Rock usually refers to:

Rock (geology), naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloid

Rock music, form of popular music

It can also refer to:

Geology

Rock (geology), naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids

Rock salt or halite, mineral form of sodium chloride

People

Rock (name), several people

Fictional Characters

Rock (comics), a fictional character in the DC Comics universe

Rock (manga character), a recurrent major character in most of Osamu Tezuka's manga series

Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK), from the Styx rock opera Kilroy was here - see Mr. Roboto

Music

Rock music, form of popular music

''Rocks'' (album), by Aerosmith

''Rocks'' (Harem Scarem album), 2001

"The Rock" instrumental song by The Who from ''Quadrophenia''

"Rocks" (song), by Primal Scream

"Rock", one of the tracks on "Soft/Rock", a single by Lemon Jelly

''Rock'' (Casting Pearls EP), by Casting Pearls

''The Rock'' (Rachmaninoff), an orchestral composition

''The Rock'' (The Frankie Miller Band album), the third album from The Frankie Miller Band

''The Rock'' (John Entwistle album), the sixth solo album by John Entwistle, bassist for The Who

''The Rock'' (Tracy Lawrence album), the tenth studio album by American country music artist Tracy Lawrence

The Rocks (band), a former UK indie rock band

Entertainment

Another term for uprock, a form of street dance

''The Rock'' (film), 1996 film starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage directed by Michael Bay

''The Rock'' (play), T.S. Eliot's 1934 pageant play

Places

Australia

The Rocks, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia

The Rock, New South Wales, a town in southern New South Wales

Canada

The Rocks or Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick, a coastal formation

Newfoundland (island), Canada

United Kingdom

Rock, Cornwall, village in Cornwall, England

Rock, Northumberland, village in Northumberland, England

Rock, West Sussex

Rock, Worcestershire, village in Worcestershire, England

Lewis, an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Rock, County Tyrone – a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland

United States

Kodiak Island, Alaska

The Rock or Alcatraz Island, small island in San Francisco Bay, California, United States

The Rock, Georgia

The Rock (Northwestern University), a landmark at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois

Rock Island, Illinois, county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States

Memorial Stadium (Indiana), on the Indiana University campus

Rock, Kansas, unincorporated community in Cowley County, Kansas, United States

The Rock (Michigan State University), a boulder on the campus of Michigan State University

Rock Township, Benson County, North Dakota, civil township in United States

The Rocks or McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, a borough

Rock, West Virginia, a community in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States

Rock County, Wisconsin, county in United States

Rock, Rock County, Wisconsin, town in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States

Rock, Wood County, Wisconsin, town in Wood County, Wisconsin, United States

Other Places

´´The Rock´´ is a poetic and popular term for Bermuda.

The Rock or Gibraltar, British overseas territory near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)

Corregidor, an island in the Philippines

Niue, an island near Tonga

Rockall, a islet in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the United Kingdom

Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa

Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, a Marine Corps Base Camp in Okinawa Japan

Foundation Stone, the rock inside Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock

Newark's Prudential Center, nicknamed "The Rock" due to Prudential Financial's logo

Food

Rock candy, type of confectionery composed of large sugar crystals

Rock (confectionery), type of stick-shaped boiled sugar confectionery

Edinburgh rock, stick-shaped Scottish confection, notably different from ordinary rock

Plymouth Rock (chicken), breed of chicken

Rock salmon, Often referred to as Rock. Sold in UK fish and chip shops.

Computers

Rock (processor), microprocessor by Sun Microsystems

Rocks Cluster Distribution, Linux distribution for cluster computing

Rocks (PHP)

Sports

Rock, used in the sport of Curling

The Rock (rugby team) or Atlantic Rock, a rugby union team based in St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

The Rocks or the Scottish Rocks, a basketball team

"The Rock," nickname of the athletic teams of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

"The Rock", stagename for actor and professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson

Other uses

ROCK1, human gene

Rock or islet, small island

Rock, or distaff, a tool used in spinning

Rock, slang term for crack cocaine

The Rock, a headland occupied by the original fortified town of Monaco, today's Monaco-Ville

The Rock or Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, former Class I railroad in the United States

The Rocks, Inc., US military officers' organization

The Rock (New Zealand), a New Zealand rock music radio station

See also

Rock of Ages (disambiguation)

Rock and roll (disambiguation)

Rockman or ''Mega Man''

Rok (disambiguation)

ROC (disambiguation)

Roque (disambiguation)

Rockfish (disambiguation)

Rock River (disambiguation)

David Rock (disambiguation)

an:Rock cs:Rock (rozcestník) de:Rock es:Rock (desambiguación) fa:صخره fr:Rock (homonymie) gl:Rock it:Rock (disambigua) he:רוק ka:როკი ja:ロック nds:Rock pl:Rock (ujednoznacznienie) ru:Rock simple:Rock sv:Rock tl:Rock uk:Камінь (значення) vi:Rock (định hướng) zh-yue:Rock zh:Rock

background	solo_singer
alias	The Boss
born	September 23, 1949Long Branch, New Jersey,United States
instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano
genre	Rock, folk rock, heartland rock, hard rock, roots rock
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter
years active	1972–present
label	Columbia
associated acts	E Street Band, Steel Mill, Miami Horns, The Sessions Band, U2
website	www.BruceSpringsteen.net
notable instruments	Fender TelecasterFender EsquireTakamine GuitarsHohner Marine Band Harmonica }}

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey), nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered on his native New Jersey.

Springsteen's recordings have included both commercially accessible rock albums and more somber folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, ''Born in the U.S.A.'' and ''Born to Run'', showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life; he has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and 120 million worldwide and he has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. He is widely regarded by many as one of the most influential songwriters of the twentieth century, and in 2004, ''Rolling Stone Magazine'' ranked him as the 23rd greatest artist of all time in its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list.

Early life

Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and spent his childhood and high school years in Freehold Borough. He lived on South Street in Freehold Borough and attended Freehold Borough High School. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, was of Dutch and Irish ancestry and worked, among other vocations, as a bus driver; his surname is Dutch for ''jump stone''. His mother, Adele Ann (née Zirilli), was a legal secretary and was of Italian ancestry. Overall, his heritage is 50% Italian, 37% Irish and 13% Dutch. His maternal grandfather was born in Vico Equense, a city near Naples. He has two younger sisters, Virginia and Pamela. Pamela had a brief film career, but left acting to pursue still photography full time; she took photos for the ''Human Touch'' and ''Lucky Town'' albums.

Raised a Roman Catholic, Springsteen attended the St. Rose of Lima Catholic school in Freehold Borough, where he was at odds with the nuns and rejected the strictures imposed upon him, even though some of his later music reflects a Catholic ethos and included a few rock-influenced, traditional Irish-Catholic hymns.

In ninth grade, he transferred to the public Freehold Regional High School, but did not fit in there, either. Old teachers have said he was a "loner, who wanted nothing more than to play his guitar." He completed high school, but felt so uncomfortable that he skipped his own graduation ceremony. He briefly attended Ocean County College, but dropped out.

Career history

1962–1972: Early years

Springsteen had been inspired to take up music at the age of seven after seeing Elvis Presley on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. At 13, his mother bought him his first guitar for $18; later, she took out a loan to buy the 16-year-old Springsteen a $60 Kent guitar, as he later memorialized in his song "The Wish".

In 1965, he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town. They helped him become lead guitarist and subsequently the lead singer of The Castiles. The Castiles recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township and played a variety of venues, including Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. Marion Vinyard said that she believed the young Springsteen when he promised he would make it big.

Called for induction when he was 18, Springsteen failed his physical examination and did not serve in Vietnam. In an interview in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 1984, he said, "When I got on the bus to go take my physical, I thought one thing: I ain't goin'." He had suffered a concussion in a motorcycle accident when he was 17, and this together with his "crazy" behaviour at induction and not taking the tests, was enough to get him a 4F.

In the late 1960s, Springsteen performed briefly in a power trio known as Earth, playing in clubs in New Jersey. Springsteen acquired the nickname "The Boss" during this period as when he played club gigs with a band he took on the task of collecting the band's nightly pay and distributing it amongst his bandmates. Springsteen is not fond of this nickname, due to his dislike of bosses, but seems to have since given it a tacit acceptance. Previously he had the nickname "Doctor". From 1969 through early 1971, Springsteen performed with Steel Mill, which also featured Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, Vinnie Roslin and later Steve Van Zandt and Robbin Thompson. They went on to play the mid-Atlantic college circuit, and also briefly in California. In January 1970 well-known ''San Francisco Examiner'' music critic Philip Elwood gave Springsteen credibility in his glowing assessment of Steel Mill: "I have never been so overwhelmed by totally unknown talent." Elwood went on to praise their "cohesive musicality" and, in particular, singled out Springsteen as "a most impressive composer." During this time Springsteen also performed regularly at small clubs in Canton, Massachusetts, Richmond, Virginia, Asbury Park and along the Jersey Shore, quickly gathering a cult following. Other acts followed over the next two years, as Springsteen sought to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style: Dr Zoom & the Sonic Boom (early–mid 1971), Sundance Blues Band (mid 1971), and The Bruce Springsteen Band (mid 1971–mid 1972). With the addition of pianist David Sancious, the core of what would later become the E Street Band was formed, with occasional temporary additions such as horn sections, "The Zoomettes" (a group of female backing vocalists for "Dr. Zoom") and Southside Johnny Lyon on harmonica. Musical genres explored included blues, R&B;, jazz, church music, early rock'n'roll, and soul. His prolific songwriting ability, with "More words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums", as his future record label would describe it in early publicity campaigns, brought his skill to the attention of several people who were about to change his life: new managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, and legendary Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond, who, under Appel's pressure, auditioned Springsteen in May 1972.

Even after Springsteen gained international acclaim, his New Jersey roots showed through in his music, and he often praised "the great state of New Jersey" in his live shows. Drawing on his extensive local appeal, he routinely sold out consecutive nights in major New Jersey and Philadelphia venues. He also made many surprise appearances at The Stone Pony and other shore nightclubs over the years, becoming the foremost exponent of the Jersey Shore sound.

1972–1974: Initial struggle for success

Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1972, with the help of John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to the same label a decade earlier. Springsteen brought many of his New Jersey–based colleagues into the studio with him, thus forming the E Street Band (although it would not be formally named as such for several more years). His debut album, ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'', released in January 1973, established him as a critical favorite, though sales were slow. Because of Springsteen's lyrical poeticism and folk rock–rooted music exemplified on tracks like "Blinded by the Light", (which would later be a hit for Manfred Mann and go to number one, making it the only time Springsteen had a number one single as a songwriter), and "For You", as well as the Columbia and Hammond connections, critics initially compared Springsteen to Bob Dylan. "He sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by 'Like a Rolling Stone,'" wrote ''Crawdaddy'' magazine editor Peter Knobler in Springsteen's first interview/profile, in March 1973. ''Crawdaddy'' discovered Springsteen in the rock press and was his earliest champion. (Springsteen and the E Street Band acknowledged by giving a private performance at the ''Crawdaddy'' 10th Anniversary Party in New York City in June 1976.) Music critic Lester Bangs wrote in ''Creem'' in 1975 that when Springsteen's first album was released "... many of us dismissed it: he wrote like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, sang like Van Morrison and Robbie Robertson, and led a band that sounded like Van Morrison's." The track "Spirit in the Night" especially showed Morrison's influence, while "Lost in the Flood" was the first of many portraits of Vietnam veterans and "Growin' Up", his first take on the recurring theme of adolescence.

In September 1973 his second album, ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle,'' was released, again to critical acclaim but no commercial success. Springsteen's songs became grander in form and scope, with the E Street Band providing a less folky, more R&B; vibe and the lyrics often romanticized teenage street life. "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" and "Incident on 57th Street" would become fan favorites, and the long, rousing "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" continues to rank among Springsteen's most beloved concert numbers.

In the May 22, 1974, issue of Boston's ''The Real Paper'', music critic Jon Landau wrote after seeing a performance at the Harvard Square Theater, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." Landau subsequently became Springsteen's manager and producer, helping to finish the epic new album, ''Born to Run''. Given an enormous budget in a last-ditch effort at a commercially viable record, Springsteen became bogged down in the recording process while striving for a wall of sound production. But, fed by the release of an early mix of "Born to Run" to progressive rock radio, anticipation built toward the album's release. All in all the album took more than 14 months to record, with six months alone spent on the song "Born To Run" During this time Springsteen battled with anger and frustration over the album, saying he heard "sounds in [his] head" that he could not explain to the others in the studio. It was during these recording sessions that "Miami" Steve Van Zandt would stumble into the studio just in time to help Springsteen organize the horn section on "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" (it is his only written contribution to the album), and eventually led to his joining the E Street Band. Van Zandt had been a long-time friend of Springsteen, as well as a collaborator on earlier musical projects, and understood where he was coming from, which helped him to translate some of the sounds Springsteen was hearing. Still, by the end of the grueling recording sessions, Springsteen was not satisfied, and, upon first hearing the finished album, threw the record into the alley and told Jon Landau he would rather just cut the album live at The Bottom Line, a place he often played.

1975–1983: Breakthrough

On August 13, 1975, Springsteen and the E Street Band began a five-night, 10-show stand at New York's Bottom Line club. The engagement attracted major media attention, was broadcast live on WNEW-FM, and convinced many skeptics that Springsteen was for real. (Decades later, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine would name the stand as one of the 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll.) With the release of ''Born to Run'' on August 25, 1975, Springsteen finally found success. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, and while there were no hit singles, "Born to Run" (Billboard #23), "Thunder Road", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" (Billboard #83), and "Jungleland" all received massive album-oriented rock airplay and remain perennial favorites on many classic rock stations. The songwriting and recording was more disciplined than before, while still maintaining an epic feel. With its panoramic imagery, thundering production and desperate optimism, ''Born to Run'' is considered by some fans to be among the best rock and roll albums of all time and Springsteen's finest work. It established him as a sincere and dynamic rock and roll personality who spoke for and in the voice of a large part of the rock audience. To cap off the triumph, Springsteen appeared on the covers of both ''Time'' and ''Newsweek'' in the same week, on October 27 of that year. So great did the wave of publicity become that Springsteen eventually rebelled against it during his first venture overseas, tearing down promotional posters before a concert appearance in London.

A legal battle with former manager Mike Appel kept Springsteen out of the studio for nearly a year, during which time he kept the E Street Band together through extensive touring across the U.S. Despite the optimistic fervor with which he often performed, his new songs had taken a more somber tone than much of his previous work. Reaching settlement with Appel in 1977, Springsteen returned to the studio, and the subsequent sessions produced ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' (1978). Musically, this album was a turning point in Springsteen's career. Gone were the raw, rapid-fire lyrics, outsized characters and long, multi-part musical compositions of the first two albums; now the songs were leaner and more carefully drawn and began to reflect Springsteen's growing intellectual and political awareness. The cross-country 1978 tour to promote the album would become legendary for the intensity and length of its shows. By the late 1970s, Springsteen had earned a reputation in the pop world as a songwriter whose material could provide hits for other bands. Manfred Mann's Earth Band had achieved a U.S. number one pop hit with a heavily rearranged version of ''Greetings''' "Blinded by the Light" in early 1977. Patti Smith reached number 13 with her take on Springsteen's unreleased "Because the Night" (with revised lyrics by Smith) in 1978, while The Pointer Sisters hit number two in 1979 with Springsteen's also unreleased "Fire".

