Cover of the first English edition of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, 1793

An autobiography (from the Greek, αὐτός-autos self + βίος-bios life + γράφειν-graphein to write) is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.

Origin of the term[link]

The word autobiography was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical the Monthly Review, when he suggested the word as a hybrid but condemned it as 'pedantic'; but its next recorded use was in its present sense by Robert Southey in 1809.^[1] The form of autobiography however goes back to antiquity. Biographers generally rely on a wide variety of documents and viewpoints; an autobiography, however, may be based entirely on the writer's memory. Closely associated with autobiography (and sometimes difficult to precisely distinguish from it) is the form of memoir.

See also: List of autobiographies and Category:Autobiographies for examples.

Autobiography through the ages[link]

The classical period: Apologia, oration, confession[link]

In antiquity such works were typically entitled apologia, purporting to be self-justification rather than self-documentation. John Henry Newman's autobiography (first published in 1864) is entitled Apologia Pro Vita Sua in reference to this tradition.

The pagan rhetor Libanius (c. 314–394) framed his life memoir (Oration I begun in 374) as one of his orations, not of a public kind, but of a literary kind that could be read aloud in privacy.

Augustine (354–430) applied the title Confessions to his autobiographical work, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau used the same title in the 18th century, initiating the chain of confessional and sometimes racy and highly self-critical, autobiographies of the Romantic era and beyond.

In the spirit of Augustine's Confessions is the 12th-century Historia Calamitatum of Peter Abelard, outstanding as an autobiographical document of its period. The first autobiographical work in Islamic society was written in the late 11th century, by Abdallah ibn Buluggin, last Zirid king of Granada.

Early autobiographies[link]

A scene from the Baburnama.

In the 15th century, Leonor López de Córdoba, a Spanish noblewoman, wrote her Memorias, which may be the first autobiography in Castillian.

Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur,who founded the Mughal dynasty of South Asia kept a journal Bāburnāma (Chagatai/Persian: بابر نامہ‎; literally: "Book of Babur" or "Letters of Babur") which was written between 1493 and 1529.

One of the first great autobiographies of the Renaissance is that of the sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571), written between 1556 and 1558, and entitled by him simply Vita (Italian: Life). He declares at the start: "No matter what sort he is, everyone who has to his credit what are or really seem great achievements, if he cares for truth and goodness, ought to write the story of his own life in his own hand; but no one should venture on such a splendid undertaking before he is over forty."^[2] These criteria for autobiography generally persisted until recent times, and most serious autobiographies of the next three hundred years conformed to them.

Another autobiography of the period is De vita propria, by the Italian physician and astrologer Gerolamo Cardano (1574).

The earliest known autobiography in English is the early 15th-century Booke of Margery Kempe, describing among other things her pilgrimage to the Holy Land and visit to Rome. The book remained in manuscript and was not published until 1936.

Notable English autobiographies of the 17th century include those of Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1643, published 1764) and John Bunyan (Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, 1666).

Memoirs[link]

A memoir is slightly different in character from an autobiography. While an autobiography typically focuses on the "life and times" of the writer, a memoir has a narrower, more intimate focus on his or her own memories, feelings and emotions. Memoirs have often been written by politicians or military leaders as a way to record and publish an account of their public exploits. One early example is that of Leonor López de Córdoba (1362–1420) who wrote what is supposed to be the first autobiography in Spanish. The English Civil War (1642–1651) provoked a number of examples of this genre, including works by Sir Edmund Ludlow and Sir John Reresby. French examples from the same period include the memoirs of Cardinal de Retz (1614–1679) and the Duc de Saint-Simon 2001/2010.

18th and 19th centuries[link]

Notable 18th-century autobiographies in English include those of Edward Gibbon and Benjamin Franklin. Following the trend of Romanticism, which greatly emphasised the role and the nature of the individual, and in the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, a more intimate form of autobiography, exploring the subject's emotions, came into fashion. An English example is William Hazlitt's Liber Amoris (1823), a painful examination of the writer's love-life.

With the rise of education, cheap newspapers and cheap printing, modern concepts of fame and celebrity began to develop, and the beneficiaries of this were not slow to cash in on this by producing autobiographies. It became the expectation—rather than the exception—that those in the public eye should write about themselves—not only writers such as Charles Dickens (who also incorporated autobiographical elements in his novels) and Anthony Trollope, but also politicians (e.g. Henry Brooks Adams), philosophers (e.g. John Stuart Mill), churchmen such as Cardinal Newman, and entertainers such as P. T. Barnum. Increasingly, in accordance with romantic taste, these accounts also began to deal, amongst other topics, with aspects of childhood and upbringing—far removed from the principles of "Cellinian" autobiography.

Nature of autobiography[link]

Autobiographical works are by nature subjective. The inability—or unwillingness—of the author to accurately recall memories has in certain cases resulted in misleading or incorrect information. Some sociologists and psychologists have noted that autobiography offers the author the ability to recreate history.^[3]

Versions of the autobiography form[link]

Autobiographies as critiques of totalitarianism[link]

Victims and opponents of totalitarian regimes have been able to present striking critiques of these regimes through autobiographical accounts of their oppression. Among the more renowned of such works are the writings of Primo Levi, one of many personal accounts of the Shoah. Similarly, there are many works detailing atrocities and malevolence of Communist regimes (e.g., Nadezhda Mandelstam's Hope against Hope).

Sensationalist and celebrity "autobiographies"[link]

From the 17th century onwards, "scandalous memoirs" by supposed libertines, serving a public taste for titillation, have been frequently published. Typically pseudonymous, they were (and are) largely works of fiction written by ghostwriters.

So-called "autobiographies" of modern professional athletes and media celebrities—and to a lesser extent about politicians, generally written by a ghostwriter, are routinely published. Some celebrities, such as Naomi Campbell, admit to not having read their "autobiographies".^{[citation needed]}

Autobiographies of the non-famous[link]

Until recent years, few people without some genuine claim to fame wrote or published autobiographies for the general public. With the critical and commercial success in the United States of such memoirs as Angela’s Ashes and The Color of Water, however, more and more people have been encouraged to try their hand at this genre.

Fake autobiographies[link]

This trend has also encouraged fake autobiographies, particularly those associated with 'misery lit,' where the writer has allegedly suffered from being a part of a dysfunctional family, or from social problems, or political repression. A notorious recent example is Fragments (1995) by 'Binjamin Wilkomirski'(Bruno Grosjean).

Fictional autobiography[link]

The term "fictional autobiography" has been coined to define novels about a fictional character written as though the character were writing their own biography, of which Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, is an early example. Charles Dickens' David Copperfield is another such classic, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a well-known modern example of fictional autobiography. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is yet another example of fictional autobiography, as noted on the front page of the original version. The term may also apply to works of fiction purporting to be autobiographies of real characters, e.g., Robert Nye's Memoirs of Lord Byron.

See also[link]

Biography portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Autobiography

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Barros, Carolyn (1998). Autobiography: Narrative of Transformation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 
• Buckley, Jerome Hamilton (1994). The Turning Key: Autobiography and the Subjective Impulse Since 1800. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 
• Lejeune, Philippe (1989). On Autobiography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 
• Olney, James (1998). Memory & Narrative: The Weave of Life-Writing. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 
• Pascal, Roy (1960). Design and Truth in Autobiography. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 
• Reynolds, Dwight F., ed. (2001). Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press. 
• Wu, Pey-Yi (1990). The Confucian's Progress: Autobiographical Writings in Traditional China. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 

Ashlee Simpson
Simpson at the Paris Hilton: Marquee The Star Sydney 2012
Background information
Birth name	Ashley Nicolle Simpson[1]
Also known as	Ashlee Simpson-Wentz
Born	(1984-10-03) October 3, 1984 (age 27) Waco, Texas, United States
Origin	Richardson, Texas
Genres	Pop, pop rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Geffen
Website	ashleesimpsonmusic.com

Ashlee Nicole Simpson (born October 3, 1984)^[2] is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in 2004 with the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography. Her reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show, aired for two seasons. Following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released her second number-one album, I Am Me (2005). Simpson assumed creative control over her third album, Bittersweet World (2008).

