Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
Name	Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Logo	1996 Summer Olympics.svg
Host city	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Motto	The Celebration of the Century
Nations participating	197
Athletes participating	10,320(6,797 men, 3,523 women)
Events	271 in 26 sports
Mascot	Izzy
Officially opened by	President Bill Clinton
Athlete's oath	Teresa Edwards
Judge's oath	Hobie Billingsley
Olympic torch	Muhammad Ali
Stadium	Centennial Olympic Stadium

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

Selection

Atlanta was selected on September 18, 1990 in Tokyo, Japan, over Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne and Toronto. Atlanta's bid to host the Summer Games that began in 1987 was considered a long-shot, since the U.S. had hosted the Summer Olympics just 12 years earlier in Los Angeles. Atlanta's main rivals were Toronto, whose front running bid that began in 1986 seemed almost sure to succeed after Canada had held a successful 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and Melbourne, Australia, who hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and felt that the Olympic Games should return to Australia. The Athens bid was based on sentiment, the fact that these Olympic Games would be the 100th Anniversary of the first Summer Games in Greece in 1896.

The chart's information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page, regarding the cities that bid for the 1996 Olympic Games. The vote occurred at the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo, Japan.

2023 17 22 21 5

colspan="7"	1996 Summer Olympics Bidding Results
City	NOC Name
	Atlanta			19	|	26	34	51
	Athens			23	|	26	30	35
	Toronto			14	|	18
	Melbourne			12	|16|
	Manchester			11
	Belgrade		|7|

Effect on the city

Many consider the Games to be instrumental in transforming Atlanta into the cosmopolitan city it is today. The Games also resulted in many modern infrastructure improvements. One example is the mid-rise dormitories built for the Olympic Village, which became the first residential housing for Georgia State University, and is now used by the Georgia Institute of Technology. Another example is Centennial Olympic Stadium, which by design was later converted into the baseball-specific Turner Field for the Atlanta Braves after the Games concluded, as there was no long-term need for a track and field venue in the city. Centennial Olympic Park, which was built for the events, is the city's lasting memorial of the games. The park initiated a revitalization of the surrounding area, and now serves as the hub for Atlanta's newly-emerging tourist district.

Cost

The Atlanta Olympics followed the financial model established by the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The cost to stage the Games was US$1.8 billion. Governmental funds were used for security, and around $500 Million of taxpayer money was used on the physical infrastructure including streetscaping, road improvements, Centennial Olympic Park, expansion of airport, improvements in public transportation, and redevelopment of public housing projects but neither paid for the actual Games and the new Venues themselves. To pay for the games, Atlanta relied on commercial sponsorship and ticket sales, resulting in a profit of $10 million.

Criticisms

Atlanta's heavy reliance on corporate sponsorship caused many to consider the Games to be overly commercialized. Coca-Cola, whose corporate headquarters is in Atlanta, received criticism for being the exclusive drink offered in Olympic venues. In addition, the city of Atlanta was found to have been competing with the IOC for advertising and sponsorship dollars. The city licensed street vendors who sold certain products over others, and therefore provided a presence for companies who were not official Olympic sponsors. In defense, the organizing committee stated the heavy corporate sponsorship was part of America's culture of capitalism.

A report prepared by European Olympic officials after the Games was critical of Atlanta's performance in several key issues, including the level of crowding in the Olympic Village, the quality of available food, the accessibility and convenience of transportation, and the Games' general atmosphere of commercialism. The opening ceremony, featuring 500 cheerleaders and 30 pickup trucks, was also seen as "garish" by some observers and considered questionable in taste by many foreign visitors, and many American spectators claim it had nothing to do with American culture.

The Atlanta Olympics were marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing on July 27. This bombing killed spectator Alice Hawthorne and wounded 111 others, and caused the death of Melih Uzunyol by heart attack. Eric Robert Rudolph was charged with and confessed to this bombing and several others. He is now in a federal prison in Colorado serving a sentence of life imprisonment.

At the closing ceremony, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said in his closing speech, "Well done, Atlanta" and simply called the Games "most exceptional." This broke precedent for Samaranch, who had traditionally labeled each Games "the best Olympics ever" at each closing ceremony, a practice he resumed at the subsequent Games in Sydney in 2000.

Songs and themes

The Olympiad's official theme, "Summon the Heroes," was written by John Williams, making it the third Olympiad for which he has composed. The song "The Power of the Dream", composed by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and David Foster, with words by Linda Thompson was performed in the opening ceremony by Céline Dion accompanied by Foster and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Centennial Choir. Gladys Knight sang "Georgia on My Mind", Georgia's official state song, at the opening ceremony. The closing ceremony featured Gloria Estefan singing "Reach", the official theme song of the 1996 Olympics. At the closing of the ceremony Trisha Yearwood performed the Olympics song "The Flame" just before the torch was extinguished.

Mascot

The mascot for the Olympiad was an abstract, animated character named Izzy. In contrast to the standing tradition of mascots of national or regional significance in the city hosting the Olympiad, Izzy was an amorphous, fantasy figure.

Highlights

A record 197 nations, all current IOC member nations, took part, with a record 79 of them winning at least one medal. Palestine was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Also for the first time, Olympic medals were won by the athletes from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burundi, Ecuador, Georgia, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mozambique, Slovakia, Tonga, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Softball, beach volleyball and mountain biking debuted on the Olympic program, together with women's soccer/football and lightweight rowing.

Opening ceremony

Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies of the games and received a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory in the 1960 Summer Olympics. Slovene gymnast Leon Štukelj arose at the opening ceremony as one of the oldest living sportsmen in the world (age 97)

Gymnastics

Kerri Strug of the United States women's gymnastics team vaulted with an injured ankle and landed on one foot. The US women's gymnastics team won its first gold medal. Shannon Miller of the United States won the gold medal on the balance beam event, the first time an American Gymnast had won an individual gold medal outside of a contested Olympic games.

The Spanish team won the first gold medal of the new competition by women's rhythmic group all-around. The team was formed by Estela Giménez, Marta Baldó, Nuria Cabanillas, Lorena Guréndez, Estíbaliz Martínez and Tania Lamarca.

Swimming

Amy Van Dyken won four gold medals in the Olympic swimming pool, the first American woman to win four titles in a single Olympiad. Penny Heyns,swimmer of South Africa, won the Gold Medals in both the 100 metres and 200 metres breaststroke events. Michelle Smith of Ireland won three gold medals and a bronze in swimming. She remains her nation's most decorated Olympian. However, her victories were overshadowed by doping allegations even though she did not test positive in 1996. She received a four-year suspension in 1998 for tampering with a urine sample, though her medals and records were allowed to stand.

Weightlifting

Naim Süleymanoğlu became the first weightlifter to win three gold medals.

Track and field

Donovan Bailey of Canada won the men's 100 m, setting a new world record of 9.84 seconds at that time. He also anchored his team's gold in the 4x100 m relay. Michael Johnson won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m, setting a new world record of 19.32 seconds in the 200 m. Johnson afterward began disputing Bailey's unofficial title as the "world's fastest man", which later culminated in a 150-metre race between the two to settle the issue. Marie-José Pérec equaled Johnson's performance, although without a world record, by winning the rare 200 m/400 m double.

Carl Lewis won his 4th long jump gold medal at the age of 35.

Cycling professionals were admitted to the Olympics, with five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain winning the inaugural individual time trial event.

National firsts

Deon Hemmings became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal for Jamaica and the English-speaking West Indies.

Lee Lai Shan won a gold medal in sailing, the only Olympic medal that Hong Kong ever won as a British colony (1952–1997). This meant that for the only time, the colonial flag of Hong Kong was raised to the accompaniment of the British national anthem God Save the Queen, as Hong Kong's sovereignty was later transferred to China in 1997.

The US women's soccer team won the gold medal in the first ever women's soccer event.

Spain won gold at the inaugural rhythmic gymnastics groups competition defeating the favorite and reigning world champion Bulgaria who had won the World Championship less than a month before.

Other

Kurt Angle of the United States won the gold medal in 100 kg (220 lb) freestyle wrestling. He competed with a broken neck. After the '96 Olympic Games he pursued a career in "Sports Entertainment" style wrestling competing for both World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Alexander Karelin won his third Olympic gold medal as a Greco-Roman wrestler.

Andre Agassi won the gold medal in tennis. This helped him become the first male player to ever win the career Golden Slam. Deng Yaping of China won two gold medals in Women singles and doubles of table tennis. She also won these two titles in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Xeno Müller won gold for the Men's single scull event (rowing) in his first Olympic appearance. His time of 6:44.85 is still the current Olympic record.

Venues

Events of the Atlanta Games were held in a variety of areas. A number were held within the Olympic Ring, a three-mile circle from the center of Atlanta. Others were held at Stone Mountain, about 20 miles outside of the city. To broaden ticket sales, other events, such as soccer, occurred in various cities in the southeast (see below).