In September 1979, Springsteen and the E Street Band joined the Musicians United for Safe Energy anti-nuclear power collective at Madison Square Garden for two nights, playing an abbreviated set while premiering two songs from his upcoming album. The subsequent ''No Nukes'' live album, as well as the following summer's ''No Nukes'' documentary film, represented the first official recordings and footage of Springsteen's fabled live act, as well as Springsteen's first tentative dip into political involvement.

Springsteen continued to consolidate his thematic focus on working-class life with the 20-song double album ''The River'' in 1980, which included an intentionally paradoxical range of material from good-time party rockers to emotionally intense ballads, and finally yielded his first hit Top Ten single as a performer, "Hungry Heart". This album marked a shift in Springsteen's music toward a pop-rock sound that was all but missing from any of his earlier work. This is apparent in the stylistic adoption of certain eighties pop-rock hallmarks like the reverberating-tenor drums, very basic percussion/guitar and repetitive lyrics apparent in many of the tracks. The title song pointed to Springsteen's intellectual direction, while a couple of the lesser-known tracks presaged his musical direction. The album sold well, becoming his first topper on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, and a long tour in 1980 and 1981 followed, featuring Springsteen's first extended playing of Europe and ending with a series of multi-night arena stands in major cities in the U.S.

''The River'' was followed in 1982 by the stark solo acoustic ''Nebraska''. Recording sessions had been held to expand on a demo tape Springsteen had made at his home on a simple, low-tech four-track tape deck. However during the recording process Springsteen and producer Landau realized the songs worked better as solo acoustic numbers than full band renditions and the original demo tape was released as the album. Although the recordings of the E Street Band were shelved, other songs from these sessions would later be released, including "Born in the U.S.A." and "Glory Days". According to the Marsh biographies, Springsteen was in a depressed state when he wrote this material, and the result is a brutal depiction of American life. While ''Nebraska'' did not sell as well as Springsteen's two previous albums, it garnered widespread critical praise (including being named "Album of the Year" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's critics) and influenced later significant works by other major artists, including U2's album ''The Joshua Tree''. It helped inspire the musical genre known as lo-fi music, becoming a cult favorite among indie-rockers. Springsteen did not tour in conjunction with ''Nebraska'''s release.

1984–1991: Commercial and popular phenomenon

Springsteen probably is best known for his album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' (1984), which sold 15 million copies in the U.S. and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with seven singles hitting the Top 10, and the massively successful world tour that followed it. The title track was a bitter commentary on the treatment of Vietnam veterans, some of whom were Springsteen's friends and bandmates. The lyrics in the verses were entirely unambiguous when listened to, but the anthemic music and the title of the song made it hard for many, from politicians to the common person, to get the lyrics—except those in the chorus, which could be read many ways. The song was widely misinterpreted as jingoistic, and in connection with the 1984 presidential campaign became the subject of considerable folklore. Springsteen also turned down several million dollars offered by the Chrysler Corporation to use the song in a car commercial. (In later years, to eliminate the bombast and make the song's original meaning more explicitly clear, Springsteen performed the song accompanied only by acoustic guitar. An acoustic version also appeared on ''Tracks'', a later album.) "Dancing in the Dark" was the biggest of seven hit singles from ''Born in the U.S.A.'', peaking at number 2 on the Billboard music charts. The music video for the song featured a young Courteney Cox dancing on stage with Springsteen, an appearance which helped kickstart the actress's career. The song "Cover Me" was written by Springsteen for Donna Summer, but his record company persuaded him to keep it for the new album. A big fan of Summer's work, Springsteen wrote another song for her, "Protection". Videos for the album were made by noted film directors Brian De Palma and John Sayles. Springsteen was featured on the "We Are the World" song and album in 1985. His live single "Trapped" from that album received moderate airplay on U.S. Top 40 stations as well as reaching #1 on the ''Billboard'' Top Rock Tracks chart.

During the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Springsteen met actress Julianne Phillips, whom he would marry in 1985.

The ''Born in the U.S.A.'' period represented the height of Springsteen's visibility in popular culture and the broadest audience demographic he would ever reach (aided by the release of Arthur Baker's dance mixes of three of the singles). ''Live/1975–85'', a five-record box set (also on three cassettes or three CDs), was released near the end of 1986 and became the first box set to debut at number 1 on the U.S. album charts. It is one of the most commercially successful live albums of all time, ultimately selling 13 million units in the U.S. ''Live/1975–85'' summed up Springsteen's career to that point and displayed some of the elements that made his shows so powerful to his fans: the switching from mournful dirges to party rockers and back; the communal sense of purpose between artist and audience; the long, intense spoken passages before songs, including those describing Springsteen's difficult relationship with his father; and the instrumental prowess of the E Street Band, such as in the long coda to "Racing in the Street". Despite its popularity, some fans and critics felt the album's song selection could have been better. Springsteen concerts are the subjects of frequent bootleg recording and trading among fans.

During the 1980s, several Springsteen fanzines were launched, including ''Backstreets'' magazine, which started in Seattle and continues today as a glossy publication, now in communication with Springsteen's management and official website.

After this commercial peak, Springsteen released the much more sedate and contemplative ''Tunnel of Love'' album (1987), a mature reflection on the many faces of love found, lost and squandered, which only selectively used the E Street Band. It presaged the breakup of his marriage to Julianne Phillips and described some of his unhappinesses in the relationship. Reflecting the challenges of love in "Brilliant Disguise", Springsteen sang:

The subsequent Tunnel of Love Express tour shook up fans with changes to the stage layout, favorites dropped from the set list, and horn-based arrangements. During the European leg in 1988, Springsteen's relationship with backup singer Patti Scialfa became public and Phillips and Springsteen filed for divorce in 1988. Later in 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International. In the fall of 1989 he dissolved the E Street Band, and he and Scialfa relocated to California, marrying in 1991.

1992–2001: Artistic and commercial ups and downs

In 1992, after risking charges of "going Hollywood" by moving to Los Angeles (a radical move for someone so linked to the blue-collar life of the Jersey Shore) and working with session musicians, Springsteen released two albums at once. ''Human Touch'' and ''Lucky Town'' were even more introspective than any of his previous work and displayed a newly revealed confidence. As opposed to his first two albums, which dreamed of happiness, and his next four, which showed him growing to fear it, at points during the ''Lucky Town'' album, Springsteen actually claims happiness for himself.

An electric band appearance on the acoustic ''MTV Unplugged'' television program (later released as ''In Concert/MTV Plugged'') was poorly received and further cemented fan dissatisfaction. Springsteen seemed to realize this a few years hence when he spoke humorously of his late father during his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech: }}

A multiple Grammy Award winner, Springsteen also won an Academy Award in 1994 for his song "Streets of Philadelphia", which appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''Philadelphia''. The song, along with the film, was applauded by many for its sympathetic portrayal of a gay man dying of AIDS. The music video for the song shows Springsteen's actual vocal performance, recorded using a hidden microphone, to a prerecorded instrumental track. This technique was developed on the "Brilliant Disguise" video.

In 1995, after temporarily re-organizing the E Street Band for a few new songs recorded for his first ''Greatest Hits'' album (a recording session that was chronicled in the documentary ''Blood Brothers''), he released his second (mostly) solo guitar album, ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'', inspired by John Steinbeck's ''The Grapes of Wrath'' and by ''Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass'', a book by Pulitzer Prize-winners author Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson. This was generally less well-received than the similar ''Nebraska'', due to the minimal melody, twangy vocals, and political nature of most of the songs, although some praised it for giving voice to immigrants and others who rarely have one in American culture. The lengthy, worldwide, small-venue solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour that followed successfully featured many of his older songs in drastically reshaped acoustic form, although Springsteen had to explicitly remind his audiences to be quiet and not to clap during the performances.

Following the tour, Springsteen moved back to New Jersey with his family. In 1998, Springsteen released the sprawling, four-disc box set of out-takes, ''Tracks''. Subsequently, Springsteen would acknowledge that the 1990s were a "lost period" for him: "I didn't do a lot of work. Some people would say I didn't do my best work."

Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Bono of U2, a favor he returned in 2005.

In 1999, Springsteen and the E Street Band officially came together again and went on the extensive Reunion Tour, lasting over a year. Highlights included a record sold-out, 15-show run at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and a ten-night, sold-out engagement at New York City's Madison Square Garden which ended the tour. The final two shows were recorded for an HBO Concert, with corresponding DVD and album releases as ''Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live in New York City''. A new song, "American Skin (41 Shots)", about the police shooting of Amadou Diallo which was played at these shows proved controversial.

In November 2000, Springsteen filed legal action against Jeff Burgar which accused him of registering the domain brucespringsteen.com (along with several other celebrity domains) in bad faith to funnel web users to his Celebrity 1000 portal site. Once the legal complaint was filed, Burgar pointed the domain to a Springsteen biography and message board. In February 2001, Springsteen lost his dispute with Burgar. A WIPO panel ruled 2 to 1 in favor of Burgar.

On Labor day 2001 Bruce Springsteen played at Donovan's Reef in Sea Bright NJ surprising a local cover band named Brian Kirk and the Jerks and performed Rosalita with them showing his support and love.

2002–2007: Return to success

In 2002, Springsteen released his first studio effort with the full band in 18 years, ''The Rising'', produced by Brendan O'Brien. The album, mostly a reflection on the September 11 attacks, was a critical and popular success. (Many of the songs were influenced by phone conversations Springsteen had with family members of victims of the attacks who in their obituaries had mentioned how his music touched their lives.) The title track gained airplay in several radio formats, and the record became Springsteen's best-selling album of new material in 15 years. Kicked off by an early-morning Asbury Park appearance on ''The Today Show'', The Rising Tour commenced, barnstorming through a series of single-night arena stands in the U.S. and Europe to promote the album in 2002, then returning for large-scale, multiple-night stadium shows in 2003. While Springsteen had maintained a loyal hardcore fan base everywhere (and particularly in Europe), his general popularity had dipped over the years in some southern and midwestern regions of the U.S. But it was still strong in Europe and along the U.S. coasts, and he played an unprecedented 10 nights in Giants Stadium in New Jersey, a ticket-selling feat to which no other musical act has come close. During these shows Springsteen thanked those fans who were attending multiple shows and those who were coming from long distances or another country; the advent of robust Bruce-oriented online communities had made such practices more common. The Rising Tour came to a final conclusion with three nights in Shea Stadium, highlighted by renewed controversy over "American Skin" and a guest appearance by Bob Dylan.

During the early 2000s, Springsteen became a visible advocate for the revitalization of Asbury Park, and played an annual series of winter holiday concerts there to benefit various local businesses, organizations, and causes. These shows were explicitly intended for the devoted fans, featuring numbers such as the ''E Street Shuffle'' outtake "Thundercrack", a rollicking group-participation song that would mystify casual Springsteen fans. He also frequently rehearses for tours in Asbury Park; some of his most devoted followers even go so far as to stand outside the building to hear what fragments they can of the upcoming shows. The song "My City of Ruins" was originally written about Asbury Park, in honor of the attempts to revitalize the city. Looking for an appropriate song for a post-Sept. 11 benefit concert honoring New York City, he selected "My City of Ruins", which was immediately recognized as an emotional highlight of the concert, with its gospel themes and its heartfelt exhortations to "Rise up!" The song became associated with post-9/11 New York, and he chose it to close ''The Rising'' album and as an encore on the subsequent tour.

At the Grammy Awards of 2003, Springsteen performed The Clash's "London Calling" along with Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, and E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and No Doubt's bassist, Tony Kanal, in tribute to Joe Strummer; Springsteen and the Clash had once been considered multiple-album-dueling rivals at the time of the double ''The River'' and the triple ''Sandinista!''. In 2004, Springsteen and the E Street Band participated in the "Vote for Change" tour, along with John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Bright Eyes, the Dave Matthews Band, Jackson Browne, and other musicians. All concerts were to be held in swing states, to benefit the liberalism political organization group America Coming Together and to encourage people to register and vote. A finale was held in Washington, D.C., bringing many of the artists together. Several days later, Springsteen held one more such concert in New Jersey, when polls showed that state surprisingly close. While in past years Springsteen had played benefits for causes in which he believed – against nuclear energy, for Vietnam veterans, Amnesty International, and the Christic Institute – he had always refrained from explicitly endorsing candidates for political office (indeed he had rejected the efforts of Walter Mondale to attract an endorsement during the 1984 Reagan "Born in the U.S.A." flap). This new stance led to criticism and praise from the expected partisan sources. Springsteen's "No Surrender" became the main campaign theme song for John Kerry's unsuccessful presidential campaign; in the last days of the campaign, he performed acoustic versions of the song and some of his other old songs at Kerry rallies.

''Devils & Dust'' was released on April 26, 2005, and was recorded without the E Street Band. It is a low-key, mostly acoustic album, in the same vein as ''Nebraska'' and ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' although with a little more instrumentation. Some of the material was written almost 10 years earlier during, or shortly after, the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, a couple of them being performed then but never released. The title track concerns an ordinary soldier's feelings and fears during the Iraq War. Starbucks rejected a co-branding deal for the album, due in part to some sexually explicit content but also because of Springsteen's anti-corporate politics. The album entered the album charts at No. 1 in 10 countries (United States, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ireland). Springsteen began the solo Devils & Dust Tour at the same time as the album's release, playing both small and large venues. Attendance was disappointing in a few regions, and everywhere (other than in Europe) tickets were easier to get than in the past. Unlike his mid-1990s solo tour, he performed on piano, electric piano, pump organ, autoharp, ukulele, banjo, electric guitar, and stomping board, as well as acoustic guitar and harmonica, adding variety to the solo sound. (Offstage synthesizer, guitar, and percussion were also used for some songs.) Unearthly renditions of "Reason to Believe", "The Promised Land", and Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream" jolted audiences to attention, while rarities, frequent set list changes, and a willingness to keep trying even through audible piano mistakes kept most of his loyal audiences happy.

In November 2005, Sirius Satellite Radio started a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week radio station on Channel 10 called E Street Radio. This channel featured commercial-free Bruce Springsteen music, including rare tracks, interviews, and daily concerts of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band recorded throughout their career.

In April 2006, Springsteen released ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'', an American roots music project focused around a big folk sound treatment of 15 songs popularized by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger. It was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians including only Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and The Miami Horns from past efforts. In contrast to previous albums, this was recorded in only three one-day sessions, and frequently one can hear Springsteen calling out key changes live as the band explores its way through the tracks. The Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour began the same month, featuring the 18-strong ensemble of musicians dubbed The Seeger Sessions Band (and later shortened to The Sessions Band). ''Seeger Sessions'' material was heavily featured, as well as a handful of (usually drastically rearranged) Springsteen numbers. The tour proved very popular in Europe, selling out everywhere and receiving some excellent reviews, but newspapers reported that a number of U.S. shows suffered from sparse attendance. By the end of 2006, the Seeger Sessions tour toured Europe twice and toured America for only a short span. ''Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin'', containing selections from three nights of November 2006 shows at The Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, was released the following June.