Biography[link]

1984–2003: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Simpson was born in Waco, Texas^[3] and raised in the Richardson area of Texas. She is the daughter of Tina Ann (née Drew), a homemaker, and Joe Truett Simpson, a former psychologist and Baptist youth minister who works as Simpson's agent. Simpson has an older sister, Jessica, who is also a singer and actress. She attended the same schools as her sister, Prairie Creek Elementary and Richardson North Junior High.

In 1987, when Simpson was three years old, she began studying classical ballet. Simpson enrolled at the School of American Ballet in New York City in 1995, a year in advance.^[4][5][6] During this time, Simpson suffered from an eating disorder for about six months but received treatment from her parents.^[7] Tina and Joe Simpson made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles, California for Jessica's singing career in 1999. Subsequently, Ashlee was cast in television commercials.^[8]

Eventually, Simpson made appearances in films and television series, including Malcolm in the Middle (2001), a minor role in The Hot Chick (2002), and a recurring role on the family drama series 7th Heaven (2002, 2003, and 2004).^[9] In the summer of 2003, she worked as a video personality for MTV. Occasionally, Simpson appeared on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, a reality show documenting the married life of her sister Jessica and her former husband, Nick Lachey.

[edit] 2004–05: Autobiography, The Ashlee Simpson Show, and SNL controversy

Following the success of her sister Jessica's first album, Ashlee became one of her backup dancers. Simpson recorded a song entitled "Christmas Past, Present and Future" in 2002 for the holiday album School's Out! Christmas, which was later re-released on Radio Disney Jingle Jams in 2004 and 2005. In the summer of 2003, she released a song called "Just Let Me Cry" for the soundtrack to the film Freaky Friday. After her appearances on the School's Out! Christmas and Freaky Friday albums, Simpson signed a record deal with Geffen Records. Her first album, Autobiography, debuted at number one in the United States in July 2004, with first-week sales of around 398,000 copies. The album was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA in September 2004. Simpson co-wrote all of the album's tracks, describing it as "very true to my emotions",^[10] however, critical reviews were mixed.^[11] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Relic characterised the album as a "mundane melange of Avril-ish brat pop and Sheryl Crow cod rock."^[12] The single which preceded the album, "Pieces of Me", was one of the biggest hits of the summer in the United States and was certified gold by the RIAA. The follow-up singles, "Shadow" and "La La", were less successful, although the latter became an RIAA-certified gold seller. At the Teen Choice Awards on August 8, 2004, Simpson received the "Song of the Summer" Teen Choice Award for "Pieces of Me", as well as the "Fresh Face" Award.^[13] She also won the Billboard Award for New Female Artist of the Year in December,^[14] and in the same month, Entertainment Weekly named her one of its Breakout Stars of 2004.^[15]

Jessica and Ashlee Simpson in Seoul, Korea in May 2010

As an accompaniment to her debut album, Autobiography, and to create interest in the beginning of her own music career, she filmed and appeared on her own reality television series, The Ashlee Simpson Show, which aired in the time slot following Newlyweds. It ran in the United States for eight weekly episodes over the summer of 2004 (a second season of 10 episodes aired from January to March 2005). The show dealt with the processes of writing, recording and performing Simpson's music, as well as aspects of her personal life. Simpson had a supporting role as an aspiring actress named Clea in Undiscovered. While her performance was met with indifference,^[16][17] the film itself was panned by critics^[18] and failed to reach the top 10 in its opening weekend,^[19] earning just $676,048 during its theatrical run. Her performance in the film earned her a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

Simpson appeared as a musical guest on the October 23, 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live, where she was scheduled to perform two songs, "Pieces of Me" and "Autobiography". When she began singing "Autobiography", the vocals for "Pieces of Me" were heard again before Simpson had the microphone to her mouth. She began to do an impromptu jig when she realized the embarrassing error, and then left the stage. During the closing of the show, Simpson appeared with the guest host, Jude Law, and said, "I'm so sorry. My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown."^[20] On October 25, Simpson called in to the music video show Total Request Live and explained that due to complications arising from severe acid reflux disease, she had completely lost her voice and been advised not to sing by her doctor. She said that because of the acid reflux, her father wanted her to use a vocal guide track for the performance. During the performance her drummer hit the wrong button, which caused the wrong track to be played. Simpson said of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself."^[21]

[edit] 2005–06: I Am Me

Simpson at a Grammy party in 2008

On January 4, 2005, Simpson performed "La La" at the halftime show for the 2005 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. After her performance, many of the 72,000-plus spectators booed. Some viewers noted that Kelly Clarkson had performed in the show earlier to a much more positive reaction, and asserted that Simpson's performance was poor and very off-key.^{[22][23][24][25]} After the Orange Bowl performance, an internet petition was created at PetitionOnline.com, which requested that Simpson stop producing music. It soon became one of the most active of the site's petitions.^[26] In regards to the negativity towards her, Simpson said, "That's cool. You don't always have to be a fan of everybody's music", adding that she receives a great amount of support from her fans.^[27] Around the time of the petition, Cosmopolitan chose Simpson to be on the cover of their February 2005 issue, naming her the "Fun Fearless Female of the Year".^[28] Simpson's first North American tour ran from mid-February to late April 2005.^[29] The tour was described as "stripped down" without pyrotechnics.^[30] As well as material from Autobiography, Simpson performed her own unreleased song "Hollywood", The Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket", Blondie's "Call Me" and Madonna's "Burning Up".

Simpson's second album, I Am Me, was released on October 18, 2005. She wanted to incorporate the feel of music from the 1980s on the album, and unlike with her debut, she wanted to focus less on relationships and more on herself.^[31] The album debuted at number-one, selling around 220,000 copies in its first week;^[32] as of 2008, it had sold 944,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[33] Its lead single, "Boyfriend", became a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 while Simpson's next two singles, "L.O.V.E." and "Invisible" (a track not featured on the album), reached the top 40. Simpson began a concert tour in late September in Portland, Oregon and appeared on the October 8, 2005 episode of SNL to promote the album. The first song she performed on the show was "Catch Me When I Fall", a ballad written about her previous SNL experience, and she thanked the crowd after her second performance. In mid-December, Simpson collapsed after performing in Japan, and was briefly hospitalized, consequently cancelling an appearance at the Radio Music Awards. The collapse and her subsequent hospitalization were attributed to exhaustion as a result of her busy work schedule.^[34]

In March 2006, Simpson won an MTV celebrity surfing invitational competition, which also featured celebrities such as Meagan Good, Jack Osbourne, Ashley Parker Angel and Tony Hawk. On April 12, 2006, she hosted and performed at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, where she won "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Video" for the single "Boyfriend".^[35] She began a summer tour on June 5, 2006, with Ashley Parker Angel as the opening act.^[36] Simpson said that after the completion of the tour, she would look at film scripts and continue her acting career.^[37] Simpson was cast as Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago from September 25 to October 28, 2006. She received mostly positive reviews.^[38] Her performance in the show was described as "dazzling and near flawless."^[39] During this time, she began dating Peter Wentz.^[40]

[edit] 2007–10: Bittersweet World, marriage, and motherhood

During 2007, Simpson recorded her third studio album, Bittersweet World^[41] with producers Timbaland, Kenna, and Chad Hugo.^[42] She described the album as being influenced by 1980s music—bearing similarities with I Am Me—while still incorporating elements of rock and pop and described her intention to go on tour to support the album.^[43] Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair said in December 2006 that working on Simpson's next album would be "very tricky" because of press scrutiny and "prejudices", but that Geffen would work with her to overcome that, "because she deserves to be heard and she deserves a shot."^[44] Bittersweet World was released in the United States on April 22, 2008 to mixed reviews.^[45] The album's first single, the Timbaland-produced "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)", was released as a digital download in December 2007,^[43] but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Little Miss Obsessive", was released in March 2008 and performed marginally better, reaching number 96 on the Hot 100.^[46] Bittersweet World has sold 126,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[47]

Simpson, pictured with former husband Peter Wentz in 2008. She divorced Wentz in 2011.