Inside the Olympic Ring

Centennial Olympic Stadium (Now known as Turner Field) – Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Athletics

Georgia Dome – Basketball (final), Gymnastics (artistic), Handball (men's final)

Georgia Tech Aquatic Center – Diving, Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Water Polo

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium – Baseball

Georgia World Congress Center – Fencing, Handball, Judo, Modern pentathlon (fencing, shooting), Table Tennis, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Omni Coliseum – Volleyball (indoor final)

Panther Stadium – Field hockey

Herndon Stadium – Field hockey (final)

Georgia State University Sports Arena – Badminton

Forbes Arena (Morehouse College) – Basketball

Alexander Memorial Coliseum – Boxing

Cycling road course - hiking(road)

Marathon course - cycling(marthon)

Walking course - Athletics (walks)

Elsewhere in metropolitan Atlanta

Stone Mountain Tennis Center (at Stone Mountain, Georgia) – Tennis

Stone Mountain Park Archery Center – Archery

Stone Mountain Park Velodrome – Cycling (track)

Atlanta Beach (Jonesboro, Georgia) – Volleyball (beach)

Wolf Creek Shooting Complex – Shooting

Georgia International Horse Park (Conyers, Georgia) – Cycling (mountain), Equestrian, Modern pentathlon (riding, running)

Lake Lanier (Near Gainesville, Georgia) – Canoeing (sprint), Rowing

Other venues

Sanford Stadium (Athens, Georgia) – Football (final)

Stegeman Coliseum (Athens, Georgia) – Gymnastics (rhythmic), Volleyball (indoor)

Wassaw Sound (at Savannah, Georgia) – Sailing

Ocoee Whitewater Center (Polk County, Tennessee) – Canoeing (slalom)

Golden Park (Columbus, Georgia) – Softball

Legion Field (Birmingham, Alabama) – Football

RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.) – Football

Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Florida) – Football

Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida) – Football

After the Olympics, Centennial Olympic Stadium was converted into Turner Field, which became home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team for the 1997 season. Once the Braves moved, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was demolished, and the site became a parking lot for Turner Field; the Omni was demolished that same year to make way for Philips Arena on its site. The only other Olympic venue to be closed since has been the Miami Orange Bowl, demolished in 2008 for the Florida Marlins' new baseball stadium to be built on its site.

Sports

Participating nations

[[Image:1996 Olympic games countries.PNG|thumb|Participants at Summer olympics 1996Blue = Participating for the first time. Green = Have previously participated. Yellow square is host city (Atlanta)]]

A total of 197 nations were represented at the 1996 Games, and the combined total of athletes was about 10,318. Twenty-four countries made their Olympic debut this year, including eleven of the ex-Soviet countries that competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992. Russia competed independently for the first time since 1912, when it was the Russian Empire. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia competed as ''Yugoslavia''.

The 14 countries making their Olympic debut were: Azerbaijan, Burundi, Cape Verde, Comoros, Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, Macedonia, Nauru, Palestine, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The 10 countries making their Summer Olympic debut (after competing at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer) were: Armenia, Belarus, Czech Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Slovakia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The Czech Republic and Slovakia attended the games as independent nations for the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia, while the rest of the nations that made their Summer Olympic debut were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

{| |- |valign=top| |valign=top| |valign=top| |valign=top| |}

Broadcast rights

: Seven Network : BRTN : Astro Olympics : CBC Sports : TVN : CCTV Olympics : France 3 : 3sat : ATV Olympics and TVB Olympics : DD Sports : Indosiar : RTÉ Two : Rai 3 : NHK Olympics : TDM Olympics : Astro Olympics : Nederland 2 : PTV 4 : TVP : VGTRK Olympiade : Premiere 12 : KBS Sports 4 : SRG SSR idee suisse : TTV Olympics : National Sports : BBC : 1000 NBC

Medal table

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games. The host nation, United States, is highlighted.

{| |- style="background:#ccf;" | 1 ||align=left| || 44 || 32 || 25|| 101 |- | 2 ||align=left| || 26 || 21 || 16 || 63 |- | 3 ||align=left| || 20 || 18 || 27 || 65 |- | 4 ||align=left| || 16 || 22 || 12 || 50 |- | 5 ||align=left| || 15 || 7 || 15 || 37 |- | 6 ||align=left| || 13 || 10 || 12 || 35 |- | 7 ||align=left| || 9 || 9 || 23 || 41 |- | 8 ||align=left| || 9 || 8 || 8 || 25 |- | 9 ||align=left| || 9 || 2 || 12 || 23 |- | 10 ||align=left| || 7 || 15 || 5 || 27 |}

Disqualifications

Five athletes were disqualified for using banned drugs. A few of these athletes were reinstated since the drug they took had been declared illegal only a week before the Olympics.

See also

Notes

References

Digital Archive from the LA84 Foundation of Los Angeles

Digital Archive from the LA84 Foundation of Los Angeles

Digital Archive from the LA84 Foundation of Los Angeles

External links

Time article

New York Times article

S Zebulon Baker, "Whatwuzit?: The 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics Reconsidered", ''Southern Spaces'', 21 March 2006. http://southernspaces.org/2006/whatwuzit-1996-atlanta-summer-olympics-reconsidered

O Olympics O Category:Olympic Games in the United States

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The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that started in 1904. The Winter Olympics were also created due to the success of the summer Olympics.

The olympics have increased from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male athletes to a 300-event sporting celebration with over 10,000 competitors from 205 nations. Organizers for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing expected approximately 10,500 athletes to take part in the 302 events on the program for the games.

The United States has hosted four Summer Olympics Games, more than any other nation. The United Kingdom will have hosted three Summer Olympics Games when they return to the British capital in 2012, all of them have been (and will be) in London, making it the first city to hold the Summer Olympic Games three times. Australia, France, Germany and Greece have all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice. Other countries that have hosted the summer Olympics are Belgium, Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the Soviet Union and Sweden. China hosted the Summer Olympics for the first time in Beijing in 2008. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro will host the first Summer Games in South America. Four cities have hosted two Summer Olympic Games: Los Angeles, London, Paris and Athens. Stockholm, Sweden, has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having hosted the games in 1912 and the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics—which they are usually listed as jointly hosting. Events at the summer Olympics have also been held in Hong Kong and the Netherlands (both represented by their own NOCs), with the equestrian events at the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Hong Kong and two sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics being held in the Netherlands.

Five countries – Greece, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Australia (twice combined with New Zealand as Australasia) – have been represented at all Summer Olympic Games. The only country to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympic Games is Great Britain, ranging from one gold in 1904, 1952 and 1996 to fifty-six golds in 1908.

Qualification

Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports Federations (IFs) that governs that sport's international competition.

For individual sports, competitors typically qualify through attaining a certain place in a major international event or on the IF's ranking list. National Olympic committees may enter a limited number of qualified competitors in each event, and the NOC decides which qualified competitors to select as representatives in each event if more have attained the benchmark than can be entered. Many events provide for a certain number of wild card entries, given to athletes from developing nations.

Nations qualify teams for team sports through continental qualifying tournaments, in which each continental association is given a certain number of spots in the Olympic tournament. The host nation is generally given an automatic qualification.

History

Early years

The modern Olympic Games were founded in 1894 when Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin sought to promote international understanding through sporting competition. He based his Olympics on the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games, which had been contested in Much Wenlock since 1850.

The first edition of de Coubertin's games, held in Athens in 1896, attracted just 245 competitors, of whom more than 200 were Greek, and only 14 countries were represented. Nevertheless, no international events of this magnitude had been organized before. Female athletes were not allowed to compete, though one woman, Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course on her own, saying "[i]f the committee doesn’t let me compete I will go after them regardless".

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also established during this congress.

Despite many obstacles and setbacks, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. Panathinaiko Stadium, the first big stadium in the modern world, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event. The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four gold medals.

After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the 1906 Intercalated Games, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Four years later the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris attracted more than four times as many athletes, including 11 women, who were allowed to officially compete for the first time, in croquet, golf, sailing, and tennis. The Games were integrated with the Paris World's Fair and lasted over 5 months. It is still disputed which events exactly were ''Olympic'', since few or maybe even none of the events were advertised as such at the time.

Numbers declined for the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, due in part to the lengthy transatlantic boat trip required of the European competitors, and the integration with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair, which again spread the event out over an extended period. In contrast with Paris 1900, the word ''Olympic'' was used for practically every contest, including those exclusively for school boys or for Irish-Americans.

A series of smaller games were held in Athens in 1906. The IOC does not currently recognize these games as being official Olympic Games, although many historians do. The 1906 Athens alternating series of games to be held in Athens, but the series failed to materialize. The games were more successful than the 1900 and 1904 games, with over 900 athletes competing, and contributed positively to the success of future games.

