Color or colour (see spelling differences) is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called ''red'', ''green'', ''blue'' and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light (distribution of light energy versus wavelength) interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors. Color categories and physical specifications of color are also associated with objects, materials, light sources, etc., based on their physical properties such as light absorption, reflection, or emission spectra. By defining a color space, colors can be identified numerically by their coordinates.

Because perception of color stems from the varying spectral sensitivity of different types of cone cells in the retina to different parts of the spectrum, colors may be defined and quantified by the degree to which they stimulate these cells. These physical or physiological quantifications of color, however, do not fully explain the psychophysical perception of color appearance.

The science of color is sometimes called ''chromatics'', ''colorimetry'', or simply ''color science''. It includes the perception of color by the human eye and brain, the origin of color in materials, color theory in art, and the physics of electromagnetic radiation in the visible range (that is, what we commonly refer to simply as ''light'').

Physics

{|class=wikitable width=400 align="right" style="margin: 1em 0em 1em 1em; clear: right" |+The colors of the visible light spectrum |- !style="text-align: left"|color ! abbr="wavelength" | wavelength interval ! abbr="frequency" | frequency interval |-align="center" bgcolor="red" style="color:white;" !style="text-align: left"|red |~ 700–635 nm |~ 430–480 THz |-align="center" bgcolor="#FF8000" style="color:white;" !style="text-align: left"|orange |~ 635–590 nm |~ 480–510 THz |-align="center" bgcolor="#FFFF00" style="color:green;" !style="text-align: left"|yellow |~ 590–560 nm |~ 510–540 THz |-align="center" bgcolor="#00FF00" style="color:black;" !style="text-align: left"|green |~ 560–490 nm |~ 540–610 THz |-align="center" bgcolor="#0000FF" style="color:white;" !style="text-align: left"|blue |~ 490–450 nm |~ 610–670 THz |-align="center" bgcolor="#8000FF" style="color:white;" !style="text-align: left"|violet |~ 450–400 nm |~ 670–750 THz |} {|class=wikitable width=400 align="right" style="margin: 1em 0em 1em 1em; clear:right;" |+Color, wavelength, frequency and energy of light |- !style="text-align: left"|Color !$\backslash lambda\; \backslash ,\backslash !$ (nm) !$\backslash nu\; \backslash ,\backslash !$ (THz) !$\backslash nu\_b\; \backslash ,\backslash !$ (μm⁻¹) !$E\; \backslash ,\backslash !$ (eV) !$E\; \backslash ,\backslash !$ (kJ mol⁻¹) |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Infrared |>1000 |<300 |<1.00 |<1.24 |<120 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Red |700 |428 |1.43 |1.77 |171 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Orange |620 |484 |1.61 |2.00 |193 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Yellow |580 |517 |1.72 |2.14 |206 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Green |530 |566 |1.89 |2.34 |226 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Blue |470 |638 |2.13 |2.64 |254 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Violet |420 |714 |2.38 |2.95 |285 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Near ultraviolet |300 |1000 |3.33 |4.15 |400 |-align="right" !style="text-align: left"|Far ultraviolet |<200 |>1500 |>5.00 |>6.20 |>598 |} Electromagnetic radiation is characterized by its wavelength (or frequency) and its intensity. When the wavelength is within the visible spectrum (the range of wavelengths humans can perceive, approximately from 390 nm to 750 nm), it is known as "visible light".

Most light sources emit light at many different wavelengths; a source's ''spectrum'' is a distribution giving its intensity at each wavelength. Although the spectrum of light arriving at the eye from a given direction determines the color sensation in that direction, there are many more possible spectral combinations than color sensations. In fact, one may formally define a color as a class of spectra that give rise to the same color sensation, although such classes would vary widely among different species, and to a lesser extent among individuals within the same species. In each such class the members are called ''metamers'' of the color in question.

Spectral colors

The familiar colors of the rainbow in the spectrum – named using the Latin word for ''appearance'' or ''apparition'' by Isaac Newton in 1671 – include all those colors that can be produced by visible light of a single wavelength only, the ''pure spectral'' or ''monochromatic'' colors. The table at right shows approximate frequencies (in terahertz) and wavelengths (in nanometers) for various pure spectral colors. The wavelengths are measured in air or vacuum (see refraction).

The color table should not be interpreted as a definitive list – the pure spectral colors form a continuous spectrum, and how it is divided into distinct colors linguistically is a matter of culture and historical contingency (although people everywhere have been shown to ''perceive'' colors in the same way). A common list identifies six main bands: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Newton's conception included a seventh color, indigo, between blue and violet. Optical scientists Hardy and Perrin list indigo as between 446 and 464 nm wavelength.

The ''intensity'' of a spectral color, relative to the context in which it is viewed, may alter its perception considerably; for example, a low-intensity orange-yellow is brown, and a low-intensity yellow-green is olive-green.

For discussion of non-spectral colors, see below.

Color of objects

The color of an object depends on both the physics of the object in its environment and the characteristics of the perceiving eye and brain. Physically, objects can be said to have the color of the light leaving their surfaces, which normally depends on the spectrum of the incident illumination and the reflectance properties of the surface, as well as potentially on the angles of illumination and viewing. Some objects not only reflect light, but also transmit light or emit light themselves (see below), which contribute to the color also. And a viewer's perception of the object's color depends not only on the spectrum of the light leaving its surface, but also on a host of contextual cues, so that the color tends to be perceived as relatively constant: that is, relatively independent of the lighting spectrum, viewing angle, etc. This effect is known as color constancy.

Some generalizations of the physics can be drawn, neglecting perceptual effects for now:

Light arriving at an opaque surface is either reflected "specularly" (that is, in the manner of a mirror), scattered (that is, reflected with diffuse scattering), or absorbed – or some combination of these.

Opaque objects that do not reflect specularly (which tend to have rough surfaces) have their color determined by which wavelengths of light they scatter more and which they scatter less (with the light that is not scattered being absorbed). If objects scatter all wavelengths, they appear white. If they absorb all wavelengths, they appear black.

Opaque objects that specularly reflect light of different wavelengths with different efficiencies look like mirrors tinted with colors determined by those differences. An object that reflects some fraction of impinging light and absorbs the rest may look black but also be faintly reflective; examples are black objects coated with layers of enamel or lacquer.

Objects that transmit light are either ''translucent'' (scattering the transmitted light) or ''transparent'' (not scattering the transmitted light). If they also absorb (or reflect) light of various wavelengths differentially, they appear tinted with a color determined by the nature of that absorption (or that reflectance).

Objects may emit light that they generate themselves, rather than merely reflecting or transmitting light. They may do so because of their elevated temperature (they are then said to be ''incandescent''), as a result of certain chemical reactions (a phenomenon called ''chemoluminescence''), or for other reasons (see the articles Phosphorescence and List of light sources).

Objects may absorb light and then as a consequence emit light that has different properties. They are then called ''fluorescent'' (if light is emitted only while light is absorbed) or ''phosphorescent'' (if light is emitted even after light ceases to be absorbed; this term is also sometimes loosely applied to light emitted because of chemical reactions).

For further treatment of the color of objects, see structural color, below.

To summarize, the color of an object is a complex result of its surface properties, its transmission properties, and its emission properties, all of which factors contribute to the mix of wavelengths in the light leaving the surface of the object. The perceived color is then further conditioned by the nature of the ambient illumination, and by the color properties of other objects nearby, via the effect known as color constancy and via other characteristics of the perceiving eye and brain.

Perception

Development of theories of color vision

Although Aristotle and other ancient scientists had already written on the nature of light and color vision, it was not until Newton that light was identified as the source of the color sensation. In 1810, Goethe published his comprehensive ''Theory of Colors''. In 1801 Thomas Young proposed his trichromatic theory, based on the observation that any color could be matched with a combination of three lights. This theory was later refined by James Clerk Maxwell and Hermann von Helmholtz. As Helmholtz puts it, "the principles of Newton's law of mixture were experimentally confirmed by Maxwell in 1856. Young's theory of color sensations, like so much else that this marvellous investigator achieved in advance of his time, remained unnoticed until Maxwell directed attention to it."

At the same time as Helmholtz, Ewald Hering developed the opponent process theory of color, noting that color blindness and afterimages typically come in opponent pairs (red-green, blue-orange, yellow-purple, and black-white). Ultimately these two theories were synthesized in 1957 by Hurvich and Jameson, who showed that retinal processing corresponds to the trichromatic theory, while processing at the level of the lateral geniculate nucleus corresponds to the opponent theory.

In 1931, an international group of experts known as the ''Commission internationale de l'éclairage'' (CIE) developed a mathematical color model, which mapped out the space of observable colors and assigned a set of three numbers to each.

Color in the eye

[[File:1Mcolors.png|thumb|This image (when viewed in full size, 1000 pixels wide) contains 1 million pixels, each of a different color. The human eye can distinguish about 10 million different colors. ]]

The ability of the human eye to distinguish colors is based upon the varying sensitivity of different cells in the retina to light of different wavelengths. Humans being trichromatic, the retina contains three types of color receptor cells, or cones. One type, relatively distinct from the other two, is most responsive to light that we perceive as violet, with wavelengths around 420 nm; cones of this type are sometimes called ''short-wavelength cones'', ''S cones'', or ''blue cones''. The other two types are closely related genetically and chemically. One of them, sometimes called ''long-wavelength cones'', ''L cones'', or ''red cones'', is most sensitive to light we perceive as greenish yellow, with wavelengths around 564 nm; the other type, known as ''middle-wavelength cones'', ''M cones'', or ''green cones'' is most sensitive to light perceived as green, with wavelengths around 534 nm.

Light, no matter how complex its composition of wavelengths, is reduced to three color components by the eye. For each location in the visual field, the three types of cones yield three signals based on the extent to which each is stimulated. These amounts of stimulation are sometimes called ''tristimulus values''.

The response curve as a function of wavelength for each type of cone is illustrated above. Because the curves overlap, some tristimulus values do not occur for any incoming light combination. For example, it is not possible to stimulate ''only'' the mid-wavelength (so-called "green") cones; the other cones will inevitably be stimulated to some degree at the same time. The set of all possible tristimulus values determines the human ''color space''. It has been estimated that humans can distinguish roughly 10 million different colors.