Springsteen's next album, titled ''Magic'', was released on October 2, 2007. Recorded with the E Street Band, it featured 10 new Springsteen songs plus "Long Walk Home", performed once with the Sessions band, and a hidden track (the first included on a Springsteen studio release), "Terry's Song", a tribute to Springsteen's long-time assistant Terry Magovern, who died on July 30, 2007. The first single, "Radio Nowhere", was made available for a free download on August 28. On October 7, ''Magic'' debuted at number 1 in Ireland and the UK. ''Greatest Hits'' reentered the Irish charts at number 57, and ''Live in Dublin'' almost cracked the top 20 in Norway again. Sirius Satellite Radio also restarted E Street Radio on Channel 10 on September 27, 2007, in anticipation of ''Magic''. Radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications was alleged to have sent an edict to its classic rock stations to not play any songs from the new album, while continuing to play older Springsteen material. However, Clear Channel Adult Alternative (or "AAA") station KBCO did play tracks from the album, undermining the allegations of a corporate blackout. The Springsteen and E Street Band Magic Tour began at the Hartford Civic Center with the album's release and was routed through North America and Europe. Springsteen and the band performed live on NBC's ''Today Show'' in advance of the opener. Longtime E Street Band organist Danny Federici left the tour in November 2007 to pursue treatment for melanoma from which he would die in 2008

2008–present: Recent events

Springsteen supported Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, announcing his endorsement in April 2008 and going on to appear at several Obama rallies as well as performing several solo acoustic performances in support of Obama's campaign throughout 2008, culminating with a November 2 rally where he debuted "Working On A Dream" in a duet with Scialfa. At an Ohio rally, Springsteen discussed the importance of "truth, transparency and integrity in government, the right of every American to have a job, a living wage, to be educated in a decent school, and a life filled with the dignity of work, the promise and the sanctity of home...But today those freedoms have been damaged and curtailed by eight years of a thoughtless, reckless and morally-adrift administration."

Following Obama's electoral victory on November 4, Springsteen's song "The Rising" was the first song played over the loudspeakers after Obama's victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park. Springsteen was the musical opener for the Obama Inaugural Celebration on January 18, 2009 which was attended by over 400,000. He performed "The Rising" with an all-female choir. Later he performed Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" with Pete Seeger.

On June 18, 2008, Springsteen appeared live from Europe at the Tim Russert tribute at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to play one of Russert's favorite songs, "Thunder Road". Springsteen dedicated the song to Russert, who was "one of Springsteen's biggest fans."

On January 11, 2009, Springsteen won the Golden Globe Award for Best Song for "The Wrestler", from the Mickey Rourke film by the same name. After receiving a heartfelt letter from Mickey Rourke, Springsteen supplied the song for the film for free.

Springsteen performed at the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009, agreeing to do it after many previous offers A few days before the game, Springsteen gave a rare press conference, where he promised a "twelve-minute party." His 12:45 set, with the E Street Band and the Miami Horns, included abbreviated renditions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"", "Born to Run", "Working on a Dream, and "Glory Days", the latter complete with football references. The set of appearances and promotional activities led Springsteen to say, "This has probably been the busiest month of my life."

Springsteen's ''Working on a Dream'' album was released in late January 2009 and the supporting Working on a Dream Tour ran from April 2009 until November 2009. The tour featured few songs from the new album, with instead set lists dominated by classics and selections reflecting the ongoing late-2000s recession. The tour also featured Springsteen playing songs requested by audience members holding up signs as on the final stages of the Magic Tour. Drummer Max Weinberg was replaced for some shows by his 18-year-old son Jay Weinberg, so that the former could serve his role as bandleader on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien''. During this tour, Springsteen and the band made their first real foray in the world of music festivals, headlining nights at the Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands, Festival des Vieilles Charrues in France, the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the United States and the Glastonbury Festival in the UK and Hard Rock Calling in the UK. Several shows on the tour featured full album presentations of ''Born to Run'', ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'', or ''Born in the U.S.A.'' The band performed a stretch of five final shows at his homestate Giants Stadium, opening with a new song highlighting the historic stadium, and his Jersey roots, named "Wrecking Ball". The tour ended as scheduled in Buffalo, NY in November 2009 amid speculation that it was the last performance ever by the E Street Band, but during the show Springsteen said it was goodbye “for a little while.” A DVD from the Working of a Dream Tour entitled ''London Calling: Live in Hyde Park'' was released in 2010.

In addition to his own touring, Springsteen made a number of appearances at tribute and benefit concerts during 2009, including The Clearwater Concert, a celebration of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary benefit concert, a benefit for the charity Autism Speaks at Carnegie Hall. On January 22, 2010, he joined many well-known artists to perform on ''Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief‎'', organized by George Clooney to raise money to help the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

In 2009, Springsteen performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".

Springsteen was among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual award to figures from the world of arts for their contribution to American culture, in December 2009. President Obama gave a speech in which he talked about how Springsteen has incorporated the life of regular Americans in his expansive pallette of songs and how his concerts are beyond the typical rock-and-roll concerts, how, apart from being high-energy concerts, they are "communions". He ended the remark "while I am the president, he is The Boss". Tributes were paid by several well-known celebrities including Jon Stewart (who described Springsteen's "unprecedented combination of lyrical eloquence, musical mastery and sheer unbridled, unadulterated joy"). A musical tribute featured John Mellencamp, Ben Harper and Jennifer Nettles, Melissa Etheridge, Eddie Vedder and Sting.

The 2000s ended with Springsteen being named one of eight Artists of the Decade by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine and with Springsteen's tours ranking him fourth among artists in total concert grosses for the decade.

In September 2010, a documentary about the making of his 1978 album "Darkness on The Edge of Town" was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, ''The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town'', was included in a box set reissue of the album, entitled ''The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story'', released in November 2010. Also airing on HBO, the documentary explored Springsteen's making of the acclaimed album, and his role in the production and development of the tracks.

Springsteen is working on his next studio album with Ron Aniello, who also co-produced the 2007 album "Play It As It Lays", by Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa. Ron Aniello also produced "Children's Song" early in 2011, a duet with Bruce and Patti, which was done for a charity project.

Musical style

Bruce Springsteen draws on many musical influences from the reservoir of traditional American popular music, folk, blues and country. From the beginning, rock and roll has been the dominant influence. On his debut album, ''Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey'', the folk-influence is clear to hear. An example of the influence of this music genre to Springsteen's music is his song "This Hard Land" which demonstrates a clear influence of the style of Woody Guthrie.

He expanded the range of his musical compositions on his second album, ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle''. Elements of Latin American music, jazz, soul, and funk influences can be heard; the song "New York City Serenade" is even reminiscent of the music of George Gershwin. These two records prominently featured pianist David Sancious, who left the band shortly into the recording of Springsteen's third album, ''Born To Run''. This album, however, also emphasized the piano, the responsibility now of Roy Bittan.

Earlier in his career, Springsteen has focused more on the rock elements of his music. He initially compressed the sound and developed ''Darkness On The Edge Of Town'' just as straightforward as concise musical idiom, for the simple riffs and clearly recognizable song structures are dominant. His music has been categorized as heartland rock, a style typified by Springsteen, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, and John Mellencamp. This music has a lyrical reference to the U.S. everyday and the music is kept rather simple and straightforward. This development culminated with Springsteen's hit album ''Born in the U.S.A.'', the title song of which has a constantly repeating, fanfare-like keyboard riff and a pounding drum beat. These sounds fit with Springsteen's voice: it cries to the listener the unsentimental story of a disenchanted angry figure. Even songs that can be argued to be album tracks proved to be singles that enjoyed some chart success, such as "My Hometown" and "I'm on Fire", in which the drum line is formed from subtle hi-hat and rim-clicks-shock (shock at the edge of the snare drum).

In recent years, Springsteen has changed his music further. There are more folk elements up to the gospel to be heard. His last solo album, ''Devils and Dust'', drew rave reviews not only for Springsteen's complex songwriting, but also for his expressive and sensitive singing.

On the album ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' Springsteen performs folk classics with a folk band, rather than his usual E Street Band. On his ensuing tour he also interpreted some of his own rock songs in a folk style.

The 2007 album ''Magic'' was a reflection on the old stadium rock attitude and with its lush arrangements was almost designed to be performed at large stadiums, which also succeeded on the corresponding tour.

Lyrical themes

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Often described as cinematographic in their scope, Springsteen's lyrics frequently explore highly personal themes such as individual commitment, dissatisfaction and dismay with life in a context of every day situations.

It has been recognized that there was a shift in his lyrical approach starting with the album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'', in which he focused on the emotional struggles of working class life.

Politics and activism

Springsteen's music has often contained political themes, and he has publicly campaigned for several causes, including his opposition to the Iraq War and support for Democratic presidential campaigns, including Senator John Kerry and President Barack Obama. He is also noted for his support of various relief and rebuilding efforts in New Jersey and elsewhere, and for his response to the September 11 attacks in 2001, on which his album ''The Rising'' reflects.

In 1988, Springsteen headlined the worldwide Human Rights Now! tour for Amnesty International.

Springsteen has been associated with various local food banks, particularly with the New Jersey Food bank for many years. During concerts, he usually breaks the routine to announce his support and later matches the total collection during the concert with his own money. During his Charlotte, North Carolina concert on November 3, 2009, he started with a $10,000 donation for the local food bank to start the collections process – which he again matched later.

He has made substantial financial contributions to various workers' unions both in America and in Europe.

Personal life

Springsteen had a short marriage to Julianne Phillips (born May 6, 1960) from May 13, 1985 to May 1988, when they separated. The two were opposites in background and his traveling took its toll on their relationship. The final blow came when Bruce began an affair with Patti Scialfa (born July 29, 1953), whom he had dated briefly in 1984 shortly after she joined the band. Phillips and Springsteen separated in the spring of 1988, and on August 30, 1988, Julianne filed for divorce. The Springsteen/Phillips divorce was finalized on March 1, 1989.

After the separation in 1988 Bruce began living with Scialfa. Springsteen received press criticism for the hastiness in which he and Scialfa took up their relationship. In a 1995 interview with The Advocate, Springsteen spoke about the negative publicity the couple subsequently received. "It's a strange society that assumes it has the right to tell people whom they should love and whom they shouldn't. But the truth is, I basically ignored the entire thing as much as I could. I said, 'Well, all I know is, this feels real, and maybe I have got a mess going here in some fashion, but that's life.'" He also noted that, "I went through a divorce, and it was really difficult and painful and I was very frightened about getting married again. So part of me said, 'Hey, what does it matter?' But it does matter. It's very different than just living together. First of all, stepping up publicly- which is what you do: You get your license, you do all the social rituals- is a part of your place in society and in some way part of society's acceptance of you...Patti and I both found that it did mean something."

On July 25, 1990 Scialfa gave birth to the couple's first child, Evan James Springsteen. On June 8, 1991 Springsteen and Scialfa married at their Beverly Hills home. Their second child, Jessica Rae Springsteen, was born on December 30, 1991; and their third child, Samuel Ryan Springsteen, was born on January 5, 1994. The family owns and lives on a horse farm in Colts Neck, New Jersey. They also own homes in Wellington, Florida, a wealthy horse community near West Palm Beach, Los Angeles and Rumson, New Jersey. Their eldest son, Evan, attends Boston College. Their daughter Jessica is a nationally ranked champion equestrian, and attends Duke University.

Since 1991, Springsteen has led a relatively quiet life for a well-known popular performer and artist. He moved from Los Angeles to New Jersey in the early 1990s specifically to raise a family in a non-paparazzi environment. It has been reported that the press conference regarding the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII half-time show was his first press conference for more than 25 years. However, he has appeared in a few radio interviews, most notably on NPR and BBC. 60 minutes aired his last extensive interview on TV before his tour to support his album, ''Magic''.

Bands

Bruce Springsteen has been a member of, or has been backed by, several bands during his career, most notably The E Street Band.

His earliest known band is The Castiles.

Prior to signing his first record deal in 1972, Springsteen was a member of several bands including Steel Mill. In October 1972 he formed a new band for the recording of his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., which became known as The E Street Band, although the name was not officially introduced until September 1974. The E Street Band performed on all of Springsteen's recorded works from his debut until 1982's ''Nebraska'', a solo album on which Springsteen himself played all the instruments. The full band returned for the next album ''Born in the USA'', but there then followed a period from 1988 to 1999 in which albums were recorded with session musicians. The E Street band were briefly reunited in 1995 for new contributions to the ''Greatest Hits'' compilation, and on a more permanent basis from 1999, since which time they have recorded 3 albums together (''The Rising'', ''Magic'' and ''Working on a Dream'') and performed a number of high profile tours.

The 2005 album ''Devils & Dust'' was largely a solo recording, with some contribution from session musicians and the 2006 folk rock ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' album was recorded and toured with another band, known as The Sessions Band.

Earlier Bands: The Castiles, Earth, Child, Steel Mill, Sundance Blues Band, Dr Zoom and the Sonic Boom, Bruce Springsteen Band.

E Street Band

Current members:

Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, harmonica, piano

Patti Scialfa – backing and duet vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion

Max Weinberg – drums, percussion

Garry Tallent – bass guitar, tuba

Roy Bittan – piano, keyboards

Steven Van Zandt – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, mandolin

Nils Lofgren – lead and rhythm guitar, pedal steel guitar, backing vocals

With: Soozie Tyrell – violin, acoustic guitar, percussion, backing vocals Charles Giordano – organ, accordion, glockenspiel

Former Members:

1973–2011 Clarence Clemons (deceased) – tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, backing vocals, percussion

1973–2008 Danny Federici (deceased) – organ, accordion, backing vocals

Film

Music used in films

Springsteen's music has been used in many films and he has also written and performed several works specifically for films, examples include ''Philadelphia'', ''Dead Man Walking'', Jerry Maguire, and ''The Wrestler''.

1983 1983 1987 1989 1992 1992 1993 1995 1995 1996 1997 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2002 2003 2004 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2009

Film !! Year of film release !! Song(s) !! Notes
''Dead End Street''	1982	"Point Blank", "Hungry Heart" and "Jungleland"
''Risky Business''	|	Hungry Heart
''Baby, It's You (film)	Baby, It's You''	|	"It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City", "The E Street Shuffle", "She's The One" and "Adam Raised A Cain"	Film directed by John Sayles who later directed music videos for songs from ''Born in the U.S.A.'' and ''Tunnel of Love''.
''Light of Day''	|	"(Just Around the Corner to the) Light of Day"	Song written for the film.
''In Country''	|	"I'm On Fire"	Film also contained many Springsteen references.
''Thunderheart''	|	"Badlands" (instrumental version)
''Honeymoon in Vegas''	|	Viva Las Vegas (song)>Viva Las Vegas"	A 1964 song recorded by Elvis Presley.
Philadelphia (film)	Philadelphia	|	"Streets of Philadelphia"	Song written for film. Won an Oscar.
''Dead Man Walking (film)	Dead Man Walking''	|	"Dead Man Walkin'"	Song written for film. Nominated for a Oscar.
''The Crossing Guard''	|	"Missing"	Song was later released in 2003 on ''The Essential Bruce Springsteen''.
''Jerry Maguire''	|	Secret Garden (Bruce Springsteen song)>Secret Garden"
''Cop Land''	|	Stolen Car (Bruce Springsteen song)>Stolen Car"	Sylvester Stallone's character plays the songs on his turntable.
''The Wedding Singer''	|	"Hungry Heart"
''A Night at the Roxbury''	|	"Secret Garden"
''Big Daddy (film)	Big Daddy''	|	"Growin' Up"	Played over a montage near the end of the film.
''Limbo (film)	Limbo''	|	"Lift Me Up"	Another John Sayles film.
''High Fidelity (film)	High Fidelity''	|	"The River" and Blues Guitar Riff	Blues riff played by Springsteen, on-screen during his cameo appearance. "The River" played from vinyl on turntable.
''The Perfect Storm (film)	The Perfect Storm''	|	"Hungry Heart"
''25th Hour''	|	"The Fuse"
''Grand Theft Parsons''	|	"Blood Brothers"
''Jersey Girl''	|	"Jersey Girl"	Cover of the Tom Waits version
''Reign Over Me''	|	"Drive All Night" and "Out In The Street"	The River (album)>The River'' was also well mentioned in the movie.
''In the Land of Women''	|	"Iceman"
''The Heartbreak Kid (2007 film)	The Heartbreak Kid''	|	"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
''Lucky You (film)	Lucky You''	|	"Lucky Town"
''The Wrestler (2008 film)	The Wrestler''	|	The Wrestler (song)>The Wrestler"	Written for the film. The song was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and nominated for the MTV Movie Award as "Best Song From a Movie".
''Food, Inc.''	|	"This Land Is Your Land"	Live version, Bruce Springsteen's performance of the Woody Guthrie song.

