Coordinates	5°1′48″N118°20′24″N
name	Mississippi
fullname	State of Mississippi
flag	Flag of Mississippi.svg
bird	Mockingbird
tree	Magnolia
flower	Magnolia Blossom
flaglink	Flag
seal	Mississippi-StateSeal.svg
seallink	Seal
map	Map of USA MS.svg
nickname	The Magnolia State; The Hospitality State
motto	Virtute et armis
mottoenglish	By Valor and Arms
former	Mississippi Territory
demonym	Mississippian
capital	Jackson
officiallang	English
largestcity	capital
largest metro	Jackson metropolitan area
governor	Haley Barbour (R)
lieutenant governor	Phil Bryant (R)
legislature	Mississippi Legislature
upperhouse	State Senate
lowerhouse	House of Representatives
senators	Thad Cochran (R)Roger Wicker (R)
Representative	3 Republicans, 1 Democrat
postalabbreviation	MS
tradabbreviation	Miss.
arearank	32nd
totalareaus	48,430
totalarea	125,443
landareaus	46,952
landarea	121,607
waterareaus	1,521
waterarea	3,940
pcwater	3%
poprank	31st
2000pop (old)	2,910,540
2000pop	2,967,297 (2010 US Census)
densityrank	32nd
2000densityus	60.7
2000density	23.42
Medianhouseholdincome	$36,338
incomerank	50th
admittanceorder	20th
admittancedate	December 10, 1817
timezone	Central: UTC-6/-5
latitude	30° 12′ N to 35° N
longitude	88° 06′ W to 91° 39′ W
widthus	170
width	275
lengthus	340
length	545
highestpoint	Woodall Mountain
highestelevus	806
highestelev	246
meanelevus	300
meanelev	91
lowestpoint	Gulf of Mexico
lowestelevus	0
lowestelev	0
isocode	US-MS
website	www.mississippi.gov }}

Mississippi () is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word ''misi-ziibi'' ("Great River"). The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, and its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States. The state symbol is the magnolia grandiflora tree.

Geography

Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas.

Major rivers in Mississippi, apart from its namesake, include the Big Black River, the Pearl River, the Yazoo River, the Pascagoula River, and the Tombigbee River. Major lakes include Ross Barnett Reservoir, Arkabutla Lake, Sardis Lake and Grenada Lake. The largest lake in Mississippi is Grenada Lake. The state of Mississippi is entirely composed of lowlands, the highest point being Woodall Mountain, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, 806 feet (246 m) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level at the Gulf coast. The mean elevation in the state is 300 feet (91 m) above sea level.

Most of Mississippi is part of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The Coastal Plain is generally composed of low hills, such as the Pine Hills in the south and the North Central Hills. The Pontotoc Ridge and the Fall Line Hills in the northeast have somewhat higher elevations. Yellow-brown loess soil is found in the western parts of the state. The northeast is a region of fertile black earth that extends into the Alabama Black Belt.

The coastline includes large bays at Bay St. Louis, Biloxi and Pascagoula. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico proper by the shallow Mississippi Sound, which is partially sheltered by Petit Bois Island, Horn Island, East and West Ship Islands, Deer Island, Round Island and Cat Island.

The northwest remainder of the state consists of the Mississippi Delta, a section of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The plain is narrow in the south and widens north of Vicksburg. The region has rich soil, partly made up of silt which had been regularly deposited by the floodwaters of the Mississippi River.

Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:

Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site near Baldwyn

Gulf Islands National Seashore

Natchez National Historical Park in Natchez

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail in Tupelo

Natchez Trace Parkway

Tupelo National Battlefield in Tupelo

Vicksburg National Military Park and Cemetery in Vicksburg

Major cities and towns

Mississippi City Population Rankings of at least 50,000 (United States Census Bureau estimates as of 2008): #Jackson (173,861) #Gulfport (70,055) #Hattiesburg (51,993)

Mississippi City Population Rankings of at least 20,000 but fewer than 50,000 (United States Census Bureau estimates as of 2008):

Biloxi (45,670) Southaven (44,076) Meridian (38,232) Tupelo (36,233) Greenville (35,764)

Olive Branch (31,830) Clinton (26,313) Vicksburg (24,974) Horn Lake (24,669) Pearl (24,400)

Starkville (24,187) Columbus (23,798) Pascagoula (23,609) Brandon (22,160) Ridgeland (21,509)

Mississippi City Population Rankings of at least 10,000 but fewer than 20,000 (United States Census Bureau estimates as of 2008):

Laurel (18,693) Clarksdale (18,006) Madison (17,681) Oxford (17,265) Ocean Springs (17,149) Natchez (16,413) Gautier (16,306) Greenwood (16,084)

Grenada (14,664) Corinth (14,253) Moss Point (13,951) McComb (13,684) Brookhaven (13,296) Canton (12,520) Hernando (12,318) Long Beach (12,234)

Cleveland (12,218) Picayune (11,787) Yazoo City (11,425) West Point (11,292) Indianola (10,805) Petal (10,575)

''(See: Lists of cities, towns and villages, census-designated places, metropolitan areas, micropolitan areas, and counties in Mississippi)''

Climate

Mississippi has a humid subtropical climate with long summers and short, mild winters. Temperatures average about 95°F (about 35°C) in July and about 48 °F (about 9 °C) in January. The temperature varies little statewide in the summer; however, in winter, the region near Mississippi Sound is significantly warmer than the inland portion of the state. The recorded temperature in Mississippi has ranged from −19 °F (−28.3 °C), in 1966, at Corinth in the northeast, to 115 °F (46.1 °C), in 1930, at Holly Springs in the north. Heavy snowfall is possible across the state, such as during the New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm. Yearly precipitation generally increases from north to south, with the regions closer to the Gulf being the most humid. Thus, Clarksdale, in the northwest, gets about 50 inches (about 1,270 mm) of precipitation annually and Biloxi, in the south, about 61 inches (about 1,550 mm). Small amounts of snow fall in northern and central Mississippi, although snow is occasional in the southern part of the state.

The late summer and fall is the seasonal period of risk for hurricanes moving inland from the Gulf of Mexico, especially in the southern part of the state. Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 238 people in the state, are the most devastating hurricanes to hit the state, both causing nearly total storm surge damage around Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. As in the rest of the Deep South, thunderstorms are common in Mississippi, especially in the southern part of the state. On average, Mississippi has around 27 tornadoes annually; the northern part of the state has more tornadoes earlier in the year and the southern part a higher frequency later in the year. Two of the five deadliest tornadoes in US history have occurred in the state. These storms struck Natchez, in southwest Mississippi (see The Great Natchez Tornado) and Tupelo, in the northeast corner of the state. About seven F5 tornadoes have been recorded in the state.

City

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Gulfport

Jackson

Meridian

Tupelo

Ecology

Mississippi is heavily forested, with over half of the state's area covered by wild trees, including mostly pine, as well as cottonwood, elm, hickory, oak, pecan, sweetgum and tupelo.

Ecological problems

Flooding

Due to seasonal flooding possible from December to June, the Mississippi River created a fertile floodplain in the Mississippi Delta, including tributaries. Early planters used slaves to build levees along the Mississippi River to control flooding. They built on top of the natural levees that formed from dirt deposited after the river flooded. As cultivation of cotton increased in the Delta, planters hired Irish laborers, who immigrated in numbers in the 1840s, to ditch and drain their land.

The state took over levee building from 1858 to 1861, accomplishing it through contractors and hired labor. In those years, planters considered their slaves too valuable to hire out for such dangerous work. Contractors hired gangs of Irish immigrant laborers to build levees and sometimes clear land. Many of the Irish were relatively recent immigrants from the famine years, and struggling to get established. Before the American Civil War, the earthwork levees averaged six feet in height, although in some areas they reached twenty feet.

Flooding has been an integral part of Mississippi history, but it took a toll during the years after the Civil War. Major floods swept down the valley in 1865, 1867, 1874 and 1882. Such floods regularly overwhelmed levees damaged by Confederate and Union fighting during the war, as well as those constructed after the war. In 1877, the Mississippi Levee District was created for southern counties. In 1879, the United States Congress created the Mississippi River Commission, whose responsibilities included aiding state levee boards in the construction of levees. Both white and black transient workers built the levees in the late 19th century. By 1882, levees averaged seven feet in height, but many in the southern Delta were severely tested by the flood that year.

Flooding overwhelmed northwestern Mississippi in 1912–1913, causing heavy damage to the levee districts. Regional losses and the Mississippi River Levee Association's lobbying for a flood control bill helped gain passage of national bills in 1917 and 1923 to provide Federal matching funds for local levee districts, on a scale of 2:1. Although US participation in World War I interrupted funding of levees, the second round of funding helped raise the average height of levees in the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta to in the 1920s. Nonetheless, the region was again flooded. Property, stock and crops all experiencing millions of dollars in damages due to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. The most damage was in the lower Delta, including Washington and Bolivar counties.

Even as scientific knowledge about the Mississippi River has grown, upstream development and the consequences of the levees have caused more severe flooding in some years. Scientists now understand that the levees have changed the nature of the river, removing the natural protection of wetlands and forest cover. The state and federal governments have been struggling for the best approaches to restoring some natural habitats in order to best interact with the original riverine ecology.

History

Nearly 10,000 B.C. Native Americans or Paleo-Indians arrived in what today is referred to as the South. Paleoindians in the South were hunter-gatherers who pursued the megafauna that became extinct following the end of the Pleistocene age. After thousands of years, the Paleoindians developed a rich and complex agricultural society. Archaeologists called these people the Mississippians of the Mississippian culture; they were Mound Builders, whose large earthworks related to political and religious rituals still stand throughout the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. Descendant Native American tribes include the Chickasaw and Choctaw. Other tribes who inhabited the territory of Mississippi (and whose names were honored in local towns) include the Natchez, the Yazoo and the Biloxi.

The first major European expedition into the territory that became Mississippi was that of Hernando de Soto, who passed through in 1540. The French, in April 1699, established the first European settlement at ''Fort Maurepas'' (also known as Old Biloxi), built at Ocean Springs and settled by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. In 1716, the French founded Natchez on the Mississippi River (as ''Fort Rosalie''); it became the dominant town and trading post of the area. The French called the greater territory "New Louisiana"; the Spanish continued to claim the Gulf coast.

Through the next decades, the area was ruled by Spanish, British and French colonial governments. Under French and Spanish rule, there developed a class of free people of color (''gens de couleur libres''), mostly descendants of European men and enslaved women, and their multiracial children. In the early days the French and Spanish colonists were chiefly men. Even as more European women joined the settlements, there continued to be interracial unions. Often the European men would help their children get educated, and sometimes settled property on them, as well as freeing slave children and their mothers. The free people of color became educated and formed a third class between the Europeans and enslaved Africans in the French and Spanish settlements, although not so large a community as in New Orleans. After Great Britain's victory in the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), the French surrendered the Mississippi area to them under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763).

After the American Revolution, this area became part of the new United States of America. The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina. It was later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. From 1800 to about 1830, the United States purchased some lands (Treaty of Doak's Stand) from Native American tribes for new settlements of Americans.

On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union.

When cotton was king during the 1850s, Mississippi plantation owners—especially those of the Delta and Black Belt regions—became wealthy due to the high fertility of the soil, the high price of cotton on the international market, and their assets in slaves. They used the profits to buy more cotton land and more slaves. The planters' dependence on hundreds of thousands of slaves for labor and the severe wealth imbalances among whites, played strong roles both in state politics and in planters' support for secession. By 1860, the enslaved population numbered 436,631 or 55% of the state's total of 791,305. There were fewer than 1000 free people of color. The relatively low population of the state before the Civil War reflected the fact that land and villages were developed only along the riverfronts, which formed the main transportation corridors. Ninety percent of the Delta bottomlands were frontier and undeveloped. The state needed many more settlers for development.

On January 9, 1861, Mississippi became the second state to declare its secession from the Union, and it was one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America.

During Reconstruction, the first constitutional convention in 1868 framed a constitution whose major elements would last for 22 years. The convention was the first political organization to include freedmen representatives, 17 among the 100 members. Although 32 counties had black majorities, they elected whites as well as blacks to represent them. The convention adopted universal suffrage; did away with property qualifications for suffrage or for office, which also benefited poor whites; provided for the state's first public school system; forbade race distinctions in the possession and inheritance of property; and prohibited limiting civil rights in travel. Under the terms of Reconstruction, Mississippi was restored to the Union on February 23, 1870.

While Mississippi typified the Deep South in passing Jim Crow laws in the early 20th century, its history was more complex. Because the Mississippi Delta contained so much fertile bottomland which had not been developed before the Civil War, 90 percent of the land was still frontier. After the Civil War, tens of thousands of migrants were attracted to the area. They could earn money by clearing the land and selling timber, and eventually advance to ownership. The new farmers included freedmen, who achieved unusually high rates of land ownership in the Mississippi bottomlands. In the 1870s and 1880s, many black farmers succeeded in gaining land ownership.

By the turn of the century, two-thirds of the farmers in Mississippi who owned land in the Delta were African-American. Many were able to keep going through difficult years of falling cotton prices only by extending their debts. Cotton prices fell throughout the decades following the Civil War. As another agricultural depression lowered cotton prices into the 1890s, however, numerous African-American farmers finally had to sell their land to pay off debts, thus losing the land into which they had developed.

