Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
Name	Chardonnay
Color	White
Also	Aubaine, Beaunois, Gamay Blanc, Melon Blanc (more)
Regions	Worldwide
Wines	Chablis, white Burgundy, Champagne
Soil	Chalk, limestone
Hazards	Millerandage, powdery mildew, frost and coulure
Cool	Lean, crisp, high acidity
Medium	Honey, tropical fruit }}

Chardonnay () is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a "rite of passage" and an easy segue into the international wine market.

The Chardonnay grape itself is very neutral, with many of the flavors commonly associated with the grape being derived from such influences as ''terroir'' and oak. It is vinified in many different styles, from the lean, crisply mineral wines of Chablis, France to New World wines with tropical fruit flavors and lots of oak.

Chardonnay is an important component of many sparkling wines around the world, including Champagne. A peak in popularity in the late 1980s gave way to a backlash among those wine drinkers who saw the grape as a leading negative component of the globalization of wine. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most widely-planted grape varieties, with over worldwide, second only to Airén among white wine grapes and planted in more wine regions than any other grape – including Cabernet Sauvignon.

History

For much of its history, a connection was assumed between Chardonnay and Pinot noir or Pinot blanc. In addition to being found in the same region of France for centuries, ampelographers noted that the leaves of each plant have near-identical shape and structure. Pierre Galet disagreed with this assessment, believing that Chardonnay was not related to any other major grape variety. Viticulturalists Maynard Amerine & Harold Olmo proposed a descendency from a wild ''Vitis vinifera'' vine that was a step removed from white Muscat. Chardonnay's true origins were further obscured by vineyard owners in Lebanon and Syria, who claimed that the grape's ancestry could be traced to the Middle East, from where it was introduced to Europe by returning Crusaders, though there is little external evidence to support that theory. Another theory stated that it originated from an ancient indigenous vine found in Cyprus.

Modern DNA fingerprinting research at University of California, Davis, now suggests that Chardonnay is the result of a cross between the Pinot and Gouais Blanc (Heunisch) grape varieties. It is believed that the Romans brought Gouais Blanc from the Balkans, and it was widely cultivated by peasants in Eastern France. The Pinot of the French aristocracy grew in close proximity to the Gouais Blanc, giving both grapes ample opportunity to interbreed. Since the two parents were genetically distant, many of the crosses showed hybrid vigour and were selected for further propagation. These "successful" crosses included Chardonnay and siblings such as Aligoté, Aubin Vert, Auxerrois, Bachet noir, Beaunoir, Franc Noir de la-Haute-Saône, Gamay Blanc Gloriod, Gamay noir, Melon, Knipperlé, Peurion, Roublot, Sacy and Dameron.

Clones, crossing and mutations

As of 2006, 34 clonal varieties of Chardonnay could be found in vineyards throughout France, most of which were developed at the University of Burgundy in Dijon. The so-called "Dijon clones" are bred for their adaptive attributes, with vineyard owners planting the clonal variety best suited to their ''terroir'' and which will produce the type of characteristics that they are seeking in the wine. Examples include the lower-yielding clones ''Dijon-76, 95'' & ''96'' that produce more flavor-concentrated clusters. ''Dijon-77'' & ''809'' produce more aromatic wines with a "grapey" perfume, while ''Dijon-75, 78, 121, 124, 125'' & ''277'' are more vigorous and higher yielding clones. New World varieties include the ''Mendoza'' clone, which produced some of the early Californian Chardonnays. The ''Mendoza'' clone is prone to developed millerandage, also known as "hens and chicks", where the berries develop unevenly. In places such as Oregon, the use of newer Dijon clones has had some success in those regions of the Willamette Valley with climates similar to that of Burgundy.

Chardonnay has served as parent to several French-American hybrid grapes, as well as crossings with other ''Vitis vinifera'' varieties. Examples include the hybrid Chardonel which was a Chardonnay and Seyval blanc cross produced in 1953 at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. Mutations of the Chardonnay grape include the rare pink-berried "Chardonnay Rose"; also "Chardonnay Blanc Musqué", which produces an intensely aromatic wine. Chardonnay Blanc Musqué is mostly found around the Mâconnais village of Clessé and sometimes confused with the ''Dijon-166'' clone planted in South Africa, which yields Muscat-like aromas.

Viticulture

Chardonnay has a wide-ranging reputation for relative ease of cultivation and ability to adapt to different conditions. The grape is very "malleable", in that it reflects and takes on the impression of its ''terroir'' and winemaker. It is a highly vigorous vine, with extensive leaf cover which can inhibit the energy and nutrient uptake of its grape clusters. Vineyard managers counteract this with aggressive pruning and canopy management. When Chardonnay vines are planted densely, they are forced to compete for resources and funnel energy into their grape clusters. In certain conditions the vines can be very high-yielding, but the wine produced from such vines will suffer a drop in quality if yields go much beyond 4.5 tons per acre (80 hl/ha). Producers of premium Chardonnay limit yields to less than half this amount. Sparkling wine producers tend not to focus as much on limiting yields, since concentrated flavors are not as important as the wine's finesse.

Harvesting time is crucial to winemaking, with the grape rapidly losing acidity as soon as it ripens. Some viticultural hazards include the risk of damage from springtime frost, as Chardonnay is an early-budding vine – usually a week after Pinot noir. To combat the threat of frost, a method developed in Burgundy involves aggressive pruning just prior to flowering. This "shocks" the vine and delays flowering for up to two weeks, which is often long enough for warmer weather to arrive. Millerandage and coulure can also pose problems, along with powdery mildew attacking the thin skin of the grapes. Because of Chardonnay's early ripening, it can thrive in wine regions with a short growing season and, in regions like Burgundy, will be harvested before autumn rain sets in and brings the threat of rot.

While Chardonnay can adapt to almost all vineyard soils, the three it seems to like most are chalk, clay and limestone, all very prevalent throughout Chardonnay's traditional "homeland". The Grand crus of Chablis are planted on hillsides composed of Kimmeridgian marl, limestone and chalk. The outlying regions, falling under the more basic "Petit Chablis" appellation, are planted on portlandian limestone which produces wines with less finesse. Chalk beds are found throughout the Champagne region, and the Côte-d'Or has many areas composed of limestone and clay. In Burgundy, the amount of limestone to which the Chardonnay are vines exposed also seems to have some effect on the resulting wine. In the Meursault region, the ''premier cru'' vineyards planted at Meursault-Charmes have topsoil almost above limestone and the resulting wines are very rich and rounded. In the nearby Les Perrieres vineyard, the topsoil is only around 12 inches (30 centimeters) above the limestone and the wine from that region is much more powerful, minerally and tight, needing longer in the bottle to develop fully. In other areas, soil type can compensate for lack of ideal climate conditions. In South Africa for example, regions with stonier, shaley soils and high clay levels tend to produce lower-yielding and more Burgundian-style wine, despite having a discernibly warmer climate than France. In contrast, South African Chardonnay produced from more sandstone-based vineyards tend to be richer and more weighty.

Confusion with Pinot blanc

Due to some ampelographical similarities, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay were often mistaken for each other and even today share many of the same synonyms. The grape vines, leaves and clusters look identical at first glance but there are some subtle differences. The most visible of these can be observed as the grapes are ripening, with Chardonnay grapes taking on a more golden-green color than Pinot Blanc grapes. On closer inspection, the grapevine will show slight differences in the texture and length of the hairs on the vine's shoot, and the veins of a Chardonnay leaf are "naked" near the petiolar sinus – the open area where the leaf connects to the stem is delineated by veins at the edge. Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the few other ''Vitis vinifera'' grape vines to share this characteristic. This confusion between Pinot blanc and Chardonnay was very pervasive throughout northern Italy, where the two vines grew interspersed in the vineyard and were blended in winemaking. Not until 1978 did the Italian government dispatch researchers to try to distinguish the two vines. A similar situation occurred in France, with the two vines being commonly confused until the mid 19th century, when ampelographers began combing through the vineyards of Chablis and Burgundy, identifying the true Chardonnay and weeding out the Pinot Blanc.

France

In France, Chardonnay is the second most widely planted white grape variety just behind Ugni blanc and ahead of Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc. The grape first rose to prominence in the Chablis and Burgundy regions. In Champagne, it is most often blended with Pinot noir and Pinot meunier but is also used to produce single varietal ''blanc de blancs'' styles of sparkling wine. Chardonnay can be found in ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) wines of the Loire Valley and Jura wine region as well as the ''Vin de pays'' wines of the Languedoc.

Burgundy

Chardonnay is one of the dominant grapes in Burgundy though Pinot noir vines outnumber it by nearly a 3 to 1 ratio. In addition to Chablis, it is found in the Côte d'Or (largely in the Côte de Beaune) as well as the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais. It is grown in 8 Grand cru vineyards; The "Montrachets"-Montrachet, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet as well as Charlemagne, Corton-Charlemagne & Le Musigny. In addition to being the most expensive, the Burgundy examples of Chardonnay were long considered the benchmark standard of expressing ''terroir'' through Chardonnay. The Montrachets are noted for their high alcohol levels, often above 13%, as well as deep concentration of flavors. The vineyards around Chassagne-Montrachet tend to have a characteristic hazelnut aroma to them while those of Puligny-Montrachet have more steely flavors. Both grand cru and premier cru examples from Corton-Charlemagne have been known to demonstrate marzipan while Meursault wines tend to be the most round and buttery examples.

South of the Côte d'Or is the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais wine regions. The villages of Mercurey, Montagny-lès-Buxy and Rully are the largest producers of Chardonnay in the Côte Chalonnaise with the best made examples rivaling those of the Côte de Beaune. In the Mâconnais, white wine production is centered around the town of Mâcon and the Pouilly-Fuissé region. The full bodied wines of the Pouilly-Fuissé have long held cult wine status with prices that can rival the Grand cru white burgundies. Further south, in the region of Beaujolais, Chardonnay has started to replace Aligote as the main white wine grape and is even replacing Gamay in some areas around Saint-Véran. With the exception of Pouilly-Fuissé, the wines of the Mâconnais are the closest Burgundy example to "New World" Chardonnay though it is not identical. Typically Mâcon blanc, basic Bourgogne, Beaujolais blanc and Saint-Véran are meant to be consumed within 2 to 3 years of release. However, many of the well made examples of white Burgundy from the Côte d'Or will need at least three years in the bottle to develop enough to express the aromas and character of the wine. Hazelnut, licorice and spice are some of the flavors that can develop as these wines age.

Chablis

Chardonnay is the only permitted AOC grape variety in the Chablis region with the wines here developing such worldwide recognition that the name "chablis" has taken on semi-generic connotations to mean any dry white wine, even those not made from Chardonnay. The name is protected in the European Union and for wine sold in the EU, "Chablis" refers only to the Chardonnay wine produced in this region of the Yonne ''département''. The region sits on the outer edges of the Paris Basin. On the other side of the basin is the village of Kimmeridge in England which gives it name to the Kimmeridgean soil that is located throughout Chablis. The French describe this soil as ''"argilo-calcaire"'' and is a composition of clay, limestone and fossilized oyster shells. The most expensive examples of Chardonnay from Chablis comes from the seven Grand Cru vineyards that account for around on the southwest side of one slope along the Serein river near the town of Chablis—Blanchots, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur and Vaudésir. The wines from these crus most often capture the ''goût de pierre à fusil'' or "gunflint" quality that is characterized of Chablis wine.

Chardonnay was believed to be first planted in Chablis by the Cistercians at Pontigny Abbey in the 12th century. Today, the Chardonnay made in the Chablis region is one of the "purest" expression of the varietal character of the grape due to the simplistic style of winemaking favored in this region. Chablis winemakers want to emphasis the ''terroir'' of the calcareous soil and cooler climate that help maintain high acidity. The wines rarely will go through malolactic fermentation or be exposed to oak (though its use is increasing). The biting, green apple-like acidity is a trademark of Chablis and can be noticeable in the bouquet. The acidity can mellow with age and Chablis are some of the longest living examples of Chardonnay. Some examples of Chablis can have an earthy "wet stone" flavor that can get mustier as it ages before mellowing into delicate honeyed notes. The use of oak is controversial in the Chablis community with some winemakers dismissing it as counter to the "Chablis style" or ''terroir'' while other embrace its use though not to the length that would characterized a "New World" Chardonnay. The winemakers that do use oak tend to favor more neutral oak that doesn't impart the vanilla characteristic associated with American oak. The amount of "char" in the barrel is often very light which limits the amount of "toastiness" that is perceived in the wine. The advocates of oak in Chablis point to the positive benefits of allowing limited oxygenation with the wine through the permeable oak barrels. This can have the effect of softening the wine and make the generally austere and acidic Chablis more approachable at a younger age.

Champagne

In the Champagne, Chardonnay is one of three major grape varieties planted in the region. It is most commonly found in the Aube and Marne ''départments'' which, combined with Chablis, accounted for more than half of all plantings of Chardonnay in France during the 20th century. In the Côte des Blancs (white slope) district of the Marne, Chardonnay thrives on the chalk soil. The three main villages around the Côte grow Chardonnay that emphasizes certain characteristics that the Champagne producers seek depending on their house style. The village of Avize grows grapes that produce the lightest wines, Cramant makes the most aromatic and Mesnil produces wines with the most acidity. The Côte des Blancs is the only district in the Champagne region that is predominately planted with Chardonnay. In the four other main districts-Aube, Côte de Sézanne, Montagne de Reims, and Vallée de la Marne-Chardonnay lags behind Pinot noir in planting. In the outlying region of Aisne, only Pinot Meunier has a significant presence. Despite being less planted, the ''Blanc de Blancs'' style of Champagne (made from only Chardonnay grapes) is far more commonly produced than ''Blanc de Noirs''. This is partly because Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier produce very coarse and heavy wines that lack the finesse and balance that Chardonnay brings to the mix. Non-sparkling still wine Chardonnay is produced under the Coteaux Champenois AOC. The wine is much more acidic than that of Chablis and is normally made bone-dry.

Despite receiving the same amount of sunshine as the Chablis region, Chardonnay grapes in Champagne rarely attain full ripeness. This is due to the mean average temperature of the region being around , barely above the minimum average temperature needed to ripen grapes. Therefore the Chardonnay grapes do not fully develop its fruit flavors and the still version of Champagne can taste very "un-Chardonnay"-like because of this. However, it does lessen the premium on needing to keep yields low that other wine regions much battle with since not much flavor is going to develop in the grapes anyway. Rather the element in Chardonnay that Champagne wine-makers look for is the finesse and balance of acidity that it brings to the blend. Some flavors that can emerge from, particularly with extended time on its lees, include creamy and nuttiness with some floral notes.

Other French regions

Champagne, Chablis and Burgundy account for more than three-fifths of all Chardonnay plantings in France. The next largest concentration is found in the Languedoc where it was first planted around the town of Limoux and up to 30% can be blended with Mauzac in the sparkling ''Blanquette de Limoux''. By the year 2000, there was more than planted with many being used for wines under the ''Vin de Pays d'Oc''. These wines were unique in that they were some of the first examples of Chardonnay to be varietally labeled as "Chardonnay". Other French wine regions with Chardonnay plantings include Alsace, Ardèche, Jura, Savoie and the Loire Valley. In Jura, Chardonnay is sometimes treated to the same type of flor yeast found in Sherry (though the wine is rarely, if ever, fortified) and it is used to create ''vin de paille'' dessert wines. Here the grape is known as Melon d'Arbois or Gamay blanc and is sometimes blended with Savagnin. It is most widely found in Arbois, Côtes du Jura and L'Étoile AOCs. In the Loire, up to 20% of Chardonnay can be included in the Chenin blanc based wines of ''Anjou blanc'' and more producers are using the grape to soften some of the edges of Chenin blanc. It can also be used in the sparkling wines of Saumur and some Muscadet producers have begun experimenting with oak aged Chardonnay.

North America

In North America, particularly California, Chardonnay found another region where it could thrive and produce a style of wine that was noticeably different than that of France. It is the dominant white wine variety of the area, overtaking Riesling in 1990. In the United States it is found most notably in California, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington but also in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont wine. In Canada, Chardonnay is found in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.

