Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.

Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, marketing management is one of the major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.

The term ''marketing concept'' holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors.

Further definitions

Marketing is further defined by the AMA as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. The term developed from an original meaning which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services. Seen from a systems point of view, sales process engineering marketing is ''"a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions, whose methods can be improved using a variety of relatively new approaches."''

The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as ''"the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably."'' A different concept is the ''value-based marketing'' which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing is defined as ''"the management process that seeks to maximize returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage."''

Marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry in the past, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programmes. The overall process starts with marketing research and goes through market segmentation, business planning and execution, ending with pre- and post-sales promotional activities. It is also related to many of the creative arts. The marketing literature is also adept at re-inventing itself and its vocabulary according to the times and the culture.

Browne (2010) reveals that supermarkets intensively research and study consumer behaviour, spending millions of dollars. Their aim is to make sure that shoppers leave spending much more than they originally planned. ‘Choice’ examined the theory of trolleyology finding that many shoppers instinctively look to the right when they’re in the supermarket. Supermarkets prey on this biological trait by positioning many expensive impulse buying products to the right of the checkout. These products consist of the latest DVDs, magazines, chocolates, expensive batteries and other tempting products that wouldn’t normally be thought of.

Supermarkets move products around to confuse shoppers, the entry point is another marketing tactic. Consumer psychologist Dr. Paul Harrison (cited in Browne, 2010) states that supermarkets are constantly using different methodologies of selling. One method is performing regular overhauls changing the locations of products all around to break habitual shopping, and break your budget. Harrison also contends that people who are shopping in a counter clockwise direction are likely to spend more money than people shopping in a clockwise direction. Consumer psychologists (cited in Browne, 2010) reported that most people write with their right hand, thus it is a biological trait that people have the tendency of veering to the right when shopping, it is understood that supermarkets capitalize on this fact. Found on the capturing right-hand side are usually appealing products that a shopper might impulsively e.g. an umbrella when the weather is dull.

Evolution of marketing

An orientation, in the marketing context, related to a perception or attitude a firm holds towards its product or service, essentially concerning consumers and end-users. Throughout history, marketing has changed considerably in conjunction with consumer tastes.

Earlier approaches

The marketing orientation evolved from earlier orientations, namely, the production orientation, the product orientation and the selling orientation.

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''Orientation''	''Profit driver''	''Western European timeframe''	''Description''
style="text-align:center;"			A firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service. Thus, this signifies a firm exploiting economies of scale until the minimum efficient scale is reached. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with a good certainty that consumer tastes will not rapidly alter (similar to the sales orientation).
style="text-align:center;"			A firm employing a product orientation is chiefly concerned with the quality of its own product. A firm would also assume that as long as its product was of a high standard, people would buy and consume the product.
			A firm using a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling/promotion of a particular product, and not determining new consumer desires as such. Consequently, this entails simply selling an already existing product, and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible.			Such an orientation may suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes that would diminish demand.
			The 'marketing orientation' is perhaps the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It involves a firm essentially basing its marketing plans around the marketing concept, and thus supplying products to suit new consumer tastes. As an example, a firm would employ market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&D; to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure persons know the product exists.

Contemporary approaches

Recent approaches in marketing include ''relationship marketing'' with focus on the customer, ''business marketing'' or ''industrial marketing'' with focus on an organization or institution and ''social marketing'' with focus on benefits to society. New forms of marketing also use the internet and are therefore called ''internet marketing'' or more generally ''e-marketing'', ''online marketing'', search engine marketing, ''desktop advertising'' or ''affiliate marketing''. It attempts to perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional marketing. It targets its audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to be broad in scope, because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media.

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''Orientation''	''Profit driver''	''Western European timeframe''	''Description''
			Emphasis is placed on the whole relationship between suppliers and customers. The aim is to provide the best possible customer service and build customer loyalty.
			Similar characteristics as marketing orientation but with the added proviso that there will be a curtailment of any harmful activities to society, in either product, production, or selling methods.
			In this context, "branding" is the main company philosophy and marketing is considered an instrument of branding philosophy.

Customer orientation

A firm in the market economy survives by producing goods that persons are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern. Many companies today have a customer focus (or market orientation). This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands. Generally, there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the market change identification approach and the product innovation approach.

In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no reason to spend R&D; funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs.

A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known as ''SIVA'' (Solution, Information, Value, Access). This system is basically the four Ps renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer-centric alternative to the well-known 4Ps supply side model (product, price, placement, promotion) of marketing management.

{| style="margin: 1em auto;" |- | Product | → | Solution |- | Promotion | → | Information |- | Price | → | Value |- | Place | → | Access |}

If any of the 4Ps were problematic or were not in the marketing factor of the business, the business could be in trouble and so other companies may appear in the surroundings of the company, so the consumer demand on its products will decrease.

Some qualifications or caveats for customer focus exist. They do not invalidate or contradict the principle of customer focus; rather, they simply add extra dimensions of awareness and caution to it.

The work of Christensen and colleagues on disruptive technology has produced a theoretical framework that explains the failure of firms not because they were technologically inept (often quite the opposite), but because the value networks in which they profitably operated included customers who could not value a disruptive innovation at the time and capability state of its emergence and thus actively dissuaded the firms from developing it. The lessons drawn from this work include:

Taking customer focus with a grain of salt, treating it as only a subset of one's corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor. This means looking beyond current-state customer focus to predict what customers will be demanding some years in the future, even if they themselves discount the prediction.

Pursuing new markets (thus new value networks) when they are still in a commercially inferior or unattractive state, simply because their potential to grow and intersect with established markets and value networks looks like a likely bet. This may involve buying stakes in the stock of smaller firms, acquiring them outright, or incubating small, financially distinct units within one's organization to compete against them.

Other caveats of customer focus are:

The extent to which what customers ''say'' they want does not match their purchasing decisions. Thus surveys of customers might claim that 70% of a restaurant's customers want healthier choices on the menu, but only 10% of them actually buy the new items once they are offered. This might be acceptable except for the extent to which those items are money-losing propositions for the business, bleeding red ink. A lesson from this type of situation is to be smarter about the true test validity of instruments like surveys. A corollary argument is that "truly understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they understand themselves." Thus one could argue that the principle of customer focus, or being close to the customers, is not violated here—just expanded upon.

The extent to which customers are currently ignorant of what one might argue they ''should'' want—which is dicey because whether it can be acted upon affordably depends on whether or how soon the customers will learn, or be convinced, otherwise. IT hardware and software capabilities and automobile features are examples. Customers who in 1997 said that they would not place any value on internet browsing capability on a mobile phone, or 6% better fuel efficiency in their vehicle, might say something different today, because the value proposition of those opportunities has changed.

Organizational orientation

In this sense, a firm's marketing department is often seen as of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from an organization's marketing department would be used to guide the actions of other departments within the firm. As an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product, or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&D; department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires.

The production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production and promotion of the product. Inter-departmental conflicts may occur, should a firm adhere to the marketing orientation. Production may oppose the installation, support and servicing of new capital stock, which may be needed to manufacture a new product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure, since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.

Herd behavior

''Herd behavior'' in marketing is used to explain the dependencies of customers' mutual behavior. ''The Economist'' reported a recent conference in Rome on the subject of the simulation of adaptive human behavior. It shared mechanisms to increase impulse buying and get people "to buy more by playing on the herd instinct." The basic idea is that people will buy more of products that are seen to be popular, and several feedback mechanisms to get product popularity information to consumers are mentioned, including smart card technology and the use of Radio Frequency Identification Tag technology. A "swarm-moves" model was introduced by a Florida Institute of Technology researcher, which is appealing to supermarkets because it can "increase sales without the need to give people discounts." Other recent studies on the "power of social influence" include an "artificial music market in which some 19,000 people downloaded previously unknown songs" (Columbia University, New York); a Japanese chain of convenience stores which orders its products based on "sales data from department stores and research companies;" a Massachusetts company exploiting knowledge of social networking to improve sales; and online retailers who are increasingly informing consumers about "which products are popular with like-minded consumers" (e.g., Amazon, eBay).

Further orientations

An emerging area of study and practice concerns ''internal marketing'', or how employees are trained and managed to deliver the brand in a way that positively impacts the acquisition and retention of customers, see also ''employer branding''.

''Diffusion of innovations'' research explores how and why people adopt new products, services, and ideas.

With consumers' eroding attention span and willingness to give time to advertising messages, marketers are turning to forms of ''permission marketing'' such as ''branded content'', ''custom media'' and ''reality marketing''.

Marketing research

Marketing research involves conducting research to support marketing activities, and the statistical interpretation of data into information. This information is then used by managers to plan marketing activities, gauge the nature of a firm's marketing environment and attain information from suppliers. Marketing researchers use statistical methods such as quantitative research, qualitative research, hypothesis tests, Chi-squared tests, linear regression, correlations, frequency distributions, poisson distributions, binomial distributions, etc. to interpret their findings and convert data into information. The marketing research process spans a number of stages, including the definition of a problem, development of a research plan, collection and interpretation of data and disseminating information formally in the form of a report. The task of marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information.

A distinction should be made between ''marketing research'' and ''market research''. Market research pertains to research in a given market. As an example, a firm may conduct research in a target market, after selecting a suitable market segment. In contrast, marketing research relates to all research conducted within marketing. Thus, market research is a subset of marketing research.

Marketing environment

Market segmentation

Market segmentation pertains to the division of a market of consumers into persons with similar needs and wants. For instance, Kellogg's cereals, Frosties are marketed to children. Crunchy Nut Cornflakes are marketed to adults. Both goods denote two products which are marketed to two distinct groups of persons, both with similar needs, traits, and wants.

Market segmentation allows for a better allocation of a firm's finite resources. A firm only possesses a certain amount of resources. Accordingly, it must make choices (and incur the related costs) in servicing specific groups of consumers. In this way, the diversified tastes of contemporary Western consumers can be served better. With growing diversity in the tastes of modern consumers, firms are taking note of the benefit of servicing a multiplicity of new markets.

Market segmentation can be defined in terms of the ''STP'' acronym, meaning ''Segment'', ''Target'' and ''Position''.

Types of marketing research

Marketing research, as a sub-set aspect of marketing activities, can be divided into the following parts:

Primary research (also known as field research), which involves the conduction and compilation of research for a specific purpose.

Secondary research (also referred to as desk research), initially conducted for one purpose, but often used to support another purpose or end goal.

By these definitions, an example of primary research would be market research conducted into health foods, which is used ''solely'' to ascertain the needs/wants of the target market for health foods. Secondary research in this case would be research pertaining to health foods, but used by a firm wishing to develop an unrelated product.

Primary research is often expensive to prepare, collect and interpret from data to information. Nevertheless, while secondary research is relatively inexpensive, it often can become outdated and outmoded, given that it is used for a purpose other than the one for which it was intended. Primary research can also be broken down into quantitative research and qualitative research, which, as the terms suggest, pertain to numerical and non-numerical research methods and techniques, respectively. The appropriateness of each mode of research depends on whether data can be quantified (quantitative research), or whether subjective, non-numeric or abstract concepts are required to be studied (qualitative research).

There also exist additional modes of marketing research, which are:

Exploratory research, pertaining to research that investigates an assumption.

Descriptive research, which, as the term suggests, describes "what is".

Predictive research, meaning research conducted to predict a future occurrence.

Conclusive research, for the purpose of deriving a conclusion via a research process.