White legislators created a new constitution in 1890, with provisions that effectively disfranchised most blacks and many poor whites. Estimates are that 100,000 black and 50,000 white men were removed from voter registration rolls over the next few years. The loss of political influence contributed to the difficulties of African Americans in their attempts to obtain extended credit. Together with Jim Crow laws, increased frequency of lynchings beginning in the 1890s, failure of the cotton crops due to boll weevil infestation, successive severe flooding in 1912 and 1913 created crisis conditions for many African Americans. With control of the ballot box and more access to credit, white planters expanded their ownership of Delta bottomlands and could take advantage of new railroads.

By 1910, a majority of black farmers in the Delta had lost their land and were sharecroppers. By 1920, the third generation after freedom, most African Americans in Mississippi were landless laborers again facing poverty. Starting about 1913, tens of thousands of black Americans left Mississippi for the North in the Great Migration to industrial cities such as St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and New York. They sought jobs, better education for their children, the right to vote, relative freedom from discrimination, and better living. In the migration of 1910–1940, they left a society that had been steadily closing off opportunity. Most migrants from Mississippi took trains directly north to Chicago and often settled near former neighbors.

The Second Great Migration from the South started in the 1940s, lasting until 1970. Almost half a million people left Mississippi in the second migration, three-quarters of them black. Nationwide during the first half of the 20th century, African Americans became rapidly urbanized and many worked in industrial jobs. The Second Great Migration included destinations in the West, especially California, where the buildup of the defense industry offered high-paying jobs to African Americans.

Mississippi generated rich, quintessentially American music traditions: gospel music, country music, jazz, blues and rock and roll. All were invented, promulgated or heavily developed by Mississippi musicians and most came from the Mississippi Delta. Many musicians carried their music north to Chicago, where they made it the heart of that city's jazz and blues.

Mississippi was a center of activity to educate and register voters during the Civil Rights Movement. Although 42% of the state's population was African American in 1960, discriminatory voter registration processes still prevented most of them from voting, consequent to provisions of the state constitution, which had been in place since 1890. Students and community organizers from across the country came to help register voters and establish Freedom Schools. Resistance and harsh attitudes of most white politicians (including the creation of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission), the participation of many Mississippians in the White Citizens' Councils, and the violent tactics of the Ku Klux Klan and its sympathizers, gained Mississippi a reputation in the 1960s as a reactionary state.

In 1966, the state was the last to officially repeal statewide prohibition of alcohol. Prior to that, Mississippi had taxed the illegal alcohol brought in by bootleggers. Repeal occurred after then Governor Paul Johnson urged repeal and the sheriff "raided the annual Junior League Mardi Gras ball at the Jackson Country Club, breaking open the liquor cabinet and carting off the Champagne before a startled crowd of nobility and high-ranking state officials."

The state repealed its ban on interracial marriage (miscegenation) in 1987 (which the United States Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional in 1967), and repealed segregationist era poll tax in 1989. In 1995, it symbolically ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which had abolished slavery in 1865. In 2009, the legislature passed a bill to repeal other discriminatory civil rights laws that had been enacted in 1964 but ruled unconstitutional in 1967 by federal courts. Republican Governor Haley Barbour signed the bill into law.

On August 17, 1969, Category 5 Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars). On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, though a Category 3 storm upon final landfall, caused even greater destruction across the entire of Mississippi Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama.

Demographics

According to the 2010 US Census, Mississippi has a population of 2,967,297. Mississippi's population has a sizable proportion of African Americans, approximately 37% percent.

The 2000 Census reported Mississippi's population as 2,844,658. The center of population of Mississippi is located in Leake County, in the town of Lena.

Ethnic makeup and ancestry

The Census Bureau considers race and Hispanic ethnicity to be two separate categories. These data, however, are only for non-Hispanic members of each group: non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, etc. Americans of Scots-Irish, English and Scottish ancestry are present throughout the state, and are thought to be much larger groups than are reported. English, Scottish and Scots-Irish are generally the most under-reported ancestry groups in both the South Atlantic States and the East South Central States; it is estimated that up to 20% of Mississippi's population is of English ancestry and another large percentage of Scottish, but many Mississippians of English and Scottish stock self-identify simply as American because their families have been in North America for so long, in many cases since the early 18th century. For more information on race and the Census, see here. On September 27, 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed between the U.S. Government and Native American Choctaws. The Choctaws agreed to selling their traditional homelands in Mississippi and Alabama with just compensation, which opened it up for European-American immigrant settlement. Article 14 in the treaty allowed the Choctaws to remain in the state of Mississippi and to become the ''first'' major non-European ethnic group to become U.S. citizens. Today approximately 9,500 Choctaws live in Neshoba, Newton, Leake, and Jones counties. Federally recognized tribes include the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Until the 1930s, African Americans made up a majority of Mississippians. Due to the Great Migration, when more than 360,000 African Americans left the state during the 1940s and after to leave segregation and disfranchisement, and for better economic opportunities in the northern and western states, Mississippi's African-American population declined. The state in 2010 had the highest proportion of African Americans in the nation. Recently, the African-American percentage of population has begun to increase due mainly to a higher birth rate than the state average. Due to patterns of settlement, in almost all of Mississippi's public school districts, a majority of students are of African descent. African Americans are the majority ethnic group in the northwestern Yazoo Delta and the southwestern and the central parts of the state, chiefly areas where the group owned land as farmers or worked on cotton plantations and farms.

According to the 2000 census, the largest ancestries are: American (14.2%) Irish (6.9%) English (6.1%) German (4.5%) French (2.3%) Scots-Irish (1.9%) Italian (1.4%) Scottish (1.2%)

People of French Creole ancestry form the largest demographic group in Hancock County on the Gulf Coast. The African-American; Choctaw, mostly in Neshoba County; and Chinese-American segments of the population are almost entirely native born.

Although some ethnic Chinese were recruited as indentured laborers from Cuba during the 1870s and later 19th c., the majority immigrated directly from China to Mississippi between 1910–1930. They were recruited as laborers. While planters first made arrangements with the Chinese for sharecropping, most Chinese soon left that work. Many became small merchants and especially grocers in towns throughout the Delta.

Religion

Under French and Spanish rule beginning in the 17th century, the few Europeans in what is now Mississippi were Roman Catholics. The prosperity after 1815 brought in tens of thousands of European-American settlers each year, though few were Catholic. Due to such migration, there was rapid growth in Protestant churches, especially Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist. In 2000 the Southern Baptist Convention was the largest religious denomination in the state with 916,440 adherents, followed by the United Methodist Church with 240,576 and the Roman Catholic Church with 115,760.

The revivals of the Great Awakening in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries initially attracted the "plain folk" by reaching out to all members of society, including women and African Americans.

In the post-Civil War years, religion became even more influential as the South became known as the ''"Bible Belt"''. By 1900 many ministers, especially in the towns, subscribed to the Social Gospel movement, which attempted to apply Christian ethics to social and economic needs of the day. Prohibition, especially, was the favorite weapon to attack sin.

African-American Baptist churches grew to include more than twice the number of members as their white Baptist counterparts. The African American call for social equality resonated throughout the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s. The American Civil Rights Movement had many roots in religion; both sides cited religious reasons for their viewpoints. The end of Jim Crow led to the reintegration of some churches, but most today remain all black or all white. Since the 1970s, fundamentalist conservative churches have grown rapidly, fueling Mississippi's conservative political trends.

Other religions have a small presence in Mississippi, as by 2000, there were 3900 Muslims, 1400 Jews and 811 Bahá'í.

Same-sex couples

The 2000 United States Census counted 4,774 same-sex unmarried-partner households in Mississippi. Of these, 2,251 are male partner households and 2,523 are female partner households. 41% contained at least one child. South Dakota and Utah were the only other states in which 40 percent or more of same-sex couple households had at least one child living in the household. Mississippi has the largest percentage of African-American same-sex couples among total households. The state capital, Jackson, ranks tenth in the nation in concentration of African-American same-sex couples. The state ranks fifth in the nation in the percentage of Hispanic same-sex couples among all Hispanic households and ninth in the highest concentration of same-sex couples who are seniors.

The 2010 United States Census counted 6,286 same-sex unmarried-partner households, or 5.6 same-sex couples per 1,000 households, in Mississippi. Of these, 4,231 - or 67% - are female partner households and 2,055 - or 33% - are male partner households. 2,077 - or 33% - of the same-sex households were raising at least one child making Mississippi number one in same-sex child rearing. The 2010 Census shows that the top five cities in the state with more than 50 same-sex couple households are Hattiesburg, Jackson, Natchez, Biloxi and Tupelo. The top five counties in the state with more than 50 same-sex couple households are Hancock, Marshall, Hinds, Adams and Itawamba.

Health and public safety

The state is ranked 50th or last place among all the states for health care, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation working to advance performance of the health care system. For three years in a row, more than 30 percent of Mississippi's residents have been classified as obese. In a 2006 study, 22.8 percent of the state's children were classified as obese. Mississippi had the highest rate of obesity of any U.S. state from 2005–2008 and also ranks first in the nation for high blood pressure, diabetes, and adult inactivity. In a 2008 study of African American women, contributing risk factors were shown to be: lack of knowledge about body mass index (BMI), dietary behavior, physical activity and lack of social support, defined as motivation and encouragement by friends. A 2002 report on African American adolescents noted a 1999 survey which suggests that a third of children were obese, with higher ratios for those in the Delta.

The study stressed that "obesity starts in early childhood extending into the adolescent years and then possibly into adulthood". It noted impediments to needed behavioral modification included the Delta likely being "the most underserved region in the state" with African Americans the major ethnic group; lack of accessibility and availability of medical care; and an estimated 60% of residents living below the poverty level. Additional risk factors were that most schools had no physical education curriculum and nutrition education is not emphasized. Previous intervention strategies may have been largely ineffective due to not being culturally sensitive or practical. A 2006 survey found nearly 95 percent of Mississippi adults considered childhood obesity to be a serious problem.

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Mississippi's total state product in 2006 was $84 billion. Per capita personal income in 2006 was $26,908, the lowest per capita personal income of any state, but the state also has the nation's lowest living costs. Although the state has one of the lowest per capita income rates in the United States, Mississippians consistently rank as one of the highest per capita in charitable contributions. A 2009 report by the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked Mississippi as having the 19th best economic outlook of all U.S. states.

Before the Civil War, Mississippi was the fifth-wealthiest state in the nation, its wealth generated by cotton plantations along the rivers. Slaves were then counted as property and the rise in the cotton markets since the 1840s had increased their value. A majority – 55 percent – of the population of Mississippi was enslaved in 1860. Ninety percent of the Delta bottomlands were undeveloped and the state had low population overall.

Largely due to the domination of the plantation economy, focused on the production of agricultural cotton, the state was slow to use its wealth to invest in infrastructure such as public schools, roads and railroads. Industrialization did not come in many areas until the late 20th century. The planter aristocracy, the elite of antebellum Mississippi, kept the tax structure low for themselves and made private improvements. Before the war the most successful planters, such as Confederate President Jefferson Davis, owned riverside properties along the Mississippi River. Most of the state was undeveloped frontier away from the riverfronts.

During the Civil War, 30,000 mostly white Mississippi men died from wounds and disease, and many more were left crippled and wounded. Changes to the labor structure and an agricultural depression throughout the South caused severe losses in wealth. In 1860 assessed valuation of property in Mississippi had been more than $500 million, of which $218 million (43 percent) was estimated as the value of slaves. By 1870, total assets had decreased in value to roughly $177 million.

Poor whites and landless former slaves suffered the most from the postwar economic depression. The constitutional convention of early 1868 appointed a committee to recommend what was needed for relief of the state and its citizens. The committee found severe destitution among the laboring classes. It took years for the state to rebuild levees damaged in battles. The upset of the commodity system impoverished the state after the war. By 1868 an increased cotton crop began to show possibilities for free labor in the state, but the crop of 565,000 bales produced in 1870 was still less than half of prewar figures.

Blacks sold timber and developed bottomland to achieve ownership. In 1900, two-thirds of farm owners in Mississippi were blacks, a major achievement for them and their families. Due to the poor economy, low cotton prices and difficulty of getting credit, many of these farmers could not make it through the extended financial difficulties. Two decades later, the majority of African Americans were sharecroppers. The low prices of cotton into the 1890s meant that more than a generation of African Americans lost the result of their labor when they had to sell their farms to pay off accumulated debts.

Mississippi's rank as one of the poorest states is related to its dependence on cotton agriculture before and after the Civil War, late development of its frontier bottomlands in the Mississippi Delta, repeated natural disasters of flooding in the late 19th and early 20th century requiring massive capital investment in levees, heavy capital investment to ditch and drain the bottomlands, and slow development of railroads to link bottomland towns and river cities. In addition, when conservative white Democrats regained control, they passed the 1890 constitution that discouraged industry, a legacy that would slow the state's progress for years.

Democratic Party paramilitary militias and groups such as the Red Shirts and the Knights of the White Camelia terrorized African American Republicans and suppressed voting. The Democrats regained political control of the state in 1877. The legislature passed statutes to establish segregation and a new constitution that effectively disfranchised most blacks, Native Americans and many poor whites by changes to electoral and voter registration rules. The state refused for years to build human capital by fully educating all its citizens. In addition, the reliance on agriculture grew increasingly costly as the state suffered loss of crops due to the devastation of the boll weevil in the early 20th century, devastating floods in 1912–1913 and 1927, collapse of cotton prices after 1920, and drought in 1930.