The other type of light-sensitive cell in the eye, the rod, has a different response curve. In normal situations, when light is bright enough to strongly stimulate the cones, rods play virtually no role in vision at all. On the other hand, in dim light, the cones are understimulated leaving only the signal from the rods, resulting in a colorless response. (Furthermore, the rods are barely sensitive to light in the "red" range.) In certain conditions of intermediate illumination, the rod response and a weak cone response can together result in color discriminations not accounted for by cone responses alone. These effects, combined, are summarized also in the Kruithof curve, that describes the change of color perception and pleasingness of light as function of temperature and intensity.

Color in the brain

While the mechanisms of color vision at the level of the retina are well-described in terms of tristimulus values (see above), color processing after that point is organized differently. A dominant theory of color vision proposes that color information is transmitted out of the eye by three opponent processes, or opponent channels, each constructed from the raw output of the cones: a red-green channel, a blue-yellow channel and a black-white "luminance" channel. This theory has been supported by neurobiology, and accounts for the structure of our subjective color experience. Specifically, it explains why we cannot perceive a "reddish green" or "yellowish blue," and it predicts the color wheel: it is the collection of colors for which at least one of the two color channels measures a value at one of its extremes.

The exact nature of color perception beyond the processing already described, and indeed the status of color as a feature of the perceived world or rather as a feature of our ''perception'' of the world, is a matter of complex and continuing philosophical dispute (see qualia).

Nonstandard color perception

Color deficiency

If one or more types of a person's color-sensing cones are missing or less responsive than normal to incoming light, that person can distinguish fewer colors and is said to be ''color deficient'' or ''color blind'' (though this latter term can be misleading; almost all color deficient individuals can distinguish at least some colors). Some kinds of color deficiency are caused by anomalies in the number or nature of cones in the retina. Others (like ''central'' or ''cortical'' ''achromatopsia'') are caused by neural anomalies in those parts of the brain where visual processing takes place.

Tetrachromacy

While most humans are ''trichromatic'' (having three types of color receptors), many animals, known as ''tetrachromats'', have four types. These include some species of spiders, most marsupials, birds, reptiles, and many species of fish. Other species are sensitive to only two axes of color or do not perceive color at all; these are called ''dichromats'' and ''monochromats'' respectively. A distinction is made between ''retinal tetrachromacy'' (having four pigments in cone cells in the retina, compared to three in trichromats) and ''functional tetrachromacy'' (having the ability to make enhanced color discriminations based on that retinal difference). As many as half of all women are retinal tetrachromats. The phenomenon arises when an individual receives two slightly different copies of the gene for either the medium- or long-wavelength cones, which are carried on the x-chromosome. To have two different genes, a person must have two x-chromosomes, which is why the phenomenon only occurs in women. For some of these retinal tetrachromats, color discriminations are enhanced, making them functional tetrachromats.

Synesthesia

In certain forms of synesthesia, perceiving letters and numbers (grapheme–color synesthesia) or hearing musical sounds (music–color synesthesia) will lead to the unusual additional experiences of seeing colors. Behavioral and functional neuroimaging experiments have demonstrated that these color experiences lead to changes in behavioral tasks and lead to increased activation of brain regions involved in color perception, thus demonstrating their reality, and similarity to real color percepts, albeit evoked through a non-standard route.

Afterimages

After exposure to strong light in their sensitivity range, photoreceptors of a given type become desensitized. For a few seconds after the light ceases, they will continue to signal less strongly than they otherwise would. Colors observed during that period will appear to lack the color component detected by the desensitized photoreceptors. This effect is responsible for the phenomenon of afterimages, in which the eye may continue to see a bright figure after looking away from it, but in a complementary color.

Afterimage effects have also been utilized by artists, including Vincent van Gogh.

Color constancy

There is an interesting phenomenon which occurs when an artist uses a limited color palette: the eye tends to compensate by seeing any grey or neutral color as the color which is missing from the color wheel. For example, in a limited palette consisting of red, yellow, black and white, a mixture of yellow and black will appear as a variety of green, a mixture of red and black will appear as a variety of purple, and pure grey will appear bluish.

The trichromatic theory discussed above is strictly true when the visual system is in a fixed state of adaptation. In reality, the visual system is constantly adapting to changes in the environment and compares the various colors in a scene to reduce the effects of the illumination. If a scene is illuminated with one light, and then with another, as long as the difference between the light sources stays within a reasonable range, the colors in the scene appear relatively constant to us. This was studied by Edwin Land in the 1970s and led to his retinex theory of color constancy.

It should be noted, that both phenomena described above are readily explained and mathematical modeled with modern theories of chromatic adaptation and color appearance (e.g., CIECAM02, iCAM). There is no need to dismiss the trichromatic theory of vision, but rather it must be enhanced with an understanding of how the visual system adapts (adjusts) to changes in the viewing environment.

Color naming

Colors vary in several different ways, including hue (shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet), saturation, brightness, and gloss. Some color words are derived from the name of an object of that color, such as "orange" or "salmon", while others are abstract, like "red".

Different cultures have different terms for colors, and may also assign some color names to slightly different parts of the spectrum: for instance, the Chinese character 青 (rendered as ''qīng'' in Mandarin and ''ao'' in Japanese) has a meaning that covers both blue and green; blue and green are traditionally considered shades of "青." South Korea, on the other hand, differentiates between blue and green by using "綠 (녹)" for green and "靑 (청)" for blue.

In the 1969 study Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution, Brent Berlin and Paul Kay describe a pattern in naming "basic" colors (like "red" but not "red-orange" or "dark red" or "blood red", which are "shades" of red). All languages that have two "basic" color names distinguish dark/cool colors from bright/warm colors. The next colors to be distinguished are usually red and then yellow or green. All languages with six "basic" colors include black, white, red, green, blue and yellow. The pattern holds up to a set of twelve: black, grey, white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and azure (distinct from blue in Russian and Italian but not English).

Associations

Individual colors have a variety of cultural associations such as national colors (in general described in individual color articles and color symbolism). The field of color psychology attempts to identify the effects of color on human emotion and activity. Chromotherapy is a form of alternative medicine attributed to various Eastern traditions. Colors have different associations in different countries and cultures.

Different colors have been demonstrated to have affects on cognition. For example, researchers at the University of Linz in Austria demonstrated that the color red significantly decreases cognitive functioning in men.

Spectral colors and color reproduction

Most light sources are mixtures of various wavelengths of light. However, many such sources can still have a spectral color insofar as the eye cannot distinguish them from monochromatic sources. For example, most computer displays reproduce the spectral color orange as a combination of red and green light; it appears orange because the red and green are mixed in the right proportions to allow the eye's red and green cones to respond the way they do to orange.

A useful concept in understanding the perceived color of a non-monochromatic light source is the dominant wavelength, which identifies the single wavelength of light that produces a sensation most similar to the light source. Dominant wavelength is roughly akin to hue.

There are many color perceptions that by definition cannot be pure spectral colors due to desaturation or because they are purples (mixtures of red and violet light, from opposite ends of the spectrum). Some examples of necessarily non-spectral colors are the achromatic colors (black, gray and white) and colors such as pink, tan, and magenta.

Two different light spectra that have the same effect on the three color receptors in the human eye will be perceived as the same color. This is exemplified by the white light emitted by fluorescent lamps, which typically has a spectrum of a few narrow bands, while daylight has a continuous spectrum. The human eye cannot tell the difference between such light spectra just by looking into the light source, although reflected colors from objects can look different. (This is often exploited e.g. to make fruit or tomatoes look more intensely red.)

Similarly, most human color perceptions can be generated by a mixture of three colors called ''primaries''. This is used to reproduce color scenes in photography, printing, television and other media. There are a number of methods or color spaces for specifying a color in terms of three particular primary colors. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the particular application.

No mixture of colors, though, can produce a fully pure color perceived as completely identical to a spectral color, although one can get very close for the longer wavelengths, where the chromaticity diagram above has a nearly straight edge. For example, mixing green light (530 nm) and blue light (460 nm) produces cyan light that is slightly desaturated, because response of the red color receptor would be greater to the green and blue light in the mixture than it would be to a pure cyan light at 485 nm that has the same intensity as the mixture of blue and green.

Because of this, and because the ''primaries'' in color printing systems generally are not pure themselves, the colors reproduced are never perfectly saturated colors, and so spectral colors cannot be matched exactly. However, natural scenes rarely contain fully saturated colors, thus such scenes can usually be approximated well by these systems. The range of colors that can be reproduced with a given color reproduction system is called the gamut. The CIE chromaticity diagram can be used to describe the gamut.

Another problem with color reproduction systems is connected with the acquisition devices, like cameras or scanners. The characteristics of the color sensors in the devices are often very far from the characteristics of the receptors in the human eye. In effect, acquisition of colors that have some special, often very "jagged," spectra caused for example by unusual lighting of the photographed scene can be relatively poor.

Species that have color receptors different from humans, e.g. birds that may have four receptors, can differentiate some colors that look the same to a human. In such cases, a color reproduction system 'tuned' to a human with normal color vision may give very inaccurate results for the other observers.

The different color response of different devices can be problematic if not properly managed. For color information stored and transferred in digital form, color management techniques, such as those based on ICC profiles, can help to avoid distortions of the reproduced colors. Color management does not circumvent the gamut limitations of particular output devices, but can assist in finding good mapping of input colors into the gamut that can be reproduced.

Pigments and reflective media

Pigments are chemicals that selectively absorb and reflect different spectra of light. When a surface is painted with a pigment, light hitting the surface is reflected, minus some wavelengths. This subtraction of wavelengths produces the appearance of different colors. Most paints are a blend of several chemical pigments, intended to produce a reflection of a given color.

Pigment manufacturers assume the source light will be white, or of roughly equal intensity across the spectrum. If the light is not a pure white source (as in the case of nearly all forms of artificial lighting), the resulting spectrum will appear a slightly different color. Red paint, viewed under blue light, may appear black. Red paint is red because it reflects only the red components of the spectrum. Blue light, containing none of these, will create no reflection from red paint, creating the appearance of black.

