Act II, as the curtain is drawn.

Act II

Act II opens with Vladimir singing a recursive round about a dog which serves to illustrate the cyclical nature of the play's universe, and also points toward the play's debt to the carnivalesque, music hall traditions, and vaudeville comedy (this is only one of a number of canine references and allusions in the play). There is a bit of realisation on Vladimir's part that the world they are trapped in evinces convoluted progression (or lack thereof) of time. He begins to see that although there is notional evidence of linear progression, basically he is living the same day over and over. Eugene Webb writes of Vladimir's song that "Time in the song is not a linear sequence, but an endlessly reiterated moment, the content of which is only one eternal event: death."

Once again Estragon maintains he spent the night in a ditch and was beaten – by "ten of them" this time – though once again he shows no sign of injury. Vladimir tries to talk to him about what appears to be a seasonal change in the tree and the proceedings of the day before, but he has only a vague recollection. Vladimir tries to get Estragon to remember Pozzo and Lucky but all he can call to mind are the bones and getting kicked. Vladimir realises here an opportunity to produce tangible evidence of the previous day's events. With some difficulty he gets Estragon to show him his leg. There is a wound which is beginning to fester. Only then Vladimir notices that Estragon is not wearing any boots.

He discovers the pair of boots, which Estragon insists are not his but nevertheless fit when he tries them on. With no carrots left, Vladimir offers Estragon the choice between a turnip and a radish. He opts for the radish but it is black and he hands it back. He decides to try and sleep again and adopts the same fetal position as the previous day. Vladimir sings him a lullaby.

Vladimir notices Lucky's hat, and he decides to try it on. This leads to a frenetic hat swapping scene. They play at imitating Pozzo and Lucky, but Estragon can barely remember having met them and simply does what Vladimir asks. They fire insults at each other and then make up. After that, they attempt some physical jerks which do not work out well, and even attempt a single yoga position, which fails miserably.

Pozzo and Lucky arrive, with Pozzo now blind and insisting that Lucky is dumb. The rope is now much shorter, and Lucky – who has acquired a new hat – leads Pozzo, rather than being driven by him. Pozzo has lost all notion of time, and assures them he cannot remember meeting them the day before, and does not expect to remember the current day's events when they are over.

They fall in a heap at one point. Estragon sees an opportunity to extort more food or to exact revenge on Lucky for kicking him. The issue is debated at length. Pozzo offers them money but Vladimir sees more worth in their entertainment value since they are compelled to wait to see if Godot arrives anyway. Eventually though, they all find their way onto their feet.

Whereas the Pozzo in Act I is a windbag, he now (as a blind man) appears to have gained some insight. His parting words – which Vladimir expands upon later – eloquently encapsulate the brevity of human existence: "They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."

Lucky and Pozzo depart. The same boy returns to inform them not to expect Godot today, but promises he will arrive the next day. The two again consider suicide but their rope, Estragon's belt, breaks in two when they tug on it. Estragon's trousers fall down, but he does not notice until Vladimir tells him to pull them up. They resolve to bring a more suitable piece and hang themselves the next day, if Godot fails to arrive.

Again, they agree to leave but neither of them makes any move to go.

Characters

Beckett refrained from elaborating on the characters beyond what he had written in the play. He once recalled them when Sir Ralph Richardson "wanted the low-down on Pozzo, his home address and curriculum vitae, and seemed to make the forthcoming of this and similar information the condition of his condescending to illustrate the part of Vladimir ... I told him that all I knew about Pozzo was in the text, that if I had known more I would have put it in the text, and that was true also of the other characters."

Vladimir and Estragon

When Beckett started writing he did not have a visual image of Vladimir and Estragon. They are never referred to as tramps in the text. Roger Blin advises: "Beckett heard their voices, but he couldn't describe his characters to me. [He said]: 'The only thing I'm sure of is that they're wearing bowlers.'" "The bowler hat was of course ''de rigueur'' for male persons in many social contexts when Beckett was growing up in Foxrock (when he first came back with his beret ... his mother suggested that he was letting the family down by not wearing a bowler), and [his father] commonly wore one."

There are no physical descriptions of either of the two characters; however, the text indicates that Vladimir is likely the heavier of the pair. The bowlers and other broadly comic aspects of their personas have reminded modern audiences of Laurel and Hardy, who occasionally played tramps in their films. "The hat-passing game in ''Waiting For Godot'' and Lucky's inability to think without his hat on are two obvious Beckett derivations from Laurel and Hardy – a substitution of form for essence, covering for reality," wrote Gerald Mast in ''The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies'' (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2nd ed. 1979). Beckett also alludes to the comedy team specifically in his novel ''Watt'' (1953), when a healthy shrub is described at one point as "a hardy laurel".

Vladimir stands through most of the play whereas Estragon sits down numerous times and even dozes off. "Estragon is inert and Vladimir restless." Vladimir looks at the sky and muses on religious or philosophical matters. Estragon "belongs to the stone", preoccupied with mundane things, what he can get to eat and how to ease his physical aches and pains; he is direct, intuitive. He finds it hard to remember but can recall certain things when prompted, e.g. when Vladimir asks: "Do you remember the Gospels?" Estragon tells him about the coloured maps of the Holy Land and that he planned to honeymoon by the Dead Sea; it is his short-term memory that is poorest and points to the fact that he may, in fact, be suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Al Alvarez writes: "But perhaps Estragon's forgetfulness is the cement binding their relationship together. He continually forgets, Vladimir continually reminds him; between them they pass the time." They have been together for fifty years but when asked – by Pozzo – they do not reveal their actual ages.

Vladimir's life is not without its discomforts too but he is the more resilient of the pair. "Vladimir's pain is primarily mental anguish, which would thus account for his voluntary exchange of his hat for Lucky's, thus signifying Vladimir's symbolic desire for another person's thoughts."

Throughout the play the couple refer to each other by pet names, "Didi" and "Gogo" although one of the boys addresses Vladimir as "Mister Albert". Beckett originally intended to call Estragon, Lévy but when Pozzo questions him he gives his name as "Magrégor, André" and also responds to "''Catulle''" in French or "Catullus" in the first Faber edition. This became "Adam" in the American edition. Beckett's only explanation was that he was "fed up with Catullus".

Vivian Mercier – famous for describing ''Waiting for Godot'' as a play which "has achieved a theoretical impossibility—a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats. What's more, since the second act is a subtly different reprise of the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens, twice." (''Irish Times'', 18 February 1956, p. 6.) – once questioned Beckett on the language used by the pair: "It seemed to me ... he made Didi and Gogo sound as if they had earned PhDs. 'How do you know they hadn't?' was his reply." They clearly have known better times, a visit to the Eiffel Tower and grape-harvesting by the Rhône; it is about all either has to say about their pasts. In the first stage production, which Beckett oversaw, both are "more shabby-genteel than ragged ... Vladimir at least is capable of being scandalised ... on a matter of etiquette when Estragon begs for chicken bones or money."

Pozzo and Lucky

Although Beckett refused to be drawn on the backgrounds of the characters, this has not stopped actors looking for their own motivation. Jean Martin had a doctor friend called Marthe Gautier, who was working at the Salpêtrière Hospital, and he said to her: "'Listen, Marthe, what could I find that would provide some kind of physiological explanation for a voice like the one written in the text?' [She] said: 'Well, it might be a good idea if you went to see the people who have Parkinson's disease.' So I asked her about the disease ... She explained how it begins with a trembling, which gets more and more noticeable, until later the patient can no longer speak without the voice shaking. So I said, 'That sounds exactly what I need.'" "Sam and Roger were not entirely convinced by my interpretation but had no objections." When he explained to Beckett that he was playing Lucky as if he were suffering from Parkinson's, Beckett said, "'Yes, of course.' He mentioned briefly that his mother had had Parkinson's, but quickly moved on to another subject."

When Beckett was asked why Lucky was so named, he replied, "I suppose he is lucky to have no more expectations..."

It has been contended that "Pozzo and Lucky are simply Didi and Gogo writ large", unbalanced as their relationship is. However, Pozzo's dominance is noted to be superficial; "upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that Lucky always possessed more influence in the relationship, for he danced, and more importantly, thought – not as a service, but in order to fill a vacant need of Pozzo: he committed all of these acts ''for'' Pozzo. As such, since the first appearance of the duo, the true slave had always been Pozzo." Pozzo credits Lucky with having given him all the culture, refinement, and ability to reason that he possesses. His rhetoric has been learned by rote. Pozzo's "party piece" on the sky is a clear example: as his memory crumbles, he finds himself unable to continue under his own steam.

Little is learned about Pozzo besides the fact that he is on his way to the fair to sell his slave, Lucky. He presents himself very much as the Ascendancy landlord, bullying and conceited. His pipe is made by Kapp and Peterson, Dublin's best-known tobacconists (their slogan was 'The thinking man's pipe') which he refers to as a "briar" but which Estragon calls a "dudeen" emphasising the differences in their social standing. He confesses to a poor memory but it is more a result of an abiding self-absorption. "Pozzo is a character who has to overcompensate. That's why he overdoes things ... and his overcompensation has to do with a deep insecurity in him. These were things Beckett said, psychological terms he used."

Pozzo controls Lucky by means of an extremely long rope which he jerks and tugs if Lucky is the least bit slow. Lucky is the absolutely subservient slave of Pozzo and he unquestioningly does his every bidding with "dog-like devotion". He struggles with a heavy suitcase without ever thinking of dropping it. Lucky speaks only once in the play and it is a result of Pozzo's order to "think" for Estragon and Vladimir. Pozzo and Lucky had been together for sixty years and, in that time, their relationship has deteriorated. Lucky has always been the intellectually superior but now, with age, he has become an object of contempt: his "think" is a caricature of intellectual thought and his "dance" is a sorry sight. Despite his horrid treatment at Pozzo's hand however, Lucky remains completely faithful to him. Even in the second act when Pozzo has inexplicably gone blind, and needs to be led by Lucky rather than driving him as he had done before, Lucky remains faithful and has not tried to run away; they are clearly bound together by more than a piece of rope in the same way that Didi and Gogo are "[t]ied to Godot". Beckett's advice to the American director Alan Schneider was: "[Pozzo] is a hypomaniac and the only way to play him is to play him mad."

"In his [English] translation ... Beckett struggled to retain the French atmosphere as much as possible, so that he delegated all the English names and places to Lucky, whose own name, he thought, suggested such a correlation."

The Boy

The cast list specifies only one boy.

The boy in Act I, a local lad, assures Vladimir that this is the first time he has seen him. He says he was not there the previous day. He confirms he works for Mr. Godot as a goatherd. His brother, whom Godot beats, is a shepherd. Godot feeds both of them and allows them to sleep in his hayloft.

The boy in Act II also assures Vladimir that it was not he who called upon them the day before. He insists that this too is his first visit. When Vladimir asks what Godot does the boy tells him, "He does nothing, sir." We also learn he has a white beard – possibly, the boy is not certain. This boy also has a brother who it seems is sick but there is no clear evidence to suggest that his brother is the boy that came in Act I or the one who came the day before that.

Godot

The identity of Godot has been the subject of much debate. "When Colin Duckworth asked Beckett point-blank whether Pozzo was Godot, the author replied: 'No. It is just implied in the text, but it's not true.'"

"When Roger Blin asked him who or what Godot stood for, Beckett replied that it suggested itself to him by the slang word for boot in French, ''godillot'', ''godasse'' because feet play such a prominent role in the play. This is the explanation he has given most often."

"Beckett said to Peter Woodthorpe that he regretted calling the absent character 'Godot', because of all the theories involving God to which this had given rise. "I also told [Ralph] Richardson that if by Godot I had meant God I would [have] said God, and not Godot. This seemed to disappoint him greatly." That said, Beckett did once concede, "It would be fatuous of me to pretend that I am not aware of the meanings attached to the word 'Godot', and the opinion of many that it means 'God'. But you must remember – I wrote the play in French, and if I did have that meaning in my mind, it was somewhere in my unconscious and I was not overtly aware of it." (Note: the French word for 'God' is 'Dieu'.) This is an interesting remark, especially considering that "Beckett has often stressed the strong unconscious impulses that partly control his writing; he has even spoken of being 'in a trance' when he writes."

Unlike elsewhere in Beckett's work, no bicycle appears in this play, but Hugh Kenner in his essay "The Cartesian Centaur" reports that Beckett once, when asked about the meaning of Godot, mentioned "a veteran racing cyclist, bald, a 'stayer,' recurrent placeman in town-to-town and national championships, Christian name elusive, surname Godeau, pronounced, of course, no differently from Godot." Waiting for Godot is clearly not about track cycling, but it is said that Beckett himself did wait for French cyclist Roger Godeau (1920–2000; a professional cyclist from 1943 to 1961), outside the velodrome in Roubaix.

Of the two boys who work for Godot only one appears safe from beatings, "Beckett said, only half-jokingly, that one of Estragon's feet was saved".