California

The first successful commercial production of California Chardonnay was from plantings in the Livermore Valley AVA. Wente Vineyards developed a Chardonnay clone that was used to introduce the grape variety in several Californian vineyards throughout the 1940s. In the 1950s James David Zellerbach, one time US Ambassador to Rome, started Hanzell Vineyards winery and dedicated it to making Burgundian style Chardonnay. His success would encourage other Californian winemakers to follow suit and culminated in Chateau Montelena's victory over Burgundy Chardonnay in the 1976 blind tasting event conducted by French judges known as the Judgment of Paris. In response, the demand for Californian Chardonnay increased and Californian winemakers rushed to increase plantings. In the 1980s, the popularity of Californian Chardonnay would explode so much that the number of vines planted in the state eclipsed that of France by 1988. By 2005 there was nearly accounting for almost 25% of the world's total Chardonnay plantings. The early trend was to imitate the great Burgundy wines but soon gave way to more rich buttery and oaked styles. Starting with the 1970s, the focus was on harvesting the grapes at more advance degrees of ripeness and at higher Brix levels. New oak barrels were used to produce wines that were big in body and mouthfeel. Frank J. Prial of ''The New York Times'' was an early critic of this style, particularly because of the lack of "food friendliness" that was common with these massive wines. Another criticism of California Chardonnays, and one that has been levied against other Californian wines, is the very high alcohol levels which can make a wine seem out of balance. In recent years, Californian winemakers have been using process such as reverse osmosis and spinning cones to bring the alcohol levels down to between 12 and 14%.

The Californian wine regions that seem to favor producing premium quality Chardonnay are the ones that are most influenced, climatically, by coastal fogs that can slow the ripening of the grape and give it more time to develop its flavors. The regions of Alexander Valley, Los Carneros, Santa Maria Valley, Russian River Valley and other parts of Sonoma county have shown success in producing wines that reflect more Burgundian styles. Other regions often associated with Chardonnay include Napa Valley, Monterey County and Santa Barbara County. The California Central Valley is home to many mass produced Chardonnay brands as well as box and jug wine production. While the exact style of the wine will vary from producer, some of the ''terroir'' characteristics associated with California Chardonnay include "flinty" notes with the Russian River Valley and mango & guava from Monterey. A large portion of the Californian sparkling wine industry uses Chardonnay grapes from Carneros, Alexander and Russian River valleys with these areas attracting the attention of Champagne producers like Bollinger, Louis Roederer, Moët et Chandon and the Taittinger family who have opened up wineries in last few decades.

New York

Chardonnay was one of the first European grape varietals to have been grown commercially east of the Rocky Mountains. After three centuries of failure with vinifera this achievement was realized in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Frenchman, Charles Fournier and Russian, Konstantin Frank experimented with Chardonnay and other varietals in hopes of producing sparkling wines based on Old World grapes for the Gold Seal wine company. In the late 1950s they succeeded in harvesting the first commercial quantities of European grapes in eastern North America. Frank went on to found the Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars which helped demonstrate that a winery in the eastern United States could produce European style wines as a basis for a winery business. Chardonnay became an important part of that strategy.

New York, like Burgundy and Washington State, is a cool climate viticultural region. Being cold tolerant, the Chardonnay grape is well suited for New York State. Not only can it endure New York's cold winters but the varietal buds late reducing the risk of spring frosts. New York’s comparatively cooler growing season causes slower ripening requiring a longer time on the vine which may allow the grapes to develop greater complexity and character at more reasonable sugar levels than warmer Chardonnay producing regions. New York has subsequently developed significant plantings of the varietal since Fournier and Frank’s early experiments.

Other states

Washington Chardonnays can be very similar to Californian Chardonnays but there tends to be more emphasis on fruit than creaminess. In 2000, it was the most widely planted premium wine grape in the state. Rather than using Dijon clones, Washington vineyards are planted with clones developed at the University of California-Davis that are designed to take longer to ripen in the warmer weather of the state's wine regions. This allows winemakers to maintain the acidity levels that balances the fruity and flint earthiness that have characterized Washington Chardonnay. Apple notes are common and depending on producer and appellation can range from flavors of Golden Delicious and Fuji to Gala and Jonathan. In Oregon, the introduction of Dijon clones from Burgundy has helped to adapt the grape to the Oregon climate and soils.

Canada

In Canada, Chardonnay has seen some success with rich, oaky styles produced in Ontario and lighter styles produced in Quebec and British Columbia. In fact, in 2009, Le Clos Jordanne winery, of Jordan Village on the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario received critical acclaim for its 2005 Claystone Terrace Chardonnay, which won the top spot for Chardonnay in the “Judgement of Montreal” experts’ tasting. This recognition, which caught the attention of the wine community, resulted from a blind tasting held in Quebec for Cellier magazine. Thirty-three years after the "Judgment of Paris" Cellier magazine organized a blind tasting in Montreal based on the Judgment of Paris. In the “Judgement of Montreal” 10 judges at the Cellier tasting assessed 16 red and 14 white wines, primarily from France and California. The Chardonay from Le Clos Jordanne placed first out of the 14 white wines, some of which were notable international wines, including: Chateau Montelena, Mer Soliel, Kumeu River, an aged reserve wine from Rosemount Estates, and a number of Burgundian entrants from producers such as Drouhin, Lamy, Boisset, Jadot and others. Other great examples of Ontario chardonnay include Closson Chase and Norman Hardie from the Prince Edward County region, and Tawse Winery, Hidden Bench Vineyards, and Southbrook Vineyards from the Niagara region.

The Chardonnay vintages of the early 1990s from British Columbia helped generate international attention to the quality of Canadian wines apart from ice wine varietals. In British Columbia, Chardonnay from the Okanagan are characterized by delicate citrus fruits. They are typically light bodied but producers who use barrel fermentation and oak aging can produce fuller bodied wines.

Australia and New Zealand

Like many grape varieties, Chardonnay first came to Australia in the collection of James Busby in 1832, but it only really took off in the 1950s. It is most significant in South Australia, New South Wales — especially the Hunter Valley - and Victoria. One of the first commercially successful Chardonnays was produced by Murray Tyrrell in the Hunter Valley in 1971. Tyrell's vineyard was planted with Chardonnay cuttings that he "borrowed" from Penfolds' experimental plantings by hopping over their barb-wire fence one night and pruning their vines. The export driven Australian wine industry was well situated for the Chardonnay boom of the 1980s and 1990s and Australia responded with a unique style of wine that was characterized by big fruit flavors and easy approachability. To compensate for the very warm climate, richness was enhanced by the use of oak chips and acid was added during fermentation. During this period the number of Chardonnay plants increased fivefold and by 1990 it was the most widely planted white wine grape in Australia and third most planted overall behind Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Early in the 21st century, demand outpaced supply and there was a shortage of Chardonnay grapes which prompted Australian winemakers to introduce new blending partners like Sémillon (known as "SemChard") and Colombard.

Being a rather neutral grape, Australian winemakers first approached Chardonnay in the same manner they were making wine from the similarly neutral Sultana grape. Aromatic yeast were added and maceration was extended to get more flavors from skin contact. While the style of Australian Chardonnay is mostly characterized by the mass produced products of the hot Riverland region, the cooler climates of Victoria and Tasmania has been creating more crisp, less oaked wines with lime notes. In the Cowra region, Chardonnay's citrus notes are emphasized while Hunter Valley examples have more richness and smoky notes. The Yarra Valley produces the most Burgundian style while Mount Barker in the Great Southern, Western Australia produces Chardonnay that more closely resembles those of Chablis. A rare, isolated clone exist in the Mudgee region that local believe traces its ancestry back to some of the first vines brought to Australia in the 19th century. While the wine made from this clone is not particularly distinguished, it can still be of very good quality. Overall, there has been a shift in style since the 1980s from deep golden, oily wines with melon and butterscotch flavors to lighter, paler Chardonnays with more structure and notes of white peaches and nectarines. Sparkling wines from Chardonnay are produced in the cool regions of Geelong, Macedon Ranges and Tasmania.

Despite being more famous for its Sauvignon blanc production, Chardonnay was New Zealand's most widely planted grape variety from 1990 till 2002 when Sauvignon blanc finally surpassed it. The east coast of the North Island, in places like Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa, have seen the most success with Chardonnay wine that has noticeable acidity and leanness. As better clonal varieties are discovered and planted, the overall quality of New Zealand Chardonnay have increased, particularly from places like Canterbury, Marlborough and Nelson. Some producers in the Gisborne region have recently developed a cult following for their Chardonnay among New Zealand wine drinkers. While many New Zealand winemakers are still developing a characteristic style, the Chardonnay produced so far have emphasized the grape's affinity for oak.

Italy

Chardonnay has a long history in Italy but for a large part of it, the grape was commonly confused with Pinot blanc—often with both varieties inter planted in the same vineyard and blended together. This happened despite the fact that Chardonnay grapes get more golden yellow in color close to harvest time and can be visually distinguished from Pinot blanc. In the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region this confusion appeared in the synonyms for each grape with Pinot blanc being known as "Weissburgunder" (White Burgundy) and Chardonnay was known as "Gelber Weissburgunder" (Golden White Burgundy). By the late 20th century, more concentrated efforts were put into identifying Chardonnay and making pure varietal versions of the wine. In 1984, it was granted its first ''Denominazione di origine controllata'' (DOC) in the province of South Tyrol. By 2000, it was Italy's fourth most widely planted white wine grape.

Though many varietal form of Chardonnay are produced, and the numbers are increasing, for most of its history in Italian winemaking Chardonnay was a blending grape. Besides Pinot bianco, Chardonnay can be found in blends with Albana, Catarratto, Cortese, Erbaluce, Favorita, Garganega, Grecanico, Incrocio Manzoni, Nuragus, Procanico, Ribolla Gialla, Verdeca, Vermentino and Viognier. It even blended into a dry White Zinfandel-style Nebbiolo wine that is made from the white juice of the red Nebbiolo grape prior to being dyed with skin contact. Most Chardonnay plantings are located in the northern wine regions, though plantings can be found throughout Italy as far south as Sicily and Apulia. In Piedmont and Tuscany, the grape is being planted in sites that are less favorable to Dolcetto and Sangiovese respectively. In Lombardy, the grape is often used for ''spumante'' and in the Veneto it is often blended with Garganega to give more weight and structure to the wine. Chardonnay is also found in the Valle d'Aosta DOC and Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine region.

South Africa

Due to quarantine restrictions, plant cuttings were often smuggled into South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s and many times were misidentified as to what grape variety it really was. A large portion of the Chardonnay plantings from this period turned out to be Auxerrois Blanc. (A similar event happened in the German wine region of Baden during the 1980s.) By the late 1990s, efforts to promote "authentic" Chardonnay helped to increase plantings and by 2004 it was the 3rd most widely planted white wine grape behind Chenin blanc and Colombard. Winemakers in the Western Cape have experimented blending Chardonnay with Riesling and Sauvignon blanc.

Other wine regions

Outside of the regions discussed above, Chardonnay can be found in cooler climate sites in Greece, Israel and Lebanon as well as Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, England, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia and Switzerland. In Austria, the grape varieties known as ''Feinburgunder'' in Burgenland & Vienna and ''Morillon'' in Styria was not identified as Chardonnay till the late 1980s. Today, Austrian Chardonnays range from the rich, oaked aged varieties to leaner, more aromatic styles based on Austrian Rieslings to sweet late harvest styles. In nearby Germany, this distinctly French wine grape was slow to gain a footing being only officially sanctioned since 1991. Today it is most commonly found in the Baden, Palatinate and Rheinhessen regions. In Switzerland, Chardonnay is found mostly around Bündner Herrschaft, Geneva and Valais. In Spain, Chardonnay has been increasingly used in the sparkling wine Cava. It is also permitted in the ''Denominación de Origen'' (DO) wines of Costers del Segre, Navarra and Somontano. In the wine regions of the former Soviet Union, Chardonnay has lagged behind in white wine grapes plantings in favor Rkatsiteli, Aligote and Riesling. The Portuguese experimentation with Chardonnay has been mostly influenced by flying winemakers from Australia and the examples produced so far are very New World in style.

New World wine regions

In the cool-climate South American wine regions of Argentina's Uco Valley and Chile's Casablanca, Chardonnay has started to develop a presence. In the 1990s, Chardonnay became the second most widely planted white grape variety in Argentina-second only Torrontés. In Chile, it has surpassed Sauvignon blanc and Sauvignon vert to be the most widely planted white wine grape. India and Uruguay have been steadily increasing their plantings.

Winemaking

Chardonnay lends itself to most any style of wine making from dry still wines, to sparkling wines to sweet late harvest and even botrytized wines (though its susceptibility to other less favorable rot makes these wines more rare). The two winemaking decisions that most widely affect the end result of a Chardonnay wine is whether or not to use malolactic fermentation and the degree of oak influence used for the wine. With malolactic fermentation (or MLF), the harder malic acid gets converted into the softer lactic acid which creates the "buttery-ness" that is associated with some styles of Chardonnay. The wines that do not go though MLF will have more green apple like flavors. Oak can be introduced during fermentation or after in the form of the barrel aging. Depending on the amount of charring that the oak was treated with, this can introduce a "toastiness" and flavors that many wine drinkers mistake as a characteristic of the grape itself. These flavors can include caramel, cream, smoke, spice, coconut, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla. Other winemaking decisions that can have a significant effect include the temperature of fermentation and what time, if any, that the wine allowed to spend aging on the lees. Burgundian winemaking tends to favor extended contact on the lees and even "stirring up" the lees within the wine while it is aging in the barrel in a process known as ''bâttonage''. Colder fermentation temperatures produces more "tropical" fruit flavors like mango and pineapple. The "Old World" style of winemaking favors the use of wild, or ambient yeast, though some will also use specially cultivated yeast that can impart aromatic qualities to the wine. A particular style of yeast used in Champagne is the ''Prise de Mousse'' that is cultivated for use world wide in sparkling Chardonnay wines. A potential drawback of using wild yeast is that the fermentation process can go very slow with the results of the yeasts being very unpredictable and producing potentially a very different wine each year. One Burgundian winemaker that favors the use of only wild yeast is Domaine des Comtes Lafon which had the fermentation of its 1963 Chardonnay batch take 5 years to complete when the fermentation process normally only takes a matter of weeks.

The time of harvesting is a crucial decision because the grape quickly begins to lose acidity as it ripens. For sparkling wine production, the grapes will be harvested early and slightly unripe to maintain the acid levels. Sparkling Chardonnay based wines tend to exhibit more floral and steely flavors in their youth. As the wine ages, particularly if it spends significant time on lees, the wines will develop "toasty" notes. Chardonnay grapes usually have little trouble developing sugar content, even in cooler climates, which translates into high potential alcohol levels and limits the need for chaptalization. On the flip side, low acid levels can be a concern which make the wine taste "flabby" and dull. Winemakers can counteract this by adding tartaric acid in a process known as "acidification". In cooler climates, the extract and acidity of Chardonnay is magnified which has the potential of producing very concentrated wines that can develop through bottle aging. Chardonnay can blend well with other grapes and still maintain some of its unique character. The grapes most often blended with Chardonnay include Chenin blanc, Colombard and Sémillon.

Wine style

Due to the "malleability" of Chardonnay in winemaking and its ability to reflect its ''terroir'', there is not one distinct universal "style" or set of constants that could be applied to Chardonnay made across the globe. According to Jancis Robinson, a sense of "smokiness" is one clue that could be picked up in a blind tasting of Chardonnay but there are many styles that do not have any "smokey" notes. Compared to other white wine grapes like Sauvignon blanc, Gewürztraminer and Viognier-Chardonnay has a more subtle and muted nose with no overwhelming aromatics that jump out of the wine glass. The identifying styles of Chardonnay are regionally based. For example, pineapple notes are more commonly associated with Chardonnay from Napa Valley while Chablis will have more notes of green apples. While many examples of Chardonnay can benefit from a few years of bottle aging, especially if they have high acidity, most Chardonnays are meant to be consumed in their youth. A notable exception to this is the most premium examples of Chablis and white Burgundies.

With food

Due to the wide range of styles, Chardonnay has the potential to be paired with a diverse spectrum of food types. It is most commonly paired with roast chicken and other white meats such as turkey. Heavily oak influenced Chardonnays do not pair well with more delicate fish and seafood dish. Instead, those wines tend to go better with smoked fish, spicy southeast Asian cuisine, garlic and guacamole dips. The regional influences of Chardonnay can help it pair with different food styles. Chardonnays from Washington, which is characterized by maintaining more acidity, tend to pair well with tomato-based dishes and items featuring sweet onions. Older, more mellow Chardonnays are often paired with more "earthy" dishes like mushroom soup and aged cheese.