It was not until 1884, after the flood of 1882, that the state created the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta District Levee Board and started successfully achieving longer term plans for levees in the upper Delta. Despite the state's building and reinforcing levees for years, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 broke through and caused massive flooding of throughout the Delta, homelessness for hundreds of thousands, and millions of dollars in property damages. With the Depression coming so soon after the flood, the state suffered badly during those years. In the Great Migration, tens of thousands of African Americans migrated North and West for jobs and chances to live as full citizens.

The legislature's 1990 decision to legalize casino gambling along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast has led to economic gains for the state. Gambling towns in Mississippi include the Gulf Coast resort towns of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Biloxi, and the Mississippi River towns of Tunica (the third largest gaming area in the United States), Greenville, Vicksburg and Natchez. Before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Mississippi was the second largest gambling state in the Union, after Nevada and ahead of New Jersey. An estimated $500,000 per day in tax revenue was lost following Hurricane Katrina's severe damage to several coastal casinos in August 2005. In 2007, Mississippi had the third largest gambling revenue of any state, behind New Jersey and Nevada. Federally recognized Native American tribes have established gaming casinos on their reservations, which are yielding revenue to support education and economic development.

On October 17, 2005, Governor Haley Barbour signed a bill into law that allows casinos in Hancock and Harrison counties to rebuild on land (but within of the water). The only exception is in Harrison County, where the new law states that casinos can be built to the southern boundary of U.S. Route 90.

Mississippi collects personal income tax in three tax brackets, ranging from 3% to 5%. The retail sales tax rate in Mississippi is 7%. Additional local sales taxes also are collected. For purposes of assessment for ad valorem taxes, taxable property is divided into five classes.

On August 30, 2007, a report by the United States Census Bureau indicated that Mississippi was the poorest state in the country. Many cotton farmers in the Delta have large, mechanized plantations, some of which receive extensive Federal subsidies, yet many other residents still live as poor, rural, landless laborers. Of $1.2 billion from 2002–2005 in Federal subsidies to farmers in the Bolivar County area of the Delta, 5% went to small farmers. There has been little money apportioned for rural development. Small towns are struggling. More than 100,000 people have left the region in search of work elsewhere. The state had a median household income of $34,473.

As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 10.9%.

Federal subsidies and spending

Despite Mississippi's fiscal conservatism, in which Medicaid, welfare, food stamps, and other social programs are often cut, eligibility requirements are tightened, and stricter employment criteria are imposed, Mississippi still ranks as having the 2nd highest ratio of spending to tax receipts of any state. In 2005, Mississippi citizens received approximately $2.02 per dollar of taxes in the way of federal spending. This ranks the state 2nd highest nationally, and represents an increase from 1995, when Mississippi received $1.54 per dollar of taxes in federal spending and was 3rd highest nationally.

A proportion of federal spending in Mississippi is directed toward large federal installations such as Camp Shelby, John C. Stennis Space Center, and Keesler Air Force Base, in a state with a relatively low population density and one of the lowest proportions of urban dwellers. In addition, 2005 was the year that Hurricane Katrina's unusually high storm surge devastated the Mississippi coast, and its winds struck much further inland than a typical hurricane.

Law and government

As with all other U.S. states and the federal government, Mississippi's government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Executive authority in the state rests with the Governor, currently Haley Barbour (R). The Lieutenant Governor, currently Phil Bryant (R), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the governor and lieutenant governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi rather than appointed by the governor.

Mississippi is one of five states that elects its state officials in odd-numbered years (the others are Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and Virginia). Mississippi holds elections for these offices every four years, always in the year preceding Presidential elections. Thus, the last year when Mississippi elected a Governor was 2007, and the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2011.

Laws

In 2004, Mississippi voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and prohibiting Mississippi from recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The amendment passed 86% to 14%, the largest margin in any state.

Section 265 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi declares that "No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this state."

Transportation

Road

In March 2011, Mississippi ranked as the third bottom "Worst" state (next to Louisiana and Kentucky) in the American State Litter Scorecard. The Hospitality State suffers from an overall poor effectiveness and quality of its statewide public space cleanliness (primarily from roadway and adjacent litter/debris)--in state and related eradication standards.

Mississippi is served by nine interstate highways: {| style="width:500px;" |- valign = top | | |}

and fourteen main U.S. Routes: {| style="width:500px;" |- valign = top | | |}

as well as a system of State Highways.

For more information, visit the Mississippi Department of Transportation website.

In 2011, Mississippi was tied with Colorado to be a top-five deadliest U.S. state for debris/litter–caused vehicle accidents per total number of registered vehicles and population size. Figures derived from the NHTSA showed at least 19 persons in Mississippi were killed each year in motor vehicle collisions with non-fixed objects, including debris, dumped litter, animals and their carcasses.

Rail

Passenger

Amtrak provides scheduled passenger service along two routes, the ''Crescent'' and ''City of New Orleans''.

Freight

All but two of the United States Class I railroads serve Mississippi (the exceptions are the Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific):

Canadian National Railway's Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary provides north-south service.

BNSF Railway has an east-west line across northern Mississippi.

Kansas City Southern Railway provides east-west service in the middle of the state and north-south service along the Alabama state line.

Norfolk Southern Railway provides service in the extreme north and southeast.

CSX has a line along the Gulf Coast.

Water

Major rivers

Mississippi River

Big Black River

Pascagoula River

Pearl River

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

Yazoo River

Major bodies of water

Arkabutla Lake – of water; constructed and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District Bay Springs Lake – of water and of shoreline; constructed and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Grenada Lake – of water; became operational in 1954; constructed and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District Ross Barnett Reservoir – Named for Ross Barnett, the 52nd Governor of Mississippi; of water; became operational in 1966; constructed and managed by The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, a state agency; Provides water supply for the City of Jackson. Sardis Lake – of water; became operational in October 1940; constructed and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District

Education

Until the Civil War era, Mississippi had a small number of schools and no educational institutions for African Americans. The first school for black people was established in 1862.

During Reconstruction in 1871, black and white Republicans were the first to establish a system of public education in the state. The state's dependence on agriculture and resistance to taxation limited the funds it had available to spend on any schools. As late as the early 20th century, there were few schools in rural areas. With seed money from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, many rural black communities across Mississippi raised matching funds and contributed public funds to build new schools for their children. Essentially, many black adults taxed themselves twice and made significant sacrifices to raise money for the education of children in their communities.

Blacks and whites attended separate public schools in Mississippi until the 1960s, when they began to be integrated following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in ''Brown v. Board of Education'' that racially segregated public schools were unconstitutional.

In the late 1980s, the state had 954 public elementary and secondary schools, with a total yearly enrollment of about 369,500 elementary pupils and about 132,500 secondary students. Some 45,700 students attended private schools. In 2008, Mississippi was ranked last among the fifty states in academic achievement by the American Legislative Exchange Council's Report Card on Education, with the lowest average ACT scores and sixth lowest spending per pupil in the nation. In contrast, Mississippi had the 17th highest average SAT scores in the nation. According to the report, 92% of Mississippi high school graduates took the ACT and 3% took the SAT, in comparison to the national averages of 43% and 45%, respectively.

In 2007, Mississippi students scored the lowest of any state on the National Assessments of Educational Progress in both math and science.

Mississippi is currently ranked at the bottom of the American Human Development Index.

Jackson, the state's capital city, houses the state residential school for deaf and hard of hearing students. The Mississippi School for the Deaf was established by the state legislature in 1854.

The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) is a public residential high school for academically gifted students located in Columbus, Mississippi on the campus of the Mississippi University for Women. MSMS was founded in 1987 by appropriations from the Mississippi Legislature and is the fourth public, residential high school for academically gifted students in the United States.[3] The school only enrolls students in the last two years of high school. Tenth grade students from across the state interested in the school apply and are selected to attend.

Culture

While Mississippi has been especially known for its music and literature, it has embraced other forms of art. Its strong religious traditions have inspired striking works by outsider artists who have been shown nationally.

Jackson established the USA International Ballet Competition, which is held every four years. This ballet competition attracts the most talented young dancers from around the world.

The Magnolia Independent Film Festival, still held annually in Starkville, is the first and oldest in the state.

George Ohr, known as the "Mad Potter of Biloxi" and the father of abstract expressionism in pottery, lived and worked in Biloxi, MS.

''The New Southern View Ezine'', first published in the summer of 2001, is the state's first online magazine.

Music

Musicians of the state's Delta region were historically significant to the development of the blues. Their laments arose out of the region's hard times after Reconstruction. Although by the end of the 19th century, two-thirds of the farm owners were black, continued low prices for cotton and national financial pressures resulted in most of them losing their land. More problems built up with the boll weevil infestation, when thousands of agricultural jobs were lost. Many Mississippi musicians migrated to Chicago and created new forms of jazz and other genres there.

Jimmie Rodgers, a native of Meridian and white guitarist/singer/songwriter known as the "Father of Country Music", played a significant role in the development of the blues. He and Chester Arthur Burnett were friends and admirers of each other's music. Rodgers was supposed to have given Burnett his nickname of Howlin' Wolf. Their friendship and respect is an important example of Mississippi's musical legacy. While the state has had a reputation for being the most racist in the United States, individual musicians created an integrated music community. Mississippi musicians created new forms by combining and creating variations on musical traditions from Africa with the musical traditions of white Southerners, a tradition largely rooted in Scots–Irish music.

The state is creating a Mississippi Blues Trail, with dedicated markers explaining historic sites significant to the history of blues music, such as Clarksdale's Riverside Hotel, where Bessie Smith died after her auto accident on Highway 61. The Riverside Hotel is just one of many historical blues sites in Clarksdale. The Delta Blues Museum there is visited by tourists from all over the world. Close by are "Ground Zero" and "Madidi", a contemporary blues club and restaurant co-owned by actor Morgan Freeman.

Mississippians have contributed to American music. Elvis Presley, who created a sensation in the 1950s as a crossover artist and contributed to rock 'n' roll, was a native of Tupelo. From opera star Leontyne Price to the alternative rock band 3 Doors Down, to gulf and western singer Jimmy Buffett, to rappers David Banner and Afroman, Mississippi musicians have been significant in all genres.

''(see: List of people from Mississippi)''

Sports

Biloxi, Mississippi is home to the Mississippi Surge ice hockey team. The team is a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League and began its first season of play in 2009.

Clinton, Mississippi is home to the Mississippi Brilla soccer team. The Brilla are a member of the USL Premier Development League.

Pearl, Mississippi is home to the Mississippi Braves baseball team. The Braves are an AA minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play in the Southern League.

Southaven, Mississippi is home to the Mississippi RiverKings hockey team, formerly known as the Memphis RiverKings. The RiverKings are a member of Southern Professional Hockey League.

Notable natives

Mississippi has produced a number of notable and famous individuals, especially in the realm of music and literature. Among the most notable are:

Actors:Lacey Chabert, Morgan Freeman, Jim Henson, James Earl Jones, Gerald McRaney, Parker Posey, Sela Ward, and Oprah Winfrey

Artists: Walter Inglis Anderson and George E. Ohr

Athletes: Cool Papa Bell, Brett Favre, Al Jefferson, Archie Manning, Deuce McAllister, Steve McNair, Travis Outlaw, Walter Payton, and Jerry Rice

Authors: William Faulkner, John Grisham, Thomas Harris, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, and Richard Wright, Charlaine Harris

Civil rights leaders: Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, and Anne Moody

Musicians: 3 Doors Down, David Banner, Lance Bass, Brandy, Jimmy Buffett, Bo Diddley, Faith Hill, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Denise LaSalle, Elvis Presley, Leontyne Price, Charlie Patton, Charlie Pride, LeAnn Rimes, Jimmie Rodgers, Britney Spears, Conway Twitty, Muddy Waters, Hayley Williams, Randy Houser, and Tammy Wynette

Cultural references

Children in the United States and Canada often count "One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi" during informal games such as hide and seek to approximate counting by seconds.

On March 12, 1894, the Biedenharn Candy Company bottled the first Coca-Cola in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Root beer was invented in Biloxi in 1898 by Edward Adolf Barq, the namesake of Barq's Root Beer.

The Teddy bear gets its name from President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. On a 1902 hunting trip to Sharkey County, Mississippi, he ordered the mercy killing of a wounded bear.

In 1935, the world's first night rodeo held outdoors under electric lights was produced by Earl Bascom and Weldon Bascom in Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi

In 1936, Dr. Leslie Rush, of Rush Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi performed the first bone pinning in the United States. The "Rush Pin" is still in use.

Burnita Shelton Matthews from near Hazlehurst, Mississippi was the first woman appointed as a judge of a U.S. district court. She was appointed by Harry S. Truman on October 21, 1949.

Marilyn Monroe won the Mrs. Mississippi finals in the 1952 movie ''We're Not Married!''.

Texas Rose Bascom, of Columbia, Mississippi, became the most famous female trick roper in the world, performing on stage and in Hollywood movies. She toured the world with Bob Hope, billed as the "Queen of the Trick Ropers," and was the first Mississippian to be inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

In 1963, Dr. James D. Hardy of the University of Mississippi Medical Center performed the first human lung transplant in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1964, Dr. Hardy performed the first heart transplant, transplanting the heart of a chimpanzee into a human, where it beat for 90 minutes.

"At 10:00 a.m. on October 22, 1964, the United States government detonated an underground nuclear device in Lamar County, in south Mississippi. (...) The Project Salmon blast was about one-third as powerful as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. (...) The Project Sterling blast, on December 3, 1966, was considerably weaker than the blast two years earlier, as it was intended to be."

