Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Sheryl Crow
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Sheryl Suzanne Crow
Parents	Bernice and Wendell Crow
Born	February 11, 1962 Kennett, Missouri, United States
Children	Wyatt (adopted)
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, organ, accordion, harmonica, autoharp, hammond b3, wurlitzer, Moog bass, mandolin, mandola
Genre	Pop rock, alternative rock, roots rock, folk rock, country rock |
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actress, activist
Years active	1986–present
Label	A&M; Records
Education	University of Memphis
Associated acts	Stevie Nicks, Sarah McLachlan, Michael Jackson, Don Henley, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Dixie Chicks, Kevin Gilbert, Counting Crows, Bill Bottrell, Kid Rock, Sting, Liz Phair, Citizen Cope, Wolfgang Niedecken, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake
Website	Official Website }}

Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop. She has won nine Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

She has performed with The Rolling Stones and has sung duets with Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Luciano Pavarotti, John Mellencamp, Kid Rock, Michelle Branch, and Sting among others. She has performed backing vocals for Tina Turner, Don Henley and Belinda Carlisle, on her 1991 hit ''Little Black Book''. Crow has released seven studio albums, two compilations, and a live album, and has contributed to film soundtracks. She has sold 16 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide and her newest album, ''100 Miles from Memphis,'' was released on July 20, 2010. Recently she appeared on NBC's 30 Rock, ABC's Cougar Town, Disney Channel's ''Hannah Montana Forever'' and Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

Early life

Sheryl Suzanne Crow was born in Kennett, Missouri, on February 11, 1962. Her father Wendell Crow is a lawyer and trumpet player, and her mother Bernice, a piano teacher. She has older sisters Kathy and Karen, and a younger brother Steven.

While studying at Kennett High School, Crow was a majorette and an All-State track athlete, winning medals in the 75-meter low hurdles. She also joined the Pep Club, the National Honor Society, National FFA Organization and Paperdoll Queen. She then enrolled at the University of Missouri, in Columbia, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition, Performance, and Education. While in college, Crow sang in a local band, Cashmere. She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta social sorority, Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity for Women, and the Omicron Delta Kappa Society. Later, Crow was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Missouri and Southeast Missouri State University, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Crow has stated that her musical inspirations are not restricted to one genre, as she likes absolutely anything with a drum beat. In 2008, she told Ellen DeGeneres that "If it didn't have a drum beat, you can just forget about it!"

Early career

After graduating from college, Crow worked as a music teacher at the Kellison elementary school, in Fenton, Missouri. Teaching during the day allowed her the opportunity to sing in bands on weekends. Later, she was introduced to local musician and producer Jay Oliver. He had a thriving studio in the basement of his parents' home, in St. Louis, and helped her by using her in advertising jingles. Her first jingle was a back-to-school spot for the St. Louis department store Famous-Barr. McDonald's and Toyota commercial jingles soon followed. She was quoted in a ''60 Minutes'' segment as saying she made $40,000 on her McDonald's commercial alone.

Crow toured with Michael Jackson as a backup vocalist during his Bad World Tour from 1987–1989, and often performed with Jackson on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." She also recorded background vocals for performances from various established artists including Stevie Wonder, Belinda Carlisle and Don Henley.

Crow also sang in the short-lived Steven Bochco drama, ''Cop Rock'', in 1990. The same year, her song "Heal Somebody" appeared in the film ''Bright Angel''. The following year, she performed "Hundreds of Tears," which was included in the ''Point Break'' soundtrack, and sang a duet with Kenny Loggins on the track "I Would Do Anything", from his album ''Leap of Faith''.

1990s

Scrapped debut album (1992)

In 1992, Crow recorded her first attempt at her debut album with Phil Collins' producer Hugh Padgham. The self-titled debut album was due to be released on September 22, 1992, but was ultimately rejected by her label. However, a handful of cassette copies of the album were leaked along with press folders to be used for album publicity. This album has been widely dispersed via file sharing networks and fan trading. In the meantime, Crow's songs were recorded by major artists such as Celine Dion, Tina Turner and Wynonna Judd.

''International success'' (1993–1997)

She then began dating Kevin Gilbert and joined him in an ad hoc group of musicians known to everyone in the group as the "Tuesday Music Club." Group members, Gilbert, David Baerwald and David Ricketts (both formerly of David & David), Bill Bottrell, Brian MacLeod, and Dan Schwartz share songwriting credits with Crow on her debut album, ''Tuesday Night Music Club''.

The group existed as a casual songwriting collective prior to its association with Crow, but rapidly developed into a vehicle for her debut album after her arrival. Her relationship with Gilbert became acrimonious soon after the album was released, and disputes arose about songwriting credits.

Crow appeared in the "New Faces" section of ''Rolling Stone'' in 1993. ''Tuesday Night Music Club'' featured many of the songs written by Crow's friends, including the second single, "Leaving Las Vegas." The album was slow to garner attention, until "All I Wanna Do" became an unexpected smash hit in the spring of 1994. As she later stated in ''People'', she found an old poetry book in a used book store in the L.A. area and used a poem as lyrics in the song. The singles "Strong Enough" and "Can't Cry Anymore" were also released, with the first song ("Strong Enough") charting at #5 on Billboard and "Can't Cry Anymore" hitting the Top 40. ''Tuesday Night Music Club'' went on to sell more than 7 million copies in the US and UK during the 1990s. The album also won Crow three Grammy Awards, in 1995: Record of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Female Vocal Performance. She performed at the 1994 and 1999 Woodstock Festivals, as well as the Another Roadside Attraction in 1997.

Crow supplied background vocals to the song "The Garden of Allah" from Don Henley's 1995 album ''Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits''.

In 1996, Crow released her self titled second album. The album had songs about abortion, homelessness and nuclear war. The debut single, "If It Makes You Happy," became a radio success and netted her two Grammy awards for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Album. Other singles included "A Change Would Do You Good," "Home" and "Everyday Is A Winding Road." Crow produced the album herself. The album was banned from sale at Wal-Mart, as in the "Love Is A Good Thing" lyric Wal-Mart is implicated (by name) of supplying guns to which children later gain access. In 1997, Crow contributed the theme song to the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Dies''. Her song "Tomorrow Never Dies" was nominated for a Grammy Award and Best Original Song Golden Globe. Crow collaborated on Scott Weiland's 1998 album, ''12 Bar Blues''.

''The Globe Sessions'' and ''Live'' (1998–1999)

In 1998 Crow released ''The Globe Sessions''. During this period, she discussed in interviews having gone through a deep depression, and there was speculation about a brief affair with Eric Clapton. The debut single from this album, "My Favorite Mistake," was rumored to be about him, although Crow claims otherwise about a philandering ex-boyfriend. Crow has refused to say who the song was about telling Billboard Magazine on the release of her album. "Oh, there will be just so much speculation, and because of that there's great safety and protection in the fact that people will be guessing so many different people and I'm the only person who will ever really know. I'm really private about who I've had relationships with, and I don't talk about them in the press. I don't even really talk about them with the people around me." Despite the difficulties in recording the album, Crow told the BBC in 2005 that: "My favorite single is 'My Favorite Mistake,' it was a lot of fun to record and it's still a lot of fun to play." The album won Best Rock Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards. It was re-released in 1999, with a bonus track, Crow's cover of the Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child o' Mine," which was included on the soundtrack of the film ''Big Daddy''. The song won the 1999 Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Other singles included "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Anything But Down," and "The Difficult Kind." Crow won Grammy best female rock vocal performance for "There Goes the Neighborhood" in 2001. ''The Globe Sessions'' peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 chart, achieving US sales of 2 million as of January 2008.

Later in 1998, Crow took part in a live concert in tribute to Burt Bacharach, in which she contributed vocals on One Less Bell to Answer.

In 1999, Crow also made her acting debut as an ill-fated drifter in the suspense/drama ''The Minus Man'', which starred her then-boyfriend Owen Wilson as a serial killer.

She also released a live album called ''Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live From Central Park''. The record featured Crow singing many of her hit singles with new musical spins and guest appearances by many other musicians including Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, the Dixie Chicks, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton. "There Goes the Neighborhood" was included in the album, eventually winning the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

2000s

''C'mon, C'mon'' and ''The Very Best of'' (2002–2004)

Crow had been involved with the Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF) since the late 1990s, performing at fund-raisers and befriending Sharon Monsky. In 2002, as a result of her friend Kent Sexton dying from scleroderma, she interrupted work on her new album ''C'mon C'mon'' to record the traditional hymn "Be Still, My Soul," to be played at his funeral. In November of that year it was released as a single, with the proceeds going to SRF.

Crow's fourth studio album, C'mon, C'mon was released in 2002, spawning the hit single "Soak Up the Sun." Second single "Steve McQueen" won the Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy.

Crow opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, wearing a shirt that read "I don't believe in your war, Mr. Bush!" during a performance on ''Good Morning America'' and posting an open letter explaining her opposition on her website. Crow, performing with Kid Rock at the 45th annual Grammy Awards, wore a large peace sign and a guitar strap with the words "No War."

Crow recorded the song "Kiss That Girl" for the film ''Bridget Jones's Diary''. She also recorded a cover version of the Beatles' song "Mother Nature's Son" for the film ''I Am Sam''. Crow duetted with rapper Kid Rock on the crossover hit single "Picture." She also assisted Rock on the track "Run Off to L.A."

Crow collaborated with Michelle Branch on the song "Love Me Like That" for Branch's second album, ''Hotel Paper'', released in 2003. Crow was featured on the Johnny Cash album ''American III: Solitary Man'' in the song "Field of Diamonds" as a background vocalist, and also played the accordion for the songs "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Mary of the Wild Moor."

In 2003, Crow released a greatest hits compilation called ''The Very Best of Sheryl Crow''. It featured many of her hit singles, as well as some new tracks. Among them was the ballad "The First Cut is the Deepest" (originally a Cat Stevens song), which became her biggest radio hit since "All I Wanna Do." She also released the single "Light In Your Eyes," which received limited airplay. "The First Cut is the Deepest" earned her two American Music Awards for Best Pop/Rock Artist and Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year, respectively.

In 2004, Crow appeared as a musical theater performer in the Cole Porter biopic ''De-Lovely''.

''Wildflower'' (2005–2007)

Her fifth studio album ''Wildflower'' was released in September 2005. Although the album debuted at #2 on the ''Billboard'' charts, it received mixed reviews and was not as commercially successful as her previous albums. In December 2005, the album was nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy, while Crow was nominated for a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy for the first single "Good Is Good." However, she ultimately lost in both categories to Kelly Clarkson. The album got a new boost in 2006 when the second single was announced as "Always on Your Side," re-recorded with British musician Sting and sent off to radio, where it was quickly embraced at Adult Top 40. The collaboration with Sting resulted in a Grammy-nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. As of January 2008, ''Wildflower'' has sold 949,000 units in the U.S.

In 2006, Crow contributed the opening track, "Real Gone," to the soundtrack for Disney/Pixar's animated film ''Cars''. Crow was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in mid-February 2006, her doctors stating that "prognosis for a full recovery is excellent."

Crow's first concert after her cancer diagnosis was on May 18 in Orlando, Florida where she played to over 10,000 information technology professionals at the SAP Sapphire Convention. Her first public appearance was on June 12, when she performed at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The singer also appeared on ''Larry King Live'' on CNN on August 23, 2006. In this show she talked about her comeback, her breakup with Lance Armstrong, her past job as Michael Jackson's backup singer, and her experience as a breast cancer survivor.

In late 2006, Crow was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the song "Try Not To Remember" (Best Original Song category) from the film ''Home of the Brave''.

Crow wrote a foreword for the book ''Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips'', author Kris Carr's book that was based on her 2007 documentary film ''Crazy Sexy Cancer''. Crow contributed her cover of the Beatles's "Here Comes the Sun" on the ''Bee Movie'' soundtrack in November 2007. She contributed background vocals to the Ryan Adams song "Two" from the album ''Easy Tiger''.

''Detours'' (2008–2009)

Crow returned with her sixth studio album ''Detours'', which was released on February 5, 2008. ''Detours'' debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 92,000 copies in its first week and an additional 52,000 copies in its second week.

''Detours'' was recorded at Crow's Nashville farm. Her son, Wyatt, makes an appearance on the song "Lullaby for Wyatt," which is featured in the movie ''Grace Is Gone''. "The songs are very inspired by the last three years of events in my life," Crow said of a time that found her battling breast cancer and splitting with partner Lance Armstrong.

"Shine Over Babylon" was the first promotional single from the album (download only). The first 'official' single to be released from the album was "Love Is Free," followed by "Out of Our Heads."

A liberal political activist, she endorsed Barack Obama for the United States Presidential Election and later performed on the 4th and last day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Crow has also recorded a studio version of "So Glad We Made It" for the "Team USA Olympic Soundtrack" in conjunction with the 2008 U.S. Olympic team sponsors AT&T.; Crow also stated that $1 of each ticket purchased for her 2008 tour would be donated to the United Nations World Food Programme.

A&M; Records re-released Sheryl's debut album, "Tuesday Night Music Club" as a deluxe version 2CD/DVD set on November 17, 2009. The bonus CD contains unreleased songs and B-sides, and a new mix of "I Shall Believe." The DVD features music videos for each of the album's singles.

2010s

''100 Miles from Memphis'' (2010–present)

In 2010, Crow contributed the original spoken-word track "My Name is Mwamaroyi" to the Enough Project and Downtown Records' Raise Hope for Congo compilation. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo.

A&M; Records released Crow's seventh studio album, ''100 Miles from Memphis'', on July 20, 2010. The album has a classic soul vibe and features lead single "Summer Day." ''100 Miles from Memphis'' (released July 20 on A&M; Records), the distance from her hometown to the music mecca, is an ode to her formative memories of music - and one that the label hopes can inspire young music fans to investigate the landscape beyond processed pop and Auto-Tune.

