name	Ronnie Wood
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ronald David Wood
born	Hillingdon, Middlesex, England
instrument	Guitar, bass, pedal steel, lap steel, harmonica, saxophone, drums, vocals, Nose flute
genre	Rock and roll, blues-rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, record producer, painter
years active	1964–present
label	Warner Bros.
associated acts	The Birds, The Creation, The Jeff Beck Group, Faces, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, The Insects, The New Barbarians
website	www.ronniewood.com
notable instruments	Various Zemaitis modelsESP Ron Wood signature modelDuesenberg signature modelVersoul guitarsFender Stratocaster }}

Ronald David "Ronnie" Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock guitarist and bassist best known as a former member of The Jeff Beck Group, Faces, and current member of The Rolling Stones. He also plays lap and pedal steel guitar.

Wood began his career in 1964, when he joined The Birds on guitar. He then joined the mod group The Creation, but only remained with the group for a short time, and appeared on a small number of singles. Wood joined The Jeff Beck Group in 1968. They released two albums, ''Truth'' and ''Beck-Ola'', which became moderate successes. The group split in 1970, and Wood departed along with lead vocalist Rod Stewart to join former Small Faces members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones in a new group, dubbed the Faces. The group, although relegated to "cult" status in the US, found great success in the UK and mainland Europe. The Faces released their debut album, ''First Step'', in 1970. The group went on to release ''Long Player'' and ''A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse'' in 1971. Their last LP, entitled ''Ooh La La'', was released in 1973. After the group split, Wood began several solo projects, eventually recording his first solo LP, ''I've Got My Own Album to Do'', in 1974. The album featured former bandmate McLagan as well as Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, a longtime friend of Wood's. Richards soon invited Wood to join The Rolling Stones, after the departure of Mick Taylor. Wood joined in 1975, and has remained a member ever since.

Besides ''I've Got My Own Album to Do'', Wood has recorded several other solo efforts. ''Now Look'' was released in 1975, and peaked at number 118 on ''Billboard'', and Wood collaborated with Ronnie Lane for the soundtrack album ''Mahoney's Last Stand''. He released ''Gimme Some Neck'' in 1979, which hit number 45 in the US. ''1234'' was released in 1981, peaking at number 164. He released ''Slide on This'' in 1992, ''Not for Beginners'' came out in 2002. and ''I Feel Like Playing'' in 2010.

Music career

1960s

Wood began his career as a professional musician in 1964 as a guitarist with The Birds, an R&B; band based in Yiewsley, West London. A popular live act with a considerable fan base, The Birds released several singles in the mid-60s; Wood wrote or co-wrote nearly half the songs the group recorded.

By 1967 the Birds had disbanded, and Wood briefly took part in a project called Santa Barbara Machine Head before joining the Jeff Beck Group as a bassist. Along with vocalist Rod Stewart, Wood did several tours with Beck, and recorded two albums: ''Truth'' in 1968 and ''Beck-Ola'' in 1969. In between Jeff Beck Group projects Wood also worked with The Creation.

In 1969, after Steve Marriott left the Small Faces, Wood began working with the remaining members of that group, returning to his instrument of choice: the guitar. This line-up, plus Rod Stewart and ex-Bird Kim Gardner, teamed up with Wood's brother Art Wood in a formation called Quiet Melon, making a handful of recordings in May 1969. After the Jeff Beck Group's fifth US tour in July, Wood and Stewart joined the former Small Faces full-time, and the band's name was changed to Faces.

1970s

In the first half of the 1970s, Faces released four studio albums and were among the top-grossing live acts of the period. Besides his distinctive guitar work, Wood contributed harmonica, vocals and bass to the band's recordings, and co-wrote many of their songs, including "Stay With Me" and "Ooh La La". He also played on bandmate Stewart's first few solo albums, and is co-writer of the Rod Stewart songs "Gasoline Alley" and "Every Picture Tells a Story", as well as several songs on ''Never a Dull Moment''.

In 1972, Wood and Faces bassist Ronnie Lane composed the soundtrack to the film ''Mahoney's Last Stand''; the soundtrack, which was released as an LP in 1976, also features Faces bandmates Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones, along with contributions from Pete Townshend and Ric Grech. Wood also performed with Townshend, Grech, Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Eric Clapton at Clapton's Rainbow Concert in 1973. It was this event that precipitated Wood's brief and somewhat unexpected interest in librarianship and information studies, an influence he would later bring to the Rolling Stones.

In December 1973, Wood collaborated with Mick Jagger on the song "It's Only Rock'n Roll (But I Like It)". Both Jagger and Keith Richards contributed to Wood's first solo album, ''I've Got My Own Album to Do'', released in 1974.

Following Mick Taylor's departure from the Rolling Stones in December 1974, Wood participated in the band's March 1975 recording sessions for their forthcoming album ''Black and Blue''. Although still a member of the Faces, he toured North America with the Rolling Stones in 1975; the Faces announced their break-up in December of that year, and Wood was officially declared a member of the Rolling Stones in February 1976.

''NME'' – August 1976

In the Rolling Stones, Wood plays the slide guitar as Taylor had done before him, adding both lap steel and pedal steel guitar. In addition, Wood, as his predecessors did, exchanges roles on the guitar with Richards, often blurring the boundaries between rhythm and lead, even within a particular song. He also occasionally plays bass guitar, as seen during 1975 concert performances of "Fingerprint File", when Mick Jagger played rhythm guitar and bassist Bill Wyman moved to synthesizer. The Rolling Stones single "Emotional Rescue" also features Wood on bass. He has been given credit as a co-writer for a dozen songs, including "Dance", "Black Limousine", "One Hit (to the Body)" and "Had It With You".

In 1975, Wood released his second solo album, ''Now Look''; his third, ''Gimme Some Neck'', came out in 1979. To promote it, Wood formed and toured with The New Barbarians, playing 20 concerts in Canada and the US in April/May and the Knebworth Festival in the UK in August.

1980s

Throughout the 1980s, Wood played as a member of the Rolling Stones; continued his solo career, releasing the album ''1234'' in 1981; painted; and collaborated with a number of other artists, including Prince, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley, Ringo Starr and Aretha Franklin.

At the 1985 Live Aid Concert in Philadelphia, Wood along with Keith Richards performed in the penultimate set with Bob Dylan. During the performance of "Blowin' in the Wind", one of Dylan's guitar strings broke. Wood gave Dylan his guitar in order to keep the performance seamless, and played air guitar until a stagehand brought him a replacement.

In 1988 Wood opened "Woody's on the Beach" in Miami, a club featuring a house band headed by Bobby Keys, hosting performances by local acts, friends of Wood's and occasionally Wood himself. The defunct hotel which housed the club allowed Wood to set up a VIP area upstairs, displaying Wood's artwork and providing private party areas. The club was popular, but was closed due to complaints from neighbours who found it too loud.

1990s-2010s

In 1990 Wood was made a fully-fledged partner in the Rolling Stones' financial organization. During the '90s the Rolling Stones released two studio albums and three concert albums, as well as touring in 1990, 1994–95 and 1997–99.

In addition, Wood released his seventh solo album, ''Slide On This'', in 1992; he toured to promote this album in North America and Japan. His appearance in 1993 with former bandmate Rod Stewart on ''MTV Unplugged'' resulted in a hit album entitled ''Unplugged...and Seated''; the concert album that Wood released in 1993 from his own tour was called ''Slide On Live: Plugged In and Standing''.

Wood also contributed to Bo Diddley's 1996 album ''A Man Amongst Men'', playing slide guitar on the tracks "Hey Baby", "A Man Amongst Men" and "Oops! Bo Diddley" and guitar on "I Can't Stand It".

Since 2000 Wood has continued to combine solo work with his Rolling Stones schedule. Following the 2001 release of his album ''Not For Beginners'', Wood toured England and Ireland in 2001 and 2002 with his own group, The Ronnie Wood Band. The band included members of his own family, Slash and Andrea Corr. After the tour a DVD called ''Far East Man'' was released.

Wood toured with the Rolling Stones in 2002 and 2003; in 2004 he performed several one-off concerts and guest appearances, including a number of appearances with Rod Stewart. Later in the year the two expressed intentions of finishing the studio work on a collaborative album to be entitled ''You Strum and I'll Sing''. In 2005, however, Wood was again busy with the Rolling Stones as they recorded their ''A Bigger Bang'' album. Although only playing on ten of the album's sixteen tracks, Wood embarked on the tour which ran through till August 2007.

In 2005 Wood launched his own record company, Wooden Records, which has released recordings by his daughter Leah, The New Barbarians and others. In November 2006, during a break in the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour, Wood played guitar on three tracks for British soul artist Beverley Knight's album ''Music City Soul'', released in 2007.

On 9 May 2009, Wood along with Red Hot Chili Peppers members Anthony Kiedis, Michael "Flea" Balzary, Chad Smith and musician Ivan Neville performed under the name, '' The Insects'' at the fifth annual MusiCares event honoring Kiedis.

On 11 August 2009 Wood joined Pearl Jam on the stage of Shepherd's Bush Empire in London for a performance of "All Along the Watchtower". On 25 October 2009, Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones joined forces for a Faces performance at London's Royal Albert Hall on behalf of the Performing Rights Society's Music Members' Benevolent Fund. Bill Wyman played bass and lead vocals were shared by several performers, notably Mick Hucknall. Rod Stewart, who had earlier denied rumours of plans for a Faces reunion in 2009, was not present.

On 2 November 2009 Wood was given an "Outstanding Contribution" award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour ceremony in London. Pete Townshend presented the award.

Since 9 April 2010, Wood has presented his own radio show on Absolute Radio. Airing on Saturday night from 10pm, the show lasts one hour and consists of Wood playing tracks by artists he has worked with and other personal favourites.

In May 2011 Ronnie Wood won the Sony Radio Personality of the Year award for The Ronnie Wood Show.

Personal life

Wood was born in Hillingdon, London, into a family of English "water gypsies" (river/canal barge operators, sometimes also called "bargees"); he has said that his generation was the first in the family to be born on dry land. He grew up in Yiewsley and attended St Stephen's Primary School and St Matthew's Church of England Secondary School, Yiewsley.

Both of his older brothers, Art and Ted, were graphic artists as well as musicians. Ted Wood died in 2004, and Art Wood in 2006.

Wood has four children. Jesse is his son with his first wife, Krissy (née Findlay), a former model to whom he was married from 1971 to 1978;(during this time he had an affair with George Harrison's former wife, Pattie Boyd). Krissy died in 2005. In 1985 Wood married his second wife, Jo Wood (née Karslake), mother of his daughter Leah and son Tyrone; her son Jamie from a previous relationship completes the family. Also a former model, Jo Wood has developed a successful line of organic beauty products. The Woods own homes in Kingston Vale in Greater London and County Kildare, Ireland.

Wood has been frank about his struggle with alcoholism; although reports between 2003 and 2006 had indicated that he had been sober since the Rolling Stones' 2002-03 tour, in June 2006 it was reported that Wood was entering rehab for a couple of weeks following a spell of increased alcohol abuse. By July 2008, ''ITN news'' reported that Wood had checked himself into rehab a total of six times; the last time being before the wedding of his daughter Leah. He had plans once again for a seventh admission.

In July 2008 he left his wife for Ekaterina Ivanova (variously reported to be between 18 and 21 years old at the time), whom he had met in a London club. Wood checked into rehab again on 16 July 2008. Jo Wood filed for divorce and was granted a decree nisi in November 2009.

On 3 December 2009, Wood was arrested over assault "in connection with a domestic incident". He was officially cautioned for this offence on 22 December 2009. Following this incident, Wood and Ivanova parted ways, and Ivanova later asserted that at his worst Wood drank up to a litre of spirits a day, took cocaine and chain smoked up to 50 cigarettes.

He is currently dating model Ana Paula Araújo.

Artwork

Wood is a renowned artist. When he was a child his drawings were featured on the BBC television programme ''Sketch Club''; he won one of that programme's competitions, an achievement he refers to as his "awakening to art". He went on to train at the Ealing Art College, as both his brothers had, which other notable musicians, Freddie Mercury of Queen, and Pete Townshend of The Who, also attended in the 1960s.

Wood's paintings, drawings and prints frequently feature icons of popular culture and have been exhibited all over the world. Several of his paintings, including a work commissioned by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, are displayed at London's Drury Lane Theatre. Art critic Brian Sewell has called Wood "an accomplished and respectable artist"; and the ''South Bank Show'' has devoted an entire programme to his artwork. Liberty & Co. has produced a clothing line using fabrics printed with Wood's art. Wood is also the co-owner (along with sons Jamie and Tyrone) of a London art gallery called Scream.

Books, films & television appearances

To date, Wood has three books to his credit: a short collection of autobiographical anecdotes entitled ''The Works'', illustrated with Wood's artwork, co-authored by Bill German and published in 1988; a limited-edition art book entitled ''Wood on Canvas: Every Picture Tells a Story'', published in 1998; and his 2007 autobiography ''Ronnie'', written in collaboration with his son in law Jack MacDonald and Jeffrey Robinson.

In addition to numerous Faces and Rolling Stones concert films, broadcasts and documentaries, Wood performed alongside The Band, Bob Dylan and many others in the finale of the documentary ''The Last Waltz'', filmed in 1976. He has made cameo appearances in feature films including ''The Deadly Bees'' (1967), ''The Wild Life'' (1984) and ''9½ Weeks'' (1986), as well as on television programmes including ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'' (1978). In October 2007 Wood appeared on the television motor show ''Top Gear'', achieving a celebrity lap time of 1:49.4.

Solo discography

''I've Got My Own Album to Do'' (1974)

''Now Look'' (1975) US #118

''Mahoney's Last Stand'' (1976) with Ronnie Lane

''Gimme Some Neck'' (1979) US #45

''1234'' (1981) US #164

''Live at the Ritz'' (1988) with Bo Diddley

''Slide on This'' (1992)

''Slide on Live: Plugged in and Standing'' (1993)

''Live and Eclectic'' (2000) (reissued in 2002 as Live at Electric Ladyland)

''Not for Beginners'' (2001)

''Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion'' (2006)

''Buried Alive: Live in Maryland'' (2006) with The New Barbarians

''The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn'' (2007)

''I Feel Like Playing'' (2010) UK #164

See also

1974 in music

1985 in music

References

External links

Ronnie Wood.com

in 2004

Ronnie Wood Artwork, Global Distributor of

Scream Gallery

Ronnie Wood art career news and artwork

}}

Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of West London Category:English film score composers Category:English rock bass guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:People from Hillingdon Category:Rhythm guitarists Category:Sitar players Category:Slide guitarists Category:The Rolling Stones members Category:1947 births Category:Weissenborn players Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

ca:Ron Wood cs:Ron Wood da:Ron Wood de:Ron Wood es:Ron Wood fr:Ron Wood gd:Ronnie Wood hr:Ron Wood io:Ronnie Wood id:Ronnie Wood it:Ron Wood he:רון ווד nl:Ron Wood ja:ロン・ウッド no:Ron Wood nn:Ronnie Wood pl:Ron Wood pt:Ron Wood ro:Ron Wood ru:Вуд, Рон simple:Ronnie Wood sk:Ron Wood sl:Ron Wood fi:Ron Wood sv:Ronnie Wood

name	Sir Paul McCartneyMBE
birth name	James Paul McCartney
background	solo_singer
alt	Black-and-white image of McCartney, in his sixties, holding an electric bass. He wears a black buttoned-up suit jacket with black pants.
birth name	James Paul McCartney
born	June 18, 1942Liverpool, England
instrument	Vocals,Bass guitar,guitar, piano, organ, mellotron, keyboards, drums, ukulele, mandolin, recorder
genre	Rock, pop, psychedelic rock, experimental rock, rock and roll, hard rock, classical music
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, film producer, painter, activist, businessman
years active	1957–present
label	Hear Music, Apple, Parlophone, Capitol, Columbia, Concord Music Group, EMI, One Little Indian, Vee-Jay
associated acts	The Quarrymen, The Beatles, Wings, The Fireman, Linda McCartney, John Lennon, Denny Laine
website
notable instruments	Höfner 500/1Rickenbacker 4001SGibson Les PaulEpiphone TexanEpiphone CasinoFender EsquireFender Jazz BassYamaha BB1200 BassWal 5-String BassMartin D-28 }}

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), McCartney is the most commercially successful songwriter in the history of popular music, according to ''Guinness World Records''.

McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and wrote some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles in the United Kingdom.

BBC News Online readers named McCartney the "greatest composer of the millennium", and BBC News cites his Beatles song "Yesterday" as the most covered song in the history of recorded music—by over 2,200 artists—and since its 1965 release, has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio according to the BBC. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. Based on the 93 weeks his compositions have spent at the top spot of the UK chart, and 24 number one singles to his credit, McCartney is the most successful songwriter in UK singles chart history. As a performer or songwriter, McCartney was responsible for 31 number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States, and has sold 15.5 million RIAA certified albums in the US alone.

McCartney has composed film scores, classical and electronic music, released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist, and has taken part in projects to help international charities. He is an advocate for animal rights, for vegetarianism, and for music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt. He is a keen football fan, supporting both Everton and Liverpool football clubs. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as ''Guys and Dolls'', ''A Chorus Line'', and ''Grease''. McCartney is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010.

Childhood

McCartney was born in Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary (née Mohan), had worked as a nurse in the maternity ward. He has one brother, Michael, born 7 January 1944. McCartney was baptised Roman Catholic but was raised non-denominationally: his mother was Roman Catholic and his father James, or "Jim" McCartney, was a Protestant turned agnostic.

In 1947, he began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary School. He then attended the Joseph Williams Junior School and passed the 11-plus exam in 1953 with three others out of the 90 examinees, thus gaining admission to the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, while taking the bus from his home in the suburb of Speke to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who lived nearby. Passing the exam meant that McCartney and Harrison could go to a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school, which the majority of pupils attended until they were eligible to work, but as grammar school pupils, they had to find new friends.

In 1955, the McCartney family moved to 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. Mary McCartney rode a bicycle to houses where she was needed as a midwife, and an early McCartney memory is of her leaving when it was snowing heavily. On 31 October 1956, Mary McCartney died of an embolism after a mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her breast cancer. The early loss of his mother later connected McCartney with John Lennon, whose mother Julia died after being struck by a car when Lennon was 17.

McCartney's father was a trumpet player and pianist who had led Jim Mac's Jazz Band in the 1920s and encouraged his two sons to be musical. Jim had an upright piano in the front room that he had bought from Epstein's North End Music Stores. McCartney's grandfather, Joe McCartney, played an E-flat tuba. Jim McCartney used to point out the different instruments in songs on the radio, and often took McCartney to local brass band concerts. McCartney's father gave him a nickel-plated trumpet, but when skiffle music became popular, McCartney swapped the trumpet for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar. As he was left-handed, McCartney found right-handed guitars difficult to play, but when he saw a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert, he realised that Whitman played left-handed with his guitar strung the opposite way to a right-handed player. McCartney wrote his first song ("I Lost My Little Girl") on the Zenith, and also played his father's Framus Spanish guitar when writing early songs with Lennon. He later learned to play the piano and wrote his second song, "When I'm Sixty-Four". On his father's advice, he took music lessons, but since he preferred to learn 'by ear' he never paid much attention to them.

McCartney was heavily influenced by American Rhythm and Blues music. He has stated that Little Richard was his idol when he was in school and that the first song he ever sang in public was "Long Tall Sally", at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.

Musical career

1957–1960

At the age of 15, McCartney met John Lennon and The Quarrymen at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957. He formed a close working relationship with Lennon and they collaborated writing many songs. Harrison joined the group in early 1958 as lead guitarist, followed in early 1960 by Lennon's art school friend, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass. By May 1960, they had tried several new names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "The Silver Beetles", playing a tour of Scotland under that name with Johnny Gentle. They finally changed the name of the group to "The Beatles" in mid-August 1960 and recruited Pete Best at short-notice to become their drummer for an imminent engagement in Hamburg.

1960–1970: The Beatles

From August 1960, The Beatles were booked by Allan Williams, to perform at a club in Hamburg. During extended stays over the next two years, The Beatles performed as a resident group in a number of Hamburg clubs. On returns to Liverpool they played at the Cavern club. Prior to the end of the residency, Sutcliffe left the band, so McCartney, reluctantly, became The Beatles' bass player. The Beatles recorded their first published musical material in Hamburg, performing as the backing group for Tony Sheridan on the single "My Bonnie". This recording later brought the Beatles to the attention of a key figure in their subsequent development and commercial success, Brian Epstein, who became their next manager. Epstein eventually negotiated a record contract for the group with Parlophone in May 1962. After replacing Best with Ringo Starr on drums, The Beatles became popular in the UK in 1963 and in the US in 1964. In 1965, they were each appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). After performing concerts, plays, and tours almost non-stop for a period of nearly four years, and giving more than one thousand four hundred live performances internationally, The Beatles gave their last commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour. They continued to work in the recording studio from 1966 until their break-up in 1970. In the eight years from 1962 to 1970, the group had released twenty-four UK singles and twelve studio albums, often released in different configurations in the USA and other countries (see discography).

Since 1970

After the break-up of The Beatles, McCartney continued his musical career, in solo work as well as in collaborations with other musicians. After releasing his solo album ''McCartney'' in 1970, he worked with Linda McCartney to record the album ''Ram'' in 1971. Later the same year, the pair were joined by guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell to form the group Wings, which was active between 1971 and 1981 and released numerous successful singles and albums (see discography). McCartney also collaborated with a number of other popular artists including Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Stewart, and Elvis Costello. In 1985, McCartney played "Let It Be" at the Live Aid concert in London, backed by Bob Geldof, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Alison Moyet.

In 1989, he joined forces with fellow Merseysiders including Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers and Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood to record a new version of Ferry Cross the Mersey (originally recorded 25 years earlier by Gerry and the Pacemakers) to generate money for the appeal fund of the Hillsborough disaster, which occurred on 15 April that year and in which 96 Liverpool F.C. fans died as a result of their injuries.

The 1990s saw McCartney venture into orchestral music, and in 1991 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by McCartney to celebrate its sesquicentennial.

He collaborated with Carl Davis to release ''Liverpool Oratorio''; involving the opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley and Willard White, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral. The Prince of Wales later honoured McCartney as a Fellow of The Royal College of Music and Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (2008). Other forays into classical music included ''Standing Stone'' (1997), ''Working Classical'' (1999), and ''Ecce Cor Meum'' (2006). It was announced in the 1997 New Year Honours that McCartney was to be knighted for services to music, becoming Sir Paul McCartney. In 1999, McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and in May 2000, he was awarded a Fellowship by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. The 1990s also saw McCartney, Harrison, and Starr working together on Apple's ''The Beatles Anthology'' documentary series.

Having witnessed the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks from the JFK airport tarmac, McCartney took a lead role in organising The Concert for New York City. In November 2002, on the first anniversary of George Harrison's death, McCartney performed at the Concert for George. He has also participated in the National Football League's Super Bowl, performing in the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXXVI and headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX.

McCartney has continued to work in the realms of popular and classical music, touring the world and performing at a large number of concerts and events; on more than one occasion he has performed again with Ringo Starr. In 2008, he received a BRIT award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and an honorary degree, Doctor of Music, from Yale University. The same year, he performed at a concert in Liverpool to celebrate the city's year as European Capital of Culture. In 2009, he received two nominations for the 51st annual Grammy awards, while in October of the same year he was named songwriter of the year at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards. On 15 July 2009, more than 45 years after The Beatles first appeared on American television on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater and performed atop the marquee of ''Late Show with David Letterman''. McCartney was portrayed in the 2009 film ''Nowhere Boy'', about Lennon's teenage years, by Thomas Sangster.

On 2 June 2010, McCartney was honoured by Barack Obama with the Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular music in a live show for the White House with performances by Stevie Wonder, Lang Lang and many others.

McCartney's enduring popularity has helped him schedule performances in new venues. He played three sold out concerts at newly-built Citi Field in Queens, New York (built to replace the Shea Stadium) in July 2009. On 18 August 2010, McCartney opened the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

McCartney has been touring since 2001 with guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards and drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.

There are plans for an upcoming Paul McCartney tribute album with recordings of McCartney songs by Kiss, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, B.B. King and others.

Creative outlets

During the 1960s, McCartney was often seen at major cultural events, such as the launch party for the ''International Times'' and at The Roundhouse (28 January and 4 February 1967 respectively). He also delved into the visual arts, becoming a close friend of leading art dealers and gallery owners, explored experimental film, and regularly attended movie, theatrical and classical music performances. His first contact with the London avant-garde scene was through John Dunbar, who introduced him to the art dealer Robert Fraser, who in turn introduced McCartney to an array of writers and artists. McCartney later became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason's Yard, London—John Lennon first met Yoko Ono at the Indica. The Indica Gallery brought McCartney into contact with Barry Miles, whose underground newspaper, the ''International Times'', McCartney helped to start. Miles would become ''de facto'' manager of the Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney's official biography, ''Many Years From Now'' (1997).

While living at the Asher house, McCartney took piano lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which The Beatles' producer Martin had previously attended. McCartney studied composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio. McCartney later wrote and released several pieces of modern classical music and ambient electronica, besides writing poetry and painting. McCartney is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, an arts school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys. The 1837 building, which McCartney attended during his schooldays, had become derelict by the mid-1980s. On 7 June 1996, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the redeveloped building.

Electronic music

After the recording of "Yesterday" in 1965, McCartney contacted the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale, London, to see if they could record an electronic version of the song, but never followed it up. When visiting John Dunbar's flat in London, McCartney would take along tapes he had compiled at Jane Asher's house. The tapes were mixes of various songs, musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that he had Dick James make into a demo record for him. Heavily influenced by John Cage, he made tape loops by recording voices, guitars, and bongoes on a Brenell tape recorder, and splicing the various loops together. He reversed the tapes, sped them up, and slowed them down to create the effects he wanted, some of which were later used on Beatles' recordings, such as "Tomorrow Never Knows". McCartney referred to the tapes as "electronic symphonies".

In the spring of 1966 McCartney rented a ground floor and basement flat from Ringo Starr at 34 Montagu Square, to be used as a small demo studio for spoken-word recordings by poets, writers (including William S. Burroughs) and avant-garde musicians. The Beatles' Apple Records then launched a sub-label, Zapple with Miles as its manager, ostensibly to release recordings of a similar aesthetic, although few releases would ultimately result as Apple and The Beatles slid into business and personal difficulties.

In 1995, McCartney recorded a radio series called "Oobu Joobu" for the American network Westwood One, which he described as being "wide-screen radio". During the 1990s, McCartney collaborated with Youth of Killing Joke under the name The Fireman, and released two ambient electronic albums: ''Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest'' (1993) and ''Rushes'' (1998). In 2000, he released an album titled ''Liverpool Sound Collage'' with Super Furry Animals and Youth, utilising the sound collage and musique concrète techniques that fascinated him in the mid-1960s. In 2005, he worked on a project with bootleg producer and remixer Freelance Hellraiser, consisting of remixed versions of songs from throughout his solo career which were released under the title ''Twin Freaks''. The Fireman's third album ''Electric Arguments'' was released on 25 November 2008. Unlike the first two Fireman albums, this one was more song-based in its structure. McCartney told ''L.A. Weekly'' in a January 2009, "Fireman is improvisational theatre ... I formalise it a bit to get it into the studio, and when I step up to a microphone, I have a vague idea of what I’m about to do. I usually have a song, and I know the melody and lyrics, and my performance is the only unknown."

Film

McCartney was interested in animated films as a child, and later had the financial resources to ask Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called ''Rupert and the Frog Song'', in 1981. McCartney was the producer, he wrote the music and the script, and also added some of the character voices. McCartney wrote and starred in the 1984 film ''Give My Regards to Broad Street''. The film and soundtrack featured the popular hit "No More Lonely Nights", and the album reached No.1 in the UK, but the film did not do well commercially or critically. Roger Ebert awarded the film a single star and wrote, "You can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track." Dunbar worked again with McCartney on an animated film about the work of French artist Honoré Daumier, in 1992, which won both of them a Bafta award. They also worked on Tropic Island Hum, in 1997. In 1995, McCartney made a guest appearance in the Lisa the Vegetarian episode of The Simpsons, and directed a short documentary about The Grateful Dead.

In May 2000, McCartney released ''Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait'', a retrospective documentary that features behind-the-scenes films and photographs that Paul and Linda McCartney (who had died in 1998) took of their family and bands. Interspersed throughout the 88 minute film is an interview by Mary McCartney with her father. Mary was the baby photographed inside McCartney's jacket on the back cover of his first solo album, ''McCartney'', and was one of the producers of the documentary.

Painting

In 1966, McCartney met art gallery-owner Robert Fraser, whose flat was visited by many well-known artists. McCartney met Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Peter Blake, and Richard Hamilton there, and learned about art appreciation. McCartney later started buying paintings by Magritte, and used Magritte's painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo. He now owns Magritte's easel and spectacles.

McCartney's love of painting surfaced after watching artist Willem de Kooning paint, in Kooning's Long Island studio. McCartney took up painting in 1983. In 1999, he exhibited his paintings (featuring McCartney's portraits of John Lennon, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie) for the first time in Siegen, Germany, and included photographs by Linda. He chose the gallery because Wolfgang Suttner (local events organiser) was genuinely interested in his art, and the positive reaction led to McCartney showing his work in UK galleries. The first UK exhibition of McCartney's work was opened in Bristol, England with more than 50 paintings on display. McCartney had previously believed that "only people that had been to art school were allowed to paint"—as Lennon had.

In October 2000, Yoko Ono and McCartney presented art exhibitions in New York and London. McCartney said, "I've been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where John and I used to spend many a pleasant afternoon. So I'm really excited about it. I didn't tell anybody I painted for 15 years but now I'm out of the closet."

As an artist, Paul McCartney designed a series of six postage stamps issued by the Isle of Man Post on 1 July 2002. According to BBC News, McCartney seems to be the first major rock star in the world who is also known as a stamp designer.

Writing and poetry

When McCartney was young, his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books. McCartney's father was interested in crosswords and invited the two young McCartneys (Paul and his brother Michael) to solve them with him, so as to increase their "word power". McCartney was later inspired—in his school years—by Alan Durband, who was McCartney's English literature teacher at the Liverpool Institute. Durband was a co-founder and fund-raiser at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Willy Russell also worked, and introduced McCartney to Geoffrey Chaucer's works. McCartney later took his A-level exams, but passed only one subject—Art.

In 2001 McCartney published 'Blackbird Singing', a volume of poems, some of which were lyrics to his songs, and gave readings in Liverpool and New York City. Some of them were serious: "Here Today" (about Lennon) and some humorous ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer"). In the foreword of the book, McCartney explained that when he was a teenager, he had "an overwhelming desire" to have a poem of his published in the school magazine. He wrote something "deep and meaningful", but it was rejected, and he feels that he has been trying to get some kind of revenge ever since. His first "real poem" was about the death of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan.

In October 2005, McCartney released a children's book called ''High in the Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail''. In a press release publicising the book, McCartney said, "I have loved reading for as long as I can remember", singling out ''Treasure Island'' as a childhood favourite. McCartney collaborated with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar to write the book.

Contact with fellow ex-Beatles

John Lennon

Although McCartney's post-Beatles relationship with John Lennon was troubled, they became close again briefly in 1974 and even played together for the only time since The Beatles split (see A Toot and a Snore in '74). In later years, the two grew apart again. McCartney would often call Lennon, but was never sure of what sort of reception he would get, such as when McCartney once called Lennon and was told, "You're all pizza and fairytales!" McCartney understood that he could not just phone Lennon and only talk about business, so they often talked about cats, baking bread, or babies. According to May Pang, during Lennon's "Lost Weekend" with her they planned to visit McCartney in New Orleans, where McCartney was recording the ''Venus and Mars'' album, but Lennon went back to Ono the day before the planned visit after Ono said she had a new cure for Lennon's smoking habit.