Structural color

Structural colors are colors caused by interference effects rather than by pigments. Color effects are produced when a material is scored with fine parallel lines, formed of one or more parallel thin layers, or otherwise composed of microstructures on the scale of the color's wavelength. If the microstructures are spaced randomly, light of shorter wavelengths will be scattered preferentially to produce Tyndall effect colors: the blue of the sky (Rayleigh scattering, caused by structures much smaller than the wavelength of light, in this case air molecules), the luster of opals, and the blue of human irises. If the microstructures are aligned in arrays, for example the array of pits in a CD, they behave as a diffraction grating: the grating reflects different wavelengths in different directions due to interference phenomena, separating mixed "white" light into light of different wavelengths. If the structure is one or more thin layers then it will reflect some wavelengths and transmit others, depending on the layers' thickness.

Structural color is studied in the field of thin-film optics. A layman's term that describes particularly the most ordered or the most changeable structural colors is iridescence. Structural color is responsible for the blues and greens of the feathers of many birds (the blue jay, for example), as well as certain butterfly wings and beetle shells. Variations in the pattern's spacing often give rise to an iridescent effect, as seen in peacock feathers, soap bubbles, films of oil, and mother of pearl, because the reflected color depends upon the viewing angle. Numerous scientists have carried out research in butterfly wings and beetle shells, including Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke. Since 1942, electron micrography has been used, advancing the development of products that exploit structural color, such as "photonic" cosmetics.

Additional terms

Colorfulness, chroma, purity, or saturation: how "intense" or "concentrated" a color is. Technical definitions distinguish between colorfulness, chroma, and saturation as distinct perceptual attributes and include purity as a physical quantity. These terms, and others related to light and color are internationally agreed upon and published in the CIE Lighting Vocabulary. More readily available texts on colorimetry also define and explain these terms.

Dichromatism: a phenomenon where the hue is dependent on concentration and/or thickness of the absorbing substance.

Hue: the color's direction from white, for example in a color wheel or chromaticity diagram.

Shade: a color made darker by adding black.

Tint: a color made lighter by adding white.

Value, brightness, lightness, or luminosity: how light or dark a color is.

See also

CIECAM02

Color mapping

Complementary color

Impossible color

International Color Consortium

International Commission on Illumination

List of colors

Neutral color

Pearlescent coating including Metal effect pigments

Primary color

Rainbow

Secondary color

Tertiary color

References

External links and sources

Bibliography Database on Color Theory, Buenos Aires University

Why Should Engineers and Scientists Be Worried About Color?

Robert Ridgway's ''A Nomenclature of Colors'' (1886) and ''Color Standards and Color Nomenclature'' (1912) - text-searchable digital facsimiles at Linda Hall Library

Albert Henry Munsell's A Color Notation, (1907) at Project Gutenberg

* Category:Image processing Category:Vision

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Coordinates	51°43′″N94°27′″N
name	Jamey Johnson
background	solo_singer
born	July 14, 1975
birth place	Enterprise, Alabama, USA
origin	Montgomery, Alabama, USA
instrument	Vocals, guitar
genre	Country
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	2005–present
label	BNAMercury Nashville
website	JameyJohnson.com
associated acts	Trace AdkinsRandy HouserJohn Michael MontgomeryJoe NicholsJames OttoGeorge StraitGeorge Jones }}

Jamey Johnson (born July 14, 1975) is an American country music artist. Signed to BNA Records in 2005, Johnson made his debut with his single "The Dollar", the title track to his 2006 album ''The Dollar''. Johnson was dropped from BNA in 2006 and signed to Mercury Nashville Records in March 2008, releasing his second album, the gold-certified ''That Lonesome Song''. This album has produced two more singles: the Top 10 hit "In Color" and "High Cost of Living." In addition to most of his own material, Johnson has co-written singles for Trace Adkins, George Strait, James Otto, Joe Nichols and Jessie James.

Career

Johnson was born on July 14, 1975, in Enterprise, Alabama, but raised in Montgomery, Alabama. From an early age, he was influenced by country acts such as Alabama and Alan Jackson, the latter of whom was the first act that he saw in concert. After graduating high school (Jeff Davis High School), Johnson attended Jacksonville State University, the same university from which Alabama lead singer Randy Owen graduated. During his time at Jacksonville State University, he was a member of Sigma Nu in the Iota Lambda chapter.

Johnson quit college after two years and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for eight years. He served in Co L, 3rd Bn, 23rd Marines as an 0341 (Mortarman) and attained the rank of Corporal. He would often play original songs for his fellow Marines and has kept in contact with many of them. He wrote two songs on his initial self-released album that mention his Marine Corps service. After exiting the Marines, he began playing country music in various bars throughout Montgomery; one of his first gigs was opening for David Allan Coe. By 2000, Johnson had moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in pursuit of a career in country music. He also self-released an album called ''They Call Me Country''. One of his first connections was with Greg Perkins, a fiddler who had played for Tanya Tucker and other artists. Perkins invited Johnson to sing as a duet partner on a demo tape; the other duet partner with whom he sang was Gretchen Wilson. Songs for which Johnson sang demos include "Songs About Me" (cut by Trace Adkins) and "That's How They Do It in Dixie" (cut by Hank Williams, Jr. with Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Van Zant).

In addition, Johnson had made connections with producer and songwriter Buddy Cannon, who helped him land a songwriting contract. Among Johnson's first cuts as a songwriter was "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," which Adkins released from his 2005 album ''Songs About Me''. That song he co-wrote along with fellow country singer-songwriter Randy Houser, who later worked with Johnson again co-writing "My Cowboy" for country pop singer Jessie James for her self-titled debut album.

Musical career

By 2005, Johnson had also been signed to a recording contract with BNA Records. His first single, entitled "The Dollar," was released that year, followed by his Buddy Cannon-produced debut album (also entitled ''The Dollar'') in March 2006. "The Dollar" went on to peak at #14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. The album's second single, "Rebelicious," failed to enter the charts and Johnson was dropped from BNA.

After the loss of his record deal, Johnson divorced his wife and took on a reclusive lifestyle, residing in a friend's house while working on his songwriting. He wrote several songs for other artists. In 2006, George Strait reached #1 on the Country chart with "Give It Away," a song which Johnson co-wrote with Bill Anderson and Cannon. This song became Strait's 51st #1 on the ''Billboard'' country charts, setting a new record for most #1s on that chart.

In 2007, Trace Adkins charted with two more songs that Johnson co-wrote: "Ladies Love Country Boys" and "I Got My Game On," the former being Adkins' first #1 in 10 years. Also in 2007, Joe Nichols reached Top 20 with "Another Side of You," another song co-written by Johnson. This song was the first single on Nichols's album ''Real Things'', which also contained "She's All Lady," a song that Johnson originally recorded on ''The Dollar''.

Johnson was part of the Fox TV television series ''Nashville'', which was cancelled after two episodes in September 2007.

Johnson released an album in 2008, ''That Lonesome Song'', which was only made available online. The album drew the attention of Mercury Nashville Records, who signed him to a record deal in 2008. His first single for the label, "In Color," was released in March 2008. This song, which Johnson co-wrote with Lee Thomas Miller and James Otto, entered Top 40 in June 2008, and ''That Lonesome Song'' was physically released in August of that year. "In Color" peaked at #9 on the Country chart in January 2009 and was followed a month later by "High Cost of Living," which managed to crack the Top 40, but only reaching #34. By April 2009, ''That Lonesome Song'' was certified Gold by the RIAA.

A fifth single, "My Way to You," was issued in July 2009. The song was released to radio on July 13, 2009, and debuted at #56 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The song peaked at #52 in September 2009.

Johnson was nominated for the 2009 CMA Awards New Artist of the Year, and has been nominated for the 2010 Academy of Country Music Top New Solo Vocalist.

Johnson's newest single, "Playing the Part," was released in summer, 2010 and included on ''The Guitar Song'', released Sept. 14, 2010. The music video for the single was released in October, and was directed by Matthew McConaughey, who also stars in the video as a dancing gorilla.

Johnson is the supporting act on Kid Rock's 2011 Born Free Tour, accompanying Rock on a duet or 2 most nights.

Johnson is a main stage act on Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown May–July 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chartpositions			! width="45"
		''They Call Me Country''			* Release date: 2002	* Label: [[self-released">Music recording sales certification
! width="45"	! width="45"
''They Call Me Country''		* Release date: 2002	* Label: [[self-released	—	—
''The Dollar''		* Release date: January 31, 2006	* Label: BNA Records	20	87
''That Lonesome Song''		* Release date: August 5, 2008	Universal Music Group Nashville>Mercury Nashville	6	28		RIAA certification>US: Gold
''The Guitar Song''		* Release date: September 14, 2010	* Label: Mercury Nashville	1	4		* US: Gold

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chartpositions		Album
		! width="45"	! width="45"
2005	! scope="row"	14	101
2006	"Rebelicious"	—	—
2008	! scope="row"	9	52		US">Music recording sales certification	Album
! width="45"	! width="45"
2005	! scope="row"	14	101
2006	"Rebelicious"	—	—
2008	! scope="row"	9	52		US: Gold
	"High Cost of Living"	34	—
"My Way to You"	52	—
2010	"Playing the Part"	39	—
2011	"Heartache"	51	—

Music videos

! Year	! Video	! Director
2006	"The Dollar"	Wes Edwards
2008	"In Color"	Shaun Silva
	"High Cost of Living"	Clifton Collins, Jr.
"Bad Angel" (with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert)	George Flanigen
"Playing The Part"	Matthew McConaughey

Other appearances

! Year	Title	! Album
2010	"Cold Beer" (with Colt Ford)	''Ride Through the Country''
2010	"Bad Angel" (with Dierks Bentley, and Miranda Lambert)	''Up on the Ridge''
2010	"Cover of The Rolling Stone" (with Sammy Kershaw)	''Better Than I Used to Be''
2010	"Four Walls Of Raiford"	''Sweet Home Alabama: A country Tribute to Lynrd Skynrd''
2011	"This Time"	''Music Inside - Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Vol 1''
2011	"The Day Hank Jr. Came To Town" (with Tonya Watts)	''Handcuff My Soul''
2011	"Some Gave All" (with Billy Ray Cyrus, Darryl Worley, and Craig Morgan)	''I'm American''
2011	"Yesterdays Wine" (with Blackberry Smoke, and George Jones)	''Little Piece of Dixie (2010 Deluxe edition)''
2011	"Two Outta' Three Ain't Bad"	''Imus Ranch Record II''
2010	"Bad Angel" (with Dierks Bentley, and Miranda Lambert)	''Up on the Ridge''
2011	"Have Thine Own Way Lord" (with The Blind Boys of Alabama)	'Take The High Road''
2011	"La Grange"	'ZZ Top: A Tribute From Friends''