The name "Godot" is pronounced in Britain and Ireland with the emphasis on the first syllable, (); in North America it is usually pronounced with an emphasis on the second syllable, . Beckett himself said the emphasis should be on the first syllable, and that the North American pronunciation is a mistake. The T is silent.

Setting

There is only one scene throughout both acts. Two men are waiting on a country road by a tree. The men are of unspecified origin, though it is clear that they are not English by nationality (and in English-language productions are traditionally played with Irish accents). The script calls for Estragon to sit on a low mound but in practice – as in Beckett's own 1975 German production – this is usually a stone. In the first act the tree is bare. In the second, a few leaves have appeared despite the script specifying that it is the next day. The minimal description calls to mind "the idea of the lieu vague, a location which should not be particularised".

Alan Schneider once suggested putting the play on in a round – Pozzo has often been commented on as a ringmaster – but Beckett dissuaded him: "I don't in my ignorance agree with the round and feel ''Godot'' needs a very closed box." He even contemplated at one point having a "faint shadow of bars on stage floor" but, in the end, decided against this level of what he called "explicitation". In his 1975 Schiller-Theatre production there are times when Didi and Gogo appear to bounce off something "like birds trapped in the strands of [an invisible] net", in James Knowlson's description. Didi and Gogo are only trapped because they still cling to the concept that freedom is possible; freedom is a state of mind, so is imprisonment.

Writing process

Caspar David Friedrich's paintings were likely Beckett's inspiration for the play. Ruby Cohn recalls seeing Caspar's 1824 painting ''Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon'' with Beckett who "announced unequivocally, 'This was the source of ''Waiting for Godot'', you know.'" "He may well have confused two paintings since, at other times, he drew the attention of friends to ''Two Men Contemplating the Moon'' from 1819, in which two men dressed in cloaks and viewed from the rear are looking at a full moon framed by the black branches of a large, leafless tree." In either case, the paintings are sufficiently similar so that what he attested to could apply equally to either. However, some sources point to conversations between Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil and Beckett in Roussillon as the inspiration for the work. Beckett admitted such in a New York Post interview by Jerry Tallmer

Ruby Cohn describes Beckett's writing of the play as an "escape from the increasingly despotic interiority of the fictional trilogy" – referring to Beckett's ''Molloy'', ''Malone Dies'', and ''The Unnamable''; Beckett claimed that he "began to write ''Godot'' as a relaxation, to get away from the awful prose I was writing at the time."

Interpretations

"Because the play is so stripped down, so elemental, it invites all kinds of social and political and religious interpretation," wrote Normand Berlin in a tribute to the play in Autumn 1999, "with Beckett himself placed in different schools of thought, different movements and 'ism's. The attempts to pin him down have not been successful, but the desire to do so is natural when we encounter a writer whose minimalist art reaches for bedrock reality. 'Less' forces us to look for 'more,' and the need to talk about ''Godot'' and about Beckett has resulted in a steady outpouring of books and articles."

Throughout ''Waiting for Godot'', the reader or viewer may encounter religious, philosophical, classical, psychoanalytical and biographical – especially wartime – references. There are ritualistic aspects and elements taken directly from vaudeville and there is a danger in making more of these than what they are: that is, merely structural conveniences, avatars into which the writer places his fictional characters. The play "exploits several archetypal forms and situations, all of which lend themselves to both comedy and pathos." Beckett makes this point emphatically clear in the opening notes to ''Film'': "No truth value attaches to the above, regarded as of merely structural and dramatic convenience." He made another important remark to Laurence Harvey, saying that his "work does not depend on experience – [it is] not a record of experience. Of course you use it."

Beckett tired quickly of "the endless misunderstanding". As far back as 1955, he remarked, "Why people have to complicate a thing so simple I can't make out." He was not forthcoming with anything more than cryptic clues, however: "Peter Woodthrope [who played Estragon] remembered asking him one day in a taxi what the play was really about: 'It's all symbiosis, Peter; it's symbiosis,' answered Beckett."

Beckett directed the play for the Schiller-Theatre in 1975. Although he had overseen many productions, this was the first time that he had taken complete control. Walter Asmus was his conscientious young assistant director. The production was not naturalistic. Beckett explained,

It is a game, everything is a game. When all four of them are lying on the ground, that cannot be handled naturalistically. That has got to be done artificially, balletically. Otherwise everything becomes an imitation, an imitation of reality [...]. It should become clear and transparent, not dry. It is a game in order to survive."

Over the years, Beckett clearly realised that the greater part of ''Godot'''s success came down to the fact that it was open to a variety of readings and that this was not necessarily a bad thing. Beckett himself sanctioned "one of the most famous mixed-race productions of ''Godot'', performed at the Baxter Theatre in the University of Cape Town, directed by Donald Howarth, with [...] two black actors, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, playing Didi and Gogo; Pozzo, dressed in checked shirt and gumboots reminiscent of an Afrikaner landlord, and Lucky ('a shanty town piece of white trash') were played by two white actors, Bill Flynn and Peter Piccolo [...]. The Baxter production has often been portrayed as if it were an explicitly political production, when in fact it received very little emphasis. What such a reaction showed, however, was that, although the play can in no way be taken as a political allegory, there are elements that are relevant to any local situation in which one man is being exploited or oppressed by another."

Political

"It was seen as an allegory of the cold war" or of French resistance to the Germans. Graham Hassell writes, "[T]he intrusion of Pozzo and Lucky [...] seems like nothing more than a metaphor for Ireland's view of mainland Britain, where society has ever been blighted by a greedy ruling élite keeping the working classes passive and ignorant by whatever means."

The pair is often played with Irish accents, as in the Beckett on Film project. This, some feel, is an inevitable consequence of Beckett's rhythms and phraseology, but it is not stipulated in the text. At any rate, they are not of English stock: at one point early in the play, Estragon mocks the English pronunciation of "calm" and has fun with "the story of the Englishman in the brothel".

Psychological

Freudian

"Bernard Dukore develops a triadic theory in ''Didi, Gogo and the absent Godot'', based on Sigmund Freud's trinitarian description of the psyche in ''The Ego and the Id'' (1923) and the usage of onomastic techniques. Dukore defines the characters by what they lack: the rational Go-go embodies the incomplete ego, the missing pleasure principle: (e)go-(e)go. Di-di (id-id) – who is more instinctual and irrational – is seen as the backward id or subversion of the rational principle. Godot fulfils the function of the superego or moral standards. Pozzo and Lucky are just re-iterations of the main protagonists. Dukore finally sees Beckett's play as a metaphor for the futility of man's existence when salvation is expected from an external entity, and the self is denied introspection."

Jungian (Carl Jung, personality studies/behaviorist)

"The four archetypal personalities or the four aspects of the soul are grouped in two pairs: the ego and the shadow, the persona and the soul's image (animus or anima). The shadow is the container of all our despised emotions repressed by the ego. Lucky, the shadow serves as the polar opposite of the egocentric Pozzo, prototype of prosperous mediocrity, who incessantly controls and persecutes his subordinate, thus symbolising the oppression of the unconscious shadow by the despotic ego. Lucky's monologue in Act I appears as a manifestation of a stream of repressed unconsciousness, as he is allowed to "think" for his master. Estragon's name has another connotation, besides that of the aromatic herb, tarragon: "estragon" is a cognate of oestrogen, the female hormone (Carter, 130). This prompts us to identify him with the anima, the feminine image of Vladimir's soul. It explains Estragon's propensity for poetry, his sensitivity and dreams, his irrational moods. Vladimir appears as the complementary masculine principle, or perhaps the rational persona of the contemplative type."

Philosophical

Existential

Broadly speaking, existentialists hold that there are certain fundamental questions that every human being must come to terms with if they are to take their subjective existences seriously and with intrinsic value. Questions such as death, the meaning of human existence and the place of (or lack of) God in that existence are among them. By and large, the theories of existentialism assert that conscious reality is very complex and without an "objective" or universally known value: the individual must create value by affirming it and living it, not by simply talking about it or philosophising it in the mind. The play may be seen to touch on all of these issues.

Much of Beckett's work – including ''Godot'' – is often considered by philosophical and literary scholars to be part of the movement of the ''Theatre of the Absurd'', a form of theatre which stemmed from the Absurdist philosophy of Albert Camus. Absurdism itself is a branch off of the traditional assertions of existentialism, pioneered by Søren Kierkegaard, and posits that, while inherent meaning might very well exist in the universe, human beings are incapable of finding it due to some form of mental or philosophical limitation. Thus humanity is doomed to be faced with ''the Absurd'', or the absolute absurdity of existence in lack of intrinsic purpose.

Ethical

Just after Didi and Gogo have been particularly selfish and callous, the boy comes to say that Godot is not coming. The boy (or pair of boys) may be seen to represent meekness and hope before compassion is consciously excluded by an evolving personality and character, and in which case may be the youthful Pozzo and Lucky. Thus Godot is compassion and fails to arrive every day, as he says he will. No-one is concerned that a boy is beaten. In this interpretation, there is the irony that only by changing their hearts to be compassionate can the characters fixed to the tree move on and cease to have to wait for Godot.

Christian

Much can be read into Beckett's inclusion of the story of the two thieves from Luke 23:39–43 and the ensuing discussion of repentance. It is easy to see the solitary tree as representative of the Christian cross or, indeed, the tree of life. Similarly, because The Boy describes God as having a white beard, and Godot, if the boy's testimony is to be believed, also has a white beard, many see God and Godot as one and the same. Vladimir's "Christ have mercy upon us!" could be taken as evidence that that is at least what he believes.

This reading is given further weight early in the first act when Estragon asks Vladimir what it is that he has requested from Godot:

VLADIMIR: Oh ... nothing very definite.

ESTRAGON: A kind of prayer.

VLADIMIR: Precisely.

ESTRAGON: A vague supplication.

VLADIMIR: Exactly.

Much of the play, steeped as it is in scriptural allusion, deals with the subject of religion. The entire play takes place atop a hill, which some may interpret as being closer to heaven, giving the play a purpose as religious parable.

According to Anthony Cronin, "[Beckett] always possessed a Bible, at the end more than one edition, and Bible concordances were always among the reference books on his shelves." Beckett himself was quite open on the issue: "Christianity is a mythology with which I am perfectly familiar so I naturally use it." As Cronin (one of his biographers) points out, his biblical references "may be ironic or even sarcastic".

"In answer to a defence counsel question in 1937 (during a libel action brought by his uncle) as to whether he was a Christian, Jew or atheist, Beckett replied, 'None of the three'". Looking at Beckett's entire œuvre, Mary Bryden observed that "the hypothesised God who emerges from Beckett's texts is one who is both cursed for his perverse absence and cursed for his surveillant presence. He is by turns dismissed, satirised, or ignored, but he, and his tortured son, are never definitively discarded."

At a symbolical level, we can visualise the two characters Estragon and Vladimir as the two thieves mentioned in the drama. Estragon is punished for some reasons unknown which could mean that he is the thief who has been damned for abusing Christ. On the other hand, Vladimir could be the thief who has escaped from damnation even if it is only physical. This retribution shows the arbitrary God depicted by Beckett.

Autobiographical

''Waiting for Godot'' has been described as a "metaphor for the long walk into Roussillon, when Beckett and Suzanne slept in haystacks [...] during the day and walked by night [... or] of the relationship of Beckett to Joyce." The earliest drafts contain significant personal references, but these were later excised.

Homoerotic

That the play calls on only male actors, with scarcely a reference to women, has caused some to look upon Vladimir and Estragon's relationship as quasi-marital: "they bicker, they embrace each other, they depend upon each other [.... T]hey might be thought of as a married couple." In Act One, Estragon speaks gently to his friend, approaching him slowly and laying a hand on his shoulder. After asking for his hand in turn and telling him not to be stubborn, he suddenly embraces him but backs off just as quickly, complaining, "You stink of garlic!"

When Estragon reminisces about his occasional glances at the Bible and remembers how prettily coloured were the maps of the Dead Sea, he remarks, "That's where we'll go, I used to say, that's where we'll go for our honeymoon. We'll swim. We'll be happy." Furthermore, the temptation to achieve post-mortem erections arises in the context of a world without females. Estragon in particular is "[h]ighly excited", in contrast with Vladimir, who chooses this moment to talk about shrieking mandrakes. although Beckett describes this as a meditative action. a reference to the fact that Vladimir frequently has to leave the stage to urinate.

In 1988, Beckett took a Dutch theatre company, De Haarlemse Toneelschuur to court over this issue. "Beckett [...] lost his case. But the issue of gender seemed to him to be so vital a distinction for a playwright to make that he reacted angrily, instituting a ban on all productions of his plays in The Netherlands." This ban was short-lived, however: in 1991 (two years after Beckett's death), "Judge Huguette Le Foyer de Costil ruled that the production would not cause excessive damage to Beckett's legacy", and the play was duly performed by the all-female cast of the Brut de Beton Theater Company at the prestigious Avignon Festival.