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said that the last time he had seen McCartney was when they had watched the episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' (May 1976) in which Lorne Michaels had made his $3,000 cash offer to get Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr to reunite on the show. McCartney and Lennon had seriously considered going to the studio, but were too tired. This event was fictionalised in the 2000 television film ''Two of Us''. His last telephone call to Lennon, which was just before Lennon and Ono released ''Double Fantasy'', was friendly. During the call, Lennon said (laughing) to McCartney, "This housewife wants a career!" which referred to Lennon's househusband years, while looking after Sean Lennon. In 1984, McCartney said this about the phone call: "Yes. That is a nice thing, a consoling factor for me, because I do feel it was sad that we never actually sat down and straightened our differences out. But fortunately for me, the last phone conversation I ever had with him was really great, and we didn't have any kind of blow-up." Linda McCartney, speaking in the same 1984 interview stated: "I know that Paul was desperate to write with John again. And I know John was desperate to write. Desperate. People thought, well, he's taking care of Sean, he's a househusband and all that, but he wasn't happy. He couldn't write and it drove him crazy. And Paul could have helped him... easily."

;Reaction to Lennon's murder On the morning of 9 December 1980, McCartney awoke to the news that Lennon had been murdered outside his home in the Dakota building in New York. Lennon's death created a media frenzy around the surviving members of The Beatles. On the evening of 9 December, as McCartney was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio, he was surrounded by reporters and asked for his reaction to Lennon's death. He was later criticised for what appeared, when published, to be an utterly superficial response: "It's a drag". McCartney explained, "When John was killed somebody stuck a microphone at me and said: 'What do you think about it?' I said, 'It's a dra-a-ag' and meant it with every inch of melancholy I could muster. When you put that in print it says, 'McCartney in London today when asked for a comment on his dead friend said, "It's a drag."' It seemed a very flippant comment to make." McCartney was also to recall: }} In 1983, McCartney said: }} In a ''Playboy'' interview in 1984, McCartney said that he went home that night and watched the news on television—while sitting with all his children—and cried all evening.

McCartney carried on recording after the death of Lennon but did not play any live concerts for some time. He explained that this was because he was nervous that he would be "the next" to be murdered. This led to a disagreement with Denny Laine, who wanted to continue touring and subsequently left Wings, which McCartney disbanded in 1981. Also in June 1981, six months after Lennon's death, McCartney sang backup on George Harrison's tribute to Lennon, "All Those Years Ago", which also featured Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney would go on to record "Here Today", a tribute song to Lennon.

George Harrison

In 1977, Harrison had this to say about working with McCartney: "There were a lot of tracks though where I played bass...because what Paul would do, if he's written a song, he'd learn all the parts for Paul and then come in the studio and say, 'Do this.' He'd never give you the opportunity to come out with something. Paul would always help along when you'd done his ten songs—then when he got 'round to doing one of my songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually." While being interviewed circa 1988, Harrison said McCartney had recently mentioned the possibility of the two of them writing together, to which Harrison laughed, "I've only been there about 30 years in Paul's life and it's like now he wants to write with me."

In September 1980, Lennon said of Harrison and McCartney's working relationship: "I remember the day [Harrison] called to ask for help on "Taxman", one of his bigger songs. I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along, because that's what he asked for. He came to me because he could not go to Paul, because Paul would not have helped him at that period." Despite this statement, McCartney did contribute to the song, playing the track's guitar solo.

In late 2001, McCartney learned that Harrison was losing his battle with cancer. Upon Harrison's death on 29 November 2001, McCartney told ''Entertainment Tonight'', ''Access Hollywood'', ''Extra'', ''Good Morning America'', ''The Early Show'', ''MTV'', ''VH1'' and ''Today'' that George was like his "baby brother". Harrison spent his last days in a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by McCartney. On the day Harrison died, McCartney said, "George was a fantastic guy...still laughing and joking...a very brave man...and I love him like...he's my brother." While guesting on ''Larry King Live'' alongside Ringo Starr, McCartney said of the last time he saw Harrison, "We just sat there stroking hands. And this is a guy, and, you know, you don't stroke hands with guys, like that, you know it was just beautiful. We just spent a couple of hours and it was really lovely it was like...a favourite memory of mine." On the first anniversary of Harrison's death, McCartney played Harrison's "Something" on a ukulele at the Concert for George.

Personal relationships

One of McCartney's first girlfriends, in 1959, was called Layla, a name he remembers being unusual in Liverpool at the time. Layla was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray's niece.

Dot Rhone

McCartney's first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959. McCartney chose clothes and make-up for Rhone, and he paid for her to have her hair styled like Brigitte Bardot's. When McCartney first went to Hamburg with The Beatles, he wrote to Rhone regularly, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when The Beatles played there again in 1962. The couple had a three-year relationship, and were due to marry until Rhone's miscarriage.

Jane Asher

McCartney first met the British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, when a photographer asked them to pose together at a Beatles performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The two began a relationship and McCartney took up residence with Asher at her parents' house at 57 Wimpole Street London, where he lived for nearly three years before the couple moved to McCartney's own house in St. John's Wood. McCartney wrote several songs while at the Ashers', including "Yesterday" and several inspired by Asher, among them "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", and "I'm Looking Through You". McCartney and Asher had a five-year relationship, and they planned to marry, but Asher broke off the engagement when she discovered McCartney had become involved with another woman, Francie Schwartz. However, Schwartz stated that McCartney and Asher had already broken up before the incident.

Linda McCartney

In 1969, McCartney married American photographer Linda Eastman, whom he described as the woman who gave him "the strength and courage to work again" after the break-up of The Beatles. The pair had met previously at a 1967 Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O'Nails club, during her UK assignment to take photographs of "Swinging Sixties" musicians in London. Paul and Linda were both vegetarian and supported the animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They had four children—Linda's daughter Heather (who was adopted by Paul), Mary, Stella and James—and remained married until Linda's death from breast cancer in 1998.

Heather Mills

In 2002, McCartney married Heather Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner. The couple had a child, Beatrice, in 2003. They separated in May 2006 and were divorced in May 2008. Widespread animosity towards McCartney's wives was reported in 2004. "They [the British public] didn't like me giving up on Jane Asher", McCartney said. "I married a New York divorcee with a child, and at the time they didn't like that."

Nancy Shevell

McCartney has been dating New Yorker Nancy Shevell since November 2007. She is a member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as vice president of a family-owned transportation conglomerate which owns New England Motor Freight. On 6 May 2011, it was reported that McCartney would wed Shevell.

Lifestyle

Drugs

McCartney's introduction to drugs started in Hamburg, Germany. The Beatles had to play for hours, and they were often given "Prellies" (Preludin) by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr (whose mother bought them). McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five.

McCartney remembered getting "very high" and giggling when The Beatles were introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan in New York, in 1964. McCartney's use of cannabis became regular, and he was quoted as saying that any future Beatles' lyrics containing the words "high", or "grass" were written specifically as a reference to cannabis, as was the phrase "another kind of mind" in "Got to Get You into My Life". John Dunbar's flat at 29 Lennox Gardens, in London, became a regular hang-out for McCartney, where he talked to musicians, writers and artists, and smoked cannabis. In 1965, Barry Miles introduced McCartney to hash brownies by using a recipe for hash fudge he found in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. During the filming of ''Help!'', he occasionally smoked a spliff in the car on the way to the studio during filming, which often made him forget his lines. ''Help!'' director Dick Lester said that he overheard "two beautiful women" trying to cajole McCartney into taking heroin, but he refused.

McCartney's attitude about cannabis was made public in the 1960s, when he added his name to an advertisement in ''The Times'', on 24 July 1967, which asked for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by 65 people, including The Beatles, Epstein, RD Laing, 15 doctors, and two MPs.

McCartney was introduced to cocaine by Robert Fraser, and it was available during the recording of ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. He admitted that he used the drug multiple times for about a year but stopped because of the unpleasant comedown.

In 1967, on a sailing trip to Greece (with the idea of buying an island for the whole group) McCartney said everybody sat around and took LSD, although McCartney had first taken it with Tara Browne, in 1966. He took his second "acid trip" with Lennon on 21 March 1967 after a studio session. McCartney was the first British pop star to openly admit using LSD, in an interview in the now-defunct "Queen" magazine. His admission was followed by a TV interview in the UK on ITN on 19 June 1967, and when McCartney was asked about his admission of LSD use, he said:

McCartney was not arrested by Norman Pilcher's Drug Squad, as had been Donovan, and several members of the Rolling Stones. In 1972, however, police found cannabis plants growing on his Scottish farm.

On 16 January 1980, Wings went to Tokyo for 11 concerts in Japan. As McCartney was going through customs, officials found 7.7 ounces (218.3 g) of cannabis in his luggage. He was arrested and taken to a Tokyo prison while the Japanese government decided what to do. McCartney had been previously denied a visa to Japan (in 1975) because he had been convicted twice in Europe for possession of cannabis. Public figures called for McCartney to be put on trial for drug-smuggling. Had he been convicted, he would have faced up to seven years in prison. The Wings Japanese tour was cancelled and the other members of Wings left Japan. After ten days in jail, McCartney was released and deported. He was told that he would not be welcome in Japan again, although a decade later he played a concert in Tokyo. In 1984, Paul and Linda McCartney were both arrested for possession of cannabis.

In an interview in 2004 he stated the he no longer smoked marijuana, He also admitted to taking Heroin, LSD and Cocaine but said his drug use was never excessive.

Meditation

On 24 August 1967, McCartney met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference, at which time he and the other Beatles learned Transcendental Meditation (TM). "The whole meditation experience was very good and I still use the mantra. . . I find it soothing and I can imagine that the more you were to get into it, the more interesting it would get." The time McCartney later spent in India at the Maharishi's ashram was highly productive, as practically all of the songs that would later be recorded for ''The White Album'' and ''Abbey Road'' were composed there by McCartney, Lennon, or both together. Although McCartney was told that he was never to repeat the mantra to anyone else, he did tell Linda McCartney, and said he meditated a lot while he was in jail in Japan. In 2009, McCartney, along with Ringo Starr, headlined a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall, raising three million dollars for the David Lynch Foundation to fund instruction in Transcendental Meditation for at-risk youth.

Activism

Paul and Linda McCartney became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists. They said that their vegetarianism was realised when they happened to see lambs in a field as they ate a meal of lamb. McCartney has also credited the 1942 Disney film ''Bambi''—in which the young deer's mother is shot by a hunter—as the original inspiration for him to take an interest in animal rights. In his first interview after Linda's death, he promised to continue working for animal rights. In 1999, McCartney spent £3,000,000 to make sure Linda McCartney's food range remained free of GM ingredients. In 2002, McCartney gave his support to a campaign against a proposed ban on the sale of certain vitamins, herbs, and mineral products in the European Union. Following his marriage to Heather Mills, McCartney joined with her to campaign against landmines; both McCartney and Mills are patrons of Adopt-A-Minefield. In 2003, he played a personal concert for the wife of a wealthy banker and donated his one million dollar fee to the charity. He also wore an anti-landmines t-shirt on the Back in the World tour.

In 2006, the McCartneys travelled to Prince Edward Island to bring international attention to the seal hunt (their final public appearance together). Their arrival sparked attention in Newfoundland and Labrador where the hunt is of economic significance. The couple also debated with Newfoundland's Premier Danny Williams on the CNN show ''Larry King Live''. They further stated that the fishermen should quit hunting seals and begin a seal watching business. McCartney has also criticised China's fur trade and supports the Make Poverty History campaign.

McCartney has been involved with a number of charity recordings and performances. In 2004, he donated a song to an album to aid the "US Campaign for Burma", in support of Burmese Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and he had previously been involved in the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Live Aid, and the recording of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" (released 8 May 1989) following the Hillsborough disaster.

In a December 2008 interview with ''Prospect Magazine'', McCartney mentioned that he tried to convince the Dalai Lama to become a vegetarian. In a letter to the Dalai Lama, McCartney took issue with Buddhism and meat-eating being considered compatible, saying, "Forgive me for pointing this out, but if you eat animals then there is some suffering somewhere along the line." The Dalai Lama replied to McCartney by saying his doctors advised him to eat meat for health reasons. In the interview McCartney said, "I wrote back saying they were wrong."

Football

The Beatles were advised by Epstein to make no comments about the football clubs they supported because it could alienate some fans, though it was well known that McCartney was a supporter of Everton Football Club, and that his father and relatives used to take him to matches. His allegiance later shifted to Liverpool F.C., as on 28 July 1968, The Beatles were photographed in a photographer's studio at 192–212 Gray's Inn Road, with McCartney wearing a Liverpool F.C. rosette. Linda McCartney later said: "We spent last night listening to Liverpool football team on the radio, wanting them to win so badly. Paul supports Liverpool. He was for Everton for a while because of his family — but it's all Liverpool now."

Lennon and McCartney were present to watch the 1966 FA Cup Final at Wembley, between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, and McCartney attended the 1968 FA Cup Final (18 May 1968) which was played by West Bromwich Albion against Everton. After the end of the match, McCartney shared cigarettes and whisky with other football fans. The ex-Liverpool player, Albert Stubbins, was the only footballer shown on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover. McCartney tried to listen (on a radio) to the Liverpool v Manchester United 1977 FA Cup Final, while sailing in the Caribbean, and the video for McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" (in 1983) recreated the 1915 football game played between German and British troops during World War I, at Christmas.

At the end of the live version of "Coming Up" recorded in Glasgow in 1979 (later to become a US number one single) the crowd begins to sing "Paul McCartney!" until McCartney takes over and changes the chant to "Kenny Dalglish!", referring to the current Liverpool and Scotland striker. At the same concert, Gordon Smith, former football player who played for Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion, met the McCartneys, and later accepted an invitation to visit their home in East Sussex in 1980. Smith later said that McCartney was "thrilled I knew Kenny Dalglish", to which Linda added: "I like Gordon McQueen of Man United", and Smith replied, "I know him too."

McCartney attended the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton, and in 1989, he contributed to the Ferry Cross the Mersey charity single that was recorded to aid victims of the Hillsborough Disaster, which happened during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. McCartney performed at the Liverpool F.C. Anfield stadium on 1 June 2008, as a part of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters sang with McCartney on "Band on the Run", and played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Ono and Olivia Harrison attended the concert, along with Ken Dodd, and the former Liverpool F.C. football manager Rafael Benítez.

In an interview in 2008, McCartney ended speculation about his allegiance when he said:

"Here's the deal: my father was born in Everton, my family are officially Evertonians, so if it comes down to a derby match or an FA Cup final between the two, I would have to support Everton. But after a concert at Wembley Arena I got a bit of a friendship with Kenny Dalglish, who had been to the gig and I thought 'You know what? I am just going to support them both because it's all Liverpool and I don't have that Catholic-Protestant thing.' So I did have to get special dispensation from the Pope to do this but that's it, too bad. I support them both. They are both great teams, but if it comes to the crunch, I'm Evertonian."

In 2010, there was heavy speculation surrounding McCartney that he was to head up a consortium launching a take-over bid for struggling Charlton Athletic. Links between the club and the famous musician go a long way back with Charlton's famous supporters anthem – Valley, Floyd Road – using the tune and a number of lyrics from the Wings song "Mull of Kintyre".

Business

McCartney is one of Britain's wealthiest musicians, with an estimated fortune of £750 million ($1.2 billion) in 2009, although Justice Bennett, in his judgement on McCartney's divorce case found no evidence that McCartney was worth more than £400 million. In December 1998, he was approached to purchase a stake in Everton Football Club by former school friend Bill Kenwright who wished to put a consortium together but McCartney chose to decline the offer. In addition to his interest in Apple Corps, McCartney's MPL Communications owns a significant music publishing catalogue, with access to over 25,000 copyrights. McCartney earned £40 million in 2003, making him Britain's highest media earner. This rose to £48.5 million by 2005. In the same year he joined the top American talent agency Grabow Associates, who arrange private performances for their richest clients. Northern Songs was established in 1963, by Dick James, to publish the songs of Lennon/McCartney.