Later that year, she joined Loretta Lynn and country singer Miranda Lambert on an update of Lynn's song "Coal Miner's Daughter" for the 2010 album Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn. The song was later performed on the 44th Annual Country Music Awards in November.

Sheryl's eighth studio album is in the works and is said to have more country flavor. Sheryl explained the album will be out early 2012.

Personal life

The 2002 release of the album C'mon C'mon by Sheryl Crow features the song Safe and Sound which is dedicated to Owen Wilson (boyfriend at that time) in the liner notes and said to be an autobiographical account of their relationship.

Crow began dating cyclist Lance Armstrong in 2003. The couple announced their engagement in September 2005 and their split in February 2006. Immediately following her split from Lance Armstrong, Crow was treated for breast cancer at a Los Angeles-based facility by breast cancer surgeon Dr. Kristi Funk. Crow had "minimally invasive" surgery in late February 2006, followed by radiation therapy.

On May 11, 2007, Crow announced on her official website that she had adopted a two-week-old boy named Wyatt Steven Crow. The child was born on April 29, 2007. She and Wyatt live on a farm outside Nashville, Tennessee.

On June 4, 2010, Crow announced that she adopted another boy named Levi James Crow, born on April 30, 2010.

In May 2011, it was reported that Sheryl and longtime acquaintance Doyle Bramhall II (musician, Sheryl Crow touring band member, and "100 Miles From Memphis" producer) began dating

Despite claiming to be an animal lover, Sheryl Crow performed at the opening night of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, after animal welfare experts urged her not to on account of the well documented animal cruelty at the event. Almost 13,000 people signed a petition calling on Crow not to perform.

She is the great-granddaughter of former congressman Charles A. Crow (1873–1938).

Discography

1993: ''Tuesday Night Music Club''

1996: ''Sheryl Crow''

1998: ''The Globe Sessions''

2002: ''C'mon C'mon''

2005: ''Wildflower''

2008: ''Detours''

2010: ''100 Miles from Memphis''

Filmography

1996: ''Live from London''

1998: ''The Minus Man''

1999: ''Rockin' the Globe Live''

2003: ''C'mon America 2003''

2003: ''The Very Best of Sheryl Crow: The Videos''

2006: ''Wildlower Tour: Live from New York''

2008: ''Sheryl Crow – Live''

2009: ''30 Rock'' 3x22 – ''Kidney Now!''

2010: ''Cougar Town'' 1x18; 1x19; 1x20

2010: ''Hannah Montana'' 4x5

2011: ''Miles From Memphis – Live at The Pantages Theatre''

Books

2011: ''If It Makes You Healthy'' with ''Chuck White''

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

References

External links

Official Website

Sheryl Crow's interview on National Public Radio's ''Fresh Air''

Sheryl Crow interview on Bmore Tunes

Sheryl Crow Interview – Billboard En Español

Sheryl Crow Launches Her Own Denim Brand

Sheryl Crow at VH1.com

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kennett, Missouri Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:American acoustic guitarists Category:American bass guitarists Category:American country guitarists Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American female guitarists Category:American female singers Category:American mezzo-sopranos Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:American schoolteachers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:BRIT Award winners Category:American people of English descent Category:Female rock singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:University of Missouri alumni Category:American television actors

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″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	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Steve McQueen
birth name	Terrence Steven McQueen
birth date	March 24, 1930
birth place	Beech Grove, Indiana, U.S.
death date	November 07, 1980
death place	Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico
death cause	Mesothelioma
years active	1953–80
occupation	Actor
spouse	Neile Adams (1956–72; divorced)Ali MacGraw (1973–78; divorced)Barbara Minty (1980) (his death)
children	Terry, Chad }}

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination for his role in ''''The Sand Pebbles''''. His other popular films include ''The Magnificent Seven'', ''''The Great Escape'''', ''The Thomas Crown Affair'', ''Bullitt'', ''The Getaway'', ''''Papillon'''', and ''The Towering Inferno''. In 1974, he became the highest-paid movie star in the world. Although McQueen was combative with directors and producers, his popularity put him in high demand and enabled him to command large salaries.

He was an avid racer of both motorcycles and cars. While he studied acting, he supported himself partly by competing in weekend motorcycle races and bought his first motorcycle with his winnings. He is recognized for performing many of his own stunts, but one of the most widely claimed and cherished examples of this – that he did the majority of the stunt driving for his character during the high-speed chase scene in ''Bullitt'' – was revealed not to be true by his most trusted stuntman and stunt driver Loren James. McQueen also designed and patented a bucket seat and transbrake for race cars.

Early life

McQueen was born Terrence Steven McQueen in Beech Grove, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, in Marion County. His father, Terrence William McQueen, a stunt pilot for a barnstorming flying circus, abandoned McQueen and his mother when McQueen was six months old. His mother, Julian (née Crawford), was a young, rebellious alcoholic. Unable to cope with bringing up a small child, she left him with her parents (Victor and Lillian) in Slater, Missouri, in 1933. Shortly thereafter, as the Great Depression set in, McQueen and his grandparents moved in with Lillian's brother Claude to the latter's farm in Slater. McQueen was raised as a Roman Catholic.

He had good memories of the time spent on his great-uncle Claude's farm. In recalling Claude, McQueen stated "He was a very good man, very strong, very fair. I learned a lot from him." On McQueen's fourth birthday, Claude gave him a red tricycle, which McQueen later claimed started his interest in racing. At age 8, he was taken back by his mother and lived with her and her new husband in Indianapolis. McQueen retained a special memory of leaving the farm: "The day I left the farm Uncle Claude gave me a personal going-away present; a gold pocket watch, with an inscription inside the case." The inscription read: "To Steve -- who has been a son to me."

McQueen, who was dyslexic and partially deaf as a result of a childhood ear infection, did not adjust well to his new life. Within a couple of years he was running with a street gang and committing acts of petty crime. Unable to control McQueen's behavior, his mother sent him back to Slater again. A couple of years later, when McQueen was 12, Julian wrote to Claude asking that McQueen be returned to her once again, to live in her new home in Los Angeles, California. Julian, whose second marriage had ended in divorce, had married a third time.

This began an unsettled period in McQueen's life. By McQueen's own account, he and his new stepfather "locked horns immediately." McQueen recounted him as "a prime son of a bitch" who was not averse to using his fists on both McQueen and his mother. As McQueen began to rebel once again, he was sent back to live with Claude a final time. At age 14, McQueen left Claude's farm without saying goodbye and joined a circus for a short time, after which he slowly drifted back to his mother and stepfather in Los Angeles, and resumed his life as a gang member and petty criminal. On one occasion, McQueen was caught stealing hubcaps by police, who handed him over to his stepfather. The latter proceeded to beat McQueen severely, and ended the fight by throwing McQueen down a flight of stairs. McQueen looked up at his stepfather and said, "You lay your stinkin' hands on me again and I swear, I'll kill ya."

After this, McQueen's stepfather convinced Julian to sign a court order stating that McQueen was incorrigible and remanding him to the California Junior Boys Republic in Chino, California. Here, McQueen slowly began to change and mature. He was not popular with the other boys at first: "Say the boys had a chance once a month to load into a bus and go into town to see a movie. And they lost out because one guy in the bungalow didn't get his work done right. Well, you can pretty well guess they're gonna have something to say about that. I paid his dues with the other fellows quite a few times. I got my lumps, no doubt about it. The other guys in the bungalow had ways of paying you back for interfering with their well-being." Ultimately, however, McQueen decided to give Boys Republic a fair shot. He became a role model for the other boys when he was elected to the Boys Council, a group who made the rules and regulations governing the boys' lives. (He eventually left Boys Republic at 16 and when he later became famous, he regularly returned to talk to the boys there. He also personally responded to every letter he received from the boys there, and retained a lifelong association.)

After McQueen left Chino, he returned to Julian, now living in Greenwich Village, but almost immediately left again. He then met two sailors from the Merchant Marine and volunteered to serve on a ship bound for the Dominican Republic. Once there, he abandoned his new post, eventually making his way to Texas, and drifted from job to job. He worked as a janitor in a brothel, as an oil rigger, as a trinket salesman in a carnival, and as a lumberjack.

Military service

In 1947, McQueen joined the United States Marine Corps and was quickly promoted to Private First Class and assigned to an armored unit. Initially, he reverted to his prior rebelliousness, and as a result was demoted to private seven times. He went UA (unauthorized absence) by failing to return after a weekend pass had expired. He instead stayed away with a girlfriend for two weeks, until the shore patrol caught him. He resisted arrest and as a result spent 41 days in the brig.

After this, McQueen resolved to focus his energies on self-improvement and embraced the Marines' discipline. He saved the lives of five other Marines during an Arctic exercise, pulling them from a tank before it broke through ice into the sea. He was also assigned to an honor guard responsible for guarding then-U.S. President Harry Truman's yacht. McQueen served until 1950 when he was honorably discharged.

Acting

In 1952, with financial assistance provided by the G.I. Bill, McQueen began studying acting at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse. He also began to earn money by competing in weekend motorcycle races at Long Island City Raceway and purchased the first of many motorcycles, a used Harley Davidson. He soon became an excellent racer, and came home each weekend with about $100 in winnings, or about $805 in 2009 dollars adjusted for inflation. He appeared as a musical judge in an episode of ABC's ''Jukebox Jury'', which aired in the 1953–1954 season.

After several minor roles in productions including ''Peg o' My Heart'', ''The Member of the Wedding'', and ''Two Fingers of Pride'', McQueen landed his first film role in ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'', directed by Robert Wise and starring Paul Newman. He made his Broadway debut in 1955 in the play ''A Hatful of Rain'', starring Ben Gazzara. When McQueen appeared in a two-part television presentation entitled ''The Defenders'', Hollywood manager Hilly Elkins (who managed McQueen's first wife, Neile) took note of him and decided that B-movies would be a good place for the young actor to make his mark. McQueen was subsequently hired to appear in the films ''Never Love a Stranger'', ''The Blob'' (his first leading role), and ''The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery''.

In late 1955, at the age of 25, McQueen left New York and headed for California, where he moved into a house on Vestal Street in the Echo Park area and began seeking acting jobs in Hollywood.

McQueen's first breakout role did not come in film, but on TV. Elkins successfully lobbied Vincent M. Fennelly, producer of the Western series ''Trackdown'', to have McQueen read for the part of bounty hunter Josh Randall in an episode for ''Trackdown''. McQueen appeared as Randall in the episode, working opposite series lead and old New York motorcycle racing buddy Robert Culp, after which McQueen filmed the pilot episode. The pilot was approved for a series titled ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'' on CBS in September 1958.

In the interviews included in the DVD release of "Wanted", ''Trackdown'''s star Robert Culp takes credit for first bringing McQueen to Hollywood and landing him the part of Randall. He claims to have taught McQueen the "art of the fast-draw", adding that, on the second day of filming, McQueen beat him. McQueen became a household name as a result of this series. Randall's special holster held a sawed-off 44.40 Winchester rifle nicknamed the "Mare's Leg" instead of the standard six-gun carried by the typical Western character, although the cartridges seen in the gunbelt were dummy 45.70, chosen because they "looked tougher". Coupled with the generally negative image of the bounty hunter (noted in the three-part DVD special on the background of the series) this added to the anti-hero image infused with a mixture of mystery and detachment that made this show stand out from the typical TV Western. The 94 episodes, filmed at Apacheland Studio from 1958 until early 1961, kept McQueen steadily employed.

At 29, McQueen got a significant break when Frank Sinatra removed Sammy Davis, Jr. from the film ''Never So Few'' after Davis supposedly made some mildly negative remarks about Sinatra in a radio interview, and Davis' role went to McQueen. Sinatra saw something special in McQueen and ensured that the young actor got plenty of good close-ups in a role that earned McQueen favorable reviews. McQueen's character, Bill Ringa, was never more comfortable than when driving at high speed—in this case at the wheel of a jeep—or handling a switchblade or a tommy-gun.

After ''Never So Few'', the film's director John Sturges cast McQueen in his next movie, promising to "give him the camera." ''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), with Yul Brynner, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson and James Coburn, became McQueen's first major hit and led to his withdrawal from ''Wanted: Dead or Alive''. McQueen's focused portrayal of the taciturn second lead catapulted his career. His added touches in each scene, such as shaking each shotgun round before loading it and wiping his hat rim, annoyed co-star Brynner, who protested that McQueen was trying to steal the scene . Brynner also refused to draw his gun in the same scene with Steve, not wanting to have his character outdrawn .

McQueen played the lead in the next big Sturges film, 1963's ''The Great Escape'', which gave Hollywood's depiction of the otherwise true story of an historical mass escape from a World War II POW camp, Stalag Luft III. Insurance concerns prevented McQueen from performing the film's widely noted motorcycle leap, which was instead done by his friend and fellow cycle enthusiast Bud Ekins who resembled McQueen from a distance. When Johnny Carson later tried to congratulate McQueen for the jump during a broadcast of ''The Tonight Show'', McQueen said, "It wasn't me. That was Bud Ekins." This film established McQueen's box-office clout and cemented his status as a superstar.

In 1963, McQueen starred with Natalie Wood in ''Love with the Proper Stranger''. He later appeared in a prequel as the titular ''Nevada Smith'', a character from Harold Robbins' ''The Carpetbaggers'' who had been portrayed by Alan Ladd two years earlier in a movie version of that novel. McQueen also earned his only Academy Award nomination in 1966 for his role as an engine room sailor in ''The Sand Pebbles'', in which he starred opposite Richard Attenborough and Candice Bergen.

He followed his Oscar nomination with 1968's ''Bullitt'', one of his most famous films, co-starring Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It featured an unprecedented (and endlessly imitated) auto chase through San Francisco. Although McQueen did do the driving that appeared in closeup, this was only about 10% of what is seen in the film. The rest of the driving by the McQueen character was done by famed stunt drivers Bud Ekins and Loren James.

