Coordinates	44°51′15″N93°14′32″N
fullname	State of Illinois
electoralvotes	21
flag	Flag of Illinois.svg
flaglink	Flag
seal	Seal of Illinois.svg
name	Illinois
nickname	Land of Lincoln; The Prairie State
motto	State sovereignty, national union
former	Illinois Territory
demonym	Illinoisan
officiallang	English
languages	English (80.8%)Spanish (10.9%)Polish (1.6%)Other (6.7%)
map	Map_of_USA_IL.svg
capital	Springfield
largestcity	Chicago
largestmetro	Chicago metropolitan area
governor	Pat Quinn (D)
lieutenant governor	Sheila Simon (D)
legislature	General Assembly
upperhouse	Senate
lowerhouse	House of Representatives
senators	Dick Durbin (D)Mark Kirk (R)
Representative	11 Republicans, 8 Democrats
postalabbreviation	IL, Ill.,
borderingstates	Indiana, Iowa, KentuckyMissouri, Wisconsin
arearank	25th
totalareaus	57,914
totalarea	149,998
landareaus	55,593
landarea	143,968
waterareaus	2,320
waterarea	5,981
pcwater	4.0/ Negligible
poprank	5th
2000pop (old)	12,831,970
| 2000pop	12,830,632 (2010)
densityrank	12th
2000densityus	223.4
2000density	86.27
medianhouseholdincome	$54,124
incomerank	17
admittanceorder	21st
admittancedate	December 3, 1818
timezone	Central: UTC-6/-5
latitude	36° 58′ N to 42° 30′ N
longitude	87° 30′ W to 91° 31′ W
widthus	210
width	340
lengthus	395
length	629
highestpoint	Charles Mound
highestelevus	1,235
highestelev	377
meanelevus	600
meanelev	182
lowestpoint	Mississippi River
lowestelevus	279
lowestelev	85
isocode	US-IL
website	www.illinois.gov }}

name	Illinois
Flag	Flag of Illinois.svg
Flagsize	100px
Seal	Seal of Illinois.svg
Sealsize	100px
amphibian	Eastern Tiger Salamander
bird	Northern Cardinal
butterfly	Monarch Butterfly
fish	Bluegill
flower	Violet
grass	Big Bluestem
insect
mammal	White-tailed deer
reptile	Painted Turtle
tree	White oak
dance	Square dance
food	Gold Rush Apple Popcorn
fossil	Tully Monster
mineral	Fluorite
poem	The Death Poem
slogan	"Land of Lincoln"
soil	Drummer silty clay loam
song	"Illinois"
route marker	Illinois 19.svg|300px
quarter	2003 IL Proof.png|100px|Illinois quarter
quarterreleasedate	2003 }}

Illinois ( ) is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the St. Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois River. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. As the "most average state", Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.

In the 1810s, settlers began arriving from Kentucky. In 1818 Illinois achieved statehood. The state's population originally grew from south to north. Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration established a large community of African Americans in Chicago that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.

Three U.S. Presidents have been elected while living in IllinoisAbraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Additionally, President Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was actually the only US President born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan, ''Land of Lincoln'', which has been displayed on its license plates since 1954.

Name

"Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early French missionaries and explorers' name for the Illinois people, a name that was spelled in many different ways in the early records.

The name "Illinois" has traditionally been said to mean "man" or "men" in the Miami-Illinois language, with the original ''iliniwek'' transformed via French into Illinois. However, this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language itself, in which the word for 'man' is ''ireniwa'' and plural 'men' is ''ireniwaki''. The name ''Illiniwek'' has also been said to mean "tribe of superior men", though this is nothing more than a false etymology. In fact the name "Illinois" derives from the Miami-Illinois verb ''irenwe·wa'' "he speaks the regular way". This was then taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ''ilinwe·'' (pluralized as ''ilinwe·k''). These forms were then borrowed into French, where the /we/ ending acquired the spelling ''-ois''. The current form, ''Illinois'', began to appear in the early 1670s. The Illinois's name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was ''Inoka'', of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms.

History

Pre-European

Native Americans lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrated 7,000 years of continuous habitation. Cahokia, the largest regional chiefdom and urban center of the Pre-Columbian Mississippian culture, was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. They built more than 100 mounds and a woodhenge in a planned design expressing the culture's cosmology. The civilization vanished in the 15th century for unknown reasons, but historians and archeologists have speculated that the people depleted the area of resources. Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to Suzanne Austin Alchon, "At one site in the central Illinois River valley, one-third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries."

The next major power in the region was the Illinois Confederation or Illini, a political alliance among several tribes. There were about 25,000 Illinois Indians in 1700, but systematic attacks and warfare by the Iroquois reduced their numbers by 90%. Gradually, members of the Potawatomi, Miami, Sauk, and other tribes came in from the east and north. In the American Revolution, the Illinois and Potawatomi supported the American colonists' cause.

European exploration

French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the Illinois River in 1673. In 1680, other French explorers constructed a fort at the site of present day Peoria, and in 1682, a fort atop Starved Rock in today's Starved Rock State Park. As a result of this French exploration, Illinois was part of the French empire until 1763, when it passed to the British with their conquest of New France. The small French settlements continued; a few British soldiers were posted in Illinois, but there were no British or American settlers. In 1778, George Rogers Clark claimed the Illinois Country for Virginia. The area was ceded by Virginia to the new United States in 1783 and became part of the Northwest Territory.

19th century

The Illinois-Wabash Company was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at Kaskaskia.

During the discussions leading up to Illinois' admission to the Union, the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice. The original provisions of the Northwest Ordinance had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have actually left Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a 10-mile northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's which is defined as north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. But the Illinois delegate, Nathaniel Pope, wanted more. Pope lobbied to have the boundary moved further north, and the final bill passed by Congress did just such; it included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added to the state, including the lead mining region near Galena. More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal which would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers, and thusly, connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.

In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by the state. In 1819, Vandalia became the capital, and over the next 18 years, three separate buildings were built to serve successively as the capitol building. In 1837, the state legislators representing Sangamon County, under the leadership of state representative Abraham Lincoln, succeeded in having the capital moved to Springfield, where a fifth capitol building was constructed. A sixth capitol building was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois capitol today.

Though ostensibly a "free state", Illinois had slavery. The French owned black slaves as late as the 1820s. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordnance, but that was not enforced. When Illinois became a sovereign state in 1818, the Ordnance no longer applied, and there were about 900 slaves there. As the southern part of the state, known as "Egypt", was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks and allowed settlers to bring slaves with them for labor. Most citizens were opposed to allowing blacks as permanent residents, and efforts to make slavery official failed in 1822. Nevertheless, some slaves were brought in seasonally or as house servants. The Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, John A. Logan helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including freedmen, from settling in the state.

In 1832, the Black Hawk War was fought in Illinois and current day Wisconsin between the United States and the Sauk, Fox (Meskwaki) and Kickapoo Indian tribes. The Indians withdrew to Iowa; when they attempted to return, they were defeated by U.S. militia and forced back to Iowa.

The winter of 1830–1831 is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow"; a sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the state, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter, and many travelers perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes and killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in the northern part of the state. The southern part of the state shipped food north and this may have contributed to its name: "Little Egypt", after the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers.

By 1839, the Mormons had founded a utopian city called Nauvoo. Located in Hancock County, along the Mississippi River, Nauvoo flourished and soon rivaled Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in 1844, the Mormon leader Joseph Smith was murdered in the Carthage Jail, about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Soon afterward, after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo saw a rapid decline after the Mormons' new leadership led them out of Illinois in a mass exodus to present-day Utah.

Chicago gained prominence as a Great Lakes port and then as an Illinois and Michigan Canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois' largest city. With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois played an important role in the formation of labor unions in the United States. The Pullman Strike and Haymarket Riot in particular greatly influenced the development of the American labor movement. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire burned in downtown Chicago, destroying .

In 1847, after lobbying by Dorothea L. Dix, Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local almshouses.

Civil War

thumb|right|Embarkation of [[Union (American Civil War)|Union troops from Cairo on January 10, 1862]]. During the American Civil War, over 250,000 Illinois men served in the Union Army, a figure surpassed by only New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Beginning with President Abraham Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments. The town of Cairo at the southern tip of the state served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months, both General Grant and Admiral Foote had headquarters in Cairo.

Twentieth century

At the turn of the 20th century, Illinois had a population of nearly 5 million. Bolstered by continued immigration from southern and eastern Europe, and by African-Americans from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, Illinois grew and emerged as one of the most important states in the union. By the end of the century, the population had reached 12.4 million.

The Century of Progress World's Fair was held at Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in Marion County and Crawford County lead to a boom in 1937, and, by 1939, Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The seaway and the Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1960, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines (which still exists today as a museum, with a working McDonald's across the street).

No state has had a more prominent role than Illinois in the emergence of the nuclear age. As part of the Manhattan Project, the first sustained nuclear chain reaction took place at the University of Chicago in 1942. In 1957, Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago, activated the first experimental nuclear power generating system in the United States. By 1960, the first privately financed nuclear plant in United States, Dresden 1, was dedicated near Morris. In 1967, Fermilab, a national nuclear research facility near Batavia, opened a particle accelerator which was the world largest for over forty years. And, with eleven plants currently operating, Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power.

The state's fourth constitution was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document. The first Farm Aid concert was held in Champaign to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst upper Mississippi River flood of the century, the Great Flood of 1993, inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland.

Geography

Boundaries

Illinois' eastern border with Indiana consists of a north-south line at west longitude, from Lake Michigan to the Wabash River, above Post Vincennes. The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana, until the Wabash enters the Ohio River. This marks the beginning of Illinois' southern border with Kentucky, which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River. Its western border with Missouri and Iowa is the Mississippi River. Its northern border with Wisconsin is fixed at north latitude. The northeastern border of Illinois actually lies within Lake Michigan, within which Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of Michigan.

Topography

Though Illinois lies entirely in the Interior Plains, it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the Driftless Area, a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state. Charles Mound, located in this region, has the state's highest elevation above sea level at 1,235 feet (376 m). The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River is known as the American Bottom.

Divisions

Illinois has three major geographical divisions. Northern Illinois is dominated by the Chicago metropolitan area; the city of Chicago, its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. As defined by the federal government, the Chicago metro area includes several counties in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Chicago is a cosmopolitan city, densely populated, industrialized, the transportation hub of the nation, and settled by a wide variety of ethnic groups with a population of 9.8 million people. The city of Rockford, the fourth largest metropolitan area, and the state's third largest city, sits along Interstates 39 and 90 some northwest of Chicago. The Quad Cities region, located along the Mississippi River in northern Illinois, had a population of 379,066 in 2009.

Southward and westward, the second major division is Central Illinois, an area of mostly prairie. Known as the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. The western section (west of the Illinois River) was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently. Cities include Peoria, the third largest metropolitan area in Illinois at 370,000; Springfield, the state capital; Quincy; Decatur; Bloomington-Normal; and Champaign-Urbana.

The third division is Southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50, including Little Egypt, near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, as well as the site of the first state capital at Kaskaskia, which today is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. This region can be distinguished from the other two by its warmer climate, different variety of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (due to the area remaining unglaciated during the Illinoian Stage, unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois suburbs of St. Louis comprise the second most populous metropolitan area in Illinois with over 700,000 inhabitants, and are known collectively as the Metro-East. The other significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on Carbondale and Marion, a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents. A portion of southeastern Illinois is part of the extended Evansville, Indiana Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois counties are in the area.

In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside of the Chicago Metropolitan area is often called "downstate" Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the Chicago-area. Thus, some cities in ''Northern'' Illinois, such as DeKalb, which is west of Chicago, and Rockford—which is actually ''north'' of Chicago—are considered to be "downstate".

Climate

Because of its nearly 400 mile distance from its northernmost and southernmost extremes, as well as its mid-continental situation, Illinois has a widely varying climate. Most of Illinois has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfa''), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southernmost part of the state, from about Carbondale southward, borders on a humid subtropical climate (Koppen ''Cfa''), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois varies from just over at the southern tip to around in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds in the Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than . The all time high temperature was , recorded on July 14, 1954, at East St. Louis, Illinois, while the all time low temperature was , recorded on January 5, 1999, at Congerville, Illinois.

Illinois averages around 51 days of thunderstorm activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per annually. The deadliest tornadoes on record in the nation have occurred largely in Illinois, not because the tornadoes are more common or frequent in Illinois, but rather, because Illinois is simply the most populous state in Tornado Alley. The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois. Modern developments in storm tracking have caused death tolls from tornadoes to dramatically decline since the 1960s, with no major losses of life in the state since the 1967 tornado storm in northern Illinois.

Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Illinois Cities>

City

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Cairo

Chicago

Edwardsville

Moline

Peoria

Rockford

Springfield

Demographics

In the 2010 Census, Illinois was found to have a population of 12,830,632, representing a slightly lower increase than had been anticipated in estimates from two years earlier. Illinois is the most populous state in the Midwest region. The Chicago metropolitan area, the third most populous city in the United States, comprises only 8% of the land area of the state, but contains 65% of the state's residents.

Specific demographic data from the 2010 Census is not subject to release until March 2011, but as of the 2007 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 1,768,518 foreign-born inhabitants of the state or 13.8% of the population, with 48.4% from Latin America, 24.6% from Asia, 22.8% from Europe, 2.9% from Africa, 1.2% from Northern America and 0.2% from Oceania. Of the foreign-born population, 43.7% were naturalized U.S. citizens and 56.3% were not U.S. citizens. Additionally, the racial distributions were as follows: 65.0% White American, 15.0% African American, 14.9% Latino American, 4.3% Asian American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Natives, and 0.1% Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander American. In 2007, 6.9% of Illinois' population was reported as being under age 5, 24.9% under age 18 and 12.1% were age 65 and over. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population.