The Italian Pontedera Theatre Foundation won a similar claim in 2006 when it cast two actresses in the roles of Vladimir and Estragon, albeit in the characters' traditional roles as men. At the 1995 Acco Festival, director Nola Chilton staged a production with Daniella Michaeli in the role of Lucky, and a 2001 production at Indiana University staged the play with women playing Pozzo and the Boy.

Production history

"[O]n 17 February 1952 ... an abridged version of the play was performed in the studio of the Club d'Essai de la Radio and was broadcast on [French] radio ... [A]lthough he sent a polite note that Roger Blin read out, Beckett himself did not turn up." Part of his introduction reads: : I don't know who Godot is. I don't even know (above all don't know) if he exists. And I don't know if they believe in him or not – those two who are waiting for him. The other two who pass by towards the end of each of the two acts, that must be to break up the monotony. All I knew I showed. It's not much, but it's enough for me, by a wide margin. I'll even say that I would have been satisfied with less. As for wanting to find in all that a broader, loftier meaning to carry away from the performance, along with the program and the Eskimo pie, I cannot see the point of it. But it must be possible ... Estragon, Vladimir, Pozzo, Lucky, their time and their space, I was able to know them a little, but far from the need to understand. Maybe they owe you explanations. Let them supply it. Without me. They and I are through with each other.

The Minuit edition appeared in print on 17 October 1952 in advance of the play's first full theatrical performance. On 4 January 1953, "[t]hirty reviewers came to the ''générale'' of ''En attendant Godot'' before the public opening ... Contrary to later legend, the reviewers were kind ... Some dozen reviews in daily newspapers range[d] from tolerant to enthusiastic ... Reviews in the weeklies [were] longer and more fervent; moreover, they appeared in time to lure spectators to that first thirty-day run" which began on 5 January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. Early public performances were not, however, without incident: during one performance "the curtain had to be brought down after Lucky's monologue as twenty, well-dressed, but disgruntled spectators whistled and hooted derisively ... One of the protesters [even] wrote a vituperative letter dated 2 February 1953 to ''Le Monde''."

The cast comprised Pierre Latour (Estragon), Lucien Raimbourg (Vladimir), Jean Martin (Lucky) and Roger Blin (Pozzo). The actor due to play Pozzo found a more remunerative role and so the director – a shy, lean man in real life – had to step in and play the stout bombaster himself with a pillow amplifying his stomach. Both boys were played by Serge Lecointe. The entire production was done on the thinnest of shoestring budgets; the large battered valise that Martin carried "was found among the city's refuse by the husband of the theatre dresser on his rounds as he worked clearing the dustbins," for example.

A particularly significant production – from Beckett's perspective – took place in Lüttringhausen Prison near Wuppertal in Germany. An inmate obtained a copy of the French first edition, translated it himself into German and obtained permission to stage the play. The first night had been on 29 November 1953. He wrote to Beckett in October 1954: "You will be surprised to be receiving a letter about your play ''Waiting for Godot'', from a prison where so many thieves, forgers, toughs, homos, crazy men and killers spend this bitch of a life waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting. Waiting for what? Godot? Perhaps." Beckett was intensely moved and intended to visit the prison to see a last performance of the play but it never happened. This marked "the beginning of Beckett's enduring links with prisons and prisoners ... He took a tremendous interest in productions of his plays performed in prisons ... He even gave Rick Cluchey a former prisoner from San Quentin financial and moral support over a period of many years." Cluchey played Vladimir in two productions in the former Gallows room of the San Quentin California State Prison, which had been converted into a 65-seat theatre and, like the German prisoner before him, went on to work on a variety of Beckett's plays after his release. (The 1953 Luttringhausen and 1957 San Quentin Prison productions of ''Waiting For Godot'' was the subject of the 2010 documentary film ''The Impossible Itself,'' produced and directed by Jacob Adams.)

The English-language premiere was on 3 August 1955 at the Arts Theatre, London, directed by the 24-year-old Peter Hall. During an early rehearsal Hall told the cast "I haven't really the foggiest idea what some of it means . . . But if we stop and discuss every line we'll never open." Again, the printed version preceded it (New York: Grove Press, 1954) but Faber's "mutilated" edition did not materialise until 1956. A "corrected" edition was subsequently produced in 1965. "The most accurate text is in ''Theatrical Notebooks'' I, (Ed.) Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson (Faber and Grove, 1993). It is based on Beckett's revisions for his Schiller-Theatre production (1975) and the London San Quentin Drama Workshop, based on the Schiller production but revised further at the Riverside Studios (March 1984)."

Like all of Beckett's translations, ''Waiting for Godot'' is not simply a literal translation of ''En attendant Godot''. "Small but significant differences separate the French and English text. Some, like Vladimir's inability to remember the farmer's name (Bonnelly), show how the translation became more indefinite, attrition and loss of memory more pronounced." A number of biographical details were removed, all adding to a general "vaguening" of the text which he continued to trim for the rest of his life.

In the nineteen-fifties, theatre was strictly censored in the UK, to Beckett's amazement since he thought it a bastion of free speech. The Lord Chamberlain insisted that the word "erection" be removed, "'Fartov' became 'Popov' and Mrs Gozzo had 'warts' instead of 'clap'". Indeed, there were attempts to ban the play completely. For example, Lady Dorothy Howitt wrote to the Lord Chamberlain, saying: "One of the many themes running through the play is the desire of two old tramps continually to relieve themselves. Such a dramatisation of lavatory necessities is offensive and against all sense of British decency." "The first unexpurgated version of ''Godot'' in England ... opened at the Royal Court on 30 December 1964."

The London run was not without incident. The actor Peter Bull, who played Pozzo, recalls the reaction of that first night audience: : "Waves of hostility came whirling over the footlights, and the mass exodus, which was to form such a feature of the run of the piece, started quite soon after the curtain had risen. The audible groans were also fairly disconcerting ... The curtain fell to mild applause, we took a scant three calls (Peter Woodthorpe reports only one curtain call) and a depression and a sense of anti-climax descended on us all."

The critics were less than kind but "[e]verything changed on Sunday 7 August 1955 with Kenneth Tynan's and Harold Hobson's reviews in ''The Observer'' and ''The Sunday Times''. Beckett was always grateful to the two reviewers for their support ... which more or less transformed the play overnight into the rage of London." "At the end of the year, the Evening Standard Drama Awards were held for the first time ... Feelings ran high and the opposition, led by Sir Malcolm Sargent, threatened to resign if ''Godot'' won [The Best New Play category]. An English compromise was worked out by changing the title of the award. ''Godot'' became The Most Controversial Play of the Year. It is a prize that has never been given since."

The first production of the play in the United States was at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Coconut Grove, Florida on 3 January 1956. It starred Tom Ewell as Vladimir and Bert Lahr as Estragon. It bombed, but a Broadway version with Lahr, a new director (Herbert Berghof), and E. G. Marshall as Vladimir met with much more favour. The production and its problems are described in John Lahr's book about his father, ''Notes on a Cowardly Lion''.

Beckett resisted offers to film the play, although it was televised in his lifetime (including a 1961 American telecast with Zero Mostel as Estragon and Burgess Meredith as Vladimir that ''New York Times'' theatre critic Alvin Klein describes as having "left critics bewildered and is now a classic"). When Keep Films made Beckett an offer to film an adaptation in which Peter O'Toole would feature, Beckett tersely told his French publisher to advise them: "I do not want a film of ''Godot''." The BBC broadcast a production of ''Waiting for Godot'' on 26 June 1961, a version for radio having already been transmitted on 25 April 1960. Beckett watched the programme with a few close friends in Peter Woodthorpe's Chelsea flat. He was unhappy with what he saw. "My play," he said, "wasn't written for this box. My play was written for small men locked in a big space. Here you're all too big for the place."

Although not his favourite amongst his plays – perhaps because of the way it came to overshadow everything else he wrote – it was the work which brought Beckett fame and financial stability and as such it always held a special place in his affections. "When the manuscript and rare books dealer, Henry Wenning, asked him if he could sell the original French manuscript for him, Beckett replied: 'Rightly or wrongly have decided not to let ''Godot'' go yet. Neither sentimental nor financial, probably peak of market now and never such an offer. Can't explain.'"

The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center was the site of a 1988 revival directed by Mike Nichols, featuring Robin Williams (Estragon), Steve Martin (Vladimir), Bill Irwin (Lucky), and F. Murray Abraham (Pozzo). With a limited run of seven weeks and an all-star cast, it was financially successful but the critical reception was not particularly favourable, with Frank Rich of ''The New York Times'' writing, "Audiences will still be waiting for a transcendent ''Godot'' long after the clowns at Lincoln Center, like so many others passing through Beckett's eternal universe before them, have come and gone."

The play was revived in London's West End at the Queen's Theatre in a production directed by Les Blair, which opened on 30 September 1991. This was the first West End revival since the play's British première. Rik Mayall played Vladimir and Adrian Edmondson played Estragon, with Philip Jackson as Pozzo and Christopher Ryan as Lucky; the boy was played by Dean Gaffney and Duncan Thornley. Derek Jarman provided the scenic design, in collaboration with Madeleine Morris.

Another production in the West End, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, opened on 30 April 2009. Sir Ian McKellen played Estragon and Sir Patrick Stewart played Vladimir. Their performances garnered critical acclaim. ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Patrick Stewart saw the ghost of John Baldwin Buckstone standing in the wings during a performance at the Haymarket. The production was revived at the same theatre in January 2010 for 11 weeks. In 2010, this same production toured internationally, with Roger Rees replacing Stewart as Vladimir.

A 2009 Broadway revival of the play, starring Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play (John Glover), and Best Costume Design of a Play (Jane Greenwood). It received rave reviews, and was a huge success for the Roundabout Theatre. ''Variety'' called it a "transcendent" production.

Related works

Racine's ''Bérénice'' is a play "in which nothing happens for five acts." In the preface to this play Racine writes: "All creativity consists in making something out of nothing." Beckett was an avid scholar of the 17th century playwright and lectured on him during his time at Trinity. "Essential to the static quality of a Racine play is the pairing of characters to talk at length to each other." Here we see the agonised protagonist yearning for self-knowledge, or at least complete freedom of thought at any cost, and the dichotomy and interaction of mind and body. It is also a book that dwells on mental illness something that affects all the characters in ''Godot''. In defence of the critics, Mercier and Camier wander aimlessly about a boggy, rain-soaked island that, although not explicitly named, is Beckett's native Ireland. They speak convoluted dialogues similar to Vladimir and Estragon's, joke about the weather and chat in pubs, while the purpose of their odyssey is never made clear. The waiting in ''Godot'' is the wandering of the novel. "There are large chunks of dialogue which he later transferred directly into ''Godot''."

Works inspired by ''Godot''

The title of the 1997 play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, ''A Skull in Connemara'', may have been inspired by a line in Lucky's monologue ("alas alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull in Connemara...").

An unauthorised sequel was written by Miodrag Bulatović in 1966: ''Godo je došao'' (''Godot Arrived''). It was translated from the Serbian into German (''Godot ist gekommen'') and French. The playwright presents Godot as a baker who ends up being condemned to death by the four main characters. Since it turns out he is indestructible Lucky declares him non-existent. Although Beckett was noted for disallowing productions that took even slight liberties with his plays, he let this pass without incident but not without comment. Ruby Cohn writes: "On the flyleaf of my edition of the Bulatović play, Beckett is quoted: 'I think that all that has nothing to do with me.'"

An unauthorised prequel, of sorts, formed Part II of Ian McDonald's 1991 novel ''King of Morning, Queen of Day'' (partly written in Joycean style). Two main characters are clearly meant to be the original Vladimir and Estragon.

In the late 1990s an unauthorised sequel was written by Daniel Curzon entitled ''Godot Arrives''.

A radical transformation was written by Bernard Pautrat, performed at Théâtre National de Strasbourg in 1979–1980: ''Ils allaient obscurs sous la nuit solitaire'' (''d'après 'En attendant Godot' de Samuel Beckett''). The piece was performed in a disused hangar. "This space, marked by diffusion, and therefore quite unlike traditional concentration of dramatic space, was animated, not by four actors and the brief appearance of a fifth one (as in Beckett's play), but by ten actors. Four of them bore the names of Gogo, Didi, Lucky and Pozzo. The others were: the owner of the Citroën, the barman, the bridegroom, the bride, the man with the Ricard [and] the man with the club foot. The dialogue, consisting of extensive quotations from the original, was distributed in segments among the ten actors, not necessarily following the order of the original."

French playwright Matei Vişniec (of Romanian origin), wrote his famous play ''Old Clown Wanted'', inspired by ''Waiting for Godot''.

Matei Vişniec's play, ''The Last Godot'', in which Samuel Beckett and Godot are characters, ends with the first lines in ''Waiting for Godot''.

In 1996, two films based on the Beckett theme were released. In ''Waiting for Guffman'', a character named Guffman never arrives. And in ''Big Night'', Louis Prima never arrives.

Godot is a character in ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations'', a mysterious character whose real name, identity, and prior life are unknown at the beginning of the game.