McQueen then went for a change of image, playing a debonair role as a wealthy executive in ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' with Faye Dunaway in 1968. He made the Southern period piece ''The Reivers'' in 1969, followed by the 1971 auto-racing drama ''Le Mans''.

Then came ''The Getaway'' during which he met future wife Ali MacGraw. He worked for director Sam Peckinpah again with the leading role in ''Junior Bonner'' in 1972, a story of an aging rodeo rider. He followed this with a physically demanding role as a Devils Island prisoner in 1973's ''Papillon'' featuring Dustin Hoffman as his character's tragic sidekick.

By the time of ''The Getaway'', McQueen had become the world's highest paid actor. But after 1974's ''The Towering Inferno'', co-starring with his long-time personal friend and chief professional rival Paul Newman and reuniting him with Dunaway, became a tremendous box-office success, McQueen all but disappeared from Hollywood and the public eye, preferring to focus on motorcycle racing and traveling around the country in a motorhome and on one of his vintage Indian motorcycles. He did not return to acting until 1978 with ''An Enemy of the People'', playing against type as a heavily bearded, bespectacled 19th-century doctor in this adaptation of a Henrik Ibsen play. The film was shown briefly in theaters and was never released on home video.

His last films were both loosely based on true stories: ''Tom Horn'', a Western adventure about a former Army scout turned professional gunman who worked for the big cattle ranchers, hunting down rustlers, and who was later hanged for murder in the shooting death of a sheepherder, and then ''The Hunter'', an urban action movie about a modern-day bounty hunter, both released in 1980.

Missed roles

McQueen was offered the lead role in ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' but was unable to accept due to his ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'' contract (the role went to George Peppard). He also turned down ''Ocean's Eleven'', ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (his attorneys and agents could not agree with Paul Newman's attorneys and agents on who got top billing), ''The Driver'', ''Apocalypse Now'', ''California Split'', ''Dirty Harry'' and ''The French Connection'' (he did not want to do another cop film).

According to director John Frankenheimer and actor James Garner in bonus interviews for the DVD of the film "Grand Prix," McQueen was Frankenheimer's first choice for the lead role of American Formula One race car driver Pete Aron. Frankenheimer was unable to meet with McQueen to offer him the role and instead sent an assistant who clashed personally with McQueen. The role instead went to Garner.

He was the first choice for director Steven Spielberg for ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''. According to Spielberg on a documentary on the ''Close Encounters'' DVD, Spielberg met him at a bar, where McQueen drank beer after beer. Before leaving, McQueen told Spielberg that he could not accept the role because he was unable to cry on cue. Spielberg offered to take the crying scene out of the movie, but McQueen demurred, saying that it was the best scene in the whole script. The role eventually went to Richard Dreyfuss.

McQueen expressed interest in starring as the Rambo character in ''First Blood'' when David Morrell's novel appeared in 1972, but the producers eventually rejected him because of his age. He was offered the title role in ''The Bodyguard'' (with Diana Ross) when it was first proposed in 1976, but the film did not reach production until years after McQueen's death. ''Quigley Down Under'' was in development as early as 1974, and both McQueen and Clint Eastwood were considered for the lead, but by the time production began in 1980, McQueen was too ill and the project was scrapped until a decade later, when Tom Selleck starred. McQueen was offered the lead in ''Raise the Titanic'' but felt the script was flat. He was under contract to Irwin Allen after appearing in ''The Towering Inferno'' and was offered a part in a sequel in 1980, which he turned down. The film was scrapped and Newman was brought in by Allen to make ''When Time Ran Out'', which turned out to be a huge box office bomb. McQueen died shortly after passing on "The Towering Inferno 2".

Motor racing

McQueen was an avid motorcycle and racecar enthusiast. When he had the opportunity to drive in a movie, he performed many of his own stunts.

Perhaps the most memorable were the car chase in ''Bullitt'' and motorcycle chase in ''The Great Escape''. Although the jump over the fence in ''The Great Escape'' was actually done by Bud Ekins for insurance purposes, McQueen did have a considerable amount of screen time riding his 650cc Triumph TR6 Trophy motorcycle. It was difficult to find riders as skilled as McQueen. At one point, due to clever editing, McQueen is seen in a German uniform chasing himself on another bike.

Together with John Sturges, McQueen planned to make ''Day of the Champion'', a movie about Formula One racing. He was busy with the delayed ''The Sand Pebbles'', though. They had a contract with the German Nürburgring, and after John Frankenheimer shot scenes there for ''Grand Prix'', the reels had to be turned over to Sturges. Frankenheimer was ahead in schedule anyway, and the McQueen/Sturges project was called off.

McQueen considered becoming a professional race car driver. In the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring race, Peter Revson and McQueen (driving with a cast on his left foot from a motorcycle accident two weeks before) won with a Porsche 908/02 in the 3 litre class and missed winning overall by 23 seconds to Mario Andretti/Ignazio Giunti/Nino Vaccarella in a 5 litre Ferrari 512S. The same Porsche 908 was entered by his production company Solar Productions as a camera car for ''Le Mans'' in the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans later that year. McQueen wanted to drive a Porsche 917 with Jackie Stewart in that race, but his film backers threatened to pull their support if he did. Faced with the choice of driving for 24 hours in the race or driving the entire summer making the film, McQueen opted to do the latter. ''Le Mans'' is considered by some to be the most historically realistic representation in the history of the race.

McQueen also competed in off-road motorcycle racing. His first off-road motorcycle was a Triumph 500cc that he purchased from friend and stunt man Ekins. McQueen raced in many top off-road races on the West Coast, including the Baja 1000, the Mint 400 and the Elsinore Grand Prix. In 1964, with Ekins on their Triumph TR6 Trophys, he represented the United States in the International Six Days Trial, a form of off-road motorcycling Olympics. He was inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1971, Solar Productions funded the now-classic motorcycle documentary ''On Any Sunday'', in which McQueen is featured along with racing legends Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith. Also in 1971, McQueen was on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine riding a Husqvarna dirt bike.

McQueen collected classic motorcycles. By the time of his death, his collection included over 100 and was valued in the millions of dollars.

In a segment filmed for ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', McQueen drove Sullivan around a desert area in a dune buggy at high speed. All the breathless Sullivan could say was, "That was a ''helluva'' ride!"

He owned several exotic sports cars, including:

Porsche 917, Porsche 908 and Ferrari 512 race cars from the ''Le Mans'' film.

1963 Ferrari 250 Lusso Berlinetta

Jaguar D-Type XKSS (Right-Hand Drive)

Porsche 356 Speedster

To his dismay, McQueen was never able to own the legendary Ford Mustang GT 390 that he drove in ''Bullitt'', which featured a highly modified drivetrain that suited McQueen's driving style. One of the two Mustangs was so badly damaged that it was judged beyond repair and scrapped. The second car still exists, but the owner has consistently refused to sell it at any price.

Personal life

McQueen had a daily two-hour exercise regimen, involving weightlifting and at one point running five miles, seven days a week. McQueen also learned the martial art Tang Soo Do from ninth degree black belt Pat E. Johnson. However, he was also known for his prolific drug use (William Claxton claimed he smoked marijuana almost every day; others said he used a tremendous amount of cocaine in the early 1970s). In addition, like many actors of his era, he was a heavy cigarette smoker. He sometimes drank to excess, and was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Anchorage, Alaska in 1972.

After Charles Manson incited the murder of five people, including McQueen's friends Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring, at Tate's home on August 9, 1969, it was reported that McQueen was another potential target of the killers. According to his first wife, McQueen then began carrying a handgun at all times in public, including at Sebring's funeral.

McQueen had an unusual reputation for demanding free items in bulk from studios when agreeing to do a film, such as electric razors, jeans and several other products. It was later found out that McQueen requested these things because he was donating them to the Boy's Republic reformatory school for displaced youth, where he had spent time during his teen years. McQueen made occasional visits to the school to spend time with the students, often to play pool and to speak with them about his experiences.

After discovering a mutual interest in racing, McQueen and his ''Great Escape'' co-star James Garner became good friends. Garner lived directly down the hill from McQueen and, as McQueen recalled, "I could see that Jim was very neat around his place. Flowers trimmed, no papers in the yard ... grass always cut. So, just to piss him off, I'd start lobbing empty beer cans down the hill into his driveway. He'd have his drive all spic 'n' span when he left the house, then get home to find all these empty cans. Took him a long time to figure out it was me".

McQueen was conservative in his political views and often backed the Republican Party. He did, however, campaign for Democrat Lyndon Johnson in 1964 before voting for Republican Richard Nixon in 1968. He supported the Vietnam War, was one of the few Hollywood stars who refused numerous requests to back Presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy, in 1968, and turned down the chance to participate in the 1963 March on Washington. When McQueen heard a rumor that he had been added to Nixon's Enemies List, he responded by immediately flying a giant American flag outside his house. Reportedly, his wife Ali McGraw responded to the whole affair by saying, "But you're the most patriotic person I know."

McQueen commanded such respect in the United Kingdom that when visiting Chelsea Football Club's Stamford Bridge Stadium to watch a match, he was personally introduced to the players in the dressing room during the half-time break.

Barbara Minty McQueen in her book, ''Steve McQueen: The Last Mile'', writes of McQueen becoming an Evangelical Christian toward the end of his life. This was due in part to the influences of his flying instructor, Sammy Mason, and his son Pete, and Barbara. McQueen attended his local church, Ventura Missionary Church, and was visited by evangelist Billy Graham shortly before his death.

Hobbies

McQueen was an avid dirt bike rider, running a BSA Hornet. He was to co-drive in a Triumph 2500 PI for the British Leyland team in the 1970 London-Mexico rally, but had to turn it down due to movie commitments. co-starred with McQueen in ''Junior Bonner'' and had a lengthy relationship with him in the 1970s |group="FAM"}}|ALI=Ali MacGraw|group="FAM"}}m. Aug 31, 1973}} m. Jan 16, 1980}} Jun 5, 1959|CHA=Chad McQueenb. Dec 28, 1960}} b.1995|MAD=Madison McQueenb.1997|MOL=Molly Flatteryb. 1987}}

;Family Notes

Death

On November 7, 1980, McQueen died at the age of 50 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, following an operation to remove or reduce several metastatic tumors in his neck and abdomen.

McQueen developed a persistent cough in 1978; he gave up smoking and underwent antibiotic treatments without improvement. Shortness of breath became more pronounced and in December 1979, after the filming of ''The Hunter'', a biopsy revealed mesothelioma, a type of cancer associated with asbestos exposure. By February 1980, there was evidence of widespread metastasis. While he tried to keep the condition a secret, the National Enquirer disclosed that he had "terminal cancer" on March 11, 1980. In July, McQueen traveled to Rosarito Beach for unconventional treatment after U.S. doctors advised him that they could do nothing to prolong his life.

Controversy arose over McQueen's Mexican trip, because McQueen sought a very non-traditional treatment that used coffee enemas, frequent shampoos, injection of live cells from cows and sheep, massage and laetrile, a supposedly "natural" anti-cancer drug available in Mexico, but not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. McQueen was treated by William Donald Kelley, whose only medical license had been (until it was revoked in 1976) for orthodontics. Kelley's methods created a sensation in both the traditional and tabloid press when it became known that McQueen was a patient. Despite metastasis of the cancer to much of McQueen's body, Kelley publicly announced that McQueen would be completely cured and return to normal life. However, McQueen's condition worsened and "huge" tumors developed in his abdomen. In late October 1980, McQueen flew to Ciudad Juárez to have the five-pound abdominal tumors removed, despite the warnings of his U.S. doctors that the tumor was inoperable and that his heart would not withstand the surgery. While McQueen felt that asbestos used in movie soundstage insulation and race-drivers' protective suits and helmets could have been involved, he believed his illness was a direct result of massive exposure while removing asbestos lagging from pipes aboard a troop ship during his time in the Marines.

A memorial service was presided over by Leonard DeWitt of the Ventura Missionary Church. McQueen was cremated, and his ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean.

Legacy

Posthumously, McQueen remains one of the most popular stars, and his estate limits the licensing of his image to avoid the commercial saturation experienced by some other deceased celebrities. As of 2007, McQueen has entered the top 10 of highest-earning dead celebrities.

In November 1999, McQueen was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. He was credited with contributions including financing the film ''On Any Sunday'', supporting a team of off-road riders, and enhancing the public image of motorcycling overall.

A film based on unfinished storyboards and notes developed by McQueen before his death was announced for production by McG's production company Wonderland Sound and Vision. ''Yucatan'' is described as an "epic adventure heist" film, and is scheduled for release in 2013. Team Downey, the production company started by Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey, has also expressed an interest in developing ''Yucatan'' for the screen.

The Beech Grove Public Library, in Beech Grove, Indiana, formally dedicated the Steve McQueen Birthplace Collection on March 16, 2010 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of McQueen's birth on March 24, 1930.

Ford commercial

In 2005, Ford used Steve McQueen's likeness in a commercial for the 2005 Mustang. In the commercial a farmer builds a winding racetrack, which he circles in the 2005 Mustang. Out of the cornfield comes Steve McQueen. The farmer then tosses his keys to McQueen who drives off in the new Mustang. McQueen's likeness was created by a body double and some digital editing.

Ford secured the rights to McQueen's likeness from the actor's estate licensing agent GreenLight for an undisclosed sum.

Memorabilia

The blue-tinted sunglasses (Persol 714) worn by McQueen in the 1968 movie ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' sold at a Bonhams & Butterfields auction in Los Angeles for $70,200 in 2006. One of his motorcycles, a 1937 Crocker, sold for a world-record price of $276,500 at the same auction. McQueen's 1963 metallic-brown Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso sold for $2.31 million USD at auction on August 16, 2007. Except for three motorcycles sold with other memorabilia in 2006, most of McQueen's collection of 130 motorcycles was sold 4 years after his death.