Popularity and backlash

Chardonnay long had a reputation as one of France's great white wines, but due to the dominance of geographical labeling, the fact that Chardonnay was the grape behind white Burgundy was not widely known by the wine-drinking public. The success of California and new world Chardonnays, partly encouraged by the Californian showing at the Judgment of Paris wine tasting, brought varietal wine labeling to more prominence and the easy to pronounce Chardonnay grape was one of the largest beneficiaries. In the late 1980s, a sort of "Chardonnay-mania" developed as wine regions (particularly new and developing ones) dramatically increased their planting of the grape to meet the world wide demand. Chardonnay became very fashionable in the 1990s, as the stereotypical drink of young urban women of the Bridget Jones generation.

But as more vineyards responded with massive new plantings of the variety, they found that fashions were changing again. The market was drinking more red wine, and there was a backlash against heavy, oaky, New World Chardonnays in favor of lighter wines such as Pinot Grigio. There was a new fashion, "ABC" - Anything But Chardonnay, identified by Frank Prial in 1995. Another reason for the backlash was that Chardonnay was seen as a symbol of the globalization of wine, in which local grape varieties were grubbed up in favor of the big names demanded by international markets. Oz Clarke described a view of Chardonnay as ''"...the ruthless coloniser and destroyer of the world's vineyards and the world's palates."'' The criticism was centered on the habits of winemakers to pull out or give up on local varieties in order to plant more Chardonnay which offered potentially more income but lack the uniqueness and character of local varieties. Examples of this occurred in south Italy and Spain when ancient Negroamaro, Primitivo, Grenache and Mataro vineyards were ripped up in favor of new Chardonnay plantings. Despite the backlash, Chardonnay remains very popular. In 2004 Chardonnay was estimated to be the world's 6th most grown grape variety, covering .

Genetic modification

Currently trials are being run on genetically-modified Chardonnay. Ostensibly to protect vines from Pierce's Disease, the idea has run into widespread opposition. Trials are underway in the US and South Africa.

Synonyms

Due to the worldwide recognition of the name of "Chardonnay", many of these synonyms have fallen out of favor as winemakers use the more marketable Chardonnay:

Arboisier, Arnaison Blanc, Arnoison, Aubain, Aubaine, Auvergnat Blanc, Auvernas, Auvernas Blanc, Auvernat Blanc, Auxeras, Auxerras Blanc, Auxerrois Blanc, Auxois, Auxois Blanc, Bargeois Blanc, Beaunois, Biela Klevanjika, Blanc de Champagne, Blanc de Cramant, Breisgauer Suessling, Breisgauer Sussling, Burgundi Feher, Chablis, Chardenai, Chardenay, Chardenet, Chardennet, Chardonay, Chardonnet, Chatenait, Chatey Petit, Chatte, Chaudenay, Chaudenet, Chaudent, Clävner, Clevner Weiss, Cravner, Epinette, Epinette Blanc, Epinette Blanche, Epinette de Champagne, Ericey Blanc, Feher Chardonnay, Feherburgundi, Feinburgunder, Gamay Blanc, Gelber Weissburgunder, Gentil Blanc, Grosse Bourgogne, Klawner, Klevanjka Biela, Klevner, Lisant, Luisant, Luizannais, Luizant, Luzannois, Maconnais, Maurillon Blanc, Melon Blanc, Melon D'Arbois, Meroué, Moreau Blanc, Morillon Blanc, Moulon, Noirien Blanc, Obaideh, Petit Chatey, Petit Sainte-Marie, Petite Sainte Marie, Pineau Blanc, Pino Sardone, Pino Shardone, Pinot Blanc à Cramant, Pinot Blanc Chardonnay, Pinot Chardonnay, Pinot de Bourgogne, Pinot Giallo, Pinot Planc, Plant de Tonnerre, Romere, Romeret, Rouci Bile, Rousseau, Roussot, Ruländer Weiß, Sainte Marie Petite, Sardone, Shardone, Shardonne, Später Weiß Burgunder, Weiß Burgunder (normally refers to Pinot Blanc), Weiß Clevner, Weiß Edler, Weiß Elder, Weiß Klewner, Weiß Silber, Weißedler, Weißer Clevner, Weißer Rulander.

See also

Great Chardonnay Showdown

International variety

References

External links

VIVC Bibliography

Category:White wine grape varieties Category:Wine grapes of Italy

als:Chardonnay az:Şardone bg:Шардоне ca:Chardonnay cv:Шардоне ceb:Chardonnay cs:Chardonnay da:Chardonnay de:Chardonnay et:Chardonnay es:Chardonnay fr:Chardonnay (cépage) hr:Chardonnay it:Chardonnay (vitigno) he:שרדונה hu:Chardonnay nl:Chardonnay no:Chardonnay pl:Chardonnay pt:Chardonnay (uva) ro:Chardonnay ru:Шардоне sl:Chardonnay sr:Шардоне fi:Chardonnay sv:Chardonnay uk:Шардоне zh:莎当妮

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Kanye West
background	solo_singer
birth name	Kanye Omari West
birth date	June 08, 1977
birth place	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
genre	Hip hop
instrument	Vocals, keyboards, sampler, percussion, synthesizer
occupation	Producer, rapper, musician, singer
years active	1996–present
label	GOOD Music, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam
associated acts	Go Getters, Child Rebel Soldier, Jay-Z, The Throne, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Rihanna, Jeff Bhasker, Pusha T, Mos Def, Mr Hudson, Talib Kweli, Big Sean, A-Trak, Pharrell, Lupe Fiasco, RZA
website	}}

Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album ''The Blueprint'', as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B;, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album ''The College Dropout'' in 2004, his second album ''Late Registration'' in 2005, his third album ''Graduation'' in 2007, his fourth album ''808s & Heartbreak'' in 2008, and his fifth album ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' in 2010. West released a collaborative album, ''Watch the Throne'', with Jay-Z on August 8, 2011, which is the duo's first collaborative album. His five solo albums, all of which have gone platinum, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim. As of 2011, West has won a total of fourteen Grammy Awards. All albums have been very commercially successful, with ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' becoming his fourth consecutive No.1 album in the U.S. upon release. West has had 5 songs exceed 3 million in digital sales as of July 2011, with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,402,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000, "E.T." selling over 4,000,000 and "Love Lockdown" selling over 3,000,000 placing him third in overall digital sales of the past decade. He has sold over 25 million digital songs in the United States placing him second for solo male artists on the list and sixth overall for best selling digital artists.

West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such as John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi. West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos. About.com ranked Kanye West No.8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list. On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's No.1 "Hottest MC in the Game." On December 17, 2010, Kanye West was voted as the MTV Man of the Year by MTV. Billboard ranked Kanye West No. 3 on their list of Top 10 Producers of the decade. West has also been included in the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world as well as being listed in a number of ''Forbes''' annual lists.

Early life

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lived with his parents. When he was three years old, his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. His father was Ray West, a former Black Panther who was one of the first black photojournalists at ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' and is now a Christian counselor. West's mother, Dr. Donda West, was a Professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University before retiring to serve as West's manager. He was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. When asked about his grades in high school, West replied, "I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'".

West attended art classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and also enrolled at Chicago State University, but dropped out to focus on his music career. While attending school, West produced for local artists. He later gained fame by producing hit singles for major hip hop/R&B; artists, including Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Cam'ron, Paul Wall, Common, Mobb Deep, Jermaine Dupri, Scarface, The Game, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, John Legend among others. He also "ghost-produced" for his mentor Deric Angelettie, according to his song "Last Call" and the credits of Nas' "Poppa Was a Playa".

Music career

1996–2003: Career beginnings

Kanye West's first career productions came on Chicago rapper Grav's 1996 debut album ''Down to Earth''. West produced eight tracks on the album. While the album did not attract much attention and would be the only album released by Grav, West would soon be producing for higher profile artists. In 1998–1999 he produced for well-known artists such as Jermaine Dupri, Foxy Brown, Goodie Mob, and the group Harlem World.

West got his big break in the year 2000, when he began to produce for artists on Roc-a-Fella Records. He produced the well-received Jay-Z song "This Can't Be Life" off of the album ''The Dynasty: Roc La Familia''. West would later state that to create the beat for "This Can't Be Life", he sped up the drum beat from Dr. Dre's song "Xxplosive".

After producing for Jay-Z earlier, West’s sound was featured heavily on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album ''The Blueprint,'' released September 11, 2001. His work was featured on the lead single "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" and a diss track against Nas and Mobb Deep named "Takeover"; West has worked with Mobb Deep and Nas since the track's release.

After meeting great commercial success and critical acclaim for his productions on ''The Blueprint'', West became a sought after producer in the hip-hop industry, even before he became known as a rapper and solo artist. In the years 2002–2003 he would produce for artists such as Nas, Scarface, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, T.I., Ludacris, DMX, and Monica. He also continued producing for Roc-a-Fella Records artists and contribued four tracks to Jay-Z's follow up album to ''The Blueprint'', ''The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse''.

After great successes as a producer, West now looked to pursue a career as a rapper and solo artist, but struggled to get a record deal. Chris Anokute, then A&R; at Def Jam, said that when West regularly dropped by the office to pick up his producer checks he would play demos of solo material to Anokute in his cubicle and bemoan the fact that no one was taking him seriously as a rapper. Jay-Z admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he saw him as a producer first and foremost. Multiple record companies felt he was not as marketable as rappers who portray the "street image" prominent in hip hop culture. Beginning his career as a rapper, Kanye West recorded the third verse on the song "The Bounce" off of Jay-Z's ''The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse'', an album he produced for, from the same label he was signed to as a rapper.

2004–05: ''The College Dropout'' and ''Late Registration''

On October 23, 2002, West was involved in a near fatal car crash while driving home from the recording studio. The crash provided inspiration for West's first single, "Through the Wire". West's faith is apparent in many of his songs, such as "Jesus Walks", which became a staple at his benefit performances, such as the Live 8 concert. These songs were featured on West's debut album, ''The College Dropout'', which was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in February 2004, and went on to receive critical acclaim. The album also defined the style for which West would become known, including wordplay and sampling. The album was eventually certified triple platinum. Guest appearances included Jay-Z, Ludacris, GLC, Consequence, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, and Syleena Johnson. The album also featured the singles, "All Falls Down" and "The New Workout Plan", as well as Twista's number one single, "Slow Jamz". During 2003 West also co-produced songs for British singer Javine Hylton, even appearing in the music video to Real Things playing the love interest of Javine.

West was involved in a financial dispute over Royce Da 5'9"'s song "Heartbeat", produced by West and released on ''Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions''. West maintains that Royce never paid for the beat, but recorded to it and released it; hearing him on the beat, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again. Other Kanye West-produced hit singles during the period ''The College Dropout'' was released included "I Changed My Mind" by Keyshia Cole, "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "Talk About Our Love" by Brandy.

Taking a more eclectic route, West collaborated with American film score composer Jon Brion to construct his second album, ''Late Registration'', which was released on August 30, 2005. Like its predecessor, the sophomore effort garnered universal acclaim from music critics. ''Late Registration'' topped countless critic polls and was revered as the best album of the year by numerous publications, including ''USA Today'', ''Spin'', and ''Time''. ''Rolling Stone'' awarded the album the highest position on their end of the year record list and hailed it as a "sweepingly generous, absurdly virtuosic hip-hop classic." The record earned the number one spot on the ''Village Voice'''s Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2005 for the second consecutive year. ''Late Registration'' was also a commercial success, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week alone and topping the ''Billboard 200''. Grossing over 2.3 million units sold in the United States alone by year's end, ''Late Registration'' was considered by industry observers as the sole majorly successful album release of the fall of 2005, a season that was plagued by steadily declining CD sales. The second album earned eight Grammy Award nominations including ''Album of the Year'' and ''Record of the Year'' for the song "Gold Digger". The album is certified triple platinum.

On August 22, 2005, the MTV special ''All Eyes On Kanye West'' aired, in which West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop. He claimed that hip-hop has always been about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He then reflected on a personal experience. He said that he had a "turning point" when he realized one of his cousins was gay. He said regarding this experience: "This is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays." He drew comparison between African Americans' struggle for civil rights and today's gay rights movement. The following year, in an interview with ''Entertainment Weekly'', West further expounded his experiences with and views on the relationship between the black and gay communities.

In September 2005, West announced that he would release his Pastelle Clothing line in spring 2006: "Now that I have a Grammy under my belt and ''Late Registration'' is finished, I am ready to launch my clothing line next spring." In that year, West produced the hit singles "Go" by Common and "Dreams" by The Game.

2007–09: ''Graduation'' and ''808s & Heartbreak''

In 2007, it was announced that West would be starring in a series directed by Larry Charles. He has been working on the pilot episode for the past two years with Larry Charles and Rick Rubin. He also had this to say on January 14: "I wouldn't do something as cliché as a reality show. At least give me the credit for being more creative than that. It's a situational half-hour comedy. It's fictional, and loosely based on my life. " West also collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group Teriyaki Boyz to produce the single "I Still Love H.E.R.," a reference to Common's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R.". Further to this, during a radio appearance in early 2007, West, like many of his peers, recorded an impromptu freestyle to the popular song "Throw Some D's." The song that to all other rappers was about automobile rims, was used by West to comically refer to D-cup breasts. Because of the unexpected success of the song, West went on to make a video for the freestyle, in which he is seen playing his 'Old Ass Cousin'.

West was also featured in a new song called "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)". It was believed to be a single for, ''Graduation'', because he is featured on the track, but Nike quickly explained that it was for the Nike Air Force 1's anniversary. It was meant only to be an exclusive track for the company.

On March 25, 2007, he and his father Ray West supported World Water Day by having a "Walk for Water" rally. After a two-year break, West has returned to being a fashion columnist in lifestyle magazine ''Complex''. On July 7, 2007, West performed with The Police and John Mayer at the American leg of Live Earth. West hosted the August 17 edition of British comedy- variety show The Friday Night Project.

In July 2007, West changed the release date of ''Graduation'', his third album, from September 18, 2007, to the same release date as 50 Cent's album ''Curtis'', September 11, 2007. 50 Cent later claimed that if ''Graduation'' were to sell more records than ''Curtis,'' he would stop releasing solo albums. However, 50 Cent would later dispel his comments. The album has been certified double platinum. Guest appearances included T-Pain, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne.

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On August 26, 2007, West appeared as himself on the HBO television show ''Entourage'' which he used as a platform to premier his new single "Good Life" during the end credits. On September 9, 2007, West performed at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in every category he was nominated for; he gave an angry speech immediately afterward. (see "Controversies" section)

Following the MTV stint, West was nominated in eight Grammy Award categories for the 50th annual Grammy Awards. He won four of them, including Best Rap Album for ''Graduation'' and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Stronger" from ''Graduation''. During the four-hour televised Grammy Awards ceremony, West also performed two songs: "Stronger" (with Daft Punk) and "Hey Mama" (in honor of his recently deceased mother).

West kicked off the Glow in the Dark Tour in Seattle at the Key Arena on April 16. The tour was originally scheduled to end in June in Cincinnati but was extended into August. Over the course of the tour West was joined by a varying group of opening acts, including Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, N.E.R.D., DJ Craze, and Gnarls Barkley. On June 15, West was scheduled to perform a late night set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. His performance started almost two hours late and ran for half of its alloted time, angering many fans in the audience. West later wrote an outraged entry on his blog, blaming the festival organizers as well as Pearl Jam's preceding set, which ran longer than expected.

On September 7, West debuted a new song "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. "Love Lockdown" features no rapping and only singing using an auto-tune device. This song appears on West's fourth studio album, ''808s & Heartbreak''. The new album was expected to be released on December 16, but West announced on his blog on September 24, 2008, that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November, earlier than previously scheduled. In early October, West made a surprise appearance at a T.I. concert in Los Angeles, where he stated that ''808s & Heartbreak'' was scheduled to be released on November 25, though it was actually released on the 24th, and that the second single is "Heartless". The album was another number one album for West, even though the first week numbers fell well short of ''Graduation'' with 450,145 sold.

West performed at the American Music Awards ceremony on November 23. That same night he won two AMA awards, including Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for ''Graduation'' and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist. West performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008, along with Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D. in support of Barack Obama. On January 20, 2009, Kanye West performed at the Youth Inaugural Ball hosted by MTV for Obama's inauguration.