In the Bollywood film ''Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na'', a man is waiting outside an airport with a card saying "Mr. GODOT". He is an old man, which shows that he has probably been waiting for a very long time.

The music video for k.d. lang's song "Constant Craving" depicts a crowd watching a 1950s production of ''Waiting for Godot''.

Turkish playwright Ferhan Şensoy's play ''Güle Güle Godot'' (''Bye Bye Godot'') tells about the people of an unnamed country where there is a big problem of water and there is a misgovernor named Godot. The people of the country are waiting for Godot to leave, because they desire to have a country where they are able to select their own governor.

The Hong Kong drama ''Fly with Me'' features a snack shop,named Godot, in a hospital. The shop owner keeps a lost umbrella for years, and waits for its owner to get back.

A production of ''Waiting for Godot'' at Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL), inspired a book of fine art photography entitled ''God(ot): Psychomorphagical I''.

A cycle of short parodies entitled ''The Godot Variations (Waiters for Godot, Call Waiting for Godot, Whining for Godot)'' by American playwright Meron Langsner is included in the Smith & Kraus anthology ''2010 Best Ten Minute Plays''. ''Waiters for Godot'' appeared in the 2003 edition of the literary journal'' Lamia Ink''.

See also

''Le Monde'''s 100 Books of the Century

Unseen character

References

External links

Text of the play (Act I)

Text of the play (Act II)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production (Real Audio)">Act I, part 1, from a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production (Real Audio)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production (Real Audio)">Act I, part 2, from a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production (Real Audio)

''Godot Quotes and Director's Notes'' A compendium of quotations geared toward the concept of playing ''Godot'' with a slightly more Laurel and Hardyesque bent.

Beckett on Film

''Beckett Directs Beckett'' The San Quentin Drama Workshop

"Waiting for Godot" full play in video (Fr)

Category:1953 plays Category:Irish plays Category:French plays Category:Broadway plays Category:Existentialist plays Category:Theatre of the Absurd Category:Plays by Samuel Beckett Category:Debut plays Category:Metafictional works

ar:فى انتظار غودو be:У чаканні Гадо be-x-old:У чаканьні Гадо ca:Tot esperant Godot cs: Čekání na Godota da:Mens vi venter på Godot de:Warten auf Godot el:Περιμένοντας τον Γκοντό es:Esperando a Godot eo:Atendante Godot fa:در انتظار گودو fr:En attendant Godot ko:고도를 기다리며 hi:वेटिंग फ़ॉर गोडोट hr:U očekivanju Godota it:Aspettando Godot he:מחכים לגודו kn:ವೇಟಿಂಗ್‌ ಫಾರ್‌ ಗೊಡಾಟ್‌ la:En attendant Godot hu:Godot-ra várva nl:Wachten op Godot ja:ゴドーを待ちながら no:Mens vi venter på Godot pl:Czekając na Godota pt:Esperando Godot ru:В ожидании Годо sl:Čakajoč Godota sr:Čekajući Godoa sh:En attendant Godot fi:Huomenna hän tulee sv:I väntan på Godot tl:Paghihintay kay Godo tr:Godot'yu Beklerken uk:Чекаючи на Ґодо (п'єса) zh:等待戈多

name	David Archuleta
background	solo_singer
birth name	David James Archuleta
birth date	December 28, 1990
birth place	Miami, Florida
origin	Murray, Utah, United States
occupation	Singer-songwriter, student
genre	Pop
instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
years active	2003–present
label	Jive Records (2008–2011)
website	www.DavidArchuleta.com }}

David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer-songwriter. At ten years old he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, Archuleta became the Junior Vocal Champion on ''Star Search 2''. In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of ''American Idol''. In May 2008 he finished as the runner-up, receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes.

In August 2008 Archuleta released "Crush," the first single from his self-titled debut album. The album, released two months later, debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart; it has sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. and over 900,000 Worldwide. In October 2010 he released a third album, ''The Other Side of Down'' featuring lead single "Something 'Bout Love".

Early life

Archuleta was born in Miami, Florida, to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie Mayorga. His mother is a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras; in spite of this, he speaks very little Spanish. Archuleta has four siblings. His family moved to the Sandy, Utah, suburb of Salt Lake City when he was six. He now lives in Murray where he attended Murray High School and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America.

Archuleta started singing at the age of six, inspired by a ''Les Misérables'' video. "That musical is what started all of this", he said. He started performing publicly at age ten when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition, singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.

Music career

2003–06: Star Search and musical beginnings

In 2003, when he was twelve years old, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show ''Star Search''. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2, Losing the Junior Grand Champion title to Tiffany Evans. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who became a "top 20" semi-finalist on ''American Idol'' alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on ''Star Search'' he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13". and led to appearances on CBS' ''The Early Show'', The year after ''Star Search'' he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered.

He later recorded two songs written and composed by Merrick Christensen as a featured artist for the small demo titled Fear vs. Faith. It is available on iTunes.

2007–08: American Idol and ''David Archuleta''

Archuleta received his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions at the San Diego tryouts – held at Qualcomm Stadium at the end of July 2007 – with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" with judge Randy Jackson spontaneously joining in to sing the background "waiting" in the song. He was sixteen during the Hollywood auditions and attended school while a part of ''American Idol's'' seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Crazy", "Another Day in Paradise", and "Angels".

During the 1970s themed week Archuleta sang the John Lennon song "Imagine", omitting the earlier verses in favor of the last one. ''Los Angeles Times'' columnist Ann Powers speculated that he wanted to avoid singing "no religion too" because of his faith. "As a Mormon, he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal," she wrote. However, he did sing the entire song on ''Good Things Utah'' when he was thirteen. When asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."

After his performance of "We Can Work It Out", which judge Simon Cowell called "a mess", ''Entertainment Tonight'' reported that Archuleta was feeling pressure from his father, Jeff Archuleta, who "reportedly yelled at" his son after a recording session the previous night. Jeff Archuleta, in an interview with ''Us Weekly'', denied the claim. A May 2008 Associated Press article reported that Jeff Archuleta had his son add a lyric from the Sean Kingston song "Beautiful Girls" into an interpretation of "Stand by Me" (from which "Beautiful Girls" samples its bass line), increasing the costs for licensing, and that this had resulted in Jeff Archuleta being banned from ''American Idol'' backstage rehearsals. Archuleta defended his father calling him "a great guy" who keeps him grounded.

During the Top 7 results show, the contestants were split into two groups. In one group was Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, and Kristy Lee Cook. In the other group was David Cook, Carly Smithson, and Jason Castro. Archuleta was the only one not sorted into a group. He was declared safe after the groups were formed, then was asked to choose the group he thought was safe. He refused, and sat down on the floor of the stage, much like Melinda Doolittle had done the previous season.

In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment" and "Imagine". Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it", said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, identical commercials featuring Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook mimicked the Tom Cruise scene from ''Risky Business'' where he dances in his underwear playing an air guitar; they were promoting the game franchise ''Guitar Hero''.

Archuleta's first appearances on music ranking charts were with the three songs he performed in the ''American Idol'' finale; "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment", and "Imagine", debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart the week of June 7, 2008. "Imagine" entered at #36 (giving Archuleta his first top forty hit), "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at #58, and "In This Moment" entered at #60. That same week he had three songs on ''Billboard'''s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart as well, where his versions of "Longer", "Think of Me", and "Angels" debuted at #15, #19, and #24 respectively. In July 2008 ''So You Think You Can Dance'', a dance competition reality show, Archuleta's cover of "Imagine" by John Lennon was the featured music for contestants Katee Shean and William Wingfield with their pas de deux performance.

Archuleta signed with Jive Records in June 2008. His self-titled album, ''David Archuleta'', was released in November 2008. His first single "Crush" was released in August 2008 on Z100, a New York radio station. On August 12 "Crush" became available on iTunes. It debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, beaten only by Rihanna's "Disturbia". It was the best chart debut in more than 18 months. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the track sold 166,000 downloads in the first week in the United States. It has sold 1.92 million digital copies in the US. Along with ''American Idol'' winner David Cook, Archuleta placed second on ''Forbes''' list of "Breakout Stars of 2008". The two co-presented an award at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards in August 2008. Archuleta also received the Teen Choice Award surfboard for "Most Fanatic Fans".

2009–present: ''Christmas from the Heart'' and ''The Other Side of Down''

Since the release of his debut album, Archuleta has released three new songs: "Let's Talk About Love (The Build-A-Bear theme song)," "Save the Day (released only in Japan as a bonus track in his album)," and "Zero Gravity." In February, it was announced that Archuleta will be touring the United Kingdom supporting British band McFly on their "Up Close...And This Time It's Personal" tour. The tour began on April 21, 2009 and continued until May. Archuleta became the opening act for Demi Lovato's tour which began June 21, 2009.

On April 22, 2009, Archuleta returned to the ''American Idol'' stage in its eighth season and performed the third single from his debut album, "Touch My Hand". On April 30, 2009 he made his first UK television appearance, on the ''Paul O'Grady Show'', performing "Crush" and chatting about his album, which was released there in May. In May, Archuleta and fellow American Idol David Cook, visited the Philippines. Two days later he made live appearances on two of GMA-7's shows, ''Sis'' and ''Eat Bulaga''. He also confirmed that month that he was working on two new albums, his sophomore pop album and a Christmas album. In August 2009, Archuleta won three Teen Choice Awards for Breakout Artist, Love Song, and the Music Tour category with Demi Lovato. In September he won the Year in Music – Rising Male Star award at the ALMA Awards and performed a cover of the standard "Contigo En La Distancia."

Archuleta's acting debut was when he appeared as himself for his acting debut on Nickelodeon's show ''iCarly'' titled "iRocked the Vote". The episode aired February 7, 2009. He had also made a special guest appearance in Season 3 of the Disney Channel show ''Hannah Montana'' In the episode "Promma Mia" as himself and he sang a duet: "I Wanna Know You" with Miley Cyrus who plays the title character; the song was featured on the soundtrack, ''Hannah Montana 3''.

On May 16, 2009, Archuleta and David Cook performed in the Mall of Asia: Concert Grounds for their Back-to-Back Concert in Manila, Philippines. On June 1, 2010, Archuleta released ''Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance'', a memoir which refers to "the partial vocal paralysis he suffered in 2004 but has now fully recovered from". He went on a book signing tour beginning in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The book was a bestseller.

Archuleta came back to the ''American Idol'' stage on April 7, 2010 on the show's ninth season and performed John Lennon's "Imagine", which David had performed previously when he was a contestant on the show. After his performance, he mentioned that he was working on his third studio album.

Archuleta sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Stand by Me" at the 30th anniversary of the annual A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C. on the Fourth of July. The show was aired on PBS at 8pm EST live and tape delay PT.

Archuleta sang live at the Tejano Music Awards covering Selena's songs, ''Como La Flor'' and No Me Queda Más at the event as a tribute on July 11, 2010.

In an interview with AOL's ''Something Pitchy'', Archuleta revealed that the release of his next album is planned for Fall 2010 (he did mention a late September release, but then went back to the Fall). On June 24, 2010 Jive Records announced that his new single would be released on DavidArchuleta.com on July 13, and iTunes on July 20. However, on June 30, 2010 the full version of "Something 'Bout Love" became available to play on his website. His album ''The Other Side of Down'' was released on October 5, 2010.

On October 7, 2010, it was announced that David Archuleta would be the guest star at the annual Christmas concert of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Archuleta was scheduled to sing in performances on December 16–19.

On February 18, 2011 it was announced by Jive Records that David Archuleta had been released from his contract with them. It was also announced on February 17, 2011 that Archuleta left his management Wright Entertainment Group. Archuleta intends to spend time working on writing original material.

On July 2, 2011, Archuleta joined Brad Paisley to perform at the Stadium of Fire, where he performed the anthem in addition to his five song set. From July 16 to 26, 2011, Archuleta will tour, performing in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Philanthropy

Along with Do Something and the Dunkin' Brands Community Foundation Archuleta is involved with helping willing teenagers make a difference in others' lives with disaster relief. He is also one of several teen celebrities taking part in Dosomething.org's Teens for Jeans charity initiative, which donates denim to homeless teenagers nationwide. In January 2010, Haiti was hit with a major earthquake. On Jan 22, 2010 Archuleta joined other celebrities for a 2-hour fundraising telethon where he answered phones, and even stayed longer afterward to keep answering the phones.

In January 2011, Archuleta travelled to India with Rising Star Outreach, a non-profit charity helping children who are afflicted with leprosy.

Archuleta was one of the many Latino singers who participated in ''Somos El Mundo'', the Spanish version of ''We Are The World 25 for Haiti''. The song and video premiered on the ''Cristina Show'' in March 2010, funds raised benefit Haiti relief.

Musical influences

Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced, including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.

On his ''American Idol'' "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cited his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. Like Elliott Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe. In a ''Seventeen'' interview he cites Sara Bareilles as a clever singer-songwriter whom he looks up to.