The Rolex Explorer II 2 Reference 1655, is also now so-called Rolex Steve McQueen in the horology collectors world, but the Rolex Submariner Reference 5512 he was often photographed wearing in private moments sold for $234,000 at auction on June 11, 2009, a world-record price for the reference.

McQueen was a sponsored ambassador for Heuer Watches. In the 1970 movie Le Mans, McQueen famously wore a blue faced Monaco 1133B Caliber 11 Automatic which has led to its cult status with watch collectors. His sold for $87,600 at auction on June 11, 2009. Tag Heuer continues to promote their Monaco range with McQueen’s image.

From 2009, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, licensed by his estate, marketed a line of clothing inspired by Steve McQueen's strong association with their brand, particularly his 1964 ISDT paticipation.

In music

Steve McQueen is referred to by name in Italian singer Vasco Rossi's song "Vita Spericolata" and Harpo's 1976 international hit moviestar. He is also referred to by name in The Kinks song "Daylight", which appears on their album Preservation Act 1. English pop band Prefab Sprout named their second album after him. Sheryl Crow´s lead track on her 2002 album ''C'mon, C'mon'' uses his name as a title. There is also a line featuring his name in the Leonard Cohen song "Is This What You Wanted". The Newsboys song, Take me to your Leader, also references him by name, as does Electrolite by R.E.M..

The Rolling Stones famously referred to McQueen in the song "Star Star" from the album Goat's Head Soup for which an amused McQueen reportedly gave personal permission.

The Beastie Boys refer to McQueen in their song "High Plains Drifter".

Clutch uses McQueen's name in the song "The House that Peterbilt", from their eponymous album.

Filmography

''Girl on the Run'' (1953)

''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' (1956)

''Never Love a Stranger'' (1958)

''The Blob'' (1958)

''The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery'' (1959)

''Never So Few'' (1959)

''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960)

''The Honeymoon Machine'' (1961)

''Hell Is for Heroes'' (1962)

''The War Lover'' (1962)

''The Great Escape'' (1963)

''Soldier in the Rain'' (1963)

''Love with the Proper Stranger'' (1963)

''Baby the Rain Must Fall'' (1965)

''The Cincinnati Kid'' (1965)

''Nevada Smith'' (1966)

''The Sand Pebbles'' (1966)

''Think Twentieth'' (1967) (short subject)

''Bullitt: Steve McQueen's Commitment to Reality'' (1968) (short)

''The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1968)

''Bullitt'' (1968)

''The Reivers'' (1969)

''Le Mans'' (1971)

''On Any Sunday'' (1971) (documentary)

''Junior Bonner'' (1972)

''The Getaway'' (1972)

''The Life and Legend of Bruce Lee'' (1973) (documentary)

''Papillon'' (1973)

''The Towering Inferno'' (1974)

''Dixie Dynamite'' (1976) (Cameo)

''Bruce Lee, the Legend'' (1977) (documentary)

''An Enemy of the People'' (1978) (also executive producer)

''Tom Horn'' (1980) (also executive producer)

''The Hunter'' (1980)

Awards and honors

Academy Awards

(1967) Nominated – Best Actor in a Leading Role / ''The Sand Pebbles''

Golden Globe Awards

(1964) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama / ''Love with the Proper Stranger''

(1967) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama / ''The Sand Pebbles''

(1970) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy / ''The Reivers''

(1974) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama / ''Papillon''

Steve McQueen mural by Kent Twitchell, 1971

References

Further reading

Beaver, Jim. ''Steve McQueen''. Films in Review, August–September 1981.

Satchell, Tim. ''McQueen''. (Sidgwick and Jackson Limited, 1981) ISBN 0-283-98778-2

Nolan, William F. ''McQueen'' (Congdon & Weed, 1984)

Terrill, Marshall. ''Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel'', (Donald I. Fine, 1993)

Terrill, Marshall. ''Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool'', (Dalton Watson, 2010)

Terrill, Marshall. ''Steve McQueen: The Life and Legacy of a Hollywood Icon'', (Triumph Books, 2010)

External links

Steve McQueen: 20 Never-Seen Photos – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Eric Clapton
alias	Slowhand
landscape	Yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Eric Patrick Clapton
birth date	March 30, 1945
Birth place	Ripley, Surrey, England
instrument	Guitar, vocals
genre	Rock, blues rock, blues, psychedelic rock, hard rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, artist
years active	1962–present
label	Warner Bros., Reprise, Polydor, RSO, Atco, Apple, Deram
associated acts	The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Powerhouse, Cream, Free Creek, The Dirty Mac, Blind Faith, J.J. Cale, The Plastic Ono Band, Delaney, Bonnie & Friends, Derek and the Dominos, Sheryl Crow, The Beatles, Phil Collins, The Rolling Stones, Luciano Pavarotti, The Band, Freddie King, B.B. King, Mark Knopfler, Brian Wilson
website
notable instruments	See: Guitars section"Blackie": Fender Stratocaster"Brownie": Fender Stratocaster }}

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in ''Gibson's'' ''Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.''

In the mid 1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

Early life

Eric Patrick Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (b. 1929 d. March 1999) and Edward Walter Fryer ( 1920 – 1985), a 25-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec. Fryer shipped off to war prior to Clapton's birth and then returned to Canada. Clapton grew up with his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband, Jack Clapp, who was stepfather to Patricia Clapton and her brother Adrian, believing they were his parents and that his mother was actually his older sister. The similarity in surnames gave rise to the erroneous belief that Clapton's real surname is Clapp (Reginald Cecil Clapton was the name of Rose's first husband, Eric Clapton's maternal grandfather). Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier and moved to Germany, leaving young Eric with his grandparents in Surrey.

Clapton received an acoustic Hoyer guitar, made in Germany, for his thirteenth birthday, but the inexpensive steel-stringed instrument was difficult to play and he briefly lost interest. Two years later Clapton picked it up again and started playing consistently. Clapton was influenced by the blues from an early age, and practised long hours to learn the chords of blues music by playing along to the records. He preserved his practice sessions using his portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder, listening to them over and over until he felt he'd got it right.

After leaving Hollyfield School, in Surbiton, in 1961, Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. His guitar playing was so advanced that by the age of sixteen he was getting noticed. Around this time Clapton began busking around Kingston, Richmond, and the West End of London. In 1962, Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast David Brock in the pubs around Surrey. When he was seventeen years old Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B; group, "The Roosters", whose other guitarist was Tom McGuinness. He stayed with this band from January through August 1963. In October of that year, Clapton did a seven-gig stint with Casey Jones & The Engineers.

Career

1960s

The Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers

In October 1963 Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band, and stayed with them until March 1965. Synthesising influences from Chicago blues and leading blues guitarists such as Buddy Guy, Freddie King, and B. B. King, Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene. The band initially played Chess/Checker/Vee-Jay blues numbers and began to attract a large cult following when they took over the Rolling Stones' residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. They toured England with American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II; a joint LP album, recorded in December 1963, was issued in 1965.

It was during this time period that Clapton's Yardbirds rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, recalled that whenever Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing what is called a "slow handclap". Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, that, "My nickname of 'Slowhand' came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into Slowhand as a play on words".

In March 1965 the Yardbirds had their first major hit, "For Your Love", on which Clapton played guitar. The Yardbirds elected to move toward a pop-oriented sound, in part because of the success of "For Your Love", written by pop songwriter-for-hire Graham Gouldman, who had also written hit songs for teen pop outfit Herman's Hermits and The Hollies. Still musically devoted to the blues, Clapton was opposed to the move, and left the band. He recommended fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement, but Page was at that time unwilling to relinquish his lucrative career as a freelance studio musician, so Page in turn recommended Clapton's successor, Jeff Beck. While Beck and Page played together in the Yardbirds, the trio of Beck, Page, and Clapton were never in the group together. However, the trio did appear on the 12-date benefit tour for Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis in 1983, as well as on the album ''Guitar Boogie''.

Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April 1965, only to quit a few months later. In the summer of 1965 he left for Greece with a band called The Glands, which included his old friend Ben Palmer on piano. In November 1965 he rejoined John Mayall. It was during his second Bluesbreakers stint that his passionate playing established Clapton's name as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit. Although Clapton gained world fame for his playing on the influential album, ''Blues Breakers - John Mayall - With Eric Clapton'', this album was not released until Clapton had left the Bluesbreakers for the last time. Having swapped his Fender Telecaster and Vox AC30 amplifier for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and Marshall amplifier, Clapton's sound and playing inspired a well-publicised graffiti that deified him with the famous slogan "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a now-famous photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Clapton is reported to have been embarrassed by the slogan, saying in his ''The South Bank Show'' profile in 1987, "I never accepted that I was the greatest guitar player in the world. I always ''wanted'' to be the greatest guitar player in the world, but that's an ideal, and I accept it as an ideal". The phrase began to appear in other areas of Islington throughout the mid 1960s.

Cream

Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 (to be replaced by Peter Green) and formed Cream, one of the earliest supergroups, with Jack Bruce on bass (also of Manfred Mann, the Bluesbreakers, and the Graham Bond Organisation) and Ginger Baker on drums (another member of the Graham Bond Organisation). Before the formation of Cream, Clapton was not well known in the United States; he left the Yardbirds before "For Your Love" hit the American Top Ten, and had yet to perform there. During his time with Cream, Clapton began to develop as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, though Bruce took most of the lead vocals and wrote the majority of the material with lyricist Pete Brown. Cream's first gig was an unofficial performance at the Twisted Wheel Club in Manchester on 1966 before their full debut two nights later at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Cream established its enduring legend with the high-volume blues jamming and extended solos of their live shows.

In early 1967 Clapton's status as Britain's top guitarist was rivalled by the emergence of Jimi Hendrix, an acid rock-infused guitarist who used wailing feedback and effects pedals to create new sounds for the instrument. Hendrix attended a performance of the newly-formed Cream at the Central London Polytechnic on 1966, during which Hendrix sat in on a double-timed version of "Killing Floor". Top UK stars including Clapton, Pete Townshend, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances. Hendrix's arrival had an immediate and major effect on the next phase of Clapton's career, although Clapton continued to be recognised in UK music polls as the premier guitarist.

Clapton first visited the United States while touring with Cream. In March 1967, Cream performed a nine-show stand at the RKO Theater in New York. They recorded ''Disraeli Gears'' in New York from 1967. Cream's repertoire varied from hard rock ("I Feel Free") to lengthy blues-based instrumental jams ("Spoonful"). ''Disraeli Gears'' featured Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing, and Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming. Together, Cream's talents secured them as an influential power trio.

In 28 months, Cream had become a commercial success, selling millions of records and playing throughout the U.S. and Europe. They redefined the instrumentalist's role in rock and were one of the first blues-rock bands to emphasise musical virtuosity and lengthy jazz-style improvisation sessions. Their U.S. hit singles include "Sunshine of Your Love" (#5, 1968), "White Room" (#6, 1968) and "Crossroads" (#28, 1969) – a live version of Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues". Though Cream was hailed as one of the greatest groups of its day, and the adulation of Clapton as a guitar hero reached new heights, the supergroup was short-lived. Drug and alcohol use escalated tension between the three members, and conflicts between Bruce and Baker eventually led to Cream's demise. A strongly critical ''Rolling Stone'' review of a concert of the group's second headlining U.S. tour was another significant factor in the trio's demise, and it affected Clapton profoundly.

Cream's farewell album, ''Goodbye'', featuring live performances recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, 1968, was released shortly after Cream disbanded; it also featured the studio single "Badge", co-written by Clapton and George Harrison. Clapton met Harrison and became friends with him after the Beatles shared a bill with the Clapton-era Yardbirds at the London Palladium. The close friendship between Clapton and Harrison resulted in Clapton's playing on Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the Beatles' ''White Album'' (1968). Harrison also released his solo debut album, ''Wonderwall Music'', in 1968. It became the first of many Harrison solo records to feature Clapton on guitar. Clapton would go largely uncredited for his contributions to Harrison's albums due to contractual restraints. The pair would often play live together as each other's guest. A year after Harrison's death in 2001, Clapton helped organise a tribute concert, for which he was musical director.

Cream briefly reunited in 1993 to perform at the ceremony inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a full reunion took place in May 2005, with Clapton, Bruce, and Baker playing four sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall, and three shows at New York's Madison Square Garden that October. Recordings from the London shows, ''Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005'', were released on CD, LP, and DVD in September/December 2005.

Blind Faith and Delaney and Bonnie and Friends

Clapton's next group, Blind Faith (1969), was composed of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood of Traffic, and Ric Grech of Family, and yielded one LP and one arena-circuit tour. The supergroup debuted before 100,000 fans in London's Hyde Park on 1969. They performed several dates in Scandinavia and began a sold-out American tour in July before their only album was released. The LP ''Blind Faith'' consisted of just six songs, one of them a 15-minute jam entitled "Do What You Like". The album's jacket image of a topless pubescent girl was deemed controversial in the United States and was replaced by a photograph of the band. Blind Faith dissolved after less than seven months.

Clapton subsequently toured as a sideman for an act that had opened for Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. He also played two dates as a member of The Plastic Ono Band that fall, including a recorded performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969 released as the album ''Live Peace in Toronto 1969''. On 15 December 1969 Clapton performed with John Lennon, George Harrison, and others as the Plastic Ono Band at a fundraiser for UNICEF in London.

Delaney Bramlett encouraged Clapton in his singing and writing. During the summer of 1969, Clapton and Bramlett contributed to the ''Music From Free Creek'' "supersession" project. Clapton, appearing as "King Cool" for contractual reasons, played with Dr. John on three songs, joined by Bramlett on two tracks.