The 1908 London Games saw numbers rise again, as well as the first running of the marathon over its now-standard distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). The winner of the first Olympic Marathon in 1896 (a male-only race) was Spiridon "Spiros" Louis, a Greek water-carrier. He won at the Olympics in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds at a distance of 40 km (24 miles 85 yards). The new marathon distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards) was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family. Thus the marathon had been 40 km for the first games in 1896, but was subsequently varied by up to 2 km due to local conditions such as street and stadium layout. At the six Olympic games between 1900 and 1920, the marathon was raced over six different distances.

At the end of the 1908 marathon the Italian runner Dorando Pietri was first to enter the stadium, but he was clearly in distress, and collapsed of exhaustion before he could complete the event. He was helped over the finish line by concerned race officials, but later he was disqualified and the gold medal was awarded to John Hayes, who had trailed him by around 30 seconds.

The Games continued to grow, attracting 2,504 competitors, to Stockholm in 1912, including the great all-rounder Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon. Thorpe had previously played a few games of baseball for a fee, and saw his medals stripped for this breach of amateurism after complaints from Avery Brundage. They were reinstated in 1983, 30 years after his death. The Games at Stockholm were the first to fulfill Pierre de Coubertin's original idea. For the first time since the Games started in 1896 were all continents represented with athletes competing in the same stadium.

The scheduled Berlin Games of 1916 were canceled following the onset of World War I.

Interwar era

The 1920 Antwerp games in war-ravaged Belgium were a subdued affair, but again drew a record number of competitors. This record only stood until 1924, when the Paris Games would involve 3,000 competitors, the greatest of whom was Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi. "The Flying Finn", won three team gold medals and the individual 1,500 and 5,000 meter runs, the latter two on the same day.

The 1928 Amsterdam games were notable for being the first games which allowed females to compete at track & field athletics, and benefited greatly from the general prosperity of the times alongside the first appearance of sponsorship of the games, from Coca-Cola. The 1928 games saw the introduction of a standard medal design with the IOC choosing Giuseppe Cassioli's depiction of greek goddess Nike and a winner being carried by a crowd of people. This design would be used up until 1972.

The 1932 in Los Angeles games were affected by the Great Depression, which contributed to the fewest competitors since the St. Louis games. The 1936 Berlin Games were seen by the German government as a golden opportunity to promote their ideology. The ruling Nazi Party commissioned film-maker Leni Riefenstahl to film the games. The result, ''Olympia'', was a masterpiece, despite Hitler's theories of Aryan racial superiority being repeatedly shown up by "non-Aryan" athletes. In particular, African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals. The tale of Hitler snubbing Owens at the ensuing medal ceremony is a fabrication. The 1936 Berlin Games also saw the reintroduction of the Torch Relay.

Due to World War II, the Games of 1940 (due to be held in Tokyo and temporarily relocated to Helsinki upon the outbreak of war) were canceled. The Games of 1944 were due to be held in London but were also canceled; instead, London hosted the first games after the end of the war, in 1948.

After World War II

The first post-war Games were held in 1948 in London, with both Germany and Japan excluded. Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals on the track, emulating Owens' achievement in Berlin.

At the 1952 Games in Helsinki the USSR team competed for the first time and immediately became one of the dominant teams. Finland made a legend of an amiable Czech army lieutenant named Emil Zátopek, who was intent on improving on his single gold and silver medals from 1948. Having first won both the 10,000 and 5,000 meter races, he also entered the marathon, despite having never previously raced at that distance. Pacing himself by chatting with the other leaders, Zátopek led from about half way, slowly dropping the remaining contenders to win by two and a half minutes, and completed a trio of wins.

The 1956 Melbourne Games were largely successful, barring a water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, which political tensions caused to end as a pitched battle between the teams. Due to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Britain at the time and the strict quarantine laws of Australia, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm.

At the 1960 Rome Games a young light-heavyweight boxer named Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, arrived on the scene. Ali would later throw his gold medal away in disgust after being refused service in a whites-only restaurant in his home town, Louisville, Kentucky. Soviet women's artistic gymnastics team members won 15 of 16 possible medals. Other performers of note in 1960 included Wilma Rudolph, a gold medalist in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 meters relay events.

The 1964 Games held in Tokyo are notable for heralding the modern age of telecommunications. These games were the first to be broadcast worldwide on television, enabled by the recent advent of communication satellites. The 1964 Games were thus a turning point in the global visibility and popularity of the Olympics.

Performances at the 1968 Mexico City games were affected by the altitude of the host city. No event was affected more than the long jump. American athlete Bob Beamon jumped 8.90 meters, setting a new world record and, in the words of fellow competitor and then-reigning champion Lynn Davies, "making the rest of us look silly." Beamon's world record would stand for 23 years. The 1968 Games also introduced the now-universal Fosbury flop, a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal. Politics took center stage in the medal ceremony for the men's 200 meter dash, where Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a protest gesture on the podium against the segregation in the United States; their political act was condemned within the Olympic Movement, but was praised in the American Civil Rights Movement.

Politics again intervened at Munich in 1972, with lethal consequences. A Palestinian terrorist group named Black September invaded the Olympic village and broke into the apartment of the Israeli delegation. They killed two Israelis and held 9 others as hostages. The terrorists demanded that Israel release numerous prisoners. When the Israeli government refused their demand, a tense stand-off ensued while negotiations continued. Eventually the captors, still holding their hostages, were offered safe passage and taken to an airport, where they were ambushed by German security forces. In the firefight that followed, 15 people, including the nine Israeli athletes and five of the terrorists, were killed. After much debate, it was decided that the Games would continue, but proceedings were obviously dominated by these events. Some memorable athletic achievements did occur during these Games, notably the winning of a then-record seven gold medals by United States swimmer Mark Spitz, Lasse Virén (of Finland)'s back-to-back gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters (defeating American distance great Steve Prefontaine in the former), and the winning of three gold medals by 16-year-old Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut. Korbut failed to win the all-around, losing to her teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva.

There was no such tragedy in Montreal in 1976, but bad planning and fraud led to the Games' cost far exceeding the budget. The Montreal Games were the most expensive in Olympic history, until the 2008 Summer Olympics, costing over $5 billion (equivalent to $20 billion in 2006). For a time, it seemed that the Olympics might no longer be a viable financial proposition. In retrospect, the belief that contractors (suspected of being members of the Montreal Mafia) skimmed large sums of money from all levels of contracts while also profiting from the substitution of cheaper building materials of lesser quality, may have contributed to the delays, poor construction and excessive costs. In 1988, one such contractor, Giuseppe Zappia "was cleared of fraud charges that resulted from his work on Olympic facilities after two key witnesses died before testifying at his trial." There was also a boycott by African nations to protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by a New Zealand rugby side. The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci won the women's individual all around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores, thus giving birth to a gymnastics dynasty in Romania. Another female gymnast to earn the perfect score and three gold medals there was Nellie Kim of the USSR. Lasse Virén repeated his double gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, making him the only athlete to ever win the distance double twice.

End of the 20th century

Following the Soviet Union's participation in the Afghan Civil War, 66 nations, including the United States, Canada, West Germany and Japan, boycotted the 1980 games held in Moscow. The boycott contributed to the 1980 Games being a less publicised and less competitive affair, which was dominated by the host country.

In 1984 the Soviet Union, and 13 Soviet Allies, reciprocated by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. These games were perhaps the first games of a new era to make a profit. The games were again viable, but had become more commercial. Again, without the participation of the Eastern European countries, the 1984 Games were dominated by their host country. The game was also the first time Mainland China (People's Republic) participated.

The 1988 games, in Seoul, were very well planned but the games were tainted when many of the athletes, most notably men's 100 metres winner Ben Johnson, failed mandatory drug tests. Despite splendid drug-free performances by many individuals, the number of people who failed screenings for performance-enhancing chemicals overshadowed the games.

On the bright side, drug testing and regulation authorities were catching up with the cheating that had been endemic in athletics for some years. The 1992 Barcelona Games were cleaner, although not without incident . In evidence there was increased professionalism amongst Olympic athletes, exemplified by US basketball's "Dream Team". 1992 also saw the reintroduction to the Games of several smaller European states which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union since World War II. These games also saw gymnast Vitaly Scherbo equal the record for most individual gold medals at a single Games set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Games, with five.