Marketing planning

The ''marketing planning'' process involves forging a plan for a firm's marketing activities. A marketing plan can also pertain to a specific product, as well as to an organization's overall marketing strategy. Generally speaking, an organization's marketing planning process is derived from its overall business strategy. Thus, when top management are devising the firm's strategic direction or mission, the intended marketing activities are incorporated into this plan. There are several levels of marketing objectives within an organization. The senior management of a firm would formulate a general business strategy for a firm. However, this general business strategy would be interpreted and implemented in different contexts throughout the firm.

Marketing strategy

The field of marketing strategy encompasses the strategy involved in the management of a given product.

A given firm may hold numerous products in the marketplace, spanning numerous and sometimes wholly unrelated industries. Accordingly, a plan is required in order to effectively manage such products. Evidently, a company needs to weigh up and ascertain how to utilize its finite resources. For example, a start-up car manufacturing firm would face little success should it attempt to rival Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, or any other large global car maker. Moreover, a product may be reaching the end of its life-cycle. Thus, the issue of divest, or a ceasing of production, may be made. Each scenario requires a unique marketing strategy. Listed below are some prominent marketing strategy models.

Marketing specializations

With the rapidly emerging force of globalization, the distinction between marketing within a firm's home country and marketing within external markets is disappearing very quickly. With this in mind, firms need to reorient their marketing strategies to meet the challenges of the global marketplace, in addition to sustaining their competitiveness within home markets.

Buying behaviour

A marketing firm must ascertain the nature of customers' buying behavior if it is to market its product properly. In order to entice and persuade a consumer to buy a product, marketers try to determine the behavioral process of how a given product is purchased. Buying behavior is usually split into two prime strands, whether selling to the consumer, known as business-to-consumer (B2C), or to another business, known as business-to-business (B2B).

B2C buying behaviour

This mode of behaviour concerns consumers and their purchase of a given product. For example, if one imagines a pair of sneakers, the desire for a pair of sneakers would be followed by an information search on available types/brands. This may include perusing media outlets, but most commonly consists of information gathered from family and friends. If the information search is insufficient, the consumer may search for alternative means to satisfy the need/want. In this case, this may mean buying leather shoes, sandals, etc. The purchase decision is then made, in which the consumer actually buys the product. Following this stage, a post-purchase evaluation is often conducted, comprising an appraisal of the value/utility brought by the purchase of the sneakers. If the value/utility is high, then a repeat purchase may be made. This could then develop into consumer loyalty to the firm producing the sneakers.

B2B buying behaviour

Relates to organizational/industrial buying behavior. "B2B" stands for Business to Business. B2B marketing involves one business marketing a product or service to another business. B2C and B2B behavior are not precise terms, as similarities and differences exist, with some key differences listed below:

In a straight re-buy, the fourth, fifth and sixth stages are omitted. In a modified re-buy scenario, the fifth and sixth stages are precluded. In a new buy, all stages are conducted.

Use of technologies

Marketing management can also rely on various technologies within the scope of its marketing efforts. Computer-based information systems can be employed, aiding in better processing and storage of data. Marketing researchers can use such systems to devise better methods of converting data into information, and for the creation of enhanced data gathering methods. Information technology can aid in enhancing an MKIS' software and hardware components, and improve a company's marketing decision-making process.

In recent years, the notebook personal computer has gained significant market share among laptops, largely due to its more user-friendly size and portability. Information technology typically progresses at a fast rate, leading to marketing managers being cognizant of the latest technological developments. Moreover, the launch of smartphones into the cellphone market is commonly derived from a demand among consumers for more technologically advanced products. A firm can lose out to competitors should it ignore technological innovations in its industry.

Technological advancements can lessen barriers between countries and regions. Using the World Wide Web, firms can quickly dispatch information from one country to another without much restriction. Prior to the mass usage of the Internet, such transfers of information would have taken longer to send, especially if done via snail mail, telex, etc.

Recently, there has been a large emphasis on data analytics. Data can be mined from various sources such as online forms, mobile phone applications and more recently, social media.

Services marketing

Services marketing relates to the marketing of services, as opposed to tangible products. A service (as opposed to a good) is typically defined as follows:

The use of it is inseparable from its purchase (i.e., a service is used and consumed simultaneously)

It does not possess material form, and thus cannot be touched, seen, heard, tasted, or smelled.

The use of a service is inherently subjective, meaning that several persons experiencing a service would each experience it uniquely.

For example, a train ride can be deemed a service. If one buys a train ticket, the use of the train is typically experienced concurrently with the purchase of the ticket. Although the train is a physical object, one is not paying for the permanent ownership of the tangible components of the train.

Services (compared with goods) can also be viewed as a spectrum. Not all products are pure goods, nor are all pure services. An example would be a restaurant, where a waiter's service is intangible, but the food is tangible.

See also

Advertising

Consumer behaviour

Demand chain

Distribution (Placement)

Market segmentation

List of marketing terms

Outline of marketing

Positioning

Pricing

Product

Promotion (marketing)

Targeting (advertising)

Service dominant logic (marketing)

Types of marketing

White Space (management)

References

Bibliography

Works cited

Further reading

Category:Marketing Category:Business

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Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Gillian Welch
alt	A slender, middle-aged woman with long brown hair plays guitar and sings into a microphone. She wears a cowboy hat and a red dress.
background	solo_singer
born	October 02, 1967 New York City, New York, U.S.
origin	New York, U.S. (born in); moved to LA, California with family; Nashville, Tennessee (currently resides)
instrument	singing, guitar, banjo, drums
genre	Bluegrass, Americana, rock
associated acts	Dave Rawlings Machine
website	gillianwelch.com
notable instruments	1956 Gibson J-50 }}

Gillian Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by ''The New Yorker'' as "at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms".

Welch and Rawlings have released five critically acclaimed albums. Their 1996 debut, ''Revival'', and the 2001 release ''Time (The Revelator)'', received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Their 2003 album, ''Soul Journey'', introduced electric guitar, drums and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, they released their fifth studio album, ''The Harrow & The Harvest'', in 2011.

Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' soundtrack, a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Welch has collaborated and recorded with distinguished musicians such as Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, The Decemberists, and Ani DiFranco. Welch and Rawlings perform at many music festivals.

Early life

Gillian Howard Welch was born on October 2, 1967 in New York City, and was adopted by Ken and Mitzie Welch, comedy and music entertainers. Her biological mother was a freshman in college, and her father was a musician visiting New York City. Welch has speculated that her biological father could have been one of her favorite musicians, and she later discovered from her adoptive parents that he was a drummer. Alec Wilkinson of ''The New Yorker'' stated that "from an address they had been given, it appeared that her mother ... may have grown up in the mountains of North Carolina". When Welch was three, her adoptive parents moved to Los Angeles to write music for ''The Carol Burnett Show''. They also appeared on ''The Tonight Show''. As a youngster, Welch was introduced to the music of American folk singers Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Carter Family. She performed folk songs with her peers at the Westland Elementary School in Los Angeles. Welch later attended Crossroads School, a high school in Santa Monica, California. While in high school, a local television program featured her as a student who "excelled at everything she did".

When a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Welch played bass in a goth band, and drums in a psychedelic surf band. In college, a roommate played an album by the bluegrass band The Stanley Brothers, and she had an epiphany:

The first song came on and I just stood up and I kind of walked into the other room as if I was in a tractor beam and stood there in front of the stereo. It was just as powerful as the electric stuff, and it was songs I'd grown up singing. All of a sudden I'd found my music.

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in photography, Welch attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majored in songwriting. During her two years studying at Berklee, Welch gained confidence as a performer. Welch met her music partner David Rawlings at a successful audition for Berklee's only country band.

Career

Upon finishing college in 1992, Welch and Rawlings moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She recalled, "I looked at my record collection and saw that all the music I loved had been made in Nashville—Bill Monroe, Dylan, the Stanley Brothers, Neil Young—so I moved there. Not ever thinking I was thirty years too late." Rawlings soon followed. In Nashville, after singing "Long Black Veil", the two first realized that their voices harmonized well and they started to perform as a duo. They never considered using a working name, so the duo were simply billed as "Gillian Welch". A year after moving to Nashville, Welch found a manager, Denise Stiff, who already managed Alison Krauss. Both Welch and Stiff ignored frequent advice that Welch should stop playing with Rawlings and join a band. They eventually signed a recording contract with Almo Sounds. Following a performance opening for Peter Rowan at the Station Inn, producer T-Bone Burnett expressed interest in recording an album. Burnett did not plan to disturb Welch's and Rawlings' preference for minimal instrumentation, and Welch agreed to take him on as a producer.

''Revival''

For the recording sessions of Welch's debut, ''Revival'', Burnett wanted to recapture the bare sound of Welch's live performance. Welch recalled, "That first week was really intense. It was just T-Bone, the engineer, and Dave and myself. We got so inside our little world. There was very little distance between our singing and playing. The sound was very immediate. It was so light and small." Later, they recorded several more songs and played with an expanded group of musicians; guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee James Burton, bassist Roy Huskey, Jr., and veteran session drummers Jim Keltner, and Buddy Harman.

The album was released in April 1996 to positive reviews. Mark Deming of Allmusic called it a "superb debut" and wrote, "Welch's debts to artists of the past are obvious and clearly acknowledged, but there's a maturity, intelligence, and keen eye for detail in her songs you wouldn't expect from someone simply trying to ape the Carter Family." Bill Friskics-Warren of ''No Depression'' praised the album as "breathtakingly austere evocations of rural culture". The ''Chicago Daily Herald''s Mark Guarino observed that ''Revival'' was "cheered and scrutinized as a staunch revivalist of Depression-era music only because her originals sounded so much like that era." He attributed this to the biblical imagery of the lyrics, Burnett's threadbare production, and the plainly-sung bleakness in Welch's vocals. Ann Powers of ''Rolling Stone'' gave ''Revival'' a lukewarm review and criticized Welch for not singing of her own experiences, and "manufacturing emotion." Robert Christgau echoed Powers: Welch "just doesn't have the voice, eye, or way with words to bring her simulation off." ''Revival'' was nominated for the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but lost to Bruce Springsteen's ''The Ghost of Tom Joad''.

''Hell Among The Yearlings''

The duo's 1998 ''Hell Among the Yearlings'' continued the rustic and dark themes; the songs' subject matter varies from a female character killing a rapist, a mining accident, a murder ballad, and an ode to morphine before death. Like ''Revival'', ''Hell Among The Yearlings'' featured a sparse style that focused on Rawlings and Welch's voices and guitars.

The album also received favorable reviews. Robert Wilonsky of the ''Dallas Observer'' observed that Welch "inhabits a role so completely, the fiction separating character and audience disappears". Thom Owens (Allmusic) stated that the album "lacks some of the focus" of ''Revival'', but is "a thoroughly satisfying second album" and proof that her debut was not a fluke. ''No Depression'''s Farnum Brown commended the live and "immediate feel" of the album, Welch's clawhammer banjo, and Rawlings' harmonies. Similar to ''Revival'', Welch was praised for reflecting influences such as the Stanley Brothers, but still managing to create an original sound, while Chris Herrington from Minneapolis's ''City Pages'' criticized the songs' lack of authenticity. He wrote "Welch doesn't write folk songs; she writes folk songs about writing folk songs."