Using the Bramletts' backing group and an all-star cast of session players (including Leon Russell and Stephen Stills), Clapton recorded his first solo album during two brief tour hiatuses, fittingly named ''Eric Clapton''. Delaney Bramlett co-wrote six of the songs with Clapton, and Bonnie Bramlett co-wrote "Let It Rain". The album yielded the unexpected U.S. #18 hit, J. J. Cale's "After Midnight". Clapton went with Delaney and Bonnie from the stage to the studio with the Dominos to record George Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'' in spring 1970. During this busy period, Clapton also recorded with other artists including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Billy Preston, and Ringo Starr.

1970s

Derek and the Dominos

With the intention to counteract the "star" cult faction that had begun to form around him, Clapton assembled a new band composed of Delaney and Bonnie's former rhythm section, Bobby Whitlock as keyboardist and vocalist, Carl Radle as the bassist, and drummer Jim Gordon, with Clapton playing guitar. It was his intention to show that he need not fill a starring role, and functioned well as a member of an ensemble. Naming the band, "Eric Clapton and Friends" at first, the name "Derek and the Dominos" was a fluke. It occurred when the band's provisional name of "Del and the Dynamos" was misread as Derek and the Dominos. Clapton's biography states that Ashton told Clapton to call the band "Del and the Dominos", since "Del" was his nickname for Eric Clapton. Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos".

Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison brought him into contact with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Heavily blues-influenced, the album features the twin lead guitars of Duane Allman and Clapton, with Allman's slide guitar as a key ingredient of the sound. Working at Criteria Studios in Miami with Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, who had worked with Clapton on Cream's ''Disraeli Gears'', the band recorded a double album.

The album features the hit love song "Layla", inspired by the classical poet of Persian literature, Nizami Ganjavi's ''The Story of Layla and Majnun'', a copy of which Ian Dallas had given to Clapton. The book moved Clapton profoundly, as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he could not marry her. The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down several months later, drummer Jim Gordon composed and played the piano part.

The ''Layla'' LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd—who was also producing the Allmans—invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists met first on stage, then played all night in the studio, and became friends. Duane first added his slide guitar to "Tell the Truth" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". In four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "Key to the Highway", "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" (a blues standard popularised by Freddie King and others), and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad". In September, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band, and the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues", and "Keep on Growing". Duane returned to record "I am Yours", "Anyday", and "It's Too Late". On September 9, they recorded Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "It's Too Late", was recorded.

Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a cover of "Little Wing" as a tribute to Hendrix. On 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the ''Layla'' album received only lukewarm reviews upon release. The shaken group undertook a U.S. tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amidst a veritable blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the live double album ''In Concert''. The band had recorded several tracks for a second album in London during the spring of 1971 (five of which were released on the Eric Clapton box-set ''Crossroads''), but the results were mediocre.

A second record was in the works when a clashing of egos took place and Clapton walked, thus disbanding the group. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on 1971. Although Radle would remain Clapton's bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), it would be 2003 before Clapton and Whitlock appeared together again (Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the ''Later with Jools Holland'' show). Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer Jim Gordon, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic and years later murdered his mother during a psychotic episode. Gordon was confined to 16-years-to-life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remains today.

Solo career

Clapton's career successes in the 1970s were in stark contrast with his personal life, which was troubled by romantic longings and drug and alcohol addiction. While suffering his (temporarily) unrequited and intense attraction to Pattie Boyd, he withdrew from recording and touring to isolation in his Surrey, England, residence. There he nursed his heroin addiction, which resulted in a career hiatus interrupted only by the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 (where he passed out on stage, was revived, and continued his performance). In January 1973, The Who's Pete Townshend organised a comeback concert for Clapton at London's Rainbow Theatre, aptly titled the "Rainbow Concert", to help Clapton kick his addiction. Clapton would return the favour by playing 'The Preacher' in Ken Russell's film version of The Who's ''Tommy'' in 1975; his appearance in the film (performing "Eyesight to the Blind") is notable as he is clearly wearing a fake beard in some shots, the result of deciding to shave off his real beard after the initial takes in an attempt to force the director to remove his earlier scene from the movie and leave the set.

In 1974, now partnered with Pattie (they would not actually marry until 1979) and no longer using heroin (although starting to drink heavily), Clapton put together a more low-key touring band that included Radle, Miami guitarist George Terry, keyboardist Dick Sims (who died in 2011 ), drummer Jamie Oldaker, and vocalists Yvonne Elliman and Marcy Levy (also known as Marcella Detroit). With this band Clapton recorded ''461 Ocean Boulevard'' (1974), an album with an emphasis on more compact songs and fewer guitar solos; the cover version of "I Shot The Sheriff" was Clapton's first #1 hit and was important in bringing reggae and the music of Bob Marley to a wider audience. The 1975 album ''There's One in Every Crowd'' continued this trend. The album's original title, ''The World's Greatest Guitar Player (There's One In Every Crowd)'', was changed before pressing, as it was felt its ironic intention would be misunderstood. The band toured the world and subsequently released the 1975 live LP, ''E.C. Was Here''. Clapton continued to release albums and toured regularly. Highlights of the period include ''No Reason to Cry'' (a collaboration with Bob Dylan and The Band); ''Slowhand'', which featured "Wonderful Tonight" (another song inspired by Boyd); and a second J.J. Cale cover, "Cocaine". In 1976 he performed, alongside a string of notable guests, to pay tribute to the farewell performance of The Band, filmed in a Martin Scorsese documentary called ''the Last Waltz''.

1980s

In 1981 Clapton was invited by producer Martin Lewis to appear at the Amnesty International benefit ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball''. Clapton accepted the invitation and teamed up with Jeff Beck to perform a series of duets—reportedly their first-ever billed stage collaboration. Three of the performances were released on the album of the show, and one of the songs was featured in the film. The performances heralded a return to form and prominence for Clapton in the new decade. Many factors had influenced Clapton's comeback, including his "deepening commitment to Christianity", to which he had converted prior to his heroin addiction.

After an embarrassing fishing incident, Clapton finally called his manager and admitted he was an alcoholic. In January 1982 Roger and Clapton flew to Minneapolis – St. Paul; Clapton would be checked in at Hazelden Treatment Center, located in Center City, Minnesota. On the flight over, Clapton indulged in a large number of drinks, for fear he would never be able to drink again. Clapton is quoted as saying from his autobiography, "In the lowest moments of my life, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink any more if I was dead. It was the only thing I thought was worth living for, and the idea that people were about to try and remove me from alcohol was so terrible that I drank and drank and drank, and they had to practically carry me into the clinic."

After being discharged, it was recommended by doctors of Hazelden that Clapton not partake in any activities that would act as triggers for his alcoholism or stress, until he was fully situated back at Hurtwood. A few months after his discharge, Clapton began working on his next album, against the Hazelden doctors' orders. Working with Tom Dowd, Clapton produced what he thought as his "most forced" album to date, ''Money and Cigarettes''.

In 1984 he performed on Pink Floyd member Roger Waters' solo album, ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'', and went on tour with Waters following the release of the album. Since then Waters and Clapton have had a close relationship. In 2005 they performed together for the Tsunami Relief Fund. In 2006 they performed at the Highclere Castle, in aid of the Countryside Alliance, playing two set pieces of "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". Clapton, now a seasoned charity performer, played at the Live Aid concert on 13 July 1985. When offered a slot close to peak viewing hours, he was apparently flattered. As Clapton recovered from his addictions, his album output continued in the 1980s, including two produced with Phil Collins, 1985's ''Behind the Sun'', which produced the hits "Forever Man" and "She's Waiting", and 1986's ''August''.

''August'' was suffused with Collins's trademark drum and horn sound, and became Clapton's biggest seller in the UK to date, matching his highest chart position, number 3. The album's first track, the hit "It's In The Way That You Use It", was featured in the Tom Cruise – Paul Newman movie ''The Color of Money.'' The horn-peppered "Run" echoed Collins' "Sussudio" and rest of the producer's Genesis/solo output, while "Tearing Us Apart" (with Tina Turner) and the bitter "Miss You" echoed Clapton's angry sound. This rebound kicked off Clapton's two-year period of touring with Collins and their ''August'' collaborates, bassist Nathan East and keyboard player/songwriter Greg Phillinganes. While on tour for ''August'', two concert videos were recorded of the four-man band, ''Eric Clapton Live from Montreux'' and ''Eric Clapton and Friends''. Clapton later remade "After Midnight" as a single and a promotional track for the Michelob beer brand, which had also marketed earlier songs by Collins and Steve Winwood. Clapton won a British Academy Television Award for his collaboration with Michael Kamen on the score for the 1985 BBC Television thriller serial ''Edge of Darkness''. In 1989, Clapton released ''Journeyman'', an album which covered a wide range of styles including blues, jazz, soul and pop. Collaborators included George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, Chaka Khan, Mick Jones, David Sanborn and Robert Cray.

In 1984, while still married to Pattie Boyd, Clapton began a year-long relationship with Yvonne Kelly. The two had a daughter, Ruth, who was born in January 1985, but her existence was kept a secret by her parents. She was not publicly revealed as his child until 1991. Boyd criticised Clapton because he had not revealed the child's existence.

At the 1987 Brit Awards in London, Clapton picked up the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Hurricane Hugo hit Montserrat in 1989, and this resulted in the closure of Sir George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and stories about Eric's secret daughter began as a result of newspaper articles published at the time. Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1988 following his affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to their son, Conor, on 1986. Boyd was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at in vitro fertilisation. Their divorce was granted on grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour."

Clapton was known to date a host of beautiful women, including Krissy Wood (ex-wife of Ron Wood), actress Charlotte Martin, socialite Alice Ormsby-Gore, Paula Boyd (the younger sister of his future wife Pattie), singer Janis Joplin, singer Marianne Faithfull, rock muses Catherine James, Cyrinda Fox, and Geraldine Edwards, the inspiration for Penny Lane in ''Almost Famous'', singer Rosanne Cash, the First Lady of France and former model Carla Bruni, and actresses Patsy Kensit, Sharon Stone, and Alicia Witt.

1990s

The 1990s brought a series of 32 concerts to the Royal Albert Hall, such as the 24 Nights series of concerts that took place around January through February 1990, and February through March 1991. On 1990, fellow blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touring with Clapton, and three members of their road crew were killed in a helicopter crash between concerts. Then, on 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor, died on impact after a fall from the 53rd-floor window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment. He landed on the roof of an adjacent four-story building. Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which was co-written by Will Jennings. At the 35th Grammy Awards, Clapton received six Grammy Awards for the single "Tears in Heaven" and his ''Unplugged'' album. The album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, and has since been certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling over 10 million copies in the United States. On 9 September 1992, Clapton performed "Tears in Heaven" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, and won the award for Best Male Video.

In October 1992 Clapton was among the dozens of artists performing at Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. Recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the live two-disk CD/DVD captured a show full of celebrities performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with a few performances from Dylan himself. Despite the presence of 10 other guitarists on stage, including George Harrison, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn, Steve Cropper, Tom Petty, and Dylan, Clapton played the lead on a nearly 7-minute version of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" as part of the finale.

While ''Unplugged'' featured Clapton playing acoustic guitar, his 1994 album ''From the Cradle'' contained new versions of old blues standards, highlighted by his electric guitar playing. Clapton's 1996 recording of the Wayne Kirkpatrick/Gordon Kennedy/Tommy Sims tune "Change the World" (featured in the soundtrack of the movie ''Phenomenon'') won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1997, the same year he recorded ''Retail Therapy'' (an album of electronic music with Simon Climie under the pseudonym TDF). The following year, Clapton released the album ''Pilgrim'', the first record featuring new material for almost a decade. Clapton finished the twentieth century with collaborations with Carlos Santana and B. B. King.

In 1996 Clapton had a relationship with singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow. They remain friends, and Clapton appeared as a guest on Crow's Central Park Concert. The duo performed a Cream hit single, "White Room". Later, Clapton and Crow performed an alternate version of "Tulsa Time" with other guitar legends at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in June 2007.

In 1998 Clapton, then 53, met 22-year-old administrative assistant Melia McEnery in Columbus, Ohio, at a party given for him after a performance. He quietly dated her for a year, and went public with the relationship in 1999. They married on 2002 at St Mary Magdalene church in Clapton's birthplace, Ripley. As of 2005 they have three daughters, Julie Rose ( 2001), Ella May ( 2003), and Sophie Belle ( 2005).

At the 41st Grammy Awards on 24 February 1999, Clapton received his third Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for his song "My Father's Eyes". In October 1999, the compilation album, ''Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton'', was released, which contained a new song, "Blue Eyes Blue", that also appears in soundtrack for the film, ''Runaway Bride''.

2000s

Following the release of the 2001 record ''Reptile'', Eric performed "Layla" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the Party at the Palace in 2002. On 29 November of that year the Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall, a tribute to George Harrison, who had died a year earlier of cancer. Clapton was a performer and the musical director. The concert featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Ravi Shankar, Gary Brooker, Billy Preston, Joe Brown and Dhani Harrison. In 2004, Clapton released two albums of covers of songs by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, ''Me and Mr. Johnson'' and ''Sessions for Robert J''. The same year, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Clapton #53 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

On 22 January 2005, Clapton performed in the Tsunami Relief Concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In May 2005 Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker reunited as Cream for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Concert recordings were released on CD and DVD. Later, Cream performed in New York at Madison Square Garden. ''Back Home'', Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, was released on Reprise Records on . In 2006 he invited Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II to join his band for his 2006–2007 world tour. Trucks is the third member of the Allman Brothers Band to tour supporting Clapton, the second being pianist/keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who appeared on the ''MTV Unplugged'' album and the ''24 Nights'' performances at the Royal Albert Hall theatre of London in 1990 and 1991, as well as Clapton's 1992 U.S. tour.