By then the process of choosing a location for the Games had itself become a commercial concern; allegations of corruption rocked the International Olympic Committee, in particular with reference to Salt Lake City's bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was also widely rumored that The Coca-Cola Company, a key IOC sponsor, was highly influential in the 1996 Summer Olympics being hosted by its home city of Atlanta. In the stadium in 1996, the highlight was 200 meters runner Michael Johnson annihilating the world record in front of a home crowd. Canadians savored Donovan Bailey's record-breaking gold medal run in the 100-meter dash. This was popularly felt to be an appropriate recompense for the previous national disgrace involving Ben Johnson. There were also emotional scenes, such as when Muhammad Ali, clearly affected by Parkinson's disease, lit the Olympic torch and received a replacement medal for the one he had discarded in 1960. The latter event took place not at the boxing ring but in the basketball arena, at the demand of US television. The atmosphere at the Games was marred, however, when a bomb exploded during the celebration in Centennial Olympic Park. In June 2003, the principal suspect in this bombing, Eric Robert Rudolph, was arrested.

New millennium

The 2000 Games were held in Sydney, Australia, and showcased individual performances by local favorite Ian Thorpe in the pool, Briton Steve Redgrave who won a rowing gold medal in an unprecedented fifth consecutive Olympics, and Cathy Freeman, an Indigenous Australian whose triumph in the 400 meters united a packed stadium. Eric "the Eel" Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, had a memorably slow 100 meter freestyle swim that showed that, even in the commercial world of the twentieth century, some of de Coubertin's original vision still remained. The Sydney Games were also memorable for the first appearance of a joint North and South Korean contingent (to a standing ovation) at the opening ceremonies, even if they competed as different countries. Controversy did not escape the 2000 Games in Women's Artistic Gymnastics, in which the vaulting horse was set to the wrong height during the All Around Competition. Several athletes faltered, including Russian Svetlana Khorkina, who had been favored to win gold after qualifying for the competition in first place.

In 2004 the Games returned to their birthplace in Athens, Greece. Greece spent at least $7.2 billion on the Games, including $1.5 billion on security alone. Nonetheless, the Men's Gymnastics events were mired in controversy when it was discovered that Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young had been incorrectly credited with a lower start value, which placed him third behind American Paul Hamm, who won the competition. Later in the event finals, fans halted the Men's High Bar competition with chants of disapproval following the release of the score for Russian Alexei Nemov. Allegations of corrupt judging also marred the event finals in men's still rings. Although unfounded and wildly sensationalized reports of potential terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions of first weekend of the games (14–15 August), attendance picked up as the games progressed. Still, a third of the tickets failed to sell. The Athens Games witnessed all 202 NOCs participate with over 11,000 participants.

The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This Olympics was the subject of much controversy, especially following the March Tibetan riots. Human rights activists unsuccessfully called for a boycott, and some even compared the 2008 Olympics to the 1936 ones held in Nazi Germany. Several new events were held, including the new discipline of BMX for both men and women. For the first time, women competed in the steeplechase. The fencing program was expanded to include all six events for both men and women. Women had not previously been able to compete in team foil or saber events (although women's team épée and men's team foil were dropped for these Games). Marathon swimming events, over the distance of 10 kilometers, were added. In addition, the doubles events in table tennis were replaced by team events. American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight, and tied the record of Heiden and Scherbo for most individual golds at a single Games. Another major star of the Games was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who became the first male athlete ever to set world records in the finals of both the 100 and 200 metres in the same Games.

London, United Kingdom will hold the 2012 Summer Olympics, making it the first city to host the Games three times. The International Olympic Committee has removed baseball and softball from the 2012 program. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the first South American city to host either the Summer or Winter Games. Also, this will be the first games held in a lusosphere country (a Portuguese speaking country).

List of Olympic sports

43 different sports, spanning 56 different disciplines, have been part of the Olympic program at one point or another. 28 sports have comprised the schedule for the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics, though baseball and softball have been removed to give a list of 26 for the 2012 Games.

The Summer Olympic Sports or Federations are regrouped under a common umbrella association, called the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" |valign="top"| {| class=wikitable ! Sport || Years |- | Archery || 1900–1912, 1920, since 1972 |- | Athletics || all |- | Badminton || since 1992 |- | Baseball || 1992–2008 |- | Basketball || since 1936 |- | Basque pelota || 1900 |- | Boxing || 1904, 1908, since 1920 |- | Canoeing and kayaking || since 1936 |- | Cricket || 1900 |- | Croquet || 1900 |- | Cycling || all |- | Diving || since 1904 |- | Equestrian || 1900, since 1912 |- | Fencing || all |- | Football || 1900–1928, since 1936 |- | Golf || 1900, 1904, 2016 |- | Gymnastics || all |- | Handball || 1936, since 1972 |- | Hockey (field) || 1908, 1920, since 1928 |- | Jeu de paume || 1908 |- | Judo || 1964, since 1972 |- | Lacrosse || 1904, 1908 |} |valign="top"| {| class=wikitable ! Sport || Years |- | Modern pentathlon || since 1912 |- | Polo || 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924, 1936 |- | Rackets || 1908 |- | Roque || 1904 |- | Rowing || since 1900 |- | Rugby union || 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 |- | Rugby sevens || 2016 |- | Sailing || 1900, since 1908 |- | Shooting || 1896, 1900, 1908–1924, since 1932 |- | Softball || 1996–2008 |- | Swimming || all |- | Synchronized swimming || since 1984 |- | Table tennis || since 1988 |- | Taekwondo || since 2000 |- | Tennis || 1896–1924, since 1988 |- | Triathlon || since 2000 |- | Tug of war || 1900–1920 |- | Volleyball || since 1964 |- | Water motorsports || 1908 |- | Water polo || 1900, since 1908 |- | Weightlifting || 1896, 1904, since 1920 |- | Wrestling || 1896, since 1904 |} |}

List of modern Summer Olympic Games

241 997 651 2008 2407 2626 3089 2883 1332 3963 4104 4955 3314 5338 5151 5516 7134 6084 5179 6829 8391 9356 10318 10651 10625 10942

Games	Year	Host	Dates	Nations	Competitors	Sports	Events	Ref
Total	! Men	! Women
1896 Summer Olympics	I	1896	align=left		14	241	|	0	9	43
	1900	align=left		24	|	975	22	18	95
	1904	align=left		12	|	645	6	17	91
	1908	align=left		22	|	1971	37	22	110
	1912			28	|	2359	48	14	102
	''1916''
	1920			29	|	2561	65	22	154
	1924	align=left		44	|	2954	135	17	126
	1928			46	|	2606	277	14	109
	1932			37	|	1206	126	14	117
	1936	align=left		49	|	3632	331	19	129
	''1940''
	''1944''
	1948			59	|	3714	390	17	136
	1952			69	|	4436	519	17	149
	1956			72	|	2938	376	17	145
	1960			83	|	4727	611	17	150
	1964			93	|	4473	678	19	163
	1968			112	|	4735	781	18	172
	1972			121	|	6075	1059	21	195
	1976			92	|	4824	1260	21	198
	1980			80	|	4064	1115	21	203
	1984			140	|	5263	1566	21	221
	1988			160	|	6197	2194	23	237
	1992			169	|	6652	2704	25	257
	1996			197	|	6806	3512	26	271
	2000			199	|	6582	4069	28	300
	2004			201	|	6296	4329	28	301
	2008			204	|	6305	4637	28	302
	2012
	2016
	2020
	2024
	2028

''Note: Although the Games of 1916, 1940, and 1944 had been cancelled, the Roman numerals for those Games were still used because the Summer Games' official titles count Olympiads, not the Games themselves; those Olympiads occurred anyway per the Olympic Charter. This is in contrast to the Roman numerals in the official titles of the Winter Olympic Games, which ignore the cancelled Winter Games of 1940 & 1944; those titles count Games instead of Olympiads.''

See also

List of participating nations at the Summer Olympic Games

All-time Olympic Games medal count

Olympic Games scandals

Winter Olympic Games

Olympic Stadium

Multi-sport event

Olympic Games ceremony

Summer Paralympic Games

Notes

External links

Official Site of the Olympic Movement

Summer Olympic Games medalists and records (German)

Candidate Cities for future Olympic Games

LA84 Foundation archive of Official Reports

Category:1896 establishments

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Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
name	Donna Summer
background	solo_singer
background	solo_singer
alias	Donna Gaines
birth name	LaDonna Adrian Gaines
born	December 31, 1948 Boston, Massachusetts, USA
origin	Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA
genre	Dance-pop, disco, pop, rock, new wave
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	1968–present
instrument	Vocals, piano
label	Oasis RecordsCasablanca (1975–1980)Geffen (1980–1988)Atlantic (1988–1991)Mercury (1994–1996) Warner-Elektra-Atlantic (Outside of U.S. 1980–1991)Epic (1999–2001)Burgundy (2006–present)
associated acts	Giorgio Moroder, Brooklyn Dreams }}

LaDonna Adrian Gaines (born December 31, 1948), known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US ''Billboard'' chart. She also charted four number-one singles in the US within a thirteen-month period.