''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''

Welch sang two songs and served as an associate producer for the Burnett-produced soundtrack to the 2000 film of the ''same name''. She shared vocals with Alison Krauss on a rendition of the gospel song "I'll Fly Away." Dave McKenna of ''The Washington Post'' praised their version: the singers "soar together." Burnett and Welch wrote additional lyrics for the song "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," sung by Welch, Emmylou Harris, and Krauss. The song is an elaboration of an old Mississippi tune discovered by Alan Lomax, and was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. The platinum album won the 2002 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The surprise success of the soundtrack gave Welch a career boost. Welch also made a cameo appearance in the film.

''Time (The Revelator)''

When Universal Music Group purchased Almo Sounds, Welch began her own independent label, Acony Records (named for the Appalachian wildflower, Acony Bell, subject of the song "Acony Bell" on ''Revival''). Rawlings produced the first release on Welch's new label, the 2001 album ''Time (The Revelator)''. All but one song on the album was recorded in the historic RCA Studio B in Nashville. "I Want To Sing That Rock and Roll" was recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium in the recording sessions for the concert film ''Down from the Mountain''. Welch has said the album is about American history, rock 'n' roll, and country music. There are songs about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Titanic Disaster, John Henry, and Elvis Presley. ''Time'' continues Welch and Rawlings' style of mellow and sparse arrangements. Welch explained, "As opposed to being little tiny folk songs or traditional songs, they're really tiny rock songs. They're just performed in this acoustic setting. In our heads we went electric without changing instruments."

''Time (The Revelator)'' received extensive critical praise, most of which focused on the evolution of lyrics from mountain ballads. For Michael Shannon Friedman of ''The Charleston Gazette'', "Welch's soul-piercing, backwoods quaver has always been a treasure, but on this record her songwriting is absolutely stunning." Critics compare the last track, the 15-minute "I Dream a Highway", to classics by Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Zac Johnson of Allmusic described ''I Dream...'' as akin to "sweetly dozing in the [river] current like Huck and Jim's Mississippi River afternoons". ''No Depression''s Grant Alden wrote, "Welch and Rawlings have gathered ... fragments from across the rich history of American music and reset them as small, subtle jewels adorning their own keenly observed, carefully constructed language." ''Time'' finished thirteenth in the 2001 ''Village Voice'' Pazz & Jop music critic poll. ''Time (The Revelator)'' appeared in best of decade lists of ''Rolling Stone'', ''Paste'', ''Uncut'', ''The Irish Times'', and the ''Ottawa Citizen''. The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but lost to Bob Dylan's ''Love and Theft''. ''Time'' peaked at #7 on the Billboard Independent Album chart.

''The Revelator Collection'' DVD was released in 2002. It featured live performances and music videos of songs from ''Time'', and some covers. The concert footage was filmed in 2001, and the music videos included Welch and Rawlings performing three songs at RCA Studio B. ''No Depression''s Barry Mazor praised the DVD as an accompaniment for ''Time'', calling it "one last exclamation point on that memorable and important project".

''Soul Journey''

For the 2003 release, ''Soul Journey'', Welch and Rawlings explored new territory. Welch said: "I wanted to make it a happier record. Out of our four records, I thought this might be the one where you're driving down the road listening to it on a sunny summer day." Rawlings again produced the record. The album also reflected a change in the typically sparse instrumentation: Welch and Rawlings introduced a dobro, violin, electric bass and drums, and Welch later said, "Everything's not supposed to sound the same, you want it to reflect change and growth."

In three songs of ''Soul Journey'', for the first time Welch and Rawlings recorded their own versions of traditional folk songs. On the original compositions, Welch's lyrics are more autobiographical than previous albums.

The album received mixed reviews. Allmusic's Zac Johnson wrote that it was "too casual and off-the-cuff", but called it a "wonderful, dusty summertime front-porch album, full of whiskey drawls and sly smiles, floorboard stomps and screen-door creaks". Jon Caramanica of ''Rolling Stone'' criticized the slower songs as stagnant, but complimented the upbeat songs. ''Soul Journey'' also garnered significant acclaim. John Harris of ''Mojo'' magazine described the album as "pretty much perfect", and ''Uncut''s Barney Hoskyns favorably compared it to Bob Dylan and The Band's ''The Basement Tapes''. Will Hermes of ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote that Welch has "never sounded deeper, realer, or sexier." ''Soul Journey'' peaked at #107 on the Billboard charts, and reached #3 for Independent Albums.

Dave Rawlings Machine

Welch and Rawlings continued their partnership in the band Dave Rawlings Machine. Welch co-wrote five of the songs with Rawlings, and provided guitar and harmony vocals. Andy Gill of ''The Independent'' described the 2009 debut album ''A Friend of a Friend'' as "akin to one of Welch's albums, but with the balance of their harmonies swapped to favour Rawlings' voice". Although ostensibly Rawlings' first solo album, Alex Ramon of PopMatters noted the similarities to Welch albums. ''Paste Magazine''s Stephen Deusner praised ''A Friend of a Friend'' for incorporating "a wide swath of traditional American music," comments echoed by ''Rolling Stone''s Will Hermes and in the ''PopMatters'' piece.

The Harrow & The Harvest

In a 2007 feature in ''The Guardian'', critic John Harris expressed frustration that there had not been a Gillian Welch release in four years. Creation Records founder Alan McGee showed optimism about Welch and Rawlings testing out some new songs while opening some concerts for Rilo Kiley, and wrote in a 2009 blog entry "the long gestation period signals nothing less than a perfect album". In 2009, Rawlings said that recording for the next Gillian Welch album has started, but did not give a release date.

''The Harrow & The Harvest'' was released on June 28, 2011. Welch attributed the long time period between releases to writer's block and dissatisfaction with initial recording attempts. She explained: "Our songcraft slipped and I really don't know why. It's not uncommon. It's something that happens to writers. It's the deepest frustration we have come through, hence the album title." The writing process involved "this endless back and forth between the two of us," Welch said, stating that "It’s our most intertwined, co-authored, jointly-composed album."

The album received praise from publications such as ''The Los Angeles Times'', ''Uncut'', and'' Rolling Stone''. Thom Jurek of Allmusic wrote that the album "is stunning for its intimacy, its lack of studio artifice, its warmth and its timeless, if hard won, songcraft"..

The album peaked at #20 on the US Billboard 200 and #25 on the UK Albums Chart.

Musical style

Welch and Rawlings incorporate elements of early twentieth century music such as old time, classic country, gospel and traditional bluegrass with modern elements of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and punk rock. ''The New Yorker''s Alec Wilkinson maintained their musical style is "not easily classified—it is at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms". The instrumentation on their songs is usually a simple arrangement, with Welch and Rawlings accompanying their own vocals with acoustic guitars, banjos, or a mandolin. Welch plays rhythm guitar with a 1956 Gibson J-50 (or banjo), while Rawlings plays lead on a 1935 Epiphone Olympic Guitar. ''The New Yorker''s Wilkinson described Rawlings as a "strikingly inventive guitarist" who plays solos that are "daring melodic leaps". A review in ''No Depression'' by Andy Moore observed that "he [Rawlings] doesn't play his big, coffee-colored, hollow body Gibson so much as he squeezes, strokes, chokes and does just about everything but blow into it". Jamie Cowperthwait of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that Rawlings' guitar playing "makes the music swell and vibrate at all the right moments."

Themes

Many songs performed by Welch and Rawlings contain dark themes about social outcasts struggling against such elements as poverty, drug addiction, death, a disconnection from their family, and an unresponsive God. Despite Welch being the lead singer, several of these characters are male. Welch has commented, "To be commercial, everybody wants happy love songs. People would flat-out ask me, 'Don't you have any happy love songs?' Well, as a matter of fact, I don't. I've got songs about orphans and morphine addicts." To reflect these themes, Welch and Rawlings often employ a slow pace to their songs. Their tempo is compared to a "slow heartbeat", and Cowperthwait of ''Rolling Stone'' observed that their songs "can lull you into near-hypnosis and then make your jaw drop with one final revelation".

Reception

Welch has received broad critical praise. Geoffrey Himes of ''The Washington Post'' described Welch as "one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of her generation". In 2003, Tom Kielty of ''The Boston Globe'' observed that she was "quietly establishing one of the most impressive catalogs in contemporary roots music", and a 2007 piece in ''The Guardian'' by John Harris called Welch "one of the decade's greatest talents". Critic Robert Hilburn of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "At every turn, she demonstrates a spark and commitment that should endear her to anyone from country and folk to pop and rock fans who appreciate imagination and heart."

When Welch's first two albums came out, critics questioned the authenticity of her music, as she was raised in Southern California, but performed Appalachian themed songs. For ''Revival'', Welch was criticized for "manufacturing emotion", and a review of ''Hell Among the Yearlings'' by Chris Herrington of ''City Pages'' stated, "Welch is someone who discovered old-time music in college and decided that her own sheltered life could never be worth writing about", and that she is "completely devoid of individuality". Other critics rejected the notion that her background affects the authenticity of her music. Music critic Mark Kemp defended Welch in a ''The New York Times'' piece:

The first-person protagonist of Ms. Welch’s song ("Caleb Meyer") may be a young girl from a time and place that Ms. Welch will never fully understand, but the feelings the singer expresses about rape, and the respect she displays for her chosen musical genre, are nothing if not poignantly authentic. Likewise, it matters not whether Ms. Welch has ever walked the streets of "the black dust towns of East Tennessee" about which she sings in "Miner's Refrain" because the sense of foreboding that she expresses for the men who once labored in coal mines with futile hopes of a better life comes through loud and clear.

''The Wall Street Journal'''s Taylor Holliday echoed this: "Stingy critics give Ms. Welch a hard time because she's a California city girl, not an Appalachian coal miner's daughter. But as Lucinda or Emmylou might attest, love of the music is not a birthright, but an earned right. Listen to Ms. Welch yodel, in a tune about that no-good "gal" Morphine, and you know she's as mountain as they come."

Influences and collaborations

Welch emphasizes music from a previous era as her major influence. She said that "by and large I listen to people who are dead. I'm really of the tried-and-true school. I let 50 years go by and see what's really relevant." Welch has acknowledged inspiration from several traditional country artists, including the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, and the Blue Sky Boys. She explained her relationship with traditional music by saying, "I've never tried to be traditional. It's been a springboard for me and I love it and revere it and would not be doing what I do without the music of the Monroe Brothers, the Stanley Brothers and the Carter Family. However, it was clear I was never going to be able to do exactly that; I'm a songwriter."

In addition to the strong country influence, Welch also draws on a repertoire of such Rock 'n' Roll artists as Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead and the Velvet Underground. She has noted alternative rock bands Throwing Muses, Pixies and Camper Van Beethoven "don't directly inform my music, but they're in there."

Welch has recorded songs with a variety of notable artists, including Ryan Adams, Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, Jay Farrar, Alison Krauss, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bright Eyes, Robyn Hitchcock, Steve Earle, Ralph Stanley, The Decemberists, Solomon Burke and Mark Knopfler. Welch and Rawlings' contributions on Hitchcock's album ''Spooked'' was described by Christopher Bahn of ''The A.V. Club'' as "subtle but vital". Mark Deming of Allmusic wrote that their work on Ryan Adams' album ''Heartbreaker'' "brought out the best in Adams".

Artists who have recorded songs written by Welch include Jimmy Buffett, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Trisha Yearwood, Joan Baez, Allison Moorer, Emmylou Harris, and Kathy Mattea.

Performances

Welch and Rawlings have played many music festivals, including The Newport Folk Festival, Coachella Festival, The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, The Cambridge Folk Festival, MerleFest, The Austin City Limits Festival, and Farm Aid. They have toured North America extensively, and have played in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Concert reviews have praised the chemistry between Welch and Rawlings on stage. Tizzy Asher of the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' wrote "there was a startling unspoken intimacy between them. They anticipated each other's movements and shifted when necessary to fit each other."