The Beatles' partnership was replaced in 1968 by a jointly held company, Apple Corps, which continues to control Apple's commercial interests. Northern Songs was purchased by Associated Television (ATV) in 1969, and was sold in 1985 to Michael Jackson. For many years McCartney was unhappy about Jackson's purchase and handling of Northern Songs.

MPL Communications is an umbrella company for McCartney's business interests, which owns a wide range of copyrights, as well as the publishing rights to musicals. In 2006, the Trademarks Registry reported that MPL had started a process to secure the protections associated with registering the name "Paul McCartney" as a trademark. The 2005 films, ''Brokeback Mountain'' and ''Good Night and Good Luck'', feature MPL copyrights.

In April 2009, it was revealed that McCartney, in common with other wealthy musicians, had seen a significant decline in his net worth over the preceding year. It was estimated that his fortune had fallen by some £60m, from £238m to £175m. The losses were attributed to the ongoing global recession, and the resultant decline in value of property and stock market holdings.

Critique, recognition and achievements

McCartney is listed in ''The Guinness Book Of Records'' as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs, "Sir Paul McCartney became the Most Successful Songwriter who has written/co written 188 charted records, of which 91 reached the Top 10 and 33 made it to No.1 totalling 1,662 weeks on the chart (up to the beginning of 2008)."

In the US, McCartney has achieved thirty-two number-one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including twenty-one with The Beatles, one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", nine solo, with Wings or other collaborators, and one as the composer of "A World Without Love", a number one single for Peter and Gordon. In the UK, McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artist. McCartney has twenty four number-one singles in the UK, including seventeen with the Beatles, one solo, and one each with Wings, Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and one with "The Christians et all". McCartney is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre", Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", The Beatles), quintet ("Get Back", The Beatles with Billy Preston), and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).

McCartney was voted the "Greatest Composer of the Millennium" by BBC News Online readers and McCartney's song "Yesterday" is thought to be the most covered song in history with more than 2,200 recorded versions and according to the BBC, "The track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list. Sir Paul McCartney's Yesterday is the most played song by a British writer this century in the US." After its 1977 release, the Wings single "Mull of Kintyre" became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984. (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so, in 1984, was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in which McCartney was a participant.)

On 2 July 2005, he was involved with the fastest-released single in history. His performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2 at Live 8 was released only 45 minutes after it was performed, before the end of the concert. The single reached number six on the ''Billboard'' charts, just hours after the single's release, and hit number one on numerous online download charts across the world. McCartney played for the largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 people paid to see him perform at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 21 April 1990.

McCartney's scheduled concert in St Petersburg, Russia was his 3,000th concert and took place in front of 60,000 fans in Russia, on 20 June 2004. Over his career, McCartney has played 2,523 gigs with The Beatles, 140 with Wings, and 325 as a solo artist. Only his second concert in Russia, with the first just the year before on Moscow's Red Square as the former Communist U.S.S.R. had previously banned music from The Beatles as a "corrupting influence", McCartney hired 3 jets, at a reported cost of $36,000 (€29,800) (£28,000), to spray dry ice in the clouds above Saint Petersburg's Winter Palace Square in a successful attempt to prevent rain.

The day McCartney flew into the former Soviet country, he celebrated his 62nd birthday, and after the concert, according to ''RIA Novosti'' news agency, he received a phone call from a fan; then-President Vladimir Putin, who telephoned him after the concert to wish him a happy birthday. In the concert programme for his 1989 world tour, McCartney wrote that Lennon received all the credit for being the avant-garde Beatle, and McCartney was known as "baby-faced", which he disagreed with. People also assumed that Lennon was the "hard-edged one", and McCartney was the "soft-edged" Beatle, although McCartney admitted to "bossing Lennon around." Linda McCartney said that McCartney had a "hard-edge"—and not just on the surface—which she knew about after all the years she had spent living with him. McCartney seemed to confirm this edge when he commented that he sometimes meditates, which he said is better than "sleeping, eating, or shouting at someone".

The minor planet 4148, discovered in 1983, was named "McCartney" in his honour.

On 18 June 2006, McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, a milestone that was the subject of one of the first songs he ever wrote, at the age of sixteen, The Beatles' song "When I'm Sixty-Four". Paul Vallely noted in ''The Independent'': }}

Discography

Tours

Arms

Notes	Sir Paul McCartney's agent was Hubert Chesshyre, LVO, Clarenceux King of Arms
Crest	On a Wreath of the Colours A Liver Bird calling Sable supporting with the dexter claws a Guitar Or stringed Sable.
Escutcheon	Or between two Flaunches fracted fesswise two Roundels Sable over all six Guitar Strings palewise throughout counterchanged.
Motto	ECCE COR MEUM (Behold my heart)
Previous versions	}}

References

;Footnotes

;Bibliography

External links

Paul McCartney's Official Website

Paul McCartney's Animation Website

Paul McCartney Ecce Cor Meum audio Podcast

Liverpool celebrates Irish ancestry

Paul McCartney: Financial Accounts

Category:1942 births Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:English pop singers Category:English rock bass guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:English rock pianists Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English vegetarians Category:Backing vocalists Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Apple Records artists Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Music from Liverpool Category:Parlophone artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Beatles members Category:The Quarrymen members Category:Wings members Category:Musicians from Liverpool Category:Living people Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Transcendental Meditation practitioners Category:People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Category:Silver Clef Awards winners Category:Animal rights advocates

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Name	Roger Daltrey
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Roger Harry Daltrey
Born	March 01, 1944Hammersmith, London, England
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica,percussion, trombone
Genre	Rock, art rock, hard rock, power pop
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter,film producer, actor
Years active	1959–present
Label	Various
Associated acts	The Who,The RD Crusaders,No Plan B Band,Pete Townshend
Website	www.thewho.com }}

Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born 1 March 1944), is an English singer-songwriter and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also producing films.

Early life

Roger Harry Daltrey was born in the Hammersmith area of London, but was raised in Acton, the same working class suburban neighbourhood that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five, the rust from the nail caused an ulcer in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.

Daltrey attended Victoria Primary School and then Acton County Grammar School for boys along with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He showed academic promise in the English state school system, ranking at the top of his class on the eleven plus examination that led to his enrollment at the Acton County Grammar School. His parents hoped he would eventually continue on to study at the university, but Daltrey turned out to be a self-described "school rebel" and developed a dedicated interest in the emerging rock and roll music scene instead.

He made his first guitar from a block of wood, a cherry red Strat copy, and joined an existing skiffle band called The Detours in need of a lead singer. They told him he had to bring a guitar, and within a few weeks he showed up with it—and he could play it too. When his father bought him an Epiphone guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band and soon afterwards was expelled from school for smoking. Describing the post-war times, Pete Townshend wrote in his autobiography, "Until he was expelled, Roger had been a good pupil. Then he heard Elvis and transmogrified into a Teddy Boy with an electric guitar and a dress-sneer. Was it simply rock ‘n’ roll? It was obvious to a young man as intelligent as Roger that there was no future in conforming any more."

Daltrey became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practising and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and men's clubs. He invited schoolmate John Entwistle to play bass in the band, and on the advice of Entwistle, invited Pete Townshend to play guitar. At that time, the band consisted of Daltrey on lead guitar, Pete Townshend on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom on drums and Colin Dawson on lead vocals. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and played harmonica as well, while Townshend became the lead guitarist. In 1964 drummer Doug Sandom left the band, eventually being replaced by Keith Moon.

Early on, Daltrey was the band's leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature (his height is reportedly 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)). According to Townshend, Roger "ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives." He generally selected the music they performed, including songs by The Beatles, various Motown artists, James Brown, and other rock standards.

In 1964 the group discovered another band working as The Detours and discussed changing their name. Pete Townshend suggested "The Hair" and Townshend's roommate Richard Barnes suggested "The Who." The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying "It's The Who, innit?"

During 1964, band manager Peter Meaden renamed the band The High Numbers as part of a move to establish the band as Mod favourites. The name was a reference to the T-shirts with "numbers" that the Mods used at the time. Pete Meaden composed Mod songs for them (in fact, the songs were almost copies of Mod hits at the time, with changed lyrics) and they released one single, "I'm The Face/Zoot Suit", on Fontana Records. The single was unsuccessful.

After Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp discovered The High Numbers at the Railway Hotel, the band quickly changed their name back to The Who, since neither Lambert nor Stamp liked the name "The High Numbers".

Music career

The Who years

With the band's first hit single and record deal in early 1965, Townshend began writing original material and Daltrey's dominance of the band began to decline.

The other members of The Who expelled Daltrey from the band in late 1965 after he beat up drummer Keith Moon for supplying drugs to Townshend and Entwistle, causing him to re-examine his methods of dealing with people. A week later, Daltrey was admitted back to the band, but was told he'd be on probation. He promised there would be no more violent outbursts or assaults. Daltrey recalled, "I thought if I lost the band I was dead. If I didn't stick with The Who, I would be a sheet metal worker for the rest of my life."

The band's second single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated, and Daltrey only wrote two other songs for the band during these years. As Townshend developed into one of rock's most accomplished composers, Daltrey's vocals became the vehicle through which Townshend's visions were expressed, and he gained an equally vaunted reputation as a powerful vocalist and riveting frontman. The Who's stage act was highly energetic, and Daltrey's habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became his signature move.

Daltrey's Townshend-inspired stuttering expression of youthful anger, frustration and arrogance in the band's breakthrough single, "My Generation", captured the revolutionary feeling of the 1960s for many young people around the world and became the band's trademark. Later, his scream near the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again" became a defining moment in rock and roll.

By 1973, he was experiencing considerable success with his solo projects and acting roles. While others of the band worked on recording the music for ''Quadrophenia'', Daltrey used some of this time to check The Who's books. He found they had fallen into disarray under the management of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. Kit Lambert was also Pete Townshend's artistic mentor and challenging him led to renewed tension within the band. During a filming session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown) Townshend and Daltrey argued over the schedule. Townshend whacked the singer over the head with his guitar and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious, again with a single blow.

With each of The Who's milestone achievements, ''Tommy'', ''Who's Next'', and ''Quadrophenia'', Daltrey was the face and voice of the band as they defined themselves as the ultimate rebels in a generation of change. When Ken Russell's adaptation of ''Tommy'' appeared as a feature film in 1975, Daltrey played the lead role, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" and appeared on the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine on 10 April 1975. Afterward, Daltrey worked with Russell again, starring as Franz Liszt in ''Lisztomania''. He worked with Rick Wakeman on the soundtrack to this film, writing the lyrics to three songs and also performing these, as well as others. The Who went on after the death of Keith Moon in 1978, but tension continued as Daltrey felt new drummer Kenney Jones was the wrong choice for The Who. In 1980 Daltrey completed a major project for The Who Films, Ltd., a dramatic film called ''McVicar'' about U.K. bank robber John McVicar. Daltrey produced and starred in the film, and completed a striking soundtrack with other members of the band. This success, along with other stresses, contributed to a deterioration of relations with Townshend, and The Who retired from active touring in 1982 when Townshend felt he was no longer able to write for the band. The band continued to work together sporadically, reuniting for the Live Aid concert and recording songs for Daltrey's solo album ''Under a Raging Moon'' and Townshend's solo album ''Iron Man''.

Daltrey turned to working as an actor, completing such high profile projects as ''The Beggar's Opera'' and ''The Comedy of Errors'' for the BBC. He also appeared in several film, television and stage productions during this period, including Mike Batt's ''The Hunting of the Snark'' (1987), ''The Little Match Girl'' (1987), ''Buddy's Song'' (1990), which he also produced, and ''Mack the Knife'' (1990). In 1991 he received a Grammy Award with The Chieftains for ''An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast''.

The Who returned in 1989 with their 25th Anniversary Tour, which was also the 20th anniversary of the rock opera ''Tommy''. The tour featured a large backing band and guest appearances by Steve Winwood, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins, Elton John, and Billy Idol. Although Daltrey experienced severe health problems due to an abdominal hemangioma, he managed to complete the tour. He continued to work on stage and screen during this period, completing projects such as ''The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True'' (1995) appearing as the Tin Woodman alongside Nathan Lane, Joel Grey, Natalie Cole, and Jewel Kilcher as Dorothy. During this time, he also began to appear in U.S. television shows.

In 1994 Daltrey celebrated his 50th birthday by performing a two-night spectacular at Carnegie Hall titled ''A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who,'' and popularly called ''Daltrey Sings Townshend''. The show was produced by Daltrey's manager at the time, Richard Flanzer. The Who's music was arranged for orchestra by Michael Kamen, who conducted The Juilliard Orchestra for the event. Bob Ezrin, who produced Pink Floyd's ''The Wall'' CD, among other famous albums, produced the live CD. Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Eddie Vedder (who performed a special acoustic tribute), Sinéad O'Connor, Lou Reed, David Sanborn, Alice Cooper, Linda Perry, The Chieftains and others performed as special guests. Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed the telecast, which was aired on satellite TV. The concert, at the time, was the fastest sell out in the famed venue's history. The event was followed by a major tour financed by Daltrey and including John Entwistle on bass, Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend on guitar. Although the tour was considered an artistic success, it failed to make a profit due to the expense of providing extraordinary musicians and orchestras in every city to replicate the Carnegie Hall event. Significantly, the tour attracted attention to songs from The Who's rock opera ''Quadrophenia'' and gathered support for a staging and major tour of the rock opera in 1996-1997.

In 1996 Pete Townshend was approached to produce ''Quadrophenia'' for The Prince's Trust concert at Hyde Park, London. He at first planned to perform the opera as a solo acoustic piece using parts of the film on the screens, but after receiving offers of financing decided on a full-out production. When he first contacted Daltrey to request a collaboration, Daltrey refused, but after some discussion, he agreed to help produce a one-off performance. The opera was performed with a large backing band, including John Entwistle on bass, Pete Townshend on acoustic guitar and vocals, Zak Starkey on drums, Rabbit Bundrick and Jon Carin on keyboards, Simon Townshend on guitar and special guests including David Gilmour, Adrian Edmondson, Trevor McDonald and Gary Glitter. A horn section and backing vocalists were added, along with other actors. On the night before the show, Daltrey was struck in the face by a microphone stand swung by Gary Glitter. The accident fractured his eye socket and caused considerable concern that he might not be able to perform safely, but Daltrey donned an eye-patch to cover the bruises and completed the show as scheduled. Afterward, Townshend decided to take the production on tour in 1996-1997 as The Who.

After their ''Quadrophenia'' tour was successful, the band returned as The Who in a stripped-down, five-piece lineup for tours in 1999-2000. The band continued to work together, making a major impact at The Concert for New York City. After Entwistle's death in June 2002, both Daltrey and Townshend decided to continue with an already planned tour as The Who. Bassist Pino Palladino was chosen to fill Entwistle's place. The band also completed a brief tour in 2004. In 2006, they released their first studio album of new material in twenty-four years, ''Endless Wire,'' leading some fans and critics to say that the highly acclaimed artistic tension within The Who lay between the two principals Daltrey and Townshend. The band completed a world tour in 2006-2007 to support this album.

In February 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, headlining as The Who, performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV in front of 105.97 million viewers across the globe. In March 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, along with an extensive backing band, performed ''Quadrophenia'' at the Royal Albert Hall in London as a tenth anniversary charity benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sang the part of the Godfather, and Tom Meighan of Kasabian sang the part of Aceface. Tom Norris, London Symphony Orchestra Co-Principal Second Violin, played violin for the production. On 3 July He performed the Opening act for Eric Clapton at DTE Energy music theatre.

Rock persona

When Colin Dawson left The Detours, Roger Daltrey took over as lead vocalist, giving up his guitar. The band as a whole acknowledged Moon and Entwistle's innovation and talent on their instruments, and Pete Townshend had begun writing hit songs, but Daltrey struggled to find a voice to present their new music. His expression carried Townshend’s material well enough in recordings, and at the time his live persona suited the small club scene where The Who made their beginnings. However, this presentation lacked the confidence of later years, and he was arguably still a singer seeking a voice.