Early life and career

Donna Summer was born on New Year's Eve 1948 in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, she was one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents. Influenced by Mahalia Jackson, Summer began singing in the church at a young age. In her teens, she formed several musical groups including one with her sister and a cousin, imitating Motown girl groups such as The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas in Boston.

In the late 1960s, Summer was influenced by Janis Joplin after listening to her albums as member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and joined the psychedelic rock group the Crow as lead singer. Beforehand, Summer dropped out of school convinced that music was her way out of Boston, where she had always felt herself to be an outsider, even among her own family who ridiculed her for her voice and her looks. The group was short-lived, as they split upon their arrival in New York. In 1968, Summer auditioned for a role in the Broadway musical, ''Hair''. She lost the part of Sheila to Melba Moore. When the musical moved to Europe, Summer was offered the role. She took it and moved to Germany for several years. While in Germany, where she learned to speak German fluently, she participated in the musicals ''Godspell'' and ''Show Boat''. After settling in Munich, she began performing in several ensembles including the Viennese Folk Opera and even sang as a member of the pop group FamilyTree – "invented" and created by the German music producer Guenter "Yogi" Lauke & the Munich Machine. She came to the group in 1973 and toured with the 11-people pop group throughout Europe. She also sang as a studio session singer and in theaters. In 1971, while still using her birth name Donna Gaines, she released her first single, a cover of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", though it was not a hit. In 1972, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer and gave birth to their daughter Mimi Sommer in 1973. Citing marital problems caused by his frequent absences, she divorced him but kept his last name, changing the "o" to a "u".

1970s

It was while singing background for the hit-making 1970s trio Three Dog Night that Summer met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. She eventually made a deal with the European label Groovy Records and issued her first album, ''Lady of the Night'', in 1974. The album was not released in America, but found some limited European success on the strength of the song "The Hostage", which reached number one in Belgium and number two in the Netherlands. Summer's early material consisted of pop rock and folk rock material. She stated years later that had she not recorded disco she would have been a black rock singer, but considering there was not a market for black rock singers, Summer thought it would be hard to get promoted as such.

In 1975, Summer approached Moroder with an idea for a song he and Bellotte were working on for another singer. She had come up with the lyrics "love to love you, baby". Moroder was interested in developing the new sound that was becoming popular and used Summer's lyric to develop the song. Moroder persuaded Summer to record what was to be a demo track for another performer. She later said that she had thought of how the song might sound if Marilyn Monroe had sung it and began cooing the lyrics. To get into the mood of recording the song, she requested the producers turn off the lights while she sat on a sofa inducing moans and groans. After hearing playback of the song, Moroder felt Summer's version should actually be distributed. Released as "Love to Love You" in Europe, some radio stations refused to play it, but the song found modest chart success in several countries there. The song was a real piece of work with sensual elegance.

The song was then sent to America and arrived in the office of Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart in hopes of getting an American release. Casablanca was known around the industry for throwing lavish parties. At one of these parties, Bogart, still undecided about releasing the song on his label, had "Love To Love You" played so he could gauge the reaction of people on the dancefloor. The crowd took to the song (which was less than five minutes) so strongly that they kept asking for it to be played over and over consecutively so they could continue dancing in the same groove. Soon after that night, Bogart informed Summer and Moroder he would release the song but requested that Moroder produce a longer version, about 15 to 20 minutes in length. Moroder, Bellotte, and Summer returned with a 17 minute version that included a soulful chorus and an instrumental break where Summer invoked even more moans. Bogart stated the name would be slightly changed to "Love to Love You Baby" for the American release. Casablanca signed Summer and it released the single in November 1975. The shorter version of the single was promoted to radio stations while clubs received the 17 minute version (the longer version would also appear on the album). When Casablanca released the 17 minute version in its entirety as a single, it became one of the first record labels, to help make popular a format that would later be known as the 12 inch. By early 1976, "Love To Love You Baby" had reached #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while the parent album of the same name sold over a million copies. The song generated controversy for Summer's moans and groans and some American radio stations, like several in Europe, refused to play it. ''Time magazine'' would report that 22 orgasms were simulated in the making of the song. Other upcoming singles included "Try Me, I Know We can Make It", US #80; "Could It Be Magic", US #52; "Spring Affair", US #58; and "Winter Melody", US #43. The subsequent albums ''Love Trilogy'' and ''Four Seasons of Love'' both went gold in the US.

In 1977, Summer released the concept album ''I Remember Yesterday''. This album included her second top ten single, "I Feel Love", which reached number six in the US and number one in the UK. These US Hot 100 entries on the singles chart would help get Summer deemed in the press as "The First Lady of Love", a title which she was not totally comfortable with.

Another concept album, also released in 1977, was the double album, ''Once Upon a Time'', which told of a modern-day Cinderella "rags to riches" story through the elements of orchestral disco and ballads. This album would also attain gold status. In 1978, Summer released her version of the Richard Harris ballad, "MacArthur Park", which became her first number one US hit. The song was featured on Summer's first live album, ''Live and More'', which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and went platinum selling over a million copies. Other studio tracks included the top ten hit, "Heaven Knows", which featured the group Brooklyn Dreams accompanying her on background and Joe "Bean" Esposito singing alongside her on the verses. Summer would later be involved romantically with Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano and the couple married two years after the song's release. Also in 1978, Summer acted in the film, ''Thank God It's Friday'', playing a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club. The film met modest success, but a song from the film, entitled "Last Dance", reached number three on the Hot 100 and resulted in Summer winning her first Grammy Award. Its writer, Paul Jabara, won an Academy Award for the composition. Despite her musical success, Summer was struggling with anxiety and depression and fell into a prescription drug addiction for several years.

In 1979, Summer was a performer on the world-televised Music for UNICEF Concert. The United Nations organization Unicef had declared 1979 as the Year of the Child. Summer joined contemporaries like Abba, Olivia Newton-John, the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Rod Stewart, John Denver, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson for an hour's TV special that raised funds and awareness for the world's children. Artists donated royalties of certain songs, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause.

''Bad Girls'' and the break from disco

Following her recovery from prescription drug addiction, Summer worked on her next album with Moroder and Bellotte. The result was ''Bad Girls'', an album that had been in production for nearly two years. Summer based the concept of the album on a prostitute, as was made clear in the lyrics. The album became a success, spawning the number one hits "Hot Stuff" and Bad Girls, and the number two ballad "Dim All the Lights" With ''MacArthur Park'', ''Hot Stuff'', ''Bad Girls'', and the Barbra Streisand duet "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" (which appeared on Streisand's album ''Wet''), Summer achieved four number-one hits within a thirteen month period. Those aforementioned songs, along with ''Heaven Knows'', ''Last Dance'', ''Dim All The Lights'', and ''On the Radio'' (from her upcoming double-album) would give her eight US Top 5 singles within a two year period. "Hot Stuff" later won her a second Grammy in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, which was the first time that category was ever brought to the award's show. That year, Summer played eight sold-out nights at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

Summer released her first greatest hits set in 1979, a double-album entitled ''On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2''. The album reached number one in the US, becoming her third consecutive number one album. A new song from the compilation, "On the Radio", reached the US top five.

1980s

After the release of the greatest hits album, Summer wanted to branch out with other musical styles in addition to disco. This led to tensions between her and Casablanca Records. Sensing that they could no longer come to terms, Summer and the label parted ways in 1980, and she signed with Geffen Records, the new label started by David Geffen.

Summer's first release on Geffen Records was ''The Wanderer''; it replaced the disco sound of Summer's previous releases with more of the burgeoning new wave sound and elements of rock, such as the material being recorded at this time by Pat Benatar. The first single, the title track, became a hit and peaked at #3 in the US, subsequent singles were moderate hits. The album achieved gold status in the US, but met limited success on the UK charts.

Summer's projected second Geffen release, entitled ''I'm a Rainbow'', was shelved by Geffen Records (though two of the album's songs would surface in soundtracks of the 1980s films ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' and ''Flashdance''). Summer reluctantly parted company with Moroder after seven years working together as Geffen had recruited Quincy Jones to produce her next album. The result was the 1982 album ''Donna Summer''. The album had taken a lengthy six months to record. The album's first single, the dance track "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)", became an American top ten hit on the Hot 100, followed by more moderate hits "State of Independence"(#41 pop) and "The Woman In Me"(#33 pop). Problems then increased between Summer and Geffen Records after they were notified by Polygram Records, the parent company of Summer's former label Casablanca, that she needed to deliver them one more album to fulfill her agreement with them. Summer delivered the album ''She Works Hard for the Money'' and Polygram released it on its Mercury imprint in 1983. The title song became a hit reaching number three on the US Hot 100, and would provide Summer with a Grammy nomination. The album also featured the reggae-flavored top 20 UK hit "Unconditional Love", which featured the group Musical Youth who were riding high from the success of their single "Pass the Dutchie". The third US single, "Love Has A Mind of Its Own", reached the top forty of the Billboard R&B; chart. The album was certified gold. During the '80's Donna Summers stage and wardrobe designer was James Hopkins of Jopkin Design designing costumes and wardrobe that help tell the story of her music.