On January 8, 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo.

Several warships have been named USS ''Mississippi''.

The comic book character Rogue, from the well-known series ''X-Men'', is a Mississippian and self-declared southern belle. Her home town is located in the fictional county of Caldecott.

For the past seven years, the Sundancer Solar Race Team from Houston, MS, has won first place in the Open Division of the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge.

See also

Gulf of Mexico

List of National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi

List of people from Mississippi

U.S. state

References

External links

Mississippi State Databases – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Mississippi state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.

Mississippi Travel and Tourism

Mississippi Development Authority

The "Mississippi Believe It" Campaign

Mississippi State Facts

University Press of Mississippi

Mississippi as Metaphor State, Region, and Nation in Historical Imagination," ''Southern Spaces'', 23 October 2006.

==Related information==

Category:States of the United States Category:States of the Confederate States of America Category:States of the Southern United States Category:States and territories established in 1817 Category:Former British colonies

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Coordinates	5°1′48″N118°20′24″N
name	Mississippi John Hurt
background	solo_singer
birth name	John Smith Hurt
born	July 03, 1893 or March 08, 1892Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi, United States
died	November 02, 1966Grenada, Mississippi
origin	Avalon, Mississippi
instrument	Guitar, Vocals
genre	Country blues, Delta blues, Folk
occupation	Singer-songwriter, Sharecropper, Farm hand
years active	1928, 1963 – 1966
label	Okeh Vanguard
associated acts	Shell Smith Willie Narmour
notable instruments	Guild F-30 }}

John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt (July 3, 1893 or March 8, 1892 — November 2, 1966) was an influential country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in tiny Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. Singing in a loud whisper, to a melodious finger-picked accompaniment, he began to play local dances and parties while working as a sharecropper. He first recorded for Okeh Records in 1928, but these were commercial failures, and Hurt drifted out of the recording scene, where he continued his work as a farmer. After a man discovered a copy of one of his recordings, "Avalon Blues", which gave the location of his hometown, there became increased interest in his whereabouts. Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, would be the first to locate Hurt in 1963. He convinced Hurt to relocate to Washington, D.C., where he was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This rediscovery helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt entered the same university and coffeehouse concert circuit as his contemporaries, as well as other Delta blues musicians brought out of retirement. As well as playing concerts, he recorded several studio albums for Vanguard Records. He died in Grenada, Mississippi. Material recorded by Hurt has been re-released by many record labels over the years (see discography); and his influence has extended over many generations of guitarists. Songs recorded by Hurt have been covered by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen and Guthrie Thomas.

Biography

Early years

Born John Smith Hurt in Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi and raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt learned to play guitar at age nine. He was completely self-taught, playing his mother's boyfriend's guitar whenever he stayed over at her house. His style was not reminiscent of any other style being played at the time; it was the way Hurt "thought the guitar ''should'' sound." He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farmhand into the 1920s. His fast, highly syncopated style of playing made his music adept for dancing. On occasion, a medicine show would come through the area; Hurt recalls being wanted by one of them. "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home." In 1923 he partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith.

First recordings

When Narmour got a chance to record for Okeh Records as a prize for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, he recommended Hurt to Okeh Records producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, he took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (see Discography below). While in Memphis, Hurt recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and lots, lots more." Hurt described his first recording session as such:

Hurt attempted further negotiations with OKeh to record again, but after the commercial failure of the resulting records, and Okeh Records going out of business during the Great Depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances.

Rediscovery

After Hurt's renditions of "Frankie" and "Spike Driver Blues" were included in ''The Anthology of American Folk Music'' in 1952; and an Australian man discovered a copy of "Avalon Blues", there became increased interest in finding Hurt himself. In 1963, a folk musicologist, Tom Hoskins, supervised by Richard Spottswood, was able to locate Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi using the lyrics of "Avalon Blues":

While in Avalon, Hoskins convinced an apprehensive Hurt to perform several songs for him, to ensure that he was genuine. Hoskins was convinced, and seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, Hoskins encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and begin performing on a wider stage. His performance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new folk revival audience. Before his death he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and also on the ''Tonight Show'' with Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums for Vanguard Records. Much of his repertoire was recorded for the Library of Congress, also. His fans particularly liked the ragtime songs "Salty Dog" and "Candy Man", and the blues ballads "Spike Driver Blues" (a variant of "John Henry") and "Frankie".

Hurt's influence spanned several music genres including blues, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which consisted of a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music.

Hurt died of a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.

Style

Hurt incorporated a fast, pick-less, syncopated fingerpicking style that he taught himself. He was influenced by very few people; but does recall an elderly, unrecorded, blues singer from that area, Rufus Hanks, who played twelve-string guitar and harmonica. He also recalls listening to the country singer Jimmie Rodgers. Many of his songs were in very basic keys (C, G, D, F, etc.), his fingers picking notes within the chords. On occasion, Hurt would use an open tuning and a slide (as he did in his arrangement of "The Ballad of Casey Jones").

Tributes

There is now a memorial in Avalon, Mississippi for Mississippi John Hurt. It is parallel to RR2, the rural road on which he grew up.

British electro band Does It Offend You, Yeah? named the second song on their 2011 album "John Hurt", as a tribute to his influence on their music

American singer-songwriter Tom Paxton, who met Hurt and played on the same bill as him at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village around 1963, wrote and recorded a song about him in 1977 entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?" Paxton still frequently plays this song at his live performances.

The first track of John Fahey's 1968 solo acoustic guitar album ''Requia'' is entitled "Requiem For John Hurt". Fahey's posthumous live album ''The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick'' also features a version of the piece, there entitled "Requiem For Mississippi John Hurt".

British folk/blues artist Wizz Jones recorded a tribute song called "Mississippi John" for his 1977 album ''Magical Flight''.

Discography

NOTE: Sources for this section are as follows:

78 rpm releases

"Frankie"/"Nobody's Dirty Business" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8560) (1928)

"Stack O' Lee"/"Candy Man Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8654) (1928)

"Blessed Be the Name"/"Praying on the Old Camp Ground" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8666) (1928)

"Blue Harvest Blues"/"Spike Driver Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8692) (1928)

"Louis Collins"/"Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8724) (1928)

"Ain't No Tellin'"/"Avalon Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8759) (1928)

Albums

''Folk Songs and Blues'' [live recordings] (Piedmont Records, PLP 13757) (1963)

''Worried Blues'' (Piedmont Records, PLP 13161) (1964)

''Today!'' (Vanguard Records, VSD-79220) (1966)

''The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt'' (Vanguard Records, VSD-79248) (1967)

''The Best of Mississippi John Hurt'' [live recordings] (Vanguard Records, VSD-19/20) (1970)

''Last Sessions'' (Vanguard Records, VSD-79327) (1972)

''Volume One of a Legacy'' [live recordings] (Piedmont Records, CLPS 1068) (1975)

''Monday Morning Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings – Volume One'' (Flyright Records, FLYLP 553) (1980)

''Avalon Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings – Volume Two'' (Heritage Records, HT-301) (1982)

''Satisfied'' [live recordings] (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5007) (1982)

''The Candy Man'' [live recordings] (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5042) (1982)

''Sacred and Secular: The Library of Congress Recordings – Volume Three'' (Heritage Records, HT-320) (1988)

''Avalon Blues'' (Flyright Records, FLYCD 06) (1989)

''Memorial Anthology'' [live recordings] (Genes Records, GCD 9906/7) (1993)

Selected compilation albums

''The Original 1928 Recordings'' (Spokane Records, SPL 1001) (1971)

''1928: Stack O' Lee Blues – His First Recordings'' (Biograph Records, BLP C4) (1972)

''1928 Sessions'' (Yazoo Records, L 1065) (1979)

''Satisfying Blues'' (Collectables Records, VCL 5529) (1995)

''Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings'' (Columbia Records, CK64986) (1996)

''Rediscovered'' (Vanguard Records, CD 79519) (1998)

''The Complete Recordings'' (Vanguard Records, CD 70181-2) (1998)

''Candy Man Blues: The Complete 1928 Sessions'' (Snapper Music, SBLUECD 010) (2004)

References

External links

Mississippi John Hurt Museum Includes a link to a discussion forum regarding Mississippi John Hurt with substantive participation by grand nephew, Fred Bolden.

Mississippi John Hurt News Website run by John's grand nephew, Fred Bolden. Has several forums and discussions open to the public.

Illustrated Mississippi John Hurt discography

Available recordings at The Internet Archive

[ Allmusic]

Mississippi John Hurt's Stackolee Recording, sheet music and guitar tab.

Category:1892 births Category:1966 deaths Category:Acoustic blues musicians Category:African American musicians Category:Country blues singers Category:American folk singers Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male singers Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:Blues revival musicians Category:Songster musicians Category:Vanguard Records artists Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction

de:Mississippi John Hurt es:Mississippi John Hurt fr:Mississippi John Hurt it:Mississippi John Hurt he:מיסיסיפי ג'ון הארט nl:Mississippi John Hurt ja:ミシシッピ・ジョン・ハート no:Mississippi John Hurt pl:Mississippi John Hurt pt:Mississippi John Hurt ru:Миссисипи Джон Хёрт simple:John Hurt fi:Mississippi John Hurt sv:Mississippi John Hurt tr:Mississippi John Hurt

Coordinates	5°1′48″N118°20′24″N
name	Hank Williams III
background	solo_singer
birth name	Shelton Hank Williams
born	December 12, 1972Nashville, Tennessee|
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, drums Keyboards
genre	Country, heavy metal, punk rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, drummer
years active	1991–present
label	Hank3, Curb
associated acts	AssjackArson AnthemAttention Deficit DominationSuperjoint RitualWhipping PostBedwetterSalidaBuzzKill
website	Official Website
notable instruments	Last Badass Gibson ES-175 Guild Acoustics and Nightbird Solidbody Fryette Pitbull Crate BV300H Randall RG100 }}

Shelton Hank Williams, known as Hank 3 (born December 12, 1972), is the grandson of country music legend Hank Williams and the son of Hank Williams Jr., he is one of the most prominent musicians to play neotraditional country in a country music market dominated by pop country. In addition to his honky tonk recordings, Williams' style alternates between punk and metal. He is the principal member of the punk metal band Assjack, the drummer for the Southern hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and was the bassist for Pantera singer Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual. He has released seven studio albums, including five for Curb Records.

Music career

Early career

Hank Williams III spent much of his early career playing drums in punk rock bands during the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. Three years after a one night stand in 1995, Hank Williams III was served papers on stage while opening for the underground band Buzzov•en. The judge told Williams that playing music was no real job and to come up with $60,000 in overdue child support. To avoid being branded as a deadbeat dad, Williams signed a contract with Nashville, Tennessee, music industry giant Curb Records to pay off the debt. ''Three Hanks: Men With Broken Hearts'' was issued shortly thereafter, which spliced together recordings to make it seem that three generations of Williams men were singing alongside one another. In the late 1980s, upon first meeting Hank Williams III, Minnie Pearl, a friend of the late Hank Williams Sr., reportedly said "Lord, honey, you're a ghost," as she was astonished by his striking resemblance to his grandfather.

''Risin' Outlaw'' and contract issues (1999-2004)

Hank Williams III first solo album, ''Risin' Outlaw'', was released in September 1999 to respectable sales and strong reviews. While his name (and his uncanny vocal and physical resemblances to his grandfather) could have guaranteed Williams a thriving country audience, he had little patience for the often predictable Nashville sound, nor for even the minimal constraints on behavior his promoters required. His opinions on this subject are well summed up in his songs "Trashville" and "Dick in Dixie."

Williams' live shows typically follow a Jekyll and Hyde format: a country music set featuring fiddle player Adam McOwen and slide guitar player Andy Gibson, followed by a hellbilly set, and then an Assjack set. He plays both the country and the psychobilly with his "Damn Band." Assjack produces a very different sound than either, mixing heavy doses of metalcore, psychobilly, and hardcore punk.

The lineup for Assjack includes the addition of supplemental vocalist Gary Lindsey, bassist Zach Shedd switching from upright to electric bass, and the departure of his fiddle and slide guitar players. McOwen's predecessor was fellow-fiddle-player Michael "Fiddleboy" McCanless, who would play all three sets, adding traditional violin for the country set of the concert before plugging his instrument into an amplifier and distortion unit for later sets. Another former band member was guitarist Duane Denison, previously with The Jesus Lizard, who left The Damn Band and Assjack in January 2001 and later that year formed Tomahawk.

Williams has had significant contractual conflicts with Curb Records. He expressed dissatisfaction with his debut, and reportedly the label was unwilling to release his appropriately named ''This Ain't Country'' LP, nor to allow him to issue it on another record label. In response, Williams began making t-shirts stating "Fuck Curb." Also during this era, Williams played bass guitar in heavy metal band Superjoint Ritual, a now-defunct band led by former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo.

''Thrown out of the Bar'' and ''Straight to Hell'' (2004-06)

In late 2004 ''Thrown Out of the Bar'' was slated for release, but Curb opted not to issue it. Williams and label executive Mike Curb would be in and out of court for the next year before a judge ruled in favor of Williams in the spring of 2005, demanding that Curb release the album. Shortly thereafter Williams and Curb came to terms, and Williams dropped his "Fuck Curb" campaign. ''Bar'' was reworked into ''Straight to Hell'', released on Curb’s rock imprint, Bruc. Battles with Wal-Mart delayed the appearance of this album, which was released on February 28, 2006 as a two-disc set in two formats: a censored version (for Wal-Mart), and an uncensored version that was the first major-label country album ever to bear a parental advisory warning. One of the songs, "Pills I Took", was written by a little-known Wisconsin group called Those Poor Bastards, who originally released the song on their 2004 CD ''Country Bullshit''.