Films inspired by music

In turn, films have been inspired by his music, including ''The Indian Runner'', written and directed by Sean Penn, which Penn has specifically noted as being inspired by Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman".

In September 2010, a documentary about the making of his 1978 album "Darkness on The Edge of Town" was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Kevin Smith is an admitted "big fan" of fellow New Jersey native Springsteen and named his film ''Jersey Girl'' after the Tom Waits song which Springsteen made famous. The song was also used on the soundtrack.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant said Springsteen's "Thunder Road" to have been a heavy influence on their 2010 film "Cemetery Junction," employing the song's themes of escape and optimism into their story of 1970s England.

In 2011, Springsteen appears in an independent film made by a local musician Chris Vaughn from New Jersey entitled "Jerseyboy Hero" where the songwriter/filmmaker documents his journey to get his music out to the world by attempting to reach one of his two local New Jersey legends, Bruce Springsteen or Jon Bon Jovi.

Acting

Springsteen made his first on-screen appearance in a brief cameo as himself in ''High Fidelity'' in 2000 and it was voted "Best Cameo in a Movie" at the MTV Movie Awards.

Discography

Major studio albums (along with their chart positions in the U.S. Billboard 200 at the time of release):

1973: ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' (#60)

1973: ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle'' (#59)

1975: ''Born to Run'' (#3)

1978: ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' (#5)

1980: ''The River'' (#1)

1982: ''Nebraska'' (#3)

1984: ''Born in the U.S.A.'' (#1)

1987: ''Tunnel of Love'' (#1)

1992: ''Human Touch'' (#2)

1992: ''Lucky Town'' (#3)

1995: ''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' (#11)

1998: ''Tracks'' (#64)

2002: ''The Rising'' (#1)

2005: ''Devils & Dust'' (#1)

2006: ''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' (#3)

2007: ''Magic'' (#1)

2009: ''Working on a Dream'' (#1)

2010: ''The Promise'' (#16)

Awards and recognition

Grammy Awards

:Springsteen has won 20 Grammy Awards, as follows (years shown are the year the award was given ''for'', not the year in which the ceremony was held):

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, 1984, "Dancing in the Dark"

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, 1987, "Tunnel of Love"

Song of the Year, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Rock Song, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television, 1994, "Streets of Philadelphia"

Best Contemporary Folk Album, 1996, ''The Ghost of Tom Joad''

Best Rock Album, 2002, ''The Rising''

Best Rock Song, 2002, "The Rising"

Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, 2002, "The Rising"

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, 2003, "Disorder in the House" (with Warren Zevon)

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2004, "Code of Silence"

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2005, "Devils & Dust"

Best Traditional Folk Album, 2006, ''The Seeger Sessions: We Shall Overcome''

Best Long Form Music Video, 2006, ''Wings For Wheels: The Making Of Born to Run''

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2007, "Radio Nowhere"

Best Rock Song, 2007, "Radio Nowhere"

Best Rock Instrumental Performance, 2007, "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Best Rock Song, 2008, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes"

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, 2009, "Working on a Dream"

Only one of these awards has been one of the cross-genre "major" ones (Song, Record, or Album of the Year); he has been nominated a number of other times for the majors, but failed to win.

Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "Streets of Philadelphia" in 1994. Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "The Wrestler" in 2009.

Academy Awards

Academy Award for Best Original Song, 1993, "Streets of Philadelphia" from ''Philadelphia''.

Emmy Awards

The ''Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live In New York City'' HBO special won two technical Emmy Awards in 2001.

Other recognition

October 27, 1975: Bruce Springsteen appears simultaneously on the covers of 'Newsweek' and 'Time'

Polar Music Prize in 1997. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1999. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1999. Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, 2007. "Born to Run" named "The unofficial youth anthem of New Jersey" by the New Jersey state legislature; something Springsteen always found to be ironic, considering that the song "is about leaving New Jersey". The minor planet 23990, discovered Sept. 4, 1999, by I. P. Griffin at Auckland, New Zealand, was officially named in his honor. Ranked #23 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazines 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Ranked #36 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazines 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time. Made ''Time'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People Of The Year 2008 list. Won Critic's Choice Award for Best Song with "The Wrestler" in 2009.

Performed at the Super Bowl XLIII half time show.

Kennedy Center Honors, 2009.

Rolling Stone magazine also ranked 8 out of 16 Springsteen's studio albums in their 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time list.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Born to Run and Thunder Road in its 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list, in 21st and 86th, respectively.

Forbes ranked him 6th in The Celebrity 100 in 2009

John Steinbeck Award

Influence

In addition to his noted influence on music in his native New Jersey, Springsteen is also cited as an influence by , Bon Jovi, Arcade Fire, The Gaslight Anthem, The Constantines, The Hold Steady, The National, Kings of Leon, The Killers, U2, Willy DeVille, Johnny Cash',Lady Gaga in his later recordings, and countless others. His songs have been covered by diverse artists such as David Bowie, The Pointer Sisters, John Mayer, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Melissa Etheridge, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Automatic 7, Vampire Weekend, McFly, Tegan and Sara, Damien Jurado, Free Energy, Aimee Mann, Dropkick Murphys, Social Distortion, Rage Against The Machine, Ben Harper, Eric Bachmann, Josh Ritter, Frank Turner, Hank Williams III, Roger_Meddows-Taylor (covered "Racing In The Streets" on Strange Frontier), Madrugada. For Springsteen's influence on academic writers, see "Library of Hope and Dreams":a comprehensive annotated bibliography of published Springsteen scholarship in English. Note, bibliography is indexed by song, album, author and subject keywords.

See also

List of best selling music artists

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

Notes

References

Sources

Alterman, Eric. ''It Ain't No Sin To Be Glad You're Alive : The Promise of Bruce Springsteen''. Little Brown, 1999. ISBN 0-316-03885-7.

Coles, Robert. ''Bruce Springsteen's America: The People Listening, a Poet Singing''. Random House, 2005. ISBN 0-375-50559-8.

Cross, Charles R. ''Backstreets: Springsteen – the man and his music'' Harmony Books, New York 1989/1992. ISBN 0-517-58929-X. Contains 15+ interviews and a complete list of all Springsteen songs including unreleased compositions. Complete lising of all concerts 1965–1990 – most of them with tracklists. Hundreds of previously unreleased high quality color pictures.

Cullen, Jim. ''Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition''. 1997; Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2005. New edition of 1997 study book places Springsteen's work in the broader context of American history and culture. ISBN 0-8195-6761-2

Eliot, Marc with Appel, Mike. ''Down Thunder Road''. Simon & Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-671-86898-5.

Graff, Gary. ''The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z''. Visible Ink, 2005. ISBN 1-57859-151-1.

Guterman, Jimmy. ''Runaway American Dream: Listening to Bruce Springsteen''. Da Capo, 2005. ISBN 0-306-81397-1.

Hilburn, Robert. ''Springsteen''. Rolling Stone Press, 1985. ISBN 0-684-18456-7.

Knobler, Peter with special assistance from Greg Mitchell. "Who Is Bruce Springsteen and Why Are We Saying All These Wonderful Things About Him?", ''Crawdaddy'', March 1973.

Marsh, Dave. ''Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts : The Definitive Biography, 1972–2003''. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-96928-X. (Consolidation of two previous Marsh biographies, ''Born to Run'' (1981) and ''Glory Days'' (1987).)

Wolff, Daniel. ''July 4, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land''. Bloomsbury, 2005. ISBN 1-58234-509-0.

Further reading

''Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band''. Chronicle Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8118-5348-9.

''Days of Hope and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen''. Billboard Books, 2003. ISBN 0-8230-8387-X.

''Racing in the Street: The Bruce Springsteen Reader''. Penguin, 2004. ISBN 0-14-200354-9.

''Runaway American Dream: Listening to Bruce Springsteen''. Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-306-81397-1.

''The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z''. Visible Ink Press, 2005. ISBN 1-57859-157-0.

''Bruce Springsteen: "Talking"''. Omnibus Press, 2004. ISBN 1-84449-403-9.

''The Songs of Bruce Springsteen : 1965-2010"''. by Steve Rowland. printondemand.co.uk, 2011.

''For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans''. LKC Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9784156-0-0.

''Bruce Springsteen on Tour: 1968–2005''. by Dave Marsh Bloomsbury USA, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59691-282-3.

''The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Redemption from Asbury Park to Magic''. by Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz. Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-664-23169-9.

''Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen'' by Rob Kirkpatrick. St. Martin's Griffin, 2009. ISBN 0-312-53380-2.

''Land of Hope and Dreams: Celebrating 25 Years of Bruce Springsteen In Ireland'' by Greg Lewis and Moira Sharkey. Magic Rat Books. ISBN 978-0-9562722-0-1

External links

Bruce Springsteen – official website

Bruce Springsteen at ''Idiomag'' 21 12 10

in 2005

Highlights of Springsteen at Glastonbury 2009.

Bruce Springsteen at NPR Music

"Library of Hope and Dreams":bibliography of published Springsteen scholarship in English.

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Name	Iggy Pop
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	James Newell Osterberg, Jr.
Birth date	April 21, 1947
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums
Genre	Punk rock, protopunk, garage rock, glam punk, shock rock, glam rock, hard rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer, actor
Years active	1960–present
Label	Virgin, RCA, Elektra
Associated acts	The Stooges, The Trolls, The Nymphs, The Iguanas, Slash, David Bowie, Deborah Harry, Blondie, Sum 41
Website	Iggy & The Stooges Official Website }}

Iggy Pop (born James Newell "Jim" Osterberg, Jr.; April 21, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and occasional actor. He is considered an influential innovator of punk rock, hard rock, and other styles of rock music. Pop began calling himself "Iggy" after his first band in high school (for which he was drummer), The Iguanas. He was lead singer/songwriter of influential protopunk band The Stooges and became known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics.

Pop's popularity has ebbed and flowed throughout the course of his solo career. His best-known songs include "Lust for Life", "Real Wild Child", "Candy" (a duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's), "China Girl" and "The Passenger".

Early life

Iggy Pop was born in Muskegon, Michigan, the son of Louella (née Christensen) and James Newell Osterberg, Sr., a former high school English teacher and baseball coach at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. Osterberg was raised in a trailer park in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is of Irish and English descent on his father's side, and of Norwegian and Danish ancestry on his mother's. His father was adopted by a Swedish American family and took on their surname (Österberg).

Music career

Early days: 1960 to 1967

Osterberg began his music career as a drummer in different high school bands in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One band was the Iguanas, from the name of which he adopted his future moniker Iggy. After exploring local blues-style bands such as the Prime Movers (with brothers Dan and Michael Erlewine), he eventually dropped out of the University of Michigan and moved to Chicago to learn more about blues. While in Chicago, he played drums in blues clubs, helped by Sam Lay (formerly of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) who shared his connections with Iggy. Inspired by Chicago blues as well as bands like The Sonics and The MC5, he formed the Psychedelic Stooges and began calling himself Iggy. The band was composed of Iggy on vocals, Ron Asheton on guitar, Asheton's brother Scott on drums, and Dave Alexander on bass.

The Stooges era: 1968 to 1975

The seeds of Iggy Pop's stage persona were sown when he saw The Doors perform in 1967 at the University of Michigan and was amazed by the stage antics and antagonism displayed by singer Jim Morrison. Morrison's extreme behavior, while performing in a popular band, inspired the young Pop to push the boundaries of stage performance. Pop was the first performer to do a stage-dive, which he started at a concert in Detroit. Other exploits of Pop include rolling around in broken glass, exposing himself to the crowd and vomiting on stage.

In 1968, one year after their live debut and now dubbed The Stooges, the band signed with Elektra Records, again following in the footsteps of The Doors, who were Elektra's biggest act at the time (reportedly, Pop called Moe Howard to see if it was alright to call his band "The Stooges," to which Howard responded by merely saying "I don't care what they call themselves, as long as they're not the ''Three'' Stooges!" and hung up the phone). The Stooges' first two albums ''The Stooges'', (on which Iggy was credited, much to his displeasure, as "Iggy Stooge"), produced by John Cale; and ''Fun House'', sold poorly. Shortly after the new members joined, the group disbanded because of Pop's growing heroin addiction.

In 1971, Iggy Pop and David Bowie met at Max's Kansas City, a nightclub and restaurant in New York City. Pop's career received a boost from his relationship with Bowie when Bowie decided in 1972 to produce an album with Pop in England. With James Williamson signed on as guitarist, the search began for a rhythm section. However, since neither Pop nor Bowie was satisfied with any players in England, they decided to re-unite The Stooges. It would not be a true reunion insofar as Dave Alexander, due to alcoholism, was unable to play on the record (he later died in 1975). Also, Ron Asheton grudgingly moved from guitar to bass to make way for Williamson to play guitar. The recording sessions produced the rock landmark ''Raw Power''. After its release Scott Thurston was added to the band on keyboards/electric piano and Bowie continued his support, but Iggy's drug problem persisted. The Stooges' last show ended in a fight between the band and a group of bikers, documented on the album ''Metallic K.O.'' Drug abuse stalled his career again for several years.

Bowie and Berlin: 1976 to 1978

After the second breakup of The Stooges, Iggy Pop made some recordings with James Williamson, but these were not released until 1977 (as ''Kill City'', credited jointly to Iggy Pop and Williamson). Pop was unable to control his drug use and checked himself into a mental institution, UCLA’s neuropsychiatric institute, to try to clean up. David Bowie was one of his few visitors there, and he continued to support his friend and collaborator. It was also rumored that Bowie would smuggle in cocaine to give to Pop. In 1976, Bowie took him along as his companion on the ''Station to Station'' tour. This was Iggy Pop's first exposure to large-scale professional touring and he was impressed, particularly with Bowie's work rate.

Bowie and Pop relocated to West Berlin to wean themselves off their addictions. In 1977, Pop signed with RCA and Bowie helped write and produce ''The Idiot'' and ''Lust for Life,'' Pop's two most acclaimed albums as a solo artist, the latter with another team of brothers, Hunt and Tony Sales, sons of comedian Soupy Sales. Among the songs Bowie and Pop wrote together were "China Girl", "Tonight", and "Sister Midnight", all of which Bowie performed on his own albums later on (the last being recorded with different lyrics as "Red Money" on the album ''Lodger''). Bowie also played keyboards in Pop's live performances, some of which are featured on the album ''TV Eye'' in 1978. In return, Pop contributed backing vocals on Bowie's ''Low''.