On February 17, 2009, West was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by ''GQ''. The next day, February 18, 2009, West won International Male Solo Artist at The Brit Awards 2009. West was not in attendance but accepted his award with a video speech, saying "Barack is the 'Best Interracial Male' but I'm proud to be the Best International Male in the world.

In April 2009, Kanye West recorded a song called "Hurricane" with 30 Seconds to Mars to appear on their album ''This Is War'', but was not released due to legal issues with both record companies. The song was eventually released on the deluxe version of ''This Is War'', titled "Hurricane 2.0".

2010–present: ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' and ''Watch the Throne''

In May 2010, West made an animated television guest appearance on Fox's animated television series ''The Cleveland Show'' (a spin-off of ''Family Guy'') as the voice behind "Kenny West", a rival of Cleveland Brown's son. In his first episode he performed in a rap battle with Cleveland's son. The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was because they knew he was a fan of ''Family Guy''. Kenny West re-appeared in the season 2 premiere of ''The Cleveland Show''.

West spent the first half of 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii, working on his new album with the working title ''"Good Ass Job"'', later named ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'', released on November 22, 2010. West has cited Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone as his musical inspirations for this album. Outside production is said to come from RZA, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. West also had Justin Vernon flown into his studio on Oahu after seemingly expressing interest in sampling one of Bon Iver's songs; Vernon proceeded to feature on a number of new tracks, including "Lost In The World," which features Vernon's vocal line from Woods.

On May 28, the Dwele-assisted first single from the album, entitled "Power", leaked to the Internet. On June 30, the track was officially released via iTunes. The upcoming music video was quoted as being "apocalyptic, in a very personal way" by the director Marco Brambilla.

On September 12, 2010, West performed a new song, "Runaway" featuring Pusha T, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Shortly after the performance, Kanye revealed he was working on a 35 minute short film based around the song. The movie is said to be influenced by film noir and concerns a fallen phoenix whom Kanye falls in love with. On October 15, 2010, Kanye West was ranked 3rd in BET's "Top Ten Rappers of the 21st Century" list.

''Watch the Throne'', a collaborative studio album by West and Jay-Z, was released by Def Jam Recordings on August 8, 2011. It has been under production since August 2010 as part of West's GOOD Friday initiative of releasing new songs every Friday between August 20 and Christmas 2010. West said through a recent interview with MTV that the album is "going to be very dark and sexy, like couture hip hop." He appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing the track "Lost in the World" from ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''. On January 6, 2011, Kanye announced via Twitter that the first official single from ''Watch the Throne'' would be a song called "H•A•M" produced by Lex Luger. The song was released on January 11, 2011. On January 23, 2011, Kanye revealed via his Twitter account that he will be releasing a new album in summer 2011. On April 17, 2011, West closed the Coachella Festival with a headlining set that received glowing praise from fans and critics alike. On July 13, the official tracklisting for ''Watch The Throne'' was revealed. On July 20, a track titled "Otis" from the album was released in the iTunes Store. It samples "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding.

On October 19, 2011, West announced on his Twitter plans for a Spring 2012 GOOD Music album release.

Other ventures

Business ventures

In August 2008, West revealed plans to open 10 Fatburger restaurants in the Chicago area; the first was set to open in September 2008 in Orland Park. The second followed in January 2009, while a third location is yet to be revealed, although the process is being finalized. His company, KW Foods LLC, bought the rights to the chain in Chicago. Additionally, West planned to launch his fashion career, and applied for internships with major European fashion houses. He was due to release his own clothing line called Past Tell in 2009. He also collaborated with Nike to release his own shoe, Air Yeezys.

On January 22, 2009, during Paris Fashion Week, West introduced his first shoe line designed for Louis Vuitton. The line was released in summer 2009.

On October 01, 2011, Kanye West premiered his women's fashion label, DW Kanye West at Paris Fashion Week. He received support from DSquared2 duo Dean and Dan Caten, Olivier Theyskens, Jeremy Scott, Azzedine Alaïa, and the Olsen twins, who were also in attendance during his show. His debut fashion show received mixed-to-negative reviews, ranging from reserved observations by Style.com to excoriating commentary by The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Elleuk.com, The Daily Telegraph, Harper's Bazaar and many others.

Philanthropy

West started the "Kanye West Foundation" in Chicago in 2003. On August 24, 2007, West hosted the inaugural benefit concert to launch the foundation's partnership with Strong American Schools. It is focused on helping Latino and African American children stay in school and to get a proper education through grade school, high school, and college. The foundation also helps children to stay in high school by finding a path through music. West has contributed over $500,000 to his foundation. The foundation has also been called the "Donda West Foundation".

Kanye West has appeared and participated in many fundraisers, benefit concerts, and has done community work for Hurricane Katrina relief, the Kanye West Foundation, the Millions More Movement, 100 Black Men of America, a Live Earth concert benefit, World Water Day rally and march, Nike runs, and a MTV special helping young Iraq War veterans who struggle through debt and PTSD a second chance after returning home.

Musical style and influences

At the start of his career, Kanye West's production style often used pitched-up vocal samples, usually from soul songs, with his own drums and instruments. His first major release featuring his trademark vocal sampling style was "This Can't Be Life", a track from Jay-Z’s ''The Dynasty: Roc La Familia''. West said he sped up the drum beat of Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive" to use as a replacement for his drums on "This Can't Be Life".

West has said that Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA influenced him in his style, and has said on numerous occasions that Wu-Tang rappers Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard were some of his all-time favorites, "Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that." RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons, stating in an interview for ''Rolling Stone'', "All good. I got super respect for Kanye. He came up to me about a year or two ago. He gave me mad praising and blessings... For people to say Wu-Tang inspire Kanye, Kanye is one of the biggest artists in the world. That goes back to what we say: 'Wu-Tang is forever.' Kanye is going to inspire people to be like him." After hearing his work on ''The Blueprint'', RZA claimed that a torch-passing had occurred between him and West, saying, "The shoes gotta be filled. If you ain't gonna do it, somebody else is gonna do it. That's how I feel about rap today."

While his use of sampling has lessened over time, West's production continues to feature distinctive and intricate string arrangements. This characteristic arose from him listening to the English trip hop group Portishead, whose 1998 live album ''Roseland NYC Live'', with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra inspired him to incorporate string sections into his hip hop production. Though he was unable to afford live instruments beyond violin riffs provided by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari around the time of his debut album, its subsequent commercial success allowed him to hire his very own eleven-piece string orchestra. For a time, West stood as the sole current pop star to tour with a string section.

West has stated on several occasions that outside of work, he favors listening to rock music over hip-hop. He cites Franz Ferdinand, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Killers as some of his favorite musical groups. Additionally, on ''Graduation'', West drew inspiration from arena rock bands such as U2, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin for melody and chord progression. Both a fan and supporter of indie culture, West uses his official website to promote obscure indie rock bands, posting up music videos and mp3s on a daily basis. This musical affinity is mutual, as West has collaborated with indie artists such as Santigold, Peter Bjorn and John and Lykke Li while his songs have gone on to be covered countless times by myriad rock bands.

Personal life

Relationships

Kanye West and designer Alexis Phifer ended their 18-month engagement in 2008. The couple had been dating on and off since 2002, with West eventually proposing in August 2006. According to a friend, the couple's relationship had become increasingly strained, burdened by the sheer amount of time and attention West was dedicating to his current concert tour. "It's always sad when things like this end, and we remain friends," Phifer told ''People''.

West was also in a high profile on/off relationship with Amber Rose from 2008 until the summer of 2010.

Mother's death

On November 10, 2007, West's mother, Donda West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery involving abdominoplasty and breast augmentation. TMZ reported that Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Andre Aboolian refused to do the surgery because Donda West had a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack. Aboolian referred her to an internist to investigate her cardiac issue. Donda never met with the doctor recommended by Aboolian and had the procedures performed by a third doctor, Jan Adams. She was 58 years old (1949–2007).

Adams sent condolences to Donda West's family but declined to publicly discuss the procedure because of confidentiality. He had previously been under scrutiny by the medical board. Adams appeared on ''Larry King Live'' on November 20, 2007 but left before speaking. Two days later, he appeared again, with his attorney, stating he was there to "defend himself." He said that the recently released autopsy results "spoke for themselves". The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty."

The funeral and burial for Donda West was held in Oklahoma City on November 20, 2007. West held his first concert following the funeral at The O2 in London on November 22. He dedicated a performance of "Hey Mama", as well as a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", to his mother, and did so on all other dates of his Glow in the Dark tour.

At a December 2008 press conference in New Zealand, West spoke about his mother's death for the first time. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," he told reporters.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the "Donda West Law," a legislation which makes it mandatory for patients to provide medical clearance for elective cosmetic surgery.

Legal issues

In December 2006, Robert "Evel" Knievel sued West for trademark infringement in West's video for "Touch the Sky." Knievel took issue with a "sexually-charged video" in which West takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and attempts flying a rocket over a canyon. The suit filed in federal court claims infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. Knievel also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage his reputation. The suit seeks damages and to stop distribution of the video. West's attorneys argued that the music video amounted to satire and therefore was covered under the First Amendment. Just days before his death in November 2007, Knievel amicably settled the suit after being paid a visit from West, saying, "I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman."

On September 11, 2008, West and his road manager/bodyguard Don "Don C." Crowley were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and booked on charges of felony vandalism after an altercation with the paparazzi in which West and Crowley broke the photographers' cameras. West was later released from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station in Culver City on $20,000 bail bond. On September 26, 2008 the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it would not file felony counts against West over the incident. Instead the case file was forwarded to the city attorney's office, which charged West with one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of grand theft and one count of battery and his manager with three counts of each on March 18, 2009. West's and Crowley's arraignment was delayed from an original date of April 14, 2009.

West was arrested again on November 14, 2008 at the Hilton hotel near Gateshead after another scuffle involving a photographer outside the famous Tup Tup Palace nightclub in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He was later released "with no further action", according to a police spokesperson.

Controversies

General media

West has had several controversies throughout his career. On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, A Concert for Hurricane Relief, West was a featured speaker. When West was presenting alongside actor Mike Myers, he deviated from the prepared script. Myers spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. Bush stated in an interview that the comment was "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency.

In January 2006, West again sparked controversy when he appeared on the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' in the image of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

In November, 2010, Kanye West, in a taped interview with Matt Lauer for the Today Show, West expressed regret for his criticism of Bush. "I would tell George Bush in my moment of frustration, I didn't have the grounds to call him a racist," he told Lauer. "I believe that in a situation of high emotion like that we as human beings don't always choose the right words." The following day, Bush reacted to the apology in a live interview with Lauer saying he appreciated the rapper's remorse. "I'm not a hater," Bush said. "I don't hate Kanye West. I was talking about an environment in which people were willing to say things that hurt. Nobody wants to be called a racist if in your heart you believe in equality of races."

Reactions were mixed, but some felt that West had no need to apologize. "It was not the particulars of your words that mattered, it was the essence of a feeling of the insensitivity towards our communities that many of us have felt for far too long," noted Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons. Dr. Boyce Watkins said that West was, "now part of the establishment, where waffling on your principles is fully expected. Bush deserved no apology, for you don’t apologize to a criminal after repudiating him for an egregious crime. " Bush himself was acceptive towards the apology, saying, "I appreciate that. It wasn't just Kanye West who was talking like that during Katrina, I cited him as an example, I cited others as an example as well. You know, I appreciate that."

Award shows

In 2004, West had his first of a number of incidents involving music award events. At the American Music Awards of 2004, West stormed out of the auditorium after losing Best New Artist to country singer Gretchen Wilson. He later commented, "I felt like I was definitely robbed [...] I was the best new artist this year." After the 2006 Grammy nominations were released, West said he would "really have a problem" if he did not win the Album of the Year, saying, "I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt – you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. I don't want to hear all of that politically correct stuff." On November 2, 2006, when his "Touch the Sky" failed to win Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards, West went onto the stage as the award was being presented to Justice and Simian for "We Are Your Friends" and argued that he should have won the award instead. Hundreds of news outlets worldwide criticized the outburst. On November 7, 2006, West apologized for this outburst publicly during his performance as support act for U2 for their Vertigo concert in Brisbane. He later spoofed the incident in the season premiere of ''Saturday Night Live''.

On September 9, 2007, West suggested that his race had to do with his being overlooked for opening the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in favor of Britney Spears; he claimed, "Maybe my skin’s not right." West was performing at the event; that night, he lost all 5 awards that he was nominated for, including Best Male Artist and Video of the Year. After the show, he was visibly upset that he had lost at the VMAs two years in a row, stating that he would not come back to MTV ever again. He also appeared on several radio stations saying that when he made the song "Stronger" that it was his dream to open the VMAs with it. He has also stated that Spears has not had a hit in a long period of time and that MTV exploited her for ratings.

On September 13, 2009, during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards while Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", West went on stage and grabbed the microphone to proclaim that Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", nominated for the same award, was "one of the best videos of all time". He was subsequently removed from the remainder of the show for his actions. When Beyoncé later won the award for Best Video of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", she called Swift up on stage so that she could finish her acceptance speech. West was criticized by various celebrities for the outburst, and by President Barack Obama, who called West a "jackass" in an off-the-record comment. In addition, West's VMA disruption sparked a large influx of Internet photo memes with blogs, forums and "tweets" with the "Let you finish" photo-jokes. Subsequently, West posted two apologies for the outburst on his personal blog; one on the night of the incident and the other the same day he appeared on ''The Jay Leno Show'', on September 14, 2009, where he apologized again. After Swift appeared on ''The View'' two days after the outburst, partly to discuss the matter, West called her to apologize personally. Swift said she accepted his apology. In September 2010, West wrote a series of apologetic tweets addressed to Swift including "Beyonce didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that" and concluding with "I'm sorry Taylor." West also revealed he had written a song for Swift and if she did not accept the song, he would perform it himself. However, on November 8, 2010, in an interview with a Minnesota radio station, West seemed to recant a bit of his past apologies by attempting to describe the act at the 2009 awards show as "selfless" and downgrade the perception of disrespect it created.

Discography

Solo Albums

''The College Dropout'' (2004)

''Late Registration'' (2005)

''Graduation'' (2007)

''808s & Heartbreak'' (2008)

''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' (2010)

Collaborations

''Watch the Throne'' (2011) – with Jay-Z

''G.O.O.D. Music'' (2012) – with GOOD Music artists

Filmography

''We Were Once a Fairytale'' (2009)

''Runaway'' (2010)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Kanye West at Beatbuggy

Category:1977 births Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:African American male singers Category:American bloggers Category:American Christians Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music industry executives Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Brit Award winners Category:Chicago State University alumni Category:Electro-hop musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Living people Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Roc-A-Fella Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners

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Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jeffery Johnson, Jr.
Born	Little Rock, Arkansas April 02, 1990
Height	5'11
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genre	Hip Hop
Occupation	Rapper, Vocalist
Years active	2009–present
Label	MyndState, Zone 4, MusicLine Group, Interscope
Associated acts	Soulja Boy, Wale , J. Holiday, Waka Flocka Flame, T-Pain, Fabolous, Wiz Khalifa Big Sean, Kanye West, DJ Drama, Mishon, Maino
Website	Roscoe Dash website }}

Jeffery Johnson, Jr. (born April 2, 1990), better known by his stage name Roscoe Dash, is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia.

Career

Major label success

Roscoe Dash is currently a part of Interscope Records. His debut album, ''Ready Set Go!'', was set to release on October 5, 2010 according to his recent mixtape Demolition 2020. However, it currently has no release date after a couple pushbacks. Dash and fellow record acts are collaborating on a new mixtape called "Jigger What: The Next Level." It is scheduled to be released on his website this summer. Roscoe Dash released his third mixtape ''Dash Effect'' on August 3, 2011. During the summer of 2009, Roscoe Dash, along with a few other singers including Drew Mann, performed at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia for a celebration of a popular radio station. The radio station, Hot 107.9, held a concert called "Birthday Bash" for thousands of people.

Personal life

|source=Roscoe Dash, on what motivated him to start rapping.}} Johnson is the oldest of his siblings. He has a brother, two half-sisters, and two stepbrothers. Johnson also has a daughter.