On 20 May 2006, Clapton performed with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and former Pink Floyd bassist/songwriter Roger Waters at the Highclere Castle, in support of the Countryside Alliance. On 2006, Clapton made a guest appearance at the Bob Dylan concert in Columbus, Ohio, playing guitar on three songs in Jimmie Vaughan's opening act. A collaboration with guitarist J. J. Cale, titled ''The Road to Escondido'', was released on 2006, featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston. The 14-track CD was produced and recorded by the duo in August 2005 in California. The chemistry between Trucks and Clapton convinced him to invite The Derek Trucks Band to open for Clapton's set at his 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Trucks remained on set afterward, performed with Clapton's band throughout his performances, and later embarked on a world tour with him.

The rights to Clapton's official memoirs, written by Christopher Simon Sykes and published in 2007, were sold at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair for .

On 26 February 2008, it was reported that North Korean officials had invited Clapton to play a concert in the communist state. Clapton's management received the invitation and passed it on to the singer, who agreed in principle and suggested it take place sometime in 2009. Kristen Foster, a spokesperson, said, "Eric Clapton receives numerous offers to play in countries around the world," and "[t]here is no agreement whatsoever for him to play in North Korea."

In 2007 Clapton learned more about his father, a Canadian soldier who left the UK after the war. Although Clapton's grandparents eventually told him the truth about his parentage, he only knew that his father's name was Edward Fryer. This was a source of disquiet for Clapton, as witnessed by his 1998 song "My Father's Eyes". A Montreal journalist named Michael Woloschuk researched Canadian Armed Forces service records and tracked down members of Fryer's family, and finally pieced together the story. He learned that Clapton's father was Edward Walter Fryer, born 1920, in Montreal and died in Newmarket, Ontario. Fryer was a musician (piano and saxophone) and a lifelong drifter who was married several times, had several children, and apparently never knew that he was the father of Eric Clapton. Clapton thanked Woloschuk in an encounter at Macdonald Cartier Airport, in Ottawa, Canada.

In February 2008 Clapton performed with his long-time friend Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden and guested on his recorded single, "Dirty City", on Winwood's album ''Nine Lives''. The two former Blind Faith bandmates met again for a series of 14 concerts throughout the United States in June 2009.

Clapton's 2008 Summer Tour began on at the Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa Bay, Florida, and then moved to Canada, Ireland, England, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Monaco. On 2008, he headlined Saturday night for Hard Rock Calling 2008 in London's Hyde Park (previously Hyde Park Calling) with support from Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. In September 2008 Clapton performed at a private charity fundraiser for The Countryside Alliance at Floridita in Soho, London, that included such guests as the London Mayor Boris Johnson.

In March 2009, the Allman Brothers Band (amongst many notable guests) celebrated their 40th year, dedicating their string of concerts to the late Duane Allman on their annual run at the Beacon Theatre. Eric Clapton was one of the performers, with drummer Butch Trucks remarking that the performance was not the typical Allman Brothers experience, given the number and musical styles of the guests who were invited to perform. Songs like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" were punctuated with others, including "The Weight", with Levon Helm; Johnny Winter sitting in on Hendrix's "Red House"; and "Layla". On 2009 Clapton appeared as a featured guest at the Royal Albert Hall, playing "Further on Up the Road" with Joe Bonamassa.

Clapton was scheduled to be one of the performers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert in Madison Square Garden on 2009, but cancelled due to gallstone surgery. Van Morrison (who also cancelled) said in an interview that he and Clapton were to do a "couple of songs", but that they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".

2010s

Clapton performed a two-night show with Jeff Beck at London's O2 Arena on 2010. The two former Yardbirds extended their 2010 tour with stops at Madison Square Garden, the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and the Bell Centre in Montreal. Clapton performed a series of concerts in 11 cities throughout the United States from to 2010, including Roger Daltrey as opening act. His third European tour with Steve Winwood began on and ended , including Tom Norris as opening act. He then began a short North American tour lasting from to , starting with his third Crossroads Guitar Festival on in Bridgeview, Illinois. Clapton released a new studio album, ''Clapton'', on 2010 in the United Kingdom and 28 September 2010 in the United States. On 2010, Clapton performed as guest on the Prince's Trust rock gala held at the Royal Albert Hall, supported by the house band for the evening, which included Jools Holland, Midge Ure and Mark King.

On 24 June 2011 Clapton was in concert with Pino Daniele in Cava de' Tirreni stadium, Italy, with an audience of 15,000 people before performing a series of concerts in South America from 6 to 16 October 2011. He spent the November and December 2011 touring Japan with Steve Winwood, playing 13 shows in various cities throughout the country.

Influences

Clapton cites Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Hubert Sumlin as guitar playing influences. Robert Johnson has influenced Clapton the most profoundly. In 2004 Clapton released CDs and DVDs entitled ''Sessions for Robert Johnson'', featuring Clapton covering Robert Johnson songs using electric and acoustic guitars.

Clapton co-authored with others the book ''Discovering Robert Johnson'', in which Clapton said Johnson was

"...the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice, really. ... it seemed to echo something I had always felt."

Legacy

Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. He ranked second in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in ''Gibson's'' ''Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.''

Guitarists influenced by Clapton include Richie Sambora, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Lenny Kravitz, Slash, Orianthi, Brad Paisley, Jonny Buckland, Joe Don Rooney, Alex Lifeson, Jonny Lang, John Mayer, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Davy Knowles, and George Harrison.

Guitars

Clapton's choice of electric guitars has been as notable as the man himself; alongside Hank Marvin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, Clapton exerted a crucial and widespread influence in popularising particular models of electric guitar. With the Yardbirds, Clapton played a Fender Telecaster, a Fender Jazzmaster, a double-cutaway Gretsch 6120, and a 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335. He became exclusively a Gibson player for a period beginning in mid-1965, when he purchased a used sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitar from a guitar store in London. Clapton commented on the slim profile of the neck, which would indicate it was a 1960 model.

Early during his stint in Cream, Clapton's first Les Paul Standard was stolen. He continued to play Les Pauls exclusively with Cream (one bought from Andy Summers was almost identical to the stolen guitar) until 1967, when he acquired his most famous guitar in this period, a 1964 Gibson SG. Just before Cream's first U.S. appearance in 1967, Clapton's SG, Bruce's Fender VI, and Baker's drum head were all repainted in psychedelic designs created by the visual art collective known as The Fool. In 1968 Clapton bought a Gibson Firebird and started using the 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335 again. The aforementioned 1964 ES-335 had a storied career. Clapton used it at the last Cream show in November 1968 as well as with Blind Faith, played it sparingly for slide pieces in the 1970s, used it on "Hard Times" from ''Journeyman'', the Hyde Park live concert of 1996, and the ''From the Cradle'' sessions and tour of 1994–95. It was sold for $847,500 at a 2004 auction. Gibson produced a limited run of 250 "Crossroads 335" replicas. The 335 was only the second electric guitar Clapton bought.

In July 1968 Clapton gave George Harrison a 1957 'goldtop' Gibson Les Paul that been refinished with a red colour. The following September, Clapton played the guitar on the Beatles' studio recording of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". His SG found its way into the hands of George Harrison's friend Jackie Lomax, who subsequently sold it to musician Todd Rundgren for US$500 in 1972. Rundgren restored the guitar and nicknamed it "Sunny", after "Sunshine of Your Love". He retained it until 2000, when he sold it at an auction for US$150,000. At the 1969 Blind Faith concert in Hyde Park, London Clapton played a Fender Custom Telecaster, which was fitted with "Brownie"s neck.

In late 1969 Clapton made the switch to the Fender Stratocaster. "I had a lot of influences when I took up the Strat. First there was Buddy Holly, and Buddy Guy. Hank Marvin was the first well known person over here in England who was using one, but that wasn't really my kind of music. Steve Winwood had so much credibility, and when he started playing one, I thought, oh, if he can do it, I can do it." The first—used during the recording of ''Eric Clapton''—was "Brownie", which in 1974 became the backup to the most famous of all Clapton's guitars, "Blackie". In November 1970 Eric bought six Fender Stratocasters from the Sho-bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour with the Dominos. He gave one each to George Harrison, Steve Winwood, and Pete Townshend.

Clapton assembled the best components of the remaining three to create "Blackie", which was his favourite stage guitar until its retirement in 1985. It was first played live 1973 at the Rainbow Concert. Clapton called the 1956/57 Strat a "mongrel". On 2004, Clapton sold "Blackie" at Christie's Auction House, New York, for $959,500 to raise funds for his Crossroads Centre for drug and alcohol addictions. "Brownie" is now on display at the Experience Music Project. The Fender Custom Shop has since produced a limited run of 275 'Blackie' replicas, correct in every detail right down to the 'Duck Brothers' flight case, and artificially aged using Fender's 'Relic' process to simulate years of hard wear. One was presented to Eric upon the model's release and was used for three numbers during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 2006.

In 1981 Clapton gave his signed Fender Lead II guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe to designate his favourite bar stool. Pete Townshend also donated his own Gibson Les Paul guitar, with a note attached: "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete."

In 1988 Fender honoured Clapton with the introduction of his signature Eric Clapton Stratocaster. These were the first two artist models in the Stratocaster range. Since then, the artist series has grown to include models inspired by Clapton's contemporaries such as Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and by those who have influenced him, such as Buddy Guy. Clapton uses Ernie Ball Slinky and Super Slinky strings. Clapton has been honoured with several signature-model 000-sized acoustic guitars made by the American firm of C.F. Martin & Company. The first, of these, introduced in 1995, was a limited edition 000-42EC Eric Clapton signature model with a production run of 461. As of December 2007, Martin had produced seven EC signature models. His 1939 000-42 Martin that he played on the ''Unplugged'' album sold for $791,500 at auction. Clapton plays a custom 000-ECHF Martin these days.

In 1999, Clapton auctioned off some of his guitar collection to raise more than for continuing support of the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which he founded in 1997. The Crossroads Centre is a treatment base for addictive disorders such as drugs and alcohol. In 2004 Clapton organised and participated in the Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit the Centre. A second guitar auction, including the "Cream" of Clapton's collection – as well as guitars donated by famous friends – was held on 2004. His Lowden acoustic guitar sold for $41,825. The revenue garnered by this auction at Christie's was US $7,438,624.

In 2010 Eric Clapton announced that he would be auctioning off over 150 items at a New York auction in 2011. Proceeds will benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua. Items include Clapton's guitar from the Cream reunion tour in 2005, speaker cabinets used in the early 1970s from his days with Derek and the Dominoes, and some guitars from Jeff Beck, J.J. Cale, and Joe Bonamassa. In March 2011 Clapton raised more than $2.15 million dollars when he auctioned off key items, including a 1984 Gibson hollow body guitar, a Gianni Versace suit from his 1990 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, and a replica of the famous Fender Stratocaster known as "Blackie", which fetched more than $30,000. All proceeds from the auction were donated to Clapton's Crossroads drug and rehabilitation centre in Antigua.

The "woman tone" is the informal term used by Clapton to refer to his distinctive mid- to late-1960s electric guitar sound, created using his Gibson SG solid body guitar (with Humbucker pick-ups) and a Marshall tube amplifier. It is an overdriven sound that is articulate yet thick. It is characterised by being quite distorted (or even achieved with a fuzz) but muted, in contrast to the bright and twangy distortion that most guitarists were using at the time. Many players have tried to duplicate it, usually without success, in part because Clapton's playing technique had a lot to do with the tone.

Among the techniques used to replicate Clapton's sound is a technique by which the amplifier's volume is turned up to full, while the guitar's tone knob is turned down to zero or one.

Perhaps the best examples of the "woman tone" are Clapton's famous riff and solo from Cream's 1967 hit "Sunshine of Your Love". Clapton has explained that he obtained the tone with his Gibson's tone control rolled all the way down, switching to the neck pick-up (closest to the fretboard) and the volume all the way up, with his distortion turned all the way up. The treble, mids and bass controls on the amplifier were also maxed out. Some versions of the "woman tone" may also have involved strategic positioning of Clapton's wah-wah pedal.

Other media appearances

Clapton frequently appears as a guest on the albums of other musicians. For example, he is credited on Dire Straitss ''Brothers in Arms'' album, as he lent Mark Knopfler one of his guitars. He played lead guitar and synthesiser on ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'', Roger Waters' debut solo album. Other media appearances include the Toots & the Maytals album ''True Love'', where he played guitar on the track "Pressure Drop". He can also be heard at the beginning of Frank Zappa's album, ''We're Only in It for the Money'', repeating the phrase, "Are you hung up?" over and over again. In 1985, Clapton appeared on the charity concert Live Aid in Philadelphia with Phil Collins, Tim Renwick, Chris Stainton, Jamie Oldaker, Marcy Levy, Shaun Murphy, and Donald 'Duck' Dunn. In 1988 he played with Dire Straits and Elton John at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium and the Prince's Trust rock gala at the Royal Albert Hall. On 1990, Dire Straits, Clapton, and Elton John made a guest appearance in the Nordoff-Robbins charity show held at Knebworth. In 1991 Clapton was featured on Richie Sambora's album, ''Stranger In This Town'', in a song dedicated to him, called "Mr. Bluesman". He contributed guitar and vocals to "Runaway Train", a duet with Elton John on the latter's ''The One'' album the following year.

On 12 September 1996 Clapton played a party for Armani at New York City's Lexington Armory with Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East, and Steve Gadd. Sheryl Crow appeared on one number, performing "Tearing Us Apart", a track from ''August'', which was first performed by Tina Turner during the Prince's Trust All-Star Rock show in 1986. It was Clapton's sole US appearance that year, following the open-air concert held at Hyde Park. The concert was taped and the footage was released both on VHS video cassette and later, on DVD.

Clapton was featured in the movie version of ''Tommy'', the first full length rock opera, written by The Who. The movie version gave Clapton a cameo appearance as The Preacher, performing Sonny Boy Williamson's song, "Eyesight to the Blind". He appeared in ''Blues Brothers 2000'' as one of the Louisiana Gator Boys. In addition to being in the band, he had a small speaking role. Clapton has appeared in an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. In March 2007 Clapton appeared in an advertisement for RealNetwork's Rhapsody online music service. In 2010 Clapton started appearing as a spokesman for T-Mobile, advertising their MyTouch Fender cell phone.