Awards and nominations

Johnson received three Grammy Award nominations at the 51st Grammy Awards: Best Country Album for ''That Lonesome Song'', and Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "In Color." "In Color" won the Academy of Country Music's 2009 award for Song of the Year and the same award during the 2009 Country Music Association Awards. Going into 2010, Johnson received two more Grammy Award nominations for the 52nd Grammy Awards: Best Country Song and Best Male Country Vocal Performance, both for his 2009 single "High Cost of Living."

|- |- | rowspan="10"| 2009 | rowspan="3"| 51st Grammy Awards | Best Country Album — ''That Lonesome Song'' | |- | Best Country Song — "In Color" | |- | Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "In Color" | |- | rowspan="3"| Academy of Country Music | Song of the Year — "In Color" | |- | Top New Male Artist | |- | Top Album of the Year — ''That Lonesome Song'' | |- | rowspan="4"| Country Music Association | Song of the Year — "In Color" | |- | Single of the Year — "In Color" | |- | New Artist of the Year | |- | Album of the Year — ''That Lonesome Song'' | |- | rowspan="4"| 2010 | rowspan="2"| 52nd Grammy Awards | Best Country Song — "High Cost of Living" | |- | Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "High Cost of Living" | |- | Academy of Country Music | Top New Solo Vocalist | |- | Country Music Association Awards | Musical Event - "Bad Angel" (with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert) | |- |rowspan=3|2011 |rowspan=3|53rd Grammy Awards | Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Macon" | |- | Best Country Collaboration with Vocals — "Bad Angel" (with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert) | |- | Best Country Album — ''The Guitar Song'' | |}

References

External links

Official Site

Official Jamey Johnson UMG Nashville Artist Page

Category:1975 births Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American male singers Category:BNA Records artists Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from Alabama Category:People from Montgomery, Alabama

tr:Jamey Johnson

Coordinates	51°43′″N94°27′″N
Name	Cyndi Lauper
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper
Birth date	June 22, 1953
Spouse	David Thornton
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, Appalachian dulcimer, zither, guitar, recorder, omnichord, trombone, percussion, electric bass, piano, banjo, ukulele
Associated acts	Blue Angel
Genre	Pop rockDance-rockNew WaveBlues
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, producer, actress (film & stage)
Years active	1977–present
Label	Portrait, Epic, Downtown
Associated acts	Blue Angel
Website	www.cyndilauper.com }}

Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album ''She's So Unusual'' and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album. Lauper has released 11 albums and over 40 singles, and as of 2008 had sold more than 30 million records worldwide.

Life and career

1953–1979: Early life

The daughter of Fred and Catrine Lauper, Cyndi Lauper was born and raised in Ozone Park in a Catholic family, in the borough of Queens in New York City. Her mother uses the stage name "Catrine Dominique" for the music videos in which she has appeared. Her father was of German and Swiss descent and her mother is Italian American (from Sicily). She has an older sister, Ellen, and a younger brother, Fred (nicknamed Butch).

After Lauper's parents divorced, her mother remarried, divorced again, and went to work as a waitress. It was during this time that Lauper began listening to artists like Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Beatles. Her mother encouraged her independence and creativity. At the age of twelve, Lauper learned how to play an acoustic guitar, which her sister had given to her, and she started to write her own lyrics. She had a great love of art and music and tried to find ways to express herself. Even at this early age, Lauper started dyeing her hair different colors and wearing radical fashions. Lauper was accepted in a special public high school for students with talent in the visual arts, but she was held back and eventually dropped out, earning her GED sometime later. At the age of seventeen, she left home, planning to study art. Her journey would take her to Canada, where she spent two weeks in the woods with her dog, Sparkle, trying to find herself. She eventually wound up in Vermont, where she took art classes at Johnson State College. She supported herself by working at various odd jobs.

In the mid 1970s, Lauper performed as a vocalist with various cover bands (such as Doc West and Flyer, who still perform under the names Gap Wilson Band and Red, White and Blues Band), in the New York metropolitan area, singing hits by bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, and Bad Company. Even though Lauper was now performing on stage, she was not happy singing cover songs. In 1977, Lauper damaged her vocal cords and took a year off. She was told by three doctors that she would never sing again. Vocal coach Katie Agresta helped Lauper regain her voice by teaching her proper vocal exercises.

1980–1981: Blue Angel

In 1978, after Lauper regained her voice, she met saxophone player John Turi through her manager Ted Rosenblatt. Turi and Lauper became writing partners and formed a band called Blue Angel. They decided to put everything they had into making an album of original material. A few demos were recorded and the tape found its way over to Steve Massarsky, who was managing The Allman Brothers Band. Massarsky said the tape was horrible, but he was attracted to Lauper's voice. He saw them play live and eventually started managing the band after buying their contract out for $5,000. Many people wanted to sign Lauper only if she would sign on as a solo artist. Lauper held out, wanting the band to be included in any deal she made. Polydor Records eventually signed them as a band. In 1980, they released a self-titled album on Polydor Records. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine later included it as one of the 100 best new wave album covers (2003). Lauper hated the cover, often saying they made her look like Big Bird. Despite critical acclaim, the album sold poorly (or "went lead", as Lauper says) and the band broke up. Polydor Records had a regime change, and the label would not let the band back into the studio unless they had a hit. The members of Blue Angel had a falling out with Massarsky and fired him as their manager. He later filed an $80,000 suit against them. This suit forced Lauper into bankruptcy.

Lauper started working in retail stores such as the New York high-end thrift store Screaming Mimi's to make ends meet, and she still sang in local clubs. Her most frequent gigs were at El Sombrero. Music critics that saw Lauper perform with Blue Angel thought that she had star potential since she had a wide singing range (four octaves), perfect pitch, and a vocal style all her own. In 1981, while singing in a local New York bar, Lauper met David Wolff, who took over as her manager (and at some point became romantically involved with her) and got her signed with Portrait Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records. Wolff had been working with a band called Arc Angel.

1983–1985: ''She's So Unusual''

On October 14, 1983, ''She's So Unusual'' was released and peaked at #4 in the US becoming a worldwide hit. With help from Rick Chertoff, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman (of The Hooters) as her primary studio musicians, ''She's So Unusual'''s popularity spread like wildfire. At the time, Lauper became popular with teenagers and critics, in part due to her hybrid punk image, crafted by stylist Patrick Lucas.

Lauper knew she could write songs, but the record company had a lot of material they wanted her to record. She altered a lot of the songs that were thrown her way, often changing the lyrics to suit her. An example is her Platinum-certified "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"; Lauper says the original lyrics of the song dealt more with a girl pleasing a man, and therefore she changed the lyrics, wanting the song to be more of an anthem as she felt the original song seemed misogynistic. The album's second single was the ballad "Time After Time". Lauper co-wrote "Time After Time" with Rob Hyman when her producer, Rick Chertoff, suggested to the band that the album could use one more song. The record label did not have much faith in Lauper as a songwriter, but they gave her the chance to prove herself. "Time After Time" hit #1 on both Billboard's Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It earned Lauper Gold certification with sales of 500,000 from the RIAA and was one of the biggest hits of 1984. It has been covered by more than 100 artists. Lauper came up with the title for "Time After Time" while reading ''TV Guide''—''Time After Time'' was a 1979 science fiction movie starring Malcolm McDowell as H. G. Wells, portraying him inventing and then traveling in a time machine. "She Bop" was the album's third single release. It reached #3 on the Hot 100 and earned Cyndi another Gold certification of 500,000 from the RIAA. This was followed by "All Through the Night" which was written by Jules Shear and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. . Jules Shear and Cyndi Lauper went on to co-write the song "Steady." The song reached #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.

The album also includes a cover of The Brains' New Wave track "Money Changes Everything" which reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In some countries, "When You Were Mine", a cover of a Prince song found on his 1980 album "Dirty Mind", was released as a promotional single in 1985. Lauper spent 1984 touring and promoting ''She's So Unusual''. By the end of the year, she was the first female to have four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 Top Five hits from one album. The LP itself stayed in the Top 200 charts for more than 65 weeks and has since sold 16 million copies worldwide. In 1985, The Women in Crystal Film Awards awarded her with the New Directions Award, given to those who are known for their creativity and originality.

The video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" made Lauper an MTV staple. The video ran constantly on MTV and featured the late professional wrestling manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Lauper's father, and her real-life mother, Catrine, as her mother. Also in the video are her attorney, her manager and her brother, Butch. It won the first-ever award for Best Female Video at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. All three of Lauper's first videos were directed by Edd Griles, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time" and "She Bop". The videos featured many of Lauper's family members and her dog, Sparkle. Lauper was on the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in May 1984. The photo on the cover had been reversed to make room for the title. She also appeared on the cover of ''Time'' and ''Newsweek'' with the headline "Women In Rock". Lauper was voted by ''Ms.'' magazine one of its women of the year. During this time period, Lauper appeared on the cover of People magazine twice. The video for "Money Changes Everything" was shot during a concert at the Summit in Houston, Texas. The concert was broadcast over the radio and HBO, and fans were told to show up wearing white T-shirts. The video featured a 14 year old fan named Jennifer Payson hugging Lauper onstage.

She started 1985 by participating on USA for Africa's famine-relief fund-raising single "We Are the World", singing the climactic soprano part of the bridge. During the taping of the song, the audio engineers were having problems discovering what was causing a clicking noise in the recording. It was discovered to be coming from Lauper's jewelry. Also, in 1985, Lauper won a Grammy Award in the Best New Artist category. At the event, she appeared with WWF Superstar Hulk Hogan, who played her "bodyguard." Lauper, in return, made many appearances as herself in a number of the World Wrestling Federation's "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" events, including the inaugural WrestleMania event, where she was the manager of Wendi Richter. Their entrance music was "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."