Discography

Studio albums

+ List of albums, with selected chart positions	scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"	Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
! scope="col" style="width:2.2em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:2.2em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:2.2em;font-size:90%;"
''Ready Set Go!''		* Release date: TBA	* Label: GME, MusicLine, MMI, 2010: ''Demolition 2020 "With DJ Kutthroat" 2011: ''Dash Effect (With DJ Drama & DJ Kutthroat) Singles Year Title Chart positions Album ! style="width:40px;" ! style="width:40px;" ! style="width:40px;" style="text-align:left style="text-align:left;" rowspan="1" Other charted songs Year Title Chart positions Album ! style="width:40px;" ! style="width:40px;" ! style="width:40px;" As featured performer Year Title Chart positions Album ! style="width:40px;" ! style="width:40px;" ! style="width:40px;" style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;" style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;" style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;" style="text-align:left;" References External links [[Category:African American rappers">Zone 4 (record label)	* Format: [[Compact disc	TBR	TBR	TBR

Mixtapes

2010: ''Can't Catch the Lambo "With DJ Kutthroat"

2010: ''Demolition 2020 "With DJ Kutthroat"

2011: ''Dash Effect (With DJ Drama & DJ Kutthroat)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions	Album
! style="width:40px;"	! style="width:40px;"	! style="width:40px;"
style="text-align:left
				style="text-align:left;" rowspan="1"

Other charted songs

Year	Title	Chart positions	Album
! style="width:40px;"	! style="width:40px;"	! style="width:40px;"

As featured performer

Year	Title	Chart positions	Album
! style="width:40px;"	! style="width:40px;"	! style="width:40px;"
	style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
	style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
				style="text-align:left;"

References

External links

[[Category:African American rappers Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Living people Category:1990 births

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Cerys Matthews
background	solo_singer
birth date	April 11, 1969
origin	Cardiff, Wales
genre	Alternative rockBritpopIndie rockFolk rockPop rock
occupation	Singer, songwriter
years active	1990–present
associated acts	Catatonia
website	cerysmatthews.co.uk
notable instruments	}}

Cerys Elizabeth Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer and songwriter. She is known as the lead singer of the Welsh rock band Catatonia, her more recent bilingual solo career, and for a 1998 Christmas duet with Tom Jones .

Biography

Matthews was born in Cardiff and brought up in Swansea and Pembrokeshire, and is a fluent Welsh speaker and multi-instrumentalist. She has cited her childhood heroes as being Pippi Longstocking and The Wombles due to their love of recycling. She learned to play the guitar at the age of nine, teaching herself blues and Irish folk songs. After a stint in Spain as a nanny, where she learned to speak Spanish and Catalan, Matthews worked for the Pembrokeshire County Council. She later moved back to Cardiff and became involved with the local music scene, meeting Mark Roberts. She currently resides in London with her children Glenys Pearl y Felin (born 10 August 2003), Johnny Tupelo Jones (born August 2005), and Red (born 23 November 2009). Her son Red was born eight weeks premature.

Catatonia

Catatonia was formed in 1992, reputedly after Roberts heard Cerys Matthews busking in a street in Cardiff city centre. This later turned out to be a story fabricated by the band, as Matthews had known Roberts for some time, although they did often go busking. She subsequently sang lead vocals on, and co-wrote the music and lyrics for, the band's hits. Songs she co-wrote included "You've Got a Lot to Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead From the Waist Down", and "Road Rage". Matthews also played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space named "The Ballad of Tom Jones", which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. Matthews later collaborated with Jones to record a version of Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on Jones' album ''Reload''. Matthews was voted the "Sexiest Female in Rock" in a 1999 readers' poll in the now defunct magazine ''Melody Maker''.

Catatonia's split

After Catatonia's rise to fame with their second album ''International Velvet'', and subsequent success with ''Equally Cursed And Blessed'', the band returned in 2001 with their fourth studio album ''Paper Scissors Stone''. During promotional appearances for this album it became clear that Matthews was not happy. On 21 September 2001, the band officially split.

''Sali Mali'' cartoon series

In December 2001, Matthews returned to the recording studio for the first time since Catatonia split up. She recorded a song in both English and Welsh for the pre-school cartoon series ''Sali Mali''.

Mink Car

Matthews provided guest vocals on the track "Cyclops Rock", from US alternative rock band They Might Be Giants 2001 album "Mink Car". Her line was originally supposed to be done by Joe Strummer of The Clash.

Nashville

Matthews moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the early summer of 2002. On her arrival she began playing with Bucky Baxter, who had played lap steel guitar for Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. She had already collected seventy-six traditional folk songs with the idea of making an album of folk covers. Her debut album, ''Cockahoop'', ended up consisting mainly of her own songs. It was recorded in seven months and appeared on Blanco y Negro Records in the UK in May 2003. Whilst recording this album she met Seth Riddle, whom she married in Pembrokeshire in February 2003. She toured the album around Britain with minimal promotion as she was several months pregnant at the time. The album's Stateside Records release followed in October 2004.

In December 2005, Matthews recorded a new version of Len Barry's 1960s UK top 10 hit "1-2-3" in Nashville. She released it as a download-single with all profits going to a children's charity.

In spring 2006, Matthews introduced material from her upcoming album at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

''Never Said Goodbye'' album

In July and August 2006 Matthews conducted a short tour of the UK to promote her new second solo album, ''Never Said Goodbye''. The new album was preceded by the single "Open Roads" (released 7 August 2006). Band members included Kevin Teel on guitar, Ben Elkins playing keyboards, Mason Neely on drums, and Jeff Irwin playing bass. She headlined Cardiff's ''Big Weekend festival'' on 6 August 2006.

During September and October 2006, Matthews embarked on an extensive UK and Ireland tour, during which she played tracks from her first two solo albums as well as three Catatonia hits. She also embarked upon a short acoustic Welsh tour in November 2006 before returning to Nashville for Christmas.

Matthews appeared at the live 'Guilty Pleasures' concert at the Hackney Empire, London on 20 March 2007. She performed the Bonnie Tyler hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and the Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers duet "Islands in the Stream" along with Terry Hall and the BBC Concert Orchestra

In an interview on the eve of the launch of her Welsh mini-album ''Awyren = Aeroplane'', Matthews confirmed she had divorced from Riddle and temporarily moved back to her farm in Pembrokeshire. ''Awyren = Aeroplane'' won her the 'Contemporary Composition' award in the National Eisteddfod. The award had been resurrected and presented for the first time since 1936.

In 2007 Matthews became Vice-President of the Welsh homelessness charity Shelter Cymru. She also accepted a role of Performing Arts Ambassador for Linden Lodge School, Surrey in the same year.

''I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here'' (Series 7)

Matthews appeared on the 2007 series of ITV's ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!'', which aired from 12 to 30 November. She was voted off on 29 November, one day before the final episode, coming fourth behind Jason 'J' Brown, Janice Dickinson and the eventual winner of the series, Christopher Biggins. Matthews became involved with fellow contestant Marc Bannerman after the show, but they split four months later.

NME Shockwaves Awards and Big Gig 2008

Matthews joined the Welsh band Manic Street Preachers onstage at The O2 on 28 February 2008 to sing the female vocals of their 2007 hit "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". She replaced Nina Persson in both the awards ceremony (within indigO2) and at the following 'Big Gig' live show (within The O2 arena).

Radio

From November 2008 Matthews sat in for Stephen Merchant and Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music and went on to present George Lamb's slot in April 2009. In May 2009 she presented show ''A Month of Sundays With... Cerys Matthews''. She then covered for Nemone on 6 Music from July 2009 while Nemone was on maternity leave. Her show ''Cerys on 6'' included virtual radio roadtrips, musical challenges and back-to-school features on subjects including the boll weevil, the Vietnam War, the Bo Diddley beat and Hildegard von Bingen. Matthews began maternity leave from November 2009 and had to finish presenting the show a month early. On 4 April 2010, Matthews returned to 6 Music to present a weekend show on Sunday mornings. She spoke out in 2010 after the (now-abandoned) proposed closure of BBC 6 Music, calling for the decision to be reversed.

''Don't Look Down: Paid Edrych i Lawr'' album and tour

Matthews released her first CD in two years on 5 October 2009. The album, entitled ''Don't Look Down'', was released in two versions, one in English and the other in Welsh (the title of the Welsh edition was ''Paid Edrych i Lawr''). It was recorded in Providence, Rhode Island, Nashville, Seattle and London and coincided with a two-week sold-out UK tour in October.

Other

After covering the Glastonbury Festival for both BBC Television and BBC 6 Music, she wrote and presented a BBC Two programme on Celtic poetry, a documentary on singer Dorothy Squires, and music of the Mississippi River. She also wrote and presented a documentary on early blues players like Memphis Minnie, also a documentary on Pippi Longstocking both for Radio 4.

TIR 2010

On 21 June Matthews released 'TIR', a collection of traditional Welsh songs and photographs from the late 19th century to early 1930s. They include Calon Lân, Cwm Rhondda, Migldi-Magldi (sung as a duet with Bryn Terfel), Myfanwy and Sospan Fach. This is the third release on her own label of Rainbow City.

Explorer 2011

"Explorer " is the title of Cerys' fourth solo album and in both choosing and writing the songs she has sub consciously delved into the huge influence of not just all the music she has heard, but the places she has been around the globe, and by the times we live in, but most importantly made an album that over the seven days of recording had no pre determined sound or calculated format. On the 28 April 2011, a video was released through Matthews' official YouTube Page of the Lead single from Explorer, Sweet Magnolia. Explorer is set to be released 2 May 2011, through the online store Earthquake

Cerys Matthews Solo & Collaboration Discography

Albums

''Cockahoop'' (UK #30, 5 weeks on Chart) (Blanco y Negro - 2003)

''Never Said Goodbye'' (Rough Trade - 2006)

''Awyren = Aeroplane'' (mini-album) (My Kung Fu 030 - 2007)

''Don't Look Down/Paid Edrych i Lawr'' (Rainbow City Recordings - 2009)

"Tir" (Rainbow City Recordings - 2010)

"Explorer" (Rainbow City Recordings - 2011)

Compilation albums

''Brand New Boots and Panties'' (2001) - contributed "If I Was With a Woman"

''Songs for the Young at Heart'' (2007) - contributed "White Horses", the theme song to ''The White Horses''

''Listen to Bob Dylan: A Tribute'' - contributed "I Believe in You", a Bob Dylan song from ''Slow Train Coming''

''Over the Rainbow'' (2007) - contributed "Secret Love"

Singles

1998 "The Ballad of Tom Jones" (with Space) UK #4

1999 "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (with Tom Jones) UK #17

2003 "Caught In The Middle" UK #47

2005 "1-2-3"

2006 "Open Roads" UK #53

2007 "Some Kind of Wonderful" (with Aled Jones) (Universal Records)

2009 "Arlington Way" (Rainbow City Records)

2010 "Into The Blue"/"Mae Angen Llong Ar Gapten" (Rainbow City Records)

2011 "Sweet Magnolia" (Rainbow City Records)

Catatonia Discography

Studio albums

Year	Details	Peak chart position		!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"
1996		*Released: 30 September 1996	Blanco y Negro">Music recording sales certification
!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"
1996		*Released: 30 September 1996	Blanco y Negro	32	—	—	—	—
1998	align="left"	*Released: Feb 1998	Warner-Elektra-Atlantic>WEA	1	27	—	39	32		British Phonographic Industry>UK: 3x Platinum
1999		*Released: 28 March 2000	Atlantic Records>Atlantic	1	48	—	—	28		*UK: Platinum
2001	align="left"	*Released: 6 August 2001	*Label: Blanco y Negro	6	—	55	37	—		*UK: Silver

Compilation albums

Year	Details	Peak chart position	[[Music recording sales certification
!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"	!width="30"
1995		*Released: 1995	*Label: Nursery	—	—	—	—	—
1998		*Released: 19 October 1999	*Label: Crai/M.I.L. Multimedia	—	—	—	—	—
2002	align="left"	*Released: 15 October 2002	*Label: WEA	24	—	—	43	—
2006	align="left"	*Released: 21 March 2006	*Label: WEA	—	—	—	—	—

Singles and EPs

Year		Title	Peak chart positions				Album
			! width=35	! width=35	! width=35	! width=35
1993	May		—	—	—	—
	Jun		—	—	—	—
Sep		—	—	—	—
	Jan		158	—	—	—
Dec		—	—	—	—
	Apr		61	—	—	—
Jul		41	—	—	—
Oct		46	—	—	—
	Feb		35	—	—	—
Oct		40	—	—	—
	Jan	align="left"	3	—	17	—
May	align="left"	5	40	29	—
Jul	align="left"	11	—	—	—
Oct		33	—	—	—
	Apr		7	—	—	44
Jul		20	—	—	—
Oct		36	—	—	—
2000	Mar	align="left"	—	—	—	—
2001	Sep		19	—	—	—

¹ - The A-side being "Blow the Millennium, Blow".

Miscellaneous / Promos

"Tourist" (Japan EP) - 1996

"A's & B's Of Catatonia" (Promo EP) - 1998

References

Other sources

External links

Official website

Official MySpace page

August 2006 interview with Matthews

Cerys Matthews Interview

BBC Wales Music - Matthews microsite

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Nannies Category:Participants in British reality television series Category:I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! contestants Category:People from Cardiff Category:Welsh-speaking people Category:Welsh-language music Category:Welsh female singers Category:Welsh singer-songwriters Category:Welsh buskers

cy:Cerys Matthews de:Cerys Matthews es:Cerys Matthews ru:Мэтьюз, Керис

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Marvin Gaye | image Marvin Gaye in 1973.jpg
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.
birth date	April 02, 1939
birth place	Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
alias	Prince of Soul
death date	April 01, 1984
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
instrument	Vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, clavinet, synthesizers, piano
genre	R&B;, soul, doo-wop, funk, quiet storm
occupation	Singer-songwriter, composer, musician, record producer
years active	1958–1984
label	Motown (Tamla-Motown), Columbia
associated acts	The Moonglows, Martha and the Vandellas, Tammi Terrell, The Originals, Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Diana Ross, Harvey Fuqua, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, Don Hussein }}

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a four-octave vocal range. Starting as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late fifties, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960 signing with the Tamla Records subsidiary of Motown Records. After starting off as a session drummer, Gaye ranked as the label's top-selling solo artist during the sixties.

Because of solo hits such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, he was crowned "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul".

His work in the early and mid-1970s, including the albums ''What's Going On'', ''Let's Get It On'', and ''I Want You'', helped influence the quiet storm, urban adult contemporary, and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early eighties, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-Award winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the ''Midnight Love'' album before his death. Gaye was shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984. He was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

In 2008, the American music magazine ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Gaye at number 6 on its list of the Greatest Singers of All Time, and ranked at number 18 on 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was also ranked at number 20 on VH1's list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Biography

Early life (1939–1957)

Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. was born on April 2, 1939 at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C.. His father, Marvin Gay, Sr., was a minister at the House of God (the House of God headquarters is located in Lexington, Kentucky), which advocated strict conduct and taught and believed in both the old and new Testament. His mother, Alberta Gay (née Alberta Cooper), was a domestic and schoolteacher. Gaye was the second eldest of four children. His younger brother, Frankie (1941–2001), would be one of the main sources of Gaye's musical development and later served as a soldier in the Vietnam War and embarked on a singing career upon his return to civilian life to follow in his elder brother's footsteps. His youngest sister, Zeola "Sweetsie" Gay (b. 1945), would later become the main choreographer of her brother's live shows. As a child, Gaye was raised in the Benning Terrace projects in southeast D.C.

Gaye's father was minister of a local Seventh-day Adventist Church for a time. By the time his eldest son was five, Marvin Sr. was bringing Gaye with him to church revivals to sing for church congregations. Gaye's father was assured all four of his children would follow him into the ministry and would later use his strict domineering to get his children to avoid secular activities including sports and secular music. Gaye's early home life consisted of violence as his father would often strike him for any shortcoming. Gaye and his three siblings were bed-wetters as children. Gaye would later call his father a "tyrannical and powerful king" and said he was depressed as a child, convinced that he would eventually "become one of those child statistics that you read in the papers" had he not been encouraged to pursue his dreams by his mother. By age fourteen, Gaye's parents moved to the Deanwood neighborhood of northeast D.C. The following year, Gaye's father quit the ministry after a disappointment over not being promoted as the Chief Apostle (head overseer) of the House of God Inc. Gaye said his father later developed alcoholism, which furthered tension between father and son.