In April 2008, Simpson and Wentz confirmed their engagement.^[48] They married^[49] at Simpson's parents' residence in Encino, California, where her father officiated the ceremony. Two weeks later, she confirmed her pregnancy. Her surname changed from Simpson to Wentz and she was briefly known professionally as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.^[50] Simpson gave birth to their first child, Bronx Mowgli Wentz, on November 20, 2008.^[51] She appeared alongside Wentz in the crime drama series CSI: NY in 2009.

Simpson returned full-time to television episodes by playing the role of Violet Foster in Melrose Place, the CW's revamp of the '90s series of the same name.^[52] She was originally signed to the show as a regular, but producers and CW executives decided to write out her character. Simpson left the show after 12 episodes and stated that she had known all along that her character would leave the show once the murder mystery storyline had concluded.^[53][54] After her departure from Melrose Place, Simpson reprised her role in the Broadway musical production of Chicago. She began her Broadway run on November 30, 2009 and performed in New York for eight shows a week until February 7, 2010.^[55]

2011–present: Fourth studio album[link]

On February 9, 2011, Simpson filed for divorce from Wentz, citing irreconcilable differences. She requested joint legal custody with visitation for Wentz, but sole physical custody and spousal support. She also asked that her name be restored to her birth name of Ashlee Nicole Simpson.^[56] Their divorce was finalized on November 22, 2011.^[57][58]

In an interview with Paper, Simpson stated that her fourth album would have a "folk feel".^[59][60] On the June 23, 2011 episode of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Ryan Seacrest confirmed that Simpson had held meetings with record executives alongside previous collaborator John Shanks to plan the exact direction of her next album.^[61]

Musical influences and public image[link]

When Simpson first broke onto the music scene in 2004, she was set apart from her sister's already established image due to a different music style, different fashion choices, and a more assertive personality. Simpson's songs have been characterized by rock elements absent from her sister's music, and, particularly during her early career, Simpson would often wear outfits highlighting a rock or punk-influenced sense of style. She cites her childhood as being the time when she began to sing, and admits that she dreamed of being on Broadway and did not expect to break into the pop music scene.^[62] She trains with a vocal coach, and studies Etta James and Aretha Franklin albums for vocal inspiration.^[63] She has cited Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, Joan Jett, The Runaways, Madonna, Pat Benatar, Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Chrissie Hynde, and Debbie Harry from Blondie as her musical influences.^[64]

Simpson had a nose job in April 2006. In the May 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar, she said that she was not insecure about her appearance and had not been beforehand. She said that plastic surgery was a "personal choice" that one should only decide to do for oneself and not for others.^[65] In a September 2007 interview, her father, Joe Simpson said of the surgery: "There was a real problem with her breathing and that was cured".^[66] In mid-2006, Simpson gave an interview to Marie Claire magazine, in which she was said to have "had it with Hollywood's twisted view of feminine beauty" and was photographed painting a pro-female mural with a group of underprivileged girls from Los Angeles' Green Dot Public School.^[67] By the time the magazine hit newsstands, Simpson had already had her nose job, and some Marie Claire readers complained that this was hypocritical. The magazine received over 1,000 letters of complaint and the magazine's new editor expanded the letters section of the September issue of the magazine to give readers a chance to vent their frustrations.^[68][69]

Simpson launched a collection of tops in partnership with the clothing retailer Wet Seal on April 22, 2008, the same day Bittersweet World was released.^[70] She also began appearing in commercials for Canadian retailer Zellers to promote their independent clothing line, Request, in mid-2008.^[71] Simpson appeared on the second episode of The CW's America's Next Top Model, Cycle 17 as a guest judge. She created a fashion line aimed at girls aged 7–16 in collaboration with her sister's successful brand. Simpson is the co-creative director of the line, which was released in the winter of 2011.^[72]

Filmography[link]

Theater[link]

Discography[link]

• Autobiography (2004)
• I Am Me (2005)
• Bittersweet World (2008)

Awards and nominations[link]

See also[link]

Dallas portal

• List of Ashlee Simpson concert tours

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ashlee Simpson

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ashlee Simpson

	Book: Ashlee Simpson
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Official website
• Ashlee Simpson on Twitter
• Ashlee Simpson at the Internet Movie Database

David Suzuki
Suzuki in 2009
Born	David Takayoshi Suzuki (1936-03-24) March 24, 1936 (age 76) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Residence	Kitsilano, Vancouver, Canada
Citizenship	Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Signature

David Suzuki, CC, OBC (born March 24, 1936) is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001. Since the mid-1970s, Suzuki has been known for his TV and radio series and books about nature and the environment. He is best known as host of the popular and long-running CBC Television science magazine, The Nature of Things, seen in over forty nations. He is also well known for criticizing governments for their lack of action to protect the environment.

A long time activist to reverse global climate change, Suzuki co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990, to work "to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us." The Foundation's priorities are: oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy, sustainability, and Suzuki's Nature Challenge. He also served as a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from 1982-1987.

Suzuki was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2009.

Early life[link]

Suzuki has a twin sister named Marcia, as well as two other siblings, Geraldine (now known as Aiko) and Dawn. They were born to Setsu Nakamura and Kaoru Carr Suzuki in Vancouver, Canada. Suzuki's maternal and paternal grandparents had immigrated to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century from Hiroshima and Aichi Prefecture respectively.^[1]

A third-generation Japanese-Canadian ("Canadian Sansei"), Suzuki and his family suffered internment in British Columbia during the Second World War from when he was there (1942) until after the war ended. In June 1942, the government sold the Suzuki family's dry-cleaning business, then interned Suzuki, his mother, and two sisters in a camp at Slocan in the British Columbia Interior.^[2] His father had been sent to a labour camp in Solsquinternment camp.

After the war, Suzuki's family, like other Japanese Canadian families, were forced to move east of the Rockies. The Suzukis moved to Islington, Leamington, and London, Ontario. Suzuki, in interviews, has many times credited his father for having interested him in and sensitized him to nature.

Suzuki attended Mill Street Elementary School and Grade 9 at Leamington Secondary School before moving to London, where he attended London Central Secondary School, eventually winning the election to become Students' Council President in his last year there by more votes than all of the other candidates combined.

Academic career[link]

Suzuki received his BA from Amherst College of Massachusetts in 1958, and his Ph.D in Zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961.

Early in his research career he studied genetics, using the popular model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). To be able to use his initials in naming any new genes he found, he studied dominant temperature-sensitive phenotypes (DTS). (As he jokingly noted at a lecture at Johns Hopkins University, the only alternative was "damn tough skin".) He was a professor in the genetics department (stated in his book Genethics: The Ethics of Engineering Life, 1988) at the University of British Columbia for almost forty years (from 1963 until his retirement in 2001), and has since been professor emeritus at a university research institute.^[3]

Broadcasting career[link]

Suzuki in 2006

Suzuki began in television in 1970 with the weekly children's show Suzuki on Science. In 1974, he founded the radio program Quirks and Quarks which he also hosted on CBC AM radio (the forerunner of CBC Radio One) from 1975 to 1979. Throughout the 1970s, he also hosted Science Magazine, a weekly program geared towards an adult audience.