Eric Clapton was compared to God's image in the episode "Holy Crap!" of season two of ''That '70s Show'' when characters Eric Forman and Steven Hyde are asked by their minister to draw a picture of God.

Political views and advocacy

Clapton is a supporter of the Countryside Alliance, he has played in concerts to raise funds for the organisation and he publicly opposed the Labour Party’s ban on fox hunting. A spokesperson for Clapton said, "Eric supports the Countryside Alliance. He doesn't hunt himself, but does enjoy rural pursuits such as fishing and shooting. He supports the Alliance's pursuit to scrap the ban on the basis that he doesn't agree with the state's interference with people's private pursuits."

Controversy over remarks on immigration

On 5 August 1976 Clapton provoked an uproar and lingering controversy when he spoke out against increasing immigration during a concert in Birmingham. Visibly intoxicated, Clapton voiced his support of controversial political candidate Enoch Powell, and announced on stage that Britain was in danger of becoming a "black colony". Clapton was quoted as saying, "I think Enoch's right ... we should send them all back. Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!" The latter phrase was at the time a British National Front slogan. Clapton continued:

"I used to be into dope, now I’m into racism. It’s much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded and Enoch will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking (indecipherable) don’t belong here, we don’t want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don’t want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don’t want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country, what is happening to us, for fuck's sake? We need to vote for Enoch Powell, he’s a great man, speaking truth. Vote for Enoch, he’s our man, he’s on our side, he’ll look after us. I want all of you here to vote for Enoch, support him, he’s on our side. Enoch for Prime Minister! Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!"

This incident, along with some explicitly pro-fascism remarks made around the same time by David Bowie as well as uses of Nazi-related imagery by Sid Vicious and Siouxsie Sioux, were the main catalysts for the creation of Rock Against Racism, which occurred on 1978.

In response to the comments, rock photographer Red Saunders and others published an open letter in ''NME'', ''Melody Maker'', ''Sounds'', and the ''Socialist Worker''. It read "Come on Eric... Own up. Half your music is black. You're rock music's biggest colonist". It concluded, "P.S. Who shot the Sheriff, Eric? It sure as hell wasn't you!"

In an interview from October 1976 with ''Sounds'' magazine, Clapton remarked, "I thought it was quite funny actually. I don't know much about politics. I don't even know if it would be good or bad for him to get in. I don't even know who the Prime Minister is now. I just don't know what came over me that night. It must have been something that happened in the day but it came out in this garbled thing... I thought the whole thing was like Monty Python. There's this rock group playing on-stage and the singer starts talking about politics. It's so stupid. Those people who paid their money sittin' listening to this madman dribbling on and the band meanwhile getting fidgety thinking 'oh dear'."

In a 2004 interview with ''Uncut'', Clapton referred to Powell as "outrageously brave", and stated that his "feeling about this has not changed", because the UK is still "... inviting people in as cheap labour and then putting them in ghettos." In 2004 Clapton told an interviewer for ''Scotland on Sunday'', "There's no way I could be a racist. It would make no sense". In his 2007 autobiography, Clapton called himself "deliberately oblivious to it all" and wrote, "I had never really understood or been directly affected by racial conflict ... when I listened to music, I was disinterested in where the players came from or what colour their skin was. Interesting, then, that 10 years later, I would be labelled a racist ... Since then, I have learnt to keep my opinions to myself. Of course, it might also have had something to do with the fact that Pattie had just been leered at by a member of the Saudi royal family." In a December 2007 interview with Melvyn Bragg on ''The South Bank Show'', Clapton reiterated his support for Enoch Powell and again denied that Powell's views were "racist".

In 2008, he donated a song to Aid Still Required's CD to assist with the restoration of the devastation done to Southeast Asia from the 2004 Tsunami.

Wealth and assets

In 2009 ''Surrey Life Magazine'' ranked Eric Clapton as number 17 in their list of richest Surrey residents, estimating Clapton's fortune at £120 million in assets. This was a compilation of property and income which include a £9 million yacht, "Va Bene" (previously owned by ''F1 Racing'' magazine's Bernie Ecclestone), his back music catalogue, his touring income, and his Marshbrook holding company, which had earned him £110 million since 1989.

Awards and honours

Year	! Award / Recognition
		*Presented the Silver Clef Award from Princess Michael of Kent for outstanding contribution to British music.
		*Presented with BAFTA for Best Original Television Music for Score of ''Edge of Darkness'' with Michael Kamen.
		*"Tears In Heaven" won three Grammy awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Male Pop Vocal Performance. Clapton also won Album of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance for ''Unplugged'' and Best Rock Song for "Layla".
		Order of the British Empire>OBE for services to music.
		*Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time, this time as a solo artist. He was earlier inducted as a member of the bands Cream and The Yardbirds.
		CBE, receiving the award from the Anne, Princess Royal>Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace as part of the New Year's Honours list.
		*Awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (as a member of Cream)

Football

In 1982 he performed a concert before West Bromwich Albion player John Wile's testimonial game at the Hawthorns, and it is often reported by various sources that Clapton (despite being from London more than 100 miles away) is an Albion supporter. Credence for this notion can be taken from the cover pictures to the "Backless" solo album, where he is seen on the front cover to be wearing a football scarf; the rear cover photograph reveals the slogan "ALBION" on the scarf. It has been reported that the club rejected his offer to invest cash in the club around this time, and that he has since expressed more of an interest in Chelsea.

Clapton's music in film and TV

''Mean Streets'' (1973) – "I Looked Away"

''Private Lessons (1981 film)'' ''(1981) - Next Time You See Her''

''Purple Haze ''(1983) – "I Feel Free"

''The Hit'' (1984) – Score

''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989) – Four songs over the course of the show's five seasons: "Wonderful Tonight", "Knock On Wood", "She's Waiting", and "Layla"

''Back to the Future'' (1985) – "Heaven Is One Step Away"

''Edge of Darkness'' (1985) – Soundtrack

''The Color of Money'' (1986) – "It's In The Way That You Use It"

''SpaceCamp'' (1986 film) – "Forever Man" plays when Tate Donovan's character arrives at the Space Camp

The German car manufacturer Opel and Vauxhall in the UK used the guitar riff of Clapton's "Layla" in its advertising campaign throughout in 1987–95.

''Lethal Weapon'' (1987) – Soundtrack with Michael Kamen

''Lethal Weapon 2'' (1989) – "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"

''Goodfellas'' (1990) – "Layla" and "Sunshine of Your Love"

''Rush'' (1991) – Clapton wrote the score

''Wayne's World'' (1992) – "Loving your Loving"

''Peter's Friends'' (1992) – "Give Me Strength"

''Lethal Weapon 3'' (1992) – Clapton contributed to the score and co-wrote and co-performed the song "It's Probably Me" with Sting and "Runaway Train" with Elton John.

''True Lies'' (1994) – "Sunshine of Your Love"

''The Simpsons'' episode "Mother Simpson" (1995) – "Sunshine of Your Love"

''Twister'' (1996) – "Motherless Child"

''Phenomenon'' (1996) – "Change the World"

''The Van'' (1996) – Soundtrack

''Happy Gilmore'' (1996) – "Wonderful Tonight"

''Patch Adams'' (1998) – "Let It Rain"

''Lethal Weapon 4'' (1998) – "Pilgrim"

''City of Angels'' (1998) – "Further On Up The Road"

''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' episodes "Band Candy" and "Forever" (1998) – "Tales of Brave Ulysses"

''Runaway Bride'' (1999) – "Blue Eyes Blue"

''The Story of Us'' (1999) – "(I) Get Lost" (featured multiple times)

''Friends'' episode "The One with the Proposal, Part 2" (2000) – "Wonderful Tonight"

''Dancing At The Blue Iguana'' (2000) – "River of Tears"

''A Knight's Tale'' (2001) – "Further On Up The Road"

''Blow'' (2001) – "Strange Brew"

''Friends'' episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two" (2002) – "River of Tears"

''Futurama'' episode "The 30% Iron Chef" (2002) – "Sunshine of Your Love"

''The Sopranos'' episode "Whitecaps" (2002) – Tony Soprano is seen listening to "Layla" in his Suburban.

''School Of Rock'' (2003) – "Sunshine of Your Love"

''Starsky & Hutch'' (2004) – "Cocaine"

''Anger Management'' (2004) – "Strange Brew"

''Fahrenheit 9/11'' (2004) – "Cocaine"

''Bad News Bears'' (2005) – "Cocaine"

''Lords of Dogtown'' (2005) – "Strange Brew"

''Lord of War'' (2005) – "Cocaine"

''United States of Tara'' episode – "Cocaine"

''Community'' episode - "Layla"

''The Good Guys'' Episode Silvio's Way – "Layla"

''Due Date'' (2010) – "White Room"

''Shameless (U.S. TV series)'' (2011) - "White Room"

Discography

References

Further reading

On Eric Clapton's career:

* Robin Bextor, ''Eric Clapton: Now & Then'', Carlton Books, 2006, 144 pp.

* Eric Clapton, ''Clapton, The Autobiography'', 2007 and 2008, Broadway Books, 352 pp. / Arrow, 400 pages / Century, 384 pp.

* Eric Clapton, Derek Taylor and Peter Blake, ''24 Nights'', Genesis Publications, 2 volumes, 1992, 198 and 64 pp. Eric Clapton's signed limited edition books, in a Solander box with 2 live CD

* Ray Coleman, ''Clapton!: The Authorized Biography'', Warner Books, 368 pp, or Futura, 336 pages, 1986; originally publ. as "Survivor: The Authorized Biography", Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985, 300 pp.

* Geoffrey Giuliano, Brenda Giuliano and Deborah Lynn Black, ''The Illustrated Eric Clapton'', Sunburst Books, 1994, 96 pp.

* George Harrison, Eric Clapton & al, ''Live in Japan: A celebration of George Harrison’s ‘Rock Legends’ Tour with Eric Clapton Band'', Genesis Publications, 1993, 274 pp. George Harrison's signed limited black leather edition book, in a box with 2 live CD.

* Christopher Hjort w/ a foreword by John Mayall, ''Strange brew: Eric Clapton and the British Blues Boom, 1965–1970'', Jawbone, 2007, 352 pp.

* John Pidgeon, ''Eric Clapton: A Biography'', Panther, 1976, ... pages; rev. & upd. Vermilion, 1985 or 1987, 123 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Eric Clapton: The Complete Recording Sessions 1963–1992'', Blandford or St. Martin’s Press, 1993, 192 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Slowhand: The Life & Music of Eric Clapton'', Octopus or Harmony, 1991, 176 pp; upd. ed. Crown, 1993, 192 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Eric Clapton in His Own Words'', Omnibus Press, 1993, 96 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Eric Clapton: The New Visual Documentary'', Omnibus Press, 1990, 128 pp.; rev. ed., 1994, ...pp.; originally publ. as ''Eric Clapton: A Visual Documentary, 1986, ... pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Clapton: The Complete Chronicle'', Pyramid, 1991, 176 pp. / Mitchell Beazley 1993, 192 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Eric Clapton: The Man, the Music and the Memorabilia'', Paper Tiger-Dragon’s World, 1994, 226 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''The Complete Guide to the Music of Eric Clapton'', Omnibus Press, 1995, 152 pp. CD format; rev. ed., 2005, 128 pp.

* Marc Roberty, ''Eric Clapton'', CD Books, Orion, 1994, ...pp or MBS (Miami), 1996, 120 pp. CD format

* Marc Roberty and Chris Welch, ''Eric Clapton: The Illustrated Disco/Biography'', Omnibus Press, 1984, 80 pp. or Beekman (New York), 1990, ...pp.

* Christopher Sandford, ''Clapton: Edge of Darkness'', Victor Gollancz, 1994, 322 pp.

* Michael Schumacher, ''Crossroads: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton'', Hyperion, 1995, 388 pp.; rev. ed, Time Warner p'backs, 1998, 411 pp.; new ed. titled ''Eric Clapton'', Sphere, 2008, 432 pp.

* Harry Shapiro, ''Eric Clapton: Lost in The Blues'', Guinness Books or Muze, 1992, 256 pp.; rev. ed. Da Capo press, 1193, 225 pp.; originally publ. as ''Slowhand: The Story of Eric Clapton'', Proteus Books, 1985, 160 pp.

* Dave Thompson, ''Cream: The World's First Supergroup'', Virgin Books, 2005, 256 pp.; rev., upd. & illustr. ed. titled ''Cream: How Eric Clapton Took the World By Storm'', 2006, 320 pp.

* Steve Turner, ''Conversations with Eric Clapton'', London: Abacus, 1976, 116 pp.

* Fred Weiler, ''Eric Clapton'', Smithmark-Penguin or Bison Books, 1992, ... pp.

* Chris Welch, ''Cream: Stange Brew'', Castle Communications or Sanctuary or Penguin, 1994, 176 pp.; Backbeat Books, 2000, 192 pp.

''About Clapton's playing and sound'':

External links

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at Bucharest (review)

An Interview with Eric Clapton guitar technician Lee Dickson

Article on Bluesbreakers Les Paul

Gibson article on obtaining the "Woman Tone"

Review: Eric Clapton at Floridita

Eric Clapton FAQ

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Levon Helm
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Mark Lavon Helm
Birth date	May 26, 1940
birth place	Marvell, Arkansas, United States
Instrument	Vocals, drums, mandolin, guitar, bass, harmonica
Genre	Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, rock, blues, country, folk
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, actor, producer
Years active	1957–present
Label	Capitol, Mobile Fidelity, MCA, Breeze Hill, Levon |Helm Studios, ABC, Vanguard, Roulette Records
Associated acts	The Band, Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road, Levon Helm and The RCO All-Stars, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
Website	}}

Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (born May 26, 1940), is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band. Helm is known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of The Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", "Ophelia" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". His 2007 comeback album ''Dirt Farmer'' earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2010, ''Electric Dirt'', his 2009 follow-up to ''Dirt Farmer'', won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, an inaugural category in 2010.