Developing a love for music at an early age, Gaye was already playing instruments including piano and drums. Upon arriving to Cardozo High School, Gaye discovered doo-wop and harder-edged rhythm and blues and began running away from home to attend R&B; concerts and dance halls defying his father's rules. Gaye joined several groups in the D.C. area including the Dippers with his best friend, Johnny Stewart, brother of R&B; singer Billy Stewart. He then joined the D.C. Tones, whose members included another close friend, Reese Palmer, and Sondra Lattisaw, mother of R&B; singer Stacy Lattisaw. Gaye's relationship with his father led him to run away from home and join the United States Air Force in hopes of becoming an aviator. However, discovering his growing hatred for authority, he began defying orders and skipped practices. Faking mental illness, he was discharged. His sergeant stated that Gaye refused to follow orders. Upon returning to his hometown, Gaye worked as a dishwasher to make ends meet. Gaye still dreamed of a show-business career, and rejoining Reese Palmer, the duo formed a four-member group calling themselves the Marquees.

Early career (1958–1962)

In 1958, the Marquees were discovered singing at a D.C. club by Bo Diddley, who signed them to Okeh Records, where they recorded "Wyatt Earp", with "Hey Little Schoolgirl" as its B-side. It received moderate success, but not the success Gaye and his band mates had hoped for. Later that year Harvey Fuqua, founder and co-lead singer of the landmark doo-wop group The Moonglows, recruited them, after the breakup of the original members, to be "The New Moonglows" which moved the formerly-named Marquees from Okeh to Chess Records. While there, the "new Moonglows" recorded background vocals for Chess recording stars Chuck Berry and Etta James. After "The Twelve Months of the Year", which featured a spoken monologue by Gaye, became a regional hit, the group issued "Mama Loochie", which was the first time Gaye sang lead on a record. The record was issued in late 1959 and became a hit in Detroit. Following a concert performance there, Gaye and other band members were arrested for small possession of marijuana. Afterwards, Fuqua decided to disband the group, keeping Gaye with him, as he favored him over the other members. In 1960, Harvey Fuqua had met Gwen Gordy and the couple embarked on both a personal and professional relationship. That year, the couple formed two record labels, the self-named Harvey Records, and Tri-Phi Records. Gaye was signed to the former label, whose other members including a young David Ruffin and Junior Walker. Gaye provided drums for The Spinners' first hit, "That's What Girls Are Made For", which was released on Tri-Phi. Stories on how Gaye eventually met Berry Gordy and how he signed to Motown Records vary. One early story stated Gordy discovered Gaye singing at a local bar in Detroit and that he had offered to sign him on the spot. Gaye's recollection, and also a story Gordy later reiterated, was that Gaye invited himself to Motown's annual Christmas party inside the label's Hitsville USA studios and played on the piano singing "Mr. Sandman". Gordy saw Gaye from afar and upon noting that Gaye was connected with Fuqua began to make arrangements to absorb Fuqua's labels to Motown bringing all of the labels' acts to Motown. Gordy said he immediately wanted to bring Gaye to Motown after seeing him perform, impressed by his vocals and piano playing. While working out negotiations, Fuqua would sell fifty percentage interest in Gaye to Gordy, which Gaye would find out later. After Gordy absorbed Anna and Harvey in March 1961, Gaye was assigned to Motown's Tamla division.

Gaye and Motown immediately clashed over material. While Motown was yet a musical force, Gaye set on singing standards and jazz rather than the usual rhythm and blues that fellow label mates were recording. Struggling to come to terms with what to do with his career, Gaye worked mainly behind the scenes, becoming a janitor, and also settled for session work playing drums on several recordings, which continued for several years. One of Gaye's first professional gigs for Motown was as a road drummer for The Miracles. Gaye developed a close friendship with the label's lead singer Smokey Robinson and they'd later work together. Though already a seasoned veteran of the road and almost exempt from Gordy's Artist Development, which began operating in 1961, Gaye was still required to attend schooling, which he refused. He eventually took advice from grooming director Maxine Powell to keep his eyes open while performing because "it looks like you're sleeping when you're performing". Gaye would later regret skipping the school saying he could've benefited more from it. Before releasing his first single in May 1961, he altered his last name to "Gaye", later stating that he added the 'e' because "it sounded more professional" and to emulate what Sam Cooke had done before releasing his first secular record following his split from the Soul Stirrers. A famous story about the name change came from author David Ritz, Gaye's confidant in later years, who said Gaye had said that he wanted to "quiet the gossip" of his last name and to distance himself from his father.

In May 1961, Tamla released Gaye's first single, "Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide". The single flopped as a national release but was a regional hit in the Midwest, as was a follow-up single, the cover of "Mr. Sandman" (titled as just "Sandman" in Gaye's release in early 1962). In June 1961, Motown issued Gaye's first album, ''The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye'' compromising Gaye's jazz interests with a couple of R&B; songs. The album tanked and no hit single came of it. A third regional hit, "Soldier's Plea", an answer to The Supremes' "Your Heart Belongs to Me", was the next release in the spring of 1962. Gaye had more success behind the scenes than in front. Gaye applied drumming on several Motown records for artists such as the Miracles, Mary Wells, The Contours and The Marvelettes. Gaye was also a drummer for early recordings by The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas and Little Stevie Wonder. Gaye drummed on the Marvelettes hits, "Please Mr. Postman", "Playboy" and "Beechwood 4-5789" (a song he co-wrote). Later on, Gaye would be noted as the drummer in both the studio and live recordings of Wonder's "Fingertips" and as one of two drummers behind Martha and the Vandellas' landmark hit, "Dancing in the Street", which was another composition by Gaye, originally intended for Kim Weston. Gaye said he continued to play drums for Motown acts even after gaining fame on his own merit. For Gaye's fourth single, the singer was inspired to write lyrics to a song after an argument with his wife, Anna Gordy Gaye (née Anna Gordy). While working out the song, Gaye mentioned he had his first "major" power struggle with Motown head Berry Gordy over its composition. Gordy insisted on a chord change though Gaye was comfortable with how he wrote it, eventually Gaye changed the chord and the song was issued as "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" in September 1962. The song became a hit on the Hot Rhythm and Blues Sides chart reaching number eight and eventually peaked at number 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1963. A parent album, ''That Stubborn Kinda Fellow'', was released in December 1962, the same month that Gaye's fifth single, "Hitch Hike", was released. That song reached number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, bringing Gaye his first top forty single. Gaye's early success confirmed his arrival as a hit maker, and he landed on his first major tour as a performer on Motown's Motortown Revue.

Early success (1963–1966)

Gaye's career following his performances with the Motortown Revue assured him success. Gaye's next single, "Pride & Joy", became a major hit in the spring of 1963, reaching number-ten on the Billboard Hot 100, selling nearly one million copies. Later that year, Gaye repeated the success with the top thirty hit, "Can I Get a Witness", which found some leverage in the United Kingdom upon its release on Motown's UK label Stateside Records. Many of Gaye's early hits would later be heavily covered by acts such as The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and The Who, performers who admired Gaye and American R&B; music in general. Gaye's hits also was a big influence on the UK's mod scene with several mod groups including the future Elton John's Bluesology and Rod Stewart's Steampacket covering Gaye's hits there. Gaye's early hits were also a big influence on American producers, including Phil Spector, who nearly had a car accident while pulling over upon hearing "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" for the first time.

Gaye's hits continued throughout 1964. Several top twenty pop hits from this period included "You Are a Wonderful One", "Try It Baby" and "Baby Don't You Do It" kept Gaye's momentum building. Gaye made his first public TV performance on ''American Bandstand'' in 1964 and later became a fixture on the show and on other programs such as ''Shindig!'' and ''Hullaballoo''. Gaye's popularity further increased after Motown released his first duet project, an album with Mary Wells titled ''Together''. The duo had two hit singles, "Once Upon a Time" and "What's the Matter with You Baby". In late 1964, Gaye also appeared in the concert film, ''The T.A.M.I. Show'' where he performed his hits to an enthusiastic audience (with backing vocals by The Blossoms). Gaye reached the top ten in early 1965 with "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", which sold close to a million copies. Gaye eventually scored his first immediate million-sellers in 1965 with the Smokey Robinson compositions, "Ain't That Peculiar" and "I'll Be Doggone". These songs and other singles released during the 1965–1966 period would be the result of Gaye's next release, ''Moods of Marvin Gaye''.

Gaye struggled with his success. While deemed a "smooth song-and-dance ladies' man", he still aspired to perform more jazz work in his catalog. Because of his success, Motown allowed him to work on such recordings including ''When I'm Alone I Cry'', ''Hello Broadway'' and a Nat King Cole tribute album, ''A Tribute to the Great Nat "King" Cole''. All three albums flopped. Gaye tried performing the songs onstage but soon stopped once he discovered that the crowds weren't too appreciative of the material. One proposed standards project, which took over two years to record, was shelved due to session problems. Gaye's performances at the Copacabana in 1966 also led to conflict between Gaye and Gordy as Motown had recorded the album for purposes of releasing it in early 1967. However due to a struggle, Motown eventually shelved it until it was later released three decades later. In early 1967, Gaye scored his first international hit with the duet, "It Takes Two", with Kim Weston, who ironically had already left the label when it became a hit. Only one televised performance of the song showed Gaye singing the song to a puppet. That year, Motown hooked Gaye up with veteran Philadelphia-based singer Tammi Terrell, who had an early stint with James Brown. Gaye would later say of Terrell that she was his "perfect partner" musically.

Tammi Terrell and ''I Heard It Through the Grapevine'' (1967–1969)

Terrell and Gaye's first major hit was the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson composition, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The duo quickly followed up with the top five hit ballad, "Your Precious Love". Despite rumors of a romantic relationship – Gaye was married to Anna Gordy and Terrell was dating Temptations lead vocalist David Ruffin – both singers denied such a relationship with Gaye saying later that they had a brother-and-sister relationship, a statement reiterated by Ashford & Simpson. Other hit singles the duo scored within an eighteen-month period included "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By". Other hits such as "You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'" and "The Onion Song" found success in Europe. The duo's recording of "If This World Were Mine", the b-side of "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You", found modest success on the charts, the first sole Gaye composition to do so. The song later found major R&B; success when Luther Vandross covered it with Cheryl Lynn over a decade later.

The duo was also a success together onstage with Terrell's easy-going nature with the audience contrasting from Gaye's laid-back approach. However, that success was short-lived. On October 14, 1967, while performing at Virginia's Hampden-Sydney College, Terrell collapsed in Marvin's arms. Terrell had been complaining of headaches in the weeks leading up to the concert, but had insisted she was okay. However, after being rushed to Southside Community Hospital, doctors found that Terrell had a malignant brain tumor.

The diagnosis ended her performing career, though she still occasionally recorded, often with guidance and assistance. Terrell ceased recordings in 1969 and Motown struggled with recording of a planned third Gaye and Terrell album. Gaye initially had refused to go along with it saying that he felt Motown was taking unnecessary advantage of Terrell's illness. Gaye only reluctantly agreed because Motown assured him recordings would go to insure Terrell's health as she continued to have operations to remove the tumor, all of which were unsuccessful. In September 1969, the third Gaye and Terrell duet album, ''Easy'' was released, with many of the songs subbed by Valerie Simpson, while solo songs recorded years earlier by Terrell, had overdubbed vocals by Gaye.

Terrell's illness put Gaye in a depression; at one point he attempted suicide but was stopped by Berry Gordy's father. He refused to acknowledge the success of his song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", released in 1967 by Gladys Knight & The Pips (his was recorded before, but released after theirs), his first number-one hit and the biggest selling single in Motown history to that point, with four million copies sold. His work with producer Norman Whitfield, who produced "Grapevine", resulted in similar success with the singles "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" and "That's the Way Love Is". Meanwhile, Gaye's marriage was crumbling and he was bored with his music. Wanting creative control, he sought to produce singles for Motown session band The Originals, whose Gaye-produced hits, "Baby I'm For Real" and "The Bells", brought success.

''What's Going On'' (1970–1972)

Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor on March 16, 1970. Gaye was so emotional at her funeral that he talked to her lying in state as if she was going to respond. Gaye insisted, following Terrell's death, that he would no longer record duets with any other female performer nor was he ever going to perform on stage again since Terrell's collapse and subsequent death had spooked him. He already had apprehensions of performing, suffering bouts of stage fright throughout his performing career. Prior to Terrell's death, he had withdrawn from a scheduled performance citing an illness and was later sued for failure to appear. After Terrell's death he stopped doing any more live gigs and never really recovered completely from her passing. He had an inspiration, going back to 1968, to try out for the Detroit Lions football team. After a tryout in early 1970, he wasn't allowed to join the team though he gained friendships with two of its teammates, Mel Farr and Lem Barney. After helping to collaborate what became "What's Going On", he returned to Hitsville on June 1, 1970 to record the song, which was inspired by Gaye's brother's accounts of his experience at the Vietnam War and co-writer Renaldo "Obie" Benson of the Four Tops' disgust of police brutality after seeing anti-war protesters attacked in San Francisco.

Despite releases of several anti-war songs by The Temptations and Edwin Starr, Motown CEO Berry Gordy prevented Gaye from releasing the song, fearing a backlash against the singer's image as a sex symbol and openly telling him and others that the song "was the worst record I ever heard". Gaye, however, refused to record anything that was Motown's or Gordy's version of him. He later said that recording the song and its parent album "led to semi-violent disagreements between Berry and myself, politically speaking." Eventually the song was released with little promotion on January 17, 1971. The song soon shot up the charts topping the R&B; chart for five weeks. Eventually selling more than two million copies, an album was requested, and Gaye again defied Gordy by producing an album featuring lengthy singles that talked of other issues such as poverty, taxes, drug abuse and pollution. Released on May 21, 1971, the ''What's Going On'' album instantly became a million-seller crossing him over to young white rock audiences while also maintaining his strong R&B; fan base. Because of its lyrical content and its mixture of funk, jazz, classical and Latin soul arrangements which departed from the then renowned "Motown Sound", it became one of Motown's first autonomous works, without help of Motown's staff producers. Based upon its themes and a segue flow into each of the songs sans the title track, the concept album became the new template for soul music.

Other hit singles that came out of the album included "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", making Gaye the first male solo artist to have three top ten singles off one album on the ''Billboard Hot 100''. All three singles sold over a million copies and were all number-one on the R&B; chart. International recognition of the album was slow to come at first though eventually the album would be revered overseas as a "landmark pop record". It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices". The success of the title track influenced Stevie Wonder to release an album with similar themes, ''Where I'm Coming From'', in April of that year. Following the release of the album and its subsequent success, Wonder rejected a renewing offer with Motown unless he was allowed creative control on his recordings, which was granted a year later. Gaye's independent success not only related to Motown recording artists, other R&B; artists of the era also began to rebel against labels to produce their own conceptual albums. The Jackson 5, one of Motown's final acts to benefit from the label's "glory years" (1959–1972), tried unsuccessfully to get creative control for their own recordings and as a result left in 1975 for CBS Records.

Gaye's success was nationally recognized: Billboard magazine awarded him the ''Trendsetter of the Year'' award, while he won several NAACP Image Awards including Favorite Male Singer. ''Rolling Stone'' named it Album of the Year, and was nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards though inexplicably wasn't nominated for Album of the Year. In 1972, Gaye reluctantly stepped out of his stage retirement to perform selected concerts, including one at his hometown of Washington, D.C. performing at the famed Kennedy Center, a recording of the performance was issued on a deluxe edition re-release of the ''What's Going On'' album. Also in 1972, Gaye performed for Jesse Jackson's PUSH organization and also for a Chicago-based benefit concert titled Save the Children aimed at removing the plight of urban violence in Chicago's inner city. The latter performance was issued as part of a concert film released in early 1973, also titled ''Save the Children''. Following its success, Gaye signed a new contract with Motown Records for a then record-setting $1 million, then the most lucrative deal by a black recording artist. With creative control, Gaye attempted to produce several albums throughout 1972 and early 1973 including an instrumental album, a jazz album, another conceptually-produced album of social affairs (the canceled ''You're the Man'' project) and an album with Willie Hutch co-producing. In late 1972, Gaye produced the score for the ''Trouble Man'' film and later produced the soundtrack of the same name. The title track was the only full vocal work of the album and was released as a single in the fall of 1972 eventually reaching number seven on the pop chart in the spring of 1973.