Since 1979, Suzuki has hosted The Nature of Things, a CBC television series that has aired in nearly fifty countries worldwide.^[4] In this program, Suzuki's aim is to stimulate interest in the natural world, to point out threats to human well-being and wildlife habitat, and to present alternatives for achieving a more sustainable society. Suzuki has been a prominent proponent of renewable energy sources and the soft energy path.

Suzuki was the host of the critically acclaimed 1993 PBS series The Secret of Life.^[5] His 1985 hit series, A Planet for the Taking, averaged more than 1.8 million viewers per episode and earned him a United Nations Environment Programme Medal. His perspective in this series is summed up in his statement: "We have both a sense of the importance of the wilderness and space in our culture and an attitude that it is limitless and therefore we needn't worry." He concludes with a call for a major "perceptual shift" in our relationship with nature and the wild.

Suzuki's The Sacred Balance, a book first published in 1997 and later made into a five hour mini-series on Canadian public television, was broadcasted in 2002.^[6][7] Suzuki is now taking part in an advertisement campaign with the tagline "You have the power", promoting energy conservation through various household alternatives, such as the use of compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

For the Discovery Channel Suzuki also produced "Yellowstone to Yukon: The Wildlands Project" in 1997. The conservation-biology based documentary focused on Dave Foreman's Wildlands Project, which considers how to create corridors between and buffer-zones around large wilderness reserves as a means to preserve biological diversity. Foreman developed this project after leaving Earth First! (which he co-founded) in 1990. The conservation biologists Michael Soulé and Reed Noss were also directly involved.

Climate change activism[link]

At the 2007 Global Day of Action event in Vancouver, B.C.. The sign in the background refers to the Greater Vancouver Gateway Program.

In recent years, Suzuki has been a forceful spokesperson on global climate change, not always without controversy. In February 2008, he urged McGill University students to speak out against politicians who fail to act on climate change, stating "What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there's a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they're doing is a criminal act."^[8][9]

Suzuki is unequivocal that climate change is a very real and pressing problem and that an "overwhelming majority of scientists" now agree that human activity is responsible. The David Suzuki Foundation website has a clear statement of this:

The debate is over about whether or not climate change is real. Irrefutable evidence from around the world - including extreme weather events, record temperatures, retreating glaciers, and rising sea levels - all point to the fact climate change is happening now and at rates much faster than previously thought.

The overwhelming majority of scientists who study climate change agree that human activity is responsible for changing the climate. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is one of the largest bodies of international scientists ever assembled to study a scientific issue, involving more than 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries. The IPCC has concluded that most of the warming observed during the past 50 years is attributable to human activities. Its findings have been publicly endorsed by the National Academies of Science of all G-8 nations, as well as those of China, India and Brazil.^[10]

Suzuki says that despite this growing consensus, many in the public and the media seemed doubtful about the science for many years. The reason for the confusion about climate change, in Suzuki's view, was due to a well-organized campaign of disinformation about the science involved. "A very small number of critics" denies that climate change exists and that humans are the cause. These climate change “skeptics” or "deniers," Suzuki claims, tend not to be climate scientists and do not publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals but rather target the media, the general public, and policy makers. Their goal: "delaying action on climate change." According to Suzuki, the skeptics have received significant funding from coal and oil companies, including ExxonMobil. They are linked to "industry-funded lobby groups," such as the Information Council on the Environment (ICE),^[11] whose aim is to "reposition global warming as theory (not fact)."^[10]

Carbon footprint[link]

Suzuki himself laments that in traveling constantly to spread his message of climate responsibility, he has ended up "over his [carbon] limit by hundreds of tonnes." He has stopped vacationing overseas and taken to "clustering" his speaking engagements together to reduce his carbon footprint. He would prefer, he says, to appear solely by video conference.^[12]

Publications[link]

Suzuki signing a copy of his works

Suzuki is the author of 52 books (fifteen for children), including David Suzuki: The Autobiography, Tree: A Life Story, The Sacred Balance, Genethics, Wisdom of the Elders, Inventing the Future, and the best-selling Looking At series of children’s science books. This is a partial list of publications^[13] by Suzuki:

• Sciencescape - The Nature of Canada (1986) - with Hans Blohm and Marjorie Harris
• Pebbles to Computers: The Thread (1986) - with Hans Blohm and Stafford Beer
• Metamorphosis: Stages in a life (1987)
• Genethics: The Clash between the New Genetics and Human Values (1990)
• It's a Matter of Survival (1991) ISBN 0-674-46970-4
• [Time to Change] (1994)
• The Japan We Never Knew:A Journey of Discovery (1997) with Keibo Oiwa
• More Good News (2003)^[14]
• David Suzuki: The Autobiography (2006)
• The Sacred Balance (2007)
• David Suzuki's Green Guide (2008) with David Boyd
• The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet (2009) with David Taylor
• The Legacy: An Elder's vision for a sustainable future (2010) foreword by Margaret Atwood
• Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (2010) 93 minute documentary DVD (210616DV)^[15][16][17]

Awards and honours[link]

Suzuki receives the Right Livelihood Award from Jakob von Uexkull

Suzuki is the recipient of the Order of Canada, first as an Officer (1976), then upgraded to Companion status in (2006),^[18] the Order of British Columbia (1995),^[19] UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for science (1986)^[20] and a long list of Canadian and international honours.

In 2004, Suzuki was nominated as one of the top ten "Greatest Canadians" by viewers of the CBC. In the final vote he ranked fifth.^[21] Suzuki said that his own vote was for Tommy Douglas who was the eventual winner.

In 2006, Suzuki was the recipient of the Bradford Washburn Award presented at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts.^[22]

In 2007, Suzuki was honoured by Global Exchange, with the International Human Rights Award.

In 2009 Suzuki was awarded the Honorary Right Livelihood Award.^[23]

Honorary degrees[link]

Suzuki has received numerous honorary degrees from universities around the world.^[24]

• University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown (LL.D) in 1974
• University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario (D.Sc) in 1979
• Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (D.Sc) in 1979
• Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario (LL.D) in 1981^[25]
• University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta (LL.D) in 1986
• Governors State University in University Park, Illinois (DHL) in 1986
• Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario (D.Sc) in 1986
• McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (D.Sc) in 1987
• Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (LL.D) in 1987
• Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario (D.Sc) in 1987
• Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, (D.Sc) in 1988
• Griffith University in Queensland, Australia (D.Sc) in 1997
• Open University, Milton Keynes, UK DDL in 1998
• Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, (D.Sc) in 1999
• Unity College in Unity, Maine, (Doctor of Environmental Science) in 2000
• Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia DDL in 2001
• York University in Toronto, Ontario (D.Sc) in 2005
• UQAM in Montreal, Quebec (D.Sc) in 2005
• Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia (D.Sc) in 2006
• Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario (Doctor of Communication) in 2007
• University of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec (D.Sc) in 2007
• University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario (D.Sc) in 2007
• Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario (Diploma in Alternative Energy Engineering Technology) in 2008^[26]
• Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland (D.Sc) in 2009
• Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia (Honorary Doctorate) in 2010 ^[27]
• Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (Doctor of Communication) in 2011

See also[link]

	Environment portal
	Global Warming portal

• Conservation biology
• Environmentalism
• Soft energy path
• David Suzuki Foundation

Footnotes[link]

Notations[link]

• John C. Phillipson. "David Takayoshi Suzuki" in The Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition, James Marsh, ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1999. p. 2277. ISBN 0-7710-2099-6
• David Suzuki. Metamorphosis. Toronto: Stoddart, 1991. ISBN 0-7737-5509-8

Further reading[link]