Steven Spielberg had asked Lauper to be the musical director of his latest film ''The Goonies'', an adventurous family film about lost treasure. Lauper had the power to choose whom she wanted on the soundtrack, so she tried to make the album very diverse. The Bangles were just one of the bands that contributed to the soundtrack. Lauper stated in a 1986 interview that she had been working 12 hour days and had gynecological problems. Lauper had a minor operation and spent some time in the hospital. Her doctors told her that she needed some rest, preventing her from participating in the Live Aid concert. The music video for "The Goonies R Good Enough" featured many guest stars, including WWF personalities such as the Iron Sheik, Captain Lou Albano, Roddy Piper, André the Giant, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, and Nikolai Volkoff, members of the Goonies cast, and the Bangles. The video was split up into two acts, making Lauper the very first artist to have a two-part video. Spielberg even allowed her access to the set pieces from the film. The soundtrack album reached #73 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The song reached #10 on Billboards Hot 100 chart in 1985. Lauper received a Best Female Rock Performance Grammy nomination for the B-side song "What a Thrill". Lauper has been quoted as saying that she had long despised the song because of Richard Donner's insistence on everything being perfect for the video shoot. In behind-the-scenes footage of the video, you can see Lauper physically exhausted from the work on the video. The video was released in two parts. The first part premiered on MTV before ''The Goonies'' was released in theaters, and the second part came after the movie had opened. While the song and the movie have become 1980s cult classics, working on the soundtrack postponed Lauper's second album.

Lauper stopped performing "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", in concert around 1987. During the Australian leg of her 2004 "At Last" tour, at the request of the crowd she performed an a cappella version of the first verse and chorus at several shows. It was at a show in Baltimore on Lauper's 2006 tour that she finally played it in full again. The crowd was chanting "Goonies" and she sang the song a cappella to an ecstatic crowd. She finally agreed to play the song again on her "True Colors" tour in 2007, and it was featured in her 2008 tour of Australia as the second number performed at each show. During the video commentary for "The Goonies", actor Sean Astin can be heard thanking Lauper for the song. He says that they all appeared tired on the set of the video because of the rigorous shooting schedule, but they really did love the song. Astin apologizes to Lauper again in footage that can be seen in the upcoming "Goonies Documentary".

1986–1988: ''True Colors''

Lauper released her second album, ''True Colors'', on September 15, 1986. It reached #4 on the Billboard 200. For this album, she increased her involvement both in production and songwriting. Guests on the album included Angela Clemons-Patrick, Nile Rodgers, Aimee Mann, Billy Joel, Adrian Belew, The Bangles, Ellie Greenwich, and Rick Derringer. Lauper co-wrote most of the album with Essra Mohawk, John Turi, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Although the album was not as commercially successful as its predecessor was, it contained three high-charting singles, including the title track, "True Colors" which became Cyndi's second song to hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, "Change of Heart" (#3) and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (#12) followed. The album also featured an older song called "Maybe He'll Know", which was on the ''Blue Angel'' album. The album covers for both ''She's So Unusual'' and ''True Colors'' were composed by photographer Annie Leibovitz. "True Colors" was licensed to Kodak for use in its commercials. Lauper had no control over the song, which was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The fourth single from the album, "Boy Blue", became Lauper's first solo non-top-40 single. The proceeds of the song were donated to AIDS research. The album sold 2 million copies in the United States.

In 1986, Lauper appeared on the Billy Joel album ''The Bridge'' on a song called "Code of Silence". Lauper also sang the theme song for the series "Pee-wee's Playhouse" the same year, though she was credited as "Ellen Shaw". Playhouse star Paul Reubens appeared on the ''True Colors'' album track "911" as an emergency operator. In 1987, David Wolff produced a concert film for Lauper called ''Cyndi: Live in Paris''. The concert was broadcast on HBO that same year and received a Grammy nomination for Outstanding Long Form Music Video.

Lauper made her film debut in August 1988 in the quirky comedy ''Vibes'', alongside Jeff Goldblum, Julian Sands, Elizabeth Peña and Peter Falk. Lauper played a psychic in search of a city of gold in South America. The film was produced by Ron Howard and David Wolff acted as the film's associate producer.

To prepare for the role, Lauper took a few classes in finger waving and hair setting at the Robert Fiance School of Beauty in New York and studied with a few Manhattan psychics. The film was poorly received by critics and commercially flopped. Lauper contributed a track called "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)" but the song was not included on the soundtrack. A video was released, which was a high energy, comic action/adventure romp through a Chinese laundry. The song stalled at a disappointing #54 on the US charts, but fared better in Australia, peaking at #8 and becoming her fifth and final Top 10 single in Australia. It was performed as the opening song on her 2008 Australian tour.

1989–1992: ''A Night to Remember''

''A Night to Remember'' – Lauper's third album – was released in the spring of 1989. The album spawned only one big hit, the #6 single "I Drove All Night", for which Lauper received a Grammy nomination for Rock Vocal Performance as well as another Gold certification of 500,000 from the RIAA in January 1990. The song was originally penned for and sung by Roy Orbison, although his version was not released until 1992, three years after Lauper's version and four years after his death. She also wrote and produced most of the album. Contributing writers were Desmond Child, Christina Amphlett of Divinyls, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, Diane Warren, and Frank Previte. Guest musicians include Bootsy Collins, Larry Blackmon, Batkini Khumalo, Eric Clapton, and Nile Rodgers. The video for "My First Night Without You", released in 1989, was one of the first to be closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.

The disappointing sales of the album "A Night To Remember", a canceled United States tour due to low ticket sales and the pressures of celebrity led Lauper to "retire" from her "singing." She toured South America and Japan successfully into the early stages of 1990 and then retreated into acting.

On July 21, 1990, Lauper joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of ''The Wall'' in Berlin, performing "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II". She also performed on the song, "The Tide Is Turning" with Waters, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, Paul Carrack and Van Morrison. Lauper wore a school girl outfit, performing to over 300,000 people. The concert was watched live by over five million people worldwide.

Lauper had become close friends with Yoko Ono. In 1990 she took part in a John Lennon tribute concert in Liverpool, performing the Beatles song "Hey Bulldog" and the John Lennon song "Working Class Hero". The concert was aired on the Disney Channel. She also took part in a project Ono and Lennon developed called "The Peace Choir". They performed a new version of Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance". The reworked "Give Peace a Chance" was written by Sean Lennon. In 1990, Lauper co-wrote the song "Paper Heart" (a song about drug addiction) with Go-Go's alumna Jane Wiedlin. The song appeared on Wiedlin's CD ''Tangled''.

Lauper worked on the movie originally titled ''Moon Over Miami'', which later became ''Off and Running'' with David Keith, Richard Belzer and David Thornton, whom she started seeing romantically. Lauper claims that Miami was a great place to fall in love. The film was released in Europe but never made it off the ground in the US market. (David Wolff was the music supervisor for the film.) On November 24, 1991 Cyndi and David Thornton were married at the Friends Meeting House in New York. Rock and Roll pioneer Little Richard, who at one time gave up Rock and Roll to become a minister performed the ceremony. Patti LaBelle sang Procol Harum's classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and Lauper's grandmother served as the matron of honor. Other guests included Paul Reubens, best known for his Pee-wee Herman character, and John Turturro. Lauper had threatened to dress like a lighted Christmas tree, but settled on a traditional white wedding dress.

In 1992, Lauper contributed two tracks to the European musical ''Tycoon'', an English version of the hit French-Canadian stage show ''Starmania''. She scored another Top 20 hit in Europe (it went to #2 in France, earning a 2x platinum certification there) with "The World Is Stone", penned by Tim Rice, Michel Berger, and Luc Plamondon. She also recorded "You Have To Learn To Live Alone". The two tracks were included on a compilation released in the U.S. in 2000. Lauper recorded "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", a duet with Frank Sinatra, which was released on the album ''Very Special Christmas II''. Sinatra's vocals were taken from his original recording and mixed with Lauper's in the studio.

1993–1995: ''Hat Full of Stars''/''Twelve Deadly Cyns''

In June 1993 Lauper released her fourth album, ''Hat Full of Stars'', which tackled such topics as homophobia, spousal abuse, racism and abortion. Despite significant accolades – and decent sales in France and Japan – it was a sales failure (moving less than 120,000 copies) in the United States. The album peaked at #112 on the Billboard charts, largely because the album suffered from a lack of promotion. Lauper appeared on the ''Howard Stern Show'' to promote the album. Lauper said the song "Hat Full of Stars" was written as a message to David Wolff. The video for "Who Let in the Rain" features a picture of David Wolff in a frame. "A Part Hate" was written collaboratively by Lauper and husband David Thornton. The video for "Sally's Pigeons" features the then unknown Julia Stiles as the young Cyndi.

Tommy Mottola, president of Sony Music, told Lauper to go out and make her own ''Graceland'' (referring to Paul Simon's album). Lauper wanted to write her own material and stop doing cover songs. She wrote some songs on the album with other people, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ailee Willis, Nicky Holland, Tom Gray, Hugh Masekela and The Hooters. The same year, Lauper recorded "Boys Will Be Boys" with The Hooters. The song "Private Emotion" was dedicated to her by The Hooters. Both songs appeared on the Hooter's CD ''Out of Body''. Lauper also returned to acting, playing Michael J. Fox's ditzy secretary in 1993's ''Life with Mikey,'' which also starred Nathan Lane.

''Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some,'' was released worldwide in 1994 (except in the U.S., where it was held back until the summer of 1995). The album was a greatest hits compilation that included two re-recorded tracks, "I'm Gonna be Strong", first recorded with her band Blue Angel, and a reworking of her first big hit, newly christened "Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)". The Japanese edition of the CD includes the single "Hole In My Heart (All The Way To China)" as the final track. The album was released under a number of different titles, and had different packaging and track listings for certain countries. ''Twelve Deadly Cyns'' sold over 5 million copies worldwide and Lauper began a world tour to promote the album. It was especially popular in the UK, "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" hit number four (the single also returned Lauper to the US Hot 100, albeit briefly). The song includes special appearances by Snow and Patra. The album also included a hot reggae influenced song, "Come On Home", which was remixed by Junior Vasquez with a special appearance by Demetrius "Sir Jam" Ross.

Lauper won an Emmy Award for her role as Marianne on the sitcom ''Mad About You''. A ''12 Deadly Cyns'' VHS tape featuring most of Lauper's videos was released.