''Let's Get It On'' and continued success in music (1973–1977)

In late 1972, Gaye left Detroit and moved to Los Angeles but relocated to an area where he was far away from Motown, purchasing a house at the so-called "bohemian hippie" Topanga Canyon Boulevard district, which was a hotbed for musicians looking to get away from the trappings of the music industry and Hollywood itself. He continued to record music at Los Angeles' Motown studios (Hitsville West) and on March 18, 1973, recorded "Let's Get It On", reputedly inspired by Gaye's new-found independence, after separating from Anna Gordy the previous year. The single was released as a single in June of the year and became Gaye's second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. It also was a modest success internationally reaching number thirty-one in the United Kingdom. With the success of its recording, Gaye decided to switch completely from the social topics that were on ''What's Going On'' to songs with sensual appeal.

Released in August 1973, ''Let's Get It On'' consisted of material Gaye had initially recorded during the sessions of ''What's Going On''. It was hailed as "a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy." Other singles from the album included "Come Get to This", which recalled Gaye's early Motown soul sound of the previous decade, while the then-controversial "You Sure Love to Ball" reached modest success but was kept from being promoted by Motown due to its sexually explicit nature. With the success of ''What's Going On'' and ''Let's Get It On'', Motown demanded a tour. Gaye only reluctantly agreed when demand from fans reached a fever pitch. After a delay, Gaye made his official return to touring on January 4, 1974 at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. The recording of the performance, held by several music executives as "an event", was later issued as the live album, ''Marvin Gaye Live!''. Due to Gaye's growing popularity with his increasing crossover audience and the reaction of the performance of "Distant Lover", which Motown later released as a single in late 1974, the album sold over a million copies. Gaye's subsequent 10-city tour, which took off that August, was sold-out and demand for more dates continued into 1975 while Gaye had struggled with subsequent recordings. A renewed contract with Motown in 1975 gave Gaye his own custom-made recording studio.

To keep up with demand and hype, Motown released Gaye's final duet project, ''Diana & Marvin'', an album with Diana Ross, which helped to increase Gaye's audience overseas with the duo's recording of "You Are Everything" reaching number-five in the UK, number-thirteen on the Dutch chart, and number-twenty in Ireland, while the album itself sold over a million copies overseas with major success in the UK. The recording of ''Diana & Marvin'' had started in late 1971 and overdubbed sessions took place in 1972 but was shelved from a release until late 1973 following the release of ''Let's Get It On''. Gaye toured throughout 1975 without new releases and collaborated in the studio producing songs for the likes of The Miracles (now without Smokey Robinson) and Yvonne Fair, helping to produce her version of Norman Whitfield's "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On", featured on Fair's ''The Bitch is Black'', while also assisting her in the background with his vocals. Later in 1975, Gaye shaved his head bald in protest to Rubin Carter's prison sentence. Gaye initially insisted to keep it bald until Carter's release though Gaye's hair and beard returned within a few months.

In 1976, Gaye released his first solo album in three years with ''I Want You''. The title track became a number-one R&B; hit while also reaching the top twenty of the national pop chart. The first of his albums to embrace the then popular disco sound of the time, Motown released a double-A 12' of "I Want You" alongside another smooth dancer, "After the Dance". The songs found success as a unit on the Billboard Hot Disco chart, reaching number-ten. By itself "After the Dance", which wasn't intended as a second single, eventually reached number fourteen on the R&B; chart with minor pop traction, eventually reaching number seventy-four. That year, Gaye faced several lawsuits with former musicians and also faced prison time for falling behind on alimony payments ordered by law following his first wife Anna Gordy filing legal separation after a 15-year marriage. Gaye avoided imprisonment after agreeing to do a tour of Europe, his first tour of such in little over a decade. His first stop was at London's Royal Albert Hall and then at the city's London Palladium, where a recording was later released in early 1977 as ''Live at the London Palladium''. Gaye performed in France, Holland, Switzerland and Italy to packed audiences and then returned for several U.S. tour dates though he often suffered from exhaustion from some of the U.S. dates. Between 1975 and 1976, Gaye was recognized by major corporations including the United Nations for charitable work dedicated to children and to affairs related to black culture.

In the spring of 1977, Gaye released "Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1", which gave him his third number-one US pop hit, the final one Gaye released in his lifetime. The song also topped the R&B; and dance singles chart and also found some international success reaching the top ten in England. Released as the only studio track from the ''Palladium'' album, its success kept ''Palladium'' on the charts for a year eventually selling over two million copies. It was recognized by Billboard as one of the top-ten selling albums of all time that year.

''Here, My Dear'' and his final days at Motown (1978–1981)

In March 1977, his long, drawn-out court battle with former wife Anna Gordy ended. As a compromise to settle matters between the ex-couple over issues of alimony payments for their adopted son, Gaye's attorney until his death, Curtis Shaw, advised Gaye to remit a portion of the revenue that he was to get for his next studio album. Gaye entered the recording studio intending to produce a "lazy" album, but ended up with the sprawling double-album set, ''Here, My Dear'', which was held up from release for over a year. Finally released after Motown's demand for new product in late 1978, the album was initially a flop, tanking after only a couple months on the charts. Its only single, "A Funky Space Reincarnation", peaked at number twenty-three on the R&B; chart, in early 1979, becoming Gaye's first single since "Soldier's Plea" 17 years earlier to not hit the Billboard Hot 100.

Gaye became a figure on talk show circuits for most of 1979, mostly appearing on Dinah Shore's ''Dinah & Friends''. He also toured in 1979, first in the United States, then in England and in Japan, the latter being the first time (and, as it turned out, the only time) he ever toured that country. As the year continued, Gaye found himself in trouble financially, and at home with second wife, Janis Hunter. The couple split up in 1979, nearly eighteen months after marrying, and by that fall, following a performance in Hawaii, Gaye decided to remain in the state, fearing he might be imprisoned for failing to pay the IRS millions in back taxes; in court, his attorney claimed that several items within the singer's luggage, including tax returns, were stolen from him while at an airport. Meanwhile, Gaye, now heavily in the throes of drug addiction, struggled to record. Reports stated that while in Hawaii, Gaye lived inside a bread truck. He initially had planned to release a standards album titled ''The Ballads'' but discarded it, fearing fans would be disappointed by no recognizable hits on it. The singer then intended to release an album of love songs aimed for the disco audience titled ''Love Man'', but within a year, however, Gaye thought of expressing his feelings about a possible Armageddon, as well as his battles of the heart. Gaye changed the titles of all the songs, rewrote lyrics, and retitled the album, ''In Our Lifetime?'', recording the album tracks while living in London in the middle of his exile.

A 1980 European tour followed, after Gaye made a deal with British promoter Jeffrey Kruger, who had looked after Gaye's 1976–1977 European tour and his Japanese engagement in 1979. Almost immediately, controversy arose, after Gaye failed to make the stage for Princess Margaret at the Royal Gala Charity Show. While Kruger recalls that Gaye showed up just as audiences were leaving, Gaye's musicians recalled that Gaye performed to the few that stayed for the performance though Princess Margaret had already left. Though Princess Margaret denied it, the international press printed the news as an "embarrassing snub", claiming that Gaye had deliberately arrived late. This led to a lawsuit between Gaye and Kruger that eventually settled out of court. While still in London, Gaye ran into problems when recordings of ''In Our Lifetime?'' were sent to Motown's offices back in Los Angeles, initially as rough mixes, to get Motown's response rather than intending to release it. However, desperate to release Marvin Gaye product, the label rushed the album out on January 15, 1981. Gaye was upset at the news, and accused the label of editing and remixing the album without his consent, putting out an unfinished song ("Far Cry"), altering the album art he requested, and removing the question mark from the title, muting its irony. Gaye vowed to never record another record for Motown. That summer, negotiations began to be made to release Gaye from the label. After several offers landed, Gaye accepted a deal for CBS Records, a deal that was finalized in March 1982.

Comeback and sudden death (1982–1984)

On the advice of Belgian concert promoter Freddy Cousaert, Gaye moved to Ostend, Belgium, in February 1981 where for a time he cut down on drugs and began to get back in shape both physically and emotionally. While in Belgium, Gaye began to make plans to renew his declining fortunes in his professional career, starting with a tour he titled "The Heavy Love Affair Tour" in England where he was greeted more warmly by the same London press that had criticized him of the Princess Margaret snub the previous year. The tour ended with two concert dates in Ostend. A documentary leading up to his Belgian concert performances titled ''Transit Ostend'' was initially released to just Belgian fans, and was later issued on VHS in bootleg copies following Gaye's death.

After signing with CBS' Columbia Records division in 1982, Gaye worked on what became the ''Midnight Love'' album. Gaye reconnected with Harvey Fuqua while recording the album and Fuqua served as a production adviser on the album, which was released in October 1982. The parent single, "Sexual Healing", was released to receptive audiences globally, reaching number-one in Canada, New Zealand and the US R&B; singles chart, while becoming a top ten U.S. pop hit and hitting the top ten in three other selected countries including the UK. The single became the fastest-selling and fastest-rising single in five years on the R&B; chart staying at number-one for a record-setting ten weeks. Gaye wrote "Sexual Healing" while at the village Moere, near Ostend. Curtis Shaw later said that Gaye's Moere period was "the best thing that ever happened to Marvin." The now-famous video of "Sexual Healing" was shot at the Casino-Kursaal in Ostend. "Sexual Healing" won Gaye his first two Grammy Awards including Best Male Vocal Performance, in February 1983, and also won Gaye an American Music Award for Favorite Soul Single. It was called by ''People'' magazine "America's hottest musical turn-on since Olivia Newton John demanded we get "Physical".

''NME'' – December 1982

The following year, he was nominated for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance again, this time for the ''Midnight Love'' album. In February 1983, Gaye performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NBA All-Star Game, held at The Forum in Inglewood, California, accompanied by Gordon Banks who played the studio tape from stands. In March 1983, he gave his final performance in front of his old mentor Berry Gordy and the Motown label for ''Motown 25'', performing "What's Going On". He then embarked on a U.S. tour to support his album. The tour, ending in August 1983, was plagued by Gaye's returning drug addictions and bouts with depression.

When the tour ended, he attempted to isolate himself by moving into his parents' house in Los Angeles. As documented in the PBS "American Masters" 2008 exposé, several witnesses claimed Marvin's mental and physical condition spiraled out of control. Groupies and drug dealers hounded Marvin night and day. He threatened to commit suicide several times after bitter arguments with his father. On April 1, 1984, Gaye's father fatally shot him when Gaye intervened in an argument between his parents over misplaced business documents. The gun had been given to his father by Marvin Jr. four months previously. Marvin Gaye would have celebrated his 45th birthday the next day. Doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor but he was deemed fit for trial and was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped when it was revealed that Gaye had beaten Marvin Sr. before the killing. Spending his final years in a retirement home, he died of pneumonia in 1998.

In 1987, Marvin Gaye Jr. was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also honored by Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1989 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990. In 2005, Marvin Gaye Jr. was admitted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2007, two of Gaye's most important recordings, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "What's Going On", were voted Legendary Michigan Songs.

Personal life

Gaye married twice. His first marriage was to Berry Gordy Jr.'s sister, Anna Gordy, who was 18 years his senior. Marvin and Anna were married on January 8, 1964 when Gaye was 24 and Gordy was 42. The marriage imploded after Marvin began courting Janis Hunter, the daughter of Slim Gaillard, in 1973. Anna filed for divorce in 1975; the divorce was finalized in March 1977. Gaye's erotic and disco-tinged studio album ''I Want You'' was based on his relationship with Hunter. In his book ''Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye'', author and music writer Michael Eric Dyson elaborated on the relationship between ''I Want You'' and the relationship Gaye had with Hunter, which influenced his music:

"I Want You" is unmistakably a work of romantic and erotic tribute to the woman he deeply loved and would marry shortly, Janis Hunter (Janis Gaye). Gaye's obsession with the woman in her late teens is nearly palpable in the sensual textures that are the album's aural and lyrical signature. Their relationship was relentlessly passionate and emotionally rough-hewn; they played up each other's strengths, and played off each other's weaknesses.

In October 1976, he married Janis, who was 17 years old when they met. However, the marriage dissolved within a year. After attempts at reconciliation, Janis filed for divorce in 1979. The divorce was finalized in February 1981. During this time, Marvin began dating a model from the Netherlands named Eugenie Vis. In 1982 Gaye became involved with Lady Edith Foxwell, former wife of the British movie director Ivan Foxwell, and spent time with her at Sherston, her Wiltshire estate. Foxwell ran the fashionable Embassy Club and was referred to in the media as "the queen of London cafe society." The story of their affair was told by Stan Hey in the April 2004 issue of ''GQ''. The report quoted writer/composer Bernard J. Taylor as saying he was told by Foxwell that she and Gaye had discussed marriage.

Gaye had three children. Marvin Pentz Gaye, III (b. 1965), by Denise Gordy, the niece of his first wife Anna Gordy. Marvin III was also adopted by his first wife Anna. The singer disclosed this in David Ritz's biography on Gaye, ''Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye'', saying he was afraid of being criticized for not producing a child. Later, Gaye had two children with Janis Hunter, Nona Marvisa, nicknamed "Pie" by her dad (born September 4, 1974) and Frankie "Bubby" Christian Gaye (born November 16, 1975). Gaye introduced his daughter to a national audience during a show in 1975. Nona would do the same eight years later when her father was given a tribute by ''Soul Train''. Nona has gone on to find success as a singer and actress. Gaye's eldest son was a music producer. Frankie is said to have taken work as an artist. Gaye also has two grandchildren: Marvin Pentz Gaye IV (b. 1995), born on the anniversary of his grandfather's death; and Nolan Pentz Gaye (b. 1997).

Musicianship

Marvin Gaye's musical style changed in various ways throughout his 26-year career. Upon his early recordings as member of The Marquees and Harvey & the New Moonglows in the late 1950s, Marvin recorded in a doo-wop vocal style. After signing his first solo recording contract with Motown, Marvin persuaded Motown executives to allow him to record an adult album of standards and jazz covers. His first album, ''The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye'', conveyed those genres including several doo-wop and blues songs.

The Motown Sound and psychedelic soul

Starting with his first charted hit, 1962's "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" through 1967's "Your Unchanging Love", Marvin's music featured a blend of black rhythm and blues and white pop music that came to be later identified as the "Motown Sound". Marvin's 1962–1964 hits reflected a dance-pop/rock 'n' roll approach while his 1965–1969 recordings reflected a pop-soul style. Backed by Motown's in-house band The Funk Brothers, pre-1970 Marvin Gaye recordings were built around songs with simple, direct lyrics supported by an R&B; rhythm section with orchestral strings and horns added for pop appeal. Marvin's early hits were conceived by Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Mickey Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Marvin's sound started to change slightly in 1967 after he began working with producers Norman Whitfield, Ashford & Simpson and Frank Wilson. Whereas Marvin's early sound reflected a youthful exterior, later songs during that period including "You", "Chained", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" and "That's the Way Love Is" were all recorded under the psychedelic soul sound of the late sixties and early seventies. "Psychedelic soul" mixed guitar-driven rock with soul-based grooves. Marvin's vocal style also changed during that period where he began singing in a gospel texture that had been only hinted at in previous recordings.

Social commentary and conceptual albums

In 1971, Marvin issued his landmark album, ''What's Going On''. The album and its tracks were responsible in the changing landscape of rhythm and blues music as the album presented a full view of social ills in America, including war, police brutality, racism, drug addiction, environmentalism, and urban decay. Beforehand, recordings of social unrest had been recorded by the likes of (Curtis Mayfield &) The Impressions, The Temptations, Sam Cooke, Sly & the Family Stone and James Brown, but this was the first album fully devoted to those issues. The album was produced under what is called a song cycle and because of its theme of "what's going on" was considered one of the first concept albums to be released in soul music. Marvin's 1972 soundtrack ''Trouble Man'', based on the blaxploitation film of the same name, mainly featured instrumentals with a few vocal runs, including songs with social commentary. Marvin's 1972 recordings outside that album – including "Where Are We Going", "Piece of Clay", "You're the Man" and "The World Is Rated X" – also raised social issues and was personal in nature. The songs were to be included in the unreleased 1972 album, ''You're the Man'', which was canceled after the modest reception of the title single. Marvin issued his next "concept album" with 1973's ''Let's Get It On'', based on the spiritual and erotic side of love and sex. Marvin released a similarly themed funk album in 1976, ''I Want You'', before switching to personal issues with the albums ''Here, My Dear'' (1978) and ''In Our Lifetime'' (1981). The former album focused on Marvin's problems in his first marriage, while the latter focused on his own life struggles. Marvin's albums between 1971 and 1981 reflected a period where, as an Allmusic writer said, his music "not only redefined soul music as a creative force but also expanded its impact as an agent for social change".