Discography

''David Archuleta'' (2008)

''Christmas from the Heart'' (2009)

''The Other Side of Down'' (2010)

Filmography

Television
Year	Film	Role	! Notes
2008	''American Idol''	Himself	Runner Up
	''iCarly''	Himself	''Season 2 - Episode 12: ''iRocked the Vote''
''Hannah Montana''	Himself	Season 3 – Episode 14: ''Promma Mia''

Tours

;As main act

American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008 (2008)

David Archuleta Live In Concert (2009)

Christmas from the Heart Tour (2009)

The Other Side of Down Asian Tour (2011)

;As supporting act

Demi Lovato Summer Tour 2009 (2009)

Awards and nominations

rowspan="2"

Year !! Presenter !! Award !! Result
rowspan="2"	2008	Teen Choice Awards	Most Fanatic Fans
Best Smile (Post Show)
rowspan="4"	2009	Teen Choice Awards	Breakout Artist
Music: Love Song (for "Crush")
rowspan="4"	2010		Teen Choice Awards ||	Fanatic Fans
American Idol Album
rowspan="2"	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic Fan Favorite
Iconic Tweeter
	2011	Barkada Choice Awards ||	Teen Icon

Notes

References

External links

Official website

David Archuleta at YouTube

Video and audio clips from Archuleta's official website prior to 2006.

Category:American child singers Category:American Idol participants Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:American male singers Category:American people of Honduran descent Category:American pop keyboardists Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American tenors Category:Idol series runners-up Category:Jive Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Utah Category:People associated with the Boy Scouts of America Category:People from Murray, Utah Category:1990 births Category:People from Miami, Florida

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:''This article is about the band, for the big cats see White lion.''

name	White Lion
background	group_or_band
origin	New York City, New York, United States
years active	1983–19921999–present
genre	Glam metal, hard rock, Heavy metal
label	Atlantic, Frontiers
associated acts	Mabel, Freak of Nature, Pride & Glory, Megadeth, Anthrax, Zakk Wylde, Black Sabbath, AntiProduct, Alice Cooper, Y&T;
current members	Mike TrampJamie LawTroy Patrick FarrellClaus LangeskovHenning Wanner
past members	Vito BrattaJames LoMenzoGreg D'AngeloFelix RobinsonNicki CapozziDave SpitzDan HemmerKasper DamgardNils KroyerBjarne T. HolmTommy T-Bone CaradonnaJimmy DeGrassoBruno Ravel }}

White Lion is an American/Danish hard rock/heavy metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, the band achieved double platinum status with their #8 hit "Wait" and #3 hit "When the Children Cry" from their second album ''Pride''. The band continued their success with their third album ''Big Game''. After the fourth album ''Mane Attraction'', White Lion disbanded in 1992, but was reformed again by Tramp in 1999 with all new musicians.

Biography

Fighting to Survive

After moving from Denmark to New York in 1983, vocalist Mike Tramp (formerly of the bands Mabel and Studs) met Staten Island guitarist Vito Bratta (Formerly of Dreamer) and decided to form a band. The two recruited drummer Nicki Capozzi and bassist Felix Robinson (formerly of Angel) and named the group White Lion.

White Lion was signed by Elektra Records in 1984 and recorded their debut album ''Fight to Survive''. Elektra was unhappy with the final recording, and after refusing to release the album, terminated their contract.

Both Capozzi and Robinson soon left the band. Nicki Capozzi was replaced by former Anthrax drummer Greg D'Angelo, and Felix Robinson was replaced by bassist Dave Spitz (brother of Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz). Within a month of joining, however, Dave Spitz left to play bass with Black Sabbath and was replaced by James LoMenzo.

The album ''Fight to Survive'' was eventually re-recorded with new line-up and released in Japan by RCA Records in 1984. The small US independent label Grand Slam Records finally released ''Fight To Survive'' in the US on November 9, 1985. A few months later, Grand Slam Records went bankrupt.The album charted at number 151 on The Billboard 200.

In early 1986, White Lion, with a fictitious female member, had a brief part in the Tom Hanks/Shelley Long movie ''The Money Pit''.

''Pride''

Early in 1987, the band was signed by Atlantic Records and on June 21, 1987 their album ''Pride'' was released. The first single, "Wait", was released on June 1, 1987, but did not reach the charts for nearly seven months.

The ''Pride'' tour started in July 1987 as White Lion opened for Ace Frehley's 80s band Frehley's Comet. The next year and a half was filled with constant touring, opening for such bands as Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Stryper and KISS. In January 1988 White Lion landed the opening slot for AC/DC on their ''Blow Up Your Video'' American tour.

While touring with AC/DC, the ''Pride'' album and "Wait" single finally charted, due in no small part to MTV airing the ''"Wait"'' music video in regular rotation—nearly seven months after the single's release. "Wait" hit #8 on the singles chart, while the ''Pride'' hit #11 on the album charts. ''Pride'' would remain on the Top 200 Billboard album charts for a full year selling two million copies in the US alone.

In August 1988, the album's second single "Tell Me" reached #58. Around the time this single was released, White Lion played at the Ritz club in New York City. The show was filmed and later aired on MTV.

The ''Pride'' album's third single, a power ballad titled "When the Children Cry", made it to #3 on the charts with heavy MTV airplay, making ''Pride'' one of about 20 hard rock albums to ever have multiple top 10 hits.

The success of "When the Children Cry" would eventually push sales of ''Pride'' over the two million mark. In addition, Vito Bratta was recognized for his instrumental talents by racking up Best New Guitarist awards with both ''Guitar World'' magazine and ''Guitar for the Practicing Musician'' magazine. All You Need Is Rock 'n' Roll was the final single released from the album.

In the spring of 1989, the ''Pride'' tour finally ended, and they immediately began work on their next album

''Big Game & Mane Attraction''

In August 1989, White Lion released their third album, ''Big Game'', a musically eclectic follow-up to ''Pride'' that featured the singles "Little Fighter" (which peaked at #52), "Cry for Freedom" (did not chart), and a cover of Golden Earring's "Radar Love" (which peaked at #59). The album quickly went gold, with a peak of #19 on the album charts..

After two years of writing and recording, White Lion released ''Mane Attraction'' in the summer of 1991. More of a "back to basics" album, centering on strong hooks and melodic hard rock, the album was received well by the fans. Unfortunately, the album failed to reach the top 20 like the last two albums, charting at #61 on The Billboard 200.. It received little or no airplay due to the recent Grunge explosion and subsequent backlash on all things "hair metal". The album also contained White Lion's only instrumental song, "Blue Monday", a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, who had died while the band was writing for the album. The album featured the singles Lights and Thunder, Broken Heart '91 and Love Don't Come Easy which peaked at number 24 on The Mainstream Rock Charts.

Greg D'Angelo and James LoMenzo left the band soon after the album's release, citing "musical differences," but White Lion carried on with bassist Tommy T-Bone Caradonna and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Suicidal Tendencies, Y&T;, Fiona). After briefly touring in support of ''Mane Attraction'', Tramp and Bratta decided to fold the group, their last show being held in Boston at the Channel in September 1991. Exactly one year later in September 1992, the band's first compilation album was released titled ''The Best of White Lion''.

Social issues

Unlike most bands of their genre, White Lion recorded occasional songs that addressed social or political issues such as apartheid (''"Cry for Freedom"'') and the effect of divorce on children (''"Broken Home"''). The song ''"Little Fighter"'' was about the ''Rainbow Warrior'', a ship owned by the environmental group Greenpeace that was destroyed by operatives of the French intelligence service. This concern for political and social issues was also hinted at in the cover art to their album ''Big Game'', which featured a lion's head hidden in tall grass with the White House in the background.

After White Lion

Mike Tramp went on to form Freak of Nature, releasing three albums, ''Freak of Nature'', ''Gathering of Freaks'', and ''Outcasts''. Tramp also released four studio albums and one live album as a solo artist: ''Capricorn'', ''Recovering the Wasted Years'', ''More To Life Than This'', and ''Songs I Left Behind'' as studio efforts, with ''Rock n' Roll Alive'' as a live album. Tramp also reformed White Lion with all new musicians. Today, Tramp continues his solo career, now fronting his latest act, "Mike Tramp & the Rock n Roll Circuz", a Copenhagen-based band with all Danish members.

James LoMenzo and Greg D'Angelo joined Zakk Wylde's band, Lynyrd Skynhead, in the mid 90's which became the band Pride & Glory when Greg D'Angelo was replaced by Brian Tichy. Pride & Glory released one album, then James LoMenzo left the band. James went on to record and tour with ex-Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and toured with Zakk Wylde's band Black Label Society. In February 2006, James joined the thrash band Megadeth on a permanent basis. Greg D'Angelo was the drummer for the band AntiProduct in 2006. Greg D'angelo recently joined Greg Leon Invasion featuring Greg Leon (formerly of Dokken and Quiet Riot).

Vito Bratta stayed briefly with Atlantic Records to help produce an album for CPR, and later tried to form a new music group that never panned out. Despite a dedicated worldwide following of guitar aficionados, Vito disappeared from public view from 1994 until his interview by Eddie Trunk live on February 16, 2007. Vito is also the sole owner of the original White Lions four album music catalogs. Retaining the rights after Mike sold all his rights to the catalogs in the mid 90's. They are owned by Vavoom music which is owned by Bratta.

The new White Lion and legal issues

In 1999 Mike Tramp, with all new musicians, released ''Remembering White Lion'', which featured new versions of some of White Lion's classic songs. In October 2003, Tramp announced a White Lion reunion with the original members. This statement was quickly denied by the other former members. Later Tramp said that Vito Bratta wanted nothing to do with a reunion. With summer festivals in Europe already booked, Tramp attempted to put together a "new White Lion" featuring former members James LoMenzo and Jimmy DeGrasso, along with Warren DeMartini of Ratt. Vito Bratta filed suit claiming partial ownership of the name, and the tour was scrapped. Tramp later commented that despite his willingness, "There will never be an original White Lion reunion".

In 2005, Mike Tramp organized another group of unknown musicians and due to legal issues with former members named the act Tramp's White Lion. 'TWL' (aka White Lion 2) played and re recorded White Lion songs, touring and releasing a double-live CD entitled ''Rocking the USA'' in 2005. In November and December 2006, Tramp's White Lion played several dates in Europe including Sweden, Norway, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

On February 16, 2007, Vito Bratta appeared on the Eddie Trunk radio show in New York, stating that despite what Mike Tramp said, he had never refused a White Lion reunion, stating that the only reason he was unable to participate was due to the illness of his father. He added that he would still be open to the idea and has not closed the door to returning to the music industry again. Trunk made it clear that Bratta's involvement in the show was something that he had wanted to happen since White Lion first broke up in 1991. Bratta took calls and answered questions from fans for almost 3 hours. On April 6 and 7, 2007, at the L'Amours Reunion Shows in New York, Bratta made his first public musical appearances in over 15 years.

Three weeks later Mike Tramp called the same show from Australia, speaking about Bratta and the band's new album, including the tour dates that Tramp's White Lion had recently confirmed. Tramp said that he was thankful that Bratta had finally answered fan's questions, the same questions he himself had been asked many times over the past 15 years. He also stated that he felt uncomfortable answering on Vito's behalf, and that he was upset that Vito had withdrawn himself from the music industry.

White Lion: recent activities

A White Lion compilation ''"The Definitive Rock Collection"'' was released in 2007 and the band was set for a summer tour with Poison and Ratt only to be dropped by the tour promoter after ex-White Lion guitarist Vito Bratta threatened to take legal action over the band name. Eventually Mike Tramp was able to use the White Lion name again.

The band appeared at Rocklahoma in Pryor, OK on July 13, 2007 with Poison, Ratt, Quiet Riot, Slaughter, Y&T;, Gypsy Pistoleros, Dirty Penny, Greg Leon Invasion and Zendozer. After this festival they toured the US.

A new studio album entitled ''"Return of the Pride"'' was released on March 14, 2008 and the band was now once again simply known as White Lion. The band did a world tour to support the album. White Lion toured India and played to 42,000 at Shillong, Meghalaya, and a 30,000 plus crowd at the Dimapur stadium in Nagaland. The band was invited to India by the head of the Tripura Royal Family Maharaja Kirit Pradyot Deb Burman.

A live DVD was released on December 5, 2008 entitled ''"Bang Your Head Festival 2005"''.