1997–2000: ''Sisters of Avalon''

In 1997, Lauper announced that she was expecting a child. Declyn Wallace Thornton Lauper was born on November 17 of that year; he was named after Elvis Costello (whose first name is Declan) and William Wallace. He was born while Lauper was putting the finishing touches on her new album.

Her fifth album, ''Sisters of Avalon'' (released in Japan in 1996 and everywhere else in 1997) failed in America – spending a single week on the ''Billboard'' album chart at #188. The album was quickly embraced by the gay community for its dance and club styling. The album was written and produced with the help of Jan Pulsford (Lauper's keyboard player) and Producer Mark Saunders. Guest musicians include, Bush lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford on "You Don't Know" and "Love to Hate". The album was written and recorded in Tennessee and Connecticut and finished in an old mansion in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., where she lived and worked at that time.

The song "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" addressed the complications of a drag queen's double life. Lauper started writing the song around 1994. "Brimstone and Fire" painted a portrait of a lesbian relationship, and "You Don't Know" showed Lauper flexing more political muscle than on her previous albums. The song "Say a Prayer" was written for a friend of hers who had died from AIDS. The song "Searching'" was used in one of Baywatch's episodes. "Unhook the Stars" was used in the movie of the same name starring Marisa Tomei, Gerard Depardieu, Gena Rowlands and David Thornton.

Lauper's sister Ellen had come out as a lesbian and Lauper considered her to be a role model. Ellen was doing a lot of charity work for the gay community, and was working out of a clinic, helping people who were suffering from AIDS. Lauper began performing as a featured artist at gay pride events around the world (as early as 1994, she had performed at the closing ceremonies for Gay Games IV in New York City). She also served as the opening act for Tina Turner's summer tour, which was one of the highest grossing tours that year. Lauper took up the Appalachian dulcimer, taking lessons from David Schnauffer.

Lauper released her last album for Epic in late 1998. ''Merry Christmas...Have A Nice Life'', as the title implies, was a Christmas collection of original material and standards. It is a combination of folk-rock, Cajun and Celtic music. Her version of "Silent Night" was used in a Pampers commercial. Rob Hyman co-wrote the album opener "Home on Christmas Day", and provides accordion and organ accompaniment on a number of tracks. Producer William Wittman, who has been behind a mixing board for Lauper since her debut album ''She's So Unusual'', was once again in a co-producing and mixing role. Lauper is ably assisted by Jan Pulsford, the keyboardist who tours with Lauper and co-produced her last disc, ''Sisters of Avalon''. The Christmas album was recorded at Lauper's home in Connecticut. Declyn was the major inspiration on ''Merry Christmas'', "December Child" was written for him. Declyn makes his vocal debut on "First Lullaby", Jan tickled him, grabbed the mike, and the results are on tape. Lauper reprises two holiday-themed tracks for previous albums that blend seamlessly with the newer material: "Feels Like Christmas", a Cajun-spiced tune from ''Hat Full of Stars'' and "Early Christmas Morning" from ''Sisters of Avalon''. She closes the album with a stark rendition of "Silent Night" in memory of Peter Wood, the close friend and musician to whom Lauper dedicated her hits compilation, ''Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some''. Wood was a keyboardist who toured with the singer and performed in the studio on many of her tracks.

On January 17, 1999, Lauper appeared on ''The Simpsons''. Lauper appeared on the show as herself singing the National Anthem to the melody of ''Girls Just Wanna Have Fun''. The episode was called "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken". The same year, Lauper opened for Cher's ''Do You Believe? Tour'' alongside Wild Orchid. Lauper and Cher performed "Turn Back Time" on VH1 Divas. She also garnered critical plaudits for her roles in several independent films including ''Mrs. Parker And The Vicious Circle'', and ''The Opportunists''.

Lauper contributed a cover version of The Trammps's classic "Disco Inferno" to the soundtrack for the film ''A Night at the Roxbury''. The remixed version became a club hit and received a Grammy nomination that year for Best Dance Recording. The single was released as an EP, featuring several remixes. In 2000, Lauper contributed a song called "I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever" for the children's movie ''Rugrats in Paris''. The song was written with Mark Mothersbaugh (of the new wave group Devo). Also in 2000, Lauper co-wrote a song, "If You Believe", with Faye Tozer of the British pop group Steps. It appeared on the band's third studio album, "Buzz", and was subsequently released in the US in July 2001.

2001–2003: ''Shine'' / ''At Last''

Lauper prepared her sixth studio album in 2001, ''Shine'', which saw her returning to her early pop/rock sound. It featured Japanese pop superstar Ryuichi Sakamoto, and George Fullan of Train. Just weeks before the album's scheduled release on September 11, 2001, her label, Edel America Records, folded, and the tracks were leaked to the public. Although a five song EP of the same name was made available through her website and at Tower Records, the full-length album concept was scrapped. The five song EP was released in June 2002. An album of ''Shine'' remixes was eventually released through Tower Records. The complete ''Shine'' album was released on April 21, 2004, exclusively in Japan. The album has become a collector's item.

On October 12, 2000, Lauper took part in a television show called ''Women in Rock, Girls With Guitars''. The show featured Sheryl Crow, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Melissa Etheridge, Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd, and Destiny's Child. Lauper performed the Paul McCartney hit "Maybe I'm Amazed" with Ann Wilson of Heart. She also sang the R&B; classic "Ooh Child" with the girl group Destiny's Child. She also performed a new song called "Water's Edge" with Ann Wilson. The song was well received and critics saw that performance as one of the highlights of the night. A CD was issued that contained the studio versions of some songs performed during the concert. The CD was exclusively released to Sears stores from September 30 to October 31, 2001 and $1.00 of each sold went to breast cancer research. In 2003 while on tour with Cher she broke her ankle.

Lauper's former label Sony issued a new best-of CD entitled ''The Essential Cyndi Lauper''. She re-signed with Sony/Epic Records and a cover album entitled ''At Last'' (formerly ''Naked City''), was released in 2003. Lauper received a Grammy nomination in 2005 for the category, "Best Instrumental Composition Accompanying a Vocal." Lauper took part in ''VH1 Divas Live'' with Patti LaBelle, Jessica Simpson, Debbie Harry, Ashanti, Sheila E., and the Pussycat Dolls.

2005–2007: ''The Body Acoustic''

Under a new contract with Sony Music, Lauper released ''The Body Acoustic'', an album that featured acoustic reinterpretations of tracks from her back catalog. Two new tracks were also written and recorded, one of which is "Above the Clouds". Guests on the album included Shaggy, Ani DiFranco, Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday, Jeff Beck, Puffy AmiYumi, Sarah McLachlan,and Vivian Green. "Time After Time" with Sarah McLachlan charted on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

Though she had not released an album of new material since 1997's ''Sisters of Avalon'', Lauper remained busy through the years. She made appearances on Showtime's hit show ''Queer As Folk'' in 2005, making her Broadway debut in ''The Threepenny Opera'' in 2006 and directing a commercial for ''Totally 80s'' edition of the board game ''Trivial Pursuit''. Lauper appeared on a VH1 Classics special called ''Decades Rock Live''. The show featured Lauper performing with many artists such as Shaggy, Scott Weiland of Velvet Revolver/Stone Temple Pilots, Pat Monahan of Train, Ani DiFranco, and The Hooters.

On October 16, 2006, she was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2007, she sang "Beecharmer" with Nellie McKay on McKay's ''Pretty Little Head'' album, and "Letters To Michael" with Dionne Warwick.

Lauper headlined the ''True Colors Tour'' for Human Rights through the United States and Canada, in June 2007. The tour also included Deborah Harry, Erasure, The Dresden Dolls, and Gossip, with Margaret Cho as MC and special guests in different cities. The tour, sponsored by Logo, the MTV Networks channel targeting gay audiences, provided information to fans who attended, as well as purple wristbands with the slogan "Erase Hate" from The Matthew Shepard Foundation. A dollar from every ticket sold was earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Lauper was also a judge for the 6th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

2008–2009: ''Bring Ya to the Brink''

Lauper took a role and wrote a song for the Serbian movie ''Here and There'', which stars her husband, David Thornton, in one of the main roles.

Lauper recorded an album of all new material during 2007. The working title given to the project was ''Savoir-faire'', but she announced at her Perth, Australia concert in February 2008 that the name of the album was ''Bring Ya to the Brink'' and that it would be released in the spring. In preparation for the album, Lauper visited England and France during summer 2007 to write for the album and wrote songs with dance artists like Axwell, The Scumfrog, Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette, Kleerup and others. She described it as a mainly dance album with good rhythm. Most of the album was recorded in Sweden. The first single released in Japan was "Set Your Heart" which gained significant airplay there and was used in the advertising campaign for the 2008 Toyota Car Model (Mark X ZIO) starring actor and singer Takeshi Kaneshiro. Lauper embarked on an Australian tour playing at the Kings Park Botanic Gardens in Perth, supported by Katie Noonan and Kate Miller-Heidke on February 22, 2008, and she was the headline and final act at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party, on March 2, 2008. She sang "Same Ol' Story" followed by a newly remixed version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". "Same Ol' Story" was released as the album's first worldwide single and was released as a download only on May 6, 2008. Several remixes of the track were released to DJs. The album was released on May 27, 2008 in the United States.

thumb|left|Cyndi Lauper performing in 2008The ''True Colors Tour 2008'' debuted on May 31, 2008. Joining Lauper at various venues were Rosie O'Donnell, The B-52's, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Cliks, Indigo Girls, Kat Deluna, Joan Armatrading, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Nona Hendryx, Deborah Cox, Wanda Sykes, among others. The MC was Carson Kressley from ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. Sarah McLachlan was also featured at the Burnaby, British Columbia show.

In August 2008, Lauper contributed an article titled "Hope" to ''The Huffington Post'' which encouraged Americans to vote for Barack Obama in the upcoming United States presidential election. Lauper also performed alongside Thelma Houston, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

David Byrne stated in his blog that he has collaborated with Lauper on a track for his upcoming ''Here Lies Love''. He described her performance as "amazingly fine-tuned" and "very impressive." Lauper recorded a special Christmas duet with Swedish band The Hives, entitled "A Christmas Duel", on CDsingle and 7" vinyl, in Sweden only, on November 19, 2008. It reached number 4 in the Swedish charts.