• Suzuki, David (2007), David Suzuki: The Autobiography, Greystone Books, ISBN 9781553652816, http://books.google.ca/books?id=UrUIUZ9Fkg8C&lpg=PP1&dq=David%20Suzuki&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 
• Suzuki, David; David R. Boyd (2008), David Suzuki's Green Guide, Greystone Books, ISBN 9781553652939, http://books.google.ca/books?id=FgGcvxC0YpkC&lpg=PP1&dq=David%20Suzuki&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 
• Gazlay, Suzy (2009), David Suzuki: Doing Battle with Climate Change, Crabtree, ISBN 9780778746652, http://books.google.ca/books?id=uEu7DeEBE1sC&lpg=PP1&dq=David%20Suzuki&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David Suzuki

• Order of Canada citation
• The David Suzuki Foundation
• Nature of Things official website
• video: "David Suzuki - "Force of Nature", Dec. 14, 2010, with Allan Gregg, 28 minutes,
• Right Livelihood Award
• David Suzuki at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Canada–Japan relations Japan People Mickey Curtis Glen Ennis Aaron Keller Ron Korb Herbert Marler R.W. Mayhew Monkey Majik Herbert Norman Maria Ozawa Richard Rochefort Barry Steers Mervin Tran Mel Wakabayashi Jai West Issues Japanese war crimes Places Canadian Academy Embassy of Canada, Tokyo List of Canadian ambassadors to Japan Events Canada WET Canada Japanese Canadians Ken Adachi Nobu and Mio Adilman Dennis Akayama David Akutagawa Severn Cullis-Suzuki Hiromi Goto Arthur S. Hara Kanao Inouye Mary Ito Robert Ito Hiro Kanagawa Martin Kariya Paul Kariya Steve Kariya Sarah Kawahara Andrew Kishino Roy Kiyooka Joy Kogawa (Obasan) Bruce Kuwabara Jon Matsumoto Nina Matsumoto Art Miki Roy Miki Masajiro Miyazaki Kenzo Mori Raymond Moriyama Issey Nakajima-Farran Paris Nakajima-Farran Kazuo Nakamura George Nozuka Justin Nozuka Philip Nozuka Bev Oda Kristy Odamura Midi Onodera John Kimura Parker Michelle Sagara Kerri Sakamoto Devin Setoguchi Tetsuro Shigematsu Aki Shimazaki Rick Shiomi Yellow Fever Thomas Shoyama Jeff Chiba Stearns Jennifer Spence Jamie Storr Vicky Sunohara David Suzuki Mutsumi Takahashi Takao Tanabe Miyuki Tanobe David Tsubouchi Masami Tsuruoka Irene Uchida Juhn Atsushi Wada Terry Watada Michelle Sagara West Ayaka Wilson Naomi Yamamoto Christine Yoshikawa Kimiko Zakreski Japanese in Canada Manzō Nagano Utako Wakamatsu Other people HIMEKA Jillian Michaels John Powles Bruce Ross Issues Japanese Canadian internment Reference re Persons of Japanese Race Events Powell Street Festival Places Embassy of Japan, Ottawa Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Japantown, Vancouver Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada Kuroki, Saskatchewan Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre Nitobe Memorial Garden Organisations Hitachi Canadian Industries Kokoro Dance National Association of Japanese Canadians Japan Canada Oil Sands Limited Sony Canada Works Minoru: Memory of Exile Obasan Skim Yellow Fever Other Ahadada Books Hiroshima Japanese Canadian Pacific Fleet

Nicki Minaj
Minaj at 2010 MTV Music Awards
Background information
Birth name	Onika Tanya Maraj
Born	(1982-12-08) December 8, 1982 (age 29)[1] Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, pop
Occupations	Rapper, singer-songwriter
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment, Universal Republic Records, Universal Motown
Associated acts	Young Money
Website	mypinkfriday.com

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release.^[2][3] She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time.^[4] Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.^[5] She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List.^[6] Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard.^[7] Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.

Early life[link]

Maraj was born in 1982^{[1][note 1]} in Saint James, a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain.^[8][9][10] Her parents are of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry^[11][12] and she lived in Saint James with her grandmother until age five, because her parents were looking for a place to live in the Queens borough of New York City at the time. Her mother would occasionally visit, and one day, when Minaj was five, her mother picked her up to move to Queens.^[13] According to Minaj, her father drank heavily, took drugs, and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire.^[14]

She attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210, where she played the clarinet.^[13] She graduated from LaGuardia High School.^[15][16] At LaGuardia, a school specializing in music and the visual and performing arts, Minaj participated in the drama program.^[15] She had initially planned to sing at LaGuardia but lost her voice on the day of the audition.^[15]

Career[link]

2007–09: Mixtapes and Young Money[link]

Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007 after releasing Playtime Is Over with Dirty Money Records. She released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled Sucka Free, under the label Be. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in XXL magazine.^[17] She won the Female Artist of the Year award at the 2008 Underground Music Awards.^[18] Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of Trapaholics Records; it received positive coverage on both BET and MTV.^[19][20]

In August 2009, Minaj signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment, with distribution from Universal Motown Records, after fellow American rapper Lil Wayne discovered her and secured the record deal.^[17][21] She then had a solo rap verse in their single "BedRock," which became a commercial success, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj also appeared on "Roger That", which charted at number 56. The song, and in particular Minaj, received positive reviews from critics.^[22] Both songs were included in Young Money Entertainment's debut collaborative studio album We Are Young Money, which was released in December 2009. The album charted in the top ten on the Billboard 200, reaching number 9 and later receiving a Gold Certification by the RIAA. She was then chosen by Mariah Carey to be featured on her single and music video for "Up Out My Face". Critics praised her collaboration for helping to maintain Carey's feminine image and providing a polite track for the female R&B singer.^[23]

[edit] 2010–11: Pink Friday

Britney Spears and Minaj performing the Femme Fatale Remix of "Till the World Ends" in the Femme Fatale Tour.

After a major record label bidding war, Young Money Entertainment announced on August 31, 2009 that Minaj had been released from a 360 deal with the label in which she retains and owns all of her 360 rights – including merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, touring and publishing.^[24] In an interview with 95.8 Capital FM, Rihanna stated that after the two collaborated on "Raining Men" from her album Loud that the duo would be teaming up together for a possible second collaboration on Minaj's Pink Friday.^[25] Hip-hop rap artist and producer Kanye West was also confirmed for the album.^[26] On August 3, 2010 Minaj revealed on a Ustream.tv channel that the album's name would be Pink Friday, in reference to Black Friday.^[27]

Pink Friday was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe versions.^[28][29] A buzz single, "Massive Attack", was released in April.^[30] In August, Minaj released "Your Love" as the first official single from her debut album. The single peaked at 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Rap Songs chart. Minaj became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List^[6] and the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.^[31] In October 2010, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously.^[4] Minaj released a joint single with The Black Eyed Peas front man, will.i.am titled, "Check It Out", which is Minaj's most successful single to date in Europe. "Right thru Me" was released September 24, 2010; the music video was released in late October. "Moment 4 Life" was released as the fourth single. The track featured Canadian rapper Drake and was released on December 7, 2010, becoming a success on the Billboard Hot 100. The single peaked at number 5 on the Hot Rap Songs.^[32] The album gained a Platinum certification in the United States a month after the release.^[3]

On January 29, 2011, Minaj appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest, performing "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life". On February 9, 2011, it was announced that Pink Friday had reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its eleventh week on the chart.^[33] It was hinted by Simon Cowell that Minaj would join the judging panel of the American version of the The X Factor.^[34] Starting in June 2011, Minaj will be supporting Pink Friday by serving as an opening act along with Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on Britney Spears' sixth concert tour, the Femme Fatale Tour, in support of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale.^[35] She also was featured on the official remix of Spears' track "Till the World Ends" along with Spears and singer Kesha, which charted at number 3 in the US in April 2011.^[36] "Super Bass" was released from Pink Friday in May 2011, the single charted within the top 10 in many countries including; United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and more.^[37] The song gained positive reviews from critics.^[38][39] Minaj will voice a character in the 3D animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift, as an unknown character.^[40][41] Minaj is also featured on French DJ David Guetta's 2011 album, Nothing but the Beat on "Where Them Girls At" and "Turn Me On".