The Arista albums: 1979 to 1981

Iggy Pop had grown dissatisfied with RCA, later admitting that he had made ''TV Eye'' as a quick way of fulfilling his three-album RCA contract. He moved to Arista Records, under whose banner he released ''New Values'' in 1979. This album was something of a Stooges reunion, with James Williamson producing and latter-day Stooge Scott Thurston playing guitar and keyboards. Not surprisingly, the album's style harked back to the guitar sound of the Stooges. Although highly regarded by many Iggy fans (some preferring it to the Bowie collaborations), ''New Values'' was not a popular success, despite some strong material including "Five Foot One" and "I'm Bored."

The album was moderately successful in Australia and New Zealand, however, and this led to Iggy Pop's first visit there to promote it. While in Melbourne, he made a memorable appearance on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's nationwide pop show ''Countdown''. During his anarchic performance of ''I'm Bored'', Pop made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was lip-synching, and he even tried to grab the teenage girls in the audience. He was also interviewed by host Ian "Molly" Meldrum, an exchange which was frequently punctuated by the singer jumping up and down on his chair and making loud exclamations of "G'day mate" in a mock Australian accent. His ''Countdown'' appearance is generally considered one of the highlights of the show's history and it cemented his popularity with Australian punk fans; since then he has often toured there. While visiting New Zealand, Iggy Pop recorded a music video for "I'm Bored", and attended a record company function where he appeared to slap a woman and throw wine over a photographer. While in Australia, Iggy Pop was also the guest on a live late-night commercial TV interview show on the Ten Network. It is not known whether a recording of this interview exists, but the famous ''Countdown'' appearance has often been re-screened in Australia.

During the recording of ''Soldier'' (1980), Iggy Pop and Williamson quarrelled over production (the latter apparently wanted a big, Phil Spector-type sound) and Williamson was fired. Bowie appeared on the song ''Play it Safe'', performing backing vocals with the group Simple Minds. The album and its follow-up ''Party'' (1981) were both commercial failures, and Iggy Pop was dropped from Arista. His drug habit varied in intensity, but persisted.

The 1980s

In 1980, Iggy Pop published his autobiography ''I NEED MORE'', co-written with Anne Weher, an Ann Arbor arts patron. The book, which includes a selection of black and white photographs, features a foreword by Andy Warhol. Warhol says that he met Iggy when he was Jim Osterberg, at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1966. "I don't know why he hasn't made it really big," wrote the one Pop artist about the other. "He is so good."

The 1982 album ''Zombie Birdhouse'' on Chris Stein's Animal label, with Stein himself producing, was no more commercially successful than his Arista works, but again, in 1983, Iggy Pop's fortunes changed when David Bowie recorded a cover of the song "China Girl". The song had originally appeared on ''The Idiot'', and was a major hit on Bowie's blockbuster ''Let's Dance'' album. As co-writer of the song, Pop received substantial royalties. On ''Tonight'' in 1984, Bowie recorded two more of their co-written songs, this time from the ''Lust for Life'' album, "Tonight" and "Neighborhood Threat", assuring Iggy Pop financial security, at least for the short term. The support from Bowie enabled Pop to resolve problems and permitted him to take a three-year break during which he overcame his heroin addiction and took acting classes.

Additionally, Iggy Pop contributed the title song to the 1984 film ''Repo Man'' (with Steve Jones, previously of the Sex Pistols, on guitar) as well as an instrumental called "Repo Man Theme" that was played during the opening credits.

In 1985, Pop recorded some demos with Jones. He played these demos to Bowie, who was sufficiently impressed to offer to produce an album for Pop: 1986's New Wave-influenced ''Blah Blah Blah'', featuring the single "Real Wild Child", a cover of "The Wild One" originally written and recorded by Australian rock 'n' roll pioneer Johnny O'Keefe in 1958. The single was a Top 10 hit in the UK and was successful around the world, especially in Australia, where for the last twenty years it has been used as the theme music for the ABC's late-night music video show ''Rage''. It remains Pop's solitary brush with major commercial success. ''Blah Blah Blah'' was Pop's highest-charting album in the U.S. since ''The Idiot'' in 1977, peaking at #75 on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 albums chart.

Also in 1985, the movie ''Rock & Rule'' was released featuring performances by Iggy Pop and Lou Reed for the character Mok. Pop's song in the film was "Pain & Suffering" from the final sequence of the film.

In 1987, Pop appeared (along with Bootsy Collins) on a mostly instrumental album, ''Neo Geo'', by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The music video for "Risky", written and directed by Meiert Avis, won the first ever MTV Breakthrough Video Award. The groundbreaking video explores transhumanist philosopher FM-2030's ideas of ''Nostalgia for the Future'' in the form of an imagined love affair between a robot and one of Man Ray's models in Paris in the late 1930s. Additional inspiration was drawn from Jean Baudrillard, Edvard Munch's 1894 painting ''Puberty'', and Roland Barthes ''Death of the Author''. The surrealist black-and-white video uses stop motion, light painting, and other retro in-camera effects techniques. Meiert Avis shot Sakamoto while at work on the score for ''The Last Emperor'' in London. Sakamoto also appears in the video painting words and messages to an open shutter camera. Iggy Pop, who performs the vocals on "Risky", chose not to appear in the video, allowing his performance space to be occupied by the surrealist era robot.

Pop's follow-up to ''Blah Blah Blah'', ''Instinct'' (1988), was a turnaround in musical direction. Its stripped-back, guitar-based sound leaned further towards the sound of the Stooges than any of his solo albums to date. His record label, which had most likely been expecting another ''Blah Blah Blah'', dropped him. Nevertheless, the ''King Biscuit'' radio show recording of the ''Instinct'' tour (featuring guitarist Andy McCoy and Alvin Gibbs on bass) reaching Boston on July 19, 1988, remains one of punk-rock's most enduring live albums. Working with rock attorney Stann Findelle, Pop scored more movie soundtrack inclusions in 1989, "Living on the Edge of the Night" in the Ridley Scott Michael Douglas thriller, Black Rain and "Love Transfusion" in Wes Craven's Shocker.

The 1990s

In 1990, Pop recorded ''Brick by Brick'', produced by Don Was, with members of Guns N' Roses and The B-52's as guests, as well as backup vocals by many local Hollywood groups, two of whom (Whitey Kirst and Craig Pike) would create his band to tour and perform on his ''Kiss My Blood'' video (1991), directed by world-famous director Tim Pope and filmed at the Olympia in Paris. The video attracted much controversy, as it featured much footage of Pop performing with his penis exposed to the audience. The album was his first Gold-certified album in the U.S. (denoting sales of over 500,000 copies) and featured his first Top 40 U.S. hit, "Candy", a duet with B-52's singer Kate Pierson.

Also in 1990, Pop starred in the controversial opera ''The Manson Family'' by composer John Moran, released on Point Music/Phillip Classics, where he sang the role of prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. That year he was also contributed to the Red Hot Organization's AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Blue project, singing a version of "Well Did You Evah!" in a duet with Deborah Harry.

In 1991, Pop and Kirst contributed the song "Why Was I Born (Freddy's Dead)" to the soundtrack of the film ''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare''. The song also plays over the end credits of the film, with a compilation of clips from the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' series running alongside the end credits.

In 1992, he collaborated with Goran Bregović on the soundtrack for the movie ''Arizona Dream'' by Emir Kusturica. Pop sang four of the songs: ''In the Deathcar'', ''TV Screen'', ''Get the Money'', and ''This is a Film''. Also in 1992, he collaborated with the New York City band White Zombie. He recorded spoken word vocals on the intro and outro of the song "Black Sunshine" as well as playing the character of a writer in the video shot for the song. He is singled out for special thanks in the liner notes of the band's album ''La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1''.

In 1993, Pop released ''American Caesar'', including two successful singles, "Wild America" and "Beside You." The following year Pop contributed to Buckethead's album ''Giant Robot'', including the songs "Buckethead's Toy Store" and "Post Office Buddy". He appears also on the Les Rita Mitsouko album ''Système D'' where he sings the duet "My Love is Bad" with Catherine Ringer.

In 1995, Pop again found mainstream fame when his 1977 song "Lust for Life" was featured in the film ''Trainspotting''. A new video was recorded for the song, with clips from the film and studio footage of Iggy dancing with one of its stars, Ewen Bremner. An Iggy Pop concert also served as a plot point in the film. The song has also been used in TV commercials for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (with many music critics denouncing the usage of the song to promote peppy cruises) and as the theme music to ''The Jim Rome Show'', a nationally-syndicated American sports talk show.

In 1996, Pop released ''Naughty Little Doggie'', with Whitey Kirst returning on guitar, and the single "I Wanna Live". In 1997, he remixed ''Raw Power'' to give it a rougher, more hard-edged sound; fans had complained for years that Bowie's official "rescue effort" mix was muddy and lacking in bass. Pop testified in the reissue's liner notes that on the new mix, "everything's still in the red". He co-produced his 1999 album ''Avenue B'' with Don Was, releasing the single "Corruption." Pop produced 2001's ''Beat 'Em Up'', which gave birth to The Trolls, releasing the single "Football" featuring Trolls alumni Whitey Kirst and brother Alex.

In the early to middle 1990s, Pop would make several guest appearances on the Nickelodeon show ''The Adventures of Pete and Pete''. He played James Mecklenberg, Nona Mecklenberg's father.

The Stooges reunion: 2003 to present

Pop's 2003 album ''Skull Ring'' featured collaborators Sum 41, Green Day, Peaches, and The Trolls, as well as Ron and Scott Asheton, reuniting the three surviving founding members of The Stooges for the first time since 1974. Pop made a guest appearance on Peaches's song ''Kick It'' as well as the video. Also in 2003, his first full-length biography was published. ''Gimme Danger – The Story of Iggy Pop'' was written by Joe Ambrose; Pop did not collaborate on the biography or publicly endorse it. Having enjoyed working with the Ashetons on ''Skull Ring'', Pop reformed The Stooges with bassist Mike Watt (formerly of the Minutemen) filling in for Dave Alexander, and ''Fun House'' saxophonist Steve Mackay rejoining the lineup. They have toured regularly since 2004. That year, Pop opened Madonna's ''Reinvention'' World Tour in Dublin.

Iggy and The Stooges played the Glastonbury Festival in June 2007. Their set included material from the 2007 album ''The Weirdness'' and classics such as "No Fun and "I Wanna Be Your Dog." Pop also caused controversy in June 2007 when he was interviewed on the BBC's coverage of the Glastonbury Festival. He used the phrase "paki shop", prompting three complaints and an apology from the BBC.

On March 10, 2008 Pop appeared at Madonna's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Together with The Stooges he sang raucous versions of two Madonna hits "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light." Before leaving the stage he looked directly at Madonna, quoting "You make me feel shiny and new, like a virgin, touched for the very first time.", from Madonna's hit song "Like A Virgin". According to guitarist Ron Asheton, Madonna asked The Stooges to perform in her place, as a protest to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for not inducting The Stooges despite six appearances on the nomination ballot. Pop also sang on the "No Fun" cover by Asian Dub Foundation on their 2008 album ''Punkara''.

On January 6, 2009, original Stooges guitarist, and Iggy's self-described best friend Ron Asheton, was found dead from an apparent heart attack. He was 60 years old.

In 2009 James Williamson rejoined the band after 29 years.

On December 15, 2009 it was announced that The Stooges will be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2010. Pop had "about two hours of a strong emotional reaction" to the news.

In March 2010 the Stooges and Iggy Pop were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Recent career

Pop supplied vocals for the 1999 Death in Vegas UK Top-10 single ''Aisha''. The same year he appeared on ''Hashisheen, The End Of Law'', a collaborative effort by Bill Laswell, reading on the tracks ''The Western Lands'' and ''A Quick Trip to Alamut''. He also sang on the tracks ''Rolodex Propaganda'' and ''Enfilade'' by At the Drive-In in 2000.

For New Year's Eve 1997, Iggy was the headliner for the annual Australian three-day concert the Falls Festival. He gave one of the most memorable performances in the history of the festival. A member of the audience got to do the countdown for the new year with Pop as part of a competition to guess Pop's new year's resolution. (It was "To do nothing and make a lot of money!")

In 2005 Pop appeared, along with Madonna, Little Richard, Bootsy Collins, and The Roots' Questlove, in an American TV commercial for the Motorola ROKR phone. In early 2006, Iggy and the Stooges played in Australia and New Zealand for the Big Day Out. They also began work on a new album, ''The Weirdness'', which was recorded by Steve Albini and released in March 2007. In August 2006 Iggy and the Stooges performed at the Lowlands pop festival in the Netherlands, Hodokvas in Slovakia and in the Sziget Festival in Budapest.

Author Paul Trynka completed a biography of Iggy Pop (with his blessing) called ''Open Up and Bleed'', published in early 2007. More recently, Iggy and the Stooges played at Bam Margera's wedding and Pop appeared on the single "Punkrocker" with the Teddybears in a Cadillac television commercial. Pop was also the voice of Lil' Rummy on the Comedy Central cartoon ''Lil' Bush'' and confirmed that he has done voices for ''American Dad'' and ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', which also included The Stooges song "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (though the game's manual credited Iggy Pop as the artist).

Pop guested on ''Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)'', the new album by the Bill Laswell-helmed group Praxis, which was released on January 1, 2008.

He fronts (from January 2009) a £25 million TV ad campaign for Swiftcover, using the strapline "Get a Life".

Pop collaborated with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse on the album "Dark Night of the Soul", singing the track ''pain.''

Pop's new solo album, ''Préliminaires'', was released on June 2, 2009. Inspired by a novel by French author Michel Houellebecq (born Michel Thomas) called ''La Possibilité d'une île'' (2005; Trans. as ''The Possibility of an Island'' by Gavin Bowd, 2006), Iggy was approached to provide the soundtrack for a documentary film on Michel and his attempts to make a film from his novel. Iggy's favourite character from Michel's novel is a little white dog named Fox. Iggy describes this new release as a "quieter album with some jazz overtones", the first single off the album, "King of the Dogs", bearing a sound strongly influenced by New Orleans jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. Iggy also admits that it's his response to being "sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music". The album is available on legal download sites, CD, and a Deluxe Boxset is available at only 6000 units worldwide. This boxset contains the ''Préliminaires'' album, a collector "Les Feuilles Mortes" b/w "King Of The Dogs" 7 inch, the cover of which is Iggy's portrait by Marjane Satrapi, and a 38 page booklet of drawings also by Marjane Satrapi.

Iggy sings on "We're All Gonna Die" on Slash's first solo album ''Slash'' which was released in April 2010.

Iggy appeared as a character in the video game Lego Rock Band to sing his song The Passenger and also lent his voice for the in game tutorial.

With reference to the song ''The Passenger, Iggy Pop'' has appeared on NZ television advertising phone networks to show how he can get a band to play together by conference call.

After a March 2010 stage diving accident, Pop claimed he would no longer stage dive. However, he did so on three occasions at a concert in Madrid, Spain on April 30, 2010. And it was much the same in London at the Hammersmith Apollo on May 2, 2010. On July 9, 2010 he again stage dived in Zottegem, Belgium, causing Iggy to bleed from the face.

In June 2010, Iggy Pop appeared at Yonge and Dundas Square in Toronto with the reformed Stooges on the NXNE main stage. The sheer size of the audience closed a central artery of Yonge Street.

In 2011 he teamed up with The Lilies, a collaboration between Sergio Dias of Os Mutantes and French group Tahiti Boy & The Palmtree Family to record the single 'Why?'.

On April 7, 2011, at age 63, Pop performed "Real Wild Child" on the tenth season of American Idol; the ''Los Angeles Times'' music blog "Pop & Hiss" described Pop as being "still magnetic, still disturbing."