The New Beginning, Post-Curb (2007-present)

Williams recently played drums for Arson Anthem, formed with Phil Anselmo and Mike Williams of the sludge band Eyehategod.

Williams released his long awaited punk-metal album ''AssJack'' on August 4, 2009.

His next album, ''Rebel Within'', was released in May 2010. It charted at number 20 in ''Billboard'' magazine.

Williams' former label Curb Records released ''This Ain't Country'' under the title ''Hillbilly Joker'' on May 17, 2011 without the consent or input from Williams after his contract with the label had been terminated. Williams told his fans, "Don’t buy it, but get it some other way and burn the hell out of it and give it to everyone."

On May 18, 2011 it was posted on Williams's web site that he is busy making new material / album which could be released very soon.

On June 23, 2011, it was revealed through Williams' personal Facebook that he would be releasing four new CDs on September 6, 2011. It said to expect country, doom-rock, speed metal with cattle callin' on the releases. Entitled ''Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town'' (a 2 disc country record), ''3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin''' (a metal record in the newly anointed cattle core genre) and ''Attention Deficit Domination'' (a doom-rock record), these new albums will be released on Williams's own record label Hank3 Records through Megaforce Records, and feature guest appearances by Tom Waits, Les Claypool (Primus), Alan King (Hellstomper) and William's dog, Trooper.

On July 13, 2011, the track listing for the four upcoming albums were posted online.

Discography

''Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts'' (1996)

''Risin' Outlaw'' (1999)

''Lovesick, Broke and Driftin''' (2002)

''Straight to Hell'' (2006)

''Damn Right, Rebel Proud'' (2008)

''Rebel Within'' (2010)

''Hillbilly Joker'' (2011)

''Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town'' (2011)

''3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin''' (2011)

''Attention Deficit Domination'' (2011)

Other appearances

''Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska'' (contributing track: "Atlantic City") (2000)

''Driven Soundtrack'' (contributing track: "Hang On") (2001)

''Timeless: A Tribute To Hank Williams'' (contributing track: "I'm a Long Gone Daddy") (2001)

''Sharp Dressed Man: A Tribute To ZZ Top'' (contributing track: "Fearless Boogie") (2002)

''The Crybaby'' (The Melvins, vocals and guitar on ''Ramblin' Man'', vocals on ''Okie from Muskogee'') (2000)

''Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash'' (contributing track: "Wreck of the Old 97") (2002)

''Live in London... England'' (Dale Watson, backing vocals on "Country My Ass") (2002)

''Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit The West Memphis Three'' ("No Values") (2002)

''Grand Ole Opry at The Ryman Auditorium: Tribute to Hank Williams Sr.'' (2003)

''Use Once and Destroy'' (Superjoint Ritual, touring only bassist) (2002)

''A Lethal Dose of American Hatred'' (Superjoint Ritual featuring Hank III on bass) (2003)

''Stars & Guitars'' (Willie Nelson and Friends backing vocals w/Keith Richards and Ryan Adams on "Dead Flowers") (2003)

''Touch My Heart: A Tribute To Johnny PayCheck'' (contributing track: "I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised") (2004)

''Rebel Meets Rebel'' (vocals on "Get Outta My Life") (2006)

''Everybody Loves ANTiSEEN: A Loving Tribute to the Boys from Brutalsville'' (contributing track: "Ruby, Get Back to the Hills") (2006)

''For the Sick: A Tribute To Eyehategod'' (contributing tracks: "Take as Needed for Pain" and "Torn Between Suicide and Breakfast"; credited as The Unholy 3) (2007)

''Arson Anthem'' (Arson Anthem featuring Hank III on drums)) (2008)

''Insecurity Notoriety'' (Arson Anthem featuring Hank III on drums) (2010)

''The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia'' (2010)

''Rare Breed: The Songs of Peter La Farge'' (contributing track: "Marijuana Blues") (2010)

References

External links

Official Website

Hank III Interview on AmericanaRoots.com

Hank III interviews, videos & message board on Hankville.com

Category:Living people Category:1972 births Category:American alternative country singers Category:American country guitarists Category:American country singers Category:American heavy metal bass guitarists Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American punk rock bass guitarists Category:American punk rock drummers Category:American punk rock guitarists Category:American punk rock singers Category:Cowpunk Category:Curb Records artists Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee

da:Hank Williams III de:Hank Williams III et:Hank Williams III es:Hank Williams III fr:Hank Williams III it:Hank Williams III fi:Hank Williams III sv:Hank Williams III

Coordinates	5°1′48″N118°20′24″N
Name	Kid Rock
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Robert James Ritchie
Born	January 17, 1971Romeo, Michigan, U.S.
Genre	Rock, hip hop, heavy metal, country
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter, Actor
Years active	1988–present
Associated acts	Uncle Kracker, Joe C., Champtown, Yelawolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Label	Atlantic, Jive, Top Dog
Website	}}

Robert James "Bob" Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations. Kid Rock released several studio albums that mostly went unnoticed before his 1998 record ''Devil Without a Cause'', released with Atlantic Records, sold 11 million albums behind the hits, "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy", and "Only God Knows Why". In 2000, he released ''The History of Rock,'' a compilation of remixed and remastered versions of songs from previous albums as well as the hit single, "American Bad Ass" and the previously unreleased "Abortion".

Kid Rock released the follow-up in 2001, ''Cocky''. After a slow start, his country-flavored hit "Picture" with Sheryl Crow resurrected the album and it went gold as a single and pushed the album's sales over 5 million. It was followed by 2003's self-titled release, which did not chart a major hit. In 2006 he released ''Live Trucker'', a live album.

In 2007 Kid Rock released ''Rock n Roll Jesus'', which produced a hit in "All Summer Long". It was his first worldwide smash hit, charting #1 in eight countries across Europe and in Australia. ''Rock N Roll Jesus'' sold 5 million albums worldwide and was certified triple platinum in the U.S. He released ''Born Free'' on November 16, 2010. It was announced on June 16, 2011 that "Born Free" was certified platinum by the 'Recording Industry Association Of America' (RIAA) for selling more than one million copies. This gives Kid Rock his sixth Platinum album certification.

Early life

Robert James "Bob" Ritchie was born on January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan to William "Bill" Ritchie, a car dealer who owned several local dealerships, and Susan Ritchie. His family also owned a six-acre orchard and Ritchie regularly helped pick apples and cared for the family's horses. He has three siblings: two are older, brother William "Billy" Ritchie and sister Carol Ritchie; and one is younger, sister Jill Ritchie who is an actress. Ritchie found small-town life dull; he became interested in rap music, learned how to breakdance and participated in talent shows in the Detroit area. At age eleven he joined a breakdance crew called the Furious Funkers, and taught himself to work a cheap belt-driven turntable. In high school, Ritchie DJed at parties for beer. He eventually joined Bo Wisdom of Groove Time Productions, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to perform basement parties for thirty dollars a night. He was then given his stage name; club goers dubbed him "Kid Rock" after they had enjoyed watching "that white kid rock."

Rock started rapping and joined a local hip hop group, The Beast Crew. It was composed of The Blackman, Champtown, KDC, Chris "Doc Roun-Cee" Pouncy. Rock befriended producer D-Nice of the legendary hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions. When Rock opened for BDP one night, D-Nice invited an A&R; representative from Jive Records to see him perform. This meeting led to a demo deal, which developed into a full record contract.

Against his parents' wishes, Rock signed the deal at age seventeen. Despite his new record deal, he had a falling out with The Beast Crew when he signed over fellow member Champtown (the two have become friends again since). They left his vocals on the tracks of their debut underground album "Chapter 1: He Don't Want Us No More," against his wishes. Rock later became part of the Straight From The Underground Tour alongside several heavyweights of rap including Ice Cube, Too Short, D-Nice, Mac Dre, and Yo-Yo.

Career

On December 30, 1990 Kid Rock released his debut album ''Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast''. As noted by Insane Clown Posse member Violent J, this album made Kid Rock one of the two biggest rap stars in Detroit in 1990, along with local independent rapper Esham. Though Jive Records did not push the album it gained infamy when radio station WSUC-FM (90.5) of Cortland, NY was fined $23,700 by the FCC for playing the song Yo Da-Lin In the Valley then the largest fine against a radio station. Kid Rock's career had began to decline towards the end of 1990. Jive Records released Kid Rock from his contract in 1991. Once back in Detroit he became friends with Uncle Kracker after battling his brother in a freestyle rapping competition; Uncle Kracker became Kid Rock's DJ.

In late 1991 Kid Rock was picked up by an independent record label called Continuum Records. Though Insane Clown Posse's Violent J disliked Kid Rock's rapping style, he paid Kid Rock to appear on his group's first album, ''Carnival of Carnage'', in an attempt to gain notice for the album. Kid Rock showed up to record the song "Is That You?" intoxicated, but re-recorded his vocals and record scratching the following day. In March 1993, Continuum released his second album ''The Polyfuze Method'', which featured a more rock music-oriented sound with Kid Rock teaching himself how to play several different instruments including guitar, drums, keyboard and organ. The album saw some local college radio success at Central Michigan University with the tracks "Back From The Dead" and "Balls In Your Mouth". He released "U Don't Know Me" as the first single off the album, but it failed to chart, and the music video received little airplay on major music video channels. Kid Rock re-released "Back From The Dead" as a single to mainstream radio, but that too failed as a single. The album has sold around 15,000 copies. In 1992 Kid Rock appeared in the song "Is That You?" of the Carnival of Carnage by the Insane Clown Posse.

He released an Extended play EP called Fire It Up (EP) in 1993 The EP featured the song I Am the Bullgod which wouldn't be a hit until six years later Continuum didn't see a future with Kid Rock after this and released him from his contract in 1994

He moved back to Detroit where his on again off again relationship with Kelly South resulted in a son Robert James Ritchie Jr. Kid Rock released monthly demo tapes dubbed The Bootleg Series which featured demos of him and other up-and coming rappers and garage rock bands in the Detroit area Around the same time Kid Rock formed his back up band Twisted Brown Trucker Band later recruiting Joseph Joe C. Calleja who he met at a 1994 concert as part of the group In 1995 Rock took a job as a janitor at Whiterooms Studios to pay studio fees When he wasn't working, Kid Rock recorded the material that eventually made up his fourth album Early Morning Stoned Pimp which Rock released on his own label Top Dog Records During the recording process he met piano player Jimmie Bones who joined the band soon after The album was released February 12, 1996. A loan from his father aided the release. Kid Rock sold 6,000 copies from the trunk of his car including after his concerts With EMSP local success he released The Polyfuze Method in 1993 with I Am The Bullgod

Lava/Atlantic Records A&R; man Andy Karp was interested, after seeing Kid Rock in Cleveland in December 1996 and again in March 1997 Following a two song demo tape containing Somebody's Gotta Feel This and I Got One For Ya [Jason Flom] supported Karp in signing Kid Rock for $100,000 However when recording sessions began Atlantic wanted more of a rock sound and didn't initially like Cowboy Devil Without A Cause and Only God Knows Why They asked Rock to take out I'm going platinum on Devil Without A Cause's chorus but he refused The conflict slowed down production however the album was completed on schedule with Rock mostly playing all the instruments himself

''Devil Without a Cause'' (1997–2002)

In 1997, Kid Rock added drummer/vocalist Stefanie Eulinberg to his band, joining Kenny Olson, Jason Krause, Jimmie Bones, Uncle Kracker, Misty Love, Shirley Hayden and Joe C.. On August 18, 1998, Atlantic released ''Devil Without a Cause'' behind the single "Welcome 2 The Party." Kid Rock went on the Vans Warped Tour to support the album, performing one of his first New York City shows at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side during the CMJ convention. "Devil Without Cause Im Goin Platinum" Sales of "Welcome 2 The Party" and ''Devil'' were slow, though the 1998 Warped Tour in Northampton, Massachusetts stimulated regional interest in Massachusetts and New England. This led to substantial airplay in the summer and fall of 1998 on rock staples in Massachusetts WZLX and WAAF for the single "I Am The Bullgod." In December 1998, while dj'ing at a club he met and became friends with MTV host Carson Daly. He performed on ''MTV Fashionably Loud'' in Miami, then on MTV's ''Wanna B A VJ'' doing "My Name Is Rock" and was the DJ for ''TRL'' on the Spring Break Special as well as a judge on ''Say What Karaoke''. This raised his profile so by April 1999 ''Devil Without a Cause'' had achieved a gold disc. In May 1999 the single "Bawitdaba" off the album was released to radio outlets, and by June, ''Devil'' had gone platinum. Kid Rock went on his first major tour, Limptropolis, with Limp Bizkit and Staind. By the time he made his career defining performance at Woodstock 1999 on July 24, 1999, he was double platinum. The following single "Cowboy" was an even bigger hit. It was a mix of southern rock, country and rap that made the Top 40. Rock's next single, the rock ballad "Only God Knows Why", was the biggest hit off the album charting at No 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. By the time the final single "Wasting Time" was released the album had sold 7 million albums, ''Devil Without A Cause'' was certified 11 times platinum by the RIAA on April 17, 2003.