[edit] 2011–present: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

Minaj's second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, was first announced through Twitter in November 2011 and was released on April 2, 2012 in the United Kingdom and April 3, 2012 in the United States. The album features collaborations with producers Hit-Boy, Dr. Luke, Rico Beats, Kenoe, RedOne and Oak. Cash Money A&R Joshua Berkman told HitQuarters that Minaj was extremely particular about the beats and music she used saying: "She wouldn't just rap or sing on anything – I could give her a thousand tracks and she may only like one or two."^[42] Preceding the album's release, three promotional singles were released: Roman in Moscow (which didn't make the final cut of the album), "Stupid Hoe," and "Roman Reloaded." The album's first single, "Starships", was released on February 14.^[43] "Starships" became Minaj's best-peaking single in the United Kingdom, when it reached a peak of 2. It has also peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it her second top 10 arrival following, "Super Bass" in 2011. The music video was released on April 26th, 2012.^[44]

On February 12, 2012, Minaj debuted her song "Roman Holiday" at the 54th Grammy Awards. It was the first song ever performed on the Grammy stage by a solo female rapper.^[45] The exorcism-themed performance drew a mixed response online.^[46][47]

She was featured on Madonna's twelfth studio album, titled MDNA, alongside M.I.A. on its lead single "Give Me All Your Luvin'", for which a music video has been directed by Megaforce.^[48] The trio performed the song for the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show.^[49] She was also featured on a song called "I Don't Give A", another track from the album.

She released her second single, "Right by My Side", which features Chris Brown, on March 27, 2012, after premiering on Minaj's website on March 20, 2012.^[50] Following the album's release, it peaked at number 24 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. It also peaked in the lower regions of the UK singles chart, at position #101. The third single, "Beez in the Trap", which features 2 Chainz was released to U.S. Urban radio on April 24, 2012. It was premiered on DJ Flex's radio show at Hot 97 on March 20, 2012. It has peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Rap Songs Chart.^[51] The video was premiered on April 6, 2012 on Minaj's official VEVO account.^[52]

Artistry[link]

Minaj in 2011 during Femme Fatale Tour

Image[link]

Minaj has been noted by the media for her curvaceous figure.^{[53][54][55][56]} In an interview with Vibe Minaj discussed her sexual image stating, "[w]hen I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot... and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing."^[57] In an interview with Interview, Minaj commented on her sexual image again stating, "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.”^[58] Minaj has a tattoo in Chinese characters that reads "上帝與你常在" (shàngdì yǔ nǐ cháng zài)^[59] on her left arm, meaning, "God is always with you."^[60]

Alter egos[link]

While growing up, Minaj's home life was often chaotic, with her parents constantly fighting.^[61] As a means of escape, she would create characters and live her life through them.^[61] In an interview with New York she stated, "To get away from all their fighting, I would imagine being a new person. 'Cookie' was my first identity – that stayed with me for a while. I went on to 'Harajuku Barbie,' then 'Nicki Minaj'. Fantasy was my reality."^[61]

On November 18, 2010, Minaj assumed a different alter-ego named "Nicki Teresa".^[62] Wearing a colorful scarf around her head, she went around as the "healer to her fans" as she visited them at The Garden of Dreams Foundation at Fuse studios in New York City.^[62] Minaj made an appearance on Lopez Tonight on December 6, 2010 and presented a different alter-ego for the Spanish-inspired occasion, named "Rosa" (pronounced Rrrrrosa).^[63]

In April 2012, Minaj was asked if Roman, Martha and Rosa come out in the bedroom saying “No, they don’t come out in the bedroom, but other people come out in the bedroom,” she told Big Boy during his “Backstage Breakfast,” adding, “And there’s only one person that would know who that personality is". Minaj did not name her alter-ego.^[64]

For her debut album, Minaj created another alter-ego named "Roman Zolanski".^[65] She stated that in songs like "Bottoms Up" with Trey Songz it is not Minaj rapping, but instead Roman Zolanski, and claims that Roman is her "twin brother". She claims that he was born inside her, out of rage, and becomes him when she is angry. She has also said 'He is a demon inside her'. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, and on the song "Roman's Revenge" from Pink Friday, Minaj and Eminem collaborate, using these alter egos.^[66] On the collaboration, she said "The new album is going to have a lot of Roman on it ... And if you're not familiar with Roman, then you will be familiar with him very soon. He’s the boy that lives inside of me. He's a lunatic and he's gay and he'll be on there a lot."^[67] Roman also has a "mother" called "Martha Zolanski",^[68] who also appeared on the song "Roman's Revenge", with a British accent,^[69] and on "Roman Holiday", singing for the first time.^[70][71] Martha appears in the video for "Moment 4 Life" where she appears to be Minaj's magical Godmother. In songs such as "All I Do Is Win (Remix)" it is Minaj rapping.^[65] Minaj stated that on her debut album, fans will get to "meet" Nicki, Roman and Onika.^[65]

Influences[link]

Minaj has stated that artists who have influenced her musical style include Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Natasha Bedingfield, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott.^[72][73] She was also inspired by Janet Jackson,^[74] Madonna, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones,^[75] M.I.A. and Cyndi Lauper.^[76][77][78]

Product and endorsements[link]

During her career, Minaj has signed contracts with a variety of corporate interests. Companies she contracted with include soft drink manufacturer Pepsi;^[79] Mattel, which produced a custom a Nicki Minaj-themed Barbie;^[80] and MAC Cosmetics, as part of an AIDS-awareness campaign in Latin America.^[81]

Personal life[link]

Minaj is a Christian, and on Christmas Day in 2011, she indicated her faith in Jesus by tweeting John 3:16.^[82][83] In addition, she states that after her father went to rehab and started attending church, "he got saved and started changing his life."^[84] Minaj states that her heroes are "God. And my mother."^[85][86]

While some songs and interviews have implied that Minaj is bisexual,^[87][88] she has said that she does not date nor have sex with women,^[15] but added in an interview with Out magazine, "I don’t date men either."^[89] In an interview with Vibe she commented, "I just embrace all people of all lifestyles and I don’t tell them they are bad people. And I say girls are beautiful and girls are sexy and they need to be told that, and if they don’t have anyone to tell them that and mean it, I’m gonna tell them that. But I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined."^[90] She reiterated her dislike of being labeled in an interview with Out, saying: "The point is, everyone is not black and white. There are so many shades in the middle, and you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it."^[89]

During an interview in the May 2010 issue of Details, Minaj was asked if she felt hip-hop was becoming more gay-friendly. She responded, "I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced, people view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime."^[88]

In July 2011, Minaj's cousin Nicholas Telemaque was murdered near his home in Brooklyn, New York City.^[91] Telemaque was referenced in Minaj's song "Champion" in her second studio album.^[92]

Discography[link]

• Pink Friday (2010)
• Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012)

Touring[link]

• Pink Friday Tour (2012)

See also[link]

Nicki Minaj portal

• List of awards and nominations received by Nicki Minaj

References[link]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Nicki Minaj
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Official website
• Nicki Minaj at the Internet Movie Database
• Media related to Nicki Minaj at Wikimedia Commons

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2007)

Bill Bruford
Bruford at Moers Festival 2004, Germany
Background information
Birth name	William Scott Bruford
Born	(1949-05-17) 17 May 1949 (age 63) Sevenoaks, Kent, England
Genres	Progressive rock, instrumental rock, jazz/fusion
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Drums, percussion
Years active	1968–2009
Labels	Polydor, E.G., Voiceprint, Winterfold, Summerfold
Associated acts	The Breed, Savoy Brown, Mabel Greer's Toy Shop, Yes, King Crimson, UK, Genesis, Earthworks, Chris Squire, Bruford, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, Gong, National Health, Steve Howe, Gordian Knot, Annette Peacock
Website	www.billbruford.com

William Scott "Bill" Bruford (born 17 May 1949 in Sevenoaks, Kent) is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner.^[1] He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring drummer for Genesis in 1976. Following his departure from Yes and at various times until 1997, Bruford was the drummer for progressive rock band King Crimson. Bruford moved away from progressive rock to concentrate on jazz, leading his own jazz group, Earthworks, for several years. He retired from public performance in 2009, but continues to run his two record labels and to speak about music. His autobiography, Bill Bruford: The Autobiography, was published in early 2009.