From funk to disco to contemporary R&B;

Starting in the early-seventies, Marvin's sound began to reflect the emerging sounds of funk and the later disco movement of the late 1970s. Marvin's double-sided 1976 single, "I Want You/After the Dance" and his 1977 hit, "Got to Give It Up" were his only successful attempts at recording disco-styled dance music whereas the 1978 single "A Funky Space Reincarnation", 1979's "Ego Tripping Out" and the 1981 singles "Praise" and "Heavy Love Affair" aimed at the funk-based urban audience. By itself, "I Want You", mixed funk with disco, soul and lite rock elements. With the release of 1982's triple-platinum ''Midnight Love'' and the massive platinum selling smash hit, "Sexual Healing", Marvin mixed the styles of funk and post disco with Caribbean and European-flavored pop music creating a mix that influenced the modern R&B; sound. "Sexual Healing" was the biggest R&B; hit of the 1980s – No.1 for 10 consecutive weeks. Some of Marvin's posthumous releases have been varied in nature: 1985's ''Dream of a Lifetime'' was produced mostly in an electro funk sound mostly in the first half of the album, while his posthumous "featuring" on rapper Erick Sermon's 2001 hit, "Music" brought him to a younger hip-hop audience.

Legacy and influence

According to several historians, Marvin Gaye's career "spanned the entire history of rhythm and blues from fifties doo-wop to eighties contemporary soul." Critics stated that Gaye's music "signified the development of black music from raw rhythm and blues, through sophisticated soul to the political awareness of the 1970s and increased concentration on personal and sexual politics thereafter." Marvin's usage of multi-tracked vocalizing, recording songs of social, political and sexual issues, and producing albums of autobiographical nature have influenced a generation of recording artists of various genres. As an artist who broke away from the controlled atmosphere of Motown Records in the 1970s, he influenced the careers of label mates such as Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers and, later in Epic Records, Michael Jackson to gain creative control and produce/co-produce their own albums. The careers of later R&B; stars such as Rick James, Prince, R. Kelly, D'Angelo, Raheem DeVaughn, Maxwell, Janet Jackson, George Michael, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Bobby V and J. Holiday also were influenced by the music of Marvin Gaye. Marvin's erotically concept albums such as ''Let's Get It On'' and ''I Want You'' inspired similar albums released by Smokey Robinson, Barry White and his co-producer on ''I Want You'', Leon Ware. Modern-day artists such as Teena Marie and Mary J. Blige have also referenced Marvin in their own songs. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked him No.18 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

Tributes and covers

In 1983, Spandau Ballet recorded the single "True" as a tribute to Marvin and the Motown sound he helped established. That same year, electro-funk group R. J.'s Latest Arrival mentioned him with their dance hit, "Shackles on My Feet". DeBarge's 1983 hit, "All This Love" was musically influenced by Marvin's sound and was rumored that they had wanted Marvin to record the song himself. However, Marvin had left the label before they could approach him.

On April 2, 1984, the day after Marvin's death, Duran Duran dedicated their live performance of "Save a Prayer" while on their Sing Blue Silver tour and appearing on their ''Arena'' album to him. Tribute songs to the singer included Diana Ross' "Missing You" and The Commodores' "Nightshift" became hits with each song reaching number-one on the Billboard Hot R&B; Singles chart. Other artists who have either paid tribute to Marvin in a song or referenced him have included close friend and former Motown label-mate Edwin Starr, who released "Marvin" the month after his death, Teena Marie's "My Dear Mr. Gaye", Todd Rundgren's "Lost Horizon", the Violent Femmes' 1988 single "See My Ships", Maze featuring Frankie Beverly's 1989 R&B; hit, "Silky Soul", ABC's 1987 single "When Smokey Sings" (Gaye's "What's Going On (song)" is sampled for the Miami Mix) and George Michael's "John and Elvis Are Dead" where Marvin is mentioned in one the final lines from the repeated chorus. Stevie Wonder wrote the song "Lighting Up the Candles" as a tribute to Gaye following his death and performed the song originally at Gaye's funeral service. Wonder later recorded the song for the ''Jungle Fever'' soundtrack.

In 1992, Israeli artist Izhar Ashdot dedicated his song "Eesh Hashokolad" to Gaye. Two tribute albums, 1995's ''Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye'' (which featured Nona's version of "Inner City Blues") and 1999's ''Marvin Is 60'' featured covers of Marvin's most famous material. Since the 1960s, Marvin's songs have been covered by a variety of artists. The Rolling Stones recorded "Baby Don't You Do It" early in their career. The Band also recorded "Baby Don't You Do It" numerous times under the Order of the Black title "Don't Do It"; the different versions, both studio and live, appear on several of their albums and box sets (the only one to be released as a single came from Rock of Ages), as well as in their 1976 concert film The Last Waltz. Rod Stewart during his early tenure with Steampacket covered "Can I Get a Witness". His 1965 hit, "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" was covered three times by Junior Walker in 1966, again in 1975 by James Taylor, and again in 2002 by gospel singer Helen Baylor. In Baylor's version she substituted the word "baby" for Jesus.

Gaye's 1968 hit "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" has been frequently covered with versions recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Roger Troutman, Edwin Starr and The California Raisins. Donny Hathaway performed a live version of "What's Going On" for his 1972 ''Live'' album while Cyndi Lauper recorded a top forty version of "What's Going On" in 1987, the song was re-recorded by a variety of contemporary pop, R&B; and rap artists in 2001(again, including Nona) for AIDS benefit and was later dedicated to the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks. A few years after that, rock band A Perfect Circle covered the song in their own hard rock version. The singer's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" was covered by rock band The Strokes which featured Eddie Vedder on lead vocals. R&B; singer Angela Winbush covered "Inner City Blues" in 1994 and was recorded in a slightly different version by Gil-Scott Heron in the 1970s. Aaliyah covered "Got to Give It Up" on her album ''One in a Million''.

Gospel–soul legends Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin have each covered "Wholy Holy" from the ''What's Going On'' album while "Let's Get It On" was famously sampled by Shaggy on his breakthrough single, 1994's "Boombastic". Versions of "Sexual Healing" have been recorded by Soul Asylum, Ben Harper, Max-A-Million, Kate Bush, Neil Finn, Sarah Connor and Ne-Yo. Michael McDonald, Diana Ross and Amy Winehouse have all covered or redone their own versions of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Marvin's 1967 hit with Tammi Terrell while Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn reinterpreted the Marvin/Tammi single, "If This World Were Mine" in 1982. Mary J. Blige and Method Man, with permission, sampled an interpolation of "You're All I Need to Get By" for their 1995 hit, "You're All I Need/I'll Be There for You". In June 2008, D'Angelo alongside Erykah Badu recorded Gaye's hit duo with Terrell, "Your Precious Love" for his "The Best So Far"...compilation album.

On April 2, 2006, on what would have been the singer's 67th birthday, a park near the neighborhood where Marvin grew up at in Washington, D.C. was renamed after him after a discussion with the City Council. "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" was covered by John Mayer in his Album ''As/Is'', released in 2004. The cover also featured DJ Logic. Elton John's song "Club at the End of the Street" also mentions Marvin Gaye. On the 25th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's death, the singer's hometown of Washington, D.C. again honored the singer by renaming a street he grew up on called "Marvin Gaye Way".

Musical achievements and posthumous releases

Gaye scored 41 Top 40 hit singles on ''Billboard'''s Pop Singles chart between 1963 and 2001, 60 Top 40 R&B; singles chart hits from 1962 to 2001, 18 Top Ten pop singles on the pop chart, 38 Top 10 singles on the R&B; chart, three number-one pop hits and thirteen number-one R&B; hits and tied with Michael Jackson in total as well as the fourth biggest artist of all-time to spend the most weeks at the number-one spot on the R&B; singles chart (52 weeks). In all, Gaye produced a total of 67 singles on the Billboard charts in total, spanning five decades, including five posthumous releases.

The year a remix of "Let's Get It On" was released to urban adult contemporary radio, "Let's Get It On" was certified gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000, making it the best-selling single on Motown in the United States. Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is the best-selling international Motown single, explained by a re-release in Europe following a Levi 501 Jeans commercial in 1986.

On June 19, 2007, Hip-O Records reissued Gaye's final Motown album, ''In Our Lifetime'' as an expanded two-disc edition titled ''In Our Lifetime?: The Love Man Sessions'', bringing back the original title with the question mark and included a different mix of the album, which was recorded in London and also including the original songs from the ''Love Man'' album, which were songs later edited lyrically for the songs that made the ''In Our Lifetime'' album. The same label released a deluxe edition of Gaye's ''Here, My Dear'' album, which included a re-sequencing of tracks from the album from producers such as Salaam Remi and Bootsy Collins.

His 1983 NBA All-Star performance of the national anthem was used in a Nike commercial featuring the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Also, on CBS Sports' final NBA telecast to date (before the contract moved to NBC) at the conclusion of Game 5 of the 1990 Finals, they used Gaye's 1983 All-Star Game performance over the closing credits. Most recently, it was used in the intro to Ken Burn's "Tenth Inning" documentary on the game of baseball.

In 2008, Gaye earned $3.5 million, and took 13th place in 'Top-Earning Dead Celebrities' in ''Forbes Magazine''.

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" one of his most famous songs, voted No.1 and greatest Motown song and his "What's Going On" is on the top five.

Documentaries and movies

A documentary about Gaye – ''What's Going On: The Marvin Gaye Story'' – was a UK/PBS USA co-production, directed by Jeremy Marre and was first broadcast in 2006; two years later, the special re-aired with a different production and newer interviews after it was re-broadcast as an ''American Masters'' special. Gaye is referenced as one of the supernatural acts to appear in the short story and later television version of ''Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes'' in "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band".

A play by Caryl Phillips called ''A Long Way from Home'', focusing on Gaye's relationship with his father and his last years in Ostend, was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 in March 2008. It featured O. T. Fagbenle as Gaye and Kerry Shale as Marvin Gay Sr., with Rhea Bailey, Rachel Atkins, Damian Lynch, Alibe Parsons, Ben Onwukwe and Major Wiley. It was directed by Ned Chaillet and produced by Chris Wallis.

So far, three movies are currently being planned on Marvin's life. One movie, ''Sexual Healing'', is based on the post-Motown career of Marvin Gaye's later years with Jesse L. Martin playing Marvin and James Gandolfini playing Marvin's Belgium-based mentor, concert promoter Freddy Cousaert. Another film, simply titled, ''Marvin'', is also in plans for production with F. Gary Gray in helm to direct the film. This film, unlike ''Sexual Healing'', will focus on Marvin's entire life story because unlike ''Sexual Healing'', the second film was allowed rights to Marvin's Motown catalog. Musicians Common and Usher and actor Will Smith have either been rumored to or have aspired to play the singer possibly in the second film. A third film on Gaye is reportedly being produced by Motown with director Cameron Crowe.

Discography

Studio albums

1961: ''The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye''

1962: ''That Stubborn Kinda Fellow''

1964: ''When I'm Alone I Cry''

1964: ''Hello Broadway''

1965: ''How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You''

1965: ''A Tribute to the Great Nat "King" Cole''

1966: ''Moods of Marvin Gaye''

1968: ''I Heard It Through the Grapevine''

1969: ''M.P.G.''

1970: ''That's the Way Love Is''

1971: ''What's Going On'' (#6 U.S.)

1972: ''Trouble Man''

1973: ''Let's Get It On'' (#2 U.S.)

1976: ''I Want You'' (#4 U.S.)

1978: ''Here, My Dear

1981: ''In Our Lifetime''

1982: ''Midnight Love'' (#7 U.S.; No.10 UK)

1985: ''Dream of a Lifetime'' (posthumous)

1985: ''Romantically Yours'' (posthumous)

Duet albums

1964: ''Together'' (with Mary Wells)

1966: ''Take Two'' (with Kim Weston)

1967: ''United'' (with Tammi Terrell)

1968: ''You're All I Need'' (with Tammi Terrell)

1969: ''Easy'' (with Tammi Terrell)

1973: ''Diana & Marvin'' (with Diana Ross)

U.S. and UK Top Ten singles

1963: "Pride and Joy" (US #10)

1964: "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" (US #6)

1965: "I'll Be Doggone" (US #8)

1965: "Ain't That Peculiar" (US #8)

1967: "Your Precious Love" (US #5)

1967: "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (US #10)

1968: "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (US #8)

1968: "You're All I Need to Get By" (US #7)

1968: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (US #1; UK #1)

1969: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" (US #4; UK #5)

1969: "The Onion Song" (UK #9)

1969: "That's The Way Love Is" (US #7)

1970: "Abraham, Martin & John" (UK #9)

1971: "What's Going On" (US #2)

1971: "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (US #4)

1971: "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (US #9)

1972: "Trouble Man" (US #7)

1973: "Let's Get It On" (US #1)

1974: "You Are Everything" (UK #5)

1977: "Got to Give It Up" (US #1; UK #7)

1982: "Sexual Healing" (US #3; UK #4)

1985: "Sanctified Lady" (US #2; US R&B;)

1986: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine (UK re-release)" (UK #8)

Filmography

1965: ''The T.A.M.I. Show'' (documentary)

1969: ''The Ballad of Andy Crocker'' (television movie)

1971: ''Chrome & Hot Leather'' (television movie)

1972: ''Trouble Man'' (cameo; soundtrack)

1973: ''Save the Children'' (documentary)

Videos and DVDs

''The Real Thing: In Performance (1964-1981)'' Motown/Universal 2006

"Marvin Gaye Live in Montreux 1980"

Marvin Gaye in popular culture

In advertising

During the 2008 Summer Olympics, Nike ran ads focused on the United States' Men's Basketball Team featuring Marvin Gaye's 1983 performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the NBA All-Star Game. The message is: the team found inspiration in the way Marvin Gaye performed the song.

In music

Singer Teena Marie pays tribute to Marvin Gaye with her song titled "My Dear Mr. Gaye."

In 1997, R&B; singer Aaliyah did a cover to Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" which featured Slick Rick.

In the song "Hörst Du mich?" by German Hip Hop band Fettes Brot, the first verse is dedicated to Marvin Gaye.

The Commodores paid tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson on their hit "Nightshift" in 1985.

The Prefab Sprout song "When the angels", from their 1985 album ''Steve McQueen'', is a tribute to Marvin Gaye.

Rapper Big Sean recorded a song used on his ''Finally Famous'' album titled "Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay" featuring Kanye West.

Rapper Drake recorded "Marvin's Room" in reference to producing the song in Marvin Gaye's studio.

Onscreen

;Film

He played "Jim" in the 1971 biker film ''Chrome and Hot Leather'', which also featured Larry Bishop.

;Television

In ''The Sopranos'' season 6, episode 1 ("Members Only"), Uncle Junior shoots Tony Soprano and Vito Spatafore later remarks: "He Marvin Gaye'd his own nephew”.

On ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' episode that aired November 15, 2004, Rapper Nas says, "So it's like Marvin Gaye".

In poetry

On multi-genre performer B. Dolan's 2010 album, ''Fallen House Sunken City'' (Strange Famous Records), "Marvin" is a poem about the last days of Marvin Gaye.

References

Further reading

Davis, Sharon (1991). ''Marvin Gaye: I Heard It Through The Grapevine''. Great Britain: Bookmarque Ltd, Croydon, Surrey. ISBN 1-84018-320-9

Dyson, Michael Eric (2004). ''Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye''. New York/Philadelphia: Basic Civitas. ISBN 0-465-01769-X.

Gambaccini, Paul (1987). ''The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time''. New York: Harmony Books.

Gaye, Frankie with Basten, Fred E. (2003). ''Marvin Gaye: My Brother''. Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-742-0

Heron, W. Kim (April 8, 1984). ''Marvin Gaye: A Life Marked by Complexity''. Detroit Free Press.

Posner, Gerald (2002). ''Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power''. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50062-6.

Ritz, David (1986). ''Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye''. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81191-X

Turner, Steve (1998). ''Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye''. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-4112-1

White, Adam (1985). ''The Motown Story''. London: Orbis. ISBN 0-85613-626-3

External links

Marvin Gaye Biography

Marvin Gaye Life & Legacy

Additional archives

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