Rock was nominated as Best New Artist at the 2000 Grammy Awards, but lost to Christina Aguilera. He was nominated for "Bawitdaba" for Best Hard Rock Performance, but lost to Metallica's "Whiskey in the Jar."

After reacquiring the rights to his early material in 2000, Rock released ''The History of Rock'', a collection of remixed and re-recorded songs from The Polyfuze Method and Early Mornin Stoned Pimp. "American Bad Ass", one of two new tracks, was released as a single. It sampled the Metallica track "Sad But True".

On May 27 Kid Rock appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' performing "American Bad Ass" and an acoustic version of "Only God Knows Why" that featured Phish's Trey Anastasio. Kid Rock joined Phish later in the year in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a set of cover songs.

A 2000 tour in which David Allan Coe performed as an opening act for Kid Rock was the subject of criticism from journalist Neil Strauss, who alleged that Coe's songs were racist.

From June 30 to August 22, 2000, Kid Rock joined the Summer Sanitarium Tour with Metallica, Korn, Powerman 5000, and System of a Down. Kid Rock filled in for James Hetfield of Metallica, singing vocals on the songs "Enter Sandman", "Sad But True", and "Nothing Else Matters" and the turntables for "Fuel", for three shows after Hetfield injured his spine riding a jet ski on Lake Lanier the day before the July 7 Atlanta concert.

On November 16, 2000 Joseph "Joe C" Calleja died in his sleep from Coeliac disease in Taylor, MI. The disease stunted his growth and forced him to take 60 pills a day. Joe C's final song was "Cool Daddy Cool" for the ''Osmosis Jones'' soundtrack. The band made a cameo in the movie as the band playing in the club scene. Kid Rock was referred to as Kidney Rock to go along with the cartoon aspect of being a cell in the body of Frank played by Bill Murray.

In early 2001, Rock inducted Aerosmith into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Sweet Emotion" at the induction ceremony. The same year, Rock landed his first acting role in the David Spade white trash comedy ''Joe Dirt''. His character was Robbie a redneck bully to Joe Dirt who was chasing after Joe's unaware love interest Brandy.

"American Bad Ass" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2001s Grammy Awards. Losing out to Rage Against The Machine's "Guerilla Radio". The ''History of Rock'' would go on to be certified double platinum.

In November, Kid Rock released ''Cocky'', which was marketed as the official follow up to ''Devil Without a Cause''. With the era of rap metal on the decline, Kid Rock included several southern rock and country ballads on the album. The first single, "Forever", featured his standard brash rap-rock sound, but lacked the selling power of "Devil Without A Cause". The songs "Lonely Road of Faith"and "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me" were released as singles, but were not successful, and the album struggled to reach platinum a year later. Rock had problems with the release of "Picture", a country-influenced duet with Sheryl Crow: his label felt it was wrong for his image, and was not keen to spend more money promoting a flagging album; then, when they agreed to release it, Sheryl Crow's label initially refused to give permission. Rock, meanwhile, made a radio version with Allison Moorer, which was gaining airplay. When "Picture" was released it introduced Kid Rock to a wider audience, and was ultimately the most successful single on the album. The song would chart at No 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No 17 on Country radio. The song remains his most successful pop song in the U.S. to date.

On December 14, 2001, CMT aired an episode of ''Crossroads'' featuring Rock with Hank Williams, Jr. The episode drew 2.1 million viewers, a record on CMT. He would perform for troops in January 2002 on an MTV USO Special at Germany's Ramstein Air Base along with Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez.

At the end of 2002, Uncle Kracker left the band to pursue a solo career, and Detroit underground rapper Paradime replaced him. Kid Rock made his second movie, ''Biker Boyz'', with Laurence Fishburne.

''Kid Rock'' to ''Rock n Roll Jesus'' (2003–2009)

In 2003, Kid Rock returned with an eponymous album, almost stripping away the accustomed rap metal sound he had created, opting for southern rock and several country ballads in the wake of "Picture"'s success. The album's lead single was a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love". A media blitz accompanied the single capped off by the VH-1 special called ''A Kid Rock Christmas'', which aired on December 14, 2003. He would release "Cold and Empty", "Jackson, Mississippi" and "I Am" I Am (Kid Rock song) to minor success on radio. The David Allan Coe-penned "Single Father", became his second charting country song, although like the other singles it was minor hit at #50. Kid Rock would be his lowest selling mainstream studio album of his career with 1.4 million copies sold.

Kid Rock was involved in the halftime show controversy at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Texas on February 1, 2004. He was criticized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for desecrating the American flag, by wearing one slit in the middle as a poncho.

The following month, Kid inducted Bob Seger into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In September 2005, Kid Rock filled in for Johnny Van Zant, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the band's hit "Sweet Home Alabama" at the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert.

He performed the theme song for Spike TV's ''Striperella'', which featured Pamela Anderson in 2003, the song was entitled "Erotica".

On February 28, 2006, Kid Rock released his first live album, ''Live Trucker'', comprising songs from his homestead performances in Clarkston (on September 1, 2000, and August 26 through August 28, 2004), and Detroit's Cobo Hall (March 26, 2004). The album contained the last two performances of Joe C. on "Devil Without a Cause" and "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp," as well as Kid dueting with country star Sheryl Crow on "Picture."

He brought Bob Seger back from semi-retirement during his pre-Super Bowl concerts on February 2 and 3, 2006 in Detroit. The two performed a version of Seger's "Rock 'n' Roll Never Forgets" on both nights. Kid Rock would appear on Bob Seger's album, ''Face the Promise'', on a Vince Gill cover of "Real Mean Bottle," a tribute to country legend Merle Haggard. He would make a cameo in the movie ''Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector'' and was in an episode of ''CSI: New York'' in 2006.

He inducted Lynyrd Skynyrd into the 2006 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Sweet Home Alabama" with them.

''Rock n Roll Jesus'' was released on October 9, 2007, becoming Kid Rock's first album to go number 1, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. He made the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine for the second time, and appeared for the first time on ''Larry King Live'' to discuss the new album.

The album's first two singles were successful on rock radio in "So Hott" and "Amen". The album's third single "All Summer Long", became a global hit. It utilized a mash up of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London". "All Summer Long" would chart at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Rock n Roll Jesus" returned to the Top 10 for 17 straight weeks. Both "Roll On" and the title track were released as follow-up singles. The album's final single was "Blue Jeans and a Rosary" which was a minor country hit at No. 50.

In 2008, Kid Rock recorded "Warrior" for a National Guard advertising campaign. Kid Rock performed on VH1 ''Storytellers'' on November 27, 2008, giving an insight to how he wrote some of his hit songs. On April 5, 2009 he performed a 5-song medley at WrestleMania XXV.

He was nominated for best rock album and best male pop/rock performance for "All Summer Long" at the 2009 Grammys. He lost to Coldplay's ''Viva La Vida'' for best Rock Album and John Mayer's "Say" for Best Male Pop/Rock Performance. He achieved his first country award winning for Best Wide Open Country Video for "All Summer Long" at the 2009 CMT Awards.

On May 22 Kid Rock's June 8, 2008 concert at Germany's Rock AM Festival was aired on every MTV affiliate around the world on their debut show "World Stage".

At the 2008 Download Festival Kid Rock was meant to appear between Seether and Disturbed on the Main Stage but pulled out at the last minute. It was first announced that this was due to illness. Rock later claimed he left the festival grounds after becoming dissatisfied with the amenities. But, the following year, Download's booker theorized that it had been due to a broken heart.

On July 3, 2009 "Rock N Roll Jesus" was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.

Kid Rock held the largest headline concert of his career the weekend of July 17 and 18, 2009, at Comerica Park in Detroit. 80,000 people attended the two shows.

''Born Free'' (2009–present)

In April 2010 Kid Rock started the Born Free era off with a spring cruise dubbed "The Chillin The Most Cruise". Then he followed that up by hosting the CMT Awards in June and performed "Cowboy".

Kid Rock released ''Born Free'' on November 16, 2010 and it debuted at No 5 selling 189,000 copies in its first week. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and featured David Hildago and Matt Sweeney on guitar as well as Chad Smith on drums and Benmont Tench on keys and piano. The album became his first album without a parental advisory sticker on it. The album's lead single was the patriotic "Born Free."It peaked at No 14 on the mainstream rock charts, it also charted on the country and hot ac chart. It was the theme song to the 2010 MLB playoffs on TBS as well as WWE's Tribute To The Troops Special. The album reached gold status on December 15, 2010. The follow up single was the southern working man's anthem "God Bless Saturday", which peaked at no 37 on the mainstream rock tracks. It is the secondary theme song for College Gameday on ESPN. The third single was "Collide", Sheryl Crow rejoined him along with Bob Seger (on piano). They then went on a joint tour together the song peaked at No 26 on the hot ac chart and no 51 on the country chart. The next single "Purple Sky" a cover of Jason Boland would fail to chart. In November 2011, Kid Rock released "Care" a protest song about current politics in D.C. There were multiple versions released for the single. The album version feat. Martina McBride and T.I., the international single feat. Mary J Blidge. The last version which was released when Martina McBride's label wouldn't let her in on the music video, and the video was shot with the Pistol Annie's Angeleena Pressley. It's currently no 28 on the hot ac chart and no 58 on the country chart. An ep was released in the Detroit area along with the album called the Racing Father Time EP feat. It included remixes of Slow My Roll and Lonely Road Of Faith along with "The Midwest Fall" and "Forty". Born Free went platinum in July 2011.

On January 15, 2011 Kid Rock celebrated his 40th birthday with a performance at Ford Field in Detroit. The marathon concert featured Uncle Kracker, Peter Wolfe, Rev Run, Sheryl Crow, Cindy Crawford, Jimmie Johnson and Anita Baker. In December he went a 12 city club tour and donated proceeds to various charties in each city.

Kid Rock is currently writing songs for his successor to ''Born Free''. "We've already started writing for the next record and talking about the feel and where we want to go with it," Rock told Billboard.com during a press conference Thursday announcing an Aug. 12 stadium show in his home town of Detroit. "I think 'Born Free' was kind of a transitional record with [producer] Rick Rubin and going into the rootsy, American blues/rock 'n' roll vibe. I'd kind of like to go back to something like maybe a 'Cocky' feel -- that record, but knowing more now and trying to put those elements together." Rock's other future plan includes coming to terms with video footage he has accumulated over the years and possibly making some commercially available in the near future. "It's something I struggle with," he acknowledged. "I've probably shot six DVDs, professionally, had them edited and everything. But it's like anything; if you go see a sporting event or whatever, it's always better live. It's just tough to capture it on tape." Rock promised that "there will be something... I think for Christmas" and possibly from his recent show at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which he called "one of my best performances to date." He added that he may also consider releasing live footage via his web site.

In 2010 he filmed the Born Free video for his song at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

On December 7, 2011, Kid Rock joined Metallica on-stage at The Fillmore San Francisco during the ''30 Years of Metallica'' celebration (Day 2) to perform Seger's Turn the Page.

Musical style and influences

Kid Rock's musical style ranges from Midwest hip hop and heavy metal to country rock and rap rock. His influences include Warren Zevon, Jim Croce, Johnny Cash, David Allan Coe, Bob Seger, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Whodini, Too Short, Eric B. & Rakim, Esham and Lynyrd Skynyrd .

Twisted Brown Trucker

Twisted Brown Trucker is Kid Rock's band, formed in 1994 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The original lineup included Kenny Olson on lead guitar, Uncle Kracker on turntables, Andy Gould and George Metropolous on guitar, Paul Anthony on bass and Bob Ebeling on drums. The band's first involvement was on the 1994 demo of "Dark & Gray" on his Bootleg Series Tapes, they would make three more appearances on the tapes in Watch Me Come, Only a Dog and Box #10. Trucker became both Rock's studio and live band in 1997.

Chris Peters was the studio guitarist for The Polyfuze Method and Fire It Up. Matt O'Brien (Bass) and Kenny Tudrick (Guitar, Drums) were studio musicians for Devil Without a Cause.

Kenny Olson went on to form numerous bands for more creative outlets. A Pack of Wolves, The Flask, Five Star Carni, The Motorfly's, and most recent (2010) 7 Day Binge. He has also made appearances on many other recordings such as the song "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" which can be found on the Les Paul & Friends CD as well as a version of "Little Wing" with Chaka Khan on "The Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix" among numerous others.

Tudrick is with the band Detroit Cobras, who he was with before touring on Kid Rock's 'Live' Trucker tour.

Percussionist Larry Frantangelo won a Detroit Music Award in 2009 for Outstanding Urban/Funk Musician.