In late 1984, with no more albums due to Polygram, Summer returned on Geffen Records with her next release. Geffen, wanting to keep the momentum going, enlisted ''She Works Hard For the Money'''s producer Michael Omartian to produce ''Cats Without Claws''. The album, however, was not as successful as ''She Works Hard For the Money'' and failed to attain gold status of 500,000 copies sold in the US, becoming her first album since her 1974 debut not to do so. It did include a moderate hit in "There Goes My Baby", which peaked at #21.

Controversy

In the mid 1980s, Summer was in the midst of a controversy. She had allegedly made anti-gay remarks regarding the then-relatively new disease AIDS, which as a result had a significantly negative impact on her career and saw thousands of her records being returned to her record company by angered fans. Summer, by this time a born-again Christian, was alleged to have said that AIDS was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyles of homosexuals. However, she later denied that she had ever made any such comment and, in a letter to the AIDS campaign group ACT UP in 1989, she claimed that it was a ''"terrible misunderstanding. I was unknowingly protected by those around me from the bad press and hate letters....If I have caused you pain, forgive me."'' She went on to apologise for the delay in refuting the rumors and closed her letter with quotes from Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians from the Bible.

Also in 1989, Summer told ''The Advocate'' magazine that ''"A couple of the people I write with are gay, and they have been ever since I met them. What people want to do with their bodies is their personal preference."''. A couple of years later she filed a lawsuit against ''New York'' magazine when it reprinted the rumors as fact just as she was about to release her album ''Mistaken Identity'' in 1991. According to an ''A&E; Biography'' program dedicated to Summer in which she participated in 1995, the lawsuit was settled out of court though neither side were able to divulge any details.

European success

In 1987, Summer returned with the album ''All Systems Go'', which did not sell well, becoming her second consecutive album not to achieve gold status. It featured the single "Dinner with Gershwin" (written by Brenda Russell), which was only a minor US hit, though it peaked at #13 in the UK. The album's title track, "All Systems Go", was released only in the UK where it peaked at #54.

For Summer's next album, Geffen Records hired the hit production team of Stock Aitken Waterman (or ''SAW''), who had experienced incredible success by writing and producing for such acts as Kylie Minogue, Dead or Alive, Bananarama, and Rick Astley among others. However, Geffen decided not to release the album, entitled ''Another Place and Time'', and Summer and Geffen Records parted ways in 1988. The album was released in Europe in March 1989 on Warner Bros. Records, which had been Summer's label in Europe since 1982. The single "This Time I Know It's For Real" had become a top ten hit in several countries in Europe, prompting the Warner Bros. subsidiary company Atlantic Records to sign Summer in the US and pick up the album for a North American release soon after. The single peaked at #7 on the Hot 100 in the US, and became her twelfth gold single there. It was also Summer's final Top 40 hit on the American pop charts, though she scored two more UK hits from the album, "I Don't Wanna Get Hurt" (UK #7) and "Love's About To Change My Heart" (UK #20).

1990s

In 1990, ''The Best of Donna Summer'' was released on Warner Bros. Records. It featured some of Summer's biggest hits from this period (with the exception of any material from the Mercury album, as this was not a division of Warner Bros.) plus a small selection of her 1970s disco hits licensed from PolyGram.

In 1991, Summer released the new jack swing style album ''Mistaken Identity''. It did not sell well, but did contain the #18 R&B; hit "When Love Cries".

In 1993, Polygram Records released an extended greatest hits collection entitled ''The Donna Summer Anthology''. It included 34 songs totally over two and a half hours of music. It not only included songs from the Polygram-owned labels of Casablanca and Mercury, but also material from Atlantic and Geffen Records as well.

In 1994, Summer return with a new album on Mercury/Polygram, a gospel-influenced Christmas album entitled ''Christmas Spirit''. It included classic Christmas songs such as "O Holy Night", "Joy To The World", and "O Come All Ye Faithful" as well as some original songs.

Some of Summer's dance releases including "Carry On" (her first collaboration with Moroder in a decade) and "Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)" charted on the US Dance Chart, with "Melody of Love" reaching number one on that chart and also reaching number 21 on the UK Singles Chart

Also in 1994, Polygram would release yet another Summer album (Polygram's third Summer album within a two year period); a collection called "Endless Summer: Greatest Hits". The differences between this greatest hits album and the ''Anthology'' collection would be that this package contained 18 songs, while ''Anthology'' contained 34; and the songs here were mainly the radio versions heard at the time of their release, while ''Anthology'' contained somewhat longer versions of the songs.

While touring, Summer was offered a role guest-starring on the sitcom ''Family Matters'' as Steve Urkel's (Jaleel White) Aunt Oona in 1994, and again in 1997. In 1998, Summer received a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, being the first to do so, after a remixed version of her 1992 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Carry On", was released in 1997. In 1999, Summer taped a live television special for VH1 titled ''Donna Summer – Live and More Encore'', producing the second highest ratings that year for the network, after their annual ''Divas'' special. A CD of the event was released by Epic Records and featured two studio recordings, "I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)" and "Love Is the Healer" reached number one on the Billboard Dance Charts.

2000s

Summer scored top ten hits on Billboard's Dance Chart in the beginning of the new millennium. In 2000, she also appeared on the third annual ''Divas'' special, dedicated to Diana Ross, though Summer sang her own material for the show. In 2004, Summer was inducted to the Dance Music Hall of Fame alongside The Bee Gees and Barry Gibb as an artist. Her classic song, "I Feel Love", was also inducted that night. Also, that year, she became one of the first acts, as both an Artist Inductee and a Record Inductee (for 1977’s “I Feel Love”) into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City.

In 2008, Summer released her first studio album of original music in 14 years since 1994 '' (Christmas Spirit)''; years entitled ''Crayons'', which peaked at #17 on the US Top 200 Album Chart, and achieved modest international success. The album was released on the Sony BMG label Burgundy Records. The songs "I'm A Fire", "Stamp Your Feet", and "Fame (The Game)" reached number one on the US Billboard Dance Chart. The ballad "Sand on My Feet" was released to adult contemporary stations and reached number thirty on that chart.

While commenting on the album, Summer said “I wanted this album to have a lot of different directions on it. I did not want it to be any one baby. I just wanted it to be a sampler of flavors and influences from all over the world. There’s a touch of this, a little smidgeon of that, a dash of something else…like when you’re cooking.” On the song “The Queen Is Back”, Summer reveals her wry and witty self-awareness of her musical legacy and her public persona. “I’m making fun of myself,” she admits. “There’s irony, it’s poking fun at the idea of being called a queen. That’s a title that has followed me, followed me, and followed me. We were sitting and writing and that title kept popping up in my mind and I’m thinking, ‘Am I supposed to write this? Is this too arrogant to write?’ But people call me ‘the queen,’ so I guess it's ok to refer to myself as what everybody else refers to me as. We started writing the song and thought it was kind of cute and funny.” Summer wrote “The Queen Is Back” and “Mr. Music” with J.R. Rotem and Evan Bogart, the son of Neil Bogart, Casablanca Records founder. Neil Bogart died from cancer at the age of 39. He signed Summer to his Casablanca Records label in 1975 and released most of her biggest records during the 1970s. “I adored him and would have given up everything for him to be alive,” says Summer, remembering a time backstage long ago “when the nail person didn’t show up and Neil got on his knees and did my toenails. In many ways he was my mentor and I didn’t get to say goodbye to him.” When Summer met Evan Bogart, she was struck by his uncanny resemblance to his father. “It’s almost like they chiseled him out of his father,” Summer observed. “I’m in the studio looking at him and I get tears in my eyes, he has no idea why. I just wanted to hug him because it’s like I’m seeing someone I haven’t seen since his father passed away. It’s almost like Neil is looking at me through him. Evan and I hit it off immediately; there was a synergy that happened really quickly.”

On December 11, 2009, Summer performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in honor of US President Barack Obama. She was backed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

2010s

In August 2010, she released the single "To Paris With Love", co-written with Bruce Roberts and produced by Peter Stengaard. In October 2010, the single reached #1 on the US Billboard Dance Chart. Also that month, Summer appeared in the PBS Television Special ''Hitman Returns: David Foster and Friends''. In it, Summer performed with Seal on a medley of the songs "Unbreak My Heart / Crazy / On The Radio", before Summer closed the show with "Last Dance".

On July 29, 2010, Summer gave an interview with allvoices.com where she was asked if she would consider doing an album of standards. She replied:

:"I actually am, probably in September. I will begin work on a standards album. I will probably do an all-out dance album and a standards album. I'm gonna do both, and we will release them however were gonna release them. We are not sure which is going first."