In December 2008, ''Bring Ya to the Brink'' was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Lauper also signed a book deal for an autobiography that is scheduled to come out at the end of 2009 or early 2010. Lauper also performed on the "Girls Night Out", headlining it with Rosie O'Donnell in the US. She appeared on many TV shows in 2009 including the American soap opera, ''As the World Turns'', supporting gay rights, and promoting her True Colors tour and album, Bring Ya to the Brink. She performed "Into the Nightlife" and dedicated a rendition of "True Colors" to one of the show's characters; Luke Snyder. She appeared on the live finale of the eighth season of ''American Idol'' on May 20, 2009, performing a duet of "Time After Time" with top-13 finalist Allison Iraheta, accompanying the song on Appalachian dulcimer. She appeared on the 2009 TV Land Awards on April 19 dressed as the "Emperess of Evil" to perform the theme song for Electra Woman and Dyna Girl as part of a musical tribute to Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft. Lauper performed a duet with Leona Lewis on VH1 Divas on September 19, 2009 singing "True Colors" and also appeared along side hip hop artist Eminem for a comedy skit at the MTV VMA's in September 2009. In addition, Lauper played herself alongside Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald, and Mary J. Blige on ''30 Rock'''s third season finale. She also played Avalon Harmonia, a psychic on the Season 5 premiere of ''Bones''.

Cyndi Lauper was also one of the celebrities who designed a T-shirt for the second Fashion Against Aids campaign in 2009, a collaboration between H&M; and Designers Against Aids to raise HIV/AIDS awareness worldwide, particularly amongst youngsters.

On November 17, 2009, Lauper performed a collaborative work with Wyclef Jean called "Slumdog Millionaire" and performed it live on ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. The collaborative effort stems from Jean's latest album: ''Toussaint St. Jean: From the Hut, To the Projects, To the Mansion''.

2010–present: ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' and ''Memphis Blues''

In January 2010, American toy company Mattel released a Cyndi Lauper Barbie doll as part of their "Ladies of the 80s" series.

On March 2010, NBC began airing, the ninth season of ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' featuring Lauper and other celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne and Bret Michaels. The show had been filmed from October 19, 2009 to November 12th, 2009. Donald Trump fired her on the May 9, 2010 episode, leaving her in sixth place. Lauper donated her winnings to her own True Colors Fund.

On April 1, 2010, Lauper launched the Give a Damn campaign to bring a wider awareness of discrimination of the GLBT community as part of her True Colors Fund. The campaign is to bring straight people to stand up with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community and stop the discrimination. Other names included in the campaign are Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Elton John, Judith Light, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Kardashian, Clay Aiken, Ricky Martin, Sharon Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne. Anna Paquin is also part of the campaign and came out as bisexual. This news clogged the Give A Damn website.

Lauper appears on the 22-track, 2-disc collaboration, ''Here Lies Love'', by Talking Heads' David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. On the album, she sings the song ''Eleven Days'', as well as the duet ''Why Don't You Love Me'' with Tori Amos.

On June 22, 2010, ''Memphis Blues'' was released. It debuted on the Billboard Blues Album Chart at #1, and it debuted on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart at #26. The album remained #1 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart for 14 consecutive weeks; ''Memphis Blues'' fell to #2 on October 16, 2010 and then to #3 on October 23, 2010. ''Memphis Blues'' is Lauper's eleventh album.

In August 2010, she licensed her song and performance of ''It's Hard to Be Me'', from her album ''Shine'', to be used as the theme song for the new TV Pilot, and potentially the series, ''Hard to Be Me''.

In July 2010, she signed a deal with Mark Burnett to produce a reality show that will focus on her career and her everyday life with her husband David Thornton and their son Declyn.

In December 2010, ''Memphis Blues'' was ranked ''Billboard'''s #1 Blues Album of The Year, and was nominated for the Best Traditional Blues Album Grammy Award.

Lauper made international news in March 2011 while waiting for a delayed flight at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires. There, she gave an impromptu performance of ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun,'' as other passengers joined in and sang along with her. A video of the performance was later posted on YouTube.

Personal life

Lauper has been married to David Thornton since 1991. They have one son, Declyn Wallace Thornton, born November 19, 1997. Lauper was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school. She refers to herself as a "Recovering Catholic".

Discography

1983: ''She's So Unusual''

1986: ''True Colors''

1989: ''A Night to Remember''

1993: ''Hat Full of Stars''

1996: ''Sisters of Avalon''

1998: ''Merry Christmas...Have a Nice Life''

2001: ''Shine''

2003: ''At Last''

2005: ''The Body Acoustic''

2008: ''Bring Ya to the Brink''

2010: ''Memphis Blues''

2011 or 2012: ''TBA''

Tours

;Headlining

The Fun Tour (1984–85)

True Colors World Tour (1986–87)

A Night to Remember World Tour (1989)

Hat Full of Stars Tour (1993–94)

Twelve Deadly Cyns World Tour (1994–95)

Sisters of Avalon Tour (1996–97)

Shine Tour (2001)

At Last World Tour (2003–04)

Body Acoustic Tour (2005–06)

Australian Tour (2008)

Bring Ya to the Brink Tour (2008)

Memphis Blues Tour (2010–11)

;Co-headlining

True Colors Tour (2007, 2008) (with various artists)

Girls Night Out (2009) (with Rosie O'Donnell)

From Memphis to Mardi Gras (2011) (with Dr. John)

;Supporting act

Wildest Dreams Tour (1997) (supporting Tina Turner)

Living Proof: The Farewell Tour (2002) (supporting Cher)

Filmography

''The Goonies'' ''Vibes (film) ''Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme'' ''Off and Running'' ''Life with Mikey'' ''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle'' ''Sesame Street Elmocize'' ''The Happy Prince'' ''The Opportunists'' ''Here and There (film)

colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	''Prime Cuts''	Herself
1985	|	Herself	Music video appearance
1988	Vibes'' ||	Sylvia Pickel	Main Role
rowspan=2	1990	|	Mary (Had a Little Lamb)	made for television (Disney Channel)
''The Wall – Live in Berlin''	Young Pink
	1991	|	Cyd Morse	Main Role
	1993	|	Geena Briganti	Main Role
	1994	|	Picnic Guest	uncredited
	1996	|	Herself	Direct-to-video
	1999	|	Pidge	Home Box Office>HBO)
rowspan=2>2000	|	Sally Mahon	appearance
''Christmas Dream''	TBA
rowspan=2	2009	Here and There''||	Rose	Main Role
''Section B''	Betty

Television

''Higglytown Heroes'' ''That's So Raven'' ''The Backyardigans'' ''Gossip Girl'' ''30 Rock''

colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Television guest appearances
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989		''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!''		Herself
1993			"A Pair of Hearts" (episode 9, season 2) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
1995	"Money Changes Everything" (episode 20, season 3) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
rowspan=4>1999	"Stealing Burt's Car" (episode 18, season 7)
"The Final Frontier" (episode 21, season 7)
''Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child''	Pidge
''The Simpsons''	Herself
2004	|	Operator Hero	"Smooth Operator/Stinky Situation" (episode 6, season 1)
rowspan=2	2005	|	Miss Petuto	"Art Breaker" (episode 13, season 3)
''Queer as Folk (North American TV series)	Queer as Folk''	Herself
2007	|	Herself	Performed the song "The Lady in Pink" in the double-length episode "International Super Spy"
rowspan=2	2008	|	Herself	"Bonfire of the Vanity" (episode 10, season 2)
''As The World Turns''	Herself
rowspan=2	2009	|	Herself	"Kidney Now" (Episode 22, Season 3)
''Bones (TV series)	Bones''	Avalon Harmonia
2010		The Apprentice (U.S. TV series)>The Celebrity Apprentice''		Herself	"Playing for Charity – True Colors of Stonewall Community Foundation"
2011		Made (TV series)		Herself	Season 11, Episode 29

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Lauper won one award from 13 nominations. |- |rowspan="5"|1985 |Cyndi Lauper |Best New Artist | |- |''She's So Unusual'' |Album of the Year | |- |"Time After Time" |Song of the Year | |- |rowspan="2"|"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" |Record of the Year | |- |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | |- |1986 |"What A Thrill" |Best Female Rock Vocal Performance | |- |rowspan="2"|1987 |"True Colors" |Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | |- |"911" |Best Female Rock Vocal Performance | |- |1988 |"Cyndi Lauper in Paris" |Best Performance Music Video | |- |1990 |"I Drove All Night" |Best Female Rock Vocal Performance | |- |1999 |"Disco Inferno" |Best Dance Recording | |- |2005 |"Unchained Melody" |Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) | |- |2009 |"Bring Ya To The Brink" |Best Electronic/Dance Album | |- |2010 |''Memphis Blues'' |Best Traditional Blues Album | |-

MTV Video Music Award

1984 – Video of the Year for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Nominated)

1984 – Best New Artist for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Nominated)

1984 – Best New Artist for "Time After Time" (Nominated)

1984 – Best Female Video for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Won)

1984 – Best Female Video for "Time After Time" (Nominated)

1984 – Best Concept Video for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Nominated)

1984 – Viewer's Choice for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Nominated)

1984 – Best Overall Performance for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Nominated)

1984 – Best Direction for "Time After Time" (Nominated)

1985 – Best Female Video for "She Bop" (Nominated)

1987 – Best Female Video for "True Colors" (Nominated)

1987 – Best Cinematography for "What's Going On" (Nominated)

American Music Awards

1985 – Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist (Won)

1985 – Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist (Won)

Rolling Stone Awards

1985 – Best New Artist (Won)

1985 – Best Female Video Artist (Won)

Emmy Award

1994 – Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for "Mad About You" (Nominated)

1995 – Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for "Mad About You" (Won)

Women in Film Crystal Awards

1985 – New Directions Award (Won)

See also

List of number-one hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

References

External links

Paul Burston, ''Cyndi Lauper is Back, and the Girl still wants to Have Fun (interview),'' The Times, 2 August 2008

NYTimes feature, 2010

Category:1953 births Category:American dance musicians Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American house musicians Category:American humanitarians Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American pop singers Category:American rock singers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American television actors Category:Appalachian dulcimer players Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English-language singers Category:Freestyle musicians Category:Female New Wave singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:American musicians of German descent Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:Johnson State College alumni Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Living people Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Queens Category:Professional wrestling managers and valets Category:American people of Swiss descent Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants Category:Tony Award winners Category:American pop singer-songwriters

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Coordinates	51°43′″N94°27′″N
name	Amos Lee
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ryan Anthony Massaro
birth date	June 22, 1977
origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
instrument	Guitar, vocals
genre	Jazz fusion, soul, folk, blues
occupation	Singer-songwriter, guitarist
years active	2004–present
label	Blue Note
website	amoslee.com }}

Amos Lee (born June 22, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist whose musical style encompasses folk, rock and soul. He has released four albums on Blue Note Records and toured with musical acts such as Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Paul Simon, Merle Haggard, John Prine, Dave Matthews Band and Adele. In 2011 his album ''Mission Bell'' debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Early life and education

Born Ryan Anthony Massaro in 1977, Lee grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cherry Hill, New Jersey and graduated from Cherry Hill High School East. During his youth Lee played basketball, wrote songs on an acoustic guitar given to him by his stepfather and played the bass guitar in a rock band. While working at a jazz record store, Lee discovered Luther Vandross, Bill Withers, Joni Mitchell and John Prine, who became some of his favorite artists. He enrolled at the University of South Carolina in 1995 and graduated with a degree in English.