The Who first toured North America in 1967, appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival, and Daltrey brought back new experiences in dealing with larger venues and stages. 1968 proved a pivotal year with Townshend's movement beyond the quick three-minute single towards his goal of writing a rock opera. Beginning with "A Quick One (While He's Away)", a nine-minute mini-opera, Daltrey’s performance in ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' showed him with a new confidence in dealing with Townshend’s material. In 1969, The Who’s first major rock opera ''Tommy'' was released, and Daltrey found a voice for the lead character that carried The Who to world stardom at such music venues as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival, and in opera houses around the world during the next two years. Townshend later remarked in the film ''Amazing Journey'', that with ''Tommy'', and with Daltrey's adaptation to portraying the character on-stage, the singer evolved from what was essentially a tight, tough guy to one who outstretched his arms, bared his body to the audiences, and began to truly engage them. "With this change, the band was at last complete," he summed up. "It was a marriage," Townshend emphasised, "but it was a ''good'' marriage. ''Those'' were glorious years". Daltrey confirmed this, saying, he felt at last accepted, displaying a newly energetic role and sound during live performances.

Daltrey has long been known as one of the most charismatic of rock’s frontmen. His stage persona embraces the audience and projects The Who’s repertoire as heroic anthems and touching ballads that have gripped the emotions and imagination of audiences for over 40 years. According to Pete Townshend, "He almost invented the pseudo-messianic role taken up later by Jim Morrison and Robert Plant." Daltrey projected a naturally masculine and yet refined power that proved to be one of the most potent in rock and roll history. This persona has earned him a position as one of the “gods of rock and roll” His appearance in the early 1970s included striking, long blond curly hair with a sexual magnetism built for teenage appeal. This look would become markedly more masculine as the '70s and '80s progressed. Daltrey developed a trademark move of swinging and throwing his microphone through a complex sequence, matching these sequences with the tempo of the song that was being played at the moment. Although Daltrey reduced the athleticism of his performance in later years, his presentation remained dynamic and gripping.

Musical equipment

Roger Daltrey hand-built his first guitar from a piece of plywood and also built guitars for the band in the early days when they had little money to buy equipment. As lead guitarist for the Detours, Daltrey played a 1961 Epiphone Wilshire solidbody electric guitar which he later sold to Pete Townshend on an easy payment plan. After he took over vocals for the band in the sixties and during the seventies, Daltrey rarely played guitar on stage; however, he played a Martin acoustic guitar for appearances to promote his solo album ''Daltrey''. He began playing guitar with The Who again during the band's tours in the eighties, and used a Fender Esquire to play a second guitar part for the song "Eminence Front" on The Who's 1982, 1989 and later tours. During the 1989 tour, he played a Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitar for the song "Hey Joe." During The Who's 1996-97 Quadrophenia tour, Daltrey played a Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar.

After 1999, it became more common for Daltrey to play guitar during both The Who and solo shows. He ordered a Versoul Buxom 6 handmade acoustic guitar that he played on The Who's 2002 tour. Daltrey owns a Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop acoustic guitar which he played on The Who and solo tours in the late first decade of the 21st century. On his 2009 tour with No Plan B, Daltrey played Pete Townshend's "Blue, Red and Grey" on an Ashbury cutaway tenor EQ ukulele.

Roger Daltrey is known as one of the harmonica players who brought the instrument out of blues and into popular music. Although the mouth harps that Daltrey uses have varied over the years, brands he has used include Hohner and Lee Oskar harmonicas. Daltrey plays using the blues harp (2nd position) or cross harp technique which originated in blues music.

Daltrey uses Shure microphones with cords which he tapes to reinforce the connection and avoid cutting his hands when he swings and catches the microphone. He commonly uses a standard Shure SM58, but has also used Shure SM78 (in 1981), Shure model 565D Unisphere 1, and Shure model 548 Unidyne IV. Daltrey also uses a hybrid monitoring system with one in-ear monitor supplemented by floor wedges.

Honours

In 1976 Roger Daltrey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" for his starring role in the film version of The Who's rock opera ''Tommy''. He also performed as a guest on the Chieftains' recording of ''Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House'' which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1993. With The Who, Daltrey received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 for outstanding artistic significance in music.

In 1990 Daltrey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio as a member of The Who. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also included three songs that Daltrey recorded with The Who on the list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, including: "My Generation", "Go to the Mirror Boy", and "Baba O'Riley". In 2005 Daltrey received a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Gold Badge Award for special and lasting contributions to the British entertainment industry.

In 2003, Daltrey was honoured by ''Time'' magazine as a European Hero for his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust and other charities. In the New Year's Honours List published on 31 December 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Music, the Entertainment Industry, and Charity.

As a member of The Who, Daltrey was inducted in 2005 into the UK Music Hall of Fame. In December 2008, he and Pete Townshend were honoured with America's most prestigious cultural awards as recipients of the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. by then-President of the United States, George W. Bush. On 4 March 2009, three days after his 65th birthday, Daltrey accepted the James Joyce Award from the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin for outstanding success in the music field. On 12 March 2011, he received the Steiger Award (Germany) for excellence in music.

Charities

Roger Daltrey supports many charities both as a solo artist and jointly with other members of The Who. All The Who's Encore Series profits go to young peoples' charities. Roger Daltrey was instrumental in starting the Teenage Cancer Trust concert series in 2000, with The Who actually playing in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2010. Daltrey played benefits with The RD Crusaders in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008; performed with The Who at Live 8 in 2005, for the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef benefit in 2005, and for the Los Angeles area City of Hope benefit in 2001 and 2004. The Who played with special guest Michael J. Fox at the 2008 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit.

With The Who, he performed for the Robin Hood Foundation at The Concert for New York City and other benefits in 2001; at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in 1999; and in the Quadrophenia Concert for The Prince's Trust in Hyde Park, 1996. In addition, Daltrey performed at benefits in Vail, Colorado, in 1999, and attended a PETA benefit with Sarah McLachlan and Chrissie Hynde in the same year.

Daltrey appeared in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True in 1995 for The Children's Defense Fund, and at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert to benefit AIDS research in 1992. Roger Daltrey's 1994 ''Celebration'' raised funds to support Babies and Children Hospital in New York City, as well.

He sang "Rock and Roll" on a charity single released as ''McEnroe & Cash with The Full Metal Rackets'' for Rock Aid Armenia in 1986, and performed with The Who at Live Aid in 1985 and Concert for Kampuchea in 1979. In 1976, he performed at the Celtic Football Ground in Glasgow, Scotland. An audience of 35,000 attended and a sum of over £100,000 was donated to charity.

Daltrey performed at the first ChildLine Rocks concert at London's IndigO2 on 13 March 2008. In 2009 Daltrey was a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. In the same year, he appeared again on stage with Michael J. Fox for the "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit. In April 2010, he headlined the Imagine A Cure II show honouring the legacy of John Lennon, which raised money for the Puget Sound Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity.

Personal life

Daltrey has been married twice. In 1964, he married the former Jacqueline "Jackie" Rickman, and had one child, born in 1964, Simon. The couple divorced in 1968. In 1967, Daltrey's son Mathias was born, the result of an affair with Swedish model Elisabeth Aronsson. In 1967, he met the American Heather Taylor, his current wife whom he married in 1971. Together, they have three children, Rosie Lea (born in 1972), Willow Amber (born in 1975) and Jamie (born in 1981). He also has four granddaughters, Lily, Lola, Ramona and Scarlet; and one grandson, Jonjo. He also has three other children from relationships during the 1960s & '70s.

Daltrey owns a country estate near Burwash, East Sussex, as well as his parents' old home in London. He bought a home in Los Angeles in the early 2000s.

Daltry is a supporter of Arsenal F.C..

Views and advocacy

Daltrey is a supporter of the Countryside Alliance and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation. Daltrey is a supporter of the Labour Party in Britain, but is strongly critical of its policy of "mass immigration", arguing that the current immigration policies undermine the British working class. He has also expressed his admiration for Queen Elizabeth II ;;

Literary work

Roger Daltrey contributed to a collection of childhood fishing stories published in 1996 entitled ''I Remember: Reflections on Fishing in Childhood''.

Who songs written by Daltrey

Although never a writing force in The Who and overshadowed by the song writing talents of Townshend and Entwistle, Daltrey did contribute a small handful of songs to the band's catalogue during their early career:

"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (1965)-The Who's second single, co-written by Townshend.

"See My Way" (1966)-Daltrey's contribution to ''A Quick One''.

"Here for More" (1970)-B-side to "The Seeker".

Daltrey also wrote a song called "Crossroads Now" for The Who which grew out of an onstage jam in 1999 after the song "My Generation." Another Daltrey song, entitled "Certified Rose," was rehearsed by The Who shortly before the death of John Entwistle. The band had planned on playing it (as well as Townshend's "Real Good Looking Boy") during their 2002 tour, but plans were halted after Entwistle's death. Although it was rumoured that a studio version was recorded during the ''Endless Wire'' sessions (and might feature Entwistle's basslines from 2002), Townshend later stated that no such recording was made.

"Early Morning Cold Taxi", a song recorded during ''The Who Sell Out'' sessions in 1967 and released in 1994 on the ''Thirty Years of Maximum R&B;'' boxset, is credited to Roger Daltrey and Who roadie Dave "Cy" Langston. Some sources report that the song was solely written by Langston. At the time Daltrey and Langston were planning to form a writing-partnership, where all songs written by either of them would be credited as Daltrey/Langston. The partnership produced only one other song—an unreleased demo titled "Blue Caravan." Langston went on to play guitar on John Entwistle's first solo album, ''Smash Your Head Against the Wall'', in 1970.

Solo music career

Daltrey has released eight solo albums. The first was the self-titled ''Daltrey'' in 1973, recorded during a hiatus in The Who's touring schedule. The top single off the album, "Giving It All Away", reached number five in the UK and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The inner sleeve photography shows a ''trompe-l'œil'' in reference to the Narcissus myth, as Daltrey's reflection in the water differs from his real appearance. He also released a single in 1973, "Thinking" with "There is Love" on the B-side. Bizarrely, the UK release, with considerable airplay of "Giving it all away" (first lines "I paid all my dues so I picked up my shoes, I got up and walked away") coincided with news reports of the Who being sued for unpaid damage to their hotel on a recent tour, including a TV set being thrown out of the window.

Daltrey's second album, ''Ride a Rock Horse'', was released in 1975 and is his second most commercially successful solo album. Its cover, photographed by Daltrey's cousin Graham Hughes, is remarkable for depicting the singer as a rampant centaur.

When Sayer launched his own career as an artist, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney contributed the new song "Giddy" to ''One of the Boys'', where the band included Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee and Mick Ronson. On this cover, another visual trick is played with Daltrey's mirror image, with reference to Magritte's famous painting ''Reproduction Interdite''.

''McVicar'' was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, in which Daltrey starred and also co-produced. It featured all the other members of The Who (Townshend, Entwistle and Kenney Jones). ''McVicar'' included two hit singles, "Free Me" and "Without Your Love", and is Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.

The title track to ''Under a Raging Moon'' was a tribute to Who drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978. Each of the album's tracks, including "Let Me Down Easy" by Bryan Adams, expresses the frustration of growing older as only a man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" can. Daltrey is credited as co-writer on "Don't Talk to Strangers," "The Pride You Hide," "Move Better in the Night" and "It Don't Satisfy Me."

On ''Can't Wait to See the Movie'', Daltrey is credited as co-writer on the tracks "Balance on Wires" and "Take Me Home." On ''Rocks in the Head'', Daltrey is credited (along with Gerard McMahon) for co-writing seven of the eleven tracks, including: "Times Changed," "You Can't Call It Love," "Love Is," "Blues Man's Road," "Days of Light," "Everything A Heart Could Ever Want" and "Unforgettable Opera." On this album, Daltrey's voice ranges from a powerful bluesy growl à la Howlin' Wolf to the tender vocals shared with his daughter Willow on the ballad 'Everything A Heart Could Ever Want". This was his first major effort as a song-writer for his own solo albums.

For his compilation album ''Moonlighting'', Daltrey co-wrote the song "A Second Out" with Steve McEwan of the band UnAmerican. The recording features Daltrey's vocals backed by McEwan on acoustic guitar.

In 1992, Daltrey appeared in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, singing the hard rock song "I Want It All", to pay homage to his longlife friend Freddie Mercury, who died the previous year one day after a public announcement that he suffered from AIDS.

Daltrey celebrated his fiftieth birthday in 1994 by performing at Carnegie Hall in two shows (23 and 24 February ) later issued on CD and video called ''A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who'', sometimes called ''Daltrey Sings Townshend'', accompanied by The Juilliard Orchestra, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Irish dancers and other special guests. The success of these two shows led to a U.S. tour by the same name, featuring Pete Townshend's brother Simon on lead guitar with Phil Spalding taking bass duties for the first half of each show and John Entwistle playing for the second half. An Australian leg was considered but eventually scrapped.

Daltrey took on a number of other solo projects, including a tour with the British Rock Symphony in 1998, and the Night of the Proms in 2005. Daltrey also worked with the Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp, raising money for charities during the final concert.

Besides the songs Daltrey co-wrote for his solo albums, he is credited for co-writing others, including: "Child O Mine" with Gerard McMahon, used on the soundtrack for ''The Banger Sisters'' and on the TV show ''Witchblade''. On the soundtrack for ''Lisztomania'', Daltrey is credited with "Love's Dream", "Orpheus Song" and "Peace at Last."

In 2005, Daltrey had a short weekly series on BBC Radio 2, presenting a personal choice of rock'n'roll favourites. In 2006, he wrote and performed a specially commissioned song, "Highbury Highs", for Highbury Farewell ceremony following the final football match on 7 May at Arsenal Stadium between Arsenal and Wigan, in which Arsenal celebrated the previous 93 years at Highbury, preparing for their move to the Emirates Stadium, Ashburton Grove, the following season.

No Plan B band

Roger Daltrey embarked on a solo tour of the U.S. and Canada on 10 October 2009, officially called the "Use It or Lose It" tour with a new band that he called "No Plan B". The band included Simon Townshend on rhythm guitar and vocals, Frank Simes on lead guitar, Jon Button on bass, Loren Gold on keyboards, and Scott Devours on drums. Eddie Vedder made a guest appearance at the Seattle, WA show on 12 October. In 2010, Daltrey and No Plan B appeared for several dates with Eric Clapton, including Summerfest at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band also scheduled additional dates in 2010 without Clapton.

In 2011 the band performed the rock opera ''Tommy'' and other songs at a warm-up show in Bournemouth at the O2 Academy 19 March in preparation for a show scheduled at Royal Albert Hall to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust on 24 March. Pete Townshend played and sang as a guest at the TCT show. Later in 2011, the band scheduled the "Tommy Reborn" tour of the UK, to be followed by a tour of the US and Canada.

Discography

Collaborations

In 1984, Daltrey appeared on "Bad Attitude", the title track of an album by Meat Loaf, sharing the lead vocal. The following year, he appeared in Barbra Streisand's music video for her single "Emotion", playing Streisand's emotionally uninterested husband.

In 1992, he appeared on The Chieftains' Grammy Award-winning album, ''An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House''. He also released an album with the Boys Choir of Harlem in 1998 with selections from ''A Christmas Carol''. Also in 1998, Daltrey performed two songs with the Jim Byrnes Blues Band at the Los Angeles Highlander Convention. He borrowed a guitar to play for the songs, after reassuring the owner that he would not break it. Daltrey taught thirteen-year-old Drake Bell how to play the guitar in 1999. Drake later starred in ''Drake and Josh'' and released two albums.

In 2001, Daltrey provided backing vocals for the title track of the Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros album ''Global a Go-Go''. In 2003, he provided backing vocals for thrash-metal band Anthrax on the song "Taking the Music Back" from their album ''We've Come for You All''. The collaboration came about through Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian's girlfriend, Pearl Aday, daughter of Meat Loaf, whose mother was a friend of Daltrey and his wife. In 2005, Daltrey collaborated with the British pop band, McFly to sing his hit song "My Generation".

On 12 January 2009, Daltrey headlined a one-off concert along with Babyshambles at the O2 Academy Bristol for Teenage Cancer Trust. On Sunday 5 July 2009, Daltrey joined Paul Weller onstage at Hop Farm Festival in Kent for an encore of "Magic Bus".