On September 15, 2010, Summer appeared as a guest celebrity singing alongside rising star Prince Poppycock on the television show ''America's Got Talent''.

On October 16, 2010, she performed at a benefit concert at the Phoenix Symphony.

On June 6, 2011, Summer was a guest judge on the show, ''Platinum Hit'' in week two titled, Dance Floor Royalty. ''Platinum Hit'' is a reality competition series on Bravo launched in 2011 in which 12 singer-songwriters compete through innovative songwriting challenges that will test their creativity, patience and drive. Every episode features a different topic from a dance track to a love ballad, that require the contestants to write and perform lyrics from a multiple of genres, for a cash prize of $100,000, a publishing deal with songwriting collective The Writing Camp, and a recording deal with RCA/Jive label

In July, 2011 Summer was working at Paramount Recording Studios in Los Angeles with her nephew, the rapper and producer O'Mega Red. Together they worked on a track entitled "Angel".

Awards and recognition

One NAACP Image Award.

One time Juno Award nomination for Best Selling International Single,"I feel Love".

Three Multi-Platinum albums in the US.

Eleven of her albums went Gold in the US.

Twelve Gold singles.

Six American Music Awards.

She was the first female African American to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination. ("Best Female Video" and "Best Choreography" for "She Works Hard For The Money")

Academy Award for Best Original Song "Last Dance".

Two Golden Globe Award nominations (one win for "Last Dance" Song and one nominated for "The Deep" John Barry's Song).

Summer has received five Grammy Awards.

*1979 – Best R&B; Vocal Performance (Female), ''Last Dance''

*1980 – Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female), ''Hot Stuff''

*1984 – Best Inspirational Performance, ''He's a Rebel''

*1985 – Best Inspirational Performance, ''Forgive Me''

*1998 – Best Dance Recording, ''Carry On''

Twelve Grammy Award nominations (total of seventeen).

*1979 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), ''MacArthur Park''

*1980 – Album of the Year, ''Bad Girls''

*1980 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), ''Bad Girls''

*1980 – Best R&B; Vocal Performance (Female), ''Dim All the Lights''

*1980 – Best Disco Recording, ''Bad Girls''

*1981 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), ''On the Radio''

*1982 – Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female), ''Cold Love''

*1982 – Best Inspirational Performance, ''I Believe in Jesus''

*1983 – Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female), ''Protection''

*1983 – Best R&B; Vocal Performance (Female), ''Love is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)''

*1984 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), ''She Works Hard for the Money''

*2000 – Best Dance Recording, ''I Will Go with You (Con te Partiro)''

Summer placed a Top Forty hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in every year from 1976 ("Love to Love You Baby") to 1984 ("There Goes My Baby").

Summer was the first artist to score three consecutive number-one double albums.

Summer was twice honored by the Dance Music Hall of Fame; once with her induction as a recording artist and again with the induction for her influential single "I Feel Love". Summer's music career has landed her as the eighth most successful female recording artist in history according to ''Billboard'' .

Summer's career span of ''Billboard'' number-one Disco/Club Play hits spans from 1975's "Love to Love You Baby" through 2010's "[To Paris With Love]".

Summer was nominated for 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but was not chosen.

Cover versions by other artists

"I Feel Love" has been sampled several times. The song was sampled by Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Moloko, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams, Darren Hayes, Mylo, David Guetta, Stuart Price, and Moby among others. "I Feel Love" was recorded by classical pop musician Vanessa-Mae for her 1998 album ''Storm''. Italian company Gucci used a special version of it in the "Flora" perfume advertising, filmed by Chris Cunningham. "I Feel Love" has been covered onstage by Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, Kylie Minogue, Blondie, Basement Jaxx, and Finnish progressive rock band Kingston Wall. Venus Hum with Blue Man Group also performed this song with Japanese singer Kumi Koda for their album ''The Complex'', and in 2006, Tracy Bonham stood in for Hum on the Blue Man Group tour, performing the song. Bronski Beat and Marc Almond released the track as a duet with an added bridge section and titled it "I Feel Love/Johnny Remember Me", reaching number 3 in the UK charts in April 1985. In 1992 U.K. alterna-pop group Curve recorded a version for the NME's 40th anniversary compilation ''Ruby Trax'', which became an instant underground classic.

"Love to Love You Baby" was sampled in Beyoncé Knowles's "Naughty Girl" and by TLC on their original version of "I'm Good at Being Bad", but was removed by request of Summer on later editions. The song has been covered in portions onstage by Dionne Warwick.

"I Feel Love" was covered by French Canadian artist Jorane for her 2004 album ''The You and the Now''. LA based band Dengue Fever covered this song on their album ''Radio Dance Floor''. Kylie Minogue's team also sampled this for her 2002 KylieFever. Kylie performed "Light Years" which contains elements of "I Feel Love".

Madonna combined her song "Future Lovers" from her hit album ''Confessions on a Dancefloor'' with "I Feel Love" as the opening song on her Confessions Tour in 2006.

Summer's "Starting Over Again" was a number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart as a single for Dolly Parton in 1980. It also was a top-forty hit for Parton on the Billboard Hot 100. Reba McEntire named her 1995 album after the song, and McEntire's version hit no. 17 on the country singles chart in 1996. McEntire stated in the album's liner notes that her recording of the song was intended as something of a tribute to Summer and Parton, both artists whom she admired.

Summer's "On the Radio" was covered by country artist Emmylou Harris for her 1983 album ''White Shoes''. British singer and actress Martine McCutcheon recorded a version that reached number 7 in the UK charts in February 2001. An acoustic rendition was released by alt. rock band Hypnogaja in January 2010.

Summer's "Sunset People" was covered by E.G. Daily on her ''Wild Child'' album (1985).

Summer's "Dim All the Lights" was a Top 40 Dance hit for Laura Branigan in 1995, appearing on her ''The Best of Branigan'' album.

Summer's "Last Dance" and "On the Radio" were covered by Tejano/pop singer Selena, most famously at one of her last shows at the Houston Astrodome, on February 26, 1995.

Summer's "All Through the Night" was covered in 1982 by KC and The Sunshine Band on their Painter album, and in 1995 by supermodel Naomi Campbell for her album ''Baby Woman'', featuring Luther Vandross on backing vocals.

Summer's "Bad Girls" was recorded by British Jazz and US pop singer Juliet Roberts in 1998, and again in 2000 by Cheryl Chase for the Nick film ''Rugrats in Paris: The Movie''.

Summer's "Love Is in Control" was covered by pop singer Sheena Easton on her 2000 disco album ''Fabulous''.

In 1985 Dusty Springfield reached number 83 on the UK charts with a cover of "Sometimes like Butterflies".

Summer's "Heaven Knows" was recorded by Faith Evans for inclusion on the soundtrack for the film, The Fighting Temptations.

Summer's "The Woman In Me" was recorded by Heart in the early 1990s.

Summer's "She Works Hard For The Money" was often performed by Millie Jackson during her 1980s concerts. "She Works Hard For The Money" was covered by Kris Allen during an American Idol Season 8 episode and recorded by Allen for the American Idol Season 8 CD.

Summer's "All Through The Night" from the album "Bad Girls", is recorded by model Naomi Campbell in 1994 included in her album "BabyWoman".

Jeffree Star covered her song "Bad Girls" for the upcoming movie called "Turn The Beat Around" for MTV.

Monica Naranjo Fuego de pasion "Love's About To Change My Heart".

Mexican singer Lorena Herrera samples "Try Me ,I Know We Can Make It" in her song Dame Amor from the album Desnudame el Alma.

In 2010, Keri Hilson portrayed Summer in her music video for her hit-single, Pretty Girl Rock.

In 2010 – Rhythm Masters and MYNC Project released a remake of "I Feel Love" on CR2 Records in the UK, with vocals by American Electro/Pop/Dance Artist Wynter Gordon.