Career

Upon returning to Philadelphia Lee held jobs as a second grade school teacher and a bartender, before pursuing a full time music career. His style was noticed by Bob Dylan who asked Lee to join his performance tour.

In 2003, Lee released a self-produced, five song EP which came to the attention of Norah Jones who invited Lee to be the opening act for her 2004 tour. ''Colors'', one of Lee's best known songs, appeared on the TV show Grey's Anatomy and the film Just Like Heaven.

In 2005, Lee recorded a self-titled, debut album, which an NPR music reporter said "brought a feel of county sweetness to the northern blues". Norah Jones made an appearance on several of the tracks, contributing both piano and vocals. The album found commercial success and peaked at #2 on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseekers chart and later that month Lee appeared on ''Rolling Stone'''s "Top 10 Artists to Watch." That same year Lee performed on ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', ''The Tonight Show'', ''Total Request Live'', and ''Austin City Limits'' which later aired on PBS.

In 2006, Lee released his second album, ''Supply and Demand'', which was produced by Barry McGuire. An NPR Music reviewer commented that "Lee continues to augment his angst with more complicated instrumentation and production" on this album. The album yielded the single "Shout Out Loud" and peaked at #76 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Another song from the album, "Sweet Pea", was used in an AT&T; ad campaign.

In 2008, Lee's third studio album, ''Last Days at the Lodge'', was released and seemed to "emphasize his grounding in folk and soul". The songs "Listen" and "What's Been Going On" were released as singles and Lee performed at the Change Rocks voter registration rally for Barack Obama, in Philadelphia.

In 2011, Lee released his fourth album on Blue Note Records, entitled ''Mission Bell'' which was produced by Joey Burns of the band Calexico. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was characterized as a “a restless album with a gentle soul” that included duets with Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson. Other artists who appear on the album include Priscilla Ahn, Pieta Brown, James Gadson, and Sam Beam. The album features tunes placed in "a stark landscape, enveloped by rustling percussion and reverberant drones". Sonically not much has changed from his self-titled debut album, but on his album ''Mission Bell'' the tone of the lyrics is more optimistic. The song "Windows are Rolled Down" became a top 10 hit on USA TODAY’s adult-alternative chart. The album debuted in the number one spot on the Digital Albums chart and number two on the Internet chart after it topped the Amazon Top-Selling Albums and iTunes charts the previous week.

Lee has toured with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Merle Haggard, Paul Simon and John Prine.

Reception

Lee's songs have become popular on TV shows and movies such as ''Six Degrees'', ''Parenthood (TV series)'', ''Army Wives'', Studio 60, ''ER'' ''Brothers & Sisters'' and ''My Blueberry Nights''.

A New York Times reviewer described Lee as having a "honeyed singing voice — light amber, mildly sweet, a touch of grain" which he features "squarely, without much fuss or undue strain" in his "1970s folk rock and rustic soul" musical song craft. According to a music writer at ABC News, Lee "has that folksy, bluesy vibe, with a bit of country twang; his voice, with that slight rasp, is ever soulful. And acoustic strums of the guitar are ...the centerpiece of his most moving work".

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		! width="35"	! width="35"	! width="35"	! width="35"	! width="35"	! width="35"	! width="35"
! scope="row"		* Release date: March 1, 2005	* Label: Blue Note Records	Compact disc>CD, music download	113	—	72	112	75	13	—
! scope="row"		* Release date: October 3, 2006	* Label: Blue Note Records	* Formats: CD, music download	76	25	—	—	—	23	—
''Last Days at the Lodge''		* Release date: June 24, 2008	* Label: Blue Note Records	* Formats: CD, music download	29	11	—	—	—	—	—
! scope="row"		* Release date: January 25, 2011	* Label: Blue Note Records	* Formats: CD, music download	1	1	—	—	98	39	61

Extended plays

Title	Details
''Amos Lee (EP)''		* Release date: 2004	* Label: Blue Note Records	* Formats: CD, music download
''Live from KCRW''		* Release date: 2005	* Label: Blue Note Records	* Formats: CD, music download

Singles

! Year	Single	! Album
2010	"Windows Are Rolled Down"
2011	"Flower"

References

External links

Amos Lee's official website

Amos Lee at Blue Note Records

Amos Lee at NPR Music

Category:1977 births Category:American folk singers Category:American folk guitarists Category:American jazz guitarists Category:American soul guitarists Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey Category:Blue Note Records artists

da:Amos Lee de:Amos Lee fr:Amos Lee it:Amos Lee nl:Amos Lee ja:エイモス・リー pt:Amos Lee ru:Ли, Эймос sv:Amos Lee

Coordinates	51°43′″N94°27′″N
name	The Walls
background	group_or_band
origin	Ireland
genre	Rock
years active	1998–present
label	Dirtbird Records
associated acts	The Stunning
website	The Walls Official Website
current members	Joe WallSteve WallJon O'ConnellRory DoylePastCarl Harms }}

The Walls are an Irish rock band. They were formed in 1998 by two ex-members of The Stunning.

Members

Steve Wall

Joe Wall

Carl Harms (Guitar/Keyboards) ''(left February 2004)''

Rory Doyle (Drums)

Jon O'Connell (Bass) ''(joined February 2004)''

Biography

1998–2000

Brothers Steve and Joe Wall (previously of The Stunning) returned to Ireland after a two-year failed label stint in London. Their Camden housemate Carl Harms joined the band on guitar and keyboard duties. Drummer Rory Doyle joined soon afterwards. They set up their own label, Earshot Records (later changing it to Dirtbird Records) and recorded and released a string of singles. A remix of one of the album tracks, "Bone Deep", clicked with radio and became a nationwide hit. Many of the songs have featured on a number of TV series and feature films such as ''Bachelors Walk'', ''Dead Bodies'', ''Goldfish Memory'' and ''On the Edge'' (starring Cillian Murphy).

2001–2004

The Walls heard rumour of a second Slane Castle date for U2 (as the first concert had sold out in hours). They sent four copies of their album to the band. Bono loved it and offered The Walls a support slot. That day the band played to their biggest crowd to date – around 80,000 people. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" was their next single. That June they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers. They spent the next year gigging while building their own studio in Dublin.

In February 2004, original member Carl Harms decided to leave the band to make his own record. They recruited bassist Jon O’Connell, who had just 2 weeks to learn all the songs before a two week tour of the new EU accession states: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" also featured on the EA Sports soundtrack for the UEFA Euro 2004 official licenced game.

2004 - 2006

For the next album, the band went to Studio Black Box in France to record with producer and ex-The Frames guitarist David Odlum. Originally scheduled for a release date in September 2004, The Walls decided to hold their album until the new year. U2 were releasing ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' that autumn and according to Steve ''"we thought that it would be a fair and gentlemanly gesture to stand back and give them a fair crack of the whip, so to speak"''.

In October 2004, they released a taster - "Drowning Pool" - a blistering, spleen-venting, blues explosion, 2min 52sec long. It took people by surprise and divided opinion - exactly what the band wanted. They supported Bob Dylan to a capacity crowd in Galway that summer and played a storming set that showed there were changes afoot in The Walls sound. They christened the album ''New Dawn Breaking'' after the final track on the record. It went straight into the Irish charts at No. 5 in its first week of release in June 2005 and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

2007

The band kicked off 2007 with a gig in Dubai and are presently negotiating gig offers in France, Italy, the Czech Republic and China. They also supported Crowded House on their Australian comeback tour before retreating into their studio to work on album number three.

2008

Discography

Studio albums

''Hi-Lo'' (released May 2000).

''New Dawn Breaking'' (released June 2005) (reached No. 5 in Irish charts)

Singles and albums

"The Night I Called It A Day" (Single, released Feb 1999)

"Broken Boy" (Single, released Sept 1999)

"Something's Wrong" (Single, released Apr 2000)

''Hi-Lo'' (Album, released May 2000). A remix of one of the album tracks, Bone Deep, was popular in Ireland. Some songs featured on TV series and feature films: Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).

"To the Bright and Shining Sun" (Single, released 2002) reached No. 11 in the Irish charts.

"Drowning Pool" (single, released 2004)

''New Dawn Breaking'' (Album, released June 2005) reached No. 5 in Irish charts and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

"Carrying the Fire" / "Phantom Power" (double-A sided single, released Jun 2010)

"Bird In A Cage EP" (4 Track EP, released Mar 2011)

Cover versions

Cover version of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" on ''Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1''

Cover version of Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words" on ''Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2''

Cover version of U2's "With or without you" on ''Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 3''

Career highlights

Supported U2 at Slane Castle, 2001

Supported Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2002

Supported Bob Dylan, Galway, 2005

Supported Crowded House, Australia, 2007

References

External links

Official band website, contains free MP3s; gig info, photos, Walls shop, press releases etc.

The Walls at MySpace, contains some sample MP3s.

Category:Musical groups established in 1998 Category:Irish rock music groups

de:The Walls