The Dave Rawlings Machine have toured North America, with the band composed of Rawlings, Welch and three members of Old Crow Medicine Show. Welch and Rawlings also participate in group tours with notable musicians. In 2004, they were part of the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue, a three-week US tour with Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris. In 2009, The Dave Rawlings Machine joined Old Crow Medicine Show, The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle for The Big Surprise Tour, a US tour described as a "roots-music extravaganza". In 2011, it was announced that Welch would be opening a short tour for the newly reformed Buffalo Springfield.

Discography

1996 – ''Revival''

1998 – ''Hell Among the Yearlings''

2001 – ''Time (The Revelator)''

2003 – ''Soul Journey''

2011 - ''The Harrow & The Harvest''

Footnotes

References

External links

Official website

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:American female singers Category:American folk singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:People from New York City Category:University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Category:American adoptees Category:American female guitarists Category:People from Santa Monica, California

de:Gillian Welch fr:Gillian Welch he:גיליאן ולץ' simple:Gillian Welch sv:Gillian Welch

''For the punk rock musician, see Ricky Scaggs.''

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Ricky Skaggs
background	solo_singer
birth name	Richard Lee Skaggs
born	July 18, 1954Blaine, Kentucky
instrument	singer, mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle
genre	Country, bluegrass
occupation	Singer-songwriter, session musician, bandleader, producer, arranger
years active	1960s-present
label	Sugar Hill, Epic, Rounder, DCC, Atlantic, Camden, Rebel, Hollywood, Legacy, Skaggs Family
associated acts	Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, J. D. Crowe and New South, Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band, The Whites, Kentucky Thunder, Bruce Hornsby
website	http://www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com/
notable instruments	}}

Richard Lee "Ricky" Skaggs (born July 18, 1954) is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.

Biography

Early career

Ricky Skaggs was born in Cordell, Kentucky. He started playing music at age 5 after he was given a mandolin by his father, Hobert. At age 6, he played mandolin on stage with Bill Monroe. At age 7, he appeared on television's Martha White country music variety show, playing with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. He also wanted to audition for the Grand Ole Opry at that time, but was told he was too young.

In his mid-teens, Skaggs met a fellow teen prodigy, guitarist Keith Whitley, and the two started playing together with Whitley's banjoist brother Dwight on radio shows. By 1970, they had earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley and Skaggs and Keith Whitley were thereafter invited to join Stanley's band, the Clinch Mountain Boys

Skaggs later joined J. D. Crowe's New South. For a few years, Skaggs was a member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band. He wrote the arrangements for Harris's 1980 bluegrass-roots album, ''Roses in the Snow''. In addition to arranging for Harris, Skaggs sang harmony and played mandolin and fiddle in the Hot Band.

Neotraditionalism and experimentation

Into the 1990s and 2000s, Skaggs has embraced his bluegrass roots, as well as experimenting with new sounds. With his band, Kentucky Thunder, he is a perennial winner of Grammy Awards and International Bluegrass Music Association for best bluegrass album.

"I always want to try to promote the old music, as well as trying to grow, and be a pioneer too," Skaggs once said.

In 2000, he shared the stage with Vermont-based jam band, Phish. On March 20, 2007, Skaggs released an album with rock musician Bruce Hornsby.

In 2008, Skaggs released an album he recorded with The Whites on his Skaggs Family Records label.

In 2008, Skaggs recorded a bluegrass version of "Old Enough" by the Raconteurs with Ashley Monroe and the Raconteurs. He played mandolin on the track as well as shared vocals with Jack White, Brendan Benson, and Ashley Monroe.

Discography

Awards

Grammy Awards

1983 Best Country Instrumental Performance: New South (J.D. Crowe, Jerry Douglas, Todd Phillips, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs) for ''Fireball''

1984 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Ricky Skaggs for ''Wheel Hoss''

1986 Best Country Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist): Ricky Skaggs for ''Raisin' The Dickins''

1991 Best Country Vocal Collaboration: Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner & Vince Gill for ''Restless''

1999 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for ''Bluegrass Rules!''

1998 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals: Clint Black, Joe Diffie, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt & Dwight Yoakam for ''Same Old Train''

2000 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for ''Ancient Tones''

2000 Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for ''Soldier Of The Cross''

2003 Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for ''A Simple Life''

2004 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for ''Brand New Strings''

2006 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for ''Instrumentals''

2006 Best Musical Album For Children, "Songs From The Neighborhood, The Music Of Mr. Rogers"

2008 Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Ricky Skaggs and The Whites for ''Salt Of The Earth''

2009 Best Bluegrass Album ''Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass 1946 & 47''

CMA (Country Music Association) Awards

1982 Male Vocalist of the Year: Ricky Skaggs

1982 Horizon Award: Ricky Skaggs

1983 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band

1984 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band

1985 Entertainer of the Year: Ricky Skaggs

1985 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band

1987 Vocal Duo of the Year: Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards

1998 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

1998 Album Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder for ''Bluegrass Rules!''

1999 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2000 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2000 Instrumental Album Of The Year: David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Sam Bush, Frank Wakefield, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs & Buck White for ''Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza''

2000 Recorded Event Of The Year: David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Frank Wakefield, Sam Bush, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs & Buck White for ''Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza''

2002 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2003 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2004 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2005 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2006 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

2008 Recorded Event of the Year: Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother; Featuring Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger (artists); Charles Lilly & Bill Wolfenbarger (producers); Swift River Music

BluegrassJournal.com Readers Poll: We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Lewis Family & The Easter Brothers (artists); Jeff & Sheri Easter (producers); Daywind Records

Other Awards and Accomplishments

R&R; Best New Artist

Billboard magazine's Artist of the Year

Musician Magazine- Voted One of the Top 100 Guitarists of the Century

Artist of the Decade- Listeners' Poll Award BBC Radio 2

''CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music'' rank #37 in 2003.

Judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards

References

Independent Music Awards - Past Judges

1997 Interview with Ricky Skaggs

Himes, Geoffrey. (1998). "Ricky Skaggs". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 486–7.

Ricky Skaggs, age 7, plays with Flatt & Scruggs on the Martha White Show

Ricky Skaggs articles, interviews and CD reviews at Country Standard Time

Ricky Skaggs Biography

External links

Skaggs Family Records

Ricky Skaggs and the Whites at exclaim

Category:1954 births Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American country guitarists Category:American male singers Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:Living people Category:American mandolinists Category:Musicians from Kentucky Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:People from Lawrence County, Kentucky Category:Epic Records artists Category:The Country Gentlemen members Category:Rebel Records artists Category:Rounder Records artists

cs:Ricky Skaggs de:Ricky Skaggs fr:Ricky Skaggs pt:Ricky Skaggs

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Mark Knopfler
background	solo_singer
birth name	Mark Freuder Knopfler
born	August 12, 1949Glasgow, Scotland
origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
instrument	Vocals, guitar
genre	RockRoots rockCeltic rockCountry rockBlues-rock
occupation	Musician, Songwriter, Record producer, Film score composer
years active	1965–present
label	Vertigo, Mercury, Warner
associated acts	Dire StraitsThe Notting HillbilliesChet AtkinsEmmylou HarrisBob DylanEric ClaptonSonny Landreth
website	MarkKnopfler.com
notable instruments	Mark Knopfler StratocasterFender TelecasterGibson Les PaulPensa Custom MKIISteinberger GL-2 }}

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler went on to record and produce six solo albums, including ''Golden Heart'' (1996), ''Sailing to Philadelphia'' (2000), and ''Get Lucky'' (2009). He has composed and produced film scores for eight films, including ''Local Hero'' (1983), ''Cal'' (1984), and ''The Princess Bride'' (1987). In addition to his work with Dire Straits and as a solo artist and composer, Knopfler has recorded and performed with many prominant musical artists, including Chet Atkins, The Chieftains, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jools Holland, Sonny Landreth, and Van Morrison. He has produced albums for such artists as Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, and Randy Newman.

Knopfler is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era, and was ranked 27th on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date. A four-time Grammy Award winner, Knopfler is the recipient of the Edison Award and the Steiger Award, and holds three honorary doctorate degrees in music from universities in the United Kingdom.

Early life (1949–1976)

Mark Freuder Knopfler was born on 12 August 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland, to an English mother and Hungarian Jewish father—an architect whose anti-fascist sympathies forced him to flee from his native Hungary. The family settled in Knopfler's mother's home town of Blyth, Northumberland in North East England when he was 7 years old. He and his younger brother David attended Gosforth Grammar School. Inspired by his uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing, he wanted to buy an expensive Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin's, but had to settle for a £50 twin-pick-up Höfner Super Solid. During the 1960s, he formed and joined schoolboy bands and listened to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, Django Reinhardt, Hank Marvin, and James Burton. At 16, he made a local TV appearance as part of a harmony duo, with his classmate Sue Hercombe.

In 1968, after studying journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College, Knopfler was hired as a junior reporter in Leeds for the ''Yorkshire Evening Post''. Two years later, he decided to further his studies, and went on to graduate with a degree in English at the University of Leeds. In April 1970, while living in Leeds, Knopfler recorded a demo disk of an original song he'd written, "Summer's Coming My Way". The recording included Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), Steve Phillips (second guitar), Dave Johnson (bass), and Paul Granger (percussion). Johnson, Granger, and vocalist Mick Dewhirst played with Mark in the band Silverheels.

Upon graduation in 1973, Knopfler moved to London and joined a High Wycombe-based band called Brewers Droop, appearing on the album ''The Booze Brothers''. One night while spending some time with friends, the only guitar available was an old acoustic with a badly warped neck that had been strung with extra-light strings to make it playable. Even so, he found it impossible to play unless he finger-picked it. He said in a later interview, "That was where I found my 'voice' on guitar." After a brief stint with Brewers Droop, Knopfler took a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex—a position he held for three years. Throughout this time, he continued performing with local pub bands, including the Café Racers. He also formed a duo with long-time associate bluesman Steve Phillips called The Duolian String Pickers.

By the mid-1970s, Knopfler devoted much of his musical energies to his group, the Café Racers. His brother David moved to London, where he shared a flat with John Illsley—a guitarist who changed over to bass guitar. In April 1977, Mark gave up his flat in Buckhurst Hill and moved in with David and John. The three began playing music together, and soon Mark invited John to join the Café Racers.

Dire Straits (1977–1995)

Dire Straits' first demos were done in three sessions during 1977, with Pick Withers as drummer, David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist and John Illsley on bass guitar. On 27 July 1977 they recorded the now famous demo tapes of five songs: "Wild West End", "Sultans of Swing", "Down To The Waterline", "Sacred Loving" (a David Knopfler song) and "Water of Love". In what was probably October they recorded "Southbound Again", "In The Gallery" and "Six Blade Knife" for BBC Radio London and, finally, on 9 November demo tapes were made of "Setting Me Up", "Eastbound Train" and "Real Girl". Many of these songs reflected Mark's experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London, and were to be featured on their first album, the self-titled ''Dire Straits'' which was released in the following year: "Down To The Waterline" recalled images of life in Newcastle; "In The Gallery" is a tribute to a Leeds sculptor/artist named Harry Phillips, (father of Steve Phillips); and "Lions", "Wild West End" and "Eastbound Train" were all drawn from Mark's early days in the capital.