Film and stage career

Film roles

After The Who retired from active work in 1982, Daltrey developed his career in film and on the theatre stage. Daltrey's appearances in over 30 feature films include early starring roles in ''Tommy'', as "deaf, dumb and blind boy" Tommy Walker in 1975; ''Lisztomania'', as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1975, and ''McVicar'', as British armed-robber-turned-journalist John McVicar in 1980.

In 2003, Roger Daltrey starred as the voice of Argon the Dragon Bus Driver in the children's DVD called ''The Wheels on the Bus: Mango and Papaya's Animal Adventure'' from Armstrong Moving Pictures. The DVD featured Daltrey as a costumed children's dragon, who drove a bus for two lost puppets trying to return to their home at the zoo. Daltrey provided vocals for children's classics, such as "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round," in addition to songs written specifically for the home video. He later appeared in two other videos for this series.

Filmography

Roger Daltrey has acted in ads, television and films, and maintains an extensive filmography. A sampling of his films is as follows:

''Tommy'' (Tommy Walker), 1975

''Lisztomania'' (Franz Liszt), 1975

''The Legacy'' (Clive), 1978

''McVicar'' (John McVicar), also Producer, 1980

''The Beggar's Opera'' (Macheath), 1983

''Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce'', 1985

''The Little Match Girl'' (Jeb Macklin), 1987

''Mack the Knife'' (Street Singer), 1990

''Cold Justice'' (Keith Gibson), 1989

''Buddy's Song'' (Terry Clark); also Music Score Composer, Producer, 1991

''If Looks Could Kill - Teen Agent'' (Blade), 1991

''The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert'', 1992

''Lightning Jack'' (John T. Coles), 1994

''A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who'', 1994

''The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True'' (Tin Man), 1995

''Vampirella'' (Vlad), 1996

''Sliders'' (Col. Angus Rickman), 1997

''Like It Is'' (Kelvin), 1998

''The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns'' (King Boric), 1999

''Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula'' (King Janos), 2000

''Best'' (Rodney Marsh), 2000

''The Young Messiah - Messiah XXI '' (2000) (DVD)

''Strange Frequency 2'' (Host/Devil), 2001

''Chasing Destiny'' (Nehemiah Peoples), 2001

''.com for Murder'' (Ben), 2002

''That 70's Show'' (Mr. Wilkinson), 2002

''The Wheels on the Bus'' (Argon the dragon), 2003

''Johnny Was'' (Jimmy Nolan), 2006

Television roles

Daltrey has played a number of television roles, including BBC Television Shakespeare as both Dromios in ''The Comedy of Errors'', the police drama series ''The Bill'', the science fiction series ''Sliders'' as Col. Angus Rickman, the ''VH1'' series ''Strange Frequency 2'', ''Witchblade'' as the devil, and was a recurring guest star in ''Highlander: The Series'' as Immortal Hugh Fitzcairn, one of the closest friends of lead character Duncan MacLeod. In 1983, he played Macheath, the outlaw hero of BBC TV's production of John Gay's 1728 ballad opera, 'The Beggar's Opera'.

In 1986 he acted in the TV series ''Buddy''. In 1993, He guest-starred (along with Steve Buscemi) in an episode of ''Tales From The Crypt'' entitled "Forever Ambergris". Daltrey appeared as a villain in a 1996 episode of ''Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. He also played Nobby Clegg, a character named after the band Nobby Clegg and the Civilians, in the Showtime series ''Rude Awakening''.

Daltrey appeared in an episode of ''The Simpsons'', "A Tale of Two Springfields", as himself along with John Entwistle (Pete Townshend was replaced by his brother Paul for the episode). The Who helped Homer break down a wall he had built through the town of Springfield.

A self-described history buff, Daltrey often involves himself in history research related media including television documentaries. ''Pirate Tales'' from 1997, is a documentary/action show about the age of piracy in the 18th century, in which Daltrey impersonated English buccaneer William Dampier in a main role as the narrator throughout the series. In 2003 he hosted the History Channel's ''Extreme History with Roger Daltrey'' talking about historical events and explaining the survival techniques the civilisations treated had available. He also appeared in "That '70s Musical", the 100th episode of ''That '70s Show'' as Fez's musical director.

Daltrey guest starred in a 7 November 2006 episode of ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' ("Living Legend") as Mickey Dunn, a prominent Las Vegas 1970s mob boss who returns to Las Vegas to avenge his attempted murder. The Who's music, and Daltrey's singing, provide the themes for all three of the series in the ''CSI'' franchise every week ("Who Are You" for the original show, "Won't Get Fooled Again" for ''CSI: Miami'' and "Baba O'Riley" for ''CSI: NY'').

In 2005, Daltrey had a cameo appearance as himself in the episode "The Priest and the Beast" in Series 2 of ''The Mighty Boosh''. He is found by the main characters vacuuming a desert, presumably as a "karmic" consequence of leaving Woodstock early and not helping to clean up.

Daltrey has also performed on the soundtrack of a number of films and television shows, most notably ''CSI''. He also appeared in the music video for "Emotion" by Barbra Streisand, although neither he nor The Who were the featured act.

In 2005 he played the part of loblolly boy in the TV drama ''Trafalgar Surgeon''.

Stage roles

Daltrey has appeared in stage in productions including Mike Batt's ''The Hunting of the Snark'' in 1987 as The Barrister, and also in Batt's ''Philharmania'' with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998. He appeared in ''The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True'' in 1995 as the Tin Man. Also in 1995 he starred in a three part Bert Coules BBC radio dramatisation of the ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' novels of Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, and in 1996 he starred in a BBC Radio 2 production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' as Judas. In 1998, Daltrey played the part of Scrooge in the Radio City Music Hall production of ''A Christmas Carol'' in New York City. In 2003, he starred as Alfred P. Doolittle in a production of ''My Fair Lady'' at the Hollywood Bowl alongside John Lithgow and Melissa Errico.

Producer

In addition to his career as an actor, Daltrey has acted as producer on several films, including: ''Buddy's Song'' (1990), ''McVicar'' (1980), ''Quadrophenia'' (1979) and a project in development ''See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure''.

Quotation

Notes

References

Geoffrey Giuliano (1996). ''Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend.'' Penguin Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-8154-1070-0

Steve Huey, ''Roger Daltrey – Biography'', [ AllMusic.com]

David M. Barling, ''Biography of Roger Daltrey'',

External links

Roger Daltrey as a European Hero in ''Time'' magazine

Daltrey plays solo at Cannes 2009

Audio stream Roger Daltrey King Biscuit Recording, 1985 Concert Vault

Roger Daltrey audio interview segments from 1982

Babyshambles and Roger Daltrey concert photograph by ''SPIN''

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:English male singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English rock singers Category:English rock guitarists Category:British harmonica players Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:English rock musicians Category:English tenors Category:English guitarists Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:English-language singers Category:English songwriters Category:English film actors Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Musicians from London Category:The Who members Category:People from Acton, London Category:People from Chiswick Category:People from Hammersmith Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

ca:Roger Daltrey cs:Roger Daltrey da:Roger Daltrey de:Roger Daltrey es:Roger Daltrey fr:Roger Daltrey gl:Roger Daltrey id:Roger Daltrey it:Roger Daltrey he:רוג'ר דלטרי nl:Roger Daltrey ja:ロジャー・ダルトリー no:Roger Daltrey nn:Roger Daltrey pl:Roger Daltrey pt:Roger Daltrey ro:Roger Daltrey ru:Долтри, Роджер simple:Roger Daltrey fi:Roger Daltrey sv:Roger Daltrey

name	Paul Weller
background	solo_singer
birth name	John William Weller
alias	"The Modfather"
born	May 25, 1958Woking, Surrey, England
influences	Small Faces, The Beatles, The Kinks
instrument	Guitar, vocals, piano, bass guitar
genre	Rock, pop, punk rock, mod revival, New Wave
occupation	singer-songwriter, musician, poet
years active	1977–1989 1991–present
record labels	Polydor Records, Island Records
associated acts	The Jam, The Style Council, Smokin' Mojo Filters, Ocean Colour Scene, Oasis
website	Official Paul Weller website
notable instruments	Rickenbacker 330 Gibson SG Epiphone Casino Fender Telecaster Gibson J-160E }}

Paul Weller (born 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam (1976–1982), Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council (1983–1989). In 1991 he re-established himself as a successful solo artist, and continues to remain a respected singer, lyricist and guitarist.

Despite widespread critical recognition in most of all the United States, Weller has remained a national rather than an international star, and much of his songwriting is rooted in British culture. He is also the principal figure of the 1970s and 80s mod revival and is often referred to as the ''Modfather''.

Early years 1958–1976

Weller was born on 25 May 1958 in Sheerwater, near Woking, Surrey, England, to John and Ann Weller. He was initially known as John William Weller but later acquired the name Paul.

His father worked as a taxi driver and his mother was a part-time cleaner. In 1963 Weller started his education at Maybury County First School. His love of music started with The Beatles, then The Who and the Small Faces. By the time Weller was eleven and moving up to secondary school at Sheerwater County Secondary music was the biggest part of his life and he began playing the guitar.

In 1972 Weller formed his first group, The Jam, playing bass guitar with his best friends Steve Brookes (lead guitar) and Dave Waller (rhythm guitar). Weller's father, their manager, began booking the band into local working men's clubs. Joined by Rick Buckler on drums, and with Bruce Foxton soon replacing Waller on rhythm guitar, the four-piece band began to forge a local reputation playing a mixture of Beatles covers and a number of compositions written by Weller and Brookes. In 1976 Brookes left the band and Weller and Foxton decided they would swap guitar roles, with Weller now the guitarist.

Career

The Jam: 1976–1982

Although The Jam emerged at the same time as punk rock bands such as The Clash, The Damned, and the Sex Pistols, The Jam better fitted the mould of the New Wave bands who came later. Also, being from just outside London rather than in it, they were never really part of the tightly-knit punk clique.

Nonetheless, The Clash emerged as one of the leading early advocates of the band, and were sufficiently impressed by The Jam to take them along as the support act on their ''White Riot'' tour of 1977. The Jam's first single "In the City" took them into the UK Top 40 for the first time in May 1977. Although every subsequent single had a placing within the Top 40, it would not be until the band released "The Eton Rifles", with Weller's very political lyrics, that they broke into the Top 10, hitting the No. 3 spot in November 1979.

The increasing popularity of their blend of pop melodies and Weller's barbed lyrics led, in March 1980, to their first number one single, "Going Underground".

They became the only band other than the Beatles to perform two songs ("Town Called Malice" and "Precious") on one edition of ''Top of the Pops''. The Jam even had two singles, "That's Entertainment" and "Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero", reach No. 21 and No. 8 respectively in the UK singles chart despite not even being released in that country – they got there purely on the strength of the huge number of people buying import sales of the German and Dutch single releases. The Jam still hold the record for the best selling import only singles in the UK charts. As the band's popularity increased, however, Weller became restless and eager to explore a more soulful, melodic style with a broader instrumentation.

In 1982, Weller announced that The Jam would disband at the end of the year. Their final single, "Beat Surrender", became their fourth UK chart topper, going straight to No. 1 in its first week. Their farewell concerts at Wembley Arena were multiple sell-outs; their final concert took place at the Brighton Centre on 11 December 1982.

The Style Council: 1983–1989

At the beginning of 1983, Weller collaborated with keyboard player Mick Talbot to form a new group called The Style Council. Weller brought in Steve White to play drums, as well as singer Dee C. Lee, who had previously been a backing singer with Wham!

Free of the limited musical styles he felt imposed by The Jam, under the collective of The Style Council Weller was able to experiment with a wide range of music, from pop and jazz to soul/R&B;, house and folk-styled ballads. The band was at the vanguard of a jazz/pop revival that would continue with the emergence of bands like Matt Bianco, Sade, and Everything but the Girl, whose members Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt contributed vocals and guitar to the 1984 The Style Council song "Paris Match".

Many of the Style Council's early singles performed well in the charts, and Weller experienced his first success in North America, when "My Ever Changing Moods" and "You're The Best Thing" entered the US Billboard Hot 100. In Australia they were far more successful than The Jam, reaching the top of the charts in 1984 with "Shout To The Top".

Weller appeared on 1984's Band Aid record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and was called upon to mime the absent Bono's lyrics on ''Top of the Pops''. The Style Council were the second act to appear in the British half of Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985.

In December 1984, Weller put together his own charity ensemble, the Council Collective, to make a record, Soul Deep, to raise money for striking miners. The record featured The Style Council plus a number of other performers, notably Jimmy Ruffin and Junior Giscombe. In spite of the song's political content, it still picked up BBC Radio 1 airplay and was performed on ''Top of the Pops'', which led to the incongruous sight of lyrics such as "We can't afford to let the government win / It means death to the trade unions" being mimed amid the show's flashing lights and party atmosphere.

As the 1980s wore on, The Style Council's popularity in the UK began to slide, with the band achieving only one top ten single after 1985. The Style Council's death knell was sounded in 1989 when their record company refused to release their fifth and final studio album, the house-influenced ''Modernism: A New Decade''. With the rejection of this effort, Weller announced The Style Council had split, and although the final album did have a limited vinyl run, it was not until the 1998 retrospective CD box set ''The Complete Adventures of the Style Council'' that the album was widely available.

Early solo career: 1990–1995

In 1989, Weller found himself for the first time since he was 17 without a band and without a recording deal. After taking time off throughout 1990, he returned to the road in 1991, touring as 'The Paul Weller Movement' with long-term drummer and friend Steve White. After a slow start playing small clubs with a mixture of Jam/Style Council classics as well as showcasing new material such as "Into Tomorrow", by the time of the release of his 1992 LP, ''Paul Weller'' he had begun to re-establish himself as a leading British singer/songwriter. This self-titled album saw a return to a more jazz-guitar-focused sound, featuring samples and a funk influence with shades of The Style Council sound. The album also featured a new producer, Brendan Lynch. Tracks such as "Here's a New Thing" and "That Spiritual Feeling" were marketed among the emerging acid jazz scene.

Buoyed by the positive commercial and critical success of his first solo album, Weller returned to the studio in 1993 with a renewed confidence. Accompanied by Steve White, guitarist Steve Cradock, and bassist Damon Minchella, the result of these sessions was the triumphant Mercury Music Prize-nominated ''Wild Wood''.

His 1995 album ''Stanley Road'' took him back to the top of the British charts for the first time in a decade, and went on to become the best-selling album of his career. The album, named after the street in Woking where he had grown up, marked a return to the more guitar-based style of his earlier days. Weller found himself heavily associated with the Britpop movement that gave rise to such bands as Oasis, Pulp and Blur. Weller even appeared as a guest guitarist and backing vocalist on Oasis' hit song "Champagne Supernova". The album's major single, "The Changingman", was also a big hit, taking Weller to #7 in the UK singles charts. Another single, the ballad "You Do Something To Me", was his second consecutive Top 10 single and reached #9 in the UK.

The Modfather: 1996–2007

''Heavy Soul'', the follow-up to the million-selling ''Stanley Road'' saw Weller twist his sound again. The album was more raw than its predecessor; Weller was now frequently playing live in the studio in as few takes as possible. The first single, "Peacock Suit" reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart, and the album reached #2. Success in the charts also came from compilations: "best of" albums by The Jam and Style Council charted, and his own solo "best of" collection ''Modern Classics'' was a substantial success in 1998.

In 2000, while living in Send, Surrey, he released his fifth solo studio album, ''Heliocentric''. There were rumours at the time that this would be his final studio effort, but these proved unfounded when he released the No. 1 hit album ''Illumination'' in September 2002 which was co-produced by Noonday Underground's Simon Dine, preceded by yet another top 10 hit single "It's Written In The Stars". Weller also appears on the 2002 Noonday Underground album called ''Surface Noise'', singing on the track "I'll Walk Right On". Between these two albums he had also released a second successful live album, 2001's ''Days Of Speed'', which contained live acoustic versions from his world tour of the same name. The LP included some of his best-known songs from his solo career and the back catalogues of his The Jam and The Style Council days. Weller had again found himself without a record contract and the tour provided him with the opportunity to view his works as one back catalogue.