According to the 2007 estimates, 21.1% of the population had German ancestry, 13.3% had Irish ancestry, 7.9% had Polish ancestry, 6.7% had English ancestry, 6.4% had Italian ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as American, 2.4% had Swedish ancestry, 2.2% had French ancestry, other than Basque, 1.6% had Dutch ancestry, 1.4% had Norwegian ancestry and 1.3% had Scottish ancestry. Also, 21.8% of the population age 5 years and over reported speaking a language other than English, with 12.8% of the population speaking Spanish, 5.6% speaking other Indo-European languages, 2.5% speaking Asian and Austronesian languages, and 0.8% speaking other languages.

Chicago, along the shores of Lake Michigan, is the nation's third largest city. In 2000, 23.3% of Illinois' population lived in the city of Chicago, 43.3% in Cook County and 65.6% in the counties of the Chicago metropolitan area: Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties, as well as Cook County. The remaining population lives in the smaller cities and rural areas that dot the state's plains. As of 2000, the state's center of population was at , located in Grundy County, northeast of the village of Mazon.

Urban areas

Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third most populous city in the United States, with its 2010 population of 2,695,598. The U.S. Census Bureau currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within Illinois. Based upon the Census Bureau's official 2010 population,: Aurora, a Chicago satellite town which eclipsed Rockford for the title of "Second City" of Illinois in 2006; its 2010 population was 197,899. Rockford, at 152,871, is the third largest city in the state, and is also the largest city in the state not located within the Chicago metropolitan area. Joliet, located southwest of Chicago, is the fourth largest city in the state, with a population of 147,433. Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853; Naperville and Aurora (the 2nd largest city) share a boundary along Illinois Route 59. Springfield, the state capital of Illinois, comes in sixth with 117,352. Peoria, which decades ago was the second largest city in the state, comes in seventh with 115,007. The eighth largest and final city in the 100,000 club is Elgin, a northwest suburb of Chicago with a 2010 population of 108,188.

The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville, with 44,478 people at the 2010 census. It is located in the Illinois portion of Greater St. Louis (often called the Metro-East area), which has a rapidly growing population of over 700,000 people.

Other major urban areas include the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area, which has a combined population of almost 230,000 people, the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities area with about 215,000 people, and the Bloomington-Normal area with a combined population of over 165,000.

Religion

Roman Catholics constitute the single largest religious denomination in Illinois; they are heavily concentrated in and around Chicago, and account for nearly 30% of the state's population. However, taken together ''as a group'', the various Protestant denominations comprise a greater percentage of the state's population than do Catholics. In 2000 Catholics in Illinois numbered 3,874,933, the largest Protestant denominations were the United Methodist Church, with 365,182 members, and the Southern Baptist Convention, with 305,838. The largest non-Christian group were Jews with 270,000. Chicago and its suburbs are also home to a large and growing population of Hindus, Muslims, Baha'is and Sikhs.

Illinois played an important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement, with Nauvoo, Illinois, becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s. Nauvoo was the location of the succession crisis, which led to the separation of the Mormon movement into several Latter Day Saint sects. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of the sects to emerge from the Mormon schism, claims 55,460 in Illinois today.

Economy

The dollar gross state product for Illinois was estimated to be billion in 2008. The state's 2008 per capita gross state product was estimated to be , and the state's per capita personal income was estimated to be in 2009.

, the state's unemployment rate was 11.5%, and two months later, the rate dropped to 10.8% in May.

Taxes

Illinois' state income tax is calculated by multiplying net income by a flat rate. In 1990, that rate was set at 3%, but in 2010, the General Assembly voted in a temporary increase in the rate to 5%; the new rate went into effect on January 1, 2011, and is scheduled to return to 3% after four years. There are two rates for state sales tax: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs and medical appliances. The property tax is the largest single tax in Illinois, and is the major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts. The property tax is a local not state tax, imposed by local government taxing districts, which include counties, townships, municipalities, school districts and special taxation districts. The property tax in Illinois is imposed only on real property.

Agriculture

Illinois' major agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy products, and wheat. In most years, Illinois is either the first or second state for the highest production of soybeans, with a harvest of 427.7 million bushels (11.64 million metric tons) in 2008, after Iowa's production of 444.82 million bushels (12.11 million metric tons). Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5 billion bushels produced annually. Illinois also produces wine, and the state is home to two American viticultural areas. Illinois' universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops.

Manufacturing

Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders, boasting annual value added productivity by manufacturing of over $107 billion in 2006. About three-quarters of the state's manufacturers are located in the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region, with 38 percent of Illinois' approximately 18,900 manufacturing plants located in Cook County. As of 2006, the leading manufacturing industries in Illinois, based upon value-added, were chemical manufacturing ($18.3 billion), machinery manufacturing ($13.4 billion), food manufacturing ($12.9 billion), fabricated metal products ($11.5 billion), transportation equipment ($7.4 billion), plastics and rubber products ($7.0 billion), and computer and electronic products ($6.1 billion).

Services

By the early 2000s, Illinois' economy had moved toward a dependence on high-value-added services, such as financial trading, higher education, law, logistics, and medicine. In some cases, these services clustered around institutions that hearkened back to Illinois' earlier economies. For example, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a trading exchange for global derivatives, had begun its life as an agricultural futures market. Other important non-manufacturing industries include publishing, tourism, and energy production and distribution.

Energy

Illinois is a net importer of fuels for energy, despite large coal resources and some minor oil production. Illinois exports electricity, ranking fifth among states in electricity production and seventh in electricity consumption.

Coal

The coal industry of Illinois has its origins in the middle 19th century, when entrepreneurs such as Jacob Loose discovered coal in locations such as Sangamon County. Jacob Bunn contributed to the development of the Illinois coal industry, and was a founder and owner of the Western Coal & Mining Company of Illinois. About 68% of Illinois has coal-bearing strata of the Pennsylvanian geologic period. According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, 211 billion tons of bituminous coal are estimated to lie under the surface, having a total heating value greater than the estimated oil deposits in the Arabian Peninsula. However, this coal has a high sulfur content, which causes acid rain unless special equipment is used to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. Many Illinois power plants are not equipped to burn high-sulfur coal. In 1999, Illinois produced 40.4 million tons of coal, but only 17 million tons (42%) of Illinois coal was consumed in Illinois. Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states, while much of the coal burned for power in Illinois (21 million tons in 1998) is mined in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

Mattoon was recently chosen as the site for the Department of Energy's FutureGen project, a 275 megawatt experimental zero emission coal-burning power plant which just received a second round of funding from the DOE.

Petroleum

Illinois is a leading refiner of petroleum in the American Midwest, with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly . However, Illinois has very limited crude oil proved reserves that account for less than 1% of U.S. crude oil proved reserves. Residential heating is 81% natural gas compared to less than 1% heating oil. Illinois is ranked 14th in oil production among states, with a daily output of approximately in 2005.

Nuclear power

Nuclear power arguably began in Illinois with the Chicago Pile-1, the world's first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in the world's first nuclear reactor, built on the University of Chicago campus. There are six operating nuclear power plants in Illinois: Braidwood; Byron; Clinton; Dresden; LaSalle; and Quad Cities. With the exception of the single-unit Clinton plant, each of these facilities has two reactors. Three reactors have been permanently shut down and are in various stages of decommissioning: Dresden-1 and Zion-1 and 2. , Illinois was ranked first among the 50 states both in nuclear capacity and nuclear generation. In 2007, 48% of Illinois' electricity was generated using nuclear power.

Wind power

Illinois has seen growing interest in the use of wind power for electrical generation. Most of Illinois was rated in 2009 as "marginal or fair" for wind energy production by the U.S. Department of Energy, with some western sections rated "good" and parts of the south rated "poor". These ratings are for wind turbines with hub heights; newer wind turbines are taller, enabling them to reach stronger winds farther from the ground. As a result, more areas of Illinois have become prospective wind farm sites. As of September 2009, Illinois had 1116.06 MW of installed wind power nameplate capacity with another 741.9 MW under construction. Illinois ranked ninth among U.S. states in installed wind power capacity, and sixteenth by potential capacity. Large wind farms in Illinois include Twin Groves, Rail Splitter, EcoGrove, and Mendota Hills.

As of 2007, wind energy represented only 1.7% of Illinois' energy production, and it was estimated that wind power could provide 5-10% of the state's energy needs. Also, the Illinois General Assembly mandated in 2007 that by 2025, 25% of all electricity generated in Illinois is to come from renewable resources.

Biofuels

Illinois is ranked second in corn production among U.S. states, and Illinois corn is used to produce 40% of the ethanol consumed in the United States. The Archer Daniels Midland corporation in Decatur, Illinois is the world's leading producer of ethanol from corn.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the partners in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a $500 million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant BP.

Arts and culture

Museums

Illinois has numerous museums. The state of the art Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest presidential library in the country; numerous museums in the city of Chicago are considered some of the best in the world. These include the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Polish Museum of America. Illinois is also home to several landmark historic house museums such as Magnolia Manor in Cairo or the Elihu Benjamin Washburne and Ulysses S. Grant Homes in Galena.

Music

Illinois is a leader in music education having hosted the Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Conference since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA), one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country. Each summer since 2004, Southern Illinois University Carbondale has played host to the Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the Eroica Trio and violinist David Kim.

Sports

Major league teams

As one of the United States' major metropolises, all major sports leagues have teams headquartered in Chicago. Two Major League Baseball teams are located in the state. The Chicago Cubs of the National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium (Wrigley Field) and are widely known for having the longest championship drought in all of major American sport: not winning the World Series since 1908. The Chicago White Sox of the American League won the World Series in 2005, their first since 1917.

The Chicago Bears football team has won nine total NFL Championships, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX in 1986. The NFL's Arizona Cardinals were the ''Chicago'' Cardinals until they left the city in 1961.

The Chicago Bulls of the NBA is one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, due largely to the efforts of Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s.

The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926, as a member of the Original Six and have won four Stanley Cups, most recently in 2010 (after one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts of any NHL team, not having won since 1961).

The Chicago Fire soccer club is a member of MLS and is one of the league's most successful and best-supported, since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that timespan.

Minor league teams

Many minor league teams also call Chicago their home. These include

The Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League, who won ArenaBowl XX in 2006.

The Chicago Wolves is an AHL team.

The Chicago Sky of the WNBA

The Chicago Bandits of the NPF, a female softball league; the Bandits won their first title in 2008

The Chicago Red Stars of the WPS, a female soccer league

Folded sports franchises

The city was formerly home to several other teams that either failed to survive, or that belonged to leagues that folded.

The Chicago Blitz, United States Football League

The Chicago Sting, Major Indoor Soccer League

The Chicago Cougars, World Hockey Association

The Chicago Rockers, Continental Basketball Association

The Chicago Skyliners, American Basketball Association

The Chicago Bruisers, Arena Football League

The Chicago Power, National Professional Soccer League

The Chicago Blaze, National Women's Basketball League.

Professional sports teams outside of Chicago

Chicago is not the only place in Illinois where professional sports are played. The Rockford Lightning is one of the oldest CBA teams in the league. The Peoria Chiefs and Kane County Cougars are minor league baseball teams affiliated with MLB. The Schaumburg Flyers and Lake County Fielders are members of the North American League, and the Southern Illinois Miners, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Windy City ThunderBolts and Normal CornBelters belong to the Frontier League.

In addition to the Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has two teams in Illinois outside of Chicago: the Rockford IceHogs serves as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Peoria Rivermen is the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.

Motor racing

Illinois has a long tradition of motor racing. Oval tracks at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero and the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, near St. Louis, have hosted NASCAR, CART and IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America, among other national and regional road racing clubs, have visited the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit and the former Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville. Illinois also has several short tracks and dragstrips. The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the Route 66 Raceway, which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland Speedway, both host NHRA drag races.

Parks and recreation

The Illinois state parks' system began in 1908 with what is now Fort Massac State Park, becoming the first park in a system encompassing over 60 parks and about the same number of recreational and wildlife areas.

Areas under the protection and control of the National Park Service include: the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport; the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail; the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield; the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail; the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail; and the American Discovery Trail.

In March 2011, Illinois ranked as a bottom-seven "Worst" state (tied with Georgia and Oklahoma) in the American State Litter Scorecard. The Land of Lincoln suffers from overall poor effectiveness and quality of its statewide public space cleanliness—due to state and related eradication standards and performance indicators.

Governance

While the organization of the central government of Illinois is largely the same as every other state (having three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial), below this top level, the substructure of Illinois' government is extremely complex, arguably the most complex of all fifty states.

State government structure

Legislative functions are granted to the Illinois General Assembly, composed of the 118-member Illinois House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois Senate. The executive branch is led by the Governor of Illinois, but four other executive officials are separately elected by the people. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Illinois and the lower appellate and circuit courts.

Local government structure

Illinois has more units of local government than any other state—over 8,000 in all.. The basic subdivision of Illinois is like almost every other state, the county, and Illinois has 102 of these. About half of these counties, in turn, are divided into townships, which is much the same as many other Midwestern states. And finally, Illinois has a number of cities, villages, and towns commensurate with a state of its size. But the counties, townships, and municipal governments in Illinois make up only about 1/4 of all of the governmental units in the state. The reason Illinois has so many units of government is because so many single-purpose governmental entities have been created.

Not uniquely, Illinois has school districts which do not share boundaries with either counties nor townships. What would observers from many other states as odd is that there are many places where a given piece of land sits within ''two'' school districts, one high school district, and another elementary district, each of which has its own school board and its own taxing authority.

Another common political unit is the "library district". Library districts are run by library boards elected at the same elections as are governors, senators, and presidents. The boundaries of these library districts occasionally coincide with those of another governmental entity, such as a township, but more often, they are set independently. Another unit of government with taxation authority is the "sanitary district", a euphemism for "sewage district". Many Illinoisians first learned of the existence of these entities when, in 1978, a sanitary district board member named Alex Seith captured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate against the veteran senator Charles Percy and nearly upset him in the general election. There are additional units of government that oversee watersheds, land use, and many other functions that in another state would be handled by the county or city governments.