Initially on its release, ''Dire Straits'' received little fanfare in the UK, but when "Sultans of Swing" was released as a single it became a chart hit in The Netherlands and album sales took off across Europe and then in the United States and Canada, and finally the UK. The group's second album, ''Communiqué'', produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979, reaching number one in France while the first album was still at number three.

There were frequent personnel changes within Dire Straits after the release of their third album ''Making Movies'', with Mark Knopfler increasingly becoming the driving force behind the group. Released in 1980, ''Making Movies'' marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which continued for the remainder of the group's career. The album included many of Mark Knopfler's most personal compositions, most notably "Romeo and Juliet" and "Tunnel of Love". ''Love over Gold'' followed in 1982 and included the UK #2 hit "Private Investigations", "Telegraph Road", "Industrial Disease" and "It Never Rains" as well as the title track to that album.

With ''Love Over Gold'' still in the albums charts, the band released a four-song EP titled ''ExtendedancEPlay'' in early 1983. Featuring the hit single "Twisting By the Pool", this was the first output by the band that featured new drummer Terry Williams, (formerly of Rockpile), who had replaced Pick Withers in November 1982. A world tour followed later in 1983, and in March 1984 the double album ''Alchemy Live'' was released. ''Alchemy Live'' documented the recordings of two live shows in Hammersmith Odeon in London in July 1983, and reached number three in the UK Albums Chart.

During 1983 and 1984 Knopfler was involved with other projects as well, including writing and producing the music score to the film ''Local Hero'' which was a large success, and it was followed in 1984 by his scores for the films ''Cal'' and ''Comfort and Joy''. Also during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's ''Infidels'' album, as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille; he also wrote ''Private Dancer'' for Tina Turner's comeback album of the same name. Dire Straits' biggest studio album by far was their fifth, ''Brothers in Arms,'' recorded at Air Studios Montserrat and released in May 1985. It became an international blockbuster which has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and is the fourth best selling album in UK chart history. ''Brothers In Arms'' spawned several chart singles including the US # 1 hit "Money for Nothing", which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. It was also the first compact disc to sell a million copies and is largely credited for launching the CD format as it was also one of the first DDD CDs ever released. Other successful singles were "So Far Away", "Walk of Life", and the album's title track. The band's 1985–86 world tour of over 230 shows was immensely successful.

After the ''Brothers in Arms'' tour Dire Straits ceased to work together for some time, Knopfler concentrating mainly on film soundtracks. Knopfler joined the charity ensemble Ferry Aid on "Let It Be" in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. The song reached #1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Knopfler wrote the music score for the film ''The Princess Bride'' which was released at the end of 1987.

Mark Knopfler also took part in a comedy skit (featured on the French and Saunders Show) titled "The Easy Guitar Book Sketch" with comedian Rowland Rivron and fellow British musicians David Gilmour, Lemmy from Motorhead, Mark King from Level 42, and Gary Moore. Phil Taylor explained in an interview that Knopfler used Gilmour's guitar rig and managed to sound like himself when performing in the skit.

Dire Straits regrouped for the 11 June 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act, and were accompanied by Elton John and Eric Clapton, who by this time had developed a strong friendship with Knopfler. Shortly after this, drummer Terry Williams left the band. In September 1988 Mark Knopfler announced the official dissolution of Dire Straits, saying that he "needed a rest", and in October 1988, a "best of" album, ''Money for Nothing'', was released and reached number one in the United Kingdom.

In 1989 Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies, a band at the other end of the commercial spectrum. It leaned heavily towards American roots music - folk, blues and country music. The band members included keyboardist Guy Fletcher, with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. For both the album and the tour Paul Franklin was added to the line-up on pedal steel. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, ''Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time'' was released in 1990, and Knopfler then toured with the Notting Hillbillies for the remainder of that year. He further emphasized his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, ''Neck and Neck''. The Hillbillies toured the UK in early 1990 with a limited number of shows, it was strictly low key, packing out smaller venues, such as Newcastle University.

In 1990 Knopfler, John Illsley, and Alan Clark performed as Dire Straits at the Knebworth gig, joined by Eric Clapton, Ray Cooper, and guitarist Phil Palmer (who was at that time part of Eric Clapton's touring band), and in January the following year, Knopfler, John Illsley and manager Ed Bicknell decided to reform Dire Straits. Knopfler, Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher set about recording what turned out to be their final studio album accompanied by several part-time sidemen, including Phil Palmer, Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.

The follow-up to ''Brothers In Arms'' was finally released in September 1991. ''On Every Street'' was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor, and met with a mixed critical reaction, with some reviewers regarding the album as an underwhelming comeback after a six year break. Nonetheless, the album sold well and reached #1 in the UK. A gruelling world tour to accompany the album followed, which lasted until the end of 1992. This was to be Dire Straits' final world tour; it was not as well received as the previous ''Brothers In Arms'' tour, and by this time Mark Knopfler had had enough of such massive operations. This drove the band into the ground, and ultimately led to the group's final dissolution in 1995.

Following the tour, Knopfler took some time off from the music business. In 1993, he received an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Two more Dire Straits albums were released, both live albums. ''On the Night'', released in May 1993, documented Dire Straits' final world tour. In 1995, following the release of ''Live at the BBC'', Mark Knopfler quietly dissolved Dire Straits and launched his career as a solo artist.

Since the break-up of Dire Straits, Knopfler has shown no interest in reforming the group. However, keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler's solo material to date, while Danny Cummings has also contributed frequently, including Knopfler's last three solo album releases ''All the Roadrunning'' (with Emmylou Harris), ''Kill to Get Crimson'' and ''Get Lucky''. In October 2008 Knopfler declined a suggestion by John Illsley that the band should reform. Illsley said that a reunion would be "entirely up to Mark", however he also suggested that Knopfler was enjoying his continued success as a solo artist, saying that "He's doing incredibly well as a solo artist, so hats off to him. He's having a perfectly good time doing what he's doing". Knopfler meanwhile is quoted as saying "Oh, I don't know whether to start getting all that stuff back together again", and that the global fame that came his way in the 1980s "just got too big".

Solo career (1996–present)

Mark Knopfler's first solo album, ''Golden Heart'', featuring the UK single "Darling Pretty", was released in March 1996. During the recording sessions for the album the main line-up of Knopfler's backing band, also known as "The 96ers," was formed, featuring Knopfler's old bandmate Guy Fletcher on keyboards, and has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up.

Also in 1996, Mark Knopfler recorded guitar for Ted Christopher's Dunblane massacre tribute cover of Knocking on Heaven's Door

In 1997 Knopfler recorded the soundtrack for the movie ''Wag the Dog''. During that same year ''Rolling Stone'' magazine listed "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", which included "Sultans of Swing", Dire Straits' first hit. 2000 saw the release of Knopfler's next solo album, ''Sailing to Philadelphia.'' This has been his most successful to date, possibly helped by the number of collaborators to the album like Van Morrison.

In 2002 Mark Knopfler gave four charity concerts with former Dire Straits members John Illsley, Chris White, Danny Cummings and Guy Fletcher, playing old material from the Dire Straits years. The concerts also featured The Notting Hillbillies with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. At these four concerts (three of the four were at the Shepherd's Bush, the fourth at Beaulieu on the south coast) they were joined by Jimmy Nail, who provided backing vocals for Knopfler's 2002 composition "Why Aye Man".

Also in 2002 Knopfler released his third solo album, ''The Ragpicker's Dream''. However, in March 2003 he was involved in a motorbike crash in Grosvenor Road, Belgravia and suffered a broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and seven broken ribs. The planned ''Ragpicker's Dream'' tour was subsequently cancelled, but Knopfler recovered and was able to return to the stage in 2004 for his fourth album, ''Shangri-La.''

''Shangri-La'' was recorded at the Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California in 2004, where The Band made recordings years before for their documentary/movie, ''The Last Waltz.'' In the promo for "Shangri-La" on his official website he said that his current line-up of Glenn Worf (bass), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Chad Cromwell (drums), Richard Bennett (guitar) and Matt Rollings (piano) "play Dire Straits songs better than Dire Straits did." The "Shangri-La" tour took Knopfler to countries such as India and the United Arab Emirates for the first time. In India, his concerts at Mumbai and Bangalore were very well received, with over 20,000 fans gathering at each concert to listen to a legend many thought would never visit their country.

In November 2005 a compilation, ''The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations'' was released, consisting of material from most of Dire Straits' studio albums and Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material. The album was made available in two editions, as a single CD (with a grey cover) and as a double CD (with the cover in blue), and was well-received. The only previously unreleased track on the album is "All the Roadrunning", a duet with country music singer Emmylou Harris, which was followed in 2006 by an album of duets of the same name.

Released in April 2006, ''All the Roadrunning'' reached #1 in Denmark and Switzerland, #2 in Norway and Sweden, #3 in Germany, Holland and Italy, #8 in Austria and UK, #9 in Spain, #17 in the United States (''Billboard'' Top 200 Chart), #25 in Ireland and #41 in Australia. ''All the Roadrunning'' was nominated for "Best Folk Rock/Americana Album" at the 49th Grammy Awards (11 February 2007) but lost out to Bob Dylan's nomination for ''Modern Times''.

Joined by Emmylou Harris, Knopfler supported ''All the Roadrunning'' with a limited – 15 gigs in Europe, 1 in Canada and 8 in the USA – but highly successful tour of Europe and N America. Selections from the duo's 28 June performance at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California, were released as a DVD entitled ''Real Live Roadrunning'' on 14 November 2006. In addition to several of the compositions that Harris and Knopfler recorded together in the studio, ''Real Live Roadrunning'' features solo hits from both members of the duo, as well as three tracks from Knopfler's days with Dire Straits.

A charity event in 2007 went wrong. A Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by Knopfler, Clapton, Brian May, and Jimmy Page was to be auctioned for £20,000 to raise the money for a children's hospice, was lost when being shipped. It "vanished after being posted from London to Leicestershire, England". Parcelforce, the company responsible, agreed to pay US$30,000 for its loss.

Knopfler released his fifth solo studio-album ''Kill to Get Crimson'' on 14 September 2007 in Germany, 17 September in the UK and 18 September in the United States. During the autumn of 2007 he played a series of intimate 'showcases' in various European cities to promote the album. A tour of Europe and North America followed in 2008. Many older songs from the early solo days, such as Cannibals (from Golden Heart), were brought back to life. Cannibals opened up shows throughout Europe. Cannibals was received extremely well particularly in Ireland as it was released by an Irish Country Artist David Maguire in 2007. The new version of Cannibals that David Maguire and his Band released was the 7th most requested song on Irish radio that year.

Continuing a pattern of high productivity through his solo career, Knopfler began work on his next studio album, entitled ''Get Lucky'', in September 2008 with long-time band mate Guy Fletcher, who again compiled a pictorial diary of the making of the album on his website. The album was released on September 14 the following year and Knopfler subsequently undertook an extensive tour across Europe and America. The album met with moderate success on the charts (much of it in Europe) reaching #1 only in Norway but peaking in the Top 5 in most major European countries (Germany, Italy, Holland). The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard European Album chart and at #5 on the Billboard Rock Album chart.

Knopfler's solo live performances can be characterized as relaxed—almost workmanlike. He uses very little stage production, other than some lighting effects to enhance the music's dynamics. He has been known to sip tea on stage during live performances. Richard Bennett, who has been playing with him on tour since 1996, has also joined in drinking tea with him on stage. On 31 July 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC, the tea was replaced with whisky as a "last show of tour" sort of joke.

In February 2009, Knopfler gave an intimate solo concert at the Garrick Club in London. Knopfler had recently become a member of the exclusive gentlemen's club for men of letters.