;Current members

Jimmie "Bones" Trombley – keyboards, piano, organ, harmonica, backing vocals (1996–present)

Marlon Young – lead & rhythm guitar (1996–1997, 2007–present)

Jason Krause – rhythm & lead guitar (1997–present)

Stefanie Eulinberg – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1998–present)

Paradime – turntables, programming, keyboards (2002–present)

Aaron Julison – bass guitar, backing vocals (2003–present)

Shannon Curfman – backing vocal & guitar (2010–present)

''with:''

Larry Frantangelo – percussion (2007–present)

David McMurray – saxophone (2007–present)

Jessica Wagner;– backing vocals (2007–present)

Tyra Juliette -backing vocals (2007–present)

;Former members

Barbara Payton- backing vocals (2007–2009, on and off)

Stacy Michelle- backing vocals (2007–2009)

Kenny Olson – lead guitar (1994–2005)

Uncle Kracker – turntables (1994–2002)

Joe C – backing vocals (1994–2000)

Andy Gould – rhythm guitar (1994–1995)

George Metropolous – rhythm guitar (1994–1995)

Paul Anthony – bass (1994–1995)

Bob Ebeling – drums (1994–1995)

Bill Keros – drums (1995)

Eric Hogemeyer – drums (1995)

Jeff Hall – rhythm guitar (1995–1996)

Chris Zuccaro – drums (1995–1998)

Ray Echlin – bass (1996)

Lonnie Motley – bass (1996–1998)

Chris Lebroux – bongos (1997)

Thornetta Davis – backing vocals (1997–1998)

Mike Bradford – bass (1998–2001)

Misty Love – backing vocals (1998–2001)

Shirley Hayden – backing vocals (1998–2001)

Bobby East – bass (2001–2003)

Smith Curry – dobro (2004–2005)

Karen Newman – backing vocals (2004–2005)

Lauren Creamer – backing vocals (2004–2005)

Kenny Tudrick – lead guitar (2005–2006)

Personal life

Marriage to Pamela Anderson

In 2001 Kid Rock began dating actress Pamela Anderson, after the two met at a VH1 tribute to Aretha Franklin. By April 2002, he and Anderson were engaged, but the engagement was later called off. They later got married in a surprise wedding in July 2006 after it was reported Anderson was pregnant. They divorced five months later because Rock wanted to live in Detroit and Anderson wanted to stay in Los Angeles. It has been suggested that his no-show at the Download Festival 2008 was due to a broken heart.

Kid Rock has stated in numerous interviews that he is a lover of hunting and fishing. He has hunted with his good friend Hank Williams Jr. several times. When Rock and Pamela Anderson divorced, it was rumored that Rock's hunting passion was the cause of the relationship's end, Anderson being a keen animal rights activist.

Rock later claimed, however, that the divorce was due to Anderson openly criticizing his mother and sister in front of his son from a previous relationship, Robert Jr., which Rock took offense to. Rock has actively raised Robert Jr., born in 1993, as a single father since birth, and continues to live with him in Michigan. On July 6, 2011, Kid Rock appeared on CNN's ''Piers Morgan Tonight'' show where he said he has no regrets about anything he has done in the past. He declined to say whether his marriage to Pamela Anderson had taught him any lessons.

Legal troubles

Kid Rock has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement:

In March 1991 and September 1997, Kid Rock was arrested in Michigan for alcohol related incidents.

In February 2005, he was arrested on assault charges for punching DJ Jay Campos in 'Christies Cabaret' strip club. Rock pleaded no contest and was sued for $575,000 by Campos.

Kid Rock was cited for assault on Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on September 9, 2007 at MTV's Video Music Awards, and pled guilty.

In October 2007, Kid Rock was involved in a brawl at a Waffle House in Atlanta and charged with simple battery. He pleaded nolo contendere ("no contest") to one count, was fined $1,000, required to perform 80 hours of community service and complete a 6-hour course on anger management.

Sex tape

Kid Rock and Scott Stapp, singer of the band Creed, appear in a sex tape from 1999 in which the two have sex with four groupies in a mobile home. California pornography company Red Light District planned to release the tape in 2006, but both Rock and Stapp filed with the California courts to sue Red Light District and stop the tape's distribution.

Activism

Kid Rock has been involved with many charitable organizations but his main support has gone to Operation Homefront. Kid Rock has frequently partnered with Jim Beam to make large donations to the organization. He is close friends with Tony Stewart as he helps with charity events, and Kid Rock narrated ''Tony Stewart: Smoke'', a documentary of Stewart's 2002 championship season. Kid Rock has performed for American service men and women in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Kosovo, and has performed for U.S. servicemembers in Great Britain at R.A.F. bases such as RAF Lakenheath.

Discography

1990: ''Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast''

1993: ''The Polyfuze Method''

1996: ''Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp''

1998: ''Devil Without a Cause''

2000: ''The History of Rock''

2001: ''Cocky''

2003: ''Kid Rock''

2006: ''Live Trucker''

2007: ''Rock n Roll Jesus''

2010: ''Born Free''

Tours

1989: Straight From the Underground Tour (opened for Ice Cube, Too $hort, D Nice and Yo-Yo)

1998: Lollapalooza Tour

1998: Vans Warped Tour

1998–99: White Thrash on Dope Tour (with Monster Magnet and Hed PE)

1999: Destroy Your Liver Tour

1999: Limptropolis Tour (with Limp Bizkit and Staind)

1999: European Tour (with Blink-182)

1999: Between the Legs Tour (with Powerman 5000, Professional Murder Music)

1999-00: Millennium Tour (with Metallica, Sevendust and Creed)

2000: Summer Sanitarium Tour (with Metallica, Korn, System of a Down, Powerman 5000)

2000: The History of Rock Tour (with Dope)

2001: The American Bad Ass Tour (with Buckcherry, Fuel and David Allan Coe)

2002: The Cocky Tour (with Lit, Tenacious D and Saliva)

2002: Girls of Summer Tour (opening for Aerosmith with Run-D.M.C.)

2004: Rock n Roll Pain Train Tour (with Puddle of Mudd, Gov't Mule, Jerry Cantrell)

2005: Lazy Muthafuga Tour (only 6 concert dates)

2006: 'Live' Trucker Tour (with Ty Stone, Peter Frampton (opened in Auburn Hills, Michigan) and Whitestarr)

2007–2008: Rock n Roll Revival Tour (with Reverend Run, Dicky Betts, Duane Betts, Peter Wolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd, in a revue style)

2008: Rock n Roll Revival Tour: European Tour

2008: Rock n Rebels Tour (with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Backdoor Slam)

2008: European Tour (with Finger Eleven)

2008: All Summer Long Tour (4 nights at Pine Knob with Uncle Kracker & Rev Run)

2009: Rock n Rebels Tour II (with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights, Black Stone Cherry, Alice in Chains, Cypress Hill, Robert Randolph and the Family Band)

2010: The Circle Tour (opening for Bon Jovi)

2011: Ford field, Detroit Michigan 40th Birthday Bash-January

2011: Born Free Tour (with Sheryl Crow)

2011: (Fall) Care - Club Tour for charity

Filmography

''The Howard Stern Show'' (8 episodes, 1999–2008)

''Saturday Night Live'' (Musical Guest, 2000)

''The Simpsons'' (1 episode, 2000)

''WWF Raw is War'' (Musical Guest, 2000)

''Joe Dirt'' (2001)

''Osmosis Jones'' (Voice, 2001)

''Kid Rock: Lonely Road of Faith'' (2001)

''King of the Hill'' (2002)

''Punk'd'' (1 episode, 2003)

''Biker Boyz'' (2003)

''Stripperella'' (You Only Lick Twice, 2003)

''CMT Outlaws'' (2003)

''South Park'' (2004)

''CSI: NY'' (1 episode, 2005)

''Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector'' (2005)

''Motorcycle Mania 3'' (2005)

''Coors Light Mountain Jam'' (2005)

''Stacked'' (1 episode, 2002)

''The 2006 Billboard Music Awards'' (2006)

''VH1 Storytellers'' (2008)

''WrestleMania XXV'' (Musical Guest, 2009)

''2010 Spike Guy Choice Awards'' (Presenter, 2009)

''Top Gear (U.S. TV series)'' (1 episode, 2010)

''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' (1 episode, 2011)

''Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'' (1 episode, 2011)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

*2000 Best New Artist (Nominated)

*2000 Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bawitdaba" (Nominated)

*2001 Best Hard Rock Performance for "American Bad Ass" (Nominated)

*2009 Best Rock Album for ''Rock n Roll Jesus'' (Nominated)

*2009 Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "All Summer Long" (Nominated)

Academy of Country Music

*2003, Vocal Event of the Year: "Picture" (Nominated)

American Music Awards

*2008, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist (Nominated)

*2003, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist: (Winner)'''

*2003, Favorite Pop/Rock Album: ''Cocky'' (Nominated)

*2001, Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist: (Winner)'''

*2000, Favorite Alternative Artist: (Nominated)

*2000, Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist: (Nominated)

Billboard Music Awards

*1999 Best New Artist (Winner)

*1999 Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bawitdaba" (Winner)

*1999 Best New Hard Rock Artist (Winner)

MTV Video Music Awards

*2001, Best Male Video: "Cowboy" (Nominated)

*2001, Best Rock Video: "Cowboy" (Nominated)

*2000, Best Male Video: "Bawitdaba" (Nominated)

*2000, Best New Artist: "Bawitdaba" (Nominated)

Teen Choice Awards

*2003, Choice Love Song: "Picture" (Nominated)

*2003 Choice Hookup Song: "Picture" (Nominated)

Detroit Music Awards

*1999

**Outstanding National Album for ''Devil Without a Cause'' (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "I Am the Bullgod" (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "Bawitdaba" (Nominee)

**Outstanding National Hip Hop Writer/Producer (Winner)

*2000

**Outstanding National Album for ''History of Rock'' (Nominee)

**Outstanding National Single for "American Bad Ass" (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "Cowboy" (Nominee)

**Outstanding National Duet for "Higher" with Robert Bradley (Winner)

**Outstanding National Spokesperson (Winner)

*2001

**Outstanding National Album for ''Cocky'' (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Forever" (Nominated)

*2003

**Outstanding National Single for "Picture" (Nominated)

*2004

**Outstanding National Album for Kid Rock (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Cold and Empty" (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Jackson, Mississippi" (Nominated)

*2006

**Outstanding National Album for ''Live Trucker'' (Nominated)

*2008

**Outstanding National Album for ''Rock n Roll Jesus'' (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for "So Hott" (Nominated)

**Outstanding National Single for "Amen" (Nominated)

*2009

**Outstanding National Single for ''All Summer Long'' (Winner)

**Outstanding National Single for ''Roll On'' (Nominated)

MTV European Music Awards

*2008 Most Attictive Track for "All Summer Long" (Nominated)

BMI Songwriting Award

*2002 "Picture" (Winner)

CMT Music Awards

*2003 Choice Male Video for "Picture" (Nominated)

*2009 Video of The Year for "All Summer Long" (Nominated)

*2009 Wide Open Country Video of the Year for "All Summer Long" (Winner)

World Music Awards

*2008 Worlds Best Male Pop Artist (Winner)

*2008 Worlds Best Pop/Rock Artist (Winner)

People's Choice Awards

*2009 Best Rock Song for "All Summer Long" (Winner)

Kid's Choice Awards

*2009 Favorite Male Singer (Current Nominee)

Echo Award (Germany)

*2009 Hit Of The Year for "All Summer Long" (Winner)

Other ventures and honors

He has his own clothing line called Made in Detroit which he purchased from its creator, Detroit designer Robert Stanzler, in 2003. Stanzler, a longtime friend of Kid Rock, is mentioned by name in Rock's song "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp". Wayne State University named a scholarship after Kid Rock for musicians. Kid Rock is using his clothing line to fund it. He was Grand Marshal of the Krewe of Endymion Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans on February 21, 2009 and was accompanied by The Chee-Weez, a local area cover band.

He released his own beer called Bad Ass Beer on July 17, 2009 released over the entire midwestern part of the U.S.

Kid Rock is a steadfast loyal supporter of the United States military. He gave proceeds of a concert to the families affected by the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. He has quietly made numerous trips with the USO, and on his own, to play concerts for soldiers overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. He also made his album ''Born Free'' available to military members to download for free.

References

Sources

Christe, Ian (2003). ''Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal''. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-81127-8

External links

Kid Rock at Imeem.com

Kid Rock Interview on ''The Hour'' with George Stroumboulopoulos

UK Interview (11/8/2008)http://www.thrashhits.com/2008/08/kid-rock-%E2%80%9Ci-was-the-kid-with-the-vial-full-of-rocks%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D/

Category:1971 births Category:American rock singers Category:American male singers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Macomb County, Michigan Category:Rap rock musicians Category:Rappers from Detroit, Michigan Category:World Music Awards winners

bg:Кид Рок cs:Kid Rock da:Kid Rock de:Kid Rock es:Kid Rock fa:کید راک fr:Kid Rock it:Kid Rock lv:Kid Rock nl:Kid Rock ja:キッド・ロック no:Kid Rock pl:Kid Rock pt:Kid Rock ru:Кид Рок simple:Kid Rock sk:Kid Rock fi:Kid Rock sv:Kid Rock th:คิด ร็อก tr:Kid Rock

Coordinates	5°1′48″N118°20′24″N
Name	Ry Cooder
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Ryland Peter Cooder
Born	March 15, 1947Los Angeles, California, USA
Attended	Santa Monica High School
Instrument	Guitar, mandolin, vocals, array mbira
Genre	Americana, roots rock, folk, blues, Tex-Mex, country, gospel, world music
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, film scorer, record producer, instructor
Years active	1967–present
Label	Warner Bros. RecordsNonesuch/Elektra Records
Associated acts	Taj Mahal, Captain Beefheart, Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Nicky Hopkins, Gabby Pahinui, Buena Vista Social Club, Mavis Staples, Ali Farka Toure
Website	Ry Cooder }}

Ryland "Ry" Peter Cooder (born 15 March 1947) is an American guitarist, singer and composer.

He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in blues-rock, roots music from the United States, and, more recently, for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.