The Constitution of 1970 created, for the first time in Illinois, a type of "home rule", which allows cities of certain sizes to opt out of certain types of state laws.

Law enforcement

The complexity and overlapping jurisdictions of Illinois' law enforcement agencies is not unlike that of the overlapping taxing authorities noted above. At the state level, there are at least eleven law enforcement agencies. At the county level, there are sheriffs, forest preserve police and other specialized police forces. At the local level, most cities and many villages have municipal police forces, park district police forces, and even local specialized police forces. Many colleges also have their own campus police that are often sworn police officers.

In 2000, Illinois was ranked 4th in the U.S. in the number of full-time sworn officers with 321 per 100,000 persons, behind Louisiana (415), New York (384), and New Jersey (345). In this ranking, only New York had a higher total population than Illinois. Illinois is also near the top of most law enforcement numbers lists, such as number of agencies per state, number of agencies with special jurisdictions, and number of local police agencies. Even taking into account that Illinois is the fifth most populous state, many of the ratios are higher than more populated states. There is much overlap in jurisdiction amongst the different law enforcement agencies.

Politics

Party balance

Historically, Illinois was long a major swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican and the Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has slowly gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as more of a "blue" state. Chicago and most of Cook County votes have long been strongly Democratic. In addition, Democratic voters have moved to the traditionally Republican "collar counties" (the suburbs surrounding Chicago's Cook County, Illinois), which are becoming increasingly diverse.

Republicans continue to prevail in rural northern and central Illinois; Republican support is strong in southern Illinois outside of the East St. Louis metropolitan area. Illinois has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the last five elections. State resident Barack Obama easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in 2008, by a margin of 25 percentage points with 61.9% of the vote. And though the Republicans' electoral performance in the 2010 mid-year elections marked some improvement, the trend in Illinois politics for the long term appears to be more blue than red.

History of corruption

Politics in the state, particularly those of the Chicago machine, have been famous for highly visible corruption cases, as well as for crusading reformers, such as governors Adlai Stevenson (D) and James R. Thompson (R). In 2006, former Governor George Ryan (R) was convicted of racketeering and bribery. In 2008, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) was served with a criminal complaint on corruption charges, stemming from allegations that he conspired to sell the vacated Senate seat left by President Barack Obama (D) to the highest bidder. In the late 20th century, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (D) was imprisoned for mail fraud; former governor and federal judge Otto Kerner, Jr. (D) was imprisoned for bribery; and State Auditor of Public Accounts (Comptroller) Orville Hodge (R) was imprisoned for embezzlement. In 1912, William Lorimer, the GOP boss of Chicago, was expelled from the U.S. Senate for bribery and in 1921, Governor Len Small (R) was found to have defrauded the state of a million dollars.

US Presidents from Illinois

Three presidents have claimed Illinois as their political base: Lincoln, Grant, and Obama. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but moved to Illinois at the age of 21; he served in the General Assembly and represented the 7th congressional district in the US House of Representatives before his election as President. Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio and had a military career that precluded settling down, but on the eve of the Civil War, and approaching middle age, Grant moved to Illinois and thus claimed it as his home when running for President. Barack Obama was born and raised in Hawaii (other than a four year period of his childhood spent in Indonesia) and made Illinois his home and base after completing law school.

Only one person elected President of the United States was actually born in Illinois. Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, raised in Dixon and educated at Eureka College. Reagan moved to Los Angeles as a young adult and later became Governor of California before being elected President.

Though never elected president, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, who was born and raised in central Illinois, was the Democratic nominee for president in 1952 and 1956.

Black senators

Since the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1789, only six African-Americans have served as members of the United States Senate, and ''half'' of them represented Illinois: Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama, and Roland Burris, who was appointed to replace Obama after his election to the presidency.

Education

Illinois State Board of Education

The Illinois State Board of Education or ISBE, is autonomous of the governor and the state legislature, and administers public education in the state. Local municipalities and their respective school districts operate individual public schools but the ISBE audits performance of public schools with the Illinois School Report Card. The ISBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies.

Primary and secondary schools

Education is compulsory from kindergarten through the twelfth grade in Illinois, commonly but not exclusively divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or junior high school and high school. District territories are often complex in structure. Many areas in the state are actually located in ''two'' school districts—one for high school, the other for elementary and middle schools. And such districts do not necessarily share boundaries. A given high school may have several elementary districts that feed into it, yet some of those feeder districts may themselves feed into multiple high school districts.

Colleges and universities

Using the criterion established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, there are eleven "National Universities" in the state. , five of these rank in the "first tier" (that is, the top quartile) among the top 500 National Universities in the United States, as determined by the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankings: the University of Chicago (8), Northwestern University (12), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (39), Illinois Institute of Technology (106), and Loyola University Chicago (119).

Illinois also has more than 20 additional accredited four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small liberal arts colleges across the state. Additionally, Illinois supports 49 public community colleges in the Illinois Community College System.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Because of its central location and its proximity to the Rust Belt and Grain Belt, Illinois is a national crossroads for air, auto, rail and truck traffic.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is one of the busiest airports in the world, with 59.3 million domestic passengers annually, along with 11.4 million international passengers in 2008. It is a major hub for United Airlines and American Airlines, and a major airport expansion project is currently underway. Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) is the secondary airport in the Chicago metropolitan area, and is a major hub for Southwest Airlines. It served 17.3 million domestic and international passengers in 2008.

Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network. Chicago is a national Amtrak hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's Illinois Service, featuring the Chicago to Carbondale ''Illini'' and ''Saluki'', the Chicago to Quincy ''Carl Sandburg'' and ''Illinois Zephyr'', and the Chicago to St. Louis ''Lincoln Service''. Currently there is trackwork on the Chicago-St. Louis line to bring the maximum speed up to which would reduce the trip time by an hour and a half. Nearly every North American railway meets at Chicago, making it the largest and most active rail hub in the country. Extensive commuter rail is provided in the city proper and some immediate suburbs by the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. The largest suburban commuter rail system in the United States, operated by Metra, uses existing rail lines to provide direct commuter rail access for hundreds of suburbs to the city and beyond.

In March 2011, Illinois ranked as a bottom-seven "Worst" state (tied with Georgia and Oklahoma) in the American State Litter Scorecard. The Land of Lincoln suffers from overall poor effectiveness and quality of its statewide public space cleanliness (primarily from roadway and adjacent litter/debris abatement)--due to state and related eradication standards and performance indicators.

Major U.S. Interstate highways crossing the state include: I-24, I-39, I-55, I-57, I-64, I-70, I-72, I-74, I-80, I-88, I-90, and I-94. Its central location is the reason that Illinois carries the distinction of having the most primary (2-digit) Interstates pass through it among the 50 states.

In addition to the state's rail lines, the Mississippi River and Illinois River provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. Lake Michigan gives Illinois access to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

See also

Chicago

List of National Register of Historic Places in Illinois

List of people from Illinois

U.S. state

References

Further reading

External links

State of Illinois ''official government website''

The Official Website for International Visitors to Chicago

State of Illinois research information guide from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Illinois Bureau of Tourism

Illinois: Science In Your Backyard USGS Illinois State Agency Databases compiled by the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) of the American Library Association Illinois State Energy Profile DOE, Energy Information Administration Illinois: State Fact Sheets USDA, Economic Research Service Illinois State Guide LOC, Virtual Programs & Services Biographies Of Governors of Illinois: 1818 to 1885 compiled by OnlineBiographies.info Illinois Highways Page by Richard Carlson

Category:States of the United States Category:States and territories established in 1818

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Coordinates	44°51′15″N93°14′32″N
name	Edwin McCain
background	solo_singer
born	January 20, 1970Greenville, South Carolina, USA
genre	RockAlternative rockIndie rock
instrument	VocalsGuitar
years active	1991–present
label	Lava, Vanguard, 429 Records }}

Edwin McCain (born January 20, 1970 in Greenville, South Carolina) is an American alternative rock singer-songwriter and musician.

Career

While his albums are released under his name, he does have a permanent band, referred to as the Edwin McCain Band. Members of the band include Larry Chaney (guitar), Pete Riley (guitar and vocals), Craig Shields (keyboards, saxophone and other wind instruments), Jason Pomar (bass guitar and vocals) and Tez Sherrard (drums and percussion).

Long time touring friends with Hootie and the Blowfish, the Edwin McCain band signed with same label, Atlantic Records. In 1994, he recorded his first major-label album, ''Honor Among Thieves'' under the Lava Records imprint (Matchbox Twenty, Kid Rock and Jewel). The record was then released in 1995. His second album, ''Misguided Roses'', spawned "I'll Be", a major hit single in 1998. This song is also featured on the charitable album, ''Live in the X Lounge'', along with a live version of "Solitude". It was also featured and included in the soundtrack of the 2004 teen flick, ''A Cinderella Story''. Two more albums (''Messenger'' and ''Far from Over'') followed, but at the end of 2001, he split from Lava. In 2003 he released a collection of acoustic versions of songs both old and new called ''The Austin Sessions'' via ATC Records, a Nashville-based independent record label (at which McCain was the first artist signed following its creation in 2001). Mid-2004 saw the arrival of his first studio album in three years, entitled ''Scream & Whisper'', which was released on another indie label, DRT Entertainment.

He has released two DVDs to date. The first was through ATC records in late 2002, called ''Mile Marker: Songs and Stories from the Acoustic Highway'', and it consisted of interviews, live performances, and other material. The other was in late 2004, ''Tinsel & Tap Shoes''. It was his first live concert DVD, recorded at The House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Co-written & performed with singer/songwriter Maia Sharp, McCain released a single, "Hold Out a Hand." This song, available for a 99 cent download on iTunes, gives all profits to the relief of the hurricane victims of 2005.

Edwin McCain Band's newest original material CD, titled, ''Lost in America,'' was released on April 11, 2006, on Vanguard Records. This was album #9 and is said to be a true "rock 'n roll" collection. There were three single releases from this CD: "Gramercy Park Hotel", "Truly Believe", and "The Kiss."

Edwin's next release, a collection of R&B; cover songs entitled "Nobody's Fault But Mine" was released June 24, 2008 under a one off deal with Saguaro Road Records. Edwin will start work on the proper Vanguard Records follow up to "Lost In America" in the fall following the promotional tour for the covers album.

On 17 May 2009, Edwin performed on board USS ''John C. Stennis'', while the carrier was on a Western Pacific deployment in the vicinity of Guam.

On 30 August 2011, his tenth album "MERCY BOUND" was released from 429 records, reconnecting with fellow singer songwriter Maia Sharp.

Band members

Members of the Edwin McCain Band include Larry Chaney, lead guitar; Pete Riley, rhythm guitar and background vocals; Craig Shields, saxophone and keyboards; Jason Pomar, bass guitar; and Tez Sherrard. drums.

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable" !Release date !Title !Label !Billboard Top 200 chart position |- |1991 |''Nomadic Logic'' |rowspan="2"|Independent Release |align="center"| - |- |1993 |''Solitude'' |align="center"| - |- |August 15, 1995 |''Honor Among Thieves'' |rowspan="4"|Lava/Atlantic Records |align="center"|107 |- |June 24, 1997 |''Misguided Roses'' |align="center"|73 |- |June 15, 1999 |''Messenger'' |align="center"|59 |- |June 19, 2001 |''Far from Over'' |align="center"|105 |- |February 25, 2003 |''The Austin Sessions'' |ATC Records |align="center"| - |- |June 22, 2004 |''Scream & Whisper'' |DRT Entertainment |align="center"|183 |- |April 11, 2006 |''Lost in America'' |Vanguard Records |align="center"| - |- |June 24, 2008 |''Nobody's Fault But Mine'' | Saguaro Road Records |align="center"| - |- |August 30, 2011 |''Mercy Bound'' |429 Records | - |}

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Album
		! width="50"	! width="50"	! width="50"
		72	—	25
	—	—	—
1997		—	—	—
	align="left"	5	6	—
	—	—	—
		37	3	—
	—	—	—
2000		—	—	—
		—	27	—
	—	—	—
	—	—	—
	—	—	—
		—	—	—
	—	—	—
		—	—	—
	—	—	—
2007		—	—	—
2008		—	—	—

References

External links

EdwinFans.com (Fan site dedicated to the artist; includes photos, biography, and forum.)

EMBHolyCity.com (Fan site which includes tabs for Edwin McCain's music, tour dates and more)

EdwinMcCainMusic.com (Edwin McCain Band fan site with forum, slideshows, tour dates & contests)

Other

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American rock guitarists Category:People from Greenville, South Carolina Category:Vanguard Records artists Category:Musicians from South Carolina

de:Edwin McCain

Coordinates	44°51′15″N93°14′32″N
name	Reba McEntire
background	solo_singer
birth name	Reba Nell McEntire
alias	Reba
birth date	March 28, 1955
birth place	near Kiowa, Oklahoma
origin	McAlester, Oklahoma
instrument	Vocals
genre	Country, country pop, contemporary country, country rock
occupation	Singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, producer
years active	1975–present
label	Mercury, MCA Nashville, Starstruck/Valory
associated acts	Red Steagall, Jacky Ward, Pake McEntire, Susie Luchsinger, Vince Gill, Linda Davis, Brooks & Dunn, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Kenny Chesney
website	Reba's Official Site }}

Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955) is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry singing with her siblings on local radio shows and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma City, which caught the attention of country artist Red Steagall. He brought her to Nashville, Tennessee, where she eventually signed a contract with Mercury Records in 1975. She released her first solo album in 1977 and released five additional studio albums under the label until 1983.