He began playing the drums when he was thirteen, and was influenced by jazz drumming, which manifested itself on early Yes albums and remained an influence on his style throughout his career. He had success in the early seventies during his time with Yes playing on their first five albums including the LPs The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge. He left Yes in 1972, returning briefly for the Union album which was released in 1991.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Bruford explained that he chose to play drums because he watched American jazz drummers of the 1960s on BBC TV on Saturday evenings.^[2] These programmes turned the head of the thirteen-year-old Bruford. He found all the instrumentalists to be fascinating and mysterious, but particularly the drummers. His sister then gave him his first pair of brushes as a present.^[2] He was educated at Tonbridge School. He later took a few lessons - while still attending Public School - from Lou Pocock of the Royal Philharmonic, but after that he picked up other techniques wherever he found them.^[2]

He said that he never acquired drum technique for the sake of acquiring it, but as a solution to a particular problem, and if he heard something that he couldn't do, he would learn how to do it. Bruford applied this way of learning to other instruments as well, although acknowledging that he has the 'classic amateur's technique'; meaning that he knows some very difficult bits and that he has some large gaping holes in his knowledge, but his amateurism can sometimes be helpful in forging a style, because he has to work around his weaknesses.^[2]

Bruford's pre-Yes bands included The Breed (1966–67), a Sevenoaks-based r'n'b/soul band which included future Flash bassist Ray Bennett, future Canned Rock singer/guitarist Doug Kennard and guitarist Stu Murray (since Bruford was at boarding school and not available for all gigs, the band occasionally used another drummer, Pete Skinner, and sometimes both), a short-lived band named The Noise (1967) with whom he gigged in Italy, and Savoy Brown (1968), his first professional engagement - which lasted all of three gigs.

Yes[link]

Most of the early members of Yes all lived in the same house. They were almost confined to the property, because concert bookings came at short notice, so leaving the house for a few hours was their only freedom from the confines of the band. Bruford likened the lifestyle to that of a fireman.

Although seemingly a close-knit band, Bruford remembers the whole era as being very argumentative, and hot blooded. There was a constant state of friction between Bruford, Chris Squire, and Jon Anderson, all three of whom were from totally different social backgrounds. Bruford admitted that he found it hard to understand Anderson's northern English accent, and Anderson's penchant for speaking in strange sentences that nobody could understand, which later influenced Yes' lyrics. Bruford also had to contend with Squire's slow and deliberate style of writing his bass lines, being on time for recording sessions, or just getting ready to leave for shows. These personality traits amongst the three would be a foundation for Bill's eventual exit from the group in 1972.

The band members were no strangers to alcohol, but Bruford doesn't remember a lot of "sex, drugs and rock n' roll". The whole band used to drink a lot of alcohol, and they often visited a club in London called the Speakeasy that the band's manager, Roy Flynn, also managed. The Speakeasy stayed open until two or three in the morning, so Yes could play a gig in England within a hundred-and-fifty mile radius and still make it back to the Speakeasy at about two o'clock, where they drank "large amounts" of whisky and Coke.^[3]

Bruford, by 1972, had felt that Yes had come as far as it could, or at least as far as he could contribute to it. He didn't want to spend what he felt was an inordinate amount of time in the studio debating chords and producing records that he felt would only be in the shadow of Close To The Edge. In addition, his relationship with bassist Chris Squire was strained. He later commented, "Chris is, I'm sure, a wonderful guy. But in those days he was also very, very late. For all appointments and departures and arrivals and sound checks and anything. That, in a way, is the most grievous form of offense that one musician can visit upon another... I was a hot-blooded guy back then and I'd had enough of waiting for him, really."^[4] He also once had a fist-fight with Squire after a concert, because they had violently disagreed about who had played badly. Despite these personal issues, Bruford played all the drums on Squire's 1975 solo album, Fish Out of Water.

King Crimson[link]

Bruford accepted an invitation from Robert Fripp to join King Crimson, a band he had wanted to join for quite some time. He later compared this to "going over the Berlin Wall into East Germany" - Bruford stated that "In Yes, there was an endless debate about should it be F natural in the bass with G sharp on top by the organ. In King Crimson...you were just supposed to know".^[5] His instinct to remember complicated drum parts was shown when he learned how to play the long percussion and guitar part in the middle of "21st Century Schizoid Man", "by listening to it and just learning it".

He admits that his note-reading skills are slower than he would like: "I learned how to read the horizontal lines, but not the vertical notes." Despite this, he has successfully written lots of compositions over the years, albeit slowly.^[4]

Bruford was more interested in artistic pursuits, and the framework of King Crimson appealed to that sensibility in him. He cites the six months that the group contained avant-garde percussionist Jamie Muir as tremendously influential on him as a player, opening him up to "musical worlds I had only vaguely suspected existed". Violin, viola and keyboard player David Cross was selected to flesh out the sound of the new band. Rehearsals began in September 1972, followed by an extensive UK tour. Larks' Tongues in Aspic was released early the next year, and the group spent the remainder of 1973 touring Britain, Europe, and America.

Two albums were released with the four-member line-up (Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Cross), Starless and Bible Black, and the posthumous live album USA, recorded on some of Cross's final dates with the band. Finally, as a 3-piece (Fripp, Wetton, Bruford) King Crimson recorded Red in July 1974. After the release of Red in September, Fripp decided to disband King Crimson.

Roy Harper[link]

In 1975, Bruford played drums on the majority of Roy Harper's HQ, in addition to the aforementioned work on Fish Out of Water.

Genesis live[link]

Bruford also spent six months touring with Genesis in 1976, recordings from which appeared on the Genesis live albums Seconds Out and Three Sides Live, as well as the theatrical release of Genesis: In Concert. Bruford, who was rehearsing (as guest percussionist) with Phil Collins' side project Brand X, suggested drumming while Collins sang until they found a permanent live drummer (this would be Chester Thompson, in 1977). Collins, a big Bruford fan going back to his early Genesis days, approved of the suggestion.

Solo career[link]

Bill Bruford led his own band in the late 1970s, called simply "Bruford". Members of the band were initially Dave Stewart (keyboards), Jeff Berlin (bass), Allan Holdsworth (guitar) and Bruford (drums).

The first album Feels Good to Me (recorded as a solo project) also had Annette Peacock on vocals, Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn and John Goodsall on rhythm guitar. The second album, One of a Kind, was entirely instrumental, except for some spoken lines during the introduction to "Fainting In Coils". There were two live albums from this period. Bruford - Rock Goes To College is a 2006 DVD release from the eponymous BBC Television series and The Bruford Tapes, compiled from live shows at My Father's Place in Roslyn, Long Island, in 1979 (including one broadcast on radio station WLIR -- most, but not all, of the tracks on the album are from that show),^[6] with 'the unknown' John Clark replacing Holdsworth on guitar.