In 2003, Weller teamed up with electronic rock duo Death in Vegas on a cover of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" which featured on the album ''Scorpio Rising''.

In 2004 Weller released an album of covers entitled ''Studio 150''. It debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts and included Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" besides covers of songs by Gil Scott-Heron, Rose Royce, Gordon Lightfoot, and others.

His 2005 album ''As Is Now'' featured the singles "From The Floorboards Up", "Come On/Let's Go" and "Here's The Good News". The album was well-received, though critics noted that he was not moving his music forward stylistically, and it became his lowest-charting album since his 1992 debut. In February 2006 it was announced that Weller would be the latest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BRIT Awards. Despite a tendency to shun such occasions, Weller accepted the award in person, and performed four songs at the ceremony, including The Jam classic "Town Called Malice".

In June 2006, a double live album titled ''Catch-Flame!'', with songs from both his solo work and his career with ‘The Jam’ and the Style Council, was released. In late 2006, the album ''Hit Parade'' was released, which collected all the singles released by The Jam, Style Council and Weller during his solo career. Two versions of this album were released: a single disc with a selection from each stage of his career, and a four-disc limited edition, which included every single released and came with a 64-page booklet.

Weller was offered a CBE in the 2006 birthday honours, but rejected the order.

Critical success: 2008–present

The double album ''22 Dreams'' was released on 2 June 2008 with "Echoes Round The Sun" as the lead single. Before recording this album, Weller had parted company with his existing band, resulting in the replacement of everyone except guitarist Steve Cradock. As well as Cradock, the new band consisted of Andy Lewis on bass, Andy Crofts of The Moons on keys and Steve Pilgrim of The Stands on drums. This album saw Weller move in a more experimental direction, taking in a wide variety of inflences including jazz, folk, tango as well as pop-soul more associated with his Style Council days.

Weller was the surprise recipient of the 2009 BRIT award for "Best Male Solo Artist", which resulted in controversy when it was discovered a suspiciously high number of bets had been placed for Weller to win the award, for which James Morrison was T4's favourite. It was reported that the bookmakers had lost £100,000 in the event, and that as a result would not be taking bets for the awards in the future.

In 2009 Weller guested on Dot Allison's 2009 album, ''Room 7½'', co-writing "Love's Got Me Crazy". November and December also saw him on tour, playing shows across the country.

On 24 February 2010, Paul received the Godlike Genius Award at the NME Awards. His 2010 album, ''Wake Up the Nation'', released in April, was met with critical acclaim and subsequently nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The album also marked his first collaboration with The Jam bassist Bruce Foxton in 28 years. In May 2010 Weller was presented with the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award, stating "''I've enjoyed the last 33 years I've been writing songs and hopefully, with God's good grace, I'll do some more.''"

Personal life

Soon after the formation of The Style Council, Weller and Dee C. Lee, The Style Council's backing singer, began a romantic relationship. The couple married in 1987 and divorced in 1998. They have two children Leah and Nathaniel (Natt), who is also a working musician and once appeared on stage with his father at Hammersmith Apollo at age 12. Weller has another daughter, Dylan, by a short-lived relationship with a make-up artist called Lucy.

While he was recording at the Manor studios in the mid 1990s, he became involved with Samantha Stock. They have two children. In October 2008 they broke up and Weller moved in with Hannah Andrews, a backing singer on his ''22 Dreams'' album, who has toured with his band. The pair married in September 2010.

On 24 April 2009, John Weller, Paul Weller's father and long-time manager since the days of The Jam, died from pneumonia at the age of 77.

Influences

Weller has stated a wide range of influences throughout his musical career, frequently listing The Beatles, Dr Feelgood, The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces and 1960s and 1970s soul music.

Legacy

During the Britpop explosion in the mid-1990s a number of fledgling bands, such as Oasis, Ocean Colour Scene and Blur, cited Weller and The Jam as a major influence. As a new generation of bands emerged, Weller was again noted as an influence by bands such as Hard-Fi, Arctic Monkeys, The Enemy and The Rifles.

References in literature

Paul Weller was the theme of a book, ''The Modfather'', in which David Lines documented his life growing up in Garforth, Leeds, and his adolescent obsession with Paul Weller.

Discography

Albums

''Paul Weller'' – (1992) #8 UK

''Wild Wood'' – (1993) #2 UK (Platinum)

''Stanley Road'' – (1995) #1 UK (4 × Platinum)

''Heavy Soul'' – (1997) #2 UK (Gold)

''Heliocentric'' – (2000) #2 UK (Silver)

''Illumination'' – (2002) #1 UK (Gold)

''Studio 150'' – (2004) #2 UK (Silver)

''As Is Now'' – (2005) #4 UK (Gold)

''22 Dreams'' – (2008) #1 UK (Platinum)

''Wake Up the Nation'' – (2010) #2 UK (Gold)

References

Bibliography

External links

Paul Weller dot Com (Paul Weller's official website)

The Moons (official website)

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:The Jam members Category:The Style Council members Category:English rock singers Category:English male singers Category:English New Wave musicians Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English guitarists Category:Mod revival Category:English punk rock singers Category:English socialists Category:People from Woking Category:BRIT Award winners

ca:Paul Weller da:Paul Weller de:Paul Weller es:Paul Weller fr:Paul Weller ko:폴 웰러 it:Paul Weller nl:Paul Weller ja:ポール・ウェラー pl:Paul Weller pt:Paul Weller ru:Уэллер, Пол fi:Paul Weller sv:Paul Weller

name	Mick Taylor
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Kevin Taylor
alias	Little Mick
born	January 17, 1949Welwyn Garden City, EnglandUnited Kingdom
instrument	Guitar, bass guitar, vocals,keyboards, percussions,slide guitar
genre	Blues-rock, Hard-rock, rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter
years active	1965–present
label	Columbia, Decca, Rolling Stones, Atlantic, EMI, Virgin, CBS, Maze Records
associated acts	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers(1966-69),The Rolling Stones (1969-74)
website	Mick Taylor.net
notable instruments	Gibson Les PaulGibson SGFender StratocasterFender Telecaster }}

Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor (born 17 January 1949 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1966–69) and The Rolling Stones (1969–74). Since resigning from the Rolling Stones in December 1974 at age 25, Taylor has worked with numerous other artists and has released solo albums.

Biography

Early career

Taylor was born to a working-class family in Welwyn Garden City, but was raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, where his father worked as a fitter for De Havilland aircraft company. He began playing guitar at age nine, learning to play from his mother's younger brother. As a teenager, he formed bands with schoolmates and started performing concerts under names such as The Juniors and the Strangers. They also appeared on television and put out a single. Part of the band was recruited for a new group called The Gods, which included Ken Hensley (later of Uriah Heep fame). In 1966, The Gods opened for Cream at the Starlite Ballroom in Wembley.

In 1965 at age 16, Taylor went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers performance at "The Hop" Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City. A former drummer with the Juniors, Danny Bacon, remembers: "On the night in question, I had gone to The Hop with some guys from our band, former schoolmates and Ex-Juniors Mick Taylor and Alan Shacklock. It was after John Mayall had finished his first set without a guitarist that it became clear that for some reason Eric Clapton was not going to show up. A group of local musicians, which included myself, Robert 'Jab' Als, Herbie Sparks, and others, along with three local guitarists—Alan Shacklock, Mick Casey (formerly of the Trekkas) and Mick Taylor—were in attendance." Taylor himself has said after seeing that Clapton hadn't appeared, but that his guitar had already been set up on the stage, had approached John Mayall during the interval, asking if he could play with them, mentioning that he'd heard their albums and knew some of the songs. After a moment of deliberation, Mayall agreed. Taylor amended, "I wasn't thinking that this was a great opportunity.. I just really wanted to get up on stage and play the guitar."

Taylor played the second set with Mayall's band, and afterwards, they exchanged phone numbers, which proved to be pivotal in his career a few years later. Taylor had won Mayall's respect, and when he was 17, Mayall was looking for another guitarist to fill the vacancy left after Peter Green's resignation. Mayall contacted Taylor, and invited him to take Green's place. Taylor made his debut with the Bluesbreakers at the Manor House, an old blues club in North London. For those in the music scene the night was an event... "Let's go and see this 17-year-old kid try and replace Eric". Before he turned 18, Taylor toured and recorded the album ''Crusade'' with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969, Taylor developed a guitar style that is blues-based with Latin and jazz influences. Later on in his career, he further developed his skills as a slide guitarist.

In 1967, Mick made the drawings for Donovan's ''Gift From a Flower to a Garden'' double LP.

The Rolling Stones

After Brian Jones left the The Rolling Stones in June 1969, Mayall recommended Taylor to Mick Jagger. Taylor believed he was being called in to be a session musician at his first studio session with the Rolling Stones. An impressed Jagger and Keith Richards invited Taylor back the following day to continue rehearsing and recording with the band. He overdubbed guitar on "Country Honk" "Live With Me" for the album ''Let It Bleed'', and for the single "Honky Tonk Women" released in the UK, on 4 July 1969. Taylor's onstage debut as a Rolling Stone, at the age of 20, was the free Hyde Park concert on 5 July 1969. An estimated quarter of a million people attended for a show that turned into a tribute to Brian Jones, who had died 3 days before the concert.

The Rolling Stones' 1971 release ''Sticky Fingers'' included "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" which Taylor and Jagger had completed in Richards's absence. At the time Jagger stated: "We made [tracks] with just Mick Taylor, which are very good and everyone loves, where Keith wasn't there for whatever reasons ... It's me and [Mick Taylor] playing off each other - another feeling completely, because he's following my vocal lines and then extemporizing on them during the solos." However, Taylor was only credited as co-author of one track "Ventilator Blues", from the album ''Exile on Main St.'' (1972). Taylor was noted for his smooth lyrical touch and tone which contrasted with Richards's jagged and cutting technique.

After the 1973 European tour, Richards's drug problems had worsened and began affecting the ability of the band to function as a whole. Between recording sessions, the band members were living in various different countries and during this period Taylor appeared on Herbie Mann's ''London Underground'' (1974) and also appeared on Mann's album ''Reggae'' (1974).

It's Only Rock 'n Roll

In January 1974, while the band began recording the LP ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'' at Musicland Studios in Munich, Taylor missed some of the sessions whilst he underwent surgery for acute sinusitis. When he arrived, he found it difficult to work with Richards. At one point during the Munich sessions, Richards confronted him, and said, "Oi! Taylor! You're playing too fuckin' loud. I mean, you're really good ''live,'' man, but you're fucking useless in the studio. Lay out, play later, whatever." Richards erased some of the tapes where Taylor had recorded guitar parts to some of the songs for ''It's Only Rock n' Roll'' Taylor was, however, present at all the sessions in April at Stargroves, England, where the LP was finished and most of the overdubs were recorded.

Not long after those recording sessions, Taylor went on a six-week expedition to Brazil, travelling down the Amazon River in a boat and exploring Latin music.

Just before the release of the album in October 1974, Taylor told Nick Kent from the ''NME'' magazine about the new LP and that he had co-written "Till the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits for No One" with Jagger. Kent showed Taylor the record sleeve, which revealed the absence of any songwriting credits for Taylor. In an interview with Gary James, Taylor later said: "I was a bit peeved about not getting credit for a couple of songs, but that wasn't the whole reason [I left the band]. I guess I just felt like I had enough. I decided to leave and start a group with Jack Bruce. I never really felt, and I don't know why, but I never felt I was gonna stay with the Stones forever, even right from the beginning. In a 1997 interview with Mojo Magazine, Taylor said: "We used to fight and argue all the time. And one of the things I got angry about was that Mick had promised to give me some credit for some of the songs – and he didn't. I believed I'd contributed enough. Let's put it this way – without my contribution those songs would not have existed. There's not many but enough, things like "Sway" and "Moonlight Mile" on ''Sticky Fingers'' and a couple of others."

In December 1974, Taylor announced he was leaving the Rolling Stones. The bandmates were at a party in London when Taylor told Mick Jagger he was quitting and walked out. Taylor's decision came as a total shock to many. The Rolling Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich, and the entire band was reportedly angry at Taylor for leaving at such short notice.

When interviewed by Jann Wenner of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 1995, Mick Jagger stated that Taylor never explained why he had left, and surmised that "[Taylor] wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith." In the same interview Jagger said of Taylor's contribution to the band: "I think he had a big contribution. He made it very musical. He was a very fluent, melodic player, which we never had, and we don't have now. Neither Keith nor [Ronnie Wood] plays that kind of style. It was very good for me working with him ... Mick Taylor would play very fluid lines against my vocals. He was exciting, and he was very pretty, and it gave me something to follow, to bang off. Some people think that's the best version of the band that existed". Asked if he agreed with that assessment, Jagger said: "I obviously can't say if I think Mick Taylor was the best, because it sort of trashes the period the band is in now." Charlie Watts stated: "I think we chose the right man for the job at that time just as Ronnie was the right man for the job later on. I still think Mick is great. I haven't heard or seen him play in a few years. But certainly what came out of playing with him are musically some of the best things we've ever done". Another statement, made by Keith Richards, is: "Mick Taylor is a great guitarist, but he found out the hard way that that's all he is".

In an essay about the Rolling Stones, printed after Taylor's resignation, music critic Robert Palmer of ''The New York Times'' wrote that "Taylor is the most accomplished technician who ever served as a Stone. A blues guitarist with a jazzman's flair for melodic invention, Taylor was never a rock and roller and never a showman."

Taylor has worked with his former bandmates on various occasions since leaving the Rolling Stones. In 1977 he attended London-based sessions for the John Phillips album ''Pay Pack & Follow'', appearing on several tracks alongside Jagger (vocals), Richards (guitar) and Wood (bass) - taking notable solos on the songs "Oh Virginia" and "Zulu Warrior". A possibly apocryphal story is that after Taylor played a particularly jaw-dropping solo in the studio, Richards half-jokingly exclaimed, "That's why I never liked you, you bastard!"

On 14 December 1981 he performed with the band at their concert at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Keith Richards appeared on stage at a Mick Taylor show at the Lone Star Cafe in New York on 28 December 1986, jamming on "Key to the Highway" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"; and Taylor is featured on one track ("I Could Have Stood You Up") on Richards' 1988 album ''Talk is Cheap''. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Mick Taylor along with the Rolling Stones in 1989. Taylor also worked with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in the early 1990s.

In addition to his contributions to Rolling Stones albums released during his tenure with the band, Taylor's guitar is also on two tracks on their 1981 release ''Tattoo You'': "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend", both of which were originally recorded in 1972. (Taylor is sometimes mistakenly credited as playing on "Worried About You", but the solo on that track is performed by Wayne Perkins.)

Taylor's onstage presence with the Rolling Stones is preserved on the album ''Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!'', recorded over four concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York and the Civic Center in Boston in November 1969; in the documentary films ''Stones in the Park'' (released on DVD in 2001), ''Gimme Shelter'' (released in 1970) and ''Cocksucker Blues'' (unreleased); and in the concert film ''Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones'' (shown in cinemas in 1974). Bootleg recordings from the Rolling Stones' tours from 1969 through 1973 also document Taylor's concert performances with the Rolling Stones.

In March 2010, rumours started circulating that Taylor had contributed guitar work on the upcoming ''Exile on Main Street'' special edition release. This expanded version of the original double album includes 10 outtakes/alternate versions of songs. Taylor later revealed (in an interview with a journalist from Cleveland) that he had indeed recorded new guitar overdubs for the CD, at Mick Jagger's request. On 17 April 2010 (National Record Store Day), the new Rolling Stones single 'Plundered My Soul' came out, featuring recently recorded vocals and guitars by Jagger and Taylor.

Around this time, Eagle Rock Entertainment also announced that a first official release of the concert film ''Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones'' was planned for autumn 2010. Apart from a one-off cinema screening in the past, the film had previously only been available on bootleg videos and DVDs.

Post-Stones: 1975 to 1981

Taylor worked on various side projects during his tenure with the Rolling Stones.