Signing with MCA Nashville Records, McEntire took creative control over her second MCA album, ''My Kind of Country'' (1984), which had a more traditional country sound and produced two number one singles: "How Blue" and "Somebody Should Leave". The album brought her breakthrough success, bringing her a series of successful albums and number one singles in the 1980s and 1990s. McEntire has since released 26 studio albums, acquired 35 number one singles, and 28 albums have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In the early 1990s, McEntire branched into film starting with 1990's ''Tremors.'' She has since starred in the Broadway revival of ''Annie Get Your Gun'' and starred in her television sitcom, ''Reba'' (2001–2007) for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series–Musical or Comedy. She has sometimes been referred to as "The Queen of Country", having sold 41 million records in the United States and more than 56 million worldwide. In the United States, she ranks as both the seventh best-selling female artist in all genres and the seventh best-selling country artist, and the second best-selling female country artist of all time, behind Shania Twain.

Early life

Reba Nell McEntire was born on March 28, 1955, outside of Kiowa, Oklahoma, to Jacqueline Smith and Clark Vincent McEntire. Her father and grandfather were champion steer ropers and her father was a World Champion Steer Roper three times (1957, 1958, and 1961). Her mother originally had plans to become a country music artist but decided not to pursue that professionally and worked as a schoolteacher. Instead, McEntire's mother taught her children how to sing. On car rides home from her father's rodeo trips, the McEntire siblings were taught songs and learned their own harmonies, eventually forming a vocal group called the "Singing McEntires". Consisting of her brother, Pake, and her younger sister, Susie (her older sister, Alice did not participate), the group sang at rodeos and recorded "The Ballad of John McEntire" together. Released on an indie label, Boss, the song pressed one thousand copies. In 1974, McEntire attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University and intended on becoming an elementary school teacher (eventually graduating December 16, 1976). While not attending school, she also continued to sing locally. That same year she was also invited to perform the national anthem at an Oklahoma City rodeo. At the club, country artist Red Steagall (who was also performing that day) was impressed by her vocal ability and offered his help in making McEntire a country artist in Nashville, Tennessee. After recording a demo tape, she eventually signed a recording contract with Mercury Records in 1975.

Music career

1976–1983: Career launch at Mercury

McEntire made her first recordings for Mercury January 22, 1976, when she cut her debut single. Upon its release that year, "I Don't Want to Be a One Night Stand" failed to become a major hit on the ''Billboard'' country music chart, peaking at No. 88 in May. She completed her second recording session September 16, which included the production of her second single, "(There's Nothing Like The Love) Between a Woman and Man", which only reached No. 86 in March 1977. She recorded a third single that April, "Glad I Waited Just for You", which reached number 88 by August. That same month, Mercury issued her self-titled debut album. The album was a departure from any of McEntire's future releases, as it resembled the material of Tanya Tucker and Tammy Wynette, according to ''Allmusic'' reviewer Greg Adams. The album itself did not chart the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart upon its release. After releasing two singles with Jacky Ward ("Three Sheets in the Wind" b/w "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"; and "That Makes Two of Us" at number 20 and number 26, respectively), Mercury issued her second studio album in 1979, ''Out of a Dream.'' The album's cover of Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" became McEntire's first Top 20 hit, reaching No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' country chart in November 1979. In 1976 she made two albums listed under the genre of 'urban cowboy' instead of 'country.'

In 1980, "You Lift Me Up (To Heaven)" brought her to the Top 10 for the first time. Her third studio album, ''Feel the Fire'' was released in October and spawned two additional Top 20 hit singles that year. In September 1981, McEntire's fourth album, ''Heart to Heart'' was issued and became her first album to chart the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums list, peaking at No. 42. Its lead single, "Today All Over Again" became a top five country hit. The album received mainly negative reviews from critics. William Ruhlmann of ''Allmusic'' gave it two-and-a-half out of five stars, stating she did not get creative control of her music. Ruhlmann called "There Ain't No Love" "essentially a soft pop ballad". Most of the album's material consisted of mainly country pop-styled ballads, which was not well liked by McEntire herself. Her fifth album, ''Unlimited'' was issued in June 1982 and spawned her first ''Billboard'' Number One single in early 1983: "Can't Even Get the Blues" and "You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving". The following year her sixth album, ''Behind the Scene'' was released and was positively-received by music critics. In 1983, McEntire announced her departure from Mercury, criticizing the label's country pop production styles.

1984–1990: Breakthrough success

McEntire signed with MCA Nashville Records in 1984 and released her seventh studio album, ''Just a Little Love.'' Harold Shedd was originally the album's producer; however, McEntire rejected his suggestions towards country pop arrangements. It was instead produced by Norro Wilson, although the album still had a distinguishable country pop sound. Dissatisfied with the album's sound, she went to MCA president, Jimmy Bowen, who told McEntire to find material that was best-suited to her liking. Instead of finding new material, she found previously-recorded country hits from her own record collection, which was then recorded for the album. The album's material included songs originally released as singles by Ray Price ("Don't You Believe Her", "I Want to Hear It from You"), Carl Smith ("Before I Met You"), Faron Young ("He's Only Everything") and Connie Smith ("You've Got Me [Right Where You Want Me"]). The album spawned two number one singles: "How Blue" and "Somebody Should Leave". It was given positive reviews from critics, with ''Billboard Magazine'' praising McEntire as "the finest woman country singer since Kitty Wells" and ''Rolling Stone'' critics honoring her as one of their Top 5 favorite country artists. Upon its release, ''My Kind of Country'' became her highest-peaking album on the Top Country Albums chart, reaching No. #13. The album also included instruments such as a fiddle and pedal steel guitar, and was aimed more towards a traditional country sound. McEntire was later praised as a "new traditionalist", along with Ricky Skaggs and George Strait. That year, she won the Country Music Association Awards' Female Vocalist of the Year, her first major industry award. The album was certified Gold.

In 1985, McEntire released her third MCA album, ''Have I Got a Deal for You,'' which followed the same traditional format as ''My Kind of Country.'' It was the first album produced by McEntire and was co-produced with Jimmy Bowen. Like her previous release, the album received positive feedback, including ''Rolling Stone'', which called it a "promising debut". The album's second single, "Only in My Mind" was entirely written by McEntire and reached number five on the ''Billboard'' country chart. On January 17, 1986, McEntire became a member of the Grand Ole Opry show in Nashville, Tennessee, and has been a member ever since. In February 1986, McEntire's ninth studio album, ''Whoever's in New England'' was released. For this album, McEntire and co-producer Jimmy Bowen incorporated her traditional music style into a mainstream sound that was entirely different than anything she had previously recorded. ''Country Music: The Rough Guide'' called the production of the title track, "bigger and sentimentalism more obvious, even manipulative". The title track peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Country Chart and won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance the following year. In addition, the album became McEntire's first release to certify gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (and was later certified Platinum). At the end of the year, McEntire won Entertainer of the Year from the Country Music Association, the highest honor in the awards show.

McEntire released a second album in 1986, ''What Am I Gonna Do About You.'' Allmusic critic William Ruhlmann was not overly pleased with album's production, saying that it lacked the features that had been set forth on ''Whoever's in New England.'' Rulhlmann criticized the title track for "something of the feel of 'Whoever's in New England' in its portrayal of a woman trying to recover from a painfully ended love affair". The title track was the lead single from the release and was a number one single shortly after its release. This album also spawned a second Number One in "One Promise Too Late". The following year, her first MCA compilation, ''Greatest Hits'' was released and became her first album to be certified platinum in sales, eventually certifying triple-platinum. A twelfth studio album, ''The Last One to Know,'' was released in 1987. The emotions of her divorce from husband, Charlie Battles, were put into the album's material, according to McEntire. The title track from the release was a number one single in 1987 and the second single, "Love Will Find Its Way to You", also reached the top spot. In late 1987, McEntire released her first Christmas collection, ''Merry Christmas to You,'' which sold two million copies in the United States, certifying double Platinum. The album included cover versions of "Away in a Manger", "Silent Night", and Grandpa Jones's "The Christmas Guest".

Her thirteenth album, ''Reba'', was issued in 1988 and was not well-received by critics, who claimed she was moving farther away from her "traditional country" sound. ''Stereo Review'' disliked the album's contemporary style, stating, "After years of insisting that she'd stick to hard-core country 'because I have tried the contemporary-type songs, and it's not Reba McEntire—it's just not honest,' McEntire[...]has gone whole-hog pop. The album peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart and remained there for six consecutive weeks. Okay, so maybe that's not so terrible." Although it was reviewed poorly, the album itself was certified platinum in sales and produced two number one singles: "I Know How He Feels" and "New Fool at an Old Game". In addition, the release's cover version of Jo Stafford's "A Sunday Kind of Love" became a Top 5 hit on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. Also in 1988, McEntire founded Starstruck Entertainment, which controlled her management, booking, publishing, promotion, publicity, accounting, ticket sales, and fan club administration. The company would eventually expand into managing a horse farm, jet charter service, trucking, construction, and book publishing.

McEntire's fourteenth studio album, ''Sweet Sixteen'', was released in May 1989; it spent sixteen weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart, while also becoming her first album to peak in the top 100 on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 78. The album was given positive reviews because unlike her previous studio album, the release, "welcomes the fiddles and steel guitars back as she returns to the neo-traditionalist fold", according to Allmusic, which gave the release four-and-a-half out of five stars. Reviewer William Ruhlmann found ''Sweet Sixteen'' to "double back to a formula that worked for her in the past". The lead single was a cover of The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown", with McEntire's version reaching number one in July on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. Three more Top 10 hits followed from ''Sweet Sixteen'': "Till Love Comes Again", "Little Girl", and "Walk On", at number four, seven and two, respectively. In September she released ''Reba Live,'' her first live album, which originally certified gold but certified platinum ten years later.

Sixteen months after the release of ''Sweet Sixteen'' and after giving birth to a child, McEntire transitioned into 1990 with the release of ''Rumor Has It.'' The album's "sound and production were almost entirely pop-oriented", according to Kurt Wolff of ''Country Music: The Rough Guide.'' Although ''Rumor Has It'' was an attempt to receive critical praise, many reviewers found the album to be "predictable". ''Stereo Review'' mainly found the recording displeasing in some places, but the reviewer also believed she "still leaves most of the competition in the dust", calling the album "glorious". ''Rumor Has It'' eventually sold three million copies by 1999, certifying triple-platinum by that year. It was prefaced by the single "You Lie", which became her fifteenth number one single on the country chart. In addition, the album's cover of Bobbie Gentry's 1969 hit "Fancy" and a new track, "Fallin' Out of Love", became Top 10 hits on the same ''Billboard'' country chart.

1991: Aviation accident and ''For My Broken Heart''

While on tour for her 1990 album, McEntire lost eight members of her road band (Chris Austin, Kirk Cappello, Joey Cigainero, Paula Kay Evans, Jim Hammon, Terry Jackson, Anthony Saputo, and Michael Thomas), plus pilot Donald Holmes and co-pilot Chris Hollinger, when their charter jet plane crashed near San Diego, California on March 16, 1991. The accident occurred after McEntire's private performance for IBM executives the night before. The first plane was a Hawker Siddeley DH-125-1A/522 charter jet, believed to have taken off around 1:45 AM from the Brown Field Municipal Airport, located near the border of Mexico. After reaching an altitude of about 3,572 feet above sea level, the Hawker aircraft crashed on the side of Otay Mountain, located ten miles east of the airport, while the second plane (carrying her other band members) did not crash. The accident was believed to have occurred due to poor visibility near Otay Mountain, which was not considered "prohibitive" for flying. The news was reported nearly immediately to McEntire and her husband, who were sleeping at a nearby hotel. A spokeswoman for McEntire at the time stated in the ''Los Angeles Times'' that "she was very close to all of them. Some of them had been with her for years. Reba is totally devastated by this. It's like losing part of your family. Right now she just wants to get back to Nashville."

McEntire dedicated her sixteenth album, ''For My Broken Heart'', to her deceased road band. Released in October 1991, it contained songs of sorrow and lost love about "all measure of suffering", according to Alanna Nash of ''Entertainment Weekly.'' Nash reported that McEntire "still hits her stride with the more traditional songs of emotional turmoil, above all combining a spectacular vocal performance with a terrific song on "Buying Her Roses", a wife's head-spinning discovery of her husband's other woman". The release peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart, while also reaching number 13 on the Billboard 200, and eventually sold four million copies. Its title track became McEntire's sixteenth number one, followed by "Is There Life Out There", which also reached number one on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. The third single, "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" peaked in the Top 5 and her cover of Vicki Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" reached No. 12. "If I Had Only Known", a cut from this album, was later included in the soundtrack to the 1994 film ''8 Seconds''.

1992–1996: Continued success

In December 1992, McEntire's seventeenth studio album, ''It's Your Call'', was released. It became her first album to peak within the ''Billboard'' 200 Top 10, reaching number eight. McEntire commented that the record was a "second chapter" to ''For My Broken Heart'', while music reviewers such as Alanna Nash of ''Entertainment Weekly'' disagreed, writing, "In truth, it isn't nearly as pessimistic as its predecessor — and unfortunately it isn't anywhere as involving." Nash called the album's title track—which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart—"one of those moment-of-truth sagas at which McEntire excels. In the song, a wife answers the phone to find her husband's girlfriend on the other end and seizes the opportunity not only to inform her mate that she knows of his affair but to give him the ultimatum of choosing between the two. ''She's not the only one who's waitin' on the line,'' she sings, handing her husband the phone. ''It's your call''." Christopher John Farley of ''Time Magazine'' wrote that the album ranged from being "relaxing" to "cathartic", and "these vocals from one of the best country singers linger in the mind". The album's preceding singles—"The Heart Won't Lie" (a duet with then-labelmate Vince Gill) and "Take It Back"—were Top 10 hits on the ''Billboard'' country chart, reaching number one and number five respectively. Like its preceding album, ''It's Your Call'' sold over a million copies, eventually certifying by the RIAA in sales of double-platinum.