The group's final studio album Gradually Going Tornado continued this lineup with bass player Berlin providing vocals on some songs. Backing vocals were provided by Canterbury scene stalwarts Barbara Gaskin and Amanda Parsons.

UK[link]

Following his first solo album, he was reunited with King Crimson bassist/vocalist John Wetton in the progressive rock group UK. During his time in the band, from 1977 to 1978, the band released its eponymous debut album and conducted one UK tour and a couple of North American tours. After this he was dismissed from the band, due to his disagreement with Wetton and keyboardist Eddie Jobson's decision to fire guitarist Allan Holdsworth, whom he'd brought into the band. He subsequently turned his focus on his own band, Bruford.

In 1983 he joined up with former Yes pianist Patrick Moraz, who had played on the Relayer album; the duo released Music for Piano and Drums that year and Flags in 1985, followed by a short string of live shows.

Return to King Crimson[link]

Bruford was part of a newly formed King Crimson again in 1981 with a different lineup, consisting of Bruford, Robert Fripp on guitar, Tony Levin on bass and Chapman Stick, and Adrian Belew on guitars and vocals. He recorded Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair with them, moving to a kit of both acoustic and electronic drums and using his renowned polyrhythmic style, before they disbanded again in 1984.

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, and Yes again[link]

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (sometimes referred to by the acronym ABWH) was a subset of former members of the progressive rock-band Yes. The group consisted of vocalist Jon Anderson, drummer Bill Bruford, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and guitarist Steve Howe, with Tony Levin providing the bass duties since Yes bassist Chris Squire was involved with the official Yes. Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe recorded one self-titled studio album in 1989. A live recording from their subsequent concert tour was released in 1993.

Bruford would rejoin Yes briefly in 1991 and 1992 for the Union album and tour, so titled because it brought together ABWH and the members of Yes prior to the union as an eight-member band. His comments about the album and tour:

Well, the more money you pay for a record, the more money you interfere with it – and this was a big budget record. So, they eventually decided that the guys in France (Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe) needed the assistance of all the other Yes guys in California (Chris Squire, Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin and Alan White). So, our work was duly e-mailed, I guess, to them. They were then put on and found lacking. Then, also put on was a cast of a thousand studio musicians. So, the whole thing turned into the most God awful, auto-corrected mess you could possibly imagine! The worst record I’ve ever been on.

About the tour:

It was just a sort of a summer vacation. It was fun to do in the sense there were some 'old pals' and it was possible to do because we didn't have to give rise to any new music. So in as much as the band was just playing repertoire material, there was kind of a 'ticket buy' in the idea of all those, you know, the entire cast of Dallas on stage at once, kind of thing. And there was some kind of attraction to that. But that was really all it was, I think. And I think I was probably an unnecessary spare part. So I didn't enjoy it terribly. But those gigs can be quite fun as performing in huge stadiums can be quite fun on a kind of purely visceral level. Just kind of being there and enjoying it. I don't venture, however, you'd want to give up your day job to do it.^[4]

Bruford and Steve Howe would later undertake a recording project together in 1992/1993 to have an orchestra reinterpret some of Yes' works. The resulting album, titled Symphonic Music of Yes, was released on RCA records in 1993.

King Crimson, again[link]

King Crimson re-emerged once more in 1994 as a six-piece band, consisting of its 1980s lineup along with Trey Gunn on Warr guitars and Pat Mastelotto sharing the drumming duties with Bruford. This so-called 'double trio' configuration recorded one full-length album, 1995's THRAK, as well as experimenting with the ProjeKcts, before Levin and Bruford left the band. Bruford's reason for abandoning the double trio was his frustration with rehearsals, which he felt weren't going anywhere.^[7]

Earthworks[link]

Earthworks was formed in December 1985 and its original line-up (which lasted until 1993) featured two up-and-coming UK jazz musicians and composers, Django Bates on keyboards and tenor horn, and Iain Ballamy on saxes. The band reemerged in the 1990s with an acoustic line-up, notably featuring Tim Garland for a period, before splitting up in 2009 due to Bruford's retirement.

Bruford used Simmons electronic drums and his melodic drumming, though in the later years of his career he returned to using a primarily acoustic drum set. While Bruford has creative freedom with Earthworks, he continues to collaborate with many musicians, including one-time Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz (with whom he recorded two albums in the 1980s) and bassist Tony Levin. Earthworks has been his primary focus in recent years, particularly after his departure from the latest incarnation of King Crimson.

In an interview for The San Diego Union-Tribune (15 May 2003) he said, "I have this image that I might be a 'rock guy on vacation'. That idea is anathema to me—and I've cured it by making eight albums with Earthworks."

He described Earthworks as "seeing music as a social encounter, where you look another guy in the eyes across the room, say 'one-two-three-four' and the music begins. That's where my pleasure lies, for sure" (Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2003).

Recent work[link]

With Earthworks put on hold in 2007^[8] (apart from a brief return in 2008), Bruford focused on new collaborations—including as a duo with pianist Michiel Borstlap; and with contemporary composer Colin Riley and collective pianocircus—and drum clinics.

He retired from public performance on 1 January 2009,^[9] although he has since played live with Ann Bailey's Soul House.^[10] He retired from studio recording at the same time,^[11] although his studio work, Skin & Wire, was released later that year. His autobiography was released in early 2009.

Abortive projects[link]

Bruford has been involved in a number of abortive projects, including a trio with Rick Wakeman and John Wetton which made the headlines of Melody Maker in October 1976; Bruford has also told of "an abortive and late rehearsal/audition with bass player Jack Bruce out at his mansion in Essex, once, but nothing came of that". He was also approached in 1985 by ex-Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page to be the drummer for his new band with Paul Rodgers, The Firm, along with bass player Pino Palladino. "We rehearsed briefly, but I think decided we were mutually unsuited..!".^[12]

Awards[link]

In 1990, the readers of Modern Drummer Magazine voted him into that magazine's Hall of Fame.^[13]

Discography[link]

Yes[link]

• Yes (1969)
• Time and a Word (1970)
• The Yes Album (1971)
• Fragile (1972)
• Close to the Edge (1972)
• Yessongs (1973, live)
• Union (1991)

King Crimson[link]

• Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)
• Starless and Bible Black (1974)
• Red (1974)
• USA (1975, recorded live 1974)
• Discipline (1981)
• Beat (1982)
• Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)
• The Great Deceiver (1992, recorded live 1973-1974)
• VROOOM (1994)
• THRAK (1995)
• B'Boom: Live in Argentina (1995, recorded live 1994)
• THRaKaTTaK (1996, recorded live 1995)
• The Night Watch (1997, recorded live 1973)
• Absent Lovers (1998, recorded live 1984)
• Live At The Jazz Café (1999 as part of The ProjeKcts sub-group box set, recorded live 1997)
• VROOOM VROOOM (2001, recorded live 1995-1996)

Appearances[link]

• Chris Squire - Fish Out of Water (1975)
• Steve Howe - Beginnings (1975)
• Roy Harper - HQ (1975)
• Pavlov's Dog - At the Sound of the Bell (1976)
• Absolute Elsewhere - In Search Of Ancient Gods (1976)
• Genesis - Seconds Out (1977, live)
• Annette Peacock - X Dreams (1978)
• Steve Howe - The Steve Howe Album (1979)
• Genesis - Three Sides Live (1982, live) (International edition only, until 1994 when the album was remastered with the US version being deleted.)
• Annette Peacock - Been In The Streets Too Long (1983)
• David Torn - Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1986)
• Kazumi Watanabe - The Spice of Life (1987)
• Kazumi Watanabe - The Spice of Life Too (1988)
• Steve Howe - Turbulence (1991)
• Genesis - Genesis Archive 2: 1976-1992 (2000, live)
• Michiel Borstlap - Every Step a Word, Every Word a Song (2004)
• Michiel Borstlap - In Two Minds (2007)