Donna Summer concert tours

''Once Upon A Time Tour'' (1977–1978)

''Bad Girls Tour'' (1979)

''The Wanderer Tour'' (1981)

''Hard For The Money Tour'' (1983)

''The Rainbow Tour'' (1984)

''Silver Girl Tour'' (1986)

''All Systems Go Tour'' (1987)

''Endless Summer Tour'' (1995)

''Mid Summer Nights Dream Tour'' ( 1996–1997)

''Live & More Encore Tour'' (1999)

''Greatest Hits Tour'' (2005)

''Crayons Tour'' (2008)

Discography

1974: ''Lady of the Night''

1975: ''Love to Love You Baby''

1976: ''A Love Trilogy''

1976: ''Four Seasons of Love''

1977: ''I Remember Yesterday''

1977: ''Once Upon a Time''

1979: ''Bad Girls''

1980: ''The Wanderer''

1981: ''I'm a Rainbow''

1982: ''Donna Summer''

1983: ''She Works Hard for the Money''

1984: ''Cats Without Claws''

1987: ''All Systems Go''

1989: ''Another Place and Time''

1991: ''Mistaken Identity''

1994: ''Christmas Spirit''

2008: ''Crayons''

See also

Brooklyn Dreams

Best selling music artists

References

External links

Official website

A hit search page

Category:African American actors Category:African American female singers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American expatriates in Austria Category:American expatriates in Germany Category:American Christians Category:American dance musicians Category:American disco musicians Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American mezzo-sopranos Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:African American rock musicians Category:American rock musicians Category:American rock singers Category:American soul singers Category:American television actors Category:Crossover (music) Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Sony BMG artists Category:Female rock singers Category:1948 births

ar:دونا سمر ca:Donna Summer cs:Donna Summer da:Donna Summer de:Donna Summer es:Donna Summer eo:Donna Summer fr:Donna Summer ga:Donna Summer hr:Donna Summer id:Donna Summer it:Donna Summer he:דונה סאמר hu:Donna Summer nl:Donna Summer ja:ドナ・サマー no:Donna Summer pl:Donna Summer pt:Donna Summer ru:Донна Саммер sk:Donna Summer sr:Дона Самер fi:Donna Summer sv:Donna Summer th:ดอนนา ซัมเมอร์ tr:Donna Summer uk:Донна Саммер

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
name	Nanci Griffith
background	solo_singer
birth name	Nanci Caroline Griffith
birth date	July 06, 1953
instrument	Vocalist, acoustic guitar
genre	country, folk, singer-songwriter
years active	1978 to present
label	New Door Records, Elektra Records, MCA Records, Rounder Records, Featherbed Records, B.F. Deal Records
associated acts	The Blue Moon OrchestraThe CricketsDarius Rucker The Kennedys
website	http://www.nancigriffith.com
notable instruments	}}

Nanci Griffith, (born Nanci Caroline Griffith, July 6, 1953, Seguin, Texas) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.

Biography

Griffith's career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country, folk, and what she terms "folkabilly." Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her recording, ''Other Voices, Other Rooms''. This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who are her major influences. One of her better-known songs is "From a Distance" by Julie Gold, although Bette Midler's version achieved greater commercial success. Similarly, other artists have occasionally achieved greater success with Griffith's songs than Griffith herself. For example, Kathy Mattea had a country music top five hit with a 1986 cover of Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime," and Suzy Bogguss had one of her largest hits with Griffith's and Tom Russell's "Outbound Plane."

Griffith's high school boyfriend, John, died in a motorcycle accident after taking her to the senior prom, and subsequently inspired many of her songs. Griffith was married to singer-songwriter Eric Taylor from 1976 to 1982. In the early 1990s, she was engaged to singer-songwriter Tom Kimmel, but the couple parted before marrying. In 1994, Griffith teamed up with Jimmy Webb to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. Griffith is a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998.

Griffith has in recent years toured with various other artists including Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Suzy Bogguss and Judy Collins. Griffith has recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, John Prine, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Dolores Keane, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), The Chieftains, and Darius Rucker (singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). She has also contributed background vocals on many other recordings.

Griffith suffered from severe 'writers block' for a number of years after 2004, lasting until the 2009 release of her "The Loving Kind" album which contained nine self-penned or co-written songs.

As well as her own songs Griffith is well-known for her outstanding versions of other people's material, usually by contemporary singer-songwriters.

Band (The Blue Moon Orchestra)

Current members

Nanci Griffith — lead vocals, guitar

Pat McInerney — percussion, vocals

Thomm Jutz — guitar, vocals

Previous band members

James Hooker — keyboards, vocals

Clive Gregson — guitar, vocals

Ron De La Vega — bass, cello

Pete Kennedy — guitar

Maura Kennedy — vocals

Iris DeMent — vocals

Fran Breen — drums

Philip Donnelly — guitar

Le Ann Etheridge — bass guitar, vocals, mandolin

Lee Satterfield — vocals, guitar, mandolin

Lyle Lovett — backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions			Label
		! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"
1978	''There's a Light Beyond These Woods''	—	—	—
1982	''Poet in My Window''	—	—	—
1984	''Once in a Very Blue Moon''	—	—	—
1986	''The Last of the True Believers''	—	—	—
1987	''Lone Star State of Mind''		—	—
	''Little Love Affairs''		—
''One Fair Summer Evening''		—	—
1989
1991	''Late Night Grande Hotel''	—
1993		—
1994		—
1997	''Blue Roses from the Moons''	—
1998	''Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)''	—		—
1999	''The Dust Bowl Symphony''	—	—	—
2001	''Clock Without Hands''	—
2002	''Winter Marquee''		—	—	Rounder
2004	''Hearts in Mind''	—	—	—	New Door
2006	''Ruby's Torch''	—	—	—
2009		—	—	—

Compilation albums

! Year	! Album	! width="50"	! Label
	''The MCA Years: A Retrospective''	—
''The Best of Nanci Griffith''
1997	''Country Gold''	—
2000	''Wings to Fly and a Place To Be: An Introduction to Nanci Griffith''	—
2001		—
2002	''From a Distance: The Very Best of Nanci Griffith''	—
2003	''The Complete MCA Studio Recordings''	—

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		! width="50"	CAN Country
1986	"Once in a Very Blue Moon"			''Once in a Very Blue Moon''
	"Lone Star State of Mind"
"Trouble in the Fields"
"Cold Hearts/Closed Minds"
	"Never Mind"
"I Knew Love"
"Anyone Can Be Somebody's Fool"
1989	"It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go"			''Storms''
1991	"Late Night Grande Hotel"			''Late Night Grande Hotel''
1994	"This Heart"			''Flyer''
1995	"Well...All Right" (w/ The Crickets)			''Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly)''
	"Maybe Tomorrow"
"Gulf Coast Highway"
1999	"These Days in an Open Book"			''The Dust Bowl Symphony''

Awards

Griffith won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for ''Other Voices, Other Rooms''.

Videography

''Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration'' Sony VHS (1993)

''Other Voices, Other Rooms'' Elektra Video VHS (1993)

''Winter Marquee'' Rounder/Universal DVD, Widescreen, (2002)

''One Fair Summer Evening...Plus!'' Universal Music & VI DVD, Fullscreen, (2005)

See also

Music of Austin

References

External links

Official web site

Comprehensive Nanci Griffith Discography

Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American folk singers Category:American female singers Category:American feminists Category:American pacifists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Breast cancer survivors Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kerrville New Folk Competition finalists Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:Texas country musicians Category:Fast Folk artists Category:People from Guadalupe County, Texas Category:People from Seguin, Texas

de:Nanci Griffith nl:Nanci Griffith no:Nanci Griffith pt:Nanci Griffith fi:Nanci Griffith sv:Nanci Griffith

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
name	Raul Malo
background	solo_singer
birth name	Raúl Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr.
birth date	August 07, 1965
origin	Miami, Florida, United States
instrument	Vocals, guitar
genre	Country, salsa, Latin jazz
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	1989–present
label	New Door
associated acts	The Mavericks, Los Super Seven, K.T. Oslin }}

Raúl Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. (born August 7, 1965, Miami, Florida), known professionally as Raúl Malo, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He was the lead singer of country music band The Mavericks and the co-writer of many of their singles, as well as Rick Trevino's 2003 single "In My Dreams". Since the disbanding of the Mavericks in the early 2000s, Malo has pursued a solo career. He has also participated from 2001 in the Los Super Seven supergroup.

Biography

Malo was born in Miami to middle-class Cuban parents. He is married to Betty and together they have three sons: Dino, Vincent and Max (who sang with him on ''Marshmallow World & Other Holiday Favorites'').

Solo discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"	! width="45"
''Today''		* Release date: October 23, 2001	* Label: Higher Octave	—	—	—	—
''You're Only Lonely''		* Release date: July 25, 2006	* Label: Sanctuary Records	—	50	38	—
''After Hours''		* Release date: July 17, 2007	* Label: New Door Records	43	12	—	—
''Marshmallow World &Other Holiday Favorites''		* Release date: September 25, 2007	* Label: New Door Records	—	24	—	11
''Lucky One''		* Release date: March 3, 2009	* Label: Fantasy Records	—	13	—	—
''Sinners and Saints''		* Release date: October 5, 2010	* Label: Fantasy Records	—	7	—	—

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		! width="65"
	"I Said I Love You"	57
"Today"	—
2006	"Feels Like Home"	—
2009	"Lucky One"	—
2010	"Moonlight Kiss"	—

Music videos

! Year	Video	! Director
2009	"Hello Again"	Matt Robertson

References

External links

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:American male singers Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American people of Cuban descent Category:People from Florida