In October 1993, McEntire's third compilation album, ''Greatest Hits Volume Two'' was released, reaching number one and number five on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums and ''Billboard'' 200 charts respectively, selling 183,000 copies during Christmas week 1993. Out of the ten tracks were two new singles: the first, "Does He Love You", was a duet with Linda Davis. The song later went on to reach number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and win both women a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Its second single, "They Asked About You", was also a Top 10 hit. The additional eight songs were some of McEntire's biggest hit singles during a course of five years including "The Last One to Know", "I Know How He Feels", "Cathy's Clown", and "The Heart Won't Lie". After originally selling two million copies upon its initial release (2× Multi-Platinum), ''Greatest Hits Volume Two'' would later certify at 5× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA in 1998.

Her eighteenth studio release was 1994's ''Read My Mind.'' The album spawned five major hit singles onto the ''Billboard'' Country chart, including the number one single "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter". The further releases ("Till You Love Me", "Why Haven't I Heard from You", and "And Still") became Top 10 singles on the same chart, with "Till You Love Me" also reaching number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100, a chart that she had not previously entered. The album itself reached number two on the both the ''Billboard'' 200 and Top Country Albums charts. Charlotte Dillon of Allmusic gave the album four out of five stars, calling it "another wonderful offering of songs performed by the gifted country singer Reba McEntire". Dillon also felt that the album's material had "a little soul, a little swing, and some pop, too". ''Entertainment Weekly''s Alanna Nash also gave the album positive feedback, viewing the album to have "enough boiling rhythms and brooding melodies to reflect the anger and disillusionment of the middle class in the '90s", calling the track "She Thinks His Name Was John" to be the best example of that idea. The song was eventually spawned as a single and was considered controversial for its storyline, which described a woman who contracts AIDS from a one-night stand. Because of its subject, the song garnered less of a response from radio and peaked at number 15. ''Read My Mind'' became another major seller for McEntire and her label, selling three million copies by 1995 and certifying at 3× Multi-Platinum from the RIAA.

After many years of releasing studio albums of newly-recorded material, McEntire's nineteenth studio album, ''Starting Over'' (1995) was collection of her favorite songs originally recorded by others from the 1950s through the early '80s. The album was made to commemorate twenty years in the music industry, but many music critics gave it a less positive response than her previous release. ''Allmusic''s Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented that although the album was considered a "rebirth" for McEntire, he thought that some tracks were recorded for merely "nothing more than entertainment". The album paid tribute to many of McEntire's favorite artists and included cover versions of "Talking In Your Sleep" originally sung by Crystal Gayle, "Please Come to Boston", "Starting Over Again", cowritten by Donna Summer and originally a hit for Dolly Parton, "On My Own", and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix". "On My Own" featured guest vocals from Davis, as well as Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood. Despite negative reviews, ''Starting Over'' was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America within the first two months of its release, but only one single—a cover of Lee Greenwood's "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands"—was a Top 10 hit single.

1997–1998: ''What If It's You''

McEntire made a major comeback into the music industry the following year with her twentieth studio album, ''What If It's You.'' The album's lead single, "The Fear of Being Alone" reached number two on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. and its further two singles ("How Was I to Know" and "I'd Rather Ride Around with You") reached number one and number two respectively. The release garnered higher critical acclaim than ''Starting Over,'' with Thom Owens of ''Allmusic'' calling the album "nevertheless an excellent reminder of her deep talents as a vocalist". MCA Nashville chairman Bruce Hinton told ''Billboard'' how pleased he was with McEntire's release, calling the album's ten tracks "powerful" and concluding by stating, "There are so many writers and so many great songs in Nashville, and Reba has collected her disproportionate share[...]She's country music's female artist of the 90's." ''What If It's You'' peaked at number one Top Country Albums and No. 15 on the Billboard 200, while also becoming her first album in three years to certify in multi-platinum sales, selling two million copies by 1999. At the end of 1997, McEntire also charted at number 23 the charity single "What If". The proceeds of sales for this single were donated to the Salvation Army.

In 1997, McEntire headlined a tour with Brooks & Dunn that led to the recording of "If You See Him/If You See Her" with the duo the following year. This song was included on McEntire's ''If You See Him'' album and Brooks & Dunn's ''If You See Her'' album, both of which released on June 2. Thom Owens of ''Allmusic'' reported in its review that both album titles were named nearly the same as "a way to draw attention for both parties, since they were no longer new guns — they were veterans in danger of losing ground to younger musicians". The duet reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in June 1998 and spawned an additional three Top 10 hits during that year: "Forever Love", "Wrong Night", and "One Honest Heart". In addition, ''If You See Him'' peaked within the Top 10 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums chart, reaching number eight and number two, respectively.

1999–2001: ''If You See Him'', ''So Good Together''/Pop Crossover success

For 1999, McEntire released two albums. In September she issued her second Christmas album, ''The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection,'' which eventually sold 500,000 copies in the United States. In November, her twenty second studio album, ''So Good Together'' was released, spawning three singles. The first release, "What Do You Say" and the second release, "I'll Be" both reached the Top 5 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. So Good Together also brought her into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, peaking at No. 31 there. The album would eventually certify Platinum by the end of the decade. What Do You Say became her first crossover hit as well and made her one of the most successful crossover artists. Unlike any of her previous albums, ''So Good Together'' was produced by three people, including McEntire. ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented that most of the album's material was "an odd set — mostly ballads, including an English/Portuguese duet with Jose e Durval on Boz Scaggs' 'We're All Alone'".

In 2001, McEntire returned with her third greatest-hits album: ''Greatest Hits Vol. 3: I'm a Survivor.'' The album helped McEntire receive her third gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, which made her the most certified female country artist in music history. It spawned the number three hit "I'm a Survivor", which would be her last major hit for two years, as McEntire would go on a temporary hiatus to focus on her television sitcom, ''Reba.'' The album's only other single, a cover of Kenny Rogers' "Sweet Music Man", went to No. 36.

2003–2007: Return to the music industry

McEntire's seventy-sixth chart single, "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain", released in mid-2003, ended her two-year break from recording. In November 2003, her twenty-third studio album, ''Room to Breathe,'' marked her first release of new material in four years. Writing for ''The Boston Globe'', Steve Morse found the album's material to have a variety of musical stylings, saying the track "Love Revival" sounded like Tanya Tucker and calling "If I Had Any Sense at All" "a mournful country ballad". Dan MacIntosh of ''Country Standard Time'' gave ''Room to Breathe'' a less-received review, reporting that "it ultimately falls short of leaving the listener breathless". He highlighted "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain" for sounding like a Bluegrass-inspired song such as music by Ricky Skaggs or Patty Loveless. The album itself reached a peak of number four on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart and No. 25 on the Billboard 200, staying at the position for only one week. The second single, "Somebody", also recorded by Mark Wills on his "Loving Every Minute" release, became her twenty-second number one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart and first since "If You See Him/If You See Her" six years previous. This became her thirty-third number one single overall. It took longer than expected to become a hit, according to McEntire, who said, "Yeah, that had us concerned. The album came out in November and it took 30 weeks for "Somebody" to work its way up the charts. Usually, it's 15 weeks. But this one had a resurgence of life, especially after the video came out. MCA is really kicking butt with it." Its second single, "He Gets That from Me" reached number seven, followed by the Amy Dalley co-written track "My Sister", which reached number 16.

In 2005, McEntire released the compilation ''Reba#1's.'' The album comprised all thirty-three Number One hits in her career on all major trade charts. Two new songs were included on the album: "You're Gonna Be" and "Love Needs a Holiday". Both were released as singles, peaking at number 33 and number 60, respectively, with the latter becoming her first single in 27 years to miss the country top 40 entirely. ''Country Standard Time'' called the tracks "Whoever's in New England" and "You Lie" the album highlights. The album reached a peak of number three on the Top Country Albums chart and number 12 on the Billboard 200 upon its release, certifying 2× Platinum by the RIAA within two years. On August 30, 2007, McEntire received two CMA nominations: Female Vocalist of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year. With those two nominations plus another in 2008 and two more in 2009, Reba became the female artist with the most nominations (forty-eight) in the forty-three year history of the CMA Awards, surpassing Dolly Parton, who has forty-three.

In mid 2007, McEntire announced the release of her twenty-fifth studio album, ''Reba: Duets,'' on September 18. McEntire stated that out of all the albums she had previously recorded, her newest release was particularly special: "This is an album that will go down in history as probably my favorite album to record because I got to work and sing and be with my friends. Out of everything in this whole career that I can say that I'm the most proud of, are my friends. And here's the proof." In promotion for the album, McEntire made appearances at radio shows and on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' September 19. The album's lead single, "Because of You"—a duet with Kelly Clarkson, who originally recorded the song—became her fifty fifth Top 10 single on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, tying her with Dolly Parton, who also had the same amount of Top 10 records. The album was given high critical praise from magazines such as ''PopMatters,'' which called McEntire's vocals, "to sound sweet without being syrupy, while being extremely powerful. McEntire’s vocal strength yields a different kind of authority than the bluesy, drawling growl of Janis Joplin, the weathered rasp of Marianne Faithful, or even the soul-shrieking powerhouse of Tina Turner. Instead, Reba's voice combines the aspects of all three singers but tempers it with a Southern sweetness and an unmistakable femininity." The album contained ten tracks of duets with country and pop artists, including Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Trisha Yearwood, Carole King, and Justin Timberlake. ''Reba: Duets'' peaked at number one on the Top Country Albums chart, while also becoming her first album in her thirty-year career to peak and debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, with 300,536 copies (according to Nielsen Soundscan) sold within its first week of release. On January 17, 2008, McEntire embarked on the 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour with Clarkson, which began in Dayton, Ohio. A month after its release, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 19, 2007. The album's only other single was "Every Other Weekend". Recorded on the album as a duet with Chesney, it was released to radio with its co-writer, Skip Ewing, as a duet partner.

2008–2011: Move to Valory Music Group, ''Keep On Loving You'', ''All The Women I Am''

In early 2008, McEntire partnered again with Brooks & Dunn for a re-recorded version of their single "Cowgirls Don't Cry". McEntire is featured in the video, but not on the version found on the album ''Cowboy Town''. It became McEntire's fifty-sixth Top Ten country hit, breaking Dolly Parton's record for the most Top Ten country hits for a solo female. In November 2008, McEntire announced that she would be departing from her label of twenty-five years and signing with the Valory Music Group, an imprint of Big Machine Records (coincidentally distributed by MCA and Mercury's parent, Universal Music Group). Under MCA, she had sold a total of sixty-seven million records worldwide and won two Grammys. The switch to Valory reunited McEntire with the label's president, Scott Borchetta, who had worked as senior vice president of promotion at MCA during most of the 1990s. McEntire later commented on her label switch, stating, "I am thrilled to be joining the Valory team. Scott and I worked together on some of the biggest singles of my career, and I am excited to renew our partnership."

On April 5, 2009, McEntire debuted her first single, "Strange", on Valory at the 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards. The song debuted at No. 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, giving McEntire the highest single debut of her career, and went on to peak at No. 11. Her twenty-sixth studio album, ''Keep On Loving You'' was released August 18, 2009 and became McEntire's first solo studio album in six years. The album gained fairly positive reviews from most album critics, including Jim Malec of The 9513, which gave ''Keep on Loving You'' three and a half out of five stars. Malec favored "Strange", calling McEntire's performance of the song "stellar". Criticism was given to the album's fourth track, "I Want a Cowboy", characterizing the song as an "annoying stop-and-go melody and lyrics more befitting a 17 year old Lila McCann, it is a song so generic and irrelevant that it would be album filler on the worst albums". On August 26, ''Keep on Loving You'' became McEntire's second album to top both the ''Billboard'' Country and 200 charts, selling almost 96,000 copies within its first week. With the album, McEntire broke the record for the female country artist with the most ''Billboard'' number one albums, which was previously held by Loretta Lynn.

On August 18 the label released the album's second single, "Consider Me Gone", and it debuted at number 51 on The Hot Country Single's Chart. The single became McEntire's thirty fourth number one on the ''Billboard'' chart in December. With a four-week stay at Number One, this song became the longest-lasting Number One of her career, as well as the first multi-week Number One by a female country singer since Taylor Swift's "Our Song" in 2007.

McEntire's thirty-fourth studio album, ''All the Women I Am'', was released on November 9, 2010 under Valory Music Group/Starstruck Records. The album's lead single called "Turn On the Radio" was released on August 3, 2010 and the music video premiered on August 18, 2010. Upon its release, ''All the Women I Am'' received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 4 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". On November 10, 2010, McEntire appeared at the Country Music Association Awards performing "If I Were a Boy". On December 20, 2010, McEntire scored her 35th Billboard number one single in the U.S. with "Turn On the Radio". The second single from ''All the Women I Am'', "If I Were a Boy", was released in January 2011. However, unlike her previous single, "If I Were A Boy" flopped at radio, and only had a peak of No. 22 at country radio.

On March 1, 2011, the Country Music Association announced that McEntire will be inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame. McEntire was unable to attend the announcement after her father slipped into a coma following a stroke. Reba was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on May 22, 2011 at a Medallion Ceremony that took place at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Reba's Idol, Dolly Parton, inducted her.

McEntire announced on March 28, 2011 that the third single from the album, "When Love Gets A Hold of You", will be released to country radio on April 11, 2011. However, like "If I Were A Boy", and despite critical acclaim, "When Love Gets A Hold of You" bombed on the charts, reaching a peak of only #40, making it McEntire's lowest charting single since "Love Needs A Holiday" in 2007, and the 5th lowest charting single of her career.

Reba has announced that she will be visiting 31 cities on her All the Women I Am Tour this fall with The Band Perry, Steel Magnolia and Eden's Edge as opening acts on different stops of the tour. Dates for the tour were announced July 6, 2011.