In June 1973, he joined Mike Oldfield onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a performance of Oldfield's ''Tubular Bells''. Taylor was asked to take part in this project by Richard Branson as he felt Oldfield was unknown having just been signed to Branson's fledgling label, Virgin Records. Taylor joined Oldfield once more for a BBC television broadcast in November 1973.

After his resignation from the Rolling Stones, Jack Bruce invited him to form a new band with keyboardist Carla Bley and drummer Bruce Gary. In 1975, the band began rehearsals in London with tour dates scheduled for later that year. The group toured Europe, with a sound leaning more toward jazz, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop festival, but disbanded the following year. A performance recorded on 1 June 1975 (which was finally released on CD in 2003 as ''"Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall"'' by The Jack Bruce Band) and another performance from the ''Old Grey Whistle Test'' seem to be the only material available from this brief collaboration.

Taylor appeared as a special guest of Little Feat at the Rainbow Theatre in London, 1977, sharing slide guitar with then-frontman Lowell George on "A Apolitical Blues": this song appears on Little Feat's critically acclaimed live album ''Waiting for Columbus''. In the summer of 1977 he collaborated with Pierre Moerlen's Gong for the album ''Espresso II'', released in 1978. Taylor began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album and worked on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others. He was present at many of the recording sessions for John Phillips' first solo album. The recordings for Phillips' album took place in London over a prolonged period between 1973 and 1977. This led to Taylor working with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger who were also working on the Phillips' album. Atlantic Records eventually cancelled the project but copies of the sessions(under titles "Half Stoned" and "Phillips '77") circulated among bootleg traders. The original tapes were rescued and restored and were officially released in 2002 as ''Pay Pack & Follow''. In 1977 Taylor signed a solo recording deal with CBS Records. By April 1978 he gave several interviews to music magazines to promote the new album which was finished, but would not be released for another year. In 1979 the album, titled ''Mick Taylor'', was released by CBS Records. The album material mixed rock, jazz and Latin-flavoured blues musical styles. The album reached #119 on the Billboard charts in early August with a stay of five weeks on the Billboard 200. CBS advised Taylor to promote the album through American radio stations but was unwilling to back the guitarist for any supporting tour. Already frustrated with this situation, Taylor took a break from the music industry for about a year.

In 1981, he toured Europe and the United States with Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, sharing the bill with Black Sabbath. He spent most of 1982 and 1983 on the road with John Mayall, for the "Reunion Tour" with John McVie of Fleetwood Mac and Colin Allen. During this tour Bob Dylan showed up backstage at The Roxy in Los Angeles in order to meet Taylor.

In 1983, Taylor joined Mark Knopfler and played on Dylan's ''Infidels'' album. He also appeared on Dylan's live album, ''Real Live'', as well as the follow-up studio album ''Empire Burlesque''. In 1984, Dylan asked Mick Taylor to assemble an experienced rock and roll band for a European tour he signed with Bill Graham. Ian McLagan was hired to play piano and hammond organ, Greg Sutton to play bass and Colin Allen, a long time friend of Taylor, on drums. The tour lasted for four weeks at venues such as Munich's Olympic Stadium Arena, sharing the bill with Carlos Santana and Joan Baez, who appeared on the same bill for a couple of shows.

Later career

Taylor guested with the Grateful Dead on September 24, 1988 at the last show of that year's Madison Square Garden run in New York. Taylor lived in New York throughout the 1980s. He battled with addiction problems before getting back on track in the second half of the 1980s and moving to Los Angeles in 1990. During this time Taylor did session work and toured in Europe, America and Japan with a band including Max Middleton (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), Shane Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin. In 1990 his CD "Stranger In This Town" was released by Maze Records backed up by a mini-tour including the record release party at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston as well as gigs at the Paradise Theater.

Taylor moved back to England in the mid 1990s. Taylor never seemed to feel comfortable in his role as a former Rolling Stone until he released a new album in 2000, entitled, ''A Stone's Throw''. Playing at clubs and theatres as well as appearing at festivals has connected Taylor with an appreciative audience and fan base.

Mick began what was to be a significant series of collaborations with Carla Olson with their "Live at the Roxy" album ''Too Hot For Snakes''; the centerpiece of which is a extended 7 minute performance of "Sway". It was followed by Olson's ''Within An Ace'' which featured Taylor on seven songs, he appeared on three songs from ''Reap The Whirlwind'' and then again on Olson's ''The Ring Of Truth'', on which he plays lead guitar on nine tracks including a twelve minute version of the Jagger and Taylor song "Winter". Further work by Olson and Taylor can be heard on the Olson produced Barry Goldberg album ''Stoned Again''. Taylor went on to appear on Percy Sledge's ''Blue Night'' (1994), along with Steve Cropper, Bobby Womack and Greg Leisz.

In 2003, Taylor reunited with John Mayall for his 70th Birthday Concert in Liverpool along with Eric Clapton. A year later, in autumn 2004, he also joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers for a UK theatre tour. He toured the US East Coast with the Experience Hendrix group during October 2007. The Experience Hendrix group appeared at a series of concerts which were a homage to Jimi Hendrix and his musical legacy. Taylor played with Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and Robby Krieger.

In recent times Taylor reunited with Ronnie Wood (an old pal from his teenage years) at a benefit gig put on, organized and publicised by UK-domiciled US fellow Blues guitarist Stephen Dale Petit to save the 100 Club in London, on 1 December 2010. Other special guests at the show were Dick Taylor (first bassplayer in the Rolling Stones) and blues/jazz trombonist Chris Barber. Mick also toured the UK with Stephen Dale Petit appearing as Petit's Special Guest, featured on a Paul Jones BBC Radio 2 session with him and guested on Petit's 2010 Classic Rock magazine Album of the Year - "The Crave".

He also helped to promote the "Boogie For Stu" album, which was recorded by Ben Waters to honour Ian Stewart (original Stones pianist and co-founder of the band), by taking part in a concert to mark the CD's official launch at the Ambassadors Theatre, London on 9 March 2011. Proceeds from the event were donated to the British Heart Foundation. Although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards didn't show up, Taylor noticeably enjoyed performing with, amongst others, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman.

Personal life

Taylor has been married twice and has two daughters. Chloe (born 6 January 1971) is a daughter by his first wife Rose Millar. Taylor married Rose in 1975 after leaving the Stones, but the relationship was reportedly "on the rocks" before long and resulted in divorce only a few years later. His second daughter Emma was born from a short relationship with an American woman, who sang backing vocals with Taylor's band on one occasion.

Taylor currently resides in Suffolk.

Discography

With John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

''Crusade'' (Decca, 1967/LP, 1987/CD)

''Diary of a Band Volume 1 & 2'' (Decca, 1968/LP)

''Bare Wires'' (Decca, 1968/LP, 1988/CD )

''Blues from Laurel Canyon'' (Decca, 1968/LP, 1989/CD)

''Primal Solos'' (Decca, 1969/LP)

''Back to the Roots'' (Decca, 1971/LP, 2001 on 2CD)

''Return Of The Bluesbreakers'' (AIM, 1985/LP, 1993/CD)

''The 1982 Reunion Concert'' (Repertoire records, 1994/CD) with John Mayall, Mick Taylor, Colin Allen and John McVie

''Wake Up Call'' (1993)

''Silver Tones - The Best of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers'' (Silvertone Records, 1998)

''Along For The Ride'' (2001)

''Rolling With The Blues'' (2003) - selection of live recordings '72-'82

''Essentially John Mayall'' (Eagle Rock Records, 2007) 5 CD Box Set

With The Rolling Stones

''Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)'' (1969) (compilation)

:Taylor plays on "Honky Tonk Women"

''Let It Bleed'' (1969)

:Taylor plays on "Country Honk" and "Live With Me"

''Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!'' (1970)

''Sticky Fingers'' (1971)

''Hot Rocks, 1964-1971'' (1972) (compilation)

''Exile on Main St.'' (1972)

''Goats Head Soup'' (1973)

''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'' (1974)

''Made in the Shade'' (1975) (compilation of hits 1971-1974)

''Metamorphosis'' (1975)

:Taylor plays on "I Don't Know Why" and "Jiving Sister Fanny".

''Sucking in the Seventies'' (1981) (compilation of hits, album cuts and outtakes 1974-1981)

''Tattoo You'' (1981)

:Taylor plays on "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend", both tracks recorded in 1972 during the ''Goats Head Soup'' sessions.

''Rewind (1971-1984)'' (1984) (compilation of hits 1971-1983)

''Singles Collection: The London Years''. (1989) (compilation of singles 1963-1971)

''Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones'' (1993) (compilation of hits 1971-1989)

''Forty Licks'' (2002) (compilation 1964-2002)

''Rarities 1971-2003'' (2005)

:Taylor plays on "Let It Rock" (live 1971) and the 1974 b-side "Through The Lonely Nights".

Non-Rolling Stones work with Rolling Stones members:

''Pay, Pack and Follow'' (John Phillips, first official release by Eagle Rock Records, 2001)

:from 1973-1979 recording sessions in London aka "Half Stoned" sessions :produced by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

''I've Got My Own Album to Do'' (Ronnie Wood solo album) (1974)

''Now Look'' (Ronnie Wood solo album) (July 1975)

''Talk Is Cheap'' (Keith Richards solo album) (1988)

With Jack Bruce

''Live on the Old Grey Whistle Test'' (Strange Fruit, 1995). Tracks from several Whistle Test shows recorded between '75 and '81. Seven of the songs feature Taylor on guitar.

''Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall'' (2 CD, Polydor, 2003)

With Bob Dylan

''Infidels'' (1983)

''Real Live (In Europe, 1984)'' (1984)

''Empire Burlesque'' (1985)

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

Solo discography

''Mick Taylor'' (1979) US #119 [5 wks on top 200]

''Stranger in This Town'' (1990)

''Arthur's Club-Geneve 1995'' (Mick Taylor & Snowy White) (Promo CD/TV Especial)

''A Stone's Throw'' (2000)

''Coastin' Home'' aka ''Live at the 14 Below'' (1995) re-issued 2002

''14 Below'' (2003)

''Shadow Man''

With Carla Olson

''Too Hot For Snakes'' (''Live at the Roxy'') (1991 live album)

''Within An Ace'' (1993)

''Reap The Whirlwind(1994, Virgin Records Europe)

''Special - The best of Carla Olson (1995, Virgin Records Sweden)

''The Ring of Truth'' (2001)

''Too Hot For Snakes'' plus (2008, Collectors' Choice) 2 CD set of the Roxy album plus "You Gotta Move" and a 2nd disc of 13 studio tracks 1993 - 2004 including a previously unreleased version of "Winter" and "Think I'm Goin' Mad" from the Carla-produced Barry Goldberg album ''Stoned Again''.

Other session work

''Tubular Bells Premiere'' Mike Oldfield (June '73) Queen Elizabeth Hall

''Tubular Bells'' (Mike Oldfield) Telecast Tubular Bells Part One and Tubular Bells Part Two. Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House November 1973 and aired in early '74 and June '74. Available on Oldfield's Elements DVD.

''The Tin Man Was A Dreamer'' (Nicky Hopkins) (1973)

"London Underground" (Herbie Mann 1974)

''Live European Tour'' Billy Preston - (A&M; Records, 1974). Recorded with Stones Mobile Studio during the '73 tour. Preston opened up for the band with Mick Taylor on guitar.

released on CD (A& M - Japan, 2002)

''Have Blues Will Travel'' (Speedo Jones) (Integrity Records, 1988)

''Reggae II'' (Herbie Mann) (Atlantic, 1976)

''Just A Story From America'' (Elliott Murphy) (Columbia 1977)

''Waiting for Columbus'' (Little Feat) (1978) double CD released 2002

''Expresso II'' (Gong) (1978)

Downwind'' (Pierre Moerlen's Gong) (1979) lead guitar on What you know

''Alan Merrill'' (Alan Merrill)'s solo album (Polydor, 1985) recorded in London in 1977

''Vinyl'' (Dramarama) (1991)

''Burnin' Blues'' (Coupe De Villes) (1992)

''Once in a Blue Moon'' (Gerry Groom) (1993)

''Cartwheels'' (Anthony Thistlethwaite) (1993)

''Hecho en Memphis'' (Ratones Paranoicos, Sony Music) (1993)

''Let's get stoned'' (The Chesterfield Kings) (Mirror Records,1994)

''Crawfish and Caviar'' (Anthony Thistlethwaite)

''Blue Night'' (Percy Sledge, Virgin Records, 1994)

''Mick & I'' (2001) Miyuki & Mick Taylor

''From Clarksdale to Heaven'' (BlueStorm, 2002) John Lee Hooker Tribute Album.

''Stoned Again (Barry Goldberg, Antone's Records, 2002)

''Meaning Of Life'' (Todd Sharpville) (Cathouse/Universal, 2003)

''Key To Love'' (Debbie Davies) (Shanachie Records, 2003)

''Shadow Man'' (re-release of a Sasha album from '96) (2003)

Originally released by Alpha Music in 1996, this "Mick Taylor featuring Sasha" album should have read "Sasha featuring Mick Taylor", but the company felt it would sell better under a household name. It features Mick Taylor on guitar, but is basically a Sasha Gracanin album.

''Treasure Island'' (Nikki Sudden) (Secretly Canadian, 2004)

''Unterwegs'' (Crazy Chris Kramer) (2009)

Music DVDs

''Blues Alive'' video (RCA/Columbia Pictures 1983), recorded at Capitol Theatre, NJ 1982

''Jamming with the Blues Greats'' - DVD release from the 1983 video, featuring John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (Mick Taylor, Colin Allen, John McVie) and special guests Albert King, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Sippie Wallace (Lightyear/Image Entertainment 2005)

''The Stones in the Park'' Hyde Park concert video (Granada Television, 1969)

:released on DVD (VCI, 2001)

''Gimme Shelter'' (Maysles Films, 1970) music documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, shot at the Rolling Stones concerts at Madison Square Garden, NY on 27/28 November and Altamont, CA on 6th Dec December 1969.

:restored and released on DVD (Criterion, 2000)

''John Mayall, the Godfather of British Blues'' documentary about John Mayall's life and career (Eagle Rock, 2004. Region 1: 2005)

''70th Birthday Concert'' (Eagle Rock, 2004. Region 1: 2005). Bluesbreakers Charity Concert (Unite for Unicef) filmed in Liverpool, July 2003. John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers with special guests Chris Barber, Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor.

"Stones In Exile" 2010

"Ladies & Gentlemen The Rolling Stones" 2010

---- Music DVDs - Unofficial

''Cocksucker Blues''

Filmography

''The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976) directed by Nicolas Roeg

Contributed to soundtrack. Played guitar on various songs, including "Hello Mary Lou" after developing ideas for soundtrack with John Phillips.

''The Last of the Finest'' (1990) directed by John Mackenzie. Assisted composer Jack Nitzsche with the moviescore

''Bad City Blues'' (1999) directed by Michael Stevens. After the book by Tim Willocks.

Music composers: Mick Taylor and Max Middleton

Awards

Inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (with the Rolling Stones, 1989)

Taylor's handprints have been on Hollywood's RockWalk since 6 September 1998.

Guitar history

Throughout his career, Taylor has used various different guitars, but is mostly associated with the Gibson Les Paul. His first Les Paul was bought when he was still playing with The Gods (from Selmer's, London in '65). He acquired his second Les Paul in 1967, not long after joining The Bluesbreakers: Taylor came to Olympic Studios to buy a Les Paul that Keith Richards wanted to sell. On the '72/'73 tours Taylor used a couple of Sunburst Les Paul guitars without a Bigsby. Other guitars include a Gibson ES-355 for the recording of ''Sticky Fingers'' and ''Exile on Main Street'', a Gibson SG on the 1969, 1970 and 1971 tours, and occasionally a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Telecaster.

References

External links

Mick Taylor.net

Interview with Gary James from classicbands.com

Interview with JAZZed Magazine. Oct 2007

Rolling Stone Magazine article about ''Exile on Main Street''

UK Daily Mail article about Mick Taylor. Jan 2007

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Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:English blues guitarists Category:English guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members Category:The Rolling Stones members Category:Columbia Records artists Category:People from Welwyn Garden City Category:Slide guitarists Category:English film score composers Category:Decca Records artists Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

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