Band members

Current members

Mike Tramp - lead vocals (1983–1991, 1999–present)

Jamie Law - guitars (2005–present)

Troy Patrick Farrell - drums (2005–present)

Henning Wanner - keyboards (2005–present)

Claus Langeskov - bass (2005–present)

Bruno Ravel - guitar (early)

Vito Bratta - guitars (1983–1991)

James LoMenzo - bass (1984–1991)

Greg D'Angelo - drums (1984–1991)

Nicki Capozzi - drums (1983–1984)

Felix Robinson - bass (1983–1984)

Dave Spitz - bass (1984)

Dan Hemmer - Hammond B-3 organ (1999–2005)

Kasper Damgaard - guitar (1999–2005)

Nils Kroyer - bass (1999–2005)

Bjarne T. Holm - drums (1999–2005)

Tommy T-Bone Caradonna - bass (1991)

Jimmy DeGrasso - drums (1991)

EJ Curse - bass (2008)

Classic line up

Mike Tramp - lead vocals

Vito Bratta - guitars

James LoMenzo - bass

Greg D'Angelo - drums

Discography

!Year	!Title	!Label
1985	''Fight to Survive''	Asylum Records
1987
1989
1991	''Mane Attraction''
1999	''Remembering White Lion''	Cleopatra Records
2008	''Return of the Pride''	Frontiers Records

References

External links

Official websites:

Official White Lion Website

Official White Lion MySpace Website

Official Mike Tramp Website

Official Troy Patrick Farrell Website

Non official websites:

White Lion Fansite

Mike Tramp Fansite

Category:Glam metal musical groups Category:Heavy metal musical groups from New York Category:American hard rock musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1983 Category:Atlantic Records artists

ca:White Lion da:White Lion de:White Lion es:White Lion fr:White Lion id:White Lion it:White Lion jv:White Lion ja:ホワイト・ライオン pt:White Lion ru:White Lion simple:White Lion fi:White Lion sv:White Lion

name	Alexi Murdoch
background	solo_singer
origin	London, England, UK
genre	Alternative, acoustic, indie folk
years active	2002–present
occupation	Singer-songwriter
label	Indie
website	Official website
notable instruments	}}

Alexi Murdoch is a singer-songwriter born in London and raised in Scotland, Greece and France, now living in Berlin.

Background

Murdoch was born in London to a Scottish father and Greek-French mother and raised in Greece, just outside of Athens until he was ten, when his family moved to Scotland.

Murdoch moved to the United States in 1992 to study at Duke University, before moving to Los Angeles, California to be with a girlfriend. He first gained notice when an influential Los Angeles DJ, Nic Harcourt, began playing his music on the radio station KCRW. It led to much interest from the LA's music industry, which Murdoch largely ignored, turning down advances from record labels and opting to release his music independently.

''Four Songs'' EP

He self-published the EP ''Four Songs'' through independent record stores and website CD Baby in November 2002. CD Baby sold over 50,000 copies of the release, becoming the site's all-time bestselling record.

In 2003, he performed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference and that year's Sundance Film Festival. and, in 2004, at the Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film & TV Music Conference. In 2004, the song "Orange Sky" from the EP also became the most-played song on Philadelphia indie station WXPN.

''Time Without Consequence'' LP

Murdoch's first album, ''Time Without Consequence'', was released on June 6, 2006 on his own label, Zero Summer. As with the EP, Murdoch continued to turn down the record deals he was offered from numerous major labels in order to maintain creative control. (The record was distributed nationally through Sony BMG.) ''Time Without Consequence'' peaked at #25 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

On June 9, 2006, Murdoch began a 34-city tour in conjunction with the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, with most bookings at independent record stores.

The album became one of the most licensed albums of the decade, receiving placements on dozens of films and television shows. "Orange Sky" appeared in ''The O.C.'', ''House'', ''Prison Break'', ''Ugly Betty'', ''Dirty Sexy Money'', ''Ladder 49'', and in promotions for Oscar nominated foreign film, ''Paradise Now'', ''Southland'' and a Honda commercial. "Home" appeared in a season 2 episode of ''Prison Break''. "All My Days" was featured in ''The O.C.'', ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''Scrubs'', ''Without a Trace'', ''Stargate Universe'', and a promo for ''Southland''. "Song For You" appeared in ''Everwood''. "12" appeared in the show "Brothers & Sisters" and "One Tree Hill." "Blue Mind" was featured in the 2008 adventure film ''The Sharp End'',, and several episodes of ''Dawson's Creek''. "Breathe" was used in ''Stargate Universe'', and the 2008 film ''Tenderness'', where the album ''Time Without Consequence'' is also shown on a scene of the film. "Wait" was used in the shows ''Defying Gravity'' and Parenthood. "It's Only Fear" was used in the ''Brothers and Sisters''. Several songs were used in a surfing documentary One California Day.

Recent activities

In the spring of 2009, Murdoch embarked on a rare U.S. headlining tour, during which he has been distributing an early version of a new album entitled ''Towards the Sun'' in a limited edition packaged in a hand-printed, cardboard sleeve.

Several of these new songs quickly appeared on the internet. Later, the song "Through the Dark" was used in the final scene and end credits of actor Ben Affleck's directorial debut, ''Gone Baby Gone'', as well as the television series "The Vampire Diaries". Several other ''Towards the Sun'' songs were used on the soundtrack to Oscar winner Sam Mendes' 2009 film ''Away We Go'' which had a screenplay by the writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. There was an album tied to the film release which contained a mix of songs from ''Time Without Consequence'' and ''Towards the Sun'' alongside single songs by The Stranglers, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and the Velvet Underground.

Recent bookings by Murdoch include two concerts in Berlin, one small club appearance and a second as part of the City Slang label's 20th anniversary. In February 2011 he performed in New York City as part of Lincoln Center's prestigious "American Songbook Series", after which he went on a sold out tour of major markets throughout North America. (i.e. Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Chicago, Minneapolis.) 2011 will also see the official release of his third recording, "Towards The Sun".

Critical reception

His first album "Time Without Consequence" was met with wide critical praise, gaining him five stars with Alternative Press as well as placing him on Rolling Stone's Top Ten Artists list. His newest release "Towards the Sun" is gathering higher praise still in both the U.S. and in Europe. PopMatters, giving the record a 9/10 calls Murdoch's performance "hauntingly beautiful" and "heartbreakingly lovely". Q Magazine in the U.K. give the record 4 stars with this to say: "Acoustic troubadour makes stunning second outing. Anyone who harps on about how the songwriters of today don't match up to those of yesteryear should be directed to this remarkable second record."

Discography

LPs

''Time Without Consequence'', 2006

''Towards the Sun'', 2011

Extended Plays

''Four Songs'', 2002 (EP)

References

External links

Official website

Alexi Murdoch Myspace

CD Baby: Alexi Murdoch

CNN: The 'Britney' backlash: Budding songwriter rejects record contract

Alexi Murdoch live on WOXY.com, July 11, 2006

Alexi Murdoch at NPR Music

Category:British male singers Category:British songwriters Category:British singer-songwriters Category:Greek male singers Category:Greek songwriters Category:Greek singer-songwriters Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:Greek expatriates in the United States Category:Living people Category:Duke University alumni

cs:Alexi Murdoch de:Alexi Murdoch es:Alexi Murdoch fr:Alexi Murdoch nl:Alexi Murdoch sv:Alexi Murdoch

Name	50 Cent
Background	solo_singer
Alias	5-0
Birth name	Curtis James Jackson III
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States
Birth date	July 06, 1975
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, Businessman, Actor
Years active	1997 – present
Label	Shady, Aftermath, Interscope
Associated acts	G-Unit, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Akon, Mary J. Blige, Jadakiss, Nicole Scherzinger
Website	}}

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' (2003) and ''The Massacre'' (2005). His album ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA.

Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album ''Guess Who's Back?'' in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.

Jackson has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, Nas, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Cam'ron, Puff Daddy, Rick Ross, and former G-Unit members The Game and Young Buck. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' in 2005, the Iraq War film ''Home of the Brave'' in 2006, and ''Righteous Kill'' in 2008. 50 Cent was ranked as the sixth best artist of the 2000s by ''Billboard'' magazine. The magazine also ranked him as the fourth top male artist and as the third top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly. ''Billboard'' magazine also ranked him as the sixth best and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000s and as the number one rap artist of the 2000s. ''Billboard'' ranked his album ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' as the twelfth best album of the 2000s and his album ''The Massacre'' as the 37th best album of the 2000s. As of September 2011, 50 Cent is working on his fifth studio album, which is set to be released in 2012.

Early life

Curtis Jackson III grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, in New York City. He grew up without a father and was raised by his mother, Sabrina, who gave birth to him at the age of fifteen.

Sabrina, a cocaine dealer, raised Jackson until the age of twelve, when she was killed in 1988. Twenty-seven at the time, she became unconscious after someone drugged her drink. She was then left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed.

After her death, Jackson moved into his grandparents' house with his eight aunts and uncles. He recalls, "My grandmother told me, 'Your mother's not coming home. She's not gonna come back to pick you up. You're gonna stay with us now.' That's when I started adjusting to the streets a little bit".

Jackson began boxing around the age of eleven.

At fourteen, a neighbor opened a boxing gym for local kids.

"When I wasn't killing time in school, I was sparring in the gym or selling crack on the strip", he recalled. In the mid 1980s, he competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur boxer. He recounts, "I was competitive in the ring and hip-hop is competitive too... I think rappers condition themselves like boxers, so they all kind of feel like they're the champ". At the age of twelve, Jackson began dealing narcotics when his grandparents thought he was at after-school programs. He also took guns and drug money to school. In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School. He later stated, "I was embarrassed that I got arrested like that... After I got arrested I stopped hiding it. I was telling my grandmother [openly], 'I sell drugs.'"

Following time spent in a correctional boot camp, Jackson adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change". The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent". Jackson chose the name "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means".

Music career

1996–2000: Early career

Jackson started rapping in a friend's basement where he used turntables to record over instrumentals. In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who was organizing his label Jam Master Jay Records.

Jay taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and how to make a record. Jackson's first official appearance was on a song titled "React" with the group Onyx on their 1998 album ''Shut 'Em Down''. He credited Jam Master Jay as an influence who helped him improve his ability to write hooks. Jay produced Jackson's first album; however, it was never released.

In 1999, after leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum-selling producers Trackmasters took notice of Jackson and signed him to Columbia Records. They sent him to a studio in Upstate New York where he produced thirty-six songs in two weeks. Eighteen were included on his unofficially released album, ''Power of the Dollar'' in 2000. He also started the now-defunct Hollow Point Entertainment with former G-Unit affiliate Bang 'Em Smurf.

Jackson's popularity started to increase after the successful but controversial underground single, "How to Rob", which he wrote in half an hour while in a car on the way to a studio. The track comically explains how he would rob famous artists. He explained the reasoning behind song's content as, "There's a hundred artists on that label, you gotta separate yourself from that group and make yourself relevant". Rappers Jay-Z, Kurupt, Sticky Fingaz, Big Pun, DMX, Wyclef Jean and the Wu-Tang Clan replied to the song and Nas, who received the track positively, invited Jackson to travel on a promotional tour for his ''Nastradamus'' album. The song was intended to be released with "Thug Love" featuring Destiny's Child, but two days before he was scheduled to film the "Thug Love" music video, Jackson was shot and confined to a hospital due to his injuries.

2000–01: Shooting

On May 24, 2000, Jackson was attacked by a gunman, alleged to be Darryl "Hommo" Baum, outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica, Queens. He went into a friend's car, but was asked to return to the house to get jewelry.

His son was in the house, while his grandmother was in the front yard. Upon returning to the back seat of the car and already seated, another car pulled up nearby. An assailant then walked up to Jackson's left side with a 9mm handgun and fired nine shots at close range. He was shot nine times: in the hand (a round hit his right thumb, to where the bullet passed through and out his little finger), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and his face (his left cheek). The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice. His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where Jackson spent thirteen days.

Baum, the alleged shooter, was killed three weeks later.

Baum was also Mike Tyson's close friend and bodyguard.

Jackson recalled the incident saying, "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh @#!*% , somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'" In his autobiography, ''From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens'', he wrote, "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone". He used a walker for the first six weeks and fully recovered after five months. When he left the hospital, he stayed in the Poconos with his then-girlfriend and son. His workout regime helped him attain his muscular physique.

While in the hospital, Jackson signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records. However, he was dropped from the label and "blacklisted" in the recording industry because of his song "Ghetto Qu'ran".

Unable to find a studio to work with in the U.S, he traveled to Canada. Along with his business partner Sha Money XL, he recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes, with the purpose of building a reputation.

According to Shady Records A&R; Marc Labelle in an interview with HitQuarters, Jackson shrewdly used the mixtape circuit to his own advantage saying, "He took all the hottest beats from every artist and flipped them with better hooks. They then got into all the markets on the mixtapes and all the mixtape DJs were messing with them." Jackson's popularity rose and in 2002, he released material independently on the mixtape, ''Guess Who's Back?''. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by G-Unit, Jackson continued to release music including ''50 Cent Is the Future''. The mixtape revisited material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq.

2002–2009: Rise to fame

In 2002, Eminem listened to a copy of Jackson's ''Guess Who's Back?'' CD. He received the CD through Jackson's attorney, who was working with Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg. Impressed with the album, Eminem invited Jackson to fly to Los Angeles, where he was introduced to Dr. Dre. After signing a $1 million record deal, Jackson released the mixtape, ''No Mercy, No Fear''. It featured one new track, "Wanksta", which was put on Eminem's ''8 Mile'' soundtrack. He was also signed to Chris Lighty's Violator Management and Sha Money XL's Money Management Group.