GACTV confirmed on July 20, 2011, that Reba's fourth single from All the Women I Am will be "Somebody's Chelsea". The single will be released to radio August 29th

Acting career

1990–1999: Entrance into film and television

During the late 1980s, many of McEntire's music videos were being described as "mini movies". In each video, she would portray a different character, which distinguished her music videos from other videos released by artists during that time. In the late 1980s, McEntire became interested in an acting career, eventually hiring an agent. In 1989, she co-hosted ''Good Morning America'' on the ABC network.

In 1990, she obtained her first film role playing Heather Grummer in the horror comedy ''Tremors,'' along with Kevin Bacon. The film told the story of a small group of people living in Nevada who were fighting subterranean worm-like creatures. After the film's release, McEntire developed a strong interest in acting and made it her second career. The following year, she starred along with Kenny Rogers and Burt Reynolds in the made-for-television movie, ''The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.'' In 1994, McEntire worked with director, Rob Reiner in the film, ''North,'' playing Ma Tex. The film obtained negative reviews, receiving only two and a half stars from ''Allmovie.''

In 1994, McEntire starred in ''Is There Life Out There?'', a television movie based on her song of the same name. The following year, she appeared in ''Buffalo Girls'', which was based upon the life of western cowgirl, Calamity Jane (played by Anjelica Huston). Playing Jane's friend, Annie Oakley, ''Buffalo Girls'' was nominated for an Emmy award. In 1996, McEntire was cast by director James Cameron as Molly Brown in his film ''Titanic.'' However, when it became apparent production for the film would extend well beyond its original length, McEntire had to turn down the part, as she had already scheduled prior concert engagements. The role was recast with Kathy Bates. In 1998, she starred as Lizzie Brooks in ''Forever Love,'' which was based upon McEntire's hit single of the same name.

2000–2007: Broadway and television series

In early 2001, McEntire expanded into theater, starring in the Broadway revival of ''Annie Get Your Gun.'' Playing Annie Oakley (whom she previously portrayed in ''Buffalo Girls''), McEntire's performance was critically acclaimed by several newspapers, including ''The New York Times'', which commented, "Without qualification the best performance by an actress in a musical comedy this season." McEntire personally called the musical, "some of the hardest work I've ever done in my life".

In 2005, McEntire starred as Nellie Forbush in the Carnegie Hall concert production of the Broadway musical ''South Pacific''. She also starred alongside Alec Baldwin as Luther Billis and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Emile de Becque. The concert went under the direction of Walter Bobbie and featured an adapted script by David Ives. The Thirteen Network taped the concert as part of the channel's syndicated broadcast of ''Great Performances''. The musical aired on television in 2006.

In October 2001, McEntire premiered her half-hour television sitcom ''Reba'' on the WB network. The show was based around divorced mother Reba Hart, who learns how to handle life situations after her husband divorces her and their teenage daughter becomes pregnant. ''Reba'' garnered critical acclaim and success, becoming the network's highest-rated television show for adults ranging from the ages of eighteen to forty nine. The show would run for six seasons and nominate McEntire for a Golden Globe award. In 2006, the series was moved to the CW network and remained there for one more season before its cancellation on February 18, 2007, and the series finale gained 8.7 million viewers world-wide.

Musical styles and legacy

McEntire's sound has been influenced by the country music of Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, and Patsy Cline. In college, McEntire would sneak into local dances at the Oklahoma-Texas border so she could dance to Wills's music, commenting that, "it didn't get any better than dancing to Bob Wills music". She also explained Merle Haggard's influence on her career, stating "I had every album he ever put out", and would sing "every song he did", along with her brother, Pake and sister, Susie. In addition, her first major hit, "Sweet Dreams" was a remake of Patsy Cline's version of the song, according to McEntire herself. McEntire's music has been described to not only be built upon traditional country music, but also expand into the genres of Country pop, Mainstream pop, Soul, Adult Contemporary, and R&B;. At times, her music has often been criticized for moving away from traditional country music. Many music critics have often called her music to be "melodramatic", "formulaic", and "bombastic", particularly after her 1988 album, ''Reba.'' Studio releases such as ''Sweet Sixteen,'' ''Rumor Has It,'' ''It's Your Call,'' and ''Starting Over'' have often been described by these terms.

McEntire possesses a contralto vocal range and performs "vocal gymnastics" with her voice, a musical technique in which a singer twirls a note around, using their vibrato. McEntire has often credited Dolly Parton for influencing this trait, stating that she would always listen to Parton's records and find her style of vocal gymnastics, "so pretty".

McEntire has often been regarded as one of country music's most influential female vocalists and most beloved entertainers. She has also been highly-credited for remaining one of country's most popular female artists for over two decades, maintaining her success by continually incorporating contemporary musical sounds without changing her traditional vocal style. For many new artists, she has been credited as the inspiration to their careers in country music, including, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, and LeAnn Rimes. She has also been credited as an inspiration to other performers such as Sara Evans, Kelly Clarkson, Lee Ann Womack, Terri Clark, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood,. ''The Net Music Countdown'' second handedly reported, "That influence has manifested itself in many ways. As a role model, she's shown others how to handle fame with grace and good humor while never backing down from her values or goals. Just as importantly, she's shown others to refuse to accept limitations on what she can do or how much she can achieve." McEntire also explained to the online website, "Whatever I'm doing, I feel like I'm representing country music". "It's always been my main career, and it's where my loyalties lie. I feel like I'm waving the flag of country music wherever I go, and I couldn't be prouder to do it."

Personal life

McEntire's two siblings (both from the Singing McEntires) have also maintained careers in the music industry. Her brother, Pake McEntire was a successful country artist in the late 1980s and early 90s. Her sister, Susie Luchsinger, is a successful Christian music singer. She also has an older sister, Alice.

In 1976, McEntire married national steer wrestling champion and rancher, Charlie Battles. Together, the couple owned a ranch in Oklahoma and managed her career. In 1987, McEntire divorced Battles and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. She later commented to Bob Allen of ''Country Music'' about their separation, saying, "I had to pack everything in one day and leave. I was totally starting over." McEntire later claimed that she wanted to focus more on her music career, while Battles insisted that she remain at home, helping to take care of the ranch. McEntire stated, "I wasn't the little girl anymore, taking orders, and doing what he said."

In 1989, McEntire married her manager and former steel guitar player, Narvel Blackstock. The couple wed in a private ceremony on a boat in Lake Tahoe. Together, the pair took over all aspects of McEntire's career, forming Starstruck Entertainment, which was originally designed to help manage her career. From her second marriage, McEntire inherited three stepchildren and gave birth to a son, Shelby Steven McEntire Blackstock on February 23, 1990. The couple has since celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary, and McEntire states that the secrets to her marriage are "Respect, faith, love, trust, and lots of patience".

Awards

McEntire holds the record for the most Academy of Country Music Top Female Vocalist Awards (seven), and American Music Awards for Favorite Country Female Artist (twelve), and ties with Martina McBride for most Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year Awards (four), though McEntire does have the distinction of winning the award 4 times consecutively. She also is one of only two women in country music history to have attained a number one hit in four different decades, and the only female to achieve solo number ones across four decades.

Discography

Studio albums

1977: ''Reba McEntire''

1979: ''Out of a Dream''

1980: ''Feel the Fire''

1981: ''Heart to Heart''

1982: ''Unlimited''

1983: ''Behind the Scene''

1984: ''Just a Little Love''

1984: ''My Kind of Country''

1985: ''Have I Got a Deal for You''

1986: ''Whoever's in New England''

1986: ''What Am I Gonna Do About You''

1987: ''The Last One to Know''

1988: ''Reba''

1989: ''Sweet Sixteen''

1990: ''Rumor Has It''

1991: ''For My Broken Heart''

1992: ''It's Your Call''

1994: ''Read My Mind''

1995: ''Starting Over''

1996: ''What If It's You''

1998: ''If You See Him''

1999: ''So Good Together''

2003: ''Room to Breathe''

2007: ''Reba: Duets''

2009: ''Keep On Loving You''

2010: ''All the Women I Am''

Other albums

Christmas albums

1987: ''Merry Christmas to You''

1999: ''The Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection''

Live albums

1989: ''Reba Live''

Compilation albums

1985: ''The Best of Reba McEntire''

1986: ''Reba Nell McEntire''

1987: ''Greatest Hits''

1993: ''Greatest Hits Vol. 2''

1994: ''Oklahoma Girl''

1998: ''Moments and Memories: The Best of Reba''

2000: ''I'll Be''

2001: ''Greatest Hits Volume III: I'm a Survivor''

2003: ''20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection: The Best of Reba''

2005: ''Reba #1's''

2006: ''20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Reba McEntire''

2008: ''Love Revival''

2008: ''50 Greatest Hits''

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1990		Heather Gummer	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1994		spectator	uncredited
1994		Ma Tex
1994	''''	A.J. Ferguson
2001	''One Night at McCool's''	Dr. Green
2006	''''	Dixie	voice
2006		Betsy the Cow	voice
2011		Naomi

+ Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1991	''''	Burgundy Jones
1993	''Evening Shade''	Herself	one 2-part episode: "Ava Takes a Shower"
1993	''''	Nancy Lee Prinzi
1994	''Frasier''	Rachael	one episode; "Fortysomething"
1994		Lily Marshall
1995	''Buffalo Girls''	Annie Oakley
1997	''Diagnosis: Murder''	Herself	1 episode: "Murder, Country Style"
1998		Lizzie Brooks
1998		Artemis	2 episodes: "Hercules and the Falling Stars" & "Hercules and the Caledonian Boar"
1999	''Secret of Giving''	Rose Cameron
2001–2007		Reba Hart
2009	''''	Herself	1 episode: Season 2 Premier, Episode 202
2010	''The Buried Life''	Herself	1 episode : Season 2 Episode 2 "#59: Ask Out the Girl of Your Dreams (Part II)"
2010	''Better With You''	Lorraine Ashley	1 episode : Season 1 Episode 8 "Better With Flirting)"
2011		Renee	1 episode : Season 1 Episode 4 "Sugar Mama"
2011	''When I Was 17''	Herself	Season 2 Episode 45

+ Theater
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2001		Annie Oakley
2006	''South Pacific: In Concert from Carnegie Hall''	Nellie Forbush

See also

List of best-selling music artists in the United States

References

Bibliography

Further reading

Bufwack, Mary A. (1998). "Reba McEntire". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 339 (birth year listed as 1954).

External links

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1955 births Category:Actors from Oklahoma Category:American Christians Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Big Machine Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Oklahoma Category:People from Oklahoma Category:People from McAlester, Oklahoma Category:MCA Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists

cy:Reba McEntire de:Reba McEntire es:Reba McEntire fa:ریبا مک‌اینتایر fr:Reba McEntire it:Reba McEntire hu:Reba McEntire mk:Риба Мекентајр nl:Reba McEntire ja:リーバ・マッキンタイア no:Reba McEntire pl:Reba McEntire pt:Reba McEntire ru:Макинтайр, Реба simple:Reba McEntire sr:Риба Макентајер fi:Reba McEntire sv:Reba McEntire tr:Reba McEntire zh:芮芭·麦克伊泰

Coordinates	44°51′15″N93°14′32″N
Name	Sean Combs
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Sean John Combs
Alias	DiddyP. DiddyPuff Daddy
Born	November 04, 1969New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	Mount Vernon, New York, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, record producer, actor, businessman
Years active	1991–present
Label	Bad Boy, Interscope
Associated acts	Diddy-Dirty Money, Faith Evans, The Neptunes, Lil' Kim, Rick Ross, Mase, The Notorious B.I.G., Usher, Jay-Z
Website	}}

Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), also known by his stage name Diddy or P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and businessman. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally known as Puff Daddy and then as P. Diddy (Puff and Puffy being often used as a nickname, but never as recording names). In August 2005, he changed his stage name to simply "Diddy", but continues to use the name P. Diddy in the United Kingdom as the result of a lawsuit. He formed and recorded with the group "Diddy - Dirty Money".

Combs was born in Harlem and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He worked as a talent director at Uptown Records and then founded Bad Boy Records in 1993. His business interests under the umbrella of Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide include Bad Boy Records; the clothing lines Sean John & ''Sean by Sean Combs''; a movie production company; and two restaurants. He has taken the roles of recording executive, performer, producer of MTV's ''Making the Band'', writer, arranger, clothing designer, and Broadway actor. In 2011 Forbes estimated his net worth at $475 million, making him the richest figure in hip hop.

Early life

Sean Combs was born in a public housing project in Harlem, New York, the son of Janice, a model and teacher, and Melvin Earl Combs. He grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. When Combs was a child, his father, aged 33, an associate of Frank Lucas (the New York drug lord), was shot to death in his car at a Manhattan park after attending a party. Lucas and rival gangster Nicky Barnes both publicly state that they were close to Melvin.

Combs played football at the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy. In 1986, his team won a division title; he graduated in 1987.

Combs says he was given the nickname "Puff" as a child because he would "huff and puff" when he was angry, and "Daddy" was another version of "playa".

Music career

Uptown Records

Combs attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he showed a penchant for marketing and gained a reputation as a party promoter. He eventually became an intern at New York's Uptown Records. For some time he would travel back and forth between Washington and New York, juggling his classes and his internship, before eventually dropping out of Howard when he became a talent director at Uptown. He was instrumental in developing Jodeci and signing and producing Mary J. Blige.

In 1991, Combs promoted a concert, headlined by Heavy D and held at the City College of New York gymnasium, following an AIDS charity basketball game. The event was overcrowded since it was oversold to almost twice capacity, while thousands without tickets were outside. To keep them out Combs' people shut the only door to a stairwell and put a table behind it, though the crowd jammed inside was pounding on the door and pleading for help. When the crowd outside broke several glass doors in an attempt to get in a stampede ensued inside the gymnasium in which nine people died. In a 1999 ruling, a Court of Claims judge found Puff Daddy and Heavy D. responsible for 50 percent of the incident. City College bore the rest of the responsibility in part for abandoning security responsibility to Puff Daddy though they knew the event was oversold.