In 2010, Knopfler appeared on the newest Thomas Dolby release, the EP ''Amerikana''. Knopfler performed on the track "17 Hills".

In February 2011, Knopfler began work on his next solo album, once again working with Guy Fletcher. A release date is yet to be announced. In July 2011, it was announced that Knopfler would take time out from recording this album in order to take part in a European tour with Bob Dylan during October and November.

Country music

In addition to his work in Dire Straits and solo, Mark Knopfler has made several contributions to country music. In 1988 he formed country-focused band The Notting Hillbillies, with Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, ''Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time'' was released in 1990 and featured the minor hit single "Your Own Sweet Way". Knopfler further emphasised his country music influences with his collaboration with Chet Atkins, ''Neck and Neck'', which was also released in 1990. "Poor Boy Blues", taken from that collaboration, peaked at #92.

Knopfler's other contributions include writing and playing guitar on John Anderson's 1992 single "When It Comes to You" (from his album ''Seminole Wind''). In 1993 Mary Chapin Carpenter also released a cover of the Dire Straits song "The Bug". Randy Travis released another of Knopfler's songs, "Are We In Trouble Now", in 1996. In that same year, Knopfler's solo single "Darling Pretty" reached a peak of #87.

Knopfler collaborated with George Jones on the 1994 "The Bradley Barn Sessions" album performing guitar duties on the classic J.P. Richardson composition White Lightnin'.

Knopfler is featured on Kris Kristofferson's album "The Austin Sessions", (on the track "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends") released in 1999 by Atlantic Records.

In 2006 Knopfler and Emmylou Harris made a country album together titled ''All the Roadrunning''. Knopfler also charted two singles on the Canadian country music singles chart.

Again in 2006, Knopfler contributed the song "Whoop De Doo" to Jimmy Buffett's "Gulf and Western" style album "Take the Weather with You".

Personal life

Mark Knopfler has been married three times. His first marriage was to Kathy White, his long-time girlfriend from school days. They separated before Knopfler moved to London to join Brewers Droop in 1973. In November 1983, Knopfler married his second wife, Lourdes Salomone. Their marriage produced twin sons, Benji and Joseph (born 1987), both of whom are musically talented and aspiring musicians, according to Knopfler. His marriage to Salomone ended in 1993. On Valentine's Day 1997, Knopfler married his third and current wife, British actress and writer Kitty Aldridge on the Caribbean island of Barbados. They had been dating for three years. Their marriage so far has produced two daughters, Isabella (born 1998) and Katya Ruby Rose (born 2003). The family currently lives in Chelsea.

Musical style and equipment

Musical style

Mark Knopfler is left-handed, but plays right-handed, and fingerpicks (using a personal variant of the clawhammer style) instead of using a plectrum (i.e., "pick"). Fingerpicking is usually associated with the acoustic guitar, but Knopfler usually (though not always) plays an electric guitar. He revealed during a French interview that he uses a pick for his rhythm work during recording sessions. He surprised the interviewer by pulling a pick out of his pocket and saying that he usually carries one. He has long favoured Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster style guitars. Fender carries a Mark Knopfler Artist Series Stratocaster. During the 1980s he came to appreciate the tone of the Gibson Les Paul and his original 1958 has been used regularly in the studio and on stage.

Guitars

Knopfler has estimated that he now owns "around 70 guitars". They include:

National Triplate, 1930s National Style O 14 fret

Pensa Custom MKII, a custom Pensa guitar given to Knopfler by his friend Rudy Pensa in 2005 Pensa custom-built solid body guitars, models MK-1, MK-2, and MK-80 are named in Knopfler's honour Red-painted (Stratocaster style) Melancon Pro Artist

Hofner V-2 (Mark's first guitar)

Fender Stratocasters, including a 1962 Fiesta Red and a 1954 Sunburst (one of the first ever produced), which Knopfler named "Jurassic Strat"

Gibson Les Paul Special (used in the 1970s)

National Tricone 1928 model

National Style O Resonator guitar 1937 model ("Romeo and Juliet"), a replica of which is available from National Resophonic Guitars

Fender Telecaster 1952

Burns Baldwin 12-string ("Angel of Mercy" and the ''Get Lucky'' album)

Ovation Acoustic

Schecter Telecaster and Stratocaster models (from 1980 on)

Rickenbacker 425 (Used on Portobello Belle, later on The Ragpicker's Dream session)

Fernandes Stratocaster

Ovation Adamas (''Love Over Gold'' album, ''Brothers in Arms'' tour)

Gibson Chet Atkins (''Love Over Gold'' album)

Erlewine Automatic ("Industrial Disease")

Martin Acoustics, HD-40MK, 000-40S Mark Knopfler, and 00028 ("Brothers in Arms")

Gibson SG (Two Young Lovers, Alchemy tour)

Gibson Les Paul 1958, 1959, and 1984 models

Pensa-Suhr R Custom (Knopfler's first Pensa) (''Brothers in Arms'' album, "Ride Across the River" and "So far Away")

Gretsch Super Chet, 6120 (''Golden Heart'' album)

Steinberger GL2 (''Brothers in Arms'' tour)

Beltona Electro Resonator

Flamed Pensa, 3 models (late 1980s)

Gibson J45 (''On Every Street'' album)

Gibson Super 400 (''On Every Street'' album and tour)

Godin L.R. Baggs (''On Every Street'' tour)

Red Pensa (''On Every Street'' tour)

Ramírez Spanish Guitar (from 1992 on)

Pensa-Suhr, black (''Golden Heart'' album and tour)

Gibson ES-335

Danelectro Silvertone

Gibson Southerner

Fender Jazzmaster

Eko 700

Teisco Spectrum, 2 models

Danelectro 59 DC

Fender Duo Sonic 11 (''Kill to Get Crimson'' album)

Gibson Advanced Jumbo

Gibson ES-330

NS 14, Steve Phillips (''Get Lucky'' album)

Monteleone Isabella

Don Grosh Electrajet

Gibson Dove

Effects

Throughout his career Knopfler has used a wide selection of effect pedals in the studio and during live performances. Here is a list of some of them:

Alesis Quadraverb

Boss BF-2 Flanger

Boss CE-2 Chorus

Boss CE-300 Chorus

Boss CS-2 Compressor

Boss DM-2 Delay

MXR Micro Amp

Boss OC-2 Octaver

Boss PH-2 Phaser

DeltaLab Digital Delay

Ibanez UE 303 Multi Effect

Lexicon 300 Reverb

Mantec Preamp

Master Room Reverb

Morley Volume Pedal

Mic-Mix Dyna-Flanger

MXR Analog Delay

Roland Graphic Equalizer

Roland SRE 555 Chorus/Echo

Yamaha REV 5

Zoom Multieffect 9010

Amplifiers

Knopfler has often used many different combinations of amplifiers and cabinets to create his desired sounds.

Crate VC5212 amplifier

Crate 2x12 cabinet

Fender Concert

Fender Vibrolux

Fender Twin Reverb

Gallien & Krueger amplifier

Jim Kelley combo

Jim Kelley heads

Komet amplifiers

Marshall JTM heads

Marshall 4x12 cabinet

Mesa Boogie heads

Music Man HD 130

Soldano SLO 100

Roland Jazz Chorus

Tone King Imperial

Vox AC30

On the "Get Lucky" tour in 2010, Knopfler used a pair of custom built Reinhardt guitar amp heads with matching cabinets, and a Tone King combo in between that is used on some songs.

Honours and awards

1983 BRIT Award for Best British Group (with Dire Straits)

1986 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal with Dire Straits (for "Money for Nothing")

1986 Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year (for "Money for Nothing")

1986 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for "Cosmic Square Dance")

1986 Juno Award for International Album of the Year (for ''Brothers in Arms'' with Dire Straits)

1986 BRIT Award for Best British Group (with Dire Straits)

1987 BRIT Award for Best British Album (for ''Brothers in Arms'' with Dire Straits)

1991 Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Chet Atkins (for "Poor Boy Blues")

1991 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for "So Soft, Your Goodbye")

1992 Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for "Neck and Neck")

1993 Honorary Doctor of Music from Newcastle University

1995 Honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Leeds

1999 OBE 2001 Masiakasaurus knopfleri (a species of dinosaur) was named after him by scientists who had listened to his music while digging the fossils. 2003 Edison Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Music Industry, the highest award for musicians in the Netherlands

2006 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album (for ''Brothers in Arms'' 20th Anniversary Edition with Dire Straits)

2007 Honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Sunderland

2007 Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album with Emmylou Harris (for "All the Roadrunning").

2009 Music Producers Guild Award for Best Studio (for Knopfler's British Grove Studios

2009 PRS for Music Heritage Award (with Dire Straits)

2011 Steiger Award

Knopfler's influence

Played together with Dire Straits' drummer Pick Withers on Bob Dylan's studio album ''Slow Train Coming'', which was recorded in May 1979 and released 20 August; providing Dylan with what Dylan considered his best guitar backing since the days of Mike Bloomfield and Robbie Robertson. Knopfler also played in and co-produced Dylan's 1983 album ''Infidels''.

British author and humorist Douglas Adams said about Knopfler, in his book ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'': "Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff drink." The dinosaur species ''Masiakasaurus knopfleri'' was named after Knopfler. The palaeontologists were listening to Dire Straits recordings when they discovered the species.

On "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Money for Nothing", "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", which merges the instrumentals of "Money For Nothing" with the lyrics to the theme song for the American television series ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett"), Knopfler played guitar in the song, recreating the guitar riff from the original song. He would only allow Yankovic to parody the song if he was allowed to play on the recording.

Knopfler's song "Going Home" from the soundtrack to ''Local Hero'' is played before kick-off at Newcastle United's home matches at St James' Park.

"Going Home" is also the theme music for John Stanley on Sydney radio station 2UE.

According to director Rob Reiner, Knopfler agreed to write the music for Reiner's ''The Princess Bride'' on one condition: Reiner had to put the hat that he wore in ''This Is Spinal Tap'' in ''Princess Bride'', "somewhere in evidence", as homage to the rock mockumentary. The hat makes its appearance in ''Princess Bride'' in the Grandson's (Fred Savage) bedroom. Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar is a fan of Mark Knopfler. They once had a joint interview on cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle's show ''Harsha Online''.

The 2008 stage production Celtic Thunder has covers of multiple Mark Knopfler songs. "Brothers in Arms", written by Mark Knopfler and performed originally by Dire Straits, is performed by Ryan Kelly. As well, the song "Irish Boy" (from ''Cal'') and "Going Home" (from ''Local Hero'') are performed together as an instrumental, entitled "Cal/Local Hero".