Film career

Pop has had a limited career as an actor. He has appeared in sixteen movies, including ''Sid and Nancy'' (a nonspeaking cameo role), ''The Color of Money'', ''Hardware'' (voice only), ''The Crow: City of Angels'', ''The Rugrats Movie'', ''Snow Day'', ''Coffee and Cigarettes'' (opposite Tom Waits, in the third segment of the film, "Somewhere in California"), ''Cry-Baby'', ''Dead Man'', ''Tank Girl'' and ''Atolladero'', a Spanish science fiction Western. Pop also sings the main theme for ''Atolladero'', he is the voice of The Beast From Another Dimension in the cult animated film ''Rock & Rule'' and also sings its song, "Pain and Suffering".

He has been featured in five television series, including ''Tales from the Crypt'',''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'', where he played Nona's dad in the second and third season, and ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', in which he played Yelgrun in "The Magnificent Ferengi" episode. With The Stooges, he was also featured in an episode of MTV's Bam's Unholy Union as the main band performing at Bam's wedding. Additionally, a portion of the music video for Iggy's ''Butt Town'' was featured on an episode of ''Beavis and Butthead''.

Pop has been profiled in four rockumentaries and has had songs on eighteen soundtracks, including ''Crocodile Dundee 2'', ''Trainspotting'', ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'', ''Haggard'', ''Arizona Dream'', the main theme of ''Repo Man'', "Black Rain" and "Shocker" (1989) and ''Kurt Cobain: About a Son''.

In the movie ''Velvet Goldmine'', Ewan McGregor portrays Curt Wilde, a character loosely based on Iggy Pop. McGregor performs Pop's songs "TV Eye" and "Gimme Danger" in the film.

Pop voiced Lil' Rummy on the Comedy Central show ''Lil' Bush''.

Iggy Pop played himself as the DJ of the fictional rock station Liberty Rock Radio 97.8 in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

Pop provided the voice for a character in the English language version of the 2007 animated film ''Persepolis''.

Iggy Pop also voiced a cameo in the ''American Dad!'' episode ''American Dream Factory'' as Jerry, the drummer, in Steve's band.

Iggy makes an appearance in the 2008 feature documentary by Nik Sheehan about Brion Gysin and the Dreamachine entitled 'FLicKeR'.

In 2008, Iggy's music was featured in a movie adaption of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel ''Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance''.

In January 2009, Iggy was signed up as the face of Swiftcover, the UK-based online insurance company. The advert was then banned by the Advertising Standards Authority on April 28, 2009 for being misleading – it implied that Iggy Pop himself had an insurance policy with Swiftcover when at the time the company did not insure musicians.

Iggy Pop featured along side indie starlet Greta Gerwig (Noah Baumbach's Greenberg, Baghead, Nights and Weekends) in the film "Art House" which will world premiere at the Nashville Film Festival in April 2010.

Iggy Pop also featured as a voice talent in the 2004 ATARI video game DRIV3R, which was produced by Reflections Interactive.

In 2010, the Stooges song "Search and Destroy" was featured in the Lost: Final Chapter episode 04, The Substitute.

Iggy's cover of the Richard Berry song ''Louie Louie'' is used during the opening credits of Michael Moore's 2009 film ''Capitalism: A Love Story''

Iggy was also referenced in ''The Venture Brothers'' Episode ''Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)'' and ''Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II)'' alongside ''Klaus Nomi'' as the bodyguards to ''The Sovereign'' who is in fact ''David Bowie'', Iggy along with Klaus who defect to ''Phantom Limb'' who then tries to kill David Bowie with a large glowing ball that he can summon at will to kill people on the command "POP!" He was quoted as saying to him before he kills him, "Too long have I been made to play the idiot, now you're going to be MY DOG!"

In the Super Mario Bros. video game series, the character, Iggy Koopa was named after him.

Future biopic

''The Passenger'' was the putative name for a biopic about Pop's early career with the Stooges. The film was to be directed by Nick Gomez, and Elijah Wood was to play Iggy Pop. , the project appears to be shelved.

Pop liked the script but refused to take part in the film. He said:

The script ain't chopped liver... It was a work of art. But subjectively, I don't want to be involved in any way. A producer and the writer sent me a very decent letter, and asked me to write back if I didn't want them to do it... I don't feel negative about it at all.

He also called Wood "a very poised and talented actor".

Classical scholarship

In 1995, an established journal of classical scholarship, ''Classics Ireland'', published Pop's reflections on the applicability of Edward Gibbon's ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' to the modern world in a short article, ''Caesar Lives'', (Vol. 2, 1995). Pop also relates how reading Gibbon while on tour in the Southern United States inspired him to a spontaneous soliloquy he called "Caesar".

Discography

Albums

With The Stooges

1969 – ''The Stooges''

1970 – ''Fun House

1973 – ''Raw Power''

2007 – ''The Weirdness''

With James Williamson

1977 – ''Kill City''

Solo

1977 – ''The Idiot''

1977 – ''Lust for Life''

1979 – ''New Values''

1980 – ''Soldier''

1981 – ''Party''

1982 – ''Zombie Birdhouse''

1986 – ''Blah Blah Blah''

1988 – ''Instinct''

1990 – ''Brick by Brick''

1993 – ''American Caesar''

1996 – ''Naughty Little Doggie''

1999 – ''Avenue B''

2001 – ''Beat 'Em Up''

2003 – ''Skull Ring''

2009 – ''Préliminaires''

2011 – ''Angle of the Dangle''

Personal life

Pop lives in the Cayman Islands. He has one son, Eric Benson. He was married twice: to Wendy Weissberg (for several weeks in 1968, the marriage was annulled shortly thereafter) and to Suchi Asano (1985–1999).

Further Reading/Info

References

External links

Iggy & The Stooges Official Website

http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/music/clips/2806/ (Iggy Pop's infamous 1977 interview with Peter Gzowski, from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's archive)

Video of Iggy Pop collaboration with Sergio Dias (Os Mutantes) + Tahiti Boy & the Palmtree Family

Category:1947 births Category:Actors from Michigan Category:American people of Danish descent Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:Kerrang! Awards winners Category:Living people Category:Virgin Records artists Category:American rock singers Category:American punk rock singers Category:Musicians from Michigan Category:Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan Category:People from Muskegon, Michigan Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Protopunk musicians Category:The Stooges members Category:University of Michigan alumni

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alt	A mid-twenties African American man wearing a sequined military jacket and dark sunglasses. He is walking while waving his right hand, which is adorned with a white glove. His left hand is bare.
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Joseph Jackson
alias	Michael Joe Jackson, MJ, King of Pop
birth date	August 29, 1958
birth place	Gary, Indiana, U.S.
death date	June 25, 2009
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
instrument	Vocals
genre	R&B;, pop, rock, soul, dance, funk, disco, new jack swing
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, composer, dancer, choreographer, record producer, actor, businessman, philanthropist
years active	1964–2009
label	Motown, Epic, Legacy
associated acts	The Jackson 5
relatives	Janet Jackson (sister)
website	}}

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5, then the Jacksons in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style have influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B;, pop and rock artists.

Jackson's 1982 album ''Thriller'' is the best-selling album of all time. His other records, including ''Off the Wall'' (1979), ''Bad'' (1987), ''Dangerous'' (1991), and ''HIStory'' (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll. Some of his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award); 26 American Music Awards (more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century"); 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era); and the estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide. Jackson won hundreds of awards, which have made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.

Life and career

Early life and The Jackson 5 (1958–1975)

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, the eighth of ten children in an African American working-class family who lived in a small 3-room house in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city near Chicago. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B; band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy. A sixth brother, Brandon, died shortly after birth.

Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.

The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.

Move to Epic and ''Off the Wall'' (1975–81)

In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time, while Jermaine left to pursue a solo career. In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B; Album, Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B; Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". That year, he also won Billboard Year-End for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Jackson again won at the American Music Awards in 1981 for Favorite Soul/R&B; Album and Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist. Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt ''Off the Wall'' should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release. In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.

''Thriller'' and ''Motown 25'' (1982–83)

In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''; the record won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1984. In the same year he won another seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards (including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it), making him the most awarded in one night for both award shows. The album topped the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." ''Thriller'' was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. The album won also another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work. Thanks to the ''Bad'' album, Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica won one Grammy in 1988 for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Michael Jackson won one Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" in 1989. ''HIStory'' received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. However, the sales for ''Invincible'' were lower than those of his previous releases, due in part to a lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute. The album also came out at a bad time for the music industry in general. Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most of these rehearsals took place at the Staples Center, which was owned by AEG. With ''Thriller'', Christopher Connelly of ''Rolling Stone'' commented that Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted this is evident on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers. In "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the media. "Beat It" decried gang violence in an homage to ''West Side Story'', and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey. He also observed that the title track "Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he revisited in subsequent years. In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity anthem "We Are the World"; humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona. ;Bibliography

George, Nelson (2004). ''Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection'' booklet. Sony BMG.

Further reading

External links

Michael Jackson Live: Best Pics – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Michael Jackson at MTV

FBI file on Michael Jackson

Category:1958 births Category:2009 deaths Category:African American dancers Category:African American male singers Category:African American record producers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American beatboxers Category:American businesspeople Category:American child singers Category:American choreographers Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American disco musicians Category:American male singers Category:American boogie musicians Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rock singers Category:American soul singers Category:American tenors Category:American vegetarians Category:Boy sopranos Category:Brit Award winners Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Child pop musicians Category:Drug-related deaths in California Category:English-language singers Category:Epic Records artists Category:Expatriates in Bahrain Category:Former Jehovah's Witnesses Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Legend Award Michael Jackson Category:Manslaughter victims Category:Motown artists Category:Musicians from Indiana Category:People acquitted of sex crimes Category:People from Gary, Indiana Category:People from Santa Barbara County, California Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters from Indiana Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Michael Jackson Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Young Artist Award winners

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name	Elizabeth Taylor
birth name	Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
birth date	February 27, 1932
birth place	, England
death date	March 23, 2011
death place
death cause	Congestive heart failure
restingplace	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
other names	Liz Taylor
occupation	Actress, social activist
years active	1942–2003
nationality	British-American
religion	}}

| spouse = | children = | parents = | relations = Howard Taylor (older brother) | awards = List }} Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. As one of the world's most famous film stars, Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty and distinctive violet eyes.

''National Velvet'' (1944) was Taylor's first success, and she starred in ''Father of the Bride'' (1950), ''A Place in the Sun'' (1951), ''Giant'' (1956), ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1958), and ''Suddenly, Last Summer'' (1959). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''BUtterfield 8'' (1960), played the title role in ''Cleopatra'' (1963), and married her co-star Richard Burton. They appeared together in 11 films, including ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966), for which Taylor won a second Academy Award. From the mid-1970s, she appeared less frequently in film, and made occasional appearances in television and theatre.

Her much publicized personal life included eight marriages and several life-threatening illnesses. From the mid-1980s, Taylor championed HIV and AIDS programs; she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1993. She received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Legion of Honour, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, who named her seventh on their list of the "Greatest American Screen Legends". Taylor died of congestive heart failure in March 2011 at the age of 79, having suffered many years of ill health.

Early life

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born at Heathwood, her parents' home at 8 Wildwood Road in Hampstead Garden Suburb, a northwestern suburb of London; the younger of two children of Francis Lenn Taylor (1897–1968) and Sara Viola Warmbrodt (1895–1994), who were Americans residing in England. Taylor's older brother, Howard Taylor, was born in 1929. Her parents were originally from Arkansas City, Kansas. Francis Taylor was an art dealer, and Sara was a former actress whose stage name was "Sara Sothern". Sothern retired from the stage in 1926 when she married Francis in New York City. Taylor's two first names are in honor of her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Mary (Rosemond) Taylor.

Colonel Victor Cazalet, one of their closest friends, had an important influence on the family. He was a rich, well-connected bachelor, a Member of Parliament and close friend of Winston Churchill. Cazalet loved both art and theater and was passionate when encouraging the Taylor family to think of England as their permanent home. Additionally, as a Christian Scientist and lay preacher, his links with the family were spiritual. He also became Elizabeth's godfather. In one instance, when she was suffering with a severe infection as a child, she was kept in her bed for weeks. She "begged" for his company: "Mother, please call Victor and ask him to come and sit with me."

Biographer Alexander Walker suggests that Elizabeth's conversion to Judaism at the age of 27 and her life-long support for Israel, may have been influenced by views she heard at home. Walker notes that Cazalet actively campaigned for a Jewish homeland, and her mother also worked in various charities, which included sponsoring fundraisers for Zionism. Her mother recalls the influence that Cazalet had on Elizabeth: }}

A dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States, she was born British, through her birth on British soil and an American citizen through her parents. She reportedly sought, in 1965, to renounce her United States citizenship, to wit: "Though never accepted by the State Department, Elizabeth renounced in 1965. Attempting to shield much of her European income from U.S. taxes, Elizabeth wished to become solely a British citizen. According to news reports at the time, officials denied her request when she failed to complete the renunciation oath, refusing to say that she renounced "all allegiance to the United States of America."

At the age of three, Taylor began taking ballet lessons. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, her parents decided to return to the United States to avoid hostilities. Her mother took the children first, arriving in New York in April 1939, while her father remained in London to wrap up matters in his art business, arriving in November. They settled in Los Angeles, California, where her father established a new art gallery, which included many paintings he shipped from England. The gallery would soon attract numerous Hollywood celebrities who appreciated its modern European paintings. According to Walker, the gallery "opened many doors for the Taylors, leading them directly into the society of money and prestige" within Hollywood's movie colony.

Acting career

Child actress

Soon after settling in Los Angeles, Taylor's mother discovered that Hollywood people "habitually saw a movie future for every pretty face." Some of her mother's friends, and even total strangers, urged her to have Taylor screen tested for the role of Bonnie Blue, Scarlett's child in ''Gone with the Wind'', then being filmed. Her mother refused the idea, as a child actress in film was alien to her. And in any regard, they would return to England after the war. thumb|left| As a child actress, circa 1942 Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper introduced the Taylors to Andrea Berens, the fiancée of John Cheever Cowdin, chairman and major stockholder of Universal Pictures. Berens insisted that Sara take Taylor to see Cowden who, she assured, would be dazzled by her breathtaking beauty. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer also became interested in Taylor, and MGM head Louis B. Mayer reportedly told his producer, "Sign her up, sign her up! What are you waiting for?" As a result, she soon had both Universal and MGM willing to place her under contract. When Universal learned that MGM was equally interested, however, Cowden telephoned Universal from New York: "Sign her up, he ordered, don't even wait for the screen test." Universal then gave her a seven-year contract.

Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in ''There's One Born Every Minute'' (1942), her only film for Universal. After less than a year, however, the studio fired Taylor for unknown reasons. Some speculate that she did not live up to Cowden's promise. Walker believes that Taylor's intuition told her "she wasn't really welcome at Universal." She learned, for instance, that her casting director complained, "The kid has nothing," after a test. Even her beautiful eyes—they were a deep blue that appeared violet and stunned those who met her in person, with a mutation that gave Taylor double eyelashes—did not impress him: "Her eyes are too old, she doesn't have the face of a child," he said. But Walker admits that "this was not so far off the mark as it may appear now." He explains: }}

Taylor herself remembers that when she was a child in England, adults used to describe her as having an "old soul," because, as she says, "I was totally direct." She also recognized similar traits in her baby daughter:

Taylor's father served as an air raid warden with MGM producer Sam Marx, and learned that the studio was searching for an English actress for a Lassie film. Taylor received the role and was offered a long-term contract at the beginning of 1943. She chose MGM because "the people there had been nicer to her when she went to audition," Taylor recalled. MGM's production chief, Benny Thau, was to remain the "only MGM executive" she fully trusted during subsequent years, because, writes Walker, "he had, out of kindly habit, made the gesture that showed her she was loved." Thau remembered her as a "little dark-haired beauty...[with] those strange and lovely eyes that gave the face its central focus, oddly powerful in someone so young." MGM, in addition, was considered a "glamorous studio," boasting that it had "more stars than there are in heaven." Before Taylor's mother would sign the contract, however, she sought certainty that Taylor had a "God-given talent" to become an actress. Walker describes how they came to a decision: }}

Adolescent star

MGM cast Taylor in ''Lassie Come Home'' (1943) with child star Roddy McDowall, with whom she would share a lifelong friendship. He later recalled regarding her beauty, "who has double eyelashes except a girl who was absolutely born to be on the big screen?" The film received favorable attention for both actors, and MGM signed Taylor to a conventional seven-year contract starting at $100 a week and with regular raises. Her first assignment under her new contract was a loan-out to 20th Century Fox for the character of Helen Burns in a film version of the Charlotte Brontë novel ''Jane Eyre'' (1944). Taylor returned to England to appear in another McDowall picture for MGM, ''The White Cliffs of Dover'' (1944).

Taylor's persistence in seeking the role of Velvet Brown in MGM's ''National Velvet'' made her a star at the age of 12. Her character is a young girl who trains her beloved horse to win the Grand National. ''Velvet'', which costarred fellow young actor Mickey Rooney and English newcomer Angela Lansbury, became a great success upon its release in December 1944. Many years later Taylor called it "the most exciting film" she had ever made, although the film caused many of her later back problems due to her falling off a horse during filming.

Viewers and critics "fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor when they saw her in it." Walker explains why the film was popular: }}

''Velvet'' grossed over US$4 million and MGM signed Taylor to a new long-term contract. Because of the movie's success she was cast in another animal film, ''Courage of Lassie'' (1946), in which Bill the dog outsmarts the Nazis. The film's success led to another contract for Taylor paying her $750 per week. Her roles as Mary Skinner in a loan-out to Warner Brothers' ''Life With Father'' (1947), Cynthia Bishop in ''Cynthia'' (1947), Carol Pringle in ''A Date with Judy'' (1948), and Susan Prackett in ''Julia Misbehaves'' (1948) were all successful. Taylor received a reputation as a consistently successful adolescent actress, with a nickname of "One-Shot Liz" (referring to her ability to shoot a scene in one take) and a promising career. Taylor's portrayal of Amy in the American classic ''Little Women'' (1949) was her last adolescent role.

Transition into adult roles

The teenage Taylor was reluctant to continue making films. Her stage mother forced Taylor to relentlessly practice until she could cry on cue and watched her during filming, signaling to change her delivery or a mistake. Taylor met few others her age on movie sets, and was so poorly educated that she needed to use her fingers to do basic arithmetic. When at age 16 Taylor told her parents that she wanted to quit acting for a normal childhood, however, Sara Taylor told her that she was ungrateful: "You have a responsibility, Elizabeth. Not just to this family, but to the country now, the whole world".

In October 1948, Taylor sailed aboard the to England to begin filming ''Conspirator''. Unlike some other child actors, Taylor made an easy transition to adult roles. Before ''Conspirator'' 1949 release, a ''TIME'' cover article called her "a jewel of great price, a true star sapphire", and the leader among Hollywood's next generation of stars such as Montgomery Clift, Kirk Douglas, and Ava Gardner. The petite Taylor had the figure of a mature woman, with a 19" waist. ''Conspirator'' failed at the box office, but 16-year-old Taylor's portrayal of a 21-year-old debutante who unknowingly marries a communist spy played by 38-year-old Robert Taylor, was praised by critics for her first adult lead in a film. Taylor's first picture under her new salary of $2,000 per week was ''The Big Hangover'' (1950), both a critical and box office failure, that paired her with screen idol Van Johnson. The picture also failed to present Taylor with an opportunity to exhibit her newly realized sensuality.

Her first box office success in an adult role came as Kay Banks in the romantic comedy ''Father of the Bride'' (1950), alongside Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. The film spawned a sequel, ''Father's Little Dividend'' (1951), which Taylor's costar Spencer Tracy summarized with "boring… boring… boring". The film did well at the box office, but it would be Taylor's next picture that would set the course for her career as a dramatic actress.

In late 1949, Taylor had begun filming George Stevens' ''A Place in the Sun''. Upon its release in 1951, Taylor was hailed for her performance as Angela Vickers, a spoiled socialite who comes between George Eastman (Clift) and his poor, pregnant factory-working girlfriend Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). The film, based on Theodore Dreiser's novel, ''An American Tragedy,'' was an indictment of "the American dream" and its corrupting influences, notes biographer Kitty Kelley.

Although Taylor, then only 17, was unaware of the psychological implications of the story and its powerful nuances, it became the pivotal performance of Taylor's career. Kelley explains that Stevens, its director, knew that with Elizabeth Taylor as the young and beautiful star, the "audience would understand why George Eastman (Clift) would kill for a place in the sun with her." Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, allowed on the set to watch the filming, became "wide-eyed watching the little girl from ''National Velvet'' seduce Montgomery Clift in front of the camera," writes Kelley. When the scene was over, Hopper went to her, "Elizabeth, where on earth did you ever learn how to make love like that?"

Critics acclaimed the film as a classic, a reputation it sustained throughout the next 50 years of cinema history. ''The New York Times'' A.H. Weiler wrote, "Elizabeth's delineation of the rich and beauteous Angela is the top effort of her career", and the ''Boxoffice'' reviewer unequivocally stated "Miss Taylor deserves an Academy Award".

Taylor became increasingly unsatisfied with the roles being offered to her at the time. While she wanted to play the lead roles in ''The Barefoot Contessa'' and ''I'll Cry Tomorrow'', MGM continued to restrict her to mindless and somewhat forgettable films such as: a cameo as herself in ''Callaway Went Thataway'' (1951), ''Love Is Better Than Ever'' (1952), ''Ivanhoe'' (1952), ''The Girl Who Had Everything'' (1953) and ''Beau Brummel'' (1954). She had wanted to play the role of Lady Rowena in ''Ivanhoe'', but the part was given to Joan Fontaine; Taylor was given the role of Rebecca. When Taylor became pregnant with her first child, MGM forced her through ''The Girl Who Had Everything'' (even adding two hours to her daily work schedule) so as to get one more film out of her before she became too heavily pregnant. Taylor lamented that she needed the money, as she had just bought a new house with second husband Michael Wilding and with a child on the way things would be pretty tight. Taylor had been forced by her pregnancy to turn down ''Elephant Walk'' (1954), though the role had been designed for her. Vivien Leigh, almost two decades Taylor's senior, but to whom Taylor bore a striking resemblance, got the part and went to Ceylon to shoot on location. Leigh suffered a nervous breakdown during filming, and Taylor reclaimed the role after the birth of her child, Michael Wilding, Jr., in January 1953.

Taylor's next screen endeavor, ''Rhapsody'' (1954), another tedious romantic drama, proved equally frustrating. Taylor portrayed Louise Durant, a beautiful rich girl in love with a temperamental violinist (Vittorio Gassman) and an earnest young pianist (John Ericson). A film critic for the ''New York Herald Tribune'' wrote: "There is beauty in the picture all right, with Miss Taylor glowing into the camera from every angle… but the dramatic pretenses are weak, despite the lofty sentences and handsome manikin poses."

Taylor's fourth period picture, ''Beau Brummell'', made just after ''Elephant Walk'' and ''Rhapsody'', cast her as the elaborately costumed Lady Patricia, which many felt was only a screen prop—a ravishing beauty whose sole purpose was to lend romantic support to the film's title star, Stewart Granger. ''The Last Time I Saw Paris'' (1954) fared only slightly better than her previous pictures, with Taylor being reunited with ''The Big Hangover'' costar Van Johnson. The role of Helen Ellsworth Willis was based on that of Zelda Fitzgerald and, although pregnant with her second child, Taylor went ahead with the film, her fourth in 12 months. Although proving somewhat successful at the box office, she still yearned for more substantial roles.

1955–79

Following a more substantial role opposite Rock Hudson and James Dean in George Stevens' epic ''Giant'' (1956), Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress four years in a row for ''Raintree County'' (1957) opposite Montgomery Clift; ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1958) opposite Paul Newman; ''Suddenly, Last Summer'' (1959) with Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn and Mercedes McCambridge; and finally winning for ''BUtterfield 8'' (1960). The film co-starred then husband Eddie Fisher and ended her contract, which Taylor said had made her an "MGM chattel" for 18 years.

''Suddenly, Last Summer'''s success made Taylor among the top ten most successful actors at the box office, and she remained in the top ten almost every year for the next decade. In 1960, Taylor became the highest paid actress up to that time when she signed a $1 million dollar contract to play the title role in 20th Century Fox's lavish production of ''Cleopatra'', which was released in 1963. During the filming, she began a romance with her future husband Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony in the film. The romance received much attention from the tabloid press, as both were married to other spouses at the time. Taylor ultimately received $7 million for her role.

Her second Academy Award, also for Best Actress in a Leading Role, was for her performance as Martha in ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966), playing opposite then husband Richard Burton. Taylor and Burton would appear together in six other films during the decade, among them ''The V.I.P.s'' (1963), ''The Sandpiper'' (1965), and ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1967). By 1967 their films had earned $200 million at the box office. When Taylor and Burton considered not working for three months, the possibility caused alarm in Hollywood as "nearly half of the U.S. film industry's income" came from movies starring one or both of them. Their next films ''Doctor Faustus'' (1967), ''The Comedians'' (1967) and ''Boom!'' (1968), however, all failed at the box office.

Taylor appeared in John Huston's ''Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967) opposite Marlon Brando (replacing Clift, who died before production began) and ''Secret Ceremony'' (1968) opposite Mia Farrow. By the end of the decade her box-office drawing power had considerably diminished, as evidenced by the failure of ''The Only Game in Town'' (1970), with Warren Beatty.

Although limited by a "thin and inflexible voice", Taylor continued to star in numerous theatrical films throughout the 1970s, such as ''Zee and Co.'' (1972) with Michael Caine, ''Ash Wednesday'' (1973), ''The Blue Bird'' (1976) with Jane Fonda and Ava Gardner, and ''A Little Night Music'' (1977). With then-husband Richard Burton, she co-starred in the 1972 films ''Under Milk Wood'' and ''Hammersmith Is Out'', and the 1973 made-for-TV movie ''Divorce His, Divorce Hers''.

1980–2003

Taylor starred in the 1980 mystery film ''The Mirror Crack'd'', based on an Agatha Christie novel. In 1985, she played movie gossip columnist Louella Parsons in the TV film ''Malice in Wonderland'' opposite Jane Alexander, who played Hedda Hopper. Taylor appeared in the miniseries ''North and South''. Her last theatrical film was 1994's ''The Flintstones''.

In February 1996, she appeared on the TV program, ''The Nanny'' as herself, and the star of the show, Fran, identifies her to a friend by using all of her husbands' names, stating that she would be meeting "Elizabeth Taylor-Hilton-Wilding-Todd-Fisher-Burton-Burton-Warner-Fortensky." In 2001, she played an agent in the TV film ''These Old Broads''. She appeared on a number of television series, including the soap operas ''General Hospital'' and ''All My Children'', as well as the animated series ''The Simpsons''—once as herself, and once as the voice of Maggie Simpson, uttering one word, "Daddy".

Taylor also acted on the stage, making her Broadway and West End debuts in 1982 with a revival of Lillian Hellman's ''The Little Foxes''. She was then in a production of Noël Coward's ''Private Lives'' (1983), in which she starred with her former husband, Richard Burton. The student-run Burton Taylor Theatre in Oxford was named for the famous couple after Burton appeared as Doctor Faustus in the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) production of the Marlowe play. Taylor played the ghostly, wordless Helen of Troy, who is entreated by Faustus to "make [him] immortal with a kiss".

In the early 1980s, Taylor moved to Bel Air, Los Angeles, which was her residence until her death. She also owned homes in Palm Springs, London and Hawaii.

2003–11

In March 2003, Taylor declined to attend the 75th Annual Academy Awards, due to her opposition to the Iraq War. She publicly condemned then President George W. Bush for calling on Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq, and said she feared the conflict would lead to "World War III".

The February 2007 issue of ''Interview'' magazine was devoted entirely to Taylor. It celebrated her life, career and her upcoming 75th birthday.

On December 1, 2007, Taylor acted on-stage again, appearing opposite James Earl Jones in a benefit performance of the A. R. Gurney play ''Love Letters''. The event's goal was to raise $1 million for Taylor's AIDS foundation. Tickets for the show were priced at $2,500, and more than 500 people attended. The event happened to coincide with the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike and, rather than cross the picket line, Taylor requested a "one night dispensation." The Writers Guild agreed not to picket the Paramount Pictures lot that night to allow for the performance.

Personal life

Marriages, romances, and children

thumb|Taylor with daughter Liza and husband Mike Todd, 1957Taylor was married eight times to seven husbands. When asked why she married so often, she replied, "I don't know, honey. It sure beats the hell out of me," but also said that, "I was taught by my parents that if you fall in love, if you want to have a love affair, you get married. I guess I'm very old-fashioned." Taylor's husbands were: Conrad "Nicky" Hilton (May 6, 1950 – January 29, 1951): Taylor believed that she was in love with the young hotel heir, but also wanted to escape her mother. MGM staff designed Taylor's wedding dress and honeymoon outfits. Hilton's "gambling, drinking, and abusive behavior", however, horrified her and her parents, caused a miscarriage, and ended the marriage in divorce after nine months. Michael Wilding (February 21, 1952 – January 26, 1957): The "gentle" Wilding, 20 years older than Taylor, comforted her after leaving Hilton. After their divorce Taylor admitted that "I gave him rather a rough time, sort of henpecked him and probably wasn't mature enough for him." Michael Todd (February 2, 1957 – March 22, 1958): Todd's death ended Taylor's only marriage not to result in divorce. Although their relationship was tumultuous, she later called him one of the three loves of her life, along with Burton and jewelry. Eddie Fisher (May 12, 1959 – March 6, 1964): Fisher, Todd's best friend, consoled Taylor after Todd's death. They began an affair while Fisher was still married to Debbie Reynolds, causing a scandal; Taylor outraged columnist Hopper by telling her, "Well, Mike is dead and I'm alive...What do you expect me to do? ''Sleep alone''?" Reynolds eventually forgave Taylor; she voted for her when Taylor was nominated for an Oscar for ''BUtterfield 8'', and starred with her in ''These Old Broads''. Richard Burton (March 15, 1964 – June 26, 1974): The Vatican condemned Burton and Taylor's affair, which began when both were married to others, as "erotic vagrancy". The press closely followed their relationship before, during, and after their ten years of marriage, due to great public interest in "the most famous film star in the world and the man many believed to be the finest classical actor of his generation." Taylor wanted to focus on her marriage rather than her career, and gained weight in an unsuccessful attempt to not receive film roles. Richard Burton (October 10, 1975 – July 29, 1976): Sixteen months after divorcing—Burton said, "You can't keep clapping a couple of sticks [of dynamite] together without expecting them to blow up"—they remarried in a private ceremony in Kasane, Botswana, but soon separated and redivorced in 1976. Burton disagreed with others about her famed beauty, acknowledging her "wonderful eyes" but saying that calling her "the most beautiful woman in the world is absolute nonsense. She has...a double chin and an overdeveloped chest, and she's rather short in the leg." He stated, however, that when he first saw Taylor in 1952, "She was unquestionably gorgeous. I can think of no other word to describe a combination of plentitude, frugality, abundance, tightness. She was lavish. She was a dark unyielding largesse. She was, in short, too bloody much." John Warner (December 4, 1976 – November 7, 1982): As with Burton, Taylor sought to be known as the wife of her husband, a Republican United States Senator from Virginia. Unhappy with her life in Washington, however, Taylor became depressed and entered the Betty Ford Clinic. Larry Fortensky (October 6, 1991 – October 31, 1996): Taylor and Fortensky met during another stay at the Betty Ford Clinic and were married at the Neverland Ranch.