Establishing Bad Boy Records

In 1993, after being fired from Uptown, Combs established Bad Boy Records, taking then-newcomer The Notorious B.I.G. with him. Both The Notorious B.I.G. and Craig Mack quickly released hit singles, followed by similarly successful LPs, particularly The Notorious B.I.G.'s ''Ready to Die''. Combs began signing more acts to Bad Boy, including Carl Thomas, Faith Evans, Father MC, 112 and Total, as well as producing for Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil' Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, SWV, Aretha Franklin, and others, and forming The Hitmen, an in-house production team.

Mase and D-Block (then known as "The L.O.X.") joined Bad Boy just as a widely publicized rivalry with the West Coast's Death Row Records was beginning. Combs and The Notorious B.I.G. were criticized and parodied by Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight in songs and interviews during the mid-1990s. During 1994–1995, he also helped produce songs for TLC's ''CrazySexyCool'', which was the decade's best-selling R&B; album. Songs he helped produced include "If I Was Your Girlfriend" and "Can I Get A Witness".

"Puff Daddy"

In 1997, Combs recorded his first commercial vocal as a rapper under the name "Puff Daddy." His debut single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" spent six weeks at #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His debut album, ''No Way Out'' was a #1 album and won the 1998 Grammy Award for best rap album. His second single, "I'll Be Missing You", in memory of The Notorious B.I.G. debuted at #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He collaborated with Jimmy Page on the song "Come with Me" for the ''Godzilla'' film, an EPIC/Sony Soundtrax production. The track, approved by Page, sampled the Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir". Producer Tom Morello supplied live guitar parts, playing bass on the song. Combs and Page filmed a video for "Come with Me", which reached #2 in the UK.

In 1997, Combs was sued for landlord neglect by Inge Bongo. Combs denied the charges.

By the late 1990s, he was receiving criticism for watering down and overly commercializing hip-hop and overusing guest appearances by other artists, samples and interpolations of past hits in his own hit songs.

Club New York

In December 1999, Combs was accused of assaulting Steve Stoute of Interscope Records. Stoute was the manager for Nas. Combs had filmed a video scene earlier that year for "Hate Me Now" that featured Nas being crucified but demanded that the images be removed. Stoute's refusal led to an argument and Puff Daddy's arrest for aggravated assault. This was followed by yet more negative publicity as The Lox left Bad Boy Records and a recording session with Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease, both of The Notorious B.I.G.'s Junior M.A.F.I.A. posse, was interrupted by gunfire.

On December 27, 1999, Combs and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were at Club New York, a midtown Manhattan nightclub, when gunfire broke out. After a police investigation, Combs and fellow rapper Shyne were arrested for weapons violations and other charges. The New York County District Attorney's Office, led by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, indicted Combs after his driver, Wardel Fenderson, claimed that Combs had tried to bribe him into taking the weapon after the shooting.

With a gag order in place, the highly publicized trial began. His attorneys were Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and Benjamin Brafman. After the trial was over, Combs was found not guilty on all charges; Shyne was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to ten years in prison. Combs and Lopez split shortly after. A lawsuit filed by Combs's driver, Fenderson, who said he suffered emotional damage after the club shooting, was settled in February 2004. Lawyers for both sides, having agreed to keep the settlement terms secret, would say only that the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.

"P. Diddy"

In 2001, after his acquittal on gun possession and bribery charges, Combs changed his stage name from "Puff Daddy" to "P. Diddy". He later appeared as a drug dealer in the film ''Made'' and starred with Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton in ''Monster's Ball''. He tried to reinvent his image, working on a gospel album, ''Thank You'', but soon faced assault charges by a Michigan television host, Dr. Roger Mills, also known as Rogelio Mills, and then was arrested for driving on a suspended license in Florida. Combs began working with a series of unusual (for him) artists. A collaboration with David Bowie appeared on the soundtrack to ''Training Day'' and he also worked with Britney Spears and 'N Sync. He signed California-based pop girl group Dream to his record label. He was also an opening act for 'N Sync on their Spring 2002 Celebrity Tour.

Later in 2002, he made his own reality show on MTV called ''Making the Band 2'', a sequel to the first ''Making the Band'', in which contestants competed to be in a new group on Bad Boy Records. Six finalists were to come up with their name, CD and video (see Da Band). The group, maligned by comics and critics and drawing a skit on ''Chappelle's Show'', was dissolved by Combs at the end of the series.

In 2003, Combs ran in the New York City Marathon and raised $2,000,000 for the educational system for the children of New York. On March 10, 2004, he appeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to discuss the marathon, which he finished in four hours and eighteen minutes.

In 2004, Combs headed the campaign "Vote or Die" for the 2004 Presidential Election. The "Vote or Die" slogan was mocked by both ''The Daily Show'' and ''South Park'' as being too simplistic and encouraging young people to vote without knowing the issues. In a ''South Park'' episode entitled "Douche and Turd", Combs and his friends were depicted chasing Stan Marsh, one of the show's main characters, around with weapons, literally threatening to kill him if he wouldn't vote in his school election.

"Diddy"

On August 16, 2005, Combs appeared on ''Today'' and announced that he was altering his stage name yet again, dropping the "P." and referring to himself simply as "Diddy", saying that "the P was getting between me and my fans." However this upset Richard "Diddy" Dearlove, a London based musical artist & DJ, who in November 2005 sought an injunction of the Royal Courts of Justice, London but accepted an out-of-court settlement of £110,000. As a result, Combs no longer uses the name Diddy in the UK, where he is still known as P. Diddy.

Combs starred in the 2005 ''Carlito's Way: Rise to Power'', played Walter Lee Younger in the critically acclaimed 2004 Broadway revival of ''A Raisin in the Sun'' and the television adaptation which was aired in February 2008. In the same year Combs sold his record company to the Warner Music Group. Tensions still existed between him and former Warner CEOs Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles (both formerly of Def Jam) but they arranged for his imprint to be a part of the company. In an interview with AndPOP Combs said that he was developing a line of men's suits. He later hosted the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, and was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2005 by ''Time'' magazine. He even earned a mention in the world of country music: The narrator of "Play Something Country" by Brooks & Dunn and Sean Okundaye says he "didn't come to hear P Diddy", which he rhymes with "something bumpin' from the city."

In 2006, after trying to move Mase away from Bad Boy Records, 50 Cent recorded a diss song, "Hip-Hop", in which he implied that Combs knew about The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder. The feud was resolved, with both rappers appearing on MTV's ''TRL'' and ''Sucker Free'', respectively, stating that there were no longer problems.

Combs released his first album in 4 years, ''Press Play'', on October 17, 2006 on the Bad Boy Records label with guest appearances from Christina Aguilera, Keyshia Cole, Mario Winans (signed to his label 'Bad Boy Records'), Nas, Will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas), Mary J. Blige, Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls), Jamie Foxx, Fergie, Big Boi (of Outkast), Ciara, Twista, Just Blaze, Pharrell, Brandy. The album reached number one on its first week in the charts.

It was reported that Combs would be singing on all the tracks of this album but he did not sing at all on the album's first single, "Come To Me" (featuring Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls), but rather did his traditional rapping. He did sing on the third single, "Last Night" (featuring Keyshia Cole). "Tell Me" (featuring Christina Aguilera) was released as the second single. He was asking fans on his MySpace page to help him choose the fourth single, which was "Through the Pain (She Told Me)" (featuring Mario Winans).

In October 2007, he was sued by hip-hop promoter James Waldon for allegedly unleashing three violent bodyguards on him in a New York nightclub. In March 2008, a source for the ''Los Angeles Times'' claimed that The Notorious B.I.G. and Combs orchestrated the '94 robbery and assassination attempt on Tupac, substantiating the claim with supposed FBI documents to that effect; the newspaper later retracted the story, acknowledging that the supporting FBI documents had been fabricated.

In June 2008, Combs' representative denied rumors of another name change. August 2008 saw Combs venture into reality television with the premiere of his VH1 series ''I Want to Work for Diddy''. After the second season finale of ''Making the Band 4'', Combs confirmed that he will be heading back into the studio to record his next album. He posted a Myspace Bulletin on February 19, 2009 that his next album is set to release in November 2009.

Combs has stated that he would like to work with Leona Lewis on his new album. In an interview with ''The Daily Mail'' he said: "I had Christina Aguilera on my last album, but its all about Leona Lewis on my next."

Under his real name of Sean Combs, he starred in two episodes of Season 7 of ''CSI: Miami''; 'Presumed Guilty' and 'Sink or Swim' in the role of the lawyer Derek Powell.

He has created a rap supergroup known as "The Dream Team". The group consists of Diddy, Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and Red Café. Fabolous is also rumored to be in the group. Since 2009 he has recorded and performed as part of the group Diddy - Dirty Money.

In June 2010, Diddy played a role (as Sean Combs) in the comedy film ''Get Him to the Greek'', as Sergio Roma, a record company executive. An ''Entourage''-series representative announced that Diddy would guest star on an episode of the upcoming season.

On Thursday, March 10, 2011 Diddy-Dirty Money performed the single "Coming Home" with singer/songwriter Skylar Grey and two female background vocalists Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, live on American Idol. Forty six minutes into the show, Ryan Seacrest introduced Diddy-Dirty Money featuring Skylar Grey. Grey started the performance seated at a piano singing the song's opening refrain. Diddy-Dirty Money's performance lasted four minutes.

On April 18, 2011, Diddy appeared in the 21st episode of season one of ''Hawaii Five-0'' as an undercover NYPD detective.

Business ventures

In 2002, he was featured on ''Fortune'' magazine's "40 Richest People Under 40" list and was placed number one in the list of the top ten richest people in hip-hop. In 2010 his estimated worth was US $475 million, making him the richest person in the hip hop entertainment business.

Sean John

In 1998, Combs started a clothing line, ''Sean John''. It was nominated for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Award for Menswear Designer of the Year in 2000, and won in 2004.

The clothing line was subject to controversy in 2003 when it was discovered that factories producing the clothing in Honduras were violating Honduran labor law. Among the accusations put forth were that workers were subjected to body searches and paid sweatshop wages. Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee, who first exposed the factory, is quoted in the New York Times as saying, "Sean Puff Daddy obviously has a lot of clout, he can literally do a lot overnight to help these workers."

Combs responded that there would be a "zero tolerance" investigation at his company, Sean John. He stated to a group of reporters "I'm as pro-worker as they get." On February 14, 2004, Kernaghann announced on Pacifia station that Combs had made some "unprecedented" changes at factories including adding air conditioning and water purification systems, and allowing a union to form.

In late 2006, MSNBC reported, "Macy's has pulled from its shelves and its Web site two styles of Sean John hooded jackets, originally advertised as featuring faux fur, after an investigation by the nation's largest animal protection organization concluded that the garments were actually made from an animal called a 'raccoon dog'". Combs said he had been unaware of the material, but as soon as he knew about it, he had his clothing line stop using the material. In 2008 he appeared in a Macy's commercial.

In November 2008, Combs launched his latest men's perfume under the Sean John brand called "I Am King" dedicated to Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King. In November 2008, he unveiled a new Times Square billboard for the "I Am King" line to replace his iconic Sean John ad. The giant billboard is currently the largest static ad in Times Square. Model Bar Refaeli was chosen to be the face of the fragrance.

Other ventures

In addition to his clothing line, Combs owns an upscale restaurant chain called Justin's, named after his son. The current restaurant is in Atlanta; the original New York location closed in September 2007. He is the designer of the green Dallas Mavericks alternate jersey.

On September 18, 2007, Combs teamed up with 50 Cent and Jay-Z for the "Forbes I Get Money Billion Dollar Remix." He also made appearances with Jay-Z on his ''American Gangster'' concert tour in 2007.

As of October 2007, Combs has inked a multi-year deal, in which he'll help develop the Ciroc brand, one of Diageo PLC's super-premium Vodka lines, for a share in the profits. The agreement is the latest in which a celebrity is going beyond the typical role of endorser to share in a brand's rise and fall. Diageo said the agreement could be worth more than $100 million for Combs and his company, Sean Combs Enterprises, over the course of the deal, depending on how well the brand performs. Since then, he has launched multiple ventures for Ciroc, many of which were featured during the 2008 presidential election.

Combs acquired the Enyce clothing line from Liz Claiborne for $20 million on October 21, 2008.

After a prolific Twitter campaign by comedian Chris Gethard, Combs is set to make an appearance at the comedian's live show in January 2010 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. In February 2010, Combs announced on CNN to Wolf Blitzer, that he plans to open a business school in New York. He announced that he wanted a school, "that’s known for building leaders."

Personal life

Family

Combs has never married, but he is the biological father of five children and the informal stepfather of another child:

His on-again, off-again girlfriend Kimberly Porter has a son, Quincy Jones Brown (born December 1991) with 1980s New Jack Swing romantic singer/producer Al B Sure. Quincy was featured on ''My Super Sweet 16''.

Combs' first biological child is Justin Dior Combs (born December 1993), from a relationship with his high school sweetheart, designer Misa Hylton-Brim. In January 2010 it was widely reported that Combs presented his son Justin with a $360,000 Maybach car (and chauffeur) as a 16th birthday present. Justin was also featured on ''My Super Sweet 16''.

His second child is son Christian Casey Combs (born April 1998) with Kim Porter. Porter is also the mother of Combs' twin daughters, D'Lila Star Combs and Jessie James Combs (born December 2006). In July 2007 Combs and Porter ended their relationship.

In October 2007, Combs took legal responsibility for Chance, his daughter with Sarah Chapman.

Charity work and honors

On October 13, 2006, the mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, gave Combs the key to the city and a pair of cufflinks to commemorate the inauguration of an annual October 13 "Diddy Day". He received the honor as a reward for certain charitable work at Chicago's City Hall.