In February 2003, Jackson released his commercial debut album, ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''. Allmusic described it as "probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade". ''Rolling Stone'' noted the album for its "dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce" with Jackson complementing the production in "an unflappable, laid-back flow".

It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 872,000 copies in the first four days. The lead single, "In da Club", which ''The Source'' noted for its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps", broke a ''Billboard'' record as the most listened-to song in radio history within a week.

Interscope granted Jackson his own label, G-Unit Records in 2003. He signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. The Game was later signed under a joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment.

In March 2005, Jackson's second commercial album, ''The Massacre'', sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days-the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle- and peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 for six weeks.

He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the ''Billboard'' top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno", and "How We Do". ''Rolling Stone'' noted that "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur-sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus".

After The Game's departure, Jackson signed singer Olivia and rap veterans Mobb Deep to G-Unit Records. Spider Loc, M.O.P., 40 Glocc and Young Hot Rod later joined the label. Jackson expressed interest in working with rappers outside of G-Unit, such as Lil' Scrappy of BME, LL Cool J from Def Jam, Mase from Bad Boy, and Freeway of Roc-A-Fella, some of whom he recorded with. In September 2007, he released his third album ''Curtis'', which was inspired by his life before ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''. It debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 691,000 units in the first week, behind Kanye West's ''Graduation'', whom he had a sales competition with, as both albums were released on the same day.

He confirmed on TRL on September 10, 2008 that his fourth studio album, ''Before I Self Destruct'', will be "done and released in November".

On May 18, 2009, Jackson released a song entitled "Ok, You're Right". The song was produced by Dr. Dre and was included in ''Before I Self Destruct''.

In Fall 2009, 50 Cent appeared in the new season of VH1's Behind The Music.

On September 3, 2009 months upon the release of his "Before I Self Destruct" album 50 Cent posted a video for the Soundkillers' Phoenix produced track "Flight 187" which introduced his mixtape, the 50th LAW, and was also featured as a bonus track on his iTunes release of Before I Self Destruct. The song ignited speculation that there was tension between rapper 50 Cent and Jay Z for Jackson's comments in the song.

2010 – present

In an interview with the British entertainment website ContactMusic, 50 Cent announced that he was working on a dance album named ''Black Magic''. 50 Cent said he was inspired by the European nightclubs. "First they played hip-hop which suddenly changed to uptempo songs, known as Eurodance". He went on The Invitation Tour in the summer of 2010, in support of ''Before I Self Destruct'' album, and the then shelved ''Black Magic'' album. He "recorded 20 songs to a whole different album concept" before he put those to the side and did something different.

50 Cent revealed that he wanted his new album to have the same "aggression" as his debut record, ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''.

He later tweeted that the album was "80 percent done", and stated that fans can expect the album in the summer of 2011; however, the album has been delayed to 2012 at the earliest, due to tensions and disagreements at Interscope Records, Later 50 Cent said that he will release his album in November 2011 and it has also been confirmed that "Black Magic" will not be the album's title. 50 Cent has already confirmed that Eminem will appear on the album, but he also confirmed that he has been working with new producers such as Boi-1da and Alex da Kid. Cardiak, who produced Lloyd Banks' “Start It Up”, also confirmed that he had produced a song for the upcoming album.

DJ Whoo Kid confirmed in an interview that 50 Cent was filming a new movie with Robert DeNiro in New Orleans.

50 Cent released the first song from his fifth studio album, titled "Outlaw", to the Internet on June 16, 2011.

The single was produced by Cardiak.

It was released to iTunes on July 19, 2011, although 50 Cent confirmed through his Twitter account that the song was not the album's first single.

50 Cent is set to release a book titled ''Playground''.

Unlike his previous literary efforts — which focus on his life story and the rules of power — this time he's aiming at a teen audience with a semi-autobiographical novel about bullying. According to a statement from the book's publisher, the first-person novel is slated for release in January 2012 and will tell the story of a 13-year-old schoolyard bully "who finds redemption as he faces what he's done."

50 Cent has promised to deliver his fifth studio album album over the past few years, but the LP may be delayed until 2012. In a series of tweets, 50 Cent explained that him and his label Interscope Records aren’t on the same page on how to roll out the album and that he’s delaying its release until they see eye to eye.

50 Cent later suggested that his album will be releasing in November 2011, along with his headphone line ''SMS by 50''.

50 Cent spoke to MTV in relation to the possibility of leaving Interscope Records. "I don't know," 50 told MTV News when asked if he would ink back with Interscope once his five-album deal was fulfilled. "It will all be clear in the negotiations following me turning this actual album in. And, of course, the performance and how they actually treat the work will determine whether you still want to stay in that position or not."

On June 20, 2011, 50 Cent announced that he will release an LP titled ''Before I Self Destruct II''. The announced sequel to his 2009 LP is suggested to be released after his fifth studio album.

On June 26, 2011, 50 Cent planned to shoot a music video for the lead single from his fifth studio album titled ''I'm On It''. However, the music video never surfaced.

50 Cent spoke to Shade45 in relation guest appearances for his fifth studio album. "I did four songs in Detroit with Eminem. I did two with Just Blaze, a Boi-1da joint, and I did something with Alex da Kid. We made two that are definite singles and the other two are the kinds of records that we been making, more aimed at my core audience, more aggressive, more of a different kind of energy to it."

In September 2011, 50 Cent released a song titled "Street King Energy Track #7" in attempt to promote his charitable energy drink ''Street King''.

On September 28, 2011, it was confirmed that 50 Cent is shooting a music video for his lead single from his fifth studio album titled "Girls Go Wild", which features Jeremih.

On October 26, 2011, 50 Cent announced that his fifth studio album will be released in December 2011.

Other ventures

Jackson has established himself in a variety of fields. In November 2003, he signed a five-year deal with Reebok to distribute a "G-Unit Sneakers" line as part of his G-Unit Clothing Company. He provided the voice-over as the protagonist in the video game ''50 Cent: Bulletproof'', which was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the PlayStation Portable.

Its sequel, ''50 Cent: Blood on the Sand'', was released in early 2009. He worked with Glacéau to create a vitamin water drink called Formula 50. In 2007, Coca-Cola purchased Glacéau for US$4.1 billion. ''Forbes'' estimated Jackson, who owns a stake in the company, earned $100 million from the deal after taxes. He has teamed up with Right Guard to launch a body spray called Pure 50 RGX Body Spray and a condom line called Magic Stick Condoms, in which he planned to donate part of the proceeds to HIV awareness.

Jackson has signed a multi-year deal with Steiner Sports to sell his memorabilia.

In 2005, Jackson made a cameo appearance on ''The Simpsons'' episode "Pranksta Rap", in which he makes light of his legal troubles. The same year, he starred alongside Terrence Howard in the semi-autobiographical film ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''. He starred in the 2006 film ''Home of the Brave'', as a soldier returning home from the Iraq War, traumatized after killing an Iraqi woman.

Jackson is working on a role as a fighter in an Angola State Prison in ''Spectacular Regret'' alongside Nicolas Cage, and starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 2008's ''Righteous Kill'', a movie regarding a police death.

He also started the film production companies G-Unit Films in 2007 and Cheetah Vision in 2008.

In August 2007, Jackson announced plans to launch a dietary supplement company in conjunction with his movie ''Spectacular Regret''.

In August 2005, shortly before appearing in ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''', Jackson published an autobiography entitled ''From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens''. In it, Jackson explores the cultural and economic forces that led him to sell cocaine and crack, details his entrepreneurship as a drug-dealer and then as a rapper, and reflects on his own ethos and on society.

On January 4, 2007, Jackson launched his G-Unit Books imprint at the Time Warner Building. He also co-wrote ''The Ski Mask Way'', a novel about a small-time drug dealer who attempts to rob his employers, which is to be turned into a film. Jackson said he read Robert Greene's ''The 33 Strategies of War'' and worked with the author on a book titled ''The 50th Law'', an urban take on ''The 48 Laws of Power''. In May 2008, Jackson met billionaire Patrice Motsepe to forge a joint venture selling 50 Cent-branded platinum.

In 2008, Jackson started a reality television show on MTV titled ''50 Cent: The Money and the Power''; the winning contestant, Ryan Mayberry, won a $100,000 investment from Jackson.

On September 8, 2009, he published his book ''The 50th Law''.

In 2010, Jackson's film company Cheetah Vision landed $200 million in funding.

In July 2011, 50 Cent revealed his initiative to provide food for millions of people in Africa by 2016. 50 Cent teamed up with Pure Growth Partners to launch a charitable energy drink called ''Street King'' that will help aid in combating world hunger. For every purchase of Street King, a portion of the sales will go to providing a daily meal to an underprivileged child around the world. The partnership coincides with Fiddy’s mission statement of feeding a billion people in Africa over the next five years.

“50 Cent and I share a common vision: To address the world’s problems through smart and sustainable business models,” said Chris Clark, the founder and CEO of Pure Growth Partners. “With the rampant starvation in Africa and hunger afflicting children worldwide, we need socially responsible businesses that affect real change now more than ever.”

50 concurs, stating, “I’m inspired by Clarke’s vision and innovative approaches to tackling serious issues. It’s our mission with Street King to really change children’s lives around the world.”

Jackson founded SMS Audio, selling headphones with the name Street by 50. He has pledged to donate a portion of the sales to charity.

Personal life

Jackson has a tattoo of "Marquise" with an axe on his right biceps. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though," he explains. He also has "50", "Southside", and "Cold World" inscribed on his back because "I'm a product of that environment. It's on my back, though, so it's all behind me."

Family

On October 13, 1997, Jackson's then-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins gave birth to a son, Marquise Jackson.

The birth of his son changed Jackson's outlook on life: "When my son came into my life, my priorities changed, because I wanted to have the relationship with him, that I didn't have with my father." He credited his son for inspiring his career and being "motivation to go in a different direction".

Politics

In 2005, Jackson expressed support for President George Walker Bush after rapper Kanye West criticized him for the slow response in assisting the Hurricane Katrina victims.

If his felony convictions did not prevent him from voting, he claimed he would have voted for Bush.

He later stated that Bush "has less compassion than the average human. By all means, I don't aspire to be like George Bush."

Wealth

In 2007, Jackson was the second wealthiest performer in the rap industry, behind Jay-Z. He resides in Farmington, Connecticut, in the former mansion of ex-boxer Mike Tyson.

He put the mansion for sale at $18.5 million to move closer to his son who lives in Long Island with his ex-girlfriend. On October 12, 2007, the Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut declared it "50 Cent Curtis Jackson Day". He was honored with a key to the city and an official proclamation.

One of his homes in New York purchased for 2.4 million dollars in January 2007 and at the center of a lawsuit between Jackson and ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins caught fire on May 30, 2008 while he was out of town filming for a movie in Louisiana.

In December 2008 Jackson told the Canadian press that he had been affected by the recession, losing several million dollars in the stock market as an investor. He also went on to say that he had been unable to sell his Connecticut mansion and pushed ''Before I Self-Destruct'' back because of the recent economic downturn.

Legal issues

On June 29, 1994, Jackson was arrested for helping to sell four vials of cocaine to an undercover police officer. He was arrested again three weeks later when police searched his home and found heroin, ten ounces of crack cocaine, and a starter gun.

He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, but managed to serve six months in a shock incarceration boot camp where he earned his GED. Jackson said that he did not use cocaine himself, he only sold it.

His ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins sued Jackson for $50 million, claiming that he said that he would take care of her for life; the suit, which includes 15 claims was later dismissed by a judge, calling it "an unfortunate tale of a love relationship gone sour."

50 Cent was sentenced to two years probation on July 22, 2005 from an incident in May 2004 when 50 Cent jumped into the audience after being hit with a water bottle. He was charged with three counts of assault and battery.

Lawsuits

On July 21, 2007, Jackson filed a $1 million lawsuit against advertising company Traffix Inc. of Pearl River, New York for using his image in a promotion which he claims threatens his safety.

He became aware of the internet ad after one of his staff members saw it on a MySpace page. According to court documents, the ad features a cartoon image of the rapper and the message: "shoot the rapper and you will win $5000 or five ring tones guaranteed".

Though the ad did not use his name, the image allegedly intended to resemble him, suggesting he endorsed the ad.

The lawsuit calls it a "vile, tasteless and despicable" use of 50 Cent's image that "quite literally calls for violence against him". The lawsuit seeks for unspecified punitive damages and a permanent injunction against the use of his image without permission.

In November 2009, 50 Cent won in a lawsuit against Taco Bell over the fast food chain using his name to promote the brand without his permission.

Feuds

How to Rob

50 Cent said that he intended the single to be a joke, and not meant to disrespect anybody. Nevertheless, a number of rappers mentioned on the song responded on record.

The comments made towards the Wu-Tang Clan were responded to on the Ghostface Killah album ''Supreme Clientele'' on a track called "Ghost Deini" and even more directly on a skit called "Clyde Smith" which included one of the Wu-Tang Clan members talking about how they intended to harm the rapper, which is identifiable as Raekwon when the track is sped up. A supposed diss song, "Who the Fuck Is 50 Cent", which circulated the web in the beginning of 2001 was rumored to be by the Clan, but was proven to be recorded by Polite of American Cream Team (Raekwon's then-side project).