Taylor had many romances outside her marriages. Before marrying Hilton she was engaged to both Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis—who did not know until the relationship ended that Taylor's mother had encouraged it to build publicity for her daughter—and the son of William D. Pawley, the United States Ambassador to Brazil. Howard Hughes promised Taylor's parents that if they would encourage her to marry him, the enormously wealthy industrialist and film producer would finance a movie studio for her; Sara Taylor agreed, but Taylor refused. After she left Hilton, Hughes returned, proposing to Taylor by suddenly landing a helicopter nearby and sprinkling diamonds on her. Other dates included Frank Sinatra, Henry Kissinger, and Malcolm Forbes. In 2007, Taylor denied rumors of a ninth marriage to her partner Jason Winters, but referred to him as "one of the most wonderful men I've ever known."

Taylor had two sons, Michael Howard (born January 6, 1953) and Christopher Edward (born February 27, 1955), with Michael Wilding. She had a daughter, Elizabeth Frances "Liza" (born August 6, 1957), with Michael Todd. During her marriage to Eddie Fisher, Taylor started proceedings to adopt a two-year-old girl from Germany, Maria (born August 1, 1961); the adoption process was finalized in 1964 following their divorce. Richard Burton later adopted Taylor's daughters Liza and Maria.

In 1971, Taylor became a grandmother at the age of 39. At the time of her death, she was survived by her four children, ten grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Religion and identity

In 1959, at age 27, after nine months of study, Taylor converted from Christian Science to Judaism, taking the Hebrew name Elisheba Rachel. She stated that her conversion was something she had long considered and was not related to her marriages. After Mike Todd's death, Taylor said that she "felt a desperate need for a formalized religion," and explained that neither Catholicism nor Christian Science were able to address many of the "questions she had about life and death."

Biographer Randy Taraborrelli notes that after studying the philosophy of Judaism for nine months, "she felt an immediate connection to the faith." Although Taylor rarely attended synagogue, she stated, "I'm one of those people who think you can be close to God anywhere, not just in a place designed for worship . . . " At the conversion ceremony, with her parents present as witnesses and in full support of her decision, Taylor repeated the words of Ruth:

. . . for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.

Taylor was a follower of Kabbalah and a member of the Kabbalah Centre.

During an interview when she was 55, she describes how her inner sense of identity, when a child actress, kept her from giving in to many of the studio's demands, especially with regard to altering her appearance to fit in:

She adds that she began to recognize her "inner being" during her adulthood:

Jewelry, perfume and fashion

Taylor had a passion for jewelry, stating that "You can't cry on a diamond's shoulder, and diamonds won't keep you warm at night, but they're sure fun when the sun shines". At her death, Taylor's jewelry collection was reportedly worth $150 million. She was a client of jewelry designer Shlomo Moussaieff. Over the years she owned a number of well-known pieces, two of the most famous being the Krupp Diamond, which Taylor wore daily, and the pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond; both were among many gifts from husband Richard Burton. Taylor also owned the La Peregrina Pearl, purchased by Burton as a Valentine's Day present in 1969. The pearl was formerly owned by Mary I of England, and Burton sought a portrait of Queen Mary wearing the pearl. Upon the purchase of such a painting, the Burtons discovered that the British National Portrait Gallery did not have an original painting of Mary, so they donated the painting to the Gallery. Her enduring collection of jewelry has been documented in her book ''My Love Affair with Jewelry'' (2002) with photographs by the New York photographer John Bigelow Taylor.

At her death Taylor left an estate estimated at $600 million to $1 billion; beyond the $150 million in jewelry, she owned $130 million in real estate. Taylor was a pioneer in marketing a celebrity merchandise brand, and despite her years as an actress, most of Taylor's wealth came from her business ventures. She designed fine jewelry for The Elizabeth Collection, and launched three perfumes, "White Diamonds", "Passion", and "Passion for Men", which together had an estimated US$69 million in 2010 sales.

Taylor was a fashion icon during her years as an active film star. In addition to her own purchases, MGM costumers Edith Head and Helen Rose helped Taylor choose clothes that emphasized her face, chest, and waist. Taylor helped popularize Valentino and Halston's designs, and in the 1980s Schering-Plough developed violet contact lenses, citing Taylor's eyes as inspiration.

Activism

HIV/AIDS

Taylor devoted consistent and generous humanitarian time, advocacy efforts, and funding to HIV and AIDS-related projects and charities, helping to raise more than $270 million for the cause. She was one of the first celebrities and public personalities to do so at a time when few acknowledged the disease, organizing and hosting the first AIDS fundraiser in 1984, to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles.

Taylor was cofounder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) with Dr. Michael Gottlieb and Dr. Mathilde Krim in 1985. Her longtime friend and former co-star Rock Hudson had disclosed having AIDS and died of it that year. She also founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) in 1993, created to provide critically needed support services for people with HIV/AIDS. For example, in 2006 Taylor commissioned a "Care Van" equipped with examination tables and xray equipment, the New Orleans donation made by her Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and Macy's. That year, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, she also donated US$40,000 to the NO/AIDS Task Force, a non-profit organization serving the community of those affected by HIV/AIDS in and around New Orleans.

Taylor was honored with a special Academy Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1992 for her HIV/AIDS humanitarian work. Speaking of that work, former President Bill Clinton said at her death, "Elizabeth's legacy will live on in many people around the world whose lives will be longer and better because of her work and the ongoing efforts of those she inspired."

Jewish causes

After her conversion to Judaism, Taylor worked for Jewish causes throughout her life. In 1959, her large-scale purchase of Israeli Bonds caused Arab boycotts of her films. In 1962, she was barred from entering Egypt to complete ''Cleopatra''; its government announced that "that Miss Taylor will not be allowed to come to Egypt because she has adopted the Jewish faith and 'supports Israeli causes.'" In 1974, Taylor and Richard Burton considered marrying in Israel, but could not because Burton was not Jewish. Taylor helped to raise money for organizations such as the Jewish National Fund; advocated for the right of Soviet Jews to emigate to Israel and canceled a visit to the USSR because of its condemnation of Israel due to the Six-Day War; signed a letter protesting the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 of 1975; and offered herself as a replacement hostage during the 1976 Entebbe skyjacking.

Illnesses and death

Taylor struggled with health problems much of her life; starting with her divorce from Hilton, Taylor experienced serious medical issues whenever she faced problems in her personal life. Taylor was hospitalized more than 70 times and had at least 20 major operations. Many times newspaper headlines erroneously announced that Taylor was close to death; she herself only claimed to have almost died on four occasions.

At 5'4", Taylor constantly gained and lost significant amounts of weight, reaching both 119 pounds and 180 pounds in the 1980s. She smoked cigarettes into her mid-fifties, and feared she had lung cancer in October 1975 after an X-ray showed spots on her lungs, but was later found not to have the disease. Taylor broke her back five times, had both her hips replaced, had a hysterectomy, suffered from dysentery and phlebitis, punctured her esophagus, survived a benign brain tumor operation in 1997 and skin cancer, and faced life-threatening bouts with pneumonia twice, one in 1961 requiring an emergency tracheotomy. In 1983 she admitted to having been addicted to sleeping pills and painkillers for 35 years. Taylor was treated for alcoholism and prescription drug addiction at the Betty Ford Clinic for seven weeks from December 1983 to January 1984, and again from the autumn of 1988 until early 1989.

On May 30, 2006, Taylor appeared on ''Larry King Live'' to refute the claims that she had been ill, and denied the allegations that she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and was close to death. Near the end of her life, however, she was reclusive and sometimes failed to make scheduled appearances due to illness or other personal reasons. She used a wheelchair and when asked about it stated that she had osteoporosis and was born with scoliosis.

The mutation that gave Taylor her striking double eyelashes may also have contributed to her history of heart trouble. In November 2004, Taylor announced a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, a progressive condition in which the heart is too weak to pump sufficient blood throughout the body, particularly to the lower extremities such as the ankles and feet. In 2009 she underwent cardiac surgery to replace a leaky valve. In February 2011, new symptoms related to heart failure caused her to be admitted into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment, where she remained until her death at age 79 on March 23, 2011, surrounded by her four children.

She was buried in a private Jewish ceremony, presided over by Rabbi Jerry Cutler, the day after she died, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Taylor is entombed in the Great Mausoleum, where public access to her tomb is restricted. At her request, the funeral began 15 minutes after it was scheduled to begin; as her representative told the media "She even wanted to be late for her own funeral."

Legacy

Taylor has been called the "greatest movie star of all," writes biographer William J. Mann. A child star at the age of 12, she soon after launched into public awareness by MGM and a string of successful films, many of which are today considered "classics." Her resulting celebrity made her into a Hollywood icon, as she set the "gold standard" for Hollywood fame, and "created the model for stardom," adds Mann.

Other observers, such as social critic Camille Paglia, similarly describe Taylor as "the greatest actress in film history," partly as a result of the "liquid realm of emotion" she expressed on screen. Paglia describes the effect Taylor had in some of her films:

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Taylor had a major role in sparking the sexual revolution of the 1960s, as she pushed the envelope on sexuality: She was one of the first major stars to pose (mostly) nude in ''Playboy,'' and among the first to remove her clothes onscreen. In ''A Place in the Sun'', filmed when she was 17, her surprising maturity shocked Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, who wrote of her precocious sexuality. Film historian Andrew Sarris describes her love scenes in the film with Montgomery Clift as "unnerving—sybaritic—like gorging on chocolate sundaes."

In real life, she was considered "a star without airs," notes Mann. Writer Gloria Steinem likewise described her as a "movie queen with no ego . . . expert at what she does, uncatty in her work relationships with other actresses." Mike Nichols, who directed her in ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966), said that of all the actors he’s worked with, Taylor had the "most democratic soul." Mann adds that she treated electricians and studio crew the "same way she would a Rothschild at a charity gala." Director George Cukor told Taylor that she possessed "that rarest of virtues—simple kindness."

Awards and honors

Taylor won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for her performance in ''BUtterfield 8'' in 1960, and for ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' in 1966. Additionally, she received the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Academy Award in 1992 for her work fighting AIDS.

In 1997, Taylor was honored by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) with the Life Achievement Award. As Taylor could not be in attendance, Gregory Peck read the following statement on her behalf:

Taylor received the French Legion of Honour in 1987, and in 2000 was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 2001, she received a Presidential Citizens Medal for her humanitarian work, most notably for helping to raise more than $200 million for AIDS research and bringing international attention and resources to addressing the epidemic. Taylor was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2007.

Books

Taylor was the subject of at least 53 books as of 2006; Kitty Kelley wrote the first unauthorized biography of the actress in 1981, which Taylor denounced. She never wrote a comprehensive autobiography due to her desire for privacy, but did publish several books besides ''My Love Affair with Jewelry''. Taylor's first, ''Nibbles and Me'' (1946), discussed the child star's "adventures with her pet chipmunk". Reviewers criticized another, ''Elizabeth Taylor'' (1964), for being uninteresting and lacking in new information. She received a $750,000 advance payment for ''Elizabeth Takes Off: On Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Self-Image and Self-Esteem'' (1988).

Filmography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF)

"60 Minutes" interview (1970) video, 10 minutes

"Carroll Baker on Elizabeth Taylor", video, 2 minutes

Elizabeth Taylor: Unpublished Pics – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Elizabeth Taylor Resource Extensive biography, separate entries for each film, TV, stage, news archive, photographs, etc.

Elizabeth Taylor photo tribute at Flickr

FBI file on Elizabeth Taylor

American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR)

Kennedy Center bio. for Elizabeth Taylor

Literature on Elizabeth Taylor

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af:Elizabeth Taylor als:Elizabeth Taylor ar:إليزابيث تايلور an:Elizabeth Taylor ast:Elizabeth Taylor az:Elizabet Teylor bn:এলিজাবেথ টেইলর zh-min-nan:Elizabeth Taylor be:Элізабет Тэйлар be-x-old:Элізабэт Тэйлар bjn:Elizabeth Taylor bcl:Elizabeth Taylor bs:Elizabeth Taylor bg:Елизабет Тейлър ca:Elizabeth Taylor ceb:Elizabeth Taylor cs:Elizabeth Taylorová cy:Elizabeth Taylor da:Elizabeth Taylor de:Elizabeth Taylor et:Elizabeth Taylor el:Ελίζαμπεθ Τέιλορ es:Elizabeth Taylor eo:Elizabeth Taylor eu:Elizabeth Taylor fa:الیزابت تیلور fo:Elizabeth Taylor fr:Elizabeth Taylor ga:Elizabeth Taylor gl:Elizabeth Taylor ko:엘리자베스 테일러 hy:Էլիզաբեթ Թեյլոր hr:Elizabeth Taylor io:Elizabeth Taylor id:Elizabeth Taylor is:Elizabeth Taylor it:Elizabeth Taylor he:אליזבת טיילור jv:Elizabeth Taylor kn:ಎಲಿಜ಼ಬೆತ್ ಟೇಲರ್ ka:ელიზაბეთ ტეილორი ku:Elizabeth Taylor la:Elisabetha Rosamunda Taylor lv:Elizabete Teilore lb:Elizabeth Taylor lt:Elizabeth Taylor ln:Elizabeth Taylor hu:Elizabeth Taylor mk:Елизабет Тејлор ml:എലിസബത്ത് ടൈലർ mr:एलिझाबेथ टेलर mzn:الیزابت تیلور ms:Elizabeth Taylor my:အဲလိဇဘက်တေလာ mrj:Тейлор, Элизабет nl:Elizabeth Taylor ne:एलिजाबेथ टेलर ja:エリザベス・テイラー no:Elizabeth Taylor nn:Elizabeth Taylor oc:Elizabeth Taylor pl:Elizabeth Taylor pt:Elizabeth Taylor ro:Elizabeth Taylor qu:Elizabeth Taylor ru:Тейлор, Элизабет sq:Elizabet Tejlor simple:Elizabeth Taylor sl:Elizabeth Taylor sr:Елизабет Тејлор sh:Elizabeth Taylor fi:Elizabeth Taylor sv:Elizabeth Taylor tl:Elizabeth Taylor ta:எலிசபெத் டெய்லர் te:ఎలిజబెత్ టేలర్ th:เอลิซาเบธ เทย์เลอร์ tg:Елизабет Тайлор tr:Elizabeth Taylor uk:Елізабет Тейлор vi:Elizabeth Taylor war:Elizabeth Taylor yi:עליזעבעט טעילער yo:Elizabeth Taylor zh-yue:伊利沙伯泰萊 zh:伊丽莎白·泰勒