Biography

Early years

Helm was born in Elaine, Arkansas, and grew up in Turkey Scratch, a hamlet west of Helena, Arkansas, the son of Nell and Diamond Helm, who were cotton farmers and also great lovers of music who encouraged their children to play and sing. Young Lavon (as he was christened) began playing the guitar at the age of eight and also played drums during his formative years. He saw Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys at the age of six and decided then and there to become a musician.

Arkansas in the 1940s and 50s was at the confluence of a variety of musical styles—blues, country and R&B;—that later became known as rock and roll. Helm was influenced by all these styles listening to the Grand Ole Opry on radio station WSM and R&B; on radio station WLAC out of Nashville, Tennessee. He also saw traveling shows such as F.S. Walcott's Rabbit's Foot Minstrels that featured top African-American artists of the time.

Another early influence on Helm was the work of harmonica, guitarist and singer Sonny Boy Williamson II, who played blues and early R&B; on the King Biscuit Time radio show on KFFA in Helena and performed regularly in Marvell with blues guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood. In his 1993 autobiography, ''This Wheel's on Fire - Levon Helm and the Story of The Band'', Helm describes watching Williamson's drummer, James "Peck" Curtis, intently during a live performance in the early 1950s and later imitating this R&B; drumming style. Helm established his first band, The Jungle Bush Beaters, while in high school.

Helm also witnessed some of the earliest performances by southern country, blues and rockabilly artists such as Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, Bo Diddley and a fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins. At age 17, Helm began playing in clubs and bars around Helena.

The Hawks

After graduating from high school, Helm was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins' band, The Hawks, who were a popular bar and club act across the South and also in Canada, where rockabilly acts were very popular. Soon after Helm joined The Hawks, they moved to Toronto, Canada, where, in 1959, they signed with Roulette Records and released several singles, including a few hits.

Helm reports in his biography, ''This Wheel's on Fire'', that fellow Hawks band members had difficulty pronouncing "Lavon" correctly, and started calling him "Levon" () because it was easier.

In the early 1960s Helm and Hawkins recruited an all-Canadian lineup of musicians: guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson- although all the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. In 1963, the band parted ways with Hawkins and started touring under the name "Levon and The Hawks," and later as "The Canadian Squires" before finally changing back to "The Hawks." They recorded two singles, but remained mostly a popular touring bar band in Texas, Arkansas, Canada and on the East Coast where they found regular summer club gigs on the New Jersey shore.

By the mid 1960s, Bob Dylan was interested in performing electric rock music and asked The Hawks to be his backing band. Disheartened by fans' negative response to Dylan's new sound, Helm returned to Arkansas for what turned out to be a two-year layoff, being replaced by Mickey Jones. During this period Helm ended up working on off-shore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico until he was asked to rejoin the band. After the Hawks toured Europe as Dylan's backing band, they followed Dylan to reside in the area in and around Woodstock, New York and remained under salary to him. There they recorded a large volume of demo and practice tapes, playing almost daily with Dylan, who had completely withdrawn from public life the previous year. These recordings were widely bootlegged and the best tracks were officially released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes double album. The songs and themes developed during this period played a crucial role in the group's future direction and style. The Hawks members began writing their own songs. Rick Danko and Richard Manuel also shared writing credits with Dylan on a few songs. In 1967, Danko called Helm and invited him to return to the band in Woodstock.

The Band

Helm returned to the group, which by then was often referred to simply as "the band." While contemplating a recording contract Helm had dubbed the band as "The Crackers." However, when Robertson and Albert Grossman worked out the contracts, the group's name was cited as "The Band." Under these contracts, The Band was contracted to Grossman, who in turn contracted their services to Capitol Records. The arrangement allowed The Band to release recordings on other labels only if the work was done in support of Dylan. This allowed The Band to play on Dylan's Planet Waves album and on The Last Waltz, both non-Capitol releases. They recorded the album ''Music From Big Pink'', which catapulted them into stardom.

On ''Big Pink'', Manuel was the most prominent vocalist and Helm sang mainly backup, with the exception of "The Weight," but as Manuel's health deteriorated and Robbie Robertson's songwriting increasingly looked south for influence and direction, subsequent albums relied more and more on Helm's vocals, alone or in harmony with Danko. Helm played drums for perhaps 85% of The Band's songs, including most of those for which he sang lead. On the others, Manuel switched to drums while Helm played mandolin or, on rare occasion, guitar or bass. The entire group was multi-instrumental and for certain songs the group featured Manuel on drums, Helm on mandolin (as on "Evangeline"), rhythm guitar (the 12-string guitar backdrop to "Daniel and the Sacred Harp" is by Helm), or bass (while Danko played fiddle).

Helm remained with The Band until their 1976 farewell performance, ''The Last Waltz'', which was recorded in a documentary film by Martin Scorsese. Although many now know Helm through his appearance in the concert film – a performance remarkable for the fact that Helm's vocal tracks appear substantially as he sang them during a grueling concert – he repudiated his involvement with the film shortly after the final scenes were shot and, in his autobiography, offers scathing criticisms of the film and of his former bandmate, Robertson, who produced it.

Solo artist and the reformed Band

With the breakup of The Band in its original form, Helm began working on a solo album ''Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars'', which was followed soon thereafter by ''Levon Helm''. He recorded solo albums in 1980 and 1982 entitled ''American Son'' and (once again) ''Levon Helm''. Helm also participated in Paul Kennerley's 1980 country music concept album, ''The Legend of Jesse James'', singing the role of Jesse James alongside Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Albert Lee.

In 1983, The Band reunited without Robbie Robertson, with Jim Weider on guitar. But then Manuel committed suicide while on tour in 1986. Helm, Danko and Hudson continued in The Band, releasing the album ''Jericho'' in 1993 and ''High on the Hog'' in 1996. The final album from The Band was the 30th anniversary album, ''Jubilation'', released in 1998.

In 1989, Helm and Rick Danko toured with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band. Other musicians in the band included Joe Walsh, Dr. John, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Clarence Clemons and Jim Keltner. Garth Hudson guested on accordion on certain dates. Levon played drums, harmonica and sang "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek" each night.

Helm published an autobiography entitled ''This Wheel's on Fire'' in 1993.

Helm performed with Rick Danko and Garth Hudson as The Band in 1990 at Roger Waters' Epic The Wall Live In Berlin concert to an estimated 300,000 to half a million people.

The Midnight Ramble

Helm's performance career in the 2000s has revolved mainly around the Midnight Ramble at his home and studio, "the Barn," in Woodstock, New York. These concerts, featuring Helm and a variety of musical guests, have allowed Helm to raise money for medical bills and to resume performing after a nearly career-ending bout with cancer.

Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 1990s after suffering hoarseness. Advised to undergo laryngectomy, Helm instead underwent an arduous regimen of radiation treatments at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Although the tumor was successfully removed, his vocal cords were damaged, and his clear, powerful tenor voice was replaced by a quiet rasp. Initially Helm only played drums and relied on guest vocalists at the Rambles, but Helm's singing voice grew stronger and on January 10, 2004, he sang for the first time at one of his Ramble Sessions. In 2007, during production of ''Dirt Farmer'', he estimated that his singing voice was 80% recovered.

The Levon Helm Band features his daughter Amy Helm, along with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jimmy Weider (the Band's last guitarist), Jimmy Vivino, Mike Merritt, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Steven Bernstein, Howard Johnson (tuba player in the horn section that played on The Band's "Rock of Ages" and "The Last Waltz" live albums), Byron Isaacs, and blues harmonica player Little Sammy Davis. He hosts Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock, New York that are open to the public.

The Midnight Ramble is an outgrowth of an idea Helm explained to Martin Scorsese in ''The Last Waltz.'' Earlier in the 20th century, Helm explained, traveling medicine shows and music shows such as F.S. Walcott Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, featuring African-American blues singers and dancers, would put on titillating performances in rural areas. This was also turned into a song by the Band, "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show," with the name altered so the lyric was easier to sing.

"After the finale, they'd have the midnight ramble," Helm told Scorsese. With young children off the premises, the show resumed: "The songs would get a little bit juicier. The jokes would get a little funnier and the prettiest dancer would really get down and shake it a few times. A lot of the rock and roll duck walks and moves came from that."

Artists who have performed at the Rambles include Helm's former bandmate Garth Hudson, as well as Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Chris Robinson, Allen Toussaint, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and Jimmy Vivino of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien's" The Max Weinberg 7. Other performers have included Sean Costello, The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Justin Townes Earle, Bow Thayer, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Ricki Lee Jones, Kate Taylor, Ollabelle, The Holmes Brothers, Catherine Russell, Norah Jones, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Phil Lesh (along with his sons Grahame and Brian), Hot Tuna (although Jorma Kaukonen introduced the group as "The Secret Squirrels"), MichaelAngelo D'Arrigo with various members of the Sistine Chapel, Johnny Johnson, Ithalia, and David Bromberg.

For drumming, in recent years Helm has switched to the matched grip and adopted a less busy, greatly simplified style, as opposed to his years with The Band when he played with the traditional grip.

Helm has been touring every year for the last few years, generally on the northeastern part of the American mainland, traveling to shows by private bus. Since 2007, Helm has performed in larger venues including the Beacon Theater in New York. Dr. John and Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band, Govt. Mule) and Garth Hudson played at the concerts as well along with several other guests. At a show in Vancouver, Canada, Elvis Costello joined to sing "Tears of Rage." The Alexis P. Suter Band has been an opening act. Helm is a favorite of Don Imus and has been frequently featured on ''Imus in the Morning.'' In the Summer of 2009 it was reported that a reality television series centering around the Midnight Ramble was in the works.

''Dirt Farmer'' and After

Fall 2007 saw the release of ''Dirt Farmer'', Helm's first studio solo album since 1982. Dedicated to Helm's parents and co-produced by his daughter Amy, the album combines traditional tunes Levon recalled from his youth with newer songs (by Steve Earle, Paul Kennerley and others) which flow from similar historical streams.

The album was released to almost immediate critical acclaim, and earned him a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk Album category for 2007.

Helm declined to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony, instead holding a "Midnight Gramble" and celebrating the birth of his grandson, named Lavon (Lee) Henry Collins in honor of Helm, whose birth name is Mark Lavon Helm and who was called by his middle name since a young age.

In 2008 Levon Helm performed at Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Music Festival in Hunter, NY. Helm played alongside Warren Haynes on the last day of the three-day festival. Levon also joined Bob Weir & Ratdog on stage as they closed out the festival. Levon Helm performed to great acclaim at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, held June 12–15.

Helm drummed on a couple of tracks for Jorma Kaukonen's February, 2009 album ''River of Time'', recorded at the Levon Helm studio.

Helm released ''Electric Dirt'' on his own label on June 30, 2009. The album won a best album Grammy for the newly created Americana category in 2010. He performed on the David Letterman show on July 9, 2009, touring, in a supporting role, with the Black Crowes during the same year.

In March, 2010, a documentary on Helm's day-to-day life titled ''Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm'' was released. Directed by Jacob Hatley, it made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and went on to screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June.

On May 11, 2011, the ''Ramble at the Ryman'' live album was released by Welk Records. It was recorded during a show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium in 2008 and features Levon Helm' s band (led by multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell and vocalist and mandolinist Amy Helm) playing The Band's well-known songs as well as Helm's solo material.

As an actor

Helm has also had a considerable career as an actor. He has appeared in the movies ''The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'', ''Shooter'', ''Smooth Talk'', ''The Right Stuff'', ''The Dollmaker'', ''Feeling Minnesota, End of the Line'', ''In the Electric Mist'', ''Fire Down Below'', ''Staying Together'' and portrayed Loretta Lynn's father in the film ''Coal Miner's Daughter'' opposite Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones.

Tributes

Marc Cohn wrote the song "Listening to Levon" in 2007. "The Man Behind the Drums," written by Robert Earl Keen and Bill Whitbeck, appeared on Keen's 2009 album ''The Rose Hotel.''

Discography

With The Band

1968 ''Music from Big Pink''

1969 ''The Band''

1970 ''Stage Fright''

1971 ''Cahoots''

1972 ''Rock of Ages'' (live concert album)

1973 ''Moondog Matinee'' (collection of covers)

1974 ''Before the Flood'' (live album with The Band and Bob Dylan)

1975 ''Northern Lights - Southern Cross''

1975 ''The Basement Tapes'' (with Bob Dylan)

1977 ''Islands''

1978 ''The Last Waltz'' (live concert album with additional studio material)

1993 ''Jericho''

1996 ''High on the Hog''

1998 ''Jubilation''

Selected solo and other efforts

1977 ''Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars'' (ABC) U.S. #142 1978 ''Levon Helm'' (ABC) U.S. #206

1980 ''American Son'' (MCA)

1982 ''Levon Helm'' (Capitol)

1999 ''The Ties That Bind'' (Raven Records)

2000 ''Souvenir, Vol. 1'' (Breeze Hill) – Levon Helm & The Crowmatix

2005 ''Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume I''

2005 ''Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume II''

2006 ''Levon Helm & the RCO All Stars Live'' (Levon Helm Studios)

2007 ''Dirt Farmer'' (Vanguard), U.S. #102

2009 ''Electric Dirt'' (Dirt Farmer Music), U.S. #36

2011 ''Ramble At The Ryman'' (Vanguard)

References

External links

Levon Helm's Official Site

Levon Helm's biography

[ Allmusic]

Review of Dirt Farmer

RS Editor's Review: Electric Dirt

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:ABC Records artists Category:American autobiographers Category:American country rock musicians Category:American drummers Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:Cancer survivors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:Actors from Arkansas Category:People from Phillips County, Arkansas Category:The Band members Category:Vanguard Records artists

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