Jay-Z also reacted to the comments in the track called "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)", off the album ''Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter'':

"Go against Jigga yo' ass is dense I'm about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cents?"

Sticky Fingaz responded to the diss with the track "Jackin' for Beats."

"The real 50 from Brooklyn god bless he got outed You just a fake clown who front and rout about it."

Big Pun responds to this track on his album ''Yeeeah Baby'', in the song "My Turn."

"And to the 50 Cent Rapper, very funny – get your nut off, 'cuz in real life, we all know I'd blow your motherfucking head off...If I'm gonna write a song, it'll be about how I had to beat your mothafuckin' ass. And that'll be the name of the motherfucker: 'That's Why I Had To Beat Your Motherfucking Ass', featuring Tony Sunshine."

Kurupt responded on the diss track "Callin' Out Names."

"Now it's 50 mc's that ain't worth shit Get ya ass kicked 50 times, beat to 10 cent"

Wyclef Jean responded on the song "Low Income", from his 2000 album, ''The Ecleftic''.

"I stay so hungry that if 50 Cent came to rob me he'd be part of my charity."

The Inc.

Before signing with Interscope, Jackson engaged in a well-publicized dispute with rapper Ja Rule and his label The Inc.. Jackson claims that a friend robbed Ja Rule of his jewelry and that Ja Rule accused him of setting it up. However, Ja Rule claimed the conflict stemmed from a video shoot in Queens because Jackson did not like seeing him "getting so much love" from the neighborhood. In March 2000, while at The Hit Factory studio in New York, Jackson had an altercation with Murder Inc. associates. He was treated for three stitches after receiving a stab wound. Rapper Black Child claimed responsibility for the stabbing, saying he acted in self-defense because he thought someone reached for a gun.

An affidavit by an IRS agent suggested that Murder Inc. had ties to Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a New York drug lord who was suspected of being involved in the murder of Jam Master Jay and the shooting of Jackson. An excerpt of the affidavit read:

In an interview with MTV, Ja Rule acknowledged his defeat against 50 Cent and stated that his new album, The Mirror, will not be continuing any past feuds that he has engaged in. He said: There was a lot of things I wanted to say, and I didn't want there to be any bitter records on the album. Because I'm not bitter about anything that happened [in the past few years].

Fat Joe, Nas & Jadakiss

Before releasing ''The Massacre'', Jackson recorded a song "Piggy Bank", a response to Ja Rule's song "New York", which was leaked before the album's release. The song takes aim at rappers including Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss. Fat Joe responded with a song, "My Fofo", accusing Jackson of taking steroids, hiding in his home, and being jealous of The Game. Jadakiss also responded with a song, "Checkmate", and said that Jackson was trying to "create a buzz for his new album". The "Piggy Bank" music video portrays animated caricatures of Jadakiss (as a Ninja turtle), Fat Joe (as King Hippo from ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out''), Nas (as a kid chasing a "milkshake" truck in a Superman costume), and The Game (as Mr. Potato Head). He also disses all of them on the beef version of his single "Window Shopper" Kelis, Nas's then-wife, responded to the song on her single "Bossy". Nas later responded with "Don't Body Ya Self (MC Burial)." Nas later dissed 50 on the song "Street Ridaz" on Game's mixtape "Brake Lights".

Sean Combs

Jackson spoke negatively about Bad Boy Entertainment mogul Sean Combs and recorded a song, "Hip-Hop", revealing the reasons behind his negative feelings: primarily, a contract dispute over Mase. In the song, he implied that Diddy knew about The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder and threatened to expose him through former associates. The feud was resolved, with both rappers appearing on MTV's ''TRL'' and ''Sucker Free'', respectively, stating that there were no longer problems. The feud reignited in 2010 with 50 Cent dissing Diddy, saying his music "sucks".

Cam'ron

On February 1, 2007, Cam'ron and Jackson had a live argument on ''The Angie Martinez Show'' on Hot 97 radio. Jackson commented that Koch Entertainment was a "graveyard", meaning major record labels would not work with their artists. Cam'ron then ridiculed the record sales of G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Mobb Deep by stating that Jim Jones outsold their albums despite being signed to an independent label and that his group, The Diplomats, had a distribution deal from several labels. Both rappers released "diss" songs with videos on YouTube. Jackson suggested in "Funeral Music" that Cam'ron is no longer able to lead The Diplomats and that Jim Jones should take his place. Cam'ron responded with "Curtis" and "Curtis Pt. II", in which he makes fun of Jackson's appearance, calling him "a gorilla, with rabbit teeth". Jackson responded by releasing "Hold On" with Young Buck.

Game

Although he was close with The Game, before The Game released his debut album ''The Documentary'', they soon became at odds. After its release, Jackson felt The Game was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feuds with other rappers and even wanting to work with artists they were feuding with. He also claimed that he wrote six songs on the album and was not receiving proper credit for his work, which The Game denied.

Jackson later dismissed The Game from G-Unit on Hot 97 radio. After the announcement, The Game, who was a guest earlier in the evening, attempted to enter the building with his entourage. After being denied entry, one of his associates was shot in the leg during a confrontation with a group of men leaving the building. When the situation escalated, both rappers held a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the albums they had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation deflated, G-Unit criticized The Game's street credibility. The group denounced The Game and announced that they will not be featured on his albums. During a Summer Jam performance, The Game launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".

After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with "300 Bars and Runnin'", an extended "diss" aimed at G-Unit as well as members of Roc-A-Fella Records on the mixtape ''You Know What It Is Vol. 3''. Jackson responded through his "Piggy Bank" music video, which features The Game as a Mr. Potato Head doll and also parodies other rivals. Since then both groups continued to attack each other. The Game released two more mixtapes, ''Ghost Unit'' and a mixtape/DVD called ''Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin''.

Jackson posted a cover of The Game's head on the body of a male stripper for "Hate It or Love It (G-Unit Radio Part 21)" mixtape, as a response to The Game displaying pictures of G-Unit dressed as Village People. Although he was signed to Aftermath Entertainment, The Game left the label and signed with Geffen Records to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit (although others claim Jackson pressured Dr. Dre to kick him off). G-Unit member Spider Loc had also began to insult The Game on various songs. In addition, The Game released "240 Bars (Spider Joke)" and "100 Bars (The Funeral)" both attacking G-Unit, Spider Loc and others. Jackson's response was "Not Rich, Still Lyin'" where he mocks The Game. Lloyd Banks replied to the Game on a Rap City freestyle booth session. The Game quickly released a "diss" record called "SoundScan" where The Game pokes fun at Lloyd Banks' album ''Rotten Apple'' falling thirteen spots on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and disappointing second week sales. Lloyd Banks replied on his mixtape ''Mo' Money In The Bank Pt. 5: Gang Green Season Continues'' with a song called "Showtime (The Game's Over)". Lloyd Banks states that Jackson wrote half of The Game's first album ''The Documentary'' and pokes fun at The Game's suicidal thoughts.

In October 2006, The Game extended a peace treaty to Jackson, which was not immediately replied to. However, a couple days later, on Power 106, he stated that the treaty was only offered for one day. On The Game's album, ''Doctor's Advocate'', he claims that the feud is over on a few of the songs.

In July 2009, The Game stated the beef was squashed with help from Michael Jackson and Diddy, and he apologized for his actions during the beef. Tony Yayo said that neither Jackson (50 Cent) or G-Unit would accept his apology. Since then, The Game continued his old "G-Unot" ways at live concerts. Jackson released "So Disrespectful" a diss song on ''Before I Self Destruct'' targeting Jay-Z, The Game and Young Buck. Game later responded with the song "Shake", poking fun of the music video for 50's single "Candy Shop", quote, "Me and 50 aint agreeing on shit so I had to (Shake) Aint no telling what he putting in that protein (Shake) Seen the candy shop video look at this nigga (Shake) And thats the same shit that made the nigga Young Buck (Shake)". He also takes shots at Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, in which he says, "I'm surprised that Lloyd Banks and Yayo didn't (Shake) Wasn't selling no records Jimmy Iovine said (Shake)". Game also dissed G-Unit several times on the song "400 Bars".

In September 2011, 50 Cent dissed Game on the song "Love, Hate, Love", in which Game responded to on his twitter, saying he was going to diss him back after his tour was finished, quote:

Rick Ross

In January 2009, Rick Ross started a feud with 50 Cent because he supposedly looked at him the wrong way at the BET Awards. However, Jackson told news sources that he did not even remember seeing Rick Ross there. In late January, a track entitled "Mafia Music" by Rick Ross, leaked onto the Internet. There were several lines that seem to diss Jackson. Days later, Jackson released "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)" in response to Rick Ross's disparaging remarks on his "Mafia Music" song. The next day Rick Ross appeared on Shade 45, and told Jackson to come up with something better in 24 hours.

Before going to Venezuela, Jackson uploaded a video entitled "Warning Shot", where he warns Rick Ross: ''"I'ma fuck your life up for fun"''. In addition, Jackson released the first of a series of "Officer Ricky" cartoons. Early February, Jackson once again made a video which he uploaded to YouTube where he interviews "Tia", the mother of one of Rick Ross's children. She verifies his being a correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent. On Thursday, February 5, 2009, The Game, who Jackson has a long-standing "beef" with, called up Seattle's KUBE 93 Radio Station. When asked about the beef between Jackson and Rick Ross, The Game sided with Jackson and said that things are not looking good for Rick Ross. However, he offered to help Rick Ross get out of this situation, stating ''"Rick Ross, holla at your boy, man,"'' and ''"50 eating you'', boy."

On his album ''Deeper Than Rap'', Ross references Jackson in the song "In Cold Blood". A video for the song was released that portrayed Jackson's mock funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended Jackson's career.

In an interview, Jackson said: "Rick Ross is Albert From CB4. You ever seen the movie? He's Albert," he added. "It never gets worse than this. You get a guy that was a correctional officer come out and base his entire career on writing material from a drug dealer's perspective such as "Freeway" Ricky Ross."

Lil Wayne

After hearing word that Lil Wayne had prepared a song for him after 50 made some unkind remarks, 50 lashed out at Wayne first on August 17, 2007 with the song "Part Time Lover". Wayne never really responded to the song, although a 50 Cent diss track called "Louisianimal" did leak much later on November 17, 2008. Jackson responded to Lil Wayne in January 2009 in a song entitled "Play This On The Radio". As of August 14, 2009, the controversy between Jackson and Lil Wayne seems to have ended after Jackson appeared and performed at Lil Wayne's America's Most Wanted Musical Festival stop in Anaheim, California.

Young Buck

After numerous rumors of a "beef" within G-Unit, Jackson officially dismissed Young Buck from the group, in 2008. He later assured that he was still signed with the label. Numerous slander songs then arose on the internet from both camps, with Young Buck appearing in a music video of former rival The Game. Jackson then leaked a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck, which showed one of the true reasons for the falling out; Jackson was owed money by the Southern rapper. Young Buck later stated the conversation took place over a year before the leak. The two camps have since released a multitude of songs against each other, with the feud settling down by 2009, with Young Buck stating he's been working on his latest album, which is still to be released under the G-Unit label.

Discography

''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' (2003)

''The Massacre'' (2005)

''Curtis'' (2007)

''Before I Self Destruct'' (2009)

''Fifth studio album'' (2012)

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	''50 Cent: The New Breed''	Himself	Documentary DVD
2005		Marcus	Film debut
2006		Jamal Aiken	Supporting Role
	''Righteous Kill''	Spider	Supporting Role
	Clarence	Supporting Role
''50 Cent: The Money and the Power''	Himself	TV series (one episode: "Choose Your Crew Wisely")
	''Streets of Blood''	Stan Johnson
	Himself	TV series (Season 6, Episode 3: "One Car, Two Car, Red Car, Blue Car")
	Thigo
''Caught in the Crossfire''	Tino	Executive producer
		Jimy
	Rich
	Lionel	Supporting Role
	Himself
		Black	Post-production
''Blood Out''	Hardwick
	Sonny
	''All Things Fall Apart''	Deon
	Malo
	–	Producer
	Shamus Cocobolo
		Pre-production

Voice work

Year	Film	Role	Notes
	''The Simpsons''	Himself	TV series (one episode: "Pranksta Rap")
''50 Cent: Bulletproof''	Himself	Video game, voice only
	''50 Cent: Blood on the Sand''	Himself	Video game, voice only
''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''		Video game, voice only

References

External links

50 Cent at AOL Sessions

* Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York City Category:African-American businesspeople Category:African American film actors Category:African-American film producers Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American investors Category:American music industry executives Category:American shooting survivors Category:American stock traders Category:American video game actors Category:Brit Award winners Category:Echo winners Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:Grammy Award winners Category:G-Unit members Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Queens Category:Pseudonymous rappers Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Shady Records artists Category:Survivors of stabbing Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:World Music Awards winners

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