In 2008 Combs was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Wardrobe style

In the February 2007 issue of ''Blender'' magazine, Combs spoke about his wardrobe. He describes his style in three words: "Swagger. Timeless. Diverse." On September 2, 2007, Combs held his ninth annual "White Party" in which all guests are limited to an all white dress code. The White Party, which has also been held in St. Tropez, was held in his Long Island home in East Hampton. It featured a white carpet to go along with the white dress code. Combs stated, "This party is up there with the top three that I've thrown, It's a party that has legendary status. It's hard to throw a party that lives up to its legend."

Discography

;Studio albums

1997: ''No Way Out''

1999: ''Forever''

2001: ''The Saga Continues...''

2002: ''We Invented the Remix''

2006: ''Press Play''

2010: ''Last Train to Paris''

Accolades

NAACP Image Awards

* 2009, Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, ''A Raisin in the Sun'' (Winner)

MOBO Awards

* 2007, Best International Act (Nominated)

BET Awards

* 2007, Best Male Hip Hop Artist (Nominated)

MTV Video Music Awards

* 1997, Best R&B; Video: "I'll Be Missing You" (Winner)

* 1998, Viewers Choice: "It's All About The Benjamins (Rock Remix)" (Winner)

Grammy Awards {| class=wikitable |- ! Year ! Category ! Genre ! Song ! Result |- align=center | 1998 | Best New Artist | General | N/A | |- align=center | 1998 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" | |- align=center | 1998 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Mo Money Mo Problems" | |- align=center | 1998 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "I'll Be Missing You" | |- align=center | 1998 | Best Rap Album | Rap | ''No Way Out'' | |- align=center | 2000 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Satisfy You" | |- align=center | 2002 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Bad Boy For Life" | |- align=center | 2003 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Pass the Courvoisier (Part 2)" | |- align=center | 2004 | Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Shake Ya Tailfeather" | |}

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (Albums Executive Produced by Sean Combs)

{|class=wikitable |- ! Rank ! Artist ! Album ! Year |- align=center |133 |The Notorious B.I.G. |''Ready To Die'' |1994 |- align=center |279 |Mary J. Blige |''My Life'' |1994 |- align=center |483 |The Notorious B.I.G. |''Life After Death'' |1997 |}

References

External links

Official website

Sean Combs at MTV

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York City Category:African-American businesspeople Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:American dance musicians Category:American fashion designers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American male singers Category:American music video directors Category:American socialites Category:Bad Boy Records artists Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Howard University alumni Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Harlem Category:People from Westchester County, New York Category:Rappers from New York City

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Coordinates	44°51′15″N93°14′32″N
Birth name	Faith Renee Evans
Background	solo_singer
Born	June 10, 1972Lakeland, Florida
Married to	Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, Todd Russaw
Origin	Newark, New Jersey,United States
Voice type	Mezzo_soprano
Genre	R&B;, soul, hip hop soul, hip hop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, author
Years active	1993–present
Label	Bad Boy (1994–2004)Capitol (2004–2007) Prolific/E1 Music (2009–present)
Associated acts	Sean Combs, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, 112, Lil' Mo
Website	FaithEvansOnline.com }}

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to be contracted with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment recording company during 1994, for which she released three platinum-certified studio albums between the years 1995 and 2001. During 2003, she ended her relationship with the company to contract with Capitol Records.

Other than her recording career, Evans is known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photoshoot. The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap music news at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California during March 1997. A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112, named "I'll Be Missing You", became Evans' best-selling song to date and won her a Grammy Award during 1998.

Also an avocational actress and writer, Evans made her screen debut in the 2000 musical drama ''Turn It Up'' by Robert Adetuyi. Her autobiography ''Keep the Faith: A Memoir'' was released by Grand Central Publishing during 2008 and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.

Early life

Evans was born in Lakeland, Florida to an African-American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer. Her father, Richard Swain, was a musician who left before Evans was born (Evans has said "I've heard people mumble something about him being Italian, but I don't know for sure"). A half year later, 19-year-old Helene returned to Newark, New Jersey and left Faith with her cousin Johnnie Mae and husband Orvelt Kennedy, the foster parents of more than a hundred children they raised in the time that Faith lived with them. It was not until a couple of years later that Helene's career floundered and she tried to take Evans back home. Faith, however, was afraid to leave what she'd "been used to", and instead, Helene relocated next door.

Raised in a Christian home, Evans began singing at church at age two. At age four, she caught the attention of the congregation of the Emmanuel Baptist Church (in Newark) when she sang The 5th Dimension's song "Let the Sunshine In". While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with several jazz bands and, encouraged by Helene, entered outside pageants, festivals and contests, where her voice would be noticed and praised. After graduating from high school during 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but ended out a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin. A couple of months later , she relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure, when she was noticed by musician Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. Impressed with her persona, Combs contracted her as the company's first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment during 1994.

Recording career

1994—2004: Bad Boy Records

Newly contracted to Bad Boy Records, Evans was consulted by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and writing skills to Mary J. Blige's ''My Life'' (1994) and Usher's self-titled debut album (1994) prior to starting work on her debut record album ''Faith''. Released on August 29, 1995 in North America, the album was a collaboration with Bad Boy's main producers "The Hitmen", including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but it resulted in recordings with Poke & Tone and Herb Middleton. ''Faith'' became a success based on the singles "You Used to Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home". The album was certified Platinum with 1,500,000 copies sold, according to RIAA.

After Biggie's murder during March 1997, Combs helped Evans produce her tribute song named "I'll Be Missing You", based on the melody of The Police's 1983 single "Every Breath You Take". The song, which featured Combs, Evans, and all-male group 112, became a worldwide number-one success and debuted at #1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart during 1997, scoring that for eleven weeks. It eventually won Puffy and Evans the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The next year, she received another two Grammy nominations for "Heartbreak Hotel", a collaboration with singers Whitney Houston and Kelly Price, that scored number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Two years in the making, Evans' second solo effort, ''Keep the Faith'', was released during October 1998. Almost entirely written and produced by her, Evans considered the album difficult to complete as she had initially felt discouraged about the progress at first. Upon its release, however, the album garnered generally positive reviews by music critics, with Allmusic noting it "without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music". Also enjoying commercial success, it eventually went platinum and produced the top ten singles "Love Like This" and "All Night Long", prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with Dru Hill and Total the following year.

Evans' third album on the Bad Boy imprint, named ''Faithfully'' (2001), involved her working with a wider range of producers, including The Neptunes, Mario Winans, Buckwild, Vada Nobles, Cory Rooney, and others. Her first project with husband Todd Russaw as executive producer and creative partner, the album scored number 14 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart and number two on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, eventually being certified platinum, but yielded moderately successful singles, with the Jennifer Lopez-written "I Love You" becoming the only top twenty entry. Released amid Bad Boy Records' transition from distributor Arista Records to Universal, Evans felt ''Faithfully'' received minimum assistance by the company, and during 2004, she finally decided to end her business with Bad Boy as she was convinced Combs couldn't improve her career any more due to his other commitments.

2004—2007: Capitol Records

After ending with Bad Boy Entertainment Evans contracted with Capitol Records company, becoming the first contemporary R&B; artist to do so, and started work on her fourth studio album ''The First Lady'', named after her nickname on her former label. As opposed to having an in-house team of producers who supplied most of the previous material, she and Russaw were able to gain more creative control of the album and consulted producers such as Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Mike Caren, Pharrell Williams, and Chucky Thompson to contribute to it. Upon its release in April 2005, ''The First Lady'' scored at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #1 of the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming Evans' best-charting album to date. It was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.

At the end of the year, Evans released ''A Faithful Christmas'', a holiday album of traditional Christmas songs and original tracks. The effort would become her last release on Capitol Records as the company was bought during 2007.

2008—present: Hiatus and E1 Entertainment

Following a longer hiatus, Evans signed a deal with E1 Entertainment - the largest independent record label in the United States - in 2010. Her sixth studio album ''Something About Faith'' was released on October 5, 2010 in the United States and December 6, 2010 in the UK. In the US, the album debuted and peaked at number fifteen on the ''Billboard'' 200, number four on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number one on the Indepedent Albums chart, failing however to chart oustide the US - making it Evans' only album since her debut ''Faith'' to chart in the US only. ''Something About Faith'' has spawned the single and music video "Gone Already"; which spent over thirty-three weeks on the US ''Billboard'' Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number twenty-two. On February 14, 2011, a high definition music video for "Right Here" was released on Evans' official YouTube account, suggesting that it is the second single from the album, though this is yet to be confirmed.

Other ventures

Acting

Having previously appeared in stage plays as a teenager, Evans began acting with a supporting role in director Robert Adetuyi's 2000 music drama ''Turn It Up'', featuring Jason Statham and Ja Rule. Released to generally negative reviews from critics, who noted it "patently absurd in both the details and larger aspects", the indie film had a short play and became a financial disappointment, gaining US$1.24 million during its U.S. run only.

During 2003, Evans acted in the MTV-produced romantic comedy ''The Fighting Temptations'' in which she appeared in a brief but major role portraying a single mother and night club singer. Filmed in Columbus, Georgia and headed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. (her character is his mother) and Beyoncé Knowles, the film garnered mixed reviews by critcs, but scored top top three of the U.S. box office, resulting in a domestic gross of US$30.2 million. In addition, Evans recorded a contemporary cover version of Donna Summer's 1978 success "Heaven Knows" for the film which her characters performs during one of the first in sequence in the film. The accompanying soundtrack scored the top twenty of the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200.

During 2004, Evans earned a brief guest stint on the UPN situation comedy ''Half & Half''. Evans announced that she had been working on a synopsis for her own situation comedy that would be based largely on her life but with a more comedic aspect. It is unknown whether she has officially pitched the sitcom to any television networks at this time.

Writing

Evans released her autobiographic book called ''Keep the Faith: A Memoir'' on August 29, 2008. It detailed the singer's life, but also discussed Evans' controversial relationship with her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G.:

"I want people to understand that although he was a large part of my life, my story doesn't actually begin or end with Big's death. My journey has been complicated on many levels. And since I am always linked to Big, there are a lot of misconceptions about who I really am. It's not easy putting your life out there for the masses. But I've decided I'll tell my own story. For Big. For my children. And for myself."

In its initial release, "Keep the Faith: A Memoir" landed in the Top 20 on New York's Best Seller's List two consecutive weeks in a row. During 2009, the book received The 2009 African American Literary Award for Best Biography/Memoir.

Personal life

Prior to Evans meeting and having a relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., she was involved in a relationship with Kiyamma Griffin. She and Griffin had a daughter named Chyna (born April 1, 1993).

On August 4, 1994, Evans married rapper and label mate The Notorious B.I.G., after having met him at a Bad Boy photoshoot. The couple had one child together, Christopher Wallace, Jr. (born October 29, 1996), but the marriage was turbulent as Wallace reportedly had several affairs during their union, including relationships with fellow rappers Lil' Kim and Charli Baltimore. Additionally, it led to Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap music news at the time, which ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California in March 1997, and made Evans "Rap's most famous widow".

During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Evans was introduced to record company executive Todd Russaw. Faith began dating Russaw during her and Wallace's separation and eventually, after Wallace died, Evans became pregnant by Russaw. The couple had their first son Joshua on June 8, 1998. During the summer of 1998, Evans and Russaw were married, and on March 22, 2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.

During January 2004, Evans and Russaw were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine and an improper tag violation during a traffic stop in Hapeville, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. In 2011, Evans filed for divorce against Russaw. The couple agreed to spend 13 weeks in a drug-treatment program in exchange for halting any further prosecution of their drug-possession case.

In May 2011, Evans and Russaw announced they were getting a divorce, and stated they would like to keep it quiet for the children's sake.

Discography

Studio albums

1995: ''Faith''

1998: ''Keep the Faith''

2001: ''Faithfully''

2005: ''The First Lady''

2005: ''A Faithful Christmas''

2010: ''Something About Faith''

Tours

''The First Lady Tour'' (2005)

Filmography

2000: ''Turn It Up''

2003: ''The Fighting Temptations''

Awards and nominations

African American Literary Award

*2009: African American Literary Award: ''Keep the Faith (A Memoir)'' (won)

BET Awards

*2002: Best Female R&B; Artist (nominated)

Grammy Awards

*2011: Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance: "Gone Already" (nominated)

*2003: Best Contemporary R&B; Album: ''Faithfully'' (nominated)

*2001: Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group: "Can't Believe" w/ Carl Thomas (nominated)

*2000: Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group: "Heartbreak Hotel" w/ Whitney Houston & Kelly Price (nominated)

*1999: Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance: "Love Like This" (nominated)

*1998: Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "I'll Be Missing You" w/ Diddy (won)

Lady of Soul Awards

*2000: Outstanding Music Video: "Love Is Blind" (by Eve ft. Faith Evans) (nominated)

*1996: Best Female R&B;/Soul Album: ''Faith'' (won)

*1996: Best R&B;/Soul or Rap New Artist: "You Used to Love Me" (nominated)

MTV Video Music Awards

*2000: Best Rap Video: "Love Is Blind" (by Eve ft. Faith Evans) (nominated)

*1999: Best R&B; Video: "Heartbreak Hotel" (nominated)

*1997: Best R&B; Video: "I'll Be Missing You" (won)

*1997: Viewer's Choice: "I'll Be Missing You" (nominated)

Soul Train Awards

*2006: Best Female R&B;/Soul Album: ''The First Lady'' (nominated)

*1998: Outstanding Music Video: "I'll Be Missing You" (won)

References

External links

Official site

Faith Evans interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' November 2010

''The Observer'' interview, 2005

''Vibe'' interview, 2005

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:African American actors Category:African American female singers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American Christians Category:American film actors Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:Hip hop singers Category:Beatboxers Category:Bad Boy Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:People from Lakeland, Florida Category:People from Newark, New Jersey

de:Faith Evans es:Faith Evans fr:Faith Evans it:Faith Evans nl:Faith Evans ja:フェイス・エヴァンス pl:Faith Evans pt:Faith Evans ro:Faith Evans simple:Faith Evans sv:Faith Evans tr:Faith Evans