Discography

Dire Straits albums

''Dire Straits'' (1978)

''Communiqué'' (1979)

''Making Movies'' (1980)

''Love over Gold'' (1982)

''Alchemy'' (1984, live)

''Brothers in Arms'' (1985)

''Money for Nothing'' (1988, compilation)

''On Every Street'' (1991)

''On the Night'' (1993, live)

''Live at the BBC'' (1995, live)

''Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits'' (1998, compilation)

''The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations'' (2005, compilation)

Solo albums

''Golden Heart'' (1996)

''Sailing to Philadelphia'' (2000)

''The Ragpicker's Dream'' (2002)

''Shangri-La'' (2004)

''The Trawlerman's Song EP'' (2005, EP)

''One Take Radio Sessions'' (2005, EP live)

''The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations'' (2005, compilation)

''Kill to Get Crimson'' (2007)

''Get Lucky'' (2009)

Soundtrack albums

''Local Hero'' (1983)

''Cal'' (1984)

''Comfort and Joy'' (1984)

''The Princess Bride'' (1987)

''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1989)

''Screenplaying'' (1993 compilation)

''Wag the Dog'' (1998)

''Metroland'' (1999)

''A Shot at Glory'' (2002)

Collaborative albums

''Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time'' (with The Notting Hillbillies, 1990)

''Neck and Neck'' (with Chet Atkins, 1990)

''All the Roadrunning'' (with Emmylou Harris, 2006)

''Real Live Roadrunning'' (with Emmylou Harris, 2006)

Produced albums

''Infidels'' (1983) by Bob Dylan. Although Mark disowned the reworked version of the album as released, his production is still noticeable. Left off the album, but later released on The Bootleg Series, is the critically acclaimed "Blind Willie McTell", featuring only Dylan, singing and playing piano, accompanied by Mark Knopfler on acoustic guitar.

''Knife'' (1984) by Aztec Camera. This Scottish indie/new wave band was mostly a vehicle for the work of Roddy Frame, much as Dire Straits only ever recorded Mark Knopfler compositions.

''Miracle'' (1987) by Willy DeVille. The album was dedicated to Mark and his wife "for their support which was nothing short of a Miracle in a time of Dire Straits." The album ends with the ballad "Storybook Love", the theme from The Princess Bride movie.

''Land of Dreams'' (1988) by Randy Newman. The album includes the single "It's Money that Matters", which unabashedly revisits the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing".

''The Sailor's Revenge'' (2011) by Bap Kennedy. As of October 2011, the album is still unreleased.

Additional albums

The following additional albums contain guitar performances or guest appearances by Mark Knopfler.

''The Booze Brothers'' by Brewers Droop (1973)

''Slow Train Coming'' by Bob Dylan (1979)

''Sandy McLelland & the Backline'' by Sandy McLelland (1979)

''Gaucho'' by Steely Dan (1980)

''Solo in Soho'' by Phil Lynott (1980)

''The Philip Lynott Album'' by Phil Lynott (1982)

''Beautiful Vision'' by Van Morrison (1982)

''Release'' by David Knopfler (1983)

''Phil Everly'' by Phil Everly (1983)

''Love Over and Over'' by Kate and Anna McGarrigle (1983)

''Climate of Hunter'' by Scott Walker (1984)

''Never Told a Soul'' by John Illsley (1984)

''The Rock Connection'' by Cliff Richard (1984)

''Boys and Girls'' by Bryan Ferry (1985)

''Stay Tuned'' BY Chet Atkins (1985)

''Break Every Rule'' by Tina Turner (1986)

''...Nothing Like the Sun'' by Sting (1987)

''Primitive Dance'' by Paul Brady (1987)

''Sails'' by Chet Atkins (1987)

''Soldier of Fortune'' by Thin Lizzy (1987)

''C.G.P.'' by Chet Atkins (1988)

''Down in the Groove'' by Bob Dylan (1988)

''Glass'' by John Illsley (1988)

''Shouting Stage'' by Joan Armatrading (1988)

''Foreign Affair'' by Tina Turner (1989)

''River of Time'' by The Judds (1989)

''Brendan Croker & the Five O'Clock Shadows'' by Brendan Croker (1989)

''Hell to Pay'' by Jeff Healey (1990)

''Knebworth: The Album'' by Various Artists (1990)

''Damn Right, I've Got the Blues'' by Buddy Guy (1991)

''The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991'' by Bob Dylan (1991)

''Honky Tonk Demos'' by Various Artists (1991)

''Country Rockers'' by Various Artists (1992)

''Dulcimer Sessions'' by David Schnaufer (1992)

''Ain't I a Woman'' by Rory Block (1992)

''Cookin' with the Blues'' by Various Artists (1992)

''Citizen Steely Dan'' by Steely Dan (1993)

''Heartbeat'' by Hank Marvin (1993)

''Southwestern Cookin'' by Various Artists (1994)

''Flyer'' by Nanci Griffith (1994)

''Bradley Barn Sessions'' by George Jones (1994)

''Read My Licks'' by Chet Atkins (1994)

''Greatest Hits, Vol. 2'' by Weird Al Yankovic (1994)

''Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander'' by Various Artists (1994)

''Long Black Veil'' by The Chieftains (1995)

''Confessin' the Blues'' by Various Artists (1995)

''The Way I Should'' by Iris DeMent (1996)

''Paradise'' by John Anderson (1996)

''Twang!: A Tribute to Hank Marvin & the Shadows'' by Various Artists (1996)

''Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly)'' by Various Artists (1996)

''Pickin' the Hits'' by Chet Atkins (1997)

''Nothin' but the Taillights'' by Clint Black (1997)

''Blues Legends'' by Various Artists (1997)

''Closing In on the Fire'' by Waylon Jennings (1998)

''Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman'' by Randy Newman (1998)

''Man to Woman: Men of Note Sing for a Cause'' by Various Artists (1998)

''Celtic Christmas, Vol. 4'' by Various Artists (1998)

''Tribute to Tradition'' by Various Artists (1998)

''Austin Sessions'' by Kris Kristofferson (1999)

''Another World'' by Gerry Rafferty (2000)

''Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980'' by Steely Dan (2000)

''Prince's Trust 10th Anniversary Birthday Party'' by Various Artists (2000)

''Guitar Heroes'' by Various Artists (2001)

''Singles Collection'' by Hank Marvin (2001)

''Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute'' by Various Artists (2001)

''Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records'' by Various Artists (2001)

''Buried Treasures, Vol. 3'' by Lindisfarne (2001)

''Human'' by Rod Stewart (2001)

''Small World Big Band'' by Jools Holland (2001)

''Seminole Wind'' by John Anderson (1992)

''Chet Picks on the Grammys'' by Chet Atkins (2002)

''Jools Holland's Big Band Rhythm & Blues'' by Jools Holland (2002)

''RCA Country Legends'' by John Anderson (2002)

''Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels'' by Thin Lizzy (2002)

''Parallel Tracks'' by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (2003)

''Double Shot Rocks'' by Alan Merrill (2003)

''Deja Vu (All Over Again)'' by John Fogerty (2004)

''Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan'' (2004)

''Very Best of Celtic Christmas'' by Various Artists (2004)

''Guitar Ballads: Over 2 Hours of Relaxing Classics'' by Hank Marvin (2004)

''B. B. King & Friends: 80'' by B.B. King (2005, guest appearance)

''Is It Rolling Bob? Dub Versions'' by Various Artists (2005)

''Just for a Thrill'' by Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings (2005)

''36 Classic Guitar Favourites'' by Hank Marvin (2005)

''Sea Fever'' by William Topley (2005)

''Prairie Home Companion Duets'' by Various Artists (2006)

''East to West'' by Paul Burch (2006)

''Take the Weather with You'' by Jimmy Buffett (2006)

''Uncovered'' by Tony Joe White (2006)

''Timeless'' by Various Artists (2007)

''After Midnight Live'' by Eric Clapton (2007)

''Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems'' by Emmylou Harris (2007)

''...Earth to the Dandy Warhols...'' by The Dandy Warhols (2008, dobro)

''Burning Your Playhouse Down: The Unreleased Duets'' by George Jones (2008)

''From the Reach'' by Sonny Landreth (2008, guest appearance)

''Legacy, Vol. 1'' by Jeff Healey (2009, guest appearance)

''Life Goes On'' by Gerry Rafferty (2009)

''Greatest and Latest: Just a Thrill and Live'' by Bill Wyman (2009)

''The Secret Policeman's Balls'' by Various Artists (2009)

''Live At Knebworth'' by Various Artists (2010)

''Streets of Heaven'' by John Illsley (2010)

''Just Across the River'' by Jimmy Webb (2010, guest appearance)

''Mercury'' by Pieta Brown (2011)

''Gathering'' by Diane Schuur (2011)

''Freak Flag'' by Greg Brown (2011)

''Back Pages'' by America (2011)

''A Map Of The Floating City'' by Thomas Dolby (2011, guest appearance)

References

External links

Official website

Webradio PrivateInvestigations dedicated to Dire Straits&Mark; Knopfler

Mark Knopfler Boom Like That

the long road – Mark Knopfler Sessions

Mark Knopfler News

Mark Knopfler "Old News"

Category:1949 births Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds Category:British guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:English Jews Category:British Jews Category:British male singers Category:English rock singers Category:British singer-songwriters Category:Dire Straits members Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:Living people Category:People from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Resonator guitarists Category:Brit Award winners Category:People educated at Gosforth Academy

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Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
Name	Mark Henry
Names	Mark Henry
Height
Weight
Birth date	June 12, 1971
Birth place	Silsbee, Texas
Resides	New York
Billed	Silsbee, Texas
Trainer	Leo BurkeHart family members
Debut	September 22, 1996
Retired	}}

}}

Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand. Aside from wrestling, he is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic. Since joining the WWF/E in 1996, he has become a one-time WWF European Champion and a one-time world champion, having held the ECW Championship in 2008.

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Henry was a weightlifter, and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed tenth in the super heavyweight division. Three years later, at the 1995 Pan American Games, Henry won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division. The following year, he became a North America, Central America, Caribbean Islands (NACACI) champion. Also in 1996, Henry signed a ten-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE).

Henry was trained by former Canadian professional wrestlers Stu and Bret Hart and Leo Burke. He made his television wrestling debut match in September 1996. Two years later, Henry joined the stable Nation of Domination. After the disbandment of the group, he acquired the moniker "Sexual Chocolate", which led him to participate in controversial angles. In 2000, Henry was sent to the company's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky to improve his wrestling skills. That same year, he left wrestling and began focusing on weightlifting. Henry won a strongman competition, during the Arnold Classic in 2002.

In 2003, Henry returned to WWE, where he took part of the group "Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises", a group compiled of African Americans who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". The following year, Henry tore his quadriceps muscle, and was unable to compete for over a year. Upon his return, he was briefly involved in feuds with Kurt Angle and The Undertaker, before suffering a knee injury. After it healed, he continued to feud with The Undertaker, before being moved to the ECW brand in June 2008, where he gained Tony Atlas as a manager. In June 2008, he won the ECW Championship and he held it for three months. He was traded to the Raw brand in June 2009, and drafted back to SmackDown two years later in April 2011 during the WWE Draft.

Weightlifting career

During his time in high school, Henry was a three-time state champion with state records in the squat at , bench press at and deadlift at . At the Texas high school powerlifting championships in April 1990, Terry Todd, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin and former weightlifter, spotted Henry and persuaded him to go to Austin after he graduated to train in the Olympic style of weightlifting. Henry broke four national junior records in weightlifting after eight months of training in Olympic style weightlifting. In April 1991, he placed fourth at the United States Nationals, and finished sixth at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Germany two months later. In Henry's first year of competing, he broke the three junior (20 and under) American records 12 times, and became the United States' top superheavyweight, surpassing Mario Martinez. Henry was billed as the "World's Strongest Man" after he qualified for the weightlifting competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where he finished tenth in the super heavyweight class. After the Nation disbanded, he engaged in a short feud with The Rock, defeating him at Judgment Day: In Your House with help from Brown, and then forming a permanent team with Brown, gaining Ivory as a manager. During the next year, Henry gave himself the nickname "Sexual Chocolate", and was involved in controversial angles with Chyna and a transvestite. The next night, Henry was awarded the European title by Jarrett in return for his help. Henry dropped the title one month later to Brown at the Unforgiven pay-per-view.