Cooder's solo work has been an eclectic mix, taking in dust bowl folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and much else. He has collaborated with many important musicians, including The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Earl Hines, Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, The Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Pops, Mavis Staples, Gabby Pahinui, Flaco Jiménez, Ibrahim Ferrer (Buena Vista Social Club), Freddy Fender and Ali Farka Touré. He formed the Little Village supergroup with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner.

Cooder was ranked 8th on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." A 2010 ranking by Gibson placed him at number 32.

Career

1960s

During the 1960s, Cooder briefly attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, after previously having worked with Taj Mahal and Ed Cassidy in the Rising Sons. He also played with Randy Newman at this time, including on ''12 Songs'' and possibly Newman's first album, ''Randy Newman''. Van Dyke Parks worked with Newman and then with Cooder during the 1960s. Parks arranged Cooder's "One Meatball" according to Parks' 1984 interview by Bob Claster.

Cooder was a guest session musician on various recording sessions with the Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969, and his contributions appear on the Stones' ''Let It Bleed'' (mandolin on "Love in Vain"), and ''Sticky Fingers'', on which he contributed the slide guitar on "Sister Morphine". During this period, Cooder joined with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and longtime Rolling Stones sideman Nicky Hopkins to record ''Jamming with Edward''. Cooder also played slide guitar for the 1970 movie ''Performance'', which contained Mick Jagger's first solo single, "Memo from Turner". The 1975 Rolling Stones compilation album ''Metamorphosis'' features an uncredited Cooder contribution on Bill Wyman's "Downtown Suzie", which is also the first Rolling Stones song played and recorded in the open G tuning.

Ry Cooder also collaborated extensively with long-time friend and like-minded individual, Lowell George of Little Feat. Cooder can be heard on the original version of Little Feat's "Willin'." He played slide guitar on that track after Lowell cut his finger whilst making model airplanes.

1970s

Throughout the 1970s, Cooder released a series of Warner Bros. Records albums that showcased his guitar work. Cooder, like a musicologist or treasure hunter, explored bygone musical genres and found great old-time recordings which he then, as a musician, personalized with sensitive, updated reworkings. Thus, on his breakthrough album, ''Into the Purple Valley'', he chose unusual instrumentations and performed his own arrangements of old Black blues and gospel songs, a Calypso, and white country music songs (giving a tempo change to the cowboy ballad, "Billy the Kid"). The album opened with a protest song, "How Can You Keep on Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" by Agnes "Sis" Cunningham about the Okies who were not welcomed with open arms when they migrated to escape the Dust Bowl in the 1930s — to which Cooder gave a rousing-yet-satirical march accompaniment. His later 1970s albums (with the exception of ''Jazz'') do not fall under a single genre description, but — to generalize broadly — it might be fair to call Cooder's self-titled first album blues; ''Into the Purple Valley'', ''Boomer's Story'', and ''Paradise and Lunch'', folk and blues; ''Chicken Skin Music'' and ''Showtime'', a unique melange of Tex-Mex and Hawaiian; ''Jazz'', 1920s jazz; ''Bop Till You Drop'', 1950s' R&B;; and ''Borderline'' and ''Get Rhythm'', eclectic rock-based excursions. Cooder's 1979 album ''Bop Till You Drop'' was the first popular music album to be recorded digitally. It yielded his biggest hit, an R&B; cover version of Elvis Presley's 1960s recording "Little Sister". Ry Cooder is credited on Van Morrison's 1979 album, ''Into the Music'', for slide guitar on the song "Full Force Gale". Cooder also played guitar on Judy Collins' 1970 concert tour, and is featured on ''Living'', the 1971 live album recorded during that tour.

1980s

Cooder has worked as a studio musician and has also scored many film soundtracks including Wim Wenders film ''Paris, Texas'' (1984). Cooder based this soundtrack and title song "Paris, Texas" on Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)", which he described as "The most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music." "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)" was also the basis for Cooder's song "Powis Square" for the movie ''Performance''. His other film work includes Walter Hill's ''The Long Riders'' (1980), ''Southern Comfort'' (1981), ''Brewster's Millions'' (1985), ''Last Man Standing'' (1996), Hill's ''Trespass'' (1992) and Mike Nichols' ''Primary Colors'' (1998). Cooder dubbed all slide guitar parts in the 1986 film ''Crossroads'', a take on blues legend Robert Johnson. In 1988, Cooder produced the album by his longtime backing vocalists Bobby King and Terry Evans on Rounder Records titled ''Live and Let Live''. He contributed his slide guitar work to every track. He also plays extensively on their 1990 self-produced Rounder release ''Rhythm, Blues, Soul & Grooves''.

1990s

In the early 1990s Cooder collaborated on two world music "crossover" albums, which blended the traditional American musical genres that Cooder has championed throughout his career with the contemporary improvised music of India and Africa. For ''A Meeting by the River'' (1993), which also featured his son Joachim on percussion, he teamed with Hindustani classical musician V.M. Bhatt, a virtuoso of the Mohan Veena, a modified 20-string archtop guitar of Bhatt's own invention. In 1995 he teamed with African multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Toure on the album ''Talking Timbuktu'', which he also produced; the album also featured longtime Cooder collaborator Jim Keltner on drums, veteran blues guitarist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, jazz bassist John Patitucci and African percussionists and musicians including Hamma Sankare and Oumar Toure. Both albums won the Grammy Award for 'Best World Music Album' in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Cooder also worked with Tuvan throat singers for the score to the 1993 film ''Geronimo: An American Legend''.

In 1995 he performed in ''The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True'', a musical performance of the popular story at the Lincoln Center in New York to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT), and was issued on CD and video in 1996.

In the late 1990s Cooder played a significant role in the increased appreciation of traditional Cuban music, due to his collaboration as producer of the ''Buena Vista Social Club'' (1997) recording, which became a worldwide hit and revived the careers of some of the greatest surviving exponents of 20th century Cuban music. Wim Wenders, who had previously directed 1984's ''Paris Texas'', directed a documentary film of the musicians involved, ''Buena Vista Social Club'' (1999), which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000.

2000s

Cooder's 2005 album ''Chávez Ravine'' was touted by his record label as being "a post-World War II-era American narrative of 'cool cats', radios, UFO sightings, J. Edgar Hoover, red scares, and baseball" — the record is a tribute to the long-gone Los Angeles Latino enclave known as Chávez Ravine. Using real and imagined historical characters, Cooder and friends created an album that recollects various aspects of the poor but vibrant hillside Chicano community which no longer exists. Cooder says, "Here is some music for a place you don’t know, up a road you don’t go. Chávez Ravine, where the sidewalk ends." Drawing from the various musical strains of Los Angeles, including conjunto, corrido, R&B;, Latin pop, and jazz, Cooder and friends conjure the ghosts of Chávez Ravine and Los Angeles at mid-century. On this fifteen-track album, sung in Spanish and English, Cooder is joined by East L.A. legends like Chicano music patriarch Lalo Guerrero, Pachuco boogie king Don Tosti, Thee Midniters front man Little Willie G, and Ersi Arvizu, of The Sisters and El Chicano.

Cooder's next record was released in 2007. Entitled ''My Name Is Buddy'', it tells the story of Buddy Red Cat, who travels and sees the world in the company of his like-minded friends, Lefty Mouse and Rev. Tom Toad. The entire recording is a parable of the working class progressivism of the first half of the American twentieth century, and even has a song featuring executed unionist Joe Hill. ''My Name Is Buddy'' was accompanied by a booklet featuring a story and illustration (by Vincent Valdez) for each track, providing additional context to Buddy's adventures.

Cooder produced and performed on an album for Mavis Staples entitled ''We'll Never Turn Back'', which was released on April 24, 2007. The concept album focused on Gospel songs of the civil rights movement and also included two new original songs by Cooder.

Ry Cooder's album ''I, Flathead'' was released on June 24, 2008. It is the completion of his California trilogy. Based on the drag racing culture of the early 1960s, the album is set on the desert salt flats in southern California. The disc was also released as a deluxe edition with stories written by Cooder to accompany the music.

In late 2009, Cooder toured Japan, New Zealand and Australia with Nick Lowe, performing some of Lowe's songs and a selection of Cooder's own material, mainly from the 1970s. Joaquim Cooder (Ry's son) provided percussion, and Juliette Commagere and Alex Lilly contributed backing vocals.

The song "Diaraby", which Cooder recorded with Ali Farka Touré, is used as the theme to ''The World's'' Geoquiz. ''The World'' is a radio show distributed by Public Radio International.

In 2009, Cooder performed in ''The People Speak'', a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's ''A People's History of the United States''. Cooder performed with Bob Dylan and Van Dyke Parks on the documentary broadcast on December 13, 2009 on the ''History Channel''. They played "Do Re Mi" and reportedly a couple of other Guthrie songs that were excluded from the final edit. He also traveled with the band Los Tigres del Norte and recorded the 2010 album ''San Patricio'' with the Chieftains, Lila Downs, Liam Neeson, Linda Ronstadt, Van Dyke Parks, Los Cenzontles, and Los Tigres.

2010s

In June 2010, responding to the passage of Arizona SB 1070, he released the single "Quicksand", which tells the story of Mexicans attempting to emigrate to Arizona through the desert. Cooder's new album ''Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down'', released on 30 August 2011, contains politically charged songs such as "No Banker Left Behind" which was inspired by a Robert Scheer column.

Awards

1988 Grammy Award – ''Pecos Bill'' (Rabbit Ears Productions)

1993 Grammy Award – ''Meeting by the River''

1995 Grammy Award – ''Talking Timbuktu with Ali Farka Toure''

1998 Grammy Award – ''Buena Vista Social Club''

2000 – Ry Cooder received an honorary doctorate from Queen's University, Canada

2001 - Ry Cooder received an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of the Arts

2003 – ''Rolling Stone'' magazine named Ry Cooder the 8th Greatest Guitarist of All Time in their "100 Greatest Guitarists" list, p. 8

Discography

Singles

"Little Sister" (1979; Warner Records)

"Crazy 'Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know)" Recorded live, October 25, 1980 at Victoria Apollo, London / "If Walls Could Talk" Recorded live, February 26, 1981 at Old Waldorf, San Francisco, California / "The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)" Recorded live, February 26, 1981 at Old Waldorf, San Francisco, California/ "Look At Granny Run Run" Recorded live, February 26, 1981 at Old Waldorf, San Francisco, California (1981; Warner Records)

"Gypsy Woman"/ "Alimony" (1982; Nonesuch Records)

"Get Rhythm"/ "Get Your Lies Straight/ "Down In Hollywood" (1988)

"Come Down" / "Get Rhythm" / "Little Sister" (1994)

"Quicksand" (June 2010)

Solo albums

''Ry Cooder'' (December 1970)

''Into the Purple Valley'' (February 1972)

''Boomer's Story'' (November 1972)

''Paradise and Lunch'' (May 1974)

''Chicken Skin Music'' (October 1976)

''Showtime'' (August 1977)

''Jazz'' (June 1978)

''Bop Till You Drop'' (August 1979)

''Borderline'' (October 1980)

''The Slide Area'' (April 1982)

''Get Rhythm'' (November 1987)

''Chávez Ravine'' (May 2005)

''My Name Is Buddy'' (March 2007)

''I, Flathead'' (June 2008)

''Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down'' (August 2011)

Compilations

''Why Don't You Try Me Tonight'' (1986)

''River Rescue - The Very Best Of Ry Cooder'' (1994)

''Music by Ry Cooder'' (1995) (two-disc set of film music)

''The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed (October 2008)

Collaborations

''Tanyet'' (1967) (with The Ceyleib People)

''Rising Sons featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder'' (recorded 1965/66, released 1992)

''Little Village'' (1992)

''A Meeting by the River'' (1993) (with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt)

''Talking Timbuktu'' (1994) (with Ali Farka Touré)

''Buena Vista Social Club'' (September 1997)

''Hollow Bamboo'' with Jon Hassell and Ronu Majumdar (bansuri) (2000)

''Mambo Sinuendo'' (January 2003) (with Manuel Galbán)

''San Patricio'' (March 2010) (with The Chieftains)

Soundtracks

''Performance'' (1970)

''The Long Riders'' (June 1980)

''Southern Comfort'' (1981)

''The Border'' (1982)

''Paris, Texas'' (February 1985)

''Music from Alamo Bay'' (August 1985)

''Blue City'' (July 1986)

''Crossroads'' (July 1986)

''Cocktail (1988)

''Johnny Handsome'' (October 1989)

''Trespass'' (January 1993)

''Geronimo: An American Legend'' (1993)

''Last Man Standing'' (1996)

''The End of Violence'' (1997)

''Primary Colors'' (1998)

Performs on:

''Safe as Milk'' (1967) with Captain Beefheart

''Neil Young (album)'' (1968) with Neil Young

''The Candlestickmaker'' (1970) with Ron Elliott

''Washington County'' (1970) with Arlo Guthrie

''Living'' (1971) with Judy Collins

''Money and Cigarettes'' (February 1983) with Eric Clapton

''Midnight Mission'' (1984) Carla Olson & The Textones (featured on two songs)

''Bring the Family'' (1987) with John Hiatt

''Live and Let Live'' (1988) with Bobby King & Terry Evans

''King Cake Party'' (1994) with The Zydeco Party Band

Written works

''Los Angeles Stories'' (City Lights Publishers, 2011)

References

External links

Ry Cooder (Nonesuch Records)

Easy Guitar Chords Homepage

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/12/entertainment/la-et-people-speak12-2009dec12

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