After this, Henry turned into a fan favorite, and was seen on television romancing WWF women from Chyna to Mae Young as part of the "Sexual Chocolate" character. Young would go on to give birth to a hand. Along with this, Henry was made part of various other embarrassing and infamous storylines, including the admission that he was a sex addict.

Brand switches (2002–2004)

Henry returned to the WWF the next month and was sent to the SmackDown! brand, where he developed an in-ring persona of performing "tests of strength" while other wrestlers took bets on the tests, but the gimmick met with little success. During this time he competed against such superstars as Chris Jericho and Christian. After defeating Booker T twice, once in a street fight and once in a six-man tag team match, he lost to Booker T at the Armageddon pay-per-view in December 2003. At a practice session in OVW in February 2004, Henry tore his quadriceps muscle, and was out for over a year after undergoing surgery. A week later on ''SmackDown!'', Henry got in a confrontation with the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, and went on to interfere in a steel cage match between MNM and the team of Mysterio and Batista, helping MNM to retain their titles. Henry then had another match with Batista at a live event where Batista received a severely torn triceps that required surgery, forcing him to vacate his title. On the January 10, 2006 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Henry was involved in a battle royal for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. He was finally tossed out by Kurt Angle, who won the title.

A week later, Henry received assistance from Daivari, who turned on Angle and announced that he was the manager of Henry. With Daivari at his side, Henry would face Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight title at the 2006 Royal Rumble in January, which he lost when Angle hit him with a chair (without the referee seeing) and pinned Henry with a roll-up.

On the March 10 episode of ''SmackDown!'', after putting Kurt Angle through a table with a diving splash, Henry was then challenged to a casket match by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 22. Henry vowed to defeat The Undertaker and end his streak at WrestleMania, but was unsuccessful in this quest as The Undertaker would defeat Henry at the event. Henry would get a rematch against the Undertaker on the April 7 episode of ''SmackDown!'', however it ended in a no contest when Daivari announced his new client, The Great Khali, who was also making his debut. Khali then went to the ring and started to attack the Undertaker, thus ending the feud between them.

During the rest of April and May, Henry gained a pinfall victory over the World Heavyweight Champion, Rey Mysterio in a non-title match. Henry would also enter the King of the Ring tournament, in which he was defeated by Bobby Lashley in the first round. He later cost Kurt Angle his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Mysterio, when he jumped off the top rope and crushed Angle through a table. Henry was then challenged by Angle to face off at Judgment Day, Henry then sent a "message" to Angle by defeating Paul Burchill. At Judgment Day, Henry defeated Angle by countout. Although winning, Angle got his revenge after the match by hitting Henry with a chair and putting him through a table.

Henry later went on what was referred to as a "path of destruction", causing injuries to numerous superstars. Henry "took out" Chris Benoit and Paul Burchill on this path of destruction, and attacked Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. These events led up to a feud with the returning Batista, whom Henry had put out of action with a legitimate injury several months beforehand. When Batista returned he and Henry were scheduled to face one another at The Great American Bash in July. Weeks before that event, however, on the July 15, 2006 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', Henry was involved in a six-man tag team match with King Booker and Finlay against Batista, Rey Mysterio, and Bobby Lashley. During the match, Henry was injured, canceling the scheduled match at The Great American Bash, as Henry needed surgery. Doctors later found that Henry completely tore his patella tendon off the bone and split his patella completely in two.

Return and various feuds (2007–2008)

Henry returned on the May 11, 2007 episode of ''SmackDown!'', after weeks of vignettes hyping his return. He attacked The Undertaker after a World Heavyweight Championship steel cage match with Batista, allowing Edge to take advantage of the situation and use his Money in the Bank contract. Henry then began a short feud with Kane, defeating him in a Lumberjack Match at One Night Stand. Shortly after, Henry made an open challenge to the ''SmackDown!'' locker room, which nobody ever accepted. In the coming weeks he faced various jobbers—wrestlers who consistently lose to make their opponents look stronger—and quickly defeated them all. On August 3, he claimed that nobody accepted the open challenge to step into the ring with him because of what he had done to The Undertaker, presenting footage of his assault on the Undertaker. The Undertaker responded over the following weeks, playing various mind games with Henry. Henry finally faced The Undertaker again at Unforgiven in September, losing to him after being given a Last Ride. Two weeks later, Henry lost a rematch to The Undertaker after The Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Henry.

After a short hiatus, Henry returned to WWE programming on the October 23 episode of ''ECW'', attacking Kane, along with The Great Khali and Big Daddy V. Henry then began teaming with Big Daddy V against Kane and CM Punk, and was briefly managed by Big Daddy V's manager, Matt Striker. At Armageddon, Henry and Big Daddy V defeated Kane and Punk. Before WrestleMania XXIV aired, Henry participated in a 24-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the ECW Championship, but failed to win.

ECW (2008–2009)

As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Henry was drafted to the ECW brand. At Night of Champions, Henry defeated Kane and Big Show in a Triple Threat match to capture the ECW Championship in his debut match as an ECW superstar. Upon winning the title, it was made exclusive to the ECW brand once again. Henry's title win came nearly a full decade after he was awarded the European Championship, which was back in 1999 and the last title he held in WWE. A few weeks later, Hall of Famer Tony Atlas returned to WWE to act as Henry's manager. A month after Henry's title win, ECW General Manager, Theodore Long, unveiled a new, entirely platinum ECW Championship belt design. Henry would lose the title at Unforgiven in the Championship Scramble match to Matt Hardy.

Henry attempted to regain the championship throughout the end of 2008, including a match against Hardy at No Mercy, but was unsuccessful. Henry and Atlas then engaged in a scripted rivalry against Finlay and Hornswoggle, which included Henry losing a Belfast Brawl at Armageddon. At the start of 2009, Henry qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, and was involved in a series of matches with the other competitors on ''Raw'', ''SmackDown'', and ''ECW''. He was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, however, as CM Punk won the match. In May, Henry began a rivalry with Evan Bourne, which began after Bourne defeated Henry by countout on the May 26 episode of ''ECW''.

Return to Raw (2009–2011)

On June 29, Henry was traded to the Raw brand, and made his redebut for the brand that night as the third opponent in a three-on-one gauntlet match against Randy Orton, which he won, turning Henry into a fan favorite in the process. In August 2009, Henry formed a tag team with Montel Vontavious Porter, and the two challenged the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show for the title at Breaking Point, but were unsuccessful. They stopped teaming afterwards, becoming involved in separate storylines, until the February 15, 2010 episode of ''Raw'' in which they defeated the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Big Show and The Miz in a non-title match. The next week they challenged The Big Show and The Miz in a title match but were unsuccessful. At Extreme Rules, Henry and MVP fought for a chance to become number one contenders to the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships, but were the second team eliminated in a gauntlet match by The Big Show and The Miz. The match would be won by The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith).

It was later announced that Henry would mentor Lucky Cannon in the second season of ''WWE NXT''. Cannon was eliminated on the August 10 episode of ''NXT''. In September, Henry began teaming with Evan Bourne, starting at the Night of Champions pay-per-view, where they entered a Tag Team Turmoil for the WWE Tag Team Championship. They made it to the final two before being defeated by Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The team came to an end in October when Bourne suffered an injury and was taken out of action. Henry then formed a team with Yoshi Tatsu on the November 29 episode of ''Raw'', defeating WWE Tag Team Champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, after a distraction by John Cena. They received a shot at the championship the next week, in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match, which also included The Usos and Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Henry and Tatsu were the first team eliminated in the match.

Return to SmackDown and pursuit of World Heavyweight Championship (2011)

On April 25, 2011, Mark Henry returned to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 WWE Draft. In the main event of the night, Henry attacked his teammates, John Cena and Christian, turning into a heel for the first time since June 2009. On May 27, Henry participated in a triple threat match against Sheamus and Christian to determine the number one contender for Randy Orton's World Heavyweight Championship, which was ultimately won by Sheamus. Henry then began feuding with The Big Show, attacking him before matches and backstage. On the July 1 edition of ''SmackDown'', if Henry defeated Randy Orton, he would receive a World Heavyweight Championship match in the near future, however Orton defeated Henry via countout after being distracted by Show's entrance theme and music. As a consequence, Henry destroyed the production set.

On July 9, it was announced by WWE that he would face Big Show at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. At the pay-per-view, Henry defeated Big Show and after the match, he assaulted him with a steel chair, thus making Big Show leave the Pay-Per-View via stretcher. Then on ''SmackDown!'', Henry attacked Kane who lost a match to Randy Orton, and injured his leg, just like he did to Big Show.After Henry easily defeated Bobby Howard, a local wrestler, Theodore Long announced that Henry will no longer compete since no one wants to face him as of late. Sheamus interrupted Long, stating that he (Sheamus) is not afraid of anyone, including Henry, slapping him in the face.

On August 5, Henry snapped the leg of Vladimir Kozlov, who would later be released from his WWE contract that same night, just like he did with The Big Show and Kane in the previous weeks. He then focused on his rivalry with Sheamus. At SummerSlam, Henry defeated Sheamus by countout. On the August 19 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Henry won a 20-Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship and face Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship . On the August 24 taping of August 26 it was announced that Henry would get his title shot on the next edition of ''SmackDown!'' by guest General Manager Bret Hart. Later that night he lost a match to Sheamus resulting in a countout. After the match, Henry delivered the World's Strongest Slam to Sheamus onto the steel steps.

Personal life

He is the cousin of former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Kevin Henry. Henry's father, Ernest, died of complications from diabetes when Henry was twelve. He has an older brother, Pat. When Henry was fourteen, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Henry played American football in high school, until his senior year, when he strained ligaments in his wrist.

Henry currently lives in New York with his wife Jana and his son Jacob. He still drives the Hummer that he won in the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic.

MotoGP racer Nicky Hayden has been a fan of Henry for years, which explains why Hayden met up with Henry at the Catalunya Circuit. Henry also cites Hayden as his favourite MotoGP racer, which also explains why Hayden cites Henry as his (Hayden's) favourite WWE superstar.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''World's Strongest Slam'' (High-angle falling powerslam)

Signature moves

Bearhug

Body avalanche

Military press slam

Running splash

Scoop powerslam

Managers

Mae Young

Nicknames

"The World's Strongest Man"

"Sexual Chocolate"

"The King of the Jungle"

"The Silverback"

Entrance themes

"Power" by Jim Johnston (1998)

"Sexual Chocolate" performed by Stevan Swann and composed by Jim Johnston (1998–2000; November 15, 2010)

"Some Bodies Gonna Get It" by Three 6 Mafia (May 21, 2006–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Powerlifting

All-time world former raw (unequipped) squat world record holder (430 Kilograms)

Professional wrestling

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him #41 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

ECW Championship (1 time)

WWF European Championship (1 time)

Strongman athletics

Arnold Classic

*Arnold Classic Strongest Man (2002)

Weightlifting

Olympic Games

*Olympic Games team member (1992, 1996)

Pan American Games

*Pan American Games Silver Medalist (1995)

Senior American record holder in Snatch, Clean and jerk, and Total (1993–1997)

Senior National Championship (1993, 1994, 1996)

References

External links

WWE profile

Official website

Category:1971 births Category:African American professional wrestlers Category:American strength athletes Category:American weightlifters Category:Living people Category:Olympic athletes who wrestled professionally Category:Olympic weightlifters of the United States Category:People from Silsbee, Texas Category:Powerlifters Category:Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Weightlifters at the 1995 Pan American Games

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